Chapter 322: Section 62: Betrayal (Part 1)

Huang Shi recalled that the great traitor Fan Wencheng was also bragged about to an outrageous degree, bearing titles like Mastermind Star and Zhuge Liang Reborn. This Mr. Fan Wencheng was originally a Licentiate from Liaodong. During Nurhaci’s reign, the Later Jin carried out a massacre of Han Chinese Licentiates, and Fan Wencheng was originally among those who could not escape. But because he was tall and big, and looked to have some strength, he was not buried alive together with his companions but was instead sent to the Plain White Banner to work as a farming bondservant.

Huang Taiji, who was fond of Han learning, regarded Fan Wencheng with special favor. After Nurhaci died, Huang Taiji formally promoted Fan Wencheng from a farming bondservant to a Manchu of the Plain Yellow Banner. According to intelligence from Liu Xingzuo, Fan Wencheng was now a Plain Yellow Banner Zhangjing of the Manchu Eight Banners, bearing full responsibility for defending Huang Taiji’s rear route at Zunhua, while concurrently managing logistics and transport.

Huang Shi had always greatly admired Huang Taiji’s eye for talent, but at this time Fan Wencheng was still a raw rookie just setting out, who had received no training whatsoever in military strategy. Although Huang Shi believed this man was a promising talent, even if he could mature into something, that was a matter of more than ten years later. By all reason, he should not be too troublesome a figure right now.

But on the other hand, a great reputation is never hollow. For Fan Wencheng to leave a great name in history, he must naturally be a person of supreme intelligence. Huang Shi had always considered himself of merely average ability, so he still planned to follow the old path of the fierce tiger pouncing on the rabbit. Absolutely no arrogance, and certainly no matching wits with historical celebrities. He resolved to mobilize an army of overwhelming superiority and take Zunhua openly and honorably.

"If I let Huang Taiji slip away and only kill Fan Wencheng, that loyal dog, it would be far too unworthy." Huang Shi remembered that Fan Wencheng was also a man of utter loyalty and devotion to Huang Taiji. In history, when Dodo forcibly seized Fan Wencheng’s wife, Fan Wencheng still bore his hardships and performed his duties without complaint. Even Huang Shi felt some admiration for this kind of old-dog-like loyalty.

Admiration aside, Zunhua still had to be taken. The main force of Huang Taiji was on the verge of being completely bagged, and the enemy’s only escape route was to defend Zunhua and Xifengkou to the death, covering part of the army as they fled back beyond the pass. Huang Shi had no wish for unexpected complications at this critical juncture: "But no matter what kind of military genius Fan Wencheng possesses, he can’t just conjure tens of thousands of troops, armor, and cannons out of thin air, can he?"

Huang Shi believed that cunning was worthless in the face of overwhelming strength. He went over it repeatedly in his mind and could not think of any trick Fan Wencheng could still pull, and his staff department had also conducted offensive and defensive war games based on the terrain maps. They too believed that Zunhua had almost no chance of holding out. After reaching this conclusion, Huang Shi contentedly gave the order to convene a military council, preparing to assign the upcoming military tasks. Both he himself and his staff department appeared brimming with confidence.

Just as Huang Shi was calculating the possible reactions of the Zunhua garrison, the man he was scheming against had already settled on a battle strategy.

At this moment, inside Zunhua city, the Later Jin’s foremost strategist Fan Wencheng was quietly reading a book by candlelight. His face bore an expression of intoxicated fascination, as if he had completely put the approaching Ming grand army out of mind.

"Master."

A Later Jin Niru’s soft call pulled Fan Wencheng out of his book. He gave a light sigh, reluctantly shifted his gaze from the page, and calmly looked at the Later Jin Niru who had just entered: "Have the horse tails I wanted been cut?"

"They have been cut, Master." The Later Jin Niru hastily answered, presenting a long horse tail with both hands.

Fan Wencheng gently stroked the soft horse tail, and a confident smile — the smile of one who holds the pearl of wisdom in his palm and carries all plans within his breast — appeared on his face. His tone was still so calm, utterly unruffled: "Come. Help me grind ink."

"Yes, Master."

While the Later Jin Niru was grinding ink, Fan Wencheng inquired again about the situation of wood, stone, arrows, and the troops and horses within the city. Just as he was frowning in deep thought, suddenly another Later Jin soldier ran in and reported: "Master, someone outside the city is calling at the gate."

