The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 435: Envoy from the Qing Dynasty
Whether it was due to the safe return of Empress Yang Qing'er, or the effectiveness of Old Song's eighty-one-dose resurrection soup, Emperor Wuding's violent behavior decreased significantly after he occupied Dongchang Prefecture. The emperor used to favor lingchi (slicing a thousand pieces of meat) but now only ordered beheadings.

Ma Shiying stayed in Linqing for a long time, worried about the war in Liaodong. He could not sleep or eat well every day and wished he could go out to help Shenyang immediately. When he heard that the emperor had recovered a little, he immediately went to the Chaoguan Yamen and urged them to send troops as soon as possible.

On September 30th, upon entering the living room of the Imperial Bank, Ma Shiying was stunned by what he saw. Hanging on the wall was a large map, densely covered with characters he didn't recognize. The emperor, with his back to him, was still writing and drawing.

Ma Shiying boasted that he was the most talented scholar in Northern Zhili. In the 47th imperial examination of the Wanli reign, if the examiner had not been short-sighted and buried his talent, he would have been the top scorer or the third place. However, even as knowledgeable as he was, he could not figure out the meaning of the words marked by Emperor Wuding after looking for a long time.

"His Majesty,"

After standing at the door for half an hour, Ma Shiying finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"I have something important to report."

Emperor Wuding remained indifferent, so Ma Shiying had no choice but to raise his voice and repeat: "Your Majesty, I am the Minister of Rites..."

Liu Zhaosun turned around and saw Ma Shiying standing behind him anxiously. He put down the pencil in his hand and said indifferently: "What do you want?"

Ma Shiying stepped forward and pointed to the location of Liaodong on the map. With red eyes, he cried:

"Your Majesty, the Liaodong area is in great danger. We cannot delay any longer. I have been in Linqing for almost a month. Shenyang could be captured by the Jiannu at any moment. Why hasn't the army been dispatched to rescue us yet? Your Majesty..."

Although Emperor Wuding no longer had the violent temper, he was no longer the Liu Zhaosun of the past.

Just now, the emperor was thinking about the issue of transporting food and grass for the march to Denglai. His careful thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the man in front of him. It is conceivable that he was very angry.

"As for the affairs of Liaodong, I have my own plans. No need to say more!"

Emperor Wuding didn't want to waste time explaining to Ma Shiying that he wouldn't cross the sea to aid Liaodong until Shandong (at least Denglai) was secure. Shandong still contained a significant number of remnant bandits, not to mention the local tyrants. These forces now viewed the Great Qi as a formidable threat. Only after completely eliminating these two forces could the Qi army proceed. The lesson of fighting on two fronts was painful enough, and the emperor wouldn't make the same mistake again—though he had already made it at least three times: in the first year of the Taichang reign, when he marched into Shandong to suppress the Wenxiang Sect; in the first year of the Tianqi reign, when he attacked Liaoxi; and in the first year of the Chongzhen reign, when he invaded Japan.

The first two divisions of troops led to insufficient internal construction and frequent rebellions, while the third expedition to Japan directly caused the bandits to grow stronger in Shaanxi and almost destroyed everything.

Seeing the emperor so resolute and ruthless, Ma Shiying was completely different from the image of a benevolent ruler he had shown in Kaiyuan. He was overwhelmed with emotions and knelt down to beg:
"Your Majesty! Liaodong is the foundation of the Great Qi! Dudu is cunning and treacherous. I am worried that Shenyang will be lost, not to mention Korea..."

Liu Zhaosun waved his hand, looked back at the palace and said thoughtfully:

"I have my own decision on aiding Liaodong. We must first stabilize Shandong, and then Liaodong. I will not make the same mistakes again."

As he spoke, he suddenly leaned close to Ma Shiying, almost touching the Minister of Rites' face, and said word by word:

"I won't make any more mistakes."

Ma Shiying breathed rapidly, stood up with his sleeves swung, pointed at Liu Zhaosun's nose and cursed:
"Forget it! Forget it! Right now, the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince are still suffering in Shenyang, and there are still many elders in the city who are eagerly waiting for their return. Your Majesty has abandoned everyone for a few women! He is obsessed with women and has no desire to make progress! Victory and defeat are common in the military. The capital has been defeated, and it is unknown whether it can make a comeback. Why has it fallen to this point? What the military supervisor Kang said was true. Your Majesty is just a warrior!"

