Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 366 Using Soldiers against Tumed
"Master's lesson." Fan Wencheng said, "Sending troops in the early spring can indeed achieve miraculous results."

"That's true." Ning Wan said to me, "Spring is extremely important to the tribes of Mongolia. The mares will give birth to foals in this season, and the ewes will also give birth to lambs in this season. I am a soldier of the Qing Dynasty. When the time passed, the Mongols didn't even have a chance to escape, so they could only obediently surrender to me."

Hong Chengchou said: "The key is to be able to strike first, and then defeat them one by one."

"Yes, strike first." Dorgon said, "If there is no accident, the Puppet Shun and the Mongolian tribes will definitely choose to form an alliance when the autumn is high and the horses are fat, and then send troops, but my Qing Dynasty wants to send troops in the early spring."

Hong Chengchou frowned and said, "The only thing to worry about is Nanming's reaction."

Dorgon's face immediately collapsed, and Ming Chao's reaction really needs to be considered.

It is said that Chongzhen has just recruited another 27 recruits and is stepping up training.

Sometimes Dorgon would also be frustrated, frustrated by the huge power gap between the Qing court and the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty has been beaten like that by the Pseudo-Shun and the Qing court, and it still has the financial resources to recruit 27 soldiers at a time!
In contrast, after returning to Beijing this time, Dorgon only dared to expand the Han Army of the Eight Banners from more than [-] to [-], and he would not recruit any more, fearing that he would overwhelm the host.

Dorgon said: "I don't know what's going on in Nanming now? If we send troops in the spring, will Nanming be able to send troops from Xuzhou or Shandong for the Northern Expedition?"

If it was last year, Dorgon would definitely not have such worries.

But now after experiencing the failure of the Xuzhou War, Dorgon no longer dared to be careless.

Ning Wan and I suddenly said: "Master, didn't Luo Yangxing instigate Nanming's Jinyiwei Commander? Calculate the time, Luo Yangxing and the others should have arrived in Beijing."

It was such a coincidence that just as we were talking, Hou Fangyu came in to report: "Master, the governor of Tianjin, Luo Yangxing, is asking for an audience."

"It's really about Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here." Dorgon laughed and said, "Please, Luo Yangxing, please come in and see me."

After a while, I saw an official wearing a mandarin jacket and a warm hat stepping in quickly. After walking up to Dorgon, he slapped his sleeves and knelt down: "Chen Luo Yangxing, please ask the emperor's father and regent Jin An."

"No." Dorgon said, "Luo Yangxing, why are you alone? What about Li Lian?"

Luo Yangxing said: "Go back to your lord, Li Ruolian is waiting outside the door, I dare not enter without your permission."

Dorgon said: "There are so many particulars, let him in, just because I have a question and want to ask him."

Luo Yangxing immediately turned his head and shouted towards the door: "Li Ruolian, come in quickly, the emperor's father and the regent want to see you."

Immediately a figure came in and gave Dorgon a long bow in accordance with the etiquette of the Han family: "See the emperor's father and the regent."

"You are Li Ruolian?" Dorgon looked Li Ruolian up and down, and then asked, "One of the few military officials who followed Chongzhen to defeat Beijing?"

"Yes." Li Ruolian straightened up and replied without saying a word.

Dorgon said again: "I heard that when the siege broke out from Beijing, Chongzhen only summoned nine civil servants, four nobles, and two military officers of Jinyiwei. Is this true?"

"This is a rumor." Li Ruolian waved his hand and said, "Before the siege, Chongzhen sent more than a hundred Chinese envoys to deliver oral orders to no less than a hundred civil servants, military generals, and nobles in the court, but in the end only fifteen people obeyed the edict."

"So that's how it is." Dorgon laughed and said, "That makes sense."

Speaking of this meal, Dorgon asked again with concern: "Have you seen your family?"

"I've already seen it." Li Ruolian said gratefully, "Thank you Prince Regent for taking care of me."

"Hey, it's nothing." Dorgon said, "Our Qing Dynasty has always attached great importance to loyal ministers and good generals. Loyal ministers and good generals like you are exactly what our Qing Dynasty urgently needs. That is why Chongzhen treats you like this."

Li Ruolian said gratefully: "The King Regent is so kind and virtuous, I can't repay you..."

"I don't need you to repay the favor." Dorgon interrupted Li Ruolian, "I just want you to work hard and contribute your own abilities to the Qing Dynasty. From now on, you will still be the commander of Jinyiwei."

Li Ruolian responded excitedly: "I will definitely be the king regent."

"You don't need to worry about it." Dorgon waved, and then continued, "But I have a few questions about Nanming that I want to ask you. You must answer them truthfully, and you can't just choose good ones to tell me."

Li Ruolian said: "The regent just asks, the minister knows everything."

