Huangming

Chapter 218 Aisin Gioro, Brotherly Love and Respect

Inside the lobby, Li Yongfang's Adam's apple bobbed, and cold sweat quietly soaked through her inner shirt.

He glanced at Dai Shan.

This prince has been in a gloomy mood lately, and if he is not careful, he may end up with his head hanging on the gate of Shenyang.

"Replying to the Great Prince..."

He hurriedly lowered his head, his voice tight.

"The army is currently facing shortages because that brat from the Tianqi regime has cut off our trade routes!"

With the heads of the eight major Shanxi merchants falling to the ground, the lifeline of the Later Jin dynasty was effectively severed by half.

"The iron, tendons, and gunpowder that we used to trade for furs and ginseng are now...now all supplies have been cut off!"

Li Yongfang's fingertips trembled slightly.

Although the Later Jin cavalry was fierce, they were not gods after all.

Bowstrings require sinew, swords require fine iron, and firearms require saltpeter. Which of these could not be secretly transported by Shanxi merchants?

Now, with a single edict from Emperor Tianqi, the Shanxi merchants were executed, and their trade routes were cut off.

This is more fatal than losing thousands of troops!
Dai Shan snorted coldly, pressing his five fingers heavily on the table until his knuckles turned white:
"What? Does the sky over my Great Jin Dynasty collapse without these unscrupulous merchants?!"

Li Yongfang's throat bobbed, and a bitter smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The eldest prince was absolutely right.

"Your Highness, please allow me to..."

He forced himself to speak, his voice extremely low, "Let alone firearms and armor, even the bows in the soldiers' hands, nine out of ten... all rely on the Ming Dynasty's ox tendons to keep the strings taut!"

He counted them off on his fingers, and with each sentence he spoke, Dai Shan's face grew darker:
"The iron used for arrowheads is so scarce that even if the craftsmen in Hetu Ala broke their hammers, they couldn't smelt enough iron. Eight or nine out of ten ironware items had to be obtained from Shanxi merchants."

"As for the bowstring, the beef tendons sent by the Tatars aren't even enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of the Bayara camp!"

"And gunpowder, saltpeter, and sulfur are all controlled by Shanxi merchants. Their heads are now hanging on the city walls of Zhangjiakou!"

"In addition, there are iron armor..."

Li Yongfang lifted the hem of her cotton armor, revealing the metal plates pieced together inside.

It was taken from the corpses of Ming soldiers and then pieced together and riveted on.

The two small furnaces in Hetu Ala can only produce enough iron in a year to forge three hundred straight knives!

Dai Shan suddenly sprang up and kicked over the table!
"enough!"

An enraged roar exploded in the hall.

Dai Shan was so angry he almost spit fire: it turned out that the blade of the Great Jin had been in the hands of Ming merchants all along!

ridiculous!

It's so ridiculous!
"Isn't there any way to solve this?"

Li Yongfang forced a smile and bowed, saying:
"Reporting to the Grand Prince, merchants are driven by profit like flies to blood. The Ming emperor killed a group of Shanxi merchants, and soon another group will take the risk. As long as our price is high enough..."

He cautiously raised his eyes to observe Dai Shan's expression.

"Not to mention merchants, even soldiers from the border towns of the Ming Dynasty would secretly sell us knives and arrows."

Dai Shan snorted coldly and immediately ordered, "Then find new merchants!"

"This"

Li Yongfang revealed a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Your Highness is wise; reopening the trade routes will take at least six months."

"Half a year?!"

Dai Shan slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacup to overturn and the tea to flow like blood on the table.

His eyes flashed with a fierce light as he said menacingly, "Wait half a year, and it'll be too late! Is this the idea you came up with for me, Prince?"

Li Yongfang's legs went weak, and she almost knelt down.

He hurriedly said, "There's another way."

Dai Shan's patience had run out. He grabbed Li Yongfang by the collar, looking as if he wanted to devour her.

"You dog of a lackey, you dare to keep your grandfather in suspense?!"

Li Yongfang was terrified and blurted out, "Attack Shenyang! That brat Tianqi has stockpiled mountains of grain, gunpowder, and weapons in Shenyang! If we take Shenyang, all our problems will be solved!"

Upon hearing this, Dai Shan gradually loosened his grip.

But then, as if remembering something, his grip tightened suddenly. "Do you think your grandfather couldn't think of this method? You dog of a slave, how can we take Shenyang if logistical support isn't timely? Do you want every single one of my Red Banner warriors to die before you're satisfied?"

