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

Chapter 925 Squeeze
In Shengjing, Huang Taiji was not in a good mood these days.

Not long ago, the news brought back by Yuan Chongyu made Huang Taiji happy for a while. At that time, he was still thinking about stabilizing the Qing Dynasty after getting supplies from the Ming Dynasty, and then accumulating strength to prepare for another attack on the Ming Dynasty.

But Huang Taiji was happy for a short time. Less than a month later, he was dumbfounded by the news. He didn't know what went wrong. Yuan Chongyu in Korea suddenly disappeared. Not only did he disappear, but the eight banners around him were also missing.

At first, Huang Taiji suspected that Yuan Chongyu had "run away with the money"? After all, in order to get supplies from the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji attached great importance to this smuggling trade and allocated a lot of gold and silver to Yuan Chongyu.

But now all the gold and silver, including Yuan Chongyu, have disappeared. At first, Ajige in Seoul didn't know anything about it until many days later he realized something was wrong. He sent people to Mokpo, only to find that his people and Yuan Chongyu were all missing. In shock, he hurried to find the local Koreans to inquire about the situation, but these Koreans were so stupid that they didn't know anything. Ajige was panicked.

After searching for several days without finding his whereabouts, Ajige had no choice but to report the matter to Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji's first reaction was that Yuan Chongyu had run away, but after careful consideration, he felt something was wrong. Although Yuan Chongyu had a history of organizing a gang, the problem was that there was no need for him to do so now!

Firstly, he had the Eight Banners guards assigned to him by Ajige. These people were ostensibly guarding Yuan Chongyu, but they were also used to monitor him. Secondly, although Huang Taiji gave Yuan Chongyu a large amount of gold and silver, it did not make Yuan Chongyu desperate to flee with the money. Yuan Chongyu was not an ordinary person. He was a big businessman who had seen the world, and he was now a member of the Eight Banners. Huang Taiji not only gave him the honorary position of the Eight Banners, but also settled down in Shengjing.

Yuan Chongyu's wife and children were in Shengjing, and Yuan Chongyu had brought a lot of property with him when he came to surrender. These properties were now in his Shengjing residence and were managed by his wife. If Yuan Chongyu really fled with the money, why didn't he take his wife and children with him? And why didn't he want the huge family wealth in Shengjing? This was simply impossible.

Huang Taiji racked his brains but couldn't figure out the reason for Yuan Chongyu's sudden disappearance. He could only ask Ajige to continue searching for Yuan Chongyu's whereabouts in Korea and ordered the King of Korea to cooperate.

But in the following days, Yuan Chongyu disappeared without a trace, and even the Eight Banners soldiers who disappeared with him could not be found. Just when Huang Taiji was anxious and uneasy, news suddenly came from the south. The arrival of this news made Huang Taiji understand where Yuan Chongyu was and what was going on.

The Jiangnan case broke out in the Ming Dynasty. Nearly a hundred officials were involved in the case. In addition, more gentry and businessmen were also involved in the case.

This case caused a sensation from Jiangnan to the capital, and the Donglin Party was severely damaged by this case. Huang Taiji soon learned about it in Shengjing. Moreover, news from the south confirmed that the missing Yuan Chongyu was the first to be arrested and was a key figure in this case. Also arrested with him were representatives sent to Korea by Jiangnan officials, and even the elite Eight Banners that Ajige placed beside Yuan Chongyu.

All these people fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty. With the outbreak of this case, Yuan Chongyu's previous plan to win over Ming officials and gentry groups, including southern merchants, to jointly smuggle to Liaodong in order to solve the urgent resource shortage problem for the Qing Dynasty was completely ruined.

Now it can be said that we have not only lost the rice but also the wife.

Huang Taiji did not gain any benefit from this incident, but instead lost a large sum of gold and silver. In addition, Yuan Chongyu was captured, and even the elite Eight Banners under Ajige fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty, which was a slap in the face of Huang Taiji.

In a rage, Huang Taiji sent people to Korea to scold Ajige severely. As the highest-level military and political official of the Qing Dynasty in Korea, Ajige allowed people from the Ming Dynasty to sneak into Korea and kidnap Yuan Chongyu right under his nose. The elite Eight Banners he placed beside Yuan Chongyu were not only useless, but were also transported back to the Ming Dynasty as prisoners. How could he tolerate such humiliation?
If it weren't for the Dorgon brothers, Huang Taiji would have wanted to kill Ajige. But even so, Huang Taiji didn't let Ajige off easily. Not only did he scold him, he also directly cut off his two Niulu as punishment.

In addition, Huang Taiji asked Ajige to thoroughly investigate the matter. If he couldn't figure it out, he should stop staying in Korea and go back to Shengjing. Ajige was terrified after hearing the news. Although Huang Taiji only said these words, he was very scared. You know, the person who guarded Korea before him was Amin. How did Amin fall? How did he die inexplicably? How could Ajige not know?
It was no problem to give him a scolding, and although the loss of two Niulu was a big loss, his life and position were saved. But if he really went back to Shengjing, it would be terrible. Originally, Ajige had been feared and guarded against by Huang Taiji because of the Queen Abahai. Moreover, Ajige was different from Dorgon. Dorgon had been kneeling and licking Huang Taiji after Huang Taiji ascended the throne, and showed an appearance of loyalty. In addition, Dorgon was a better fighter, and Huang Taiji treated him much better than himself, and favored him more, while Ajige was just a marginal figure who was both used and guarded against.

Once Huang Taiji decided to take action against him in this matter, Ajige would have no power to fight back, and would probably end up like Amin and others.

