Chapter 1717: Hong Taiji Is Coming!

Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku really do have connections!

Under their arrangement, Fan Wencheng slipped out through Guangning Gate on the west side of Beijing's outer city just before the city gates closed, then headed straight for Zunhua County, and finally found a very inconspicuous gap in the Ji Garrison border wall north of Zunhua County. A large sum of silver was spent, and Fan Wencheng was gotten across the border wall and into Kharchin Mongol territory.

Because of Zhu Youjian's grain embargo policy, all thirty-six Kharchin Mongol tribes had by this time gone over completely to the side of the Later Jin state. In Shenyang, Fan Wencheng was a slave, but once he reached the Kharchin Mongol camps beyond the Ji Garrison border wall, he was a lofty master.

Fan Wencheng found the camp of one of the thirty tribes and produced the Later Jin state's token. How would the other side dare slight him? They immediately prepared fast horses and an escort, and on the twenty-fifth day of the sixth month, they delivered Fan Wencheng to Shenyang.

And at this moment, Hong Taiji had just returned in triumph, having been back in Shenyang barely two days — at the same time that Zhu Youjian personally led the campaign against Datong Garrison, Hong Taiji had also mounted a personal expedition. The target of his campaign was the same as Zhu Youjian's: the Chahar tribe. However, he did not clash with Khutugtu Khan himself, but instead attacked the remnant of the Chahar tribe left among the Left Wing Mongols — the Duoluote tribe, which Hong Taiji had defeated once before. The previous battle by the Daling River had not completely wiped out this group of Mongols, but had driven them to the grasslands south of the Greater Khingan Range. Between the third and fifth months, another portion of Mongols broke away from the chieftains of the Naiman and Aohan tribes and joined the Duoluote tribe (one still cannot underestimate the rallying power of the Mongol Great Khan), so the Duoluote tribe's strength revived for a time. In order to completely suppress the Left Wing Mongols, Hong Taiji dispatched troops into the grasslands in the sixth month and fought another battle. Naturally, it was a complete victory!

After completely driving Khutugtu Khan's forces out of the Left Wing Mongols, Hong Taiji returned to Shenyang and began preparing a grand assembly of the Kharchin Mongols, the Inner Khalkha Mongols, and the Khorchin Mongols, so as to establish his dominance over the Left Wing Mongols!

Besides this dominance, the Tiancong Khan had another purpose in holding such an assembly: he wanted to dig a bit more grain out of the Mongols' hands.

The Great Jin state was doing well in every respect right now — except that it had no food!

Although the Eight Banners masters had not yet gone hungry, quite a few Han and Mongol booi had starved to death. With fewer booi, the strength of the Great Jin state was weakened!

Because the Great Jin state's production and the logistics supply of the Great Jin Eight Banners troops all depended on the booi slaves. Without so many booi slaves, relying on only a few tens of thousands of bannerman households, the Great Jin state could not possibly maintain its current fighting strength over the long term.

So the Tiancong Khan still had to find a way to get some grain to feed the Great Jin state's booi slaves. But the problem was that getting grain in these times was truly not easy!

First, although the Great Jin state itself occupied a good deal of fertile land, it had never had any real interest in farming properly. Especially after Hong Taiji ascended the throne — he attacked Joseon, attacked Ningyuan and Jinzhou, attacked Dongjiang, attacked the Inner Khalkha, attacked the Kharchin, attacked the Chahar tribe. He had fought every power in the surrounding region! Every troop deployment disrupted the farming a little, and the small losses accumulated, so proper farming became impossible.

Second, the various parties attacked by the Great Jin state also could not farm or herd properly. This was especially true of the Mongol region, where the westward migration of the Chahar tribe's Khutugtu Khan had created a power vacuum and multi-sided fighting.

With this situation, plus drought and cold weather, it was only natural that famine appeared!

And the strengthened blockade policy adopted by the Great Ming's new sovereign Zhu Youjian after taking power further aggravated the Great Jin state's famine — originally Hong Taiji had hoped to buy grain from the Ming through the Kharchin tribes, which had a tributary relationship with the Ming, but he never expected that this Zhu Youjian was a hard-hearted man impervious to all persuasion. No matter what soft words, fine words, or harsh words the Mongols used, he simply refused to sell grain.

Besides the strict defense on the grain issue, this Ming emperor's contraction in Liaoxi and strengthening in Liaonan also caught Hong Taiji somewhat off guard.

In the first ten days of the sixth month this year, the Ming army had actually completely abandoned Jinzhou, Daling River Fort, Xiaoling River Fort, Songshan Fort, and a series of other fortresses in the Jinzhou region, and had carried out a large-scale withdrawal.

