Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Just as Zhu Youjian was making intensive preparations to launch the decisive battle, Huang Taiji, who had returned to Shenyang, was also pondering this issue.

The Ming army held out at Hupiyi without retreating, clearly indicating their intention to continue the fight.

They are currently halted due to insufficient supplies, but it is conceivable that they will continue their advance once supplies are sufficient.

The army traveled 60 li (approximately 30 kilometers) between Shenyang and Hupiyi, and it only took them two days to arrive.

Huang Taiji would be anxious just thinking about this, let alone ordinary Jurchens.

The city of Shenyang is currently gripped by fear, with everyone feeling a sense of danger.

Especially the Bordered Red Banner and Bordered White Banner, which were almost completely annihilated by the Ming army, are now in mourning in every household, and the city is filled with the sound of weeping.

Faced with such a dire situation, Huang Taiji had no choice but to consider a solution and convened a meeting of the princes to discuss the matter.

The reckless and hot-tempered Mangultai said:

"What to discuss?"

"No matter how many routes you take, I will only go one way."

"Our father defeated the Ming army with this, and we will do the same."

Huang Taiji looked displeased and rebuked:
"If you can defeat the Ming army, go to Hupi Post Station now."

"If you truly have a way, I, the Khan, will make everyone obey you!"

Mangultai was speechless. If he really had that ability, why would he just be spouting nonsense here?

Even though he stayed in the rear and hadn't fought against the Ming army, he knew how powerful the Ming army was now.

Huang Taiji had long considered migrating, and he addressed the group of princes:

"The Ming army is now too powerful. If we want to survive, we have no choice but to retreat from Shenyang..."

Before he could finish speaking, Huang Taiji was interrupted by someone, Amin, who said:
"Is retreat the only option?"

"Couldn't we hold Shenyang and then negotiate peace with the Ming army?"

His father, Shurhaci, advocated for tributary relations and peace with the Ming Dynasty, which led to sharp conflicts with Nurhaci. Shurhaci sought to establish his own independent regime and was subsequently killed.

Amin had previously sought independence, but had no intention of making peace with the Ming Dynasty. Now, after suffering a defeat, he suddenly felt that he could follow in his father's footsteps and establish tributary relations with the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Taiji was extremely angry that he was so ungrateful to him and that Huang interrupted him in public.

In his view, the defeat at Liaoyang was largely due to Amin's unauthorized attack. Had he not come to the rescue, Amin would have died in that battle.

I risked damaging two yellow flags to save him, and instead of being grateful, he's going against me.

This angered Huang Taiji, who rebuked Amin, saying:
"If you hadn't disobeyed orders, how could we have suffered this defeat?"

"If Liaoyang were in my hands, why would I have had to retreat?"

Amin retorted to him:

"I have always been guarding Liaoyang, and there has been no problem whatsoever."

"If you hadn't insisted that I leave the city, how could Liaoyang have been lost?"

"The defeat is your responsibility, and it also caused me to lose half of the Bordered Blue Banner!"

He refuses to admit his mistakes, otherwise how will he lead the Bordered Blue Banner in the future?

Huang Taiji was so angry that his forehead throbbed, and he wished he could immediately remove Amin from his position as the head of the Bordered Blue Banner.

However, having suffered repeated defeats, he lacked the authority to do so. Daishan and a group of princes stood between the two men, trying to reconcile them.

In the end, the two could only back down and never mention the defeat at Liaoyang again.

As for who saved whom or who was kind to whom, that's impossible to say.

Huang Taiji, who had originally intended to rebuke Daishan, could no longer utter the words he had planned:
Ultimately, Daishan was the one who retreated after the retreat signaled the end of the battle, so not rescuing the Bordered White Banner was not a major crime.

However, this clearly deepened the divide between the different banners. Huang Taiji trusted the two blue banners even less, and only trusted the two yellow banners and two white banners under his command.

He also had doubts about the Plain Red Banner. If it weren't for the need for Daishan to suppress the other princes, he would have targeted this person first.

The people with red flags used to be subservient to him, and even though they are now crippled, he still wants to win them over.

After recruiting surplus men and bondservants, Sahalian had gathered two thousand men, just like Azige.

These two thousand men are not suitable as the main force, but they can still be useful for defending the city and providing logistics.

Huang Taiji asked him:
“Sahalian, you defended Haizhou, and you also defended Liaoyang.”

"Do you think we can hold Shenyang?" Sahalian asked, his face contorted with worry.
"Without the Khan's rescue, Haizhou could neither have been defended nor broken through."

"Liaoyang... To be honest, I still don't understand how Liaoyang was lost."

"Why is the gunpowder of the Ming army so powerful? It can even blow open the city wall!"

