Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 321 The Jurchens’ Choice
"Mr. Yagyu? You are so brave that you dare to sneak into my tent!"
"Hahaha, brave Chu Yinghan, after all, I have lived in the Great Jin Kingdom for more than a year. There are still many warriors who remember me."
"Stop! There is no Great Jin Kingdom now! Mr. Liu Sheng, considering that we got along well in the past and you helped me in Jiefan Village, please leave quickly! Otherwise, I will have no choice but to tie you up hand you over to the Liaodong Governor."
Also on May 10, relying on his previous experience as an instructor in the Jurchen tribe and with the help of some individual guards, Yagyu Munenori sneaked into the tent of Chu Ying, who was leading his troops to the Yalu River in person.
In fact, this was the first time that the Ming Dynasty had called on the Jurchens to fight after the fall of the Great Jin Kingdom five years ago, so the six Jurchen tribes in the Songnen Plain took it very seriously. Whether it was Chu Ying or Daishan, the leaders of the six tribes personally led their troops south to join the Ming army.
"Great Khan, is this how you treat your old friends? Can you let me finish what I'm saying?"
"Mr. Yagyu, first of all, I am not a Great Khan. I am just the leader of the newly established Songhua River Vanguard of the Ming Dynasty. Second, I know what you are going to say. Isn't it that you hope that when you Japanese fight against the Liaodong Army of the Ming Dynasty in the future, we can fight back?"
After saying this, Chu Ying twitched his lips and said, "Among my father's many sons, I am not as brave as Manggurtai. In terms of wisdom, I am not as good as Huang Taiji who has been beheaded by His Royal Highness the Regent. Even so, I know clearly that the Ming Dynasty is so big. Even if we join forces with you and wipe out the 30,000 Liaodong garrison troops here? It won't be long before the Ming Dynasty can send 100,000, 300,000 or even more troops into Liaodong. By then, we Jurchens will be completely reduced to dust!"
"Hahaha~" Liu Shengzongjun clapped and laughed: "I didn't expect that after five years, Chu Yinghan, who always thought he was omnipotent, has also realized his shortcomings. It's really cause for celebration."
Seeing that Chu Ying's expression still didn't change, Liu Sheng Zongjun quickly got to the point: "Great Khan, you are joking. We are friends. How could a friend let you fall into the danger of death and extinction? I am not here this time to ask you to turn against me."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"First, of course, I want to see old friends. Second, I want to give something to the Khan."
"Something? What?"
"Of course it's flintlock rifles and plenty of bullets. Khan, this time our country is angry at Korea's disrespect towards us for many years and the miserable life of the people in Korea, so we resolutely sent a large army to punish it. Who knew that the Ming Dynasty didn't understand Japan's painstaking efforts and actually sent a large army to interfere... Yes, there will probably be a war between our two countries next. And this war is your chance, Khan Chu Ying!"
"Chance?"
"Yes! Great Khan. I have been in the Great Jin Kingdom for so long, and apart from the Eighth Prince who was killed by the Ming Dynasty's Crown Prince, you are my best personal friend. I really hope that you can truly inherit the cause and become the undisputed and only Great Khan of the Jurchens!"
"Ha! Mr. Liu Sheng, stop it. Let's not talk about my brothers who spread the word in their tribes that I am a traitor and a shameless person who sold out my father for fame. Let's talk about that bastard Buzhantai. He comes to me all day long for no reason. On the surface, he says he wants to build a relationship between the two tribes, but in fact, he is just coveting my Donggo's beauty. I had to bring Donggo to the army on this expedition! Humph, that Buzhantai is probably hoping that I will die in this battle so that he can marry my woman! You see, in this situation, four out of the six Jurchen tribes are dissatisfied with me. How can I become the Khan of the Jurchens? Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty will never allow us Jurchens to unite again!"
"Great Khan, are you a Jurchen warrior?"
