Chapter 881: What? The Great Qing Is Gone! — Twenty-Two (Seeking Subscriptions)

With the return of the Great Qing's Pacific Fleet to port, the Great Qing could be considered thoroughly dead and gone — nowhere under heaven was there any longer a place where the white banner with the golden dragon still flew.

The Great Qing was completely finished!

Yet the Great Qing still had remnants! The greatest of these remnants was Dodo, who was now shut up in Shenyang (not daring to call it Shengjing anymore). Dodo had been somewhat vexed these past two days — the Great Qing had vanished just like that, so what was he, the Imperial Uncle, supposed to do? The Great Qing's Shunzhi Emperor had already become the Ming's Prince Gong, so how was Dodo supposed to go on being the Imperial Uncle?

If Dodo could not be the Imperial Uncle, what else could he be? Become Emperor? He did not dare. If he had won at Deshengdian, he would certainly be Emperor by now. But he had been defeated by Shi Kefa! Having been defeated, he could only "defer claiming the throne" — he could no longer make a high-profile bid to be Emperor. What if he ended up drawing that calamity Shi Kefa beyond the Pass? Would he, Dodo, still be alive then?

Was Shi Kefa really that formidable?

Actually, not exactly — right now, no matter who came, Dodo could not withstand them! Even if Zhu Cilang had sent Qian Qianyi as Governor-General of Liaodong to suppress Dodo, Dodo would still have to throw himself down.

Because Dodo had almost no money or grain left. Not only was Dodo's own purse empty, the people below him were impoverished too. This expedition into the interior had been a loss — a huge loss! So many men had died, so much equipment and livestock had been lost, and the farming season had been missed. Every household below him had suffered a bloody loss, and even emptying Dodo's own coffers could not make it up.

In order to maintain the size of his army, Dodo had no choice but to promote a large batch of booi slaves to bannerman status. Yet he had no extra booi slaves with which to compensate the bannerman masters below him! Moreover, among the booi promoted to bannermen, a portion were "public booi" — that is, booi who paid money and grain to Dodo's little court.

Once they became bannermen, Dodo's own income would also plummet!

What was most hateful was that the neighboring Kingdom of Joseon had seized the opportunity to make trouble, sending troops to seal the border, occupying the Kowloonpo concession, and even killing quite a few Bordered Green Banner merchants and Hispanian foreign monks who had been trading in Joseon. As for the one million shi Dodo had demanded — there was not even a door to it!

Moreover, trouble had broken out on the steppe as well! The Mongol tribes that had originally been subordinate to Dodo had all cut off contact with Shenyang. The combined forces of the three Khalkha Mongol tribes had recently even been attacking the Khorchin Mongols, who were close to the Great Qing.

Truly, the house leaks just when it rains all night!

Faced with a situation on the verge of collapse, Dodo was at his wits' end. He had fallen ill upon returning to Shenyang, and these past two days he had been in his own bedchamber, clicking away at an abacus with one hand while tears streamed down his face.

A loss! Such a loss he was nearly bankrupt. What was to be done?

"Ama! Ama — Oboi is back!"

Just as Dodo was doing his accounts, Doni's voice came from outside the door. Dodo had many sons, and several of them had already come of age. This Doni was his second son, and also the eldest among his sons by his principal wife, so he was the heir. Historically, this Doni had been one of the more capable fighters among the "third generation of the Qing," and in the fifteenth year of Shunzhi he had become Great General Who Pacifies the Distant and Suppresses the Invaders, commanding three armies to attack the Southern Ming and driving the Yongli Emperor into Burma.

But now he was just as harried as Dodo. These days, with Dodo ill, it had been Doni robbing Peter to pay Paul, barely holding things together. Today he had finally gotten some good news — Oboi, who had been "missing" for a long time, and the Pacific Fleet's five galleons had all returned safe and sound, and they had brought back a batch of firearms supplied by the Viceroyalty of New Hispania.

With these five ships and the firearms aboard them, they could teach the Joseon people a lesson!

"Oboi is here? Summon him at once!" The moment Dodo heard Oboi had come, he was instantly invigorated. He stopped clicking at the abacus and immediately told his son to bring Oboi in.

Oboi did not come alone — he brought with him a trussed-up Murima. Murima had used the story of "Jing Ke stabbing the King of Qin" to disrupt Dodo's "weeping as he executed Ma Su," and after returning to Shenyang he had been confined at home, waiting to go play Jing Ke.

