stubborn thief

The war in Ningxia is raging.

And in Liaodong, the newly established Daiqing Empire.

Emperor Huang Taiji was also like a furnace, burning with anger.

His accession to the throne was not smooth, and he was even somewhat embarrassing in diplomacy.

Whenever a country is founded, it must seek international recognition.

Just like a small country becoming king.

An envoy from the Central Celestial Empire must bring the emperor's enthronement, which means recognition from the great power.

Envoys from neighboring countries must also bring gifts from their kings, which means that the neighboring countries accept them.

And there were also noble vassals who participated in person, which meant submission to the rule.

Daiqing and the Ming Dynasty were enemies of each other. Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor to challenge the rule of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he did not need to consider the recognition of major powers, but the acceptance of neighboring countries and the submission of nobles were very important to him and his empire.

Not to mention that all nations would come to pay tribute to Emperor Chongde's coronation ceremony, at least the neighboring countries and foreign vassal states would have sent envoys to congratulate him, and it would have been a scene of great joy.

But many of the invited tribal leaders did not show up.

The wall fell and everyone pushed.

The most shocking event that happened to the Mongolian world this year was that the Ming envoy Ma Shaoyou killed the Later Jin envoy Ma Mingpei with the golden seal of Shunyi King in Guihua City.

Although Yang Qi fled to Xi'an after the incident, Ma Shaoyou was immediately placed under house arrest by Sanang Taiji of the Wushen tribe and escorted to Xi'an.

But before losing his freedom, he proudly sent someone to convey a message to the imperial court in Shanxi: I have fulfilled my mission and killed the fake envoy of the Jin Kingdom in the Qingcheng Temple!
This matter was not only announced to the world by the excited Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, but also spread throughout the desert in a short period of time because of the 230,000 noble households in the south of the desert in the Marshal's Mansion.

All of a sudden, the three Khans of Mobei became perfunctory about the invitation to participate in the coronation ceremony of the Later Jin Dynasty, and made various excuses not to go.

It's not that after this happened, everyone felt that Dai Qing was no longer capable and that the few things they had in their hands were not enough to compete with the Eight Banners.

No, in the Third Khan’s heart, Huang Taiji was still the leader of the Later Jin Dynasty who chased Ligdan Khan all over the place.

It’s just that the three Khans of Mobei have their own considerations.

If there was no other way, in order to avoid being beaten, they would definitely add some icing on the cake to Huang Taiji's coronation ceremony.

But if they had a choice, they would not want to get too involved with the newly born Daiqing Empire.

After all, there was Liu Chengzong lurking in their southwest. That living father who had fought all over the country had no idea what was wrong with him and had always held great hostility towards the Later Jin Dynasty, whom he had never met.

Ma Shaoyu's killing of Ma Mingpei with a hammer was like a limited-time amulet for the Three Khans of Mobei.

After it happened, the three Khans unanimously agreed that no matter what they had done this year, Huang Taiji would definitely not bother to send troops to attack them.

Because obviously, the most important task for the humiliated Emperor Chongde this year must be to deal with Yang Qi and the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, Huang Taiji had to beat up too many people because he proclaimed himself emperor.

This series of events are linked together. Because the Later Jin needed to regain its strength, Huang Taiji needed to proclaim himself emperor. To proclaim himself emperor, he needed to intimidate the Ming Dynasty, so he needed to get rid of the obstacle Yang Qi. By removing Yang Qi, he could try to persuade him to surrender, and surrendering would lead to internal instability.

The failure of the surrender not only caused internal instability, but also external instability.

The Manchu nobles were already unhappy with the Three Shun Kings, and felt that Huang Taiji favored the Han people and despised the Manchus. They granted the three Han generals, who had less than 10,000 soldiers, the honorable title of prince, and also gave them garrisons and independent armies.

As a result, Huang Taiji actually planned to confer the title of king on Yang Qi, a Han Chinese, and a royal prince at that!

