20demayo Chapter 90: Victory News Arrives in Beijing, Collective Silence
Chapter 90: Victory News Arrives in Beijing, Collective Silence
Chapter 91: Victory News Arrives in Beijing, Collective Silence
Chapter 090: The Twin City Guards, in a camp spanning five or six square kilometers between the East and West City, had bonfires burning everywhere.
When Chen Ying led his victorious army back to Shuangchengwei, the various tribes of Haixi had already learned of Chen Ying's great victory with the Ming army, and they spontaneously rushed here from Yongning Port.
The victorious army's morale was completely different from that of a newly formed army that had never fought a battle. The original Shahe Guard was a newly formed army, but now, after this great victory, they had transformed. They were in high spirits and full of confidence, and they could kick over even a mountain that stood in their way.
If they were to encounter the Jurchen army again, they would not hesitate to pounce on them and tear them to shreds, instead of being afraid and timid as before. The Jurchens were still the same Jurchens, still as cunning, fierce, and ruthless as ever; nothing had changed. The only ones who had changed were themselves.
Chen Ying, along with Zhou Bin, Wang Gui, Li Cheng, Liu Guang, Chen Daniu, Wang Tiezhu, Qin Siming, Xiang Hu, and other generals, sat around the largest bonfire in the center with the Jurchen leaders from various Haixi tribes.
Before them stood a group of about two or three hundred girls from various Haixi Jurchen tribes, dancing around a bonfire and eating roasted mutton. With this great victory, Chen Ying had finally gained a foothold in Nurgan. Even the wild Jurchen tribes, which had not originally participated in the Shuangcheng trade, had more than twenty tribes, totaling three or four thousand people, come to pay their respects to Chen Ying, the great general of the superior nation.
In fact, Chen Ying's real official position was the Commander of Shahe Guard. Although it was a third-rank official, the problem was that the Ming Dynasty had 359 guard posts. If you include the more than 400 border guard posts, the Ming Dynasty actually had more than 700 guard posts. Of course, the Ming Dynasty's strength was now as great as during the Hongwu and Yongle periods, and the number of border guard posts had greatly decreased. However, Chen Ying was still considered a mid-to-high-ranking general, but he was not related to the Grand General.
However, these leaders of the various tribes of Haixi and the leaders of the wild Jurchens did not understand these things. They could only do simple arithmetic. Through Chen Ying's continuous migration of people to Yongning, the population of Yongning Port has now exceeded 50,000 and is approaching 60,000.
This is because Dalu Island is too small and lacks resources. All the coal needed for heating in winter has to be transported from North Korea, which makes it easy to be cut off. But Yongning is different. It has a lot of virgin forests. Even without coal, it can log for heating. More importantly, the Sanhe Plain is really fertile. If they migrate next year, it will definitely be too late to clear the land.
Because we need to rush to build houses next spring, which will delay land reclamation, we need to plan out the land that needs to be reclaimed now, and at the same time, we can also plan out resettlement sites to make sufficient preparations for land reclamation.
The problem stemmed from the increasing number of immigrants. They wore uniform blue clothing, which led the Haixi Jurchens to believe that these people were Chen Ying's soldiers. In fact, Chen Ying's soldiers outnumbered their entire tribe's population, and they certainly couldn't afford to offend them.
More importantly, the Jurchens fought the Haixi Jurchens like adults fighting children, but when the Jurchens encountered Chen Ying's troops, they were utterly defeated.
Hamutai's injuries had slightly healed, and he could barely speak. He handed the roasted lamb leg to Chen Ying, asking, "Sir, how's the lamb leg?"
Chen Ying didn't have time to speak at all. This bloody battle had caused him to suffer from gastrointestinal discomfort for six or seven days. For nearly a week, he could only drink porridge. Now that he was finally better, he was able to eat meat in big mouthfuls.
Chen Ying swallowed the mutton in his mouth, then smiled and said, "Very good!"
Hamutai was very pleased because he had received Chen Ying's praise. Meng Gun was not to be outdone, so he picked up the Tartar porridge cooked by the girl next to him.
The "large millet porridge" of Northeast China that we know today is not actually the same thing. It is made with millet as the main ingredient, with added minced or chunked beef or mutton, oil, salt, and chopped green onions, and can be considered a different kind of West Lake beef soup.
