Chapter 218: Section Thirty-Three: Juehua (Part Two)

Wei Zhongxian let out a hearty laugh and nodded emphatically. "Excellent. Before sending Xiong Tingbi on his way, I shall send someone to bring General Huang to see him. The General can also take the opportunity to visit Fang Zhenru and give him the good news."

With the great matter settled, Huang Shi now waited only for his imperial audience. Wei Zhongxian was just about to send someone to check what Tianqi was doing when a eunuch, his face deathly pale, hurried over.

Huang Shi watched as the eunuch leaned close to Wei Zhongxian's ear and whispered something. He vaguely caught a few words — "imperial garden," "pond," and "boating." Wei Zhongxian's expression changed violently. He shot to his feet, all his earlier composure and ease vanishing in an instant.

"General Huang, sit a while. I shall return shortly."

Wei Zhongxian tossed out this baffling remark and left, abandoning Huang Shi to sit there alone in a daze. He waited from mid-morning until past noon before a young eunuch finally ran over to tell him: "Eunuch Wei bade me bring word to General Huang — His Majesty cannot receive the General today. General Huang is requested to return for now."

……

The twentieth day of the tenth month, fifth year of the Tianqi reign. Liaoyang.

Manggultai had been living quite comfortably of late. At the battle of Yaozhou, he had launched a surprise attack on the Ming army's pontoon bridge across the Liaohe. The result was not only the complete encirclement of the Ming troops who had crossed the river, but also the pursuit and slaughter of the Ming forces on the west bank for over fifty li. In that single engagement, he took three thousand heads and captured over seven thousand prisoners. Of those, more than three thousand were made into hashi and bondservants, freeing many of his banner troops from manual labor.

Moreover, Manggultai offered quite attractive terms: any man who volunteered to join the Plain Blue Banner as a banner soldier would immediately receive land, women, and oxen. Relying on these favorable conditions, he selected several hundred able-bodied men from the Ming prisoners to replenish his banner, and these men were thoroughly satisfied with their treatment, feeling that the standard of living here was far better than serving as a common soldier in the Ming army. The last batch of prisoners Manggultai sold to the chieftains of the Duoyan Mongols, trading them back for some warriors and livestock.

This time, Manggultai mobilized the entire banner — men and women, young and old — to scour the wilderness for three days, capturing stragglers and scavenging the battlefield as they went. He also dispatched a large force to spread nets across the mouth of the Liaohe, hauling up the corpses of Ming soldiers who had fallen into the water and stripping them of their armor and clothing. In the end, he collected over four thousand sets of armor and recovered more than three thousand horses. For this, Nurhaci rode forty li out from Liaoyang City to welcome him.

Aside from presenting a portion of the armor as tribute to the old patriarch, Manggultai also carted off the war wagons, cannons, and firelocks abandoned by the Ming army to Shenyang. Outside Shenyang stretched over a dozen li of blacksmith shops, and Manggultai planned to melt down the Ming war wagons and firelocks to forge new weapons and armor.

As for what to do with the cannons? In the past, they had always been melted down and traded for grain, but this time Manggultai thought long and hard until his brain ached. In the end, the clever Manggultai decided to wait until his even cleverer Eighth Brother returned before deciding. So he dug an enormous pit and buried the hundred-plus cannons for now, and the nearly two hundred captured Ming cannoneers were kept well-fed and well-treated — Manggultai felt that after spending so much time with his Eighth Brother, he too was becoming increasingly far-sighted.

Yesterday, word came from Fengcheng: Mao Wenlong, relying on his fortune-teller's instincts, had fled in time just before Amin arrived with tens of thousands of troops. After years of tempering, the great Mobile Corps Commander Mao had perfected the art of plundering to a masterful degree. His timing for retreat was absolutely impeccable — neither too early nor too late — and their rearguard cut the pontoon bridge across the Yalujiang right before the eyes of Amin's vanguard.

Amin's letter recounted: ever since the Ming army left, the rats in the outskirts of Zhenjiang had begun starving to death in droves, and the crows had all moved away, because whether it was grass roots or tree bark, Mao Wenlong had left absolutely nothing behind.

Chen Jisheng, just as Hong Taiji had predicted, emerged from the deep mountains and old forests of Kuandian to seize grain after Amin departed. But the ambush operation against Chen Jisheng failed. The Later Jin forces only managed to eliminate a limited number of rearguard units. That Vice General Chen of the Dongjiang Right Division was, as expected, a former captain of Mao Wenlong's personal guard. He caught the abnormal scent in the air at the very first moment, and without the slightest hesitation, turned tail and fled back. Hong Taiji rushed in pursuit but still failed to catch his main force. The official roads through the Wild Man Mountains of Kuandian had all been dug up by the Ming army into mounds and hillocks, and Chen Jisheng had even creatively planted saplings on top of them. Once he had scurried back into his own territory, Hong Taiji could only gaze at the ocean and sigh — in that vast expanse of primeval forest, even a tiger would likely lose its way.

Hong Taiji had written to suggest that Nurhaci invade Korea. He believed that by seizing Yizhou and Shuozhou and cutting off the grain route from Korea to Kuandian, the Beggar Clan Elder Chen Jisheng would be forced to obediently abandon his Wild Man Mountains... but Amin disagreed.

The Later Jin had managed by various means to purchase a copy of the official report Mao Wenlong submitted to the Ming court this year. Counting the Liaodong refugees who had flooded into Korea this year, by year's end Mao Wenlong was boasting that he commanded a "mighty army" of three hundred thousand.

The Ming court naturally did not accept that figure. But Amin believed the number of able-bodied males was roughly accurate. He countered Hong Taiji: Mao Wenlong had been squatting in Korea with his several hundred thousand "mighty troops" for five years now. Even leaving aside Korea's yearly droughts, even if the climate and everything else were perfectly normal, what could possibly be left in Korea by now?

Therefore, Amin believed that going to Korea to strike Mao Wenlong was a pure waste of provisions. He felt that as long as Mao Wenlong's and Chen Jisheng's three hundred thousand troops could be contained within the Zhenjiang and Kuandian region, that was already perfectly ideal.

Today, Manggultai was once again summoned by Nurhaci for questioning, the main topic being the battle of Yaozhou. After confirming the combat effectiveness and equipment of the Ming army, Nurhaci seemed to be entertaining the idea of taking a trip to Liaoxi himself. Returning to his own tent, Manggultai carefully studied the map. Before dismissing him today, Nurhaci had reminded him to prepare for a campaign into Liaoxi.

Out of habit, he first swept a glance toward Changsheng Island. A wave of deep revulsion surged in Manggultai's chest, and he hurriedly shifted his gaze northward... For now, the situation in Liaonan was still relatively stable. Since the battle of Yaozhou, Liu Xingzuo had become much more docile. He had assisted the Later Jin army in relocating the Han civilians around Gaizhou to the Haizhou region, and the Later Jin army had also established a vast blockade line between Haizhou and Gaizhou. Gaizhou had now been largely abandoned, and the southward flight of Han civilians had been effectively halted.

His hand pressed lightly against the map, tracing the roads westward. Manggultai's gaze followed his hand as it moved west from Haizhou to Sanchahe, crossing the Liaohe and then pointing toward the direction of Guangning. From Guangning onward, the route should turn south. Manggultai used his fingernail to score a deep, long line, driving straight through to Shanhai Pass behind the Liaoxi Corridor.

This deep scar cut across the Dalinghe, Jinzhou, Xingshan, and then Ningyuan — Juehua.