"Master, you have a clear lesson." Fan Wencheng said, "Sending troops in the spring can indeed achieve miraculous results."
"That's true." Ning Wanwo said, "Spring is extremely important to the Mongolian tribes. Mares will give birth to foals in this season, and ewes will also give birth to lambs in this season. We, the Qing soldiers, are
When the time comes, the Mongols won't even have a chance to escape, so they can only surrender to me obediently."
Hong Chengchou said: "The key is to strike first and defeat them one by one."
"Yes, strike first." Dorgon said, "If nothing else happens, the Pseudo-Shun and the Mongolian tribes will definitely choose to unite and send troops when the autumn is high and the horses are fat, but we, the Qing Dynasty, want to send troops at the beginning of spring."
Hong Chengchou frowned and said, "The only thing we can worry about is Nan Ming's reaction."
Dorgon's face immediately fell. Ming Chao's reaction really needs to be considered.
It is said that Chongzhen has just recruited another 270,000 soldiers and is intensifying training.
Sometimes Dorgon would be frustrated, frustrated by the huge power gap between the Qing court and the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty had already been beaten by the hypocrites and the Qing court, but it still had the financial resources to recruit 270,000 soldiers at a time!
In contrast, after returning to Beijing this time, Dorgon only dared to expand the Eight Banners Han Army from more than 10,000 people to 50,000 people. He would not dare to recruit any more troops for fear of overestimating the host.
Dorgon said: "I don't know what is the situation in Nanming now? If we send troops in the spring, will Nanming be able to send troops from Xuzhou or Shandong for the Northern Expedition?"
Last year, Dorgon would never have had this worry.
But now after experiencing the failure in the Xuzhou War, Dorgon no longer dared to be careless.
After Ning Wan, I suddenly said: "Master, didn't Luo Yangxing instigate the rebellion of Nanming's Jinyiwei Commander? Counting the time, Luo Yangxing and the others should have arrived in Beijing by now."
It was such a coincidence that just as he was talking, Hou Fangyu came in and reported: "Master, Luo Yangxing, the governor of Tianjin, wants to see you."
"This is really about Cao Cao. Cao Cao has arrived." Dorgon laughed and said, "Please, please quickly ask Luo Yangxing to come in and see me."
After a while, I saw an official wearing a mandarin jacket and a warm hat walking in quickly. After walking up to Dorgon, he flicked his sleeves and knelt down: "I, Luo, cultivate your character, and I would like to bow to the emperor, the emperor, and the regent, Jin An."
"No need." Dorgon said, "Luo Yangxing, why are you alone? Where is Li Helian?"
Luo Yangxing said: "Go back to your lord, Li Ruolian is waiting outside the door. I don't dare to enter without your permission."
Dorgon said: "How can there be so many details? Let him come in. It just so happens that I have a question and want to ask him."
Luo Yangxing immediately turned to face the door and shouted: "Li Ruolian, come in quickly, the emperor and the regent want to see you."
Immediately, a figure walked in and bowed to Dorgon in accordance with Han family etiquette: "See the Emperor Father and the Regent."
"Are you Li Ruolian?" Dorgon looked Li Ruolian up and down, and then asked, "One of the several military officials who followed Chongzhen in defeating the siege from Beijing?"
"Yes." Li Ruolian straightened up and responded without saying a word.
Dorgon added: "I heard that when he broke out of Beijing, Chongzhen only summoned nine civil servants, four nobles and two military attachés. Is this true?"
"This is a false rumor." Li Ruolian waved his hand and said, "Before the siege broke out, Chongzhen once sent more than a hundred envoys to deliver oral instructions to no less than a hundred civil servants, generals, and nobles in the court, but in the end only fifteen people obeyed the imperial edict."
"That's it." Dorgon smiled when he heard this, "That makes sense."
Speaking of this meal, Dorgon asked with concern: "Have you met your family?"
"I've already seen it." Li Ruolian said gratefully, "Thank you to the regent for taking care of me."
"Hey, it's nothing." Dorgon said, "Our Qing Dynasty has always valued loyal ministers and good generals. Loyal ministers and good generals like you are exactly what our Qing Dynasty urgently needs. That is why Chongzhen treats you like this because of his ignorance."
Li Ruolian burst into tears with gratitude and said: "The regent is so kind and virtuous, and I have nothing to repay..."
"I don't need you to repay your kindness." Dorgon interrupted Li Ruolian and said, "I just want you to work diligently and contribute your talents to the Qing Dynasty. From now on, you will still serve as the commander of the Jinyi Guards."
Li Ruolian responded excitedly: "I am determined to be the regent."
"There is no need for you to be confused." Dorgon waved and continued, "But I have a few questions about Nanming that I want to ask you. You must answer them truthfully and don't just pick nice things to say to me."
Li Ruolian said: "The regent just asks, I will tell you everything I know."
Dorgon asked: "How is the current political situation in Nanming? I heard that there was a big disturbance a while ago?"
