Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 309: Enthroning Huang Taiji? No!
Nurhaci was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "So you still want Daishan?"

Eyidu frowned, but didn't join in the laughter. He said very seriously, "I do have a preference for the Grand Prince, but that's ultimately because the Khan has a preference for the Grand Prince and wants him to succeed him." Eyidu's head was already covered in a fine layer of sweat, and he wiped it off with his robe before continuing:
"If the Khan asks me about the succession, I only know the Grand Prince and no one else. If the Khan has another candidate in mind, I will obey his orders and do my best to assist him." Having said this, Eyidu paused, looking at Nurhaci with a look of regret and reluctance. It was as if he knew, "I just don't know how long I, with my old and sick body, can protect the Khan."

"One day is one day." Nurhaci looked at Eyidu's sad expression and his mood became depressed.

Last March, Nurhaci bestowed upon Guwalja Fei Yingdong the hereditary rank of Third-Class General-in-Chief for his contributions to the annexation of Yehe. However, shortly thereafter, Fei Yingdong died at home from a relapse of an old injury. Nurhaci was deeply saddened by the news and personally attended his wake. Seeing Eyidu's haggard and weary face, Nurhaci immediately recalled Fei Yingdong's appearance upon his death.

This time, Nurhaci did not continue to let Eyidu serve as the commander-in-chief of the left wing, but instead appointed Huang Taiji. The most important reason was not because he did not trust Eyidu because of the rumors, but because Eyidu himself firmly declined the position, saying that he was too old and could not take the position, and he was afraid that it would ruin the Khan's long-term plan.

Although Nurhaci was somewhat resentful that Eyidu did not rescue Manggurtai, and the Jin Kingdom also used Manggurtai's victory over the Ming army with a hundred enemies as a positive example, Nurhaci knew very well that Manggurtai was underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly.

Seeing that Li Bingcheng had defeated Jibu Keda twice in a single day, inflicting over 200 casualties on the Jin army, Nurhaci even felt that if Li Bingcheng had reacted in time, he might have killed Manggurtai on the battlefield. If it weren't for the conspiracy-filled rumors, Nurhaci wouldn't have been so angry with Eyidu. He might even have considered finding a way to redeem himself and return the stripped Niulu to Eyidu.

The atmosphere fell silent. Nurhaci chewed the mutton in his mouth slowly, not swallowing it for a long time, as if it was a delicacy worth savoring slowly.

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The silence was broken by a strange noise outside the Khan's tent. Amid the chaotic noise of setting up camp, Nurhaci heard the sound of horses stepping on black mud.

The visitor was the fourth prince Huang Taiji. He had completed the task assigned to him by Nurhaci and came to report.

Huang Taiji dismounted at the hitching post and threw the reins to the servant who was tending the post. He then walked over to the guards standing guard outside the Khan's tent and said to them, "Is the Khan in the tent?"

"Yes." replied the head guard.

"I'm here to report. Please let me know." Huang Taiji said.

"Please forgive me, Fourth Prince. The Khan is not seeing anyone right now. You may wait here for a while." The head guard said apologetically.

Huang Taiji was suspicious, but he just said, "Okay, I'll wait here."

Hearing the voice, Nurhaci knew that it was the eighth Huang Taiji who came. But Nurhaci did not let him in. Instead, he lowered his voice and asked Eyidu: "What do you think of Huang Taiji? Can he inherit the throne?"

In recent times, the person who has been making the most noise has been Manggurtai, but Nurhaci never thought of giving the throne to him.

"..." Eyidu was stunned for a moment, and then he continued with the same rhetoric. "If the Khan favors the Fourth Prince, then I will do my utmost to assist him."

"Don't worry about whether I like him or not. I want to hear your opinion of him." To prevent Eyidu from kicking the ball back, Nurhaci said in advance: "Don't tell me that you don't understand me or have had little contact with me. I don't believe you have lost even the most basic ability to judge people."

Eyidu thought for a long time before answering, "The Fourth Prince is a gifted man. But he hasn't achieved the same feats as the First Prince. If the Khan were to choose the Fourth Prince as his successor now, I'm afraid there would be public outcry. By then, the other princes would be eager to make a move, and I'm afraid the Great Jin would be in chaos."

Eyidu's words were absolutely correct. To this day, the Grand Prince Daishan had made remarkable contributions. In the 35th year of the Wanli reign, at the age of 24, Nurhaci bestowed upon him the title of "Guying Baturu" for his military exploits. Daishan participated in every battle fought by the Jin Dynasty since its founding. At the Battle of Sarhu, Daishan even outshone everyone else.

