Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 659: Huang Taiji Wants to Set Right the Chaos
Seeing that everyone was moved, and some people even expressed their support for Jirgalang's proposal, Dorgon was very anxious. He felt that the risk of doing so was too great, and if he led his troops to attack the Ming Dynasty without dealing with the Tumed first, it would be fine if everything went well, but if it didn't go well, when the Tumed joined the Ming Dynasty to attack eastward and capture Chahar and the Ming Dynasty attacked the Eight Banners from north to south, he would be particularly passive.

Although Dorgon was young, he was steady and farsighted. He didn't want this to happen. Although Dorgon admitted that Jirgalang's suggestion was somewhat possible, it was still too risky. The most stable way was to concentrate on solving the Tumed, especially the Tengger tribe, as he said.

As long as the Ming Dynasty lost its external aid, the Qing Dynasty could come and go freely. It could attack or retreat, and it could do whatever it wanted.

But if we follow Jirgalang's intention and directly attack the Ming Dynasty, it may succeed, but what if it fails? Dorgon had to consider this and became anxious.

He subconsciously looked towards his younger brother Duoduo, hoping that Duoduo would stand by his side and talk with him. But he didn't expect Duoduo to not even look at him. Instead, he looked eager to try and excited.

Huang Taiji, who was sitting in the main seat, held his chin with one hand, tilted his head and looked at the people below who were shouting non-stop, and his heart could not help but move slightly. However, his eyes still looked towards Dorgon, and after seeing Dorgon's expression, Huang Taiji concentrated and thought carefully again.

After a moment, Huang Taiji coughed, and the noise in the hall subsided instantly. Everyone looked at Huang Taiji, hoping that the emperor could make a decision that would satisfy everyone.

"Haug!"

"Your son is here!" Huang Taiji's eldest son, Prince Su Haoge, quickly stood up, saluted Huang Taiji and replied loudly.

"Jirgalang!"

"I'm here!" Jirgalang responded quickly with his chest and belly puffed out.

"You two will lead the Bordered Yellow Banner and Bordered Blue Banner first, march westward from Liaodong, enter the left wing of Kalaqin, and then go southwest to Baimachuan, serving as the vanguard of the army."

"Your servants obey your command!" The two of them responded at the same time, and they were instantly beaming with joy and looked excited.

When Huang Taiji said this, it was equivalent to agreeing with Jirgalang's suggestion just now. He decided to send troops to the Ming Dynasty to teach it a severe lesson and take this opportunity to disrupt the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty. It would be even better if he could capture the capital in one fell swoop.

Then, Huang Taiji gave orders one by one, mobilizing various units to prepare for the expedition. The central army was led by Huang Taiji himself. Not only two yellow flags and two blue flags were mobilized, but also the two white flags of Dorgon brothers. It can be said that six of the eight flags were dispatched, leaving only two red flags under Daishan to garrison in Liaodong to ensure the safety of the old nest.

In addition to the six flags, Huang Taiji also mobilized the eight banners of Mongolia and the Han army flags, with a total force reaching 110,000. It was claimed to be an army of 300,000. This was enough to show Huang Taiji's determination to attack the Ming Dynasty this time.

In addition, the banner under which Huang Taiji sent troops this time was different from before. He directly raised the banner of saving the Ming Emperor Chongzhen, expressing his extreme indignation at the Ming mutiny. Although the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty were rivals, judging from the past events in Liaodong, the Qing Dynasty's predecessor, the Jin Dynasty, including the Jianzhou Jurchens before the Jin Dynasty, had once belonged to the rule of the Ming Dynasty. They had been monarchs and subjects to each other for two hundred years, and had a deep connection.

Now that civil strife has broken out in the Ming Dynasty and the emperor is in trouble, Huang Taiji, as the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, cannot stand idly by and must save the Ming Emperor Chongzhen from the dire straits, restore order for the Ming Dynasty and bring peace to the world.

