Due to Gao Jingshi's temporary new instructions, Cao Yu and others unanimously decided not to accept Shuerhaqi's request to surrender in front of the formation. Instead, after discussing with Gao Yimin, they abruptly typed Jinghua's "letter" in front of the formation. with sword" flag.
Jinghua's calligraphy sword flag consists of two swords crossed on the left and right, with the sword tips pointed upward and pointing diagonally at the sky. An ancient book in the form of a slippery slip hangs in the middle of the intersecting sword blades.
Gao Pragmatic has always claimed to the outside world that the meaning of Shujianqi is "defend literature with force, and control military force with culture." In fact, this is meant for the civil servants of the current era - including those within the Shi School. As for the true meaning, Gao Pragmatic only told Liu Xin, not even Huang Zhiting knew it.
"The two swords refer to the land and sea armies; the ancient scroll refers to Chinese civilization."
No matter what the meaning of the Shujian Flag is, at least one thing is certain. Everyone should understand when facing the Shujian Flag: the appearance of the Shujian Flag on the opposite side means that Jinghua's powerful force threat has been directed at them. forehead.
The people of Liaodong, whether Han, Jurchen or Mongolian, have a deep understanding of Shujian Banner. Whether it was the military power in the Battle of Southern Liaoning or the wealth of "all Liao boats and chariots, nine out of Beijing", it all means the strong strength of Beijing.
At this moment, even though Gao Yimin only brought 300 cavalry and not even a cannon, the deterrence given by Shujian Banner to Hetuala was not inferior to the nearly 10,000 cavalry of Cao Yun, Qi Jin, and Ma Chengxun. Army.
Although the Ming army was strong, it was always limited by military pay, but Jinghua... no one thought it would be short of money. If you offend the Ming army, you may not die, but if you offend Jinghua, you will definitely not live! This is already something that all Jurchen tribes in Liaodong are well aware of.
No one dares to say that it does not need to trade with outsiders, and the ultimate target of trade must be the Ming Dynasty. Jinghua controls trade logistics in Liaodong. Except for Li Chengliang, who can still maintain a certain degree of independence by relying on his family business that he has worked hard for many years, no other merchants or merchants can do without Jinghua.
Otherwise, not to mention how to face the possible pressure from Jinghua, even the sudden increase in trade costs is enough to make them succumb - if other people's costs are lower than yours, how can you do this business?
Under the situation of "all ships and vehicles from Liao are out of Jinghua", the cost of water transport trade in Jinghua is higher than that of any land transport. If you don't use water transportation, the logistics cost will more than triple, and this business is still a piece of shit!
The only possibility is that you can monopolize a certain product and only you can operate it exclusively in Liaoning. In that case, you can ignore the competition from your peers - because there are no peers. Otherwise, you will have to act based on Jinghua's eyes.
Nurhachi originally worked with the idea of monopolizing the ginseng trade, but it is obviously still far from it. North Korea, Dong'e tribe, Changbai Mountain tribes, etc. are all ginseng producing areas.
Among them, North Korea has a separate trade line, which is the line that crosses the Yalu River into southern Liaoning; the Dong'e tribe can trade in Kuandian and other places; the Changbai Mountain tribes, Haixi Wula, Huifa and other tribes can trade through Ye He's caravan Purchase and sell ginseng. This is beyond Nurhachi's control now.
At the same time, many of the materials needed by the Jurchen ministries cannot be separated from Beijing. For example, the simplest and indispensable salt, after Gao pragmatically restructured the Liaodong Salt Farm, has the only source of Liaonan Salt Farm - North Korea originally also produced salt, but unfortunately North Korea's salt production level is not good, and its salt Not only is the quality poor, but the price is also high. Buying Korean salt is far inferior to buying Liaonan salt.
The same goes for ironware. Jinghua's farm tools, iron pots and other household ironware are also hard currency in Liaodong. Now even private blacksmiths have to buy raw materials from Jinghua.
If Jinghua’s monopoly in southern Xinjiang is related to the control of political power, then its salt and iron monopoly in Liaodong is basically a crushing type of commercial capital. But having said that, of course there is also a relationship with imperial power here.
For example, in the Liaodong Salt Farm, His Majesty the Emperor held shares after the restructuring because the original Weisuo Salt Farm was theoretically owned by the emperor. The problem was that the original Liaodong Saltworks was full of shortcomings, and the court had a terrible headache. Otherwise, the joint management of Gao Pragmatic and the emperor would have been criticized by the officials.
But when these things were settled, Jinghua's special status was established. With the emperor standing behind him, what else can the businessmen below do? Liaodong is not Jiangnan, and the so-called "merchant class" below has no say at all. The person with the most say is probably Li Chengliang, but Li Chengliang himself is also an official and businessman, not to mention a military general - a military general is no better than a civilian official, definitely Don't dare to criticize the emperor.
