Chapter 292: Dorgon's Resolve

"Prince Regent, Prince Regent — Prince Su is a coward who fears battle. You need not lower yourself to his level."

Fan Wencheng's voice suddenly rang out, dragging Dorgon from his thoughts. Although he was a booi of the Bordered White Banner, he was not a sworn ally of Dorgon and Dodo; rather, he was closer to Hong Taiji, who had collected money from Dodo on behalf of Fan Wencheng's wife (the money, of course, went into Hong Taiji's own pocket). He was a veteran traitor to the Han — as early as when Nurhaci captured Fushun, he and Fan Wencai had "presented themselves at the army gate with swords," selling themselves into service as booi bondservants. At the time, however, he was not a booi of the Bordered White Banner, but a booi under Šoto of the Plain Red Banner, and a supporter of Hong Taiji.

But after Hong Taiji's death, Šoto, who had belonged to Hong Taiji's camp, somehow lost his senses and suddenly supported Dorgon for emperor. In the end he pleased no one, and was betrayed by his own father, Daishan, and put to death. A portion of the niru under Šoto's command was then assigned to Dodo, and so Fan Wencheng became a booi of the Bordered White Banner — and now Dodo could sleep with his wife whenever he pleased!

Whether or not it was because of the cuckold's horns, Fan Wencheng, booi of the Bordered White Banner though he was, still inclined toward Hong Taiji's son Hooge. He did not wish to see Hooge done away with by Dorgon on some pretext.

During the last Qing invasion of the passes, Hooge had loudly sung a different tune, citing the fact that he had never had smallpox as a reason to stay out of it, and in the end Dorgon had stripped him of his princely title. Fortunately, he had the merit of taking Beijing, which redeemed his offense and restored his princely rank.

But Hooge had not learned his lesson, and his head had begun to muddle again. He had actually proposed abandoning Shanxi and turning to attack Shandong — this was not only undercutting Dorgon, but undercutting the entire Qing state. If Shanxi were not taken, then even if Shandong were conquered, it could not be held!

Besides, if Datong and Taiyuan were hard to take, were Dengzhou, Qingzhou, and Qufu any easier? Dengzhou even had its back to the sea, with its own harbor, so it could not even be starved out by siege — it would have to be stormed in earnest. Setting aside how many would die, the question was: who would be willing to go? Which banner would be willing to suffer heavy casualties to attack Dengzhou?

If the Eight Banners would not go, then Wu Sangui's Guanning Army certainly could not go either! The man was "Zhu and Wu, sharing Jiangnan" — if Wu Sangui were sent, what if he simply defected on the spot?

If neither the Eight Banners nor Wu Sangui would go, then which of the remaining traitor armies could defeat the Keknan New Army?

So the proposal to abandon Shanxi and turn to attack Shandong was nothing but making trouble for Dorgon. If they really did that, the Qing state would end up with the same fate as the Liao dynasty!

"Hmph!" Dorgon snorted and glared hard at Fan Wencheng. "All you know how to do is make excuses for Hooge! He may be the late emperor's eldest son, but he has neither talent nor virtue. If the Qing state fell into his hands, how could he be a match for Zhu Cilang and Li Zicheng?"

"Your Highness, forgive this slave," Fan Wencheng said, cold sweat beading on his forehead now that Dorgon had seen through his thoughts. "Prince Su is, after all, the late emperor's eldest son. If he is dealt with too harshly, I fear men's hearts will not submit."

Dorgon grunted twice, looking extremely angry. But angry as he was, once the anger passed, he still did not dare rashly eliminate Hooge.

Because he and his two full brothers, Ajige and Dodo, controlled only two banners. Although the Two White Banners were extremely powerful (the Two White Banners were originally the Two Yellow Banners personally commanded by Nurhaci, and had their colors swapped after Hong Taiji ascended the throne), Hooge's side had the support of the Two Yellow Banners and the Plain Blue Banner (Hooge himself belonged to the Plain Blue Banner). Their strength was not weak either!

Moreover, the patriarch of the Two Red Banners, Daishan, had always supported Hong Taiji — it was just that Daishan and his two sons were like sworn enemies, which left the Two Red Banners divided and unable to give Hooge more support. And Jirgalang of the Bordered Blue Banner was Hong Taiji's trusted confidant, and likewise a supporter of Hooge.

So within the Eight Banners, Dorgon the Prince Regent was actually in the minority. It was only because the Two White Banners were better fighters, and because Dorgon was fierce enough, ruthless enough, and cunning enough, that he had gained the upper hand.

But Hooge, that mortal threat, was not someone Dorgon could eliminate just because he wanted to. The Eight Banners had only so many men — they simply did not have the capital to survive a split and internal strife!

