Chapter 97: Great Ming

Even though Sun Chengzong had already passed two rounds of scrutiny in Zhu Youjian's inner assessment,

Zhu Youjian still had not made his final judgment.

A sovereign examines his minister, and the minister likewise examines his sovereign.

This last question was meant to place sovereign and minister together on the scales, to properly weigh each other's caliber.

He signaled Gao Shiming to hand over a military dispatch, and said in a flat tone:

"There is a piece of news. Master Sun, living in retirement at Gaoyang, may not yet have heard it."

Sun Chengzong bowed as he received it, but his heart tightened.

The Son of Heaven's questions today had grown sharper one after another — what would this third question be about?

He heard only Zhu Youjian's voice continuing, without the slightest ripple.

"An urgent report has come from the Ji Garrison. The Chahar tribe's Khudun Tohun has already raised his forces, claiming a hundred thousand mounted archers, and is now moving west, heading toward the Haracin."

Zhu Youjian's gaze settled on Sun Chengzong's weather-beaten face as he asked slowly:

"This struggle between the Tohun chieftain and the Haracin tribes appears, on the surface, to be an internal steppe feud. In Master Sun's judgment, what stance should our Great Ming take?"

Before the words had fully faded, Sun Chengzong's expression — which had been as still as an ancient well ever since he entered the hall — truly changed for the first time.

He snatched the dispatch, swiftly unfolded it, and his eyes swept across it like lightning, taking in ten lines at a glance.

The more he read, the tighter his thick brows furrowed, until they were nearly twisted into the shape of the character for "river."

"The various Haracin tribes have always been docile, and reasonably deferential toward our Great Ming. But this Khudun Tohun is arrogant and untamed, seething with wild ambition."

Sun Chengzong raised his head, his voice unconsciously growing heavy. "If the Haracin tribes truly fall and are annexed by him, then beyond the border walls of our Great Ming's Ji Garrison, there will be no more days of peace!"

As the former Supreme Commander of Ji and Liaodong, he knew all too well what this meant.

It meant that Great Ming's strategic buffer on the steppe would lose yet another vital link.

Yet Zhu Youjian seemed wholly unsurprised by this answer, and merely added a knife-thrust, gently, in an almost cold-blooded tone.

"This Tohun chieftain has always been arrogant."

"He is often heard to say: 'In the southern realm there is but one Great Ming Emperor; in the northern realm there is but me alone. Why should there be kings everywhere? I shall first settle the interior, then deal with the exterior.'"

"Does Master Sun believe that this western campaign of his is truly aimed only at a trifling Haracin?"

Zhu Youjian rose and began to pace slowly.

The sun was already slanting westward, and his young figure cast a long shadow across the vast, empty hall.

"We think not."

"If he wins one victory, he will surely push westward another inch."

"I fear, given his appetite, he means to become a second Genghis Khan — first unify all the Mongol tribes, then turn around and enter the fray, joining our Great Ming and the barbarian chieftain in Liaodong to form a tripod of three contending powers upon this chessboard of the realm."

"When that time comes, the thousand-li northern frontier will all belong to the Tohun chieftain, and to the east in Liaodong will be the Jurchen, watching with tiger-like intensity… Master Sun, how do you think the situation will look then?"

These words of Zhu Youjian struck Sun Chengzong's heart like a heavy sledgehammer.

He was so startled by this unexpected, wild speculation that his heart gave a violent leap.

A Later Jin entrenched in Liaodong was already enough to leave Great Ming utterly exhausted.

If a Mongol Khan who had unified the steppe were to appear on the northern border as well…

To what degree of ruin would Great Ming's frontier defenses then collapse?

As if that were not enough, Zhu Youjian, in a tone brimming with anticipation, tossed out a proposal that seemed utterly fantastical.

"At that juncture, could we not use the pretext of bestowing titles and tribute to restrain this man, granting him rich benefits, so that he becomes a right arm for our Great Ming and devotes himself entirely to the east, attacking the barbarian chieftain on our behalf?"

This question, like a single spark, instantly ignited the powder keg in the heart of the old campaigner Sun Chengzong.

"Absolutely not!"

A thunderous roar exploded through the great hall, startling even Gao Shiming into a shudder.

Zhu Youjian too was brought to a halt by this sudden, enormous voice.