Now not only the Manchu nobles were unhappy, but even King Samshun was unhappy.

The three of us have made contributions by surrendering and have also worked hard in the wars, but in the end, that bastard Yang Qi can become a prince just because he took Dorgon for a walk?

But there is actually no suspense about this matter.

The three Shun kings together had less than 10,000 Han soldiers under their command. Yang Qi controlled 40,000 troops outside the Great Wall and divided the land over a thousand miles. He also occupied a battleground that was essential for the Ming Dynasty to enter the Great Wall through a roundabout route. If he could surrender to Huang Taiji, it would have a huge strategic advantage over Huang Taiji.

Therefore, Huang Taiji was fully able to accept this psychological conflict between the Manchu nobles and the Three Shun Kings as a price to pay.

However, the enthronement was not successful and Ma Mingpei was killed, which made Huang Taiji quite angry.

This was a blatant slap in the face. Huang Taiji had never suffered such a big loss in his life.

But he could accept it.

If that were the case, Huang Taiji would probably have just accepted it, blocked the news, and pretended that Ma Mingpei had never appeared.

If anyone asked him about it, he would say that he was missing or had run away with his golden seal.

It doesn't matter!
What really made him almost mad was that this matter spread too widely.

The Ming Dynasty's rulers and ministers were so excited about this that they even treated it as a weapon. Gao Qiquan, director of Guanning, wrote a letter himself, translated it into three languages, and printed tens of thousands of copies on woodblocks, letting Ye Bushu take them and shoot anyone they saw along the border.

By the time Huang Taiji and Dai Qing clan members found out, it was already too late.

These letters were taken to Shengjing and became known to every household in Shenyang.

Of course there won't be anything good in the letter.

There are mainly three things.

First, many bandits rose up in the Ming Dynasty, and the national power was indeed in decline, so much so that people like the bandit Zhang Zhi and the local chieftain Hong Tai usurped the title of false emperor.

Are you afraid that people don’t know who Zhang Zhi is? Attached is the life story of the bandit Zhang Yichuan.

Second, Hong Taichu proclaimed himself the fake emperor and sent the fake envoy Ma Mingpei to naturalize Yang Qi, wanting to enthrone him as king. However, he was hammered to death with a golden seal by the Heavenly Dynasty envoy Ma Shaoyou, and his heart was broken.

Third, Yang Qi, the lord of Mo Nan, has already accepted the title of King Shunyi of the Ming Dynasty. The north and south of the border wall have become one. Those who are living outside the border should hurry back, as they will not have a good ending outside.

This letter made Huang Taiji so angry that he fainted on the spot. He woke up two hours later. When he woke up, he angrily accused the Ming envoy of being a barbarian.

This report is almost saying clearly that the ruler of Jianzhou, Khan Tiancong of the Later Jin Dynasty, has finally reached the same level as Zhang Yichuan, a nobody, through his own efforts.

Huang Taiji thought to himself what a dirty thing that banner is. Why would he declare himself emperor at this time? Damn it!
It has lowered the emperor's value!
What about Liu Chengzong? What is Liu Chengzong doing? Why don’t you just call yourself an emperor and make the throne more proper?

This propaganda campaign is very effective.

If this letter says that the Ming Dynasty is indeed in decline, people like the Western bandit Liu Chengzong and the Eastern Tartar Huang Taiji have all usurped the title of emperor.

The person who read the letter must have felt that the Ming Dynasty was really going to end.

After all, a person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. When it comes to Liu Chengzong, everyone from Lake Balkhash to Heilongjiang knows him.

But if it was Zhang Zhi, the value of the document would be completely undermined, and people would obviously think that Huang Taiji's claim to the throne was a joke.

Let’s not talk about how no one in Zhang Zhi’s hometown in Shaanxi knew who he was. Even Zhang Yichuan, who usurped the throne, didn’t know who Zhang Zhi was. Isn’t this just a bunch of random people?
To be honest, at times like this, Huang Taiji hated himself for being so smart.

