The descendants of Aixinjueluo were extremely nervous about this. Only their profuse and eighth elder brother Huang Taiji remained calm and composed. Even after hearing the news of Fuzhou's tragic defeat, he still calmly arranged the matters for the Western Expedition, as if there was no trace of anything. not affected by it.
Dorgon once thought that the eighth prince was bluffing. Like himself, he was only calm on the surface, but still confused in his heart. Unexpectedly, Bago really had a strategy for dealing with those greenskins, and he was able to come up with a complete set of execution routes.
Dorgon has led troops to fight for many years, and he knows that whether he is marching or in charge of daily affairs, what he fears is not the difficulties and hardships, but the lack of a clue. No matter how strong the enemy is in front of you, just find a way to defeat him and just kill him. I am afraid that the road ahead is confusing and empty, and I don't know where to go or what to do. This is the real headache for the leader.
Now that Huang Taiji, as the Great Khan, has given out a way, then as a subordinate, he does not have to hesitate and just follow it.
Dorgon always felt that this myna's ability was only so great. If he hadn't been born too late, if he had Mang Gurtai's powerful followers when his father Khan passed away, he might not have been able to give him a try. But now, he has deeply realized the gap between himself and the other party. The title of Tianming Khan was indeed not obtained by luck.
On the other hand, he was also secretly glad in his heart - thanks to the fact that the Eighth Prince, who has the clearest mind and the most outstanding strategy among the brothers, is now the Great Khan, it is possible for him to lead everyone out of this dangerous situation. If there is a way out, if the original pattern of the four Baylors co-governing continues, I am afraid that no one will be able to get away with it.
Feeling sincerely convinced, Dorgon lowered his head deeply and said sincerely:
"The Great Khan's strategy is indeed beyond the reach of my ministers. My younger brother has learned from it."
Suddenly he remembered something, and he immediately suggested:
"That being the case, I heard that Fushun forehead has some secrets in Beijing. Maybe it can be used now?"
But Huang Taiji shook his head:
"At first, I relied on Li Yongfang because the Li family in Liaodong had many old contacts with the military families of the Ming Dynasty, so they could talk to each other. But now those greenskins came from the south and were rebellious, and they had a close relationship with the Ming Dynasty. The general has nothing to do with it. It's just a black eye and starting from scratch, so why use him."
"Besides, this matter is of great importance. I don't want to leave it in the hands of the Han people. Now is not the time to talk. Those greenskins are arrogant. If we can't give them a heart-wrenching lesson on the battlefield, how can they be willing to put down their dignity and fight with them? We talk as equals.”
"So the most urgent thing at the moment is to beat the greenskins into fear. Only by knocking out their arrogance can we proceed with the next step of planning. There is no need to be anxious after you go back. Tell Fan Yongdou and let him Just look for opportunities slowly. The main focus must be on this war."
"Yes, my brother understands."
Huang Taiji nodded:
"Then just do it, be careful."
Dorgon bowed and backed away, taking a few steps back before turning around and leaving. Looking at his gradually blurring back, Huang Taiji suddenly coughed a few times and reached out to wipe his face, only to see some faint red marks on his hands.
My nose is bleeding again. I don’t know what kind of strange disease this is. I asked the witch doctor privately several times but couldn’t get the answer. He just said that his blood was too strong and he was given some medicine, but it was of no use.
Huang Taiji silently took out the cotton he had prepared long ago from his arms, tore off a small piece and stuffed it in his nose. It wouldn't be a big deal if his nose only bleeds, but the accompanying headaches, physical weakness, and frequent attacks of vertigo are what make him troublesome.
“If it weren’t for his poor health and lack of energy, and he really couldn’t take care of it, he wouldn’t have told anyone about his plan to secretly contact the Qiongzhou Shorthair, and he would have definitely sent someone to handle it himself. However, now, it can only be left to the wisest among the brothers, but also the most ambitious, the Fourteenth.
