Chapter 175: Connections

Inside Jinzhou city stood several lavish estates with wide grounds and rows of buildings, belonging respectively to Commissioner-in-Chief and Jinzhou Regional Commander Zu Dashou, Vice Regional Commander Zu Dale, Ningyuan Regional Commander Zu Dabi — three brothers — and their brother-in-law, Shanhai Pass Regional Commander Wu Xiang.

Zu Dashou's residence sat at the very center of these grand mansions, its structure more imposing, its grounds more extensive, and its ornamentation more splendid than the rest.

In the study of the main rear courtyard, Zu Dashou was receiving Li Shuaitai, who had come in secret, while his eldest son Zu Zerun stood in attendance behind his father.

Through the introduction of Jiang Xin — a former Liaodong Mobile Corps Commander who had been captured and surrendered to the Qing at the Battle of Dalinghe — Li Shuaitai had bribed several generals at heavy cost before being granted an audience with Zu Dashou.

Zu Dashou was not tall, but he was burly and solid, sitting in a tiger-skin-draped armchair like a small mountain, his narrow elongated eyes gleaming with sharp light as he periodically swept his gaze over Li Shuaitai seated below.

Since the fourth year of Chongzhen, when he had been besieged at Dalinghe city for months and, with food exhausted, had feigned surrender out of desperation, then escaped back on the pretext of seizing Jinzhou, Zu Dashou had never again met with an envoy of the Jianzhou barbarians.

Though during that time Hong Taiji had sent secret envoys with letters time and again, urging Zu Dashou not to break his word and to surrender Jinzhou as soon as possible, Zu Dashou refused to see the envoys, fobbing them off with all manner of excuses, and continued to hold fast to the Jinzhou line, refusing to yield the city.

The reason he agreed to meet Li Shuaitai this time was that his trusted subordinate generals had repeatedly petitioned him, and not wanting to rebuff everyone's face, Zu Dashou had reluctantly consented.

He knew full well that these bastards had no idea how much wealth they'd taken from the Jianzhou barbarians, which was why they took turns speaking up so frequently for the secret envoy.

Outside it was cold enough to freeze dripping water, but the fire-walls burning on both sides kept the room warm as spring; Li Shuaitai, clad in furs, was already sweating on his forehead and feeling unbearably hot all over.

He picked up the tea from the low table beside him and drained it in one go, and only then did that irritating, nausea-inducing feeling ease somewhat.

Zu Dashou, dressed in a silk robe, spoke in a deep voice: "Hong Taiji sends you here for what? I am busy with affairs — if you have something to say, say it quickly!"

Li Shuaitai wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and took the opportunity to bow with clasped hands: "In answer to the Commander, this time His Majesty ordered me here to renew our friendship with the Commander and plan the road ahead together, and commanded me to bring heavy gifts to repay the Commander for his many years of assistance to our Great Qing!"

Zu Dashou snorted coldly: "If you have words, speak them; if you have wind, break it! What friendship do I have with that Hong Taiji? You people are just savages of Jianzhou, and you call yourselves Great Qing! What common road could you and I share!"

Li Shuaitai's expression showed slight embarrassment, but since the other man denied any connection with Jianzhou and told him to state the purpose of his visit plainly, he had no choice but to stop beating around the bush.

He pulled a letter from his bosom and rose to step forward and hand it to Zu Dashou, but Zu Dashou waved a hand and said impatiently: "Speak plainly if you have something to say! I have no time to read this damned letter!"

Li Shuaitai had no choice but to sit back down, set the letter on the low table, and speak: "General Zu, this time I come representing His Majesty to seek aid! Our Great Qing currently faces a moment of difficulty, and I hope General Zu will extend a helping hand to assist our Great Qing — the entirety of our Great Qing will be endlessly grateful!"

Zu Dashou glanced sideways at Li Shuaitai with narrowed eyes and grinned, showing his teeth: "Heh heh! What a strange thing! Your master claims to be wise and mighty, capable of anything — I even lost to him back in the day — so how is it he's suddenly come begging at my door? Come now, tell me: what's happened to Hong Taiji? Run short of grain, or something else?"

