MLMD -Chapter 415 Dorgon’s Helplessness

When Dayu’er heard that she needed supplies such as grain, tea bricks, as well as weapons and armor, Hai Lanzhu agreed without even a moment’s hesitation. This instead made Dayu’er feel somewhat incredulous.

With a doubtful tone, Dayu’er asked, “Elder sister, selling weapons and armor to us is no small matter. Can you really make that decision?”

Grain and tea were one thing—those were daily necessities. But once weapons and armor were involved, it was a completely different matter. These strategic materials were sensitive items in any era. Anyone who dared to transport large quantities beyond the passes without imperial approval would be committing a crime punishable by extermination of the entire clan. Even the once-arrogant Shanxi merchants had to do such business in utmost secrecy. Yet judging from Hai Lanzhu’s manner, it seemed as easy as shipping a cart of radishes, which naturally aroused Dayu’er’s suspicion.

“What… you don’t trust your elder sister?” Seeing the doubt on Dayu’er’s face, Hai Lanzhu smiled. She reached out her fair, smooth, slender hand and lightly patted Dayu’er’s small hand twice before saying, “Bumbutai, rest assured. When your sister gives her word, she keeps it. In our territory, we may lack many things, but grain and weapons are in abundance. As long as you use wool, warhorses, cattle hides, and sheep pelts to trade, you can have as much as you want.”

Hai Lanzhu spoke with confidence for good reason. With the full popularization of firearms in the Xuan–Da Army, protective equipment had begun to shift from pursuing comprehensive protection toward being lightweight. In Yue Yang’s view, the era of wearing armor weighing dozens of jin while carrying a musket into battle was already over. Large quantities of lightweight, stab-resistant gear purchased from the modern world were the best choice for musket infantry.

After the Xuan–Da Army completed its re-equipment, the large amounts of obsolete armor, long spears, sabers, and other weapons naturally became useless. Rather than letting them rot in warehouses, it was better to exchange them with the herders beyond the passes for warhorses, cattle, sheep, and pelts—this was truly making full use of resources. Yue Yang had instructed Hai Lanzhu about this before he left, so now she felt no pressure at all agreeing to the deal.

Seeing Hai Lanzhu’s confident and elegant smile, Dayu’er took a deep breath and then said with a bitter smile, “Elder sister, do you know that seeing you speak so calmly really makes me, as the younger sister, feel jealous?”

Hai Lanzhu raised the corner of her lips, smiling faintly. “Oh? Bumbutai, you were once an Imperial Noble Consort—do you really need to envy my little marquis’s household?”

“A little marquis’s household?” Dayu’er shook her head with a bitter smile. “Who would dare underestimate Brother-in-law, the Loyal and Brave Marquis, nowadays? Even the former emperor, so wise and valiant, wasn’t he also defeated by Brother-in-law…”

At this point, Dayu’er felt a wave of bitterness rise in her mouth. Her husband, Huang Taiji, had been a true hero of his generation. With fewer than a million Manchu warriors, he had roamed freely across the White Mountains and Black Waters, campaigning west against the Mongols and east against Korea, carving out a vast territory. At that time, both Huang Taiji and all the Eight Banner warriors firmly believed that under his leadership they could establish an unprecedented great enterprise. Back then, the Manchus entering Ming territory was like strolling through their own backyard—so easy that the vast Ming Empire could not field a single army capable of matching them.

But as the saying goes, extreme joy begets sorrow. The Ming produced just one Yue Yang, and that alone smashed the once-invincible Manchus, leaving them battered and bleeding. Countless Manchu warriors died on the battlefield, and even Huang Taiji himself perished on campaign. Now the Manchus dared not even gaze toward the Central Plains—if Yue Yang did not come to Shengjing to trouble them, they would already be burning incense and thanking Heaven.

Just as Dayu’er was drowning in sorrow, she suddenly felt the hand holding hers tighten. She looked up to see Hai Lanzhu gazing at her with concern, her crimson lips parting gently. “Bumbutai, don’t be sad. Though we sisters married different husbands, that cannot sever the bond between us. Since you came here seeking help, as your elder sister I cannot stand by and do nothing. So just put your heart at ease.”

