Chapter 699: Going South or North Is No Easy Matter!

Oboi had a rather comfortable time in the fifth year of Shunzhi. He was still serving as the Angbang Zhangjing of Shanhai Pass, but he no longer had to worry about the Ming army entering the pass, and he had even made a bit of money.

It turned out that after the Ming and Qing courts concluded a five-year peace treaty, peace was restored inside and outside Shanhai Pass, and the Ming army had also withdrawn from the Snake Mountain Post outside the pass.

The Ming's only remaining foothold on the mainland beyond the pass was Jinzhou Prefecture. There was a narrow isthmus there, only a dozen or so li wide, with sea on both ends. Once a moat was dug and a wall built, it became a natural barrier.

Dodo dispatched Aisin Gioro Langqiu, the Gushan Ejen of the Plain Blue Banner stationed beyond the pass, to serve as Angbang Zhangjing of Southern Liaoning, charged with defending the Liaodong Peninsula. He also sent men to dig a moat and raise an earthen wall near the Jinzhou isthmus below Little Black Mountain to face off against the Ming army. But there was no fighting; instead, they started doing business. There was a strip of land between the two sides' moats and earthen walls, and after some discussion, the two sides opened a mutual market there.

Oboi at Shanhai Pass followed suit. He opened a mutual market at the Snake Mountain Post harbor that the Ming army had abandoned, allowing the Nine Banners' younger generation farming in western Liaoning and the nearby Mongols to trade there with Ming merchants and Joseon merchants coming from Port Arthur.

Oboi himself acquired some land at Snake Mountain Post and rented it out to merchants doing business at the Snake Mountain Post mutual market. He also had one of his own booi bondservants open a shop specializing in furs at the Snake Mountain Post mutual market, earning quite a bit of pocket money.

If there was anything that displeased him, it was the news coming from Beijing about the young Shunzhi Emperor. For some reason, this little emperor had taken a liking to Han people's calligraphy, painting, poetry, and prose. He had even had that bookworm Sonin select a group of effete scholars from among the Nine Banners' younger generation—men who cared nothing for martial arts and only for literary refinement—to keep him company in dabbling with brush and ink.

Well, let him dabble with brush and ink if he wants. After all, when it comes to fighting, there were still Dorgon, Dodo, and himself, the foremost warrior of the Manchus.

But the problem was... your brush calligraphy is simply atrocious! Even Oboi, a crude and unlettered military man, wrote better calligraphy than Shunzhi.

Bad calligraphy would be one thing, but you also wrote things carelessly and gave them away as gifts—wasn't that just making a laughingstock of yourself?

Moreover, the piece "Charm of a Maiden Singer: Reflections on the Ancient Red Cliff" that was bestowed upon Oboi, the foremost warrior of the Manchus, contained quite a few wrongly written characters—"strong caitiffs" was written as "masts and oars," "wine goblet" was written as "honored one," and the "bearing" in "heroic bearing" was written as the "assets" in "property."

And this was something to be mounted and bestowed upon ministers... Oboi felt disheartened just thinking about it! The late emperor and Prince Su were so capable—how could they have produced such a son and such a brother?

Could it be that the Great Qing was truly going to pass into the hands of Dorgon and Dodo? The very thought made him unwilling to accept it!

Because he was unwilling to accept it, Oboi wrote in his memorial of thanks to Shunzhi, saying that he should not always dabble in literary pursuits—that was the Han people's specialty and did not suit Manchu warriors. He should learn some martial skills, and if he felt he lacked the strength, then he should practice with a matchlock musket. Oboi even feared that the Shunzhi Emperor did not have a matchlock musket, so he had several finely crafted Joseon matchlock muskets prepared and sent into the palace.

When he sent them, he thought nothing of it. But afterward, his brother Murima felt it was inappropriate—if Imperial Ama found out about this, what would he think? What did you, Oboi, mean by this? Were you telling the little emperor to practice with a matchlock musket so he could kill Imperial Ama?

Just as Oboi was worrying, Imperial Ama's decree arrived!

Oboi was ordered to proceed to the capital immediately to report on his duties!

The decree reached him on New Year's Eve of the fifth year of Shunzhi. He did not even get to eat his New Year's Eve dinner before setting out with the white-armored soldiers of the Plain White Banner who had delivered the decree... He knew at once that this boded ill!

But he did not dare defy the decree, let alone rise in armed rebellion.

So now, travel-worn and weary, he was hurrying along the road to Beijing.

In order to see Dorgon as quickly as possible and beg forgiveness from this Imperial Ama of the Great Qing, Oboi, accompanied by several white-armored soldiers, covered more than seven hundred li in two days—almost the pace of a six-hundred-li express courier.

