I founded a heavy industry group in the late Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 102 Nurhaci Arrives

Chapter 103 Nurhaci Arrives

Chapter 102 Chen Ying needed to pull horses. More than 30,000 horses were far from enough. He was now the commander of the Da Ning Commandery. In order to get rid of the burden, the court disregarded the freezing weather and organized the Xingzhou Left Garrison, Xingzhou Right Garrison, Xingzhou Front Garrison, and Xingzhou Rear Garrison, a total of more than 80,000 households, nearly 300,000 people, to migrate to Yongning.

The reason why the court officials were so concerned was because there was profit to be made. Even if the boats of the four garrisons in Xingzhou were broken, they still had a few pounds of nails. These four garrisons also had a total of two to three hundred thousand mu of military farmland.

If these four villages are relocated, the 200,000 to 300,000 mu of military farmland will be worth nearly two million taels of silver. This is a huge sum of money and a piece of fat meat. Who wouldn't want to take a bite?

The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Rear Military Command acted with remarkable efficiency. Before the imperial edict even left the capital, they began mobilizing these military households to relocate forcibly.

For example, the Left Guard of Xingzhou was located in Yutian County of Jizhou, the Right Guard was located in Qian'an County, and the Front Guard was located in Fengrun County. All the military households of these three guards went directly to Funing Port and boarded ships there.

Even though the furthest Qiantunwei was only 300 li away from Funing, and the Zuoyoutunwei were even closer, the Xingzhou Houtunwei went directly to Tianjin and sailed out to sea from Tianjin Port.

It should be noted that the Ming Dynasty's Funing and Tianjin navies had long since run out of ships, with less than 300 ships combined. Yet, the imperial court mobilized a large number of civilian ships in an instant, totaling more than 1,400 vessels of various sizes, fully loaded with these military households, and sailed in a grand procession to Yongning.

Chen Ying really wanted to curse. These civil officials didn't care about the lives of the military households; they only cared about making money. There were nearly 300,000 military households. Although they were poor, at least they still had houses to live in and some military land to cultivate.

Whether it's military farmland or residential land, these four garrisons are located either in Yongping Prefecture or Shuntian Prefecture, which would be considered high-quality assets in the Ming Dynasty.

When these 300,000 military households arrive in Yongning, Chen Ying must provide them with food and work, otherwise they will cause trouble.

These draft horses weren't just left idle to be raised until spring when farming resumed. Chen Ying had actually set his sights on the natural forests within the territory of Nurgan Commandery.

The pillar industry of Huizhou merchants was timber. Of course, Chen Ying also needed timber. When these military households arrived, Chen Ying would organize them to cut timber. Some of the timber was used to build ships, furniture, and houses, and some was sold to Huizhou merchants in exchange for grain.

The problem is that the ice is now frozen over, and the Suifen River is no longer a suitable waterway for transport. The only option is to use draft horses to pull the timber from the river back to Yongning.

Although he exchanged grain for draft horses with various tribes, the draft horses of the Haixi Jurchen tribes and the Yeren Jurchen tribes were essentially different from those of the Central Plains.

The draft horses in their tribe were only injured and unsuitable as warhorses, but they still had some use for them, as they could be used to breed foals.

They can train and breed horses themselves. In fact, each unit still has a large number of draft horses. They only transported 60,000 to 70,000 shi of grain, which is barely enough for them to get through the winter.

Chen Ying could neither demand it by force nor compel them to trade; he could only ask Ilha to cooperate.

Chen Ying did not know how Yilha had talked to Hamutai, but he personally visited him the following noon.

"This humble servant pays respects to Lord Chen of the Imperial Kingdom!"

"No need for formalities!"

Chen Ying was now used to the leaders of the various Haixi Jurchen tribes referring to themselves as slaves in front of him, and they would kneel down and kowtow at the drop of a hat. This was their ethnic nature, and Chen Ying needed to respect their traditions.

Through the battles on the Sanjiang Plain, including the battle to establish his authority against the Solon tribe, Chen Ying made the various Haixi Jurchen tribes and the Wild Jurchen tribes realize his true strength.

