“I don’t know when Zongzhi will make the Northern Expedition?”
Wu Sangui asked a key question.
"Not urgent."
Li Jizu shook his head: "The soldiers and horses from the Beijing camp, as well as the food that followed them, haven't arrived yet. Without money and food, they can't reach Beijing."
Although Shandong is Beijing's wing, the distance between the two is nearly a thousand miles. Even the cavalry would take more than ten days, let alone someone like him, who was a mixture of infantry and cavalry.
Even if you travel fifty miles a day, it will take at least half a month.
Therefore, if the Manqing wanted to run away, they would have already run away, and it would be useless no matter how anxious they were.
For Li Jizu, the most important issues at present are soldiers, horses and food.
There are only 30,000 soldiers and horses directly under his command, and the other 30,000 are Yuyuan Army, whose control is not strong.
And now with the addition of 30,000 Guan Ning troops, less than half of the troops directly under his command are still under his control. How can we still fight?
If you can't control the situation, you won't be able to defeat it in Beijing, and you can only die.
Only when the 30,000 Beijing troops arrived could he have the confidence to dare to go north.
However, he did not forget to publicize the death of Wu Sangui and the surrender of Guan Ning's army, which was an important threat to Beijing.
The most important thing is to control Guan Ning's army.
That is, according to the emperor's instructions, he took advantage of this opportunity to cut off the contact between Wu Sangui and Guan Ning's army, thus turning the Wu family army into a complete Ming army.
Li Jizu had already made a plan in his mind. He would not take Wu Sangui with him during the Northern Expedition, but would wait for Wu Sangui to go to Nanjing when Beijing fell.
Soon, the city of Beijing received news of the fall of Jinan.
For the Manchus, what made them even more uncomfortable was the surrender of Guan Ning's army.
You must know that the Ming court has always been short of cavalry, and the cavalry battalions it relied on as its backbone only numbered 50,000 and 50,000, less than 30% of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
As soon as Guan Ning's army surrendered, they immediately brought 20,000 cavalry to them, and the gap between the two sides narrowed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Elite cavalry and ordinary cavalry are two different things.
"Why did Wu Sangui die?"
Hong Chengchou, who had been demoted for many days, was finally able to participate in politics. At this critical moment, Dorgon needed the opinions of others.
"I heard that he was poisoned and died after vomiting blood for many days. The Ming army took the opportunity to attack Jinan and surrendered Guan Ning's army."
On the side, Ning Wanwo looked thoughtful, looked at Hong Chengchou, and said helplessly.
"Wu Sangui was poisoned? Is there anything fishy about this?"
Hong Chengchou was still puzzled: "How could a dignified prince be so easily poisoned and die?"
"Besides, since Wu Sangui was poisoned, why are Ding Wensheng and others safe?"
"No matter what happens to Wu Sangui, the deal is already done. How to face the Ming army becomes a problem."
At this time, Fan Wencheng raised his head and said in a deep voice: "Datong in the west and Zhangde Mansion in the south need soldiers and horses to resist. If they are removed, it will be a three-pronged attack and it will be even more difficult for Beijing."
"If you ask me, you have to take the initiative!"
At this time, the fifth son of Huang Taiji, the sixteen-year-old Prince Shuosei of Chengze County, raised his head and said rather irritably:
"What's so scary about the Han people? If they lose and win again, they only think about escaping. Are they still Eight Banners warriors?"
Despite his young age, Shuosei followed Duduo to the south as early as the first year of Shunzhi, and then followed Azig to capture Emperor Hongguang. It can be said that he has a lot of war experience.
However, he has no overall view of the situation.
Daishan, who was old and sick, opened his hoarse throat and said: "As of now, I still need to think more about it."
"As far as I know, the Ming army in Shandong has exceeded 100,000 people. With the Guan Ning army included, even if less than half can fight, it will be a big trouble."
"However, our family members have been transferred back to the outside of the customs one after another. If we hurry up, we should all be able to get out."
"When the time comes, if we fight with all our strength, even if the Ming army is not routed thousands of miles away, it will still severely damage their vitality. We must not retreat without a fight."
At the end, Daishan's tone became more solemn.
Dorgon also nodded and said: "There is still a long distance from Jinan to Beijing, and it is enough for us to deal with it."
"Let Azig and Luck Dehun come back as soon as possible. No more time is wasted."
Hong Chengchou was about to speak, but when he saw the murderous princes, he immediately stopped and kept silent.
He understood that the reason why this final battle was important was to hurt the Ming army so that they would not dare to send troops to Liaodong and huddle in the pass.
However, today's Emperor Shaowu is very different from Emperor Chongzhen back then!
The meeting ended hastily.
In fact, everyone had expected this situation as early as two months ago when the family members evacuated outside the customs.
Only by relocating family members can soldiers focus more on fighting without worries.
The reason why they did not stick to Beijing was that the top management of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, including Dorgon, had great luck with the sudden takeover of the Central Plains.
To put it bluntly, I am lucky if I get it, and I am lucky if I lose it.
The entire Manchu Qing Dynasty was not ready to completely take over the Central Plains, and was always ready to withdraw outside the customs at any time.
Until Hongguang was captured.
But things have taken a turn of events, and now it has become like this. It is not difficult to accept that it will be withdrawn outside the customs.
After all, most people's property is well kept outside the customs.
However, for Hong Chengchou, he never expected that the situation was so corrupt.
Originally, the Manchu Qing Dynasty took control of the Central Plains, the Barbarians and Di people entered China and conquered China, and a new dynasty was established. He had to clear his status as a surrender.
such a pity!
Walking on the road disappointedly, Hong Chengchou felt as depressed as everyone else.
From Luoyang to Yangzhou, he was never reused again, but now that he has participated in politics, it is extremely ironic that he is involved in such an important issue.
"Why is Emperor Shaowu not the first emperor? If so, how come the Ming Dynasty is like this? Reviving the Ming Dynasty is a unique banner! Another Han Guangwu!!"
"I'm afraid that the spittle of the elders in Fujian has already flooded the threshold of my house!"
"I don't know what's going on with my mother, but don't let your anger ruin your health!"
Hong Chengchou thought a lot, and the more he thought about it, the more he frowned.
"Brother Hong!"
Suddenly, Fan Wencheng came over.
Hong Chengchou was stunned, don't you have to stay and discuss matters with the regent?
"The next thing is the matter of the Manchus, I can't get involved."
Fan Wencheng shook his head and said he didn't care.
Hong Chengchou was also silent.
Even if someone like Fan Wencheng, who has been surrendering for decades, is excluded, what can he do?
"Have you ever regretted it?"
Fan Wencheng forced out a smile and asked in a low voice.
"Hey, if I hadn't advised you, I'm afraid your reputation for loyalty would have spread far and wide in the Ming Dynasty, and it would have been recorded in history."
"But what? How can the dead be as important as the living?"
Without waiting for an answer, Fan Wencheng said with emotion: "Brother Hong, I know your ability, and the late emperor also values you very much, but the situation is confusing."
"The regent is different from the late emperor after all!"
With that said, Fan Wencheng left, leaving behind him.
Hong Chengchou looked at his retreating figure and fell into deep thought.