A few days after Dorgon met with Hong Chengchou, on this bitterly cold night, in the north of Haizhou, on a roadside mound, stood a group of cavalry wearing white cotton armor, about one or two hundred people.

Dorgon sat motionless on the horse, holding the reins with one hand and holding the handle of the knife tightly with the other.

Riding on his horse, he looked south intently. The dusk in the south was low, and he could only vaguely see the snow on the ground reflecting the moonlight. Looking north, there were many faint lights about a few miles away. Those were the incoming Han people.

They were burying pots to make rice and warming themselves up by fire. A few days ago, Dorgon abandoned Haizhou and led his army to leave Haizhou. Of course, he did not forget to take the hundreds of thousands of livestock and livestock he had plundered. The officers and soldiers did not stop in the first two days.

He followed them, but today, he stopped chasing them. He knew that this was Hong Chengchou's show, and now, there was no need to show off.

"Pity!"

Hearing the prince's voice of regret, Cao Eryu asked in confusion.

"Your Majesty?"

Cao Eryu, who had gone through many hardships along the way, finally returned to his master before the army withdrew from Haizhou. After offering the Ming army's flowering artillery shells, he was left by the prince. According to his father, this

But the rare opportunity given to the Cao family should be cherished by him.

"You and I will never have the chance to go south to the Central Plains again!"

"Why does the prince say that? From what I see, as long as we take a breather for a few years, we, the Qing Kingdom, can still take over the Central Plains!"

Cao Eryu's words made Dorgon sigh helplessly.

"After this battle, no one can predict what will happen to the Ming Dynasty. However, in my opinion, Prince Yu, if the two sides fight, Prince De will have a greater chance of winning. If he is the emperor, the Qing Dynasty will be able to protect itself."

God bless me, as for entering the Central Plains of Guanzhong..."

Shaking his head, Dorgon's expression was full of pity. Abatai's defeat was not an accident, and even the present day of the Qing Dynasty was not an accident. It was all carefully planned by Prince De. Prince De was only the crown prince now, but in the future, if

He became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and was able to mobilize the Ming army all over the world. How could things happen to the Qing Dynasty by then?

Even Dorgon had already thought of a way out. After returning to the Qing Dynasty and solving the problem of Huang Taiji, he would take the initiative to give Prince De a big gift before the situation in the Ming Dynasty became clear.

However, the only thing that makes people upset is, will Prince De accept his great gift?

Staring at the fireworks in the distance where the Han people were setting off fires for cooking, Dorgon frowned. Fortunately, Hong Chengchou did not insist that he keep these Han people. He just wanted to deceive others and asked him to leave some Han people behind. But that was nothing.

Just a few hundred thousand people.

With these 500,000 Han slaves, there is at least hope for the Qing Dynasty to rise again in a few years!

if only……

Thinking of this, Dorgon turned his eyes to the north, thinking of another emperor in the north, and he thought in his heart.

"Chongzhen, don't let me down!"

…

In the Imperial Study Room of the Imperial City of the Capital, Chongzhen, as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, seemed extremely agitated, and there was a ball of anger in his heart!

Now he is so angry that he just wants to kill someone!

kill!

Even though that person was not in front of him, he had already killed someone!

For example, Hou Xun, the former Minister of Household Affairs who was imprisoned in the sky prison, was executed by Ling Chi. He had a good son!

Not only did he surrender the Donglu, he even offered advice to dig up the Yellow River. If that guy hadn't blocked the breached dam, I don't know how many people in Shandong would have died in the flood!

...Once again Chongzhen thought of that boy!

"Deserves to be killed!"

Chongzhen, who was walking around in the study, was wearing a half-old emperor's uniform, with patches vaguely visible on it. He was not Daoguang who was wearing it to show his ministers two hundred years later. How much did one of Daoguang's patches cost?

Thousand taels of silver. As for the patches on Chongzhen's body, they were sewn by Empress Zhou herself, using old clothes that were too worn out. Not only Chongzhen, but also the concubines and several princes and princesses in the palace wore belts.

Patched clothes. This is not pretending to be poor...but he really wants to save money for the country. It seems that from this point of view, Chongzhen is indeed the most diligent and thrifty king in history.

However, his diligence and frugality were used in the wrong place!

There is nothing we can do about this!

The common government is finance, and finance is the source of all government affairs. If you don't have money, you have to find ways to generate income. How many pieces of clothing can you save in this way, and how much money can you save?

But everyone knows that Emperor Chongzhen has no ability to generate income at all. Even under his hard work for more than ten years, the finances of the Ming Dynasty have become more tense than before.

As for now, when the news of Prince De's rebellion came, people in the capital suddenly became panicked. They had to worry about Nanzhili, which was the fundamental tax source of the imperial court and was an important land for grain production!

Although Prince De currently only occupies Nanjing and controls Yangzhou, Nanjing is the center of Southern Zhili, and Yangzhou is the only way for grain to go north. Moreover, it is also a place of salt taxation!

It's better now!

