Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 577 Military Meeting (Part )

Yuetuo lowered his head and thought for a long time, so long that some people turned their eyes away to observe Amin's expression.

Amin had no expression, his eyes only looking at Yuetuo, but his empty eyes seemed to be seeing nothing. Everyone knew that Amin must be thinking about something, but no one could be sure what Amin was thinking.

Suddenly, Yuetuo's eyes lit up with a flash of inspiration. He raised his head and opened his mouth, as if about to burst forth with some earth-shattering idea. But seeing everyone in the tent staring at him, he quickly gathered his thoughts. Finally, the now more mature Yuetuo spoke in a steady voice, "Second Prince, I think Dudu is right. To conquer Korea, we should prioritize the Ming. But we can actually go a step further and directly ally with Korea to attack the Ming together."

As soon as this statement came out, the whole hall was in an uproar.

All the generals cast surprised glances at Yuetuo, and even Shuotuo looked at his brother with confusion. Only a few veteran generals with red banners seemed to suddenly understand something after a brief moment of confusion.

"Quiet!" Amin slammed the table with his whip to restore order. "Everyone, be quiet!"

The commotion in the tent was quickly suppressed, but a few people were still whispering.

"Kona! Saibihan! Didn't you two dogs hear what I said!?" Amin swung his whip directly at the two Blue Banner generals who were named by him.

Snapped!
As the saying goes, a whip is too far to reach. Amin's whip could not reach the two blue-bordered generals, and only caused a sound that echoed in the air for a long time. But even so, Kona and Sabiehan were still frightened.

"Please forgive me, Second Prince!" The two men immediately knelt down and placed their sweaty foreheads on the dirt. The remaining Red and White Banner generals who had been speaking earlier but had not been named by Amin were also silenced by the whip.

Amin didn't ask them to stand up. He just coldly withdrew his whip and gaze, "Yuetuo, keep talking."

Yuetuo was also frightened by Amin's action. When Amin swung the whip, he even hallucinated that he saw Nurhaci in a rage.

"Second Prince," Yue Tuo swallowed and said cautiously, "I thought we could send someone to Korea to contact Grand Marshal Jiang Hongli and have him join forces with us, attacking from both sides to capture Zhenjiang on the Yalu River. Then, as Du Du suggested, we can use Zhenjiang as a base to resist Ming reinforcements from southern Liaoning while continuing our southward advance to swallow up Korea."

As soon as Yuetuo finished speaking, an expression of "as expected" appeared on the faces of the veterans of the Bordered Red Banner. Many of them had participated in the siege of the Korean army in Fuchazhiye after defeating Liu Jing's troops, and some of them had even followed Daishan to participate in the surrender negotiations of the Korean army.

"Haha," Amin laughed, with a hint of mockery that was hard to conceal. "Yueto, are you serious?"

Amin's laughter was like a bucket of cold water poured over Yuetuo's head, but at this time he could only bite the bullet and answer: "I dare not joke when we are in the tent to discuss matters."

Amin continued to smile. "What makes you think Jiang Hongli would be willing to cooperate with our army in attacking the Ming Dynasty?"

"I was there when Jiang Hongli surrendered. At that time, he and my father swore an oath to heaven, and they got along very well. And I remember clearly that he told my father that Korea had never wanted to be an enemy of our country, and only sent troops because of the favor of resisting the Japanese and restoring the country. Before the Ming Dynasty launched an attack on our country, Korea was negative about sending troops to aid the Ming Dynasty. Even the King of Korea instructed him to be passive and slow to advance, so as not to anger our country." Yuetuo looked back, "Kar Fangji, I remember you were there at that time."

Dong'e Kharfangji was startled at first, then nodded silently. However, Kharfangji only nodded, his expression showing no sign of agreement. If you looked closely, you could even see a hint of embarrassment in the expression he was trying to maintain.

Amin suppressed his smile and asked Yuetuo, "Yuetuo, did you know that after Jiang Hongli was released, he was immediately dismissed from office by the King of Joseon?"

"I heard that," Yuetuo quickly turned back to look at Amin. "But I think this is just a show of force. If the King of Korea truly considered him a traitor, then he shouldn't just be dismissed from office, but beheaded. So, I think we can even go a step further and win over the King of Korea first. Once we've repelled the Ming reinforcements and stabilized our position, we can find an excuse to break the agreement and swallow Korea."

