Chapter 383: They're All Experts on the Three Kingdoms, Aren't They!

Watching Dorgon's anger suddenly turn to laughter, both Zu Kefa, kneeling before Dorgon, and the Shunzhi Emperor seated behind him were baffled.

Zu Kefa thought to himself: Has Dorgon been driven mad by rage, or what? If he's gone mad with anger, does that mean he'll spare my life?

The Shunzhi Emperor, however, was thinking: So there really is someone in this world even worse than Uncle Dorgon! And that man wants to take that nasty girl Dong'e as a concubine — hmph, that's actually not bad at all! Once I take personal rule, I'll send Dong'e over and let that great villain of the Southern Court bully her every day!

"Zu Kefa," Dorgon said, looking at Zu Kefa, who was kneeling on the ground like a puddle of mud, and waved his hand. "Get up, get up. Look at that pathetic look of yours — has your Southern Court no men of unyielding iron will?"

"There are!" Zu Kefa said with a helpless look. "But the Crown Prince insisted on sending me. You see... I didn't want to come either!"

"Fine, fine," Dorgon said, shaking his head repeatedly. "You're just a messenger, and a turncoat at that. Killing you would only dirty a patch of ground!"

Wonderful, wonderful! Zu Kefa was overjoyed inside — his worthless hide had been saved once again!

He abandoned all pretense of an envoy's dignity and bowed to Dorgon repeatedly: "Thank you, Your Highness, for sparing me. Thank you, Your Highness, for sparing me. This humble official takes his leave, takes his leave..."

"Wait!" Dorgon waved a hand. "What leave? What kind of marriage-envoy are you? This Prince has not yet given his reply!"

A reply?

Zu Kefa asked with a smile: "Your Highness means—"

Dorgon asked with a smile: "Whom does the Zhu Crown Prince intend to make his Crown Princess?"

Zu Kefa shook his head. "I don't know."

Dorgon asked: "Not your cousin Wu Sanmei?"

"Hard to say," Zu Kefa said. "Duke of Quan Zheng Zhilong's daughter has also entered the palace. The Duke of Quan commands thirty thousand sailors and several hundred gunboats, controlling the seas of the Southern Ocean. Every year, from trade and tolls alone, he brings in over ten million taels of silver — the richest man in the realm!"

"Over ten million taels..." Dorgon drew a sharp breath. "Is the sea trade really that profitable?"

Zu Kefa said: "It isn't easy either. Out at sea there are red-haired devils, yellow-haired devils, and black-skinned devils, all skilled at handling gunboats and tower ships, and they often fight naval battles with the Zheng fleet. I've heard that the most formidable Western warships can mount over a hundred Hongyi cannons. So the Zheng family's ten million taels a year are all earned shot by shot and cannon by cannon!"

"Oh." Dorgon nodded and said with a smile, "This Prince understands now. Your Crown Prince doesn't dare marry this Prince's daughter because of the Zheng family's money, is that it?"

"Very well then, this Prince will make a concession. That girl Dong'e doesn't have to be the principal wife, but your Crown Prince may not establish a consort now, nor an empress in the future! My daughter will be of equal standing with the daughters of the Zheng and Wu families."

Was this for real? Dorgon was being so agreeable?

This time it wasn't just Zu Kefa who was stunned — inside the Hall of Martial Valor, everyone except the bewildered young Shunzhi Emperor was shocked by Dorgon's words.

Dorgon said nothing more to Zu Kefa, but waved him away, then dismissed the ordinary Han officials from the hall, leaving only the bannermen to speak among themselves.

"Prince Regent, that Zhu brat is toying with us!" Prince Zheng, Jirgalang, was the first to voice his opinion. "The boy is trying to provoke us!"

Dorgon glanced at him and thought: The boy is trying to provoke me! It's none of your business... just sit back and enjoy the show!

"Your Highness, we cannot let him get away with this!" Helohui, one of Dorgon's trusted men, now volunteered for battle. "This slave is willing to lead troops to raid Shandong!"

Dorgon glanced at him and said with a smile: "Zhu Cilang is probably hoping we'll send troops to Shandong, isn't he?"

"Prince Regent, why do you say that?" Jirgalang asked, puzzled. "What benefit would our sending troops to Shandong bring Zhu Cilang?"

"It would relieve the pressure on Li Zicheng!" Dorgon said slowly. "The Zhu Crown Prince must also be well-versed in the Three Kingdoms, and he knows the stratagem of driving the tiger to devour the wolf. He has seen through our scheme of driving Li southward... so he wants to give Li Zicheng a helping hand!"

