by Poon, Alice;
Six
Hong Taiji spent two years laying a solid foundation for his rule by establishing more lenient policies in the treatment of his Chinese subjects and in recruiting more Chinese talent to fill official posts. Being a lover of Confucian philosophy himself, he had readily accepted Bumbutai’s advice to hire Han Confucian scholars to important Court and military posts. Hong Taiji understood that for a minority race to successfully rule over the Han population, the key was to win over the hearts of the people. With this in mind, he made a special statute that forbade the Jurchen noblemen from grabbing Chinese farmers’ land. Another edict was issued to abolish the oppressive vassal system.
One late morning, after a lesson had ended, Bumbutai came up with an idea, which she shared with her husband.
“Scholar Fan is well versed in Chinese military theories and no one knows the geography of China better than he. Don’t you think he would make a good adviser on your military council?”
Hong Taiji inwardly exclaimed: “What a clever idea! Why haven’t I thought of it before?”
He had been planning an assault on various Chinese towns on the border but had delayed the action because he and his men were unfamiliar with the landscape.
“I will appoint him to the council right this moment,” he said with unconcealed excitement.
Not forgetting that his Plain and Border White Banner cavalry were inferior to those of the Plain and Border Yellow Banners, Hong Taiji asked Daisan to make a formal request on his behalf to Ajige and Dodo for an exchange of Banner cavalry. None of the three brothers raised any objection to the request, and the exchange went ahead smoothly. Seizing a long-awaited chance to depose Manggultai, Hong Taiji used misconduct as an excuse and managed to grab control of his Plain Blue Banner cavalry as well.
In the first month of the third year of his reign, Hong Taiji wrote a long emotional letter to General Yuan asking for a truce. Yuan presented the letter to Ming Emperor Chongzhen, an eighteen-year-old who had ascended the throne two years previously. The young emperor was very pleased, assuming that the Jurchens’ miserable defeat at the Battle of Ningyuen was the cause for the truce request. He immediately promoted General Yuan to the post of Governor for the town of Ningyuan. Two months later, however, Hong Taiji’s troops made a surprise second attack on the town. The Ming army won, but in the process General Yuan was discredited in the eyes of the Ming Emperor out of no fault of his own. This was exactly what Hong Taiji had intended.
That winter, Hong Taiji led troops consisting of the Jurchen and Mongolian Eight Banner cavalry totaling 100,000 men and descended upon the Ming capital of Beijing. Emperor Chongzhen ordered General Yuan to come to the rescue and the two sides fought bloody battles in the suburbs of Beijing for days. Yuan managed to prevent the Jurchen troops from reaching the capital’s citadel walls.
Two Ming eunuchs were captured during the fighting and, on Scholar Fan’s advice, they were put inside one of the military camps under loose guard. One night, two Chinese soldiers on the Jurchen side wandered over to just outside that camp, chatting loudly. One told the other that he had learned that orders had been received to retreat the next day, as Hong Taiji had made a secret truce pact with General Yuan. Later that night, the two eunuchs were given an opportunity to flee the Jurchen camp. And the following day, Hong Taiji’s troops quietly retreated. Yuan feared that the retreat might be a trap and decided not to chase after the enemy.
The two eunuchs went straight back to the Ming Palace and reported what they had heard to the chief eunuch, who promptly presented an exaggerated version to the Emperor. The report focused on Yuan’s supposedly traitorous agreement with the enemy and his obvious reluctance to defend Beijing. Earlier, General Yuan had ordered the execution of one of the Emperor’s favorite generals for a grave military offense without first consulting the Emperor. That had already greatly ruffled his feathers. The chief eunuch naturally didn’t lose the chance to latch onto that to further fan the young Emperor’s suspicions of Yuan.