"Who is it?"

"In reply to Master, it is Prince Dorgon. He has led four hundred Heavy Armor Soldiers and one thousand Mongol troops, traveling day and night to rush back and reinforce Zunhua, to secure the retreat route."

"Excellent!" Fan Wencheng cried out, hurriedly rising and walking toward the door: "Quickly welcome him, quickly welcome him."

……

When Dorgon, traveling day and night, arrived at Zunhua to assist in its defense, the Ming army’s main camp at Santun was also brightly lit. Upon hearing that the opponent was merely a Licentiate and that there were only eight hundred Manchu soldiers in the city, Zu Dashou once again took the initiative to request battle: "Marshal, your subordinate is willing to lead his own troops to take Zunhua city. I will certainly bring back the traitor Fan’s head for the Marshal."

"Marshal, your subordinate is also willing to go."

"Marshal, give your subordinate a chance to earn merit too."

The military tent was instantly filled with shouts vying for the chance to go into battle. Zu Dashou, who had spoken first, met with unanimous contempt; everyone was extremely dissatisfied with his attempt to monopolize the credit. Zu, the Flying General, his face red and his neck thick, argued that this was not a case of too many monks and too little gruel making him ungenerous, but that he, Zu, still needed these battle merits to keep his own head on his neck. Therefore, General Fei Zu firmly demanded that he still be the one to attack Zunhua.

These words provoked an even greater uproar. Everyone said that Zu Dashou’s military merits were already sufficient to atone for his crimes. Now they had all endured countless hardships to rush here and serve the King, and many had not even touched the shadow of battle merit yet. Under no circumstances could Zu Dashou be allowed to hog it again.

But Zu Dashou’s advantage was that he had nine thousand troops of his own command. The other two commanders of large forces, Yao Yuxian and Jin Guan, had not kept up, and the remaining generals generally had only a few dozen or a hundred personal guards each. So Zu Dashou had ample confidence and a loud voice, infuriating many to the point of nearly trading blows with him.

In the end, Huang Shi had to step in and mediate, giving Zu Dashou two alternatives: one, he could monopolize the credit for recapturing Zunhua and Santun, but when distributing heads later, he would have to yield more to the other generals; the other, he could give up the credit for taking the cities, but if there were heads later, Huang Shi would give him an extra share.

Zu Dashou, grinding his teeth, thought for a long time, during which he hemmed and hawed several times, hinting that he wanted both, but this met with unanimous condemnation from everyone and firm refusal from Huang Shi. In the end, Zu Dashou, with a mournful face, declared that he wanted the first credit for retaking the cities, and as for the distribution of heads later, he would just make do with whatever he got.

Huang Shi’s Funing Army did not care about the reward money for heads, and Huang Shi himself had ways to produce a share for his subordinates. So Huang Shi generously declared that no matter how many heads were taken this time, Huang Shi would only claim thirty percent for his own men, and the rest would be given as rewards to those with merit. This announcement naturally immediately drew another round of cheers, and the generals in the tent all loudly praised Marshal Huang as truly a hero of extraordinary caliber.

But Huang Shi also clearly told them at the same time that his method of calculating merit was not based on heads, but on whether these generals obeyed Huang Shi’s orders and whether they strove to carry out Huang Shi’s requirements. Huang Shi had always felt that counting merit by heads was extremely unreasonable; that way, everyone wanted to eat the meat, but few were willing to gnaw the bones.

Therefore, ever since the last time at Juehua, Huang Shi had made a point of clarifying matters in advance: those who obeyed orders, Huang Shi would certainly not let them suffer loss; and those who acted on their own to snatch credit or tried to gain private advantage, Huang Shi would certainly not give them anything good to eat.

Now that Huang Shi held the post of Grand Commander, naturally his voice was the loudest. The assembled generals all declared that they would strictly obey Huang Shi’s commands and absolutely would not act on their own. If they could block the main force of the Later Jin army this time, the heads taken would likely be no fewer than twenty thousand, so the generals were all eagerly active, knowing that whether they "ate gruel or ate meat" depended on their performance before Marshal Huang.

Huang Shi wanted thirty percent of the heads mainly to secure promotions for his own direct subordinates. As for himself, he was already indifferent to heads. Huang Shi was now Left Commander of the Grand Commandery; as long as he could swiftly drive the Later Jin army back beyond the pass this time, he would certainly be substantively appointed as Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery. As a substantively appointed Grand Commander, the Emperor would at the very least have to grant Huang Shi a marquisate to match his station.