These tribal leaders have always been more afraid of authority than morality. No matter how well you treat them, they will rebel as soon as they find that you are no longer strong, just like the Eastern Turks during the Tang Dynasty.

When Li Shimin was alive, they were all like turtledoves, very honest. The same was true during the reign of Li Zhi. However, after the deaths of fierce generals such as Su Dingfang, Xue Rengui, and Li Ji, they felt that they were in charge again.

So the Eastern Turks rebelled, followed by the Western Turks. After being beaten, they behaved themselves for a while. Of course, Chen Ying was also intimidating them. In Yongning Port and Yongming City, Chen Ying selected more than 8,000 young men from the migrant population and trained them.

In fact, these 8,000 new soldiers were different from the newly formed Wolf Cavalry Army of more than 9,000 men. They had no fighting power at all. They were all refugees and were too weak to withstand the training intensity of the Shahe New Army.

They still need to recover their bodies. At least the various tribes of Haixi Jurchen and Wild Jurchen believe in numbers. Lord Chen Ying still has more than 10,000 powerful Thunder God Soldiers under his command.

The so-called Thunderbolt Divine Soldiers were actually the firearms of the Shahe New Army. Those eight thousand men were not equipped with many firearms at all. In fact, Chen Ying was not satisfied with the one-inch firearms he had now.

Although it is a breech-loading flintlock musket, it lacks rifling. Without rifling, it cannot accurately hit the target, and its power is relatively much smaller.

Chen Ying adopted the process of refining molten steel, which can directly cast seamless steel pipes, but he did not manufacture a mirror bed that can cut rifling. However, he is currently facing the biggest threat and has to ask Shahe Institute to produce fire-resistant pipes at maximum capacity to solve the problem of having something that is dispensable.

At worst, these firearms can be reassigned to the military households of Shuangchengwei after they retire, so that they can use them as self-defense weapons.

Hamutai exclaimed excitedly, "My lord, when my girl went back and told me what happened, I almost thought she was crazy!"

Chen Ying picked up his teacup and said slowly, "So you agree?"

"Agreed!"

Hamutai nodded repeatedly, saying, "Two thousand five hundred sabers, eight hundred suits of armor, and all those arrowheads and such—I'll take them all!"

Chen Ying raised an eyebrow: "You want it all? Does your Xibe tribe have that much money?"

Hamutai chuckled, "We don't have any silver, sir. You don't know, but Menggun, Bomubogor, and I have already discussed it. We'll split these weapons among the three of us. If we don't have enough money, we'll use horses. We can manage to scrape together three or four horses!" Chen Ying nodded, not pressing for details about the price.

Chen Ying smiled, a smile of great satisfaction.

It wasn't the deal itself that brought me joy, but rather the fact that Ilha, this girl from the Xibe tribe, was changing the rules of this land in her own way.

"it is good."

Chen Ying stood up: "Since you're so generous, I won't be stingy either. In addition to this batch, I'll also provide a hundred sets of plate armor and a hundred swords as a greeting gift for the Xibe warriors."

"Thank you for your kindness, sir!"

Hamutai was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

Meanwhile, in the Zhusheli Valley, Nurhaci's Khan's tent stood near a hot spring. The steaming mist from the hot spring mingled with the chill of the snow, creating an eerie, hazy atmosphere.

Nurhaci stood on a huge rock at the highest point of the valley, looking down at the densely packed camps in the valley.

"Thank goodness, the blizzard has finally stopped—"

As the blizzard stopped, sunlight shone through the clouds, illuminating the vast white snowfield so brightly it was blinding.

"Report—"

A rider galloped in, and Goshha, who was on horseback, tumbled to the ground: "Khan, the casualties of each banner have been tallied!"

This is Sony. Sony came from the Hada tribe of the Haixi Jurchens. His father and his family surrendered to the Jurchens. Because he and his brothers were all fluent in Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese, they were given the title Bashik.

Nurhaci didn't turn around: "Speak."

