Chapter 825: Where Should We Go Plundering?

"Your Majesty, Sonin and Suksaha request an audience."

The Shunzhi Emperor was calculating in his mind how many men would be best for defending Beijing when Wu Liangfu's voice came through.

"Summon them!" said Shunzhi.

Sonin was now the Grand Secretary in charge of the Inner National History Academy and concurrently Minister of War, while Suksaha was a leading Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard and concurrently Commander of the Nine Gates — during Dorgon's regency their substantive posts had counted for little; one was a general factotum, the other a watchman.

But after Shunzhi took personal rule, these two offices had in effect become the heads of the Great Qing court's Eastern and Western Establishments.

The Shunzhi court's "Eastern Establishment" — the executive office that managed government affairs — was headed by the six Grand Secretaries of the Inner National History Academy, the Inner Secretariat, and the Inner Hongwen Academy. These six Grand Secretaries were divided into Academy-Chancellor Grand Secretaries and Assistant Grand Secretaries, with the Chancellors senior and the Assistants supporting. Among the three Chancellors, the Chancellor of the Inner Secretariat was the most senior, so Sonin was now the Grand Chancellor of the Great Qing.

And the leading Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard, under Shunzhi's promotion, had become the supreme commander in charge of the armies. The six Grand Ministers of the Imperial Guard were also ranked in order of precedence, and the foremost among them, who also served as Commander of the Nine Gates, was Suksaha.

The other five Grand Ministers of the Imperial Guard were equal in rank, all on the same footing. At the same time, each held a concurrent post, serving respectively as commander of the Vanguard Battalion, the Firearms Battalion, the Foot Soldiers Battalion, the Elite Cavalry Battalion, and the Kheshig Battalion.

These concurrent posts all carried weight!

First was the Commander of the Nine Gates. It looked like a gatekeeper's job, but he was in fact the garrison commander of Beijing, in charge of the Beijing Guard Battalion.

The Beijing Guard Battalion was large in number, 20,000 strong. Of these, over 1,000 were old Manchus of the Eight Banners; the rest were Han and Mongol able-bodied men who had been granted land around Beijing.

This army did nothing else but defend Beijing itself.

So in peacetime they served in rotation, and when not on duty they farmed at home. Once the situation turned critical, they would bring their families into the city and defend it to the death, protecting the Shunzhi Emperor. To ensure that these men could hold out inside Beijing as long as possible, the Shunzhi Emperor had repeatedly issued edicts reducing the city's civilian population. Apart from the several thousand bannermen loyal to Shunzhi, one or two thousand Han officials, and the eunuchs, palace maids, and Imperial Household Department booi who served Shunzhi, Beijing normally had almost no other residents.

In peacetime, the total population of Beijing was only seventy to eighty thousand.

If the Guard Battalion's soldiers and their families entered the city from outside, the population would reach 170,000 to 180,000. At four shi of grain per person per year (about 480 jin), 170,000 to 180,000 people holding out for a year would require 700,000 shi — and Beijing now had enough grain stored to last a year.

Shunzhi planned to store another 1.4 million shi. That would be three years' provisions!

Could the Zhu Emperor besiege the city for three years?

Even if he could, Shunzhi was not afraid!

Because he still had four trump cards: the Vanguard Battalion, the Firearms Battalion, the Elite Cavalry Battalion, and the Kheshig Battalion.

These four were the Great Qing court's field battalions. They were not numerous — 10,000 men in all. Of these, the Vanguard Battalion was "dragoons," only 2,000 men.

The Firearms Battalion had 3,000 men, roughly a Ming infantry regiment plus an artillery battalion (equipped with 3-pounder guns). But there was one difference: this Firearms Battalion was fully "mule- and horse-mobile." That is, the troops could ride mules and horses for maneuver.

The Elite Cavalry Battalion was a traditional Qing cavalry unit, also 2,000 men.

The Kheshig Battalion, by contrast, was a cavalry unit formed from warriors recruited from the Six Leagues of Inner Mongolia, 3,000 men, with the same organization and equipment as the Elite Cavalry Battalion.

Although the four elite battalions had only 10,000 combat troops, their fighting power and mobility were extremely formidable. While Shunzhi held Beijing, they would maneuver outside the city.

The backbone of these four elite battalions came from the Manchus and Mongols, with quite a few Han stalwarts as well. These men had also been granted land, but in addition they received pay and grain. Moreover, their land was all granted in the south of Northern Zhili, and they all received double allotments. They did not have to farm it themselves; the authorities collected the rent on their behalf. These 10,000 men, like the Eight Banners backbone in the other five battalions, were all professional soldiers.

