Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 205 Nurhaci's Anxiety

After reading official documents from the Ministry of War for a few days, the official decree came down, saying that Zhang Xiao was allowed to go to Tianjin to inspect military affairs, but did not directly let Zhang Xiao supervise the new army in Tianjin.

Although he no longer had the status of an imperial envoy, when Zhang Xiao arrived in Tianjin City, he and his entourage were still warmly received by Li Rusong.

"Mr. Zhang, I heard that you were on business in the south these days. As soon as you returned to the capital, you thought about coming to Tianjin to inspect military affairs. I really admire you."

"General Zimao is on the battlefield, while I am just walking around and talking. How can I say that I am working hard?"

"If the ministers in the court could come and visit more often, they wouldn't have to make things so difficult for us. The Ministry of War only recently paid off the arrears of wages, food, and weapons. If it weren't for the fact that I still have some prestige, the new army soldiers in these battalions would have risen up to demand pay long ago, and there would be no point in talking about training." Li Rusong sighed.

"The borders of the imperial court have been in turmoil over the past few years, and a lot of military pay has been spent. However, the Ministry of Revenue now has more money and food than before, and the Ministry of War is not so tight on funds. Naturally, General Zimao's side will be given priority."

"Of course I know the difficulties of the Ministry of War. It's just my duty. I can understand the difficulties of the court, but it's natural for soldiers to eat food. My newly recruited army has no land and property. We all rely on salaries to survive. Now that we have just arrived in Tianjin, we dare not find a job. If the court delays paying salaries for another two months, I can only take out all my savings at home to reward the soldiers, and then report to the court to disband the newly trained army."

"It has come to this. General Zimao is actually going to destroy his family and save his country." Zhang Xiao was also a little surprised.

"It's not to the point of ruining my family and my country, but it's such a mess that I'm afraid it will delay your majesty's work. I'm only complaining to you, Mr. Zhang, and don't say these trivial words to the court, so as not to cause more worries to your majesty. Please come with me, Mr. Zhang. I've been training here for these days, and the new army has made some progress."

"Then I'll have to trouble General Zimao to lead the way." Zhang Xiao said.

Zhang Xiao's current position is not powerful enough for him to come to inspect, but it seems that the new army camp has been cleaned and tidied up. I don't know if it is because of the arrival of the salary, the new army's training is still very imposing. At the end, Zhang Xiao proposed to go to the military school to take a look. Hearing this, Li Rusong was a little surprised, but he still took Zhang Xiao to the military school.

It was called a school, but in fact it was just a remote place in the camp where a group of soldiers sat on small stools and listened to the lectures.

Although studying in the military camp is a good thing, Zhang Xiao remembered that what he wrote in the memorial was to set up a formal school.

"I remember that according to the memorial I submitted, this school should be run separately. How come they just found a temporary place in the military camp to start classes now?" In the military camp, there is no need for so many twists and turns in talking and doing things. Zhang Xiao expressed his doubts directly to Li Rusong.

"Mr. Zhang, I have read the rules of your school carefully. I am not afraid of being laughed at by you. It is a great honor for me to find a place to run a school in Tianjin. However, if I enroll students according to your rules, there will be no students to sign up. Only some centurions in the army want to learn a little. Officers above the rank of thousand will not come, let alone ordinary soldiers."

"Oh? Why is that?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"I understand Mr. Zhang's intention of running a school. He wants to train a group of junior officers for the army, and also train more cavalry and artillerymen, which are in short supply and require technical skills. However, although there have been many additions to the military system of our dynasty, it is still based on the military system of the garrisons. The officers in the army, even the centurions, are hereditary. To put it bluntly, whether they learn these skills or not, the officers are officers and the soldiers are soldiers. Moreover, although the army lacks cavalry and artillery, it lacks war horses and artillery even more. These things are in the hands of the generals and commanders. Even if a soldier learns the riding and artillery skills, it is useless if there is no one in the army to recommend them."

