Chapter 599: Dorgon, Do You Know Your Crime? (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

The Forbidden City, the Hall of Venerating Heaven, the Eastern Warm Pavilion.

The assembled ministers, summoned in haste, listened to Zhu Chunjie's words, and every one of them wore the expression of a man who had just won the top prize — the Qing were truly finished! These men would immediately become the loyal ministers of the Ming restoration, each of them destined to leave their names in the annals of history.

They had originally planned only five routes for the punitive expedition against the Qing, and now Zhang Xianzhong had been added to the mix!

Moreover, Wu Sangui's strength was greater than they had imagined. Three hundred and thirty Chiliarchs! If each Chiliarch contributed two hundred elite soldiers, that alone made sixty-six thousand men!

The ministers present, thinking of the victory that seemed within easy reach, began to speak with grand eloquence, all wearing expressions of smug self-satisfaction.

"The eastern barbarians are finished. How many troops do they even have? The old Eight Banners, counting Han troops and Mongols at the absolute most, number eighty thousand. The newly formed Plain Green Banner is roughly a hundred thousand. Altogether that is one hundred and eighty thousand. Zhang Xianzhong will tie down at least fifty thousand of them, His Highness the Prince of Dai can tie down thirty thousand, and that leaves a hundred thousand to defend against our great armies advancing from three routes — western Liaoning, Dagukou, and the Grand Canal. They will absolutely be unable to defend both front and rear!"

"And there is still Wu Sangui's great army! The moment Great General Wu turns his coat, the eastern barbarians will be beyond all redemption!"

"It seems that pacifying Liaodong in three years and the north in five was far too pessimistic. In another year at most, peace can be restored to the realm!"

"Exactly — the first year of Hongxing will be the moment when a golden age of peace returns!"

"His Imperial Majesty is blessed with boundless fortune!"

"Your Majesty, let us send out the troops at once! There is no need to wait for the cold weather — we can strike now!"

The ministers' enthusiasm rose higher and higher, and there was a touch of underestimating the enemy in it. Though victory was assured, they must not become arrogant!

The Zhu Emperor's gaze swept slowly across the Eastern Warm Pavilion, and he noticed that only Wu Xiang was frowning slightly and saying little.

"State Father Wu?" Zhu Cilang looked at Wu Xiang with a smile. "Changbo's little requests are nothing. Sanmei is Our wedded wife from the start — the Empress can be none other than her! As for enfeoffing him as Great General Who Pacifies the West, that is nothing either. The northwest is a poor and remote region, yet full of fierce and warlike men; without a general's headquarters there, it cannot be held down! And granting several million taels a year in military funds is nothing — the court has money now! As long as the northwest is stable, the silver is well spent."

Right now Wu Sangui was still the Qing's "Green-Hat Prince," so could Zhu Cilang afford not to say a few fine words? As for the future, who could say. Only Wu Sanmei's position as Empress was guaranteed; everything else was hard to predict.

Zhu Cilang and Wu Sanmei were a couple who had shared hardship on the battlefield together; their bond went without saying. If the Empress's seat did not go to her, who else could it go to?

Upon hearing Zhu Cilang's words, Wu Xiang immediately assumed an expression of tearful gratitude and rose to kowtow.

Zhu Cilang waved his hand repeatedly. "The old State Father need not perform the rites. Remain seated while we speak."

Wu Xiang did not stand on ceremony. He settled himself back down fully, then stroked his beard and said, weighing his words carefully: "Your Majesty, you must not underestimate the enemy too greatly!"

"Underestimate the enemy?" Zhu Cilang thought for a moment. "Do you think the eastern barbarians still have a way out of this situation, beset by enemies on four sides?"

Wu Xiang said: "Your Majesty, matters on the battlefield can only be known once the fighting begins! Beset on four sides, beset on eight sides — as long as the troops are elite and the generals brave, it is no problem at all. But if the troops are weak and the generals defeated, then even a single enemy route can be fatal."

"Does the State Father believe the new army cannot defeat the Eight Banners troops?" Zhu Cilang asked with a smile.

Wu Xiang said: "It is not that they cannot defeat them, but when fighting on the open plains of the north, there is no certainty of victory."

This assessment was not Wu Xiang's personal opinion, but one jointly reached by the Marshal's Office and the Ministry of War!

In war one must make use of terrain. The northern Qing had a great many cavalry, and even the newly established Plain Green Banner had large numbers of mules and horses at its disposal. Therefore, on the northern plains, the Qing army could rapidly concentrate and maneuver!

The Ming army, by contrast, was primarily infantry. Although it had the advantage of firearms, because it lacked draft horses, the Ming artillery had to rely on waterways for movement. Once it moved far from the waterways, the Ming artillery's advantage would largely cease to exist.

Furthermore, the number of the Ming army's "Overcoming Hardship Model Army" troops was not large.

