Daming Yinghua

Chapter 455 Another Place

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Taichang, at the hour of Chen, on the east side of Daming Gate, officials from various ministries, courts, and temples, who had just celebrated a peaceful year, came on duty one after another.

Zhai Xingxing, the recorder of the Ministry of War, saw from afar a group of people gathered in front of his own government office.

I could hear some excited or disdainful discussions.

"Go and have a look! The Liaodong governor and the Ministry of War are arguing with each other."

"No, no, I'm from the Ministry of Revenue. Haven't you seen our people from the Ministry of Revenue run away when they encounter such aggressive people asking for money? What's more, the one who came to make trouble was Yang Lian, the former Yang Zongxian, who even dared to insult His Majesty."

"That's right, you people from the Ministry of Revenue should stay away from joining in the fun, and don't let that big bearded Yang scold you too."

"What? So hot-tempered? Oh, I was just transferred to the capital last year, and I have to see the power of this Governor Yang."

Zhai Xingxing hurried to the entrance of the Ministry of War, following the blue-robed officials from other ministries and agencies who had come to watch the fun.

Sure enough, Yang Lian, dressed in a red robe, criticized the Ministry of War in a loud voice for not paying salaries to Liaodong.

On his left and right were two low-ranking officials from the Ministry of War in blue robes. They looked three parts embarrassed, five parts helpless, and had two parts of wry smiles on their faces. They looked extremely unlucky.

The two men bowed and tried to persuade Yang Da Huzi, who was as furious as a demon, to go to the Ministry of War first and not lose face in front of the younger civil servants of the dynasty.

"Dignity?" Yang Lian glared. "I am the governor of Liaodong. Isn't the greatest dignity to ask for money for the border troops? Today, I came to your Ministry of War in my official robe to ask for money. How can I be considered disgraceful? I will stand here until your Minister Xiong takes up his post."

After Yang Lian had finished training the people from the Ministry of War, he spoke passionately about the worrying situation in Liao.

Among the crowd, some were particularly well-informed. They sneered at their colleagues and said, "See? This is the unreasonableness of Donglin. I heard that it was the Minister of Rites of Donglin who quoted scriptures and classics to ask the Ministry of Revenue for a large sum of money on behalf of the emperor. Whether it was for building a palace or for the prince's wedding, it took up a lot of military pay from the Ministry of Revenue. But Yang Da Huzi, who is also from Donglin, didn't go to argue with his own Zhao Nanxing, but ran to the front of the Ministry of War to scold the mountain gate."

Someone heard this and said bluntly, "Isn't it because Xiong Tingbi is a member of the Chu Party?"

Another person shook his head and sighed, "Our court official said that the newspapers before the New Year showed that Kaiyuan and Tieling were making a big fuss over the military pay. Hey, what do you think? If the imperial court doesn't give them money, will those soldiers who have lived in Liao for generations join the Jiannu? I heard that the leader of the slaves, Nurhaci, was originally a soldier who was taken in by Liao general Li Chengliang. His daughter even became Li Rubai's concubine. Aren't they becoming more and more like a family?"

Everyone thought that what the man said made sense and were about to agree with him, but when they took another look, they found that he was a clerk from the State Affairs Temple. Immediately, their faces turned cold and they no longer paid attention to this colleague who worked under a woman.

Guowusi turned back angrily and bumped into Zhai Xingxing, who was obviously listening with a thoughtful look. He found the steps and said, "Hey, Zhai Lushi, are you back from visiting relatives in Shanxi?"

Zhai Xingxing politely bowed to the other party and took this opportunity to speak in a low voice: "You, Zheng Siqing and Hong Shaoqing, sent you to see this General Yang causing a commotion in the Ministry of War, right?"

The recorder of the State Affairs Temple quickly shook his head: "No, no, our two officials are not in Beijing."

"Hmm? Where did you go?"

The clerk usually accompanied Hong Chengchou to the Ministry of War several times and had met Zhai Xingxing many times, so he answered bluntly: "Hong Shaoqing went to Nanjing to find the censor there to impeach Minister Zhao of the Ministry of Rites. As for Zheng Siqing, well, he was also angry about the fight for Prince Fu's money from top to bottom, so he went to the border to vent his anger." Zhai Xingxing thought about it, but still said casually: "Oh, outside Shanhaiguan or Xifengkou?"

