Chapter 911: Buying Fulin at a High Price — One Each! (Please Subscribe)

What? It's approved just like that? On what grounds?

Song Shilie was dumbfounded. The Ming Son of Heaven knew perfectly well that Jin Dodo had no good intentions, so how could he approve it? How could the Ming do this? The Ming was the Celestial Court, the superior kingdom — how could it indulge such a treacherous barbarian in seizing another's country?

"Your Majesty, you must not!" Song Shilie cried out loudly, his voice nearly breaking into sobs. "Your Majesty, Jin Dodo has long harbored rebellious intent. If you indulge him in seizing Joseon today, he will surely rebel in Liaodong in the future. I beg Your Majesty to think again!"

Zhu Cilang nodded and said, "Do not be anxious, Master Song. We know Jin Dodo's intentions as well." He glanced at Jin Lanzhu and Su Ganglin, then lowered his voice. "But We cannot spare the strength to deal with Liaodong right now, so We can only indulge him for the time being. Once We have taken Beijing and pacified the lands north and south of the Yan Mountains, We will naturally reestablish the Liaoyang Province!"

Jin Lanzhu and Su Ganglin's eyes were both darting about. Emperor Zhu had spoken of reestablishing Liaoyang Province, not of abolishing the entire Andong Protectorate. The Andong Protectorate currently covered a vast territory, and conditions within it were extremely complex. Only the Liaodong Peninsula, the Liaoxi Corridor, and the middle and lower reaches of the Liao River were suited to provincial administration.

Elsewhere, for the time being, they could only establish military garrisons and protectorates, combining military and civil administration and granting local officials heavy authority.

Zhu Cilang said loudly, "When the time comes, if Jin Dodo dares to resist the imperial army, We will certainly take him down. And if Jin Erbo takes part in the treason, then We will also uphold justice at the cost of family ties, exterminate the Jin clan, and restore the Yi dynasty."

Uphold justice at the cost of family ties? What did that mean? Wasn't Jin Erbo a Tartar? How had he become a relative of his?

Song Shilie was taken aback at these words and looked up at Zhu Cilang. It was Jin Lanzhu beside him who smiled and reminded Song Shilie, "Master Song, the sister of Joseon's King Jin is none other than Princess Dongzhu, who is now a Cairen of His Majesty. So King Jin is the Ming's imperial brother-in-law."

Was the brother of a mere Cairen even counted as an imperial brother-in-law? Song Shilie was still somewhat confused. He knew that a Cairen's status in the Ming court was not particularly high.

Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "Jin Lanzhu, go back and tell your father that if he commits any act of disloyalty, We will not let him off lightly for Dongzhu's sake!"

"Furthermore, Li Hao has already abdicated. You must not harm him any further. Let him go to Nanjing to live out his retirement!"

Jin Lanzhu said hurriedly, "This subject will convey Your Majesty's words to my father. Please rest assured, Your Majesty — my father will certainly not harm Li Hao."

Zhu Cilang waved his hand and smiled. "Good, that's settled then. Hurry back now. Oh, by the way — that younger sister of yours, Dongzhu, has just given birth. She bore Us a daughter!"

Jin Lanzhu felt a twinge of disappointment inside, but his face was still brimming with joy. "This subject congratulates Your Majesty!"

Song Shilie, watching Zhu Cilang's beaming expression, knew there was no way for the moment to persuade this deluded emperor of the Ming restoration to restore the Yi dynasty's rule over Joseon. He could only take his leave in tears, then go to Nanjing to await the dethroned Li Hao and discuss plans for restoring their country.

As for Jin Lanzhu and Su Ganglin, neither wished to remain beneath the walls of Beijing for even a quarter of an hour longer — the very sight of the place was heartbreaking! So once their mission was complete, they too departed immediately.

Only a few days after the three of them had left, Jin Dongzhu, having just finished her month of postpartum confinement, traveled north to Tongzhou to reunite with Emperor Zhu, accompanied by Princess Jianning, Ajige, and the bondservant Kong Sizhen.

Zhu Cilang had summoned the three of them north not, of course, purely for matters of the bedchamber, but in order to take Beijing a little sooner.

The siege of Beijing had already lasted nearly two months — which seemed like a long time, but in this day and age, battering down a bastion fort simply took time. The method Emperor Zhu was now using was the "parallel siege approach": digging trenches ring after ring around the bastion, until finally the trenches ran parallel to the edges of the bastion's angular solid outworks, and at very close range.

In this way, small mortars and grenadiers could be positioned in the trenches to kill and wound the defenders through bombardment and grenade-throwing.

Once the parallel trenches were completed, the first layer of Beijing's bastion defenses would quickly be breached.

