Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

On January 22, the 1nd year of Chongzhen, five infantry towns and one cavalry town of the new Ming army came to Chaoyang Gate, which also meant that the Ming and Qing battles had entered the final stage.

By this time, neither Daming nor Jiannu had any way out.

For Jiannu, once Beijing fell, it would lose the foundation of its rule in the pass, and everything would be over.

For Daming, if the Northern Expedition failed, then the five infantry towns plus one cavalry town outside Beijing would most likely be wiped out. Most of Chongzhen would also die, and the national fortune might be interrupted by Jiannu.

Once Chongzhen died and Zhu Cihong ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, it is really hard to say what will happen to Daming.

On the surface, Daming is now flourishing in all industries, and the industrial revolution has entered the fast lane.

But in fact, all this is only superficial prosperity, the strength of the scholar camp is still not strong enough, and after the defeat of the Northern Expedition, the backbone of the scholar camp like Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan will inevitably lose a lot, so the remaining scholars may not be able to If it can withstand the counterattack of the conservatives, once it cannot withstand the pressure, the industrial revolution will come to an abrupt end.

Of course, this is only the worst case, and the probability of occurrence is extremely small.

At least Chongzhen is full of confidence in victory, because he has too many cards in his hand.

Chongzhen's hole cards are not only military, but also economic and even political.

"Chaoyangmen." Looking at the outline of Chaoyangmen on the horizon in the distance, Chongzhen said quietly, "It's been five years, and I'm finally back."

"Yeah, we're finally back."

Wang Jiayan, governor of Shandong, was also inexplicably emotional.

Not long ago, Wang Jiayan personally escorted the first batch of supplies to catch up with Chongzhen's army.

Along with the supplies, there were also civilian workers recruited by Wang Jiayan from Shandong, not only those who transported grain, but also those who were responsible for digging trenches and building blunderbuss platforms.

The battle of the capital is destined to be a protracted battle.

To fight a protracted war, it is necessary to dig trenches and repair gun emplacements.

Therefore, it is inevitable to recruit civilian husbands from Shandong.

Not only Shandong, Chongzhen even planned to recruit civilian husbands from North Korea.

Moreover, the civilian husbands recruited from North Korea do not plan to be sent back.

Compared with other barbarian races, Koreans are most influenced by Confucian culture, so assimilation is also the easiest. This can be seen from the reactions of Li Yucheng and other Korean troops.

The vast majority of North Koreans have no resistance to becoming Ming people.

This time, those who followed Wang Jiayan to Beijing were only the first batch of civilian husbands.

Chongzhen asked again: "Wang Qing, do you still remember how embarrassed we were when we fled Beijing?"

"Why don't you remember?" Wang Jiayan sighed, "Because Zhang Jinyan and other rebellious ministers colluded with bandit soldiers and opened the city gate, the fall of the capital was imminent, and the ministers and others didn't even have time to inform their wives and children. The situation at that time was really panic like a bereaved dog, oh , Your Majesty, please forgive me for my slip of the tongue, I was talking about myself..."

"Hey, Wang Qing, why do you need to save face for me?" Chongzhen smiled and said, "At that time, you and my monarchs and ministers were bereaved dogs. Fortunately, our choice was not wrong. If we didn't bear the humiliation at the beginning, we wouldn't have made any mistakes. Today's Northern Expedition, so Wang Qing doesn't have to worry about the original decision."

Wang Jiayan shook his head and said: "Even if I promise the country with this body, how can I care about my family's smallness? Even if it happens again, I will still abandon my wife and son to follow the Holy One to break through."

Wang Jiayan was expressing his feelings.

The implication is that the Holy Majesty just besieges the city with peace of mind.

Even if Jiannu took Chen and other wives and children as hostages to threaten, the ministers would never pay attention.

"Maybe there is still a turning point." Chongzhen turned around and began to comfort Wang Jiayan, "Dorgon still has some brains, and he shouldn't take hostages as threats, because he knows it's useless to do so."

……

"That's useless." Dorgon resolutely rejected Qi Chongge's proposal, shaking his head and said, "Chongzhenxiong guessed that he was a prey, and even Wei Guogong's mansion, which has been passed down for nearly 300 years and lived the same life as Ming Dynasty, can uproot it. How can you care about civil servants such as Wang Jiayan, Wu Linzheng, and honorable wives and children?"

Qi Chongge thought it made sense.

Besides, Wang Jiayan and Wu Linzheng had limited influence on Chongzhen.

Jiuqing, who escaped from Beijing with Chongzhen, was reused by Chongzhen at the beginning, but since the scholar camp became an army, he lost Chongzhen's trust.

As for Gong Yonggu, Liu Wenbing and other four nobles, they have no influence at all.

So even taking small threats from Wang Jiayan, Gong Yonggu and others is useless.

"It's a pity." Qi Chongge sighed softly and said again, "After Chongzhen's Concubine Yuan died of illness, Chongzhen's eldest daughter, Princess Changping, also died of illness not long ago, otherwise we could use these two people as blackmail Chongzhen, Chongzhen can ignore the life and death of the wives and children of Jiuqing and Gong Yonggu and others, but he can't care about the life and death of his concubine and eldest daughter?"

"Just talking nonsense." Dorgon said angrily, "What's the use of talking about it now?"

While speaking, Cao Eryu hurried in and knelt down and said: "Master, the Ming army has arrived!"

