Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1019 Jurchen's Godfather
Li Chengliang's army withdrew decisively and left without taking a single cloud with a wave of their sleeves.

Since they didn't even take the clouds with them, of course they didn't take the Nurhachi brothers and Bukulu with them.

It's normal not to take Bukulu away. This old man is now the lord of Tulun City and has his own territory. No matter how much he fawns on Daming, he won't give up his old nest and brag behind Li Chengliang's ass every day.

But it would be strange not to take the Nurhachi brothers away, because the two brothers were prisoners of war after Li Chengliang's attack on Wang Gao in the third year of Wanli. He didn't receive any abuse, and gradually became one of Li Chengliang's grooms, oh, it should be the second.

However, theoretically speaking, their status as prisoners of war has not changed, and they should be called "surrendered slaves" by the customary name of Daming at this time.

It is obvious that there is no personal autonomy in surrendering slaves, but Li Chengliang did not take them away, and did not even say anything or give any explanation, which is a bit puzzling.

With the current prestige of Daming and Li Chengliang himself in the Liaodong area, if the surrendered slaves unfortunately become fugitive slaves, the consequences will obviously be very serious.

So now Shuerhaqi is very anxious, and keeps complaining about his own Ahun Nurhachi: "Ahhun, what should we do? Did you become a fugitive slave? The fate of a fugitive slave is very miserable, if you are caught..."

[Note: Ahhun means elder brother in Manchu; grandpa is a compliment that many people in Liaodong called Li Chengliang at that time, and Nikan Wailan also called him that. ]
"Why are you in a hurry?" Although Nurhachi is only 24 years old this year, he is obviously far more calm than his younger brother. Hearing this, he frowned and said: "The meaning of the uncle is obvious, Mafa and Ama are gone, let's go back Inherit the clan."

"Really?" Shuerhaqi hesitated: "Don't Ah Hun make a wild guess?"

Nurhachi didn't answer, but said instead: "Dou, do you think Nikan Wailan deserves to die?"

Dou means younger brother in Manchu.

Shuerhaqi hesitated for a moment, then said: "It's certain that Nikan Wailan talks a lot, but if it is said that he intentionally framed Mafa and Ama, I don't think it should be so. I'm afraid what Nikan (Han) said Not really."

Nurhachi shook his head and said, "No, Nikanwailan deserves to die, he must die."

Shuerhaqi was stunned, and asked, "Just because he suggested that the Ming army attack the city? Ke Nikan said that Mafa and Ama were first arrested by Ah Hai, and then the Ming army failed to distinguish them after they broke through the city. Manslaughter. In this way, although Nikan Wailan is guilty, he is not guilty of death. After all, it was the Ming army who did it..."

"If it's the Ming army, can you and my brother get revenge?" Nurhachi said coldly: "This mistake was on Nikan Wailan alone. We have to find ways to take revenge after we go back, and we must kill him , to revive the prestige of my Aixinjueluo family!"

"Go back? Where?" Shuerhaqi smiled wryly, "Ahhun, without Daming's imperial edict, we wouldn't even be able to go back to Hetuala."

This is a problem. Nurhachi thought for a while and said: "In that case, let's go to Yehe first. The two Baylor Qingjia Niu and Yang Jiniu of Yehe are all outstanding people in the world, and they have high ambitions. They must be able to help you and my brother. people to their benefit."

Shuerhaqi thought for a while, and said: "Yehe and Erbeile are indeed ambitious people, but they have a bad relationship with the commander of the Hada tribe. Didn't we listen to the analysis of the generals of the Ming army when we were in the uncle's tent last time? It is said that Ernu (the Ming people's name for Yehe Erbeile, because the third character of their name is pronounced) is becoming more and more domineering, and Wangtai is old. Is it possible that Yehe and Hada may fight in the next two years? My brother At this time, throwing Yehe, I am afraid that someone will use it as a knife."

Nurhachi sneered and said: "If you want to use me as a knife, you have to give me some capital. Although you and my brothers have fallen into Pingyang, after all, they are one of the left guards in Jianzhou, and they are the direct descendants of Brother Menger Timur. Mengge Timur is the sixth ancestor of Nurhachi, and his son Dong Shan is the fifth ancestor of Nurhachi.)

Shuerhaqi was about to speak, but Nurhachi hadn't finished speaking, so he paused and continued: "Besides, because Yehe and Hada are likely to fight soon, my brothers went to Yehe, so we don't As for being left in Yehe, they are not allowed to return."

Shuerhaqi was slightly taken aback, and asked, "Ahhun, why?"

"Dou, think about it, our brothers staying in Yehe, how useful will it be in this battle?" Nurhachi asked.

