Chapter 212: The Great Qing Does Not Rob Tombs

After three cracks of the purification whip, outside the Gate of Imperial Supremacy, officials wearing both Ming and Qing court robes together kowtowed toward Dorgon, the Prince Regent of the Great Qing, who sat on a chair beside the empty throne.

Dorgon's brow was furrowed, as though he had encountered some vexing matter.

He now had far more troubles than the Dorgon of history!

Several hundred li west of Beijing lay Datong Prefecture, ruled by a Great Ming Prince of Dai, still holding tens of thousands of crack troops, a mighty city of Datong as secure as if cast in metal, plus a host of small towns and forts, and a border wall besides. If they sent troops to gnaw at it, they would either suffer heavy casualties or waste time, effort, and grain.

Southeast of Beijing, by the mouth of the Wei River, there was also something called Sea Sand Fort, built on an island at the river's estuary. Though not far from land, for a Qing army with no navy, getting onto it would be no easy matter. Moreover, there was an earthen wall on it, and Ming troops who knew how to use firearms holding it firmly!

If they could not haul Hongyi cannon up there, then judging by the skill those men had shown with firearms at the Battle of Dagu, even several thousand true Manchus dead might not be enough to take that fort.

True Manchus were not cabbages — how could they be spent like that? Better to wait until winter, when the Wei River froze over.

So Dorgon now often discussed with his subordinates how to strike Datong, and simply ignored Sea Sand Island — a tiny little island was beneath the Great Qing's concern!

Besides Datong and Sea Sand Island, Li Zicheng in Taiyuan was not keeping quiet either. He refused to hand over Shanxi honestly, and was concentrating troops at Taiyuan Prefecture — clearly he meant to resist the heavenly host!

In the present situation, if Li Zicheng fled to Shaanxi, Dorgon would let him be for the time being. The Great Ming was not dead yet, and had even produced a Crown Prince rumored to be the reincarnation of Zhu Yuanzhang. They certainly had to concentrate their strength against him; otherwise, if Zhu Cilang were given a few years to grow, he might well come back fighting.

But the problem was, Shanxi could not be ignored! Shanxi was called a land girded by mountains and rivers, commanding the heights. If they did not take it, Beijing would lie under Li Zicheng's blade at every moment. The Great Qing could not possibly turn its full strength against the remnant Ming!

Otherwise, when the Great Qing marched south, Li Zicheng might stab them in the back and retake Beijing — and then the Great Qing would be finished.

So Dorgon's plan in the sixth and seventh months of the first year of Shunzhi was still: first Shanxi, then Shandong. Of course, before sending out troops, the Great Qing capital had to be moved from Shengjing to Beijing. Henceforth the bannermen would hold Beijing household registration, and dispatching troops from Beijing would be far closer than from Shengjing.

Once the capital move was finished, in the ninth or tenth month, they would join with the Great Ming Prince of Dai at Datong to strike Li Zicheng. After dealing with Li Zicheng, they would turn back and strike the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong — first surrounding Datong.

Once the siege of Datong was complete, they might perhaps free a hand to use troops against Shandong!

By Dorgon's reckoning, this time they had to have at least half the realm. Shandong was a must-take; on the eastern route they could not stop until they had struck at least as far as Xuzhou. Then they would see whether the remnant Ming was willing to declare itself a vassal and pay annual tribute. If so, the Great Qing would turn its forces to settling Henan and Shaanxi, and utterly extinguish Li Zicheng. After that, they could consider whether to unify the realm.

But yesterday Dorgon received word that the Duke for Perpetuating the Sage, Kong Yinzhi, had gone mad for some unknown reason and actually believed that the Great Qing had entered the pass to dig up his family's ancestral grave — what was there worth digging up in Confucius's tomb? When Confucius died, Confucianism had no market at all, so Confucius was not rich; what grave goods could there be?

Had the Great Qing expended such effort to fight its way in, lost so many men, just to dig up one profitless ancient tomb?

Was the Great Qing then nothing but a tomb-robber?

Absurd! The Great Qing only plundered; it did not dig up graves!

Even more absurd was that the boy Zhu Cilang had actually believed it, and together with that muddle-head Kong Yinzhi had issued the "Proclamation Against the Eastern Barbarians," vowing to defend the Confucian teaching and guard Confucius. He had even appointed Shi Kefa Governor-General of Seven Provinces, stationed in Shandong, to protect Confucius on one side and settle the Central Plain on the other.

This thoroughly vexed Dorgon. Because once the Ming court treated the Great Qing as "the enemy of Confucius," the Prince of Dai at Datong could not possibly ally with the Great Qing, and Shi Kefa in Shandong could not be left unguarded against.

Thus the Great Qing could not concentrate its main force against Li Zicheng, but would have to divide its troops to guard against the Ming armies in the Datong and Shandong directions.

