Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 83 Theory of the Hero

It is six hundred miles from the capital to Shanhaiguan.

Even if Zhu Youjian brought all the troops to rush to the rescue, it would take five days to arrive.

This is already the limit of this era.

Even if the Qing Dynasty's troops were equipped entirely with mules and horses, they would only be slightly faster than this speed.

However, the military order was transmitted very quickly, and it could basically be delivered within a day and a night.

After Zhu Youjian issued the order yesterday, as soon as the sun rose today, Wang Erhu received the news that Zhu Youjian was going to lead the army in person.

At this moment, he was standing in a small town looking at the map, not knowing what to do.

Shanhaiguan was breached early yesterday morning, but the Jiannu did not take any action at all. They were even strengthening the city defenses, as if they were determined to stalemate with him.

This left Wang Erhu a little confused.

Just as he was thinking about it, two dirty night guards came into the room, panting.

"The two yellow flags... the two yellow flags are nowhere to be found!" As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Bushou, exhausted, fell to the ground with a thud.

Wang Erhu's eyes widened involuntarily.

"The two yellow flags are missing!?!"

"The Yellow Dragon Flag is nowhere to be seen, and the two yellow flags are nowhere to be found!" Another Ye Bushu who still had some strength answered.

Wang Erhu stepped forward and grabbed Ye Bushou's collar, unable to resist asking, "Did you see for sure? There really isn't a Yellow Dragon Flag on the top of the city wall?!"

"Absolutely true!" Ye Bushou pulled out a half-broken carved feather arrow from his waist. "The arrow shafts of those with blue flags are easier to brush with tung oil, and those with two yellow flags have triangular tips. Last night, I went to the moat and fished out arrows with blue flags."

"From the beginning to the end, it was the Bordered Yellow Banner that was attacking the city."

Wang Erhu stood there in a daze.

The deputy general suddenly opened the curtain and rushed in, frost on his iron forehead guard. "The Four Ancient Guards have reported that at the hour of Yin, someone heard the sound of horse hooves heading west along the Great Wall!"

Wang Erhu grabbed a charcoal pencil and began scribbling across the map. The tip of the pencil suddenly stopped at Gubeikou. "From Shanhaiguan to Gubeikou... three hundred miles in a day and night... two yellow flags... damn it! That old scoundrel Dorgon is so damn cunning! Send the order! The light cavalry will immediately investigate in the direction of Shixia City! Yebushou will investigate the area near Shanhaiguan for me. There's no way an army of 40,000 men wouldn't have any leads!"

Just as the personal guards brought the command arrow, three loud thunders suddenly exploded in the northeastern sky.

One thunderbolt means a small part of the enemy troops have left the city, two thunderbolts means half of them have left the city, and three thunderbolts means the majority of them have left the city.

The three thunderclaps at this time could only mean that the Bordered Blue Banner had left Shanhaiguan.

Instead of leaving the city early or late, he chose to leave the city right after breakfast, which is the most suitable time for a fair fight. Isn't it obvious that he wants to entangle me!

Wang Erhu was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table, "Immediately report to the emperor from eight hundred miles away! The two yellow flags and 40,000 troops are probably already at Chaohechuan!"

"Second brother, lead the Yongwei Battalion up to the city. Damn it, hold off the Bordered Blue Banner first!"

A fast horse galloped past.

The official road of Jizhou is where the imperial carriage is.

Zhu Youjian's knuckles turned white as he clutched the newspaper, and he felt a little dazed from the sun.

Wang Chengen followed the white horse with a teacup in his hand. He heard the emperor's breathing becoming heavier and heavier, and he tried to speak several times but was suppressed.

"The Jizhou army reports that the Jiannu are on the offensive. Xifeng reports that a small Jiannu force has entered the pass. Xuanfu reports that the Mongol tribes are making unusual movements. Now, the whereabouts of Dorgon's two yellow flags are still unknown. Doesn't the Jiannu need logistics? With so many fronts, isn't Dorgon afraid that the Ming Dynasty will divide and annihilate him?!"

