Chapter 263: Trapping Li Zicheng to Death

In the great hall of the Prince of Dai's Chief Minister's office, resplendent and richly appointed, clear tea had already been laid out for the guests. Luo Xiushen had changed into official robes and sat upright in the seat of honor. On either side sat Wang Yongji, Jiang Xiang, Gao Di, and the visiting Luo Yangxing, along with Luo Yangxing's deputy envoy Zuo Maotai.

At present, the man with the greatest actual power in Datong Prefecture was Regional Commander Jiang Xiang, followed by Governor-General of the Three Frontiers Wang Yongji, and below him Regional Commander of the Three Frontiers Gao Di — Gao Di had originally been Regional Commander of Xuanfu, and in the eighth month had received an order from Zhu Cilang transferring him to Regional Commander of the Three Frontiers, which was really just a change of title.

The power of the Prince's Chief Minister Luo Xiushen ranked below Gao Di's, making him the fourth most powerful figure in Datong Prefecture. However, because he could represent the thirteen-year-old Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong, when the Chief Minister's office held session, he had to sit in the seat of honor.

"Chief Minister Luo, Governor-General Wang, our Great Qing's marriage-envoy delegation is now on its way to Nanjing. Before long, your country's Crown Prince Regent will be the son-in-law of the Prince Regent. So the Prince Regent has decided to make another concession — we will no longer demand Taiyuan Prefecture, and will exchange it for Datong Prefecture. Taiyuan is far better than Datong; you must not miss this opportunity."

The speaker was Zuo Maotai. He had formerly been a Bureau Director in the Ming Ministry of War, then surrendered to the Shun and became a twice-serving turncoat, and later surrendered to the Great Qing and became a thrice-serving turncoat, even being promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

He had a cousin named Zuo Maodi, who had now returned to his hometown of Laiyang, where he was both observing mourning as a filial son and organizing local militia. He had been appointed the Ming's Shandong Militia Commissioner, had set up a Militia Commissioner's yamen in Laiyang county town, and together with several cousins had raised the Zuo Family Army, which had gained considerable momentum.

After Zuo Maotai finished speaking, Luo Yangxing took up the topic: "Before leaving the capital, this envoy had already received word that the marriage-envoy delegation had been granted permission to proceed south. I also learned that in early September, a mutiny occurred in Nanjing — the Nanjing meritorious nobles and meritorious officials wanted to oppose the Crown Prince Regent, so they incited the Capital Camps to revolt."

"Such a thing actually happened?"

"What was the outcome?"

"Who won?"

Luo Xiushen, Wang Yongji, and Gao Di all grew somewhat tense upon hearing this news and pressed for answers at once.

"The Crown Prince Regent won, of course," Luo Yangxing said with a smile. "The meritorious nobles and meritorious officials of Nanjing have all met with disaster — at least several dozen families will be wiped out! It seems some Donglin grandees were also implicated. The Crown Prince Regent will apparently have to spend some effort pacifying the interior. So the chances of this north-south marriage alliance succeeding are extremely high. You need not worry about war breaking out between Ming and Qing."

His brow furrowed again: "There is another piece of news. On the ninth day of the eighth month, the Xi Bandit's great army stormed Chengdu Prefecture! Now the upper reaches of the Yangtze are held by the Xi Bandit, and Xiangyang on the upper Han River is held by the Roving Bandit. If the two bandits should sweep downstream, how could Jiangdong ever know peace?"

Luo Xiushen, Wang Yongji, Jiang Xiang, and Gao Di exchanged glances. They all felt that if Luo Yangxing's words were true, then Zhu Cilang seemed to have no other choice but to accept the marriage alliance. Even if he did not, he would not go to war with the Qing dynasty.

Wang Yongji said: "The matter of exchanging Jin for Dai must have the Prince's assent. If His Highness approves, how should it be carried out?"

The Prince was only thirteen and could not make decisions at all, but procedure still had to be followed, so Wang Yongji could not nod his agreement immediately. Yet by now asking about the concrete plan for implementation, he was clearly prepared to agree to exchanging Jin for Dai.

"Of course, the Great Qing army will first help you take Taiyuan, and then you will hand over Datong," Zuo Maotai said. "Our Great Qing troops will march on Taiyuan Prefecture in the tenth month. At that time, the Roving Rebels will certainly respond with full force. You will pretend to ally with the Roving Rebels while secretly granting passage to the Great Qing army. Our two forces will join and march south from Yingzhou and Mayi, seize the two passes of Yanmen and Ningwu, then drive on Xinzhou and straight down to Taiyuan!"

Luo Yangxing said with a laugh: "At present, the Roving Rebels' elite troops are all in Shanxi. If we can strike them from east and north together and annihilate them completely, it will be far easier for the Ming court to take Xiangyang and Guanzhong. Such a fine opportunity — the Crown Prince Regent will certainly approve."

Wang Yongji glanced at Luo Xiushen. Luo Xiushen nodded and said: "This matter must be reported to His Highness the Prince of Dai. We will give you an answer tomorrow."

