Chapter 1431: Let's Go Join Russia!

On the banks of the Songhua River, inside Huining City, at the headquarters of the Heilongjiang Protectorate.

In the study of Oboi, Protector of Heilongjiang, two men were now staring wide-eyed at each other, sighing together in despair. A rare guest had arrived in Huining City today — Jin Yueyue, Protector of Andong, who had hurried over from Jianzhou City on the shores of Lake Xingkai. Yueyue had come incognito, with a minimal retinue, and upon reaching Huining City had gone straight into Oboi's protectorate headquarters, barely alerting anyone.

The room was utterly quiet; only the faint rustling of paper being handled could be heard.

What Oboi and Yueyue held in their hands were "chicken-feather letters" sent by the Heilongjiang Protectorate's Court of Diplomatic Reception and the Andong Protectorate's Court of Diplomatic Reception — naturally, both courts contained no small number of the two men's trusted confidants, and upon learning that the true purpose of the "False Shunzhi Incident" was to strike at their masters, they had immediately dispatched a fast boat out to sea (fearing the land routes would be intercepted), traveling by water to Vladivostok.

Because the contents of the letter were so terrifying, they had reduced men like Oboi and Yueyue to nothing but trembling!

After trembling to the very end, it was the older Oboi who let out a heavy sigh, tossed the letter onto the table, and pressed both hands — covered in age spots — over his face. "The court wants to strip the feudatories. The Crown Prince wants to win more merit and prestige. Put those two things together, and they have to find a soft persimmon among the feudatories to squeeze. They don't dare make trouble for Li Dingguo, Ai Nengqi, or Liu Wenxiu. The old Zhu family's three feudatories — Anbei, Beiting, and Xiyang — and the Wu and Zheng families' three feudatories are all their own people, so they'd be embarrassed to strike. The Daning, Beiping, Shuofang, Liangchuan, and Xining feudatories have always been obedient, and Shizhou and Guizhou aren't even worth mentioning. That leaves just the two of us."

"But can't the old Zhu family learn a thing from the old Zhao family and relieve us of military power over a cup of wine?"

Hearing the mournful tone of Oboi's lament, Yueyue's heart was indescribably heavy; tears nearly fell. But he knew why he and Oboi could not be relieved of military power over a cup of wine, and so he sighed and said: "Old Protector, how have you forgotten everything we've done these years? Relieve us of military power over a cup of wine... do we dare hand over our military power?"

"These years, in our struggle for the Khorchin Grasslands and the Greater Khingan Mountains, we've clashed no small number of times with the Chahar Khanate and the Daning Army. To strike at the Chahar Khanate, we even colluded with Russia, even disguised ourselves as Russian soldiers, and even hired many white barbarians to pose as Russian Cossacks and Red Caps. These past few years, half of those rotten wars between the Chahar and Tumed Khanates and the Russians were fought by us on Russia's behalf — and the other half, the Russians were taking the blame for us, suffering the retaliation of the Chahar and Tumed!"

"Furthermore, weren't the remnants of the Khalkha Three Tribes and the Khorchin Tribe, who have been wreaking havoc on the Khorchin Grasslands, also stirred up by us? All these years they've been burning, killing, and plundering, and they've thoroughly enraged Huang Chuangzi — who knows how many malicious accusations he's filed against us with the court!"

Oboi slapped his forehead. He really was getting senile — he'd actually come to think of himself as a harmless, innocent warlord. He was, in fact, a scoundrel of a warlord who colluded with foreign powers, murdered and burned, secretly kept barbarian troops, and committed every evil imaginable!

Of course, Oboi and Yueyue had not done all those evil deeds without reason. Though their natures were wicked, they would not do evil without profit.

But in recent years, capitalism in the provinces directly governed by the Great Ming had developed so vigorously that it had begun to affect these powerful feudatories on the northern frontier.

Once capitalism boomed in the south, rich people were everywhere, in every valley and pit! Furs, eastern pearls, ginseng — supply could not keep up with demand.

Meanwhile, large-scale farms had appeared in great numbers in the Central Plains and Liaoyang, all needing mules and horses for plowing and transport. Although these farms could raise their own horses and mules, the cost could never compare to mules and horses produced on the northern grasslands.

In addition, the increasingly prosperous common people of the Central Plains, Liaoyang, and the Southeast had begun consuming beef, mutton, cowhide, and sheepskin in large quantities, which further stimulated the livestock industry of the Khorchin Grasslands.