Of course, ordinary Jurchens cannot understand the twists and turns here, but Nurhaci is obviously not an ordinary Jurchen. He has worked under Li Chengliang for several years, and he has a lot of understanding of these things.
Therefore, when the Book Sword Flag appeared outside the city of Hetuala, Nurhachi was half-cold on the spot, and stood speechless, his face ashen.
For a moment, Nurhaci even doubted whether Gao Pragmatic planned to take over Jianzhou completely and use Jianzhou as a ginseng planting base for Ming Dynasty - or Jinghua -.
Shuerhaqi, who originally accompanied him to inspect the defense with an expressionless face, was also dumbfounded when he saw Shujianqi. His eyes turning randomly showed that he was also confused and couldn't figure out what unexpected situation happened.
Why did Jinghua suddenly intervene? Attacking Jianzhou is an official act, and this battle is not about Jianzhou violating the border. Jinghua's interests are not harmed, so why are they here?
Nurhaci also noticed Shuerhaqi's expression, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his brother also looked very surprised. He was worried that the appearance of Shujianqi was caused by Shuerhaqi colluding with Jinghua, but now it seems that it doesn't seem like it, and Shuerhaqi doesn't know the reason either.
"Dou, have we had any disputes or conflicts with Jinghua recently?" Nurhaci, with a deep frown, asked in a low voice.
Shuerhaqi shook his head: "I still want to ask you, Ah Hun. How can we dare to conflict with Jinghua if we are not strong enough? Besides, Jinghua always clearly states the real price when doing business. Although the things sold are more expensive, the price of ginseng and so on , the price is quite fair, and they don’t play tricks on the scale, so how can there be any conflict between our department and them?”
Nurhaci also shook his head and said: "I have no business conflict with Jinghua, and the goods I have given them recently are all top quality. I don't think this matter originated from this. I suspect they want to capture Jianzhou. Monopolize the ginseng trade on your own.”
Shuerhaqi looked surprised: "Monopolize the ginseng trade on your own? Ah Hun, I don't agree with this. They also monopolize the ginseng trade now... Whether it's us or Ye He, or Hada, Dong E and other departments, even if In North Korea, who can bypass Jinghua? In other words, Uncle Li can retain some private markets in Tieling, Kuandian and other places, and get some from the private markets, but the rest are not controlled by Jinghua? How can they monopolize!"
He paused, and before Nurhachi could question, continued: "Besides, picking ginseng is unusual. Although Jinghua has many people, they have no experience in picking ginseng. I don't believe they will let Han people dig ginseng in the old forest."
Nurhachi's eyes wandered, he was silent for a moment, and suddenly said: "They don't have to dig it themselves. As long as they set the purchase price, someone will naturally go."
Shuerhaqi was shocked and whispered: "What Ahun means is that Jinghua intends to replace us people?"
"Why not?" Nurhachi glanced at him sideways: "Without us people, Jinghua's purchase price can be significantly reduced, and even after the reduction, the price for Zhushen (ordinary Jurchens) is higher than us Reward them."
Shuerhaqi became a little uneasy. He seemed to be talking to himself and asked Nurhachi: "How could this happen? It doesn't make sense. By doing this, Jinghua is not afraid that all Jianzhou will rebel and cause trouble in Liaodong."
Nurhaci said solemnly: "The matter has come to this, and it is useless to talk about it. How powerful was the Koromafa back then? Didn't the Ming people just kill them when they said they wanted to? I see that the Ming people just wish that I would always be leaderless in Jianzhou, so that it would be easier for them to oppress me. .”
Koromafa means grandpa in Manchu, and Nurhachi here of course refers to Wang Gao.
Shuerhaqi fell silent after hearing this. After a while, he stared blankly at the book sword flag at the Ming army camp outside Hetuala City and murmured: "What can we do? Jian How could the state resist the Ming Dynasty if it only has so many people?"
How many people are there in Jianzhou? Gao Pragmatic was also very curious about this issue at first, so he really learned about it after he became the governor of Liao.
As mentioned before, the Jianzhou Jurchens are one of the three major Jurchen tribes, and their members are mainly Jurchens under the jurisdiction of the 30,000 households of Huli Gai, Weduolian, and Tuowen, which were established in the Songhua River Basin in the Yuan Dynasty. They probably began to migrate southward at the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Among them, the Jurchens who were reorganized from Huli, led by chief Ahachu, migrated to Fengzhou in the upper reaches of the Huifa River. When his grandson Li Man lived, they continued Migrated south to the Hun River Basin.
In addition, the Jurchens of the Oduolian tribe, led by the chief Mengge Timur, migrated to the northern border of today's Korea. Later, because they were unwilling to submit to the Korean dynasty established by Li Chenggui, they were forced to migrate to the Hunjiang area and defected. The Huli Gai tribe already lived there.
There is also a theory that after Ahachu accepted the Ming Dynasty's Jianzhou Guard, he took the initiative to send people to recruit the fierce brother Timur.