Hong Taiji’s ruse worked as he had expected. One sweltering late summer day in the fourth year of his reign, also the fourth year of the reign of the Ming Emperor Chongzhen, a big crowd gathered in the main execution ground of the city of Beijing. A prisoner was being taken there in a wooden cage on a wheeled cart, with his neck and two hands locked in three holes of a wooden pillory. Two guards led the way in front of the cart with another two pushing it at the rear. His hair was in a tangle, his clothes in rags, and his bloodied face and body showed apparent signs of torture. But he stood upright in his cage and his face shone with pride. The final punishment he was going to be subjected to was one of the cruelest, as the mere name suggested: “Death by a thousand cuts.”
A feral, blood-curdling cacophony rose from the crowd. “Let each of us have a piece of this traitor!” some shouted shrilly. Little if any sympathy was visible on the faces in the crowd. Still less did the deadpan-faced executioner show on his, as he toyed with the newly-sharpened knife. The cart stopped between the wood-framed scaffold and a makeshift counter, behind which sat the Court Official of Public Execution.
In the middle of the scaffold was a pole, and the masked executioner was leaning idly against it. Two of the guards unlocked the cage and pulled out the prisoner. As they led him up the few steps to the scaffold, his knees buckled from weakness and they had to carry him to the top. The Court Official stood up and asked loudly whether the prisoner had any last words to say. The prisoner looked around him and then stared intensely at the crowd below. In a steadfast voice, he recited this poem that he had written in his prison cell:
My life and career have come to ruin,
Half my dreamed honors will never be.
My death will yet spur valiant men to show,
My patriotic soul will still guard Liaodong.
When Hong Taiji later received a report of that day’s happening from his spies in the Ming camp, he secretly rejoiced that this fatal blunder by the Ming Emperor would for sure sound the death knell for the Ming Court. Patriotism rewarded with cruel death— what would the other army generals think? He could not but feel the deepest respect for General Yuan, who reportedly took half a day to pass over to the netherworld. He even felt disgusted when he was told how the foolish fanatic crowd had grabbed at the slices of flesh until all that was left was Yuan’s head. One of the two guards who had carried Yuan up the platform still possessed a shred of decency and took the head and later gave it a proper burial in a remote spot beyond the city walls.
Bumbutai flinched on hearing what had happened to General Yuan, and had an intuitive premonition of the coming collapse of the Ming Court. In human history, beastly cruelty always heralds and precedes the collapse of a ruler. This and other overt signs were too obvious to overlook.
In the following year, Hong Taiji beseiged the fortress town of Dalinghe in Liaodong Province. He brought with him Daisan, Ajige and Dodo as his commanding generals. Instead of launching a head-on attack on the fortress, he ordered Daisan and his troops to surround it tightly. At the same time, he sent Ajige and Dodo with their men to attack the nearby smaller villages, forcing the residents to seek refuge and spread fear among the Dalinghe population inside the town. As the number of refugees increased, food became scarce and chaos ensued. At last the town fortress had no option but to raise a white flag.
Upon entering the fortress, Hong Taiji accepted with alacrity the surrender of ten famous Ming generals. He later made a point in holding a grand feast on the spot to welcome the surrendering generals and their families. He also put all these Ming generals under the command of Scholar Fan, who was easily able to strike up a rapport with them.
The new Imperial Palaces in Mukden finally neared completion during his sixth year as Khan. The complex was modeled after the Forbidden City in Beijing and had one hundred and fourteen buildings and twenty gardens in total. The grand Dazheng Hall (the new Throne Hall) in the E
astern Section looked out on a long pathway, which was flanked by a range of Banner Chief Pavilions. In the Central Section snuggled the Emperor’s residence and Inner Palaces for his harem, interspersed with landscaped gardens and terraces. The Western Section housed large theaters, libraries and banquet halls.
Hong Taiji intended for the occupation of the new premises to take place after he secured absolute power and the title of Emperor. Prior to that, he would focus his energies on warfare and Court administration matters, thereby accruing credits for his later claim to absolute power. As of now, his large dragon seat was the only one facing south in the Throne Hall, with the remaining three placed at an angle, no longer on the same line.