"The expression of the scene?" Amin repeated the word.

"Yeah." Yuetuo nodded.

"Yue Tuo, let me ask you, since dismissal can be a formality, then could those words Jiang Hongli said to the Grand Prince also be formalities?" Amin wanted to roll his eyes at Yue Tuo. He even thought that this silly boy was not as smart as that foolish boy named Huang Gongde.

Yuetuo was stunned.

"North Korea's flattery to please our country and the dismissal of Jiang Hongli to please Ming are all just for show. They are just trying to survive by maneuvering between the two great powers. North Korea will neither become our enemy for Ming's sake, nor become Ming's enemy for our sake. Huh..." Amin exhaled lightly, then leaned back in a rather lazy posture, leaning on the backrest of the desk, stroking his forehead and saying:

"Besides, no matter how foolish the King of Korea is, he wouldn't be so foolish as to not see the importance of Zhenjiang. Even if the King of Korea really can't think of it, his advisers will think of it. And, Yue Tuo. You just said that the Ming Dynasty was grateful to Korea for restoring its country. How can you convince him to betray this kindness and join you in demolishing Zhenjiang, which is the western defense of Korea?"

Amin's words were not only a rejection, but also a subtle sarcasm about Yuetuo. Furthermore, the word "Yuetuo" in Manchu means "dumb young man" or "silly child." Although Daishan's original intention in naming him was "a humble name is easy to raise," Amin's deliberate inclusion of the word before and after his words, coupled with the gesture of stroking his forehead, made it difficult not to associate it with mockery and contempt.

Yuetuo noticed that the officers from the Bordered Blue and White Banners across from him were mostly trying to stifle laughter, with only a few seasoned veterans maintaining a composed demeanor. Yuetuo instinctively turned around and saw that the officers from the Bordered Red Banner, including Khar Fangji, were also lowering their heads or tilting their heads, their faces thick with shame and embarrassment.

Yuetuo didn't react at first, but the strange atmosphere soon made him realize the contempt in Amin's actions and words. Yuetuo's face quickly turned red. But he couldn't think of any words to refute Amin. "I..."

Just as the atmosphere became increasingly tense, Jirgalang, who was sitting opposite Shuotuo, raised his hand and said, "Second Prince, may I have your permission to speak a few words?"

"Speak." Amin still supported his head and only looked at Jirgalang.

"I think what you said is quite right." Jirgalang first affirmed Amin, and then began to smooth things over for Yuetuo: "But the things Yuetuo Taiji said can actually be taken into consideration."

After Jirgalang said this, Yuetuo's expression improved a little, and the generals of the Red Banner also seemed relieved.

Amin didn't respond immediately, but instead glanced at Yuetuo out of the corner of his eye. Seeing the silly boy's pale face, he slowly put away his lazy and contemptuous attitude, supporting the large desk in front of him with his fingers clasped together: "Tell me in detail." "Yes," Jirgalang nodded, and after a moment's silence, he composed his words. "Both Dudu Taiji and Yuetuo Taiji believe that the key to conquering Korea lies in the Ming Dynasty, not Korea, so we should first deal with the Ming army garrisons stationed in Fenghuang City and Zhenjiang City. I think so too. However, I think we shouldn't completely ignore the Korean issue."

"Even if Korea is weak, if it sends troops to support our army during the attack on Zhenjiang, our army may be caught in a situation of fighting on two fronts. Therefore, even if we can't trick Korea into breaking with the Ming Dynasty and stop relying on sending troops to help us, we should try our best to obtain Korea's passive neutrality during our attack on the Ming Dynasty."

"Since the Great Prince and the Joseon general Jiang Hongli had a shared oath of loyalty, and the Joseon ruler's attitude was ambiguous, I think we could use this as a bridge to send envoys to negotiate secretly with Joseon before we dispatch our troops. Using the argument that 'I will not march south if Joseon doesn't aid the Ming, but if it does, I will destroy it,' we could try to stabilize Joseon. Of course, if we could unite with Joseon to attack the Ming, as Yuetuo Taiji envisioned, that would be even better."

"Yes." Amin nodded. "The idea of ​​stabilizing Korea is certainly a good one, but forget about attacking Ming. I still have the same question: how can you make them completely abandon Ming? Just by threats?"

