Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 594 The Plot of Feinting to the East and Attacking in the West
"You mean that the garrison in Kuandian is actually under the command of three different generals, and Commander-in-Chief 'Amin' can only fully control one of the troops? That is, the one with the blue flag?" Yuan Keli narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Yes, yes!" Mangku nodded repeatedly. "Master is right, that's exactly what I meant!"

"Then what is the relationship between the white banner chief 'Dudu Taiji' and the red banner chief 'Ya Tuo Taiji' that you just mentioned, and the slave chief Nurhaci?" Yuan Keli had already vaguely realized that this "Taiji" seemed to be an official title or noble title, just like "Beile".

“Both Dudu Taiji and Yuetuo Taiji are the Great Khan’s grandsons,” Mangku replied immediately.

"Grandchildren?" Yuan Keli then asked, "And who is their father?"

“Dudu Taiji’s father was Chuying Beile, and Yuetuo Taiji’s father was the Great Khan’s heir apparent, Daishan Beile, whom you just mentioned.” After a slight pause, Mangku added, “Chuying Beile was the Great Khan’s eldest son and Daishan Beile’s elder brother. Both Beile were sons of Tongjia Fujin.”

"Then which banner does this 'Zhu Yin' command?" Yuan Keli had traveled around Liaodong, visiting almost everything except a few places in the mountainous areas of southern Liaodong, but he had never heard of Chu Ying's deeds. On the contrary, the Crown Prince Daishan's name was exceptionally renowned, almost on par with Nurhaci. He could be seen in any battle of any significant scale, or his deeds could be heard of.

“Prince Chu Ying is dead,” Mangku said.

"Dead?" Yuan Keli was slightly startled and immediately asked, "When did this happen?"

"When?" Mangku had no direct connection with Chuying and couldn't recall for the moment. He frowned and thought for a long time, and even at the end, his tone was still very uncertain: "If I remember correctly, Prince Chuying should have died the year before the Great Khan became Khan."

"The year before the slave chieftain usurped the title of king?" Yuan Keli pondered for a moment. "That is, the 43rd year of the Wanli reign?"

"I guess so." Mangku smiled awkwardly. The concept of calendar systems was far too complicated for someone like him, a member of a low-level tribe who only knew a few Mongolian characters.

"How did 'Zhu Yin' die?" Yuan Keli asked again.

“I don’t know,” Mangku shook his head and said, “This servant only knows that Prince Chuying was first imprisoned for some mistake, and then came the news of his death.”

Yuan Keli silently noted down these unrelated matters, and in the blink of an eye, he returned to the main topic: "You just said that there are three banners stationed in Kuandian: one with a bordered blue flag, one with a bordered red flag, and one with a bordered white flag. Besides these three banners, there are also four Niru (military units) with two-colored yellow flags. Is that correct?"

After listening to the translation, Mangku hesitated for a moment. Instead of answering directly, he asked, "Sir, you want to know how many troops are stationed in Kuandian, right?"

Lu Wenzhao was stunned. Lu Jianxing and Mao Wenlong, who understood Jurchen, also looked towards Mangku immediately.

"What did he just say?" Yuan Keli asked Lu Wenzhao, turning his head to the side.

"He asked you if he wanted to know how many troops were stationed in Kuandian?" Lu Wenzhao smiled.

Yuan Keli was also taken aback. "It really is. This messenger is quite interesting."

Seeing Yuan Keli nod with a smile, Mangku said, "I don't know exactly how many people there are in Kuandian. But I do know that the three banners together have more than seventy Niru. If we add the four Niru of the two Yellow Banners, the total number of Niru should exceed eighty. Generally speaking, each Niru has three hundred men. That's a total of twenty-five thousand elite soldiers. If we also include women, children, the elderly, and bondservants, there should be at least fifty thousand people in Kuandian."

"Hmm." Yuan Keli's eyes flickered slightly, but his overall expression remained largely unchanged. "Do you know how these 50,000 men were deployed?"

"I don't know." Mangku shook his head decisively; he truly didn't know.

Yuan Keli had originally intended to ask about the Jurchen rebels' military strategy, but then reconsidered and decided against it. He remained silent for a moment before finally asking, "What do 'Amin' and 'Urqut' want from the Ming Dynasty when they rebelled?"