In short, no matter what, Mengge Timur accepted the post of commander of the Ming Dynasty's Jianzhou Guard Capital in 1406 AD, and moved to Fengzhou probably in 1411 AD. Probably in the same year, the Jianzhou Guard was split into two parts by the Ming Dynasty, and Meng Ge Timur was appointed as the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard. This was the prototype of the Jianzhou Jurchen in the future.
During this period of time in Fengzhou, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Jianzhou Jurchens was very friendly, and Timur, the fierce brother, was also deferential to the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. By 1435 AD, the Ming Dynasty's policy towards the north shifted from offensive to defensive. The representative event was the abolition of the Nuergandu Command and Envoy Department.
Before that, in 1433 AD, Mengge Timur and his eldest son Agu died in a battle with the Udiha people of the seventh surname. Due to their defeat, their tribes were reduced from thousands to 500. household.
The main reason why the Jianzhou Jurchens failed in this battle was the intervention of the Ming Dynasty and North Korean troops. According to the "Records of King Sejong of Joseon", the North Korean army alone killed more than 500 Jurchens, making Jianzhou The Jurchens were "scattered in all directions, and there are not many survivors left."
After the Jianzhou Zuowei seal incident, through the mediation of the Ming Dynasty, Jianzhou was re-divided into the three guards. Dong Shan held the Zuowei seal, Fancha took charge of the right guard, and Li Manzhu still lived in Jianzhou guard. Although such mediation was due to the internal struggle in Jianzhou, it can also be seen that the Ming Dynasty adopted a divide and conquer strategy to prevent the Jurchens from becoming stronger.
Among the three, Dong Shan was the most powerful. He quickly developed the left guard into the most powerful of the three guards, so he expanded unsurprisingly and committed side violations. As a result, Ming Dynasty He was suspicious of him, so he took the opportunity to capture and kill him when he came to pay tribute to the horse in the border market.
In September of the same year, the Ming army contacted the Korean army and launched a surprise attack on the Jianzhou Zuowei, killing thousands of Jurchens and looting all their savings for many years. In this war, the neighboring Jianzhou Guards were not spared, and Li Manzhu and his eldest son Gunaha were also killed.
This was the third time that the Jurchens in Jianzhou were jointly purged by the Ming Dynasty and North Korea. The first two occurred in 1433 AD and 1467 AD. Subsequently, the Ming Dynasty and North Korea encircled and suppressed the Jianzhou Jurchens twice in 1478 and 1479 AD, and carried out devastating damage to the area to ensure that the Jurchens in the area remained in awe of the Ming Dynasty and did not take it for granted. If you are too hard, you will plunder on the border.
During this 45-year period, five purges were carried out against the Jurchens in Jianzhou, resulting in a significant reduction in the Jurchen population in this area. According to records in "Records of Sejong", in 1552 AD, which was the 31st year of the Jiajing reign, when talking about border affairs in the Northeast, court officials of the Ming Dynasty said that the Jurchens in Jianzhou "have not turned against them for fifty or sixty years now."
It can be seen that after these five purges, the Jurchen population in Jianzhou dropped sharply, which indeed kept the border stable. However, the Jurchen population in Jianzhou did not gradually recover until the Jiajing and Longqing years.
But don't think that this recovery is very impressive. In fact, in the 31st year of Jiajing, the three guards of Jianzhou only had more than 10,000 people in total, and their number of strong men was only two to three thousand at most.
By the time of Wang Gao, the Jurchens in Jianzhou began to strengthen again. Of course, the more important thing is that Wang Gao actually unified the three parts of Jianzhou, which led to the inclusion of Jurchens who were not included in the statistics originally. As a result, the population gradually increased. It is estimated to be around 60,000 to 80,000.
However, Wang Gao expanded again and was beaten by Li Chengliang in the two battles of Gulezhai. Jianzhou Jurchen lost more than 20,000 people. In fact, the population that Nurhachi ruled now was only about 50,000, and at most about 60,000.
With a population of more than 50,000 to 60,000 people, he integrated an army of 7,000 to 8,000 people. Two things can be seen from this. The first is the advantageous feature of the cattle-breeding system where all the people are soldiers, and the second is the huge profits from the ginseng trade.
But the ordinary Jurchens in Jianzhou are still afraid of the Ming Dynasty. The fear caused by being repeatedly purged by the Ming Dynasty will not fade easily. It can be said that except for Nurhaci himself, no one from the following generals from Shuerhaqi to Nurhachi thinks they can really resist. Got the Ming Dynasty.
After listening to Shuerhaqi's words, Nurhaci took a deep breath, looked at his compatriot brother, and said: "Dou, you and I read Han Chinese books together back then. I wonder if you have any understanding of this sentence."
Shuerhaqi asked casually: "What are you talking about?"
"It's all about human effort."
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