Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 188 A veiled attack on a traitor; the collaborator will not escape punishment.

"Ning Wanwo?!" Mao Wenlong's brows furrowed. Seeing Fan Wencheng's fawning manner, he felt even more disgusted with him, thinking, "How could a decent man like him have turned into such a pig and dog after surrendering to the Jurchens?!"

"You are a scholar, aren't you? When has our Great Ming ever mistreated scholars? Why did you surrender to the Jurchens? Isn't it good to be a human being? Why do you have to grovel and serve the Jurchens?!"
"A person like you, how can you face your parents who gave you life? Do you still have the face to see the elders of your hometown? If I were you, I would have drowned myself long ago. How could I have the face to live in this world? A henchman of evil, an accomplice to tyranny, shameless!" Mao Wenlong cursed more and more vigorously, while Zu Dashou listened from the side, feeling extremely annoyed.

Man Gui stared at Zu Dashou, then burst into silent laughter, a sound that Zu Dashou found deafening.

Fan Wencheng ignored the insults and showed no shame whatsoever. Instead, he occasionally chimed in, leaving Mao Wenlong speechless. This guy was truly a piece of trash! At that time, Fan Wencheng and Ning Wanwo, two major traitors, had not yet made a name for themselves on the side of the Jurchens.

In the past, the most powerful Han Chinese in Liaodong was Liu Aita, Nurhaci's son-in-law, who came from a Han Chinese military household. His original name was Liu Xingzuo, and "Aita" was his Manchu name. Later, through Yuan Keli's machinations, he was turned against Nurhaci, and Nurhaci then took his anger out on all Han Chinese, launching a massacre against them in Liaodong.

After Huang Taiji ascended to the throne, although he feigned to issue policies to ease tensions between the Manchus and Han Chinese, in reality, the Han Chinese in Liaodong were still struggling to survive. Furthermore, their prestige had been severely damaged, so they either waited for the Han Chinese to rebel every few days or intensified their oppression, resorting to bloody suppression and establishing a reign of white terror.

Now the Jurchens have even confiscated the weapons of the Black Camp soldiers who do odd jobs, and even traitors like Fan Wencheng have been implicated. If it weren't for Huang Taiji protecting him, he would probably have been killed by any Jurchen soldier who disliked him.

Mao Wenlong didn't recognize Fan Wencheng. Although he wanted to kill him, he thought Fan wasn't an important figure and it wasn't worth causing trouble. They had been massacring and sweeping through Liaodong for over a month without losing more than a thousand cavalry. Now, fighting against the main force of the Jurchens, they had only fought for half a day and had already lost nearly three thousand cavalry. They simply couldn't take it anymore.

If the fighting continues, their advantage will diminish, after all, their numbers are less than half that of the Jurchens. They have gained some advantage by waiting in ambush, but this advantage is not enough to win the battle.

The Jurchens had marched a long distance, not on a raid; while they had lost some strength, they weren't exactly exhausted. Besides, even if they didn't mind being wiped out, would the court not mind? How much money had the court spent to build the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry? Forget about any credit; those civil officials would probably tear them apart.

Fan Wencheng knew that 100,000 taels was absurd. The Guan Ning Army wasn't like those poor devils inside the Great Wall. Inside the Great Wall, they could bribe a Ming official who could attend court to sell information for a hundred or so taels of silver. But these Liaodong military commanders weren't so easy to deal with. The problem was that his masters had given him very limited authority, and he couldn't make decisions on his own.

"My lord, our Khan's offer is 100,000 taels of silver. Any more is not up to me. If you are not satisfied, I am ignorant and do not know what you want. Why don't you tell me, and I will go back and convey the message to persuade our Khan to agree to your terms?"

"You think you can persuade Huang Taiji?!" Mao Wenlong said disdainfully.

Fan Wencheng suddenly said with some sadness, "Now the Great Jin has a new Khan."

"Huh?!" The three generals were all taken aback by what they heard. They looked at each other in surprise, no longer caring about teasing each other.

"Huang Taiji is dead?! No, that's not right, I just saw him on the battlefield. Seriously, you Jurchens are really quite casual, changing your Khan so easily?!" Zu Dashou exclaimed.

"Who's been replaced, Dai Shan?!" Man Gui asked.

Fan Wencheng then realized that he had spoken out of turn. Although it was not a confidential message, it was somewhat inappropriate for him to tell the Ming army this now, so he kept quiet.