Zhang Dong, the guard at the door, poked his head in to look inside. Emperor Wuding remained expressionless. After Ma Shiying finished speaking, he waved his hand and said loudly:

"That's not a reason, Zhang Dong!"

Zhang Dong thought the emperor was going to kill someone again, so he rushed in to plead for mercy. Emperor Wuding raised his arm, and Zhang Dong suddenly dared not move.

Liu Zhaosun pointed at Ma Shiying, who was lying on the ground with tears streaming down his face, and roared like a dragon and a tiger:
"The capital was besieged, Shen Lian died in battle, Wang Erhu and Wu Youke died for their country, and Kang Yingqian killed his wife and abandoned his children. They did this simply to protect Great Qi and save my life. Now I occupy only three prefectures and two counties, with a population of one million. My country is in ruins, my wife and children are torn apart. How can I face the people of Liaodong?"

Zhang Dong didn't say anything, but looked up and looked quietly at Emperor Wuding. Ma Shiying also stopped crying.

"Why did the Great Qi become a violent Qi? I'm not trying to emulate the Northern Qi, or learn from Gao Huan and his gang of lunatics! Killing the local tyrants, dividing the land, abolishing private property, and putting all the money into the national treasury is all for the benefit of the people of the world. But I'm using the butcher's knife first, just like before! What I'm doing is making an enemy of the gentry and the bandits of the world. If we win, the whole world won't have to go out and not be warm, and there will be no more famine and disasters. If we're not careful, everything will be lost. If we really lose, people's hearts will be scattered, and there will be no way to recover! You, me, and these tens of thousands of soldiers will all die without a burial place! This is why Li Xianzhong, Zhang Zicheng, Du Du, and Zhu Changling can afford to lose eight or ten times, but I, Liu Zhaosun, can't afford to lose even once!"

"Ma Shiying, considering your devotion to the country, I will spare your life! Remember, never again comment on political affairs. You should learn from General Kang and support him... Leave the city immediately today. I will have Zhang Dong send additional guards to escort you back to Liaodong. You go back and tell Du Du that I have granted him permission to continue serving as my guard. I will make him and the Rakshasa ghost into living human figurines, letting them guard the northern border forever!"