The boy has always been extremely submissive, but Huang Taiji believes that he will never forget that it was he, Daishan, Mang Gurtai and others who teamed up to force his biological mother Abahai to death. Although the Jurchen clan of the Later Jin Dynasty did not always value the filial piety of the Han people, and Mang Gurtai even killed his own mother, there was no doubt that Dorgon was pregnant with hatred for himself.
Hatred Huang Taiji sneered, who doesn't have hatred towards him? The second brother Daishan turned out to be the eldest son of his father Khan after his eldest brother Zhuying, and he had hoped to be directly established as the heir. But an inexplicable incident of "adultery with his mother and concubine" caused him to permanently lose the trust and favor of his father Khan.
After so many years, he has probably guessed who was behind that incident. Not to mention that from the beginning,The four major Baylors of ?? were co-governed, but now Nanmian sits alone. It doesn't matter that Amin and Mang Gurtai are dead. Daishan, as a ruler who was once alongside him, is now a minister who has to bow and kneel all the time. Doesn't he have hatred in his heart?
Relying on the strength of his mother's family, Mang Gurtai's lineage was also unparalleled in bravery. At one time, after his father Khan's death, Baylor was the most competitive among the sons for the position of the Great Khan. However, he teamed up with Daishan and others to use his murder of his mother to attack him, and in the end he only became one of the four Baylors.
And then he seized various opportunities to attack continuously. Zhenglan Banner, which was once strong for a while, is now in great decline. Although Mang Gurtai and Dege died one after another, Mang Guji, who is currently in power, hates himself to the core and curses him all day long - does this stupid woman really think that he does not dare to touch her?
Amin, the son of Shuerhaqi, once raised troops with Nurhaci and was a powerful force that kept pace with the Aisin Gioro family, and even had the ambition to replace him. Amin's father and brother both died at the hands of his father Khan, but he is still the successor of the Shuerhaqi line and controls many tribes and troops - he has hatred for all the descendants of Nurhachi. Everyone knows something.
Including the following little Belles, they also have a lot of dissatisfaction with themselves: Needless to say, Azig is the same mother-brother as Dorgon; Abatai is often bullied because of his humble background, but he knows it clearly in his heart without saying anything; Even that stupid boy Hauge often resented that he was too strict with him and did not directly appoint him as his successor, and he often complained in various ways.
????????? Do these people hate themselves – maybe it’s not even a question. But it would be foolish to really believe that they love you as much as they say. Now that he sits in the position of Hou Jin Khan, it is impossible to expect others to have real goodwill towards him. It is normal to be hated by others.
What about hatred? Dorgon, Azig, and the youngest Duduo all hated him deeply, but this did not prevent him from using the two white flags of the three brothers to deal with Mang Gurtai's Zhenglan Banner many times. He and Daishan hate each other, and both sides know this very well, but when facing a series of challenges from the outside world, they can still unite and jointly suppress those dissatisfied forces. Even after Amin's death, his younger brother Ji'erharang was still reused as the deputy of the Criminal Department, and at the same time, he also appeased the tribesmen under Xianglan's banner who originally belonged to Shuerhaqi.
The king is never afraid of hatred! Even if you hate me so much in your heart, you still have to kowtow to me respectfully when we meet, and you must use all your intelligence, courage and strategy to serve me and complete the tasks I have assigned you. Not convinced? Hold it in!
This is the self-confidence and pride of being the Great Khan of Houjin. No matter how much you hold hatred in your heart, it can only be used by me in the end!
Huang Taiji stood there, his thoughts wandering for a while, and finally remembered and put the cotton back into his arms. When he reached into his pocket, his fingers touched something hard. When he took it out, he saw that it was the bullet of the short-haired musket.
After holding it in his hand and playing with it for a moment, Huang Taiji muttered to himself:
"It's up to people to plan things Now I've done everything I need to do. For the rest, I just hope that the eternal God can bless me."
Huang Taiji casually threw the bullet into the grass, turned around and left. In his slender eyes, there were faint gleams of light.
…………
In the next few days, the Manchu and Mongolian elite cavalry came out in unison and looted in all directions. According to Huang Taiji's policy, he only continued to loot around the capital to consume the strength of the Ming army.
