Wu Guogui said: "I don't know what the general wants us to do?" Zhu Youdong said: "Don't worry about these first, you tell me first, why you came to attack the city today, I remember that Wu Sangui has such elite troops as you, but there shouldn't be many." ”

Wu Guogui smiled bitterly and said: "General Huiyan, we have followed the prince in Liaodong, since we entered the Central Plains, the prince is reluctant to let us consume like this." Zhu Youdong nodded and said: "It turned out to be Wu Sangui's Guanning Iron Cavalry, by the way, you are cavalry, so let you attach ants to attack the city?" ”

Wu Guogui said: "If it wasn't for those people of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, our cavalry would have become the infantry attacking the city." Zhu Youdong said: "I remember that the Manchurians' favorite thing is to use the people to attack the city, why don't you use it here?" ”

Wu Guogui said: "I heard that Guiyang was occupied by the army of the Ming Dynasty, and Doni was in a hurry to let the army return to Guizhou, only let the cavalry return, and there was no infantry at all. So there were no siege troops at all, and no one thought that you would win the victory pass so quickly and block us here. And when he came out of Qujing, he didn't meet a single person. ”

Zhu Youdong said: "So that's the case, it is said that Guo Li loves them and they all transferred the people of Pingyi Wei to the Pingyi Institute, which is what you have encountered." You have no infantry and no civilians, so it is only natural to use you as a siege force. ”

Wu Guogui said: "Yes, this is also a helpless thing, if there is a prince, they don't dare to be so obvious, but now there is only Xia Guoxiang alone, where can he withstand their pressure." Zhu Youdong said: "The Manchurians and the people of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty are oppressing you? ”

Wu Guogui hesitated a little and said: "The people of the Han Army Banner didn't dare before, but this time it was the clan Belle Duran who led the Han Army Banner, and he seemed to be deliberately targeting us, and the people of the Han Army Banner didn't want to come up directly to tackle the problem, so they joined forces with Du Lan to squeeze us." ”

Zhu Youdong listened to Wu Guogui's words, and immediately determined his thoughts, before Zhu Youdong looked at the corpses of the Guan Ning army under the city, and Wu Guogui and Hu Guozhu were both Wu Sangui's generals, but now they came to climb the city in person to attack Shengjing Pass. Zhu Youdong wondered if there was any disagreement within the Qing army, and now that he listened to Wu Guogui's words, he wanted to take advantage of the flaws of the Qing army even more.

Zhu Youdong said: "How many Guan Ning troops did you bring?" Wu Guogui said: "There are a total of 20,000 Guanning troops, 20,000 Han army banners, and about 15,000 Manchurian Eight Banners." Although Zhu Youdong didn't ask Wu Guogui this, Wu Guogui still said it truthfully.

Zhu Youdong calculated for a moment and said: "You have almost brought all of Wu Sangui's Guanning army over, and it is estimated that the Han Army Banner Cavalry is here, and the Eight Banners of Manchuria are almost here." This is the elite of the entire Qing army in Yunnan. ”

Wu Guogui said: "That's true, at that time, Zhuo Luo was staring at Yuanjiang, and the prince couldn't help but listen, leaving only two thousand Guanning army guards, and the others were all transferred back, and then they were sent back to Guizhou." ”

Wu Guogui glanced at Zhu Youdong and said: "The army under Shengjing Pass is almost the cavalry of the entire Yunnan, and the others are only Yuan Kuoyu and 3,000 cavalry, and there are 5,000 cavalry in the hands of Lian Guoan." There are scattered 1,000 and 2,000 cavalry stationed in Yongchang Mansion and other places, and there are only 20,000 cavalry in total. ”

Zhu Youdong saw Wu Guogui and Zhuo Luo staring at Yuanjiang, so he asked, "Yuanjiang?" Oh yes, are you going to Yuanjiang to attack Na Song? Wu Guogui said: "Yes, the prince was ordered by Doni to go to Yuanjiang to quell the rebellion against Na Song." ”

Zhu Youdong said urgently: "Then what's going on now?" What about Song and the others? Wu Guogui said: "At that time, we had already broken through Yuanjiang City, and the Song family burned to death before the city was broken. Xu Mingchen and the others were still hiding in the inner city and fighting in the streets, and at the last moment, we received an order from Doni to return to Kunming. ”

Zhu Youdong heard that Na Song's family had committed suicide, and he was immediately disappointed, if Na Song had not died, this would have played a great role in Yunnan's resistance to the Qing Dynasty. After Zhu Youdong enters Yunnan, it will be much easier to destroy the Qing army. But now that Na Song is dead, the enthusiasm of the Tusi in Yunnan to resist the Qing Dynasty will be reduced a lot.

