Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Shanhaiguan.

Zu Dashou stood on the Great Wall, frowned as he read a letter in his hand, then looked at the gray earth and let out a long sigh.

Huang Taiji wrote to him again.

The letter still showed concern for him and also mentioned his family in Shenyang. Huang Taiji said that he had never treated them harshly.

After that, he still hinted that if Zu Dashou was willing to surrender, he would still give him a high position and generous salary.

There is a letter like this almost every three or two months, and this has been going on for nearly ten years.

It was even more exaggerated at the beginning. He was forced to surrender to Huang Taiji, so he deceived the other party and said that he would help him to open the city of Jinzhou. Huang Taiji was so happy that he let him go back to Jinzhou.

After Zu Dashou returned, he not only did not hand over Jinzhou as promised, but instead prepared for battle.

It stands to reason that at this time, if most people find out that they have been cheated, they will definitely be furious and may even kill all of Zu Dashou’s family members who are in their hands.

But Huang Taiji did not do that. Not only that, he also treated Zu Dashou's family members with favor and told his subjects that Zu Dashou must have some unspeakable secrets.

At that time, Huang Taiji would write letters to Zu Dashou almost every few days, the frequency was so high that it was outrageous.

Of course, Zu Dashou basically reads the messages but does not reply. Even if he occasionally replies, it is always perfunctory and he says some nonsense that he has no choice but to do so.

After that, Huang Taiji fought many wars with the Ming Dynasty, and many soldiers died at the hands of Zu Dashou.

Normally, even the most tolerant person would have shown his disobedience by now, but Huang Taiji still didn't.

He simply reduced the frequency of writing letters to Zu Dashou, from once every few days to once every few months.

He not only wrote to Zu Dashou, but also to Zu Zeyuan who was stationed in Jinzhou, and even to Zu Dashou's wife.

Sometimes, Zu Dashou even admires this spirit of perseverance.

But Zu Dashou knew very well that it was impossible for him to surrender to Huang Taiji. Even if he agreed, the Liao soldiers under his command would never agree.

Huang Taiji's conquest of the entire Liaodong was also a process of massacre. Many soldiers' fathers and relatives were killed by the Eight Banners.

Even though Huang Taiji repeatedly explained in his letters to him that the massacre of the Liao people was not his instruction, but was done on the own initiative by Amin, Duoduo and other generals, he also stated that he would never do so again.

But it's not just Zu Dashou who doesn't believe it. The Liao soldiers on the Guanningjin defense line will not forgive either. They are dead already, and no matter how nice the words are, they will not come back to life.

The most important thing is, why should he surrender? Huang Taiji could not give him more than what he has now.

The Ming Dynasty is the orthodox Han dynasty. As the commander-in-chief and general of the Guanningjin Defense Line, he has no reason to surrender no matter what his position is.

He occasionally wrote back to Huang Taiji to give him a perfunctory reply, and his only thought was to save the lives of his son and relatives from Huang Taiji's hands.

Nearly ten years have passed, and he can't even remember what his son looks like.

He casually folded Huang Taiji's letter a few times and stuffed it into his waist, then looked south towards the direction of the capital.

The first month of the lunar year has not yet ended, and it is still very cold on the Great Wall. Zu Dashou's temples have already turned mostly white. He is not wearing a helmet, but one can see that the hair on his head has also turned a lot whiter.

He is already sixty-two years old this year. The bitter cold climate has left wrinkles all over his face, and his furrowed brows have never relaxed.

Compared with the temptation of Huang Taiji and his longing for his son and family, the court's alienation and distrust of him was something that made Zu Dashou more uncomfortable.

When the emperor executed Governor Yuan by slicing him to death, all the Liaodong soldiers, including him, were really scared. He did not dare to respond to the call, fearing that he would never come back once he went to the capital.

Although the relationship with the imperial court has eased in recent years, there has actually been no substantial progress.

