The most powerful people in the Later Jin Dynasty are the four beiles, namely the first beile Daishan, the second beile Amin, the third beile Manggurtai, and the fourth beile Huang Taiji.
Manggurtai was already deposed and had difficulty even riding a horse, and had lost the qualifications to inherit the Khan throne.
Second Beile Amin led the Bordered Blue Banner, and with the support of his brother Jirgalang, he had outstanding military achievements and was quite ambitious. However, judging from their close relationship, he was Nurhaci's nephew and basically had no hope.
The great prince Daishan led the Zhenghong and Xianghong banners, and had sons such as Yuetuo, Shuotuo, and Sahalian, who were all capable and experienced warriors, and had strong strength.
Moreover, Dudu, the prince of Duroberle, had been following Daishan since his father Chu Ying was killed, following his lead. Now that he led the Zhenglan Banner, he was considered Daishan's subordinate.
Huang Taiji originally tried hard to show his strength and strive to bring Manggurtai's Zhenglan Banner under his own command in order to strengthen his own power.
But Nurhaci handed over the broken Zhenglan Banner to Dudu, and the intact Yinbai Banner to his youngest son Duoduo, and temporarily had his brother Ajige command it.
As a result, a new force emerged as a competitor for the Khanate.
Relying on Nurhaci's favor, Queen Abahai won fifteen Niulu for her second son Dorgon, while her eldest son Ajige and her youngest son Dodo shared the Bordered White Banner.
But this new force had an obvious weakness: they were too young. The eldest, Ajige, was less than 18 years old, and the youngest, Duoduo, was only nine years old. Although they were favored by Nurhaci, they had difficulty winning over the people.
As for Huang Taiji, he only had the Plain White Banner, was not senior, and did not have the greatest military achievements, but who would not be tempted to inherit the Khan throne, and he was certainly no exception.
Huang Taiji was good at making friends and had close relationships with Yuetuo, Sahalian, Jirgalang and other junior beile. Some senior generals in the Eight Banners also admired him.
But none of this matters. What matters is Nurhaci's attitude.
On one occasion, Nurhaci casually asked Huang Taiji, "Why did Jirgalang, Dergelei, Yuetuo, and others abandon their fathers and brothers after the court was dismissed, and only wanted to send you, the fourth prince, back home?"
This shows that Huang Taiji had been cultivating his own power early on, and even Nurhaci saw it. The seemingly casual question actually revealed Nurhaci's vigilance.
Perhaps, this is the reason why Nurhaci did not increase the military force of Huang Taiji, but gave the Bordered Blue Banner to Dudu and the Bordered White Banner to his youngest son!
Huang Taiji also realized this and began to restrain himself. But when Nara Zhongming appeared, he immediately became alert.
Perhaps the father Khan would not be fooled by this little trick of division and disintegration. Even after Shulhaci was killed, Amin was not implicated and was still promoted to one of the four beiles and in charge of a banner. What about Huang Taiji, his own son?
But would other contenders for the Khanate miss this opportunity to attack? Huang Taiji believed that even if it was not immediate, the hidden danger would exist for a long time and no one knew when it would break out.
With a frown on his face, Huang Taiji paced back and forth in the room. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the Ming court's conspiracy was too harmful and seemed to be directed against him.
Return the Yehenara clan, return the Zhongming clan. Can they give it a more disgusting name like "Di Zhongming"? It's as uncomfortable as eating a fly.
Which bastard came up with this plan? If I catch you, I will strangle you to death with my own hands for an hour to relieve the hatred in my heart.
Huang Taiji slapped his face twice and gritted his teeth secretly.
Before Luo Xiujin arrived, the captain of the personal guard came to report that the scouts had sent intelligence that a part of the Dongjiang Army had crossed the Yalu River and occupied Xianshan Fort; there were also Ming troops active on the river surface of Zhenjiang Fort, seemingly with the intention of attacking it.
Huang Taiji thought about it, waved his hand and ordered to continue monitoring and investigation, but had no intention of dispatching troops.
The coastal and riverside areas were simply too vast for the Later Jin to station sufficient troops to defend them. Therefore, the entire area within ten miles of the shore was abandoned, leaving only a few scouts to conduct surveillance.
Huang Taiji and Du Du were stationed at Fenghuangcheng and Kuandian respectively, and they did not respond to the alarm immediately. If they had, they would probably have only seen the backs of the Ming army boarding ships and entering the sea, which would have been exhausting!
According to the tactics formulated by the Later Jin Dynasty, they would wait for the Ming army to advance deep into the country, and then use the garrisons in several inland areas to take advantage of their mobility to launch an attack.
To put it bluntly, the Later Jin still believed that field warfare was their advantage and that the Ming army would be hard to catch up with. But in reality, the Ming army was working hard to narrow the gap, and the speed would be beyond the Later Jin army's expectations.
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Although Liaoshen had become the ruling center of the Later Jin Dynasty, Jianzhou was still a place it could not give up.
Because Hetuala holds extraordinary significance. Nurhaci ascended the throne and established the Jin dynasty (known historically as the Later Jin), naming it Tianming (天命) and making it the capital. Later, after moving the capital to Liaoyang, Hetuala was honored as Xingjing (Xingjing).
To put it bluntly, Hetuala City is the birthplace of the Later Jin Dynasty. It cannot be abandoned for either political or psychological reasons.
The Dongjiang headquarters obviously saw this and gained experience from Mao Chenglu's long-distance raid. They began to move northward along the Yalu River, attracting and distracting the attention of Du Du's troops.
The capture of Xianshan Fort was a tentative action. Having learned from the Ming army's advance in western Liaoning, the Dongjiang army's real goal was to capture Zhenjiang Fort.
Although Zhenjiang Fort had been demolished, just like Jinzhou and Dalinghhe City, after receiving support from a group of new artillery and military artillery officers, Mao Wenlong personally led a group of troops to suddenly land at night and occupied Zhenjiang Fort.
If the Jiannu army came to attack, the important task of defending Zhenjiang Fort would be handed over to the deputy general Chen Jisheng. The garrison would be set at 3,000, and they would be desperate soldiers who would fight to the end and never retreat.
The current Dongjiang Town has been expanded, and the number of troops has reached 8,000.
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