Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 595 Advance to seize territory, retreat to raise an army

“Counselor Gao’s concerns are reasonable,” Yuan Keli replied. “However, I think this matter is still open to discussion.”

Gao Bangzuo immediately adopted a listening posture. "What insightful opinion does Supervisor Yuan have?"

"I wouldn't call it insightful, I just find it strange." Yuan Keli held up the letter of denunciation and showed it to everyone. "You've all seen this letter, and I wonder if any of you have noticed that it never mentions the person 'Amin'?"

“It seems so.” Gao Bangzuo had a good memory and recalled almost the entire contents of the letter after only a short while. Lu Wenzhao nodded in agreement. After he translated it in a low voice for Bai Zaixiang, who had come over to ask, Bai Zaixiang whispered, “Indeed, not even once.”

Mao Wenlong couldn't recall many details, only that the letter of denunciation was related to North Korea. However, since everyone was certain and Yuan Keli spoke with such certainty, he simply nodded in agreement, as if to fill the void.

“Now, please forget about my conversation with the messenger for now,” Yuan Keli stood up, walked to Gao Bangzuo’s side, and handed him the letter. “Just read this letter once.”

"Okay." Gao Bangzuo took the letter, and Yuan Keli went back to sit down.

Yuan Keli leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced on his chest. After everyone had finished reading the letter again, he asked, "If you only read this letter, what comes to mind?"

“This is a case of one person informing on you!” Gao Bangzuo immediately gave the answer.

“Yes! From beginning to end, this letter of denunciation, which claims to have been conspired by ‘Amin’ and ‘Urqut,’ never once mentioned ‘Amin,’ not even a hint. Our entire impression of ‘Amin’ comes from the messenger’s verbal description.” Yuan Keli pointed heavily to the transcript of the conversation. “But the messenger’s description was so natural, it gave the impression that ‘Amin’s’ existence was perfectly natural. Think about it, why is that?”

“Either the messenger was lying and misleading us, or ‘Amin’ deliberately concealed his existence.” This time it was Lu Wenzhao who spoke up.

“I lean towards the latter,” Yuan Keli said directly.

Lu Wenzhao nodded silently. During the question and answer session, Lu Wenzhao had been paying close attention to the messenger's expression. The messenger's face showed trepidation, unease, excitement, and fervor, but not the panic and hesitation of a liar.

"But why would 'Amin' conceal himself?" Gao Bangzuo vaguely realized that Yuan Keli's deduction might completely overturn his previous conclusion.

“I’m not sure,” Yuan Keli began, “but I think that at least this Wang Dutang, or rather the chieftain of Nanguan, ‘Wuerhutai,’ is willing to defect and surrender. As for the commander of Kuandian, the ‘Amin’ who is called the Second Beile, he may be willing to turn to the right path, but he is still wavering between two options and is not entirely on the same page as ‘Wuerhutai.’”

No one responded, so Yuan Keli continued to explain his thoughts: "First, there's this 'Urhutai.' If we assume the messenger's words are true, then 'Urhutai' has ample reason to betray Nurhaci. 'Urhutai's' younger brother 'Moluhuntaiji,' and his wife 'Mangguji's' mother 'Gundaifujin,' were both executed by Nurhaci last year. The former could instill fear and insecurity in 'Urhutai,' while the latter could alienate 'Mangguji' from her father. Moreover, our Great Ming once helped Nanguan restore his kingdom, and now we have deployed troops throughout Liaodong. 'Urhutai,' recalling his past glory, is almost certain to plot to restore his kingdom again."

Everyone nodded silently, and even Bai Zaixiang expressed her agreement after Lu Wenzhao's simple translation.

“Next is this Second Prince ‘Amin’,” Yuan Keli continued. “As far as I know, ‘Amin’ is not Nurhaci’s son, but rather the son of his half-brother, Suerhaci. In other words, ‘Amin’ is actually Nurhaci’s nephew. Moreover, about ten years ago, in the thirty-ninth year of the Wanli Emperor’s reign, Suerhaci was killed by Nurhaci. I believe that even uncivilized barbarians should not be completely indifferent to such a blood feud.”

Lu Wenzhao, Gao Bangzuo, and Mao Wenlong, who were present, had all heard about Amin's story to some extent. Only Bai Zaixiang listened to Lu Wenzhao's quiet translation with shock and curiosity.

"In the past, the Jurchens were powerful and invincible. 'Amin' benefited from this and could suppress his emotions to reluctantly ally with the Jurchen chieftain. Now, the Jurchens are weak and have failed to conquer Liaoshen with the strength of their entire tribe. Their people are even facing the danger of starvation. It is only natural that 'Amin' would recall the past and the hatred for his father's murder, and develop disloyalty. If 'Urhutai,' who is already extremely rebellious, were to come and persuade him at this time, the two might very well reach an agreement."

