Chapter 174: Shengjing

October in Liaodong was already a bitterly cold season, and a heavy snowfall a few days earlier had shrouded the vast northeastern lands in a blanket of white.

In the Chongzheng Hall of the imperial palace at the center of Shengjing, the routine council of the Eight Princes was underway. Hong Taiji, Emperor of the Great Qing, sat high upon the dragon throne, while Amin, Manggūltai, Jirgalang, and other Princes, Commandery Princes, and Beiles sat on either side below the steps.

Doro Wuying Commandery Prince Ajige, because of the border raid months earlier that had lost men and generals, and the fall of his son-in-law Yangguri, had after his return from the field been demoted from Commandery Prince to Beile by the joint deliberation of the Eight Princes. His position as banner master of the Plain White Banner had also been forced upon the young Dodo, and three niru from his banner had been carved out and given to Hooge's two Yellow Banners.

Hong Taiji on the throne furrowed his brow and spoke: "Ever since Fan Yongdou and the others at Zhangjiakou Fort were seized by the Ming state, the goods produced by our Great Qing have had no way to be sold, and the grain, iron, gunpowder, and other materials we need have also lost their source. We are likewise completely in the dark about the situation in the Ming state. Right now the storehouses are piled high with furs, ginseng, and deer antlers. If this continues, the impact on our Great Qing will be severe. What views do the princes have on this? If anyone has a good plan, speak it freely!"

The Shanxi merchant group led by Fan Yongdou had, in recent years, provided enormous assistance to the Jianzhou Jurchens.

The various goods produced in Jianzhou were distributed throughout the Great Ming through Fan Yongdou and his associates, and then the Shanxi merchants, relying on the connections they had opened up within Ming territory, sent a steady stream of the materials Jianzhou needed. That the Later Jin could develop from a poor, savage tribe to its current state of establishing a dynasty and founding a nation was due not only to plundering wealth from all directions — the Shanxi merchants had played an irreplaceable role in it. Of course, the Shanxi merchants also reaped enormous profits from these commercial activities, but this practice of sucking blood from their own motherland to feed the enemy was contemptible.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard's seizure of the Shanxi merchants was tantamount to severing one of the Later Jin's arms. For nearly a year now, the furs, great timber, eastern pearls, and ginseng produced or plundered by the various banners of the Eight Banners had completely lost their market, and could only be stored away in warehouses. Fortunately, these goods were all things that could be stored for long periods; otherwise, the Later Jin's losses would have been even greater.

Moreover, without the Shanxi merchants continuously shipping in the strategic materials Jianzhou urgently needed, the previously stockpiled iron, gunpowder, and medicines were dwindling day by day with no way to replenish them. Liaodong had enormous demand for all kinds of raw materials yet produced none of them itself — this situation of eating through one's reserves was hardly a good omen.

What should have become money and grain had now become dead objects, sitting there without any value whatsoever. This evil consequence of only consuming with nothing coming in was gradually becoming apparent, and it made Hong Taiji and the others uneasy. They realized they must come up with a way to change this situation as quickly as possible.

Ajige and his two brothers, along with Daišan and the others, did not take up Hong Taiji's words. Since you are the Emperor, these matters are naturally yours to worry about; if we offered good plans, in the end you would say you had thought of it yourself as well — better to just stand by and watch the show.

Third Beile Manggūltai spoke with a careless air: "Without Fan Yongdou, there's still Zhang Yongdou, Li Yongdou! Have the underlings below make more inquiries, and find a few more merchants from the Ming state!"

Beile Yoto nodded and said: "Fifth Uncle speaks sense. Ming merchants are extremely fond of wealth; once they learn that communicating with our state can bring great profit, they will surely not begrudge themselves! It would be well to send people to make inquiries — we should be able to find some!"

Wise Prince Dorgon could not help but sneer: "Fan Yongdou and the others had lived in Xuanfu town for generations, and it was precisely because of their close collusion with the Ming border generals that they could pass in and out of the frontier without obstruction. Were it other merchants, merely opening up all the necessary channels would take several years; even if someone coveted great wealth, they could hardly compare! This plan has absolutely no chance of working!"