"Scared!" Man Gui wasn't going to let him get away with it. She slapped Fan Wencheng's face again with her large, fan-like hand. Last time it was his left cheek, this time it was his right. Now, both cheeks were swollen evenly. Man Gui calmly rubbed her hand, put her hands on her hips, and looked at her masterpiece with great satisfaction.

This time, Fan Wencheng burst into tears. The first time he was beaten, he was a little dazed, but this time he was simply overwhelmed with pure grievance. He even considered crying, fearing that Man Gui would chop him down with a single blow. So he swallowed his tears and quickly replied, "The current Khan is Ajige!"

"Who is Ajige?!" Man Gui looked completely bewildered.

"The one you knocked off his horse with a single spear thrust," Mao Wenlong said helplessly.

"Huh?! That kid is the Great Khan of the Jurchens?! Why didn't you say so earlier? Ahhh, His Majesty said that whoever kills the Jurchen chieftain will be granted the title of Duke! Mao Wenlong, you owe me the title of Duke!" Man Gui said in a state of utter despair.

Mao Wenlong said impatiently, "How the hell am I supposed to know that kid is the Great Khan of the Jurchens? Huang Taiji isn't dead, and neither are Daišan, Mangultai, and Amin. How could it be him?! All I know is that kid is the old man's twelfth son! Damn it, he's already the Great Khan and he's still leading troops into battle. Even the old man isn't as brave as him!"

“I stabbed that kid, he’s already bleeding, is he dead or not?!” Man Gui grabbed Fan Wencheng by the collar and demanded.

"What a bitter pill to swallow!" Fan Wencheng wailed inwardly. In order to stand out, he had volunteered to take Ning Wanwo's opportunity to go on a diplomatic mission. If he could do it all over again, he would never have come back!
"My lord, such a secret is truly beyond my knowledge!"

"Useless trash! You know nothing! What use are you?!" Man Gui angrily shoved Fan Wencheng to the ground, drawing her sword as if to strike, but was stopped by Mao Wenlong and Zu Dashou. By this time, Fan Wencheng was drenched in cold sweat, his crotch soaked. Man Gui sheathed her sword, disdainfully saying, "Losing your head is just a scar the size of a bowl, what are you panicking about?! My two-year-old grandson doesn't wet his pants anymore, look at you! We won't ask for much, you go back and tell Huang... uh, that Ajige, leave all the people here, and compensate us with 100,000 horses, 100,000 cattle and sheep, and one million taels of silver, and we'll let you go back!"

Thump, thump, thump! Fan Wencheng kowtowed heavily on the ground several times, small stones piercing his bald forehead and drawing blood. He pleaded, "Sir, please stop tormenting me and tell me the truth!"

“Go back and tell Huang Taiji and the others that we lost three thousand brothers, and you have to compensate us at a rate of one hundred taels of silver per person, which is three hundred thousand taels of silver. Is that reasonable?” Mao Wenlong said in a deep voice.

Facing Man Gui, who was staring at him menacingly with her hand on the hilt of her knife, Fan Wencheng simply didn't have the courage to refuse. He swallowed hard and nodded.

"You have captured so many of my Great Ming people..." Mao Wenlong frowned as he said this. He knew it was unrealistic to expect the Jurchens to hand over all of them. Although he desperately wanted to save them all, he lacked the strength. Even if the Jurchens did hand over all 100,000 people to him, he dared not accept them.

If he dares to take them in, the Jurchens will seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack with their army. Just like their current attack on the Jurchens, they will be slowed down by carrying a large number of burdens. To the Jurchens, these people are merely their property; losing them will hurt them financially, but not emotionally. Although these veteran soldiers are used to death, their basic sense of national duty remains intact.

The Ming Dynasty now strictly investigates military merits, and the phenomenon of killing innocent people to claim credit has not become widespread. The relationship between the military and the people is still relatively good, and the military households that soldiers usually come into contact with are their own family members.

"Give up half of your men," Mao Wenlong said, slowly exhaling a breath of stale air. This was the most extreme option: each side would take half their men, and neither would cause trouble for the other. But in reality, given the disparity in troop strength, Mao Wenlong's move was already risky, and they still had to see if the Jurchens would agree.

Zu Dashou frowned, hesitating to speak. He didn't care about the common people; he wanted money. In his view, Mao Wenlong wanted the common people because he wanted to cultivate land for himself. Mao Wenlong was a large landowner who controlled a vast area of ​​land in southern Liaoning, so he needed a group of serfs.

