Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 387 Huang Taiji

When Yuan Chongyu returned to Ningyuan, he told Yuan Chonghuan what Huang Taiji meant, and took Yuan Chonghuan to see Huang Taiji's "sincerity". Yuan Chonghuan was very happy.

Although Yuan Chonghuan always boasted that he was more powerful than Sun Chengzong and could deal with the Later Jin with ease, he began to feel guilty after he became the governor of Liaodong.

Before that, he was just a military governor, and he became the governor of Liaodong after the Battle of Ningyuan. Yuan Chonghuan had always worked under Sun Chengzong, and was only responsible for the defense of Ningyuan.

Working for others and being a boss are completely different. In the eyes of nine out of ten workers, their boss is an idiot and is no match for themselves. If they were the boss, they would definitely do a better job than the boss. They just have less luck. In terms of ability, they are far more capable than the boss.

Yuan Chonghuan had this mentality. He always thought that with his own ability, he could easily become the governor of Liaodong, let alone Sun Chengzong's governor of Ji and Liao. But when he really changed from an employee to a boss and began to have greater power, the different position and perspective made Yuan Chonghuan suddenly realize that being a boss was not that easy.

Yuan Chonghuan is now the governor of Liaodong. He is the top leader of the entire Liaodong. In this position, he is no longer just responsible for the defense of Ningyuan, but has to consider the overall situation.

When he really sat in this position, he found that things were not so easy to do. He knew himself. Yuan Chonghuan thought carefully and felt that it was not so easy to realize what he had boasted. But the problem was that the boast had already been made, so there had to be an explanation, right? After thinking about it, it happened that the Emperor Tianqi promoted him and also brought a message. Yuan Chonghuan suddenly had an idea to negotiate with the Later Jin. As long as the Later Jin agreed to the peace talks and respected the Ming Dynasty as its master again, the war in Liaodong could be ended in this way. At that time, the Ming Dynasty would be the master of the Later Jin in name, and the Later Jin would become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. In this way, there would be no need to continue the war, and both sides could achieve peace.

If peace talks could be reached, it would be worthwhile to give up Liaodong to the Later Jin. After all, after so many years of war, no matter how strong the Ming Dynasty was, it could not bear it. Not to mention other things, the huge annual military expenditure alone exceeded the normal fiscal revenue. If it were not for Wei Zhongxian's unparalleled ability to make money, Liaodong would probably have collapsed long ago.

Yuan Chonghuan sent his brother Yuan Chongyu to Shenyang in order to test Huang Taiji, and now Huang Taiji's reply made Yuan Chonghuan very happy. Looking at the generous gift given by Huang Taiji, Yuan Chonghuan was more resolute in his original opinion. He felt that Huang Taiji was different from Nurhaci. He was a person who could cooperate. The peace talks between Ming Dynasty and Houjin were very likely to succeed. Once the talks were successful, the problems in front of him would no longer be problems.

In this regard, Yuan Chonghuan wrote a memorial to Emperor Tianqi, expressing that the new Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, Huang Taiji, was willing to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty. Of course, Yuan Chonghuan did not tell Emperor Tianqi in this memorial that he was the first to propose the so-called peace talks, and attributed the proposal for peace talks to Huang Taiji.

As for why they had to negotiate, the reason was very simple. It was nothing more than that Nurhaci was dead. Huang Taiji was different from Nurhaci. He was a Khan who loved peaceful coexistence. The two sides had been at war for so many years and had suffered heavy losses on both sides. There was naturally no basis for peace talks when Nurhaci was alive. But now that Nurhaci is dead, it is normal for Huang Taiji to plan for peace talks.

After the news reached the capital, Emperor Tianqi was somewhat moved after reading Yuan Chonghuan's memorial. Although he wanted to completely eliminate the Later Jin in his heart, it was still a bit unrealistic to completely defeat the Later Jin in Liaodong with the current military strength of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if Sun Chengzong's policy of taking defense as offense and continuous blockade was continued, it would take a long time to really encircle and trap the Later Jin and defeat them without fighting. More importantly, there must not be any accidents during this period. Once the Later Jin was desperate and tore through the Ming defense line at all costs, this strategic deployment would no longer work.

Before Nurhaci was alive, the two sides were naturally mortal enemies, but now that Nurhaci is dead and Huang Taiji is the new Khan, things are different. From the memorials sent by Yuan Chonghuan, it seems that Huang Taiji is a little different from the old slave, and does not have the strong aggressiveness of Nurhaci. In addition, Tianqi has heard a little about Huang Taiji. It is said that Huang Taiji is fond of Confucianism and admires Ming culture. Not only can he speak fluent Chinese, but there are also many Han people around him. He also loves to read books from the Central Plains and is quite literary. It is normal for such a new Khan to be close to Ming in ideology.

In this regard, Emperor Tianqi considered it and agreed to Yuan Chonghuan's suggestion, and gave him the right to negotiate with Huang Taiji.

When the news was passed back to Ningyuan and then from Ningyuan to Shenyang, Huang Taiji, who learned of the attitude of the Ming Dynasty, laughed out loud. He did not expect that the Ming Dynasty was so easy to deceive. He just fooled the emperor and his ministers of the Ming Dynasty a few times and they actually believed it.

