The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 154 Huang Taiji's Gift
Hetuala, Khan's Palace.

The golden banner of the Later Jin Khan fluttered majestically on the parade ground.

Huang Taiji, who had only one eye left, sat facing east, in the position formerly occupied by Nurhaci, the Khan of the Jin Dynasty. He had begun to gain weight, and looked even more imposing and irritable.

Sitting below were Daishan, Jirgalang, Yuetuo, Ajige, Dorgon and several other younger generations, and a group of Han officials stood further away, all with their heads bowed.

"Liu Zhaosun has come up with so many novelties. No wonder my father was defeated by him."

Huang Taiji was holding a flintlock pistol that he had never seen before. He put his one eye close to the flintlock hammer, looked at it carefully, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.

The Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty suddenly struck the hammer and pulled the trigger. The flintlock made a crisp sound. Daishan, who was sitting next to him and playing with his thumb ring, was startled. He moved his butt awkwardly and looked up at Huang Taiji.

This matchless pistol was brought to Hetuala by two recently surrendered Kaiyuan civil officials.

Huang Taiji and the other flag owners present showed great interest in this new firearm.

"Master, I asked the firearms makers, and they said this short musket can be fired without ignition, and it can fire faster and farther than the three-barreled musket. The two civil officials also said that the Kaiyuan army used this short musket in the decisive battle with the Eight Banners at Hunhe, but at that time it was only used by cavalry. Now, the thief Liu has also equipped his infantry."

"Oh, where did they get so much money and food to expand the army?"

Huang Taiji asked casually after hearing this, his face already a little gloomy.

Han minister Fan Wencheng, who was kneeling on the ground, quickly replied, "My lord, the people I have stationed in Kaiyuan said that Liu Zhaosun has been busy seizing the farmland and mineral resources in Liaozhen recently. They have fought several times with Zu Dashou's gang in Liaoxi..."

Huang Taiji put down his flintlock pistol and looked up at the two Kaiyuan officials who had just shaved their heads and were kneeling behind Fan Wenchen.

"Who's winning?"

Fan Wencheng was furious and said, "Liu Zhaosun, this bastard robbed Lieutenant General Ding and General Li of their land and hidden silver. He even had the cabinet ask the emperor for military pay, and now he's trying every possible way to get more money!"

Huang Taiji smiled coldly and said nothing more. Seeing this, Fan Wencheng quickly pointed at the two Han people kneeling on the ground:
"Master, these two are merchants from Tieling and civil officials under Liu Zhaosun. They brought this batch of muskets and mines."

Fan Wencheng winked at the two men on the ground, and the two surrendered civil officials hurriedly shouted to Huang Taiji:

"I kowtow to the Khan!"

Huang Taiji looked at the two bald, dark-brown heads in front of him, and saw that they were still wearing the Kaiyuan official uniforms, and could not help asking:
"Liu Zhaosun allowed officials to engage in business?"

The Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty was quite surprised, because according to his understanding of the Ming Dynasty's official system, merchants were generally not allowed to engage in politics and had a very low status in society. Why did Liu Zhaosun do the opposite?

The two civil officials were stunned and dared not speak. They obviously did not expect that the first question the Later Jin Khan would ask them when he saw him would be this.

Fan Wencheng glared at the two of them and shouted angrily, "Answer whatever the Khan asks, quickly!"

The two looked at each other, and the younger one raised his head and replied:

"Great Khan, General Liu, the thief Liu used to allow it, but now he won't. Not long ago, he investigated the accounts of Kaiyuan and Tieling, executed a group, and imprisoned a group, causing panic among the people of Kaiyuan."

Another elderly civil official knelt beside him and cried loudly:

"My humble brother, I only took three hundred taels of silver, and yet you were executed by the thief Liu. Liu Zhaosun is a ruthless man, a traitor who has betrayed me for years. Today, I see before the Great Khan, and I know that Liu Zhaosun is a despicable and shameless man. The Great Khan is the true emperor. My uncle and I have surrendered to the Great Jin, offering our flintlock muskets and begging you to follow the Great Khan and wipe out the thief Liu as soon as possible."

Fan Wencheng came close to Huang Taiji, stared at the two of them, and whispered to the Khan.

"Great Khan, our people in Tieling reported that these two people embezzled thousands of taels of silver in Kaiyuan. Liu Zhaosun wanted to kill them, so they fled..."

Huang Taiji waved his hand, signaling Fan Wencheng to stop talking. He turned and looked at the two of them, and said in a gentle tone:
"Liu Zhaosun is a cruel and treacherous man. He considers himself a saint, but in reality he is worse than a beast. I am very pleased that these two heroes have recognized Liu's hypocrisy and turned from darkness to light, joining our Great Jin. Let us not speak of the past."