So the number of heads taken actually no longer mattered much to Huang Shi; he would soon have no higher to rise. Moreover, whether from Huang Shi’s direct subordinates or from affiliated forces, any heads taken would still be credited to Huang Shi’s name. By claiming less battle merit for his direct troops, Huang Shi was also trying to draw the affiliated forces into fighting with deadly effort. Sharing benefits equally was Huang Shi’s long-standing philosophy of life.

At present, the Funing Army forces that had reached Santun consisted only of the Jiuhuo and Panshi Battalions. The Xuanfeng Battalion was on the march to Santun. Of the first two battalions’ forty nine-pounder cannons, twenty-five had already arrived, and the remaining fifteen would arrive at roughly the same time as the Xuanfeng Battalion. The Xuanfeng Battalion’s artillery company would also arrive within three days.

"General Zu, the two Generals Shang, General Mao…" Huang Shi rattled off the names of Zu Dashou, Shang Keyi, Shang Kexi, and Mao Chenglu in one breath, grouping them into the Left Wing of the King-serving Army, under Zu Dashou’s command, to attack Zunhua. Hu Yining, Zhang Guoqing, and the brothers Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming formed the Right Wing, led by Hu Yining to attack Xifengkou.

The generals from the Ji Garrison who had come to report to Huang Shi were also broken up and integrated into the Left and Right Wings, while Huang Shi’s own main force remained at Santun, serving as the general reserve of the King-serving Army, ready to reinforce either wing at any time.

Knowing that Huang Shi’s elite main force was right behind them, the other King-serving troops also became full of confidence, because they all knew that Huang Shi would not disregard their lives, and that Huang Shi’s main force not moving out to snatch credit was also giving them a stage to perform. Everyone understood that their promotions mainly depended on Huang Shi’s favor, and Huang Shi told everyone that after this battle was over, each person’s merits would be publicly deliberated, and he would absolutely not engage in any backroom dealings.

After the generals left, Huang Shi chatted idly with his confidants again. He said to Yang Zhiyuan with a laugh: "Brother Yang truly loses every bet. This time you’ve lost another hundred taels of silver to Jin Qiude."

Jin Qiude’s calculations regarding Yuan Chonghuan had largely matched the events that subsequently occurred. Yang Zhiyuan could only accept his loss graciously. At Huang Shi’s teasing, Yang Zhiyuan gave a wry smile: "Actually, that matter with the Zhao family should by rights count as my win, but never mind, I won’t quibble with the younger brother. This time Jin Qiude indeed won, but I still think His Majesty will not convict Yuan Chonghuan of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country."

"Does Brother Yang still believe Yuan Chonghuan did not betray the country?"

"I didn’t say that. I merely said that His Majesty probably will not convict Yuan Chonghuan of betraying the country. As long as Yuan Chonghuan himself clenches his teeth and refuses to confess, this crime cannot be pinned down." Yang Zhiyuan, besides being thoroughly versed in the Funing Army’s military law, was equally familiar with the Great Ming Code: "If it were in our Funing Army, this would without a doubt be betraying the country, because our Funing Army only looks at what a man has done and does not ask what he was thinking. But according to the Great Ming Code, for a man to be branded with the label of betraying the country, besides having committed acts of betrayal, he must also personally admit that he indeed intended to betray the country."

"Then according to the Great Ming Code, what crime does Brother Yang think Yuan Chonghuan will be convicted of?"

"If His Majesty does not protect him to the death, hmm…" Yang Zhiyuan lowered his head in contemplation, then slowly said: "Setting aside all the previous instances of dereliction of duty, His Majesty finally entrusted the defense of the capital region to him, and Yuan Chonghuan also guaranteed that he would not let the enemy cross west of Ji. But the enemy passed right under his nose. The charge of failing in his entrusted duty is inescapable… Several times he submitted memorials guaranteeing he would cooperate sincerely with Marshal Mao, several times he concealed his private peace negotiations with the Jian slaves, secretly bought rice for the Jian slaves, and never mentioned it unless the court asked. To say he specialized in deception and concealment would not be excessive."

Huang Shi interjected to add: "He killed Marshal Mao in order to negotiate peace with the Jian slaves. You forgot to mention that."

