How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 264 Huang Taiji: Da Ning, Da Ning, we cannot lose it!
July 18th, 4th year of Chongzhen's reign, Liaonan, outside the city of Fuzhou.

As dusk fell, smoke began to rise from the Later Jin camp outside Fuzhouwei City. After nearly half a month of continuous attacks, the men and horses were exhausted, and even the livestock in the camp lacked the energy to bellow.

Huang Taiji didn't stay in his golden-roofed tent. Instead, he wandered to the edge of the camp and squinted at the dark Fuzhou city wall opposite. Behind the crenellations of the wall, a few lights would occasionally flash by. These were Ming soldiers on patrol, or simply torches used to lure the enemy.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, his jaw grinding as he clenched his teeth.

The Shahe River had long been ravaged; the mud on its banks was soaked in blood. Stepping into it would send a splattering sound, and you might just pull out something. But those three forts—Fuzhou Main Fort, Beixinkou, and Pangu Fort—still stood there, like an iron triangle. The Ming army's cannons spewed fire from those dark holes, the scattered bullets hitting the iron-clad shield carts with a crackling sound, like popping beans, occasionally creating holes.

Meanwhile, the Korean Green Standard Army and bondservants dug trenches and built fortifications under the occasional artillery fire from the Ming army. According to Huang Taiji's orders, they had to firmly enclose the two fortresses, Fuzhou Main Fort and Panggu Fort, and at the same time, they had to use trenches and breastworks to guard the Beixinkou, which is close to the sea.

Then came the endless siege, which lasted until the defenders of Fuzhou Main Fortress and Pangu Fortress ran out of food and surrendered or broke out and were annihilated.

However, according to the captured Ming soldiers, the grain stored in the main fortress of Fuzhou and the Pangu fortress was enough to feed the garrison for a year.
A year!

It's so damn time-consuming and exhausting!
Fan Wencheng quietly approached and whispered, "Great Khan, it's getting late. Shall we head back to our tents? The wind is strong tonight."

Huang Taiji didn't move, but pointed his riding whip at the opposite side: "Old Fan, how many of these fortresses do you think Chongzhen prepared for us in Liaonan?"

Before he could finish speaking, he heard a rapid clatter of hooves behind him, accompanied by Goshha's low shouts. A scout, steaming hot and with foam at the mouth of his horse, tumbled over and fell to his knees in the mud with a thud, his throat churning and his words barely audible.

"Great Khan! Urgent report from Shengjing!"

Huang Taiji's heart skipped a beat, but he remained outwardly calm: "What's the panic! Is the sky falling?"

The scout caught his breath and, with trembling hands, pulled a letter soaked in sweat from his chest. On the envelope was the seal of Hauge, the garrison general of Da Ning!

Fan Wencheng took a look and exclaimed, "It's...it's Prince Hauge...Da Ning...Da Ning is in trouble!"

Huang Taiji snatched the letter, tore it open in a few quick movements, and, by the light of the torches his personal guards had hastily lit, his eyes darted across the few lines of crooked, yet chillingly written characters!
His voice was hoarse as he read, word by word: "...Your son underestimated the enemy and was ambushed...Ming generals Sun Chuanting and Cao Wenzhao are both dead...Furthermore, there is the wicked woman Su Tai from the Han tribe, who carries the false Khan's nine-pronged white banner, falsely claiming that the son of Ligdan Khan has returned, thus confusing the army...Our Chahar surrendered soldiers defected on the battlefield...leading to a disastrous defeat, with more than two thousand soldiers lost, and Daming is in grave danger...I implore Father Khan to send reinforcements immediately! If you delay...if you delay, your son will only die to repay the country!"

The letter creaked in Huang Taiji's hand, his facial muscles twitched, and veins bulged on his forehead. The air around them seemed to freeze; no one dared to breathe.

Before the imperial tent, only the crackling of the torches and the almost stagnant breathing of all the princes and ministers remained. Huang Taiji's gaze swept across the terrified faces of each person, and time seemed to stretch on forever.
Suddenly, he abruptly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across Fan Wencheng and the group of princes and generals who had rushed over like a knife, but his voice was surprisingly calm, frighteningly calm.

"Emperor Chongzhen has played the trick of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao,' his target is Daming!"

The group looked at each other, not daring to say anything.

“Sun Chuanting…Cao Wenzhao…Nine Banners and White Banners…” Huang Taiji pronounced these names slowly and deliberately, then suddenly grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. “Good, very good! That little brat Chongzhen not only knows how to use the 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' tactic, but he also plays this ‘feint to the east and attack in the west’ trick with me. Using Fuzhou as bait to lure out the Mongol foundation of my Great Jin?”

He abruptly stopped laughing, his face turning ashen, and roared, "He's dreaming!"

"Fan Wencheng!"

"The slave is here!"

"Send the order! Withdraw the siege!"

These two words were like stones thrown onto ice, cold and hard. Everyone was stunned. Even Fan Wencheng hesitated for a moment: "Great Khan... Fuzhou is in imminent danger..."

