Chapter 294: Wu Sangui, Someone Is Out to Harm You!

With the help of the future "Eight Greats," the Tartars and Wu Sangui camped beneath the walls of Taiyuan naturally lacked for nothing!

Although those Shanxi merchants could not collect rents this year either, they had plenty of money and plenty of channels for buying up grain. If they simply brought out silver and started buying along the Fen River valley, how could they fail to obtain hundreds of thousands or even a million shi?

Moreover, after Li Zicheng fled to Taiyuan, he strictly tightened discipline, forbade his soldiers from running wild, and resolutely carried out the policy of "exempting taxes and equalizing land," which made the peasants of more than half of Shanxi plant a season of wheat with great enthusiasm — all the more convenient for the Shanxi merchants' purchases.

Besides grain, the Shanxi merchants also supplied the Qing army with large quantities of top-quality gunpowder!

It must be said that back when Wu Sangui's men were Ming soldiers at Ningyuan, they had never seen gunpowder that good.

However, the success of the Shanxi merchants on the Qing side also made it easier for Zhu Cilang's Embroidered Uniform Guard to carry out espionage and infiltration.

Because there were also quite a few Shanxi salt merchants in Yangzhou, and although these salt merchants had been registered in the southeast for one or two hundred years, they still had roots and connections back in their home province of Shanxi. When Zhu Cilang seized the property of the four Shanxi-Shaanxi salt magnates, he extended his reach into Shanxi by taking over the subordinates of the four salt magnates — that is, the bookkeepers, shop managers, stewards, and clerks. The Shanxi merchant community was an enormous body, including not only the proprietors but also the clerks great and small — the standard for classifying merchants in this era was different from later ages. In later ages, "merchant" mainly referred to individual business owners and capitalists, excluding employees. But in ancient times, clerks and proprietors alike were all merchants.

Furthermore, the merchant guilds of the Ming and Qing all habitually employed fellow provincials. The Hui merchants all used men from southern Anhui, the Shanxi guild all used old Shanxi hands, the Chaozhou guild all used Chaozhou men, the Ningbo merchants all used Ningbo men, and Zheng Zhilong's people were basically all Fujianese.

And Lin Yihu, a Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was now disguised as the young proprietor of the Pingyao Jia family, Jia Busi (the name itself sounded impressive), and with a gift list in hand, he walked smiling into Wu Sangui's command tent.

Wu Sangui had just returned from inspecting the camp. Seeing a merchant standing cheerfully in his command tent, he frowned deeply. "Liu Sheng, what is the meaning of this?"

Indeed, this Prince Who Pacifies the West was busy — where would he find the time to waste words with some old Shanxi merchant? If the man wanted to offer bribes, Liu Sheng could handle it himself.

"Your Highness," Liu Sheng said with a smile, handing over a gift list, "please have a look."

"Ai." Wu Sangui merely shook his head, but he still took the gift list in hand, made a show of opening it, and then was stunned!

Because folded inside the gift list was a sheet of letter paper, and the paper was covered with writing — in Zhu Cilang's own hand!

"Withdraw! Everyone withdraw!" Wu Sangui closed the gift list and dismissed his attendants with a flurry of words. Only then did he seat himself behind the command desk, open the gift list again, take out the letter, and read it carefully.

At a glance, he was stunned again.

"This is not addressed to me." He looked up at Ren Yizhou. "You, messenger, have come to the wrong place. This letter is written to Liu Liangzuo!"

Lin Yihu smiled and cupped his hands. "Your Highness, the letter is written to Regional Commander Liu, but this is a copy. His Highness the Thousand Years ordered this humble official to deliver it to Your Highness. In addition, there are copies of two letters written to Regional Commander Xu and Regional Commander Liu of Yanzhou, which His Highness also ordered this humble official to bring."

"What?" Wu Sangui was utterly baffled. What did Zhu Cilang mean by this?

He lowered his head to read the letter, and after a while his expression changed completely.

"Th-this—this—" He raised his head and stared at Lin Yihu. "When did I ever say I would turn my coat?"

Lin Yihu smiled. "How would this humble official know?" As he spoke, he produced three envelopes and handed them to Wu Sangui with both hands. "Your Highness, these are the letters to Regional Commander Xu and Regional Commander Liu of Yanzhou, and one is from His Highness the Thousand Years to you."

"Quick, quick, quick — bring me the letter His Highness the Thousand Years wrote to me!" Wu Sangui was growing frantic. How could Zhu Cilang write such nonsense?

Setting aside the fact that now was not yet the time to turn and strike, even if it were, he could not tell Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, and Xu Dingguo! Were those three tight-lipped or not? Would they leak the news to Dorgon?