He was beginning to wonder whether Master Sun, being advanced in years and hard of hearing, simply did not realize how loud his own voice was.

Sun Chengzong's face was flushed crimson, his emotions surging, so much so that he could barely attend to his courtly deportment, and he spoke in a rapid, urgent tone:

"Your Majesty! In matters of bestowing titles and tribute, the crux lies not in the amount of profit, but in the shift in the balance of power!"

"The reason our Great Ming could bridle the various tribes with a mere pittance of annual tribute was that, in those years, the officers and men of the Nine Garrisons fought with their lives, beat them until the wind carried tales of terror, beat them until they bowed their heads and declared themselves subjects!"

"If we truly allow that Tohun chieftain to unify the Mongols, then the balance of power between us will abruptly collapse!"

"When that time comes, it will not be our Great Ming bestowing titles and tribute upon him, but rather he, with his troops at our city gates, demanding annual payments from our Great Ming! How could we still hope to make him serve our purposes and turn his forces eastward?"

Sun Chengzong took a step forward, his eyes round and glaring, his beard bristling strand by strand.

"This subject fears only that, when that time comes, from Gansu in the west to Liaodong in the east, along our Great Ming's several-thousand-li defense line of the Nine Garrisons, beacon fires will blaze everywhere and wolf-smoke will cover the land!"

This matter was far more deadly than the so-called Dongjiang affair, and it gravely transgressed his bottom line.

In his agitation and confusion, he even overlooked the new sovereign's earlier performance, and truly took this proposal to be the Emperor's genuine intent.

There was no helping it — of the three questions today, not a single one had been within Sun Chengzong's expectations!

He had already begun to lose his composure!

Yet Zhu Youjian's face showed not the slightest urgency; instead, he turned around with a beaming smile and gently reminded him:

"Master Sun, calm your anger. We merely raised a possibility."

He paused, looked at the indignant Sun Chengzong, and said unhurriedly:

"Could it be that, in Master Sun's view, the only possible course of events in the north is the Tohun chieftain unifying the Mongols?"

"…Could there not be other variables?"

Sun Chengzong was momentarily speechless.

He finally snapped awake from the trap question the Emperor had deliberately laid.

Other variables?

He froze in place, brows tightly furrowed.

The northern frontier situation being what it is — if not the Tiger Chieftain, who else could it be? The Mongol tribes are a scattered sheet of sand, each fighting on its own. Who among them has the capability and the ambition?

It couldn't possibly be…

It couldn't possibly be…

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind!

Sun Chengzong jerked his head up, his eyes filled with utter disbelief, his lips trembling slightly as he stared dumbstruck at this young Emperor.

"Your Majesty… the variable Your Majesty speaks of… could it be… could it be the barbarian chieftain?!"

Zhu Youjian smiled.

A smile of extreme satisfaction.

That single question had probed the strategic landscape that transcended the gains and losses of any single city or region.

Though Sun Chengzong had been momentarily confined by his own thinking, he still possessed, after all, a strategic vision that spanned a thousand li.

But — this was far from enough.

"Correct."

Zhu Youjian's voice steadied again. He looked into Sun Chengzong's shock-filled eyes, and a thrill of "posing to slap faces" before a legendary figure from his past-life lore suddenly surged through his heart.

— Stand back, His Majesty is about to pose!

Zhu Youjian silently shouted this with mischievous glee in his heart, then continued:

"We predict that the Tiger Chieftain's western campaign this time is doomed to defeat."

"And the one who will ultimately defeat him, swallow his horde, and sweep up the remnants of the Mongols, will not be any of the western barbarian tribes — it will be precisely the man you, Master Sun, fear most: the barbarian chieftain, Hong Taiji."

Zhu Youjian clasped his hands behind his back and began the final summation of today's ultimate examination.

"The Tiger Chieftain's first cause of defeat lies in the man himself."

"This man is fierce in appearance but cowardly at heart, fond of schemes but incapable of decision. He undertakes great deeds yet begrudges his own life; he glimpses petty profit yet forgets his very fate. He is no hero!"

This line, Zhu Youjian had practically copied verbatim from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, because he felt no assessment could be more precise.

"During his earlier campaign against the Khorchin, when he saw the barbarian chieftain's relief troops arrive, he fled at the mere rumor of their approach without firing a single arrow."