"At least there are still people in the military camp. As for the people outside, if we only recruit ordinary people, ordinary people still want to be soldiers and eat food, there will always be people who will apply. But Mr. Zhang, the rules you wrote are to find people who can speak and write. Anyone who can speak and write will want to take the imperial examination. If the civil examination is not good, there is still the military examination. Who is willing to enter this military school? Even if you can't pass the imperial examination for ten or eight years, you can copy books, or become a private school teacher, or a staff clerk, which is more promising than joining the army. Not to mention the people outside, even the children of the army, who have the hereditary military position, are willing to join the army. Of course, it is inherited. If there are those who can read, they also want to enter the imperial school and pass the examination. There is no point in keeping the military record. Let's talk about my family. Although my father is also brave and good at fighting, if my ancestors were not hereditary commanders, my father would not be able to become a general, let alone a thousand or a hundred households. The generals who can gain a foothold in the court now are either descendants of Taizu's founding heroes or descendants of Jingnan heroes. They will not look down on this military school. Therefore, Li is in charge of the army, and outsiders can't say much. "Li Rusong explained.

"I see. It's not easy for you, General Zimao. No problem. I came here today just to see the atmosphere of the new army. How about we go together to listen to the courses in this military school?" Zhang Xiao made an invitation.

"Of course you can, Mr. Zhang, please." Li Rusong asked Zhang Xiao to go to the front. Soldiers had already placed two stools in front. Li Rusong and Zhang Xiao politely gave way to each other for a long time before sitting down.

……

At this time, a class was in progress in the Jianzhou tribe in Liaodong.

"Mr. Gong, I've heard you talk about the system of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The system of killing the mother and keeping the son was learned from the rule of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who sentenced Lady Gouyi to death." Nurhaci asked Gong Zhenglu after listening to the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

"That's true. The monarch of the Northern Wei Dynasty used this precedent. When selecting a crown prince, he would order the execution of his biological mother to prevent the in-laws from interfering in politics."

"I think Emperor Wu of Han's method is not a good one. If Huo Guang had not been loyal, he might have attempted to usurp the throne. As you said, few monarchs of the Northern Wei Dynasty lived long. The successor monarch is so young that it is a blessing that he has not been usurped by powerful ministers." Nurhaci shook his head.

"Great Khan, it's not just the Northern Wei. The dynasty founded by the Hu people, that is, the Liao Dynasty, had a relatively orderly inheritance. In the other Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty, every time the throne was passed, there was no shortage of brothers killing each other and fathers and sons turning against each other. Even in dynasties like the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were many bloody successions to the throne. If the Northern Wei Dynasty had not carried out the policy of killing the mother and keeping the son, I'm afraid the Northern Wei Dynasty would have been a few years shorter. Later, the policy of killing the mother and keeping the son was not continued. The Queen Mother Hu of the Northern Wei Dynasty actually killed her own son, Emperor Xiaoming, which gave Erzhu Rong the opportunity to enter Beijing, leading to the disaster of the Heyin Incident." Gong Zhenglu explained.

"It's still not a good idea to act this way, but as you said, inheriting the throne is a difficult thing. Let's not talk about the distant past, let's just talk about the stories of the Jurchen tribes. If Wang Tai's sons hadn't fought for the throne, how could the Huifa tribe, with so many people, be subdued by the Yehe tribe, and how could the title of Dragon and Tiger General fall to this Khan's head. If the Ula tribe hadn't also fought for the throne, this Khan wouldn't have been able to support Buzhantai."

"The Great Khan is wise."

"Mr. Gong is tired from talking today. Today, the Khan is hosting a banquet. Mr. Gong, you should eat and drink more, and share the principles you have said with others."

"I will follow the Khan's orders."

In this way, the banquet of Jianzhou tribe began again. Although he had not figured out how to solve the succession problem, Nurhaci was in a good mood at the moment, and he told Shuerhaci about the lessons he had learned, until a confidant came and brought him the news of Buzhantai.

"What? How dare Bujantai say that? Is what you said true?" Nurhaci's face suddenly changed when he heard the news. "Great Khan, the envoy of the Ula tribe should be on the way, and I'm afraid they will arrive in a few days. Everything I said is true. If there is any falsehood, I am willing to be punished by the Khan." The confidant said quickly.

"Stand up. It's not that I don't trust you, but I must personally confirm this important matter. Do you have any proof?"

"This is a handwritten letter from Buzhantai, the leader of the Ula tribe."

"Since you have this thing, why don't you take it out immediately." Nurhaci took the letter and pulled Shurhaci to the back hall.

Nurhaci opened the letter and read it. It was not enough to read it once, so he read it two or three times before handing the letter to Shurhaci.

Seeing his brother looking like he was facing a great enemy, Shuerhazi did not dare to be negligent. He took the letter and read it carefully. The more he read, the more solemn his expression became.

"Brother, I didn't expect Bujantai to secure the position of leader of the Ula tribe so quickly. It seems that he no longer needs the support of the Jianzhou tribe, and all the previous promises are no longer valid." Shulhazi said.