"Nonsense! I, Chu Ying, have been killing people with a knife since I was seven years old. Although I haven't fought in a war in the past five years, I have been fighting black bears and big insects in the deep mountains and forests every year!"
"So, Khan. The Jurchens believe in following the strong. As long as you have absolute power, what you just said will not be a problem."
Seeing Chu Ying's calmness and deep thought, Liu Sheng Zongjun immediately followed up: "Great Khan, please accept the kindness of my old friend. We don't ask you to stand on our side in this war. We just send you guns and bullets, and if possible, we can also send you some large barrels. In this war, Liaodong Town will be defeated by us, and even if Liaodong Town wins, it will be greatly weakened. In this way, you have a chance!"
"Um……"
As expected, as Nurhaci's son, especially the eldest son who was extremely close to the position of Khan, Chu Ying was still obsessed with the only Khan of the Jurchens in his heart.
Seeing Chu Ying's performance, Liu Sheng Zongjun lowered his voice and said in a more bewitching tone: "Khan, after you get our support, it is not possible to wipe out the other five Jurchen tribes at once. This will attract the attention and persecution of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Ming. However, you can take advantage of the fact that the power of Liaodong Town has been severely weakened, and use the power of thunder to defeat and annex at least one tribe. In this way, your position among the Jurchens will completely change. Then, you can wait and see. If we Japanese continue to win in Liaodong, you can continue to annex other tribes. If we lose, you can also stop. However, even if you stop, your tribe is already the most powerful among the Jurchens. In this way, will your reputation still be bad?"
"Hmm~ What you said seems to make a little sense."
"Hahaha, Great Khan, I am your friend! After I returned to Japan, I highly praised the brave and resolute Chu Yinghan. In Japan, when we talk about the Jurchens, the first person we think of is you."
"Ah? Haha, Mr. Yagyu, you really flatter me."
"Great Khan!" Liu Sheng Munenori stood up and took a few steps towards Chu Ying. Seeing that Chu Ying had no intention of objecting, he simply walked to Chu Ying's side and whispered in fluent Jurchen into Chu Ying's ear: "Great Khan, you Jurchens were relocated to the so-called Songnen Plain by the Regent of the Ming Dynasty. Don't you know how you are living? Your Jurchen teenagers are now forced to enter the Han school. What exactly is the Regent's plan? Don't you know?"
"Why……"
What Yagyu Munenori said really hit Chu Ying's soft spot.
The Songnen Plain was the granary of China in later generations, but in this era, it was a wild land - full of forests and swamps, and a snowy plain in winter.
Yes, the land here is indeed fertile, but it is still in its original state. It would take a long time to reclaim it from scratch.
In fact, in the past five years, the six Jurchen tribes only obtained a little more than 40% of their total food through farming in the Songnen Plain. Most of it still had to rely on fishing, hunting and trade.
Even so, the number of people who died of starvation and freezing in the six Jurchen tribes each year was close to one thousand - the six tribes combined had less than 600,000 people. Losing one thousand people every year just from lack of food was no small matter.
Not to mention, since Li Sancai took office as the governor of Liaodong, he has established schools for the six Jurchen tribes. The Liaodong Dusi also bears all the expenses of these schools - in the schools, all children speak Chinese and write Chinese characters! What exactly does the Ming Dynasty want to do? Do they really think that we, the outstanding Jurchens, have no idea?
In addition to these, there is something that Yagyu Munenori did not mention: the six ministries live next to each other, and various minor frictions are inevitable. At present, when large-scale actions cannot be taken, these problems must be solved by the Liaodong governor and officials at all levels of the Ming Dynasty. In the past, Liaodong officials handled the situation fairly. But after Li Sancai came, he did whatever was beneficial to expanding the contradictions!
"Mr. Yagyu, I promise to accept your gift. But I can't guarantee whether I will proceed to the next step."
"Hahaha, don't worry, Chu Yinghan, we are friends. I will never make things difficult for you."
