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

Chapter 786: Tunta West

When he met Jing Wuer and Guan Bao, Chen Xinjia immediately took out the imperial edict and announced it.

Zheng Hongkui and others knelt down hurriedly to receive the order. Among them, Jing Wuer and Guan Bao followed the crowd and knelt in the front row, sticking their buttocks out and knocking their foreheads on the ground, feeling excited but also nervous.

As the decree was announced, they were confused by the first long string of words, but knew they were all good words, and they heard clearly the rewards at the end.

When they heard that the Ming court had conferred on them such official titles as Commander-in-Chief, Guerrilla General, the third-rank General Dingyuan, and Shangqi Duwei, the two of them smiled so hard that they couldn't close their mouths. That was not all, in the end each of them would appoint a son as a Hundred Householders of the Embroidered Guards, in addition to which they were rewarded with gold, silver, land, and mansions in the capital.

"Slave... no! We bow to thank God for his grace. Long live the Regent!" Jing Wuer kowtowed excitedly, and Guan Bao was also overjoyed. They had not expected that the court would have such a generous reward. It seemed that joining the Ming Dynasty was the right decision.

"Congratulations, generals. When you serve in the same court in the future, you two generals must work hard for the Ming Dynasty!" Chen Xinjia helped the two men up with a smile and reminded them in a friendly manner.

Jing Wuer and Guan Bao patted their chests and guaranteed that from today on, they would be Ming people in life and Ming ghosts in death. It was their duty to serve the Ming Dynasty. Since the court treated them so well, they would definitely not let the court down.

"By the way, the Regent also asked me to give a message to the two generals."

"Please speak, sir. I am all ears."

"The regent said that the two generals are loyal and righteous because they have abandoned the dark and joined the light. The subordinates of the two generals will continue to be led by their respective leaders. The military officers of the sixth rank and below can be reported by the two generals at their discretion. I am the assistant minister of the Ministry of War and have the right to make direct appointments. The two generals can hand over the roster to me in the next few days."

"In addition, the troops of the two generals will be temporarily incorporated into the Shandong Army and will be under the command of General Zheng and General Li. Do the two generals have any objections to this?"

"No objection, no objection." Jing Wuer and Guan Bao's heads shook like rattles instantly. How could there be any objection?

Not only did the two of them get promoted and gain benefits, but the court also remembered their subordinates and respected them by not splitting them up, allowing them to continue to lead the group on their own.

This was already a pleasant surprise for the two of them. They had originally thought that the court would separate them for use, but who would have thought that this would be the result? How could they possibly have any objections?

After the announcement, Zheng Hongkui, Li You and others all smiled and congratulated the two. This matter was settled, which was a great joy. Moreover, Chen Xinjia, as the Minister of War, arrived at Ludao, so he naturally had to be entertained. Zheng Hongkui, as the commander, immediately proposed to hold a banquet today to celebrate, both to welcome Master Chen and to congratulate Jing Wuer and Guan Bao.

Chen Xinjia readily agreed. Wasn't his purpose here to cooperate with these generals and make friends with Jing Wuer and Guan Bao, so that he could win over the Eight Banners through them? Since there would be drinking at a banquet, some things would be more appropriate to talk about after drinking. The group immediately went to Zheng Hongkui's residence in Ludao. When they arrived at the place, the banquet was set up. Zheng Hongkui asked Chen Xinjia to sit in the upper seat, and he and Li You accompanied him on the left and right. Jing Wuer and Guan Bao, as the protagonists of today, sat at the bottom, and there were other generals in the army.

The atmosphere of the banquet was very harmonious. Chen Xinjia took the opportunity to chat with Zheng Hongkui and Li You about the current situation of the war in Liaodong. After three rounds of drinks, he personally toasted Jing Wuer and Guan Bao with a glass of wine. After drinking, Chen Xinjia directly asked about the situation of the Eight Banners.

Jingwuer and Guanbao naturally answered all that Chen Xinjia asked. When they had almost finished speaking, Chen Xinjia suddenly asked, "I had heard that Jingwuer and Guanbao could persuade the other Eight Banners to surrender, but I wonder how this was going."

"To be honest with you, sir, I cannot guarantee anything about other banners, but I am somewhat confident about the Zhenglan Banner." Jing Wuer replied with a bow.

"Oh, General, can you tell me in detail?" Chen Xinjia raised his eyebrows and asked immediately.

Jing Wuer said, "In fact, before you came, I had already worked on this matter with General Zheng and General Li. A few days ago, I secretly sent people to Xiuyan City. This place is the garrison of the Zhenglan Banner, and the commander of Xiuyan City is Jiala Ezhen Tuntaxi of the Zhenglan Banner."

"Tuntaxi was a close confidant of Manggurtai, the leader of the Zhenglan Banner, and one of the most capable generals of the Zhenglan Banner. After Manggurtai was murdered by Huang Taiji, Tuntaxi was extremely dissatisfied with Huang Taiji. He cursed Huang Taiji in private many times and even declared that he would avenge Manggurtai." "I have a good relationship with Tuntaxi. Our two families are also related by marriage, and our relationship is very good. This time, after I surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, I thought of Tuntaxi. If I can win over Tuntaxi, it will be enough to cause great damage to the Zhenglan Banner. You should know that he is Jiala Ezhen, and he has five Niulu under him."

Since he was going to Liaodong, Chen Xinjia had done a careful study on the organization of the Eight Banners before coming. After Nurhaci created the Eight Banners, the Eight Banners became the foundation of the Later Jin Dynasty. The Eight Banners were based on Niulu, and the general who commanded the Niulu was called Niulu Zhangjing, which was at the same level as Jingwuer and Guanbao.