The problem was that this damned Beijing bastion had three layers of defense, inner and outer! Break through the outer layer, and inside there was still the Imperial City bastion; break through the Imperial City bastion, and there was still the Coal Hill fortress.

To batter through layer after layer using the parallel siege approach — wouldn't that take a year?

Right now, nearly two hundred fifty thousand siege troops were massed outside Beijing! Although the spectacle was awe-inspiring, more than enough to display the Son of Heaven's mighty military power, the consumption was equally staggering!

Every day, rations alone amounted to several hundred thousand catties. Add in the fodder for the animals, and one million two hundred thousand catties — twenty thousand shi — would barely cover it!

If the battle for Beijing lasted a year, grain and horse fodder alone would consume over seven million shi. Fortunately, the sea transport from Dagukou and the water transport along the Wei River and the Grand Canal had been opened up, and the Ming's maritime shipping capacity had grown explosively over the past decade — otherwise those seven million shi alone would have dragged the Ming court to its death.

Still, taking Beijing a few months earlier was always a good thing, wasn't it?

"This lowly slave kowtows to His Majesty."

Inside the gold-crowned imperial tent in Tongzhou — a city long since razed to the ground by Shang Kexi's soldiers — a woman calling herself a lowly slave was kowtowing to Emperor Zhu.

"Sizhen, raise your head and let Us look at you." Zhu Cilang set down the memorial from the Kingdom of Siam that had been delivered by six-hundred-li express from the Grand Marshal's Office — its contents reported that Burma had suffered a sudden attack by its suzerain, the Shun dynasty — then smiled and sized Kong Sizhen up.

Kong Sizhen, hearing this, immediately raised her head and straightened her back, smiling as she looked at the great Emperor Zhu, poised and self-assured.

Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "Sizhen, We have an opportunity for you to atone for past crimes through meritorious service." He paused. "Your elder brother Kong Tingxun is inside Beijing right now, leading troops to help Fulin defend the city!"

Kong Sizhen immediately put away her smile. "Does His Majesty wish this slave to write him a letter urging him to submit to the Ming?"

"No," Zhu Cilang shook his head. "Too many people want to submit to the Ming right now. On what grounds should your brother submit? He is Kong Youde's son, and he once held the title of Prince Dingnan. His crimes are grave! Without first atoning for his sins, how could he submit?"

"How does His Majesty wish him to atone?"

Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "Simple — hand over Fulin, dead or alive! If he feels he can't manage it alone, have him pull in Shang Kexi. Don't go to Geng Zhongming — Geng Zhongming cannot be forgiven! Inside Beijing, the only traitors We can spare besides Kong Tingxun are Shang Kexi. Kong Tingxun because of you, and Shang Kexi because his father and elder brother were Ming loyalists — he was forced into serving the enemy. So We can make an exception. As long as they hand over Fulin, We will enfeoff them as Military Governor of Duogan and Vice Military Governor of Duogan, and send them with troops to attack Sichuan, which the roving bandits now hold. After Sichuan is taken, the territory that originally belonged to the Duogan Regional Military Commission will be theirs."

"Duogan may not be a wealthy place, but poverty has its advantages — no one covets poor, barren territory, so they can rule over it for generations!"

"Sizhen, if this succeeds, you will have rendered merit too. Then you won't be a lowly slave anymore — We'll make you a Xuanshi!"

A Xuanshi was far higher than a lowly slave! And Emperor Zhu never favored palace maids, so Kong Sizhen first had to become a Xuanshi before she could have any better prospects!

"Your Majesty, you sent for us?"

"Brother Majesty, Ajige greets you."

After the lowly slave Kong Sizhen finished writing the personal letter to Shang Kexi, she left in high spirits, and Jin Dongzhu came in leading Ajige. Jin Dongzhu had just given birth and was now a bit fuller in figure, but still very pleasant to look at. And Ajige had grown into a graceful, slender beauty — a flower waiting to be plucked, a bud about to bloom. She was just about old enough now; a little more nurturing and she'd be ready!

"Sit, sit." Zhu Cilang smiled. "We summoned you here to save the life of that rebellious son Fulin. You wouldn't want Fuli to die so young, would you?"

"No, no." Ajige shook her head repeatedly. Fulin was her own full brother!

Jin Dongzhu, however, only smiled without speaking, quietly watching Emperor Zhu. She was far cleverer than that silly girl Ajige, and Zhu Cilang's little scheme could hardly be hidden from her. But she wasn't about to refuse to cooperate with Zhu Cilang. Fulin was not her blood brother, and as for Dorgon's death — in her eyes, there was always something suspicious about it!

(End of Chapter)