After dinner that day, Wu Sangui instructed the generals and important civil officials above the staff general to come to the big tent after the fourth watch.

After the meeting began, Wu Sangui first briefed everyone on the situation in the past few days, and then said: "Although we are very capable of fighting, after all, there are not many of us, so we cannot go to Beijing or stay here. Going to Beijing is a lonely army, and the thief army is waiting for work, which is obviously not good for us. Stay here, the thieves come to fight, they are many of them, and we are few, and it is easy to be surrounded by him. For now, the only way to do this is to withdraw the troops quickly, some of them to Shanhaiguan, and most of them to Yongping to stand by. ”

One of the generals asked, "Are you ready to fight the thieves to the death in Yongping?"

Wu Sangui said: "It will be decided temporarily. If we all go to Shanhaiguan, the thieves will think that we are cowardly and flee, and he will take the throne in Beijing in early April. Most of our men are temporarily stationed in Yongping, and he knows that we have no intention of retreating, so he has to weigh it in his heart. Maybe he won't dare to ascend the throne right away. If he goes to Yongping to fight us, we will see how many of his troops he has sent. If he comes with all his divisions and a large number of men and horses, we can retreat to Shanhaiguan again. ”

Another general asked, "Shanhaiwei is a small city, and there are 200,000 thieves, or more than 100,000 in the legend of thieves. ”

Wu Sangui smiled coldly: "This town has its own good strategy. When the war is fought, we will win, and the thieves will lose. Once the thieves are defeated, they will be out of control, and then Beijing will be able to recover. ”

Some people seemed to understand Wu Sangui's strategy for using troops, while others still didn't quite understand it, and exchanged glances with each other. Wu Sangui knew that they had doubts in their hearts, and then said: "I have already sent someone to find out that the Northern Dynasty is concentrating its forces. When they learn that Beijing has fallen, they will definitely go out of their way. If Li Zicheng comes to Shanhaiguan for a decisive battle with us, as long as we hold out for a few days, the Northern Dynasties will attack Beijing through a gap in the Great Wall. At that time, the city of Beijing was empty, and Li Zicheng must have retreated in a hurry. And with the Qing troops in the west blocking and attacking and our army chasing in the east, how can the thieves not be defeated?"

"Even if the Northern Dynasty does not go south through the gap in the Great Wall and is stationed outside the Great Wall, we can send people to borrow troops. Historically, it was not uncommon to borrow troops from outsiders. We often hear that the ancients had a Shen Baoxu, after the state of Wu destroyed the state of Chu, he borrowed troops from the state of Qin, and as a result, the state of Wu was defeated, and the state of Chu was restored. Can't I, Wu Sangui, be Shen Baoxu?"

"What's more, I have tens of thousands of elite soldiers in hand, which is a hundred times stronger than Shen Baoxu. As long as the Northern Dynasty sends troops, we will definitely be able to expel the thieves and restore the Ming Dynasty. Afterwards, it was just to repay the Northern Dynasty with gold and silver. So no matter what, we can be invincible, just wait for Li Zicheng to throw himself into the net. ”

When the generals and staff members listened to Wu Sangui's strategy of using troops, they all admired it very much, and said repeatedly: "Okay, good, so that we will definitely be able to win the battle!"

Wu Sangui continued: "If Li Zicheng personally leads his men and horses to fight outside the Shanhai Acropolis, we will beat him on his back!"

The crowd was very excited and said, "It is very appropriate to use troops in this way." ”

After the fifth watch of the same day, Wu Sangui deployed who would retreat to Yongping and who would retreat to Shanhaiguan.

The day before Tang Tong and Zhang Ruoqi arrived, they first sent officials to inform Wu Sangui of the news, asking Wu Sangui to know in advance the arrival time of the envoys sent by Emperor Dashun to come to the army. Wu Sangui had already decided not to surrender Li Zicheng at this time, and found out that the Qing troops were about to go south.

He sent Yang Shen and several other civil and military officials to the red tile shop on the west bank of the Shihe River a few miles away to greet him, but he himself only greeted him outside the gate, which was not large in scale and had no drum music. As soon as Tang Tong and Zhang Ruoqi arrived, they immediately understood that Wu Sangui intended to lower the specifications of the envoys of the army. Their hearts were cold, and they exchanged glances with each other, deciding to leave room for conversation.

Wu Sangui happily accepted the gold and silver and a large amount of silk and other items from the army, and set up a feast for hospitality. The two officials and soldiers brought by the two soldiers were no more than a hundred, and they also held banquets and entertained them, and Ping Xibo had another reward. At the banquet, Tang Tong and Zhang Ruoqi talked several times about the eagerness of Emperor Dashun and Niu Cheng to expect Wu Sangui to surrender, but Wu Sangui always talked about him left and right, and refused to give a clear answer. When Li Zicheng is mentioned, he only honorifies King Li, not the emperor.

