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

Chapter 255 After fighting for most of my life, what's wrong with enjoying myself a bit?!

While the Ming Dynasty was diligently farming, the Jurchens made the same choice. After two years of hard work, they successfully starved hundreds of thousands of slaves to death, alleviating the famine.

The Jurchens plundered grain from Korea to the east and livestock from the Mongols to the west, thus achieving a delicate balance.

Huang Taiji and his men conscripted all males over the age of fourteen to join the army to replenish their lost forces. They also captured Jurchens and Mongols to serve as their soldiers, and captured Mongols and Koreans to form the Mongol and Korean Eight Banners.

Not only Zhu Youjian could think of using the Koreans, but the Jianzhou Jurchens, as a veteran slave regime, would naturally not overlook this point.

Compared to the wealthy and powerful Ming Dynasty, they were rather stingy. The Eight Banners of Korea were ranked below the Eight Banners of Han, and they couldn't even provide each person with a sword, let alone firearms and armor; they were truly just wasting resources.

As for the Mongols, Huang Taiji originally used marriage alliances to win them over, employing both kindness and force to establish a subordinate or partner relationship. However, after the Khorchin and other tribes turned against each other during the war, the relationship between the two sides was broken.

The Jurchens were thoroughly defeated by the Ming Dynasty, but once they caught their breath, they were still able to easily defeat the Mongols. This was a one-sided humiliation of a highly organized group against a less organized one.

Later, the defeated Mongol tribes were completely relegated to second-class status. Oba Khan of Khorchin was executed. Huang Taiji was ruthless and did not even spare his own nephew. Except for Princess Guren Yong'an, who was not executed, he slaughtered all the upper-class nobles of Khorchin. Of course, he did this in order to annex Khorchin.

When he was the Great Khan, he emphasized the need for fair distribution every day. Every banner's loot had to be handed over and redistributed according to the size of their merits. Now that he is no longer the Great Khan, he is leading the way in breaking the rules.

The four great princes were outwardly united but inwardly divided, each going their own way; the four lesser princes were missing Dorgon, so in order to maintain the so-called system of eight princes deliberating, Nurhaci's youngest son, Fei Yangguo, was chosen to become one of the deliberative princes.

Fiyango is not yet fourteen years old and does not hold any power. To make him the Regent Prince would be a complete waste of his talent.

The original Eight Princes' Council, also known as the Eight Banners' Council, was a means for the banner leaders of the eight banners to discuss state affairs together, maintaining the consistency between administrative and military power. It was a good way to resolve differences and defuse conflicts. However, the eight princes and banner leaders are now out of sync, and this was actually completely destroyed as early as when Huang Taiji was in power.

Huang Taiji still controls the Plain White Banner and the two Yellow Banners, holding nearly half of the Jurchen military force. He has only temporarily lost the authority to command others, but in terms of strength and status, he still holds the most power within the Eight Banners.

Tianci Khan Ajige took control of the Bordered White Banner and also gained the allegiance of Shuo Tuo, the leader of the Bordered Red Banner. However, both banners were decimated, and their combined strength was less than that of any other banner. They barely became the first of the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" and the fifth force outside of the Four Great Beile.

However, the situation has been reshuffled again today. Amin, the commander of the Bordered Blue Banner, whose military strength was once the strongest after the Great Khan during Nurhaci's time, has met his end.

While he was indulging in debauchery in the Korean capital, his younger brother was busy consolidating the remaining forces of the Korean army in the traditional defense zone in northern Korea, and was busy recruiting Amin's subordinates and undermining him.

Amin was no ordinary person to have risen to such a position. He was actually an original shareholder of the Later Jin regime, participating in the wars of unification of the Jurchen tribes. He always led from the front in every battle and made outstanding contributions.

Furthermore, Amin inherited his power from his father, Shurhaci, who was a key figure alongside Nurhaci during the founding of the Later Jin dynasty. Shurhaci was known as the "Second Commander-in-Chief" and possessed his own independent followers, territory, and military power. He was the veritable "number two" figure of the Jianzhou Jurchen.

It can be said that Amin's Bordered Blue Banner was not part of the other banners. Based on these factors, the loyalty of Amin's Bordered Blue Banner subordinates to him was relatively high.

