Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 318 Liaobei and Weining

As soon as Tong Zhongkui accepted the mission, Zhou Dunji couldn't wait to stand up and bow deeply. "Zuo Tang. Our army is also willing to fight."

Zhou Dunji, the lieutenant general in charge of the Youyang local troops, and Zhang Shenwu, the lieutenant general in charge of the central army, were both criminal generals who were released recently.

At that time, Sichuan Tusi She Chongming was supposed to succeed the Yongning Xuanfu Envoy. However, because the concubine of the previous Yongning Xuanfu Envoy, She Shixu, who was also She Chongming's uncle, refused to hand over the official seal, She Chongming was unable to officially take over the position. Therefore, Zhang Shenwu, then the Acting Sichuan Tusi, and Zhou Dunji, the Yongning Lieutenant General, jointly led an army to capture She Shixu alive, forcibly seized her property and children, and forced her to hand over the official seal, which allowed She Chongming to succeed.

Meanwhile, the actions of Zhang Shenwu and Zhou Dunji also angered She Shixu's subordinates, including Yan Zongchuan. Under the pretext of rescuing his mistress, Yan Zongchuan launched a relentless campaign to plunder Yongning, Chishui, Pushi, and Huini, causing widespread unrest. Court officials used this as evidence to impeach Zhou Dunji and Zhang Shenwu for their greed and recklessness, leading to their imprisonment for over a decade. It wasn't until Liaodong was in danger that they were released, jointly recommended by Xiong Tingbi, the Liaodong governor, and Yuan Yingtai, the Liaodong governor-general, to march north to aid Liaodong.

Therefore, Zhou Dunji and Zhang Shenwu were both eager to make military achievements to wash away their shame.

"Okay." Xiong Tingbi hadn't intended to leave the Youyang local soldiers idle. He walked to the other side of the map, motioned Zhou Dunji to sit down, and then said, "The Youyang local chieftain troops will advance northward, with Shenyang as their center. In the northern Liaoning regions, including Puhe, Yilu, Tieling, and Kaiyuan, they will implement the same strategy as the Shiqu route. That is, expel and eliminate all Jurchen tribesmen."

"Yes." A happy smile immediately broke out on Zhou Dunji's face.

"Don't worry." Xiong Tingbi waved his hand. "I need to remind you. Although your mission is the same as the Shiqu route, you must be careful. It's not just the Jurchen rebels operating in Liaobei; there may also be Tatars from Chaohua's five camps. You must be careful to distinguish them. Chaohua's great-nephew Zaisai is still in the hands of Old Yezhupi, and the atmosphere is very tense."

During the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming army in the north was annihilated by the Jin army, but their commander, Ma Lin, managed to escape and retreat to Kaiyuan. Zaisai, Nuantu, and other leaders of the five Inner Khalkha tribes of Mongolia requested reinforcements to defend the city. Zhou Yongchun, then the Liaodong governor, strongly advised Ma Lin against over-reliance on the Mongols, but Ma Lin refused and reached an agreement with them.

On June 16, Nurhaci attacked Kaiyuan. Far from providing support, the Mongolian army seized the opportunity to seize Qingyun Fort, west of Kaiyuan City. General Ma Lin, Deputy General Yu Hualong, Lieutenant General Gao Zhen, Guerrilla Yu Shouzhi, and Garrison Commander He Maoguan were all killed in the battle. Kaiyuan City fell.

On July 25, shortly after Nurhaci captured Tieling, Zaisai arrived with his troops, and the Mongolian and Jin armies engaged in a battle outside Tieling. Unsurprisingly, the Mongolian army suffered a crushing defeat, and Zaisai was captured alive by the Jin army while fleeing and held captive by Nurhaci to this day.

Because of these complexities, Xiong Tingbi's attitude toward the Chaohua Five Battalions, or the five Inner Khalkha tribes, was also quite complex. If they had aided the Ming, then the Chaohua not only didn't come when Kaiyuan fell, but actually took advantage of the situation and looted. But if they hadn't aided the Ming, then Zaisai did come when Tieling fell. Whether he was genuinely helping or just trying to take advantage of the situation, he ultimately got himself into trouble and remained Nurhaci's captive.

"How can we tell the difference?" Zhou Dunji smiled awkwardly. Speaking of which, the entire Southern Army hadn't had much contact with the Jurchens or Tatars.

"I can't say for sure." Xiong Tingbi thought for a moment and said, "Look, the Liaoshen region has taken in quite a few refugees from various Mongol tribes. Later, the headquarters will screen these refugees and select those who are loyal, obedient, and able to speak Chinese. At that time, I will assign some of them to you. With them, everything should be better. Until then, you can be unselected and anyone who resists will be killed."

"Yes." Zhou Dunji replied.

"Okay, that's all for today." It was getting late, and Xiong Tingbi was about to adjourn the meeting. But then, Cui Ruxiu, the Kaiyuan Military Governor, stood up and looked at Xiong Tingbi. "Left Hall, I have a question for you."

