Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Is Huang Taiji going to abandon the city and flee?"

When this news reached the imperial court, the officials were quite surprised.

Because they never imagined that the Jurchens would abandon the capital and flee.

Especially since Shenyang is located in northeastern Liaoning, there was simply nowhere to escape to.

So they hadn't noticed this before.

However, now that inside information has arrived, even if they have some doubts, they have no choice but to take it seriously.

Yuan Keli looked at the map and said:
“If the Jurchens wanted to escape, they couldn’t just flee to Tieling or Kaiyuan; that would be meaningless to them.”

"Further north lies the Khorchin tribe. Are they planning to flee to Khorchin?"

This is indeed possible, because the two Yellow Banners of the Jurchens still have half of their troops in Khorchin.

Huang Taiji could not possibly abandon his subordinates; he would most likely flee to Khorchin.

Yang Sichang pointed to the west side and said:
"To the west, there are the Inner Khalkha tribe, as well as the Naiman and Aohan tribes. They were originally the shield of the Jurchens, but now they belong to the Ming Dynasty."

"Moreover, after the Jurchens swept through southern Mongolia last year, they were pursued by the Xuanda garrison and intercepted by General Manchu. They forcibly plundered the Mongols and then abandoned them, thus losing the hearts of the people."

"If they want to escape, they can't go south of the Gobi Desert; they can only continue north."

The group of people talked at once and roughly figured out the Jurchens' purpose.

Apart from the Khorchin, a subordinate tribe, the Jurchens had nowhere else to go.

Zhu Youjian looked at Heilongjiang with a thoughtful expression and said:

"The Jurchens often say that they originated from the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River. Now that they have encountered setbacks, it is indeed possible that they will go to the Heilongjiang area."

"How many troops does Heilongjiang have now? Are they capable of stopping them?"

Yang Sichang immediately estimated:

"There are five battalions in the Heilongjiang area: Heilongying, Heiheying, Heishuiying, Moheying, and Daxiying, as well as the three guards of the Jiangling Duchy."

"However, apart from the Black Dragon Camp, the Great Western Camp, and one guard of the Jiangling Duchy which were established earlier, the other camps were just established and do not have much combat power."

"This year they attacked Khorchin, but after the Jurchens repelled the Chahan tribe, they had no strength left to continue their advance."

This fully demonstrates the fighting strength of the various battalions in Heilongjiang. Combined, they are only slightly better than the Khorchin, and even with just one banner of the Jurchens, they would struggle to cope. To demand more from them would be asking too much.

Especially now that winter has arrived there, resupply is extremely inconvenient after shipping has been cut off.

The newly armed forces, reliant on logistics, are not well-positioned to exert their power in this season.

Even if the Ming Dynasty had great power, it was now beyond its reach.

Furthermore, they must be wary of the Jurchens attacking them and destroying the Ming Dynasty's strategic layout in the Heilongjiang region.

Zhu Youjian, who had already designated the Northeast as a resettlement area for disaster victims, was absolutely unwilling to see this happen. He turned his gaze to the northern deserts and addressed his ministers:

"If the Jurchens insist on escaping, we should try our best to intercept them and let the Liaodong armies prepare."

"But if we really can't stop them, we'll lead them to the northern desert."

“We cannot allow Ligdan Khan to become the only one in the northern desert; we need to find him an enemy.”

Extremely annoyed by Ligdan Khan's disobedience, Zhu Youjian even stopped addressing Ligdan Khan as Prince Shunli and wanted to lure the Jurchens to his side.

The courtiers had not thought of it this way before, but after the emperor mentioned it, they immediately felt that it was a good idea.

Ligdan Khan is virtually invincible in the northern deserts, and seems poised to unify the region. If he continues to be allowed to run rampant, a formidable enemy may emerge in the northern frontier in the future.

Considering this possibility, it would be better to let the Jurchens fight each other like dogs over the northern desert.

The only concern was that Ligdan Khan was too incompetent in battle, suffering defeat after defeat against the Jurchens.

He now has absolutely no courage to fight the Jurchens, and when he saw the two yellow banners appear during the attack on Khorchin, he fled.

Zhu Youjian was also helpless about this; who could have imagined that Ligdan Khan would be so incapable of being helped? He could only address his ministers:

"If we don't lead them to the northern deserts, are we going to let the Jurchens roam freely everywhere?"

"Even if Ligdan Khan couldn't fight, he was the Great Khan of the Mongols, and naturally he was closer to the various Mongol tribes."

“Huang Taiji is different. The Jurchens he led were Jurchens, and it was impossible for them to completely integrate with the Mongols.”

"One side has the ability to rally support, and the other is more capable in combat. They should be able to maintain a balance for a while, until the Ming Dynasty trains more cavalry to pursue them." This implies that the Ming Dynasty will also intervene in the northern desert in the future.

Fearing that the emperor would become too aggressive and prone to military expansion, Yuan Keli hurriedly tried to dissuade him:
"If the Jurchens have fled, so be it; there's no need to continue to worry about them."

