The atmosphere in the hall was gloomy, and Wu Sangui's face was equally dark.

"Rebel, rogue also. Capricious and unpredictable. I don't think about myself, but also for the tens of thousands of Guan Liao soldiers and civilians behind me. If I go to Beijing, I will be imprisoned, and I will not only suffer from the Wu family. Wu Sangui sighed and said, "Over there in Beijing, I have been sending people to investigate the situation in the past few days, but I heard that some people have come to the door to take a light look at the rebellion and bully my family, which shows the meaning of thinning me." At this point, when I went to Beijing, I could only throw myself into the net. ”

Wu Guogui, who was standing behind the chair, echoed: "Guo Yunlong told me that people who go to Beijing are strictly supervised when they return to Wu Mansion, and they are not allowed to enter or leave half of the people, which is like house arrest. How can there be any courtesy to Mrs. Wu? What kind of father and son seal the marquis and reward the three armies, it's all nonsense! ”

Chen Hongfan nodded secretly, thinking that when he first saw Guo Yunlong, he happened to meet him to reprimand the soldier, it seems that the soldier should have sneaked into Beijing to check the situation in Wu Mansion earlier but ran into a wall and returned in vain, so he was scolded.

"I was afraid that if I went further, I would be doomed, so I decided to rein in the precipice and return to Shishanhaiguan."

Chen Hongfan said: "Although breaking with the rebellion can ensure that there is no danger for a while, but if the rebellion is arrogant, you will not be allowed to collapse on the side, and sooner or later you will send troops to fight." Beijing thieves say less than 100,000, how many soldiers does your army have? Even if there is a Shanhaiguan to rely on, I am afraid that I can't stop it! "After the Shun army experienced wars in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other countries, it absorbed a lot of old Ming troops in a hundred battles, and also captured a large amount of equipment, and its combat effectiveness was far from comparable to that of the past. At present, in addition to the inherent five field battalions, there are also a large number of temporarily recruited people stationed in Beijing who have not been disbanded and are in a state of combat at any time. It is not very clear how many people there are in Wu Sangui Chen Hongfan, but it is certain that it is not as good as the Shun army, and the two sides really fight, and Wu Sangui's chances of winning are slim.

Wu Sangui shook his head and said, "I don't know what Gong Chen said. To tell you the truth, I and the soldiers of the closed master are worth 50,000 together, and there is a lot of shortage of them, and there is a lack of food and salary supplies along the way, so it is difficult to fight for a long time. Before meeting Chen Gong, I received Lu Mingzhang, Feng Xiangcheng, Cao Shimin and others, the local gentry of Shanhaiguan, and asked them to donate and collect money, and the people and merchants where the gate was closed must immediately accept the silver army, and at the same time urgently recruit 30,000 Xiangyong to supplement the troops. If these things are not implemented, Shanhaiguan will not be able to hold it. He had previously been ordered by Emperor Chongzhen to abandon the land outside the Guan, and was quickly occupied by the Qing army after being discovered, so he had long lost the rear. Tens of thousands of troops could only rely on a small area inside and outside Shanhaiguan to supply military supplies, and logistics were naturally very difficult.

Chen Hongfan thought for a moment and asked, "Wang Junmen, do they also uphold this proposal?" The "Wang Junmen" he is talking about here is Wu Sangui's nominal boss, Wang Yongji, the governor of Jiliao.

Wu Sangui nodded and said, "When I was in Fengrun County, I discussed with Wang Junmen about advancing and retreating. Returning to Shishan Customs was suggested by Wang Junmen. He is now stationed around Yongping Mansion City with Gao Ye, and he is also sparing no effort to collect food and strengthen the front. He added, "I'm going to let the envoy go to see Li Chuang here, and unless he sends the prince over, he has nothing to say." If the prince comes, the army and the people are united, and there is still something to be done, even if Li Chuang does not let the prince go, coming and going can also be a plan to delay the army. ”

Chen Hongfan said: "Li Chuang is not stupid, he will definitely hope to negotiate conditions in the early stage." ”

Wu Sangui said with a calm face: "That's what I said, but I also have to prepare for the worst." ”

