Chapter 715: A Reply from Guihua City

The western foothills of the Greater Khingan Range, the banks of the Xar Moron River — the territory of the Keshigten tribe.

The various armies of the Daicing Gurun mustered here for this campaign, with Prince of the Commandery Ajige commanding the forces.

Hong Taiji, in the end, was not blinded by rage — he neither ordered an attack on Ningyuan and Jinzhou, nor did he personally lead troops to punish Yang Qi.

He merely sent Prince of the Commandery of Martial Valor Ajige to lead the troops, though the strength of the soldiers and officers was by no means weak.

First, the Eight Banners: after Hong Taiji ascended the throne, one Mongol gūsa ejen was added to each of the Eight Banners, making sixteen banners in total, and all sixteen of these gūsa ejen were mobilized for this campaign.

The Manchu core troops contributed by these sixteen banners were not many, but Mongol soldiers known as the New Chahar were attached to each banner as auxiliaries — in truth, they were captives taken and incorporated during the pursuit of Ligdan Khan.

Beyond these, there were also independent banners: the two Bayara left and right vanguard banners, one Boci Cooha armored infantry banner, one Ujen Cooha Han Chinese artillery banner, one banner of the Kharchin remnants, one Wang Lama banner, and one Eastern Tümed banner.

The Eastern Tümed banner belonged to Gümü Taiji, who had submitted to the Later Jin early on — a descendant of Altan Khan, whose great-grandfather was the second Shunyi Prince, Sengge Düüreng Hong Taiji, making him a cousin of the same generation as Ombu, the Shunyi Prince of the Tümed to the west.

Wang Lama was a Han Chinese, originally named Wang Sanji Bazang. In his early years, because he could move freely and pass unhindered among the Mongol tribes and the Later Jin, he was once employed by the Great Ming and played a major role in intelligence and diplomacy.

He had once received high praise from figures such as Yan Mingtai, Sun Chengzong, and Yuan Chonghuan.

However, the Great Ming court's attitude toward monks was extremely complicated, leaving him less and less room to maneuver diplomatically. Especially once the Emperor grew to loathe Ligdan Khan and the Sure Khan to the extreme, their diplomacy was no longer needed, and the Great Ming simply barred them from entering.

Wang Lama thus became the Later Jin's spokesman for spreading religion among the Mongols, and now he had also been granted the title of Jasagh.

For this campaign, the forces were divided into a total of twenty-three banners, with a total strength of over twenty thousand. They did not emphasize sheer numbers; the hallmark was elite troops led by strong commanders.

The modest troop numbers were due to the geopolitics of the Daicing Gurun, which at this moment could be said to have enemies on all sides.

To the northeast, their campaigns to seize population from the Wild Jurchen Warka tribe, the Heje, and the Solon tribes along the Ussuri River had never ceased.

Just before this campaign, they had seized two thousand eight hundred men and women, four hundred and seventeen head of cattle and horses, and over five thousand pelts of various furs from the northeastern tribes.

To the west lay the thawing Liao River — if they marched west with the nation's full strength, their home would likely be raided. To the south, the Yalu River had not yet thawed; although Joseon was sickly and weak, there was still Ka Island nearby, so they had to guard against it carefully.

Hong Taiji could not launch a western campaign with the entire nation's army.

But to project twenty thousand troops into the land south of the Gobi could still be called an all-out major campaign.

And for this campaign, the will of the Chongde Emperor was crystal clear: he suppressed his impulses under pressure, refusing to be controlled by those setbacks, blows, and fury.

He would not seek trouble with Yang Qi, nor would he go looking for Gao Qiqian's misfortune — he simply wanted Ajige to enter the Great Ming's capital region.

First, to make a show of force; second, to probe their true strength.

If the capital region had been so ravaged by the scourges of Liu Chengzong and the roving bandits that no usable troops remained, then he could confidently deal with Joseon this year, teaching them to replace fraternal duty with filial piety and acknowledge him as their father.

As for the more distant Yang Qi and Liu Chengzong, Hong Taiji decided to swallow his pride for now.

Once Joseon was dealt with, he could eliminate Ka Island, and then clip the wings of the Shanhai Pass–Ningyuan line, leaving the Great Ming with no room to maneuver in the Liaodong theater and only the ability to defend. Then he would send troops south of the Gobi to settle scores with Liu Chengzong.

And now, on the banks of the Xar Moron River, the Later Jin army had just emerged from the Greater Khingan Range.