Since seizing the title of Khan the year after his father’s death, Hong Taiji had been hoping Bumbutai would offer herself to him voluntarily. To his dismay, that had not happened. It was in the late summer of the following year that he would find out the reason for her lack of intimacy towards him. One afternoon, he was in a good mood and wanted to take Bumbutai for a horseback ride in the woods. He was not in the habit of visiting her during the afternoon and was going to give her a surprise. As he was crossing the garden area that fronted the Library Hall, he saw from a short distance Dorgon and Bumbutai sitting close to each other on a stone bench under a sprawling oak tree. Dorgon had one arm around her waist and was using his other hand to caress her face. He backed noiselessly like a prowling leopard into a shady spot behind a hedge and continued to watch. They were holding hands and her head was leaning on his shoulder.
Hong Taiji’s face instantly changed from a ruddy red to a copper green. Blinding fury uncoiled in his guts. With clenched fists and furrowed brow, he retraced his steps without making a sound.
That night, after extracting everything from Sumalagu without punishing her, he barked at his chief eunuch: “Fetch Bumbutai. I want her to serve me tonight.”
Now that he was Khan, he no longer deigned to visit the chambers of his consorts at night. Instead, they would be carried to him, stripped for security reasons. The chief eunuch did as he was told, went over to the Library Hall and delivered the summons. Knowing this was Bumbutai’s first time, he personally gave instructions to Siu Mui and Siu Fa to bathe Bumbutai and prepare her for the Khan.
Bumbutai knew that this day would come sooner or later. She had prayed to Eternal Blue Sky to delay it for as long as possible, but now she had to face it. While being bathed in the tub of perfumed warm water, she wept at the thought of what was going to happen to her. But there was no escape now. In despair, she let her mind wander off to the day when she had met Dorgon for the second time since her arrival in Mukden. It was in the previous spring, when he had returned from a battle in Mongolia.
On that slightly breezy spring day, Dorgon had appeared out of the blue at her antechamber. In Sumalagu’s presence, he had bluntly questioned Bumbutai as to why she hadn’t shown up for their assignation in the copse. She cast a puzzled look at Sumalagu, who reluctantly related the whole truth about the fate of Dorgon’s letter, seized by Hong Taiji. Finally, the great conundrum was unraveled and the lovers had wept together in a passionate embrace, each having long pined for the other’s touch.
“My sweet Bumbutai, now that the truth is out, I am content,” said Dorgon. “All these years I could hardly take my mind off you. I realize there’s nothing we can do to change your fate now. But as long as our hearts are one, there is nothing anybody can do to change that either. We are young, and we can afford to wait.”
“Venerable Beile, I am yours in heart and soul and will always be. Eternal Blue Sky willing, I vow to offer you my whole self on a future date, if you don’t mind waiting,” she had answered, shaken by sobs and torn by desolation.
“There is no one I hate more than Hong Taiji! He murdered my mother and snatched you from me. Life is so unfair. But I will grit my teeth for now. The day will come when I will avenge my mother and make you all mine.”
“My love, you mustn’t torture yourself so! Hatred only serves to destroy the spirit. I assure you, the right time will come for us. Be patient and don’t give up hope.”
“I can be patient. But my love, please don’t ask me to shed my hatred. He thinks he can fool us into believing that Nurhaci’s will was authentic. Daisan told me the truth in confidence some time ago. Hong Taiji knows in his heart that he is an illegitimate ruler. But he has the upper hand now, as he has Daisan’s support and a tight grip on the military. My brothers and I will play along for now.”
Bumbutai had been flustered to learn about the forging of Nurhaci’s will.
“Is there anything he wouldn’t do to get his way?” she muttered.
From that moment on, her esteem for the Khan had plummeted. Whatever affection she had previously felt for him had dissipated. All her love would henceforth be reserved for Dorgon alone.