"Yes, the place where the Ula tribe is located is even colder and more desolate than that of the Jianzhou tribe. I didn't expect the Ula tribe to pay much tribute. But not only did they not pay tribute, but they also broke their previous promise to obey the orders of the Jianzhou tribe. They even asked us to withdraw from the Yalu River tribe. This is really unreasonable." Nurhaci said dissatisfiedly.

"What should we do, brother? Since Buzhantai is not obedient, should we take the initiative and send troops to Huifa?"

"No, no, the Huifa tribe is a large Jurchen tribe after all. Even if we mobilize our entire army, even if we can defeat the Huifa tribe, it will be difficult to capture their main city. If we delay for too long, the Yehe tribe will take the opportunity to send troops, or even the imperial court will send troops, and we will be in trouble."

"We, the Jianzhou tribe, have always been loyal to the imperial court. The imperial court will not send troops to deal with us, will it?"

"Shuerhaci, don't take it for granted. The court doesn't need any reason to deal with anyone. You and I have seen the methods of General Li. Even if General Li is not guarding Liaodong now, you don't think that General Ma is a good person to get along with. General Ma is also very famous in Korea. I don't know how many Japanese he has killed. Even the King of Korea has to avoid him when he sees him. Even if he kills us, the court will not blame him."

"We can't fight, so we can only negotiate peace. But our Jianzhou tribe worked so hard to send troops to help Bujantai get the position of leader, but now we have gained nothing. It's really not worth it." Shurhaci sighed.

"No, we got it. At least now the Ula tribe is no longer an ally of the Yehe tribe, and Bujantai is willing to be friends with us. This is enough. As long as the other tribes do not follow the Yehe tribe, we can still deal with the people of the Yehe tribe alone." Nurhaci said after thinking for a while.

"So what Big Brother is saying is that not only should we not pursue Buzhantai's breach of contract, but we should also befriend him?"

"Now that we are surrounded by enemies on all sides, it is always a good thing to have an ally, even if this ally is unreliable, it is better than an enemy. The letter above cannot be written so clearly. I am afraid we still have to ask the envoy of the Ula tribe what Buzhantai meant."

So, when the uneasy envoys of the Ula tribe arrived, they saw the city decorated with lights and bustling with activity.

Nurhaci, who had originally planned to give the envoy a show of power, was stunned for a moment when he saw the list of gifts sent by the Ula tribe, and his expression softened.

"What does the Ula tribe mean? I received a handwritten letter from your leader before, saying that because of their ancestors and the opposition of their people, they would not pay tribute to our Jianzhou tribe. What's the meaning of so many gifts now?" Nurhaci asked.

"Reporting to the Khan, this is the betrothal gift from our leader to the subordinates of Jianzhou. Our leader Buzhantai wants to form an in-law relationship with the Khan."

"What kind of marriage is it?"

"Our leader wants to marry the Khan's daughter. If the Khan is interested, our leader Buzhantai also has a daughter, so we can make the marriage even closer."

"This is a good thing, but I still need to discuss it with the important officials of the tribe. Please have a drink with the envoy today." Nurhaci laughed heartily.

After the banquet, Nurhaci called his brother to discuss the matter.

"Brother, do you mean to marry Mubushi to him? How old is Mubushi?" Shuerhazi was a little surprised.

"It doesn't matter. We can make an engagement first and get married in a few years. My son Chu Ying is now a hostage in the capital. What's wrong with my daughter? She is also a member of Jianzhou. Now it's time for her to contribute to the tribe. I'm afraid my daughter alone is not enough. I heard from Mr. Gong that when princes get married, they all have concubines. It would be safer for your daughter to marry along with them."

"Eenzhe is so young. If her mother hears it, she will probably quarrel with me." Shuerhazi never expected that there would be his own affairs involved.

"What are you making a fuss about? The Jianzhou tribe is in crisis right now, so they don't have time to worry about this. How about this? If you agree, I will agree to the envoy of the Ula tribe. When the time comes, I will marry Buzhantai's daughter, and you will also marry a woman of Buzhantai's nephew's generation."

"Brother, you have said so much, how can I not agree? Are you really so anxious? Don't you want to think about it a little more?"

"If we delay, something bad will happen. If we don't agree quickly, and the Yehe tribe uses some means to win over Bujantai, our Jianzhou tribe will be in trouble," Nurhaci explained.

(End of this chapter)