Zhu Youjian really had some doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

Normally, if you can divide your troops into three groups to attack, it will test the commander's ability and logistical strength.

Now the Qing Dynasty not only divided its troops into several routes, but also dared to continue to divide its troops and sneak thousands of miles behind enemy lines without considering logistics at all.

How confident does one have to be to be able to put on such a display!
Originally, he was happy to lead his army in person, wanting to fight Dorgon.

Now, he had just set out for one day and he ran away.

According to Wang Erhu's idea, Dorgon wanted to take the two yellow flags and go straight to the capital.

But Zhu Youjian didn't think so.

If he wanted to go straight to the capital, why would he go through so much trouble?

If he did not have a record of defeating over one million enemies and could intimidate others, Zhu Youjian would even suspect that Dorgon wanted to destroy the Ming Dynasty in one battle.

Riding on horseback, Zhu Youjian carefully analyzed Dorgon's purpose.

For a surprise attack by an army of 40,000, it would be a disaster if they could only bring food and fodder for ten days at most.

Moreover, each of the two yellow flags of the Qing Dynasty had three horses for each soldier. The cost of so many war horses was astronomical.

Dorgon’s target was definitely not Northern Zhili.

The only three places adjacent to Northern Zhili were Shandong Dao, Southern Zhili, and Henan Dao.

A detachment of the Jiannu army had already gone to Shandong Province, and the journey to Nanzhili was long and densely covered with rivers.

The place Dorgon is most likely to go is Henan Road!
If Henan and Shandong fell at the same time, northern Zhili would become an enclave.

By then, Zhu Youjian would either starve to death along with the court and millions of soldiers and civilians, or he would have to move south.

It also fits in very well with Dorgon’s strategic motives.

But where will he go?
Just as he was thinking about it, Qi Yuan suddenly rushed over from a distance, hurried to the side of the white horse and knelt on one knee, "Your Majesty, I request to lead the Black Armor Army to Gubeikou."

"It's too late!" Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said secretly, "If 40,000 troops took the official road, how could the counties and prefectures along the way not know about it? They must have taken the merchants' secret tea-horse route!"

"Only in this way can we leave so quietly."

If he tried to chase him now, it would be too late. He had no organized cavalry, and after decades of smuggling, there were countless secret tea and horse routes. Zhu Youjian had no idea where Dorgon would go.

"Convey the order to King Zhou."

"Tell him to stop coming to the king's aid. One hundred thousand troops will be stationed in Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Luoyang. Whenever they encounter the enemy, they will use beacons as a signal and remain in place!"

Wang Chengen was halfway through drafting the decree when Qi Yuan suddenly asked, "What if the Jiannu attacked the city?"

"Dorgon is reluctant to attack the city!" Zhu Youjian shook his head. "His 40,000 troops don't have red-haired cannons, and they only have enough food and fodder for ten days. It's clear that this siege is intended to intercept the Zhou prince's army and cut off our court's retreat."

"Tell Shi Kefa about Dorgon's disappearance!"

"How about this? Set up the Central Plains War Zone, which will govern Nanzhili, Henan Province, and Shandong Province. Shi Kefa will be in charge of all operations. Let Song Ye and the Ministry of War each send troops to assist Shi Kefa in commanding the army. The Jiannu are heading south, so we should keep a close eye on them in Shandong and Henan!"

Wang Chengen drafted the decree and turned to find the eunuch to convey it.

Zhu Youjian then turned his head and looked at Qi Yuan, "Huai Kuang, quickly pass the order. The rear team will become the front team, with the Imperial Guards as the vanguard, and turn to Xuanfu!"

Anyway, Dorgon has escaped, so there is no point in going to Shanhaiguan by myself. It is enough to have Wang Erhu to stalemate with the Bordered Blue Banner.