Shuerhaqi frowned and said: "That's hard to say. We have been fighting with the uncle for seven or eight years. I consciously learned a lot, and Ah Hun must be the same. If this is the case, if the two Yehe and Belle are willing to let my brothers lead Bing, with Ye He's current strength, maybe he can really win Hada."

Nurhachi chuckled: "That's right, but do you think the two Baylors, Ye He, can be so generous?"

"That can't, definitely can't." Shuerhaqi curled his lips: "Who is willing to take their own trilogy to outsiders to lead?"

"That's it." Nurhachi smiled slightly: "So, we are just two outsiders in Yehe. To them, at most they have some courage, but no matter how courageous two people are, it is insignificant to a big battle. , won’t be taken to heart by them.”

Shuerhaqi gradually understood, and asked, "Ahhun means that the two Baylors, Yehe, will send us back to Hetuala?"

"That's right, not only will we be sent back to Hetuala, but also some things should be sent to us, such as armor, horses and the like."

"Will you send an edict?" Shuerhaqi immediately asked, "Without an edict, we will die of poverty when we go back."

Nurhachi's face collapsed a little, he sighed, shook his head and said: "Don't count on the imperial edicts, who in the Jurchen ministries don't take the imperial edicts seriously, are there few battles fought over a few imperial edicts? Not to mention, Ye He is now going to war with Hada, isn't it because Ye He feels that the current strength of the Hada tribe is no longer worthy of the number of edicts they have in their hands?"

Shuerhaqi's expression suddenly collapsed, and he sighed: "But we don't have an edict in our hands, how can we live in the future? We can't just live by hunting and fishing, right?"

Nurhachi thought for a while, and said: "It's not impossible. Let's get the approval of the two Baylors, Yehe, and then negotiate with Nikan. It's best to find the uncle directly and talk about the tragic deaths of Mafa and Ama first." , and then beg for mercy, give in, and find a way to get the uncle to give us some imperial orders..."

Shuerhaqi thought for a while, then nodded and said: "This is a way. If the uncle can get through, the edict will be easy to deal with, and we will be able to live in the future."

The two agreed on this, leaving Nikan Wailan, who was close at hand, not to take revenge, and directly went to Yehe in Beitou.

However, it is very important to talk about the imperial edict they mentioned here.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Jurchens were vigorously appeased, and the Jianzhou Wei, Mao Lianwei and other prison guard systems were established in the Jurchen area, and the policy of "using barbarians to control barbarians" was implemented for Jurchen.

Under this policy, although the local officials in charge of the Jurchen ministries are the heads of the Jurchen ministries, they also accept the canonization of the Ming Dynasty politically, such as imperial edicts (that is, letters of appointment), official seals, and the issuance of crowns and robes that represent the imperial court. Appointment measures.

Among them, the imperial edict, the so-called "edict", played a key role in the relationship between Jurchen and the Ming Dynasty. Its key lies in its role as a "certificate", which is the certificate for the central government to grant the official position and rank of local officials. It is also a proof of Jurchen's regular tribute and rewards to the imperial court, and an important proof of both status and trade entry and exit. The existence of imperial edicts is also the most prominent feature in the trade between Jurchen and Ming Dynasty compared with North Korea.

The official regulation of the status of imperial edicts by the Ming Dynasty began in the orthodox period. Do not order official documents to enter the country."

In the tribute trade and horse market trade between Jurchen and Ming Dynasty, the "Edict" is required as an important certificate for entering Beijing and entering the market. When entering the customs and entering the horse market, the imperial edict and tribute items or trade products must be handed over to relevant officials. check.

It can be seen that the imperial edict not only represents the absolute political power of the Ming court, but is also closely related to economic issues, and has played an important role in the growth of the Jurchen’s economic power and military rise. Only with the imperial edict can you trade with the Ming Dynasty. And since each edict limits the number of people who can trade to "only two, three or four or five people", the more such edicts you have, the greater the amount you can trade.

In fact, the purpose and role of the imperial edict used by the Ming Dynasty at the beginning was more political.The most direct function of imperial edicts is to enshrine local officials. Politically, the relationship between monarch and minister, master and servant was clearly established, and Jurchen was included in the political sphere of Ming Dynasty, and its obligation to pay tribute to Beijing was stipulated.

Of course, this obligation also has political and military compulsions.

It can be said that the tribute and horse market trade based on imperial edicts established at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty and continued to be used before the establishment of the Later Jin Dynasty was an important means used by the Ming Dynasty to control and subdue the Jurchen, and the imperial edicts are the proof of this method .

But what Ming Dynasty valued was politics, while the Jurchens probably valued their economic interests more.