"Later, when he saw the Inner Khalkha's Chaohua defeated in battle, instead of going to his rescue, he exploited his misfortune, plundered him, and swallowed his entire tribe."

"A man so devoid of faith and honor, so lacking in virtue and courage — how could he ever win the true submission of the proud eagles of the steppe?"

"Why did the Naiman and Aohan tribes under his command turn around and defect to the barbarian chieftain? There is the proof!"

Sun Chengzong could not help nodding slightly as he listened.

The character of Ligdan Khan was no secret among the high ranks of the Great Ming court.

The brilliance of the Emperor's words lay not in the assessment itself, but in the fact that he knew every single past deed of Ligdan Khan inside and out, recounting them as if enumerating his own family treasures.

Such penetrating insight into the barbarian situation truly did not seem like that of a young Son of Heaven who had long dwelled deep within the palace.

Sun Chengzong could not suppress a murmur in his heart: just how much had this new sovereign concealed his true abilities during those years in the Prince Xin Residence?

Could Wei Zhongxian's past persecution of this new sovereign truly have exerted such pressure upon him?

Zhu Youjian gave him no time to ponder further. Continuing to pace, he spoke again and laid out the second point.

"The Tiger Chieftain's second cause of defeat lies in his religion."

"The barbarian herders are simple of mind; their religious faith is often very devout."

"Since the time of Altan Khan, most of the Mongol tribes have followed the Yellow Hat sect."

"Yet now, this Ligdan Khan has actually converted to the Red Hat sect, attempting to borrow the authority of religion to recreate the great achievement of Altan Khan's unification of all the tribes."

A cold smirk tugged at the corner of Zhu Youjian's mouth.

"Religion is the embroidery upon the brocade, not the charcoal delivered in the snow."

"Altan Khan first unified the tribes with his scimitar, and only then used the Yellow Hat sect to consolidate the people's hearts."

"Now the Tiger Chieftain acts in perverse defiance of the natural order. Before his foundation is secure, he seeks to set up a rival banner. This is nothing less than pouring oil onto a raging fire — it will only drive those tribes that follow the Yellow Hat sect to break faith with him and rise up in resistance!"

He mused inwardly: the Eternal Blue Sky is one thing, the Yellow Hat sect is another.

You, Ligdan Khan, are truly a fool. You haven't even figured out why the Yellow Hat sect was able to supplant the Eternal Blue Sky faith, and here you are trying to play at religious victory?

Absolutely laughable!

Sun Chengzong involuntarily straightened his back.

Matters of religion had never been a mainstream topic among the civil officials and military officers of the Ming.

Even he himself had only gained a clear understanding of these distinctions during his early years of traveling study in Datong, when he personally journeyed beyond the frontier and had extensive contact with the herders of various tribes.

Yet this new sovereign was also thoroughly versed in them!

Zhu Youjian drew a deep breath, and his gaze suddenly sharpened.

"The Tiger Chieftain's third cause of defeat lies in the barbarian chieftain's keen acuity!"

"Consider this, Master Sun: when the barbarian chieftain Hong Taiji ascended the throne, his realm was utterly destitute, with a single dou of grain costing ten pieces of gold."

"It was he who overrode all opposition and first attacked Joseon, thereby relieving his realm's crisis in a single stroke."

"Afterward, riding the momentum of his great victory, he attacked Ningyuan and Jinzhou again, yet was stalled beneath the city walls, and his prestige suffered greatly."

Zhu Youjian's tone grew even, yet every word carried the weight of a thousand jun.

"For him, at this moment, the east has just seen the clash of arms, the south remains stubbornly impregnable, and the northern steppe is a bitter-cold, barren wasteland."

"Master Sun, tell me — what choice does the barbarian chieftain have, other than to turn west?"

"This time, the Tiger Chieftain's westward migration is on a massive scale. If he is defeated, there is nothing more to say."

"But what if he is victorious all along the way?"

"Those Mongol tribes scattered and routed along his path — to whom will they turn for succor?"

Zhu Youjian enunciated each word deliberately, and at last spoke aloud the most terrifying scenario, the one he had held pent up in his heart and never divulged to a single soul.

"Consider the prestige my Great Ming and the Jurchen each hold on the steppe today."

"These Mongol tribes, who sway like grass on a wall — whom will they ultimately choose to seek aid from, whom will they choose to submit to? Is that truly so hard to guess?"

