Chapter 132: VIP Treatment

This kind of thing had happened more than once. Every time, he would issue a decree to the Korean side with a stern inquiry, but with little effect. Sometimes, the Korean side would even refuse to trade, using the excuse that their country did not have such products.

The Li Dynasty was outwardly respectful, but inwardly they still admired the Southern Dynasty. The news sent back by the spies also said that the Li Dynasty was still secretly in contact with the Southern Dynasty.

He was considering how to teach the Li Dynasty a small lesson, so that they would not forget the “brotherly alliance” of the past, when an urgent dispatch was sent from the Ministry of War.

Huang Taiji glanced at the slip on the dispatch from the Ministry of War. It was actually from Zhenjiang Fortress, which made him jolt.

Zhenjiang Fortress was the hub to Korea and a fortress to deter Dongjiang. It was a very important place. However, there had been no alarms from Zhenjiang Fortress for a long time. The harassment activities of the Dongjiang army across the river had disappeared since the conquest of Korea.

And the current situation of Dongjiang was unlikely to allow them to penetrate deep into the Yalu River to harass the Zhenjiang Fortress area.

Huang Taiji was watching the changes in the surrounding situation every day. Compared to the Ming emperor who had a dedicated secret service, he was much better informed about the enemy countries. This was due to his generous rewards for spies, and also to the “smallness” of the Later Jin court. Because of its small scale, there were fewer links for information to travel from the grassroots to the top, and the possibility of it being misinterpreted was also smaller.

In addition to assigning many spies to gather intelligence in Beijing, he also had spies in important places such as Dongjiang and Deng-Lai. The internal strife in Dongjiang, the flames of war in Deng-Lai, and the chaotic measures and disputes in the Beijing court—news was reported to Shengjing every two or three days, first secretly reported to the Ministry of War, and then immediately presented to the palace.

Huang Taiji was very interested in the Deng-Lai rebellion. In his view, although the Guanning army piled up in the Ningyuan area was a trouble, they never took the initiative to “cause trouble.” As long as they were not directly confronted, these military gentlemen would remain unmoved as usual. On the contrary, they did not pose much of a threat. On the other hand, the new army trained by Sun Yuanhua in Dengzhou had already formed a certain threat. The ability of the Dengzhou army to use firearms in the limited number of battles with the Later Jin had left a considerable impression on the Eight Banners.

The Eight Banners were not afraid of the Ming army’s firearms. The Ming army’s firearms were of poor quality, and their use was tactically clueless. The firearms handlers were also poorly trained, basically just setting off a bunch of fireworks indiscriminately. Apart from scaring the horses, their lethality was extremely limited.

The only thing that left a deep impression on them was the power of the Hongyi cannons. However, the number of Hongyi cannons was small, and they were very heavy. The Ming army only used them in sieges. In field battles, the Ming army rarely carried them. In contrast, the Dengzhou army, in its several engagements with the Manchu Qing, had carried Hongyi cannons and other large and small cannons. Their firing was very methodical, which made the Eight Banners army, which had always been able to win easily with heavy armor and boar-like charges, taste the true power of an army equipped and trained with firearms for the first time.

According to the reports of the spies, Sun Yuanhua, who was in charge of training the new army in Dengzhou, followed the “foreign religion” of the Westerners, and many Westerners helped him build firearms and train the army.

What worried him even more was that there were many former Dongjiang army members in the Dengzhou army. These people had a blood feud with the Eight Banners. Once Sun Yuanhua trained them into an army and they repeated Mao Wenlong’s old trick of launching a surprise attack on the flank of the Great Jin from the sea, the threat would be much greater than Mao Wenlong’s beggar-like guerrilla army.

The news of the rebellion of Li Jiucheng and Sun Yuanhua immediately aroused his great interest. Although the spies could not get exact information due to the chaotic situation of the war, he was aware that a large number of Dongjiang troops were involved in the rebellion. In his view, this rebellion had invisibly destroyed the new Dengzhou army that Sun Yuanhua had painstakingly managed for many years. Moreover, the deep involvement of the Dongjiang army in the rebellion would inevitably aggravate the internal division of the Dongjiang army, and at the same time, it would further aggravate the distrust of the Southern court towards Dongjiang.

This rebellion, in effect, eliminated two major hidden dangers on the flanks of the Eight Banners without him having to use a single soldier. Huang Taiji had a feeling of “the Mandate of Heaven is with me.”

Could it be that the world of the Southern Dynasty is really going to belong to my Great Jin? Huang Taiji had often had this feeling recently.

What news could come from Zhenjiang Fortress? Suddenly, his eyelids twitched. He remembered a spy report from a few months ago that tens of thousands of Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng’s men had fled from Dengzhou by sea. However, their whereabouts were unknown after their escape. The spies gathered information from Beijing that only said that the government troops had retaken Dengzhou and killed the main rebel generals such as Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde, but there was no explanation for the whereabouts of these tens of thousands of remnants who had fled by sea.

Could it be that these remnants have come to seek refuge with my Great Jin because they have nowhere else to go?! Huang Taiji was secretly pleased. Among these tens of thousands of rebels, there must be many former Dengzhou army firearms handlers, and they might even bring with them many firearms and warships and other equipment that the Eight Banners urgently needed but severely lacked. If so, his own army would be like a tiger with wings.

With such expectations, he opened the dispatch. The dispatch did indeed report that “a ship has come from the sea,” but it had nothing to do with the remnants of Dengzhou. It was a strange large ship, and the people on board had short hair and short clothes, which was very strange. These people had super-powerful cannons. Because the defending general refused them to land, they had already fired their cannons and collapsed a part of the city wall of Zhenjiang Fortress.

