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

Chapter 388: Changes in the Later Jin

In addition to eliminating dissidents, placing their own people in the fold, and completely controlling the power of the Later Jin, the Later Jin is now also facing an important problem, which is the problem of survival.

Sun Chengzong's siege tactics had achieved remarkable results as early as the Nurhaci era. The long-term economic and military blockade made the Later Jin Dynasty miserable. Especially because of the former, the Later Jin Dynasty had an increasingly difficult time. The Later Jin Dynasty was never able to break through the Ming army's blockade in Liaodong, and even if it launched a war, it could not break through the Ming army's city.

Under such circumstances, the Later Jin, which relied on plundering for survival, would be trapped to death if it continued like this. This is why Nurhaci launched the Battle of Ningyuan in January. Although he failed to capture Ningyuan, he captured Juehua Island. With the large amount of supplies plundered from Juehua Island, the Later Jin temporarily alleviated the dilemma of survival. However, Huang Taiji clearly knew that the current relief was only temporary. As these supplies were exhausted, the Later Jin would soon continue to face this problem.

Compared to Nurhaci, who only knew how to fight and kill, Huang Taiji was much smarter, and he considered issues from a broader perspective.

There are only two ways to solve this problem: one is self-sufficiency, and the other is to find a solution from outside.

The first is self-sufficiency. In fact, during the Nurhaci era, the Later Jin plundered a lot of Liaodong soldiers and civilians and used them as slaves for production. The Baoyi system appeared at this time.

But Nurhaci did not attach importance to these. In his eyes, military affairs were the top priority. He used Ming people to carry out production. Except for some craftsmen who did manual work, ordinary people lived worse than cattle and horses. Nurhaci even made a cruel decision to directly massacre the Ming people who had no ability to survive. He used the problem of dragging down the population to maintain the survival of the Eight Banners. In this way, the Eight Banners of the Later Jin Dynasty, which did not engage in production at all, would continue to survive under the blockade of the Ming Dynasty.

After ascending the throne, Huang Taiji, who was more sober than Nurhaci, knew that the Later Jin could not continue like this. Such barbaric rule had no future, and the Jurchens could not truly win the world by relying on these means.

What's more, for the Later Jin Dynasty, which was seriously short of population, even ordinary bondservants were still human beings. It would be a pity to waste these people in vain. Wouldn't it be better to let them farm and engage in production, thereby creating resources and wealth for the Later Jin Dynasty?

In this way, Huang Taiji began to make changes within the Later Jin Dynasty. He appropriately relaxed the exploitation and restrictions on the baoyi, promoted some Ming people who had defected to the Later Jin Dynasty earlier, and changed their status from slaves to officials. At the same time, he restricted the phenomenon of arbitrary killings. In addition, he began to prepare to establish the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Army Banner on the basis of the Eight Banners, and brought these people directly under his rule, thus getting rid of the initial barbarism.

Huang Taiji estimated that if these people could farm well in Liaodong, they could at least solve part of the food problem of the Later Jin, which could alleviate the difficulties faced by the Later Jin.

However, this approach would not produce immediate results, and the crops in the fields could not be grown just by planting them. Even if Huang Taiji began to implement this policy now, it would take at least two years for it to be effective. During this period, the Later Jin would still face problems, so Huang Taiji turned his attention to the outside world.

There are two external targets, one of which is the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Taiji knew better than anyone about the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. Although the Later Jin Dynasty was powerful, it was still far behind the Ming Dynasty. Even if the Later Jin Dynasty won a few more times on the battlefield, it would still be no match for the Ming Dynasty with its current strength.

The vast territory and endless population of the Ming Dynasty were the basis for the Ming Dynasty to persist in the Liaodong battlefield. Huang Taiji of the Ming Dynasty was extremely envious of him. He even thought that if he were the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there would not be so many troubles and problems. He would have ruled the world and was invincible, and would not be troubled by these problems.

The Later Jin lacked supplies, but the Ming Dynasty had no shortage of supplies. It was a good idea to obtain supplies from the Ming Dynasty. Although the Ming Dynasty had been blockading the Later Jin, there were many people who smuggled gold and silver privately, including Yuan Chonghuan's younger brother Yuan Chongyu and several Shanxi merchants.

Yuan Chonghuan took the initiative to contact him and proposed peace talks, which gave Huang Taiji an opportunity. This opportunity was to break the blockade of the Ming army on the Later Jin. Since peace talks were being prepared, private smuggling could be further relaxed. Moreover, the largest businessman in Liaodong was Yuan Chongyu, Yuan Chonghuan's younger brother. After contacting Yuan Chongyu, Huang Taiji was more certain that this guy was a profit-seeking businessman who would do anything as long as there was money to be made.

During the contact, Huang Taiji privately told Yuan Chongyu that as long as he could transport a large amount of materials to the Later Jin, especially including food and medicine, he would definitely get rich rewards. He also hoped that Yuan Chongyu could tell his brother Yuan Chonghuan that since both sides were negotiating, they had to show sincerity. This sincerity meant that the Ming Dynasty would give certain material support to the Later Jin Dynasty. If there was no such sincerity, it meant that the Ming Dynasty had no intention of negotiating. Although he was the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, he could not explain it to his subordinates.