Seeing the two men kneeling motionless, Huang Taiji remained calm and continued:

"Now he's calling himself the Heavenly Khan, annexing the Mongol Haixi region. This is truly ridiculous. Under the guise of benevolence, he's actually tyrannical, deceiving his superiors and subordinates, fooling the people, slaughtering superiors, plotting to assassinate the emperor, robbing the wealthy, and buying off refugees... This thief's evil deeds are too numerous to list. Since the 47th year of the Wanli reign, Liu the thief has been oppressing and forcing our people, slaughtering them at will. Unable to bear the humiliation, this old Khan has raised an army at Hunhe. It's a shame that bad luck has allowed Liu the thief to gain victory. Once the Eight Banners warriors rally, we will surely capture Kaiyuan, slaughter Liu the thief, and avenge you! Both of you, please rise!"

The two men were trembling with fear, kneeling on the ground and not daring to get up.

Bayala, who was standing behind, immediately stepped forward, grabbed the two men by the scruff of their necks and pulled them up.

Daishan and Dorgon, who were sitting nearby, couldn't help laughing.

Huang Taiji smiled awkwardly, glanced at the two of them, and continued:

"May I know your names? What are your official positions in Kaiyuan?"

Huang Taiji's tone was gentle, but he was intimidating without even getting angry, and the surroundings suddenly fell silent.

"My name is Lu Zhengmin, and this is my nephew, Lu Youmin. Both uncle and nephew are forerunners under Song Yingsheng. We specialize in developing firearms and mines, and we also participate in the casting of red-coated cannons."

Huang Taiji raised his head, and the hollowness of his right eye, which was injured by the red cannon, was terrifying.

"Red Cannon?"

Seeing that Huang Taiji didn't look angry, Lu Zhengmin spoke hesitantly.

"It's for fighting. The huge cannons that injured the Great Khan were cast in Kaiyuan. Twelve of them were cast."

Huang Taiji stroked the sparse whiskers on his chin, and a rare look of joy appeared in his surviving left eye.

"Okay, from now on, you will make this kind of cannon for my Great Jin! God bless my Great Jin. With this magical weapon, we can accomplish our great cause of conquering the Ming Dynasty!"

Lu Zhengmin hadn't expected this one-eyed Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty to be so eloquent, his eloquence rivaling even that of his instructor, Sen Ti. He was stunned and bewildered by his words.

Of course, he didn't know that Huang Taiji had been familiar with Ming Dynasty books since he was a child, and Nurhaci even hired a Chinese studies teacher named Gong Zhenglu for this intelligent beile.

"Someone is coming."

Huang Taiji laughed twice and quickly regained his composure.

He looked at the group of Gobusi behind him and nodded.

A ferocious-looking Goshiha stepped forward. "Give them three hundred taels of silver each, two fox coats and mink hats each, two horses with armor and carved saddles, two Ming women, and two strong men. Assign them to the gun and artillery bureau. When they develop muskets and cannons, there will be a generous reward!"

Lu Zhengmin pulled his nephew to the ground and thanked him loudly:

"Thank you, Great Khan, for your reward. I will do my best to help the Great Jin destroy the thief Liu as soon as possible!"

Huang Taiji waved his hand to send the two away. After they walked away, he looked around and spoke in a deep voice to the group of Beile and Beiyu in front of him.

"Dajin and Kaiyuan are sworn enemies. Once Liu has recovered, he will attack Hetuala. Everyone must be vigilant."

After saying this, he looked at Daishan.

The two red flag leaders said quickly:

"Great Khan, the fortifications at Hetuala are under construction, and the newly captured barbarians have been trained. I sent Yabahai and his men to Mongolia, and found that no one except Khorchin is willing to trade with the Jin Dynasty. Salt is being sold at ten taels per pound!"

Daishan's voice grew softer as he spoke, as if he were deeply blaming himself for the predicament of the Jin dynasty.

The nine-year-old Dorgon heard this and said angrily:

"This is outrageous! The Great Jin and the various Mongolian tribes are all relatives, with intermarriages for generations. Two years ago, they were even begging the old Khan to buy their tea and horses! Now they are looking down on us! I, your servant, will lead the troops to Kanakin and teach these Tatars a lesson!"

Huang Taiji glared at Dorgon and said angrily:

"Times have changed. Let's not talk about the past! Liu Zhaosun alone is enough for the Eight Banners to deal with. Don't make enemies everywhere! Daishan will go to Mongolia in the next few days and give them more gold and silver to purchase the copper, iron, and gunpowder they are in short supply for forging firearms."

"twitter!"

