Chongzhen knew in his heart that Guanwai was no longer a foothold for the Ming army, and the loss of the entire Liaodong was only a matter of an eye. [No pop-ups. 】

Hong Chengchou is defeated, how long can Zu Dashou hold on, Chongzhen has no bottom, now he only hopes that Zu Dashou can withdraw from Jinzhou and withdraw into Shanhaiguan with Ningyuan's official army.

On the third day of the decree, Wu Sangui led the army to Shanhaiguan, and before he left the customs, he heard the news from the front, Hong Chengchou was captured, and Zu Dashou surrendered.

Wu Sangui was shocked, hurriedly parked the people and horses at Shanhaiguan, and then flew to report to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen listened, and let out a long sigh, he didn't blame Wu Sangui, nor did he scold Zu Dashou, because he also knew that Zu Dashou didn't have many people, and he had fought desperately and bloodily for many years, defending Jinzhou with a lone army, blocking the internal criminals of the Qing army, but only because Hong Chengchou's whole army was wiped out this time, he was really difficult to support, so he surrendered.

Therefore, Chongzhen did not condemn Zu Dashou's relatives, including Wu Sangui, and also passed down a decree to seal Wu Sangui as the general soldier of Liaodong and Ping Xibo. He was ordered to guard the Shanhaiguan and block the entry of the Qing army.

Wu Sangui was grateful, and immediately wrote a letter of thanks, willing to repay the country with death.

Hong Chengchou's failure, the consequences are extremely serious, from then on the Qing army's soldiers can go straight * Shanhaiguan, this is still a threat outside the pass, in the Central Plains, the defense of Zhili has been very empty, Wu Sangui led the troops away, there are only more than 20,000 people in the capital, and most of them are old and weak soldiers, the real elite only has three battalions, but the number is not much, only five or six thousand people.

Li Zicheng heard that Hong Chengchou was defeated, and he put down a big stone in his heart, he has been worried that after Hong Chengchou won the battle, he led the army into the customs to deal with himself, and now the Qing army has cleaned up Hong Chengchou for him, which is naturally much easier.

Since the war against thieves, there have been four famous marshals in the court, Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Sichang, Hong Chengchou, and Sun Chuanting. At present, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Sichang are dead, Hong Chengchou has been captured, and only one Sun Chuanting is left, but he is also newly defeated by Li Zicheng, and his men are only tens of thousands, Chongzhen feels that the edifice of the Ming Dynasty will collapse.

In order to appease the people's hearts and motivate the soldiers and generals, Chongzhen specially paid tribute to him in Beijing, and stopped for three days to make a sacrifice in person. cried very sadly, and the ministers were very moved.

But it didn't take long for a shocking piece of news to arrive.

Hong Chengchou was cleared.

It turned out that after Hong Chengchou was captured, he was also very strong at the beginning, and once went on a hunger strike, wanting to repay the country with death, and Huang Taiji sent people to persuade him to surrender several times, but he was scolded back.

At this time, someone came to report that Fang Fujin had returned.

Huang Taiji was greatly surprised, he had received a report before, saying that Fang Fujin had been killed by the Ming army halfway, why did he suddenly come back? Hurriedly summoned to meet him.

Da Yu'er really came back, after she left Guanzhong from Tongguan, she went all the way north, entered Shanxi, and then found a way to sneak out of the Great Wall, returned to the Mongolian steppe, and then returned to Liaodong.

As soon as Da Yu'er came back, he heard about it, Hong Chengchou refused to surrender, Huang Taiji was helpless, but he admired this Han hero for a long time, knew that he was eloquent and strategic, and did not want to kill.

Therefore, Da Yu'er did not come directly to see Huang Taiji, but went to the prison first, and when the officials sent by Huang Taiji persuaded Hong Chengchou to surrender, she was observing in the dark. After a few hours of observation, Da Yu'er had a bottom in her heart, and then she came to see Huang Taiji.

After meeting, Da Yu'er told Huang Taiji the story of her safe escape, of course, this story has long been made up in her heart, nothing more than a near death, rescued by someone, incognito, until today, Huang Taiji does not doubt, because he is too lazy to doubt, now Huang Taiji's mind is all on Hong Chengchou. As long as Fang Fujin comes back safely, there is light on his face, and there is no need to ask about other things.

So Huang Taiji waved his hand: "Fang Fujin has worked hard all the way, go down and rest, go and see your sister, she can cry for you for a long time." ”

Da Yu'er smiled: "Your Majesty, the concubine came back this time, and I heard that you caught a person, who was a senior official of the Han Dynasty, and you want to persuade him to surrender, right?" ”

Huang Taiji smiled bitterly: "The words are good, this person's name is Hong Chengchou, he is a hero in the Ming Dynasty, if I can get this person, it is better than a million male soldiers." But Chongzhen also treated him kindly, Hong Chengchou repaid Chongzhen's kindness and refused to surrender, it seems that I can only kill him...... No, even if I didn't kill him, he would kill himself. ”

Da Yu'er smiled: "He won't kill himself." ”

Huang Taiji was stunned: "Oh? How can Aifei be so sure? ”

Da Yu'er said: "As soon as the concubine came back, she heard about it, so before coming to see the emperor, she went to the prison once and met this Lord Hong there." When the concubine went, he was just in time for Mr. Fan Wencheng, the secretary of the ministry, to interview him, I observed in secret, and found that this Lord Hong cherished his clothes very much, and a piece of dust fell on the beam, and he also carefully brushed it off with his hands, and more than once, so the concubine felt that he still cherished a piece of clothing so much, not to mention his own life? ”

When Huang Taiji heard this, he stared at Da Yu'er twice, and then nodded again and again: "You said well, you are right." It seems that if you want him to surrender, I will need to go out myself. ”

Since then, Huang Taiji has treated Hong Chengchou very preferentially, invited him out of prison, moved him into the best house, and personally gave him clothes, wine and food, and went to meet him many times.

