Today's meeting at the Rui Palace's was a high-level and important secret meeting, and apart from Dolgon himself, only Prince Zheng Jierharang, Fan Wencheng, and Hong Chengchou were the only ones who discussed the most important issue of judging Li Zicheng's actual strength.

The report from Beijing said that Li Zicheng led an army of 500,000 to cross the river from Hancheng into Jin, and there were still one million troops behind. If Li Zicheng really had so many men and horses going north, and the Qing Manchu, Mongolian, and Han men would not have more than 200,000 troops, he must not rush south, lest he be defeated by the thieves who were numerous and full of morale. Considering the strength of Li Zicheng's army, Dolgon couldn't help but hesitate in his heart.

In the first two secret discussions presided over by Dolgon himself, Hong Chengchou's views were different, so that Dolgon could not help but be impressed by him. Hong Chengchou believed that Li Zicheng would never have 500,000 men and horses in the eastern part of the Jin, and he believed that since ancient times, the soldiers were not tired of deceit, and the strength of the soldiers could show weakness, so as to deceive and paralyze the enemy. As for Cao Cao's Battle of Chibi and Hejian's Battle of Weishui, they showed strength with weakness and greatly exaggerated the number of their own men and horses.

Hong Chengchou said in a very confident tone: "In the humble opinion of the ministers, Li Thief claimed that 500,000 horses crossed the river into Jin, and the east invaded Youyan, which is also an exaggeration, and the actual number of troops is by no means this number. The number of generals is probably between 200,000 and 300,000, not more. Considering 300,000, the number of troops that can fight under the city of Beijing will not exceed 200,000. ”

Dorgon asked, "Why do you estimate so little?"

Fan Wencheng interjected: "Lord Hong, I estimate that Li Zicheng's people who came to Beijing are probably more than 300,000. ”

Prince Zheng continued: "Our Eight Banners have not yet fought with the thieves, so we must not underestimate the enemy, and would rather estimate the enemy's strength to be stronger than careless. ”

Hong Chengchou thought for a moment, and said with a smile: "The two auxiliary princes and Fan Bachelor have carefully considered the use of troops, and are willing to make the rogue forces of the eastern criminals stronger, so as to mobilize more people in advance and annihilate the rogue thieves in one battle, which is naturally good." But there is a cloud in the art of war: knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent, winning a hundred battles, this is an immutable principle in ancient and modern times. In the Southern Dynasty, the minister fought with the thieves for many years, and knew a little about the truth among the thieves, and the thieves used to use false intimidation, and took advantage of the weaknesses of the court and the provincial officials and armies, so that they could grow rapidly and continue to win and have today. ”

"In recent years, the thieves have been at their peak, claiming to have a million people, but according to Yichen, there were no more than 500,000 at the peak. Yunyang and Junzhou were both based on Wang Guangen's brothers, and because of Xiangyang's elbow and armpits, Li Zicheng could not break through Yun and Jun. How important Runan Mansion is, Li Zicheng has no heavy troops to garrison, and he is allowed to steal from local gentry and bandits. Therefore, the minister said that although Li Zicheng had about 500,000 people, he still divided his troops to garrison everywhere, and there were many important places that he could not afford to garrison. ”

"From this point of view, the thieves crossing the river into Jin, the actual number of soldiers who invaded Youyan in the east will never exceed 300,000. What's more, this time the thieves committed the east, which was very different from the previous marches, and Li Ziwei was a thief and was good at flowing. Now he established a false name in Xi'an, and crossed the river to the east, in a vain attempt to become the emperor in Beijing, so he must bring many important figures such as civil and military officials with him, and every bureaucrat must have a group of slaves to follow, and there must be soldiers and horses to protect him. ”

"Imagine that these 300,000 people and thousands of miles of expedition are not easy to talk about? Just talking about the transportation of grain and heavy loads, it will take 10,000 or 20,000 people. From this point of view, if Li Thief crossed the river east with 300,000 people and left troops along the way, there would not be 200,000 people when he arrived at the city of Beijing. ”

Fan Wencheng thought that Hong Chengchou's opinion was reasonable, but he still didn't dare to fully believe it, for fear of making the mistake of underestimating the enemy.

He looked at the puzzled look on Prince Rui's face, and then asked Hong Chengchou: "Lord Hong is familiar with the situation in the Southern Dynasty, and he really has extraordinary opinions. But what Wen Cheng is still puzzled about is that you said that Li Thief did not have many troops, and he relied on false intimidation, but he galloped through the Central Plains in the past three years, was invincible, swept Huguang, drove into Shaanxi, easily occupied Xi'an, swept all over the northwest, and made the Ming Dynasty struggling to cope with the crisis of the country, how do you explain this situation?"

Jierharang first nodded to Fan Wencheng with a smile, and then asked Hong Chengchou: "Yes, Li Zicheng has been invincible in the past three years, is this all fake?"