Huang Taiji was not sure whether this trick would work, but he would try his best anyway. What if it worked? Besides, even if Yuan Chonghuan did not give him food, Yuan Chongyu's smuggling could make up for it. In addition, Huang Taiji generously gave Yuan Chonghuan generous gifts, and the value of these gifts was not low.

But in Huang Taiji's view, even if these gifts are worth a lot, they are dead things after all. Whether it is Dongzhu, mink fur, or ginseng, these things are good but not edible or drinkable, and they are of no use to Huang Taiji. Giving these dead things and turning them into real food and medicine is what Huang Taiji really needs. In addition, using these properties to paralyze and lure the other party, so that the Ming Dynasty can relax its vigilance against itself, thereby leaving itself more time, is also what Huang Taiji wants to achieve.

In addition to the Ming Dynasty, there are also the Mongolian tribe and the Solon tribe.

During the Nurhaci era, the Later Jin had many wars with various Mongolian tribes, and through means such as winning over and intermarriage, many Mongolian tribes defected to the Later Jin, or formed an alliance with the Later Jin.

Since it was impossible to break through from the Ming Dynasty, it was the same to break through from the Mongolian grasslands. Huang Taiji planned to free up his hands to conquer Mongolia first, uniting the Mongolian tribes that had surrendered to him and the Mongolians who were close to him to fight against Lin Danhan.

As long as Ligdan Khan was defeated, the forces of the Later Jin could directly enter the Mongolian grasslands from Liaodong. Once Chahar was occupied, the Later Jin would have broken the military blockade of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, it could also use the resources of the Mongolian grasslands to feed back to the Later Jin, thereby strengthening itself.

The Mongols were one side, and the other side was the Solon tribe. The Solon tribe lived in the north of the Later Jin Dynasty, in the Heilongjiang River Basin. The Solon tribe was composed of three ethnic groups: the Ewenki, the Daur, and the Oroqen, so they were called the Solon Three Tribes, or the Solon Three Tribes.

The Solon tribe is good at hunting, riding and shooting, and warfare, and its individual combat effectiveness is very strong. When Huang Taiji was the fourth Beile, he had been coveting the Solon tribe. He had long wanted to regain the Solon tribe. Once the Solon tribe belonged to him, the combat effectiveness of the Later Jin would be greatly increased. Relying on the powerful Solon tribe as the vanguard, they would be more confident in dealing with the Mongols, including the Ming Dynasty.

After inheriting the Khanate, Huang Taiji sent people to the Solon tribe to persuade them to surrender, offering generous conditions, hoping that the Solon tribe would join the Later Jin. However, the leader of the Solon tribe, Bomuboguer, was a smart man. He knew very well that although the Solon tribe was good at fighting, they were no match for the Later Jin. If they turned against the Later Jin directly, it would probably bring disaster to the tribe.

But once the Solon tribe surrenders to the Later Jin, Huang Taiji will inevitably use the Solon tribe as the Later Jin's war machine, which will also cause the Solon tribe to become a consumable of the Later Jin in the war.

Bomubogor was in a dilemma. He could only temporarily express his submission and pay tribute to the Later Jin Dynasty, but he did not make any statement on the incorporation of the Solon tribe into the Later Jin Dynasty, intending to maintain the status quo in this way.

Unfortunately, Bomubogor didn't expect that Huang Taiji didn't care about the so-called surrender at all. What he really wanted was to annex the Solon tribe. However, Huang Taiji had just taken the throne, so it was not convenient for him to attack the Solon tribe immediately. Therefore, Huang Taiji temporarily accepted Bomubogor's tribute, stabilized Bomubogor first, and then took his time.

After completing the plan, Huang Taiji officially changed the name of the Great Jin to "Great Qing" and the name of the Jurchen to "Manchuria" shortly after he ascended the throne. At the same time, he abandoned his previous throne and directly proclaimed himself emperor.

After Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor, the news reached Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan, who was about to continue negotiating with Huang Taiji, was stunned and could not help but become extremely angry.

You, the Later Jin, had said that you wanted to negotiate, but why did you establish a country and proclaim yourself emperor before the negotiation? Isn't this playing tricks on me? Yuan Chonghuan was furious and sent people to negotiate, raising the issue of Huang Taiji's proclaiming himself emperor, but Huang Taiji soon responded, telling Yuan Chonghuan that he had no choice but to proclaim himself emperor in order to stabilize his regime. You, the Ming Dynasty, wanted to negotiate, but you didn't show sincerity. He had just succeeded to the throne and had not yet firmly established his position. There were many people who opposed the negotiation, and even he, the Khan, could not suppress them.

Huang Taiji had no choice but to proclaim himself emperor to ease the internal conflicts. Besides, the so-called emperorship was just an internal title for the Jurchens to see, not to provoke the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Ming Dynasty showed a certain sincerity, he would give up the title of emperor after the peace talks were completed. He guaranteed this with his credibility and would absolutely abide by his promise.

After hearing Huang Taiji's solemn words, Yuan Chonghuan's anger was mostly gone, and he turned around to explain to Emperor Tianqi on behalf of Huang Taiji. At the same time, in order to give a certain promise, Yuan Chonghuan privately mobilized a large amount of food and took the initiative to give it to Huang Taiji, showing the sincerity of the Ming Dynasty in the peace talks with practical actions.

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(End of this chapter)