Chapter 262: The Third Prince Zhu

In the ninth month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming, at the city of Datong Prefecture.

This famous city of northern Shanxi was both one of the Great Ming's nine key frontier strongholds and a trade route linking the lands beyond the passes with the interior. After Ye Qi's reform in the Hongzhi era of the mid-Ming, when the salt administration's kaizhong system was changed to the converted-payment system, the frontier passes fell into decline, and Datong Prefecture lost its former prosperity and began gradually to wither. But the greatest harm to this key frontier town was still to come from the Qing dynasty, which was about to establish its capital at Yanjing.

The Later Jin's second incursion in the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634) took place within Xuanfu and Datong. In the seventh month of that year, the Later Jin army split into four columns to raid Xuan and Da. Although they did not break through the city of Datong, they ravaged its surroundings for more than fifty days, besieging over fifty towns, forts, and stockades great and small, slaughtering and plundering without number, and finally withdrew at their leisure, inflicting severe damage on the Xuan and Da region. Outside the cities of Xuan and Da, all was desolation, bleak beyond measure.

Although ten years had now passed, Datong Prefecture had still not recovered its vitality. A little distance from the prefectural seat, the land was sparsely peopled and the fields lay waste.

Traveling north along the official road from Shuo Prefecture, a subordinate prefecture of Datong, toward the prefectural seat, one could still from time to time see the ruins of villages — broken walls and crumbling ramparts, utterly lifeless. At this moment Luo Xiushen, Chief Minister of the Prince of Dai's household, was on his way back to the prefectural seat from Hunyuan Prefecture with thirty or forty horsemen.

He and his men were all dressed as travel-worn jianghu gallants, wearing thick sheepskin-lined jackets, fur caps on their heads, treasured swords at their waists, and quivers and riding bows slung over their shoulders. Their faces were thick with dust — at a glance they looked like jianghu heroes who had traveled far, seldom washed, and cared nothing for wind and rain.

They were dressed this way because Luo Xiushen and his party had just come down from Mount Kelan. Mount Kelan lies within Taiyuan Prefecture and is part of the Lüliang range. This region has high mountains and dense forests, and its terrain is remote; since ancient times it has been a place where the king's law barely reached. Even in the Great Ming's prosperous days, many bandit chiefs and local strongmen held sway there. Now it went without saying — the Mount Kelan area, including the city of Kelan Prefecture itself, was not under the control of Li Zicheng, who held Taiyuan.

A dozen or so local bandit lords, great and small, now controlled the area around Mount Kelan. The most powerful among them was Zhang Xixian, the leader of the White Lotus Sect of northwestern Shanxi — Patriarch Zhang — and the city of Kelan Prefecture was now in Zhang Xixian's hands.

Luo Xiushen's purpose in going up Mount Kelan was to meet and negotiate amnesty and recruitment with Patriarch Zhang at the White Lotus Sect of northwestern Shanxi's main altar in the mountains.

And the purpose of recruiting Patriarch Zhang was to establish a "Mountain Prince's Residence" in the Lüliang range on behalf of the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong — the proposal to establish a base in the Lüliang Mountains had been put forward by Zhu Cilang through a secret edict sealed in a wax pill.

Datong Prefecture now hung isolated in the north, separated from the southeastern regions controlled by the Ming court by Qing and Shun territory, so communication could only be maintained through secret envoys.

And Luo Xiushen was an important piece that Zhu Cilang had planted in Datong Prefecture, so he naturally had a secret communication line to contact the Crown Prince. Thus, even before Zhu Cilang had gone south from Dengzhou, the wax-pill secret edict to "go up Lüliang" had already been delivered to Datong Prefecture.

The secret edict was written in Zhu Cilang's own hand and mainly addressed two matters. First, they must do their utmost to avoid conflict with the Shun army and the Qing army. Although the Ming forces at Datong were said to number eighty thousand, those truly capable of fighting amounted to only ten or twenty thousand — they could not withstand attrition.

Moreover, their very existence was already the greatest support for the Ming court in the southeast!

Second, they were to establish a stronghold in the Lüliang Mountains, recruit the bandit bands of Lüliang, and set up a "Mountain Prince's Residence" as a fallback.

The moment there was any possibility of Datong Prefecture being besieged by the Qing army, the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong, should immediately transfer to the Lüliang Mountains!

Zhu Cijiong was, after all, Chongzhen's third son — in theory, a genuine "Third Prince Zhu"! In history, the name of the Third Prince Zhu had haunted the Qing emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong like a ghost. Even in the Qianlong era, righteous men fighting to restore the Ming and overthrow the Qing still rose in revolt under the banner of the Third Prince Zhu.

Now that there was an authentic Third Prince Zhu, how could Zhu Cilang not make good use of him? And to make good use of the Third Prince Zhu as a theme, the first thing was to keep him from being captured by the Qing.