Ma Shiying wiped away his tears and regained his composure.
"Hearing your Majesty's words, I am enlightened. Your Majesty still has great things to do in Shandong, and I cannot hinder the Great Qi. I do not need guards. Lin Yu and Wei Zhao are more than enough to escort me back to Liaodong."

~~~~~
"Barbarians! Shameless as hell! Come, come! Capture this bastard, escort him to the north gate of the city wall, and execute him by slow slicing in front of the Tartars!"

September 29th, the first year of the Wuding reign, Wuding Hall, Imperial Palace, Shenyang.

Kang Yinggan, with gray hair and beard, stomped his feet, tore the "Letter from the Qing Dynasty" written by Du Du into pieces, and threw it hard on the ground. Because he used too much force, Kang Yinggan staggered and almost fell. Yang Tong, who was guarding nearby, quickly stretched out his only remaining right arm, trying to support the furious Prime Minister Kang, but before his fingers touched Kang Yinggan, he was pushed away by the latter.

Upon seeing this, Yang Tong immediately swung the iron hook on his left arm, and two burly Qi army guards came up and without saying a word, they dragged the Qing envoy who was begging for mercy out of the hall like a dead person.

The emissary with the pigtails was being dragged by the guards while turning back to shout at Kang Yingqian:
"Master Kang! Don't act on impulse! If you don't think about yourself, you should also think about the brothers in the Qi army."

"Shenyang has been under siege for three months. There are no reinforcements from outside, and there are rebels inside. How many people are left? How much food and grass do you have? Do you really want to be buried with this child emperor? If you can make this happen, the Qing Dynasty will also promote you..."

Kang Yinggan was furious. He drew his sword with a clang, pushed away Qiao Yiqi and Song Yingxing who were trying to persuade him, and swung his sword to chop down the rude bannerman.

The little emperor Liu Kan, who was less than one year old, was sitting on the dragon throne, being supported by two palace maids on both sides. He leaned forward slightly, drooling from his mouth, making "ah ah" sounds, and his big eyes looked at the world with curiosity.

Qiao Yiqi grabbed Kang Yingqian and whispered to his old partner, "Old Kang, why don't you take advantage of their strategy and stabilize the Jiannu first, so that we can let the soldiers fight..."

Kang Yingqian was furious and kicked Qiao Yiqi away:
"How dare you, little Dudu, covet the Empress Dowager of Great Qi! This is intolerable! If I don't kill this thief today, I will be ashamed of the Emperor's spirit in heaven!"

The emperor Kang Yingqian was referring to was certainly not the little emperor who was still drooling, but Liu Kan’s father, the former emperor Liu Zhaosun.

Liaodong had not received any news from the emperor for three months and was becoming increasingly frightened. Ma Shiying and his entourage, who were sent to the south, never returned and there has been no news from them to this day.

After more than three months of siege, the city of Shenyang was still strong, but some hungry Liao people began to escape by ropes at night and surrender to the Jiannu.

Kang Yingqian strongly advocated shooting the fleeing civilians, but the Empress Dowager Cisi said that the Great Qi was founded on benevolence, and if the emperor were in Shenyang, he would definitely try to protect the lives of the people.

With Qiao Yiqi and others obstructing them, Kang Yingqian was forced to compromise, and the defenders tacitly allowed the refugees to leave the city, as long as they did not take any food with them. By the end of July, the cities of Kuandian, Fushun, Kaiyuan, and Qinghe had successively fallen, and Tieling was also captured by the Jiannu. The fall of Tieling was almost identical to the original historical record, with internal forces within the city still colluding. Fortunately, the Qi army defending Tieling consisted of only 500 men, and the majority of the troops fled towards Shenyang when the city fell.

In early August, the Qi army continued to shrink and concentrate its forces, and continuously transferred troops from Liaoyang to reinforce Shenyang. At the end of August, Liaoyang fell.

In early September, the Qing army and the Korean army joined forces and launched a fierce attack on Shenyang. From then on, the only two cities left outside the Great Wall of the Great Qi were Fuzhou in southern Liaoning and Shenyang in Liaodong.

On September 15, the Qing army and the Korean army surrounded the city of Shenyang. They were not in a hurry to attack the city. Du Du and Li Zong both knew that Shenyang was an isolated city in Liaodong and had completely lost external support. It was only a matter of time before it was conquered.

Whether it is a quick victory or a long siege, the initiative on the battlefield is in our hands.

On September 20th, the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty had a sudden idea and sent an envoy to propose marriage to the Empress Dowager Cisi, saying that if Jin Yuji could remarry the Qing Dynasty, the two families would be able to put aside their hostility and become friends.

As a condition, Du Du guaranteed that after Jin Yuji married him, she could become his first wife. At the same time, the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty would try his best to preserve the lives of the surrendered Qi army.

When the Liaoshen Campaign just broke out, Dudu sent an envoy to propose marriage to Khorchin, but was beheaded by Dayuer.

It seems that he still hasn't given up and has started to covet Jin Yu Ji again.

As for why Du Du made such a crazy request, was he coveting the beauty of the Empress Dowager Cisheng?
Later historians of the Great Qi Empire, in their research on this period of history, in addition to proposing the theory of levirate marriage, often analyzed it from the perspective of historical psychology:
Before becoming the Khan of Jianzhou, Dudu served as a guard of Emperor Wuding. It was undoubtedly a huge humiliation and an indelible stain for a dignified Prince of Houjin to live under someone else's roof.

The only way for Du Du, who endured humiliation and bore heavy burdens, to relieve the psychological shadow left by Liu Zhaosun was to occupy Empress Wuding and conquer the emperor's woman.

Of course, this nonsensical proposal caused a devastating tragedy for Dudu and his tribe.

~~~~
As the hall was filled with clamor, Jin Yuji's steady and powerful voice came from behind the curtain.

"General Kang, wait a minute."

Everyone looked up and saw Empress Dowager Cisi walking out from behind the curtain.

A group of civil and military officials raised their heads and looked at the young Empress Dowager.

Jin Yuji was dressed in military uniform, with the goose-feather sword given by the emperor slung around her waist, and walked towards the throne with steady steps.

