But no matter how everyone persuaded them, Zhu Youdong wanted to connect the attack on Nanjing with the march to Huguang, and everyone was very anxious when they saw this, and they actually regretted that they had just encouraged Zhu Youdong to send troops. When everyone was helpless, Zhao Shichao hurriedly walked over.

Only then did everyone sit down, and Zhao Shichao thought about Zhu Youdong and said: "Master Hou, there is news from Yunnan that Wu Sangui and Zhuo Luo from Myanmar have received the news that there have been changes in Yunnan. With the 30,000 troops who entered Burma, he went through Mongunfu and entered Vietnam by car. It is estimated that he wanted to return to Guangxi from Vietnam and then join the Qing army in Guangxi. ”

Zhu Youdong said: "Didn't Luo Ren of Lin'an Mansion send troops to stop him?" Zhao Shichao said: "Luo Ren sent troops, but because Li Rubi of the Thirteenth Army returned to Chongqing, he could only send one army, and as a result, Wu Sangui and Zhuo Luo ran away. Only Guangxi's Lian Guoan was wounded and captured, and is now on his way to Chongqing. ”

Zhu Youdong thought for a moment and said: "Let's go and see if we can trap Wu Sangui's army in Vietnam, if we can trap them, it will be very advantageous for us to deal with the Qing army in Guangxi in the future." ”

So everyone came to the map, and Zhao Shichao pointed out the general march route of the Qing army. As soon as everyone saw it, the Qing army would probably go to Hanoi, Vietnam, and return to Guangxi from Pingxiang in Guangxi. The route was analyzed, but the Restoration Army could not intercept it.

Because now the closest thing the Restoration Army is to here, it is Li Rubi's department stationed near Lin'an Mansion. When Li Rubi returned to Chongqing, the army was temporarily put in charge by Luo Ren, and now Zhu Youdong has been replaced by Sun Bin as the commander. But now that Zhu Youdong is about to supervise the country, Sun Bin has not yet taken office.

It's just that Jiang Shangying from Wujiang Pass was asked to take over the army first, and Luo Ren had already led the army to the car to intercept Wu Sangui, and he hadn't returned yet. So now the Thirteenth Army only has Feng Tianyu as a general soldier, and there is no way to lead the army to the battle.

Everyone looked at the situation in front of them, and although they all wanted to send troops, no one spoke. After waiting for a while, Li Dingguo said: "Why don't you let me bring the 20,000 troops to Kunming and attack Guangxi directly, so that they can block Wu Sangui's way back to Guangxi." ”

Zhu Youdong said: "Forget it, even if we let them come back, we can defeat them." "Although Fugang is about to be appointed as the first assistant, he is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites. So when everyone was discussing the military, he never spoke. Now I heard that the murderer of Yongli was killed, and Wu Sangui was going to lead the army back to Guangxi.

Fu Gang felt sad in his heart, stood next to Zhu Youdong alone, and knelt down directly towards Zhu Youdong. said: "Marquis Pingyu, you are about to be imprisoned, and the emperor has no obstacles for you." But now that I am a courtier of the former emperor of Yongli, as a courtier of Yongli, I beg you once, beg you to avenge the emperor and kill Wu Sangui. ”

No one present expected Fugang to come out like this, and saw Fugang kneeling there. Zhu Youdong hurriedly stepped forward to pull up Fugang, and said a little angrily: "What does Fuge Lao mean by this, it seems that I deliberately killed the first emperor." Everyone in the world knows that it was Wu Sangui who killed the first emperor in Burma, and we should avenge them. As Fu Ge Lao said, this is to trap me Zhu Youdong for disloyalty and injustice, Fu Ge Lao is better to get up quickly. ”

But Fugang still couldn't get up on his knees. He also said: "Pingyu Hou, don't get me wrong, the old man has no intention of framing, he just wants to ask the Hou Ye to send troops, and don't let the murderer of Emperor Yongli go unpunished." Now that the army of the Marquis of Ping is ready to go, why is he unwilling to send troops? ”

Zhu Youdong said: "What kind of accident is this, my Restoration Army is preparing for the expedition at any time." But it is not yet time to send troops, I have to be responsible for the soldiers of the Restoration Army, and I cannot let the soldiers of the Restoration Army die in vain. ”

Fu Gang also said: "Just now, the Marquis of Pingyu said that he would send troops to capture Nanjing, why is he suddenly unwilling to send troops?" Could it be that Hou Ye has other ideas? ”

Zhu Youdong was speechless for a while, of course Zhu Youdong had other ideas, but Zhu Youdong couldn't say these thoughts. Because Zhu Youdong didn't want to avenge Yongli at all. At this time, it is true that troops can be quickly attacked in Huguang, and troops can also be sent from Guangxi. However, the attention of the Qing army was all shifted to the Restoration Army, which was very unfavorable to the Restoration Army.