"As long as they don't harm the Ming Dynasty, let them be."

"Emperor Taizu said that we should drive out the barbarians and there was no need to pursue them all the way to the northern desert."

Zhu Youjian didn't actually want to expend too much energy in the northern desert, because in the Age of Exploration, developing the grasslands was far less profitable than developing the coast.

However, the stability of the grasslands is crucial to the security of the border regions. He doesn't want to maintain a million-strong army along the nine borders indefinitely, consuming half of the military budget.

Especially in Northeast China, as a region of immigrants, stability is even more crucial. He stated very firmly:
"We must fight in the northern desert, but the imperial court doesn't necessarily have to be involved."

"Many generals have made meritorious contributions in the battle against the Jurchens this year. If we capture Shenyang, even more generals will be granted titles."

"I intend to confine them to the northern desert and let them pursue the Jurchens."

"Those who make meritorious contributions will be granted titles, and the Jurchens who massacre the Liao people must be eradicated completely."

These words essentially established the general policy for dealing with the Jurchens:
That means we'll keep chasing and attacking them, no matter where they run to.

Even Yuan Keli, when faced with the emperor's mention of the blood debt owed to the Liao people, had no further words to say.

After rescuing some Liao people from the mountains and forests in Liaonan Town, more people became involved in the suffering of the Han people in Liaodong.

Ai Nanying wrote many articles based on their experiences, explaining the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, which aroused great hostility among the people towards the Jurchens.

The high morale of the new army in Liaonan Town was also related to this.

Considering that the emperor had ordered his vassals to do the fighting, Yuan Keli did not continue to dissuade him.

However, out of concern for the emperor's continued military campaigns, he had more plans for preventing the Jurchens from escaping:
"Perhaps we can mobilize the Han Chinese and Koreans who were captured and enslaved by the Jurchens and have them sabotage the Jurchens when they try to escape."

"If we can hold off the Jurchens for a while, the troops at Hupiyi might be able to catch up."

This approach would clearly cause great losses to the Han and Korean people in Shenyang, but Zhu Youjian, who did not want them to be taken away by the Jurchens, agreed without hesitation:

"The sabotage must be targeted, especially the artisans who cast cannons for the Jurchens; we must not let them take them away."

"We must not allow the various technologies that the Jurchens have plundered in Liaodong to be passed on."

This was his biggest concern: he worried that the Jurchens, like the Mongols during their westward expansion, would take Chinese technology with them and spread it abroad, ultimately leading to a technological explosion in the West, which is now almost on par with the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, we must do everything we can to thwart the Jurchens' escape. The ideal scenario is to kill them all in a decisive battle.
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However, the Jurchens would not be so stubborn. As barbarians, they were adept at the law of the jungle, and bullying the weak and fearing the strong was like an instinct for them.

After discovering that the Ming Dynasty's new army was very capable and that they were almost being slaughtered unilaterally, these people astutely began to avoid battle and even planned to flee.

After transferring away Amin and Mangultai, two Beile who had consistently opposed him, Huang Taiji quickly ordered his trusted confidants to prepare for their departure. This then spread to other high-ranking officials and the entire Eight Banners.

Almost none of these Manchu high-ranking officials objected; even if they didn't want to leave Shenyang, they didn't want to fight against the Ming army.

They began to discuss their escape route and quickly decided to go to Horqin.

However, the Khorchin had limited resources and also faced the threat of the Ming army. Unwilling to confront the Ming army again, Huang Taiji began searching for his next target.

At this point, Ning Wanwo, having received his orders, began to take action. He suggested to Huang Taiji that they keep an eye on Lin Danhan and continue attacking.

"If Ligdan Khan could conquer half of the Gobi Desert, then the Great Khan can certainly do the same."

"This servant thought that he could always follow Lindan Khan in battle and let Lindan Khan be the vanguard of the king."

Huang Taiji has a psychological advantage over Limdan Khan because he has never lost to Limdan Khan.

Hearing this, he was immediately intrigued and thought that they could continue fighting in this way.

Ligdan Khan defeated many tribes in the northern desert, but also made many enemies. He went to the grasslands under the pretext of targeting Ligdan Khan, and some people would probably come to his aid.

In this way, they can establish themselves on the grasslands and avoid being surrounded by enemies.

He looked at Ning Wanwo approvingly and praised her:
"I didn't expect you to have such knowledge about the northern desert."

"This time, I will migrate with Sahalian, along with the two yellow banners."

"Once we arrive on the grasslands, I will incorporate all the loyal people into the Eight Banners, and you can also be promoted to a bannerman."

Ning Wan was stunned. He never expected that he, who had planned to escape in the chaos, would get caught up in it again because of his suggestion.

At that moment, he wished he could slap himself twice.
Why not just have Sahalian make the suggestion? Why bring it up yourself?
Now that Huang Taiji has incorporated them into the two yellow flag teams, how can they escape in the chaos?
He was frantic with worry and contacted secret agents of the Imperial Guard in Shenyang for advice. (End of Chapter)