Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 132 Only victory is allowed, not defeat

In addition to reporting the preparations for war in the capital, the content of the memorial also included two things.

First, the military pay verification situation at Shanhaiguan came out, and almost 200 million in pay was to be issued.Empress Zhou, who was in charge of money, felt that the money was too big and needed to be decided by Emperor Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't say anything about this. Since Wang Chengen was sitting in to participate in the verification, he couldn't be wrong.

Generally speaking, the changes in soldiers on the front line of Shanhaiguan are the most stable. There are indeed many soldiers who owe money many years ago. The people are not dead and there is good evidence. So what should be made up must still be made up.

In addition, if there are many cavalry troops, their military pay will be much higher than that of ordinary soldiers.Generally speaking, it is not surprising that the amount of military pay verified is large.

Queen Zhou's worry is that now that the court has huge expenditures and nothing is owed, what should she do if she is afraid that all the money accumulated in the early stage will be spent?
Think about it, the days of having no money have only passed not long ago!
In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen also had plans in mind, but he was not worried.

The second thing is the Zhonglie Hall requested by Emperor Chongzhen. There are already several models for Emperor Chongzhen to choose one, so that the capital can start construction.

Emperor Chongzhen attached great importance to this matter.However, he did not decide which model was the best. Instead, he posted a notice and informed the entire army that all officers and soldiers would choose. After three days, the general would report it. The model with the largest number of people would be the final model.

This Hall of Loyalty and Martyrs, which concerns all soldiers, has not existed since ancient times.Many people don't believe it at first glance.Especially this time, the Beijing camp also added a lot of new soldiers and formed many local armies.The newbies don’t even believe that such a thing can happen.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen decided to use this method to let everyone know that he, the emperor, kept his word, and that this matter was progressing.

Sure enough, as soon as the announcement came out, the soldiers in the Beijing camp who were exhausted from being tortured and trained suddenly burst into unprecedented high emotions.

"If you ask me, it would be best to rank them by provinces and capitals, so that we can know which place has the most loyal people!"

"You can also use your own troops to line up. At least our Beijing camp will definitely be able to line up!"

"Oh, whatever good things are in front of this row are dead!"

"Who has never died? If I am loyal to my country, I can always live in the Hall of Loyalty and Martyrs, I am willing!"

"You're right, there really is a Zhonglietang. Even if you die on the battlefield, there is nothing to be afraid of!"

"..."

Three days later, Emperor Chongzhen gathered his generals to raise their accounts and tally the results of each department.

Regarding the model of Zhonglie Hall, there are no other differences. The main thing is the classified display of Zhonglie Hall. The final choice is to divide it according to hometown.

Emperor Chongzhen was not surprised by this. In this era, the concept of rurality was the strongest.The affiliation of each army is marked by a strong leading general.

For example, Qi Jiajun is called after Qi Jiguang, and also includes Yue Jiajun and the like.For ordinary soldiers, they are more happy with the name of their hometown.

As for Emperor Chongzhen, he also preferred to classify soldiers by their hometowns.In this way, you can even let them roll up and be proud of their status as a loyal and loyal person.

In this era, the army was distinguished by the surnames of the leading generals. Emperor Chongzhen planned to completely change this in the future.

After completing the statistics of the Zhonglie Hall, Emperor Chongzhen asked Fang Zhenghua to draft the edict in front of all the generals and send it to the capital to start construction of the Zhonglie Hall.

Then, he looked at the generals below and asked about the status of the army's reorganization and training.

About to face the strongest enemy army, Emperor Chongzhen had to pay attention to the training of the army.

Therefore, Zhou Yuji and others reported the reorganization and training situation one after another.

Thanks to the good foundation of this army, they are all drawn from the elite of the border army, and most of the soldiers have experienced several battles together.I have even experienced siege warfare, which is a very test of fighting will.

According to the opinions of Zhou Yuji and others, after this period of special training, the combat effectiveness of this Beijing camp army has been greatly improved compared to the previous one.But if you want to improve further, you need to spend more time training.