Ajige entered Dingxing, Yuetuo went to Fangshan, Dorgon fought against Zhuozhou, and Abatai attacked Gu'an Each army made several surprise attacks on the walls of Beijing. Although they failed to enter the city, they burned all the surrounding villages and fields. , the farmers' caravan that did not hide in the city in time were also killed.
Immediately afterwards, they conquered Wen'an, broke Baodi, and killed all the local soldiers and civilians. Shunyi was captured, and no official in the city survived. As far as Huairou, he occupied Hexiwu and stationed troops in Miyun and Pinggu In just one month, he ravaged the entire territory.
In contrast, the Ming army's response was extremely slow and clumsy. Emperor Chongzhen was really panicked this time. He first ordered the ministers of civil and military affairs to guard various capital gates, and then appointed the eunuch Gao Qiqian as the supervisor of the army. Reinforcements - Just like five years ago, Beijing once again sent King Qin's edict to surrounding towns, but whether intentionally or unintentionally, Qionghai Town was still not included.
But it doesn’t really matter whether it’s included or not—contrary to the last time when all the armies from all over the world enthusiastically came to serve the king, this time the towns basically stood still. Even if there were responding troops, they would only find a city to station themselves in far away. , dare not attack at all, let alone fight with Hou Jin.
As for the soldiers and horses of Liao Town, who had high hopes from the imperial court - Zong Long, the governor of Ji Liao, had sent reinforcements early, but the first batch of reinforcements were led by Shanhaiguan Commander-in-Chief You Shiwei and Ningyuan Regiment Training Commander Wu Xiang. Ma Zhi???I didn't appear near Beijing today either. Even the military envoys sent by the imperial court could not find anyone for a while - these thousands of troops were missing around the capital!
When he urged Liao Zhen again, Fu Zonglong had a very good attitude. On the one hand, he promised to send people to find the former army as soon as possible - and let Wu Xiang and his son go, so he might not be able to find his biological father. On the other hand, a second wave of reinforcements was immediately dispatched: the core of Liao Town, five thousand elite troops led by Guan Ning's powerful general Zu Dabi. This was also the largest mobile force that Liao Town could send.
But when the envoy from the Ministry of War asked whether Governor Fu, who had been in battle for a long time, could accompany the army to the capital in person and command the many troops of King Qin on his behalf. But Fu Zonglong flatly refused - after the Jin Dynasty invaded, the Jiliao defense line was also tight now, and he would never dare to leave his job lightly. Zhang Fengyi, the Prince's Young Protector, and Mr. Zhang, who have been serving as Grand Sima of the Xia Dynasty for a long time, will definitely be able to strategize and command all the people to win a decisive victory over the capital!
——He speaks very nicely and arranges things simply. No one can say that he doesn’t try his best. Governor Ji Liao, you just need to ensure the safety of Ji Liao's defense line. The former Governor Yuan interfered randomly in the affairs of the capital. As soon as he heard that Beijing was in danger, he hurriedly led his troops to rescue him. He also took over the command of the various Qinwang troops in a grand manner - everyone saw his final fate. .
It is natural for Fu Zonglong to avoid suspicion now, and the other towns seem to have similar ideas. The imperial court's edict from King Qin cannot be ignored, and some troops have been sent out more or less, but none of the chief officials of the towns came - Gyeonggi affairs, it must still be The court has to deal with it personally. This is the fault of Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War, and it is not easy to get rid of it.
But no matter how much pushback and delay there is within the Ming army, it is inevitable that the military situation outside will be raging. Emperor Chongzhen, who had always been impatient, finally lost his patience after being besieged for nearly a month.
On September 17, when the Hou Jin and Mongolian armies once again came to the city and showed off their power outside Xizhimen, Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian, who was sitting in the Jinluan Palace, looked at the helpless faces of his ministers and the only words on their faces. Kowtowing and yelling nonsense like "Let the Holy Judgment", he angrily kicked over the palace lantern beside him:
"There is no need to discuss it any further. Here is my decree - order Qionghai Town to send troops and horses to defend the capital as soon as possible."