Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 336: Group Training
After several days of discussion, Shunzhi had a rough idea. Before officially issuing the decree, he first went to the Cining Palace.

The Cining Palace was the residence of the Empress Dowager in the early Qing Dynasty. Whenever Shunzhi made a major decision, he would always inform Bumbutai in advance and fully seek her opinion. The Empress Dowager was very prestigious among the royal family, and her mediation among the royal family was beneficial to the implementation of major policies by the court.

Although she was a woman, she lived in seclusion in the deep palace but had great insight, and she made decisions quickly even though she did not care about government affairs. Most importantly, she had no intention of taking power and was quite laissez-faire towards Shunzhi. Therefore, although the mother and son had conflicts, they always maintained unity on the major government affairs.

When Shunzhi met Bumbutai, he greeted her respectfully.

Seeing that he was in a good mood, Bumbutai smiled and said, "The emperor is very pleased. Is there any good news?"

"Wu Sangui defeated the Western bandits in Baoning, Sichuan, and the pseudo-Lu vassal state was driven to the end in Zhoushan. This is indeed cause for celebration."

Bumbutai had heard about Sichuan, and as for Zhoushan... a simple calculation would tell her that the Qing army would never be able to capture Zhoushan so quickly. She still held on to a glimmer of hope and asked, "Has the victory report from Zhoushan come?"

"No." Shunzhi said mysteriously, "But I am sure that the Heavenly Army can capture Zhoushan."

"That's good, that's good." Bumbutai knew the limits and didn't ask any more questions. She invited Shunzhi to sit on the couch and turned to tell the maid behind her, "Yesterday the queen came to pay her respects and brought a box of snacks. Bring it to the emperor to try."

The queen was also from the Mongolian Khorchin Borjigit clan, named Erdeni Bumba, and was the niece of the empress dowager. This queen was jealous and extravagant, and was appointed by Dorgon during his lifetime. Shunzhi hated her very much.

"No need for that," Shunzhi knew that the Empress Dowager was trying to bring the Emperor and Empress together, but he looked disgusted and said, "The snacks must have a fishy smell. When I come to your place, I don't need to smell the fishy smell. I am already satisfied. I don't want to ruin my mood for a box of snacks."

"You kid." Bumbutai had to give up and shook her head at the palace maid.

The Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system, and the inner court of the Forbidden City basically followed the Ming Dynasty's layout. The emperor lived in the Qianqing Hall and the empress lived in the Kunning Palace, which were very close to each other.

However, the Manchus had a tradition of worshipping shamans, and Kunning Palace was the place for worshipping gods. During the Qing Dynasty, every night, the shaman priestess would drive two live pigs into the palace from Shenwu Gate to Kunning Palace, where they would slaughter, worship, and boil the meat.

As a result, Kunning Palace became a slaughterhouse. Pigs were slaughtered every day and meat was cooked in big pots every day. The air was filled with fishy smell all day long.

After Yongzheng, the Qing emperor simply moved from the Qianqing Palace to the Yangxin Palace, and the empress moved out of the Kunning Palace and moved to the six palaces in the east and west. The Kunning Palace became the place for the emperor's wedding, and the emperor and empress only lived in the Kunning Palace for three days during their wedding.

Shunzhi quickly got to the point and said, "Mother, I intend to confer Wu Sangui the title of Prince of Pingxi, have him stationed in Sichuan, and then mobilize the people to fill Sichuan and use Sichuan grain to support the Sichuan soldiers."

"Well," Bumbutai habitually picked up the pipe. A maid understood and was about to light the cigarette. But Bumbutai had already put down the pipe and said to the maid, "Go out and guard the door tightly."

Shunzhi was a snuff addict who preferred snuff to tobacco. Bumbutai knew her son had grown up and did not want to smoke in front of him.

"The current situation is critical, and the Han people are even more needed. Wu Sangui has done a lot for the Qing Dynasty, and this time he won a great victory in Sichuan, so he can indeed be conferred the title of prince. However, if you ask him to stay in Sichuan, will he be willing?"

"I will confer the title of prince on Wu Sangui and use one million taels of silver to recruit civilians to Sichuan to cultivate land and grow crops. Wu Sangui will no longer have any worries and will definitely stay in Sichuan."

Bumbutai was suspicious and said, "One million taels of silver, this is not a small amount."

Shunzhi was confident and said, "I have made up my mind. I am going to find a capable imperial envoy to go to Fujian and ask Zhang Xuesheng, Huang Shu and Ma Degong for money. I will not kill them or make things difficult for them, but I will ask them to give up half of the money they have embezzled. For this, we should get one or two million taels of silver."

"Well," Bumbutai pondered, "You can ask Zhang Xuesheng for money, but you can't kill them without authorization, lest you chill the hearts of the border officials."

"I know." Shunzhi paused and said, "For Jingnan, I want Geng Jimao to inherit the title of king. For Pingnan, let Shang Zhixin inherit the title of king. As for Dingnan, Kong Youde has no descendants, so I plan to put it aside."

"Yes, yes." Burbutai smiled and said, "The emperor has been in power for a short time, but he is very knowledgeable about government affairs. I can live up to my reputation..."

Bumbutai was about to say "late emperor", but then felt it was inappropriate, so he changed his words and said, "I can live up to my ancestors."

Thinking of Huang Taiji, Bumbutai thought of Dorgon again. Manchu women did not care about chastity, but since Huang Taiji ascended the throne, the Manchu Qing Dynasty intensified its sinicization, and the concept of female chastity gradually became popular. Bumbutai served two husbands, and scandals had already been flying around. Shunzhi had changed the subject and said, "I think Sichuan, Zhejiang and Fujian are safe for the time being. The most important things now are Huguang and Jiangxi. The red bandits have just seized eastern Guangdong, and their foothold is unstable, so they dare not rush north. With Zhu Lama and Geng Jimao guarding Ganzhou, Jiangxi will be fine for the time being.