He was a government official, and Jinzhou was on the front lines of the war against the Jurchens. There was very little arable land, and even if it were cultivated, the Jurchens would plunder it. He only wanted the silver to support more servants. Since he was in Liaodong, who didn't know Lord Li and Grand Tutor Li? Zu Dashou looked up to Li Chengliang; he also wanted to become the King of Liaodong!
"Also, we've lost tens of thousands of horses. We won't ask for more; just ask them to compensate us with seven or eight thousand horses as a token gesture."

Upon hearing this, Fan Wencheng's lips twitched, but he was unwilling to stay there any longer. Whether it worked out or not didn't matter; he would just agree without hesitation.

There are only three conditions for now, and Mao Wenlong doesn't want to delay any longer. After all, this is actually the territory of the Chahar Mongols, which is the territory of the Mongol Chahar tribe. It is still unclear whether the Mongols will submit out of fear or choose to help the Jurchens because they understand the principle of mutual dependence.

The Jurchen reinforcements could arrive at any moment from the rear. They currently have less than 20,000 cavalry and are in a dangerous situation. They cannot afford to delay any longer.

Fan Wencheng returned with a swollen face, and when he came back, his eyes were bruised and he was limping. It was clear that he had also been beaten a lot by the Jurchens. He said in a low voice, "Our Khan said that he can return 40,000 people to your side, 200,000 taels of silver, and 3,000 warhorses. This is the bottom line. If you do not agree, the two sides will fight again to decide the winner!"

Man Gui scratched his head and raised his arm, startling Fan Wencheng, who quickly dodged. Realizing that he wasn't being hit, he stood up awkwardly.

"Ten thousand taels of silver, fifty thousand commoners, go!"

After Fan Wencheng left, Zu Dashou finally couldn't sit still any longer. He said tactfully, "General Mao, this is a bit inappropriate. The brothers risked their lives to come all this way, and even if we don't count the compensation, each person won't get ten taels of silver. If we do count the compensation, this amount won't even cover the compensation gap. How will the brothers feel about this?!"

Mao Wenlong is a general, which is the same rank as the other two, but before the new appointments from the court are made, they should be called Marshal Mao, because Mao Wenlong is the commander-in-chief of their Northern Expedition!
Man Gui wanted to side with Mao Wenlong, but he also felt that 100,000 taels was a bit too little. Using 100,000 taels of silver to buy 10,000 civilians felt like a loss. However, out of friendship, he was unwilling to go against Mao Wenlong, so he remained silent.

Mao Wenlong glanced at Zu Dashou, making Zu Dashou feel guilty. But Zu Dashou suddenly realized something was wrong. Mao Wenlong was indeed the commander, but among the three, he had the most soldiers, while Mao Wenlong had the fewest. The one with the strongest army should have a greater voice. Why should he submit to Mao Wenlong? Thinking of this, Zu Dashou straightened his bent back.

"You like silver, so the 100,000 taels are all yours. The horses can be taken by General Man. Since neither of you wants the people, then you can leave them to me. Is that acceptable now?!"

Three thousand warhorses would cost more than 100,000 taels, but the Jurchens certainly wouldn't provide any good horses, so 100,000 taels would be about right. Zu Dashou counted on his fingers, but what was Mao Wenlong after? Could he really grow 100,000 taels from farming? You know, resettling the people would also cost a fortune!

"Commander Mao is fair, and I think this arrangement is very appropriate," Zu Dashou added. "It's not that I'm unwilling to take in the people, but there's really nowhere to settle them. We dare not misappropriate the military rations allocated by the court. Even if we took in the people, we wouldn't be able to feed or support them. I'm truly sorry!"

Man Gui wasn't as hypocritical as him. He indicated that Ningyuan City could accept some of its people, preferably the women. Although these women had lost their virginity, his Mongol soldiers didn't care. They could be married off; their lives might not be great, but at least they would have a home. He would take half of the three thousand horses, and he couldn't take too many people—five thousand at most.

Mao Wenlong politely declined Man Gui's offer. He planned to send these people back to their hometowns, and those who had no home or did not want to return would be taken to settle in Liaonan. Liaonan was in dire need of reconstruction and faced immense defensive pressure. It was imperative to build strong cities and fortresses and undertake large-scale construction projects while the Jurchens were still recovering. These people would serve as a source of labor.

(End of this chapter)