Chen Ying ate with grease all over his mouth, and naturally wanted to cleanse himself of the grease. He swallowed the last mouthful of Tartar porridge, put down the bowl, and let out a long sigh of relief. This was the first time in seven days that he had been able to eat normally. The nausea churning in his stomach had finally subsided, replaced by a long-lost feeling of fullness.
Zhou Bin leaned closer and asked, "Sir, when shall we return to Changping?"
"I won't be going back before the New Year!"
Chen Ying smiled faintly and said, "Is Magistrate Zhou missing his wife at home?"
"hehe!"
Zhou Bin chuckled a few times but didn't reply. There was nothing he could do; he and Chen Boying weren't the same age. He was over forty now, even three years older than Chen Boying's father, Chen Youshi.
"There's no need to be so tense. Just relax!"
Chen Ying waved to the Haixi Jurchen girls not far away, and a dozen or so Haixi Jurchen girls rushed over. Chen Ying didn't speak Jurchen, but pointed to Zhou Bin beside him.
"He can take as many as he likes; Zhou Tongzhi is still got it, isn't he?"
Zhou Bin hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, isn't this inappropriate?"
"There's nothing wrong with it. If we want the Haixi Jurchens to be loyal to each other, then we'll need Magistrate Zhou to put in the effort!"
The other magistrate beside him, Wang Gui, became anxious: "My lord—I—"
You can do it too!
Chen Ying was very clear about how the Jurchens conquered Mongolia. Starting with Huang Taiji, the Qing imperial family engaged in hundreds of marriage alliances with major Mongolian tribes such as the Khorchin Mongols. The notorious Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was none other than Dayuer, a member of the Khorchin Mongols. Statistics show that during the Qing dynasty, there were over five hundred Manchu-Mongol marriage alliances.
This led to the Qing emperors becoming relatives of Mongol princes, and the Mongol nobles becoming politically closely tied to the interests of the Qing court, reducing their willingness to rebel and strengthening their sense of identification with the Qing dynasty.
Chen Ying also planned to follow Huang Taiji's path, first digging up the roots of the Jurchens. The main components of the Jurchens were actually the five tribes of the Jianzhou Jurchens: the Kesuhu tribe, which was also the tribe under Nurhaci, whose origin was located in the present-day Suzi River basin; the Hunhe tribe; the Wanyan tribe, or Wangjia tribe; the Dong'e tribe; and the Zhechen tribe.
Even the later eight major Manchu families, most of which actually had surnames from the Haixi Jurchen, such as Yehe, Wuna, Tongjia, Guarjia, and Majia, also originated from the Haixi Jurchen.
Chen Ying: Although the number of Haixi Jurchens has been greatly reduced, it is very difficult to physically eliminate them. If they can't win, they can run away. How could they possibly catch up with such a large area as Nurgan?
Chen Ying now has no choice but to settle for second best. Human nature is greedy and also admires the strong. Although the Ming Dynasty has declined, with Chen Ying's arrival, the lean camel is still much bigger than the horse. More importantly, the Haixi Jurchens are more pro-Ming because they have been bullied by the Jurchens.
Chen Ying not only generously sent a large number of Haixi Jurchen concubines to his generals, but also, given the heavy casualties suffered by the various Haixi Jurchen tribes in this battle, resulting in a surplus of women over men, he made these Jurchens willing to marry Ming soldiers as concubines and become Ming citizens.
Hamutai watched as Chen Ying pushed the girls he used to build relationships to his subordinates and finally realized his opportunity. He gestured to his men, indicating that their Xibe tribe absolutely could not fall behind in this matter.
Hamutai was genuinely afraid that Meng Gun, that old schemer, would outdo him. But the problem was, many of the soldiers in the Shawei New Army were young men in their late teens. They usually obeyed the strict military discipline, but now, having received the order from Commander Chen Ying, more than a thousand soldiers of the Shahe New Army got up from the ground and stood ramrod straight.
"Reporting to the lord, I guarantee the mission will be completed!"
More than a thousand soldiers began a collective charge, rushing towards the girls, and the entire camp was filled with the smell of hormones.
