Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Khorchin, it's Khorchin again!"

"Can't they fight on their own? Why do they have to ask me for help?"

Inside the Khan's tent of the Jin Kingdom, Huang Taiji roared angrily.

After fighting for several months, Huang Taiji was still unable to defeat the Ming army. In fact, he was under tremendous pressure because of his previous losses.

Upon receiving the plea for help from the Horqin, he finally couldn't contain his anger and roared out loud.

Hearing Huang Taiji's somewhat out-of-control words, Fan Wencheng wanted to offer advice, but dared not utter a word.

Only after Huang Taiji had vented his anger and calmed down did Fan Wencheng speak:

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This is a trick by the Ming Dynasty."

"You must not let this harm your health!"

Huang Taiji said wearily:
"How could I not know?"

"This is a deliberate tactic by the Ming army; they are launching a coordinated attack from multiple directions."

"As long as one route can be annihilated, the others will collapse on their own."

"Unfortunately, although Sun Chengzong on the other side is not good at fighting, he also doesn't give us a chance to win."

“He built a fort in Niuzhuang to hold us back.”

The purpose of stalling them is now quite clear.

During Nurhaci's time, they had few allies and were surrounded by enemies.

However, the Khorchin, Naiman, and Aohan tribes are now allied with us, so we must take them into consideration.

The last attack on Korea resulted in the defeat of the Naiman and Aohan tribes by the Ming Dynasty, drawing complaints from many Mongols.

If the Khorchin suffers further losses, the Mongol tribes that depend on them will likely leave one after another.

Even if Huang Taiji didn't want to divide his troops to rescue Khorchin, he still had to send troops there.

After deliberation, Huang Taiji gave the order:
"Order the surrounding tribes to shrink back and concentrate around Shenyang."

"Each of the two Yellow Banners sent half of their troops, along with the conscripted Mongols, to rescue Khorchin."

"This time we must really teach Lin Danhan a lesson, so he won't dare come back!"

Huang Taiji grits his teeth at the mere mention of this name.

He looked down on Lin Danhan completely, but little did he know that this man would bring him so much trouble:

As long as Ligdan Khan remained on the grasslands, the Mongol tribes had other options: they could not only rely on the Jin Dynasty, but also seek refuge with Ligdan Khan.

Therefore, he demanded that this military expedition focus on attacking Lin Dan Khan, and ideally kill him on the battlefield.

Fan Wencheng was not optimistic about this, because he knew that Lin Dan Khan was very fast and had not died on the battlefield despite suffering so many defeats.

This person is now even more cunning than a rabbit, how could he die so easily?
He said to Huang Taiji:

"The key is the Ming Dynasty!"

"Without the support of the Ming Dynasty, Ligdan Khan would never have dared to provoke the Great Khan."

“Even after Ligdan Khan dies, they can still support a new Khan and continue to oppose the Great Jin.”

"This servant believes that we can sow discord between Ligdan Khan and the Ming Dynasty, causing them to become enemies."

Huang Taiji was quite interested in this and said:

Explain in detail.

"How do we sow discord between Ligdan Khan and the Ming Dynasty?"

"The Ming Dynasty now has capable people who are unlikely to fall for the trap."

"They didn't even pursue the matter of Ligdan Khan fleeing without a fight, let alone other minor matters."

Fan Wencheng said with a smile:

"The Ming court will not fall for the trap, but Ligdan Khan may not."

“This servant has seen the newspapers from the capital. From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, they have been talking about the distinction between Chinese and barbarians.”

"Although this was directed at our Jin Dynasty, the Mongols were also regarded as barbarians by them."

"The Great Khan can send someone to tell Ligdan Khan about this, and he will definitely be dissatisfied with the Ming Dynasty."

Huang Taiji didn't quite understand this and asked:
"What's wrong with barbarians?"

"Hasn't the Ming Dynasty always regarded them as barbarians?"

Fan Wencheng opened his mouth, wanting to speak but not daring to.

He couldn't very well tell Huang Taiji that the entire Ming Dynasty was now propagating the Taizu Emperor's saying, "Barbarians are beasts," treating them as mere two-legged animals who could be killed on the spot for any hostile behavior.

All barbarian tribes, both internal and external, who dare to raise troops, shall be beheaded.

If he were to utter such words, even if Huang Taiji understood them, it would inevitably sow the seeds of future trouble. When the time came, he might be punished.

Therefore, he hesitated and interpreted this as discrimination, implying that it was not a crime for Ming people to kill Mongols.

They could send Han soldiers disguised as Ming people to deliberately kill people from the Chahan tribe and provoke conflict.

From Fan Wencheng's stammering words, Huang Taiji realized that the Ming Dynasty's policy towards the barbarians was certainly not so simple. If they treated even their allied Mongols this way, how much more so would they treat them?

But he didn't investigate further and instructed Fan Wencheng:
"Go ahead and do it. I only care about the results."

Let Fan Wencheng do things freely.

Fan Wencheng felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly agreed.

After he had arranged for his men to set off with the soldiers of the two Yellow Banners, two more pieces of bad news came from the rear:
"Mao Wenlong led his troops out of Dongjiang, and Fenghuangcheng and Lianshan Pass were in danger."

“Hong Chengchou led troops from Korea and marched straight towards Hetu Ala Old Village.”

"Please, Great Khan, send troops immediately to drive away the two Ming armies."

Two more armies were attacking, and they were directly threatening him.

Huang Taiji said angrily:
Where is Amin?

"Where is Mangultai?"

"Weren't the two blue flags left behind in the rear?" "Couldn't they even handle Mao Wenlong and the Koreans?"

