Prime Minister Xia bowed his head and pondered.

Although Zhu Cilang has already proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing, the situation in Xinming is not good.

It has always been said that guarding the river must guard the Huai River, but at present, the north of the Yangtze River is not in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and there is not even a buffer.

To the west, the Longwu Army occupied Anqing. To the east, Yangzhou was in the hands of Zhou Xian.

Both of these are the gateways to Nanjing.

The further away, strategically significant Xiangyang is still under the control of the riot army. It is said to be half of the country, but in fact, Xinming can actually control very few important places.

Compared with the previous north-south confrontation, Zhu Cixuan faced much worse environment.

If Zhu Cixuan wants to stand firm in Nanjing, he must gradually seize these places, and at least he should take Yangzhou and Anqing into his own hands.

If we take advantage of Zhou Xian’s battle with the north and have no time to deal with it, it is indeed an opportunity.

Xia Guoxiang frowned, "Does Nanjing have such strength?"

Wu Sangui said: "I have strength, but Zhu Cixuan may not do that. I don't have much contact with the original prince, but I also heard that he is generous and a rare benevolent monarch. Zhou Xian raised the banner of anti-capitals and rescued him from the capital that day. If he sent troops to Yangzhou at this time, it would not only be considered a direct war with Zhou Xian, but also a little unfair. Moreover, Zhou Xian is in Yangzhou and Gaoyou has retained a lot of troops. Longwu Army is eyeing him, so it may not be a good time for the Ming army to go north."

Xia Guoxiang nodded, "Then Prince, you know that Gao Qiqian's trip may not have any effect, so why do you still ask him to go to Nanjing? If he stays here, at least his relationships in the North can help us."

Wu Sangui shook his head, "Prime Minister, you have to recognize it a little bit. We cooperate with Gao Qiqian, and I can't completely control what he does. Besides, I used to only hear that he had a relationship in the south. And we don't know how wide and deep the relationship is, and whether it can affect the decision of the new emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty. I just want to see him when he went there this time. In addition, I also hope that he can bring back the handwritten letter entrusted by Zhu Ciyang to act in the north! As long as there is a formal commission, it will be much easier for us to win over other forces in the future. Another point is...

As he said that, Wu Sangui glanced at Xia Guojin with great fun, "I also want Gao Qiqian to talk about what this new Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will do next, and whether he really has the ability to revive the Ming Dynasty?"

Prime Minister Xia was silent for a moment and nodded gently, "I understand."

Wu Sangui suddenly remembered something, "By the way, what do you say after you let the craftsmen see the flintlock gun that Gao Qiqian gave us? Can they make it?"

Xia Guoxiang replied: "The method of making the musket is also simple, which is to replace the flint with flint. Without ignition, you can directly pull the trigger to stimulate the steel ball. Therefore, the time spent on each shooting is much shorter than the previous flint gun. In addition, the iron pipes and other parts used by Zhou Xian are all made of good iron, and they will not be scrapped like those used before. Our craftsmen can make it after a little effort, but..."

Wu Sangui saw that Prime Minister Xia suddenly stopped talking, "But what?"

Xia Guoxiang frowned and said, "But there are few skilled craftsmen here and there are not enough iron ore and iron shops, so it is impossible to achieve large-scale production."

Wu Sangui sighed, "Then we can only wait until the future."

The Prime Minister of Xia hesitated for a while and made up his mind to say, "Prince, I think you should hand over this flintlock rifle to Dorgon?"

Seeing Wu Sangui's face showing doubts, Xia Guojin quickly explained: "Prince, even if we have made this thing now, we can't make many sticks. Why not give it to Dorgon directly for personal favors? The Qing Dynasty occupied Liaodong, and they had enough financial and material resources to imitate it."

Wu Sangui frowned and said, "You don't know the power of this flintlock rifle. Isn't it a cause of trouble for us in the future? Gao Qiqian finally got a shot from Li Zicheng, so why didn't he hand it over to Dorgon, but to me, just want us to have more capital to challenge the Qing Dynasty?"

Xia Guoxiang nodded, "I understand. But this flintlock rifle needs to be produced in large quantities, requires mines, good and numerous craftsmen, and also requires a lot of silver. If you invest a lot, you may not get anything in the end. Just like the previous clamp gun, because there were too many blow-offs, ordinary soldiers would rather use swords and guns than use them. Another point is that the bannermen rely on their own bravery and rely on long bows to fast horses. Therefore, although the Qing Dynasty had artillery and muskets, they were all Han people. Therefore, even if the Qing Dynasty was successfully produced, more than who would be used at that time!"

The meaning of the Prime Minister of Xia is very simple. The objects are handed over to people, and the bannermen may not like to use this flintlock rifle. In the end, it is very likely that these firearms are still Han people, or at least the eight Han banners.

Seeing Wu Sangui frowning and pondering, Xia Guoping continued: "Prince, although we have surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Dorgon does not trust us. Even if the Qing army and the rebel army suffered heavy losses in the battle, he may not relax his restrictions on us. I mean, before the situation is clear, we will follow him first and do everything possible to win him trust. And this flintlock rifle is obviously the best gift to him at present."

Wu Sangui was silent for a long time, gritted his teeth and made up his mind. "Okay, let me listen to you. I'm about to see Dorgon. You wrap the gun up and I'll bring it to him in person."

When Wu Sangui got up and left, Dorgon played with the gun. After a while, he handed it to the guards beside him and said, "Select one hundred cavalry, go around Shanhaiguan, and send this gun back to Shengjing. Let them immediately summon craftsmen and make it."

After saying that, he turned to Hong Chengchou and said, "Mr. Hong, what do you think?"

Hong Chengchou said: "No matter what Wu Sangui has, at least he is showing kindness to the prince. He knows that even if the Qing Dynasty is defeated, he can retreat to Liaodong. On the contrary, he will not even have a foothold at that time. I think he will not have any other thoughts before Li Zicheng expels from the northern part."

There was no expression on Dorgon's face, he didn't say yes, nor did he say no.

Hong Chengchou continued: "Regent, it seems that the thieves are indeed evacuating. But the empress always feels that they are not at the point of retreating. Isn't that right?" Hong Chengchou did not continue to say.

Dorgon raised his eyebrows, "Are you saying they deliberately lured us to pursue us, but fortunately they set up an ambush on the road?"
Chapter completed!