stubborn thief

At the end of November in the year of Bingzi, the Later Jin made a sacrifice to Heaven and Earth to send troops, making a show of force to attack Dongjiang Town, but in reality they were going to conquer Korea in the south.

The Battle of Lingdong severely weakened the Later Jin state.

The Chahar tribes that had submitted to the Chahar government and the neighboring Khorchin states that had been annexed were all wiped out in the great war.

However, the defeat had consequences beyond just military ones; the fragile economy of the Later Jin state was also severely damaged.

The culprits behind this incident were Liu Chengzong and Wu Sangui.

Liu Chengzong's army slaughtered cattle and dogs, killed and destroyed soldiers, plundered people, livestock and property, and trampled on fields and crops; they committed almost every imaginable atrocity.

What kind of wealth could Zhang Xianzhong have gained by looting under orders? The Jin army's subsequent invasion of Ming territory was even more extensive.

After the army, like wild beasts, swept through, only scorched earth and devastation remained.

Wu Sangui was even more direct, eager to charge into Liaodong and start another battle, but he was suppressed by his uncle Zu Dashou and could only pick up scraps on the edge of the battlefield.

During the few months he briefly occupied Haizhou City, his cavalry drove goats around the area from Haizhou to Liaoyang all day long, avoiding main roads and trampling the fields, eating and trampling everything that could be eaten.

Now the fields there are all rammed earth, and the seedlings that grow out look like they've been chewed by dogs. Three hectares of land can't even grow one hectare of grain.

The price of rice skyrocketed to eight liang (approximately 400 grams), ten times higher than the price of grain in northern Shaanxi when Liu Chengzong raised his army.

The Later Jin Dynasty returned to a state of crisis, with its Khan dead, the country besieged on all sides, the people in turmoil, natural disasters raging, and food production declining.

Two defeats rendered Huang Taiji's ten years of hard work futile.

If the Ming court had more accurate intelligence about the Later Jin, it would have known that they would never attack Dongjiang Town at the moment.

After the defeat in the Battle of Lingdong, the most important task facing the Shengjing Grand Hall was to quell the political turmoil caused by the war and prevent internal strife.

The root of the internal strife lay in the 20,000 Han and Mongol troops who fled outside Shengjing City after their defeat in battle.

These armies were basically the result of Huang Taiji's reforms since he ascended the throne. The troops of the Three Shun Kings and the Khorchin were severely damaged, disunited, and had lost their fiefdoms and were destitute.

It became the biggest destabilizing factor among the Eight Banners.

To resolve this problem, Huang Taiji instructed Dorgon to reduce the number of military branches after the war and incorporate them into the Eight Banners.

They disbanded the Han army, the Mongol army, the Tianyou army, and the Tianzhu army, and incorporated them all into the Eight Banners. This was essentially Huang Taiji's way of replenishing the Eight Banners' forces due to his losses.

However, in practice, it was not so easy. Even if the banners under each banner were severely short of men, they were unwilling to use these men to fill the gaps.

These armies, especially Tianyou and Tianzhu, were essentially Huang Taiji's private troops, while the Khorchin were Huang Taiji's maternal relatives.

Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, Wu Keshan, Badali, Kongguoer, Manzhuxili, and Budaqi were theoretically equivalent to banner lords and had the same military organization as Gushan.

However, their actual status was much lower than that of the Aisin nobility.

The Eight Banners themselves were a garrison-style aristocratic system that integrated military, civil and administrative functions.

These people held official positions, and their armies were incorporated into the Eight Banners, which meant that they would be crowding out the noble positions of the original banners.

In fact, Huang Taiji had no ulterior motives this time; he simply wanted to use the Han and Mongol armies to replenish the casualties and losses of the Eight Banners.

Unfortunately, he had previously used political means to infiltrate various banners, constantly changing banners, people, and banner leaders in order to counterbalance the nobles.

When he was at the height of his power, things were fine; everyone was afraid of him. But now that he can't stand up anymore, and he has to delegate everything to others, things are different now.

The first person to stand up and object was Yue Tuo of the Red Flag.

The two red flags did not suffer much damage in the war, and Yue Tuo spoke with conviction.

However, his father, Daishan, was the clan elder and the cornerstone of the Eight Banners. For the sake of family unity, he was willing to forgo even the Khanate, let alone in this critical moment.

Before Yue Tuo could say anything more outrageous, they stopped their son.

The two banner chiefs of the Blue Banner, Hauge and Jirhalang, maintained an ambiguous attitude.

They were angry but dared not speak out. On the one hand, many of their soldiers had died and their territory had been divided among various banners, leaving them with very little say.

On the other hand, when the two of them got together, they didn't have time to talk about their company's affairs.

This uncle and nephew were absolutely dependent on Huang Taiji, to the point that their position became precarious as Huang Taiji's health deteriorated.

Hauge is Huang Taiji's son, that goes without saying.

Jirhalang is the sixth son of Shurhaci. As a son, his father and elder brother were imprisoned and died by their uncle Nurhaci, and his elder brother Amin is currently imprisoned by Huang Taiji.

