Chapter 86: Sharing the Credit
After Haoge was captured, He Luohui and Yang Shan surrounded Gongji County without attacking. Meanwhile, Abatai and Turge in Changping were preparing to attack Beijing.
These two men were actually just feinting their attack, intended to keep the Ming troops in Beijing from leaving, allowing their Great Khan, Huang Taiji, to plunder Shandong. A few days ago, they heard victory news: the Great Khan had already reached Yanzhou, Shandong, conquered three prefectures, eighteen states, and sixty-seven counties, defeated the enemy in thirty-nine locations, and captured over two thousand taels of gold and two million taels of silver.
As long as they could ensure their escape route was secure, they would have accomplished a great feat. Just as they were enjoying themselves in the big tent, Yang Shan's messenger arrived.
In the tent, Abatai's face was grim, and Turg was lost in thought. This time, their forces were few. The actual Eight Banners numbered less than 30,000, 8,000 of which were Mongol Eight Banners, with the remainder being Han Banners. While the Han Banners were numerous, their combat effectiveness and mobility were lacking. Should they be rescued? If so, the loss of troops would be significant, and the looting would be disproportionate to the losses.
Second, they might not be able to rescue the city even if they went. The servant who brought the news said that Gongji County was small, but difficult to capture. The defenders were very powerful, their artillery shells reaching farther and with greater power than the Red Cannon. They also used strong water to defend the city, which was no cheaper than silver in ancient times. Using it to defend a city was no different from using silver.
"What should we do?" Abatai asked Turg.
"My Lord Beile! How about we ask the Khan for instructions?" Turge was also a smart man and he was afraid of taking on such a big responsibility. Abatai was not favored by Huang Taiji, otherwise he would not be allowed to go south!
Abatai nodded, he didn't want to save him either. He thought to himself, Huang Taiji, you can't blame me for your own son's failure. It would be great if you could just go south to Zhuozhou, but you insisted on taking on such a tough task. If you die, then die. I won't save you. Wait for your father to come and save you! Abatai had outstanding military exploits and was very self-righteous, but because he was born to a concubine, his status among his brothers was relatively humble. He was often not treated fairly in terms of merit and reward, and he was often full of complaints. During the reign of Huang Taiji, he was humiliated and punished many times.
The two men looked at each other and understood what was going on, so Abatai sent 5,000 Han soldiers and 100 people from the Zhenglan Banner to Gongji County. On the other hand, he sent people south to find Huang Taiji's troops and report the news.
This report completely changed history. Huang Taiji was now full of pride. Having robbed so much silver and people, he had a good year. He could also improve his own strength. Although his health had declined recently, he could still hold on for a few more years. He wanted to hand over a stable Qing Dynasty to Haoge.
The army was invincible along the way, forcing the Ming army to flee. They also captured several Ming princes, including the Prince of Ziyang, the Prince of Anqiu, the Prince of Yangxin, and the Prince of Leling. The Prince of Lu committed suicide.
Sitting in the carriage on the way back, Huang Taiji was thinking about how his ministers admired him and how they evaluated his achievements. Suddenly, someone outside said cautiously: "Your Majesty! Abatai Turg sent someone to report, saying, saying..."
Huang Taiji was in a good mood and not unhappy at all. He said, "What are you hesitating about? Tell me now!"
"Your Majesty, Haoge has been captured! He was captured in Gongji County!"
"What?" Huang Taiji suddenly felt dizzy and the world was spinning. With a thud, Huang Taiji collapsed in the carriage.
"Someone come! Call the military doctor!"
At the foot of Gongji County, Zhao Xiaofei watched the Jianlu's movements through a telescope. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... Holy crap! Another 5,000 people are coming! Looks like you're ready to fight me.
General Zhou put down his telescope and said, "They are all Han soldiers. There are only a few people in the Eight Banners! Are they not going to save Haoge? Even with such a small number of people, they can't break us!"
"What? You still hope they can capture our city?" Wanshan said jokingly.
"Logically speaking, Hauge is Huang Taiji's eldest son, and the position of Khan in the future will belong to him. If he is captured, it is impossible for the Jianlu not to rescue him! But there are only so few people, they are just fooling around!" said General Zhou.
"Yes! Why not let him go? He never became emperor in history anyway!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"We spent so much effort to capture him, and now we let him go! Are you kidding? History has been changed anyway, so who cares!" Zhou Shuai said.
"Wait! Let me read the history book!" Zhao Xiaofei pulled out his phone and looked at the downloaded records of the Jianlu invasion and looting. After a while, he said, "This grandson is unlucky. Maybe he met Abatai. Abatai and Huang Taiji don't get along. He probably hopes that Hauge will die so that Huang Taiji will die of anger!"
"Who is Abatai?" Wanshan asked.
"The seventh son of Wild Boar Skin!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
When Wanshan heard this, he immediately understood that his uncle wanted his eldest nephew to die so that his brother Dorgon could come to power.
"It seems that there will be no major action. What should we do? Should we release Haoge? Let him go back and compete with Dorgon for the throne?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"Even if he is released, he has been thrown into disgrace and has no strength to compete with Dorgon. When Dorgon returns, he will have to compete with Daishan!" said General Zhou.
"Alright! Then let Hu Wen take the credit!" Zhao Xiaofei said. Zhou Shuai and Wan Shan nodded.
"Okay! If they want to attack! Don't waste the remaining sulfuric acid! Give it all to the Tartars!" Zhao Xiaofei said and went down the city wall.
Hu Wen and his son, Doctor Hu, were both happy and excited at the county yamen. Doctor Hu was happy that he had come out to save his son's life, while County Magistrate Hu was happy that he had not only saved his life but also captured Haoge alive, which was a huge achievement. He just wondered how much of the credit his brother Zhao would give him.
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