Dolgon didn't wait for Hong Chengchou to speak, he had already thought of how Hong Chengchou would answer, knocked the cigarette ash on the edge of the iron brazier, and laughed: "Interesting, interesting, don't talk about it now." I have ordered the royal kitchen to prepare lunch, let's go, let's go to the lunch table, and talk while eating. ”

As soon as he got up from the brazier, Dolgon said, "There is one more thing, I will also consult with you to see if it is feasible? If it is feasible, of course, the sooner the better, and you should see Li Zicheng on the way and get his reply." ”

"What kind of tricks does the prince have?" Fan Wencheng asked while standing.

Dolgon replied with a confident smile: "I want to send someone to bring a letter from my Great Qing Kingdom to meet Li Zicheng on the road in Shanxi, one to find out whether he is an enemy or a friend of my Great Qing Kingdom, and the other is to personally go to see how strong the thief is, what do you think of this plan?"

Fan Wencheng was usually careful, and then asked: "In whose name do you write a letter to the leader of the thieves?

Dolgon smiled meaningfully, and then gently waved his right hand: "Let's go, discuss important matters while eating." ”

The building scale of the main hall of the Rui Wangfu is not large, although it is also three bright and dark five, five ridges and six beasts, and five steps, but if it is placed in the pass, it is just like the hall of the rich landlord. The red lacquer painted gold Eight Immortals table for lunch is placed in the East Warm Pavilion of the main hall, and the room is as warm as spring, and the furnishings are simple. Dolgon and Zilharang sat on two red felt-covered Taishi chairs on the north side of the Eight Immortals Table, facing due south, with Dolgon on the left and Zilharang on the right.

On the left side of the Eight Immortals Table is Hong Chengchou's seat, and on the right is Fan Wencheng's seat, which is the position designated by Prince Rui, and Hong Chengchou is not allowed to be humble. Fan Wencheng knew that Prince Rui was going to reuse Hong Chengchou in the major matter of marching into the army to destroy the Ming Dynasty, so he bowed his hand to Hong Chengchou and happily sat down on the right side of the Eight Immortals Table.

Zilharang instructed Hong Chengchou to sit on the left side of Dolgon, and although he did not speak, he secretly felt strange in his heart. He thinks that Fan Wencheng came to serve when Taizu was struggling to start a business, and he was loyal, and when he arrived in the Taizong Dynasty, he relied on him as a confidant, and Fan Zhangjing decided big and small matters in a word, and he didn't understand Prince Rui's intentions at all. Although Hong Chengchou and Fan Wencheng are also bachelors of the Inner Academy, in the eyes of Dolgon, Hong Chengchou is not only the minister of the DPRK and China, but also relies on Hong Chengchou to give advice when he enters the Central Plains in the near future.

On the other hand, Hong Chengchou was the governor of Jiliao in the Ming Dynasty before his surrender, with the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Soldiers, and a second-rank officer, which is better than Fan Wencheng, who was born and raised in Manchuria. Since Dolgon wanted to forge ahead in the Central Plains, he could not but respect this habit of the Han people, but he did not talk about this idea with Jierharang, nor with Fan Wencheng. However, Fan Wencheng understood in his heart, and he also knew that Hong Chengchou had decided not to be an eternal sinner who led the Qing soldiers to seize Emperor Chongzhen's country.

At this time, Fan Wencheng thought with a smile in his heart: "You, Hong Jiu, have entered the Rui Prince's army, and will soon lead the Eight Banners army to break through Beijing. ”

Because there were two coats from the Rui Palace's palace to serve lunch in the warm pavilion, Dolgon did not mention military issues at all, nor did he talk about the Qing dynasty. Prince Zheng and Fan Wencheng all understood the rules of the Rui Palace, so they didn't mention the military news, but they were eager to know Li Zicheng's actual strength, so they could decide on the southward strategy of the Qing army. Although Hong Chengchou has surrendered to Manchuria for two years, the Southern Dynasty is his parents' state after all, and Chongzhen is his old king, so he can't forget the military situation in Shanxi, and he bows his head gloomily and is silent.

Ever since Zilharang stepped back and supported Dolgon's presiding over the government, Dolgon ordered five houses to be vacated in the western courtyard, which were closely guarded, and the scholars of the three inner courtyards plus several Manchu and Han writers took turns to be on duty day and night, so as not to miss their official duties. After Dolgon sat down on the throne, he suddenly thought that the matter of writing a letter to Li Zicheng was quite urgent, and immediately ordered a bag of clothes to go to the West Side Courtyard to call a scholar of the Inner Secretary Academy on duty.

The Manchu Baoyi replied, "Tsk!" and turned to withdraw.

Dolgon picked up his chopsticks and gestured slightly to Prince Zheng on his right, so the two auxiliary kings and the two inner court scholars began to eat. After a while, the scholar of the Inner Secretary Academy, who was on duty in the West Side Academy, came to the front and bowed his knees to the two auxiliary ministers. Dolgon told him about the book he had written to Li Zicheng, ordered him to hurry up and send it after lunch, and told him what he was going to write.

