Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Duo ErGun is also leaving for Beijing.

One is that Liaodong is getting colder and colder. If Dorgon is healthy, he will not be afraid, but now that he is sick, he will no longer be able to withstand the severe cold, and he may die if he does not return to Beijing to recuperate.

Another is that the situation in Liaodong has reached a stalemate, which cannot be broken in a short time.

Therefore, it is meaningless for Dorgon to stay in Liaodong, it is better to return to Beijing.

Before leaving, Dorgon specially summoned Hong Chengchou to his central army tent, and played against him alone.

"Heng Jiu, I have to go back to Beijing. The mess of Liaodong will be handed over to you. I can only leave you with 4 horses. You must keep Liaodong for the Qing no matter what."

4 horses is Dorgon's bottom line.

Although ice sledges can be used to transport grain and grass from the North Sea,

However, maintaining a large army to fight in Liaodong for a long time is still an extremely heavy burden for Jiannu, but as long as the army does not exceed 4, it is still bearable.

"Among the 4 horses, 1 are from the Eight Banners Manchuria."

However, Dorgon still decided to trust Hong Chengchou.

"I already know." Dorgon just nodded, neither accepting nor vetoing.

After confiding in his heart for a while, Dorgon quickly restrained his emotions and said, "Heng Jiu, is there anything you want to say to me before parting? Or do you have something to tell me?" ?”

Dorgon remained silent, but Hou Fangyu took it as a default, and was in a hurry.

"I haven't thought about this matter yet, but there is another matter that needs your help." Dorgon said in a deep voice, "Xiaohouzi, you were once a tribute student of Nanming Guozijian, and there are thousands of Qinwang scholars in Chongzhen. Gong Sheng, there must be many of your classmates among them, right? Can you try to instigate a few of your classmates?"

"Is it safe?" Dorgon laughed at himself, "It's just a matter of reluctance."

In order to keep his old home in Liaodong, Dorgon really spent his money this time.

"Since the master talked about this, the slave has nothing to say."

"The last remaining 1 people are the Green Camp. In addition, I will leave you with 100 red cannons, 200 French cannons, and 400 tiger crouching cannons. Hengjiu, can you do it?"

"Heng Jiu deserves it." Dorgon said sincerely, "So if you have something to say, just say it."

"Didn't expect that?" Dorgon said quietly, "Heng Jiu didn't advise me to surrender Shanxi, but advised me to surrender Shanxi to Pseudo-Shun in exchange for forming an alliance with him to fight against Nanming."

"Xiaohouzi, just try, money is not a problem, as much as you want."

After a pause, Dorgon went on to say: "It's also a coincidence that the Fan family will go to Huzhou to buy light gauze soon, so you should follow along. I will reward you heavily if this job is completed."

Hou Fangyu found a time when Cao Eryu was not around, and asked in a low voice, "Master, just now, did Caizuo suggest to Hong Chengchou that you abandon Liaodong and surrender Shanxi?"

As for the result of the test, Dorgon couldn't say well.

But let him send Shanxi away for nothing like this, he would not be reconciled anyway.

"However, there is a hatred of seizing the country between my Qing Dynasty and the Puppet Shun."

"This..." Hou Fangyu said hesitantly, "This strategy may be feasible."

"But what if I give Shanxi to them?" Dorgon asked, "Will you form a sincere alliance with the Qing Dynasty?"

Now we can only rely on Han officials such as Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui.

Dorgon was noncommittal: "How did you know that?"

Dorgon's expression froze, it was obvious that Hou Fangyu had mentioned something critical.

On the way back to Beijing, Dorgon was always frowning.

"A slave really doesn't dare to be a master with such ridiculous praise." Hong Chengchou hastily declined.

Daqing really cannot afford such a betrayal.

"You must not have such thoughts." Hou Fangyu said, "Li Chuang is short-sighted and will not form a sincere alliance with my Qing Dynasty."

The most taboo thing for a minister to lead the army is not to be trusted, let alone he is still a Hanchen?

Dorgon didn't say anything, he knew what Hong Chengchou said was right.

"Heng Jiu, are you saying that Shanxi Province is going to be ceded to Pseudo-Shun?"

"Heng Jiu get up quickly." Dorgon bent down with difficulty, and helped Hong Chengchou up with his own hands.

"Master, you must not have such thoughts, otherwise my Qing Dynasty will be in danger." Hou Fangyu said anxiously, "Because if the Qing Dynasty abandons Liaodong and retreats to protect Shanxi, it will no longer be the Qing Dynasty of the Jurchen, but the Qing Dynasty of the Han people. "

"There is indeed such a proposal." Dorgon said, "If Daqing really loses in the competition with Nanming, it would be a good choice to form an alliance with Pseudo-Shun."

So Dorgon had to confirm Hong Chengchou's loyalty.

"Ah? Give Shanxi to Pseudo-Shun?" Hou Fangyu was stunned when he heard the words, maybe he didn't expect this to be true.

Given the current political situation in the Qing Dynasty, the only ones who can pose a threat to Dorgon are the mother and son, Bumbutai and Shunzhi. Dorgon has come to Liaodong this time to lose troops and lose generals, but he has made no achievements. If Bumbutai takes advantage of this, it will be very troublesome. , so Dorgon gave the entire Liaohe Plain to the Horqin tribe as a pasture, which can be regarded as an exchange of benefits.

"It's just the theory of the ancestral temple of the Jiguan Society." Dorgon said sarcastically, "It can be broken. There are more than 6000 Qinwang scholars in total. I don't believe it. There are not many of them who are greedy for money and good goods."