The Foot Soldiers Battalion, on the other hand, was a force much like the Guard Battalion, with as many as 25,000 combat troops. The great majority were also land-granted rotation troops, stationed at key points in various places, granted land nearby, and serving in rotation. The Foot Soldiers Battalion Command in Beijing directed this rotation army dispersed across Northern Zhili.

In other words, after nearly a year of the "Shunzhi Restoration," the Shunzhi Emperor's court now possessed a new army of 55,000 men!

Moreover, at the beginning of the year the Shunzhi Emperor had decided to hold the civil service examinations.

The scholars of the Great Qing could at last take the exams and become officials again.

But the Shunzhi Emperor very likely would not be able to preside over this great examination.

Because the decisive battle between the Southern Ming and the Northern Qing was already on the verge of breaking out.

Sonin and Suksaha both came trotting up Coal Hill, for they had just received an urgent report.

The Ih Juu League, one of the Six Leagues of Inner Mongolia — that is, the Ordos tribe — had betrayed the Great Mongol State and the Shunzhi Great Khan!

"That damned Erinchen!" the Shunzhi Great Khan cursed, then asked the two men before him, "What do we do now? Should We personally lead a campaign against the Ordos tribe?"

Sonin said, "Your Majesty, the great armies of the Inner and Outer Mongolian tribes have now massed in the northern part of the Hetao grasslands, waiting to press south against the Ming's Yulin Garrison. If at this moment we allow the Ordos tribe to defect, how will the Great Khan command the Mongols in the future?"

Suksaha said, "Your Majesty, the Southern Ming's northern expedition is also on the verge of launching. Chen Tai and Tuhai have now stationed troops at Jinglongkou and Taojiadian. At any moment they may need our four elite battalions to move south. If the Great Khan lingers long on the grasslands, I fear the Central Plains will soon fall into Ming hands."

Chen Tai and Tuhai were the commander and deputy commander of the Foot Soldiers Battalion, and had now led 15,000 men south to both banks of the Yellow River north of Kaifeng Prefecture, where they had begun constructing the Henan Great Camp and the Hebei Great Camp.

Establishing the Henan and Hebei Great Camps was Dodo's idea. The purpose was to put on the appearance of preparing to breach the Yellow River, luring the Ming army to attack. Whether the river was actually breached or not was another matter; even if it was not, forcing the Ming army to make a 600-li dash from Xuzhou to the walls of Kaifeng would be extremely advantageous.

In the Song-Jin War, how far had the Ming army marched from Ningyuan to Songshan? They had already shown countless flaws. Marching 600 li — only Heaven knew what chaos that would become.

Moreover, the Henan and Hebei Great Camps were not places that could be taken at a single blow. And at Kaifeng and Guide there was still Geng Jimao! He had nearly 20,000 troops under him, defending Suizhou, Xuzhou, and Zhengzhou.

Their numbers were not large, but the three fortresses they held were small, hard walnuts, and they also possessed large numbers of cavalry.

If the Ming northern expedition ignored them, its supply lines would be in grave danger. If it tried to crack all three fortresses, the Qing army might gain the chance to breach the Yellow River dikes!

And Henan, having suffered repeated wars and drought, was sparsely populated and agriculturally desolate; it would be nearly impossible for the northern expedition army to forage locally.

Sonin laughed. "How could the Great Khan linger long on the grasslands?"

Suksaha shook his head. "The Great Wall at Yulin Garrison is not easy to break, and Zhu Cijiong's Shuofang troops are battle-hardened elites — not easy to deal with!"

Sonin smiled. "Why would those Mongols want to break through the Great Wall at Yulin Garrison?"

"To force Wu Sangui to reinforce Shuofang!" said Suksaha. "Right now Wu Sangui and the Dzungars are jointly attacking Yarkand. The Khoshut Khanate and the Uzbek Khanate in the Western Regions dare not send troops at all. The Yarkand Khanate has also lost the people's support, so its destruction is only a matter of time. To rescue the Yarkand Khanate, they must force Wu Sangui to withdraw!"

Sonin laughed. "Those Mongol tribes don't think that far ahead! What matters most to them is seizing Han property. How much property is there in Yulin Garrison? A bunch of dirt-poor military households, every one of them as fierce as a wolf. The Mongols today would be throwing themselves away for nothing."

Reminded by Sonin, Suksaha also found this reasonable and drew a breath. "You're right, Chancellor Sonin. What clever plan do you have?"

Sonin said, "I wouldn't call it a clever plan. It's simply a matter of finding the Mongols a good place to loot."

Why is it looting again?

Shunzhi frowned deeply at these words, but asked aloud, "Sonin, where do you want the Mongols to go looting?"

(End of Chapter)