Chen Hongfan's eyes were lowered, and he wandered on the ground for a long time, and said, "The worst plan...... Did Wu Ye ever think about what he should do when it was time to break through the rebel army and come to the mountain customs? ”

Wu Sangui said awe-inspiringly: "The restoration of the Ming Dynasty is the vision of me and tens of thousands of soldiers in Guan Liao, but Chen Gong reminded me well, the day when the rebellion may eventually be attacked, I have to think about my own life and death." My plan is to first use Wang Junmen and Gao Ye to block the Yongping Mansion City in the west, and put on an attitude, so as to negotiate with the rebellion. If the negotiation is proper, and Chuang Rebellion promises me to keep the army and hand over the crown prince and my Wu family, and does not need me to go to Beijing, then it is still feasible to have the right and pretend to be attached to Chuang Rebellion. ”

Zhao Yuanheng said: "What if it's not appropriate? ”

Wu Sangui looked at him and said, "Then there is only one fight to the death." ”

When Chen Hongfan heard this, he said: "Wu Ye is a smart person, he must have a way to do it, say it and listen to it." ”

Wu Sangui was very clear about the difference in strength between the Shun army and the Guan Liao army, but he did not know much about the real combat effectiveness of the Shun army, but he had heard some deeds from other colleagues who went to the Central Plains to help suppress him. But Chen Hongfan believed that Wu Sangui could climb to the position of commander of the Guan Liao army, and he was by no means a reckless person, on the contrary, he must be thoughtful. So to say that he would bet all his bets on the unpredictable decisive battle, Chen Hongfan would not believe it.

Sure enough, when this sentence came out, Wu Sangui's face changed, and he bit his lower lip, but he didn't answer.

Chen Hongfan said: "Wu Ye's situation Chen understands, and Wu Ye's loyalty Chen also knows it. is also a minister of the Ming Dynasty, as long as it is for the country, what can't be said? ”

Wu Sangui scratched his neck, suddenly laughed for no reason, and looked around. But now, except for a few of them, there is no one else, and his face is suddenly a little embarrassed. No one spoke in the hall, there was silence, and after a while, he coughed lightly twice and said: "When it comes to life and death, I am afraid that the only way to save the Ming Dynasty is Lianyu Pingkou." ”

"Lianyu Pingkou?" Chen Hongfan's heart was shocked, "What kind of captivity?" ”

"Ahem, what else is there. The Tatars such as the Insert Department and the Bald Horse have all existed in name only, and the only way to capture them in the north is to build slaves. Wu Sangui's expression was complicated and he shook his head slightly.

The inserts and bald horses are all Mongolian tribes. The Mongolian tribes are numerous, scattered and vast. During the Mongol and Yuan dynasties, it was roughly divided into the Mongolian headquarters called the "steppe people" and the Oirat Mongolia, which was called the "people in the forest", and the Buryat Mongolia, which was under the jurisdiction of the Mongolian headquarters. The Mongol headquarters was mainly composed of the left-wing and right-wing tribes that originally belonged to Genghis Khan's youngest son, Tulei, and the Horqin tribe, which was equivalent to an independent feudal town.

Oirat Mongolia, also known as Warat, was the earliest khanate established by the Mongol Taishi, which rose to prominence in the early Ming Dynasty when the Great Yuan was in decline, and reached its peak during the Yexian Khan period. However, after being assassinated first, Warat was divided into two parts, Dulbert and Dzungar, and the rest of the tribes also entered a state of division and separation. The Chahar tribe took advantage of the situation, and the descendants of the golden family, Batu Munk and Warat, won a victory after several years of conquest, and then unified eastern Mongolia, calling themselves "Dayan Khan", meaning "Great Yuan Khan".

At that time, due to the chaos of the Mongol tribes, Dayan Khan redivided the eastern Mongolia he ruled into three tribes on the left and right wings, the three on the left wing, namely the Chahar Division, the Uliangha Division, and the Khalkha Division, and the three on the right wing, namely the Tumut Division, the Yongshebu Division, and the Ordos Division, which were under the control of several sons respectively. Wu Sangui's "insertion" and "bald horse" were the names of the Ming Dynasty's Chahar and Tumut divisions.