His ability to be successively valued by Nurhaci and Huang Taiji and to be granted the title of Prince Zheng was not due to his status as an ordinary person; it was because he was able to choose the right side.

However, in return, he took charge of the Ministry of Justice of the Jin Dynasty and did a lot of dirty work for Huang Taiji in his quest for power and profit, offending almost all the Eight Banners nobles.

This identity meant that some people were outwardly alive, but in the hearts of the two leaders of the Blue Banner, they were already dead.

When the two of them got together, they were thinking about the succession to the throne after the emperor's death.

There was no fixed system of succession in the Later Jin dynasty. Whether it was the eldest son's succession, the brother's succession, the youngest son's succession, or the Xuanwu Gate succession system, no one could say for sure.

To avoid being purged, Jirhalang had to figure out a way out.

But our Eight Banners leaders, and I'm not being modest, there really isn't a decent successor at this critical juncture.

Daishan is old and no longer has the will.

Yue Tuo cannot win the support of the people, and Dai Shan, as the clan leader, would avoid suspicion and would not support him.

Although Ajige was powerful, he was not even a banner leader and would only support Dorgon, but Dorgon did not have that status.

As for Dodo?

Dodo is too abstract; others will avoid suspicion and recommend someone else first, but Dodo will definitely shout that he wants to succeed to the throne and become emperor.

But this was just talk—because no one would really be angry with him, and no one would really take his proposal seriously.

As for Jirhalang himself, he didn't care about living too long, so he wouldn't even think about such a thing.

That would be Haug.

With the status of an heir, he could gain the support of the two Yellow Banners, and Daishan's two Red Banners would not object.

Therefore, Zhujierhalang of the Bordered Blue Banner intentionally aligned himself with them. This was a situation where six banners were against two banners, giving us the advantage.

But as soon as they got closer, Jirhalang discovered a big problem: Haugton was no less humane than Dodo.

His original intention was to make Hauge realize that he had the identity and opportunity to inherit the throne of Daiqing, but what he lacked was military strength, power and connections.

His good uncle, Jirhalang, was precisely the kind of person who could bring him military strength and power.

But this good nephew seemed not to understand human speech, and tried his best to prove to him that if Emperor Chongde were not alive, he, Hauge, could inherit the family throne and would have the support of a distant relative of Jirhalang.

This supporter was of noble status, possessed a large military force, enormous wealth, and immense power, capable of providing him with tremendous assistance, but he was somewhat unscrupulous. Jirhalang pondered from dusk till dawn, racking his brains, and realized that the Aisin family had it all: noble status, large military force, immense power, and unscrupulous individuals.

But who could possibly possess all these qualities in one person?

Is it his second brother, Amin?

If Haug places his hopes for succession on Amin, then he has no chance of becoming the heir.

Besides, that's his own brother, not a distant relative.

Jirhalang, still full of questions, then asked Hauge who the supporter was.

But Hauge asked him in return if he still had any communication channels with his sister-in-law, Sutaihadun, who was in Qinghai.

A newly coined Manchu phrase cleaved through the fog of thought like lightning and crashed into Prince Zheng's mind—"Damn it, Chengzong!"
It was only at this moment that Jirhalang realized that he and Liu Chengzong, who was far away in Shaanxi, were brothers-in-law.

Chengzong is certainly capable. Even if there were three emperors in the world last year, if any of them died, and there were multiple heirs, Chengzong could just pick one and say he would support them to succeed to the throne. Whoever he said could succeed to the throne.

Even if Emperor Chongzhen were to pass away, whether Zhu Cilang or Zhu Cijiong succeeds him, the issue of deposing the eldest son and establishing a younger one, is not important compared to the loyalty and protection of the emperor by those who are loyal to the emperor.

But this is too abstract; it's better if the supporter is Amin.

At most, having Amin's support would mean that Hauge's succession plans would be ruined.

With Cheng Zong's support, Dai Qing might not even have a chance.

With such a miraculous successor in the present, what's the point of the order to incorporate the Han and Mongol armies into the Eight Banners?
In fact, the person who opposed this order the most was Dorgon, the one who carried it out by Huang Taiji.

Unlike the two flag leaders of the Blue Flag who were hoping for Huang Taiji's death.

Dorgon, Ajige, and Dodo, the three brothers, were just beginning to consolidate their power and truly did not want Huang Taiji to pass away.

The three brothers never even considered the emperor's death; all they cared about was that he was still alive.

Dorgon and Dodo huddled together, whispering and plotting to put these Han Chinese officers and Mongol nobles into the Two White Banners, so that the Two White Banners would become the emperor's in the future.
Can we still listen to those two brothers?
Hard to say.

Under Dorgon's leadership, Dodo took the lead in the discussion at the Ten Princes' Pavilion, jumping out to explicitly oppose incorporating the slaves into the Eight Banners as masters.

Hongqi's Yue Tuo immediately followed up and joined the match.

Jirhalang and Hauge of the Blue Banner countered sharply, stating that they would obey the Emperor's orders and that more troops were always better. If the Blue Banners did not want them, they could simply take over all the troops.

This terrified Dai Shan: "Absolutely not!"

