Chapter 281: Dorgon, Don't Get Too Smug

Beijing, the Forbidden City.

Before the not-very-spacious Hall of Martial Valor, a grand court assembly was being held with considerable ceremony!

This was the first time the Shunzhi Emperor had held a grand audience before so many uncles and elders since his second enthronement in Beijing! He was just a six-year-old brat who understood nothing except to fear his uncle Dorgon, so ordinarily it never fell to him to attend court.

Right, and there was no regency behind two curtains either, so the two empress dowagers above Aisin Gioro Fulin (the Empress Dowager Mother and the Empress Dowager Holy Mother) had no standing to sit behind Fulin issuing orders — Hong Taiji had an eldest son; Hooge was older than Dorgon. He naturally never imagined that the little child Fulin would become emperor, and so he never gave Empress Zhe Zhe and Consort Zhuang Bumbutai the two seals representing imperial authority, as Xianfeng had done.

So the six-year-old Fulin was utterly isolated at court, with no say in anything, able only to stare helplessly as his terrifying uncle Dorgon issued orders and monopolized all power.

"Hahaha!"

Uncle Dorgon was in especially high spirits today. The assembled officials had just finished kowtowing, and before Fulin could say "Rise," he was the first to stand, then burst into hearty laughter, startling little Fulin.

"All of you, rise! All of you, stand!"

At Dorgon's bidding, the assembled officials clambered to their feet and stole glances upward. They saw Dorgon, standing beside the little Shunzhi Emperor, smiling as he fingered his court beads. The solemn face of ordinary days was now wreathed in smiles. Seeing that the officials had risen and taken their places, he said with a laugh: "I've called this grand court assembly today to tell you all — a victory report has come from Prince Yu! Our Great Qing's heavenly troops have won another complete victory. Pingxing Pass, Fanzhi, Daizhou, Guo County, Xinkou Fort, and other places have all been taken. Yesterday afternoon Prince Ying and Prince Pingxi also reported victory — the Roving Bandit has abandoned the Great Wall at Gu Pass and withdrawn west. By now the main forces of Prince Ying and Prince Pingxi have most likely entered Gu Pass, and will soon join forces with Prince Yu beneath the walls of Taiyuan! Hmph!"

His tone was light and brisk, almost laughing, but then came a sudden cold snort that startled Fulin on the throne behind him. The boy stared wide-eyed at Uncle Dorgon's back, terrified that this uncle was about to find fault with him.

When Dorgon spoke again, his voice had deepened: "That scoundrel Li Zicheng had already destroyed the Southern Court. Had our Great Qing not righteously sent troops, the Southern Court would long since have ceased to exist, and every Nikan under heaven would have become slaves of the roving bandits, subjected to their torture and extortion. Now, again thanks to our Great Qing's heavenly troops, the roving bandits have been driven out of Shanxi. Our Great Qing may be said to have given the Southern Court a second life — yet how has the Southern Court treated our Great Qing? The annual tribute silver and goods they promised have all gone unpaid, and they spread rumors everywhere that our Great Qing's heavenly troops are going to Shandong to dig up Confucius's grave. They have also obstructed in every possible way the heavenly envoy our Great Qing sent to Jiangnan to proclaim the imperial will — Sun Zhixie has still not entered Nanjing. This is truly outrageous! Does such a Southern Court still deserve to be called a court? Is there any need for our Great Qing to continue dealing with such conscienceless sovereign and ministers?"

Hearing this, the assembled officials below understood. Li Zicheng now looked finished — even if he still had a breath left, he would have to retreat to Shaanxi and cling to life there.

And once Li Zicheng withdrew to Shaanxi, the only one left to contest the Central Plain with the Great Qing would be the Ming dynasty!

So the Ming dynasty had to be the villain, the evildoer!

"The Prince Regent is wise! Our Great Qing must no longer tolerate evil and let it fester." The first to speak was Zu Dashou, standing among the bannermen. He was now in an impossible position, with no real office, staying home every day eating old rice, yet having to pretend to be utterly loyal to the Great Qing.

With all that pretending, old Zu's acting had gotten better and better — he looked as if he truly bore some deep grudge against Zhu Cilang. He stepped out of formation, kowtowed to Fulin on the throne, and then continued: "Prince Regent, in this slave's humble view, the first priority now is to take Taiyuan Prefecture, and the second is Datong Prefecture! We must let the Southern Court's fatuous ruler and treacherous ministers know the might of our Great Qing!"

Dorgon nodded with satisfaction. Zu Dashou's words had landed solidly, shifting the hatred for Zhu Cilang directly onto Zhu Cijiong — after driving out Li Zicheng, dealing with the Ming's Prince of Dai was the top priority; otherwise Beijing would be under constant threat from the Ming troops at Datong.

And the second priority was not to go picking a fight with Zhu Cilang, but to neutralize the threat of the Guanning Army — neutralize, not annihilate!

The Guanning Army had to be brought inside the passes in its entirety, and kept far away from Beijing. Only then could Dorgon and the Empress Dowager Holy Mother Bumbutai close their eyes in peace when they slept.