This reason sounds ridiculous. An opponent actually said he wanted to save his former opponent, and he even raised such a banner openly. It is really laughable. Huang Taiji certainly did not do this out of stupidity, nor did he want to make the world laugh at him. He wanted to use this reason to provoke civil strife in the Ming Dynasty, so that after the war broke out, the Ming Dynasty court, including local officials, would find a suitable reason to oppose Zhu Shenzhui.

Huang Taiji used a wise strategy. Based on his understanding of the officials of the Ming Dynasty, he knew that once he raised this banner, there would definitely be people who would be ready to take action. This was enough.

As long as he could gain the upper hand on the battlefield and suppress Zhu Shenzhui, the pressure on Zhu Shenzhui would increase as time went by. When the time was right, the Ming Dynasty would inevitably be in civil strife, and Zhu Shenzhui would not be able to control the government. In order to protect himself, he had only two options: one was to raise the butcher knife and kill all opponents to suppress the civil strife. The other was to abandon the capital and go to other places to avoid his own edge. No matter which way he took, the Ming Dynasty would collapse, and by then the time would be ripe to take over the capital and rule the Central Plains.

Of course, Huang Taiji also considered another issue, which was the concerns of the Tumed tribes raised by Dorgon. After careful consideration, Huang Taiji decided that Dorgon and his brothers would be stationed in Baimachuan and unite with the Chahar tribes to guard against the possibility of Tumed attacks. As long as Baimachuan was in hand, Huang Taiji's main force would have no worries when entering the Ming Dynasty. Even if the Tumed tribes led their troops to attack, with the ability of Dorgon and his brothers, as long as they did not make the same mistakes as before, there would be no problem in defending Baimachuan, so that they could have the best of both worlds.

Time waits for no one. Huang Taiji is clearly aware that the longer Zhu Shenzhui controls the government, the more stable his position will be. Sending troops now is the best opportunity. Once this opportunity is missed, it may not be easy in the future.

After the mobilization order was issued, the entire Qing Dynasty's war machine started moving. The army that had just returned from Korea regrouped. On the second day, Hauge and Jirgalang's vanguard troops went ahead. Huang Taiji's main force was a little later, and it was not until the fourth day that they set off. The army of more than 100,000 was so mighty that it looked like mountains and rivers and was unstoppable when viewed from the sky.

Shanhaiguan.

Zu Dashou hurried back from Jinzhou and went to see Wu Xiang as soon as possible.

As soon as Huang Taiji's army in Liaodong moved, Zu Dashou in Jinzhou received the news. When he learned that Huang Taiji had sent out a large army, Zu Dashou was very scared. A few days ago, news came that Huang Taiji had taken over Korea and occupied Pi Island. The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town had all been evacuated to Shandong for resettlement. In other words, Dongjiang Town was now in name only, and Pi Island had fallen into the hands of the enemy.

After Huang Taiji returned to the capital, Zu Dashou was always worried, fearing that Huang Taiji would send troops to attack him after he dealt with Korea and Pi Island. Although Jinzhou City was well defended and had powerful firearms stationed, Zu Dashou had no determination to defend Jinzhou. He had fought countless battles with Jiannu over the years, and he had always lost more than he won. In the last battle of Dalinghe, Zu Dashou was trapped in a desperate situation, and finally he pretended to surrender and fled back to Jinzhou alone.

However, he managed to escape, but his nephews and family members fell into the hands of Huang Taiji. After that, Huang Taiji, who was stationed in Jinzhou, attacked him many times. Zu Dashou hid in the city and refused to come out. He was able to hold on with the help of the city and artillery.

Zu Dashou knew the difference in strength between the two sides better than anyone else. He knew that Huang Taiji had not killed Jinzhou before because he had always intended to persuade him to surrender. Once Huang Taiji sent out his main force to besiege Jinzhou, Jinzhou would not be able to be defended no matter how well it could be defended. No matter how much food there was in the city, it would eventually run out. Going out of the city to fight in the field was like sending oneself to death, and the end result would inevitably be defeat, death or capture.

