Chapter 134: The Audience

Huang Hua slightly lifted the reins with both hands, letting his body rise and fall with the rhythm of the horse’s movement, as Nick had taught him. He sat very steadily, but the saddle under him was not the modern style used in Lingao, which made him feel a little unaccustomed.

He noticed that although the surrounding cavalrymen were not tall, they were sturdy, much more so than most of the Ming soldiers he had seen. It seemed that the Eight Banners soldiers could at least eat their fill, so it was not surprising that their combat effectiveness was off the charts. These short and sturdy soldiers had dark skin, and many had traces of countless battles on their faces: scars. This gave their silent faces a ferocious expression.

Their posture on horseback, fully armored, was very natural. They hardly needed the reins when they moved their horses, relying only on the control of their knees to give instructions to the horses. Their horse control skills were far superior to the soldiers of the garrison battalion he had brought, who had all undergone special training by Nick.

If it were a one-on-one mounted combat, the cavalry trained in Lingao would be no match for them. Although Huang Hua knew that the General Staff did not have a high evaluation of the combat capabilities of the Later Jin army, and he also knew Napoleon’s exposition on the difference between irregular and regular cavalry, when faced with such soldiers who had been tested by countless battles of blood and fire, he could not help but feel a sense of fear.

He forced himself to be calm and secretly mocked himself: So I’m still just a small businessman at heart. If he had come to this world alone, he would probably have become a starving corpse or a bondservant long ago.

The group was escorted by the cavalry to the outside of the net-walled encampment of the imperial tent, where they dismounted to await their audience.

At this time, he heard a Later Jin official outside the tent announce something in a loud voice in Manchu. Huang Hua did not understand, but he roughly knew that it was to announce his arrival.

A Manchu official and a Han official came to the door to greet Huang Hua and his entourage.

His attendants could not enter the net-walled encampment. From the gate of the net-walled encampment to the tent hall, two rows of Bayara soldiers stood solemnly, heavily guarded. The entire area around the tent was silent. Outside the tent hall were displayed a full set of ceremonial guards.

“Please remove your sword, my lord,” the Han official reminded him.

Huang Hua unfastened the tassel of the command sword hanging from his waist and handed it to a soldier beside him. He took a deep breath:

“Please lead the way.”

Saying this, he walked slowly with the two officials towards the tent hall.

He had originally thought that Huang Taiji would be sitting upright in the tent hall and might even give him a sudden show of force. Therefore, he had long made twelve-tenths of preparations in his heart, ready to respond to any situation. In fact, he was also prepared to die.

However, none of this happened. When he had just walked about a zhang away from the tent hall, Huang Taiji had already come out from inside the tent hall to greet him. Before Huang Hua could react, he had already performed the embrace greeting with him.

This gesture greatly surprised Huang Hua, who had been full of vigilance. Fortunately, he had been through many situations in the business world for many years and did not lose his composure.

After entering the tent hall, Huang Taiji ascended to his seat. Huang Hua, guided by the qixinlang, had his audience and performed the three-bow ceremony. Then Huang Taiji said a few words in Manchu, and the Han official who was in charge of the ceremony announced that Huang Hua was to be given a seat. Someone immediately brought him a stool that was not much taller than a small stool. This made Huang Hua, who was a full 1.8 meters tall, feel a little cramped when he sat down.

However, at this moment, Huang Hua’s perception of Huang Taiji had greatly changed. Originally, he regarded Huang Taiji as the leader of the barbarians, a cruel and ruthless middle-aged strongman who was always fighting and killing. But at that moment, he felt a little inexplicably moved. He couldn’t help but remind himself that this was Huang Taiji’s method of winning people’s hearts, and he couldn’t have the mentality of an underdog, getting excited just because a person in power gave him a good face and a few good words.

It seems that Huang Taiji is indeed a character, he thought to himself. Just this ability to lower himself to win people’s hearts is not something that ordinary people can do. No wonder in the original world, the Three Vassals, who had a deep hatred for the Manchu Qing and were arrogant and untamable, would submit to him and act as the gold-medal thugs of the Manchu Qing.

Huang Taiji was very interested in his clothes and looked him up and down several times before he spoke. He could speak Chinese, but during the entire audience, he only spoke Manchu, which was translated by the qixinlang of the Ministry of Rites.

He first asked Huang Hua about his origin and intentions. This was all material that had been prepared long ago. Huang Hua then boasted about the so-called Da Ao and mentioned that his side had already established “prefectures and counties” on the “coastal islands,” but they were extremely short of population and hoped to trade with the Later Jin for population to enrich the people.

Population was the main “commodity” that the Yuanlao Senate sought in its trade with the Later Jin. Although population transfer stations had already been established in Shandong, northern Jiangsu, and northern Zhejiang, and the large number of people transported after the Engine Operation had alleviated the problem of labor shortage, since it was trade, there had to be a goal, otherwise it would become aid. Not to mention that the Planning Institute would not agree, even Huang Taiji himself would probably become suspicious.