Moreover, Dorgon had also received word that after Zhu Cilang left Dagu, he had lingered nearly two months in Dengzhou, during which time he vigorously reorganized the seven guards of Dengzhou and Laizhou, and set up large-scale local militia in the prefectures and counties of Dengzhou and Laizhou. Finally, in Runing Prefecture of Henan he enfeoffed the Prince of Tang, and moved the Prince of Lu to Qingzhou. He also granted both princes full authority to command troops on horseback and govern the people on foot.

Of course, none of these measures was what worried Dorgon most. What worried Dorgon most was that Zhu Cilang had left behind in Dengzhou a rather powerful navy!

The coastlines of Liaodong, Liaoxi, and Joseon now all lay under the threat of the Dengzhou navy!

"I have called everyone here today to discuss that 'Proclamation Against the Great Qing' — have you all heard of it? It was written by that scoundrel Kong Yinzhi, slandering our Great Qing with wanting to dig up the Sage Confucius's grave. There is no such thing. Our Great Qing also honors Confucius, and will in future hold examinations to select officials, so that scholars may also take exams and serve in office — how could we possibly dig up Confucius's grave? Yet that boy Zhu Cilang is ignorant, and actually believed it, and is set on making trouble for our Great Qing. All of you here, whether Manchu or Han, are good subjects of our Great Qing. Speak up — how should this matter be clarified?"

Dorgon spoke in Chinese, very fluently, and his tone was not grave — merely a little amused and exasperated, as if chiding a junior who had made a mistake, without any great malice.

Of course, this attitude was deliberately put on for the Han officials to see. Zhu Cilang had killed so many of his brave warriors of the two White Banners that he longed to seize Zhu Cilang and flay him and tear out his sinews.

But the problem was, he could not be caught, and could not be killed!

Zhu Cilang was a very troublesome opponent!

"Prince Regent, this slave believes that to clarify this matter, we must send Confucian officials as envoys to the southern court, so that the scholar-officials of the south may see with their own eyes how our Great Qing respects Confucian officials and honors Confucius and Mencius."

The one making this suggestion was Fan Wencheng. Now that Hong Chengchou was dead, his death had made most of the Han traitors who had gone over to the Great Qing cautious and prudent, seeking no merit, only to avoid fault. So Fan Wencheng had to exert himself a little more.

But there were always exceptions!

"Prince Regent, this slave Sun Zhixie is willing to proclaim the edict in Jiangnan!" This time it was an official in his fifties, with a shaved queue but wearing Ming court robes, who stepped out of line to memorialize.

He was the famous Sun Zhixie!

When Zhu Cilang had escorted the Chongzhen Emperor south to Dengzhou, he had been living quietly for years in his hometown of Zichuan County, Jinan Prefecture — long since an idle cloud and wild crane. Yet he simply could not resign himself, and wanted to attach himself to a new master. At that time Li Zicheng had already been defeated, and the Great Qing was riding high. So he and his household servants had shaved their heads into queues and changed into Manchu dress, hoping to welcome the Great Qing.

In the end he did not welcome the Great Qing, but instead watched Zhu Cilang "run wild" in Dengzhou and Laizhou, thriving more and more the more he stirred things up. Not daring to remain in Zichuan, he took his family to Beijing to join the Great Qing. Dorgon appointed him Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, but did not enroll him in a banner; he remained a Han official.

And at this time Dorgon had not yet enforced the queue and dress code in Beijing, so Sun Zhixie, who had shaved his head on his own, was something of an oddity.

"You are willing to go as an envoy to Jiangnan?" Dorgon did not know that Sun Zhixie was a notorious member of the eunuch faction (had Hong Chengchou still been alive, he certainly would not have let Sun Zhixie go), and seeing no one else volunteer, he nodded. "Then go. But under what title will you go?"

"This slave is an envoy of the Great Qing, and will naturally go to Jiangnan to proclaim the edict under the title of Imperial Commissioner," Sun Zhixie said.

"Ah." At this moment Dorgon rather missed Hong Chengchou. Now there was no one to tell him the inner workings of the Ming. Fan Wencheng, though also a high-caliber Han traitor, had not come from the Ming power circle and did not understand Ming affairs. As for the other Han traitors of any weight, none of them dared speak much now.

But the dead cannot be brought back to life! Dorgon could only look at the lifeless crowd of Han traitor officials and ask: "All you Han officials, speak — can Sun Zhixie go like this?"

Luo Yangxing, as the foremost of the Han officials, stepped out of line and memorialized: "My Prince, if Vice Minister Sun goes to Jiangnan under the title of proclaiming an edict, he will most likely be killed by the Ming Crown Prince — he probably will not even reach Yanzhou."

"I also think it will not do. Zhu Cilang is ferocious!" Dorgon nodded. "Then under what title should he go?"

"This..." Luo Yangxing thought for a moment. "This subject has heard that the Ming Crown Prince once sought marriage with Your Highness's daughter. Better to send Vice Minister Sun to Jiangnan under the title of marriage envoy."

(End of Chapter)