The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

As early as the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign, Zu Dashou personally ordered the execution of He Kegang, a general who refused to surrender the city with him. He then led his troops out of the city to surrender and handed over Dalinghe City to the slave chieftain Huang Taiji!

During this period, Zu Dashou led his trusted generals to stay in Huang Taiji's camp for several days, and even swore a blood oath with Huang Taiji, expressing their determination to serve the Later Jin.

Then, he persuaded Huang Taiji by saying that he was willing to convince the garrison commander of Jinzhou to surrender as well, and Huang Taiji agreed to let him return to Jinzhou with some of his trusted generals to act as inside agents.

After Zu Dashou returned to Jinzhou, he first claimed that he had led his troops to break out from Dalinghe, but after being exposed for surrendering the city, he lied and said that he was in Cao Cao's camp but his heart was with Han, and this time he had escaped from the Tartar camp to return.

However, Qiu Hejia, the governor of Liaodong at the time, also had his own intelligence channels. Although he was not clear about the content of the oath between Zu Dashou and Huang Taiji and had no real evidence, he guessed the general idea.

After learning the general truth of the matter, Qiu Hejia did not cover it up for Zu Dashou, but immediately reported the situation to Emperor Chongzhen.

Logically speaking, if such a thing were exposed, Zu Dashou would certainly face execution and confiscation of his property.

Even if Emperor Chongzhen had shown great mercy and spared the lives of Zu Dashou and the Zu family retainers he brought back, he should have still dismissed them from their posts and left them idle.

At the very least, they should all be transferred out of Liaodong Town and sent to the interior to suppress bandits, which would also help to avoid suspicion!

However, after Qiu Hejia, the governor of Liaodong, reported Zu Dashou's defection, Emperor Chongzhen, citing the national crisis and the need for capable men, let the matter drop and still appointed Zu Dashou as the vanguard commander of Jinzhou.

On the contrary, Qiu Hejia, who wrote a letter to expose the matter, was the one who suffered the most. Because he could no longer work with General Zu Dashou, Qiu Hejia was soon transferred away from Liaodong.

From then on, many things in Liaodong became strange and inexplicable, and Jinzhou City, the gateway to Liaodong, became increasingly ineffective.

Zu Dashou and Huang Taiji seemed to have reached a tacit understanding: the Jurchen army would no longer attack Jinzhou, and the Liaodong army in Jinzhou would no longer leave the city to go north, cross the Daling River, and attack or harass the Later Jin state.

Even when the Jurchen army bypassed Jinzhou to attack Songshan and threaten Ningyuan, the troops in Jinzhou basically ignored them and paid no attention.

Jinzhou City, with its tens of thousands of soldiers and the enormous expense of the imperial court, could not play any role as a vanguard or gateway, nor even in restraining the Tartar army's rear.

In particular, during the Second Battle of Songjin, Zu Dashou commanded a large army and defended Jinzhou. Faced with the strategic trap of the Tartars besieging Songjin with a large force, he knew that the Tartars were using a strategy of besieging the point to attack the reinforcements and had set up an ambush, but he kept asking the court to send a large army to rescue them.

Finally, under the repeated orders of Emperor Chongzhen and his court officials, Hong Chengchou mobilized all the elite border troops around the capital—from Datong to Shanhaiguan, a total of 130,000 men. They first marched out of Shanhaiguan, then to Ningyuan City, and then north to Songshan City.

Upon arriving here, Zu Dashou continued to plead for help from the imperial court, forcing Hong Chengchou to abandon Songshan City and lead his army to launch a proactive attack on the Tartar army besieging Jinzhou.

Songshan and Jinzhou are only a dozen miles apart, so after Hong Chengchou arrived in Ningyuan, there was no need for him to go further north.

Especially after arriving at Songshan, there was even less need to force the eight generals to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Tartars.

As it turned out, they stubbornly walked right into the trap set by the Qing dynasty.

Outside Songshan City, the last 130,000 elite Ming Dynasty troops lost their supplies and supply lines before even engaging in battle. They were then surrounded by a large number of Tartar troops, collapsed without a fight, and were completely annihilated.

What role did Zu Dashou, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, play in all of this?

Yang Zhen was unwilling to speculate on Zu Dashou's loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, nor was he willing to question Zu Dashou's loyalty to Emperor Chongzhen.

However, if he doesn't think in this direction, he won't understand the many behaviors of the Tartar army in the Second Battle of Songjin, including the current First Battle of Songjin.

Perhaps Zu Dashou himself wavered between continuing to serve the Ming Dynasty, which his ancestors had served for generations, and instead serving the foreign tribes that his ancestors had once been enemies of.

However, history has clearly written what choice he ultimately made.

Yang Zhen now knew very well that after the Tartars withdrew this time, Zu Dashou would soon be able to return to Jinzhou City smoothly.

However, the following year, the thirteenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the Tartar army would return with renewed force, and the second Battle of Songjin would begin.