Li Ruolian said: "The regent is talking about regicide and frame-up, right? Chongzhen completed the purge of the Donglin Party through these two crimes, and now all the officials in the court are imperialists."
Hong Chengchou said: "So, Chongzhen has completely taken control of the court?"
"That's right." Li Ruolian said, "Today's chief assistant, Lu Zhenfei, is a yes man of Chongzhen."
Dorgon's face became more worried, and he asked again: "I heard that Chongzhen raised more than 200,000 soldiers?"
"To be precise, it's 270,000!" Li Ruolian said, "We are currently undergoing intensive training in Nanjing, but the weapons and equipment are not ready, so it is still very early to form an army."
After Ning Wan, I asked: "I heard that many rice fields in eight prefectures and one prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River were converted into mulberry fields, cotton fields, ramie fields, and camellia oleifera fields. I wonder if this is true or false?"
"This is true." Li Ruolian said, "At least half of the more than 60 million acres of farmland in the south of the Yangtze River have been converted into mulberry fields, cotton fields, ramie fields and camellia oleifera fields."
Dorgon felt a secret joy in his heart and asked again: "Why is this?"
"Because Emperor Chongzhen is greedy for money," Li Ruolian said, "so he wants to weave more silk and cotton, squeeze more oil, and sell it to the Western barbarians and people at high prices to collect money."
"Isn't that right?" Hong Chengchou said, "As far as I know, Chongzhen lived a very frugal life. He often ate the same food as the soldiers. He also did not accept any concubines. He didn't even have a concubine so far. He was so poor. What money did he need?
use?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "This is not very clear to me." Li Ruolian said, "But Chongzhen was indeed greedy for money. He not only ordered the farmland in Jiangnan to be replanted with mulberry seedlings and cotton, but also
He set up a royal bank account and ordered the officials, gentry and merchants of the Ming Dynasty to deposit their money in the bank account, and then set up a bullshit exchange to misappropriate the money by buying low and selling high."
Speaking of this meal, Li Ruolian said again: "Someone has estimated that the silver collected by Chongzhen has exceeded 200 million taels!"
Dorgon couldn't help but exchanged glances with Hong Chengchou and the other three. The situation Li Ruolian mentioned was basically the same as what had been discovered by Xi Zuo who had sneaked into Jiangnan. This showed that he had not concealed anything or lied.
Hong Chengchou asked again: "How are the hundreds of thousands of frontier troops in Xuzhou and the two hundred thousand rural warriors in Huai'an now?"
"They were all abolished," Li Ruolian said. "Chongzhen was reluctant to spend money. He felt that the wages of the border troops were too high, so he abolished all the border troops in Thirty Town and sold five million acres of cultivated land in Xuzhou to the border troops.
, and took back the millions of taels of salary and rewards that were previously distributed."
Dorgon and the others also knew about this situation.
But Dorgon didn't believe it: "Is it really abolished?"
"It's really been abolished." Li Ruolian said, "However, if the Qing troops go south, Chongzhen, the dog emperor, will probably regroup these thirty border troops and send them to the battlefield."
Dorgon asked: "If the Qing army does not go south, will the Ming army launch an expedition to the north?"
"This is impossible." Li Ruolian said flatly, "In fact, Chongzhen did not plan the Northern Expedition at all, but just wanted to preserve half of the country in the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, even if Chongzhen was interested in the Northern Expedition, he does not have the conditions now, because the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse and the inner court's key storehouse
The total amount of grain stored is only a few hundred thousand stones of grain."
"Okay, Commander Li has given you a hard journey." Dorgon comforted him and said to Luo Yangxing, "Luo Yangxing, please accompany Commander Li to go home and settle down first."
"Your Majesty, please retire." Luo Yangxing left Prince Rui's Mansion with Li Ruolian.
"Three gentlemen, what do you think?" Dorgon asked as soon as Li Ruolian left.
Fan Wencheng said: "Li Ruolian answered fluently, and what he said was very different from what we know. It shows that he did not lie or conceal anything."
"My slave seconded the proposal." Ning Wan and I were convinced.
Hong Chengchou said: "But I never believe that Chongzhen has no intention of the Northern Expedition!"
"I don't believe it either. Chongzhen is undoubtedly a great leader. There is no doubt about it." After saying this, Dorgon added, "But Nanming didn't have much food reserves. This should be true."
"This slave thinks so too," Hong Chengchou said. "In the Xuzhou War in the middle of last year, our Qing Dynasty certainly consumed a lot of money and food, but Nanming's consumption was only much more than that of our Qing Dynasty. It also had to accommodate three people.
Ten towns of frontier troops and 200,000 local warriors have to feed more than one million fleeing people in Kaifeng Prefecture, and food is flowing out like running water."
"This is enough." Dorgon said, "As long as Nanming does not have much food reserves, it will not be able to send troops to the Northern Expedition. In this way, we, the Qing Dynasty, can safely use troops against Tumut."