Zhu Youdong wanted the Qing army in Jiangnan to move closer to Fujian, and the army of Liangguang would not attack the Restoration Army at this time, because there were still a large number of small anti-Qing troops in Liangguang to contain the Qing army.

In the past, the Restoration Army was able to win again and again, not because the Restoration Army did not move much, but because the Restoration Army was an accident, which was an accident in the eyes of the Qing court. It was because of the Qing army's large-scale entry into Yunnan and Guizhou that it caused the emptiness of Sichuan and allowed the Restoration Army to take advantage of the loopholes. It was also for this reason that the Qing court did not mobilize a large army to attack the Fuming army.

Shunzhi is still waiting for the Qing army in Yunnan to return to the division, but now if the Ming army goes directly out of Huguang, the Qing army will immediately know that the Qing army in Yunnan and Guizhou is finished. At that time, not only the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River, but also the Qing army in the north would flock to it. Even the Qing army would let the Mongol Eight Banners and the Qing army stationed in Beijing move south.

The Qing troops stationed in Beijing were the real Manchu Eight Banners, and they were all veterans of the battlefield. The Eight Banners brought by Doni are just young people who have come to see the world. These eight banners stationed in Beijing are the elite of each banner, and the total number is about 20,000.

But now these troops are useless, and Zhu Youdong doesn't want to cause these troops to go south too early. Therefore, he wanted to let other anti-Qing troops disperse the strength of the Qing army, and when these Qing troops were separated, Zhu Youdong would let the army suddenly attack, and then quickly destroy the strength of the Qing army, and also exercise the reaction ability and perseverance of the Ming army.

Zhu Youdong's practices have some meaning of letting other anti-Qing troops be backed, but now Zhu Youdong can't help it. Although the Restoration Army has won many battles, it is basically a sneak attack. That is, to guard the pass in the victory pass, and then fight with the Qing army in Xiangshui Pass.

But there are also a lot of intrigues and tricks in these wars, and they can't be regarded as a head-on battle with the Qing army, so Zhu Youdong is still a little worried about the combat strength of the Restoration Army. This is also why Zhu Youdong is now in a hurry to form two cavalry. Zhu Youdong was anxious to grab two trump cards in his hands to deal with the Manchurian Eight Banners and the Mongolian Eight Banners in the future. After all, after arriving in the north, there will be no more of these mountain terrains, and they will be plains, which will be the world of cavalry.

Of course, Zhu Youdong's thoughts can't be said, and if he leaks a little rumor, Zhu Youdong will be scolded for the rest of his life. Looking at Fugang in front of him, Zhu Youdong said: "Elder Fuge, you get up first, let's talk about something." We just said that we were going to take Nanjing, but we didn't say that we would send troops now. We have to carefully study the possibility of sending troops, as well as the conditions of all parties, before we can determine whether to send troops. ”

But Fu Gang just didn't get up, and said: "Pingyu Hou, the old minister begs you, send troops." It is okay to let the old minister go to the front line to supervise the army, as long as the Hou Ye sends troops. ”

At this time, Li Dingguo remembered that he had a meeting with Yongli at the beginning. also said: "If you don't want to capture the marquis, send troops, if Wu Sangui returns to Guangxi, it is estimated that the Qing court will soon know the truth about the Qing army in Yunnan, and the Ming army will be a little passive at that time." ”

Yuan Kuoyu is now also appointed as the secretary of the Criminal Department, although he has not entered the cabinet, but as long as Zhu Youdong does not fall, he will still have a chance. But if you go back to the Qing court, don't say anything high-ranking officials, it's good to be able to save your life.