Prince of the Commandery of Martial Valor Ajige immediately summoned the twenty-three banner gūsa ejen to relay the Chongde Emperor's instructions.

Before the campaign, Hong Taiji had already admonished them repeatedly, reminding them that after entering the border, they should attack cities if they could, and not attack if they could not — they must not start out cautious and end up negligent, and must keep military orders constantly in mind.

Ajige, like a giant clad in white armor, held the edict and laughed to the assembly: "In Shengjing, my Imperial Brother admonished us many times, saying that after we enter the border, for those cities already ruined, we should judge for ourselves — attack if we can, don't attack if we can't. Don't start cautious and end negligent; keep military orders constantly in mind."

"We've just set out, haven't even gone far, and my Imperial Brother's edict is here again. Let's see what else he wants to remind us of!"

At Ajige's words, many of the gūsa ejen among the sixteen banners burst out laughing — only the men of the Ujen Cooha banner dared not join in.

Ujen Cooha was a Han Chinese banner, and they had just been punished before the campaign.

Under the Obedient Prince Kong Youde, there was a man named Liu Changsu, formerly called Liu Chengzu on the Great Ming side. He was from the Guanning Army, and when the new army was being trained, he went to Shandong and served as Deputy Brigade General in charge of ships under Kong Youde.

During the Wu Bridge Mutiny, he was resolute in following the rebellion, but he was very unwilling to cross the sea and surrender to the Later Jin.

At the time of surrender, he said he would go back and recruit his younger brother, but when the appointed time came, he did not emerge, resulting in many of the civilians who had been coerced being taken back by the Ming army.

Having just surrendered, it was awkward to hold him to account, so they found a pretext to pardon this crime.

When Hong Taiji ascended the throne and rewards were being distributed based on merit, he recalled this matter and demoted him, reducing him from a meiren i janggin of deputy regional commander rank to a third-grade jalan i janggin, which was a Mobile Corps General.

He was already resentful, so when his name was called to receive silver, he remained silent.

The matter was reported to Hong Taiji by civil officials, and the Three Obedient Princes hurriedly submitted reports to draw a clear line, saying they had already bound this bastard, and that his deliberate insubordination was absolutely not comparable to ordinary negligence — he should be put to death.

Afterwards, Hong Taiji said the Three Obedient Princes were not wrong, and he should be put to death, but his crime was not desertion or treason. Considering that he had followed them across the sea to submit, he could be considered a man of some merit, and this crime could be pardoned.

Although Liu Changsu's punishment was remitted, the men of the Han Chinese banners were terrified — who could endure Han civil officials filing petty reports?

A fellow countryman selling out a fellow countryman was the most terrifying thing.

So even now, when everyone else was relaxed, they dared not act out of line, fearful of being informed on again. After all, those three bastards above them would never speak up to protect them.

They heard Ajige grip the edict and read aloud: "The Broadly Gracious, Gentle, and Sage Khan decrees: When marching, there must be no clamor, and none shall stray from the banner. If a pack animal's load tilts and needs adjusting, the entire banner shall halt and wait until it is adjusted."

"After the troops enter the passes, if one or two soldiers break ranks to loot and are killed, their wives and children will all be seized, and the commanding officer responsible for them shall share the guilt."

"Do not destroy temples. Furthermore, do not wantonly kill travelers — only kill those who resist, and spare those who submit. Do not strip prisoners of their clothes; do not separate husbands and wives. Even for those who cannot be taken prisoner, you are forbidden to strip their clothes or violate them. Do not violate women."

"Do not have prisoners guard the horses. When going to fetch grain, if one or two men arbitrarily plunder and are killed, the crime is the same as breaking ranks to loot."

"Also remember, do not eat cooked grain prepared by others, and do not drink the wine of the Han people. This is because during the last campaign, our troops had instances of indiscriminate eating; the wine and food were poisoned by the Han people, and now those men are beyond cure."

"When camping at night, finish cooking before sunset and pretend to be camping on the spot. After dusk, leave the cooking site and camp ten li away."

"We deeply fear that you will be negligent in this matter, thinking the enemy cannot reach here, and camp right where you dismounted during the day. At night, do not unstring your bows, do not remove your armor, and horses must remain saddled."

"After entering the Ming border, whatever spoils are taken, each banner shall immediately dispatch one high official leading one armored soldier from each niru to carry the spoils back at once. Do not refuse to send them back because the spoils are few. Even if the spoils are few, can the prisoners possibly be fewer than ten thousand? Even ten thousand people entering our country is negligible. The objective of the campaign is not these — remember this firmly."

