Chapter 636: Even a Han Traitor Is Out of His Reach!

It was truly unimaginable — Wu Sangui, the banner lord prince of the Qing Bordered Green Banner, Prince Who Pacifies the West, and Great General Who Pacifies the West, now could not even afford to be a Han traitor!

Going bankrupt from being a Han traitor — this was something absolutely unheard of!

Other people profited from being Han traitors, but him? In future histories it would probably be written like this: Wu Sangui, because he became a Han traitor, owed two million taels he could not repay, and was hacked to death by his creditors.

But the problem was, if he did not stay a Han traitor, Nikan's twenty thousand troops would come attacking!

If Wu Sangui had won at Heshangyuan, he would not have feared any Nikan! If his three hundred thirty Chiliarchs made an effort to mobilize, he could field an army of a hundred thousand. Let Nikan come if he dared — Wu Sangui could wear Nikan down just by losing battles!

But the problem was, until the catastrophic losses at Heshangyuan were made up, Wu Sangui could not mobilize much of an army at all.

This kind of landlord soldier feared nothing more than losses without compensation — they were not only soldiers, but also self-financing production units, and going out to war was not only their duty but also their way of making money.

If their campaigns could bring rolling wealth, then landlord soldiers were the best possible source of troops!

The flourishing of the fubing system under the Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang; the might of the hereditary military households in the early Ming; and the rise of the Manchu Eight Banners (the early Eight Banners troops were also landlord soldiers) — all of these actually stemmed from the "war dividend": the income from farming plus fighting, minus the burden of soldiering, still left an enormous profit.

Under those conditions, landlord soldiers were willing to fight, and they were extremely reliable.

But once landlord soldiers suffered catastrophic losses, their will to fight would plummet rapidly — the burden on landlord soldiers was heavy; much of their equipment they had to buy with their own money, and part of their rations they had to provide themselves, so it could not be sustained by hot-blooded enthusiasm alone.

This Heshangyuan campaign had been fought at a catastrophic loss; every Chiliarch who had sent troops had lost money, and the Centurions below them and the military households who had directly supplied the troops had all suffered catastrophic losses together.

Until that account was settled, Wu Sangui could not mobilize a new army.

And settling the account required time. Even if Zhu Cilang was willing to put up the silver, transporting two million taels to Xi'an and then distributing it down to the Chiliarchs, Centurions, and military households would take several months no matter what. But Nikan's army could not wait that long!

In other words, if Wu Sangui remained a Han traitor now, he would be unable to pay the compensation owed to his three hundred thirty Chiliarchs, and when the men below rose in revolt, he, the banner lord prince, would be dead ten times over with no chance of survival.

And if he wanted to defect back, Nikan would attack immediately, and the thirty thousand troops he had on hand would certainly be unreliable — in the end it would still be death ten times over with no chance of survival.

How was there no way out at all?

Wu Sangui thought and thought, but could not find any way out, and he grew so desperate that tears nearly streamed down his face.

Just then, Liu Sheng's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "My prince, urgent report from Xining Guard!"

Xining Guard? The Khoshut Khanate? They were attacking too?

Wu Sangui's heart pounded with alarm, and he hurriedly told Liu Sheng to come in and speak.

"My prince," Liu Sheng came in, saluted, and handed over a field dispatch, "Xining Guard reports that the Grand Secretary Sonin and Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso and their party have already arrived at Xining."

Zu Kefa knew who Sonin was, but had never heard the name Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, so he asked, "Who is this Ngawang?"

"He is the greatest lama of the Yellow Hat Gelug school of Tibet. They call him something like a Zhubigu — the Mongols call him a Khutuktu, meaning an incarnate Buddha."

"Oh." Zu Kefa understood; he knew what a Khutuktu was — the Mongols on the steppe believed in them deeply.

Wu Sangui added, "Originally I wanted to detain them and use them to exchange for our hostages in Beijing, but now..."

"You still have to detain them now!" Zu Kefa urged. "Your son Yingxiong is still in Beijing! Sanfeng's family is also in Beijing — you can't just abandon them, can you?"

Wu Sangui sighed. "Then what about Nikan's great army? He has already reached the outskirts of Tongguan Guard!"

Zu Kefa thought for a moment. "How about asking Xiangyang for relief troops? Your third brother is commanding troops in Xiangyang right now, and he has a division of the New Army at his disposal."

"There's no time." Wu Sangui shook his head. "It's two thousand li round trip! And that New Army division is not his to use as he pleases!"