Dorgon then turned his gaze to Wu Sangui's elder brother Wu Sanfeng. Wu Sanfeng hurriedly stepped out of formation and knelt on the ground as well. "Prince Regent, Your Majesty, this slave believes that while the Southern Court is indeed hateful and must be severely chastised, we must not take the roving bandits lightly either. However, the court's resources are limited, and it is difficult to deal with both the roving bandits and the Southern Court at once. Therefore this slave suggests establishing a princely fief in Pingyang Prefecture or Henan Prefecture, devoted solely to suppressing the roving bandits."

Dorgon nodded. "Who could go and manage Henan?"

He had already rejected the Pingyang Prefecture option — Pingyang Prefecture was still too close to Beijing, and moreover held the salt-field profits of Xiechi, which had to remain under direct court control.

"This slave's second brother, Wu Sangui, can manage Henan for the Great Qing." Wu Sanfeng was not shy about recommending his own kin.

Dorgon laughed: "Prince Pingxi is accomplished in both civil and military affairs, and has thirty or forty thousand households under his command — he can indeed hold Henan Prefecture."

He deliberately said "thirty or forty thousand households," and the meaning was clear: the entire Guanning Army, top to bottom, was to pack up and leave together.

Wu Sanfeng hastily kowtowed to Dorgon: "This slave thanks the Prince Regent for his grace."

Dorgon smiled: "Don't thank me yet. Prince Pingxi must first take Taiyuan, and only then can he go to garrison Henan."

Taiyuan was a strong city, and Dorgon was unwilling to send the Eight Banners' heavenly troops against such fortifications, so he tossed it to Wu Sangui to assault.

According to his plan, next Wu Sangui would attack the strong city of Taiyuan, while Ajige pursued Li Zicheng's main force — if Li Zicheng had not holed up in Taiyuan to await death. But Ajige's task was not to drive Li Zicheng to the death, only to chase him into Shaanxi.

Meanwhile, Dodo's force on the other route, after occupying Xinzhou and joining up with Wu Sangui and Ajige, would turn back north and strike at Ningwu Pass, and after seizing Ningwu Pass would immediately push into the territory of Datong Prefecture.

At the same time, the more than twenty thousand men Dorgon had stationed at Xuanfu under Hooge, Oboi, Wu Weihua, Shen Zhixiang, Geng Zhongming, and others would also launch an offensive against Datong Prefecture — thus forming an overwhelming, mountain-crushing momentum!

Dorgon reckoned that Jiang Xiang at Datong would certainly not dare resist the heavenly troops, and would most likely surrender without a fight.

As long as Li Zicheng left, and Jiang Xiang surrendered, and Wu Sangui — after taking Taiyuan — moved his entire force to Henan Prefecture,

then the Great Qing could free its hands to deal with the Ming troops in Henan and Shandong provinces! Once those were all cleaned up, the Great Qing would have occupied the Central Plain.

Since ancient times, whoever gains the Central Plain gains the empire!

At this moment, the somewhat carried-away Prince Regent of the Great Qing, Dorgon, could never have imagined that his happiness was a little premature.

Because there were still many, many surprises waiting for Dorgon!

The first surprise occurred in Huaiqing Prefecture, Henan Province.

Huaiqing Prefecture lay in the northern part of Henan Province, north of the Yellow River, facing Henan Prefecture (Luoyang) across the Yellow River, with Zezhou in Shanxi Province to its north.

In the early seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming, Huaiqing Prefecture, along with nearby Henan Prefecture, Zezhou, and Weihui Prefecture, had all fallen one after another into the hands of the Shun army. After the great battle at Yipianshi, the Shun army's power contracted sharply, and the three prefectures north of the Yellow River belonging to Henan Province — Huaiqing, Weihui, and Zhangde — were all abandoned. But Henan Prefecture and Zezhou remained in Shun hands.

So Huaiqing became a salient where Qing forces thrust into Shun-held territory. Dorgon had not paid much attention to this patch of ground, and had simply sent a meiren-i janggin of the Plain Yellow Banner's Han troops, Jin Yuhe, to lead troops into Huaiqing Prefecture and serve as acting Regional Commander of Huaiqing. This Jin Yuhe's rank was not low, but he had very few soldiers under him.

Just when the situation on the Great Qing side was excellent all around, and Dorgon was getting a bit carried away, Jin Yuhe, stationed at the prefectural seat of Huaiqing, received some bad news that rather surprised him.

A band of local bandits entrenched on Mount Wangwu had suddenly raided Jiyuan County town under Huaiqing Prefecture, and had even occupied Jiyuan County town.

With the situation everywhere so favorable, Jin Yuhe naturally did not want trouble breaking out on his own turf, so without much thought he led his troops out to retake Jiyuan County town — and plunged straight into an ambush laid by Tian Jianxiu and Li Guo, and was utterly annihilated.

Immediately afterward, the prefectural seat of Huaiqing was also stormed and taken by Shun troops disguised as local bandits!

Li Zicheng's counterattack had begun!

(End of Chapter)