Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

Chapter 82 The Guan Ning Army, a Semi-Warlord Army (Please continue reading)

After hearing this, Huang Taiji nodded. In his memory, these things were originally provided by Shanxi merchants, who traded them with plundered gold, silver, furs, ginseng, and other items. Now, the Ming government did not want gold and silver, but only warhorses. This gave Huang Taiji a bad feeling, but there was nothing he could do. They needed food and ironware!

"Abatai, you should return to the front lines first. I will reconsider!" Huang Taiji said, then turned and returned to the main hall.

Salt wasn't exactly a necessity for the Qing army, and these items could be used only for replenishment. However, exchanging warhorses for these supplies felt like a loss. Silk, tea, and porcelain were commodities, not military supplies, but the Ming court wouldn't exchange them for military supplies. He had to consider the next step: how to maximize the Qing court's interests.

Huang Taiji, seated on the dragon throne, leaned back, gazing up at the painted ceiling. After a long while, he slowly rose and said, "Summon Fan Wencheng, Xifu!"

Before long, the two men hurried to Huang Taiji's side, bowed deeply, and said, "Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Majesty!"

"Rise!"

"There's a carriage outside; it carries goods the Ming court wants to trade! Tea, porcelain, silk! What are the prices of these items in Korea?" Huang Taiji asked.

Korea has now been conquered by Huang Taiji and is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. Korea regularly provides the Qing Dynasty with a large amount of supplies, but these supplies are all free of charge. Now Huang Taiji wants to use these supplies obtained from the Ming Dynasty to see if he can obtain a large amount of grain, ironware and other military supplies from Korea!

Huang Taiji knew that if he demanded too much from Korea for free, it might provoke a rebellion and lead to war. That's why he thought of using the goods and supplies he had obtained from the Ming court to exchange for military supplies from Korea.

Upon hearing Huang Taiji's words, Fan Wencheng immediately understood his intention and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, these things are very valuable in Korea. If the quality is acceptable, we won't have to worry about exchanging them for grain and ironware!"

Porcelain, tea, and silk from the Ming Dynasty were all in high demand in Korea. In the past, Korea and the Ming Dynasty had a tributary system, and Korea could obtain these goods. Later, this system was interrupted, but some of them still flowed into Korea through Mao Wenlong's Pi Island.

After Mao Wenlong was executed by Yuan Chonghuan, this trade route changed to flow directly from Jiangnan to Korea. It's unclear whether Mao Wenlong's execution was related to this massive commercial network...

"You and Xifu go to Korea, bring these things there, and see what their value is!" Huang Taiji said calmly.

Huang Taiji weighed the pros and cons. If these things could be exchanged for a large amount of grain, ironware and other military supplies from Korea, that would be acceptable. Although it would require going through a middleman, it was very likely that more would be obtained than if they were exchanged directly from the Ming court. In that case, the Qing Dynasty would be the most suitable.

Fan Wencheng pondered for a moment, and seeing that there was no one else in the hall besides Xifu, he stepped forward and reminded him, "Your Majesty, the Ming army is short of warhorses! If the Qing Dynasty continues to trade warhorses with the Ming court, won't that allow the Ming army to grow stronger?"

"What Minister Fan said is correct. If we continue to trade, it will strengthen the Ming army. But I only plan to trade with the Ming army for one year. After the autumn harvest next year, as long as we have enough food and supplies, we will begin to besiege Jinzhou!" Huang Taiji said truthfully.

Huang Taiji would not wait for the Ming army to grow stronger before starting the war. He prepared to besiege Jinzhou as soon as he had stockpiled enough food and supplies. Once Jinzhou was besieged, the Ming army would no longer have the initiative to launch an offensive outside the pass. At that time, the front line of confrontation between the Ming and Qing armies would be along the Ningyuan and Tashan line.

Huang Taiji's strategy was to ensure the absolute security of the areas he occupied. It would be best if he could eliminate the Ming army's large forces outside the pass, but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't!

"Your Majesty is wise! This servant will depart for Korea tomorrow!" Fan Wencheng said.

At the same time, Zu Dashou arrived in Ningyuan City with five hundred warhorses. Upon seeing Sun Chengzong, he clasped his hands in a salute: "Grand Secretary Sun, all the warhorses traded with the Eastern Barbarians are here, a total of five hundred!"

Sun Chengzong glanced at the warhorses behind Zu Dashou and nodded repeatedly. The warhorses of the Eastern Barbarians were indeed better than those of the interior, but five hundred were merely a drop in the ocean.

"Thanks for your hard work!"

"Although trade has commenced, the defenses of Jinzhou must remain steadfast!" Sun Chengzong reminded.

"yes!"

Just as Sun Chengzong was about to leave, he saw Zu Dashou's throat bobbing as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. He smiled and asked, "We've met before, so just say what you want to say!"

Zu Dashou thought for a moment and then answered truthfully, "Last year, His Majesty changed the process for distributing military pay. I wonder if there have been any changes for us?"

Last year, Zhu Jian changed the process of distributing military salaries from the Ministry of War and local governors to the Imperial Treasury. Lu Xiang-sheng's 20,000-strong army directly distributed the salaries to each battalion, bypassing even the general! This matter attracted great attention in the Guan-Ning Army, as it involved two issues: the issue of vacant positions and the issue of army control.

The Qin army under Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, along with a small number of border troops, had their power directly seized by the emperor near the capital. They encountered no resistance, which made the generals of the Guan Ning Army feel uneasy. However, the issue of the Guan Ning Army's pay distribution has not changed. The pay is still transported to Ningyuan and Jinzhou by the imperial court. The only difference is that the people distributing the pay have changed from the Ministry of War and eunuchs to the pay distribution army.

However, this remains a problem, which Zu Dashou and others have been paying close attention to. Now that these warhorses have been sent to the interior, the generals of the Guan Ning Army feel alienated by the imperial court. It is still unknown whether they will follow in Yuan Chonghuan's footsteps in the future!

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Chengzong slowly turned around, sizing up Zu Dashou. Sun Chengzong astutely noticed that the Guan Ning Army was already showing signs of becoming semi-warlord-like. After a moment's thought, he said, "Fuyu, you're overthinking it. To prevent the Guan Ning defenses from being leaked to the soldiers unnoticed during pay disbursement, the court hasn't changed the distribution method!"

He then reassured him, "The Guan Ning military force is the most elite border army of the imperial court. Fu Yu can rest assured and guard Jinzhou against the eastern barbarians!"

"I will heed your teachings, Your Excellency!" Zu Dashou bowed and turned to leave.

While both sides appeared to be discussing military pay, they were actually exchanging their bottom lines. Sun Chengzong's bottom line was that as long as you stayed in Jinzhou and defended against the Eastern Barbarians, there would be no problem! Zu Dashou and other Guan Ning Army generals' bottom line was that if the court did not change the way it distributed military pay and stripped them of their military power, they would have no problem. The focus of both sides was the control of the army!

Sun Chengzong watched Zu Dashou's departing figure for a long time before slowly regaining his senses and continuing to supervise the construction of the Ningta bunker complex.

As night fell, Sun Chengzong returned to the Ningyuan City Marshal's Mansion. Under the dim light, he wrote the letter and put it into a box.

"Guards, take this memorial along with the warhorse to the capital!"

"yes!"

The soldier took the box and left the commander's mansion, heading towards the military camp...

After hearing what was said today, Sun Chengzong realized that the Guan Ning Army of today was not the same as it was ten years ago; the changes were far greater than he had imagined. So he submitted a memorial to the capital overnight.

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