In other words, the previous training has the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort; but the subsequent training will get twice the result with half the effort until the true transformation is completed.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen did not hesitate anymore and immediately said to all the generals in the hall: "According to the news that was sent back by the night, Li's army did not go north after arriving in Qufu, but went south to the Jianghuai area. I am worried about Liaodong building a captive army. An invasion is imminent, so let’s return to the capital first and then choose the opportunity to act!”

After hearing this, Zhou Yuji originally wanted to ask how the situation was in Qufu.However, he thought about it again and felt that this matter was not something that a general should worry about, so he did not ask any more questions. He just said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, if the army of Li thieves wanders around the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal will be blocked, and supplies from the south will not be able to go north. transport!"

The supply of materials in the capital is actually very dependent on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and all materials need to be transported from the south.

Nowadays, although there is still plenty of supplies due to the previous extensive house raids.But if the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal remains blocked, there will definitely be problems in the north.

Emperor Chongzhen also had a headache about this.

If Liaodong Jianlu had stayed in Liaodong obediently, he would have led his troops south along the canal.But now, he doesn't want the north that has finally been stabilized to be destroyed by the Jianqi.

Others may not pay much attention to Jianlu, thinking that Jianlu just grabs a handful and leaves; but as a later emperor, Emperor Chongzhen definitely paid the most attention to Jianlu, knowing that Jianlu had always coveted Kyushu.

Therefore, after weighing the situation, Emperor Chongzhen chose to go north and return to Beijing first.No, he said to Zhou Yuji: "I have sent an order to the capital to let the south travel by sea first to ease the situation."

During the Chongzhen period, especially after the later period, there were always problems with the water transportation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and thieves were everywhere, threatening the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from time to time. Therefore, there was a special governor responsible for water transportation.

However, some people have proposed using sea transportation to relieve the pressure on water transportation.But in this era, northerners' fear of the sea is beyond the imagination of southerners.As a result of the court's wishes, the shipping strategy was still not adopted.

However, Emperor Chongzhen was none other than Emperor Chongzhen. He naturally thought of shipping. Even if something happened to a sea-going ship, he still had to do it.

After saying this, Emperor Chongzhen announced: "Each army will rest for a day and the squad will assemble the day after tomorrow!"

"The general will obey your order!" Zhou Yuji and others marched out together and echoed in unison.

Wei Shizhen and others had left the capital in February, and now it was May. Naturally, they were very happy to be able to return to the capital in triumph.

After returning to the capital, there will be rewards based on merit, and there will be a wave of rewards.

When the news came out, Taiyuan was shocked.

When the army set off on the third day, not only Taiyuan, but also the surrounding people came to see them off.

On both sides of the road leading north from Jingying, people from the central Shanxi area were kneeling.

Without this army, without the emperor personally leading the army, most of them would have died from the famine caused by the Li thieves.

The emperor led the army to sit in Taiyuan, and he almost never picked up things at night, just like in the Taiping years. This made these people who had experienced troubled times feel particularly cherished.

They were reluctant to leave when the emperor led the army, but they also knew that they could not stop the emperor from leaving.

The people in Jinzhong had just experienced a famine and had nothing at all, let alone eggs. Therefore, when they saw him off, they could only express their gratitude by kneeling down.

On both sides of the official road that stretched for more than ten miles, men, women, old and young all knelt respectfully to see him off.

The soldiers of the Beijing camp, walking among them, looked at this scene with great emotion in their hearts.In the past, how could they, soldiers, have been treated like this!People’s hearts are made of flesh, so who wouldn’t be proud to be supported by the people!

From generals to ordinary soldiers, from male soldiers to female soldiers, they all hold their heads high and are proud to be a member of the Beijing camp who is so supported by the people.

Emperor Chongzhen, on the other hand, ordered the local civil and military officials who came to see him off, and told the leader Wei Jingyuan: "I have handed over Jinzhong to you, and we must manage it carefully, address the people's urgent needs, and solve the people's plight. . If there is any difficulty, whether it is a natural disaster or a large-scale invasion of thieves, and if the local government is unable to solve it, you can report it to me immediately without any worries!"

At this time, Wei Jingyuan had already recovered from his leg disease. He led his men to kneel down to see the emperor off, and quickly responded: "Wei ministers obey the order!"