Ceremonial Prince Daišan chimed in: "Old Fourteen speaks rightly! With Fan Yongdou and the others dead, this road is completely cut off. Restoring it would be immensely difficult — better to think of other methods!"

Hong Taiji was greatly displeased with the words and conduct of Manggūltai and Dorgon.

Although it was still the council of the Eight Princes, he was now already the Emperor of the Great Qing. By the precedent of the Ming state, no matter who the others were, before speaking they must first address His Majesty before they could speak. Yet these brothers and nephews of his had always been this rude, clearly not regarding him as Emperor in their eyes. No — in the future, rules must be established, to teach them the way of sovereign and subject.

Zheng Prince Jirgalang spoke up: "What the Wise Prince said is somewhat one-sided but cannot be called wrong. Your minister feels that the Zhangjiakou Fort route cannot be counted on for now. The only course at present is to work through Jinzhou and have the Zu family take over the entire burden!"

Hong Taiji nodded repeatedly with satisfaction.

It was Zheng Prince who understood propriety, who knew the distinctions of rank and station — not like these rough fellows who were crude and ill-mannered.

He spoke: "What Zheng Prince says accords well with my intent, but to completely resolve the burning crisis of my Great Qing will likely require spending a good deal more capital. Although the Zu family has had commercial dealings with our Great Qing, they cannot compare with Zhangjiakou Fort. Moreover, though they sit on the fence, they are after all high officials of the Ming state and will have their reservations. But given the present situation, we can only rely temporarily on their house. We must pick someone eloquent to go, and he must carry heavy bribes — the Zu family's reputation for greed is known to all. I will select treasures from the storehouses of the Imperial Household Department to give him!"

With the matter of how to resolve this settled, it became a question of selecting a suitable person. In the end, all agreed that Li Shuaitai, son of the late son-in-law Li Yongfang and a first-class viscount, should go to Jinzhou to meet Zu Dashou in person, urging the Zu family to secretly help and relieve Jianzhou's present difficulties.

The two sides had been fighting for years — openly they were opponents, but in secret they had mutual connections. In the many battles between the two sides, many Liaodong Ming soldiers captured by the Eight Banners had joined the Chinese-martial banners. Especially some higher-ranking generals, who had spent generations fighting in the Liaodong army and had wide networks of connections. After receiving their masters' instructions, they secretly used gold and silver to bribe their former comrades in exchange for important intelligence and materials.

The heads of the Liaodong military families turned a blind eye to all this. Though they had no direct intention of communicating with the enemy, they were also happy to see the Eight Banners grow strong.

It was precisely because of this scourge of the Later Jin at their side that the Liaodong warlords had their excuse and channel for getting rich.

Who in Liaodong did not know of the Zu brothers' grand mansions in Jinzhou? Where did the rare treasures, exotic flowers, and strange plants inside them come from? Were they not all purchased with silver squeezed from the court under various pretexts?

If the Later Jin were destroyed, where would Zu Dashou and his kind get their several million in military pay and provisions each year?

Not to mention those underhanded methods besides.

The Zu and Wu families both had great merchants under their patronage, and the goods they dealt in basically all came from Jianzhou territory. Had these generals not permitted it, could Jianzhou's goods have reached Ming territory at all?

In truth, the conduct of the Liaodong military families was no different from Fan Yongdou and his kind. The only difference was that they still knew there was an Emperor and a court, and did not dare openly provide material assistance to the Jianzhou barbarians. The merchants under them could buy furs and other specialty goods from the Jianzhou barbarians at low prices, then transport them inside the passes and sell them at several times the price — but they still did not dare ship back iron, grain, and other materials to sell to the Jianzhou barbarians.

Note — they did not dare do it openly. As for small-scale, small-batch shipments of various materials, those were not uncommon, because the Jianzhou barbarians paid quite high prices for these urgently needed goods. In the face of several-fold profits, smuggling tacitly permitted by those behind the scenes happened from time to time.