Thinking of this, Yuan Kuoyu also said: "Pingyu Hou, are you worried that the Restoration Army will be too prominent, attracting the Qing army in the north to attack on a large scale?" If so, don't worry. It's useless to worry about it. If Wu Sangui returns, everything in the Restoration Army will be reported to the Qing court, and the Qing court will definitely send a large army to conquer at that time. ”

Hearing Yuan Kuoyu say this, Zhu Youdong realized that he was taking it for granted. The Qing court also had his intelligence, which had been played by Zhu Youdong before, and he really ignored the intelligence system of the Qing army.

Yuan Kuoyu continued: "Now that the Hou Ye has sent troops, the Qing army is still scattered in various places, and when the Qing court is clear about the situation, it must be several large armies attacking at the same time." Zhu Youdong was puzzled: "How many armies are coming?" The Qing army has so many troops? ”

Yuan Kuoyu said: "Yes, of course there is." What we saw before was that the Qing army was going to garrison the rear army in various places, which means that the Qing army still had a large number of garrison troops that had not moved. Hou Ye, think about it, most of the Qing army's troops entering Yungui this time were the garrison green battalions of Huguang and Guangxi, and the real Eight Banners only dispatched 30,000 recruits to the capital. ”

Zhu Youdong thought about it, it was true. Yuan Kuoyu continued: "If the Qing court knew the true situation of Sichuan and Yungui, would it still want to wait for the Qing army of Yungui to return to the division like this? Zhang Huang said: "Yes, Yuan Shangshu is reasonable." ”

Yuan Kuoyu continued: "At that time, the current Qing army in Guangxi must attack Yungui, and perhaps there will be a Qing army in Guangdong. The Qing army stationed in the area of Chenzhou in Huguang sent troops to attack eastern Yunnan and entered Guizhou. The Qing army stationed in Henan could also enter Xunyang through Nanyang to attack Kuidong. There is also the Shaanxi Qing army that can attack from Hanzhong, and this is how the Qing army entered Sichuan back then. In addition, there were Qing troops in Ningxia and Gansu, which went to Gongchang Mansion to attack Long'an Mansion. ”

Listening to Yuan Kuoyu's words, Zhu Youdong also became a little worried. According to what Yuan Kuoyu said, the Qing army is attacking with a five-way army, and each Qing army can be no less than 100,000. If it really comes to this point, Zhu Youdong really can't mobilize an army to resist.

Seeing that Zhu Youdong was a little shaken, Li Dingguo also said: "Master Hou, why don't you let the army in Yunnan enter Guangxi in two ways now, and block Wu Sangui's way back to Guangxi." ”

Zhu Youdong said: "However, once our army enters Guangxi, the Qing court must have immediately noticed the Restoration Army, and at that time, we still have to fight the Qing Army independently." ”

Faced with Zhu Youdong's question, no one could answer. Everyone fell into deep thought, and finally Li Dingguo said: "Why don't you send troops north, occupy the dangerous pass, and then defend with all your might." In addition, the army went out of Huguang, so that we only had to face the Qing army in the south. ”

Yuan Kuoyu also reacted at this time and said: "Yes, as long as we are fast enough, we can cut off the Qing army's money and grain in Jiangnan before the Qing court reacts." At that time, even if the Qing court had an army of one million, it was not enough to filter. Without money and food, the army and land will collapse without a fight. ”

Li Laiheng also said: "Master Hou, such a good opportunity, if you don't send troops, I'm afraid there will never be another one in the future." Zhu Youdong said: "Is this an opportunity?" The Huguang Qing army has been assembled for a long time, and it will not be easy for us to defeat it in one fell swoop. ”

Faced with Zhu Youdong's weak reason, several people stepped up their persuasion. Zhu Youdong walked back and forth, constantly thinking in his mind. Obviously, everyone could see that Zhu Youdong wanted to stall for time. Faced with Zhu Youdong's desire to delay the dispatch of troops for no reason, several people didn't understand why Zhu Youdong suddenly became indecisive.

Zhu Youdong looked at these people, but Hong Yuao didn't speak, and everyone else looked at Zhu Youdong anxiously. Zhu Youdong couldn't help but think: "Could it be that I am too obvious, so they all came to oppose it?" At this time, the troops were dispatched, and for the Restoration Army, the loss of interests was not great. But if you want to annihilate these armies of the Qing army, I am afraid it will not be easy. ”