Chapter 177: We Want Hong Chengchou (Please Subscribe)

Jiang Xiang's confidence was not without reason. Datong was one of the nine key border strongholds, a mighty city with few equals under heaven. The present Datong city had been built in the Hongwu era, when the great general Xu Da had overseen soldiers and civilians in expanding it atop the earthen walls of the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties. The wall's core was rammed with lime-and-clay mortar, while the outer face was laid with specially made, exceptionally hard and solid large blue bricks — bricks several times heavier than the common wall bricks used elsewhere. Moreover, the Datong walls were quite tall, taller even than the walls of Beijing, averaging some forty-odd chi in height!

Furthermore, the outer contour of Datong's walls did not follow the usual straight line, but resembled a gear, with alternating projections and recesses in orderly arrangement. The projecting parts were the bastion platforms, fifty-two of them in all! And now all fifty-two bastion platforms had cannon mounted on them, able to form a dense, interlocking field of fire!

The four gates of Datong prefectural city each had a barbican, an arrow tower, and a plaque tower, forming four independent fortresses. Even if all the other parts of the four walls fell, so long as the barbicans were not lost, Datong prefectural city could hold out.

Inside Datong prefectural city there was also a square "imperial city" — the former Prince of Dai's palace, located in the northeast corner of the city. It likewise had tall rammed-earth walls faced with brick, and could stand as an independent fortress.

Even if every other part of Datong prefectural city fell, they could continue resisting from the "imperial city"!

And after the Tumu Crisis, the mighty city of Datong had been expanded again. First a "parade-ground city" was built north of the city, an "east small city" east of it, and a "south small city" south of it. Because these three small cities lay close to the main Datong city and resembled passes, they were also called the Three Passes. Datong thus formed a defensive layout of one main city and three pass cities.

Later, two forts, "Jule" and "Gaoshan," were built several dozen li east and west of the city, forming the left and right wings of Datong. Thus was completed a defensive system of one city, two wings, and three passes.

So in the eyes of the soldiers and civilians inside and outside Datong, their city simply could not be taken by storm.

To ask them to abandon such a mighty fortress and go fight as guerrillas in the Taihang Mountains was sheer fantasy!

As for a siege, the soldiers and civilians of Datong were not much afraid of that either. For years Datong Garrison had faced the threat of invasion and had long been preparing, storing up great quantities of grain. If they could seize the time to lay in a bit more, the Manchus could besiege them for a year and still not necessarily starve the people of Datong.

And Datong was so large — to say nothing of the "two wings," even just the core one-city-three-passes could not be tightly encircled without seventy or eighty thousand Tartars!

How many Manchu Tartars were there in all? If they all came to besiege Datong, who would look after their wives and children? Could they rest easy leaving them in the care of booi slaves like Fan Wencheng?

They might come home to find someone else had fathered their sons for them.

Just as Jiang Xiang was thumping his chest and assuring Luo Xiushen how many years Datong prefectural city could hold out, one of his aides strode quickly in and saluted Jiang Xiang: "Commander, a relay dispatch has just arrived from Lingqiu County. It says the newly appointed Governor-General of the Three Frontiers, Wang Yongji, and the Regional Commander of Xuanfu, Gao Di, have arrived with five thousand troops escorting the newly enfeoffed Prince of Dai."

Jiang Xiang turned and looked at Luo Xiushen. "How is there another Prince of Dai? Is he of the original Dai princely line?"

Luo Xiushen shook his head. "I do not know. This humble official has had no contact with the court since the twenty-first day of the third month."

Jiang Xiang stroked his great beard and asked the aide, "Does it say who the new Prince of Dai is?"

"It says he is the Third Imperial Son!"

Jiang Xiang stood up. "Aiyo, then we must go and welcome him with full ceremony!"

He said to Luo Xiushen, "Guard Commander Luo, this garrison cannot leave Datong prefecture at present, so I must trouble you to make this trip and escort His Highness the Prince of Dai and Governor-General Wang back to Datong prefecture."

Here at Datong prefectural city they were opening the gates to welcome guests, while more than five hundred li away, Beijing at this very moment was shutting its gates and refusing visitors.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell upon the vast, gray-dark fortress, giving it an air of stern, inviolable majesty.

The seven gates of Beijing's outer city and the six gates of the inner city that led outside had been tightly shut since the day before yesterday, when Hooge and Kong Youde had led their troops to the foot of the walls. Not only shut, but completely sealed with earth and stones. So much so that all communication between inside and outside had to be carried out by hanging basket. The "loyal turncoat" Luo Yangxing had been hauled up and down several times over these two days.