But above Niulu Zhangjing is Jiala Ezhen, who usually commands four to six Niulu, and above Jiala Ezhen are Mele Ezhen and Guzhen Ezhen, who control several Jiala in the flag. These military positions are the titles of the Jurchens. If they are changed to the later military positions, it will be clearer. Niulu Zhangjing is Zuoling, Jiala Ezhen is Canling, Mele Ezhen and Guzhen Ezhen are Fudutong and Dutong respectively.

Generally speaking, Guzhen Ezhen was always held by the banner owner himself. As the highest commander of a banner, it can be seen that Jiala Ezhen's status within the Eight Banners was already that of a mid- to high-level general. If he were to be placed in a military position in the Ming Dynasty, he would at least be at the level of lieutenant general.

When the Zhenglan Banner was at its strongest, it had 21 Niulu. Assuming that each Niulu had 300 soldiers, the entire Zhenglan Banner had 6,300 soldiers. This number was not small for the Eight Banners. You have to know how many Jurchens there were in total. The Zhenglan Banner with 6,300 soldiers, if you add the Baoyi under its banner, could easily have a team of over 10,000 at its strongest.

But soon after Huang Taiji came to power, he took action against the Zhenglan Banner. First, he found reasons to reduce the number of Niulu of the Zhenglan Banner, took away the five Niulu of the Zhenglan Banner, and directly disbanded them and incorporated them into the Zhenghuang Banner and the Xianghuang Banner respectively.

As a result, the twenty-one Niulu of the Zhenglan Banner became sixteen Niulu, which was suddenly reduced by 1,500 people, and its strength dropped from the upper level of the Eight Banners to the middle level.

Afterwards, Huang Taiji took action against Manggurtai. He found a reason to remove Manggurtai from his position as the leader of the Zhenglan Banner and supported the Dergelei to control the Zhenglan Banner.

When the Degelei became the leader of the banner, he naturally suppressed those who were loyal to Manggurtai and promoted his own people to replace them. As a result, nearly half of the sixteen Niulu were replaced by Degelei people. That is to say, only nearly half of the remaining Niulu of the Zhenglan Banner, or eight Niulu, were loyal to Manggurtai, including the two Niulu of Jingwuer and Guanbao who had turned to the light this time.

Apart from them, there are five Niulu controlled by Jiala Ezhen Tuntaxi, and another Niulu controlled by another Niulu Zhangjing. But compared with Tuntaxi, the remaining Niulu is too far away and it is not so easy to contact for the time being, so Jing Wuer and Guan Bao proposed to start with Tuntaxi. As long as Tuntaxi is won over, half of the Zhenglan Banner will be destroyed.

"Is this true?" Chen Xinjia asked, while looking at Zheng Hongkui and Li You beside him.

Zheng Hongkui took over the conversation and nodded, "That's true. Before I received your arrival, I discussed with General Li and followed the advice of the two generals to send someone to contact Tuntaxi. Xiuyan City is located nearly 300 miles north of Ludao in Liaodong. The distance is not far or short, and Tuntaxi is the main general of Xiuyan City. If he can surrender, it will not only disintegrate the Zhenglan Banner, but also be more beneficial to the Liaodong war."

Chen Xinjia nodded silently, and continued to ask what the other party's attitude was now, and what conditions they had given. Zheng Hongkui answered them one by one, saying that he was only a deputy general and had no right to give too generous conditions, but he promised to report the matter to the court, and as long as Tunta Xi was willing to surrender, the court would definitely reward him generously.

The contact between the two parties has just begun. The other party has neither agreed nor rejected the request. At the same time, they have not taken any action towards the people they sent. Everything seems normal. According to Zheng Hongkui's guess, Tun Tashi should be hesitating and waiting, and has not made a final decision.

"Stupid!" Chen Xinjia sighed in his heart. Although Zheng Hongkui and Li You had thought of these things and did this in advance, they were not civil servants after all. Moreover, because they were leading troops, they overlooked a key point, which was the importance of this matter.

The matter between Jing Wuer and Guan Bao has just begun. The political significance of this matter even exceeds its military significance. Otherwise, how could Chen Xinjia have traveled all the way from the capital to Kashima?
If this can be used to split the Eight Banners and weaken the foundation of Huang Taiji, no matter how high the price is, it is worth it. If he were Tun Tashi, he would probably react in the same way if he did not give substantive conditions just because of his power and used such ambiguous words to communicate with the other party.

Tun Tashi is neither Jing Wuer nor Guan Bao. He is a powerful figure who controls five Niulu in the Zhenglan Banner. Even if he is dissatisfied with Huang Taiji, how could he easily defect to the Ming Dynasty without absolute certainty?

Now that Tun Tashi has made such a gesture, it is clear that he has this idea in his mind but is hesitant. The key is that the chips given by the Ming Dynasty are not enough, or he does not feel the sincerity of the Ming Dynasty, and feels that once he goes to the Ming Dynasty, he may not be stronger than staying in his original position.

In this case, Zheng Hongkui and Li You should directly offer generous conditions, regardless of whether the court will really approve it, and first pull the person over. As long as the person comes to the Ming Dynasty, some things can be dealt with after all. Moreover, Chen Xinjia knows that Zhu Shenzhu is definitely not stingy. It can be seen from this reward that even Jing Wuer and Guan Bao, two Niulu Zhangjing, can be rewarded generously, not to mention the Eight Banners generals of Tuntaxi's level.

(End of this chapter)