Dorgon said: "How is the current political situation in Nanming? I heard that there was a big disturbance a while ago?"

Li Ruolian said: "The Prince Regent is talking about the regicide case and the framing case, right? Chongzhen completed the purge of the Donglin Party through these two major cases, and now the officials in the court are all imperial party members."

Hong Chengchou said: "So, Chongzhen has completely controlled the court?"

"That's right." Li Ruolian said, "Today's Chief Assistant Lu Zhenfei is one of Chongzhen's echoes."

A worried look appeared on Dorgon's face, and he asked again: "I heard that Chongzhen recruited more than 20 soldiers?"

"To be exact, it's 27!" Li Ruolian said, "We are currently undergoing intensive training in Nanjing, but the armaments are not yet ready, and the army is still very early."

Ning Wan and I asked: "I heard that many rice fields in eight prefectures and one prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River were changed to mulberry fields, cotton fields, ramie fields, and oil tea fields. I wonder if this is true or not?"

"This is true." Li Ruolian said, "At least half of the more than [-] million mu of farmland in the south of the Yangtze River has been converted into mulberry fields, cotton fields, ramie fields, and oil tea fields."

A hint of secret joy flashed across Dorgon's heart, and he asked again: "Why is this?"

"Because the Emperor Chongzhen is greedy for money." Li Ruolian said, "So I want to weave more silk and cotton cloth, extract more oil, and sell it to Xiyi and the people at a high price to collect money."

"Isn't that right?" Hong Chengchou said, "As far as I know, Chongzhen's life is quite frugal, and he often eats the same food as soldiers, and he has not recruited many concubines. So far, he has not even had a concubine. How can he ask for money? use?"

"This is not very clear to me." Li Ruolian said, "But Chongzhen is really greedy for money. He not only ordered the farmland in the south of the Yangtze River to be replanted with mulberry seedlings and cotton, but also set up a royal bank account, ordering the officials, gentry and merchants of Ming Dynasty to deposit their money into the bank. The silver bank, set up a shitty exchange, and embezzled money wantonly by buying low and selling high."

Speaking of this meal, Li Ruolian said again: "Someone once estimated that Chongzhen has amassed more than [-] million taels of silver!"

Dorgon couldn't help but exchanged glances with Hong Chengchou and the three of them. What Li Ruolian said was basically the same as what Li Ruolian had inquired about when he sneaked into the south of the Yangtze River. It can be seen that he did not hide or lie.

Hong Chengchou asked again: "How are the [-] frontier troops in Xuzhou and the [-] Xiangyongs in Huai'an doing now?"

"It's all abolished." Li Ruolian said, "Chongzhen was reluctant to spend money. He thought the frontier army's salary was too high, so he abolished the frontier army in thirty towns and sold five million mu of cultivated land in Xuzhou to the frontier army. , and took back the millions of taels of payment and rewards that were sent out before."

Dorgon and the others also knew about this situation.

But Dorgon didn't believe it: "It's really abolished?"

"It's really abolished." Li Ruolian said, "However, if the Qing soldiers go south, Chongzhen, the dog emperor, will probably call up the thirty frontier troops again and send them to the battlefield."

Dorgon asked: "If the Qing soldiers don't go south, will the Ming army send troops to the north?"

"It's impossible." Li Ruolian said decisively, "In fact, Chongzhen didn't plan to go to the Northern Expedition at all, but just wanted to keep half of Jiangnan. The total amount of stored grain is only a few hundred thousand shi of grain."

"Okay, Commander Li has made you hard all the way." Dorgon gave a sigh of relief, and then said to Luo Yangxing, "Luo Yangxing, you should accompany Commander Li to go home and settle down first."

"I will leave." Luo Yangxing took Li Ruolian and left Prince Rui's mansion.

"Three gentlemen, what do you think?" Dorgon asked as soon as Li Ruolian left.

Fan Wencheng said: "Li Ruolian's answers are fluent, and what he said is not far from what we know. It can be seen that he has not lied or concealed."

"Slave seconded the proposal." Ning Wan I deeply agree.

Hong Chengchou said: "But the slaves never believe that Chongzhen has no intention of the Northern Expedition!"

"I don't believe it either. There is no doubt that Chongzhen is a hero of the generation." After saying this, Dorgon continued, "However, Nanming didn't have much food in storage. This should also be true."

"This slave also thinks so." Hong Chengchou said, "In the Xuzhou War in the middle of last year, my Qing Dynasty certainly consumed a lot of money and food, but Nanming's consumption was only a lot more than my Qing Dynasty's, and we had to arrange three The frontier troops of the ten towns and the [-] township braves have to feed the more than one million fleeing people in Kaifeng Prefecture, and the food is flowing out like running water."

"That's enough." Dorgon said, "As long as Nanming doesn't have too much food in store, it won't be able to send troops to the Northern Expedition, so we, the Qing Dynasty, can safely use troops against Tumed."

