Chapter 831: Who Told You to Become Han Traitors?

The tenth year of the Qing Shunzhi reign was, for the Han traitors of the Plain Green Banners in the two prefectures of Shandong and Henan, a year that was truly hard to endure.

Because the "Five-Year Pact" between Ming and Qing had already expired, and through the marriage of Princess Jianning, the Great Qing had already cut itself off from the territories of the three princely feudatories in Shandong and Henan.

That is, it had already made preparations to abandon the Han traitors of the Plain Green Banners in Shandong and Henan at any time!

This was truly a bit miserable. The slaves of the Great Qing had become the abandoned slaves of the Great Qing, and after being abandoned by the Great Qing, they still had to remain utterly loyal. Because they suddenly discovered they had no way to switch sides!

Earlier, when Wu Sangui jumped ship from the Great Qing's Prince Who Pacifies the West to become the Great Ming's Military Commissioner Who Pacifies the West and Duke of Liang, the Han traitors of the Plain Green Banners had been quite encouraged.

Look, how valuable they, these Han traitors, were! Both Great Qing and Great Ming were scrambling to have them; wealth and glory were no worry at all!

But who could have expected that the Zhu Emperor would simply stop recruiting people? Oh, it wasn't that he stopped recruiting entirely — rather, the terms had changed.

The terms for Wu Sangui's defection back to the Great Ming had been excellent: not only were all his forces' territories retained, he was also granted Xi'an Prefecture. His forces' 330 Chiliarchs occupied 20 million mu of land in Shaanxi and Gansu — barren lands, to be sure, but the quantity was still considerable.

But now, when it came time for the subordinates of Fan Wencheng (Kong Sizhen) and Geng Jimao to consider defecting, the terms offered by the Great Ming were actually the confiscation of banner lands and, after disarmament, exemption from death and punishment.

In other words, after being a Han traitor for so many years, the best outcome was to end up with nothing at all, left with only a worthless life!

Who could agree to that?

During this period, the higher-grade Han traitors in Shandong and Henan were all like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their own prowess, contacting the Ming court through various channels. So they all knew that the Great Ming's attitude toward these Han traitors had become extremely unfriendly.

"The crux of the problem right now is the land in our hands!" Several officers of the Kong family army, seated at a banquet inside a residence in Liaocheng with tall, sturdy walls and even a watchtower, were gnashing their teeth.

These officers were all Meiren-i janggin and jalan-i janggin of the Plain Green Banners: Meiren-i janggin Wang Yongnian, jalan-i janggin Xian Guo'an, Meng Yimao, Hu Tongchun, Li Yidi, plus Sun Yanling, son of Meiren-i janggin Sun Long, who was garrisoned at Anping (Anping Town). Except for Sun Yanling, who was a generation younger, the rest of these men were old comrades who had followed Kong Youde in betraying the Ming and surrendering to the Qing — to be honest, they were still very loyal to the Great Qing.

Kong Youde was different from Wu Sangui. The latter only fell into the water and became a Han traitor when Beijing fell and Li Zicheng and Dorgon had him hemmed in at both ends at Shanhai Pass. But Kong Youde launched the Wuqiao Mutiny in only the fourth year of Chongzhen! Moreover, after the Wuqiao Mutiny, the Chongzhen Emperor had repeatedly attempted to offer amnesty, and Kong Youde had firmly refused every time — he was truly determined to surrender to the Later Jin.

And after surrendering to the Jin, he not only presented the Later Jin with urgently needed cannons, warships, and craftsmen capable of casting Hongyi cannons, but also led Later Jin troops to capture Lüshunkou, killing the Liaonan Regional Commander Huang Long — later generations only saw the containment of Later Jin troops by Mao Wenlong on Pi Island, overlooking the containment of the Later Jin by the Liaonan Ming army on the Jinzhou Peninsula.

Mao Wenlong's death certainly relieved the Later Jin of many worries, but to say those worries were thoroughly eliminated — that only happened after the fall of Lüshun.

The Jinzhou Peninsula had an isthmus to defend, was backed by the sea, was close to Dengzhou, and moreover had an ice-free port like Lüshun. How could its military value compare to Pi Island? Even Ningyuan was no match for Jinzhou and Lüshun!

Furthermore, Kong Youde's forces at the time were serving as the pilot program for Ming military modernization. If it had succeeded, the Ming might have further advanced military modernization, introduced more Western military technology, and possibly changed the balance of strength on the Ming-Qing battlefield.

And Kong Youde's defection directly led to the beheading of Sun Yuanhua, the Governor of Denglai who had been directing the Ming army's military reforms, and the complete halt of the military reform effort.