As soon as the decision was made, Dorgon immediately summoned Qi Chongge, Gang Lin and other Manchu ministers and ordered them to raise grain, grass and ordnance, and asked the Military War Bureau to step up the production of red barbarian cannons and flintlock muskets.
…
Time soon came to the Lantern Festival.
The new army had just arrived at Taihu County in Anqing Prefecture, and had only walked about half the distance.
Chongzhen seriously misjudged the duration of the march, mainly because there were two consecutive heavy snowfalls after the beginning of spring. The snow in the Dabie Mountains was even thicker, making it difficult to move even an inch.
Marching in thigh-deep snow, one foot deep and one foot shallow, was so refreshing.
However, no one complained, no matter whether it was Qin Wang's scholars or the New Army soldiers, even though they were fully armed and equipped with baggage, no one complained.
Prince Qin is used to suffering.
The New Army officers and men, on the other hand, did not feel any pain at all.
What does this mean to these honest farmers?
As long as they have enough to eat and money to pay, they can climb even the Kunlun Mountains, let alone the Dabie Mountains. They just need to walk a little slower.
Indeed, some soldiers of the New Army were reluctant to part with their newly issued leather boots, so they actually took them off and tied them around their shoulders, then walked away barefoot.
Of course, this behavior was severely reprimanded by Chongzhen, and the soldiers who were marching barefoot were ordered to put on their leather boots again. Marching barefoot in heavy snow is not allowed as it will cause frostbite.
"Zi!" Chongzhen slipped and fell into the snow.
"Long live the Lord." Wang Chengen, Gao Qiqian, quickly rolled forward and helped Chongzhen up.
Zhu Cijiong, his own son, was a beat slower and fell behind Wang Chengen and Gao Qiqian.
Looking at Wang Chengen and Gao Qiqian who looked nervous, Chongzhen also sighed in his heart. Needless to say, Wang Chengen, Gao Qiqian, although he has many shortcomings, is really a good slave.
It's no wonder that so many emperors of the Ming Dynasty reused eunuchs.
At that moment, Chongzhen asked Gao Qiqian: "Gao Banban, do you think I am too harsh on you servants?"
"Long live Lord, this old slave never has such crazy ideas." Gao Qiqian said with a panic look on his face, "It seems that servants like this old slave are just servants of the royal family. No matter how long live Lord treats us, whether he beats or scolds us, it doesn't matter.
, it should be killed, the slaves and others will not complain at all, the slaves and others only know to be loyal to the royal family and loyal to the long live Lord."
"Gao Banban, what you said is against your will." Chongzhen said with a smile, "If I order you to be killed now, will you really not have any resentment in your heart? Do you believe what you say?"
"Uh..." Gao Qiqian could only say, "Long live my blazing eyes, how can I hide this little thought from you?"
"Gao Banban, I am indeed a bit too harsh on you." Chongzhen patted Gao Qiqian and said with a smile, "You have blocked my arrows and eliminated disasters many times, but I have not rewarded you. This is really not right.
"
"Long live the Lord." Gao Qiqian choked and didn't know what to say.
Chongzhen added: "We had so many eunuchs before and after the Ming Dynasty, such as Liu Jin, Wang Zhen and Wei Jinzhong, all of whom had great power, but none of them were awarded the title of Duke Zhaowu. Only Cao Jixiang was awarded the title of Uncle Zhaowu."
Hearing this, Gao Qiqian couldn't help but feel excited, wasn't he? He was going to be made an earl?
After a short pause, Chongzhen said with a smile: "Gao Banban, I will now make you the second earl of the Ming Dynasty, a first-class loyal and brave uncle, and also appoint a nephew to the Imperial Academy of the Imperial College."
"Long live the Lord!" Gao Qiqian cried and bowed in the snow.
Looking at Gao Qiqian who was kneeling on the ground and crying bitterly, Wang Chengen looked envious and a little disappointed at the same time.
"Wang Daban." Chongzhen suddenly turned to look at Wang Cheng'en and said, "You don't need to say more about my loyal ministers. If the Jiashen national crisis had not been for you, I would have been dead for a long time. How could I be here again?"
After saying this, Chongzhen said solemnly: "That's why I want you to become the first chamberlain of a marquis in the Ming Dynasty. I now confer you the title of Marquis of Zhongzhen and send a nephew to the Imperial Academy of the Imperial College."
"Long live my Lord." Wang Chengen was panicked, "This old slave deserves to be punished."
"You have no shame." Chongzhen said solemnly, "You deserve this."
He helped Gao Qiqian up and continued: "Wang Daban, Gao Banban, who is loyal and who is traitorous, who can be used and who cannot be used, my heart is like a mirror. In a word, as long as you work diligently, I will never
I will treat you badly."
"Old slave, I will thank you for your kindness." Wang Chengen stood up and knelt heavily on the ground.