Wu Sanfu's current post was Regional Commander of the Hubei Military Command concurrently in charge of the Nanyang Prefecture Regional Commander's affairs, so he could indeed mobilize one New Army model division within his defense zone — but sending that division to Xi'an or Tongguan Guard was something Wu Sanfu would probably have to think very carefully about.

Besides, even if he was willing to send troops, it was a thousand li! At fifty li a day it would take twenty days; at seventy-five li a day it would still take thirteen or fourteen days.

If Nikan really attacked, in thirteen or fourteen days he could fight his way to the city of Xi'an Prefecture no matter what.

"Then we defend Xi'an to the death!" Wu Sangui gritted his teeth. "We can surely hold out for a dozen or so days!"

Just then, Liu Sheng, who was standing nearby, suddenly reminded him, "My prince, you can also seek help from His Highness the Prince of Dai in Shanxi."

One sentence woke the dreamer!

The Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong, was recently stationed in Daning County within Pingyang Prefecture — earlier, because he had gone south to Jiezhou to seize salt, his territory in the northern part of the Lüliang Mountains had all been captured by Ajige. So Zhu Cijiong had shifted southward, turning his original stronghold of Yongning Prefecture into the front line, while moving his base to Daning County, which was closer to the Jiezhou salt pools.

Of course, he had stationed troops at Daning not to hide from Ajige, but to constantly threaten the Jiezhou salt pools and make it difficult for salt production there to recover.

With salt production halted, salt prices within Qing territory would soar, and then the salt in Zhu Cijiong's hands could be sold at a high price — this prince was surrounded by a circle of Shanxi profiteers, and he had now become quite adept at hoarding and cornering the market.

"Good idea!" Wu Sangui turned and cupped his hands to Zu Kefa. "I must trouble you to make a trip to Daning County in Pingyang Prefecture."

"Fine!" Zu Kefa did not decline. "I will go at once and will certainly bring the Prince of Dai's great army — only, the Prince of Dai probably will not come for nothing!"

The territory in the Lüliang Mountains could not compare with Xi'an Prefecture and Yan'an Prefecture here.

"Just get him here!" Wu Sangui smiled. "As for territory, we must all obey His Majesty."

"Good! Then I will set out immediately."

"Vice Regional Commander Liu," Wu Sangui said to Liu Sheng, "you make a trip too — go to Ningxia and bring Sonin and Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso here for me. Remember, do not harm them! And do not wear the wrong clothes again!"

Heseri Sonin belonged to the Heseri clan, a famous Manchu family of the Plain Yellow Banner, originally from the Haixi Jurchens, who had come to submit after Nurhaci's rise. Unlike the many warriors so common among the Manchus of this era, the Heseri family did not produce many warriors — they produced scholars. Sonin's father, sons, and brothers were all proficient in Manchu, Chinese, and Mongol scripts. Therefore, after submitting to Nurhaci, he had always been highly trusted, and he was likewise heavily employed during Hong Taiji's reign. He had been appointed an Enlightener in the Ministry of Personnel, had risen through hereditary ranks to Third-Class Jalan Janggin, and served in the Inner Secretariat.

After Hong Taiji's death, Sonin's fortunes declined because he firmly supported Hooge, and he became a thorn in Dorgon's side. Later, because of a dogfight with Tantai, he even lost his hereditary rank.

However, after Hooge's death, Dorgon began to re-employ some of the figures in Hooge's entourage, and Sonin benefited as well — his hereditary rank was restored, and he even became a Grand Secretary of the Inner Secretariat. But Dorgon did not actually let Sonin handle government affairs; instead he sent him as an envoy to the Khoshut Khanate and Tibet.

As a result, while passing through Ningxia, he was badly frightened by Liu Sheng and the others who had worn the wrong clothes, and nearly died.

Afterwards, of course, he had to submit an impeachment memorial against Wu Sangui, but it was of no use — after the impeachment he still had to continue westward... The whole way, it was as if he were traveling through Ming territory!

It turned out that in the Prince Who Pacifies the West's jurisdiction west and south of Ningxia, everything was as if the Ming had been restored! There were no "noblemen with queues" at all, and no one knew the Qing Shunzhi reign era — everyone was using the Chongzhen reign era.

Sonin had written dozens upon dozens of impeachment memorials! But none of them had been submitted; he carried them with him, planning to dump them all on Dorgon once he reached Beijing — not because he really wanted to do anything to those Qing court officials who did not even know the Qing existed, but just to give Dorgon some trouble.

At the very thought of Dorgon fuming and glaring with rage, Sonin felt delighted in his heart. Just as he was rejoicing, the voice of one of his booi bondservants came from outside the carriage he was riding in: "Master, Wu Sangui has sent people to receive us!"

(End of Chapter)