After bathing their lady in the perfumed bath, Siu Mui and Siu Fa undid her plaits and combed her cascading hair to a smooth sheen. Mutely they coated her face with a powder made from crushed pearls, gently rubbed her body with fragrant oil, put on her emerald earrings and dressed her in a loose-fitting white robe of pashmina wool. They then presented her in the antechamber, where the chief eunuch and another younger eunuch were waiting. The two eunuchs had spread a large quilted blanket on the floor and bade Bumbutai to take off her robe and lie on the blanket. Mechanically they rolled up the blanket and carried the bundle out to the palanquin that was waiting outside the Hall. Once inside Hong Taiji’s bed chamber, the eunuchs put the bundle on the edge of the bed and unrolled the blanket. They then helped the Khan undress and bowed themselves out.
He couldn’t keep his eyes off the nude body that glowed with dewy exuberance. She had a fuller form now than what he remembered from the wedding night. Her waist still looked tiny, her limbs perfectly proportioned. He had had other virgins before, but had never before felt so consumed with passion as he did now. Time had acted as a whetstone. Staring down on her nakedness, he said gruffly: “You are mine, and you always will be.”
In the summer of the third year of Hong Taiji’s reign, Bumbutai bore him their first daughter. The only one who felt happy on that occasion was Wukeshan, as he was really looking forward to betrothing his infant son to Bumbutai’s first born daughter. Insensitive to his sister’s dejection, Wukeshan announced that Manggusi, at Hong Taiji’s behest, had just given their half-sister Little Jade to Dorgon in marriage. This news pushed Bumbutai into a bout of melancholy.
Two years later, while the Khan was away fighting the Battle of Dalinghe, one late autumn night, Dorgon stumbled into Bumbutai’s bed chamber, stinking of alcohol. He hadn’t seen her after their meeting in the Library Hall garden and was missing her badly. The Khan had chosen to station him in Inner Mongolia to keep an eye on the Chakhar Mongols. He had sneaked back to Mukden on a relief break and had begged her to allow him stay the night in her scented chamber, promising not to touch her. The next morning he found himself on his own bed, feeling groggy and not having a trace of memory of what had taken place the night before.
When the Khan returned victorious a month later, he summoned Bumbutai to his bed. In the late summer of the following year, Bumbutai gave birth to another daughter. She felt strangely content over her birth and personally picked the Han name “Shuhui” for the newborn, which meant kindness and wisdom.
Soon after, Hong Taiji, still in a buoyant mood over his victory at the Battle of Dalinghe, demanded her conjugal services frequently. She conceived again and just ten months later gave birth to her third daughter without much ado. Now even Wukeshan was beginning to be worried about Bumbutai for her failure to produce a male heir for the Khan.
During the years of pregnancy and childbirth, Bumbutai became gradually attuned to reality. While accepting her fate as Hong Taiji’s child-bearing woman, she strived to build herself an emotional and spiritual sanctum through the books that she found in the Library. She po
red through the Chinese Four Books and Five Classics. She would make herself useful to the Khan, she told herself. In the process of acquiring new knowledge, she became a more self-possessed person and an intelligent adviser to him. She gave him the loyalty, deference and feminine support that he sought, but her heart was off-limits. She never shared her intimate feelings with him and always kept an emotional distance. Her inner world was a locked boudoir, the key to which was meant for no men but one.
Hong Taiji inwardly seethed. He could do as he pleased with her body, but it was an empty shell without an accessible soul. Outwardly, though, he appeared to be content with her giving advice on Court matters. In the Battle of Dalinghe, it was she who reminded him that Genghis Khan had often used siege tactics. Another piece of advice of hers that he had put into practice was the encouragement of interracial marriages between Jurchen, Mongolian and Han commoners. She also convinced him that promoting peace and social harmony was a paramount priority for the Empire.
There were times, though, that he wanted to strangle her fragile white neck. Her stiffened face and body gave him no pleasure in bed. He sought warmth and tenderness, but she always closed up her heart tightly like a clam. He began hating her. There was another thing that was really bothering him, and that was that she still failed to give him a son, and Jere continued to be childless.
Seven
Shortly after giving birth to her third daughter, Bumbutai received a letter from her mother in Mongolia saying that Harjol had been widowed as her husband Zhuolin had been killed in a battle. Harjol wanted to come and visit her in Mukden and Bumbutai immediately sent a reply welcoming her sister’s visit.