Looking at Hai Lanzhu’s smiling face, Dayu’er’s expression shifted back and forth before she finally sighed softly and said, “Elder sister… can I truly trust you?”

“Of course!” Hai Lanzhu nodded. “Put a hundred and twenty hearts at ease. Apart from muskets and artillery, the tribes may buy anything they want.”

Dayu’er stared at Hai Lanzhu in astonishment for a long while, then finally smiled bitterly. “Elder sister, I hadn’t even spoken yet and you already blocked the road.”

Hai Lanzhu laughed. “There’s no helping it. That’s a hard rule your brother-in-law set. No one can break it. Even though I am the marquis’s wife, I’m no exception.”

“All right. This time, I need one hundred thousand shi of grain, one hundred cartloads of tea bricks, five thousand suits of armor, and five thousand sabers. Can you give us that?”

“No problem.” Hai Lanzhu remained calm and unruffled. “As I said earlier, as long as you have enough warhorses, cattle, sheep, wool, and pelts to trade, you can take them anytime.”

“I want to take everything with me when I leave.”

“Agreed.”

With just a few words, two equally noble and beautiful women concluded a huge transaction, as if they had merely been discussing a few boxes of rouge and powder.

After everything was settled, the sisters no longer mentioned the matter and instead turned to other topics, the atmosphere appearing perfectly harmonious. Half an hour later, Hai Lanzhu finally took her leave. The room was left with only Dayu’er and her aunt Zhezhe.

Zhezhe waved for the attending maids to wait outside, then asked her niece in disbelief, “Bumbutai, Hai Lanzhu really sold us all those things just like that?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t she?” Dayu’er had regained her confidence, an air of shrewdness emanating from her. She lifted the teacup on the table and took a light sip. “Mm… pre-rain Dragon Well. The taste really is excellent. Aunt, won’t you try some?”

“Bumbutai, I’m asking you something.” Zhezhe glared at her unhappily. “Aren’t you curious why Hai Lanzhu agreed so readily? Could it really be just for our sake?”

“For our sake?” Dayu’er snorted with a laugh and shot Zhezhe a sideways glance. “Aunt, do you really think such a huge batch of supplies could be handed over so easily without Brother-in-law’s approval? Five thousand sabers, five thousand suits of armor, and so many bows and arrows—I dare say that without his tacit consent, these things wouldn’t even make it out of the warehouse gate. The reason elder sister agreed so readily must be because the couple had already discussed it beforehand. The purpose is to let our Horqin tribe keep Dorgon in check. Just wait—at most two or three years. Once Brother-in-law finishes bringing Shandong under control, that will be the time when the Ming launches its troops beyond the passes. By then, it will be Dorgon’s death knell. I think Dorgon knows this very well; otherwise, he wouldn’t be in such a hurry to strike at us.”

Zhezhe sighed softly and shook her head. “So in the end, everything is just to make us hold Dorgon back… I thought…”

“Aunt, don’t be naive.” Seeing Zhezhe’s bitter expression, Dayu’er sneered lightly. “Although elder sister and I share the same mother, once she married Brother-in-law, she became his person. Haven’t the Han people said it? Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. No matter how good our sisterly feelings are, they can’t outweigh her husband and son.”

Zhezhe said helplessly, “Bumbutai, do you really have to see people as being that bad?”

Dayu’er set down her teacup and replied calmly, “Bad? It’s simply putting oneself in another’s shoes. If I were in elder sister’s position, I would do the same—perhaps even more ruthlessly. This has nothing to do with kinship or right and wrong; it’s only about what position each side stands in.”

“You…” Hearing these seemingly heartless words, Zhezhe could not help but feel choked with anger. But after having followed Huang Taiji for so many years, she naturally understood that what Dayu’er said was in fact the harsh truth. In this world, most people valued interests above all else—she was simply too soft-hearted to accept it for the moment.

The aunt and niece talked a bit more, then retired to their rooms under the attendants’ care.