When Zhu Youdong was about to give up, he heard Wu Guogui say that they were finally recalled to Kunming. Suddenly asked with some expectation: "What about Xu Mingchen?" You have returned to Kunming, is Wu Sangui still continuing to attack Yuanjiang? ”

Wu Guogui said: "No, the prince received an order from Doni and went to Myanmar with Zhuo Luo, and even Zhuo Luo took the two thousand Manchurian Eight Banners with Yuanjiang." When Wu Guogui said this, he couldn't help but glance at Zhu Youdong again, and then tried but didn't say anything.

Seeing this, Zhu Youdong frowned, looked at Wu Guogui suspiciously, and said, "Go to Myanmar?" What are they going to Myanmar to do now? Isn't King Jin still in western Yunnan? Wu Guogui said: "This, the general still doesn't know better, otherwise it will not be good for the general." ”

Zhu Youdong was even more curious: "Oh, is it? Zhu Youdong looked at the guards around him and the soldiers who were guarding the guard, and then took Wu Guogui to a place where there was no one, and said in a low voice: "Tell me now, what is the situation?" What did Wu Sangui and Zhuo Luo do in Myanmar? Then Zhu Youdong suddenly thought of their purpose, and said in a hurry: "They want to go to Burma to arrest the emperor?" ”

Wu Guogui looked at Zhu Youdong with some surprise, but he didn't expect Zhu Youdong to think of it too. Wu Guogui looked at Zhu Youdong's expression, and didn't seem to be as worried and flustered as expected, and couldn't help but feel a little strange. But he still said: "Lord Wang, they did go to Burma to arrest Yongli, but it is more likely that they were killed directly in Myanmar." ”

Zhu Youdong was a little moved at this time, and said, "Do they really plan to do this?" Wu Guogui said: "Yes, the messenger who sent the order at that time told the prince like this. After Zhu Youdong confirmed, he suddenly became a little anxious, if the news of Yongli's killing came out now, it is estimated that the impact would be greater than that of Yongli's flight to Myanmar at that time.

At that time, Yongli fled to Burma, which was a great blow to those generals who led the army and the rebels who were determined to resist the Qing Dynasty, and they would lose their allegiance to the goal and the banner of resistance to the Qing Dynasty. But as soon as Yongli died, the entire Han people would lose the will and mind to resist the Manchus, and suddenly everyone would think that the Manchus were really destined for heaven.

In this way, those who originally wanted to resist the Qing Dynasty, or indirectly supported the anti-Qing forces, will also strike at the anti-Qing forces without reservation. This is undoubtedly the most lethal cause against the Qing Dynasty, and the anti-Qing Dynasty will completely lose the foundation of popular support.

This popular will is not the popular will that ordinary people say, but the popular will that everyone usually talks about is actually the heart of officials and gentry. In this era, they basically determined the stability of the entire dynasty. They can have a lot of say in the imperial court and help the imperial court stabilize the place.

But the people's hearts that Zhu Youdong thinks about now are the hearts of the real small people, and they may have no effect against the Qing Dynasty. They don't even know what the anti-Qing Dynasty is all about, but now it is indeed the foundation of Zhu Youdong. Because almost all of the current sources of soldiers in the Restoration Army are directly recruited from the small people.

Don't look at the fact that now the Restoration Army has occupied Sichuan and most of Guizhou, but the Restoration Army has not received the support of the gentry in these places at all. It's not that the Restoration Army doesn't want to, it's because most of the gentry in Sichuan and Guizhou are already in the midst of the war and have been looted and killed by the Qing army. Those who survived also supported the Manchus, and of course these gentry would not let go after the Ming Restoration Army came.

Although there are still some relatively small local clans in various places, they do not pose a threat to the Restoration Army, so now Zhu Youdong has not done anything against them. The Restoration Army now relies on the people who are really at the bottom of this era.

But if the news of Yongli's killing comes, then these small people will also think that the Manchu Qing Dynasty has returned to the destiny, and there were still people who secretly helped the anti-Qing forces after experiencing the brutality of the Qing army. After hearing the news, it is estimated that they will not help the anti-Qing forces.

Although the help of these people will not change much, without their help, the resistance to the Qing Dynasty will be completely difficult a hundred times. It's like Zhang Huangyan was in Nanzhili before, and he ran away alone after failure. At this time, there will be local righteous people to help him hide and help him to leave.

If there is no indirect or direct help from these people, Zhang Huangyan will be reported to the government as soon as he appears, then even if Zhang Huangyan has great ability, don't want to run away.

