stubborn thief

One hundred and twenty miles south of Wuwei City, at the mouth of the Nenjiang River and the Songhua River, is the Chuolemen City.

The name of this city means Beidou City in Chinese. Like Wuwei City, it was also built by Korchin in that era following Nurhaci's advice.

However, this city is not as well built as the Fearless City, because the person who controls this city has always been the leader of the left wing of Khorchin, and now it is the residence of Wu Keshan, the prince of the left wing middle banner and the uncle of Daiqing.

In Mongolian tradition, the right is respected, the right wing is the direct leader, and the left wing is the side branch.

But times have changed. In today's Khorchin, Huang Taiji ascended the throne in Shenyang and proclaimed himself emperor, changing his name to Daiqing. The left wing, a branch of the Aisin family that was closer to him, became the new nobles.

This Aixin tradition of valuing the left and despising the right is known to everyone in the entire Northeast, but in the Marshal's Office, it is a secret worth exploring.

This was not a deliberate provocation by Huang Taiji or Nurhaci earlier, but a historical issue.

Long before the establishment of the Later Jin Dynasty, there were three lords on the left wing of Khorchin, namely the three brothers Manggus, Ming'an and Konggor.

As Nurhaci rose to power, he faced enemies everywhere.

The Jurchen tribes joined forces with the Khorchin to launch the Battle of Gule Mountain against them. Because there were nine tribes participating in the meeting, it is also called the Battle of the Nine Tribes.

The battle was grand and grand, but in fact there was not much fighting. The coalition forces failed in their attack on two castles in a row, and they collapsed at the slightest setback without any real fighting.

The Khorchin tribe suffered very little damage in the battle. Among them, Ming'an Beile, one of the three lords on the left wing, performed very well. His horse was frightened and fell off, so he rode a saddleless naked horse and escaped in panic.

I was so scared that I lost an adult.

Nurhaci rose to prominence from humble beginnings and had no distinguished bloodline. In the eyes of the aristocracy in Mongolian society, led by the Golden Family, he was just a small trader and old soldier who picked pine nuts and mushrooms and lived on the horse market of the Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention Wenggodai, the father of Oba, the leader of Khorchin, even Haixi Yehe, who were also Jurchens, looked down on Jianzhou.

After withstanding the Nine Tribes War, he was finally recognized as the ruler by the Mongolian and Jurchen aristocratic societies in the northeast region.

In order to reverse the situation where he was surrounded by enemies, Nurhaci took Ming'an, who had lost face in the war, as his target for flattery. He released the 20 captured Mongolian soldiers, dressed them in cotton clothes and gave them horses, and sent envoys to establish friendly relations.

He also sent envoys to propose marriage to Ming'an's daughter, and then used Ming'an as a breakthrough point to make friends with the other two major lords on the left wing, Manggus and Kongor, in exchange for marriage.

Among the three brothers, Ming'an and Konggor both married their daughters to Nurhaci, while Manggus married his daughter Zhezhe to Huang Taiji that year.

Now Zhezhe is the queen of Daiqing Kingdom.

After that, the left wing of Khorchin continued to intermarry with the Later Jin.

Wu Keshan, the lord of the Left Central Banner, was the grandson of Manggus.

Empress Zhezhe was his aunt, and her two younger sisters married Huang Taiji successively. Both times, Wu Keshan personally escorted his sisters to Shenyang.

The eldest sister was called Bumbutai, now called Concubine Zhuang, who later became Xiaozhuang.

The younger sister's name is Hai Lanzhu, now she is called Chen Fei, and Huang Taiji loves her terribly.

Because of this, Huang Taiji ascended the throne in Shenyang and conferred five royal titles on Khorchin.

They are Prince Wu Keshan of the Left Wing, Prince Manzhu Xili of Baturu, Prince Konggor of Bingtu; Prince Badali and Prince Budazi of the Right Wing.

Bingtu is an excellent word, which means the seven virtues that upper nobles such as Khans must possess, and can also be understood as a wise king.