So to say that Kong Youde and his subordinates were die-hard Han traitors and boosters of the Great Qing's rise would not be an overstatement.

How could they not be loyal to the Great Qing? How could they not love and revere the Shunzhi Emperor and Prince Regent Dodo?

But the problem was that the Great Qing had made them into discarded pieces, and the Ming court also refused to give them the same treatment as Wu Sangui. In effect, it was refusing to let them defect!

Handing over land and handing over weapons — this wasn't defection at all; it was becoming prisoners of war!

They said their lives would be spared now, but who knew whether the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming would settle accounts later?

Besides, what use was sparing their lives? Without food, wouldn't they still starve to death?

Quite a bit of strong liquor to drown their sorrows had already been drunk, and with the courage of alcohol, they spoke with fewer inhibitions, saying whatever came to mind, their voices growing louder and louder.

Meiren-i janggin Wang Yongnian said loudly: "These past few years as Meiren-i janggin have truly been a loss — years of savings all invested in the troops and the city walls, with only a bit of land left in hand. If that's gone too, then it's utter ruin. How are we supposed to live after that?"

He had spoken what was in everyone's hearts. After the Plain Green Banners were established, what they had been running was an "unlimited liability" warlord business. The army in their hands was their asset — it was their own. Although the court provided some subsidies, the bulk still depended on themselves. They had to find ways to operate it for profit!

And what was available for them to operate was, of course, land! So all of them had invested money in land — reclaiming wasteland, building irrigation works, buying oxen and farm tools, and of course lending out usurious "King of Hell" loans to tenant farmers.

In addition, the army was their foundation! Investment there was also essential — forging weapons and armor, purchasing horses, building fortresses. Every single item cost money!

And these investments had to come out of their own pockets!

So in these past few years, they had all converted the capital they had accumulated from years of plundering into military equipment, into fertile fields and fortresses. They had little spare cash left in hand.

If they had to hand over the army, the land, the fortresses — then every one of them would go bankrupt!

"Hand over my ass! We'll fight them to the death!" jalan-i janggin Xian Guo'an spat out with alcohol on his breath, gnashing his teeth. "There's nothing else to it — just one word: fight! We'll make sure the Zhu family emperor knows how formidable we are! Back then in Dengzhou, when things were so desperate, didn't we still pull through?"

Sun Long's son Sun Yanling was a handsome young man who should have been at his most spirited, but now he seemed somewhat listless, and after a few more cups he just sighed in despair.

Xian Guo'an looked at the young man: "Second Young Master Sun, what is your esteemed opinion?"

Sun Yanling shook his head and said flatly: "I'm just thinking — how much longer can the money and grain we have on hand hold out? Back then, when you elders threw in your lot with the Great Qing, wasn't it, to put it bluntly, because you were driven by lack of money? After all these years of struggle, still no money."

At the mention of money, everyone fell silent, and all lowered their heads to drink in gloomy silence.

They were all "unlimited liability" warlords, now using their own family fortunes to sustain the consumption of their troops. Once the family fortune was exhausted, whether the troops could still be maintained would be very hard to say.

By then, what would be lost would not only be the family fortune, but also their own lives and those of their families!

At the same time, Fan Wencheng entered Kong Sizhen's room.

It was not to toil together with Kong Sizhen, but to report to Kong Sizhen about Zu Kefa's visit and the military arrangements.

Kong Sizhen's appearance was still outstanding, not inferior to Princess Jianning. A slight smile at Fan Wencheng was full of charm and dazzling beauty. But once the smile was put away, a fierce, gloomy air surfaced on that lovely face.

"Your Highness, once Zu Kefa leaves, the Ming army will come. Liaocheng may be besieged at any time. You should leave quickly and return to the princely mansion in Beijing."

Kong Sizhen said flatly: "I cannot leave! The hearts of the people in Liaocheng are already in panic. If I leave too, how will you keep the situation under control?"

"But this Liaocheng—"

Kong Sizhen said in a firm tone: "It can still be defended for a while! If it truly cannot be held, then we shall become a ghost couple and go down together to see Imperial Ama, to see the late emperor!"

This was certain death!

Fan Wencheng had never intended to die defending the city. Dodo had promised him that even if he lost his territory, he could continue being a prince! But who could have expected to run into a stubborn, single-minded woman like Kong Sizhen? From the sound of it, she was prepared to die for the Great Qing!

Well, this was something — a Han traitor turning into a household of martyrs and loyalists.

(End of Chapter)