"Divide Liaodong!" Jirgalang said, "We can promise Korea that after driving the Ming army out of Liaodong, we will give southern Liaoning, including Lushun and Zhenjiang, to Korea in exchange for Korea sending troops."

As soon as Jirgalang spoke, a commotion erupted in the tent. However, because Yuetuo's plan of "uniting with North Korea to attack the Ming" had been laid out long ago, and Kona and Saibihan, who had been captured by Amin, were still kneeling on the ground, the commotion was not very large. Amin simply glanced around and silenced the noise.

"Jirgalang, do you know what you're talking about?" Amin's eyes darted around, then suddenly turned sideways. At the same time, his face quickly adopted an expression of utter loyalty. "Major matters like changing strategy and dividing up land are matters that only the Khan and the Council can decide. If it weren't at the Council, I wouldn't even be qualified to bring it up, so who are you to say anything?"

"I know, I know! I'm not really advocating for giving Liaonan to Korea. I think it's a rhetoric used to deceive and confuse Korea!" Jirgalang quickly defended himself. "Of course, our goal is to attack Korea. But as I said earlier, we should stabilize Korea before we attack it. The key to stabilizing Korea is to prevent it from realizing that our ultimate target is them. Otherwise, Korea will inevitably abandon its neutrality and join forces with the Ming to attack us."

"But as long as we, as 'brother nations,' propose to divide Liaodong with Korea, Korea will inevitably assume that our target is still Ming. Even if Korea doesn't join forces with us to attack Ming, it will inevitably become paralyzed." Seeing his brother's expression gradually soften, Jirgalang's tension gradually eased. Towards the end, he even offered to defend Yuetuo: "I think Yuetuo Taiji's earlier suggestion also implied this, but he simply didn't fully articulate it."

"Hmm." Amin looked at Jirgalang with a hint of admiration in his eyes. He quickly disguised this admiration as guilt towards Yuetuo. "My dear nephew Yuetuo, it seems I was too arrogant and misunderstood you."

"No, no." Yuetuo was stunned, then gritted his teeth and denied: "That's not what I meant. I was just stupid."

After these words were spoken, everyone looked at Yuetuo with less mockery and more respect. Even Amin's eyes flashed with surprise. Only Jirgalang looked at Yuetuo with anger.

Amin was unable to follow up on this for a long time. Finally, he smiled and shook his head: "Do you have anything else to say?"

"No more." Yuetuo said.

"Can we let those two slaves get up?" Amin looked at Yuetuo and pointed at Kona and Sabihan who were kneeling on the ground.

"Of course." Yue Tuo nodded sternly.

"You unruly dogs, Yuto Taiji has forgiven you two," Amin said, his smile subdued. He looked towards Kona and Saibihan in the direction of his finger and said, "Why don't you bow down and thank me?"

Kona and Saibihan kowtowed to Yuetuo. "We bow to thank Yuetuo Taiji! We bow to the Second Prince!"

"Haha, no need." Yue Tuo forced an awkward smile.

Kona and Sabbihan were about to stand up when they heard Amin say, "He forgave you two, but I didn't."

The two of them knelt down again quickly.

"You're in the tent to discuss matters, but you're making loud noises and disrupting order. You know the rules," Amin said. "You'll receive your punishment later. I won't say anything more now."

"Yes." Kona and Sabbihan kowtowed again.

"Get up." Amin turned around and, without waiting for the two to get up, looked around at everyone and asked, "Does anyone else want to say anything about this?"

Everyone was silent.

"Yuetuo." Amin looked at Yuetuo again.

"Here!" Yuetuo immediately became fully alert.

"I need you to pick a few people from the Bordered Red Banner who have some influence and have dealings with North Korea, and go through Sudian and cross the Yalu River to Wangjing to negotiate with the North Koreans. There is no need to reach an agreement, as long as we stabilize North Korea before our army captures the cities of Fenghuang and Zhenjiang, so that it does not send troops to aid Ming." Amin ordered.

"Yes." Yuetuo replied.

Amin leaned on the backrest of the table, slowly turned around, and looked again at the Liaodong-Korea map. "Blocking our path are the two great cities of Fenghuang and Zhenjiang. What do you think, should we divide our forces and attack both cities simultaneously, or should we unite and advance steadily?"

Amin had completely calmed the situation down, so no one responded to his questioning, and there wasn't even any commotion.

"Then let the Bordered White Banner speak first." Amin didn't look back.

(End of this chapter)