Baturu Manzhu Xili was Wu Kesan's younger brother. He was the most active, most meritorious and most experienced nobleman in Khorchin during the Later Jin Dynasty. The reason why he was only given the title of a prince was because his military exploits were written into his brother Wu Kesan's edict of title.

The format of the edict that conferred the title of king on someone else is that this person had made certain contributions at a certain time, so he was conferred the title of king.

The format of the imperial edict conferring title of king on Wu Keshan was that someone had made certain contributions at a certain time, so Wu Keshan was conferred the title of prince.

'My great-uncle Ming'an, when he was not yet in power, presented his daughter to Taizu as his wife; my great-uncle Manggus, when he was not yet in power, presented his daughter to me as his wife; and your sister has been in my marriage to me forever.

When we were besieged, other beiles fled, but your brother defended the city and killed the enemies, and presented us with the spoils of war, camels and horses; when we heard that Taizu had passed away, your brother came to pay homage; when we went out to war, other nobles either did not come or returned home halfway, but your brother led the troops to fight on his own, and then came to join forces with me after the victory.

The Subudi of Harashen had fought against more than a hundred Ming troops, but your brother led twenty cavalrymen to defeat them; he pursued Chahar, and your brother took out the baggage left by Chahar in Shahebao and brought it to me... Therefore, I confer you the title of Prince Zhuolikitu, and the title will be hereditary.'

It's not that Wu Keshan has no merits, but his achievements are not very impressive. It's impossible for the imperial edict to write that because I have made great contributions by presenting my daughter to the emperor, I love her so much that I shall be made a king?

The entire edict creates the impression that his younger brother is very powerful and that he can control his younger brother.

As for the right wing.

Ten years after the Nine Tribes War, the traditional leader of Khorchin, Oba, adhered to one principle: no matter who wanted to fight Nurhaci, he would personally lead his troops to help.

It was not until Khorchin and Chahar became enemies and Nurhaci's Jianzhou Guard rose to power that Oba reluctantly became friends with Nurhaci.

Oba's son Badali also inherited his father's pride and was unwilling to submit to Huang Taiji.

In fact, there are many nobles in the entire Khorchin who have the talent to be leaders, and any of the five princes can be one.

But Budaci married Daishan and Shulhaci's sons Zaisangwu and Jirgalang; Konggor married his daughter to Ajige; and Manzhu Xili also married the daughter of Daishan's family's father-in-law.

Only Wu Keshan is Huang Taiji's closest blood relative.

Therefore, when Huang Taiji ascended the throne and became Emperor Chongde, only Wu Keshan could be the leader of the left wing.

In fact, if possible, Huang Taiji even wanted to support Wu Keshan to be the leader of the entire Khorchin...but his brother-in-law did not have strong ability and ambition.

He just wants to be an idle prince, and even the leader of the left wing doesn't want to be one.

Therefore, when Khorchin was attacked this time, the farthest place the main force of the Eight Banners Army chased was Wu Keshan’s Chulemen City.

Huang Taiji was really afraid that the left-wing leader whom he had worked so hard to foster would be killed by those bastards from Mo Nan.

The Khan's tent outside the city of Chulemen.

Wu Keshan went to Huang Taiji with a document and after greeting him, he reported: "There are reports from the right wing escapees. In the battle of Liaoze, the right wing front flag's governor, Baisigale, was defeated and captured."

"This idiot."

Huang Taiji sighed impatiently, looked at the map in the tent, and said, "No wonder, Oboi sent a message that the army besieging the city seemed to be communicating with Badali under the city."

Oboi was Huang Taiji's bodyguard, but his official title was Jiala Zhangjing.

This is a genuine Manchu noble, a descendant of the Aisin family angel investors.

His grandfather Suoerguo was the leader of the Suwan tribe who lived near Jianzhou Zuowei. In the fifth year of Nurhaci's rebellion, he led 500 households of his tribe to submit to him, which was of great significance. Therefore, his uncle Fei Yingdong became one of the Five Ministers of Nurhaci's era, and his father Wei Qi is now the governor of the Eight Gates in Shengjing.