Because he could see at a glance the intention of Gao Qiquan or the Ming Dynasty court behind him - Gao Qiquan was seeking death.

Gao Qiquan's official position was Director General of Guanning.

To be more serious, the Ming officials tried to use this letter to stir up his anger and hatred, forcing him to rise up in anger and attack the Ningjin defense line.

In addition, this letter would really cause slaves and even soldiers to flee to western Liaoning.

This matter itself does not require any letters. The Liao people under the rule of the Later Jin Dynasty and the prisoners of war kept running to the Ming Dynasty. Even the Jurchens with Tartar braids from the Later Jin Dynasty kept running to western Liaoning and Pi Island.

However, with Gao Qiquan's letter in front of him, Huang Taiji's attention was inevitably focused on the fugitive.

Of course, he would not be fooled by such a simple strategy. Only a fool would attack the Guanningjin defense line.

They took a detour of 2,000 miles and went to Xuanda and Yunzhou in Shanxi, risking their lives to break through the border wall and plunder people. On the way back, six out of ten slaves died. They also had to run the risk of being followed and attacked and robbed by the Ming army after the looting. They cremated themselves every time they fought. Why?
Isn’t it just to bypass the Guanningjin Defense Line!
From Jinzhou to Shanhaiguan, the distance from southwest to northeast is only 300 miles, the widest corridor is no more than 40 miles, and the narrowest is only a little over 10 miles. There are more than 20 rivers blocking the road from northwest to southeast, so every step must be taken carefully.

The closer his army got to Shanhaiguan, the shorter the Ming army's supply lines became.

If you put all your efforts into hoping to rob people through Shanhaiguan, you will be like hanging a pie in the sky and running a dead horse. Even if you fight all the people in Manchuria, you will not be able to enter.

The key point is that even if they were lucky enough to capture one or two cities, they would not be able to defend them. Strategically, the Manchus could only resort to field battles and looting, and could not guard any city outside the hinterland.

The cities west of the Liao River could not be defended, and even the Korean cities south of the Yalu River could not be defended.

Because there are few Manchus.

Defending a newly occupied city means that support cannot arrive in time, and too many troops cannot be left behind to defend the city, as they will be easily wiped out.

Rather than wasting lives on a few broken cities where no advantage can be gained, it is better to take the risk of fighting via a roundabout route of 2,000 miles.

But being too smart is sometimes not a good thing.

He really wanted to kill that bastard Gao Qiquan!

Huang Taiji controlled his anger and tried his best to convince himself not to argue with the eunuch Gao Qiquan. He suppressed his anger, and the feeling of being frustrated was even more uncomfortable than the fact that he had been fooled.

Unfortunately, this was not the only shameful thing he had done.

Long before he ascended the throne, while sending Ma Mingpei to Guihua City, he also sent Ying'erdai and Ma Futa, who often went to Korea, to lead a team to take the opportunity of attending the funeral of Queen Inryeol to persuade King Yi Jong of Korea to ask Huang Taiji to take the title of emperor. As a result, the delegation hit a hard nail and returned in disgrace.

When it came to the coronation ceremony, none of the neighboring countries and major feudal lords showed up in person.

Subadi Khan in the western part of Mobei never met Daiqing's envoy. Gunbu Khan in the central part did send someone, but the person who came was a minor noble who could not even rank in Mobei.

Only Shuolei Khan in the eastern part of Mobei reluctantly gave the emperor some face. He used the excuse that he broke his leg while riding a horse and sent his son Babu to Shengjing with gifts. However, he acted as if he was sending an envoy from a neighboring country and had no intention of submitting to the emperor at all.

Babu had a good relationship with Huang Taiji's son Haoge, and they had a lot in common, but when these two little bastards sat together they just talked about what they had seen and heard about the poor guys in the Marshal's Mansion.