"Lord Chen————"
Hamutai leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "The Jurchen tribes, those twenty-odd tribes, just asked me to inquire whether they could also join our trade alliance?"
Chen Ying looked up at him: "What did you say?"
"This is a matter for you to decide, sir."
Hamutai has finally come to terms with reality. He has given up his unrealistic dreams and realized that following Chen Ying as his underling is quite good. As long as he does what Chen Ying says, the benefits are substantial.
Chen Ying ordered him to lead his troops south, and he did so. Although the Jurchens burned all the pasture they had stored, Chen Ying provided them with a large amount of bean stalks as fodder. As a result, the loss of cattle, sheep and horses was minimal, and they were able to survive the winter without any problems.
More importantly, this time the Jurchens swept through more than twenty small tribes. Not all of these tribes were wiped out; some people escaped and naturally sought out powerful backers. As a result, the strength of the Xibe tribe increased rather than decreased.
"In my opinion, they are truly afraid. The Jurchens have caused them a lot of trouble over the years, robbing people and livestock. Now that we have won, they want to find a protector."
Chen Ying did not answer immediately. He knew that there was no good deal if he rushed things. He needed to gauge the strength of the Jurchens. Now that Chen Ying had won this battle, it would take the Jurchens a year, or even longer, to take revenge.
Give Chen Ying a year, and he has enough trust to expand the Shahe New Army to more than 10,000 men. In fact, during the battle, he also found that the organization of the Shahe New Guard was not very reasonable and needed to be adjusted.
In the future, the Shahe New Army will adopt the border army organization, running in parallel with the garrison system. It will be based on the military households of Shahe Garrison, which is also Xingzhou Zhongtun Garrison, and let them settle and cultivate land near Shuangcheng Garrison, relying on the grain from the settlement to support the soldiers.
The organization of the soldiers in Qi Jiguang's army was slightly adjusted. First, twelve men formed a team, four teams formed a squad, a squad had fifty men, four squads formed a bureau, and the bureau was headed by a centurion.
A bureau was equivalent to a company in later times, but it only had three fire support detachments with 150 men, one artillery detachment with about four 3-inch cannons as fire support detachments, and a heavy detachment, maintenance detachment, medical detachment, military law detachment, and communications detachment under its command. Each bureau was reorganized into four detachments and five detachments, with a total of 262 men in the entire bureau.
Above the bureau level are divisions. There are three infantry bureaus and one artillery bureau, which together form a division. Each division has four bureaus under its jurisdiction, plus auxiliary and medical posts. The entire division has 1,200 personnel.
Each division was equivalent to a regiment in later times. The Shahe New Army added five infantry divisions, totaling more than 7,000 people, one chariot division, one supply division, and one cavalry division, making a total of eight division-level combat units. Including the directly subordinate troops, the total strength of the army was about 12,500 people. Even if they faced two banners of the Jurchens, they would still have the strength to fight.
The Wild Jurchens are not of much use to Chen Ying now, but in order to stabilize them, he has no choice but to agree; he can't push them to the side of the Jurchens.
How to form an alliance with the Jurchen barbarians became a headache for Chen Ying. He couldn't let them be too weak, as they would be useless if they were too weak, nor could he let them be too strong, as the Jurchens were an example.
Just as Chen Ying was considering how to form an alliance with the various tribes of the Wild Jurchen, more than two thousand miles away in the capital, at the Office of the Court of State Affairs.
A report of victory, delivered by express courier, lay quietly on the desk, surrounded by four or five officials who looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Chen Boying, Commander of Shahe Guard — Great Victory at Changbai Mountain — Slaying Yue, the Banner Master of the Bordered Red Banner of the Jurchens — Beheading more than 3,400 —"
An old clerk murmured the words on the victory report, his voice growing softer and softer. Although the Ming Dynasty had suffered more defeats than victories in its half-century-long war with the Jurchens, the problem was that the court had actually received quite a few victory reports.
Mao Wenlong alone sent more than a hundred reports of shortcuts. Of course, some of these reports were true and some were false. If all the reports were true, the Jurchens, let alone only having seventy or eighty thousand men, would have been wiped out two or three times over, even if they had seventy or eighty thousand men.
"Gentlemen, do you believe it?"