What he didn't know was that the Ming Dynasty now had a dedicated gunpowder research institute. The power of various types of gunpowder had been tested.

The gunpowder used to breach the Liaoyang city walls was the type best suited for explosions in confined spaces. After being deployed according to plan, Ming Dynasty engineers were able to easily breach parts of the city walls through tunnels.

This gunpowder is now widely used in mines in the Ming Dynasty, and it is also used to clear reefs from waterways.

However, Zhu Youjian felt that its power was not great enough, and he continued to study nitroglycerin, safe explosives, and gelatinous explosives. He even considered using mercury fulminate for blasting.

Sahalian was puzzled as to why the Ming army's gunpowder was so powerful, unaware that the Ming Dynasty had not yet revealed its most powerful weapon.

The others lacked this spirit of inquiry; they were already accustomed to the Ming Dynasty's formidable firearms. Mangultai said impatiently:
Why are you talking about all this nonsense?

"Tell me, can we hold Shenyang? Do we have the leverage to negotiate peace with the Ming army?"

Sahalian gave him a disapproving look, but he didn't have the courage to argue, so he could only say:

"We can't hold it!"

Even if all our troops were gathered here, we still couldn't hold the line.

"The Ming army's use of firearms could put us in a position where we could only be attacked."

"The only way to defeat the Ming army is to cut off their supply lines and wait for them to collapse on their own."

These words were meant to describe the difficulty of defeating the Ming army, but upon hearing them, Mangultai shouted:
"Then cut off their supply lines. We can't retreat anyway."

"The soldiers' families and belongings are all in Shenyang. Where can they be evacuated to?"

"You can leave if you want, but I'm not leaving."

He, who remained in Shenyang, was the only one who had not yet clashed with the Ming army's new firearms-equipped troops, but had fought a few battles against the Japanese soldiers under Hong Chengchou's command who were equipped with old firearms.

In his view, the power of firearms was only so-so. As long as the Eight Banners soldiers could endure casualties, they still had the ability to win.

His earlier statement about breaking through one route first meant that he intended to eliminate the Japanese pirates led by Hong Chengchou.

Loudly expressing his opinions, Huang Taiji had reached his limit of tolerance. After Hong Chengchou suggested concentrating forces to eliminate him, Huang Taiji said:

"The Third Prince is brave and skilled in battle, why not go and fight the main force of the Ming army?"

"Since you want to cut off the supply line, then go and try it."

"Who else is willing to send troops? They can all go to Hupiyi."

After hearing this, no one was willing to agree.

They genuinely didn't want to evacuate Shenyang, but they simply lacked the courage to face the Ming army.

All the other banners besides the Plain Blue Banner had suffered losses in the firearms battles, and they had no desire to go there again!

In the end, Mangultai did not receive any support from others, and was too ashamed to take action. He could only obey Huang Taiji's order to go to Hupiyi to take over the Plain White Banner, which was confronting the Ming army.

After making this arrangement, Huang Taiji transferred the equally disobedient Amin to intercept Hong Chengchou, while he and his confidants hurriedly prepared for their evacuation.
-
Saharan was a supporter and one of Huang Taiji's confidants. Huang Taiji needed him to win over Daishan and ensure Daishan's continued support.

He was naturally aware of Huang Taiji's plan to relocate, and although he was upset, he knew it was the best option.

However, after returning home, he was sullen and accidentally let it slip while talking to Ning Wanwo.

Ning Wan is Sahalian's bondservant, and recently I've been helping Sahalian select men from among his bondservant ranks to rebuild the Bordered Red Banner. Seeing Sahalian's sullen expression, he deliberately tried to probe:
"Master, are you still unhappy?"

"The Grand Prince had no choice but to use the Bordered Red Banners as bait; otherwise, neither of the two Red Banners could have escaped Haizhou..."

After rambling on for a while, Sahalian interrupted:

"It's not about that; I'm lamenting that these days won't last much longer."

"From now on, we will be like the Mongols, using the sky as our blanket and the earth as our mat."

That kind of nomadic life was something even the well-read Sahalian would not want, let alone someone like him. Even ordinary Mongols would have preferred it; otherwise, why would they have sought refuge with the Jin Dynasty?

When I heard this, I almost cried out in surprise, knowing that this was extremely important news.

Having already been granted a hereditary baronial title by the Ming emperor, he was naturally unwilling to follow the Jurchens and live a nomadic life. While comforting Sahalian, he pondered how to spread the news.

After he informed the secret agent he was in contact with, the Ming Dynasty spies lying in ambush in Shenyang quickly took action and verified the information from many sources.

News of the Jurchens' impending escape quickly reached the Imperial Guards in Liaodong and the capital through the fastest channels. (End of Chapter)