Zu Dashou knew that the imperial court could not do without him. After all, he had been running Guanningjin for many years, and no one except him could take over here.

Therefore, even if he did not respond to the summons, the court would still supply him with food, fodder and military equipment for the sake of the overall situation.

After so many years, Zu Dashou no longer expected the emperor to change his mind and trust him one day. It would be good if he could maintain the status quo.

He is already old. He was born and raised here. If he can guard this line of defense, he will not be ashamed of the court or the emperor.

He did think so originally, but in the past two years, he became increasingly confused about the situation in the Ming Dynasty.

In the autumn of the year before last, the Jianlu invaded, and he sent Zu Kuan to the pass to help. He originally thought that this would be another brutal and protracted war. The Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty was very brave and mobile, and Yang Sichang was simply unable to resist.

But the final outcome was that in just two or three months, the imperial court drove the Jianlu led by Dorgon out of the Ming Dynasty.

Not only that, he also fought two tough battles with the Jianlu, won both battles, and even killed a member of the Qing royal family.

Zu Dashou was very shocked when he received the news.

He later learned that it was because of a nobleman's son named Zhang Shikang. After the battle, the emperor dismissed Yang Sichang and promoted this nobleman's son to the position of Grand Marshal of the Army.

This was undoubtedly more surprising news to him than the victory over the Jianlu, because after investigation he learned that Zhang Shikang was less than 20 years old at the time and was said to be a lazy son of a British noble family.

He was happy that the Ming Dynasty had produced another capable general, but he was also disappointed by the emperor's willful decision to appoint a young playboy as the commander-in-chief of the army.

In his opinion, at this age, it is a talent for him to have expertise in military affairs, but precisely because he is too young, giving him too much power all of a sudden would be tantamount to killing this young man.

Although he had never been in the Ming Dynasty's court, he knew the complicated situation in the Ming Dynasty's court. Those civil servants were laymen when it came to the court's internal and external troubles, but they were experts in fighting for power and profit.

Almost no one can escape their corruption, let alone a young man of twenty years old.

These useless civil servants could easily hide the military exploits that the generals had earned with their lives. A twenty-year-old young man could either submit to them or be framed to death by them.

Zu Dashou lamented more than once that it was not because the military generals did not try their best, but because the Ming Dynasty's court did not give them any room to stand.

But two years later, not only was the young man not corrupted, but he managed to carve out a unique path in the corrupt court.

Especially last year, when he learned about the Yimao Rebellion, he was so shocked that he couldn't sleep all night.

What happened next made him even more dumbfounded. It took that young man a whole year to kill all the Donglin Party gentry group that all the generals hated and feared so much.

From that time on, Zu Dashou understood.

Things have changed in the Ming Dynasty.

It was also from that time that Zu Dashou became more worried.

If none of this had happened and the court remained in the same situation as before, then Zu Dashou could still rely on his own power to honestly guard Guanningjin.

After all, the imperial court had no way to deal with him.

But things are different now. Zhang Shikang has risen. It is said that the Beijing camp has 80,000 troops capable of fighting tough battles.

Can he still live in peace with the court?

Although Zu Dashou is no longer in the court, at his age, how could he not understand that the court now has the ability to influence him.

If Zhang Shikang wasn't stupid, he would never allow Guan Ningjin to remain in his current state.

This made Zu Dashou very worried and conflicted. He didn't want to sit and wait for death, but if there was any way out, he would not consider Huang Taiji.

But he knew in his heart that one day, that person would come to deal with Guan Ningjin. When that time came, what should he do?

At this moment, a black horse suddenly came running from the direction of the interior. Looking at the flag on its back, it must be his sentinel inside the interior. Zu Dashou couldn't help but frowned.

Soon, the scout came to him and knelt on one knee:

"Your Excellency the General, there is a troop from the capital heading towards Shanhaiguan.

It is less than fifty miles away from Shanhaiguan."

……