After settling on the person to contact Jinzhou, the assembly continued to discuss the follow-up matters arising from Ajige's defeat.

After Ajige returned north from his military defeat, he spoke at length about the sharpness of the Ming army's firearms, the might of their cannons, and the strictness of their formations. He claimed that the reason for his defeat was not his own incompetence, but that the power of the Changping Ming army's firearms far surpassed what it had been before. If this Ming force were not eliminated, it would truly be a great scourge upon the Eight Banners.

Ajige's words aroused the vigilance and attention of Hong Taiji and the others.

In the accounts of Ajige, Abatai, and the wounded Tanta and others, the Ming army that had defeated them this time was completely different from the Ming armies of before. Though their total number was only a little over ten thousand, their fighting power was quite considerable. The muskets they used seemed to have a longer range than those used by Ming armies previously, posing a very great threat to the Eight Banners' infantry charges. The shielding effect of the former shield-carts against shot had already become very weak.

Hong Taiji and the others had discussed this matter several times but had not thought of an effective countermeasure.

But this matter was of great importance and a solution absolutely had to be found as soon as possible.

Hong Taiji asked: "Ceremonial Prince, before the heavy snow, how many men and horses did the Plain Red Banner bring back from the Khalkha Mongols?"

The best way to deal with Ming musketeers was to charge them with large bodies of cavalry. But the Jianzhou Jurchens were originally a fishing-and-hunting people. Though they also had elite cavalry, their numbers were too few. In ordinary engagements with the Ming army, they relied mainly on heavy infantry to break the Ming formations, then supplemented with elite cavalry for the killing charge.

To charge with large bodies of cavalry, they could only think of summoning large numbers of cavalry from the various Mongol tribes.

In order to deal with this Ming force that they would encounter again in the future, Hong Taiji ordered the Plain Red Banner to dispatch twenty niru of men and horses to launch offensives against the nearby Khalkha Mongol tribes that had not submitted, to subdue more Mongol cavalry for their own use.

Daišan replied: "This time, Commander Lenggeri led twenty niru west against the Khalkha, capturing in total over twenty thousand head of cattle, sheep, and livestock, over five thousand people, and over two thousand adult soldiers who can be organized into units."

Hong Taiji frowned and said: "Still too few soldiers. Winter has now set in, and these heavy snows will come one after another — the roads will be impassable. After the snow melts next spring, the Bordered Red Banner, Plain Blue Banner, and Bordered Blue Banner must all send heavy forces west. The Khalkha, Chahar, and Khorchin tribes that do not submit to the Eight Banners must all be campaigned against and subdued. We must capture more people, and the Mongol Eight Banners must send troops to participate!"

Yoto and the others acknowledged the order.

Hong Taiji continued: "I will have Hooge lead forces north into the forests to capture more wild Jurchens. While holed up for the winter, each banner must step up the forging of weapons and arrows. After next year's western campaign and the accumulation of strength, the year after I will personally lead an expedition against the Ming state. I am determined to destroy that Changping Ming army — it must not be allowed to become a mortal threat to our Great Qing!"

Manggūltai took up the words: "But there isn't much iron left for forging weapons and arrows, and my banner's grain is also running low. The matter of the Zu family in Jinzhou must be handled early — our Eight Banners have been short of everything these past six months, and even with gold and silver we can't spend it!"

Dorgon, who had been silent for a long while, spoke: "Relying solely on the Zu family won't do either — we still have to go seize grain! Joseon has grain. Our two White Banners are willing to send men on a trip to Joseon!"

Hong Taiji nodded in agreement: "The Wise Prince's plan is workable! After the two White Banners send generals into Joseon, they should not only seize grain — the Joseon musketeers are quite elite, so seek opportunities to capture more of them, and take more gunpowder and shot along the way!"

Dorgon nodded in acknowledgment. Seeing that there was nothing further to discuss, the assembly dispersed, each returning to his own banner.