Yang Zhiyuan scratched his head: "If there is evidence…"

"Assume there is."

"Then we must also add: under pretext of seeking funds, he executed a commander; hmm, for an army of tens of thousands to pass right before another army of tens of thousands in a single day must have been deliberate, hence also the crime of allowing the enemy to drive deep unchallenged; the Jian slaves crossed Jimen on the thirteenth, took the direct line through Sanhe and Tongzhou to the capital. Yuan Chonghuan set out on the fourteenth, claiming to pursue the enemy, but detoured through Hexiwu to avoid battle, and actually arrived at the capital three days earlier than the Jian slaves who took the shorter route. This is nearly tantamount to desertion in the face of the enemy. To say merely that he halted his troops and refused to fight is absolutely not excessive. Ah, too many, far too many."

Huang Shi gave a bleak smile: "Go on, what else?"

"Dismissing the King-serving troops is another crime; also insisting on entering the city, which again is nearly the same as desertion in the face of the enemy. And I hear that even when Yuan Chonghuan reached the walls of the capital, he still did not forget to bring along the lamas used for peace talks. In ordinary times this would be nothing, but with the Jian slaves ravaging the capital region and tormenting the common people before his very eyes, not only did he not burn with righteous fury and fight the Jian slaves to the death, he instead brought lamas and demanded the court negotiate peace. This is too outrageous, and one cannot help but suspect that he deliberately lured the enemy into the pass to coerce the Son of Heaven."

Yang Zhiyuan snapped his fingers: "If Yuan Chonghuan himself does not admit to colluding with the enemy, the crimes that can be established are: 'Failed in his entrusted duty, specialized in deception and concealment, traded rice to the enemy thereby aiding bandits, under pretext of seeking funds executed a commander, allowed the enemy to drive deep unchallenged, halted his troops and refused to fight, and when relief forces gathered from all sides, dismissed them all. And when the enemy pressed against the city walls, he secretly brought lamas along and insisted on entering the city.' That is roughly it."

"What punishment under the Great Ming Code?"

"The crime warrants death by slicing. Male relatives sixteen and above to be beheaded, those under sixteen to be made slaves of meritorious officials, female family members to be sent to the Bureau of Instructional Music."

"That is roughly it." Huang Shi softly agreed. In history, the Chongzhen Emperor had tried to release Yuan Chonghuan and send him to pacify Liao again, but the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of Justice both opposed it. Yet in the end, Chongzhen still granted a special pardon to Yuan Chonghuan’s family. His relatives were all left unquestioned, and his brothers, wife, and children were merely exiled. It seems that until the very last moment, Chongzhen still felt that Yuan Chonghuan’s crimes had mitigating circumstances. He never realized how many common people had died at his hands, still less how many common people of China would die because of him in the future.

But Jin Qiude

and the others all believed that Yuan Chonghuan still had a chance to come out again. If this time they annihilated the Jian slaves completely at Xifengkou, Chongzhen, in a moment of joy, might well credit the achievement to Yuan Chonghuan again. Whether it was killing Mao Wenlong, buying rice for the Later Jin without authorization, or failing to set up oversight mechanisms, Chongzhen had displayed an almost paranoid trust in Yuan Chonghuan.

Thinking of this, Huang Shi could not help grumbling again: "If he can come out again, that would be truly too unfair."

Yang Zhiyuan looked at Huang Shi strangely: "My lord seems to hate that dog-official Yuan deeply?"

"Yes, I detest Yuan Chonghuan just as I detest Qin Gui." Huang Shi silently added to himself the names of Wang Jingwei, Shi Lang, and others: "The green hills are honored to bury loyal bones; the white iron is innocent, yet cast into traitors' statues. We still have descendants, and among them there will also be unworthy ones. Therefore we need to erect kneeling statues for Qin Gui, and therefore we need to have that dog-official Yuan executed by slow slicing. So we can point at them and teach our descendants: Look carefully, little ones — this is the fate of traitors who sell out their country!"

……

On the sixth day,

Manggultai rose at dawn. He knelt facing the sun rising in the east and prayed devoutly. After a long while he deftly drew a cross, then slowly stood up — his knees already sore and numb from kneeling. Upon hearing that Huang Shi had returned, Manggultai's first sensation was that the entire world had collapsed. Hong Taiji quickly settled on a strategy: immediately withdraw the army and exit the pass.