In this battle, Huang Taiji did not let the main force of the Eight Banners pursue E'linchen. He only ordered Oboi to lead a small group of cavalry to pursue him, just to observe the situation over there and obtain unexpected intelligence in time.

On the map hanging in the tent, there are clear and detailed hydrological maps of Khorchin and even part of the Chechen Khanate's pastures and the cities, tribes, and lakes south of the desert.

At this time, the distribution map of the tribes, mainly the left and right wings of Khorchin, was marked with dense battle signs and battle report marks. "Elinchen is confused in his use of troops, so he is not to be feared. Badali dare not rebel either. He is just a useless Nayan. We can find Liu Chengzong to exchange him for him when the time comes."

Having said that, Huang Taiji still looked worried.

However, what he was worried about was not the right wing, as Badali would never dare to rebel.

Because it was like the Queen Consort of Korchin who married into the Later Jin Dynasty and brought her own dowry. When the Later Jin Dynasty attacked Dajin, those dowries were enough to capture three castles at the same time, which was more useful than Wu Kesan.

Zhenzhe, a woman from the royal family of the Later Jin Dynasty who married into Khorchin, also brought some personal followers with her. After Oba's death, she was adopted by Badali. Now those personal followers are with Badali, in Wuwei City.

Huang Taiji was worried about Wu Keshan.

"Elinchen's 10,000-plus cavalrymen, 8,000 of them are scattered in the pastures on the left wing, burning and killing everywhere. On the other hand, the biggest loss on the right wing was the encounter on the edge of Liaoze...Have the losses of the Niulu on the left wing been counted?"

Huang Taiji couldn't continue speaking, his heart was bleeding.

From Huang Taiji onwards, most of the Eight Banners nobles had followed the old Khan in riding and fighting. It was no exaggeration to say that they were all veterans of hundreds of battles, but no one had ever seen anyone fight a bastard battle like E'linchen.

That is, Liu Chengzong stationed his troops in Xing'an Mountains and asked Huang Taiji to divide his troops to guard the rear with Dorgon. Otherwise, the 28,000 bannermen would be able to surround them to death on the grassland, and no one would be able to escape.

It's simply a disregard for human life.

The intelligence showed that they were an army, but in fact they were a group of bandits, fighting like a fucking multi-stage rocket.

Eight thousand bandits rampaged across the pastures of the three left-wing banners, leaving the area devastated and horrific.

Really, Huang Taiji controlled the Eight Banners of Manchuria, and he believed that no other army in the world was more professional than his in organizing the army to win spoils of war and plundering people and livestock.

But these crazy people in Mo Nan are not an army.

They rushed into Korqin not to gain spoils of war or to obtain survival supplies, but to cause destruction.

The key is that you grab it.

Let our Eight Banners Army also have a taste of being the border troops of the Ming Dynasty. Once you have captured Korchin, we will surround you and take back the spoils.

Then the cattle, sheep, cloth and other valuables, if we wash them, won't they end up in the Daiqing treasury?

The only thing left for the bastard to do is to kill and burn him.

For several days in a row, the reports Huang Taiji received were all about the Eight Banners Army chasing the enemy to Xindi, and all he could see was black smoke everywhere.

The pasture was plagued.

There were dead cattle everywhere, and even the lambs that could not be taken away and the injured horses and mules had to be chopped to the ground.

After slaughtering a healthy cow, they would cut off a few large pieces of meat from the chest, shoulders and hind legs. As for the rest that could not be taken away, they would bury it in a pit or drag it into the sea bubble if they had time. If they didn't have time, they would drag it to the side of a felt tent or a horse-drawn cart, light a fire with grass and animal dung, and burn it into charcoal.

The entire southern prairie was smoking.

Huang Taiji almost hated Liu Chengzong to death, and the little bit of sympathy between the Liaodong savages and the Shaanxi poor people in his heart disappeared completely in the black smoke.

It was not only Shaanxi that suffered from the disaster. Shenyang also suffered from droughts and floods in recent years. The Crown Prince of Korea had to farm his own land while living in Shenyang. He did such an embarrassing thing even though he held his nose.