The good news was placed on the table, and the surrounding officials quickly passed it around. Then, everyone fell silent, and no one answered.
They didn't believe that Chen Boying had completely exaggerated his military achievements; at least he must have fought this battle, and perhaps even won a minor victory.
In reality, the Jurchens' true fighting strength presented two extreme situations. Their small-scale troops were not significantly different in fighting strength from the Ming army's night scouts. In fact, in one-on-one situations, the Ming army won more often than it lost, because the Ming military system was there, and there was never a shortage of fierce men who dared to risk their lives for wealth and glory on the battlefield.
Take Zu Dabi of the Guan Ning Army as an example. He was practically a Baturu killer. He killed two out of ten Baturu. Wu Sangui dared to lead twenty-eight riders to charge into the Jurchen army of more than one hundred riders in order to rescue Wu Xiang, and escaped unscathed.
Another official picked up the victory report, read it several times, and frowned, saying, "I know this Chen Boying. He made the Tianqi plow and the Huimin seed drill. The armor and weapons exchanged between the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Warriors Battalion were also produced in his workshop. I believe he's good at business and skilled in manufacturing. But to say that he led several thousand new recruits to defeat the main force of the Jurchen Right Wing Four Banners in the Changbai Mountains—"
this----"
"That's outrageous."
A younger official continued, "The Right Wing Four Banners of the Jurchens are the elite troops commanded by Daišan and Amin. Even our Guan Ning Iron Cavalry would have a headache dealing with them. What makes him, a commander who started as a foreman, so capable?"
"But this victory report is written in great detail, with the time, place, number of kills, and the details of Yue Fei's slaying all clearly stated," the old registrar said. "Moreover, it was sent by the fastest courier. Who would dare joke about such a thing?"
The crowd fell silent again. Although they found it unbelievable, the problem was that things were not normal in the Ming Dynasty. Wei Zhongxian was now like a mad dog, biting anyone he could get his hands on.
"What should we do? Suppress it?"
"It cannot be suppressed."
The old clerk shook his head and said, "This Chen Boying is backed by Eunuch Wei. If we suppress his victory report, what if Eunuch Wei finds out—"
The crowd fell silent again. Anyone who dared to suppress the eunuch faction's memorials would have ten heads to lose.
"Then send it up. Whether it's real or fake, the higher-ups will be there to tell."
The report of victory, stamped with the official seal of the Ministry of Justice, was sent to the next government office, the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Logically, a report of victory like Chen Ying's should have caused a national sensation. In fact, when the report was sent to the Ministry of Justice, it did not cause any ripples. It was not that they did not believe it, but that they dared not believe it.
The Ming Dynasty's Liaodong army spent twenty to thirty million taels of silver and suffered two to three hundred thousand casualties, disappointing them too many times, and they could hardly believe it.
Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, duty room.
Wei Zhongxian leaned back on the soft couch, listening to the eunuch beside him reciting memorials, his brows furrowed into a knot.
"A great victory at Changbai Mountain? Yue Ji killed in battle? Over 3,400 heads taken?"
Wei Zhongxian suddenly laughed: "Is this Chen Boying performing in an opera?"
If this record were reduced tenfold to 340 decapitations, Wei Zhongxian wouldn't be able to guarantee it was true. But the problem is, over 3,400 decapitations? That's just too ridiculous.
Standing to the side, Li Yongzhen said cautiously, "Father-in-law, the report of victory is very detailed, and it was sent by the fastest courier, so it seems that—"
"What do you want?"
Wei Zhongxian slammed the victory report on the table: "I know Chen Boying's capabilities all too well. I trust him to make and manufacture farm tools, but let him lead troops into battle? Is he even cut out for it? Don't think I don't know. His Shahe New Army, trained by that Commander Zhou—what's his name?—he actually defeated the Right Wing Four Banners of the Jurchens? What's the difference between this and sending me to take the imperial examination?"
Li Yongzhen dared not respond. Wei Zhongxian was illiterate; even if he were asked to copy something to become the top scholar, he wouldn't be able to do it correctly.