When that time came, it would be time for Zu Dashou to make his final decision.

The thought of fighting alongside such a complex and ambiguous person in the future gave Yang Zhen a headache.

Yang Zhen did not explain in detail to Yang Zhanao and Guo Xiaowu how he guessed that the Tartars were going to withdraw their troops, nor could he explain it clearly.

However, as dusk approached, he heard the sound of cannon fire outside Songshan City, which gave him some new ideas.

As dusk fell and night descended, the blackout on the sandbar island where Yang Zhen's troops were stationed was lifted, and several camps were brightly lit.

Yang Zhen, along with Yang Zhanao, Yan San, Guo Xiaowu, and Ma Liu, went to Pan Wenmao's ammunition depot team for a simple dinner. They made some arrangements for Pan Wenmao's ammunition depot affairs, and then Yang Zhen led his entourage back.

On the way back, Yang Zhen said to Guo Xiaowu, "Xiaowu! I see you're bold, meticulous, and quick-witted, very suitable to be a scout! If you're willing to serve in the advance camp as my personal guard, I'll talk to Commander Yuan and get you a position there! Are you willing?!"

Guo Xiaowu had already heard that Yang Zhen had mentioned him separately when reporting his achievements that afternoon. He was extremely grateful to Yang Zhen, and upon hearing Yang Zhen's words, he didn't hesitate and immediately said:

"I'm willing! Although I've been on the ship since I was a child, after all these years, I still find fighting alongside Commander Xie to be the most exciting and fulfilling experience! It's not stifling at all!"

Seeing that Guo Xiaowu was willing, Yang Zhen was also pleased. He smiled and nodded, then went to ask Yang Zhanao and the others, "What about you? What are your thoughts?"

Yang Zhen naturally asked Yang Zhan'ao and Yan San, since these two were nominally the captain and deputy captain of Yang Zhen's personal guard.

As for Ma Liu, he deliberately filtered himself out. As a former Tartar prisoner who had defected, he was lucky to have enough to eat and not starve to death under Yang Zhen's command.

"Agreed! Of course I agree! Xiao Wu is a promising talent! With a little guidance from the adults, he'll surely amount to something great in the future!"

Yang Zhan'ao was eager to have more people to do his bidding, and when Yang Zhen asked, he readily agreed.

He was very touched that Yang Zhen was willing to seek his opinion, which showed that Yang Zhanao held a place in Yang Zhen's heart.

Needless to say, Yan San was also involved. Guo Xiaowu was seconded to work under Yang Zhen, which was originally recommended by Yan San. He knew this person very well and trusted him completely.

"In that case, I'll go talk to Yuan Jin! You just stay here and do your job well in the advance camp. I, Yang Zhen, will never let down a brother who has made contributions!"

At this point, Yang Zhen stopped and thought for a moment before saying to the people around him, "Zhan'ao, Xiao Wu, you two have to go out again tonight!"

"This time, go straight to the mouth of the Xiaoling River, head north along the Xiaoling River, and simply go to the edge of the Tartars' camp at the Empress's Palace to see what tricks they're up to!"

As Yang Zhen finished speaking, he suddenly clenched his right fist and punched it into his left palm, as if making a decision. He looked up at the direction of Songshan Mountain under the night sky and continued, "Forget it! I'll go with you guys!"

"How can that be?! My lord! You can't go!"

Yang Zhen's words shocked the other four people present, who all voiced their opposition, especially Yang Zhan'ao, whose opposition was particularly vehement:

"Whether the Tartars are truly withdrawing or feigning it, the area around Niangniang Palace outside Songshan City is definitely in chaos, with Tartars running rampant. What if we encounter danger?!"

"It's alright if we encounter danger, because we still have the adults! If the adults were in danger, all of us hundreds of people would collapse instantly. We're all counting on the adults!"

"What the hell are you talking about?! My life is precious, but yours isn't?! You can go, but I can't?! What kind of logic is that?!"

Once Yang Zhen got angry, no one else dared to say anything more.

Then, without saying a word, the group hurriedly returned to their camp huts.

Yang Zhen insisted on going out with Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu to scout ahead, and even Zhang Degui, Li Lu, and Zhang Chen's attempts to dissuade him were to no avail.

In the end, the scout team had to be expanded again. In addition to Yang Zhen's insistence on joining, Yang Zhen also had to agree to let Zhang Chen and Yan San join at Zhang Degui's strong suggestion.

Half an hour later, the group finished packing, each carrying their own handy weapons and plenty of tin grenades provided by Li Lu, and set off towards the northwest corner of Shazhou Island where Guo Xiaowu and his group had moored their boat.

When it was time to board the ship, Yang Zhen remembered that Ma Liu could understand the Jurchen language of the Manchus, so he waited a while longer and had someone bring Ma Liu over as well.

And so, in the darkness of night, the group of six, with Yan San at the helm and four rowing with oars, followed the wind and rode the rising tide, once again rushing towards the main channel of the Xiaoling River estuary.