He has cut off the grain supply! Even the salt tax... he can take it away at any time if he is willing. Just like Nanzhili, it is actually in his hands. As long as he sends out a large army, who can take it away from all the prefectures and counties in Nanzhili?

Can you stop him?

Prince De!

He cursed hatefully in his heart, Chongzhen's eyes were cold and he murmured on his lips!

"Zhu Ciying, how kind I am to you, how do you repay your kindness?"

Although Zhang Chun, who was rescued by Prince De, sent the skull of the chief Nurhachi, and even though Zhu Ciying had made great contributions to the world, he had disobedient intentions and wanted to rebel. How could Chongzhen accept this?

Thinking of the ministers who were killed and imprisoned in Nanjing, although Chongzhen felt quite relieved, none of those ministers or the officials of the Six Ministries of Nanjing wanted to offer the city to the East.

Prisoners, can they be worthy of the Ming Dynasty, or me?

However, no one likes beheading, so there are really not many people who can speak for Zhu Ciying in the capital. This makes Chongzhen breathe a sigh of relief, at least Zhu Ciying will not win people's hearts.

Kill like the second ancestor!

Thinking of this, Chongzhen's heart sank. Now, does Zhu Ciying also want to be like Chengzu, wanting to clear the emperor's side, wanting to...

He turned to look at the cabinet ministers crowded in the study room. The ministers, including the first minister Xue Guoguan, stood there one by one, looking at the nose and heart, without squinting, and with expressionless faces.

He looks like a virtuous minister.

But just without saying a word

Emperor Chongzhen was really a little annoyed when he looked at these silent ministers, and he snorted heavily.

"I don't want to be the king who will subjugate the country. Do you want to be the ministers who will subjugate the country? Now Zhu Ciying, the son of De, has established himself as the governor in Nanjing. He killed the ministers, imprisoned hundreds of officials, and even sent his troops to the north with evil intentions. What happened now,

Can't you all give me some advice for your father?"

The ministers who had been reprimanded by the emperor had a thought in their minds. This is the private matter of your old Zhu family. When the emperor became the ancestor... this country could not be destroyed, even if... hey, isn't it still the Ming Dynasty?

As the chief assistant, Xue Guoguan heard what Chongzhen said, so he came out of the class and said:

"Your Majesty, I think you can send a senior official to inquire."

In fact, Xue Guoguan felt bitter in his heart. It would be great if you, Prince De, stayed in Yangzhou. Not only did you attack Liaodong from the north and go straight to the east to suppress the captives, but even if you just made such a great contribution, you could actually fight back all the way from Liaodong.

Nanjing, relieved the siege of Nanjing, and even sank tens of thousands of Abatai's captives into the river.

What is the great contribution of Po Tianda?

It’s not just about having great achievements!

If he is just an ordinary minister, but his merits exceed those of his master, then that is enough.

After all, in the Ming Dynasty, no matter whether it was a civil servant or a military general, it was impossible for him to plot rebellion because of his great achievements. After all, the governor was a civil official. No matter what kind of merit he had made, he was only a governor. With the emperor's

Shang Fang's sword, how could he command those arrogant and powerful generals?

As for the general, even though he has made great military exploits, he still has a good leadership as a supervisor.

But all this has completely changed when it comes to the prince. He is neither a civil official nor a military general. Moreover, his surname is Zhu. He is also a clan member of the Ming Dynasty. Now he not only has elite soldiers and generals under his command, but also established the world.

A great achievement. If by chance he rebels and rebels.

That would not be a simple rebellion, but another disaster!

Why did you agree to him leading the army in the first place?

It seems that he just wanted to find a reason to punish his crimes. Now it's better, he can't be imprisoned in the high walls of Zhongdu, he has already established himself as the governor.

At that time, Emperor Gao first started as the Governor, and also started in Nanjing. This man was really... so ambitious!

There is no point in even regretting. The most important thing now is how to overcome this difficulty.

What should we do now?

Are we going to send troops to quell the rebellion now?

Just when everyone was at a loss, an internal official over there reported that Hong Chengchou had arrived 800 miles away with an urgent memorial.

"Could it be that Hong Chengchou had a great victory?"

The content of the memorial was very simple, and it was indeed a good news as they thought. The memorial described in detail how he defeated Dorgon and rescued hundreds of thousands of captive people from the fire and water.

Of course, he also mentioned that because Crown Prince Dede led one hundred thousand troops and was about to cross the river, he had to give up the pursuit of Dorgon just in case.

"Okay! Thank you for your hard work, Hong Aiqing."

Listening to Hong Chengchou's memorial, Chongzhen couldn't help but sigh, there are still many loyal ministers in this world!

Hong Chengchou is really my most loyal minister in the Ming Dynasty. Even if there is no imperial edict, he will not forget to share the worries of his father and emperor.

Now he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Now Dorgon finally retreated. Those Tatars were finally leaving the pass. They were finally free to take care of that kid.

"My dear friends, please tell me how to deal with Prince De's situation now! Should we send troops to attack him?"

Facing the emperor's question, Xue Guo thought for a while and then said.
Chapter completed!