Chapter 497: A Day in Hetu Ala

In the past, when trouble broke out on this side, you could still go weeping to the Liaodong garrison commanders. Spend a bit of silver, offer some benefits, and the Liaodong garrison would help you stand up for yourself. But these past few years, even if you threw silver at them, the Jurchens in Jianzhou simply ignored you and continued to ignore you.

The Jurchens grew more brutal by the day, and even the Mongols started swaggering along with them. The Han people lived more and more cautiously.

Merchants who had long come to Hetu Ala all knew of a certain inn. Calling it an inn was generous — it was really just three knocked-together residences, the front facade converted into a teahouse. Merchants from the Great Ming liked to gather here, because this place was safer than anywhere else.

"Brother, you must have made quite a profit this trip! Looking outside your lodgings, it's already piled high with bundles big and small!" In a corner of the teahouse, one man cupped his fists and smiled. The other hurriedly rose and returned the greeting. They were speaking in the Jin dialect — clearly men from Shanxi.

"Thanks to good fortune, thanks to good fortune. The journey here went smoothly, and the prices offered here are generous too..."

Mid-sentence, they suddenly heard wailing and fighting from the street. Not long after, they watched several sturdy fellows stride past laughing. These fellows' heads were nearly shaved clean, with only a single thin queue left at the back. They wore leather robes and carried bundles in their hands — clearly not their own belongings.

Just as these fellows passed, a middle-aged Han man in his forties, dressed in a cotton robe, chased after them, pleading with every word: "Kind sirs, have mercy. Those bundles are all my goods. Without them, I can't even return home."

He quickened his steps and reached out to grab the hem of one man's robe. The fellow struggled twice but couldn't break free. Instantly enraged and humiliated, he turned and kicked the middle-aged Han man to the ground, then drew the saber at his waist and was about to strike down.

"Stop! Have you forgotten the Fourth Beile's orders?" A shout rang out from the teahouse — in the Han tongue. The Jurchen fellows outside who had seized the goods immediately halted. The teahouse manager strode swiftly out, exchanged a few words, and the Jurchen fellows, looking thoroughly bored, casually tossed one bundle onto the ground and walked off cursing.

The middle-aged Han man clutched the bundle and sat on the ground, weeping loudly. The manager lowered his head and said a few words. The Han man rose, still crying, and left.

"They say this manager is Jurchen, but he's actually a Han whose family has lived here for generations. After a few generations, they're called Jurchen too..." The two Shanxi tea merchants in the corner murmured quietly. Seeing the manager walk back in, they immediately dared not speak further and merely offered ingratiating smiles.

The teahouse now had only a scattered few tables of customers, all traveling merchants from the Great Ming, seated far apart from one another. The manager, his face grim, did not go to attend to them but simply sat behind the counter.

The two merchants sipped their tea and lowered their voices even further, sighing with lament: "Business gets harder and harder. The Tat— Jurchens here rob as they please. Sometimes they kill people right in the street, and their nobles above don't care at all — they even demand a cut. I hear the Great Khan of the Jin doesn't care whether Han people live or die either."

"That's why every time I come, I head straight here. Inside this city of Hetu Ala, only the Fourth Beile's properties have rules. This Fourth Beile is reasonable and has always protected the merchants who come to Hetu Ala. My goods are all bought by the Fourth Beile's people too..."

"This Fourth Beile is so sensible — could his mother be Han?"

"What a joke. How could she possibly be Han? In the noble households here, only their Jurchen and Mongol women can be the principal wife. A Han woman who comes here doesn't even get a formal status. This Fourth Beile's mother is extraordinary — they say she's from the highest-ranking noble family among the Mongols. You don't know this, but here they don't distinguish between first wife's sons and second wife's sons. A son's status comes from his mother. The higher the mother's status, the higher the son's. Otherwise, how could this Fourth Beile, who ranks eighth in birth order, become the Fourth Beile? They only have four beile in total."

The two chatted animatedly. One was clearly more familiar with the area and grew more boastful the more he spoke; the other nodded along frequently.

"Elder brother, what is this Fourth Beile called?"

"Huang Taiji, or Hong Taiji. He's a remarkable figure. Don't be fooled by him being the youngest among the Four Great Beile — he commands the most followers!"

Suddenly, a burst of cheers came from outside. The two stopped their conversation and looked out curiously. A sturdy-bodied waiter, having received a nod from the manager, strode quickly outside. He returned before long and loudly reported to the manager.

The boastful one from earlier understood a few words of the Jurchen tongue. He listened with a frown, then explained in a low voice: "They've captured quite a few more people. They say all those scattered households along the coast have now been rounded up."

"They're still capturing people?"

"The Great Jin has few people, so they capture them everywhere — those wild men living in the mountains and by the sea, and even farther places, like the Northern Mountains."

At this point, the manager over on his side suddenly raised his voice and loudly declared: "In the southeast of our Great Jin, a honey rain fell from heaven, covering a full seven hundred li in area. This is precisely Heaven's Mandate resting upon our Great Jin. I hope all of you will spread this word widely on your journeys."

When under someone else's roof, there was naturally nothing to argue about. Everyone loudly agreed. The manager added that tonight's dinner would be his treat, and all were well pleased.

After the excitement died down, the boastful one curled his lip and said in a hushed voice: "They really can fabricate rumors. As if honey could fall from the sky — it's just like when our side claims to have seen a qilin or something."

