The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 80 Dark clouds over the city
On March 27, the fourth year of Tianming, Nurhaci, the Great Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, convened a meeting of five ministers in the Hetuala Khan Palace to discuss severe punishment for Gushan Ezhen Amin of the Bordered Blue Banner.

In the Battle of Kaiyuan, the four banners of the Later Jin suffered heavy losses, especially the Bordered Blue Banner. More than half of the Zhenyi people in the banner were killed or wounded, and the bannermen were almost wiped out. All the armor, weapons, food, and equipment were lost and captured by the Ming army.

Daishan, Huang Taiji and others believed that the culprit of the defeat was Amin, the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner.

At that time, the eastern, western, and southern gates of Kaiyuan had all been conquered, but only the Bordered Blue Banner at the northern gate had made any progress. Furthermore, Amin's incompetence also exposed the Plain White Banner to attacks from Ming spearmen. Later, a force of Guangxi wolf soldiers appeared, hindering the Plain White Banner from continuing their siege. Eventually, Xiong Tingbi's reinforcements arrived at Kaiyuan, forcing the Plain White, Plain Red, and Plain Blue Banners to withdraw.

Except for Manggurtai who did not express his opinion, several great beiles unanimously demanded the abolition of Amin's position as the leader of the banner.

The high-ranking officials of the Later Jin Dynasty accused Amin, saying that during the Battle of Hunjiang, the Bordered Blue Banner Army had the opportunity to wipe out Liu Zhaosun in one fell swoop, but Amin let the tiger go back to the mountain in order to preserve his strength, thus leaving such a great disaster.

In the Battle of Kaiyuan, the Bordered Blue Banner failed to exert its utmost strength and launch a full-scale attack on the north gate, resulting in the Kaiyuan City, which is now defended by Liu Zhaosun, becoming a solid fortress to prevent the Later Jin army from moving south. It is unknown how much money, food, and manpower the Jin army would have spent to bypass this city and attack Liaoshen.

In short, all the blame for the Battle of Kaiyuan should be borne by Amin.

In fact, it was not only the Later Jin high-ranking officials who wanted Amin dead.

In the villages around Hetuala, every household has soldiers who died in the battle of Kaiyuan.

Those middle-level generals of the Plain White Banner and the Plain Red Banner, whose subordinates suffered heavy casualties, all asked the Khan to execute the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner. Even some Niulu Ezhen in the Bordered Blue Banner openly opposed Amin. Of course, there was someone behind this.

In any case, facing such overwhelming public opinion, Nurhaci could not possibly leave the unlucky leader of the Bordered Blue Banner alive.

Although the Khan felt a certain degree of guilt towards Amin, compared with the will of most people, this guilt was so small that it could be ignored.

When Nurhaci founded the Later Jin dynasty and proclaimed himself Khan, he appointed five ministers to oversee state affairs and adjudicate lawsuits. By the fourth year of the Tianming era, this five-minister council had become largely a formality, its sole purpose serving to enhance the authority of the Later Jin Khan's decrees.

Historically, the political system of the Five Ministers, which resembled a slave-based tribal system, was replaced by the Eight Beiles after Nurhaci's death. Later, the Eight Princes' Council was gradually abolished by Huang Taiji, and the Later Jin Dynasty gradually transitioned from a slave-based regime to a feudal bureaucratic system similar to that of the Ming Dynasty.

On March 29th of the fourth year of Tianming, after discussion among the five ministers, Eyidu, Fei Yingdong, He Heli, Huerhan, and Anfeiyanggu, a final decision was made:
Amin was deposed as the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner, all his property and wives and concubines were confiscated, and he was demoted to an ordinary taiji, temporarily in charge of three Niulu, and allowed to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.

Jirgalang was appointed the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner. Due to the heavy casualties suffered by the Bordered Blue Banner, the five ministers decided not to impose further punishment and would not confiscate the Bordered Blue Banner Niulu and the other seven banners.

Not only that, Nurhaci also ordered that 8,000 of the more than 20,000 people looted from the Plain Red Banner, Plain White Banner, and Bordered Blue Banner around Kaiyuan (although the Bordered Blue Banner suffered a crushing defeat, the other three banners still had certain gains) be divided and sent to supplement the Bordered Blue Banner. At the end of March, Jirgalang looted more than 1,000 Mongolian people from the Subudi tribe. In this way, the population of the Bordered Blue Banner barely recovered to about 20,000, close to half of the pre-war population, and it finally managed to maintain its position as the last of the Eight Banners.

Amin's two consecutive failures in Hunjiang and Kaiyuan caused the morale of the Bordered Blue Banner to plummet.

Under such circumstances, in order to reverse the unfavorable situation, eliminate dissidents, and prepare for the next military operation against the Haixi Jurchens, Jirgalang, who had just ascended to the position of leader of the banner, purged all the middle-level generals of the Bordered Blue Banner.

More than a dozen Niulu Ezhen were replaced, and Jiala Ezhen, who was originally the closest to Amin, was executed by Jirgalang for corruption.

Except for Fei Yangwu who could not be eliminated for the time being, almost all other middle and high-level generals of the Bordered Blue Banner were removed and replaced by Jirgalang's men.

The power struggle among the middle and high-level officials of the Bordered Blue Banner soon spread to the lower-level bannermen.