But the city of Datong Prefecture, where the "Third Prince Zhu" now was, was truly not very secure. The walls were strong, but the provisions within were somewhat scarce — one had only to look at the desolation across Datong Prefecture to know that!

Even though Wang Yongji and Jiang Xiang had tried every means to raise supplies, they had not managed to gather enough grain and fodder to let Datong hold out for very long.

Going up Lüliang was the only way.

So during the eighth and ninth months of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Luo Xiushen had been traveling back and forth between Mount Kelan and Datong, carrying the amnesty decree issued in the name of the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong, to meet and negotiate with the various mountain lords on Mount Kelan.

And for ease of travel and secrecy, Luo Xiushen, a Chief Minister of a princely household, had no choice but to disguise himself as a jianghu hero, leaving Datong and going up into the Taihang range.

But his efforts over the past month had not been in vain — he had successfully won over the White Lotus Sect's chief leader on Mount Kelan, Zhang Xixian. The terms were to enfeoff Zhang Xixian as Marquis of Kelan and let the Zhang family hold Kelan Prefecture in perpetuity!

As long as the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong, agreed, Zhang Xixian would help the Prince of Dai's household build a princely fortress stronghold in the strategically difficult Lüliang Mountains.

The terms were settled; the only question now was whether Wang Yongji and Jiang Xiang could agree. Thinking of Wang Yongji and Jiang Xiang, Luo Xiushen could not help frowning.

These two feared the Qing and hated the Shun; they dreaded war with the Qing army, and at the same time could not resist the temptations of the Shanxi gentry and wealthy merchants who kept coming from Taiyuan Prefecture, wanting to march south and seize Taiyuan Prefecture. They had little interest in establishing a stronghold on Mount Kelan.

So while Luo Xiushen was traveling back and forth to Mount Kelan, Wang Yongji and Jiang Xiang were secretly making contact with Beijing!

"Chief Minister, there are quite a few people outside the Ying'en Gate at the East Pass! Could they be here to welcome us?"

One of Luo Xiushen's clansmen suddenly shouted, interrupting Luo Xiushen, who had been pondering matters as he rode. He looked up and saw that the tall, sturdy East Pass fortress of Datong was almost upon them. Outside the Ying'en Gate, the east gate of the East Pass, a crowd of officials in neat robes and soldiers in mandarin-duck battle jackets had gathered — clearly waiting to welcome someone. But it could not be Luo Xiushen and his party, because Luo Xiushen had not notified Datong Prefecture of when he would return.

"They're not welcoming us." Luo Xiushen frowned deeply, already seized by a sense of foreboding. "Let's go take a look!"

As he and his men spurred their horses toward the Ying'en Gate, several riders came out from the gate to meet them. The lead rider was a junior officer who recognized Luo Xiushen and hastily dismounted to salute.

"What's going on? Who's coming?" Luo Xiushen asked.

"It's the Chief Minister's elder brother who is coming!"

Luo Yangxing had come!

Luo Xiushen frowned. Luo Yangxing was a high official on the Qing side — what was he doing here?

"Do you know what he's come for?"

"I caught a bit of it — seems the Great Qing's Emperor is to arrive at the capital on the first day of the tenth month!"

"That fast." Luo Xiushen's frown deepened.

If the Qing's Shunzhi Emperor reached Beijing, it would mean the Qing had completed moving their capital. That meant the time left for the Prince of Dai and Li Zicheng was running short!

If the two sides could not form an alliance, or even remained hostile to each other, the situation in Shanxi would likely become hopeless.

"Master, Datong Prefecture is just ahead!"

Luo Yangxing, who had been sitting in a jolting carriage with his eyes closed in rest, was disturbed by one of his attendants. The carriage curtain was lifted, sunlight streamed in, and Luo Yangxing narrowed his eyes, gazing ahead against the afterglow of the setting sun. In the distance a tall, golden city loomed into view, majestic and magnificent, standing upon the desolate land of northern Shanxi.

Luo Yangxing sighed: "Such a mighty city — how many more days can it hold?"

His lament was not without cause. Although Dorgon had not yet decided to attack Datong Prefecture, anyone with a brain knew it was only a matter of time!

Compared with Datong, the Taiyuan held by Li Zicheng was the greater threat. So Dorgon would inevitably choose to deal with Taiyuan first and attack Datong afterward. And to keep Datong in check, Dorgon had this time produced an extremely tempting offer — exchange Taiyuan for Datong!

According to Dorgon, the Great Qing was a second Great Liao — they did not presume to covet the whole realm, but only wanted to take the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. Datong Prefecture was part of the Sixteen Prefectures, so it must be handed over to the Great Qing. Taiyuan, however, was not part of the Sixteen Prefectures, and could be given to the Prince of Dai to rule.

(End of Chapter)