Over the next two days, Hai Lanzhu accompanied Dayu’er and Zhezhe on tours of Hunyuan Prefecture and its outskirts, visiting various farms, ranches, and workshops. Seeing diligent farmers working the fields, hardworking craftsmen producing tools, and bustling military workshops forging armor and weapons, Dayu’er and Zhezhe could not help but feel deeply moved. When they learned that these workshops in Hunyuan were only small-scale operations, and that the real production of muskets and artillery was in Wuli Village of Yingzhou Prefecture, a bitter sense of powerlessness rose in their hearts.

The gap was simply too great. The Ming was simply too vast. Ming and Qing were not opponents on the same scale at all. The reason the Qing had once driven the Ming back step by step was because the Ming had been destroying itself—internal and external troubles were too severe, leaving it powerless against Manchu invasion. But ever since Yue Yang burst onto the scene, Qing’s national fortune had steadily declined. The once-invincible Qing iron cavalry had been beaten into submission, and in the end even their emperor had died on campaign.

At the root of it all, the Manchus’ foundation was simply too thin; they were fundamentally unequal to the Ming. In war, the Ming could afford to lose ten or twenty battles, even suffer defeats for decades, losing one or two hundred thousand men and consider it little more than a drizzle. Give it a year or two to recover, and it could once again muster tens or even hundreds of thousands of troops to fight. But Qing was different—after the crushing defeat two years ago, it fell into irreversible decline. Without several decades, it could not recover to its former strength. This was the difference in foundations, a gap not measured merely by territory or the bravery of soldiers, but by population, social wealth, and regenerative capacity.

Three days later, Dayu’er and Zhezhe set off on their return journey, heavy with melancholy. Accompanying them were five thousand troops of the Xuan–Da Army and a merchant caravan of over a thousand large carts—supplies urgently needed by the Horqin tribe.

Time quickly reached mid-April of the eleventh year of Chongzhen. After receiving fresh shipments of weapons, armor, and grain, the Horqin tribe’s morale soared. Seeing armor and weapons—items Yue Yang had previously refused to sell—flowing off the carts like water, Zhaisang laughed until his mouth would not close. Using this equipment, he armed five thousand elite cavalry.

With food and fine weapons and armor, the Horqin tribe’s strength immediately increased by a large margin. Zhaisang and his son Wukešan led these cavalrymen to teach the Kharachin and several neighboring small tribes a brutal lesson, killing over three thousand of them, and eventually wiping out a small tribe of seven or eight thousand people. This battle shocked the surrounding regions and even reached Shengjing.

“What? Zhaisang actually defeated the Kharachin and several neighboring tribes? Since when did they become so strong?”

In the Chongzheng Hall of Shengjing, Dorgon stared at Ning Wanwo below him in astonishment, the surprise plain on his face.

“Your Majesty, this is absolutely true. I would not dare utter a single false word,” Ning Wanwo said solemnly as he knelt. “Entrusted by Your Majesty to gather intelligence on the Mongol tribes, I learned that the Horqin tribe has recently obtained a large batch of supplies from Shanxi, including grain, tea, weapons, armor, and bows and crossbows. After receiving these items, the Horqin seized the opportunity to launch attacks on the surrounding tribes. The Kharachin and others were caught off guard and suffered a crushing defeat.”

“That damned Zhaisang!”

Recalling Zhaisang’s words at last year’s Council of the Eight Princes, old and new grudges surged up at once. Dorgon ground his teeth in hatred. After a long while, he took a deep breath and addressed the ministers. “Gentlemen, the Horqin tribe is no longer our friend. Their hearts have already turned toward the Ming. Some days ago, out of goodwill, I proposed marriage to Consort Zhuang, hoping she would remarry into my household. I promised to treat her well, yet Zhaisang rejected me with the excuse that a fine horse does not bear two saddles, and a chaste woman does not marry twice. Am I truly so unworthy that I do not deserve her? If that’s the case, then don’t blame me for being ruthless. Gentlemen… who among you has a way to wipe out the Horqin tribe?”