Lin Yihu took out the letter Zhu Cilang had written to Wu Sangui and handed it over. The letter was inside a sealed envelope. Wu Sangui tore open the envelope, took out the letter inside, read it through carefully, and then slammed the table.

"The Thousand Years is harming me! The Thousand Years is harming me!"

Liu Sheng looked at Wu Sangui. "Your Highness, what is the matter?"

"What else could it be?" Wu Sangui was so agitated he was nearly in tears. "He has arranged three Jiang Gans for me! Three! And he even wrote me a letter telling me to be careful, because Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, and Xu Dingguo are all unreliable and very likely in contact with the Tartars!"

Liu Liangzuo came from the Liao army, and there were men in his own family serving as traitors — men Wu Sangui knew personally. To say there was no contact, not even a ghost would believe it! And Liu Zeqing and Xu Dingguo were also warlords holding their own territories; it was easy to imagine them straddling several boats.

Now the battlefield situation looked unfavorable for the Qing army. Those three boat-straddling warlords might not immediately expose Wu Sangui, but once the situation reversed, what they would do was plain to see.

As for whether the situation would reverse, Wu Sangui had not the slightest doubt! He had fought the Tartars and the roving bandits many times and knew the true strength of both.

Wu Sangui truly wanted to weep but had no tears. "He—he—he — isn't this just trying to harm me? He's even my brother-in-law! How can he do this..."

Liu Sheng reminded him, "Your Highness, the Ming Crown Prince has always been a ruthless man. He imprisoned his father and drove out his younger brother, and when he reached the southeast he confiscated the property of four Shanxi-Shaanxi salt magnates and wiped out ninety percent of the Nanjing nobility and meritorious officials..."

Right! He was a ruthless man! He had even ruined his own father and full younger brother — would he care about me? Wu Sangui pressed a hand to his forehead and thought: how had he forgotten this?

"What exactly does the Thousand Years mean by this?" Wu Sangui looked at the messenger Lin Yihu and asked. "Does he intend to force me to turn my coat? But this matter absolutely cannot be rushed! The Tartars' thirty thousand men of the Two White Banners are watching me right now. Even if I turned, I could not defeat them — it would be suicide."

Lin Yihu shook his head. "Your Highness, this humble official is merely a Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard — what insight could I have? But this humble official believes the Thousand Years certainly values Your Highness and would absolutely not push Your Highness onto a dead-end road."

Wu Sangui rolled his eyes. He was already advancing down a dead-end road right now!

At that moment, Liu Sheng stepped to Wu Sangui's ear and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, do not be anxious. This subordinate has just thought of a way out..."

A way out?

Wu Sangui was about to ask, when he caught sight of Lin Yihu. Zhu Cilang's envoy was irritating just to look at!

"Envoy Jia, go and rest first." Wu Sangui said to Liu Sheng, "Liu Sheng, see him out."

"Yes." Liu Sheng answered, turned, and escorted Lin Yihu out of Wu Sangui's great tent. After a while, he returned.

"Speak quickly, speak quickly!" Wu Sangui said the moment he saw him return.

"Your Highness," Liu Sheng brought over a map of Shanxi and spread it on the table before Wu Sangui. "What do you think of this route?"

He traced a line on the map with his finger: south from Taigu into Qinzhou, Lu'an Prefecture, and Zezhou, over the Wangwu Mountains, and into Huaiqing Prefecture.

"This is to slip in behind the roving bandits' eastern army?" Wu Sangui frowned.

"Your Highness, once you enter Henan Prefecture, it will be a tiger entering deep mountains, a dragon swimming the vast sea!" Liu Sheng said. "Now is the opportunity... in any case, it is far better than us waiting idly beneath the walls of Taiyuan Prefecture!"

"Will the Prince Regent agree?" Wu Sangui hesitated.

"There is no need for the Prince Regent to agree," Liu Sheng said. "As long as Prince Yu and Prince Ying agree, that will suffice. Right now, news between Shanxi and the capital is intermittent, and those two must also be uneasy. If Your Highness is willing to send troops to strike the roving bandits' rear, they will certainly agree.

Moreover, Your Highness's relationship with the Ming Crown Prince is no secret, so how could they ever truly be at ease? They probably cannot wait for Your Highness to lead your troops south! Taiyuan here is nothing but a siege; whether Your Highness's thirty thousand men are here or not makes little difference. It is simply that Chen Yongfu might break out more easily. Taiyuan Prefecture itself can still be taken by the troops of the Two White Banners.

And once Your Highness reaches Henan Prefecture, you can advance to attack or retreat to defend, handling all sides with ease."

Wu Sangui thought it over, then sighed. "It seems this is the only way..."

(End of Chapter)