So when Zu Dashou learned that Huang Taiji's army was dispatched, he was almost scared to death. He hurriedly sent scouts to inquire about the situation and was ready to defend Jinzhou at any time. Soon the scouts came back and reported that Huang Taiji dispatched 300,000 troops this time, but after the troops were dispatched, they did not come to Jinzhou, but went directly to the west, apparently to Mongolia. When Zu Dashou heard the news, a light flashed in his mind, and he immediately understood Huang Taiji's intention.

He ordered scouts to investigate again to confirm that Huang Taiji's army was indeed heading towards Mongolia. Two days later, the news was confirmed and Zu Dashou could no longer sit still. He left Jinzhou in a hurry and went directly to Shanhaiguan to find his brother-in-law Wu Xiang to discuss matters.

"Are you saying that the Jiannu intend to repeat their old tricks?" Wu Xiang asked sternly after hearing Zu Dashou's words.

Zu Dashou nodded heavily: "That's right. If my guess is correct, the Jiannu are planning the same thing as the Jisi Rebellion, intending to attack our Ming Dynasty through Mongolia."

Wu Xiang stood up with a bang, clenched his fists, and looked angry: "This Jiannu is really too much! It's fine if they did it once, but now they are repeating the same trick again. Do they think that the nine borders of my Ming Dynasty are made of paper?"

"They have tasted the sweetness, so it's natural for them to come again. Who made the Ming Dynasty inferior to them in field battles?" Zu Dashou sighed and shook his head, and then asked Wu Xiang what to do now. The Guanning Army would definitely not be able to win, and the Guanning Army had to garrison Shanhaiguan. If they gave up Shanhaiguan and retreated to Zunhua and Jizhou, what would happen to Shanhaiguan? Moreover, the northeast direction of Shanhaiguan was the Ningjin Line of Defense. They couldn't just abandon the Ningjin Line of Defense, right?

In addition, there is another important issue. Now that the capital has undergone tremendous changes, although Emperor Chongzhen is still in power, he has actually lost power. The court is regented by Zhu Shenzhu, Prince of Jiaocheng. In other words, the real master of the Ming Dynasty has changed from Emperor Chongzhen to Zhu Shenzhu.

This change came so suddenly that the Guanning Army knew nothing about it before. Only after receiving the imperial edict to support the king did they know that some royal family members had raised an army under the banner of clearing the court's side and pacifying the national crisis. But before the Guanning Army could come up with a plan and decide whether to raise an army to support the king or just wait and see which way the wind was blowing, the capital was taken by Zhu Shenzui. Then the official imperial edict came again, and this time the edict was completely different from the previous edict to support the king. Not only did it not require all places to support the king, it also announced to the world that the emperor was unable to govern due to health reasons, and that Prince Jiaocheng Zhu Shenzui would be regent.

This change stunned the Guanning Army, who didn't know how to respond for a while. After discussion, they finally decided to follow the imperial edict. The Guanning Army was originally a warlord group, most of whom were generals from Liaodong. For them, it didn't matter who was the emperor or the regent. As long as the interests of the Guanning Army were guaranteed, they didn't care who sat in the court.
Moreover, because of Yuan Chonghuan's incident, the Guanning Army had a bad impression of Emperor Chongzhen, especially Zu Dashou, one of the leaders. In his opinion, it didn't matter whether Zhu Shenzhu was regent or not, he couldn't be worse than Emperor Chongzhen, right? Since the court had already issued an order, he should just pretend that he didn't know about the previous incident and acquiesce according to the court's statement.

This idea was recognized by everyone, and the situation in Liaodong was not actually affected by the capital. Who would have thought that not long after, the imperial court sent another imperial edict, which affirmed the Guanning Army's garrison in Liaodong for many years and its battles with the Jiannu. It not only rewarded the generals, but also brought benefits that surprised Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang.

(End of this chapter)