With the two sides unable to reach an agreement, Dorgon seized the opportunity to propose expanding the Eight Banners from Niru and Jiala to Gushan, adding new positions, but ensuring that the interests of the original Manchu nobles were preserved.

The final result was that Huang Taiji issued an edict to expand the Eight Banners from more than 200 Niru to 594 Niru, and tripled the number of Niru Zhangjing to Gushan Ezhen.

Although the organization was in place, the troop strength remained limited, resulting in a shortage of manpower after the reorganization of each Niru. The number of soldiers in each Niru decreased sharply from more than 300 during the reign of the Old Khan to 300 during the Tiancong era, and then to only 100 today.

The number of armored soldiers has also decreased from 150 or 96 to 35.

In contrast, the number of Gushan in the Eight Banners was reduced from 7,500 to 2,500, and the number of Gushan Ejen in each banner was increased to three and the number of Meile Zhangjing was increased to nine.

The missing troops will be taken from North Korea.

A large group of old nobles who had been promoted in rank but whose military strength had been reduced, and a large number of Manchu veterans who had obtained minor noble status, were sharpening their knives, ready to enter Korea to seize people and land, and solidify their noble wealth.

This is the real reason why the Qing Dynasty launched a large-scale invasion of Korea.

While Dongjiang Town was indeed a threat from within, the real problem lay in the unequal distribution of benefits among the Eight Banners nobles.

Under such circumstances, it was impossible for the Eight Banners nobles to attack Dongjiang Town.

Moreover, even if they wanted to attack Dongjiang Town, they would have to consider the current difficulties.

The Eight Banners nobles knew more about Dongjiang Town than the Ming Dynasty nobles did.

The troop strength of Dongjiang Town changed from Mao Wenlong's initial boast of 150,000 troops to Yuan Chonghuan's later quota of 28,000.

Then, the Liu clan rebelled on the island, and after the massacre, the authorized force was reduced to 12,580 men.

Although Dongjiang Town was unable to supply its own food and supplies, and the island soldiers were exhausted and hungry as a result, the Ming army registered in the area was able to maintain some fighting strength because the court managed to supply and pay them by sea.

Although the Eight Banners army suffered heavy casualties, eliminating scattered garrisons on some islands was still not a problem. The problem lay in the location of Pi Island.

Places like Guanglu Island, where Shang Kexi was stationed earlier, or Lu Island and Zhangzi Island, are located along the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula. As long as ships are built on the shore, an opportunity can be found to blockade them, and after the blockade, they can be annihilated.

Because the island has no fresh water.

Pi Island is different. Firstly, it is large enough, and secondly, it is located more than a hundred miles away from the coastline of the Liaodong Peninsula.

In land battles, troops and horses can travel swiftly, covering a hundred li in no time.

The time required at sea is about the same, but attacking an island by sailing day and night is extremely risky, as a slight mistake could lead to the annihilation of the entire army.

On the other hand, although Pi Island is far from the Liaodong Peninsula, it is close to North Korea, and the closest point to the coast of Cheolsan County, Pyongan Province of the Joseon Kingdom is only four miles.

Four miles means that shore artillery on both sides of the island can bombard ships passing through the middle, making it difficult to achieve a blockade.

Therefore, for the Later Jin state, which currently holds real power in the hands of Dorgon and other Eight Banner nobles after Huang Taiji's paralysis, attacking Pi Island is strategically indisputable.

The only option is to cut off all contact between Pi Island in Donggang Town and the outside world from Cheolsan County of the Joseon Kingdom, then besiege it until it runs out of ammunition and food, and finally launch a landing attack on the island.

This was difficult to do in the past, but it's not difficult to do now.

After Huang Taiji became paralyzed and bedridden, politics became an extremely difficult matter for the Manchu nobles.

But war is as easy for them as eating and drinking.

Soon, a plan to attack North Korea was formulated, and the army was assembled in place.

Whether it was Huang Taiji, Dorgon, or Yue Tuo Haoge, the current consensus among the Eight Banners nobles was that the war to conquer Korea should be rushed rather than delayed.

The protracted battle would inevitably lead to reinforcements from the Ming army.

The Eight Banners nobles, who had been severely weakened by the Lingdong Campaign, lacked the courage to face a large-scale war before they had a chance to recuperate.

Even if the opponent is the army of the Joseon Kingdom, we must attack with all our might, like a lion hunting a rabbit.

With heavy cavalry leading the way and horsemen raiding, they marched straight to the capital, breached the city walls with overwhelming force, captured the king, and forced him to surrender.

In terms of personnel, Mafita and Dodo led the 300-strong vanguard battalion as the vanguard.

Yue Tuo and Haoge led 4,000 Eight Banner troops as the left wing.

Dorgon commanded almost all of the 20,000 Han and Mongol troops, including Shang Kexi, Jin Yuhe, Wu Keshan, and Manzhu Xili, and was equipped with heavy weapons such as guns, cannons, ladders, and shield carts.

With a total force of over 24,000, they crossed the Yalu River on the first day of the twelfth lunar month and launched a three-pronged attack on the Kingdom of Korea. (End of Chapter)