Hong Chengchou was really emotionalized by Huang Taiji's kindness as Da Yuer expected, and finally fell to his knees and descended to the Qing Dynasty.

Hong Chengchou's surrender shocked the world greatly, and people used to regard him as a loyal minister and loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but he ended up in defeat and surrender, so everyone scolded him. After Chongzhen knew about it, he was heartbroken and tore up the sacrificial text he had made with his own hands.

This news also spread to Guanzhong, and when King Qin heard it, he was secretly surprised, and said to Zhang Yi: "Hong Chengchou's surrender to the Qing Dynasty is a matter of great importance, and Gu thinks that the strength of the Manchu Qing Dynasty will increase greatly from now on, and it should not be underestimated." ”

Zhang Yi said: "That's right. The Qing army was originally very fierce, superb horsemanship, accurate archery, it is said that the Eight Banners soldiers were cunning and cruel, like wolves on the grassland, and the Huns could be compared with the Huns. Now he has this Hong Chengchou with strategic vision, who combines civil and military affairs, water and fire, and his strength is extraordinary. ”

Bai Qi said: "At present, Liaodong has all fallen into the hands of the Qing army, and there is only one mountain pass in the court, which can block its advance." But he can't take care of the capital anymore, if Li Zicheng enters Zhili, the capital will be equivalent to an empty city. It seems that Hong Chengchou's defeat gave Li Zicheng an excellent opportunity. ”

King Qin said: "Not only Li Zicheng, but also Fan Ju, if Hong Chengchou returns to the division victoriously, Shandong will also feel the pressure, at this time, the 100,000 troops of the court are trapped in Songshan, Jinzhou, Cao Bianjiao and others will die in battle, Hong Chengchou surrenders, Fan Ju no longer has any worries, from the perspective of solitude, he will occupy the entire territory of Shandong." ”

Zhang Yi said: "Then what should we do? ”

King Qin muttered: "It stands to reason that our Qin army should take the opportunity to send troops to attack east and occupy the county seat in Henan that is still controlled by the official army. However, at this time, Nanyang had just been captured, and the Qin army's strength was not enough to expand the results of the battle, so Lone believed that it was better to take it step by step, and not to rush to attack the city and Kexian and lose the troops. What does the general think? ”

Bai Qi said: "The king is right, but the general has another idea. ”

King Qin said: "What do you think, let's hear it." ”

Bai Qi smiled and said: "This is also what the last general thought of a few days ago, and he is about to report to the king." Since occupying Nanyang, Zuo Liangyu has not paid attention to it, this will eventually be guessed, Zuo Liangyu is not an ordinary material, and must think that we are using the strategy of encircling Wei to save Zhao, forcing him to abandon Li Zicheng and come back to recapture Nanyang. He will not be fooled. At this time, Li Zicheng had already crossed the Yellow River and entered Shanxi, Zuo Liangyu did not give orders, did not follow, but turned back and attacked Luoyang. He wanted to use this to make meritorious contributions and make up for the loss of Nanyang. At this time, he was leading the army to attack Luoyang City, there were tens of thousands of peasant troops in the city, Zuo Liangyu did not fight to the death, the last general believed that the official army in Henan, only Zuo Liangyu was a strong force at the moment, as long as Zuo Liangyu was defeated, there would be no official army in the whole Henan. Therefore, the last general felt that at this time, our Qin army should look for Zuo Liangyu's flaws and fight a decisive battle with him. ”

King Qin thought for a while: "This plan is very bold, but it is said that Zuo Liangyu has an army of 50,000, how sure is it that he will fight a decisive battle with him?" ”

Bai Qi said: "At present, our Qin army can transfer another 10,000 horses, plus the Nanyang garrison, there will be 40,000 people, who can fight." ”

Li Yan was a little worried: "But if this battle is lost, not only will Nanyang be recaptured, but the Qin army will also be forced to retreat to Tongguan, and the situation that has finally been opened will be completely destroyed." Isn't the risk a little bigger. ”

Zhang Yi said: "It's really a little bigger." ”

King Qin said: "Although the risk is big, the benefit is also big. Do you know that at this time in Henan, all the name of King Li Chuang, since he captured Luoyang, flooded Kaifeng, the world is shaken, the people of Henan, only know that there is King Li Chuang, do not know that there is my Qin army. Although our Qin army occupied Nanyang, it was a sneak attack and a victory by skill, and Nanyang was not too important in Henan, so the people still did not know the prestige of the Qin army. ”

Bai nodded: "With this battle, let the people of the Central Plains know the strength of our Qin army, and more people will come to us in the future." In just one area of Guanzhong, there are too few people. Development will be slow. ”

King Qin pondered for a moment and smiled coldly: "The decision has been made, general, this matter is up to you, command all the men and horses that can be mobilized, and you will be in charge, go to Henan to fight Zuo Liangyu, and you must defeat him." Li Zicheng entered Shanxi, and he couldn't come back in a short time, and he was still anxious to enter the capital and destroy the Ming Dynasty, so he couldn't take into account the affairs of Henan, and he didn't break into the army to fight, and how much territory he won was all my Qin army's. ”

Bai Qi commanded: "King, please let Li Gongzi accompany me." In addition, it is necessary to use several female generals. ”