As they passed the dragon throne, the Queen Mother looked at the little emperor gently and instructed the two frightened palace maids:
"Change Kan'er's diaper."

~~~~
The Book of Qi, Biography of the Jiannu, records that in the year Wuding Liu Zhaosun disappeared, Shenyang was besieged by the Jiannu Koreans. The Empress Dowager received a "marriage proposal" from the Qing Emperor Du Du. The full text is as follows:

"I, a solitary and weak ruler, was born in a swamp, raised in a city where cattle and horses roamed the plains. I have often journeyed to the border, and wish to visit Liaodong. The Queen Mother is independent, and I, a solitary ruler, live alone. Both rulers are unhappy, and I have no means of protection. I wish to exchange what I have for what I have not!"

As a native Korean, Jin Yuji heard from her father when she was young that the Donglu and even the entire Jurchen nation had the custom of "levirate marriage".

Jin Yuji's father negotiated with the Jiannu and Mongols on the Korean border all year round. He was well versed in the customs of the barbarians and often told them about them to his studious daughter.

The so-called "levirate marriage" is an academic term. The popular saying is "when the father dies, the man marries his stepmother; when the brother dies, the man marries his stepmother's wife."

From the perspective of the ethical concepts of the Han and Korean people, "levirate marriage" is undoubtedly vulgar and bad custom, and is an unreasonable and beastly behavior.

However, for the Jiannu, who were just transitioning from slavery to feudalism, this custom was the most effective means of maintaining family wealth and ensuring population growth. Frequent wars had led to a sharp decline in the male population, leaving behind large numbers of orphans and widows. To maintain population growth, raise women and children, and ensure the survival of the tribe, widows were required to remarry. This was true for the Xiongnu, the Mongols, and the Jiannu.

For the Jiannu, levirate marriage was the best way to protect the family's power and property. At the same time, due to the vast territory of Liaodong and the scattered settlements of fishing and hunting ethnic groups, it was difficult for widows to find men of the right age to marry in other families, so remarrying within the husband's family was the best option.

This was even more evident among the upper echelons of the Jiannu clan, where levirate marriage was also an effective means of maintaining noble bloodlines and uniting clan relations.

The following is an example of the beautiful lady Donggo Yehenara.

Donggo attracted countless heroes to compete for her, and her life was destined to become a political bargaining chip because of her status as a princess of the Yehe tribe.

In the 21st year of Wanli's reign, when the four tribes of Haixi met, Mantai, the leader of the Ula tribe, proposed marriage to Yehe, seeking Donggo as the wife of his younger brother Buzhantai.

In the 23rd year of the Wanli reign, Donggo's brother promised her to Nurhaci as a "marriage alliance". Nurhaci made a solemn proposal, but Donggo vowed to never marry.

In the 27th year of the Wanli reign, Yehe offered Hada a marriage of Donggo to their leader if they could turn against Nurhaci and kill him. Menggebulu, the leader of the Hada tribe, unexpectedly agreed, but was ultimately eliminated by Nurhaci.

In the 35th year of the Wanli reign, Yehe offered Donggo the chance to marry Baiyindari in exchange for her betrayal of Nurhaci. Baiyindari immediately broke off his engagement with Nurhaci's daughter, married Donggo, and prepared to conquer Jianzhou. However, he was eventually annihilated by Nurhaci.

In the 43rd year of the Wanli reign, the aging Donggo finally married Manggurtai, the eldest son of the Mongolian Beile Bagadarhan.

~~~~~
Without waiting for the Empress Dowager Cisheng to speak, Zheng Yishi roared, "Empress Dowager, kill this messenger first. I will then march out of the city and fight, and I will bring Dudu's head before the palace."

All the generals were eager to fight and agreed with Zheng Yishi.

Jin Yuji's eyes were calm as she faced the trembling emissary kneeling on the ground and said with a pleasant expression:
"The Great Khan has not forgotten me and has sent me a letter. I am terrified. I have retreated and made my own plans. I am a young woman from the Eastern Kingdom. I am not particularly beautiful, and I am already a descendant of the Qi Kingdom. The Khan has heard of me, so it is not enough to taint my reputation. I am innocent and should be pardoned. I have two imperial carriages and two horses for my daily service. (I was born in Korea. The Qing Emperor has not forgotten people from a small place like me. I am very worried. I am already the Empress Dowager of Qi. How can I marry into the Qing Kingdom? I wonder where the Qing Emperor heard of my beauty. There are luxurious carriages and horses in Shenyang. The Qing Emperor is always welcome to come.")

After hearing this, Qiao Yiqi and other civil servants stroked their beards and smiled, secretly admiring that the Empress Dowager Cisi was a heroine, neither humble nor arrogant, and indeed had the spirit of a mother to rule the country.

On the surface, these words sound humble and self-degrading, but in fact they reveal murderous intent.

I secretly have two chariots and two teams of horses to serve as my regular drivers.

The literal meaning of this sentence is that I have prepared my carriage and welcome you. The underlying meaning is to tell Du Du that the Qi army is already prepared and if you dare to continue to attack the city, Shenyang will fight to the end.

(End of this chapter)