Chapter 114: Re-establishing Dongjiang

In reality, although Dorgon had already ordered the northward retreat, the Chongzhen Emperor only learned of this news more than a month later.

The civil and military officials below, having colluded to conceal the report out of fear of the enemy and a desire to avoid battle, left the Chongzhen Emperor in the palace completely unaware of when Dorgon had entered the passes, nor when he had departed.

One month after the Qing army struck camp and headed north, two men on two horses happened to pass through this place. Judging by their ornate attire, they were Embroidered Uniform Guard officers of the Northern Provost's Office, heading toward the Shanhai Pass area to deliver the Emperor's edict.

One of the guardsmen, while riding at speed, turned his head and swept a glance toward the roadside. His brow furrowed immediately, and he dismounted in a flash, crouching to examine the ground carefully as he said:

"Something is amiss here. It appears a large body of troops once passed through."

The other guardsman, hearing this, also hurriedly dismounted and discovered that many traces of marching and encampment that had been deliberately concealed were now, due to the passage of time, largely exposed.

"Indeed, a large force must have camped here. Yet I've heard no report of enemy movements from any official army recently. Could it be the Tartars?"

Hearing this, the Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard wiped at the horseshoe prints on the ground with his hand, then turned back to ask:

"Last month, Jianzhou barbarian troops came to the capital's outskirts. The Capital Camps and militia camps stood ready for a long while, yet nothing ever came of it. I judge these hoofprints to have been left about a month ago. Did any royal rescue army pass through this place at that time?"

"No!"

Hearing this answer, the Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard said with absolute certainty:

"In that case, those who camped here must have been the Jianzhou barbarians, no question! This is suspicious. You return to the capital and report this first. I'll continue on to Shanhai Pass to find Regional Commander Gao Di!"

"Very well, be careful, Chiliarch Zhao!"

"Hurry back now!"

The other guardsman also understood the gravity of the matter. Nodding, he mounted his horse and retraced his route back to the capital, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard Chiliarch surnamed Zhao went his own separate way.

Several days later, a team of Embroidered Uniform Guard officers arriving from the capital reined in with a shout at this spot, then fanned out to search forward along the traces left behind, seeking the possible direction of the Jianzhou barbarian army.

In July, although a chill wind blew across the Central Plains, it was not particularly cold. Yet in Jin Prefecture, this godforsaken place, people froze to death every single day — truly strange.

As for those who froze to death, naturally every single one of them without exception was Han Chinese.

It had been many years since the Jianzhou barbarians had usurped Liaodong, and the Han people of Liaodong had lived lives worse than pigs and dogs since the time of the old barbarian chieftain Nurhaci.

During the reigns of Hong Taiji and Dorgon, it was said that the Han were treated with great courtesy, but in reality, such treatment was enjoyed only by those Han who were of use to the "Great Qing." The rest — ordinary commoners — were merely objects for the Bannermen to kill or humiliate at will.

If a family had any comely young woman, the parents would dress her up like a tomboy, and the plainer her clothes the better — ideally so unsightly that a single glance would make one annoyed, and only then could they rest easy.

The reason was precisely the Bannermen's wanton lawlessness in the localities. If a family had a pretty daughter, she would either be tortured to death or dragged straight into the military camps to be ravaged beyond recognition.

The commander of the local Han army in Jin Prefecture was named Zhou Sizhao, a former subordinate of Mao Wenlong. One day, seeing Bannermen bullying a woman openly in the street, he accidentally killed the man in a moment of lost control.

Zhou Sizhao tossed and turned over this afterward, knowing full well he would suffer the frenzied retaliation of the Jin Prefecture Bannermen. Though he was a Han army commander stationed in Jin Prefecture, a Han's post meant nothing before the Bannermen — he lived no better than a pig or dog.

One night in June, a letter suddenly appeared at Zhou Sizhao's bedside, signed "A Minister of the Great Ming," detailing clearly everything that had happened in the Central Plains and the new edicts issued by the court.

Two great victories, the beheading of Abatai, the Edict of Self-Blame, the establishment of the Hall of Loyal Martyrs...

These and other good tidings he would never before have dared even to dream of stirred Zhou Sizhao's nerves once more. He simply could not believe they were real, yet from his position, this was precisely the best moment to return to the Ming.

In years past, Mao Wenlong had been killed by Yuan Chonghuan under a forged edict, but his successor as Regional Commander, Chen Jisheng, could not effectively discipline the various generals.