Upon hearing this question, Mangku's eyes lit up immediately. He quickly straightened his posture and said earnestly, "Wuergudi Beile hopes to break away from Jianzhou and return to his homeland with his followers to re-establish Hada, while Amin Beile wants to replace Tianming Khan as the new Jurchen Khan. Of course, both Wuergudi Beile and Amin Beile will forever be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming!"

"What a coincidence!" Yuan Keli said with a look of delighted approval. "Our Great Ming Dynasty has always intended to re-establish Nanguan, and we were just worried about not finding a 'Urhutai' chieftain!"

"Is this true?" Mangku asked excitedly.

"Why would I lie to you?" Yuan Keli asked with a smile. "Do you know what 'Ge Ba Ku' means?"

"Of course!" Mangku's face flushed crimson with fervor. In his excitement, Mangku even took a half-step forward. "Is Kebakutaiji still alive!?"

From the moment he freed Mangku from his restraints, Lu Jianxing's entire attention was focused on the Tartar. Seeing Mangku make a forward movement, Lu Jianxing immediately reached out to block him at the chest, and at the same time, his other hand swiftly drew half a knife. "Don't go any further!"

"Sorry!" Mangku snapped out of his daze and immediately retreated.

Yuan Keli remained remarkably calm. He first gestured to Lu Jianxing to "calm down," then said to Mangku, "'Gebaku' has not only returned, but has also become a guerrilla general of our Great Ming. On the way to Zhenjiang, I even met General 'Gebaku' once. 'Gebaku' told me that he has been missing his elder brother 'Wuerhutai,' whom he hasn't seen for many years. Moreover, his greatest wish in this life is to see his brother again. When you go back, you must tell Chief Wuerhutai this news. I will also write to General 'Gebaku' later to let him know that his brother is in Kuandian. Perhaps next time you come, you will receive a reply from General 'Gebaku'."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Mangku nodded hurriedly before Lu Wenzhao could finish translating. "This servant will certainly tell Prince Wuergu this good news. I believe he will be very happy to hear about it!"

"Hehehe." Yuan Keli nodded with a smile and said to Lu Jianxing, "Please take this messenger away. Be sure to treat him well and do not be impolite."

"Yes." Lu Jianxing was about to act immediately, but Lu Wenzhao's deliberate translation suddenly came through, so Lu Jianxing waited for him to finish before replying in Jurchen, "Yes!" ————————

Mangku's shadow gradually faded into the distance, and Yuan Keli's smile slowly disappeared.

The moment Mangku walked around the screen wall, Mao Wenlong stood up. He walked over, closed the door, and when he turned back, Yuan Keli once again picked up the letter and the record of the conversation between Qiu Julu and Mangku.

"What do you all think about this matter?" The breath that enveloped the paper made it vibrate slightly.

“This humble general thinks this matter is very strange,” Mao Wenlong agreed as soon as he sat down. “You have just arranged the strategy for monitoring the advance into Korea, and these ‘Amin’ and ‘Urghut’ have sent someone to leak the secret, saying that they plan to send someone to contact Korea and divide up Liaodong. The timing is just too perfect.”

“I think it’s just a simple coincidence, they just happened to run into each other.” Gao Bangzuo turned his head to look at Mao Wenlong, but his mind was still on Lu Wenzhao and Yuan Keli. “After all, they didn’t even know that Yuan Shijun had been replaced by Gao Canzheng.”

"So you think the slave traitors really have the intention to revolt and rebel?" Mao Wenlong asked.

"No. Coincidences are coincidences, and conspiracies are conspiracies. I don't believe a single word of what's in that letter!" Gao Bangzuo said firmly. "To unite with Korea, attack Zhenjiang from both sides, and then divide up Liaodong is nothing short of a pipe dream, a fantasy. Only a fool would come up with such an idea. I think it's just a smokescreen. The slaves want to use this letter to make us more wary of Korea."

“This is no conspiracy at all, it’s clearly out of kindness.” Lu Wenzhao also went back to his original seat and sat down. “Supervisor Yuan came here precisely to be wary of North Korea.”

“That’s definitely not what the slave traitor is thinking! I think,” Gao Bangzuo’s gaze followed Lu Wenzhao to the opposite side, “that the slave traitor is planning a feint attack.”

"Founding in the east and attacking in the west?"