After escorting Luo Yangxing and Zuo Maotai to the guesthouse, Wang Yongji, Luo Xiushen, Jiang Xiang, Gao Di, and the others returned to the Chief Minister's great hall and began discussing how to reply.

Wang Yongji spoke first: "Commander Jiang, Commander Gao, Chief Minister Luo, do you think this matter can work?"

"I think it can!" Jiang Xiang was the first to speak. "Exchanging Datong for Taiyuan is always a good bargain. Taiyuan is far wealthier — its population and territory both exceed Datong's. Moreover, we could expand southward and seize Fenzhou, Liaozhou, Pingyang Prefecture, and those territories."

Gao Di also chimed in with a smile: "Yes, yes. Datong is surrounded by enemies on all sides, and it is hard to expand our territory here. It is stifling — better to go to Taiyuan!"

He was even more eager than Jiang Xiang to march south to Taiyuan, because as a Regional Commander he currently had no territory of his own. Living under another's roof, his days were hard. If he could go south to Taiyuan, he would have a chance to seize a whole prefecture and become a garrison Regional Commander.

Wang Yongji stroked his beard, and the longing smile on his face said it all.

He was a Governor-General! How frustrating was it to be cooped up in a single prefecture like Datong? If he could go south to Taiyuan, then he could at least "govern" more than half of Shanxi Province — far better than his present situation.

Now only Luo Xiushen remained. His relationship with Zhu Cilang was secret, so he could not use the status of "imperial commissioner" to overawe the others.

Without the status of "imperial commissioner," he was merely a Chief Minister of the fifth rank, principal grade. How could he oppose a Governor-General and Regional Commanders?

But could the Tartars' words be trusted? What if this was a scheme to borrow a road to destroy Guo?

"Governor-General, Commanders, this humble official believes the matter still requires caution," Luo Xiushen said. "Li Zicheng may be hateful, but he and we are now as dependent on each other as lips and teeth. If the Tartars truly crush him, can we really obtain Taiyuan? Would the Tartar caitiffs keep their word so faithfully? This humble official does not believe it!"

The principles of "when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold" and "borrowing a road to destroy Guo" were obvious, and expecting the Great Qing dynasty to keep faith after victory was somewhat wishful thinking. Yet Wang Yongji and Jiang Xiang repeatedly shook their heads.

Wang Yongji said with a smile: "The Chief Minister is mistaken. The Tartar caitiffs cannot be trusted — but can the roving bandits be trusted? If the Tartar caitiffs win, they may not necessarily break their word. But if the roving bandits win, they will certainly break the agreement!"

"Exactly!" Jiang Xiang nodded repeatedly. "If the Tartar caitiffs break their word, we can still simply walk away. But if the roving bandits break their word, we are dead men!"

He did not spell it out completely — this so-called "simply walking away" was nonsense. Falling into the water and becoming traitors was the truth of it!

If the Qing army really did borrow a road to destroy Guo, the few of them could still become twice-serving or thrice-serving turncoats. But if Li Zicheng fought his way into Datong — heh. Could Jiang Xiang survive? Could Wang Yongji survive? Could Gao Di survive? Li Zicheng would slaughter them all!

So the only thing they could do was to trap Li Zicheng to death.

Luo Xiushen also knew they were speaking reason. They were all men who had mortally offended Li Zicheng!

"But we still cannot fail to guard against the Tartars," Luo Xiushen said. "We cannot let the Tartars come by the main road through Xuanfu. Have them take the Flying Fox Road instead."

Jiang Xiang nodded. "That is settled. We will wait until our troops enter Taiyuan Prefecture city according to the agreement, and then we will hand over Datong."

"Our troops must enter Taiyuan Prefecture territory as quickly as possible!" Luo Xiushen added. "Go through Ningwu Pass into the territory of Zhenxi Guard. First establish a foothold in the Lüliang Mountains. If the situation changes, we can still send the Prince up into the mountains."

"Agreed!" Wang Yongji said. "That is what we will do. If it does not work, we will send the Prince up into the Lüliang Mountains."

Luo Xiushen asked again: "Then what should we tell Li Zicheng?"

The men in Datong Prefecture were naturally not hanging themselves from the Qing dynasty's single tree. They were also negotiating with Li Zicheng, but those talks never reached an agreement.

Because Li Zicheng's demands were too high. He wanted the Datong side to fight shoulder to shoulder with him, and also proposed that if Taiyuan came under Qing attack, Datong should send troops to Xuanfu.

How could Wang Yongji, Jiang Xiang, and the others possibly agree to such terms? If they agreed, would that not be inviting fire to burn themselves?

Moreover, Li Zicheng had suppressed many Ming-leaning officials and gentry in Taiyuan Prefecture, and in Beijing he had carried out a long campaign of torture and extortion. Wang Yongji, Jiang Xiang, and the others had long regarded him as a mortal enemy!

Wang Yongji snorted: "We will tell Li Zicheng that we have already received an order from the Crown Prince in Nanjing!"

(End of Chapter)