In comparison, Nurhaci's eighth son, Huang Taiji, the Fourth Prince, is not much to be said for. He and Daishan are not on the same level. Daishan was a leader second only to Nurhaci. Huang Taiji, on the other hand, was at best a minor leader at the executive level. As long as the strategy of the major leader was correct, no matter how well the minor leader executed it, it was just following the plan. Daishan was clearly a good leader, too good to be true.

Nurhaci had a total of 16 sons, and except for the eldest son Chu Ying who was executed, the others were all alive. If Huang Taiji, the eighth son who seemed mediocre at the moment and not much different from the other sons, was allowed to take the throne, it would be a miracle if the others did not fight to the death.

"That's true." Even without asking Eyidu, Nurhaci could understand this truth. But for Nurhaci, Daishan's great achievements but no major faults were a problem in themselves. "Then..." Nurhaci thought of a response plan, and he instinctively wanted to consult Eyidu. But on second thought, he swallowed his words. "Forget it, that's it. You should rest well."

"Thank you, Great Khan." Eyidu breathed a sigh of relief. Eyidu had been Nurhaci's friend for forty years. He could sense that his time was nearing, and he didn't want to ruin everything in his final days because of this incident.

"Fourth Prince!" Nurhaci raised his voice and called out, "Come in!"

"Then I'll take my leave." Eyidu's head was a little dizzy, but he still stood up and said goodbye.

"No." Nurhaci held Eyidu and said, "You can stay here with me tonight. I want to stay with you for a while longer."

"Yes." Eyidu smiled happily. He recalled those days when he and Nurhaci had long conversations all night long.

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When Huang Taiji entered the Khan's tent, the first thing he saw was the brazier in the center of the tent and the mutton heating next to it. Huang Taiji walked around the brazier and came to Nurhaci, kneeling and saying, "I am honored to meet you, Great Khan."

"You stand up and talk." Nurhaci waved his hand.

"Thank you, Great Khan." Huang Taiji stood up and saw Eyidu bowing to him. "Greetings to the Fourth Prince."

"Baturu, there's no need to be so polite." Huang Taiji returned the greeting.

Huang Taiji did not get down to business immediately, but said, "Khan Ama, the mutton leg is cold." In this weather, the hot meat would emit white steam.

Nurhaci was immediately touched. "Then please heat it up for me. And there's also some for Eyidu."

Daishan was unable to care for Nurhaci in such a meticulous manner.

"Yes." Huang Taiji took the plate of lamb legs from Nurhaci's front. Then he turned and looked at Eyidu. Eyidu wanted to refuse with actual actions, that is, to take the lamb legs to the brazier to heat them up. But just as his legs exerted force, before he could support himself to stand up, his vision suddenly went dark. When he managed to steady himself and move as if nothing had happened, the plate had been taken away by Huang Taiji. Eyidu could only thank him and said, "Then I will shamelessly take advantage of the great sweat."

"There's no such thing as benefiting from it." Nurhaci noticed Eyidu's strange behavior and patted his back with sadness.

"Yes, we are all family, Baturu, why should you be so polite?" Huang Taiji agreed with a smile.

Because Eyidu married Nurhaci's daughter, Huang Taiji's half-sister Mukushi, Eyidu was considered Huang Taiji's brother-in-law.

"Then I'd be honored to refuse." E Yidu was not feeling well and his complexion did not look too good.

Huang Taiji first put the lamb leg on the fire to heat it up, then used a knife to cut off two pieces of fat meat covered with oil and salt, placed them on plates, and presented them to Nurhaci and Eyidu respectively. "Khan Ama, Baturu. Please."

"Cut a piece for yourself," said Nurhaci.

"Thank you, Khan, for the food." Huang Taiji kowtowed to express his gratitude.

Huang Taiji chose a lamb rib with little fat for himself. After cutting it, he only ate a small piece and reported: "Khan Ama. The remains have been retrieved." People who have fought for a long time do not shy away from death. Manggurtai would even talk about the death of his enemies while eating to liven up the atmosphere.

"Has Jibukeda's body been found?" Nurhaci took a bite and his mouth was full of oil.

"Jibu Keda is dead?" Eyidu was shocked and couldn't help but interrupt and ask.

"It is said that he was killed by the Ming army's artillery outside Fengji City." Nurhaci said.

"Alas! How could this happen?" Eyidu's eyes dimmed. He still admired Jibu Keda as a powerful general. "What a pity."