After the death of Dayan Khan, one of his grandchildren, Alta, revitalized the Tumut tribe, and the Khan of the Chahar tribe and the Mongol suzerain, Kuten Khan, was very afraid and gave him the title of Sodo Khan, and Alta became the lord of the right wing. Later, the Ming Dynasty conferred the title of King of Shunyi, and promised to open 11 mutual markets on the border, and the war was settled. Kuten Khan was expelled by Alta, and at the same time completely relocated the Chahar tribe on the left flank to a place close to Liaodong. This move overlapped with the migration of the Wuliang Ha tribe to the border of the Ming Dynasty during the Jianwen period, and the migration of the Ordos tribe to the Hetao area under Genghis Khan's "Eight White Palaces" during the Jiajing period, which finally led to a great change in the pattern of the Mongolian tribes, forming three major parts of Monan, Moxi, and Mobei.

Monan Mongolia is the Chahar and Tumut tribes that migrated eastward, plus the Horqin and other tribes that originally lived in the southeast of Mongolia, these tribes were close to the border of the Ming Dynasty and were specifically called Tatars or Northern Captives by the Ming Dynasty. The Warat or Oirat Mongols, which originally controlled western Mongolia and Qinghai and other places, were the main body of Moxi Mongolia, but after the decline of Warat, the Heshute tribe under it rose up and became a new khanate. The Khalkha Ministry and other departments that remained untouched in northern Mongolia were Mobei Mongolia. In the north of Mobei Mongolia, there are still Buryatia and other tribes, but their connection with the main Mongol body has faded a lot.

After Altan Khan, the Chahar tribe slowly recovered. In the thirty-second year of Wanli, Lin Dan Batur succeeded to the throne of the Great Khan, known as "Lin Dan Khan". At that time, although the Chahar Ministry had the name of Khan, the Tumut, Ordos and other ministries did not take Lin Dan Khan in their eyes at all, and the Khalkha Ministry, which was further away, directly refused to recognize the Khan. Lin Dan Khan was ambitious, on the one hand, he tried his best to gather internal forces, and successively obtained the obedience and re-pilgrimage of the Khalkha and other departments, and on the other hand, he fought with the hostile Oirat Mongols, Jurchen tribes and the Ming Dynasty, etc., and the limelight was unique for a while, and the Ming court even called "Hudun Tuhan as the famous king in captivity, especially called unruly" - Hudun Tuhan is the name of Lin Dan Khan in the Ming Dynasty.

In the forty-fourth year of Wanli, the Jurchen Khan Nurhachi unified most of the Jurchen tribes to establish Houjin, and married with Horqin and other tribes to form an alliance, and his power grew day by day. Then he raised troops to attack the Ming with the "Seven Hatreds" and defeated the Ming army in the Battle of Salhu. In the Ming Dynasty, Yang Hao, the then Liaodong Economic Strategy, and Huang Jiashan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, put forward the strategy of "controlling the east and the west in the first place", and suggested that "attacking the Yi with Yi" drove Lin Dan Khan to attack Nurhachi, so as to reap the benefits of the fisherman. After some haggling, Lin Dan Khan accepted the Ming Dynasty's request to form an alliance with heavy gold against the Later Jin, and the two sides later fought against each other. But until Nurhachi's death, no winner was decided.

Huang Taiji inherited Nurhachi's will, continued to use troops in the two directions of the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia, and finally used many means to divide and divide the Mongolian tribes, causing Lin Dan Khan to rebel and leave. At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty succeeded to the throne and "rewarded Lin Dan Khan". In order to retaliate, Lin Dan Khan raised troops to invade Datong Mansion in the first year of Chongzhen, killing tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, so he had a bad relationship with the Ming Dynasty. Huang Taiji seized the opportunity to launch a decisive battle while Lin Dan Khan was isolated, Lin Dan Khan was terrified and led his people west, dying of smallpox in Qinghai on the way. Later, Jin swept through southern Mongolia, rewarded relatives, set up banners to recruit soldiers, and included them in their sphere of influence.

