Chapter 389: Please Mind the Chives

Surrounding Qufu and attacking the relief forces — these are all old tricks of the Qing army, but old tricks don't always work!

"My Prince, the siege of Qufu may well drag on for a long time!"

Fan Wencheng reminded him in a hoarse voice: "From what this slave knows, the southern bandits have been pouring resources into Qufu since last year. Governor-General Shi Kefa of the Seven Provinces has stationed himself right there in Qufu — drilling troops, stockpiling grain, repairing the walls. Qufu has likely become an impregnable fortress by now, and it won't fear our siege."

"There is no city in this world that does not fear a siege," Dorgon said with a smile. "There are only cities you cannot afford to besiege. But Qufu is not a city we cannot afford to besiege! So what if Shi Kefa drills troops in Qufu? Can the troops he drills defeat our Eight Banners soldiers?"

"Impossible!" Dodo said with a laugh. "If he had that ability, the Southern Court would not have fallen to its present state."

Dorgon nodded. "Indeed. And how much grain can he stockpile in Qufu? Enough to last a few years?"

Fan Wencheng said: "That depends on how many mouths are eating. If it is only a few thousand garrison troops, three or five years' worth might be enough. If there are tens of thousands or over a hundred thousand refugees, then it may not be enough."

Dorgon looked at Dodo with a smile. "Do you know what to do now?"

"I do," Dodo said, grinning. "This time we kill fewer of the Nikans and drive them all toward Qufu. Let's see how much grain Shi Kefa has to feed them!"

"Not 'kill fewer,'" Dorgon shook his head. "It's 'kill none if you can avoid it'!"

Kill none if you can avoid it? Dodo was taken aback. What was wrong with Fourteenth Brother? A sudden fit of compassion? Turned vegetarian and started chanting sutras? He hadn't heard anything about that!

"Fourteenth Brother, what did you say?" Dodo pressed.

Dorgon said: "I'm telling you to kill fewer people. Kill none if you can avoid it. Don't go slaughtering everywhere you march, understand?"

"Why?" Dodo was baffled. "Our Great Qing has been killing its way forward like this for all these years. Why stop killing now?"

Dorgon gave a bitter smile and spread his hands: "If we keep killing, there will be no one left to pay taxes!"

So the chives were running out. The Great Qing's territory now could not compare with the same period in history. Its firmly controlled territory inside the Pass consisted of Northern Zhili — excluding Datong Prefecture and the parts of Shanxi Province in the Lüliang Mountains — plus the four prefectures of Zhangde, Weihui, Huaiqing, and Henan in Henan Province.

In Northern Zhili, after the full "package" of land enclosure, house seizure, voluntary enslavement, and fugitive-slave laws had been carried out, the Eight Banners' heavenly soldiers had their houses and land — but the Qing court could forget about collecting much tax from Northern Zhili. The Eight Banners lords would never pay taxes or hand over grain, and of the thirty million mu of unenclosed land remaining in Northern Zhili, nearly half now lay fallow — those with the means to flee had fled, and those without the means had no heart to farm, all living in constant dread, never knowing when they might become banner slaves!

As for commerce in Beijing and the Tianjin garrison, it had withered beyond recognition.

On the one hand, because the north-south grain transport had been cut off, the bulk trade in goods between north and south had ceased, so there was little business left to do.

On the other hand, the economic foundation of the Eight Banners establishment was manorial serf economy, which prized self-sufficiency and had limited demand for commerce. The nine great imperial merchants and the port trade at Dagu were enough, and because the volume of business was not large, the taxes the Great Qing Imperial Household Department could collect were also limited — all of the Great Qing's customs duties went to the Imperial Household Department.

In Shanxi, because Datong Prefecture and the Lüliang Mountains were still in Ming hands, the war between the two sides had not ended. Endless conscription, levies, and support-the-front duties left no spare capacity to pay taxes to the court. Besides, the Shanxi merchants and gentry were quite loyal to the Great Qing, so the Great Qing could not squeeze them too harshly and drive them straight into the arms of the Great Ming!

As for the territory in Henan Province, there was no need to think much about it either. That region had been a battleground between the Ming army and the roving bandits for many years, fought over back and forth who knows how many times! Later the Qing army joined in as well, and showed no mercy either, nearly scraping the several prefectures of Henan down to bare earth. Any further scraping would have to dig beneath the ground itself — and then Hooge would truly become the Grave-Robbing Beile!

As for Shaanxi, it was now a three-way standoff among the Qing, the Shun, and Wu — if it wasn't bare earth already, it would be beaten into bare earth sooner or later. What money or grain could be expected from there?