The seven Liu brothers had fought far and wide during Mao Wenlong's time and held a reputation for valor among the Dongjiang generals. But after Mao Wenlong's death, the Jianzhou barbarians began spreading rumors that the Liu brothers had surrendered to the Qing and that the court intended to execute them, throwing the Dongjiang generals into panic.

As the successor Regional Commander, Chen Jisheng failed to placate the Liu brothers in time, and the rifts among the generals only widened. Later, due to various reasons, Liu Xingzhi brazenly incited a mutiny, killing Chen Jisheng and over a hundred of his personal guards. Liu Xingji, opposing his elder brother, then joined with Zhang Tao, Shen Shikui, and others to kill Liu Xingzhi.

Zhou Sizhao had been among the generals opposing Liu Xingzhi at the time. After that mutiny, the successor Regional Commander sent over was Huang Long, who had campaigned in Liaodong in his early years. Though his ability and prestige were sufficient, the Dongjiang garrison could never be propped up again.

The Dongjiang garrison that Huang Long took over was divided at heart, the generals estranged and disaffected. A large number had already crossed the sea to defect to the Later Jin — it was no longer the Dongjiang garrison of old.

Moreover, from that point on, the Dongjiang garrison received no more military pay or grain supplies. Those who remained were like an abandoned army cast off by the court, drifting forlornly upon the sea.

Though Huang Long and Zhou Sizhao still held to their hearts the principle of loyalty to the sovereign and service to the state, the fractured Dongjiang garrison was clearly not what it had once been. In the end, Huang Long led his personal guards to die fighting at Lushun Harbor, giving his life on the battlefield for the country — yet in the end, he could not even obtain a single posthumous honor for his descendants.

This final matter struck a nerve in Zhou Sizhao and the other surviving Dongjiang generals. In a moment of righteous indignation, he could only follow the last batch of men in surrendering to the Later Jin.

From the moment the Chongzhen Emperor had transmigrated into this era, he had intended to rebuild the Dongjiang garrison, but had suffered from a lack of anyone to respond from within. Upon receiving news of Dorgon's northward retreat, he set aside his joy and hurriedly dispatched agents of the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard, disguised, to Liaodong to investigate the cause.

For Dorgon, this incursion through the passes had clearly been a heaven-sent opportunity to "enter and rule the Central Plains." For him to have run back without a word was very likely due to the effect of that letter to Hong Chengchou — someone had stirred up trouble back in the Jianzhou barbarians' homeland.

Though the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard's power in Liaodong had ostensibly ceased to exist, several hundred years of foundation could not simply be uprooted by the Great Qing at one stroke.

Through the vigorous searching of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, many deeply hidden spies were still discovered, and thus the name Zhou Sizhao was reported up the chain.

The Chongzhen Emperor, residing in the Warm Pavilion, attached great importance to this matter upon hearing of it. Having precisely intended to re-establish the Depot and Guard's power in Liaodong, he directly ordered Wang Cheng'en and Li Ruolian to handle it jointly.

Zhou Sizhao, as a former subordinate of Mao Wenlong who had been the first to rise up, was of paramount importance in the Chongzhen Emperor's calculations. Now that someone had finally dared to make trouble, he certainly meant to seize this opportunity to give the Jianzhou barbarians a sharp lesson, to show them who the true barbarians were!

Yet when it came to how to handle these people, the Chongzhen Emperor also had a headache.

These men had surrendered to the Jianzhou barbarians in history. If they were brought back, there was no guarantee they would not surrender again over some matter or another. Thus, the best approach was to rebuild the Dongjiang garrison.

Let Mao Wenlong's old subordinates and the discerning patriots of Liaodong who wished to return to the Ming all go to Dongjiang. This would kill two birds with one stone — giving these men a proper place of settlement while also driving that thorn back into the heart of the Jianzhou barbarians.

The most important thing now was not to haggle with these men, but to use as much benefit as possible to pull them back to the side of the Great Ming.

Fortunately, Wang Cheng'en was well versed in such matters. After consulting at length with Li Ruolian, they decided to send people separately to contact Li Chengren, Zhou Sizhao, and Hong Chengchou, to make the court's intentions clear and dispel their misgivings.

One matter remained unclear: had the Zhou Sizhao thread been pulled out by sheer coincidence, or by the deep-laid schemes of the wily Hong Chengchou?