The messenger soldier said:
"The Second Prince has already led the Bordered Blue Banner to fight against Mao Wenlong, while the Third Prince is left to guard Shenyang and cannot mobilize many troops."

"The Korean army was very large, numbering as many as twenty or thirty thousand."

"Many of them are Japanese, far more ruthless than Koreans."

They lamented the destruction caused by the Japanese in the Hetu Ala area, including burning, killing, and looting outside the city.

The Eight Banners soldiers went out to drive them away, but they didn't gain much advantage against the Japanese musketeers. Many brave warriors were killed by the Japanese musketeers after killing just a few of them.

Those short but brutal Japanese are not to be underestimated.

Even if they traded ten for one, the Eight Banners warriors couldn't afford to trade with them.

Hearing this, Huang Taiji felt even heavier. They, too, were increasingly feeling the pressure from firearms on the front lines in Niuzhuang.

Initially, the Eight Banners warriors could win nine out of ten battles against small groups of Ming cavalry, but as the Ming army became increasingly equipped with firearms, they gradually became less effective.

Those cavalrymen who could fire from horseback were more lethal than their skilled archers.

As the number of Ming soldiers like this increased, Huang Taiji truly felt the growing pressure:

He clearly sensed that the Ming army was making progress, while the Jin dynasty was heading towards defeat.

"This can't go on!"

"Either end the battle quickly, or withdraw with the main force."

Having made this decision, Huang Taiji took the initiative to send out troops to seek an opportunity for a decisive battle.
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If this had happened at the very beginning of the war, Sun Chengzong would have been more than happy to accept it.

But at this moment, he was no longer in a hurry.

After more than two months of fighting, he clearly felt that the Guan Ning Army was becoming stronger and stronger.

The soldiers who were originally unwilling to change are now taking the initiative to learn from the new army.

This means that his campaign will not be in vain; at the very least, he will be able to reorganize the Guan Ning Army into a new force.

Therefore, he is not seeking a decisive battle now, but rather wants to drag out the war with the Jurchens indefinitely:
"The Jurchens are in a panic now!"

"If his main force stays tied up here, his wings on all sides will be clipped by other armies."

"As long as we don't lose, we can ensure that all the armies win."

The Guan Ning Army was naturally somewhat unwilling to do this kind of work for others.

They set out with the ambition of achieving great feats, but now they've become stepping stones.

Even though Sun Chengzong's words made sense, Hou Shilu still refused to give up:
"Commander-in-Chief, are we just going to keep wasting our time fighting the Jurchens like this?"

When will you achieve great success?

Sun Chengzong understood what they were thinking and laughed heartily, saying:
"Isn't recovering the area south of Niuzhuang a great achievement?"

"His Majesty said that the area south of Niuzhuang is now secure and land can be allocated."

"The land vouchers issued earlier in Liaodong can be redeemed immediately, and soldiers who have made meritorious contributions on the front lines will have priority in choosing land."

Share this good news with everyone and encourage them to fight and acquire more land vouchers.

When the Guan Ning Army learned of this news, they erupted in cheers.

During their time on both sides of the Liao River, they knew that the land here was far superior to that in western Liaoning.

Those soldiers who had made great contributions were eager to select farmland on both sides of the Liao River.

Apart from the land reserved by the imperial court for the construction of cities, roads, dikes, etc., they selected almost all other flat land.

No one mentioned the decisive battle with the Jurchens again.

Why risk a decisive battle when you can rely on the defensive line to kill the enemy and gain merit?

They carried out the cold cannons and muskets taught by the new army, and from time to time they would take small cannons and muskets out to kill a few Jurchens, which were then confirmed by the new army accompanying them.

More and more soldiers made meritorious contributions and were given land upon returning to the camp.

The morale of the Guan Ning Army soared, and many even volunteered to go to the front lines.
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Not only the soldiers were delighted, but the ministers in the imperial court were also very happy, because they too were issued land certificates for Liaodong by the emperor.

Although many people didn't pay any attention to this, these land deeds suddenly became valuable after the emperor began distributing land.

The value of land certificates on the stock exchange tripled in a short period of time.

Moreover, very few people are making a move, and many believe that the price will continue to rise.

War bonds secured by Liaodong land certificates also gained people's trust.

Most people believed that the war bonds could be redeemed and that the interest would be received without any risk.

Under these favorable circumstances, the Ministry of Revenue issued another million-yuan bond to purchase supplies and store winter provisions for the front lines.

Officials and businessmen who were familiar with the situation at the front lines bought them up.

Without Zhu Youjian's call, the million-yuan bonds were sold.

This greatly boosted Zhu Youjian's confidence, knowing that with the support of the people, the army could continue fighting.

Land is indeed the first key to triggering war, especially the distribution of reclaimed unclaimed land to the people:

"Even with the fighting still raging in Niuzhuang, the land behind it is so sought after; Liaonan is even more so."

"Although that area is mostly hilly and mountainous, it can still be allocated."

An imperial edict was issued to Sun Guozhen, the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, ordering him to establish the Liaonan Military and Civilian Prefecture and to survey the land in Liaonan. In hilly and mountainous areas, land certificates for Liaodong were permitted to be redeemed at two to four times the value.

Upon receiving the imperial decree, Sun Guozhen immediately traveled north to personally oversee the land allocation in southern Liaoning.

The soldiers lined the street to welcome him, and exchanged the Liaodong land vouchers they had previously received for real land.

All the areas recovered by the Ming Dynasty became incredibly vibrant. People were busy allocating land and preparing for the wonderful life that was about to begin.

They deeply resented the Jurchens who might attack again and disrupt their way of life.

More and more people are calling for the complete annihilation of the Jurchens.

By distributing spoils of war in advance, Zhu Youjian gained more supporters for the war. (End of Chapter)