Dorgon's face was full of fury, but his mind was exceptionally clear. He said in a deep voice: "The Shanxi campaign must be fought to the end! It must be won! If Shanxi is not taken, even Beijing will not be secure, and if Beijing is lost, everything is empty. Have Dodo, Ajige, and Wu Sangui attack Taiyuan together. There is no need to pursue Li Zicheng, nor to concern themselves with the fighting in the Northern Metropolitan Area. Even if the roving bandits and the southern army take Zhending, do not let them turn back their troops.

As for Datong Prefecture — Hooge, Oboi, and Geng Zhongming do not have enough men. Have Mandahai lead the Plain Red Banner's troops north from Daizhou and join forces with Hooge!"

Dorgon fixed his gaze on Fan Wencheng. "Fan Wencheng, you will go personally to Hooge's army and assist in military affairs. Tell Hooge he need not concern himself with anything else — only to keep Datong Prefecture besieged. We have given him the troops of the Plain Blue Banner, the Plain Red Banner, and the Bordered Yellow Banner, and We have also given him the Han troops of the Plain Yellow Banner. If he cannot even hold the siege of Datong, he deserves severe punishment!"

"This slave receives the decree." Fan Wencheng kowtowed, and at the same time let out a soft breath of relief.

At that moment, Ganglin, a Grand Secretary of the State History Academy, interjected: "Your Highness, at present the greater part of the Two White Banners, the Plain Red Banner, and the Bordered Yellow Banner, along with a portion of the Plain Yellow Banner, are all campaigning abroad, while the greater part of the Bordered Blue Banner remains garrisoned in the Liaodong homeland. Is Beijing not too empty?"

Qi Chongge, a Grand Secretary of the Academy for the Advancement of Literature, also said: "Your Highness, the southern court's forces are now coming on with great momentum — even the Kong family of Qufu has sent troops. Around Beijing there are only the troops of the Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Red Banner. Are they not too few?"

"Coming on with great momentum?" Dorgon laughed coldly. "That is all empty show! The only southern force that can fight is the Keknan New Army. As long as the Keknan New Army does not move, Zhu Cilang is merely bluffing, and there is no need to pay him any mind. We do not believe that trash like Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, and Xu Dingguo would dare come anywhere near the city of Beijing!"

"Then what of the main roving bandit force?" asked Holoi, the gūsa ejen of the Plain White Banner. "That lot numbers in the tens of thousands, and they look like elite troops! Though they surely would not dare attack Beijing, they cannot simply be ignored either. Otherwise the estates around Beijing will be ravaged by them. If the spring sowing is delayed, there will be a grain shortage next autumn."

Unlike Li Zicheng, who dared not hold Beijing, the Manchus were not at all worried about losing the great fortress of Beijing.

There was no need even for the Eight Banners' crack troops to mount the walls. The banner households within the city alone — the old men, children, women, and booi bondservants — would be enough to beat back Li Zicheng's army if they mounted the walls. And now there were virtually no uncontrolled Han Chinese left inside Beijing, so there was no need to fear internal disorder.

Beijing was already a city of the bannermen!

But the many newly enclosed estates around Beijing were not secure. The Han Chinese who had been forced into bondservice as slaves were very likely to rise up once Li Zicheng's great army drew near.

Once those estates fell into chaos, next year's spring sowing would be ruined. Without a season of spring wheat, Beijing would be starving by autumn.

Dorgon thought for a moment, then said: "Then have Luoluohun and Tantai lead out the troops of the Bordered Red and Plain Yellow Banners!"

At the same time that Dorgon made his decision to "put Shanxi first," in the Northern Metropolitan Area's Hejian, Zhending, Shunde, Guangping, and Daming prefectures; in Henan's Zhangde Prefecture; in the northern part of Shandong's Jinan and the Eastern Depot prefectures (north of the Daqing River); and in Shanxi's Datong and Taiyuan prefectures — all these places had dissolved into a single tangled melee.

Several hundred thousand troops of the Ming, Qing, and Shun — regular armies as well as miscellaneous forces and volunteer armies flying the banners of the three sides — were fighting a war of utter chaos across the land of North China.

The reason it was "utter chaos" was that this was a three-sided free-for-all! The so-called "Ming-Shun" joint campaign against the Qing simply did not exist!

On the northern front, on the Datong–Taiyuan battlefield, the Ming army was on one hand resisting the Qing offensive launched from the Xuanfu direction, and on the other hand attacking the western part of Taiyuan Prefecture, which was controlled by the Shun army, seizing territory in the Lüliang Mountains in order to open up a new base area.

And on the southern front, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, and Xu Dingguo, who had been sweet-talked by Zhu Cilang into joining the northern expedition, had decided from the very start not to engage the Qing army. Their purpose in sending out troops was simply to seize money and territory! They actively occupied ground that the Qing army had abandoned under the Shun army's attacks, and from time to time skirmished with detached units of the Shun army.

Their appearance, rather than being a northern expedition, was more like dragging the northern expedition down by the heels.

(End of Chapter)