The two even planned to set up a trade route to transfer silver from the East to the West and goods from the West to the East. It really makes people feel dizzy!

Huang Taiji thought to himself, "If it's easy, I've already done it. Why do you two little bastards need to make trouble? I can rob Shanxi and sell the children and property I got to him in Ordos."

It's easy to transfer our silver to Liu Chengzong, that stupid father whose brain was kicked by a donkey, but it's impossible to transfer goods from him.

The more Huang Taiji thought about this, the angrier he became. He still didn't know why the Eastern Tartars and Western Bandits joined forces to attack the Ming Dynasty. It was a genius strategy.

But it doesn't work on that stupid Khan Liu Chengzong.

You said that the Mongolian tribes and the Kingdom of Korea have bad relations with us. This is understandable as they are old enemies.

What kind of feud could there be between you, a poor guy who has lived in Shaanxi, and a savage like me from my old forest?
Even if you want to dominate the world, why not wait until we overthrow the Ming Dynasty and then have a real fight? Why do you have to hold me back in the south of the desert? You bastard, you are harming others and not benefiting yourself!
Even compared to North Korea, the Three Khans of Mobei were considered to be giving face.

After all, Huang Taiji had never really defeated the Three Khans of Mobei. Joseon had been badly defeated in the Dingmao Campaign. Although it was called a brotherly alliance, it was actually under control. The envoys asked the King of Joseon to invite Huang Taiji to ascend the throne, but he refused again and again.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the Later Jin delegation left Seoul, the Joseon King Yi Jong issued an announcement to the eight provinces, denouncing the Eastern Tartars.

Li Zong said that they had not fought in the earlier Dingmao Rebellion and had to be enslaved by the Eastern Tartars. However, their greed was insatiable and their drinking was getting worse day by day. This was an unprecedented shame for our country.

I have to endure the humiliation and pain, trying to accumulate strength and cheer myself up, but this shame may have no end. Now the Eastern Barbarians are becoming more and more rampant and even dare to usurp the throne. Is this something that our monarch and his ministers can tolerate?

Therefore, North Korea did not consider the strength or survival of the country, but only decided based on justice and refused to accept their demands, causing Hu Cha to leave in anger after leaving the ultimatum.

I hope that when the people of the eight provinces hear of this upright move by the imperial court, they will be inspired and swear to fight to the death against the common enemy, regardless of distance or nobility. I ask loyal and righteous people to offer their own strategies and brave people to voluntarily join the war, so that we can help each other in the difficulties and repay the country's kindness.

To put it simply, the King of Joseon directly ordered the kingdom to prepare for war and be ready to resist the Eastern Tartars.

At the same time, he strengthened relations with the Ming Dynasty, reported the move to repel the Later Jin Dynasty to Pi Island, and reported it to Emperor Chongzhen, hoping to obtain all kinds of support such as saltpeter, sulfur, and even military forces.

Because the military of the Kingdom of Joseon...it was extremely dilapidated.

There were no talented generals; clothing and armor were insufficient; food and wages were scarce; and there were even insufficient troops. The Korean Kingdom, which was so large and populous, had less than 100,000 troops.

The army relied on the traditional bird guns after the war to resist Japanese aggression and aid Korea, but the country did not know how to make saltpeter, and had to rely on the Ming Dynasty to sell 3,000 kilograms of saltpeter and sulfur every year for military supplies.

However, starting from the fifth year of Chongzhen, the imperial court stopped this regular sale because it was worried that Korea would aid the enemy.

This is a real weak country. Its survival strategy is to be at peace with the country and play with the military. It fights among itself politically and relies on the protection of the superior country in the military.

Because of this, the King of Korea’s angry rebuke of usurpation was a real slap in the face to Huang Taiji... People are willing to give up their lives to scold you.