"Do you really need my advice now?" Xiong Tingbi's eyes twitched unconsciously. "Everyone hasn't eaten yet."

"There's no need to rush." ​​Cui Ruxiu said tit for tat.

"Then you say." Xiong Tingbi had made up his mind. No matter what Cui Ruxiu said, he would not change his existing strategy.

"The bandits have captured Fu, Qing, Kai, Tie and other cities, as well as a large number of surrounding fortresses, and looted countless people. Many of them had their heads forcibly shaved and were taken as slaves. You said, 'As long as they have the bandits' hairstyle, they can be killed and their merits can be reported.' But if these people appear in the war zone you have designated. Should they be killed or not? Will they be counted as the first meritorious service?" Cui Ruxiu asked.

Xiong Tingbi was silent for a long moment before he said, "After all, the Hu and Han peoples are different, and there are procedures for verifying merit. Naturally, you can't use the heads of other people's captives to report your merit."

"General!" Cui Ruxiu wanted to speak.

"That's enough. I've made it clear enough." Xiong Tingbi stopped him. "That's enough for today!"

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The Taizi River, formerly known as the Yanshui River, flows northeast and southwest into Liaoyang. During the Qin Dynasty, King Zheng of Qin ordered General Li Xin to attack the Yan State. Li Xin defeated the Yan army and marched all the way to Liaodong. With several thousand soldiers, he pursued Prince Dan of Yan to the Yanshui River. Dan hid in the Yanshui River, and the King of Yan sent messengers to execute Prince Dan, intending to hand him over to Qin to anger King Ping. Although King Zheng of Qin was overjoyed at Dan's death, he resumed his campaign against Yan. Five years later, Qin troops conquered Yan, captured King Xi of Yan, and Yan was finally defeated. To commemorate Prince Dan, later generations renamed the Yanshui River, where Dan had taken refuge, the Taizi River.

Weining Camp is located in the middle of the Taizi River, upstream from Liaoyang City. Following the waterway upstream, one can easily reach Yidu Wall Fort and Yagu Pass. After the Battle of Sarhu, Yagu Pass and Yidu Wall Fort fell completely to the Jin Empire, leaving Weining Camp as the only fortress on the waterway upstream from Liaoyang City. Its importance is self-evident.

Ding Xiu and Li Xian followed the mountain road all the way south from Magendanbao to the Taizi River Valley, and then went downstream along the valley. When they could see the Weining City Gate and the large and small piers scattered in the Yanhe Valley in the distance, three days had passed.

"If we just go there like this, won't we be caught as spies?" Li Xian touched the hat on his head, under which was a tuft of extremely ugly beard.

"I can't. You might not." Ding Xiu pointed at the three heads on his shoulders and grinned wickedly, "Tell me. If I chop your head off and hand it over as a Tartar's, can I get more money in return?"

"The imperial court is very strict in examining people's heads. You can tell from my face that I am not a Tartar. You can't get any money for it." Li Xian took a half step back.

"Hehe!" Ding Xiu stepped in front of Li Xian and pulled out a knife from his waist.

"What are you going to do!?"

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Ding Xiu pulled off Li Xian's hat. "Cut off the braid at the back of your head, and you'll be a monk, right?"

"I thought"

"What do you think you are? I would have killed you long ago if I wanted to. How could I keep you alive until now?" Ding Xiu straightened Li Xian's braid and cut off the rat-tail hair at the root with just a few strokes.

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"Look! There are two people there!" After shaving their heads, the two continued to move towards Weining Camp, but before they arrived at Weining Camp, they were discovered by a group of soldiers stationed at the river valley watchtower.

"Do you want to fire the beacon?" the soldier asked the sergeant.

"No hurry, let's go check it out first!" The sergeant picked up the weapon leaning against the corner and said to the soldiers stationed on the watchtower, "Light the match."

"it is good."

Soon, the sergeant and two soldiers intercepted Ding Xiu and Li Xian. "Stop! What are you doing?" The sergeant, astride his horse, held the bowstring of the crossbow in both hands, looking down at the two men from above.

"We are hunters who come into the mountains to hunt." Ding Xiu spread his hands to show that he had no hostility.

"Hunter?" The sergeant's nervous expression relaxed slightly when he heard the northern-accented Chinese. "Yes."

"We are going to confiscate your weapons now. Take off your swords and bows and throw them on the ground. Don't make any unnecessary movements." The sergeant ordered in a tough tone.

"Okay." Ding Xiu did as he was told.

"Where are you from?" The sergeant looked Ding Xiu up and down, but didn't look at Li Xian, who was a head shorter than him.

Ding Xiu said, "Dingjiatun, Kaiyuan. After Kaiyuan fell, they fled to Shenyang. The government has already made a list."

"Since you're registered in Shenyang, how did you end up near Weining? And you came down from upstream?" The sergeant noticed the "pocket" slung over Ding Xiu's shoulder and asked, "Is that a Tartar's clothing?"