"What really matters is Huguang. The bandits in the west are rampant. Shen Yongzhong has been defeated in succession and can't even hold Changsha. He has already fled to Yuezhou. Kakamu has also died in the battle. Huguang lacks elite soldiers and generals.

"I have discussed with the other princes and plan to change Aljin to General Dingnan, and have him lead the soldiers with Gushan Ezhen Malaxi to go down the river to stabilize the situation in Huguang first. Then, we will appoint Prince Jingjin Nikan as General Dingyuan to lead the Manchu, Mongolian and Han armies to conquer Huguang."

Arjin was originally the General of Dingxi, and together with Gushan Ezhen Malaxi, he served under Wu Sangui and Li Guohan, and originally fought against Liu Wenxiu's Dashi Army in Sichuan. These two were also considered to be brave generals of Manchuria, much stronger than Shen Yongzhong and his ilk.

Of course, with the abilities of Aljin and Malaxi, and their troops, they would definitely not be able to defeat the Dashi army of Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo. Nikan was a prince, experienced in many battles, and had enough prestige to lead the Manchu, Mongolian and Han armies, enough to defeat the Dashi army of Huguang.

"Well, very good." Bumbutai praised, and then said: "The Western bandits and the Red Bandits are all remnants of the Shaanxi Army. They are brave and good at fighting. Without the prince's leadership, they are not enough to defeat these huge bandits. Nikan has been in battle for a long time and has made outstanding contributions. He is qualified for this task."

In the early Qing Dynasty, there were many famous generals. Whenever there was a major expedition, the princes and dukes were often appointed as generals. However, after entering the Shanhai Pass, the Eight Banners traveled all over the country, and suffered heavy casualties. Famous generals died. The princes and dukes were either old, like Jirgalang, or seriously ill, like Bolo, or were followers of Dorgon, like Lekedehun, or were traitors, like Ajige, or all of these.

Counting them on one hand, Nikan was the only prince left who could lead his troops south.

"The pseudo-Lu vassal state in Zhejiang and Fujian should not be worried." Bumbutai analyzed the situation for his son and said, "Although Zhu Chenggong's navy is powerful, most of his subordinates are pirates who are only interested in preserving their wealth and power, and have no real strategy. We should still focus on peace talks with Zhu Chenggong, threaten him with Zheng Zhilong and his family members, and lure him with high positions and generous salaries to persuade him to surrender."

The Qing court held Zheng Zhilong hostage and took him north to the capital, which led to the rise of Zhu Chenggong. In the past few years, the Qing Dynasty knew that its navy was weak and unable to attack Zhu Chenggong, so it had been trying to persuade Zhu Chenggong to surrender.

Zhu Chenggong pretended to be friendly with the Qing court under the guise of peace talks. On the one hand, he claimed that he was willing to surrender, but on the other hand, he made exorbitant demands, such as being allowed to grow his hair and obtaining the four provinces of Jiangnan, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang as fiefdoms, such as the four provinces of Yunnan where the Mu family had ruled for generations.

At the same time, Zhu Chenggong sent his subordinates to Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other Qing Dynasty-ruled areas to collect grain taxes. In that year, after several years of slow growth, Zhu Chenggong gradually annexed the Zheng clan and became the overlord of the southeast coast.

"I feel that Zhu Chenggong has no sincerity in surrendering. Last month, Zhang Xuesheng attacked Zhongzuo and Zhu Chenggong suffered heavy losses, which shows that he is just a show-off."

"No," Bumbutai refuted, "Zheng has occupied the southeastern coast for decades, and its navy is the strongest in the world. We must prioritize and clear the Western bandits and the Red Bandits on land, and then we can deal with Zhu Chenggong after we have freed up our hands."

Shunzhi was pleased and said, "My mother taught me well."

The mother and son were frank with each other and their relationship became much closer.

Shunzhi could not help asking, "Mother, I have been puzzled by one thing for a long time. How come the Red Bandits were able to sweep across Guangdong and Guangdong in just a few years after they emerged? Could it be that it was really because they had advanced firearms?"

"The development of firearms is only one of the reasons. The firearms of our Eight Banners are also very advanced. You ordered the Ministry of Industry to imitate the Red Bandits' muskets, and didn't you succeed in imitating them?"

"It works, but it's not as reliable as the Red Bandits'. It's more expensive and heavier than theirs, but its accuracy, reliability, and power are not as good as theirs."

"Take your time. Back then, the Eight Banners' firearms were inferior to those of the Southern Dynasties, but they worked hard and eventually overtook them, didn't they?" Bumbutai thought for a long time and said, "What I am worried about is the Red Bandits' tax collection. The Red Bandits used this to gain the hearts of the people, increase taxes, and expand their military forces, so they were able to stand out in just a few years."

"In your opinion, mother, how can we solve this situation?"

Bumbutai had no other good ideas and confessed: "I don't know either, but the harm of enclosure is far-reaching, and we must find a way to prohibit it. Even if we can't prohibit it, we must find a way to stop it.

"In addition, the Red Bandits require tenants to pay taxes, which pleases the tenants and offends the landlords. We cannot offend the landlords, so we have to do the opposite, protect the landlords and suppress the tenants. The Central Plains has a tradition of landlords organizing militia since ancient times. We might as well encourage landlords to organize militia, firstly to prevent tenants from rebelling, and secondly to resist the invasion of the Red Bandits."

Shunzhi's eyes lit up and he said, "I will send a message to the southern provinces to encourage the landowners to organize militia."

(End of this chapter)