Only when both men and horses were panting with exhaustion did he finally catch sight of the tall, majestic walls of Beijing...

Oboi arrived in Beijing at noon on the second day of the first month of the sixth year of Shunzhi. He had just returned home, caught his breath, and changed into clean clothes, and was about to go to his banner's commandant headquarters to report in, when someone arrived bearing Imperial Ama's verbal decree.

He was to go at once to the Palace of Double Brilliance to pay his respects to Imperial Ama Dorgon.

This boded more ill than good!

"This slave Oboi respectfully inquires after Imperial Ama's sacred well-being..."

As Oboi kowtowed to Dorgon, Dorgon was holding a letter sent by his daughter, Princess Donggo, from Penglai Palace, reading it over and over.

Princess Donggo had been living in Penglai Palace for over a year now, and her food, clothing, and daily necessities were all extremely lavish. When she was in Beijing, the gifts Zhu Cilang gave her were counted by the roomful; now that she lived in Penglai Palace, how could she possibly be treated poorly?

Still, the little girl was somewhat lonely. She could not see her Ama, nor could she see the Zhu Emperor—and she had already met Zhu Cilang when she was in Jinan Prefecture, and had long since been smitten by the Zhu Emperor's heroic and martial bearing.

So now she only hoped she could grow up quickly, and then stay by the Zhu Emperor's side day and night. Of course, she could not say this to Zhu Cilang's people—the little girl was thin-skinned; how could she be so bold? So in her letter to Dorgon, she hinted at it in a roundabout way...

Just as Dorgon was fretting over his little girl's "puppy love," Oboi came to kowtow.

Dorgon hastily put away the letter, looked up at Oboi, and then frowned.

What was wrong with Oboi today? Trembling and shaking, looking guilty as a thief? Could it be that he had embezzled and taken bribes too much at his post at Shanhai Pass, and that was why he felt guilty?

"Oboi, We ask you: do you fear the Raksha demons?"

What? Raksha demons? Oboi was stunned. Had Dorgon encountered something unclean again? Surely he hadn't gone tomb-robbing again?

Oboi said hastily, "Imperial Ama, although this slave is the foremost warrior of the Manchus, I do not know how to catch ghosts... The great lama of Tibet is still in Beijing. You could ask him to take action; he would surely catch them."

The great lama had been in Beijing for some time now, staying at the Temple of Azure Clouds on Fragrant Hills, well fed and well cared for. Whether it was psychological or truly efficacious, in any case, after the great lama arrived in Beijing, Dorgon's health had visibly improved, and it looked like he still had years left to live.

Besides being responsible for protecting Dorgon, this great lama had recently taken on a disciple, whom Dodo had brought back from Khalkha Mongolia. His name was Zanabazar, son of Tusiyetu Khan Gombodorji of the Khalkha tribe. He was said to be the reincarnation of the great lama Jetsun Dampa Taranatha of Khalkha Mongolia. Although only in his teens, he was already the Dharma King of Khalkha Mongolia, with the Dharma name Lobsang Tenpai Gyaltsen.

This Dharma King of Khalkha Mongolia and the great lama of Tibet did not belong to the same school. The great lama was of the Gelug school, while the Khalkha Dharma King was of the Jonang school, and the two schools had considerable religious differences. This was also why Dodo had invited the Khalkha Dharma King to Beijing—Dorgon wanted the great lama to expound the scriptures and teach the young Dharma King, so as to unify the thinking of both sides. In the future, everyone would be a Khutuktu of the Gelug school, which would make it easier for Dorgon to use the Yellow Hat sect to control the Mongols.

Dorgon realized Oboi had misunderstood. He waved his hand and said, "What nonsense—Raksha demons. Do you know of Russia?"

"I know, I know... how could I not know of Russia?" Oboi said. "Are the ghosts of Russia not under the great lama's jurisdiction? This slave has heard of something called the Jesuits, who specialize in managing the ghosts of the western barbarians..."

Still on about catching ghosts!

"They are people!" Dorgon raised his voice. "People from Russia... originally from the continent of Europe in the west. Historically they were conquered by Batu Khan of the Mongols. But over a hundred years ago, a great ruler emerged, called Ivan the Terrible or something, who was very formidable. He nearly wiped out the descendants of the Golden Horde, and in recent years has fought all the way into the territory of the Barga people. Because they burn, kill, loot, and commit every evil, people call them Raksha demons. Oboi, We ask you: do you fear the Raksha demons?"

"I do not fear them! This slave does not fear them!" Oboi was relieved now. So it was about Russia after all. "Does Imperial Ama intend to deal with Russia? This slave is willing to serve as the vanguard... Those people only know how to burn, kill, and loot, don't they? Our Eight Banners warriors are also good at that. Who's afraid of whom!"