The haul this time was already large enough. The gold and silver seized would suffice for the Later Jin army to purchase several years' worth of grain, and the captured population numbered over a hundred thousand. Vast tracts of deserted land in central Liao awaited them to come till. So Hong Taiji was still in fairly good spirits as he departed. But bad news followed close behind — that Huang Shi, far from entering the capital, had instead made straight for their rearward route.

When Hong Taiji heard this he shook his head repeatedly, saying outright that Huang Shi was pursuing a path of mutual destruction, one that would plainly provoke censure and suspicion from the Ming court. Yet they too had no choice but to quicken their pace for it. Jirgalang and the others were not particularly afraid of Huang Shi; on the contrary, they seemed rather eager to test him. But Manggultai had no wish whatsoever to lay eyes on Huang Shi's serpent banner. He even suggested to Hong Taiji that they take a detour through Juyong Pass or Gubeikou, breaking out through the border wall there and returning to Monan.

Hong Taiji, however, opposed this proposal. After Man Gui's death, the Ming troops in the capital region had all kept well clear of the Later Jin army. But word had it that since Huang Shi was appointed Grand Viceroy, though they still dared not attack, they had now begun pressing closer, one after another — their appetite for offensive action clearly much improved.

If they were to go from the Great Ming capital to Gubeikou, they would have to travel several hundred extra li within Ming territory, and moreover pass through fortified border garrison zones that had not been ravaged. The speed, as one could imagine, would be very slow. Hong Taiji estimated that by now two hundred thousand Ming troops had answered the call to relieve the sovereign and were already advancing toward the Great Ming capital. If the Later Jin army did not hurry out of the pass, he reckoned that even without Huang Shi bearing down on him, he still would not be able to get away.

Hong Taiji worried that even if they took the Gubeikou route, Huang Shi would still catch up. Moving within Ming army territory, the Fining Army's speed advantage over the Later Jin army was not just marginal. Moreover, Hong Taiji suspected that even if they broke out smoothly at Gubeikou, that would not be the end of it — because they would still have to travel through Monan, passing by Xifengkou on their way back to Liaoyang.

This Later Jin incursion into the pass had greatly shocked the Ming court. Hong Taiji felt that Huang Shi would very likely exit the pass at Xifengkou and block their retreat. Should that happen, Hong Taiji and his allied forces would have to push handcarts across the great desert. Putting aside how many would survive the crossing, even if they made it, they would still have to face the Chahar Mongols and their allies, who were watching them with predatory eyes.

In recent years, Lin Danhan had grown unwilling to fight the Later Jin, for not only did he lose every battle, he also felt the Great Ming was unreliable and weak. So Lin Danhan, it seemed, had also begun to entertain the idea of emulating the Later Jin and plundering the Great Ming. But circumstances had changed. If Hong Taiji were driven by Ming troops like a stray dog with no home to return to, forced to crawl across the great desert, Hong Taiji believed Lin Danhan would still come howling to take his revenge.

Therefore, Hong Taiji ultimately decided to force his way out through Xifengkou. The Later Jin army had already been marching at a very urgent pace, but they still needed at least three more days to reach Zunhua. The Later Jin army could not rely on their horses for a forced march to escape; otherwise, out of twenty-five thousand troops, they would have to abandon at least sixty percent. And it was winter — out in the wilds there was scant fodder. If the horse columns did not keep pace with the baggage train, by the time they reached Xifengkou their mounts would be dead in droves. When it truly came to that, even if Hong Taiji wanted to walk home, he would first have to ask whether the Ming army and Lin Danhan would permit it.

"Dorgon should already have reached Zunhua, and the Ming army will likely arrive around the same time as we do." Hong Taiji counted on his fingers, reckoning Huang Shi's timing for him. He believed Huang Shi must have fought his way up from Yongzhen by his own strength, so his army was bound to be utterly exhausted. "Even if Huang Shi throws himself at the city walls without regard for anything, Fan Wencheng is quite resourceful. He and Dorgon, holding Zunhua with one heart, will certainly hold out until we arrive. Fighting as we withdraw, our chances of charging out beyond the pass are still very great."