In order to save his life, Ajige had to bite the bullet and investigate the matter, but he could not find the truth. In desperation, Ajige had an idea and reported to Huang Taiji that the Ming Dynasty and the Koreans had jointly done this. Although the Qing Dynasty had controlled Korea, the Korean monarchs and ministers had always been hostile to the Qing Dynasty and were closer to the Ming Dynasty. Taking advantage of this incident, the Korean monarchs and ministers secretly joined forces to trick the Qing Dynasty and secretly colluded with the Ming Dynasty to kidnap Yuan Chongyu and his men in Mokpo. Only this reason can explain why this incident was so bizarre and why the news was blocked so tightly.

Although Ajige's reason was to shirk responsibility and put the blame directly on the Koreans, it must be said that his speculation was almost the same as the truth. Moreover, after listening to Ajige's explanation, Huang Taiji also felt that this was probably the truth. In addition, although the Koreans were defeated before, the Korean monarchs and ministers did have a hypocritical attitude towards the Qing Dynasty. The Koreans took this opportunity to join forces with the Ming Dynasty to trick him. This possibility is very high. Even if this matter has nothing to do with the Koreans, the fact that Yuan Chongyu was abducted by the Ming Dynasty in Korea alone means that the Koreans are definitely not unrelated.

In this way, Huang Taiji immediately pointed the finger at Korea and asked Ajige to order the Korean King Yi Jong to give an explanation to the Qing Dynasty.

The King of Joseon, Yi Jong, secretly groaned. He never expected that these Jiannu were so shameless. Although it was indeed his instructions and the matter was done perfectly, the other party put the blame on him without any actual evidence. This was simply too much!
However, the situation was stronger than the person, and Li Jong had no choice but to deal with the matter. He soon found a few scapegoats and told Huang Taiji that the incident had nothing to do with the Korean monarch and his ministers, and was just the work of ordinary Koreans in Mokpo. In order to show Korea's loyalty to the Qing Dynasty, Li Jong had arrested and executed all these people, and was willing to compensate for part of the Qing Dynasty's losses, hoping that the Qing Dynasty would no longer blame Korea.

But how could Huang Taiji let Li Zong go? He had previously accused Li Zong of a crime without any evidence, and now that Li Zong himself had admitted it, Huang Taiji became even more aggressive.

Huang Taiji immediately ordered that Korea must compensate Qing Dynasty for its losses in full, and also increase its tribute of grain and other materials to Qing Dynasty by 50% this year. If it failed to do so, Qing Dynasty would directly send troops to completely destroy the Joseon Dynasty. Don't blame Huang Taiji for not warning you then.

This answer scared Li Zong so much. He didn't expect that Huang Taiji had such a big appetite and was so cruel.

At this time, Li Jong regretted having joined forces with the Ming Dynasty, but regret was of no use now. The key was how to overcome this difficulty.

There was no other way, Li Jong could only agree to Huang Taiji's request and rush to plunder domestic property and food to satisfy the other party. However, Korea was a small and weak country, and it had been living a hard life under the oppression of the Qing Dynasty in recent years. Ordinary Korean people were almost starving to death due to lack of food. Now the amount had increased by 50%. How could Korea afford so much food?

Li Jong had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it. Now he could no longer care about other things and could only take care of himself. As for whether these practices would provoke a civil uprising in Korea, he did not consider it at all. If Korea was gone, his throne would be gone, and everything would be gone. Why would ordinary people care about their lives? Ordinary people are just like leeks. After a batch is cut, a new batch will emerge. Besides, isn't there Ajige? His army is in Seoul. Even if Korea is completely in chaos, the Qing Dynasty can't just sit there and watch, right? At that time, let the Qing Dynasty help him suppress it by force. As long as he can keep his throne, everything will be worth it.

The losses inside the dike can be compensated by those outside the dike. Although Huang Taiji lost Yuan Chongyu, he also lost a large amount of gold and silver. It is possible that the loss can be compensated from Korea, so this deal is not a loss. As for Yuan Chongyu's life or death, Huang Taiji could not care about it. He was in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, how could he be saved?

In order to appease the people, Huang Taiji only needs to take proper care of Yuan Chongyu's wife and children in the future, and the same can be said for other things.

Yuan Chongyu is gone, but Fan Yuwei is still there. Previously, Fan Yuwei sent news from the Ming Dynasty saying that he had contacted several princes of the Ming Dynasty, and these princes were privately very dissatisfied with the current Emperor Yongming of the Ming Dynasty. They were willing to unite the power of the royal family and launch an attack together at an appropriate time to rescue the imprisoned Emperor Chongzhen and support his restoration.

This news made Huang Taiji very happy. He originally thought that Yuan Chongyu and Fan Yuwei could make the best use of their strengths and use the civil servants, gentry, merchants and royal family of the Ming Dynasty to secretly disrupt the internal situation of the Ming Dynasty and profit from it.

But who would have thought that Yuan Chongyu would encounter such a thing, which made Huang Taiji worry about Fan Yuwei. He was afraid that the night would be long and dreams would arise. If the Ming Dynasty targeted Fan Yuwei, all his previous efforts would be wasted. In order to ensure that everything was foolproof, Huang Taiji sent someone to sneak into the Ming Dynasty to deliver a letter to Fan Yuwei, telling him not to wait any longer and to immediately contact the Ming royal family and princes who had been won over to start the operation. As for how far he could do, he would do as much as he could. On the contrary, his real intention was not to restore Chongzhen to the throne. This was just an excuse. The key was to disrupt the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Huang Taiji also told Fan Yuwei that he did not need to stay in Daming after the launch of the campaign, and to return to Liaodong as soon as possible to avoid accidents due to carelessness. After the letter was sent out, Huang Taiji carefully considered his arrangements and felt that there was nothing wrong with his arrangements. He was relieved and his expression was much more relaxed.

(End of this chapter)