Huang Taiji never thought about making real peace with the Ming Dynasty. From the moment the Later Jin Dynasty was established, the relationship between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was a life-and-death hostility. Moreover, from the Battle of Sarhu to the Battle of Juehua Island, the Ming Dynasty lost countless soldiers and civilians at the hands of the Later Jin Dynasty. The hatred between the two sides was deep-rooted. How could they just shake hands and make peace?

This is not a child's play. Huang Taiji is very clear-headed. His goal is to completely occupy Liaodong and drive the Ming army to the west of Shanhaiguan. In addition, Huang Taiji is a man of great talent and strategy. He also wants to conquer Mongolia, use the Mongolian cavalry to fight for the Jurchens, and directly lead troops to the Great Wall to occupy the coveted Central Plains. This is Huang Taiji's real goal, but Huang Taiji can't do it at the moment. He has just inherited the Khan and cannot start a war for the time being, especially a war against the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Taiji is not Nurhaci. He does not have Nurhaci's supreme status and prestige in the Later Jin Dynasty. As a former fourth beile and now a new Khan, Huang Taiji's position is not solid when he ascends the throne. He faces many internal and external problems. If these problems are not solved well, let alone fulfilling his wish, he may not even be able to sit firmly on the throne of Khan.

First of all, there were problems within the Later Jin Dynasty. Although Huang Taiji ascended the throne with the support of Daishan, there were still many people within the Later Jin Dynasty who opposed and were dissatisfied.

Among them, the third prince Manggurtai was one of them. He originally thought that he was a strong contender for the Khan throne, but he never expected that when the meeting was held to discuss who would inherit the Khan throne, no one nominated him.

This situation made Manggurtai dumbfounded. He was simple-minded and didn't understand why no one nominated him. Wasn't it because this guy killed his mother before? Instead of self-reflection, Manggurtai thought it was a conspiracy. Huang Taiji and others joined forces to target him in order to seize the Khan position.

In this way, Manggurtai was extremely dissatisfied with Huang Taiji. Relying on his status as the legitimate son and Huang Taiji's elder brother, Manggurtai still did not give Huang Taiji much face even after Huang Taiji ascended the throne. Every time there was a meeting to discuss matters, Manggurtai was either sarcastic or opposed just for the sake of opposing, which gave Huang Taiji a lot of headaches.

In addition to Manggurtai, there were also the three Ajige brothers. Huang Taiji used quick and vicious means to force the Queen Consort to be buried alive with him, which certainly solved the hidden danger of the Khanship after Nurhaci's death, but it also led to Ajige's resentment towards Huang Taiji.

How could Ajige not feel ruthless when his mother was killed by Huang Taiji? Naturally, he could not have a good face for Huang Taiji. However, apart from Ajige, the brothers Dorgon and Duoze did not show any dissatisfaction because they were young. Instead, they supported Huang Taiji as before and persuaded Ajige not to make trouble, saying that Huang Taiji was not to blame for the death of the queen dowager, that it was the intention of the former Khan, and that it was the honor of the queen dowager to be buried with the former Khan, etc.

Huang Taiji was somewhat surprised by the attitude of Dorgon's brothers. He did not expect that the young Dorgon would be so sensible. In this case, since they were his brothers, it was not impossible to let Ajige and his brothers go. Moreover, treating them well would also be good for his reputation.

But in his heart, can Huang Taiji really trust the three Ajige brothers? Of course it is impossible, not to mention that the three brothers are holding two yellow flags in their hands? These are the two most powerful flags in the Eight Banners. Huang Taiji's so-called kindness is only on the surface. He must make this gesture. The next step is to take away the two yellow flags in their hands. It is impossible to take them away directly. Once Huang Taiji does this, the other flag owners of the Eight Banners will definitely oppose it, so Huang Taiji thought of a proper way, which is "changing flags."

In order to strengthen his military power and make the Eight Banners in his hands overwhelming power within the Later Jin Dynasty, thereby consolidating his position, Huang Taiji readjusted the Eight Banners. The first step was to take away the two yellow flags held by the three Ajige brothers.

It was not possible to take it away directly, so the next best way was to change the flag. The so-called changing the flag was to find a reason to exchange their two yellow flags with other flags of the Eight Banners, so as to strengthen their own power and weaken the military power of the three Ajige brothers.

Under the arrangement of Huang Taiji and with the support of Daishan and others, the flag changing began quickly. Eventually, the two yellow flags in the hands of the three Ajige brothers were changed to two white flags. After the flag change, although the three brothers were still the flag masters of the two flags, their strength was also lost a lot after losing the two yellow flags. On the other hand, Huang Taiji not only got the two yellow flags, but also arranged many of his people in the two white flags through small moves in the flag change, thereby greatly increasing his power.

Next, Huang Taiji appointed and promoted a large number of people, all of whom were his subordinates or people he had won over. Huang Taiji let these people occupy various positions in the Eight Banners, and through them gradually infiltrated other banners, further strengthening his control over the Later Jin.

These operations cannot be completed immediately in a short period of time, and the elimination of internal dissatisfaction and opposition also requires subsequent arrangements, so Huang Taiji needs time to do these. Without completing the absolute control over the Later Jin, he does not want to go to war with the Ming Dynasty. To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. Huang Taiji, who is familiar with Chinese books, knows this truth very well.

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(End of this chapter)