At present, the Overcoming Hardship New Army numbered over four hundred thousand on paper, but half of them were new recruits, mainly raised from the northern refugees who had followed Zhu Cilang south to beg for food.

These new recruits were now stationed in various places, carrying out training while maintaining public order. They were in effect an "internal guard army" used to maintain rule — Zhu Cilang's court collected so much in taxes each year, and had also weakened the power of the gentry and landlords, so naturally it had to bear greater costs of governance.

Therefore, the local government offices in the eight provinces directly administered by the Southern Ming court were all fairly large in scale and rather costly — twenty percent of the public fields served as office lands for officials, and local commercial taxes were split with the court, with the local share used to keep the government offices running.

Of the remaining veterans, roughly half were stationed in various places by regiment. The troops with genuine field combat capability numbered fewer than one hundred twenty thousand, of which the main force was organized into seven divisions, with some independent cavalry regiments and artillery regiments besides.

Moreover, the Hongxing Emperor could not pull out all seven divisions; he had to leave one at home to watch the house!

Therefore, the elite troops available for the northern expedition numbered only around a hundred thousand — indeed, there was no numerical advantage.

Wu Xiang continued his analysis: "The eastern barbarians have little wealth and thin provisions, and lack the advantage of sea routes and waterways, making their supply movements difficult. Thus their advantage lies in a quick decision. Our dynasty, by contrast, has many people and abundant wealth, plus the advantage of waterways and the convenience of a navy, so our advantage lies in endurance. Therefore, achieving success in the northern expedition within three to five years and recovering the lands within the passes is still very much assured.

As for Zhang Xianzhong — he is mere noise and bustle, in truth not worth a single blow. We need not take him too seriously, and certainly need not launch our troops early on his account."

Zhu Cilang nodded slightly. Wu Xiang's analysis was not entirely without reason. Historically, Zhang Xianzhong had quickly collapsed when the Qing army entered Sichuan. And this time, by taking Luoyang and proclaiming himself emperor, he had placed himself right at Dorgon's doorstep. Dorgon could rapidly mobilize an army of over a hundred thousand from the Nine Banners to crush him — how could Zhang Xianzhong possibly amount to anything?

The man was destined to enjoy a brief thrill and then die!

"Actually, launching the northern expedition a bit earlier would do no harm," Li Yan offered a dissenting opinion. "Shandong and Huaibei are already fully prepared and can move at any time. Some time ago I went to inspect the armies in Shandong and Huaibei, and they are quite satisfactory. Advancing step by step along the canal will present no problem.

Liaodong and western Liaoning are somewhat weaker, but one division can still go up and take Ningyuan. Perhaps that is not enough, but there are many abandoned fortresses along the coasts of western Liaoning and Liaodong — occupying a few at random would create a great stir."

That argument also made sense!

Although Dorgon had begun developing his old northeastern homeland again, the northeast was so vast, and the population he could send out so small, that the "danger zones" along the coast were extremely desolate, with only a few important fortresses garrisoned. It would not be difficult at all for the Ming army to find a fortress close to the coast with little or no garrison.

Once occupied and developed, it could become a support point for the Ming in Liaodong and western Liaoning.

"Wu Guoyong, what is your view?" Zhu Cilang tossed the question to the Right Military Adviser, Wu Guoyong.

"Your Imperial Majesty," Wu Guoyong glanced at Wu Xiang, who grew more timid with age, and said with a smile, "Zhang Xianzhong is a dry bone in a tomb, but his followers are not few. Can the eastern barbarians truly shatter him with a single blow? If the fighting drags on, then the real opportunity will come."

Zhu Cilang nodded, thinking: If Zhang Xianzhong really dies as easily as he did in history, then men like Li Dingguo can be taken into our service.

He then turned his gaze to the Chief Grand Secretary Wei Zaode. Wei Zaode shook his head. "Your Imperial Majesty, we must also guard against Zhang Xianzhong, after a defeat, fleeing into the prefectures of Nanyang, Runing, and Xiangyang to wreak havoc.

Furthermore, Wu Sangui will most likely take advantage of Zhang Xianzhong's defeat to seize Xi'an. The court would do better to station a large force at Nanyang — first, to guard against the Xian bandit; second, to receive Wu Sangui when he comes over to the righteous side."

"Chief Grand Secretary, in your view, should the court immediately launch the northern expedition to chastise the caitiffs?" At this point the Minister of Rites, Qian Qianyi, suddenly interjected.

Wei Zaode shot him a glance. "There is no need to launch the northern expedition immediately. We should quietly observe the changing situation in the Heluo region."

Qian Qianyi asked again: "Then what of the crime of Dorgon's massacre of Datong — shall it not be called to account? Did the more than one hundred thousand loyal and righteous people inside the city of Datong all die in vain? If the court cannot immediately issue a clear edict chastising the caitiffs, will not the millions of common folk in the north who look southward for the royal army be utterly disheartened and despairing? Can the hearts of the northern people still be won back?"

(End of Chapter)