Chapter 1076: Gege, Save Us (Please Subscribe)

Shengjing, the Great Qing Imperial Palace

The scene here had already become one of the most frantic days of abandoning the ancestral temple!

Inside and outside the palace, people hurried in and out with panicked steps. Beyond the Chongzheng Hall, great columns of black smoke were already rising as batch after batch of documents and letters were set alight. The white-armored soldiers standing guard hung their heads one by one, unable to hide the terror on their faces.

The Great Qing Prince Regent, Prince Yu Duoni, stood before the corridor watching the bitieshi beside him busily burning the "evidence of his crimes" — in truth, his crimes could not be concealed at all, and if he truly fell into Ming hands, it would mean certain death!

But now the northeast beyond the passes was a world of ice and snow, no season at all for waging war. So after driving Duoni back to Shenyang, the Ming army did not assault the city. Instead, the main force encamped at Liaoyang, with one detachment garrisoning Shalingdun, thus ending the fighting of the eleventh year of Hongxing.

Incidentally, while the main forces of both sides were locked in a great pitched battle, Shanhai Pass, Ningyuan, Yizhou, Jinzhou, Heishan Fort, Jinzhou, Fuzhou, Gaizhou, Haizhou, and other places had already fallen one after another to Ming attacks.

Of the former Ming Regional Commander of Liaodong's jurisdiction (the Liaodong Regional Military Commission's jurisdiction), only Shenyang, Fushun, Tieling, Liaohai, and a few other places remained under Qing control.

Of course, most of the vast territory of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission was still held by Qing forces.

Yet the Great Qing, for all its seemingly vast territory, was in truth a spent force! For in the early-winter battles of the eleventh year of Hongxing, Duoni, that prince regent who knew nothing of war, had squandered the last of the Great Qing's capital. Now only a little over twenty thousand men fit for battle remained, of whom the true old Manchu numbered fewer than ten thousand, the rest being Han Chinese, Solon people, and Barhu people.

By this point, Duoni had no other recourse. He summoned his generals for a council of war, and after much deliberation, they arrived at only two plans.

The first was to flee.

Shenyang could not be held. Fushun, Tieling, and Liaohai could none of them be held. They could only retreat east of Fushun Pass, rely on the mountains, make Hetu Ala Fortress their forward position, and use Jianzhou by Lake Xingkai and the Amur River as their great rear base, continuing to maneuver against the Ming army.

Of course, this flight plan could only buy a little time. Because the Ming army's fighting strength was too great — especially those Ming troops who had landed at the mouth of the Liao River, they were simply not human! Even if they withdrew into the mountains, with fewer than twenty thousand soldiers they could not withstand these wolf-like, tiger-like Ming troops.

Moreover, with Duoni fallen to such a state, how many would still be willing to follow him? If everyone kept following him, would they not all end up dead to the last man?

So flight could not last long; it was merely to buy time for the second plan.

And the second plan, of course, was for the Gege to save them!

The Gege was naturally Gege Dong'e. Duoni and his men all knew that Dong'e enjoyed favor, while Ajige was always being punished and seemed to be nothing but a punching bag, so begging her would be useless. They could only beg Gege Dong'e to save them!

Duoni now no longer wanted Liaodong or Liaoxi; he was even willing to cede one of Jianzhou or the Amur region, so long as he could become Protector-General of Jianzhou or Protector-General of the Amur, he would be fully satisfied.

One of Duoni's trusted personal guards ran in from outside, came before Duoni, and performed a daqian salute: "My Prince, the Great Monk Tongyong has arrived."

Duoni said: "Quickly, invite him in!"

It turned out to be Ajige who had come. This uncle of Duoni was now Nurhaci's sole surviving son. Lately he had been busy digging up graves — not tomb-robbing, but excavating the tombs of Nurhaci and Hong Taiji so that their coffins could be removed and reburied at an auspicious site near the summit of Changbai Mountain.

This matter was not only a great undertaking but had to be carried out in secret; if word leaked out, the Ming might well send men up to the summit to desecrate the graves!

Now that the work of digging up and reburying the dead was finished, Ajige had finally found time to return to Shenyang, and the moment he entered the city Duoni had him invited into the palace.

And the purpose of Duoni's invitation, of course, was to entreat him to make a trip to Joseon and beg the Joseon Queen Regent Dong'e to intercede with the Ming Son of Heaven, Zhu Cilang.

