Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1216 Surrounding Beijing
Not long after Fulin fled, Jiang Youguang's infantry rushed to the city of Beijing first, Li Dingguo and Jiang Xiang arrived the next day, and Wang Yanling's main force arrived in Tongzhou, and moved to the eastern suburbs of Beijing on June [-]th, completing the The siege of Beijing.

After Wang Yan arrived in Beijing, he learned that Fulin had escaped from Beijing, and met Qin Shangxing and Tan Tai who had summoned him to pursue him.

The two came to the big tent to salute Wang Yan, and then each presented a wooden box, one with Chang Adai's head and the other with Yue Le's head.

This is the result of the pursuit of the two, each of them has a county king's head, although it is not very valuable, but it is also considered a meritorious service, no matter how you say it, it is a prince.

"Your Highness, with a humble and incompetent position, you were one step too late and failed to intercept Fulin!" Qin Shang said with a salute.

Tan Tai on the side also saluted, "I killed Chang Adai, chased him out of Gubeikou, and went deep into the grassland for more than a hundred miles. I retreated because I met the Mongols."

Wang Yan nodded, asked the two to stand up, and then asked, "So Fulin is going to seek refuge with the Mongols?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, according to the route, we should go to seek refuge in Horqin!" Tan Tai clasped his fists and replied, he is a Manchu who knows the distribution of Mongolian tribes outside the customs.

Wang Yan saw that both of them looked a little gloomy, and he was a little annoyed that he didn't catch Fulin, so he waved his hand immediately, "Run away, it doesn't matter!" His tone changed as he spoke, "If Horqin dares to take Fulin Lin, Gu will make them look good!"

Fulin ran away, although it was a pity, but it was not an important matter. After Beijing was conquered and a little more stable, Wang Yan would definitely conquer Mongolia and eliminate the hidden dangers in the northern border of the Ming Dynasty. Sooner or later, he would be captured and brought back to Beijing.

At that moment, Wang Yan praised the two of them, especially Tan Tai, and told them to retreat.

At this time, everyone in the world could see that Beijing was already in the pocket of the Ming army. What they couldn't see was how the Ming army would take Beijing.

Wang Yancai surrounded Beijing, and a minister from the south wrote a letter, asking the king of Chu and all the soldiers to ensure that Beijing will not be destroyed.

This is a problem for Wang Yan, but even if the minister doesn't say anything, Wang Yan will try his best to protect Beijing, just like when he attacked Nanjing.

If he was a pure general, he might not have such awareness, but Wang Yan was born as a man of letters, and he knew that the buildings in Beijing are treasures, and the utensils, books, calligraphy and paintings collected in the palace are even national treasures collected from past dynasties.

To destroy a nation, its culture must be destroyed. China has gone through many changes, but the reason why it is still China is because the culture is still there.

How to inherit culture is to convey the spirit through books, convey the aesthetics through calligraphy and painting, utensils, and architecture, and implement each thing. Wang Yan knows the importance of these things.

At this time, the Ming army in the north surrounded Beijing, and the ministers in the south were about to restore Shenjing. Some people began to wonder whether they should prepare to return the capital?

Although Nanjing is good, Beijing is the capital of Ming Dynasty after all, and it also represents the shame of the Ming Dynasty that has been wiped out for more than ten years. It is of great political significance to declare to the world that Ming Dynasty has stood up again.

The proposal of these courtiers was quickly supported by Du Yinxi, a senior scholar.

He believes that the threat of the Ming Dynasty mainly comes from the north. Nanjing, as the capital, is really far away, and it is inconvenient to command. It is better to return the capital to Beijing earlier.

This is an important reason why Du Yinxi supports returning the capital. In addition, the north has just been recovered, and there is a vacuum of power. The power of the king of Chu is mainly concentrated in the south. The imperial party, which has been suppressed to the brink, can gain a certain amount of space.