"Mm, Eighth Brother, what you say makes sense." Once Manggultai had calmed down, he too agreed with Hong Taiji's view. If they simply turned tail and ran without fighting a single battle, the Mongols' hearts would scatter. Many among them would likely try to slip away and flee through Xifengkou. If things went on like that, by the time the army reached Juyong Pass or Gubeikou, they would probably be down to half their number. Whether they could break out would be very uncertain, and the road ahead even more bleak — far less certain than racing Huang Shi for time. "Eighth Brother, set your mind at ease. I have already prayed most devoutly. God will surely bless us and keep us safe."

Hong Taiji gave a bitter smile but said nothing. Compared to shaman sorcerers, he still placed more trust in Dorgon's courage and Fan Wencheng's cunning.

"Dorgon, Fan Wencheng — you must not disappoint me." So thought Hong Taiji.

……

After the Vanguard Battalion's artillery company reached Santun on the evening of the sixth, Huang Shi ordered the Fire Rescue Battalion to break camp and set out the next day, preparing to advance toward Zunhua. After a brief rest, the Fining Army soldiers' morale had grown even higher, and their physical strength had recovered to its peak. Huang Shi planned to have the Fire Rescue Battalion march at normal speed and arrive behind Zu Dashou to serve as his rear reserve.

Huang Shi estimated that Zu Dashou would surely throw his full strength into assaulting Zunhua. Over these two days, the defenders of Zunhua would also be utterly exhausted. Once the Fire Rescue Battalion arrived, Zu Dashou's left-wing troops could rest for a day. Huang Shi hoped the Fire Rescue Battalion could easily overcome the Later Jin defenders who had already fought bitterly for two days. When the Fire Rescue Battalion rested in turn, the left wing of the Sovereign-Relief Army could recover its fighting strength and prepare to defend against enemy attacks.

As for the Rock Battalion, it would advance toward Xifengkou and likewise relieve the right-wing troops of the Sovereign-Relief Army, who were beginning to tire. With the Ming army's strength advantage now so overwhelming, they naturally had to rotate units into battle to preserve the troops' morale and physical stamina. Huang Shi himself set out with the Fire Rescue Battalion; after all, the threat from this direction was still

relatively greater. Meanwhile, the Vanguard Battalion began its rest and prepared to be committed to the battlefield as needed.

In the predawn hours of the seventh, Huang Shi set out together with the Fire Rescue Battalion. But they had not gone far when a messenger from Zu Dashou came racing toward them. The messenger reported to Huang Shi with excitement: "Marshal, the left wing of the Sovereign-Relief Army has already taken Zunhua!"

This news truly stunned Huang Shi. By his calculations, Zu Dashou's left wing had set out on the morning of the sixth, and its vanguard would reach the walls of Zunhua on the evening of the sixth. They could not possibly launch an assault until the seventh at the earliest. Yet here before him was a herald of victory — which meant that Zu Dashou had launched a fierce attack the moment he reached Zunhua, and the city had fallen that very night.

— Isn't this ogre a bit too ferocious?

Though Huang Shi wished to disbelieve it, the fact stood before his eyes, and he could not help but regard Zu Feijiang with new respect.

……

The Fire Rescue Battalion was still advancing slowly to the rear, while Huang Shi, taking a few guards, galloped at full speed to Zunhua. By the time he arrived it was already the evening of the seventh. Zu Feijiang's face had split into a blooming grin — once again he had snatched the great merit for himself. When the time came to publicly deliberate on military merits, Zu Feijiang was confident that others would have no more nonsense to spout.

The other Ming army generals were also very pleased. Ever since the campaign began, the Ming army had swept all before it. The Later Jin army's strategic depth, stretching two hundred li to their flank and rear, had been pierced through by the Ming army like a whirlwind sweeping away wisps of cloud.

Seeing Huang Shi approach, several thousand rescued commoners knelt together and kowtowed to him in gratitude: "Grand Viceroy Huang, may you live a hundred years, and your noble line endure for ten thousand generations!"

These commoners were mostly civilians from the capital region. After Yuan Chonghuan had allowed the enemy to enter the pass, the elderly and children in these people's families had been cruelly slain, and they themselves had been seized by the Later Jin army and driven toward the outside of the pass. Now liberated by the Ming army, these commoners felt as if they had passed into another life. Remembering their parents and elders who had died so wretchedly, they could not help but embrace one another and weep, giving vent to great cries of grief.