When Yongli was still in Yunnan, there were coastal fishermen who kept delivering information to Zheng Chenggong and others, but then Yongli fled, especially after Yongli was killed. Zheng Chenggong had to rely on himself to inquire about all the information, and he was reported from time to time.

In this way, Zheng Chenggong's base, Xiamen, was always threatened by the Qing army. I am afraid that this is also the fundamental reason why Zheng Chenggong went to war against the Dutch and seized Taiwan despite the fact that the situation of resisting the Qing Dynasty did not improve. It is not that Zheng Chenggong is willing to let go of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the great enemy, regardless of the current situation. Instead, they went to fight for Taiwan, which was still a wild land, but the situation at that time was no longer helpless. If they did not find another safe rear for the army, Zheng Chenggong's army would be trapped in Xiamen and would have no power to fight back.

Without the hearts of these small people, the Zheng family's army also lost its source of intelligence. It is estimated that this is also the real reason why the Zheng family's army was never able to carry out a large-scale counteroffensive against the Qing army later. When there is no intelligence, the army is blind, and it was at this time that Zheng Chenggong's military advisor Chen Yonghua founded the Heaven and Earth Society, which may have been used to explore intelligence.

If you really think that if you have a few people or dozens of people in one place, you will be able to restore the Qing Dynasty. In fact, it is just to let these people take root in the local area in various capacities, so as to facilitate the search for intelligence.

These are all Zhu Youdong's current speculations, but Zhu Youdong is very sure that this is the case. What would happen if the news of Yongli's death came now? Zhu Youdong is constantly thinking about how to deal with this incident and how to let himself be less affected after this incident happens.

That's right, don't let yourself be affected, instead of going crazy to rescue Yongli. It is said that power is an aphrodisiac, and now Zhu Youdong has such a large power and army, and his power will soon cover two provinces. Zhu Youdong was unwilling to rescue Yongli, and then become a courtier himself. However, at present, we must not let our own forces be affected, nor can we undermine the entire anti-Qing situation and cause internal strife among the anti-Qing forces.

After Wu Guogui saw that he had said the news, Zhu Youdong immediately stopped speaking, frowned, and kept turning in circles. Wu Guogui never saw that Zhu Youdong wanted to rescue Yongli. couldn't help but be a little curious, but he didn't dare to interrupt Zhu Youdong.

I saw Zhu Youdong's face hideous for a while, and he was in a dilemma for a while, sometimes rubbing his hands rapidly, and sometimes clenching his hands into fists as if he had made up his mind. Zhu Youdong turned back and forth like this for nearly half an hour, and Zhu Youdong seemed to be making up his mind, and the pace of walking was getting slower and slower.

At this time, Ding Yunfu came over, and after seeing Zhu Youdong, he said, "Master Hou, Lin Zhuang and Zhao Shichao are here." Zhu Youdong didn't seem to hear it, and was still thinking alone. Ding Yunfu said loudly again: "Master Hou, Lin Zhuang and Zhao Shichao are here, and Luo Ren is also back." ”

This time Zhu Youdong heard someone calling himself, and when he saw that it was Ding Yunfu, he said, "What are you doing?" Can I help you? Ding Yunfu said again, and Zhu Youdong said: "Okay, they came just in time, and I have something to ask them to do." Then he called Wu Guogui and Ding Yunfu to return to the customs together.

After coming to the residence in Guannei, I saw Lin Zhuang and the other three waiting inside, and when they saw Zhu Youdong coming in, the three of them got up and saluted. After Zhu Youdong introduced everyone to each other, he said to Luo Ren: "How did you get when you went out for this trip?" ”

Luo Ren said happily: "This time we went out, our goal was achieved, Yizuo, the people of Luoxiong Prefecture are very cooperative with us, and they have moved to Guizhou one after another." Luo Ren saw Zhu Youdong nodding with satisfaction, and then said: "Here in Guizhou, the Tusi Long Jizhao of Ma Naiying saw that my Ming soldiers had arrived, and he also raised troops to respond. ”

Zhu Youdong heard that a toast came to voluntarily accept the reorganization, and immediately said with great joy: "Okay, we welcome such a toast who understands righteousness very much." Then he said to Lin Asan: "You go to Haosheng to appease Long Tusi, and after arranging the station, please invite Long Tusi to come here." Lin Asan immediately got up and went to make arrangements.

After Lin Asan went out, Zhu Youdong motioned for Luo Ren to continue. Luo Ren continued: "During this time, not only the people in Yizuo and other places are willing to follow us to Guizhou, but even farther places, such as Yuezhouwei, Luliangzhou and other places, there are also a large number of people who have followed. ”