"And the bow! This bow is not made in the government." At this time, the soldier who took away Ding Xiu's weapons also shouted: "This arrow is not made in the government either! It looks like the kind used by slaves and bandits." The bows and arrows of the Ming army all have their own unique shapes, and the name of the craftsman must be engraved on a high-cost weapon to ensure its quality.

"Looks like you two are going to have to stay in jail for a while. Arrest them!" the sergeant ordered. The soldier immediately drew his sword from his waist.

"Wait!" Ding Xiu tried to say, "I can explain."

"Go to the prison and explain to the judge." The sergeant clearly didn't want to hear it. "We'll release you once we've investigated everything. Swords have no eyes. If we hurt you, don't blame us brothers for being cruel."

Ding Xiu was anxious and said quickly, "These are indeed Tartar clothes! But inside are Tartar heads! We are not spies! And we are certainly not Tartars!"

"Head." The sergeant waved his hand to stop the soldiers. "Are you here to report your first achievement?"

"Yes." Ding Xiu nodded.

"There's only a head in here, nothing else." Ding Xiu didn't dare move. He noticed that on a nearby platform, two soldiers were aiming their muskets with lit matches at them. At this distance, if the muskets didn't misfire, they were practically dead.

"Untie it." Sergeant Wu narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Yes." Ding Xiu slowly took off the "pocket" across his shoulder and put it on the ground.

Li Xian also wanted to take off the "pocket" on his shoulder, but was stopped by the sergeant. "Don't move until I tell you to!"

"Oh! Okay." Li Xian was frightened and stopped immediately.

Ding Xiu squatted down, untied the rope, and spread out the "pocket". Three pale, blood-stained heads suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes.

"They're really heads!" The sergeant swallowed. In his eyes, the three heads were worth nothing but silver. "What's in that bag?" The sergeant looked at Li Xian.

"These are weapons captured from slaves and bandits," Li Xian asked, "Do you want to see them?"

"No need." The sergeant shook his head. "Bring your things here, and I'll take you into the city."

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At the Weining Camp, the General's Headquarters, Hou Shilu, formerly the Deputy General of Liangzhou and now the General of the Weining Camp, was discussing the issue of troop approval with Tong Zhongkui, the Deputy General of the Sichuan Aid to Liao.

Hou Shilu looked very low in spirits. Ever since the Shiqu local soldiers were stationed at Weining Fort under the orders of General Xiong Tingbi, Hou Shilu had hardly had a good night's sleep.

Xiong Tingbi said it easily, that once the booklet was made he could go to Liaoyang to collect the food and wages consumed by the local soldiers, but the booklet was not that easy to make.

The salary standards for the southwestern native soldiers and his northern troops were fundamentally different. Most of Hou Shilu's soldiers came from Ganzhen and Jizhen. Although, broadly speaking, they were like the native soldiers, they were generally better paid than the soldiers recruited from Liaozhen. However, the native soldiers came from the southwest, having traveled a longer distance, so they needed more food.

Therefore, in addition to the general ledger, a separate ledger must be created for separate statistics. Otherwise, if the accounts don't match, any military supervisor, inspector, or even the provincial governor in Beijing will report him and impeach him for embezzlement and corruption, and he will probably be in big trouble.

Creating a separate register would require personnel verification. However, neither he nor his Northern officers wanted to coordinate with Southern officials. Perhaps after a long discussion, they would be at odds with each other and would eventually have to rely on written communication.

But since the higher-ups insisted on their cooperation, Hou Shilu had no choice but to do so. After much shirking, the task ultimately fell on his shoulders. After all, he was a high-ranking official.

"Deputy General Tong, the commander's order is to give priority to meeting the needs of your unit. So I will first give your camp half a month's worth of rations for two thousand people. I have also recorded it in the booklet. But the exact number of people in your unit who need food still needs to be verified. I would like to find a time to go to your camp and check the existing troops." Hou Shilu spoke as slowly as possible.

"Okay. Marshal Hou, pick the time." Although Tong Zhongkui was from Nanjing and had served in Sichuan for a long time, he was not incapable of understanding northern dialect. After all, he had to go to Beijing to report to the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office.

"There is no time to lose. How about tomorrow morning?" Hou Shilu didn't quite understand Tong Zhongkui's Nanjing dialect, but he could hear the approval in Tong Zhongkui's smiling expression and gentle tone.

"Of course." Tong Zhongkui waved to the guard behind him, who immediately handed him a package. "This is a copy of the roster of the Shiqu Battalion stationed in Weining. You can take a look at it first."

"Okay." Hou Shilu began to like this old man from Nanjing.

Hou Shilu took the package and was about to open it when a city guard rushed into the yamen and shouted, "Report!"

Hou Shilu stopped. "What's wrong?"

"Someone came to report the first achievement, three." The soldier replied.

"So fast?" Hou Shilu looked at Tong Zhongkui, his face full of surprise.

　The situation in Liaodong during the late Ming Dynasty was extremely complex, especially in Liaobei, a salient area nestled between the Mongols and the Later Jurchens. The Khalkha tribes, remnants of the Yehe tribe, the Jianzhou tribe, and small-scale Ming troops all operated in this area.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)