At this point, Kao Bong-cho's previous "feint attack" speculation had been completely overturned, but he still couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"But the chieftain's influence was still strong, and 'Amin' must have been suspicious. Moreover, the chieftain did not fully trust 'Amin'. He not only assigned two of his grandsons to command the white and red banners respectively, but also sent four trusted troops to supervise the army nearby. With these two factors combined, it was only natural that the more powerful 'Amin' would forcefully prevent 'Urghut' from writing about him in the letter."

As he spoke, Yuan Keli held up the letter again and looked around at everyone: "Gentlemen, consider this. If the rebellion is exposed and this letter falls into the hands of the slave chieftain, would he suspect that 'Amin' was also involved?"

“Definitely not!” Yuan Keli said, his gaze meeting Lu Wenzhao’s. Lu Wenzhao then chimed in.

Mao Wenlong interjected, "But if the slave chieftain also captures those messengers, won't the matter be exposed?"

“I think this is probably where ‘Amin’s’ brilliance lies.” Yuan Keli looked at Gao Bangzuo. “Counselor Gao said earlier that this messenger was chosen as a pawn, and I completely agree with that idea. I was wondering why ‘Amin’ would choose such an ordinary scout who had no official position, no military responsibilities, and didn’t even know Chinese. But once you consider him as a pawn, it all makes perfect sense.”

“The most peculiar thing about this person is that, apart from being a member of the old party in Nanguan and receiving favors from the Celestial Empire, he has no other special characteristics. Even if he is arrested and implicates ‘Amin,’ ‘Amin’ can still claim to have no knowledge of him or even know him. But if, conversely, this messenger is ‘Amin’s’ confidant or has received special favors from ‘Amin,’ then ‘Amin’ will find it very difficult to defend himself.” Yuan Keli paused for a moment before concluding:
"Therefore, I believe that although 'Amin' and 'Urqut' are conspiring together, they are not entirely of one mind. 'Amin' should still be in a state of ambivalence, where he can either advance to seize territory or retreat to launch a rebellion!"

"Yuan, the guardian, truly deserves to be called the best judge in the land!" Gao Bangzuo was not at all discouraged by the overturning of his reasoning. Not long after Yuan Keli finished speaking, he was the first to stand up and cheer, slapping his knees.

Seeing this, the others also stood up to accept the prize.

“You flatter me, everyone. This is merely a deduction based on obvious facts,” Yuan Keli said, suppressing his smugness as he rose to return the greeting. “If you think about it carefully, you will surely be able to figure it out as well.”

After returning the greeting, Yuan Keli sat back down, and everyone else stopped praising him and sat back down to look at him.

“What does Supervisor Yuan think,” Gao Bangzuo asked, “what should we do next?” “The strategy of supervising Korea will not change because of this letter. Please carry out the tasks I just assigned you carefully,” Yuan Keli set the tone first.

Everyone nodded silently, and Yuan Keli continued, "I just said that 'Amin' in Kuandian is still in an ambiguous state. I think 'Amin' will definitely not stop the offensive, and may even launch a large-scale attack in the near future, just as Councilor Gao is worried!" As he spoke, Yuan Keli gave Gao Bangzuo a reassuring look.

“If we cannot hold Zhenjiang and Korea, then ‘Amin’ will abandon his intention to defect. I even suspect that once ‘Amin’ takes Zhenjiang and Korea, he will immediately kill ‘Urhutai’ and these messengers to ensure there are no witnesses. On the contrary, as long as we can hold Zhenjiang and protect Korea, preventing the Kuandian slave troops from advancing an inch, then ‘Amin’ will very likely become the first high-ranking slave leader to be turned by us!”

“What Guardian Yuan said is absolutely right.” Gao Bangzuo nodded deeply, but a look of worry returned to his face. “But if that messenger just now wasn’t lying, then the Jurchens really have gathered more than 50,000 troops in Kuandian, including 25,000 elite soldiers. If the Jurchens take advantage of the fact that the reinforcements from the cities in southern Liaodong have been diverted to control Korea, and launch a large-scale southward attack on Zhenjiang, then our army will be without reinforcements, and we may face unforeseen circumstances.”

"Then please send reinforcements!" Yuan Keli said without hesitation. "I will write to Liaoyang now, informing Commander Xiong of the situation and requesting that he immediately dispatch 10,000 reinforcements to reinforce the defense of Feng and Zhen. This will continue until the situation is under control and all troops in southern Liaodong have left Korea and returned to their garrisons." As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Keli pulled out a few blank sheets of paper and began to write furiously.

