Chapter 156: The Traitors Are Treacherous, the Tartars Are Brutal (Chapter 51 Goes Live, Seeking Subscriptions)

"Haha. My daughter is to be the Empress of the Great Ming?"

Inside the tent, Dorgon sat sprawled wide-legged on a chair covered with a yellow satin cushion, stroking his thick beard, his small eyes narrowed, his mouth split in a loud laugh.

"Dodo, what do you think? Does my Dong'e look like an empress?"

Prince Yu, Dodo, was also in the tent. He looked much like Dorgon, only a younger, sturdier little Dorgon. Hearing his brother's question, he laughed and said, "I'd say she does. Dong'e is only six, but she already has the bearing of one who would be mother to the realm! Don't you all agree?"

"Indeed, Lady Dong'e has a noble bearing — a phoenix among mortals!"

"For the Zhu family's Crown Prince to marry the Lady is a blessing he earned over eight lifetimes!"

"This slave congratulates the Prince Regent, and congratulates the Lady."

A crowd of half-drunk Tartars joined in the clamor, all saying Lady Dong'e ought to be empress. Only the two traitors, Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou, did not know what to say.

For they knew the matter was truly strange — how could the Crown Prince of the Great Ming possibly take a Tartar lady as his consort? It was impossible!

But they did not dare say so now. Say what? That the Ming Crown Prince was too noble, that Lady Dong'e was unworthy of him? If they said it, would the drunken Dodo cut them down?

Dorgon had also noticed that the two traitors were silent, and knew they had things to say that were inconvenient to speak openly. So he dismissed the Two White Banner generals and Dodo from the great tent, leaving only the two traitors.

"Do you two have something to say?" Dorgon seemed in a fine mood. He had drunk a little; his face was ruddy, and a smug smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

"My Prince," Hong Chengchou said, "I fear there is treachery here!"

"Hahaha," Dorgon laughed loudly. "This Prince knows they are playing tricks!" His tone suddenly darkened. "The Zhu bandit's ancestors were no more than beggars by birth, yet once they became emperors their eyes rose to the heavens, and they regarded us as barbarians and caitiffs, disdaining to intermarry with us. Now that disaster is upon them, they think to use a marriage alliance as a stalling tactic! If they wanted to marry a princess to His Majesty, this Prince would have refused long ago. But they want Dong'e to become Crown Princess — that is not so easy to refuse outright."

Fan Wencheng asked, "Does Your Highness intend to turn their trick to our advantage?"

Dorgon glanced sidelong at Hong Chengchou. "Minister Hong, what do you think?"

"My Prince," Hong Chengchou deliberated a moment, then took out the Chongzhen Emperor's personal letter to him and presented it with both hands to Dorgon. "This is what the Zhu Ming emperor wrote to this old subject."

"Oh." Dorgon took the letter, unfolded it, read it through, then gave a few cold laughs. "Not bad — a marquisate, and Chief Grand Secretary besides. Hong Chengchou, why don't you go back to the Ming side?"

Hong Chengchou had long anticipated Dorgon would say this. He immediately dropped to his knees with a thud, kowtowing as he said, "This subject is utterly loyal to the Great Qing. Whatever terms the Zhu emperor offers, this subject will never return to the remnant Ming. In life I am a man of the Great Qing; in death I am a ghost of the Great Qing!"

"Heh heh," Dorgon said, watching him with a smile. "Get up, get up, stop kneeling. This Prince does not doubt you. I was only joking!"

"I thank Your Highness." Hong Chengchou voiced his thanks, then rose and stood before Dorgon, the very picture of a loyal slave.

Dorgon asked, "Hong Chengchou, do you think what this letter says is true or false?"

"That depends on who truly holds power at Dagu," Hong Chengchou said. "If the Chongzhen Emperor holds power, then it will not be false. The Chongzhen Emperor is a strict man, not given to deceit. The only time was when he first took the throne and fooled Wei Zhongxian. But Wei Zhongxian was only a slave; the Capital Camps and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were not in his hands. Even if he had seen through Chongzhen, what could he have done? But if the Crown Prince overseeing the army has sidelined Chongzhen, then it is most likely a trick!"

"Then what should be done?" Dorgon continued to watch Hong Chengchou with a smile.

Hong Chengchou said, "We can turn their trick to our advantage!"

Dorgon's small eyes narrowed. "By you becoming Chief Grand Secretary of the Ming?"

"Your Highness misunderstands," Hong Chengchou said, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "This subject means we may betroth the Lady to Zhu Cilang."