The situation there was not much better than that in Shaanxi. Just five years ago, some Eight Banners soldiers killed their own people, cut off their heads and fled to the Ming side. They starved people to death with large amounts of silver.

Huang Taiji couldn't stand this, what a waste.

The most important thing is that the Khorchin Kingdom is a symbol to the Later Jin Dynasty.

With Huang Taiji's ascension to the throne, he became Emperor Chongde and conferred titles on the five kings of Khorchin.

The great cause of the two generations of khans of the Later Jin Dynasty, which lasted for decades and aimed to conquer the Khorchin Khanate, finally came to an end.

From now on, Khorchin will lose its status as an independent regime in any form, and the power of the entire Khanate will be at the disposal of the Aisin family without any reservations.

This should have been a huge victory and a great success.

But what they want is a complete Khorchin.

I was so angry that my blood pressure rose.

When Wu Keshan heard Huang Taiji asking about the losses, he could not help but look bitter, shook his head sadly and said: "Many Niulu are missing. I don't know whether the enemy crossed the border and escaped, or... met with an accident."

"If you want to see the person alive or dead, what will it be like if you can't find the person?"

Huang Taiji waved his hand and said no more, "Anyway, send your trusted confidant to Wuwei City first, find a way to send a letter into the city, and find out why Badali communicated with the enemy general. If his brother said something he shouldn't have, warn him."

"Tell him that I said so. Now that you are the king, don't listen to the words of your short-sighted brothers and go astray."

"Then it's the left wing. You must move all the Niulu to Beidou City as soon as possible. Don't go west of the Nenjiang River for now. Even if the soldiers on the left wing survive, I'm afraid they won't dare to fight against them..."

Huang Taiji cursed as he spoke, "When I return to Shenyang, I will look for who said Liu Chengzong was a foolish Khan who only knew how to chop people down, stationed his troops in Xing'an Mountains to build a city, ordered the Outer Mongols to attack the grasslands, and was very good at discriminating and sowing discord."

His eyes returned to the hanging map again, and his face became even gloomier as he looked at the symbols that represented war.

The tribes formerly under the jurisdiction of Chahar were attacked, but the Marshal's troops behaved very professionally there, with efficient organization and swift action. They took away all the people, horses, cattle, sheep, felt tents and horse-drawn carts without leaving any behind, and created a pristine grassland as quickly as possible.

It is very environmentally friendly and the Eight Banners Army would applaud when they saw it.

On the left wing, the ground was filled with thick smoke. Even the cattle and sheep were to be slaughtered. Even a small grasshopper that dared to jump would be chopped in half.

As for the right wing, E'linchen led two thousand cavalrymen across the right wing. He neither divided his troops nor made any turns on the way. Except for the unlucky guys who were blocking the way, he didn't harm a single person!

In Huang Taiji's opinion, couldn't he see what Liu Chengzong was up to?

The closer you get to Daiqing, the more severe the blow you will suffer from Liu Chengzong.

Wu Keshan bowed and responded to the two orders, then immediately ordered his subordinate Zaisang to do it. Then he returned to the tent and asked worriedly, "What about the west? Are we going to let Liu Manzi build a city and station troops there? If the city is built by the manzi, I'm afraid the left wing will never have peace in the future."

Huang Taiji, who was sitting, looked up at Wu Keshan, chuckled and said, "Are you scared? Now we can only wait."

"wait?"

Wu Keshan was not afraid just now, but now he is really panicking: "Wait, wait until the barbarians finish building the city?"

"What can you wait for? You are just waiting to die! I don't know what's in your head."

Huang Taiji said something to his brother-in-law in a bad mood, then let out a long sigh, and secretly chanted the spell "This is brother-in-law, this is brother-in-law" in his heart to calm himself down.

After a while, he adjusted his mood and narrowed his eyes and said, "Wait for the people and livestock in Gaizhou to move inland, and wait for King Sanshun to go north with his cannons, and then we will fight that barbarian!" (End of this chapter)