Luo Yangxing rode the hanging basket out of the city, of course, to negotiate with the Manchus at the gates. To negotiate the terms of surrender!

Before, he had been a turncoat by imperial decree; now he was to be a traitor to the Han by imperial decree.

And the decree he was obeying was an order from Zhu Cilang!

The Crown Prince's order had been smuggled into Beijing on the third day of the fifth month by agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard — by then Li Zicheng had already left Beijing, and the combined forces of Wu Sangui and the Qing had

not entered Beijing but had gone straight in pursuit of Li Zicheng, so Beijing was temporarily in a power vacuum.

Luo Yangxing and Guang Shiheng, two certified "loyal turncoats," had seized the opportunity to step forward and become "peace-preservation chairmen." Of course, at that time these two "peace-preservation chairmen" were not yet traitors to the Han. They were genuinely preserving order, waiting for the Chongzhen Emperor and his son to return.

Then on the third day of the fifth month, Zhu Cilang's trap of an order arrived.

The order was addressed to Luo Yangxing and Guang Shiheng. Zhu Cilang told them that the court was negotiating peace with the Manchus, prepared to use marriage alliance, annual tribute, and cession of Liaodong territory as the price for getting the Manchus to withdraw from within the passes. To gain sufficient leverage in the negotiations, Zhu Cilang demanded that they immediately seal the thirteen gates of Beijing leading outside the city. At the same time, they were to recruit troops and deploy defenses to prevent the Manchus from entering the city.

In addition, Zhu Cilang told the two loyal turncoats in the order that he had already arranged with Hong Chengchou for him to return to the Great Ming, and would make him a Grand Secretary, Defender of Beijing, and Governor-General of Northern Zhili. As soon as Hong Chengchou arrived, they could hand over the city's defense, and then either go to the temporary court at Dagukou to receive their rewards or stay in Beijing to live as they pleased — it was entirely up to them.

This order was, of course, pure deception. Zhu Cilang had no intention whatsoever of negotiating peace with the Manchus. What was there to negotiate? The Manchus wanted to enter and rule the Central Plain, and Zhu Cilang was the reincarnation of the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor.

Would the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, have agreed to hand Beijing over to the Manchus? Would he have agreed to pay a million in annual tribute? Would he have agreed to marry a six-year-old Tartar girl as his empress?

Such terms were not even worth thinking about!

And would the Manchus stop at Yan and Yun, content with a million taels of silver a year in tribute?

That too was impossible!

So both sides were bluffing, and it all came down to who bluffed better.

And the pack of turncoats and traitors inside Beijing, along with the Manchu "heavenly troops" outside the walls, were naturally the ones being bluffed.

Luo Yangxing, that traitor who had served as Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander for over a decade, had now met a greater villain than himself and was being spun in circles.

On the Manchu side, Hooge, Oboi, and Kong Youde had not figured out the situation either. Although Dorgon's orders to them were to seize the opportunity to take Beijing, he had not strictly ordered them to storm it.

And Hooge and Kong Youde were not much inclined to spend their own troops' lives storming Beijing. How strong were Beijing's defenses? Even if Kong Youde's Han army had the Ujen Cooha artillery unit equipped with Hongyi cannon, blasting open Beijing's walls would not be so easy.

And there were Hongyi cannon on Beijing's walls too! If it came to an artillery duel, the Ujen Cooha artillery unit might not get the better of it. If it truly came to storming the city, the losses might well be catastrophic. And the losses would all be Hooge's and Kong Youde's own men!

Besides, the Beijing side had not said they could not hand the city over!

That Luo Yangxing had come several times already, precisely to discuss handing over Beijing. Of course, it could not be handed directly to the Great Qing, but had to be handed to Hong Chengchou!

The moment he saw Hong Chengchou, he would hand over Beijing!

As for whom Hong Chengchou then handed Beijing to, that was none of his concern.

To prove he was not lying, Luo Yangxing had today brought Zhu Cilang's order out of the city with him.

Below the walls of Beijing, Luo Yangxing met Oboi, the second-greatest Manchu warrior, who had come to receive him — though this Oboi looked somewhat listless, his eyes red, as if he had perhaps stayed up all night playing mahjong.

Luo Yangxing hurried forward and saluted. "Janggin Oboi, this humble official has brought the order of the Crown Prince, Guardian of the Army."

"Oh." The somewhat distracted Oboi hastily clasped his fists. "Guard Commander Luo, a horse has been prepared. Please mount and follow me."

Please? Oboi had actually said "please," and his tone was especially gentle!

Luo Yangxing thought to himself: The peace talks must have succeeded! Excellent — at last I can hand over the burden of Beijing.

(End of Chapter)