Li Shuaitai paid no heed to Zu Dashou's sarcastic tone and laid out in full the dire straits Jianzhou had fallen into after the trade routes were cut off, beseeching Zu Dashou to lend aid at this critical moment.

Zu Dashou burst into loud laughter at this, and Zu Zerun also wore a mocking expression.

The news that Ajige had been defeated at the border and fled back to Jianzhou had long since reached the ears of the Liaodong military families; Zu Dashou gloated over it, yet at the same time was shocked that the court had suddenly produced such a formidable army.

All along, the Guanning army had repeatedly lost to the Later Jin, but they had always believed themselves to be the Ming's most elite armed force. The reason they lost to the Jianzhou barbarians time and again was that their opponent was too fierce — any opponent the Guanning army couldn't beat, no one else could either.

Hadn't they seen how the roving bandits inside the passes, who had never been wiped out despite repeated campaigns, were quickly destroyed after the court transferred a few Liaodong cavalry units? This proved that the Guanning army was the court's final reliance, so asking the court for money was only natural.

This arrogant, self-important mentality was widespread among the Liaodong military families, so when they first heard that Ajige, famed for his ferocity, had actually been defeated by government troops at Changping and suffered no small losses, the Liaodong generals still refused to believe it. Only later, as reports of the battle trickled in from various sources, did the Liaodong generals finally believe that the court possessed an armed force even more formidable than the Guanning army.

Before Zu Dashou and his kind could even consider how to deal with the court henceforth, Li Shuaitai arrived.

Seeing the supremely arrogant Jianzhou barbarians suffer setback after setback, how could Zu Dashou not be pleased?

Li Shuaitai had long anticipated Zu Dashou's reaction; after Zu Dashou finished laughing, he calmly clasped his hands and said: "General Zu, you only see our Great Qing's successive losses, but have you never considered that if this continues and our Great Qing gradually declines, what fate will befall the Zu family? As the old saying goes: when the birds are gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning hare is dead, the running dog is boiled! Should that day truly come, and our Great Qing meet with unspeakable misfortune, on what will the Zu family rely to survive? For years the Liaodong military families have scorned the Ming court and disregarded the Ming emperor's commands — such deeds are too numerous to count! Does General Zu think the Ming court, from top to bottom, bears no resentment toward the Liaodong military families' conduct over the years? The day our Great Qing falls will be the day the Zu family is destroyed!"

Li Shuaitai had been clever and fond of learning since childhood; when he was five, his father Li Yongfang had engaged an old local xiucai of Liaodong to begin his education, and when he grew up, spent lavishly to invite learned scholars of Liaodong to further his knowledge. Though Li Shuaitai could not participate in the Ming's imperial examinations, through years of wide reading and a strong memory, Li Shuaitai was not only eloquent but his learning was absolutely among the top in the Later Jin — had he been in the Ming, with luck he could have passed the provincial examination.

After Li Shuaitai finished this speech, Zu Dashou flew into a rage; he pointed at Li Shuaitai and roared: "You slave, speak more nonsense and I'll chop you to pieces with one stroke of my blade! From my ancestors' generation my family has guarded Liaodong for the court, earning countless merits in the process! Several fine sons of the Zu family have stained the battlefield with their blood! By my generation, father and sons, brothers together, have fought desperately against your master! All to hold Liaodong for the court and keep savages like you from harming the people of our Great Ming! My Zu family has always been utterly loyal to the Great Ming! How dare you, slave, try to sow discord between my Liaodong military families and the court! You must be blind! If not for the sake of your late father's face, I'd chop you up and feed you to the dogs right now!"

Zu Zerun also glared angrily at Li Shuaitai, but his body did not move an inch.

Before Li Yongfang surrendered to the Qing, he had served as Mobile Corps Commander of Fushun and had a good relationship with Zu Dashou's father, Zu Chengxun, then Vice Regional Commander of Liaodong. Had he not defected so early, Zu Dashou and Li Shuaitai would have been family friends of long standing, addressing each other as brothers.

Li Shuaitai paid no heed to Zu Dashou's threatening bluster; he knew full well that if Zu Dashou truly wanted to kill him, he wouldn't waste words — he'd have already ordered him dragged out and beheaded.

That stern, harsh speech just now was less meant for him than it was self-comfort, self-justification.

