Chapter 1752: This Great Khan Wants a Battle of Soldiers — Do You Dare?

~10 min read 1,923 words

"Great Khan, the Southern Emperor has agreed to a battle of wits! There's geometry, the study of things, Western philosophy, Christian theology, Latin, French, and whatnot — which one will you choose to contest him in?"

Before long, Dorgon was back outside the Later Jin army's main camp, holding a merit-record booklet filled with a list of subjects he had never even heard of, and he came to ask Hong Taiji about them.

Hong Taiji was a bit baffled as he listened. What sort of learning was all this? How had this Great Khan never heard of any of it?

In truth, this Hong Taiji had loved learning since childhood and was the earliest among the Later Jin's Beiles and Beizis to become literate. He could read the entire Romance of the Three Kingdoms on his own, and he also understood Mongolian, Manchu, and Chinese. He could even do arithmetic — addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division without counting on his fingers! Was that not learning enough? Yet as for the subjects Dorgon mentioned, never mind knowing them, he had never even heard of them. How was he supposed to compete in that?

"Compete in what!" Hong Taiji glared at Dorgon in annoyance. "We're at war right now! What battle of wits, what battle of courage — war is a battle of soldiers!"

Dorgon nodded admiringly. "The Great Khan means to offer a formal challenge, then?"

"A formal challenge — now that's not a bad idea!" Hong Taiji's brow furrowed. "We can pick terrain that favors us a bit and fight the southern army in an open, honorable battle!"

"Great Khan," Dorgon reminded him in a low voice, "would the Southern Emperor agree to terrain that favors us?"

Hong Taiji chuckled. "Terrain that favors us may not necessarily disfavor him."

Favorable to both sides? What kind of terrain was that?

Even the "Clever Beile" Dorgon's brain wasn't enough for this. He just stared blankly at Hong Taiji. "Great Khan, where do you intend to make the appointment? On the west bank of the Ji Canal?"

He assumed Hong Taiji wanted to lure the Southern Emperor Zhu Youjian's great army across the river, then strike them mid-crossing.

"Why by the Ji Canal?" Hong Taiji shook his head and said, "We shall fight the southern troops at Tangzhi Mountain! Tangzhi Mountain lies between Miyun and Shunyi, near the Moyu Valley section of the Great Wall."

"Tangzhi Mountain?" Dorgon had been there. The scenery was quite fine, with several estates belonging to Beijing's ennobled families, and many wheat fields all around. The Later Jin army had rested there for a few days while advancing west (actually, they had been cutting wheat in the fields near Tangzhi Mountain). "Great Khan, the terrain there isn't particularly advantageous. Tangzhi Mountain is just a few small hillocks, flat open country all around, though there is a large stretch of dense forest near the Great Wall... Ah, Great Khan, do you mean that if things go badly, we can withdraw through Moyu Valley and out past the Wall?"

Hong Taiji was, after all, astute. With the war having reached this point, he naturally already had thoughts of withdrawal — the battle at the pass had been a loss, but not a severe one, and there was still time to cut losses immediately.

But Hong Taiji also knew that the Beiles and Beizis who had entered the pass with him were not necessarily willing to return empty-handed. In the past few days, when everyone gathered for councils of war, quite a few Beiles and Beizis had proposed going south of the Tongzhou–Beijing line to try their luck.

They would sooner die than believe that every fortress inside the Wall was as strong as Zunhua, Yutian, Jizhou, Pinggu, Shunyi, and Changping. If they were all this sturdy and the garrisons all fought this well, why would the southerners have built the Great Wall in the first place?

But Hong Taiji did not dare risk going south. It was not that the region south of the Tongzhou–Beijing line was a dragon's pool or tiger's den, but rather that he worried the Kharchin Mongol tribes beyond the Ji Garrison section of the Wall had all been dealt with by Zhu Youjian and that pair of wretches, he and Uriankhai.

The terrain beyond the Ji Garrison Wall was extremely complex, full of mountain ridges and hidden valleys. Without the help of the Kharchin Mongols, it would be very difficult for Hong Taiji to pass through there, bypass Shanhai Pass, and strike directly at the Ji Garrison Wall.

And once the Kharchin Mongol tribes beyond the Ji Garrison Wall were controlled or driven off by Zhu Youjian and Uriankhai, it would be no easy matter for Hong Taiji's great army to return safely. Seizing great wealth south of Beijing–Tongzhou but being unable to bring it back to Shenyang would be utterly meaningless to Hong Taiji.

Of course, in recent days Hong Taiji had been working hard to keep the army's morale steady by suppressing the news that the Kharchin Mongols had already been chastised by Zhu Youjian and the Grand Princess Uriankhai.

Those Kharchin Mongol warriors who had crossed the Wall and joined Hong Taiji's army had all vanished from the face of the earth. So apart from a very few Later Jin high commanders and Hong Taiji's trusted confidants, not many in the Later Jin army knew this news.

And Dorgon was one of the few well-informed people!

Hong Taiji nodded to this fourteenth younger brother of his and said in a low voice, "When the army begins to move, you and Ajige take the men of the two White Banners and go first to seize the Moyu Valley pass. There must be no mistake!"