"Of course it's outside Xifengkou. She went to Daning Town to discuss with them how to help Ligdan Khan and fight the Tumed tribe to the west."

Zhai Xingxing knew what was going on, but he saw a eunuch in brocade robe hurrying over from the other end of the corridor. He walked quickly to Yang Lian and shouted, "Your Majesty has ordered that Yang Lian, the governor of Liaodong, be summoned to the imperial court for a quick meeting."

After saying this in a pretentious manner, the eunuch moved closer to Yang Lian and said, "General Yang, hurry to the Qianqing Palace. The Minister Xiong you are looking for is also at His Majesty's place."

After Yang Lian walked away in a huff, the crowd watching the excitement at the entrance of the military department also scattered like birds and beasts.

Zhai Xingxing, on the other hand, was like a hedgehog covered with fruits. He absent-mindedly entered the yamen and worked for most of the day. Then he got off work at 3 p.m., crossed the Qipan Street, hailed a cart, drove through the streets and alleys, went around to the vicinity of the Yellow Sect temple, and met up with several other hedgehogs covered with fruits.

Among them, of course, is the Mongolian musician Zana.

Nurhaci arranged for the secret leaders in the capital to collect all the intelligence from each hedgehog and sent them away. He then wrote a secret letter using the Manchu code taught by his master Yuetuo, and went to find the Shanxi merchants who were about to leave Shanhaiguan and go to Liaodong to trade goods. They then went through several channels and delivered the letter to the fourth prince, Huang Taiji.

At this moment, in Huining, Korea, Daishan, the leader of the Zhenghong Banner and the chief of the four great beiles of the Later Jin Dynasty, was listening to a group of Jiala Ezhen reporting on the situation of grain reserves.

A year ago, when Daishan was sent to Huining, Korea, across the Tumen River by his father Nurhaci, he was unhappy. He was indignant that he, a brave warrior of the Great Jin Dynasty who had made great military achievements and the only great beile in Manchuria to be awarded the title of "Guying Baturu", was so far away from the power center of Hetuala.

But now, Daishan finally realized that he was wrong.

Huining is such a great place.

Many of the Koreans here are the remnants of the power of the previous king, Gwanghaegun. Gwanghaegun was the son of King Seonjo of Joseon. Because Emperor Wanli of Ming Dynasty never gave him a title, he held a grudge against Ming Dynasty, the suzerain state. Therefore, since Nurhaci proclaimed himself Khan, he has shown a political stance of being pro-Jin and anti-Ming.

Last year, Yi Jong, the grandson of King Seonjo, led the military to launch a coup and exiled Gwanghaegun, and was recognized by the Ming Dynasty. He further helped Mao Wenlong to contain the Later Jin Dynasty in Yizhou, Cheolsan and other places. The mainstream faction within Korea returned to the right path of being pro-Ming.

The remnants of Gwanghaegun's forces were scattered in remote and outlying areas. Daishan only figured it out when he arrived in Huining. No wonder Mu Zaohua was still able to receive Japanese copper from the Koreans after revealing her identity as a Jin person, because these Koreans were originally close to the Great Jin.

Similarly, the bannermen and baoyi of the Zhenghong Banner were not hindered from reclaiming land and growing food after arriving in Huining. Last autumn, there were even ships that heard about the news and landed at Chongjin Port. Korean merchants hired laborers to transport food to Huining and sell it to the Jurchens, who were said to be extremely short of food.

This spring, in addition to the Korean merchants who supplied food, there was also a man named Li Xun who sought to see Daishan and claimed to be Gwanghaegun's former guard.

"Brother Guiying," Li Xun addressed Daishan respectfully in the Korean pronunciation of Gu Yingbatulu, but his purpose was made clear. "Brother Guiying, have you ever thought about moving the main forces of the Zhenghong Banner to Tumenjiang, strengthening the forces here in Huining, and achieving mutual benefit with our Gwanghaegun?"

"What do you mean? Isn't your master imprisoned on an isolated island?"