Some people support the return of the capital, and naturally some people oppose it, and there are quite a few people who oppose it. To be precise, they account for the vast majority of the court.

In terms of geographical location and the territory of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing's location is too close to the border. When the Ming Dynasty was strong, it could be used as the capital, but once the national power was weak, it seemed too passive, like opening its chest and facing the enemy. Same, too passive.

This is like playing chess, the commander-in-chief has to hide behind, and the location of Beijing made the Ming Dynasty always under the generals, and soldiers came to the city several times, not only hurting morale, but also affecting the layout of other battlefields.

Just like Liaozhen back then, the situation was actually pretty good. The Manchu attack basically hit a snag, but Huang Taiji bypassed Liaozhen and attacked Beizhi to threaten Beijing.

If the capital of the Ming Dynasty was not in Beizhi, Huang Taiji would not have dared to go around Liaozhen. If he had gone around and fought in Beizhi, then Liaozhen would have dared to go straight to Shenyang, but because the capital was in Beizhi, Liaozhen had to save the capital first. , This is being pinched seven inches.

Those who opposed the return of the capital were mainly because of the establishment of Beijing as the capital, but the north could not afford to support Beijing. Every year, supplies were transported from the south of the Yangtze River, and most of them were consumed on the road, which was not worthwhile.

In short, geographically speaking, Beijing is not suitable to be the capital of the Ming Dynasty. From a military point of view, there are also great disadvantages, and from an economic and cultural point of view, there are no advantages.

The only advantage is that it can command nearby, so that the court can pay attention to the northern border, and this is the shortcoming of Nanjing, which cannot take into account the safety of northern Xinjiang.

This part of the people objected to returning to the capital. Apart from legitimate reasons, they also had selfish motives. Apart from their reluctance to transfuse blood to the north, they were also unwilling to leave their headquarters because the bureaucrats of the Nanjing court were mainly from the south, and the capital was in Nanjing. The south has more discourse power, and the imperial court's policy is more inclined to the south, which is beneficial to the bureaucrats and gentry.

Before Beijing has been captured, the imperial court and the people in the south are already boiling. It is said that the Guozijian has a big debate on whether to return the capital.

In addition to the return of the capital, several other evil winds blew up in the city of Nanjing, and many people had already planned how to welcome His Royal Highness King Desheng back to court.

Under such circumstances and atmosphere, Nanjing's civil official groups gathered frequently in private to analyze and discuss the issue of standing in line, and to re-examine their interests.

Wang Yan is still considering the news about Nanjing and whether to return the capital, but there is no need to figure out these things now. After taking Beijing, it will not be too late to think about it, so he is not in a hurry.

At this time, the majestic and majestic Beijing city was surrounded on all sides. The Qing army on the city looked out of the city, but wherever they could see, they were all barracks. .

After Wang Yan moved to the eastern suburbs, more than [-] Ming troops surrounded Beijing. As soon as he gave an order, the highly morale Ming army could swallow the city of Beijing even if they insisted.

The Great War in the Central Plains had ended for more than two months, and the joy of the Ming army's victory had not dissipated, but the soldiers of all ministries were well-trained. The generals were full of confidence and geared up for a big fight, but Wang Yan never gave the order to attack the city.

Beijing can definitely be taken, but the people in the city belong to the Ming Dynasty after all, and the palaces in the city also belong to the Ming Dynasty, so it will inevitably be damaged in a fight. Moreover, the Qing army is at the end of its rope and has no way out. Not worth it.

The generals were eager to take Beijing and reward them for meritorious deeds. Wang Yan could only appease them, "Beijing is an isolated city. Even if the Nikan soldiers have enough food and supplies, how long can they resist? We occupy the outside of the pass, and there are only so many left in the pass. An isolated city will trap him to death. It would be best if Nikan knows the times and is willing to surrender. If he insists on going all the way to darkness, then the orphan will fulfill him and let you attack without delay!"

(End of this chapter)