"Those who violate this order shall be executed on the spot."

Ajige finished reading the edict with a somewhat irritated air, put it away, and muttered under his breath, "More of this nagging stuff again."

Only then did he address the assembled gūsa ejen: "You have all noted the Khan's words. For this advance, we shall first feign an attack on the Tümed, sending letters to Datong and Guihua, and dispatch a contingent to south of the Gobi to make a show of attacking Guihua."

"Then the main army will pour into Xuanfu and swiftly plunder the cities of the Ming capital region."

"To prevent Yang Qi from sending troops from south of the Gobi, within one month at the latest, we shall take the opportunity to exit the border from Zunhua, Yongping, and other places we know well, and return to Shengjing."

When Ajige said this, the others all nodded in agreement — only Gülüsikib of the Kharchin banner looked displeased and asked, "Great Prince, what of that Chahar man, Caotu, who repeatedly sends troops to invade our tribe? Are we to sit by and watch him run rampant beyond Zhangjiakou?"

Ajige immediately shook his head.

Before the Daicing Gurun's great army arrived, you, Caotu Taiji, were running rampant beyond Zhangjiakou; now that the Daicing Gurun's great army is here, you, Caotu Taiji, are still loitering beyond Zhangjiakou — does that look right?

What's more, although they had come to campaign against the Great Ming, they still needed to trade with the Great Ming.

A very crucial point here is that the Haracin tribe of Gulusiqibu must, under this tribe's name, conduct trade with the Great Ming at Shahukou in Datong.

Therefore he said: "Rest assured, if that Shatu dares take a single step out of Tumed, we shall encircle and annihilate him, severing Yang Qi's right arm!"

But in his heart, Ajige rather hoped that Taiji Shatu would know when to advance or retreat, and not take advantage of his leading troops on campaign to come and cause trouble.

After all, Hong Taiji treating Gulusiqibu with cordial regard was Hong Taiji's own affair; he himself looked down on the Haracin, who had only eight hundred soldiers.

For him, the most important matter this time was to ensure the raid on the Ming Empire's capital region went off without a hitch — after all, that fine imperial elder brother of his had already, time and again, laid down discipline, proclaimed rewards and punishments, and planted a hundred landmines.

Laying down discipline — it sounded fine enough.

But with an army like theirs — no killing travelers, no stripping people of their clothes, no violating women, no breaking away from the column to loot, and sending back anything you've plundered... was any of that even possible?

Ajige had never taken these things seriously to begin with.

He felt that the present age was a chaotic one: Heaven had sent down drought and flood, the nobles of the various tribes had no time to govern the living, and people could not survive even by dwelling peacefully and working gladly — it was a chaotic age of wanton slaughter and extermination.

When he encountered people, those who did not submit to him ought to be killed to the last.

Those in Liaodong deserved killing; the East Sea Jurchens and Wild Jurchens of the Tumen River and the Ussuri River, the Fish-Skin Tartars and the Reindeer Tartars, deserved killing; those on the Joseon side deserved killing; and those on the Ming side deserved killing too.

To prevent them from rebelling, to prevent them from defecting to the Great Ming, to prevent them from running over to kill me.

Kill them all, and wouldn't the whole world belong to the Manchus?

This was not because there was something terribly wrong with him, or because he deliberately wanted to oppose Hong Taiji, but because he had grown up in such an environment since childhood, long accustomed to the Jurchens' mistreatment and slaughter of the Liaodong Han people, and equally accustomed to the Liaodong Han people poisoning and mob-killing Jurchens, and even more accustomed to the conflicts between the two states, with the dead filling cities and plains.

To them, Hong Taiji, with his head full of political repercussions, was the one among them who was not right in the head — and by extension, that made Dorgon, who learned by copying him, not right in the head either.

So for Ajige, these disciplinary rules were just meant to intimidate him.

When he returned, with over twenty thousand men, every single one guilty, then Hong Taiji could treat those he didn't want to deal with as if nothing had happened; for those he wanted to intimidate, he would enumerate their offenses one by one, then grant amnesty.

For those he wanted to punish, he would count out their crimes article by article.

In any case, no matter whose offenses were at issue, he, Ajige, could not escape them.

Yet regarding this matter, even knowing full well what the outcome would be, Ajige bore no resentment toward Hong Taiji.

Because this was his innate nature, and it was the innate nature of others as well — within the Eight Banners nobility, they were all robbing each other and drawing blades on each other every day.

And most people knew what faults they had — but knowing was useless; knowing and doing were two different things.