At the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Chongde, two Korean messengers were brought in by force with their necks held down to make up the numbers. As a result, these two men managed to hold their necks straight and stand still while others were bowing three times and kowtow nine times.

One of these two men was named Luo Dexian and the other was named Li Kuo.

Of course, it wasn't just the two of them, Shuolei Khan's son Babu was also standing.

Babu was kind-hearted, and was still muttering to them, "If it doesn't work, just kowtow to me. My dad is far away, so they can't hit him. If they do hit him, they'll have a place to retreat. You guys..."

Babu shook his head. During his time in Shengjing, he heard a lot of things from his brother Haoge. If Korea retreated any further, it would be lost to the sea.

It is not known whether it is too late for the two groups of nobles to learn swimming now.

Babu felt that the coronation ceremony was too deserted.

Apart from him and Korea, as well as the Eight Banners headquarters and the Three Shun Kings of the Later Jin Dynasty, there were only ten tribes and twenty banners of Mongolia.

Among them, there are six banners in the two wings of Horqin, two banners in Aohan, two banners in Balin, two banners in Zhalut, two banners in Wengniud, two banners in Kharaqin, one banner in Keshiketeng, one banner in Al Horqin, one banner in Khalkha, and one banner in Maoming'an.

Among the leaders of these twenty flags, there were only two famous figures in Babu's ears. The others were either sons-in-law of the Later Jin clan or minor characters who surrendered and were recruited after the defeat of their fathers and grandfathers.

One of the two men was Badali, who was conferred the title of Prince of the Right Wing of Khorchin and the other was the leader of the Five Banners of the Right Wing.

Needless to say, Badali was from a very powerful Khorchin tribe. He had inherited the title of Khorchin Khan from his father earlier. Now that his allies had become more powerful, in order to avoid war, he abandoned his own title of Khan and accepted the title of Prince of Daiqing.

The other was Gulusiqibu, who was granted the title of leader of two banners of Kharachin.

Although this leader of the Harashen, who once dominated the northern desert, did not fall into the title of king, he was actually not a bad person.

After all, his tribe was slaughtered and plundered by E'linchen, Sanang Taiji and 230,000 cavalry households in the south of the desert, and only 800 people were left.

This number of people is only two and a half Niulu, or half a Jiala. According to the Eight Banners system, five Niulu make one Jiala, and five Jiala make one Gushan, or one banner.

With the military strength of one-tenth of a flag, Huang Taiji also granted him pastureland and organization for two flags, which was considered a special favor.

In short, as an outsider, Babu could see clearly that Emperor Chongde at the coronation ceremony did not have the glory of a new emperor on his face, and there was no smile on his face.

The nobles of the Eight Banners all had solemn expressions, and they were all holding back a fierceness. This year, there would definitely be unrest in the south of the desert, and there would be a war.

In fact, at the same time as the official coronation ceremony, the entire Eight Banners were mobilized.

By the time the ceremony was over, the Eight Banners' scouts and capture cavalry had already set out to convey the order to go to war to the various tribes that had surrendered.

Babu did not dare to stay long, so he immediately said goodbye to Huang Taiji, rode back to Mobei, and reported to his father the news that Emperor Chongde had ordered Ajige to lead the army to conquer Ming.

Shuolei thought about it for a moment and did not dare to reveal the information himself, so he told Subadi Khan the letter.

Subadi was farther away from the Later Jin Dynasty, so he had no worries and immediately set out for the south of the desert to inform Yang Qi of this important information.

However, Subadi did not expect that when he arrived in the south of the desert after a long journey, the person he saw was not the cunning and cowardly Grand Commander Yang Qi, who dared to sit back and watch the envoy of the Ming Dynasty kill the envoy of the Later Jin Dynasty with a hammer.

Instead, it was the vast Han army camp in Ordos, the endless banners and horses, and the great commander in chief, Liu Chengzong, who had just won a brilliant victory over Ningxia. (End of this chapter)