Now, they have requested to trade with the court.

“This is strange. People are usually trying to avoid us, but someone has come to our door. They really have courage,” Huang Taiji smiled slightly.

Since the other party had come to seek trade, it was of course something that the economically distressed Later Jin court could not ask for more.

He immediately ordered the Ministry of War’s qixinlang Ding Wensheng and Zhao Fuxing to come and inquire about the specific process of this incident.

It turned out that on the second day after the Haitian dropped anchor, the defenders of Zhenjiang Fortress dispatched hundreds of men in small boats to launch a surprise attack on Duozhi Island, in an attempt to destroy the Haitian in one fell swoop. However, they were partially destroyed by the ship’s cannons and the marines on the island before fleeing back. Subsequently, the Haitian bombarded Zhenjiang Fortress again, destroying more than ten zhang of the city wall and killing and injuring a hundred soldiers and civilians in the city. The power of the cannons was even greater than that of the Hongyi cannons.

After being beaten, the defending general of Zhenjiang Fortress, knowing that he was no match, obediently sent someone to inquire about the other party’s intentions. He learned that the other party called themselves “Da Ao” and requested to trade with their dynasty.

“Since the ships and cannons of this Da Ao are so powerful, why have I never heard of them before? Where is this country? Have they ever paid tribute to the Southern Dynasty?” Huang Taiji became very interested in this matter.

The two men said in unison that they had never heard of any Da Ao, let alone the power of their ships and cannons. They were probably another type of red-haired people who had drifted from the sea.

“The report says they look no different from Han people, just with short hair and short clothes, and they can speak Chinese,” Huang Taiji said, stroking his beard. “If so, they are probably not some red-haired people.”

“Your servant is incompetent…”

The two knelt on the ground, looking terrified. This “Da Ao” that had appeared out of nowhere had really given them a headache. These two were considered well-read and knowledgeable in the Later Jin court, otherwise they would not have been appointed to important positions like the Ministry of War’s qixinlang. But they had racked their brains and searched through all the geographical atlases they had, but there was not a single word about “Da Ao.”

Originally, they were inclined to believe that this was a group of sea merchants from within the Ming Dynasty, who were pretending to be foreign tributaries to do business with the Later Jin. Most sea merchants were lawless, so it was not surprising for them to do this.

However, according to the dispatch, the other party’s ships and cannons were far superior to those of the Great Ming, and their soldiers were all armed with muskets and were fierce and good at fighting. This did not match the description of ordinary sea merchants.

“Never mind. Since they have come from afar, their sincerity is commendable. Grant their request. Pass a decree to the Ministry of Rites, Sahaliyan, to immediately arrange for the Da Ao envoys to enter the capital!”

Shortly after this decree was issued, a second memorial was quickly sent from Zhenjiang Fortress.

Attached was a thick, beautifully printed album.

This album was the catalog of goods for sale to the Later Jin. After reading this album, Huang Taiji immediately issued a second decree, ordering the Ministry of Rites to immediately dispatch horses and laborers to transport the goods for the mission. At the same time, he ordered the Ministry of Rites to arrange for the reception ceremony and prepare the guesthouse.

Although the other party had always emphasized that they were just a “merchant group,” the specifications arranged by Huang Taiji were for an “envoy mission.” For the small court of the Later Jin, which already had ambitions to covet the Central Plains, such a great opportunity to show “foreign vassals coming to court” and “the four seas submitting” could not be missed.

It was in this sudden enthusiasm that Huang Hua was welcomed into the capital.

The reception was led by the qixinlang of the Ministry of Rites and a group of officials from the Later Jin Ministry of Rites. They brought two hundred horses for Huang Hua’s entourage to ride and to transport the gifts and samples. However, Huang Hua’s entourage consisted of only twenty people, and even with the goods, they did not need two hundred horses. The remaining horses were temporarily left at Zhenjiang Fortress.

A double-mule-drawn palanquin with a felt tent was prepared for Huang Hua. This was the most comfortable travel tool at the time. The interior space was large, and one could sit or lie down. One could even bring along beautiful maids and young boys for entertainment. This was also the first time Huang Hua had ridden in such a thing. After getting on, he found that not only was the interior luxuriously furnished, but even tea and snacks were provided, showing extreme thoughtfulness.

“These Tartars are really considerate. VIP treatment,” Huang Hua leaned against a pile of thick felt cushions and said to himself in his heart. “But I won’t be so easily bought.”

In front of his palanquin, on the left, walked the bondservant driving the mules. On the right, rode the niru-i ejen who was in charge of receiving them. The mule cart of the qixinlang of the Ministry of Rites followed behind. Surrounding them were about a hundred Later Jin cavalrymen. From the flags, he could see that they were from the Plain Yellow Banner.

The journey would take many days, and the journey was lonely, but he did not speak much with the officials who received him. During this time, he kept his eyes closed and rested, but in his mind, his thoughts never stopped, considering how to negotiate with the Later Jin officials after arriving in Shenyang’s Shengjing.

The first problem was the matter of etiquette. Huang Hua personally did not care about kowtowing to people. As a businessman, his integrity had long been shattered. The things he did in the past, like accompanying clients to visit prostitutes and play with women, were just a form of kowtowing. But now his identity was that of an envoy. The Yuanlao Senate did not even take the Ming emperor seriously, let alone a small local separatist regime like the Later Jin. Therefore, the kowtow ceremony was absolutely out of the question.