This time, the one listening to him did not make a sound. He merely stared blankly, pondering for a moment, then said out of nowhere: "This means war is coming, doesn't it!"

"What did you say?" The boastful one looked over, puzzled. Before the other could answer, the manager had, at some unknown moment, already walked up to their table and rapped his knuckles on the tabletop. The two fell instantly silent.

In Jianzhou, April was still very cold, and snow in many shaded places had yet to melt. A tall, broad-shouldered young man, dressed very thinly, rode on horseback to the front of the Mandate Khan's palace, escorted by several armored guards.

The soldiers and guards on duty at the gate hurried forward to greet him. A Niru Ejen smiled and said: "My Beile, dressed so lightly — please, don't catch a chill. If the Great Khan lays blame, we slaves could not bear the punishment."

The young man unfastened the sword at his waist and handed it to a soldier, then pointed at the Niru Ejen and laughed as he scolded: "Of the Femo clan, you're the one with the loose tongue. Don't you know my ailment? If I wear too much, my nose bleeds."

The guards around them all burst into laughter. The armored guards who had escorted this Beile here consciously moved off to one side. There was a boundary line before the Great Khan's palace, and crossing it was a grave offense.

"The Great Khan awaits the Beile inside the palace," the Niru Ejen said with a smile.

The tall young man addressed as Beile nodded and walked toward the palace interior. After two steps, he turned back and said: "Your old mother's illness can't be delayed. If you have no money for treatment, just say a word to me. What's the point of stubbornly bearing it? After your shift, come to my place. Get some silver to hire a Han physician, and take two old ginseng roots to nourish her well."

The Niru Ejen of the Femo clan first froze, then tears streamed down his face. He hastily knelt and kowtowed, choking out: "The Beile's great kindness and virtue..."

"What are you kneeling for at the palace gate? It is the Great Khan's kindness and virtue!" The Beile did not look back, waving his hand as he raised his voice.

Watching the Niru Ejen wiping away tears, the other guards on duty at the palace gate murmured quietly among themselves: "The Fourth Beile is benevolent and righteous!"

"The eldest is timid, the second is reckless, the third is stupid — only the fourth stands out."

"You've got some nerve, daring to discuss such things?"

"Back then they said Cuyen could be Great Khan, and what came of it? These four may be the Great Beile now, but they might not be in the future. The one the Great Khan dotes on most is that youngest one."

Nurhaci's Jin khanate had only just been established, and everything was still crude and rough. The guards before the palace gate had little discipline, discussing matters there without any restraint.

A palace maid led the way ahead. The Fourth Beile, Huang Taiji, followed behind with eyes fixed straight and mind focused inward, not even daring to glance around. As he walked, he pondered whether he had said or done anything wrong just now. The Femo clansman was merely a Niru Ejen of the Plain Yellow Banner, but after all, he was an old hand close to the Great Khan — building goodwill could never be wrong. Yet, would this make others think he harbored ulterior motives?

Huang Taiji also recalled what those several Han men in his residence had said. Although those men were full of pedantic airs and feigned profundity, there were some things he himself had thought of but never analyzed as meticulously as they had — for instance, the proper measure of conduct before a sovereign?

He had not walked far before reaching his destination. Huang Taiji could not help recalling the sights he had seen as a child when following his elders to Liaoyang and Shenyang. Back then, he had been utterly dumbstruck; he had never imagined such enormous cities existed in the world. Huang Taiji still clearly remembered that when he first saw the Li family estate in Liaodong, he had thought that was the imperial palace...

The weather was warming after all. The thick felt curtains on the doors and windows had been taken down, and the sounds inside could be heard very clearly.

He could hear a boy's loud, gleeful laughter, along with the teasing words of an old man and a woman. Huang Taiji's brow furrowed slightly, then immediately returned to normal. The Great Khan was very robust — even more robust than many men in their thirties or forties. But after all, he was an old man nearing sixty, and it was inevitable that he would dote on a young wife and young son. The Great Khan was far too fond of this Dorgon; he had no eyes for any other child anymore.

Moreover, Dorgon's mother, Abahai, was of far too exalted a status. She was now the mistress of the Great Khan's rear palace, the Great Jin's Grand Consort. Some were already spreading the word that the Grand Consort's son ought to be the future Great Khan.

At the thought of Abahai, Huang Taiji's face twitched uncontrollably. He remembered very clearly: not two years after Abahai came to his Ama's side, his own mother, Monggo Jerjer, had fallen ill from rage and passed away.

Abahai's first son, Ajige, was a reckless brute. But this Dorgon was truly troublesome. Huang Taiji had heard the news from more than one source: the Great Khan had never doted on a son this much.

The laughter inside the room ceased. A palace maid came out and beckoned Huang Taiji to enter. Huang Taiji hastily bowed and went in, directly performing the grand ceremony of prostration.

"No need for all that trouble. If you have something to say, say it," a rough, bold voice rang out.

The voice was full of vigor; at first listen, it sounded like that of a man in his thirties. Huang Taiji finished his obeisance and rose respectfully. He dared not show the slightest negligence. As a child, he had thought he could be completely unrestrained before his parents. The older he grew, the less he dared to think so.

"Ama, the people from the Eastern Sea region have been more or less gathered. In total, four thousand one hundred and twenty-seven people have been captured. They can be organized into five hundred households. The register is already prepared and will be delivered to Ama tomorrow," Huang Taiji reported meticulously.