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When Bai Zaixiang and her entourage left Zhenjiang City and returned to the Youyang Tusi Camp, only the last dark red streak remained on the horizon.

"Big sister, why are you back so early?" As soon as Bai Zaixiang appeared at the wooden gate surrounding the central command tent, her second sister, Bai Zaiying, who also worked as a clerk, came out to greet her.

"Heh," Bai Zaixiang rolled her eyes at Bai Zaiying, then pointed a finger at the sky a few times. "Which eye of yours saw it too early?"

"I thought that after holding a meeting that would involve closing off alleys and streets, we'd at least have a meal and drinks," Bai Zaiying said with an awkward smile, waving away the female soldiers following behind Bai Zaixiang. "Yesterday, when we hosted a welcome dinner for Councilor Yuan, we didn't get back until it was completely dark."

"Counselor Yuan and the others are still eating and drinking at Yueyun Pavilion. I came back alone." Bai Zaixiang looked around. "Where's that brat? Where did you hide her?"

“Yun’er knows she was wrong,” Bai Zaiying stepped forward and took her elder sister’s arm, smiling ingratiatingly. “Your elder sister is magnanimous; she’ll let her off this time, okay?”

"Tsk!" Bai Zaixiang shook off Bai Zaiying. "This matter cannot be let go easily. Where is she? Call her out right now!"

"Oh dear, she ran fifty miles today and is exhausted, and she smells of sweat. I told her to take a shower and rest. If you insist on disciplining her, let's do it tomorrow." Bai Zaiying decisively adopted a delaying tactic.

"Hmph!" Bai Zaixiang turned and left.

"Where are you going?" Bai Zaiying quickly followed.

"Wherever she is, I will go." Bai Zaixiang frowned and walked faster and faster.

"It can't be that bad," Bai Zaiying strode up to Bai Zaixiang, adopting the protective demeanor of a mother cow. "Counselor Yuan said he would reward Yun'er, and didn't you also say in court that merits and demerits should offset each other?"

"Where did you see that this brat has done anything meritorious? Yuan Canzheng said that to avoid embarrassing me in public. She disobeyed my orders, deviated from the plan, and even led the troops astray. This matter has been clearly laid out in the court, and I cannot remain silent!" Bai Zaixiang walked around Bai Zaiying and continued forward.

"Then what do you want?" Bai Zaiying had no choice but to follow again. "Do you want to subject Yun'er to military law?"

"You guessed it, I'm going to court-martial her." Bai Zaixiang looked like an enraged tigress, ready to devour someone at any moment. The soldiers on night duty or patrolling around her didn't even dare to approach her because of her appearance.

"Then just hit me!" Bai Zaiying grabbed Bai Zaixiang. "I brought Yun'er to the yamen in such a hurry without asking any questions, which embarrassed you."

"Embarrassing? If only it were just embarrassing. Let me tell you, this matter has connections to the highest levels!" Bai Zaixiang broke free and then turned into the tent area shared by Bai Zaiying and Bai Zaiyun.

"What do you mean by 'connecting to heaven'?" When Bai Zaiying followed her in, Bai Zaiyun, who had changed out of her military uniform and into women's clothing, was already standing pitifully under the tent flap.

"I can't explain it to you in detail now, you'll find out in a few days." Bai Zaixiang paused, then shouted and waved to Bai Zaiyun. "You brat, get over here!"

"Sister! Let it go. It's Yun'er's first time leading a team. She's inexperienced, so it's inevitable that she'll make mistakes," Bai Zaiying tried to persuade her, but Bai Zaixiang interrupted her with a glare. "Bai Zaiying! Are you only happy when this silly girl dies out there?"

A surge of anger also welled up in Bai Zaiying's heart.

"What do you mean, 'you'!" Bai Zaixiang interrupted Bai Zaiying again, pointing at Bai Zaiyun and saying, "This brat didn't follow the original route, leading the team to wander aimlessly through the deep mountains and forests where they could encounter enemies at any moment. You're telling me that's called inexperience? Fine, she's inexperienced, but Fourth Aunt is experienced, right? Thirteenth Uncle is experienced, right? Bai Zaiyun!" Bai Zaixiang turned her head sharply, only to see that Bai Zaiyun's eyes were already brimming with tears. She hardened her heart and continued, "Tell me, when you were blocked at Longbo Ridge, did Fourth Aunt and Thirteenth Uncle advise you to turn back!"

"Waaah," Bai Zaiyun choked out, pouting, "Yes."

(End of this chapter)