In this vast calamity, great numbers of parents had also lost their young children. After releasing the feelings pent up over so many days, they then joined their voices in furious denunciation of Yuan Chonghuan for betraying the realm. This heaven-covering, earth-filling torrent of curses made Zu Dashou and the others somewhat embarrassed. But the commoners did not hold it against the Guanning Army. Seeing that they had come to rescue them, the commoners all chose forgiveness and clemency. When they learned that Yuan Chonghuan had already been thrown into prison, several thousand commoners roared in unison: "Hack the Yuan dog-thief to pieces! Hack the Yuan dog-thief to pieces!"

Against this backdrop of interwoven gratitude, grief, and furious shouts, Huang Shi strode into the main army encampment of the Ming forces at Zunhua. The Ming generals on both sides bowed together in salute: "Marshal."

Once he was seated squarely in the central seat, the great merit-earner who had delivered Zunhua was summoned in. Fan Wencheng threw himself down and knocked his head repeatedly against the floor: "The guilty one, Fan Wencheng, kowtows before the Marshal."

Inside Zunhua there had been a total of over two thousand Later Jin troops — Fan Wencheng's force and Dorgon's force combined. Fan Wencheng had five hundred armored troops and three hundred unarmored, many of whom were his trusted confidants. Dorgon had four hundred Heavy Armor Soldiers and over a thousand Mongol troops. The left wing of the Sovereign-Relief Army, by contrast, had over ten thousand combat soldiers, including two thousand elite retainers and personal guards.

The day before, as soon as Zu Dashou's vanguard reached the outskirts of the city, they received a secret envoy from Fan Wencheng. That very night, Fan Wencheng took his trusted men and set fires everywhere inside the city, then led his troops to slaughter the guards at the east gate and admit the main Ming army. After entering, the two sides fought a chaotic battle for the greater part of the night. Fan Wencheng's force contributed the most effort and took the most heads. The Later Jin troops throughout the city were killed to the last man, and Dorgon was captured alive. Li Yongfang, who was escorting supplies out of the pass, happened to be staying in Zunhua at the time and was naturally captured by the Ming army together with Dorgon.

Huang Shi looked at the head of black hair before him and asked hesitantly, "You are Fan Wencheng? Then what is the story with your hair?"

"Reporting to the Marshal, the guilty one is indeed Fan Wencheng." As he spoke, Fan Wencheng tore the hair from his own head, revealing a completely bald pate. "Marshal, this guilty one met with misfortune and eked out a shameful existence in the bandits' lair, forced to shave his head. Whenever I thought of this, I could not help but feel a piercing pain in my heart. So I secretly made this wig for myself. Over these years, in the still of the night, I would stealthily put it on and gaze into a mirror for a while — only to feel the pain in my heart stab all the more fiercely."

Fan Wencheng prostrated himself on the floor and said in a choked voice, "This guilty one's family and fellow examination graduates were mostly murdered by the slave chieftains. The reason this guilty one did not seek death at once was to endure a moment's disgrace and wait for a chance to repay the imperial army with service. Today this guilty one has finally waited until that day. Even if I die now, I can close my eyes in peace."

With that, Fan Wencheng, formerly the Later Jin's foremost strategist, broke into loud, heartbroken wailing, his voice brimming with sorrow. All who heard it could not help but feel compassion. The faces of the Ming officers on either side of Huang Shi also showed expressions of pity.

Fan Wencheng wailed for a while, then put the horsehair wig, dyed black with ink, back onto his head. Sniffling, he said, "All thanks to the Marshal's might, this guilty one can at last wear this wig openly in the light of day. Thinking of these many years of humiliating life, sorrow truly springs from within and cannot be stemmed."

Watching Fan Wencheng's head of black hair and listening to the earnest words from his mouth, Huang Shi for a moment felt a truly absurd sensation. A moment later, Huang Shi roused himself from his bewilderment. Wasn't this a good thing? Flying General Zu Dashou advanced in soaring triumph; the Guanning officers vied for merit, none willing to lag behind; the Three Compliant Kings had all found wealth and prospects on the Great Ming's side... Since even the arch-traitor Fan Wencheng had put on long hair, then the common people of China naturally would no longer face the possibility of wearing queues.

This was a very fine omen, and it instantly put Huang Shi at ease. He could not help but find his own former thoughts laughable. To have expected a Han traitor like Fan Wencheng to remain loyal unto death for Hong Taiji was truly as hopeless as climbing a tree to catch a fish. "Fan Wencheng, what plans do you have from now on?"