"When that time comes, what my Great Ming's northern frontier will face — how could it be some mere Ligdan Khan?"

"It will be a true fierce tiger — one that has united all the Mongol tribes, commanding hundreds of thousands of bowstrings, stretching from Liaodong to Gansu, and utterly broken free of the cage of the Three Frontiers of Liaodong!"

Sun Chengzong felt a chill shoot from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head. With every word Zhu Youjian spoke, the shock in his heart deepened by a degree, until at last he even forgot to breathe!

His back, without his noticing, had already been soaked through with cold sweat.

Having once served as Supreme Commander of Ji and Liao, he understood better than anyone at court just how feeble the Great Wall defenses were on every frontier beyond Liaodong.

It was a failure of official governance, a failure of the military command — but at its root, it was a failure of funds and grain!

If Hong Taiji were truly allowed to command the bowstrings beyond the passes and turn the entire Mongol plateau into his backyard, then the military pressure the Great Ming would have to bear would by no means be confined to the single corner of Liaodong.

It would be the entire vast, indefensible north!

Just as Sun Chengzong's mind reeled from the shock, Zhu Youjian's icy voice rang out once more, asking the very same question he had posed at the beginning.

"Then, Master Sun, in your judgment — in this struggle between the Ligdan Khan and the Khalkha tribes, what course should my Great Ming take?"

This time, Sun Chengzong did not hesitate in the slightest.

He gathered his wits, faced Zhu Youjian, and bowed deeply, hands clasped in salute.

"Your Majesty's analysis is as clear as reading the lines on one's palm, lucid and unmistakable. Your subject is no dull-witted man; how could I fail to know what decision must be made?"

He slowly straightened up. Those eyes, which had grown somewhat turbid from agitation, now shone clear again, glistening with light, as if a flame burned within them.

He spoke with absolute finality:

"The Great Ming shall aid neither the Ligdan Khan nor the Khalkha tribes!"

"We shall use the granting of titles and tributary trade as the leash, and the edge of our blades as the knife. Proclaim clearly the Celestial Court's intent: any tribe that rashly takes up arms shall be cutting itself off from the Great Ming, and we shall raise a thunderous host and rally all to strike them down!"

"Excellent!"

Hearing these words, Zhu Youjian could hold back no longer and burst into hearty laughter.

The laughter echoed through the empty hall, brimming with unrestrained satisfaction.

Those who can devise a plan are not necessarily good at making the final decision.

Those who are good at making the final decision do not necessarily dare to make it.

And the post of Supreme Commander, stationed alone beyond the passes, requires precisely a grand border official who has prestige, can get things done, is skilled at employing men, and — most crucially — dares, at the pivotal moment, to make the correct decision!

Sun Chengzong might, in certain respects, be somewhat too smooth, lacking enough fierce, aggressive drive — but that very quality suits the quagmire of Liaodong, which needs to be slowly and patiently cleaned up!

His gaze blazing, Zhu Youjian strode forward and, under Sun Chengzong's astonished eyes, seized both of his hands.

Those hands were covered in thick calluses, yet warm and strong.

Zhu Youjian gripped them tightly and spoke with earnest sincerity:

"This day, in gaining Master Sun, We are as Emperor Gaozu gaining Zhang Liang, as Emperor Guangwu gaining Deng Yu. Master Sun is truly the pillar that holds up Our Great Ming's heavens!"

— Master Sun, you have already passed my three tests!

Yet I wonder, in your eyes, how do I measure up? Can I match even a fraction of the Tianqi or Chongzhen emperors' complexion!

Some say that a gaping hole in the north is nothing to fear — that there are only a few places where an invading army can enter, and that large forces cannot pass through most of the terrain.

Historically, during the Yisi Incident, when the Qing army breached the passes, they did not choose major passes like Xifengkou or Taolinkou, but rather the Da'an, Hongshan, and other passes.

As for the Datong and Xuanfu sectors, it is even more vexing… the Ji Garrison at least has the Yan Mountains.

Of course, I don't really understand it either; I haven't done serious textual research yet. Discussion on this point is welcome.

Attached image 1: The Ji and Mi Garrison Great Wall

Attached image 2: The Great Wall at Datong, Xuanfu, and Shaanxi (noticeably sparser)