But he couldn't come out for nothing. The Qing Dynasty must have a logistics base. If it wasn't Shanhaiguan, it could only be Zhangjiakou, where many Mongolian tribes and the two red flags gathered.

Go over there and attract the fire, and delay it for as long as possible.

……

Move west to Daqingfeng Pass.

Just as Zhu Youjian guessed, Dorgon did take the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

And it was a secret passage created by Shanxi merchants.

Because there were so many ironware, salt, tea and other items to transport, most Shanxi merchants still took the official road. Only important border towns and places close to the capital would take the small roads.

There were dozens of small paths near Tangshan alone, which were just enough for Dorgon's army to march.

In order to conceal their tracks, the two yellow flags hid during the day and moved at night. With the advantage of horses, they hid in the mountains near Tangshan in just two nights.

In a small forest, Dorgon chewed on dried venison and watched Fan Wencheng insert small flags on a simple sand table.

"Is it time for the young emperor of the Southern Dynasty to arrive in Jizhou?"

"According to our distance, we've indeed just passed Jizhou." Fan Wencheng planted the blue flag in Xuanfu. "Huang Degong is being held captive by the Mongol banners at Juyong Pass, and Chongzhen is guarding the empty Shanhai Pass. As long as we pass the capital, we won't need to hide our whereabouts. However..."

Fan Wencheng hesitated to speak.

Dorgon swallowed the horse meat and chuckled as he asked, "Mr. Fan, you want to know why I kept it a secret from you, right?"

There was a dead silence, with only the sound of Dorgon chewing meat and Fan Wencheng setting up the sand table. If Fan Wencheng didn't speak, Dorgon would also be silent.

It was not until the sand table was completely completed that Fan Wencheng finally broke his silence.

"Your Majesty."

Hearing this name, Dorgon paused.

Although Fan Wencheng had worked with him for several years, even his ability to become regent was inseparable from Fan Wencheng's help.

But he always called him "the king" and adopted an attitude of distinguishing between Han and barbarians.

Now, they suddenly started to call him "Prince" affectionately, just like the bannermen.

This means that Fan Wencheng has finally recognized me and opened up to me!
Dorgon quickly swallowed the venison in his mouth and replied with a satisfied smile, "Mr. Fan, please speak."

"Your Highness, are you thinking that I, Fan, am only a Han Chinese, a servant, and no matter how respectful Your Highness tries to be, I have always been ungrateful and addressed you as Your Highness. Why did you suddenly change your tune today?"

Dorgon nodded.

Fan Wencheng continued, "Actually, there's nothing else to it. I'm just changing my stance according to the situation."

"Because the prince always had a shortcoming from being a heroic master. Even though the prince was unparalleled in power and strategy, and could travel thousands of miles, and was not swayed by family ties or fame, he was still a little short of being a heroic master."

"That's suspicion!"

After hearing this, Dorgon became interested and looked at Fan Wencheng with burning eyes, "What do you mean?"

Fan Wencheng explained, "A heroic ruler in ancient times possessed great ambitions without displaying them, judged people and made decisions with courage and determination, managed family ties and reputation with ease, and maintained a constant sense of suspicion and vigilance. These four qualities are essential for a heroic ruler."

"At the end of the Han Dynasty, there was Cao Cao, a powerful figure of his time. He was an expert in strategy, employing people, judging matters, and being selfless. No one in the world could match him. However, Cao Cao was extremely suspicious and valued his reputation, so after three generations, his family's empire was usurped by the Sima clan."

"Even during the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, he rose from humble beginnings and unified the nine provinces. He had no legitimate claim to power. However, although he was decisive and ruthless and had great ambitions, he valued family ties. As a result, Emperor Chengzu suppressed the rebellion, and all the Hongwu legacy was wiped out."