For the Yuanlao Senate, the main use of the Manchu Qing was as a magnet to firmly attract the attention and national strength of the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Manchu Qing was causing trouble, the Ming Dynasty would not have enough financial and military resources to pay attention to the short-haired bandits far away in Liangguang. After the end of the first five-year plan, the Yuanlao Senate would inevitably enter the Liangguang region. The model of a Ming shell with an Australian core could not be sustained on such a large scale. In order to win time to manage Liangguang, letting the Manchu Qing cause as much trouble as possible was the best means of containment.

In general, the Yuanlao Senate did not tend to achieve its goals through expensive wars. If it could force the Ming court to compromise with the Yuanlao Senate through containment by the Manchu Qing, that would be the best.

In contrast, other goods obtained through trade, apart from horses and population, were already insignificant in the overall strategy.

When Huang Taiji heard that the other party wanted “live mouths” and horses, he frowned slightly. Population and horses had always been the most important resources for the Later Jin regime.

Although the Manchu Qing had captured a large number of “live mouths” in previous wars, most of these people had already been distributed to the Eight Banners nobles and soldiers for agricultural production and servitude. Recently, they had not entered the pass, nor had they fought with the Ming. There were no ready-made prisoners for trade. They could only be requisitioned from the various manors and residences.

As for horses, although there were a considerable number of horses raised in the White Mountains and Black Waters, the Jurchens were generally a fishing and hunting people, not a pastoral people. Their horse holdings were limited, and they usually had to buy and forcibly conscript horses from the Mongols to supplement their army.

However, the source of horses was easier to solve than the population. As long as they could import enough goods from Da Ao, it would not be a problem to buy horses from the Mongols, and they could even make a profit from the price difference. Therefore, Huang Taiji was more positive about this proposal.

While responding to Huang Hua, Huang Taiji was also observing this “Da Ao person.” This was the first time he had seen Huang Hua’s attire. In the Later Jin, Koreans were not uncommon. During the first conquest of Korea, a large number of live mouths were captured from Korea. As for the Japanese, there were occasionally those who lost their way at sea or encountered storms and “drifted” here. Only this Da Ao person, apart from looking exactly like a Han person, was different from any other person he had encountered in terms of dress, speech, and demeanor. He quickly judged that the so-called “Da Ao people” would definitely not be a “false name” of some great Ming sea lord, as some of his ministers had speculated. They were most likely a powerful force from overseas—like the Westerners who were now casting cannons and training troops for the Great Ming.

Huang Taiji asked him many questions, including the types and quantities of goods supplied, and the cycle of mutual trade, which would probably take several years. Huang Hua could see that the other party had done their homework beforehand and obviously attached great importance to trade with his side.

He particularly mentioned the supply of armor and also asked about the possibility of buying grain and “the Hongyi cannons used on the ship…” Huang Hua gave a full guarantee for the supply of armor. As for the Hongyi cannons, because he did not know the final decision of the Yuanlao Senate, he could only be vague and say that it needed further discussion. As for grain, he said that it was difficult to sell at present because Da Ao itself was also short of grain.

“If you can persuade the various nobles of your country to buy grain and Hongyi cannons for me, I will not only give a generous price, but I will also definitely give you a generous reward: beautiful women and handsome boys, fine horses and beautiful jade, you can choose as you please,” Huang Taiji said with a smile.

“Thank you for your kindness, Great Khan,” Huang Hua said. “I will report this matter after I return.”

Huang Taiji nodded and said, “You Da Ao people come here to trade for nothing more than profit. Although it is just a trivial pursuit, I admire you for being able to cross the ocean and brave the waves to come here. As long as you can bring the goods my dynasty needs, I will definitely not treat you unfairly.”

Huang Hua could only nod in thanks.

Huang Taiji ordered someone to give Huang Hua “keshi,” which was a Manchu pastry like Sachima. Then he asked some questions about the Haitian and at the same time said that he had already sent an order to Zhenjiang Fortress to supply the Haitian.

As for the matter of the two sides once fighting each other, he did not mention a word.

Finally, he said, “Let’s do it this way. You go back and rest first. Tomorrow I will send officials from the Ministry of Revenue to negotiate with you. I still have to go hunting, so you can leave now.”

Huang Hua was taken to a nearby tent to rest temporarily. Although it was already noon, the Manchu Qing, before entering the pass, like most Han people within the pass, ate two meals a day. This habit continued even with the Manchu Qing emperors after entering the pass. Huang Hua’s stomach was rumbling with hunger, so he had to fill his stomach with the “keshi” that was sent to him. The taste was not bad, especially the bean buns made of sticky yellow rice, which tasted particularly good, but the sweetness was very strange, as if honey was added instead of sugar.

In the afternoon, he was summoned to Huang Taiji’s side again to observe the hunting of the Eight Banners soldiers.

Horns echoed from all directions. Thousands of Eight Banners soldiers and bondservants, according to the colors of their respective banners, beat drums and fired cannons from all directions, waving flags and shouting. The various birds and beasts hiding in the grass were startled and ran around in all directions. The various troops, according to the signals of the drums and flags, rushed into the hunting ground in turn, drawing their bows and shooting at the disturbed birds and beasts.