Jurchen

Biodata

Background / History

During the Yongle reign, the Jurchens had been subordinate to Great Ming. Their leader visited the capital to present tribute and swear allegiance, and internal tribal disputes were sometimes submitted to the Ming court for arbitration. This former relationship made many Ming ministers regard negotiations with them as an unacceptable humiliation 2.

Huang Taiji had previously sought friendly relations between the two states, sending three peace messages shortly after Chongzhen’s accession; all were rejected. By the current invasion, Lu Xiangsheng describes him as a formidable ruler whose forces have conquered Joseon, defeated Ligdan Khan, and secured recognition of his supremacy across the central and eastern steppes 3 6.

History Remembered by Zhu Youjian

These events belong to the original history known by the reincarnated emperor, rather than confirmed outcomes of the altered timeline.

Leadership

• Huang Taiji — Supreme ruler directing the wider war. He appoints Dorgon to command the invasion and personally pins down Ming forces near Jinzhou and Ningyuan 1 20.
• Dorgon — Prince Rui of the First Rank and the campaign’s “General by Imperial Command.” He insists on defeating Lu Xiangsheng before advancing farther south 1 20.
• Yoto / Yue Tuo — Prince Cheng of the First Rank and Nurhaci’s grandson. He helped secure Huang Taiji’s succession and consolidation of power, earning important appointments 1 20.
• Hao Ge — Commands one of the night-attack columns and later leads an unsuccessful sortie from Jinan 24 41.
• Guwalgi Aobai / Oboi — Dorgon’s officer, commanding the third night-attack force. In Jinan, he discovers that the granaries are empty 24 40.

Military Capabilities

Mobile Cavalry Warfare

• Jurchen light cavalry can outmaneuver Ming armies across the plains, splitting into multiple columns to attack widely separated targets 1 6.
• Their campaign targets the plains between the Taihang Mountains and the Grand Canal rather than prioritizing an assault on Beijing 1.
• Dorgon and Yoto breach different frontier passes before combining their armies, while Huang Taiji prevents eastern Ming garrisons from reinforcing the interior 1.

Raiding and Combat Incentives

• Repeated successful incursions produce high morale: soldiers expect to return with supplies, valuables, and enslaved captives 20.
• Wealthy residences are priority targets for looting; ordinary homes provide smaller valuables and poultry 35.
• Rewards for killing Lu Xiangsheng include Boi servants and a noble title, encouraging soldiers to press the attack 26.

Scouting and Night Attacks

• Mounted scouts investigate cities before the main army enters, reflecting Dorgon’s caution around evacuated settlements 35.
• The attack on Lu Xiangsheng’s camp uses three columns, extinguished torches, and a small squad that silently kills the gate guards 20 21 24.
• Scouts also ambush Ming messengers with arrows, although Chen Guowei’s counterattack overwhelms one such group 22.

Operational Weaknesses

• Cavalry operating deep inside Ming territory must obtain provisions locally, making the army vulnerable to evacuation and food denial 6.
• Jinan’s empty granaries, destroyed food stocks, and wrecked Red-Clad Cannons leave the occupying army without the resources Dorgon expected 40.
• Hao Ge’s force can be defeated by coordinated Ming troops and Hu Dawei’s Mongolian cavalry; Lu Xiangsheng uses this advantage to contain it rather than pursue it beyond the siege 41.

Intelligence and Trade

• Information advantage — Jurchen agents operate at court and among the population, allowing Huang Taiji to learn about Ming affairs without crossing the frontier 24 25.
• Shanxi merchant support — The Eight Great Shanxi Merchants supply grain, money, and firearms through prohibited trade 12.
• Court connections — Investigators uncover dealings between Chen Zhiguo’s household servant and the Fan family. Later evidence links the Fan family to Chen Zhiguo and identifies ironware stockpiles held by the Jin and Wang families 20 25.
• Ming countermeasures — Zhu Youjian orders known spies watched rather than immediately eliminated, so their communications can be intercepted and their channels exploited 20 25.
• Planned infiltration — Luo Yangxing proposes a trading caravan to enter Jurchen territory. Li Ruolian’s public disgrace is staged to make his later approach as a merchant credible despite his former intelligence post 25 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Invasion of the Capital Region