When Yang Shen toasted the two military envoys, he whispered: "My uncle will hold a private banquet in the inner house tonight to wait for him and have a secret conversation with the two adults. ”

Tang Tong and Zhang Ruoqi understood in their hearts, so they no longer talked about persuasion.

After the banquet was dismissed, the two soldiers of the Great Shun Dynasty were on a mission, running around on saddle horses for days, and they were very tired from the social activities after Shanhaiwei. Ping Xibo Xingyuan arranged a comfortable place for them to rest. After the second watch, Wu Sangui sent someone to invite them into the inner house of his Pingxibo temporary mansion to drink and have a secret conversation.

The night banquet was very strictly guarded, and Wu Sangui's cronies and civil and military forces were only attended by Yang Shen and three others. Wu Sangui first said to Zhang Ruoqi: "Master Zhang is from a Jinshi, and he is not comparable to a martial artist like us. As far as you can see, will King Li be able to sit firmly in the world?"

Zhang Ruoqi didn't answer this important question for the time being, but said with a smile: "Uncle is today's young Yuan Rong, a national cadre, and his wife is a famous ...... in the south of the Yangtze River Famous ......" He was about to say the word "famous prostitute", but suddenly felt inappropriate, paused, and then said: "Jiangnan celebrities, the country is beautiful and fragrant." On the eve of the red eyebrows entering the swallow, Cheng Qing's eyes are in the moth eyebrows. A momentary encounter, a story through the ages, really adds color to the battlefield. ”

After Zhang Ruoqi finished speaking, he felt that his words were appropriately worded, elegant and vulgar, so he laughed softly first, and then raised his glass to toast Wu Sangui and everyone.

After all, Wu Sangui was a military general, and he couldn't appreciate Zhang Ruoqi's elegant rhetoric, so he took a sip of the cup and continued to ask: "Lord Zhang, at this moment, we are discussing major events in the world, and not a word of what we talk about here will be passed on to the outside world. You are a learned person, and now you are trusted by the king of Yongchang, and you come to the army with the title of secretary of the new dynasty military government. According to you, can Li Zicheng sit firmly in the country?"

Zhang Ruoqi smiled: "I have surrendered to King Li, and the relationship with King Li is that of a monarch and a minister, and the minister cannot discuss his monarch privately!"

Wu Sangui didn't ask deeply, but just made a very intimate appearance and said: "At present, the world is in turmoil, the situation is unpredictable, and adults also need to take a step back." Lord Tang, what do you say?"

"Speaking of which, I was a fool of myself, and I got on the thief ship by mistake. Not to mention anything else, let's just say that the Dashun army only values the villagers of Shaanxi, and treats the newly surrendered soldiers as slaves, which is not the bearing of the world. broke Beijing, and did not want to build the capital of Beijing, so he never forgot to return to Xi'an as soon as possible. Because he did not want to build the capital of Beijing, he connived at the people and horses from Shaanxi to stay in Beijing, arbitrarily rob property, rape women, torture officials and gentry to recover stolen goods. Before the wind blows, the gold and silver looted in Beijing were transported back to Xi'an. Can this be the case when sitting in the world?"

Tang Tong's words were out of personal indignation and had no intention of provoking, but Wu Sangui and his cronies were violently shaken in their hearts. Wu Sangui turned to Zhang Ruoqi and asked, "Lord Zhang, is this the case?"

Zhang Ruoqi nodded and replied, "I'm just hearsay, because as soon as King Li entered the city, we left for the military gate." If this is the case, we only need to compare the past and the present to predict the success or failure. Liu Bang, the king of the Han Dynasty......"

"Is it Han Gaozu?" Wu Sangui asked.

"Yes, Liu Bang was not yet emperor at that time. He entered Xianyang first, listened to the advice of Fan Hao and Zhang Liang, did not rest in the palace, sealed the heavy treasures, property, and treasury of the Qin Dynasty, returned to the army, summoned his father and old heroes, and announced three decrees, which are called the three chapters of the covenant in the history books. Therefore, the people live as usual, and they are very popular with the people. ”

At first, the poor and small households in Beijing hoped that King Li would open a warehouse and give relief after he arrived, but later they learned that the Cao Yun had been cut off, and after King Li arrived, not only did he not open a warehouse to give relief, but he wantonly harassed him. Beijing's small and impoverished households are living in even more difficult circumstances. As for the gentry of Kifu, people's hearts are unstable and they miss the old Ming, you know this situation, I don't need to say it. ”

Wu Sangui said: "King Li sent the two of you to come with a lot of money to reward the army, hoping that I can surrender. However, I received the great favor of the first emperor, and even if I could not immediately raise the banner of righteousness, I could not surrender without losing the dignity. You will return to Beijing in a few days, how can I reply?"