"The Ming army has arrived?" Dorgon frowned before he could react, "Where is the Ming army?"

Cao Eryu took a deep breath, and reported in a deep voice: "Take a report, the Ming army has passed the Bali Bridge!"

"What? The Ming army has already passed the Bali Bridge?!" Dorgon's face changed suddenly, which was too fast.

Rao Dorgon was already mentally prepared for this, but he was still shocked when he heard the sad news suddenly, because the psychological shock was too great.

The Ming army reached Baliqiao and was about to approach the city.

This also means that the decisive battle between the Qing Dynasty and the Southern Ming Dynasty is about to really begin.

Once this battle starts, either you die or I die, there is no third possibility.

Even if Dorgon was like this, Qi Chongge, Zhan Dai, Mu Jilun and other Manchu officials were even more frightened.

"Master, you can call Hong Chengchou's army back to Beijing!" Qi Chongge hurriedly knelt down and advised, "Otherwise, the two white flags left behind in Beijing and 10,000+ practicing bravery alone may not be able to defend Beijing."

Zhan Dai, Mu Jilun and other ministers knelt down on the ground.

"Master, please quickly call Hong Chengchou's army back to guard the capital!"

"Shut up with me, I have my own opinion on the strategy of fighting and defending."

Dorgon rejected the advice of Qi Chongge and others without hesitation.

Because as early as three days ago, Dorgon received Hong Chengchou's memorial.

Hong Chengchou explained his strategy to Dorgon in detail in the memorial.

Hong Chengchou's strategy can be summed up in one sentence. Dorgon defended Beijing to hold back the main force of the Ming army, while Hong Chengchou led the main force of the Qing army to stay on the periphery to attack the Ming army's logistics supply line.

As long as the Ming army's food roads are cut off, the Ming army will inevitably collapse.

Dorgon agreed with Hong Chengchou's strategy from the bottom of his heart.

But there is a prerequisite for this, that is, Hong Chengchou cannot have two minds.

If Hong Chengchou also becomes Mao Wenlong after Tieshan, that won't work.

But fortunately, Hou Fangyu's secret letter made Dorgon dispel this worry.

Hou Fangyu repeatedly assured Dorgon in the letter that at least until now, Hong Chengchou is still dedicated to serving the Qing Dynasty, and he has absolutely no half-heartedness.

In view of this, Dorgon resolutely rejected the advice of Qi Chongge and other ministers.

Seeing that Dorgon refused to accept the remonstrance, Qi Chongge and others had no choice but to retreat.

……

Almost at the same time, the news that the Ming army was approaching the city had spread throughout Beijing.

Nobles of the Eight Banners such as Le Kedehun, Duoduo, Boluo, and Luoluohun still don't believe it.

These Eight Banners nobles, immersed in the glory of their fathers and grandparents, couldn't extricate themselves anyway. In just a few years, the Ming army, which was originally suppressed by the Qing soldiers, was able to turn from defense to offense and launch the Northern Expedition against the Qing.

So by coincidence, these Eight Banners nobles all came to Chaoyang Gate.

Since Dorgon reformed the Eight Banners system and abolished the Eight Banners' governance, these Eight Banners nobles have been idle. Apart from walking their dogs with eagles every day, they are desperately trying to make people in the mansion, and they rarely gather together.

But today, all the princes, princes, princes, Baylor, and Beizi are all here.

Then, these Eight Banners nobles saw the sun and moon flag outside the Chaoyang Gate.

Because it was a little far away, the formation of the Ming army could not be seen clearly, but the big banner waving in the wind, especially the sun and moon patterns embroidered on the flag were clearly visible.

"Mother thief, are you really a smart dog?"

"What the hell, Minggou really dared to go north?"

"These smart dogs really don't know how to write the word dead."

"What the hell is the old fourteen doing? It's abolishing the Eight Banners' political governance, and the Manchu and Han are equal. After two years of busy work, the Ming dog has been beaten outside Chaoyang City?"

"We cannot stand idly by in this matter."

"That's right, the country that Lao Khan and the former emperor worked so hard to build cannot be ruined just like that!"

The Eight Banners nobles who were present became more and more angry, and all of them were filled with righteous indignation, wishing they could pull Dorgon off his horse on the spot and seize the highest power in the Qing Dynasty.

Especially Dodo.

Duo Duo has always believed that his military exploits and prestige are higher than Dorgon's. According to the rules, he should be the emperor's father and regent, and the reason why Dorgon was able to become the emperor's father's regent is entirely because of him support, so it was Dorgon who snatched the title of Prince Regent that should have belonged to him.

Doduo had quarreled before, but no one paid any attention to him.

Dodo even thought about assassinating Dorgon, but he didn't dare to take action in the end.

So as time went on, Dodo gradually accepted this reality.

But now seeing so many county kings Baylor and Beizi opposing Dorgon, Duduo saw an opportunity.

At that moment, Duoduo shouted loudly: "Beizi Wen Jian is right. This is the country that Lao Khan and the late emperor worked so hard to build, and it must not be buried in our hands. The old fourteen will not listen to my persuasion, so I will look for him." It's useless, let's go to the palace, let's go to the emperor and the queen mother, and ask the emperor and the queen mother to come out and preside over the big event!"

"Yes, look for the emperor, look for the queen mother!" Gu'er Mahui immediately echoed loudly.

The other county kings, Bei Le and Bei Zi, also joined in and headed for the Forbidden City.