Li Yongzhen picked up the victory report again, read it carefully, and frowned even more deeply: "Yue Zha—this is Nurhaci's grandson, the banner lord of the Bordered Red Banner. If he were truly killed in battle, that would be a tremendous achievement. But the problem is—"
Wei Zhongxian was also worried about this. He couldn't believe that if the report reached the Tianqi Emperor, the emperor would be overjoyed. If he made it known to the whole world, things would get really messy, and then how would he deal with it?
Wei Zhongxian paused, then suddenly asked, "What did the Court of State Ceremonial say about this victory?"
"Your Excellency, the officials of the Office of Transmission don't believe it either—but they dare not suppress it, saying they are afraid—afraid of Your Excellency's wrath."
"Blame me?"
Wei Zhongxian sneered, "They certainly know how to shift the blame."
He stood up, paced around the duty room a few steps, and suddenly stopped: "Go, call Xu Xianchun here."
If Wei Zhongxian had reported directly to the Tianqi Emperor, the emperor would have immediately known the truth, because in addition to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, the Tianqi Emperor had another pair of eyes and ears, namely the Judicial Office.
Half an hour later, Xu Xianchun rushed over: "Godfather, what are your orders?"
Wei Zhongxian handed him the report of victory: "Take a look at this, and then tell me whether it's true or not."
Xu Xianchun took the victory report, examined it carefully, and his face gradually showed astonishment: "This—the record of Yue Ji's annihilation? More than 3,400 enemies? If this is true, this is the greatest victory since the founding of the Tianqi Dynasty!"
"You think it's fake too?"
Wei Zhongxian stared at Xu Xianchun, who was also in a dilemma. Based on his personal relationship with Chen Boying, even if the report of victory was fake, he could cover it up for Chen Boying by writing less and exaggerating less. But the problem was that there were 3,400 people killed, which was the most beheadings since Nurhaci started his rebellion against the Ming Dynasty.
Xu Xianchun pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Eunuch, I believe that the truth of this matter can be found out by investigation."
"How do I check?"
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard has many spies in Liaodong and Nurgan Regional Military Commission."
Xu Xianchun explained, "I will send men on horseback to investigate immediately. Also, since Chen Boying dared to send a report of victory, he must have also brought prisoners and the heads of Yue and Xu. Once those things arrive in the capital, the truth will be clear."
Wei Zhongxian nodded: "By the way, isn't Mao Wenlong close to Chen Boying? Send someone to Pi Island to ask him how much he knows."
"yes!"
Xu Xianchun accepted the order and left.
Wei Zhongxian sat down again and muttered, "Chen Boying, Chen Boying, you mustn't tell us a colossal lie. Otherwise, we won't be able to protect you either."
Chen Ying would never have imagined that his news of victory, when it reached the capital, would not cause a stir throughout the country, but instead would cause an eerie silence in the entire court. Although many people knew about the matter, no one dared to discuss it in private.
The logic is actually quite simple: if it's not reported to the Tianqi Emperor, he won't know. But the problem is that once it's reported, and it turns out to be false, people will probably lose their heads.
Although Wei Zhongxian had a decent relationship with Chen Ying, it wasn't enough for him to risk his life for Chen Ying. More importantly, this matter wouldn't benefit Wei Zhongxian at all.
Meanwhile, although Daišan feigned illness and traveled extremely slowly, even making a detour to raid several Mongol tribes and replenish his supplies, he still led the remnants of the right wing back to Shenyang. Nurhaci looked at the dejected remnants of the four right-wing banners outside the city, his face ashen.
"Where is Yue Zha?"
Daišan dared not look Nurhaci in the eye: "He was killed in battle—"
"Where's Amin?!"
"I'm injured—"
"Where are my soldiers?!"
Since Nurhaci raised his army, although he had suffered defeats, the problem was that he had never suffered such heavy losses. The four banners on the right wing, plus the armored soldiers and Han soldiers, as well as the Mongol right wing, had a total strength of more than 40,000 men. You have only brought back more than 20,000 men.
This means that more than 10,000 people have been lost. That's right, the Right Wing Four Banners have now lost more than 11,000 people. The remaining losses were all wounded banner soldiers who died from their injuries. There were also some Mongol and Han soldiers who quietly slipped away.
"Pfft—"
Nurhaci coughed up a mouthful of blood, felt dizzy, and fell backward.