"In this Central Plains, those who have held great responsibilities and achieved great success, such as Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and Emperor Gaozu of the Song Dynasty, all possessed great strategic vision, were able to judge people, valued killing and conquering, had no kinship or affection, and were able to gauge the world's affairs. Only then did they achieve their great achievements."

"The prince has a grand plan in mind. None of the ministers know of his plan. He already has the spirit of a powerful leader and is poised to create a great cause. I, Fan, will serve him!"

After hearing the speech about his heroic deeds, Dorgon blushed with praise.

But he was not excited about the title of hero, but because Fan Wencheng finally belonged to him!
"I will never let Mr. Fan down for his devotion!"

Fan Wencheng bowed and thanked him.

Dorgon suddenly asked again, "Mr. Fan, can the emperor of the Southern Dynasty be considered a heroic ruler?"

"Chongzhen, I really can't tell whether he is a heroic ruler or not." Fan Wencheng hesitated rarely.

"If we talk about the first sixteen years, Emperor Chongzhen wasn't even a great ruler, let alone a tyrant. He was stubborn, self-righteous, and obsessed with reputation. He couldn't manage the court, nor could he distinguish right from wrong. He was suspicious by nature and indecisive, lacking any vision and distrusting his ministers. If Chongzhen had done a good deed, nine out of ten houses in the north wouldn't have been left empty-handed."

"But ever since Li Zicheng entered Northern Zhili, Emperor Chongzhen has developed the aura of a powerful ruler."

"He swiftly reorganized the court, boldly recruited Ni Yuanlu, Huang Degong, and others, reorganized the army, and launched a decisive battle with Li Zicheng in the capital. He also built a shrine to the martyrs and swore an oath to all the soldiers, even though he knew he was at a disadvantage, that he would personally lead the army just to stop the prince."

"There are countless examples like this. I heard that even after defeating Li Zicheng, Emperor Chongzhen still ate only plain porridge and wheat cakes every day."

"If he keeps doing this, he will undoubtedly be the heroic leader!"

"Haha, so Mr. Fan knows why I am so eager to send troops south." Dorgon laughed, but there was loneliness in his words.

"If we don't send troops now, it will be difficult later. Even a foolish emperor can wake up in the face of battle and turn the tide, but the nobles who just emerged from the forest more than ten years ago have already forgotten how they survived."

"If I don't take advantage of the fact that my generation, who suffered so much, are still around, my great Qing dynasty will end up like the Oirat!"

Fan Wencheng nodded in agreement.

"But there's one thing I'm still unclear about. Since the Southern Dynasty Emperor has already been mobilized to personally lead the expedition to Shanhaiguan, why did he risk marching south?"

Dorgon had already expected Fan Wencheng to ask this question, so he cut the venison in his hand into two halves with a knife and handed it to Fan Wencheng.

"Have you ever seen a falcon trained?"

"To make a falcon recognize its master, you must first keep it awake, fighting with it. Both sides should go without food or water, looking for the right opportunity. If you let your guard down, the falcon will seize the opportunity to scratch the one who is keeping it awake."

Fan Wencheng's pupils suddenly shrank, and the torch almost burned his cuffs.

Twenty years ago, he had seen this method of training an eagle in Fushun Horse Market. Often, the training would last for four or five days until the eagle could no longer bear it and fainted. Only then would the trainer give it some water and meat.

"The Bordered Blue Banner is at Shanhaiguan, Daishan is feinting at Xuanfu, and Duoduo is slaughtering people in Shandong." The tip of Dorgon's boots crushed a sprouting grass to death.

"It's all to outlast the Southern Dynasty emperor."

"The Southern Dynasty was good in every way, except that it was too stubborn. Chongzhen dared to fight against a million of us with only a few tens of thousands of remnants. When our Eight Banners soldiers marched out in three directions, Chongzhen still dared to lead the army in person. He always thought that as long as he was there, the Southern Dynasty would not fall."