He was about to draw his sword.

Just as the atmosphere in the hall was tense and ready to fight, the curtain was suddenly lifted, and a burly figure stepped steadily in.

The newcomer had a ruddy complexion, clear and bright eyes, and moved with composure and calmness, exuding an air of refined elegance.

Although he wore his hair in a rat-tail style like Daishan, he had no fierce look at all, but rather resembled a well-read scholar from within the Great Wall.

Of course, it refers to the kind of muscular scholar.

"Second brother, please spare the prince consort."

This person's voice is warm and gentle, yet it contains an undeniable strength.

Dai Shan glared, his five fingers still gripping Li Yongfang's neck, veins bulging.

After staring at the newcomer for a moment, he finally let out a cold snort and released his grip.

"Hmph! Since it's Eighth Brother who spoke up... I'll give you that face!"

Li Yongfang staggered backward, clutching her throat and coughing violently, but she didn't forget to cast a grateful glance at the man.

This person is Huang Taiji, the son of Nurhaci's eighth son, Yehenara Menggu Zhe Zhe!
Dai Shan flicked his wrist and squinted at his eighth brother:

"Eighth Brother, since you led troops to investigate Shenyang's strengths and weaknesses, did you find any weaknesses?"

As the banner lord of the Plain Red Banner and concurrently in charge of the Bordered Red Banner, Daišan was selected to lead thirty Niru (Fifteen Plain Red Banners and Fifteen Bordered Red Banners), making him second only in strength to the two Yellow Banners personally commanded by his father, the Khan.

Although Huang Taiji was the banner lord of the Plain White Banner, he only had ten Niru (columns) under his command, making him the weakest of the four Beile (princes).

However, when it comes to scouting and reconnaissance, the Plain White Banner is the best among the Eight Banners.

The light cavalry under the Plain White Banner moved like the wind, appearing and disappearing without a trace.

In every major battle, it was always the "night scouts" of the Plain White Banner who would first scout out a path to gather intelligence.

Huang Taiji's expression darkened slightly. He shook his head, his voice low and solemn:
"Second brother, all the news brought back by the scouts I sent out was bad."

He unfolded a rough sheepskin map, his fingertips tracing the dense markings outside Shenyang.

"The Ming army has built dozens of fortified bastions of varying sizes outside the city, forming a defensive network with overlapping and overlapping firepower. If we launch a direct assault... we would need to send in at least five thousand elite troops."

Dai Shan's brows furrowed, and he tapped his knuckles heavily on the table.

"Couldn't we have bribed a few of the garrison commanders? How were Kaiyuan and Tieling breached back then? Wasn't it those spineless Nikans who opened the city gates themselves!"

Huang Taiji gave a wry smile, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

“Times have changed. The young Emperor Tianqi has paid back the wages that were owed for three years, and Xiong Tingbi has also executed eight adjutant generals who embezzled military rations.”

He dipped his finger in tea and drew a circle on the table.

"Now that the Ming army is well-fed and well-clothed, who would be willing to risk their life as an inside agent?"

Dai Shan, still unwilling to give up, pressed on, "Didn't you say there were more than twenty assassins buried in Shenyang? Where are they?"

"They're all broken."

Huang Taiji's voice suddenly turned cold.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guards sniffed them out like hunting dogs. The latest news is... before Commander Chen of the East Gate was executed by slow slicing, he revealed three of our contact points."

Dai Shan's pupils suddenly contracted.

"How could the Embroidered Uniform Guard be so powerful?!"

Huang Taiji's fingernails dug deeply into his palm.

"They were nothing more than vicious dogs kept by the Ming emperor. With 800,000 taels of silver paid annually for their henchmen, they naturally infiltrated every nook and cranny."

He suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"I even suspect... that they have spies even in the city of Hetu Ala!"

"fart!"

Dai Shan slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage, but his gaze unconsciously swept towards Li Yongfang.

This prince consort from Fushun never expected to be involved again.

I cried out in my heart: Oh, this is bitter!

His face turned ashen instantly, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud, his forehead slamming heavily against the blue bricks.

"This servant swears on the lives of his entire family! If I have even the slightest connection with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I am willing to suffer the punishment of being pierced through the heart by ten thousand arrows!"

I, Li Yongfang, have served the Jin dynasty like a slave, forgetting my roots. Great Prince, could you please stop targeting me?
(End of this chapter)