Daishan responded quickly.

Dorgon was indignant and returned to his seat.

The Battle of Hunhe caused heavy casualties among the high-ranking officials of the Later Jin Dynasty. Among the generals above the rank of Jiala Zhangjing, only five or six out of ten were killed, and the rest were all useless.

After the war, in order to win over the hearts of the people, Huang Taiji had to promote a group of generals with less experience.

The nine-year-old Dorgon was not yet of age to be assigned to a banner, and in the past he would have never been qualified to participate in the Eight Kings' political discussions.

Now, Huang Taiji pushed him to the front as an exception and assigned him to twenty-five Niulu. Naturally, he was grateful to Huang Taiji and suddenly became a loyal follower of the Khan.

"The thief Liu has recently occupied many cities and must be expanding his army, Minister Gao!"

Han minister Gao Hongzhong hurriedly stepped out and waited for Huang Taiji's orders with a respectful look on his face. He is now the Minister of Revenue of the Great Jin Dynasty and is also responsible for Hetuala's external intelligence investigation.

"Send more loyal and brave men to infiltrate Liaodong and try to penetrate the Kaiyuan garrison. Keep abreast of Liu Bei's intelligence and report it back to Hetuala promptly."

Gao Hongzhong knelt on one knee and said loudly:
"twitter!"

Huang Taiji stood up and walked outside, and several beiles immediately followed him.

Huang Taiji gently stroked the end of the braid hanging on his chest and said thoughtfully:

"Liu Zhaosun is still young and full of youthful vigor. He has never suffered a defeat since the Battle of Sarhu. He is no saint, and his complacency is bound to make him arrogant. The Ming Dynasty is currently facing more than just the Great Jin. The Kaiyuan Army is gaining fame and will surely be highly valued by the court. They will be busy running around in the future. The Great Jin can only wait and see, waiting for this thief to make a mistake, and then strike a fatal blow!"

Several Han officials echoed this, praising the Khan for his far-sightedness, firmness and decisiveness.

Huang Taiji waved his hands to drive them away as if they were flies.

"Let's go and see how the fortifications are progressing."

~~~~~~
"You little dog slave! I told you not to be lazy! I told you not to be lazy! I'll beat you to death!"

A horse whip was waving in the air, whipping a Jurchen man on the ground with the sound of wind, making a series of snapping sounds.

Bu Yangtai put down his bow, swung the horsewhip and whipped his horse dozens of times, causing his right hand holding the whip to ache.

"Damn, dumber than an animal!"

As one of the few archers in the Zhengbai Banner, all the male members of Bu Yangtai's family participated in the bloody battle of Hunhe River.

His father was killed by the White Spear Soldiers, and his younger brother was hacked to death by rioters in Shenyang.

If Huang Taiji is the person in Hetuala City who wants to kill Liu Zhaosun the most, then Buyantai can at least be ranked second.

At this moment, the surviving archer looked at the group of Jurchens around him and saw someone still wandering around. He swung his whip at the person and cursed in fluent Jurchen while beating him:

"You idiots! Hurry up and dig! If you don't dig this ditch before dark, I'll bury you all!"

Five or six Jurchens stared blankly at the ferocious Zhengbai Banner archer. Although they could not understand what Buyantai was saying, when they saw him waving the whip in his hand, the six of them did not dare to hesitate and hurriedly swung their pickaxes desperately.

The pickaxe hit the surface of the frozen soil, which was as hard as iron, making a clanging sound.

Behind the endless trenches and earthen walls on both sides of the Taizi River, the golden banner of the Later Jin Khan rose. Huang Taiji looked at the Hetuala fortifications gradually taking shape before him, and a hint of satisfaction finally appeared on his gloomy face. He turned to look at Fan Wenchen, thought for a moment, and said:
"I heard from Daishan and the others that Liu Zhaosun got married?"

Fan Wencheng quickly replied, "Master, this is indeed the case, and the Khan knows that woman."

"Oh?" Huang Taiji narrowed his eyes, and a ferocious look gradually appeared on his face.

Fan Wencheng didn't dare to keep the secret and quickly added, "It was the beautiful Korean girl who beat the drum in front of the Hunhe River that day. Her name was Yin Ji. Her wedding was very lavish. It is said that she spent several thousand taels of silver."

Huang Taiji suddenly burst into laughter, and everyone around him was startled.

"Liu the thief is indeed young and full of vigor. He's not afraid of the ridicule of the Ming officials and actually married that Korean woman. He slaughtered tens of thousands of our Great Jin troops at Hunhe. As the saying goes, it's impolite not to reciprocate. We must lure him to Hetuala so that we can prepare a great gift for him!"

(End of this chapter)