Emperor Chongzhen believed in Wei Jingyuan's ability, and without further words, he immediately got on his horse and embarked on the next journey surrounded by a group of royal guards in royal robes.

He did not tell Wei Jingyuan and the others not to kneel, nor did he advise the people who were kneeling along the way not to kneel.Because he knew that this was in the seventeenth century, and although the kneeling ceremony was heavy, he could bear it as an emperor.It is also because kneeling can express the feelings of the people here, so just let them kneel.Those who can respond to this kneeling ceremony can calm down the turmoil in the world as soon as possible and give them peace!
After another expedition from Jinzhong, the Beijing camp led by Emperor Chongzhen expanded again.He Zhen, who was stationed in Zhending, was also ordered to escort the subsequent grain and grass to Jinzhong. The defense of Zhending was naturally handed over to the newly built local army.The two thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry he led have returned.

Today, Emperor Chongzhen already has [-] cavalry and [-] infantry under his command, totaling [-] horse and infantry.

how?Definitely not many, but compared to when there were only more than [-] cavalry troops when they first left the capital, it was already several times higher.When fighting, you have to fight more and more.If the number of battles decreases, no matter how elite the army is, it will not be able to withstand the attrition.

This time he chose the route of Banshi through Yanmen Pass to Datong, then to Xuanfu, and finally back to the capital.

The reason why he chose this route was that Emperor Chongzhen wanted to verify the armament status of the Xiaxuan Defense Line and the farming situation.This place is operated as a base area, and he does not want any problems to affect the construction of the base area.

When Emperor Chongzhen led his army and was about to arrive in Daizhou, he suddenly received an urgent messenger from Taiyuan Wei Jingyuan.

At first, Emperor Chongzhen thought that Li Zicheng's army was coming as soon as he led his army to leave.Therefore, he quickly opened the memorial and read it.

As a result, he was a little speechless at this sight.

It turns out that Wei Jingyuan said in his memorial that in the southern Shanxi area controlled by the Li thieves, people and soldiers continued to flee to central Shanxi, and more and more of them have been fleeing to central Shanxi in recent days.Wei Jingyuan had made arrangements for the common people, but for the escapees of the Li thieves, they were considered rebels. He didn't know how to deal with them, so he had to ask the emperor for instructions.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't know that he had asked the soldiers in the capital camp to discuss the matter of Zhonglie Hall for three consecutive days. The news spread quickly at the first time, and it was soon spread to all parts of central Shanxi, and even to northern and southern Shanxi.

The people in northern Shanxi knew about this matter in advance, but they didn't know what happened to it. When they heard about it, they immediately had no doubts about whether there was something wrong with Zhonglie Hall.

However, southern Shanxi was not recovered and was still nominally in the hands of the Dashun Army.After the soldiers of the Dashun Army heard about this, they were all very envious.

Emperor Chongzhen was seated in the middle of Shanxi, and the contrast between Jinzhong and southern Shanxi was very obvious.

The first was the famine that occurred in central Shanxi. Everyone in southern Shanxi was watching. Emperor Chongzhen brought food in from the capital area, solved the famine, and completed disaster relief.

When famine occurred in the past, it was unknown how many people would die.But this time, Emperor Chongzhen came and the famine was suppressed.

Secondly, the Jinnan side is watching the reorganization of the army in Jinzhong, high morale, and any kind of treatment. In this comparison, the gap is obvious.At least at this time, the ordinary soldiers of the Dashun Army did not have any military pay at all, they were just responsible for their meals.

Nowadays, the officers and soldiers of the imperial court still have Zhonglietang, but if the soldiers of Dashun Army die, who cares?

Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that the people and soldiers in southern Shanxi want to escape to Jinzhong.

Not knowing these situations did not prevent Emperor Chongzhen from making decisions.

He immediately approved and asked Wei Jingyuan to handle it according to the principles he treated the soldiers of the Dashun Army, and properly arrange the people and soldiers who wanted to abandon the dark side and join the bright side.

However, he also reminded that without him leading the army, he should be careful of spies mixed in. The armament status of the local army must not be relaxed.

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen led his army through Yanmen Pass and headed for Datong.

………………

At the same time, the mighty Manchu and Qing army had set off from Shenyang, passed Changsheng Fort, and made a detour on the grassland.