Even though they were repeatedly targeted and suppressed by Huang Taiji, their people were plundered and their living space was squeezed, and even though Amin suffered repeated military setbacks and heavy casualties, his Bordered Blue Banner did not betray him. Huang Taiji could only try to win over Jirgalang and divide the Bordered Blue Banner from within, since Jirgalang also had the right to inherit the Bordered Blue Banner. But even under such circumstances, Jirgalang did not dare to openly rebel, and he still had to obey Amin's orders.

Amin was the banner chief of the Bordered Blue Banner. The banner chief had absolute power within the banner. Under the cruel military system of the Later Jin, anyone who dared to disobey orders from their superiors would be executed.

With his achievements and status, it could be said that even if Amin failed again, the people of the Bordered Blue Banner would still follow him, and everyone still had hope for him. But Amin chose to give up on himself.

The ambitious Amin who once disregarded even Huang Taiji and led everyone to feast was gone, replaced by a mediocre hedonist who offered no hope. In contrast, Jirgalang presented a stark contrast.

Previously, the Bordered Blue Banner didn't really like Jirgalang. Opposing Huang Taiji wasn't just Amin's personal will. The Bordered Blue Banner didn't have good relations with the other banners to begin with. Plus, these barbarians liked people who were mighty and strong. Jirgalang didn't seem like a fierce general. Instead, he seemed more like a Han scholar. He was a son who didn't resemble his father!
But now there's no way around it. Amin is finished, while Jirhalang is proactive and ambitious. By all accounts, voting for Jirhalang is a better option.

Finally, those who crave pleasure, enjoy bullying the common people, and live a life of debauchery still follow Amin; while those with some ambition, who realize they are in a dangerous situation, choose to join Jirhalang. It's quite obvious which of these two types of people is more capable in combat.

Even though he had enough military power to overthrow his own brother, Jirgalang did not choose to seize power directly. This was related to his cautious nature. Moreover, he was about to take full control of the Bordered Blue Banner, and he would be heartbroken if an internal conflict broke out and even one person was lost on either side.

In the end, he didn't want to go too far. He wanted to spare his brother's life. Although Amin often threatened to kill him, he didn't actually kill him, did he?

According to the pre-arranged plan, Jirhalang lured Amin to Shengjing, claiming that Ajige was holding a meeting to prepare to send troops to take back South Korea and that everyone was gathering to discuss the strategy for sending troops.

This was a perfectly normal military meeting, the kind of meeting Amin had attended countless times, so Amin wasn't on guard.

However, his spleen and muscles had regenerated, and his thighs ached from rubbing against the ground when he rode a horse. Since the attack on Korea was inevitable anyway, why not just have everyone bring their troops over and then discuss it further?

Jirgalang didn't even blink, casually lying that there were also setbacks on the Mongolian side. Since Korea belonged to their own territory in the Bordered Blue Banner, their enthusiasm for participating in the war wasn't very high. He said that if they wanted to persuade them to send troops, they should give up some benefits.

Jirgalang's reasons were so well-crafted and believable that Amin was even somewhat moved. He thought to himself that brothers are like limbs, and although the two brothers often quarreled before, after Huang Taiji's defeat, he finally turned to his older brother. What older brother doesn't love his younger brother? What younger brother is born rebellious?
It was all Huang Taiji's sweet talk that deceived the naive Jirgalang. Now that he's figured it out, it's good.

During the time he was poaching his brother, Jirhalang naturally tried his best to lull his elder brother into a false sense of security. He showered the Joseon King with gold, silver, jewels, delicious food, and fun toys, and wrote to Amin every few days to inquire about his well-being.

Honest advice is hard to hear. While everyone else under Amin was gossiping and offering advice, only Jirhalang went along with him and didn't want to upset him.

Amin felt that he had fought for most of his life, and finally had a few days of peace. What was wrong with enjoying it?
Fighting desperately on the battlefield, then indulging in pleasure and releasing stress afterward—hasn't that always been how we've always lived?

He couldn't understand why his subordinates were babbling on and on. Playing with a woman and having a few drinks were considered crimes. It was outrageous!
Amin regretted running away long ago. When he ran away, he only considered that the enemy's strength was too great. He should preserve his strength, retreat temporarily, and wait for reinforcements to come before making further plans. But the more he thought about it afterward, the more painful it became. That was three provinces, hundreds of millions of acres of land, and at least two million slaves!

When Amin returned to Shengjing, he discovered that he had been deceived. The meeting was not about how to recover lost territory, but about punishing him!
(End of this chapter)