Sony swallowed hard and said, "The Plain Yellow Banner suffered 137 deaths from freezing and 268 injuries from frostbite; the Bordered Yellow Banner suffered 112 deaths from freezing and 203 injuries from frostbite; the Plain Red Banner suffered 98 deaths from freezing and 176 injuries from frostbite; the Bordered Red Banner—"

The Bordered Red Banner was already severely weakened. After Yue Ji died, his younger brother Shuo Ji became the banner lord. The Eight Banners of the Jurchens did not actually consist of only twenty-five Niru and seven thousand five hundred men per banner.

They only had these quotas. Each household could draw one able-bodied man to form 7,500 people. It did not mean that each household had only one person. They were like the military households of the Ming Dynasty, with multiple able-bodied men in each household.

The Jurchens also had a large number of trainee soldiers, who were essentially interns. Jurchen bannermen would start practicing killing with veteran soldiers from the age of fifteen, and it would take them two or three years of training before they could become official bannermen.

Because of the heavy casualties suffered in the battle of the Sanjiang Plain, the Bordered Red Banner was replenished with a large number of nursery soldiers. As a result, more than 1,200 of these inexperienced nursery soldiers suffered frostbite, and more than 300 suffered frostbite.

Five Niru (units of military units) suffered non-combat casualties, and now there are fewer than two thousand soldiers capable of fighting.

"In the Plain Blue Banner, 156 people froze to death and 244 suffered frostbite; in the Bordered Blue Banner, 103 people froze to death and 189 suffered frostbite. In the various Mongol tribes—more than 500 people froze to death and nearly 1,000 suffered frostbite, and one-third of their cattle and sheep were lost." Nurhaci clenched his fist.

The casualties of over three thousand were not a crippling blow to the Jianzhou Jurchens, who had an army of over one hundred thousand.

But this blizzard damaged morale, the will of Heaven, and the myth of Nurhaci's invincibility.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping across the camp in the valley like a knife: "Sony!"

"Your servant is here!"

"Send the order: rest for a day, then march south tomorrow. I will personally crush the Xibe tribe and skin that Hamutai alive!"

"A concubine's son!"

The princes responded in unison, their voices echoing through the valley.

However, fate always seems to like to play tricks on people.

At the same moment Nurhaci ordered the southward march, about eighty miles southwest of the Zhusheli Valley, a group of more than eight hundred people were trudging through the snow.

They are from the Hezhe tribe.

Seven days ago, they traded over four hundred draft horses and dozens of high-quality sable pelts in Shuangchengwei for grain, salt, and dozens of brand-new iron pots.

Chief Wulintai was in a good mood, humming a Hezhe fisherman's song all the way, and planning how to distribute these treasures when he got back.

A sharp-eyed hunter suddenly pointed into the distance and exclaimed, "There looks like someone over there!"

Ulintai squinted and looked down. At the end of the valley, he could vaguely see flags waving. Startled, he quickly waved his hand and shouted, "Quick, hide! Hide in the woods!"

However, it was too late.

A troop of Jurchen vanguard scouts rushed out from around the bend in the mountain pass. The leader was a burly Niru Ejen, who immediately spotted the group that was frantically trying to escape.

"There are Haixi Jurchens—"

"They're not Haixi Jurchens, they're Wild Jurchens. How could there be Wild Jurchens here?"

Without considering the consequences, whether they were Haixi Jurchens or Wild Jurchens, they were all easy prey for the Jianzhou Jurchens. He excitedly roared, "Chase after them! Capture them alive!"

The sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out, and snow sprayed everywhere.

The Hezhe tribe rode their warhorses desperately into the forest, but the snow was too deep. More importantly, they were carrying a large amount of food and salt, which they were reluctant to discard. They could not run fast. Although the Jurchen cavalry were also struggling through the snow, they were lightly equipped and much faster than the Hezhe tribe.

"Chief Wulintai, you must leave! We'll hold them off!"

Some young hunters stopped and raised their bows. Their archery was accurate, but there were too many Jurchens. They shot down two or three, but dozens more charged forward.

A scream rang out.

Wulintai glanced back, his eyes almost bursting, but he gritted his teeth and ran forward desperately. He had the newly signed trade contract in his arms, which was the proof of the cooperation between the Hezhe tribe and Lord Chen, and also the hope for the future of the Hezhe tribe. This thing must not fall into the hands of the Jiannu!