After Tang Tong and Zhang Ruoqi came to Shanhaiwei, after chatting with Wu Sangui and his subordinates during the day, and having a secret conversation again tonight, they fully understood that Wu Sangui had no intention of surrendering, so this matter made them feel that it was really difficult to handle.

After all, Tang Tong was born as a military general, and his personality was relatively straightforward, and he said: "Master Zhang and I were ordered to come to the army with a lot of money, and try our best to persuade you to surrender." If you insist on not being submissive, we can't do anything about it. It's just that King Li couldn't wait for you to surrender or send a surrender letter, so he changed the date of enthronement several times, which caused his prestige to suffer a lot, and he was furious. If we go back to Beijing and say that you refuse to surrender, perhaps King Li will personally lead a large army to attack Shanhaiguan. I know very well that this Shanhai Pass is impregnable when attacked from the outside, and it is difficult to hold on to it when attacked from the inside. Pinsiber, are you fully prepared for war?"

Since Wu Sangui abandoned Ningyuan, Ningyuan was occupied by Qing soldiers. But Ningyuan is his homeland after all, and his family's farmland and hometown are all in Ningyuan. He knew that Dolgon was preparing to lead the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners south, intending to enter the Great Wall from Jizhou and Miyun. Therefore, he thought that as long as Li Zicheng could delay the time when he came to attack Shanhaiguan, things would change, and he would be able to let the Qing soldiers and the Dashun army fight near Beijing, and he himself would watch the war from the wall.

But he couldn't express this thought, so he only exchanged a sly smile with his close lieutenant Yang Shen, and then said to Tang Tong: "Uncle Dingxi, what you said is very true. The city of Shanhaiwei is impregnable when attacked from the outside, but it is not strong when attacked from the inside. However, the younger brother has tens of thousands of well-trained Guanning elite soldiers in his hands, and he is good at field warfare. At present, I am retreating to the lonely city, but I am not short of food, which can support me for at least half a year. ”

"Red-coated cannons and firearms of all sizes also came from Ningyuan, which was not only convenient for field battles, but also conducive to defending the city. Ding Xibo, if the war cannot be avoided, the battlefield is not in the west city of Shanhaiwei, nor is it the battle for Xiluo City, it must be on the west bank of the Shihe River. It is a plain wilderness, with a slight shallowness, which is conducive to field warfare. From Beijing to Shanhai, more than 700 miles. Our army waited for work and prepared to meet the enemy on the west bank of the Shihe River. ”

"In case the initial battle is unfavorable, you can retreat to Ciro City. The rocky river beach is full of large and small stones, and it is difficult for people and horses to gallop, and there are no trees to cover it, and there is not even a mound. If the enemy pursues the rocky river beach, the red-coated cannons and various firearms set up on the city of Silo will just exert their power and annihilate the enemy on the river beach. All in all, the time, the place, the people, all on my side. What am I afraid of? Doesn't Li Zicheng have any worries? How long can he garrison troops on the west bank of the Shihe River?"

After all, Zhang Ruoqi was a scholar, and from Wu Sangui's tone, he heard the news that the Manchurians were going to march into China, which was exactly a major thing he was worried about. He took the opportunity to ask Wu Sangui, "Uncle Pingxi, is there any news from Shenyang to march troops into China?"

Wu Sangui hurriedly replied: "Since I was ordered to give up Ningyuan and lead tens of thousands of soldiers to protect the people of Ningyuan into the pass, the Qing soldiers occupied Ningyuan and did not dare to enter the gate, and the two sides were safe. Benyuan is concerned about the news from Beijing, and no longer sends people to inquire about the movements in Shenyang, so the news from Shenyang is not as good as Beijing. Lord Zhang, you were famous as a soldier in the first dynasty, and now you have a heavy responsibility in the new dynasty. You ask me, who do I ask?"

Zhang Ruoqi heard Wu Sangui mention the matter of the previous dynasty, and felt a slight heat on his face. However, he concluded that Wu Sangui must know the situation in Shenyang, and then asked: "Although my uncle has no time to send people to inquire about the situation in Shenyang, he lives in Liaodong and is far more familiar with the situation in Manchuria than the civil and military officials in the interior. According to the judgment of his subordinates, will the Manchurians take advantage of King Li's unstable foothold in Beijing and raise troops to the south?"

Wu Sangui pondered for a moment, and said in a very confident tone: "I have received the great favor of the Ming Dynasty, and today I can only decide to beg the thief, and I have no hesitation." Regardless of whether the Qing soldiers invaded the south or not, once the time comes, I will restore the Ming Dynasty and avenge the first emperor, and there is no need to say anything else. But I have been through hardships with the two of us, so I can't help but tell the truth. Please only know in your own heart, and don't tell King Li when you return to Beijing. For the sake of King Li, he came to Shanhaiguan to find trouble with me, which was very unfavorable to him. Please persuade him that it will not be easy for him to seize Shanhaiguan by force, and it is better not to stay away from Beijing. ”