• In the eleventh year of Chongzhen’s reign, Yoto breaches Qiangziling, killing Governor-General Wu Aheng and Regional Commander Wu Guojun during the frontier fighting 1.
• Dorgon enters through Qingshan Pass, advances past Qian’an and Fengrun, and camps near Tongzhou. The combined forces skirt Beijing, reach Zhuozhou, and divide into eight columns 1.
• News of the incursion enrages the original Chongzhen until he vomits blood and collapses, preceding Zhu Zheyu’s awakening in his body 1.
• The invasion drives refugees toward Beijing and forces the new Zhu Youjian to prioritize expelling the enemy while preserving Lu Xiangsheng 1 10.

Battle with Lu Xiangsheng

• Dorgon rejects Yoto’s proposal to divide the army and continue south, ordering a night attack to surround and annihilate Lu’s force 20.
• Lu prepares a counter-ambush, but Gao Qiqian’s removal of troops and supplies leaves him with twenty thousand men and fewer than ten days of provisions 21.
• Hao Ge, Yoto, and Oboi attack the camp. Wang Pu flees, and the fighting inflicts serious losses on both sides 24 27.
• Zhu Youjian publicly removes and imprisons Lu, then privately reaffirms his trust and prepares to return him to service against the Jurchens 27 32.

Gaoyang and the Jinan Trap

• Zhu Youjian orders Gaoyang and Jinan evacuated, preventing the anticipated deaths of Sun Chengzong’s family and the capture of Prince De 7 18.
• Dorgon watches Gaoyang for several days before occupying it. His troops loot the empty homes, and he takes quarters in the Sun Residence 35.
• Gaoyang’s granaries are deliberately left intact to suggest Ming sincerity about peace; Jinan’s provisions are removed or destroyed 43.
• Dorgon enters Jinan intending to leave after three days, only to discover the food shortage and Ming troops occupying the surrounding ground. Lu Xiangsheng appears at the head of the besieging army 40.
• Hao Ge’s attempted breakout fails, leaving the expedition contained inside the city 41.

Pressure for Peace

• Zhu Youjian refuses proposals to slaughter or capture the trapped commanders, treating their predicament as leverage against Huang Taiji 42.
• Sun Chuanting is ordered to coordinate with Lu, prevent escape, and intercept any Jurchen relief army 43 44.
• If Huang Taiji refuses to seek terms, Zhu Youjian intends to maintain the siege until the trapped army dies, even refusing Dorgon’s surrender 44.
• If Huang Taiji sends negotiators, the emperor plans to travel personally to the frontier with the Brave Guard Battalion 44.

Relationships

• Great Ming / Zhu Youjian — Principal enemy. Zhu uses historical knowledge, evacuation, food denial, and intelligence operations to reverse the invasion’s expected outcome 1 7 25 43.
• Lu Xiangsheng — Major battlefield opponent whose survival is central to Zhu’s plans; he ultimately commands the forces containing Dorgon at Jinan 1 40 41.
• Yang Sichang — Advocates peace to free Ming resources for suppressing internal rebels; later proposes using the trapped commanders as bargaining chips 2 42.
• Sun Chengzong and Sun Chuanting — Oppose releasing the trapped army, warning that Huang Taiji could break an agreement and resume invading 43.
• Eight Great Shanxi Merchants — Trade partners and intermediaries whose supply networks and court connections become targets of Ming investigation 12 20 25.

Trivia

• Zhu Youjian invokes the Jurchens’ fondness for Romance of the Three Kingdoms when proposing his “empty-city stratagem” for Gaoyang and Jinan 7.
• At least one member of a Jurchen scouting party is Han Chinese, demonstrating that the invading forces are not depicted as ethnically uniform 22.