Unlike the previous shouting back and forth across the Ji Canal, this time Hong Taiji very formally dispatched a military envoy to deliver a formal letter of challenge to Zhu Youjian.

The envoy who delivered the challenge was a boy of fifteen or sixteen named Zhang Squad Leader — the very same Squad Leader slave who always fell just short of being promoted to full bannerman. Last time he had been defeated outside Zunhua County, and after returning he had received a beating. But Fan Wencheng had spoken on his behalf, and the punishment was put on record. If he could not earn merit to atone for his offense during the westward advance, he would be severely beaten upon their return.

So when Fan Wencheng approached him and told him to deliver the letter of challenge to the little Ming emperor across the Ji River, he agreed without much thought — never once considering the saying "kill the envoy."

"What is your name, child?" Zhu Youjian received Zhang Squad Leader in a dilapidated temple on the east bank of the Ji Canal, and naturally did not reveal that he himself was the Emperor.

Moreover, he had kept a cautious thought in mind — he needed to find out exactly who this envoy was. If it was a notorious, name-known arch-traitor like Fan Wencheng, or some slave-bandit who would later become a major ringleader, then he would behead him first and ask questions later!

"My name is Zhang Squad Leader, a booi slave under the Bordered Red Banner." Zhang Squad Leader knelt on the ground, trembling as he answered Zhu Youjian's question. When he had accepted the mission he had been muddle-headed, but by the time Zu Kuan — that "fiend" (Zu Kuan had already joined the Headquarters Army; the man looked like a demon king, as if he might eat people alive) — hauled him before Zhu Youjian, he was already terrified beyond measure.

"Zhang Squad Leader — never heard of him!" Zhu Youjian muttered, and gave up the idea of beheading the envoy. Then he beckoned to Wu Sangui, who stood beside him holding a lantern, and told him to bring the lantern over.

By the lantern's light, Zhu Youjian skimmed through Hong Taiji's letter of challenge and snorted. "Tangzhi Mountain isn't far from the Great Wall. Planning to run if you can't win?"

How could they possibly not win? Zhang Squad Leader still had great faith in the Eight Banners' heavenly soldiers, and hearing Zhu Youjian's words, he felt a bit indignant inside.

Just then, Zhu Youjian took from Hei Wentao a writing brush that had been dipped in ink and dried, moistened it slightly in a teacup of water, and then wrote four characters on the letter of challenge: "Battle tomorrow." He tossed the letter back to Zhang Squad Leader and finally said to Zu Kuan, "Escort him back."

"At your command." Zu Kuan answered, then dragged Zhang Squad Leader away.

Once Zhu Youjian saw they were far off, he cleared his throat, swept his gaze across the main hall of the dilapidated temple, and let it settle on a young man in his twenties with a refined, handsome face and a tall, well-proportioned build. "Wei Xiaolian, in your view, can the Tongzhou and Shunyi militia fight?"

This Wei Xiaolian was a remarkable figure. His name was Wei Zaode — the very man that the unfilial son had used as his "Zhuge Liang," the first great minister of the Ming restoration!

He was a native of Tongzhou and had become a juren in the dingmao year of the Tianqi era, the seventh year of Tianqi. Because his father had died not long after he passed the provincial examination, he had been unable to take part in the metropolitan examination of the first year of Chongzhen; otherwise he would already be an official by now.

Still, Zhu Youjian had "looked after" him. When he appointed Gao Hongtu to organize militia in Tongzhou, he had specifically recommended this Tongzhou talent. So Gao Hongtu had taken Wei Zaode on as an aide to help with the militia. Wei Zaode's family was a scholarly, respected house in Tongzhou, and the man himself was quite capable — he had in fact helped Gao Hongtu a great deal.

The reason he had come to Zhu Youjian's army was this: after Zhu Youjian left the Wenyu River camp, Vice Minister of War Zhang Fengyi immediately dispatched relay riders to inform Gao Hongtu (who was Governor of Shuntian and thus could of course lead troops around within Shuntian Prefecture) and Lu Zhenfei, who were then stationed in Shunyi, that the young Son of Heaven was leading the vanguard toward Shunyi.

Upon receiving this startling news, Gao Hongtu did not dare delay. He immediately sent his capable lieutenant Wei Zaode and the Shunyi County Magistrate Lu Zhenfei, each with a company of militia, out of the city to search, hoping to lend aid if the little emperor ran into danger. And the Tongzhou militia under Wei Zaode happened to run right into Zhu Youjian.

"Your Majesty," Wei Zaode thought for a moment and replied, "this subject believes the militia of Tongzhou and Shunyi do have some fighting capacity, but..."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand. "There is no 'but'! Return to the city at once and convey Our imperial directive: have Gao Hongtu immediately muster eight thousand militia to follow Us on campaign to Tangzhi Mountain, to fight a decisive battle with the slave chieftain Hong Taiji!"

Strong chapter recommendation for the great Wu Yu's new book, This Ming Is Too Ferocious.

I've transmigrated — what do I do?