Chapter 93: The Great Victory at military pay and provisions

Before long, Fan Wencheng was summoned by decree. The other princes and ministers had already returned to their own camps, so he only saw Dorgon furiously smoking opium while attended by several Aha slaves.

Dorgon directly voiced his concerns to Fan Wencheng. Upon hearing this, Fan Wencheng's expression did not change in the slightest, and he said in a measured, deliberate tone:

"Reporting to the Prince Regent, your minister believes that Rao Yu Prince simply happened to stumble upon the roving bandits' main camp. Most of the roving bandits are of low fighting capability — there is no cause for worry."

"Main camp?" Dorgon set down his opium pipe upon hearing this, turning his head to ask: "What is this main camp, and how does it compare to our Eight Banners iron cavalry?"

"Naturally it cannot compare to our Eight Banners warriors." Fan Wencheng smiled and said:

"The so-called main camp refers to the personal troops that the roving bandits rely upon to sweep across the Central Plains. According to what your minister knows, before Li Zicheng reached his current scale, there were several times he nearly was annihilated by the Ming army — it was precisely these main camp soldiers that allowed him to rise up again."

Hearing this, Dorgon grew interested and said: "Master Fan, pray tell how Li Zicheng nearly met his end on each of these occasions. I am most eager to hear the details."

Fan Wencheng performed a most respectful grand bow, and taking roughly the time of two incense sticks, recounted in full detail the causes and consequences of every time Li Zicheng had nearly been annihilated by the Ming army in the Central Plains since he first rose up. Then he continued:

"Your minister advises that after our Qing enters and takes the capital, the foremost priority must be to annihilate these main camp soldiers. Ming officials who surrender may be employed, but of the roving bandits, not a single one may be spared."

Dorgon said nothing, but after listening, he burst into loud laughter.

"I had originally thought that with a million men under his command, sweeping across the Central Plains with the Ming army utterly helpless against him, Li Zicheng must be some truly remarkable hero. But after hearing Master Fan's words today, I find that at his core this man is nothing more than a worthless bandit chieftain — not worth worrying about!"

Feeling that he now understood Li Zicheng, Dorgon's expression was relaxed, and after chuckling a few times he said:

"In the past, our Qing three times pressed against the Ming capital without ever succeeding. Now this Chongzhen whelp has deployed all the troops of the capital region to defend Beijing. If the Ming army and the roving bandits were to join forces, how should our army respond?"

"That is impossible." Fan Wencheng understood the Chongzhen Emperor extremely well. "This man is obstinate and self-opinionated, cold and ungrateful. Not long ago he launched a great purge against the Donglin pure-stream officials in the capital, and has employed the depot and guard agencies along with powerful eunuchs — these are all signs that the Ming is doomed to fall."

"For our Qing to replace the tyrannical Ming, exterminate the roving bandits, and rescue the common people of the world from fire and water — this is the Mandate of Heaven! Besides, this Chongzhen whelp has always regarded the roving bandits as rebels and traitors — how could he lower himself to ally with such filth?"

"Well said."

Dorgon nodded. As for the Chongzhen Emperor himself, in truth he also greatly 'appreciated' him.

First he indulged Yuan Chonghuan's unauthorized execution of Mao Wenlong, pulling out for the Qing a nail embedded in their flesh. Then, with his own obstinacy, he had Yuan Chonghuan killed, clearing the final obstacle for the Qing's entry through the pass.

In the Song-Jin Campaign, the Qing army had already suffered several consecutive defeats. The wily old fox Hong Chengchou stubbornly refused to leave the city, throwing the entire Qing court into panic as they debated whether to retreat and defend Liaodong. It was then that this Chongzhen Emperor issued successive imperial decrees urging Hong Chengchou to march out and give battle, forcing Hong Chengchou to leap straight into the encirclement that had long been prepared.

Even up to now, this Great Ming Emperor had given them more than enough surprises. Dorgon would not mind at all if another stroke of heaven-sent fortune arrived at such a time.

"Master Fan's words have been like a refreshing drenching, most edifying to me. I understand now. Master Fan, please take your leave — the military administration still requires your diligent attention."

It must be said that this attitude of Dorgon's — feigning deference to the worthy — was precisely what Fan Wencheng found most agreeable and valued most. Fan Wencheng originally belonged to Hooge's faction, yet for this reason he did not begrudge offering his counsel to Dorgon.

Just before leaving, Fan Wencheng suddenly seemed to think of something, turned back, and kowtowed as he said:

"I wonder if the Prince Regent has noticed that Hong Chengchou seemed somewhat amiss around the time of the oath-taking ceremony at Shengjing."

Hearing this, Dorgon let out a derisive snort. "Master Fan worries too much! Hong Hengjiu has neither military authority nor prestige. If not for my protection, the Beiles of our Eight Banners would have torn him apart alive long ago!"