"Sir, do you really think that I want the rotten land of Henan Road? Or to cut off the reinforcements from the Southern Dynasty Emperor?"

"neither!"

"What I want to do is to wake up the Southern Dynasty! Let the Southern Dynasty know that surrender is the only way to survive!"

"The Southern Dynasty's army is well-equipped and many times better equipped than mine, yet why can't they defeat our Eight Banner warriors on the battlefield, repeatedly suffering defeat? It's because they've never experienced hunger, and don't know how difficult hunting is when the white-haired wind blows! Do we want to? We don't want to either! If the Southern Dynasty had asked us to migrate south to farm, what would have become of the Great Jin and the Great Qing? Who wouldn't want to live a happy life?"

"No matter how strong-willed Chongzhen is, can he save the entire Southern Dynasty with his courage?"

"No! But I can! So no matter what Chongzhen does, I will ignore him. With Daishan and Jirgalang here, I have plenty of time to conquer the Southern Dynasty!"

A wolf howled in the distance, and cold sweat broke out on Fan Wencheng's back.

"When nine out of ten houses in Henan are empty and bones cover the fields of Shandong, the officials of the Southern Dynasty will cry out to the emperor to flee south, just like Zhao Gou did back then!"

"By then, whether he wants to migrate south or not will depend on whether I agree!"

"The Shanxi merchants can help me transport gunpowder," Dorgon finished the last bite of venison. "Those ministers and ministers of the Southern Dynasty are also helping me transport people's hearts."

"Mr. Fan, please get some rest. We still have to travel tonight. Duoduo will arrive in Shandong in five days, so we can't delay too much."

Fan Wencheng saluted as a bannerman, turned around and walked back to his own tent.

Dorgon watched him go back, then got up and went to the tent to rest.

He is actually not good at war and only knows some basic strategies. He is a standard politician, and what he is best at is strategy, grand strategy.

From launching attacks from three directions simultaneously to repairing the plank road in public while secretly attacking Chencang, these strategies were not based on military considerations, but on political ones.

He knew how to dismantle the already corrupt Ming Dynasty court, and he also knew what changes would happen to the Ming Dynasty if Zhu Youjian continued like this.

That's why I went south regardless of everything.

Although Fan Wencheng was not good at military strategy, his advantage was that he had a strategic vision while being able to take into account military affairs.

That is why Dorgon valued him so much and even raised him to an equal position with himself.

Lying back on the bed, Dorgon finally had a smile on his face.

His plan had been accomplished, and it was impossible for the Southern Dynasty emperor to turn the tables.

Unless... he could invite heavenly soldiers and generals to descend to earth, and at the same time trap himself in Henan and Duoduo in Shandong, and he himself could lead his army to block Daishan's nearly 200,000 troops in Zhangjiakou.

Otherwise, as long as any one side can still move, with the mobility of the Eight Banners, it would be easy to disrupt the heartland of the Southern Dynasty while rescuing others.

But how is this possible?
Dorgon fell asleep contentedly.

When I woke up, it was already sunset.

The 40,000-strong army set out again, galloping along the trade route in the mountains.

Dorgon had never intended to conceal his whereabouts, because this was an open conspiracy, which was to bully the Ming Dynasty for not having enough elite troops.

Hiding his whereabouts now is just to avoid the garrison near the capital to avoid wasting time.

It was this negligence that gave the flag sent by Wang Erhu the opportunity to retreat overnight.

Looking at the mess on the ground after the army passed by, Ye Bushou, who was covered in mud, just tasted a few mouthfuls of horse manure, touched the moisture of the soil in the horse hoof prints, and came to a conclusion.

"Boss, we estimate that in less than five hours, at least three thousand people have passed through this road. Adding the traces of several other small roads, this should be the old thief's two yellow flags."

Xiaoqi spat out the horse manure in his mouth and called a night guard, "Go and report to the emperor. It is estimated that the two yellow flags led by the old thief will cross Wuqing before tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)