"What are you looking at? Are we about to take it?" Huang Taiji interrupted him, his whip lashing out in the air with a piercing whistle. "What good is taking it? An empty city! Can it bring back my Mongol tribes? Can it compare to Shenyang being stabbed in the ass by those faithless Mongol wolves?"

He panted heavily, his gaze sweeping over the assembled generals: "Sun Chuanting has raised this white banner to uproot me! Fuzhou can be abandoned for now! Hauge can die! But the Mongol route must never be cut off! Do you understand?!" "Yes, sir!" The generals shuddered and responded in unison.

"Tong Yangxing!"

"The slave is here!"

"Put your Han army flag at the very front! Anyone who can make a sound, start banging it! The bigger the commotion, the better! Make it look like we're about to launch a general offensive tomorrow!"

"Whoo!"

"Everyone else!" Huang Taiji's gaze swept over the true Manchu elites. "Pack your things! Take what you can, and burn or smash what you can't! Don't leave Huang Chuangzi a single grain of rice! The Bayara Guard will cover my retreat! Remember this: men must be gagged and horses must have their hooves wrapped! Anyone who makes a commotion and alerts the Ming army on the other side, I'll chop them up and feed them to the dogs!"

He suddenly lowered his voice: "Send another order to the twelfth and fourteenth princes, instructing them to send troops from Jinzhou first. They must reach the walls of Daning within ten days!"

"Whoo!"

Military orders are absolute. The once deathly silent Later Jin camp suddenly became like a war machine infused with a violent soul, operating wildly at a bizarre and efficient pace.

Tong Yangxing's Han army banners and some of the Korean Green Standard Army and Korean bondservants were pushed to the front line. The war drums beat loudly, and torches were lit in batches, illuminating the night sky as if it were daytime. They even organized several small-scale feint attacks, with arrows sparsely shot at the city walls, which resulted in a tense burst of musket fire from the Ming army on the city walls.

Under the cover of all this commotion, the true elite force—the main force of the Manchu Eight Banners—was quietly packing up their belongings and destroying unnecessary supplies. Team after team, battalion after battalion, like black streams flowing in the night, silently withdrew from their camps and merged into the deep darkness of the Liaoxi Corridor.

Huang Taiji took one last look at the city wall of Fuzhou, where it remained silent. The Ming army seemed completely unaware of the earth-shattering changes taking place in the opposite camp.

"Go!" He turned his horse around, showing no further hesitation.

Outside Daning City, the Ming army camp

Sun Chuanting stood on the high slope, gazing at the city of Daning not far away. The Ming army's encirclement was not like an iron barrel, but rather they guarded the key roads, with deep trenches and high walls, and cavalrymen constantly sweeping out the surrounding area, trapping Hauge inside the city.

Cao Wenzhao, with his hand on his waist sword, walked to Sun Chuanting's side: "Minister, Hauge is already trapped. Why not launch a full-scale attack on the city and take it down in one fell swoop?"

Sun Chuanting shook his head, his sharp gaze still sweeping across the distant horizon: "Wenzhao, look at this terrain. Although Da Ning is a strategic point, it is now an isolated city. Huang Taiji was rebuffed in Fuzhou and will not sit idly by and watch Da Ning change hands and the Mongols become disaffected. He will definitely do everything in his power to save us. Even if we capture Da Ning, it will be difficult to hold it. Once it is besieged, Da Ning will become another Jinzhou."

At this moment, several riders galloped into the camp; it was the night scouts sent to the east. The leading officer dismounted, panting, and reported: "Reporting to the commander! From the Jinzhou direction, the activity of Tartar scouts has decreased sharply. Since yesterday, only a few scattered scouts have appeared. Although their main camp still has a dense concentration of flags, the amount of smoke from their cooking fires seems to have decreased, which may be suspicious!"

Sun Chuanting exchanged a glance with Cao Wenzhao and Empress Dowager Su Tai beside him.

"Huang Taiji has indeed made a move, just as His Majesty predicted!" Sun Chuanting said with certainty. "Leading the charge are the elite troops of the Two White Banners. They're not here with good intentions!"

Empress Dowager Su Tai's phoenix eyes held a hint of sternness, tinged with worry: "General Sun, what is your opinion?"

Sun Chuanting pointed northwest: "Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to consolidate our foundation. I urge Your Majesty to immediately take the Nine Banners and White Banner and your troops to Kaiping. That is the former site of the Yuan capital, and its influence is enough to command the southern desert. If we stay here, we will only become a hindrance."

He immediately ordered: "Cao Wenzhao, arrange elite troops to escort the Empress Dowager and the core nobles and people of the Chahan tribe to Kaiping to establish a Khanate!"

“Empress Dowager Sutai, Kaiping is the foundation of our century-old dynasty. Only by establishing a Khanate in Kaiping can we command the Mongols. I urge you to act quickly,” Sun Chuanting added, his tone resolute.

Then, he turned to the other generals: "All units, prepare immediately, travel light and be ready to move at any time. After the main force has withdrawn, send out all cavalry to carry out the 'burning of the wasteland'! Set fire to all the grasslands within fifty li around Daning! Leave not a single grain of rice or a single blade of grass for the Tartars!"

(End of this chapter)