Having said this, Dorgon gestured for the Han Aha slave at his side to hand him the tobacco pouch. He took a contented puff first, then continued:

"This time I kept him at Shengjing precisely to guard against any unforeseen turn of events. Hong Hengjiu merely sits in some idle government office eating and waiting to die — what trouble could he possibly cause?"

Dorgon had never fully trusted Hong Chengchou, and naturally kept his guard up. All of this Fan Wencheng understood — this time he was merely offering a well-intentioned reminder, having felt that Hong Chengchou had been somewhat too silent of late.

Seeing Dorgon so full of confidence, Fan Wencheng said no more, performed his bow, and withdrew.

"Great victory at military pay and provisions! Great victory at military pay and provisions!"

"In three days, His Majesty will review the troops outside the Chengtian Gate to commend those of merit, to display the awesome might of the Great Ming!"

Early that morning, this cry could be heard everywhere inside and outside the capital. Countless people rushed about spreading the news, weeping tears of joy and embracing one another. Many common folk celebrated as if it were a festival, setting off firecrackers in eager competition to rejoice.

Of course, there were still some who had long not left their homes and were poorly informed, looking utterly bewildered as they asked around. Upon hearing the excited answers of passersby, they too wore expressions of utter disbelief.

"You fool, you still don't know?"

"Just a few days ago, His Majesty personally led the expedition, commanding our Great Ming's hundred thousand regular troops to defeat two hundred thousand bandits at military pay and provisions, beheading tens of thousands!"

"And that's not all — I heard that a Regional Commander named Tang Tong fought a battle against the Tartars at Huangcun. Guess what? Even the Tartars were defeated — he took two hundred Tartar heads!"

The Battle of military pay and provisions was indeed a genuine, flawless victory for the regular army that no one could find fault with. Everyone had thought the Chongzhen Emperor was going out to seek his own death — and if the Chongzhen Emperor went and got himself killed, that would make things much easier. The Donglin civil officials felt considerably relieved, and a few of the bolder ones were already contemplating the matter of establishing a crown prince.

No one had expected that after a single battle, the previously unstoppable Dashun southern route army would be utterly annihilated — of the hundred-some-thousand troops, the dead were dead, the surrendered surrendered, and the fled fled. It was said that on that day, every soldier returning from the campaign had several bloody roving bandit heads hanging from his waist.

If one had to name any shortcoming, the only one was that the bandit leader Liu Fangliang had not been captured.

That said, there were still some unexpected developments. Tang Tong had fought with extraordinary valor during the assault on the city, and his voluntary request to pursue the enemy outside the walls had originally been aimed at seizing the greatest merit — but unexpectedly he had stumbled into the Qing army.

As for the pigtailed soldiers, Tang Tong, who had participated in the Song-Jin Campaign and numerous other Liaodong battles, still carried some psychological shadow regarding them — a mindset he had not yet managed to shake off.

Because of his excessive fear of the Qing army — and in truth also to avoid unnecessary casualties — even after Abatai had withdrawn for some time, this fellow remained crouched in the rear without daring to move so much as an inch, let alone send anyone to search for Liu Fangliang.

Tang Tong was truly a lucky one. The spoils he obtained this time were considerable — besides the two hundred Tartar heads, there were also several thousand heads of Dashun main camp soldiers, and the armor and supplies were too numerous to count.

The Chongzhen Emperor was immersed in the joy of victory. Apart from feeling some doubt about the Qing army's sudden appearance on the capital's outskirts, he harbored no suspicion whatsoever regarding the heads Tang Tong had brought back.

Though the Chongzhen Emperor called this a personal expedition, in truth he never came close to wielding a blade on the battlefield. Throughout the entire battle he stood at the very rear in bright but poorly protective golden armor, overseeing the fighting, with a ring of depot and guard agents guarding him every step of the way.

Even so, knowing that the Emperor was watching behind them, the soldiers charged into battle with fearless valor — especially Huang Degong's men, each one truly worth two, biting their blades as they climbed the walls.

Beyond that, there were even those who grabbed roving bandits and threw themselves off the city walls to die together — a sight that made the Chongzhen Emperor click his tongue in amazement.

The Chongzhen Emperor had only ever seen such scenes on television before. This time, being there in person, hearing the hundred-some-thousand Ming soldiers around him shouting as they fought for him — that feeling could not be adequately described even as 'heart surging with excitement.'

Had he not been mindful of his own limitations, the Chongzhen Emperor truly would have charged out to slaughter in all directions as well.

Unfortunately, the Chongzhen Emperor did not possess Old Yang's ability to grab a utility pole and mow down grass, so after hesitating in his heart for a few seconds, he decided it was safer to stay put in the rear as a mascot.

Though the Chongzhen Emperor feared death, he was not foolish, and naturally would not treat poorly the soldiers who fought and died for him and for the Great Ming.

The moment he returned to the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor issued a stern decree to Wang Cheng'en, Fang Zhenghua, and Li Ruolian, ordering the three depots and one guard to divide their duties and ascertain with the greatest speed exactly how many soldiers had been killed in battle.