Of course, it does not mean that the Jurchens do not value the role of politics. In fact, after the Ming Dynasty recruited the Jurchen ministries, they appointed the local officials who managed the Jurchens in the form of imperial edicts. The nomadic Jurchen began to have a bureaucratic class.

The hereditary position will gradually enable the upper class who hold management power to surpass the common people economically, and accumulate wealth from generation to generation. In the originally quite primitive Jurchen society, the concept of "private property" gradually appeared and a stable polarization between the rich and the poor was formed.

In other words, the promulgation of imperial edicts accelerated the hierarchy differences in Jurchen society. This obvious hierarchy difference and private system are also one of the manifestations of Jurchen society's transition to feudalization.

Some people in later generations think that it is great that Nurhachi established the Eight Banners system. In fact, it is completely reasonable for him to come up with the Eight Banners system-the imperial edict system of Ming Dynasty laid the foundation for him.

In fact, he just put the unspoken rules on the table: this flag belongs to me, that flag belongs to you, and everyone is the upper ruling class in the semi-slave and semi-feudal system—isn’t this the continuation of the imperial edict system of the Ming Dynasty?

However, political influence is a subtle process, while economic influence is more time-sensitive.

The edict is the key token for Jurchen ministries to pay tribute to Beijing and enter and exit the horse market. This is also the most obvious feature that distinguishes them from other trades. After mastering the imperial edict, the Jurchens gradually no longer rely solely on the primitive fishing and hunting economy by virtue of the tribute and the existence of the horse market. , but learned to use the products of the fishing and hunting economy to trade with Ming and others, so as to obtain the items needed for survival and even expansion.

This process, in turn, not only guarantees the driving force for the continued maintenance of the fishing and hunting economy, but also expands and strengthens the development of the Jurchen society, such as population growth and social demand. When the Jurchen’s simple social organization cannot meet its own development by relying on fishing, hunting and trade , Correspondingly, more plundering behaviors have been bred-whether it is Wang Gao's plundering of the people of Daming, or the upcoming battle between Yehe and Hada that Nurhachi said, this is the case.

During the development of Jurchen's various economic methods supported by imperial edicts, ironware strictly prohibited by the Ming Dynasty, seeds and cattle granted by the Ming Dynasty were also introduced to Jurchen by various formal or informal means.

In fact, at present, agricultural production has been widely used in various Jurchen ministries. Driven by the agricultural economy, the closer the Jurchen tribes are to the Ming border, the more quickly they use the opportunity to enter the capital and the horse market with the imperial edict to develop their own handicraft industry. , such as weaving, salt industry, pottery making, iron smelting, etc., also have a considerable boost to military strength.

Therefore, it can be said that the economic role of imperial edicts is more attractive to Jurchen.

It is precisely because of the irreplaceable key role of imperial edicts that possessing imperial edicts also has the opportunity to increase wealth and various strengths through trade. Therefore, there has always been fierce competition for imperial edicts during the rise of various Jurchen ministries.

So here comes the key question, how to issue the imperial edict of Daming?How much?How to allocate?

Theoretically speaking, since it is an imperial edict, these matters are of course decided by the emperor.

But this is just a theory. In fact, the emperor may not even remember the Jurchen's messy tribe names. How would he know who to send and how much?

Therefore, the emperor had to rely on the suggestions of the ministers and marshals to issue imperial edicts.However, Liaodong has a certain peculiarity: the border ministers usually leave after a few years of work here, while the border commanders and generals are mostly locals, and they have a better understanding of the internal situation and strength of the Jurchens.

After Li Chengliang took over Liaodong, he has been in the Liaodong army for more than ten years. He has won countless battles, and his reputation in Liaodong has never been better. , can you not ask him?
So the reality now is that theoretically the imperial edict issued to Jurchen is in the hands of the emperor, but in fact it is based on the suggestions of the governor of Jiliao, the governor of Liaodong, and the general army of Liaodong. In many cases, Li Chengliang's meaning will be used as the main reference.

Therefore, Li Chengliang is actually the godfather of the entire Jurchen!
Why both Nikanwailan and Nurhachi subconsciously call Li Chengliang "Master"?
Because Li Chengliang is really an uncle to the Jurchens! ——
I saw a book review yesterday, to the effect that the Battle of Gule Village slowed down the pace. Let me explain: Several important figures who appeared in the Battle of Gule Village, such as Yang Yuan, Zu Chengxun, Li Pinghu, Li Rumei, etc. They are important figures in the battle to put down the Japanese Invasion in Imjin. I have to let them show their faces and show their characteristics in advance.The similar "preparation for ten years later" has been done many times in the previous article, and the pits have basically been filled.So don't worry, I didn't write some useless characters.

(End of this chapter)