In truth, how could he possibly have a chance to assassinate Zhu Cilang? With the classical allusion of "the dagger revealed when the map was unrolled," would not Zhu Cilang's guards conduct a thorough search? So he had spent every day at home in terror, afraid that Dodo would come to his senses and want to execute him after all. Only when his elder brother Oboi finally returned did he relax a little — but who knew Oboi would tie him up and drag him before Dodo, with the air of one sacrificing family for righteousness? It frightened Murima badly. Was there such a scene in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?

"Oboi, why have you brought Murima here tied up?" Dodo was equally baffled at the sight.

"Imperial Uncle, Murima's crimes are monstrous. He lost a battle and ruined the Great Qing's realm, and on top of that he used that story about stabbing Qin to deceive Your Venerable Self. I have brought him bound here precisely to ask Your Highness the Imperial Uncle to sentence him to death!"

When Murima heard Oboi's words, his heart shattered. With a wail he burst into tears, crying out as he wept: "Ama, Ama, open your eyes and look — Oboi wants to kill me..."

Dodo stared at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. And this fellow wanted to be Jing Ke? He was at best a Qin Wuyang!

"There, there," Dodo waved his hand. "Stop crying. I won't kill you. Go back, go back. I still have things to discuss with Oboi!"

The Imperial Uncle was still the best!

Murima kowtowed to Dodo, then withdrew with a grateful heart.

Dodo then asked Oboi: "How much did you bring back?"

Oboi said: "Three thousand Hispanian muskets and thirty 3-pounder cannon."

"And the five galleons?"

Oboi said: "One sank on the way, but we made up for it with another in New Hispania, so it is still five ships."

"When can they be put to sea?" Dodo pressed.

"They will need a month or two of rest and refit."

"What about Joseon?" Dodo asked. "Do they know you have returned?"

"They do not." Oboi shook his head. "This slave does not know the situation in Joseon, and fearing they might collude with the Ming, I did not dare alert them."

"Good, good!" Dodo rubbed his palms together. "Excellent! Since the Joseon people do not know you have returned, we can launch a surprise attack from the sea!"

"Imperial Uncle, do you truly intend to use troops against Joseon?" Oboi asked.

Dodo nodded: "Losses within the Pass shall be made up from Joseon!"

This time, if Dodo did not loot one or two million from Joseon, there would be no getting through. As for whether Joseon could be annexed after the looting — that could be discussed later. In any case, first enjoy a comfortable plundering!

Furthermore, in the northeastern part of Joseon there was a stretch of territory that was the old Jurchen homeland, and some Jurchen remnants still lived there — they could be brought over to swell the population. And within Joseon there were also many Han refugees from the northeast, who could be enticed back to their homes to farm.

"By the way, you went to some New Continent this time?"

"Yes, I went. The New Continent is enormous!" Oboi said. "Far larger than our Great Qing and the Great Ming put together!"

"Is that so?" Dodo asked. "You crossed the Pacific — do you know the way there and back? Did you obtain sea charts?"

Oboi nodded: "I know something of it, and I obtained a set of sea charts. Imperial Uncle, do you want the charts?"

"It is not that I want them — it is that the Ming has always wanted them," Dodo said. "We must take this to sue for peace with the Great Ming. I had originally intended to send Murima; now I will send you instead!"

Oboi was somewhat stunned to hear this. What did that mean? Was he being sent to assassinate Zhu Cilang?

"Does the Imperial Uncle mean for this slave to play Jing Ke?"

Dodo waved a hand: "Play what Jing Ke? If you, the number one baturu of the Manchus, went in person, would they not be on their guard? How would you get any chance to assassinate him?"

"Then what does the Imperial Uncle want this slave to..."

"I am sincerely seeking peace!" Dodo sighed. "Matters having come to this, only by seeking peace can we buy a little time. When matters are delayed, they may be rounded off — given a little time, perhaps there is still hope. You have been to that so-called New Continent, so talk it up well. Blow the New Continent up into a land paved with gold, and ideally lure the Ming into contending with Hispania over it."

He was, after all, treating a dead horse as if it were still alive.

"What are our terms?" Oboi asked. "To declare ourselves vassals?"

Dodo nodded: "Declaring vassalage is certain. On land, seek a border at Shanhai Pass and Jinzhou Pass, and open two mutual markets. Beyond that, avoid mentioning Joseon as much as possible."

Oboi sighed. The Great Qing truly was finished!

He thought for a moment: "Imperial Uncle, then what will you become?"

Dodo sighed and said: "Become a king — King of Jin. If that truly will not do, then become a khan. In any case, I can no longer be Emperor."

(End of Chapter)