In truth, Hong Chengchou had already seen through Dorgon's mind. He was delighted by Zhu Cilang's proposal of marriage to Lady Dong'e — whether it came to anything was another matter, but the very fact that Zhu Cilang had proposed had greatly raised Dong'e's value. She was now a woman who could become Empress of the Great Ming! Nobility beyond words!

Moreover, Dorgon had no son, only this one precious daughter, whom he naturally spoiled to the heavens. But however much he doted on her, he could not make her Prince Rui of the First Rank! What would a female prince even be? So Lady Dong'e's future had always been to marry a Manchu noble or to be married off to the Mongols for alliance.

How could such a future compare with becoming Empress of the Great Ming? And how much help could a Manchu noble or a Mongol prince give Dorgon's power? To maintain his power, Dorgon needed large sums of silver. And silver could only be obtained from Jiangnan.

If a Southern Ming and Northern Qing division emerged in the future, Dorgon would be quite willing to have his daughter become Empress of the Southern Ming. And Dodo and those Two White Banner generals who joined the clamor probably shared the same thought.

They had not yet thought of unifying the realm!

Following Dorgon's line of thought, Hong Chengchou said, "The marriage may well be granted, and we need not enter Beijing yet. Let us see whether we can lure the Chongzhen father and son into Beijing. If it works, the Great Ming is finished, and the Lady need not marry Zhu Cilang. If it does not work — perhaps Heaven does not wish to end the Ming line, and the remnant Ming should then submit to the Great Qing and pay tribute. Bestowing the Lady in marriage to Zhu Cilang would then be the Prince Regent's grace to the Zhu family, and the Zhu family would surely be endlessly grateful."

"Is that all?" Dorgon looked at Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou was suddenly stuck. He did not understand Dorgon's meaning either. Surely he did not actually want him to play the part of "Qin Hui"?

Fan Wencheng, standing nearby, understood Dorgon better. He and Dorgon's family could be said to have a certain bond — had not Dodo seized his wife and played with her for a few days? And now he had become a slave of the Bordered White Banner (he had originally been of the Plain Red Banner). It was all fate!

Fan Wencheng said, "Your Highness must be thinking of sending the Eight Banners' iron cavalry on a surprise raid against Dagu?"

"Hahaha! Scholar Fan understands this Prince," Dorgon said coldly. "If the Zhu Crown Prince wants to marry Dong'e, he must first have the ability. Let him survive the blades of the Eight Banners soldiers first! If he survives, this Prince will consider giving him my daughter!"

"Your Highness is brilliant!"

The two traitors at once put on expressions of deepest admiration.

Hong Chengchou immediately produced another vicious scheme. "My Prince, at Shanhai Pass there are uniforms, armor, and banners of the Liaodong army. We can arrange for Eight Banners warriors to disguise themselves as the Ming Prince Ding and Wang Yongji, go to Dagu to meet the Chongzhen father and son, and seize the chance to strike and capture them all in one move!"

"Good!" Dorgon clapped his hands. "We shall do as you say!"

Just as Dorgon was preparing to arrange the raid on Dagu, a report sounded from outside the tent: "Reporting to the Prince Regent: the Ming Governor-General Wang Yongji and Regional Commander Gao Di request an audience."

Wang Yongji and Gao Di had also received Zhu Cilang's decree that day. The decree ordered them to advance on Xuanfu and Datong, appointed Wang Yongji Governor-General of the Three Frontiers of Xuanfu, Taiyuan, and Datong, and named Gao Di Regional Commander of Xuanhua and Duke of Xuan.

By this time Wu Sangui had already left Yongping Prefecture with more than ten thousand cavalry and was in pursuit of Li Zicheng. Wang Yongji and Gao Di, meanwhile, were escorting Prince Ding, Zhu Cijiong, out of Shanhai Pass to relocate to the city of Yongping Prefecture.

Dorgon did not interfere with their relocation. For what he wanted first was the infantry and the dependents Wu Sangui had left at Shanhai Pass, along with the common people who had migrated inside the pass with them.

By Dorgon's order, the Ningyuan commoners and soldiers' dependents inside Shanhai Pass were all required to leave the pass immediately and return to their original homes and garrisons at Ningyuan. These people were now leaving the pass in batches to return home — and their homes beyond the pass were now the territory of the Great Qing!

Once they returned, they would naturally become subjects of the Great Qing, temporarily under the control of the Eight Banners troops!

As for the more than ten thousand men under Gao Di and Wang Yongji, Dorgon had not left them entirely untouched. He had kept several thousand to hold Shanhai Pass and allowed fewer than five thousand to go to Yongping Prefecture.

In other words, of the original fifty thousand Ming troops at Shanhai Pass, only some sixteen or seventeen thousand now remained under the control of officers and officials still loyal to the Great Ming.

(End of Chapter)