Hong Chengchou was relieved when he heard the words: "Master, with this arrangement, nothing will go wrong."

"You don't need to worry about this matter." Dorgon said with a wave of his hand, "I have designated the entire Liaohe Plain as a pasture for the Mongolian Horqin Tribe, and the king's tent of the Ten Banners of the Horqin Tribe will move south soon."

"The servant is just guessing." Hou Fangyu said, "But there is nothing wrong with guessing."

"Master." Hong Chengchou said emotionally, "In the current situation, the strength of our Qing Dynasty alone is no longer enough to compete with Nanming. Only the power of Xijie, hypocrites and obedience can compete with each other."

"1 people are the Eight Banners Mongolia, and 1 people are the Eight Banners Han Army."

Hong Chengchou lowered his head, but he was thinking rapidly, is Dorgon testing or sincerely asking for advice?
After hesitating for a moment, Hong Chengchou finally decided to live and die with the Qing Dynasty. After all, his path with the Ming Dynasty has come to an end, and there is no turning back.

"Although the times have changed, the hatred has not disappeared. Li Chuang is short-sighted, greedy for money and goods. If the master can't offer enough benefits, it may be difficult to impress Li Chuang. The slave only hopes that the master will think twice."

Times have really changed. If it was still the era of riding and shooting, there would be a lot of Jurchen warriors killed from the mountains of corpses and blood for Dorgon to choose from. But now that he has entered the age of firearms, those Jurchen warriors can't keep up.

Hong Chengchou sighed, and continued: "Also, in addition to promoting the Ministry of Rites as soon as possible to recruit talents for the court, it is also necessary to send people to spend a lot of money to buy scholars from Nanming, especially the soldiers who are the best at fighting with firearms."

"What? Give up Shanxi?" Dorgon's face changed suddenly.

Hou Fangyu thought of Chen Zhenhui: "Maybe you can give it a try."

"At this time, Liaodong has become the last retreat of the Qing Dynasty. However, it may be difficult to withstand the onslaught of the Ming army with only a corner of Liaodong, so the pseudo-shun has become the biggest help."

After a while, Dorgon said: "Shanxi is a land of great beauty with mountains and rivers on the outside and inside. It is backed by the desert and can win Mongolian soldiers. What's more, it is close to the capital, so it can be a corner with the capital. It's a pity to abandon it."

Hou Fangyu went on to say: "Does Hong Chengchou still propose to form an alliance with Puppet Shun to fight against Nanming?"

"I've made a note of this matter." Dorgon nodded, "Yes."

Even if it is to retreat to Liaodong, there is also such a possibility.

"But once the Southern Ming's military equipment is sufficient, it will inevitably deploy a large number of troops in the Northern Map."

"Among them, the king's tent of Ersen County King will be directly moved into Shengjing City."

The reason is also very simple, the Qing Dynasty has no more choices.

Of course, it is undeniable that Dorgon did this to please the little widow Bumbutai.

"Master's words are serious." Hong Chengchou was so frightened that he quickly knelt down on the ground.

"Master, I'm afraid it's not easy." Hou Fangyu said, "These scholars have all been intoxicated by Chongzhen."

"Nanming is currently doing its best to expand its military equipment, and there is no time for the Northern Expedition in the short term."

Hong Chengchou was still very cautious, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Master, with these 4 horses and 700 cannons, there is no problem in defending the defense line outside Gaizhou, but the Ming army can still bypass our defense line from the North Sea ice, so the trick Chong Shi once again divides his troops to attack Haizhou, Liaoyang and even Shengjing, will the slaves save them at that time?"

……

"I don't have any doubts about you. It is true that the Qing Dynasty and the Southern Ming Dynasty have changed from strength to strength, and there are few ministers in the Manchu Dynasty who can come up with practical countermeasures. Only Heng Jiu can give you some advice."

Dorgon said: "There is only one thing, it must be the son of the king Qin who leads the army."

"That's it, this slave will respectfully send off the master." Hong Chengchou paused and dropped his head to the ground.

"After the master returned to Beijing, in addition to sending the Shandong General Army and Hebei General Army to build blunderbuss towers along the Grand Canal and around the prefectures and counties, Shanxi had to be surrendered."

"In this way, even if the Qing Dynasty built gun towers along the canal and in various prefectures and counties in Shandong and Hebei, it may not be able to withstand the attack of the Ming army. Shandong, Hebei, and even the capital may fall into the hands of the Ming army."

Dorgon was really tempted just now, for fear that Hong Chengchou would have a different heart after losing his temper. If Hong Chengchou secretly colluded with Daming and buried the [-] troops in Liaodong with internal and external cooperation, it would directly lead to the fall of Liaodong. For the Qing Dynasty, it was no less than a disaster.

"Exactly." Hong Chengchou said solemnly, "Master, you also know that my national strength in the Qing Dynasty is actually far inferior to Nanming's. Once the military strength is also weaker than Nanming's, the situation will be extremely difficult."

Hou Fangyu's face fell down: "Master, the slave will not go?"

"What are you afraid of?" Dorgon said sarcastically, "You are usually in Prince Rui's residence, and you don't often show up, so few people know that you are my confidant, so just feel free."

"Slaves lead the order." Hou Fangyu could only take the order.

But I thought in my heart, if I really want to go back, I have to change my appearance.

Glancing at the brazier at Dorgon's feet, Hou Fangyu secretly made up his mind that for the sake of his master and Qing Dynasty, he, Hou Fangyu, would go all out this time and lose face.