Therefore, they absolutely needed a clever mind like Hong Taiji's to serve as Great Khan in order to survive.

In any case, even if he was guilty, it would only amount to fines of money, fines of horses, fines of his people, and at worst, stripping him of his official rank and noble title.

Ajige did not care much for those external possessions either.

He only cared about his own prestige, so whether the soldiers of the twenty-three banners violated military law or not did not matter; the one thing that did was that, having penetrated deep into the Ming Empire's capital region, the battle must be won.

As for this campaign, setting aside matters inside the border for the moment, Ajige felt there would be little trouble within the border walls — their army was small but elite enough, and they would simply run around like the roving bandits, finding a place to exit the border walls before the Ming army's reinforcements for the capital region could arrive.

Being unable to exit the border would be more troublesome; at that point, the Ming army's fighting strength would be at its peak, while their own will to fight, after plundering, would be at its lowest.

The greatest variable outside the border was Yang Qi at Guihua City.

However, Ajige did not really take Yang Qi seriously.

Before setting out on campaign, he had spoken with his younger brother Dorgon and learned that last year's return empty-handed was, first, because that fellow Yang Qi was too cowardly, shrinking inside the city and refusing to come out; and second, because Dorgon's objective in advancing last year had been the Mongols, and he had not brought cannons.

So this year, although Ajige had no intention of fighting Yang Qi, to guard against unforeseen events, he still brought twelve Hongyi cannons.

If necessary, Guihua City could be attacked as well.

Moreover, playing on Yang Qi's rather cowardly disposition, Ajige had specially sent Yang Qi a letter of challenge, saying that he himself would soon strike at Guihua City — or, if Yang Qi was a bit braver, he could lead his army north of Zhangjiakou to test their strength.

Ajige believed that this letter of challenge should be enough to make Yang Qi settle down, squatting in Guihua City and busily constructing forts and watchtowers, digging trenches and building fieldworks, in preparation for the coming battle.

After all, abandoning ready-made fortifications to come out and fight him in the field — no matter how you looked at it... it was somewhat lacking in brains.

At the same time, the two banners of the vanguard camp under his command had also advanced westward, skirting along the Great Ming border wall and sweeping all the way west, probing and attacking at numerous sections of the border wall and beacon forts along the route, while making a show of advancing west as if intending to strike Datong.

Afterward, the main army regrouped at the Xar Moron River and then marched south.

Ajige's true objective was to divide his forces into three routes: from east to west, Xifengkou in the northern part of Yongping Prefecture, Luowenyu in the northern part of Zunhua, and Dushikou at Kaiping Garrison in the northern part of Yunzhou.

His target was none other than the capital region itself!

Yet just as Ajige's army was concentrating its forces against scattered defenses, splitting into three routes to assault the Great Ming border wall, he received the news he least wished to see.

Taiji Shatu of the Monan Commandery Governor's Office had burst out from Jining and, with a courage unheard of among the Chahar, using a superior force of three thousand men, had taken the initiative to attack the Left Wing Vanguard Banner's five hundred-odd cavalry.

Although the vanguard camp did not suffer too great a loss — they were Bayara under Hong Taiji's direct command, the finest soldiers with the best armor, and they fought Taiji Shatu to a mutual exchange of casualties before withdrawing —

the fact that Taiji Shatu would take the initiative to attack truly gave Ajige a start.

The key point was that no sooner had the fighting ended in the west than a reply letter arrived from the other side — Guihua City had written back.

Guihua City had actually written back!

The letter was very short, in Chinese characters, which Ajige could not read, so he summoned Buyandai, the Gūsa Ejen of the Bordered Red Banner Mongols.

Buyandai's old Boshoku of the Elite Cavalry Colonel was proficient in many languages and had been promoted by Hong Taiji to Enlightening Secretary; the current Elite Cavalry Colonel was the Junior Boshoku, who was likewise proficient in Chinese.

Boshoku was both a personal name and an official title — a local officer under the Niru, in charge of urging grain delivery.

Yet unexpectedly, the Junior Boshoku was startled the moment he saw the letter; he glanced at Ajige, then at the letter, then turned his head back to look at his own commander, Buyandai.

This so infuriated Buyandai that he kicked him in the backside: "Speak up — what does the letter say? What are you looking around for? If you can't read it, just say so!"

"This letter... that Nikan calls you..."

"Your Highness, forgive me!" The Junior Boshoku swallowed hard, knelt and kowtowed before Ajige, and only then, mustering his courage, said: "That Nikan tells you — wait for him, and don't run."