The Khorchin Grasslands were wonderfully fertile — cattle, sheep, mules, and horses could be raised there at almost no cost. The Khorchin Tribe that had originally occupied the area had been driven off, and such a vast stretch of rich grassland lay there unused. Who wouldn't be tempted?

As for the furs and ginseng produced in the Greater Khingan Mountains, those were worth even more!

Wealth stirs the heart — how could conflict possibly not break out?

So the Shanxi merchant consortium, which was in league with Zhu the Third Prince, approached the Chahar Khanate and Huang Degong of the Daning Army, getting them to step forward and contend for the interests of the Greater Khingan Mountains and the Khorchin Grasslands.

And contending against Zhu the Third Prince's group of Shanxi merchants was the merchant guild headed by Jia Bushi. This group had deep ties to the Heilongjiang and Andong garrisons. Lured by them, Oboi and Yueyue had fallen into the water and become villains — though of course, they were already quite villainous to begin with, and they had a whole brood of Manchu sons and nephews below them who needed to eat, drink, and spend.

In short, all these years Oboi and Yueyue had led a band of sons and nephews, hired many wandering Mongols, Russians, and Cossacks, and fought the Chahar, Tumed, and Daning Army with great relish.

Of course, neither side could tear off all pretense — tearing off all pretense would mean civil war!

So Oboi and Yueyue began colluding with foreign powers, joining forces with the Russians of Nerchinsk and Yakutsk, and also taking in the remnants of the Khalkha Three Tribes and the Khorchin Tribe. They let the Russians, the Khalkha Three Tribes, and the Khorchin Tribe take the blame and charge into battle for them.

Oboi slapped his forehead, and suddenly remembered something. He said to Yueyue: "Vice Protector (Yueyue is not the official Protector — the official Protector is Ajige's son Zhu Hegong, but Zhu Hegong is still studying in Yingtian, so all real power lies in Yueyue's hands), we've given Consort Ning no small amount of tribute over the years — no less than a hundred thousand taels of silver every year. Can't she say a few words on our behalf?"

"Say what?" Yueyue exhaled. "She's just a clay bodhisattva — she can hardly save herself. I asked the messenger from the Court of Diplomatic Reception. The moment that False Shunzhi appeared, Consort Ning fell out of favor. Word is she's already been placed under house arrest, just waiting to be deposed."

Consort Ning Ajige would naturally be implicated in the False Shunzhi Incident! Moreover, because of her son Zhu Hegong, her ties to the Andong and Heilongjiang garrisons had always been close. She was also the sort of person who dared take money and dared speak up. Over the years she had taken no small amount of silver from the Andong and Heilongjiang garrisons (her son was the lord of the Andong feudatory, so taking money from the Andong garrison's accounts was not against the law), and she had spoken up for Oboi and Yueyue no small number of times. Now that Zhu Cilang was about to move against Oboi and Yueyue, she naturally had to be implicated.

So the day after she identified the False Shunzhi, she was placed under house arrest in the Yan Mountain Palace (Zhu Cilang's residence), and her title of Consort Ning was on the verge of being stripped. She was just waiting for Zhu A'nu (Fan A'nu) to be married off, after which she would take over as a slave.

Of course, Oboi and Yueyue knew nothing of "the deep bond between master and slave" — their information was not that well-connected.

"What?" Oboi drew in a sharp breath. "Even Consort Ning can't be saved? Then what are we to do? If we hand over our military power and go to Yingtian Prefecture, wouldn't that be..."

Yueyue made a throat-slitting gesture. "Sooner or later, our heads will roll!"

"Th-then what are we to do?" Oboi was getting on in years and had long grown accustomed to wealth and comfort; he had long since lost the spirit of his youth and was completely at a loss.

Yueyue was far more capable than him. He gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and said coldly: "Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreat is best. We can leave!"

"Leave?" Oboi was stunned. "Go where?"

Yueyue gritted his teeth and said: "Go and join Russia!"

"Join Russia?" Oboi furrowed his brow and thought for a long time. "Can't we just fight a battle against the Ming army here in Heilongjiang?"

Yueyue shook his head. "According to the report from the Court of Diplomatic Reception, only the two of us have been implicated in the treason case. And the Zhu Emperor is going to send the Crown Prince north to take command of the army!"

Yueyue paused, then continued: "This is to buy off our sons and nephews with official posts and titles! The Crown Prince is the future Emperor of the Great Ming. If he wants to recruit brave warriors from Heilongjiang and Andong, how many people will still follow us? If we insist on holding out in Heilongjiang and Andong, I fear we won't even know when our heads have been moved."

(End of Chapter)