The five-year covenant of the Ming and Qing dynasties was reached in the first year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, which means that it will not expire until the sixth year of Hongxing. It is now the end of the fourth year of Hongxing, and there is still a year and a half before the expiration of the peace treaty.

If Emperor Zhu wanted to pursue the suddenness of the war, of course, he had to choose to start before the peace treaty expired. However, the Qing side has never relaxed its vigilance, so the suddenness of war is basically non-existent.

Since a surprise attack is impossible, it is time to work on adequate preparation!

Zhu Cihong's gaze slowly swept across the hall, taking everyone's expressions into his eyes. The civil servants are eager to try, and it seems that there will be no major problems in terms of money and food. And the military attachés all had solemn expressions...... The Northern Expedition was not easy to fight well!

"I have always kept my word, so when we abide by the five-year covenant, the day of the war will be set in the autumn of the sixth year of Hongxing." Zhu Cihong said slowly, "Kefa, among the ministers of the court, you know the situation of the Qing Kingdom best, so let's talk about it first...... How many years will it take us to make the Northern Expedition a success? ”

It was natural to choose the Northern Expedition in autumn, because the water level of the Yellow River and the Huai River was high in spring and summer, and the Qing army would replace the soldiers with water in case of a dog jumping over the wall in a hurry. Although the Huanghuai River transportation project has been completed, the Huai River embankment has been greatly strengthened, and the flood discharge area of Hongze Lake has also been fully cleaned up. However, no one can guarantee that there will be no major floods in the spring and summer of the sixth year of Hongxing, and if the Huai River floods and the Yellow River in the area around Guide Fu break together, it will still cause the Huai River to overflow.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty still occupies many areas on the north bank of the Huai River in Huaibei, and also set up two feudal towns in Huaibei and Xuhai on the Huaibei territory, which were respectively made by Huang Degong and Gao Mingren.

If the two towns of Huaibei and Xuhai were flooded, the Ming court would also suffer serious losses.

And setting the year of the war for next year is not all about keeping promises, but about stockpiling enough supplies to support a long war.

Therefore, the date of the war can only be between August and September of the sixth year of Hongxing, that is, September to October 1653 in the Western calendar.

Zu Kefa, the fourth minister, is now the deputy envoy of the Generalissimo's Office, that is, the deputy chief of the general staff or the deputy director of the operations department of the General Staff.

The reason why he and the four ministers are so reused is, of course, because they "know clearly". The current chief and deputy military divisions Li Yan and Li Ruolian are not considered to be in the Qing faction, so Zhu Cihong transferred Zu Kefa back from Wu Sangui and served as the deputy envoy to join the army.

"Your Majesty," Zu Kefa stood up and bowed to Zhu Cihong, "the minister thinks that the Northern Expedition can be successful in a few years, depending on whether Azig and Duoduo can get along, or who can win the battle between the two kings." If Azig wins, it will be a great success in three to five years. Jodotor won...... Then the Northern Expedition should first map the pass, and then talk about Pingliao.

If Azig and Duoduo were able to coexist in harmony, the minister suggested that he first seek a situation of confrontation between the Liao and Song dynasties in the north, and then make an attempt to forge ahead. ”

"How powerful is Dord?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"The brave king of Duoduo is the best at fighting in the Manchurian army, and he has been presiding over the military affairs of the Rakshasa and Japan in the past two years, and he has not alienated the battle array." Zukoffa said, "In addition, Dorgon has always cultivated Dorgon as his successor, which is why he gave him the command of the Nine Banners outside the Guanwai, and also let him integrate the Balhu people and the Sauron tribes. Now the outside of the customs has become a system of its own, and even the population has returned to the level before the entry of Manchuria. ”

The population growth outside the customs is actually very natural, before Nurhachi swept Liaodong, the population of Han people in Liaodong was as high as several million, and later became sparsely populated because of years of war, massacres and Manchu people entering the customs.

And although it is still the Xiaoice River period, the land outside the pass is not uncultivateable. Although the climate outside the gate is cold, there is not a lot of precipitation, and the heavy snow in winter can be grounded. In addition, the summer temperature outside the customs is quite good, enough to support the growth of relatively cold-tolerant sorghum, spring wheat and soybeans.

In addition, there is a large amount of pasture outside the customs that can be grazing, which can feed a lot of cattle and sheep.