"The so-called 'feint to the east' means deceiving the Zhenjiang military command with that letter, so that the command would transfer its available troops to Zhenjiang to defend against Korea in the east. In this way, the forces in Fenghuang in the west would become thinner, and they could take the opportunity to 'attack the west.' It's like last time, when the slave chieftain clearly wanted to withdraw his troops, but first he put on an offensive posture." Gao Bangzuo paused, then said with a flash of inspiration:
“What I’m worried about now is that the Jurchens have indeed devised a strategy to ‘attack the west.’ If the news that we’re crossing the river to advance into Yizhou, and even Shuozhou and Guizhou gets out, the Jurchens will think we’ve fallen into their trap and launch a fierce attack on Fenghuang.”

This reasoning was perfectly reasonable, and Lu Wenzhao couldn't help but nod. Just as he was deep in thought, Lu Wenzhao suddenly felt someone gently tug at him from the side. "What advice does Madam Bai have?" Lu Wenzhao turned his head and asked softly in a southwestern dialect with a smile.

"I'd like to ask, what exactly was said just now?" Bai Zaixiang's face was filled with embarrassment. Lu Wenzhao's original job was to act as Bai Zaixiang's translator, and that was why he was arranged to sit next to her. However, after Mangku started speaking, Lu Wenzhao ignored her. As a result, the poor Madam Bai sat there for a long time, understanding almost nothing.

"Uh..." Bai Zaixiang's question stunned Lu Wenzhao. "The matter is a bit complicated, involving many Tartars, and these Tartars have not been assimilated for a long time, so their relationships are very complicated. If I were to explain it in detail, it would probably take quite a while. I'll tell you more about it later."

"There's no need for Lu Shangcha to explain in detail. I just want to ask you three things." Bai Zaixiang smiled and shook her head, then held up three fingers: "Is that letter real? Does that chieftain who calls himself Wang Dutang really intend to surrender? What are Yuan Jianzhang's plans? Is there anything that my department can do to help?" At the end, Bai Zaixiang held up another finger.

Lu Wenzhao still couldn't answer any of these questions. "Guardian Yuan is still thinking about these things. I'll tell you after he explains it to me, okay?"

"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you." Bai Zaixiang smiled faintly, a smile that made Lu Wenzhao's heart flutter, and he quickly moved away from her.

"Gentlemen." As soon as Yuan Keli's face appeared, the discussions in the hall, whether loud or soft, immediately stopped.

"Don't you all find the person who delivered the letter strange?" Yuan Keli put down the letter.

"Are you still wondering why 'Amin' and 'Urhutai' would send someone like this over?" Mao Wenlong spoke up enthusiastically, as if deliberately showing Yuan Keli that he was indeed listening and thinking seriously.

"A glimpse into the whole picture from a small part." Yuan Keli nodded slightly. "'Amin' and 'Urhutai' must have some special reason for sending such a person over."

"Didn't he explain that his family was saved from being enslaved by the Celestial Empire?" Gao Bangzu stroked his short beard. "Judging from his expression, I think what he said is true."

“Just because he said everything is true doesn’t mean he’s told the whole truth.” Yuan Keli’s eyes gleamed with thoughtful consideration.

“What do you think is being hidden?” Gao Bangzuo asked.

“I think he couldn’t explain himself completely,” Yuan Keli explained. “In my opinion, this messenger was just an ordinary old party member from Nanguan. He probably didn’t even know why ‘Amin’ sent him.”

"What does this prove?" Gao Bangzuo asked, puzzled. "When superiors send envoys to subordinates, there's not much explanation needed. 'Amin' and 'Urhutai' only need to make sure that this messenger won't risk going to the slave chieftain to inform him, right?"

At this point, Gao Bangzuo suddenly froze, realizing that this statement completely contradicted his previous reasoning. Only if 'Amin' and 'Urqutai' genuinely intended to betray the Nu chieftain and join the Ming army would it be necessary to avoid informing them. But if the purpose of writing the letter was not to collude with the Ming army, but rather a feint, then secrecy was unnecessary; they could even directly inform the Nu chieftain of the plan to avoid misunderstanding.

However, Gao Bangzuo quickly came up with another solution: "No! This messenger must have been used by 'Amin' and 'Urqut'!"

“Use?” Yuan Keli looked at Gao Bangzuo.

“Yes! This person was chosen as a pawn to be sacrificed.” Gao Bangzuo said with certainty, “I think this messenger is probably a good Tartar who admires the Celestial Empire and is wholeheartedly devoted to its assimilation. He doesn’t know much, but he believes that ‘Amin’ and ‘Urqut’ really intend to defect. Such a person, even if he is tortured because we don’t trust him, is not afraid of his conspiracy being exposed. Because what he says is what he believes!”

(End of this chapter)