Dorgon’s words stunned the entire hall. Everyone stared at him in shock. Wasn’t this too vicious? Consort Zhuang merely refused to remarry, and you want to annihilate her entire tribe? Moreover, everyone knew that Dorgon’s claim of wanting to marry Dayu’er was false—what he truly wanted was likely her and Fulin’s lives.

Fan Wencheng stepped forward to advise him. “Your Majesty, this must not be done. At present, relations between Qing and Ming are extremely delicate. Yue Yang has stationed tens of thousands of elite troops in Liaodong to monitor us. If we dispatch troops against the Horqin, they might very well strike out from Jinzhou, leaving us attacked from both front and rear. This must not be done!”

“Then what do you suggest I do?” Dorgon snapped angrily. “The Horqin have already turned against us. We don’t know when they’ll bite us. What should I do?”

The ministers fell silent. He had a point. Yet if Qing were to personally send troops, the risk would be enormous. Everyone knew that Zhaisang’s eldest daughter, Hai Lanzhu, was Yue Yang’s principal wife. Previously, when Qing instigated tribes like the Kharachin to deal with Horqin, it could still be framed as internal Mongol conflicts. But if Qing intervened directly, the nature of the matter would change entirely. Yue Yang would never stand by while his father-in-law was destroyed. If he decided to act ruthlessly and personally lead an expedition into Liaodong again, it would spell total disaster for the Qing.

Seeing the ministers exchange uneasy glances, Dorgon felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. He had been on the throne for over a year now. During this time, he had tried to consolidate the realm his elder brother left behind. Though he personally controlled only four of the Eight Banners, he at least held the nominal authority as emperor. Yet often he felt powerless. Every aspect of the state required his attention. In the past, whenever they lacked something, they could simply raid the Ming next door and get whatever they wanted. But now the Nine Border Garrisons were under Yue Yang’s control. If Dorgon dared to reach out recklessly, he would surely end up bruised and battered.

Yet if they did not plunder, sustaining a population of over a million people through farming and hunting alone was extremely difficult. Not long ago, he had ordered increased tribute from the Mongol tribes, which had already provoked widespread resentment. This throne was simply too hard to sit on. Only now did he truly understand the difficulties his elder brother had once faced.

Looking at the silent ministers, Dorgon said in disappointment, “Could it be that none of you have a solution?”

The Manchu officials exchanged glances. Charging into battle was their forte, but asking them to devise strategies was like asking for their lives. Finally, Fan Wencheng stepped forward again and bowed. “Your Majesty, I have heard that Yue Yang is currently implementing new policies in Shandong. I am willing to travel to Shandong to speak with Yue Yang and see whether I can persuade him to ease the pressure on our Qing.”

Dorgon was overjoyed. “If you can persuade Yue Yang to stop opposing our Qing, I will spare no reward and treat you with noble rank!”

Fan Wencheng smiled bitterly. “I appreciate Your Majesty’s favor. To be honest, I have no confidence that I can persuade Yue Yang. I can only do my utmost and leave the rest to Heaven.”

“Alas…” Dorgon slumped heavily back into the dragon throne like a deflated ball. Soon after, a vicious glint flashed in his eyes. “On this trip into the Ming… could you perhaps bring more men and take care of that Yue Yang…” He made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.

“Your Majesty overestimates me.” Seeing the gesture, Fan Wencheng could not help but laugh wryly. “If Yue Yang were so easy to kill, it wouldn’t be my turn. He is a military man by origin and pays the utmost attention to his own safety. According to our agents in Shandong and Shanxi, whenever he goes out, he is accompanied by at least several hundred personal guards. Our people cannot even get close to him, let alone assassinate him.”

“Very well. I was panicking.” Dorgon shook his head helplessly. Yue Yang had become a nightmare for him and for the entire Qing. The once-arrogant Qing had been beaten into submission by him in just a few short years. Now even the scouts from Jinzhou had grown increasingly bold, recently daring to probe within a hundred li of Shengjing—something unimaginable in the past.