Historically, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the method of prohibiting Han people from leaving the customs with wicker side walls kept a large area of sparsely populated and fertile land for Tsarist Russia and later Japan.

And now, the Qing Dynasty's rule in Guannai is facing a huge threat, and it has to work hard to operate Guanwai as a way out.

Although the Han people who did not shave their hair were still not allowed to leave the customs, the banner people (actually Han Chinese) with green and green flags with shaved hair were pouring out of Shanhaiguan in a big way.

In addition, the system of "Nine Banners Angbang Zhangjing Dividing the Prefecture Capital" implemented by Dolgon during his lifetime also accelerated the flow of Han people from inside and outside the Guan.

Because the Aung Bang Zhangjing Yamen, who divided the state capital, had the right to recruit clothed servants to be sent to cultivate the banner land outside the customs - these people were nominally clothed, but in fact they were tenants with shaved hair. The land outside the Guanxi is fertile, rich in resources, and far away from the front line of the Ming and Qing wars, and the taxes and levies are very light, which is of course an ideal place for poor households who have difficulty surviving in the Guannai.

As for where do the poor people who can't survive come from...... It's also frustrating to say, because a considerable part of them are northerner refugees who have returned from the territory of the Ming Dynasty!

Although Emperor Zhu tried every possible way to find a way for these people to survive, there were too many of them, and the national strength of Nanming was limited. Therefore, after the armistice of the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a situation of "northerners returning to the north", and there were always two or three hundred thousand people returning every year.

These numbers are of course insignificant to the Ming Dynasty - according to the household statistics conducted by Hongxing in the third year, excluding the internal and external feudal towns and feudal states, the population of the land directly under the direct management of the Ming Dynasty alone is as high as more than 127 million, and the annual increase is estimated to be about one million people!

But for the empty Guanwai, it is a very huge population replenishment!

According to the information obtained by Jinyiwei from the "Jiale City Tour", since the first year of Hongxing, the population of the Gushan in the Nine Banners outside the Guanxi has been growing rapidly, increasing by more than 300,000 every year. By the beginning of the fourth year of Hongxing, the population of the Nine Banners outside the Guanxi had exceeded 2 million! Among them, the "Eight Banners Manchuria" is only forty or fifty cattle records, with a population of only tens of thousands, and even if you count the new Balhu people and Saurons, the total number does not exceed 100,000......

Zhu Cihong thought for a while, and then asked, "Is it still possible for Azig and Duoduo to be harmonious?" ”

"This ......," Zukoffa thought for a moment, "Azig and Dordor are brothers of the same father and mother, so they may not be incompatible. Besides, my Daming is still watching and delaying on the sidelines, so the possibility of the two brothers Azig and Duoduo fighting together to survive also exists. He paused, "But no matter how you hold together, it's not the same as when Dorgon was alive." ”

Zhu Cihong said: "Then we have to push Azig and Duoduo to fight as much as possible!" Kefa, do you have any clever plans? ”

"Your Majesty," said Zu Kefa, "do you remember the peace negotiated by Song Jintian?" ”

"Heavenly Peace? Is it a matter of the Southern Song Dynasty offering to the Jin Dynasty in exchange for the land of Henan and Shaanxi? ”

Zukefa said, "Yes, that's it...... Our dynasty may be able to follow the example of one or two, and sign three more peace treaties with the Qing state on the condition of taking Henan and the land south of the Daqing River in Shandong. ”

"Three peace treaties?" Zhu Cihong was stunned, "Why three?" ”

Zu Kefa said: "One is signed with Duoduo, one is signed with Azig, and one is signed with Emperor Shunzhi!" ”

"Will they say yes?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"No, it won't." Zukofa replied, "But they will negotiate with us...... As long as we can negotiate, we can use tactics to provoke Azig and Duoduo to go to war! ”

"How do you use it?" Zhu Cihong asked.

Zukefa said: "We can make Azig and Shunzhi believe that Duoduo has signed a secret contract with us. After all, Duoduo's foundation is outside the pass, and the main thing we want to take is the land inside the pass, even if a Great Wall is built as the boundary in the end, Duoduo will not suffer much. ”

"That's a way!" Zhu Cihong laughed, "Who can take this trip?" ”

Zu Kefa said: "The minister can take a trip to Liaodong...... In addition, Zu Zeqing can go and talk to Azig. As for the Shunzhi Emperor's side...... The minister couldn't think of how to contact him for a while. ”

Zhu Cihong smiled: "I have a way!" ”