Having received Duoni's entreaty, Ajige dared not delay. The very next day he left Shenyang with a few young novice monks, braved the snow-blocked mountain passes, detoured through the Hetu Ala mountains, and headed straight for Joseon's Yizhou. At last, at the end of the eleventh year of Hongxing, together with that Bahana who had fled from Heishan Fort in Jinzhou (Bahana had fled to the banks of the Yalu River, then crossed into Joseon's Yizhou, where he met Ajige), he arrived at the Joseon royal capital, Hanyang.

"Gege, Duoni has truly lost disastrously this time. He lost tens of thousands of troops, and Liaodong and Liaoxi have been completely lost. Now he has only a little over twenty thousand soldiers left. He still holds quite a bit of territory, but the population is desperately short, and able-bodied men are even scarcer — it is a colossal loss! Look, what is to be done now? Can the Celestial Dynasty spare us?"

Within the Seonjeong Hall of Changdeok Palace, the great monk Ajige was sighing and speaking soft words to the Joseon Queen Regent Dong'e, who knelt seated in the place of honor.

Gege Dong'e listened expressionlessly, as though hearing about a matter that had nothing whatever to do with herself. When Ajige had finished, she remained silent for a long while before speaking coolly: "Twelfth Uncle, does this 'us' you speak of include Duoni, the chief culprit?"

"What?" Ajige frowned. "Duoni cannot be spared?"

Gege Dong'e said: "Twelfth Uncle, you yourself said the matter has grown serious. In this war, a hundred thousand or more will surely die, will they not?"

Ajige nodded: "I fear so. Even if not yet, famine will surely follow! Alas, so many able-bodied men dead — truly a sin! Amitabha!"

"Should there not be a chief culprit?" Dong'e asked.

"There should be," Ajige said. "But this chief culprit still holds power. If the Celestial Dynasty does not let him off, I fear more will die!"

"Would the Son of Heaven care?" Dong'e countered.

"Naturally he would not, but can the Son of Heaven afford not to care about the lands of the Amur?" Ajige said. "Russia has long coveted this territory, and it relies entirely on Manchu elite troops for its defense. If the Manchu are destroyed, who will guard the lands of the Amur for the Son of Heaven?"

Dong'e nodded: "That is a reason. But Duoni still cannot be kept! Otherwise where would the Son of Heaven's dignity be? And those who come after would not learn the lesson; in twenty or thirty years, once their strength has recovered, they might well stir up trouble again!"

"This..." Ajige shook his head. "Apart from Duoni, who could replace him? Yue Le?"

Dong'e shook her head and said: "You still want someone of the Aisin Gioro line to control the two protectorates?"

"Then let Oboi serve as Protector-General?" Ajige offered.

Dong'e gave a cold snort: "Did the Son of Heaven raise his armies for the Gūwalgiya clan?"

"This..." Ajige could think of no one. "Then who can hold the two protectorates?"

"Naturally, the imperial bloodline!" Gege Dong'e said. "Ajige is already with child."

"What?" Ajige was stunned. "Gege, you mean... the Son of Heaven wishes to establish two imperial princedoms in Andong and the Amur lands?"

Dong'e smiled: "Twelfth Uncle, how do you think I became Joseon's regent?"

That was true!

Ajige finally understood — how could Gege Dong'e possibly be so miraculously capable? Zhu Cilang must be scheming behind it all!

Zhu Cilang had made Gege Dong'e regent of Joseon precisely to pave the way for his own son to become King of Joseon. Dong'e's son would have the Joseon throne; why could Ajige's son not be lord of a protectorate?

Gege Dong'e continued: "Twelfth Uncle, the Son of Heaven now has ever more sons, and they must have places to be settled! He means to emulate the Great Ancestor Emperor in establishing frontier lords in abundance to ring and guard the imperial house. So the soldiers of the Andong and Amur protectorates will always have a way forward; the only ones without a way forward are Duoni and his line!"

"As for you, Twelfth Uncle, do you fear there will be no post of State-Protecting Dharma Master for you? If the Great Ming has no State-Protecting Dharma Master, our Joseon can also have one — and it can even be made hereditary for your descendants!"

"But..." Ajige hesitated. "But removing him will not be easy!"

Dong'e said: "Not easy? Twelfth Uncle... Ajige has deposited five hundred thousand taels of silver at the Jiale Market Bank in Jiabusi. All of it can be given to Twelfth Uncle to use as he sees fit. If it is only Duoni and his line, would that be enough?"

A trace of a smile appeared on Ajige's face; he was clearly satisfied. "If it is only Duoni and his line, then it may be worth a try..."

(End of Chapter)