"Chief, over here!"

A familiar voice rang out. Ulintai looked up and saw his nephew standing on a snow slope, waving desperately. He stumbled over and the two of them tumbled down the snow slope and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

Behind them, the shouts of the Jurchens gradually faded into the distance.

Seven days later, Twin Cities Guard.

Chen Ying was in the warm pavilion reviewing the account books sent by Su Mei. The arrangements for the 44,000 draft horses in the new transaction, the houses being built in Yongning, the 300,000 immigrants who were about to arrive, and the progress of the weapons exchange between various departments were all keeping Chen Ying extremely busy.

Just then, hurried footsteps and anxious voices came from outside the door: "My lord! My lord!"

Chen Yongren rushed in, his face filled with panic: "Godfather, a group of Hezhe people have arrived outside the city, saying they have something extremely urgent to discuss with you! Several of them are covered in blood and are dying!"

Chen Ying suddenly stood up: "Bring him in quickly!"

A moment later, several people, covered in blood and shivering from the cold, were helped in. The man in the lead knelt down with a thud and hissed, "Lord Chen—the Jurchens—the Jurchens are attacking! Hundreds of thousands of troops, right here—right here—"

He fell into a coma before he could finish speaking.

Chen hurriedly said, "Hada!"

"Your servant is here. Lead the Wolf Cavalry and search in the north-northwest direction to locate the Jurchen army!"

"Yes, sir!"

Two days later, more and more intelligence was gathered before Chen Ying. The news from the Hezhe tribe was correct. The Jurchen army was rushing towards the Xibe tribe. However, the Xibe tribe had already moved south, and only a few hundred old, weak, sick and disabled people remained in the tribe.

This gave Chen Ying ample time to prepare; otherwise, if Nurhaci had set off from Zhusheli and marched straight for Shuangchengwei, the Jurchen army would have arrived shortly after the Hezhe tribe.

"I saw their banners with my own eyes—they were plain yellow, plain red, and bordered blue—as well as Mongol banners. The army is still at Nurhaci's camp, and the commander is—Nurhaci himself! He came in person!"

Chen Ying gasped.

Nurhaci came in person?

He originally thought that after crippling the four right-wing banners, the Jurchens would at least be able to catch their breath, but he never expected that the old Jurchen would personally lead a large army to come.

At any time, the common people are the early warning information for the army. Although the Jurchen cavalry was numerous, their movement speed was not fast, far slower than the Haixi Jurchen tribespeople they had swept away.

Within a single day, eight transactions were completed. Taking advantage of the snow to return to their homeland, most of the tribesmen were killed by the Jurchen army, and all their property was looted by the Jurchens.

As more and more news came in, Chen Ying became increasingly anxious. Nurhaci was leading an army of over 100,000, which gave Chen Ying a huge headache. Who the hell said that the Jurchens only had 50,000 or 60,000 troops before they entered the pass?

Where did these massive armies come from?

This matter is like two sides of a blank sheet of paper. It's not wrong to say that the Jurchens only had 50,000 to 60,000 troops before entering the pass, but it's also not wrong that Nurhaci now has over 100,000 troops.

The main body of the Jurchens was the Jianzhou Guard, the Jianzhou Left Guard, and the Jianzhou Right Guard. The Jianzhou Guard alone had more than 40,000 households before Nurhaci raised his army. If each household had five people, that would be a total of 200,000 people. The Jianzhou Left and Right Guards were not much different.

Around the 28th year of the Wanli reign, the entire Nurgan Regional Military Commission and the Jurchen people of Liaodong still numbered over two million. Adding to this the more than three million Ming Dynasty civilians he had captured in Liaodong, it wouldn't be surprising if Nurhaci had an army of three hundred thousand.

History is like a little girl who can be dressed up however you like.

But Chen Ying also had a major headache: how could he possibly resist Nurhaci's army of hundreds of thousands? Was this some kind of joke?

If he had that ability, he could have easily wiped out the Jurchens.

However, Chen Ying did not want to die. No matter how difficult it was, he had to win this battle!