Huang Shi had no intention of taking him on as an advisor. His general staff was already fully capable of handling work in every area. So he had originally planned to give Fan Wencheng a sum of parting silver and let him return to the proper path of the imperial examinations. Unexpectedly, Fan Wencheng had other plans. He intended to enter Zu Dashou's service as a strategist and, in the future, to earn military merit and become a military officer.

Seeing that his mind was made up, Huang Shi did not press the matter. He comforted Fan Wencheng with a few kind words, telling him to set his mind at ease — if he truly could achieve results in the cause of national defense, the Office of the Grand Viceroy would not discriminate against him either.

After Fan Wencheng's matter was settled, the guards dragged Li Yongfang in for Huang Shi to verify his identity. The once insufferably arrogant Fushun Imperial Son-in-Law now trembled like a leaf in the winter wind, his face ashen as a dead man's. Huang Shi had the guards loosen the rope around Li Yongfang's mouth and sighed with emotion: "Lord Imperial Son-in-Law, eight years since we parted at Liaoyang, we meet again at last. For all the bloody debts you incurred at Kaiyuan, Tieling, and Guangning, heaven's justice has finally come full circle."

Li Yongfang knew he was certain to die. Steeling his heart, he burst out in furious curses: "You dog-thief! Back then it was indeed I who had eyes but failed to see. But you, you scoundrel, are far too cunning! A dog-thief who walks the path of baseness and shamelessness, yet steals the name of loyalty, faith, benevolence, and righteousness. To deceive the world and steal such a reputation to this degree — you are truly rare under heaven."

The surrounding Ming generals all changed color and shouted abuse back. Li Yongfang, not yielding in the slightest, returned their taunts in kind. Starting from the spy

merchant in Liaoyang, to his role as go-between with Sun Degong, he cursed Huang Shi till the blood sprayed from his mouth. Huang Shi shook his head repeatedly and sighed, listening without a word as Li Yongfang ranted hysterically for a while. Only then did he wave for the guards to take the man away and immediately transport him in shackles to the capital.

After Li Yongfang came Dorgon's turn. The moment the guards loosened the rope around Dorgon's mouth, he cried out hoarsely: "Marshal! Marshal! This slave has long harbored the desire to return to the righteous Great Ming! It is this slave's father and elder brothers who deliberately rebelled against the imperial court — it has absolutely nothing to do with this slave!"

Had Huang Shi heard these words a little earlier, he might have been greatly astonished. But having just witnessed Fan Wencheng's performance of utter loyalty, Dorgon could no longer surprise him overmuch. "You are Dorgon?"

"That is this slave indeed. Marshal, Marshal, this slave truly has no heart for rebellion! This slave has been urging Father and Elder Brother to surrender all along, but they simply would not listen to this slave!"

Ignoring the shouting Dorgon, Huang Shi turned his head and asked Fan Wencheng: "It is definitely him, no mistake?"

Fan Wencheng hastily nodded: "Answering the Marshal, definitely no mistake."

Huang Shi gave a slight nod and was about to wave for the soldiers to drag the man away. Dorgon, who had been carefully watching Huang Shi's expression from below the whole time, grew frantic at the sight. Summoning all his strength, he lunged forward. Though bound with thick ropes, Dorgon fought with such desperate ferocity that for a moment the two guards could not hold him. He managed to struggle forward several steps before being pinned down again.

Dorgon shouted wildly at Huang Shi: "Marshal! Oh, Marshal! This slave swears he has always yearned for the Great Ming! All these many years, this slave has not killed a single person — let alone a person, not even a Han chicken has been killed by this slave's hand!... Oh Heavens! Oh Earth! Marshal, this slave truly has secretly let many Han people escape alive! Marshal, if this slave speaks a single word of falsehood, may lightning strike me dead!"

Huang Shi had already raised his hand, but upon hearing these words he could not bring himself to wave it down for the moment. Dorgon knew that if he were sent to the capital in shackles like this, there was absolutely no chance of survival. His mouth gaped wide and he burst into tears: "Marshal! This slave also wishes to be an ordinary Ming subject — that would be far better than being a Tartar! But this was not for this slave to choose! This slave truly has never killed a single Ming subject. Heaven cherishes all living things. I beg the Marshal to spare this slave's life! This slave is willing to write letters to his elder brothers and urge them to surrender to the Marshal at once!"