So Dorgon, the man now running the Great Qing, had begun to worry about the shortage of money and grain!

"Fourteenth Brother," Dodo said with a troubled look, "if we're to kill fewer people, what about their property? Do we have to rob a bit less too?"

Dorgon nodded and sighed: "Yes, we have to rob a bit less. If we rob everything clean, the Nikans can't survive — they'll either run off or starve to death, and next year there will still be no one to pay taxes to the court!"

Right now the court has almost no revenue coming in, and is relying entirely on its old reserves. But Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan are all at war, and Liaodong and western Liaoning are not peaceful either — with border relocations and population transfers, the court cannot avoid sending money down.

And the Shandong campaign doesn't look like it will end in the short term either. And war costs money and grain. Not counting Wu Sangui's men, the Eight Banners soldiers and Green Standard soldiers under our own control together number two hundred thousand, and the silver flowing out every month is truly like running water!

Fifteenth Brother, your line of advance this time will run roughly along the Grand Canal — all wealthy, prosperous territory. If you can take it all, a great sum of money and grain will come into the treasury this autumn."

"But if we're not allowed to kill or rob, what motivation will the men have?" Dodo frowned deeply.

Dorgon thought about it and had to agree. Without permission to rob and kill, what motivation would the Eight Banners and Green Standard have? But the problem was that if he let them kill and rob freely, what they conquered would again be bare earth — and from whom would the court collect money and grain?

The Eight Banners soldiers still had their banner lands to support them; even without military pay, they could get by on banner land and plunder. But the Green Standard troops were growing larger and larger, and the Green Standard had no military land — they relied on plunder and military pay. But windfalls from plunder did not come every day; without a certain amount of money and grain to sustain them, wouldn't the Green Standard troops all desert?

"Scholar Fan, you're full of ideas — speak!" Dorgon was truly out of options, so he turned to Fan Wencheng.

But Grand Secretary Fan Wencheng's learning was also limited; he was no master of finance. And even if he were a master, even the cleverest wife cannot cook without rice!

"This... this..." Fan Wencheng frowned and thought for a while, and actually managed to squeeze out an idea. "My Prince, how about this: let the heavenly soldiers spare the three prefectures of the Eastern Depot, Jinan, and Yanzhou from plunder, and wait until the army reaches Xuzhou before plundering? In truth, the Eastern Depot, Jinan, and Yanzhou have all been plundered by us already — there's not much fat left. Xuzhou, on the other hand, has never been plundered, and this time we can give it a proper sacking. Moreover, Xuzhou lies right on the great river and close to the Huai, with rivers crisscrossing all around — terrain unfavorable for the Eight Banners' heavenly soldiers to maneuver. So we can fill our sacks once and then abandon it."

Dodo added from the side: "And what about cities that dare resist the heavenly soldiers? Should they be massacred according to the old rule?"

"That..." Dorgon looked at Fan Wencheng again.

"My Prince, that is the old rule." Fan Wencheng said. "Without massacring cities, we cannot strike terror into men's hearts!"

But we can do our utmost to win people over peacefully. If we can subdue the enemy without fighting, then massacres and plunder will naturally be fewer."

"True enough," Dorgon looked at Dodo. "Fifteenth, can you win people over peacefully?"

"Me?" Dodo turned his face toward Fan Wencheng, that slave. "Fan Wencheng, how about you come with me and take charge of winning people over?"

"Master, this slave is not familiar with Shandong..." Fan Wencheng was no fool; he would never accept such a thankless task — if the peaceful overtures succeeded, there could be no massacre or plunder, and how many people would that offend! If the peaceful overtures failed, Dorgon would be displeased, and his head would be just as unsafe.

But he could not leave Dodo without an answer, so he thought carefully: "However, this slave can recommend someone."

"Who?" Dodo asked.

"The former Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Sun Zhixie," Fan Wencheng said. "He is a Shandong man, so he is certain to be familiar with the situation."

Sun Zhixie had submitted his resignation a while ago, citing poor health and a wish to retire. But Dorgon had not let him leave Beijing; he had merely relieved him of his duties and made him await reappointment. And Sun Zhixie had nowhere to go for the time being — his hometown was still Ming territory! So he rented a house in the outer city of Beijing, where his whole large family was crammed together, scraping by in hardship.

"Very well," Dorgon rubbed his forehead. "Let him come out and serve again. Make him... make him Governor of Shandong! This is his last chance. If he fails again, his entire family will be executed!"

(End of Chapter)