He was absolutely right! Zhu Cilang was indeed a military strategist and statesman thoroughly versed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms — their levels were about the same, a true match of equals.

"Your Highness, so we just let this go?" Helohui asked.

Dorgon looked at Fan Wencheng with a smile. Grand Secretary Fan's brow was knitted into a knot. He was thinking of Hong Chengchou! He now knew that Hong Chengchou had been eliminated by Zhu Cilang's stratagem of sowing discord — Liu Liangzuo had told him. But he had never thought of seeking justice for Hong Chengchou; he was only thinking that if Hong Chengchou were still alive, he would surely know how to deal with Zhu Cilang's Southern Court.

And although he, Fan Wencheng, was also full of schemes, he did not understand the Southern Court's affairs well. He didn't know those Southern civil officials and great generals, let alone that Army-Supervising Crown Prince.

"Your Highness," Fan Wencheng had also noticed Dorgon's gaze, and now stepped out of rank and knelt to report. "This slave feels the Southern Crown Prince still has moves to come. This slave worries he may harass Liaodong from the northern seas."

"Moreover, in recent days Joseon has sent several waves of envoys begging for help, saying the wokou have seized some island called Jeju. This slave suspects the matter may also be connected to the Southern Crown Prince..."

He had guessed correctly!

But Dorgon couldn't care less — it was just a broken little island! And it belonged to Joseon; the Great Qing couldn't care less about it!

If the wokou really want to attack Joseon, we'll talk when they reach Hanseong!

But Ming troops raiding Liaodong was indeed a problem! Liaodong was the Great Qing's land of origin, where the dragon arose. If the Great Ming landed there, the blow to the morale of the Eight Banners would be considerable.

Zhu Cilang's mockery of Dorgon over the matter of Lady Dong'e was something Dorgon could endure. He could even, on the condition that Zhu Cilang agreed not to establish a principal wife, give Dong'e to Zhu Cilang as a secondary consort — after all, Lady Dong'e was not a princess, and for a Prince's daughter to become a Noble Consort to a Ming Emperor of equal rank with the Great Qing was not too great a loss of face.

But if Zhu Cilang sent troops into Liaodong, that Dorgon could not endure.

Dorgon was silent for a moment. "Over in western Liaoning, how many of the Guanning Army's dependents have already left?"

"Only twenty percent so far," Fan Wencheng replied.

"Make the effort to go to western Liaoning and urge them to hurry," Dorgon said. "They must all be gone before this summer ends!"

"Very well. This slave will set out tomorrow."

Dorgon nodded. On the surface, the Guanning Army's dependents seemed to be a bargaining chip for controlling Wu Sangui, but they were also a constant worry for Dorgon. For the Guanning Army's roots were actually the hereditary soldiers of the Liaodong border army, tracing back to the military households of Liaodong. These people had been soldiers for generations, and in their families there was more than one man who could take the field and kill.

Some of the older men and boys not yet of age could fight and kill just as well!

Take that Huang Degong, for example — he went into battle at twelve to earn bounty money!

Now the Manchus beyond the pass had essentially all entered the pass, so these forty thousand Guanning dependent households had become a relatively massive military-household bloc. If Zhu Cilang ever won them over, Dorgon would weep too late.

Moreover, the western Liaoning corridor still held many castles left behind by the Ming army. If some of the Guanning Army's surplus men joined with the newly raised hardship troops coming by sea to hold those fortresses and cut off the western Liaoning corridor, that would be a mortal threat to the Great Qing.

Of course, even without the cooperation of the Guanning surplus men, the Ming army could still land. A few hundred or a few thousand would be no problem; even ten thousand was possible. But much more than that would not be easy! After all, a landing force needs supplies too, and with the transport capacity of the Northern Fleet, how many men could be carried to Liaodong and western Liaoning? And what kind of threat could a few thousand or ten thousand infantry pose to the troops the Great Qing had left in Liaodong and western Liaoning?

But if the Guanning surplus men were won over, the numbers would be much greater — perhaps twenty or thirty thousand men fit for battle! And the Guanning Army's dependents also had many horses available. With their support, the landed Ming troops would immediately have cavalry!

So Dorgon had always wanted to move the Guanning dependents away. Even handing them back to Wu Sangui would be better than letting Zhu Cilang take them.

And now Wu Sangui had entered Tong Pass and set up his base in Ningxia and Gansu, content to hold the northwest — Dorgon had never expected him to fight the Ming anyway. As long as he could contend with Li Zicheng's men over Shaanxi and not cause trouble in the east, that was enough.

(End of Chapter)