This showed that his words had touched the weakest spot in Zu Dashou's heart — a real problem Zu Dashou had considered but never dared to face.

The Later Jin and Liaodong had fought for years, knowing each other inside and out; they were well acquainted with how arrogantly the Liaodong military families treated the Ming court.

Zu Dashou's withdrawal of his troops after the Later Jin attacked the capital in the second year of Chongzhen had long been widely known. From that time, Hong Taiji and others had believed Zu Dashou harbored divided loyalties, which was why they had let him go at Dalinghe city — hoping to subdue him without battle, in the manner of buying a horse's bones with a thousand gold.

But the Later Jin of that time had not yet grown to its present strength, and Zu Dashou, weighing everything, felt that following the Later Jin offered little prospect, so he had feigned surrender and returned.

Li Shuaitai clasped his hands and spoke with earnest sincerity: "General Zu, what I said just now was by no means alarmist. You and the young general should calmly consider: months ago you must have heard of Prince Wuying's defeat. Liaodong has clashed with our Great Qing for years — you know the ferocity of our Eight Banners and the valor of Prince Wuying! Yet even such brave troops and fierce generals were defeated at Changping, which means the Ming court now possesses military force capable of contending with our Great Qing! Though our Eight Banners losing an occasional battle is only normal, this Ming army has been marked by His Majesty for certain destruction — but the Ming emperor and his ministers will believe they now have a new force to replace the Liaodong military families! From now on they will no longer do whatever you say, and when you ask your court for money and supplies, I fear it will not be granted as freely as before!"

Zu Dashou and Zu Zerun both fell silent.

Every word Li Shuaitai spoke struck at the heart of the matter. Since the ninth year of Chongzhen, the silver and supplies the court allocated to Liaodong had gradually decreased, and the new Minister of War, Yang Sichang, had several times sent dispatches to Liaodong, angrily denouncing the Liaodong generals for inflating troop numbers, pocketing the pay of nonexistent soldiers, and garrisoning heavy forces for years without accomplishment — something that had never happened before.

Seeing this, Li Shuaitai pressed his advantage further: "General Zu, Young General, our Great Qing has no intention of entering the passes to invade the Ming. His Majesty only wishes to join with the Zu family in holding this bitter cold land of Liaodong, with both families sharing wealth and honor for generations to come! For your own sake and for others', I beg General Zu to grant this!"

This speech of Li Shuaitai's thoroughly moved Zu Dashou.

As long as the status quo could be maintained, with Jianzhou always pressuring the court from Liaodong, the court would have no choice but to accept the Liaodong military families' unreasonable demands in order to protect the border and hold the territory.

In truth, this practice was not the Zu family's innovation — before the Jianzhou Jurchen rose, when the Mongol tribes took turns raiding the border, the military strongmen of the Xuan-Da, Yansui, and Ningxia garrisons did the same, demanding money and supplies from the court on all manner of pretexts to maintain their own and their subordinates' wealth and glory.

If Jianzhou could find an opportunity to badly wound that Ming army at Changping, so much the better — from then on the court would have no strong army and would have no choice but to rely on Liaodong in the end.

After pondering for some time, Zu Dashou spoke: "I know what your people lack, but I am after all a minister of the Great Ming, and I must not go too far! I will set the terms today: for the supplies Jianzhou needs this time, pig iron shall not exceed ten thousand jin, gunpowder shall not exceed one thousand jin, and grain — my family is short of it too, so I'll give only five hundred dan! The rest is for Zerun to handle as he sees fit! I say this in advance: this once only, never again! This matter must never be known to anyone uninvolved! When you return, tell Hong Taiji to conduct himself well!"

With that, Zu Dashou rose and left, while Zu Zerun remained to discuss the specifics of how to proceed with Li Shuaitai.

Li Shuaitai felt a weight lifted; the supplies Zu Dashou had agreed to sell them this time were far fewer than he had expected, but at least it resolved the Later Jin's most pressing need, and he could give an account when he returned. With this iron they could forge more arrowheads and repair more weapons, making full preparations for the western campaign next spring.

Though Zu Dashou said it was only this once, as long as they paved the way with heavy bribes and made the previous small-scale smuggling a regular affair, then found other channels next year, Jianzhou would gradually weather this crisis.