As soon as the decision was made, Dorgon immediately summoned Qi Chongge, Gang Lin and other ministers, and ordered them to raise food, grass and ordnance, and asked the military bureau to step up the production of Hongyi cannons and flintlock guns.

……

Time soon came to the Lantern Festival.

The new army had just walked to Taihu County in Anqing Prefecture, and they had only walked about half of the distance.

Chongzhen made a serious miscalculation in the estimate of the marching period, mainly because there were two consecutive heavy snowfalls after the beginning of spring, and the snow in the Dabie Mountains was even thicker, making it difficult to move an inch.

Marching deep in the thigh-deep snow is not to mention how sour.

But no one complained, no matter whether it was the Qin Wang Shizi or the soldiers of the new army, even if they were fully armed and equipped with luggage, no one complained.

Qin Wang Shizi is used to suffering.

The soldiers of the new army did not feel bitter at all.

What is this to these honest farmers?

As long as they can eat enough and get paid, let alone a mere Dabie Mountain, they can even climb over Kunlun Mountain, nothing more than walking a little slower.

Really, some soldiers of the new army were reluctant to part with the newly issued leather boots, so they took them off and tied them on their shoulders, and then went on their way barefoot.

Of course, this behavior was severely reprimanded by Chongzhen, and ordered the soldiers who marched barefoot to put on their leather boots again. Marching barefoot in heavy snow is not allowed, and it will cause frostbite.

"Zi!" Chongzhen slipped and fell into the snow.

"Long Live Lord." Wang Chengen and Gao Qiqian hurried forward to help Chongzhen.

Zhu Cijiong, his own son, took a step back and fell behind Wang Chengen and Gao Qiqian.

Seeing Wang Chengen and Gao Qiqian with tense faces, Chongzhen was also moved with emotion. Needless to say, Wang Chengen, but Gao Qiqian is really a good slave despite his many shortcomings.

It's no wonder that so many emperors of the Ming Dynasty reused eunuchs.

At that moment Chongzhen asked Gao Qiqian, "Gao Banban, do you think I'm too harsh on you servants?"

"Long live Lord, this old slave never has such crazy and rebellious ideas." Gao Qiqian said with a look of panic, "It seems that the servants like this old slave are just servants of the royal family, no matter how Long Live Lord treats us, beating or scolding us , It should be killed, the servants will never complain, the servants only know to be loyal to the royal family, and to the Lord Long Live."

"Gao Banban, what you say is against your will." Chongzhen laughed, "If I ordered you to be killed now, would you really have no resentment in your heart? Do you believe this kind of words?"

"Uh..." Gao Qiqian could only say, "Long Live Lord's fiery eyes are golden, how can I hide this old slave from you."

"Gao Banban, I really treat you too harshly." Chongzhen patted Gao Qiqian, and said with a smile, "You have blocked arrows and eliminated disasters for me many times, but I didn't reward you, it really shouldn't be. "

"Long Live Lord." Gao Qiqian choked up and didn't know what to say.

Chongzhen said again: "There were so many eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, such as Liu Jin, Wang Zhen and Wei Jinzhong, all of whom were powerful, but none of them were conferred titles. Only Cao Jixiang was conferred the title of Uncle Zhaowu."

Hearing this, Gao Qiqian couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat, isn't it, this is to be made an earl?
After a short pause, Chongzhen smiled again and said, "Gao Banban, I will now confer on you the second earl of the Ming Dynasty, the first-class loyal and brave uncle, and entrust your son and nephew to the Xiake Guozijian."

"Long live God!" Gao Qiqian cried and bowed to the snow.

Looking at Gao Qiqian who was kneeling on the ground crying bitterly, Wang Chengen looked envious and at the same time a little disappointed.

"Wang Daban." Chongzhen suddenly turned his head to look at Wang Cheng'en and said, "You don't need to say more about my loyal ministers. If Jiashen country was in disaster without you, I would have died a long time ago, how could I be where I am today?"

Having said this, Chongzhen said solemnly again: "So I want you to be the first servant of the Ming Dynasty to be a Marquis. Now I will confer on you as a Marquis of Zhongzhen, and I will enshrine my son and nephew into the Xiake Guozijian."

"Long Live Lord." Wang Cheng'en panicked, "This old slave deserves to be ashamed."

"You have no shame." Chongzhen said solemnly, "You deserve it."

He picked up Gao Qiqian again, and said: "Wang Daban, Gao Banban, who is loyal and who is evil, who is available and who is not, my heart is like a mirror, in a word, as long as you work hard, I will never I will treat you badly."

"Old servant, please thank Long Live Lord Long En." Wang Chengen and Gao Qiqian knelt heavily on the ground.

(End of this chapter)