This expedition was personally led by the regent Dorgon, with two-thirds of the troops of the Eight Banners Manchuria, the Eight Banners Mongolia, the Eight Banners Han army, the troops of King Kong Youde of Gongshun, the troops of King Zhishun Shangkexi, the troops of King Huaishun Geng Zhongming, and the troops of Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang's troops totaled 14 troops.

Those who stayed behind in Shenyang were one-third of the Eight Banners Manchuria and the Eight Banners Mongolia led by Prince Heshuo Zheng Jierhalang. The old and weak who were recruited under the age of 70 and over 15 years old and who were not strong in combat were all left behind.

In this battle, Manqing really put all their money on it and could only win, not lose!

When the army marched to Wenghou, which was the grassland area outside the Guangning Guard, Dorgon received a report from Tanma: "Master, the messenger sent to Shanhaiguan has returned and is waiting for the master's summons."

When Dorgon on horseback heard the news, he didn't hold out any hope. He just waved and said: "Pass it!"

Before setting off, he asked Zu Dashou to write a letter to try to recruit Wu Sangui again. However, he actually had no hope at all. Therefore, he did not wait for the messenger to return. After the army was assembled, he led the army and set off.Zu Dashou, who was used for liaison, also stayed in Shengjing without taking him with him. Even the army directly detoured from the grassland, preparing to bypass Shanhaiguan and then attack the pass.

After a while, the messenger outside was brought to Dorgon and presented a letter.

Prince Baylor and the traitor lackeys behind Dorgon didn't care much. They just waited for Dorgon to read the letter, curse a few words and move on.

What they never expected was that Dorgon suddenly became excited, as if he had been given a shot of blood.He read the letter in his hand again.

This situation was really beyond their expectation.So, Duduo, who had the best relationship with Dorgon, asked with a little curiosity: "Wouldn't Wu Sangui agree?"

He just asked casually, but didn't take it seriously.

As a result, Dorgon said with excitement: "Wu Sangui agreed to surrender, but he said there were other people in Shanhaiguan. Those civil servants didn't care. He was worried that the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, Gao Di, had 2 troops in his hands, which would be difficult to deal with. He hoped We, the Qing Dynasty, can also give Gao Di a title of king, so that he can be sure to persuade Gao Di to submit to our Qing Dynasty!"

After hearing this, several princes of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Baylor, couldn't help but gathered around, wanting to hear whether this thing was true.

They had fought with the Ming Dynasty for so many years, and they knew the importance of Shanhaiguan better than anyone else.Once Shanhaiguan is under the control of the Qing Dynasty, even if the purpose of entering the customs this time is not achieved, there is no need to detour through the grassland and the next time you want to enter the customs, you can enter the customs.

After hearing this, Kong Youde and others looked at each other, with a hint of dissatisfaction in each other's eyes.This time there are three more kings. This king of the Qing Dynasty is too worthless!
However, they had no control over this matter and could only listen to the decisions of these Qing masters.

They saw that Dorgon had already forwarded Wu Sangui's reply to Prince Beile beside him for viewing, while he himself was thinking about things very excitedly.

Azig didn't know Chinese characters. Seeing others watching, he shouted from the side: "What else is there to say? Just change the route to Shanhaiguan. When the army approaches the city, as long as Wu Sangui opens the city gate, we can enter If you go away, why should you care about that Bird Gao Di?"

When Hauge heard this, he rarely had the same opinion as Dorgon's brother, and immediately agreed: "Yes, the throne of our Qing Dynasty is not what those Han dogs can get if they want it?"

Hearing this, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others couldn't help but silently gave Hauge a thumbs up.

Dorgon was still thinking about it, when he suddenly saw Fan Wencheng dismounting and walking up to him. Then he knelt down and said, "Your Highness, can I give Wu Sangui's letter to this servant?"

Dorgon, like Huang Taiji, trusted Fan Wencheng very much. At this time, the letter came into his hands again, and he asked his bodyguard to give it to Fan Wencheng.

　My daughter is sick this week and has been going to the hospital all the time. Extreme Code Words has been planned many times and I can't update it regularly. There is still one chapter left, which I will update after I finish it during the day.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)