However, the struggle for survival among the lower-class bannermen was even more bloody and cruel. They often fought over a few acres of land or a few bondsers, and killings were common. Jirgalang did not stop these fights, but only kept them within a certain range.

With a large number of vacancies for bannermen, in order to gain more support in the shortest possible time, Jirgalang did not hesitate to promote baoyi to serve as bannermen, which is the so-called "raising the banner for baoyi".

In just one month, eighty to ninety bondservants in the Bordered Blue Banner were promoted as exceptions and became bannermen.

This incident caused quite a stir among the bannermen of other banners.

Cao Zhongqing, the fearless and loyal bondservant, finally rose to power. Thanks to the flourishing rise of the Later Jin regime, Cao Zhongqing now commanded five bondservants, three men and two women. Niulu Ezhen also granted him thirty mu of land, a working ox, and a small courtyard.

In addition, as a member of the Bordered Blue Banner, every time Cao Zhongqing went on an expedition with the army, all the money and women he captured would belong to him, except for a small portion that he handed over to his own Niulu.

This fierce bannerman who came from a fighting profession lived under the threat of hunger every day before he raised the flag. In the two battles of Hunjiang and Kaiyuan, he was almost beaten to death by the southern barbarians. Now all the bannermen who were with him have died, and he is the only one left.

At the most desperate moment of his life, it was the Later Jin Dynasty that promoted him, making him a bannerman and the backbone of the Later Jin Dynasty's rule.

Such experience further stimulated Cao Zhongqing's inner fighting spirit and infinite loyalty to the Great Jin.

From the moment he raised the flag, Cao Zhongqing forgot the two disastrous defeats in Hunjiang and Kaiyuan, and vowed to kill more Kaiyuan soldiers in the future.

Now, as long as his master gives the order, he can attack Kaiyuan again at any time. Even if it is to fill the trenches, he will not hesitate to work for his master.

After raising the flag, Cao Zhongqing dreamed for several nights that he was still attacking Kaiyuan City. He climbed the city walls with a heavy sword in hand, hacking and killing Ming soldiers everywhere. After the army broke through Kaiyuan, he and several baoyi chased after the fleeing Han people...

Many times, Cao Zhongqing woke up with a smile from such a beautiful dream.

In early April, the morale of the Bordered Blue Banner, which was reorganized by the new banner leader Jirgalang, began to gradually recover, and the population also gradually increased.

In order to establish his own authority, with the cooperation of the Zhenghong Banner, Jirgalang first found Subudi, gave him a severe beating, and taught this fence-sitter in the Battle of Kaiyuan a lesson.

They killed hundreds of Mongolian men and captured more than a thousand Mongolians. The unfortunate Mongolians were recruited into the Bordered Blue Banner as bondservants and served as cannon fodder.

After this battle, Jirgalang's position in the Bordered Blue Banner was further consolidated. His confidence increased greatly and he prepared to continue attacking the Haixi Jurchens, eliminate Yehe, and let the two beiles of the East and West cities know the consequences of a sneak attack on the Bordered Blue Banner.

After the Battle of Kaiyuan, the situation in Liaodong fell into a stalemate. Although Nurhaci had discovered that the defenses in Kaiyuan City were weak, he was not yet determined to continue attacking the fortified city. Moreover, compared to the rock-solid Kaiyuan, Haixi and Liaoshen were undoubtedly better targets.

As a result, Jirgalang's idea was quickly unanimously approved by the Khan and several other beiles. With the support of Nurhaci, the other seven banners sent food and troops to cooperate with the Blue Banner's revenge.

Huang Taiji suggested that the Later Jin army did not need to fight to the death with Liu Zhaosun for the time being. They should just blockade Kaiyuan City, cut off the trade routes from Kaiyuan to the surrounding areas, and then continuously send white-armored soldiers to burn their fields and crops, gradually turning Kaiyuan into a dead city.

The Later Jin army's next move should be to start with the easy ones and then move on to the difficult ones, first conquering Haixi and Yehe, then besieging Liaoshen from the east and north, and then occupying Tieling. By then, Liu Zhaosun will have truly died without a burial place.

Jirgalang obeyed the orders of several beile who helped him to the throne, at least on the surface.

In mid-April of the fourth year of Tianming, after a short rest, the Bordered Blue Banner immediately launched an offensive against Haixi Yehe.

Without the cover of the Ming army and the advantage of firearms, the Haixi Yehe army was defeated in the face of the attack of the Bordered Blue Banner army. Buyanggu led his only 3,000 elite cavalry out of the city for a field battle, but was quickly defeated by the Later Jin's French cannons, and the 3,000 cavalry fled in all directions.

The battle of Yehe in Haixi City was at a disadvantage, and Jintaishi and Buyanggu defended the east and west cities respectively.

Jirgalang ordered the baoyi Aha to fill the trench day and night and push the shield carts to the foot of Haixi City. Under the cover of the shield carts, the baoyi continued to dig the city wall. After two days of digging, the city wall finally collapsed.

Cao Zhongqing looked at the collapsed gap in front of him, raised his heavy sword, flew across the trench, and rushed towards Haixi City first. As he ran, he shouted to a skinny Baoyi beside him:

"Quick! Follow your master, charge in, kill all these Haixi barbarians, and you can raise the flag too!"

(End of this chapter)