The bachelor on duty asked: "May I ask the prince, I heard that Li Zicheng has made a false name in Xi'an, the country name Dashun, and the year name Yongchang, is this letter written to Li Zicheng?"

"Of course you want to give it to him, who will you write it to if you don't write it to him?"

"In the name of whom is this letter written?

Prince Zheng had just picked up a large piece of white meat from the hot pot, but he hadn't stabilized yet, and when he heard this, his chopsticks moved, and the piece of fat white meat fell into the hot pot. He feared that if things changed in the future, someone would hold him accountable for conspiring with the thieves, and the resourceful Dolgon would put the blame on him alone. He paused to move his chopsticks, turned his eyes to the left, glanced at Dorgon, and praised the bachelor on duty at the table in his heart: "Good question, I want to ask for clarification." ”

Dolgon was confident about this question from the beginning, and at this time, without thinking, he could answer it casually, but he deliberately asked Fan Wencheng: "In the past, Grandmaster Tai presided over the government, and if there was something, he asked Fan Zhangjing, and listened to Fan Zhangjing's words. Bachelor Fan, who do you think my Great Qing Kingdom should be named?"

Fan Wencheng replied: "There is no precedent for this matter in our country, I am afraid that we have to use the names of the two auxiliary princes." ”

Dolgon shook his head and asked Zilharang, "Prince Zheng, what do you claim?"

Zilharang said: "Our dynasty has been customized, although there are two auxiliary governors, but the government is dominated by Prince Rui, although Prince Rui does not have the name of regent, but there is a regent. This letter to Li Zicheng is very important, and of course it should be sent in the name of Prince Zhengrui, who is the king of Dashun. ”

Dolgon smiled and cursed in his belly, "Cunning, stupid and treacherous. ”

Immediately, he remained silent and said to the scholar on duty who was waiting solemnly: "Li Zicheng has already occupied several provinces of land and established a false name in Xi'an, which is not comparable to ordinary bandits and rogues. In order for him to attach importance to this letter, and to treat the envoys who went to write it with courtesy, so that he could see what Li Zicheng's actual strength was, and to ascertain what he thought of our country, this letter must be addressed to him in the name of our emperor. I can't use the name of my country's auxiliary prince, this is a letter from the emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty to the king of Dashun. ”

Since Prince Fu Zhengrui's face was very clear and his tone was very decisive, the scholar on duty did not ask any more questions and quickly withdrew.

Dolgon and the others continued to eat, and the lunch at Prince Rui's Mansion consisted of only a large assorted hot pot and four plates of meat and vegetarian dishes. At lunchtime, everyone stopped talking about state affairs, and the Dongnuan Pavilion was silent, and Prince Zheng Zierharang muttered in his heart while eating: "In the name of the emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Dolgon did not discuss such a major event in advance, and he didn't even say hello. ”

Hong Chengchou did not approve of Prince Rui's use of the name of the emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty to send a letter of state to Li Zicheng, the leader of the thieves, and conspired to destroy the Ming Dynasty. In this matter, he saw even more that Dolgon was walking step by step on the road of independent government, taking advantage of Shunzhi's youth, as the old saying goes: "Coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes." He also understood that Dorgon's personality was very different from that of Huang Taiji, and that if he accidentally angered Dolgon in the future, he would definitely be killed.

After quickly finishing their lunch, everyone returned to the Xinuan Pavilion with Prince Rui, rinsed their mouths, and sat down around the brazier again, and the servants of the palace quietly withdrew.

Dolgon lit his cigarette pouch, took two or three puffs, and asked Hong Chengchou: "Master Hong, I often hear that Li Zicheng has millions of people, and he is invincible, so that the Ming Dynasty is unable to deal with it, so that the country is in danger of dying today, why do you say that Li Zicheng does not have many people? Isn't it a bit underestimated?"

Seeing that Hong Chengchou was about to stand up, Dolgon stopped him with a gesture: "Discuss the thief together, you can sit down and talk, are you because you were a minister of the Ming Dynasty, you have a common enmity with the thief, and you are used to despising the thief, so you don't want to say that his soldiers and horses are strong?"

"Otherwise, the minister is planning for the auxiliary king today, planning for the Qing Dynasty, and doing his best to be loyal to the auxiliary king, so as to benefit the thousand years of meritorious deeds of the auxiliary king. Today, Li Zicheng is the sworn enemy of the Ming Dynasty, everyone knows it, but once Li Zicheng breaks through Beijing and the Ming Dynasty falls, he is the fierce enemy of our Great Qing Kingdom. The minister estimated that Li Zicheng arrived at the city of Beijing in mid-March. ”

Dorgon was surprised: "It's only about two months, isn't there any obstruction along the way?"