Now the Ming army's forward position in Liaoxi had fallen back to the Ningyuan fortress!

At the same time, on the Liaonan side, the Ming army had become very active. During the months when Hong Taiji had his attention on the Left Wing Mongols, the Great Ming's Regional Commander for Pacifying Liao, Mao Wenlong, had made a major move at Jinzhou Guard. The Pacifying Liao Army first rebuilt the Jinzhou Guard city, then dug the Nanguan Canal and built the Nanguan border wall, and finally built forts and opened up farmland south of the Nanguan Canal, clearly intending to turn Jinzhou Guard into a major stronghold for the Pacifying Liao Army.

Jinzhou Guard was far larger than Pi Island. Although it was not an island, with the protection of the Jinzhou Guard city and the Nanguan Canal and long wall, it had become a hard bone to gnaw.

Although the Pacifying Liao Army's strength was limited and its threat to the Great Jin state was not too great, having such a thorn stuck in its back was still very uncomfortable.

But it was not easy for the Great Jin dynasty to pull out the hard thorn of the Pacifying Liao Army, so before Fan Wencheng returned to Shenyang, Hong Taiji had been mulling over the idea that if there was truly no other way, he would go attack Joseon once more, and by the way pull out the Pacifying Liao Army's Pi Island stronghold.

Although Joseon's spoils could not compare with the Ming's, in the end one could still dig out a bit of grain.

Just as Hong Taiji was preparing to campaign against Joseon, Fan Wencheng, whom he had sent to buy grain, returned to Shenyang travel-worn and dusty, and moreover brought back good news that Hong Taiji would never have dared imagine even in his dreams — the Great Ming was about to fall!

"What? What did you say? The little Ming emperor, like Emperor Yingzong of Ming, has been captured by the Mongols?" Hong Taiji looked at Fan Wencheng, whose face was covered in dust and who seemed to have suffered much on the road, and truly felt as if he were dreaming.

"This little emperor advanced rashly, underestimating the enemy, and was surrounded by the Mongols beside the Yu River outside Datong city!" Fan Wencheng said. "Even if he was not captured, he must have suffered heavy losses. And the situation at Datong must be extremely perilous. When this subject was among the Kharchin tribes, he had people make inquiries. The Ji Garrison border wall went on complete alert not long after this subject passed through. Great Khan, that is no ordinary action!"

Although the Ji Garrison border wall was on the frontier, it was not kept at the highest alert at all times. After all, the Kharchin Mongols beyond the passes did not have much strength. Unless word came that the eastern barbarians had mustered their troops, the Ji Garrison generally would not go on full alert.

"Great Khan, an opportunity missed will not come again!" Fan Wencheng said. "Regardless of whether the little Ming emperor has been captured or killed, the war between the Ming and the Chahar tribe certainly will not be easily concluded. And once the fighting at Datong becomes critical, the Ming troops in Liaoxi and at the Ji Garrison will surely be reduced. Would not our opportunity then have arrived?"

Hong Taiji frowned, still somewhat unable to believe it. Because in the ten months since Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, the various policies he had adopted all seemed quite seasoned, and truly difficult to deal with. They did not seem like the actions of a hotheaded young sovereign, but rather like the rule of a crafty old fox.

Would such an old fox really advance rashly, underestimating the enemy, and let himself be taken care of by that good-for-nothing Khutugtu Khan?

"Fan Wencheng, you mean to bypass Liaoxi and break through the wall from the Ji Garrison?"

"The Great Khan is brilliant!" Fan Wencheng, kneeling on the ground, suggested, "When this slave passed beyond the Ji Garrison border wall, he found that the Mongols there were all suffering terribly from hunger, every one of them wanting to break through the wall and plunder their fill — they simply could not fight their way in! If the Great Khan can dispatch troops to attack the Ji Garrison, there will surely be many Kharchin and Inner Khalkha Mongols following. With them charging in front, our Great Jin warriors need only supervise the battle from behind, and the border wall can be breached. If the Great Khan does not lead them to feast on the Ming's resources, this slave fears they will all be disappointed in the Great Khan and go over to the Ming side to become household retainers!"

Hong Taiji frowned, seemingly swayed, and said thoughtfully, "Fan Wencheng, what you say is reasonable. We have taken note. Later We will discuss it thoroughly with the Beiles. If everyone supports it, then We will take advantage of the assembly in the seventh month to lead the Mongol tribes together to strike the Ji Garrison border wall!"

He looked at Fan Wencheng. "When the time comes, We will give you brothers a chance to earn advancement by leading the vanguard!"

Fan Wencheng was instantly overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "This slave thanks the Great Khan for his grace!"

(End of Chapter)