"This is all my responsibility," Huang Taiji said. "If Batulu had led the left wing this time, perhaps Jibu Keda wouldn't have risked his life."

"How can you say that?" Eyidu shook his head and said, "Jibukada was brave in battle and loved to be the first, but he got carried away easily. To die on the battlefield was a worthy death."

"Stop talking about this." Nurhaci was annoyed when he heard the word "reckless advance." Before the expedition, he had said that all units must be cautious when testing the strength of the Ming army, but some still did not listen.

Nurhaci stopped discussing responsibility and asked, "Have the remains been found?"

"To my father-in-law," Huang Taiji said with an apologetic look, "I can only say I don't know."

"Oh! You don't know again." Nurhaci glanced at Eyidu subconsciously. "Tell me clearly, why don't you know?"

Huang Taiji was immediately suspicious. He wanted to know exactly what Eyidu and his father had said, but he held it in. Huang Taiji neither asked nor looked at the details, simply replying, "When we went to collect the bodies, we saw dozens of Ming soldiers risking their lives harvesting heads. We shot arrows to drive them off, but the shield-cart soldiers only recovered 56 remains, including some without heads. Apparently, a small number had already been taken by the Ming army. Among the remains we recovered with heads and faces intact, we didn't see Jibu Keda."

"There is not a single one alive." Nurhaci ate the meat more slowly.

"No." Huang Taiji shook his head.

Because the battlefield was in the suburbs of Fengji, after most of the left-wing cavalry retreated, Li Bingcheng immediately sent a division of 500 cavalry out of the city.

The primary mission of these five hundred cavalrymen was to collect the wounded of friendly forces and the remains of those killed in battle, followed by capturing the wounded of the enemy, and finally collecting useful heads.

The so-called useful heads were those that could be reported as meritorious. Some unlucky individuals were hit in the face by cannonballs or hammers, completely disfigured, and these were useless heads that could not be reported as meritorious. The Ming army was too lazy to collect them.

If Nurhaci had not ordered Huang Taiji to go back and collect the body in time, I am afraid that all he would have brought back would have been a body with a smashed head.

Nurhaci continued to eat meat and did not blame Huang Taiji. The Jin Dynasty did not reward people for their achievements when they unified the Jurchens, and they were used to winning battles when they conquered the Ming Dynasty. It was normal for them not to have this awareness. Now that this problem has been discovered, the whole army should be warned to pay more attention to it in the future.

As Nurhaci ate, he summarized the situation: "Commander-in-Chief Jibu Keda was captured at Fengji Fort and later killed for refusing to yield. Because of his military achievements, his youngest son will be promoted to Commander-in-Chief, and his brother Jisiha will be promoted to Guerrilla, in charge of the Wuniulu, which Jibu Keda previously commanded, until his youngest son comes of age. Write this down and announce it when you return to Sarhu."

Huang Taiji did not respond immediately, but said, "Khan Ama, Jibu Keda belongs to the Bordered White Banner. This grace should be announced by the banner leader Dudu. If I am sent to announce it, it would be overstepping one's authority."

"Well. I'm glad you considered this." Nurhaci nodded appreciatively. "Let's do it."

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At the same time that Nurhaci summoned Degelei, who was sent to stop the Hupi reinforcements, and the two brothers Yuetuo and Shuotuo, Xiong Tingbi, the highest military commander of Liaodong, was also discussing the enemy situation with other generals in the central military tent of the Liaoyang reinforcements.

In addition to Xiong Tingbi, the participants included Gao Bangzuo, the provincial governor of Shandong and the military inspector of Liaodong Central Route, Chen Ce, the Sichuan general who aided Liao, Tong Zhongkui, the deputy general, Zhou Dunji, the lieutenant general, Ran Jianlong, Ran Tianyin, Ran Wenhuan, the local soldiers of Youyang Route, Ma Xianglin, Qin Liangyu, Qin Bangping, Qin Minping, and Lu Zhijia, the guerrilla commander of Wujing Camp.

The generals took their seats one after another, and Xiong Tingbi spoke directly, "I just received intelligence from Fengji." As he spoke, he tapped the letter on the table with his fingers. "It says that most of the bandits have set up camp five miles northeast of Fengji, and may attack the city tomorrow."

　The historical data on the Great Jin Dynasty is scattered and fragmentary, and sometimes contradictory. This is especially true when it comes to the relationships between characters. It really makes it difficult for storytellers like us.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)