After the destruction of the Mongols, the alliance leader of the Moxi Oirat Mongols and the Gushi Khan of the Heshute Khanate was quite shocked. At that time, his country was facing the oppression of hostile forces such as the Khalkha Mongol tribes in the northern desert and the Rakshasa state farther away, so in order to avoid being attacked from many sides, he sent an envoy to Shenyang in the ninth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty and the tenth year of the Later Jin Tiancong, expressing his willingness to return to the Later Jin. In the same year, the main Khalkha Mongol leaders Tushetu Khan, Zasaktu Khan, and Chechen Khan also sent letters to the Houjin and formally paid tribute three years later. In addition, Huang Taiji had conquered Korea before and accepted it as a vassal, so the Later Jin or the current Qing State had no rivals except for the Ming Dynasty.

The Jurchen tribes were called "Northeast Yi" by the Ming Dynasty in the early days, which was different from the "Northern Captives" and the Southern Mongolian tribes. But now, since the Qing State has surrendered almost all the land north of the Ming Dynasty, the so-called "Northern Captives" refers to the Qing State alone.

Chen Hongfan naturally knew that Wu Sangui wanted to ask for help from the Qing State, but he knew that the Ming and Qing dynasties had been fighting for decades, and he had great doubts about the feasibility of Wu Sangui's idea.

Wu Sangui also saw Chen Hongfan's concerns, and said: "I know what Chen Gong is worried about. Beiyu is my old enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and I Guan Liao Army guards Liaodong and other places, and has killed countless people with it, if it is not forced by the situation, this idea will never come to mind. He continued, "Lianyu Pingkou has existed since ancient times. I don't read much, but I also know that the Han army borrowed troops from the Xiongnu to quell the thieves during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the Tang army borrowed troops to return to the Huns to quell the rebellion during the Anshi Rebellion. ”

Chen Hongfan said with a solemn face: "It's easy to please God, but it's hard to send God." It is not overnight for the North to covet my Ming Dynasty, and once it is released into the customs, I am afraid it will cause trouble. ”

Wu Sangui shook his head and said: "This is wrong, the northern captives have taken the Tatar tribes into their pockets, bypassed the Shanhaiguan Pass, and broke the border wall to invade the hinterland of my Ming Dynasty more than once or twice?" Although the northern captives are fierce, in the end, they are barbarians, just trying to get some money, cattle and sheep, and they will go away, how can they have been stranded. Moreover, my Ming army and civilians are as vast as the ocean, and his captives in the north are less than one-tenth, so why be afraid? Sparing him to enter the customs was just an expedient measure to alleviate the urgent need to invade and occupy the northern capital. ”

Wu Guogui bowed his head and said: "What Wu Ye said is extremely true, for my Ming Dynasty, the northern captives are foreign enemies, and rebellion is a serious problem. The northern captives are fierce, and at most they covet the barren land outside the border, but they are rebellious and chaotic, and it is my Ming Guozuo who wants to break it! ”

Chen Hongfan was silent, and Zhao Yuanheng said: "If you really let the northern captives come in and rebel dog-eat-dog, and I don't know who will kill the deer in the end?" ”

Wu Sangui pondered for a while and said: "In the past, when I was working under the traitor Hong Chengchou, I discussed with Hong Chengchou and Wang Pu, Ma Ke, Bai Guangen and other generals who had suppressed thieves in the Central Plains. Although the Liukou and the Beiyu are both thieves, they all agree that the Liukou is not as far as the Beikou. ”

"Why?"

"Beiyu is good at making fine armor and strong bows, with 100,000 armor sharps, all of them are brave. Since Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and other thieves threw it, and also made sharp cannons, it is no different from my Ming Dynasty. In addition, the military law is strict, orders and prohibitions are enforced, and the combat power is far from being comparable to that of the rogue gangsters. ”

Chen Hongfan stroked his beard and said: "Rebelling has gained power in Henan and Shaanxi, and has also won countless armor and firearms in the treasury. Hong, Bai and others have only met the rogues who were not in the climate before, and if they see the current rebels, they will definitely change their words. ”

Wu Sangui sighed and said, "I don't know about this. Alas, the north has won, and I can expel the rebellion and return the capital of the Ming Dynasty. If we win the rebellion, we will inevitably lose our vitality, and our army will also have an opportunity to take advantage of it. Whatever the outcome, it's always good. ”

Chen Hongfan was silent for a while, and said, "Borrowing from the Beiyu, has Wu Ye really thought about it?" ”

Wu Sangui shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "When it comes to the end, take one step at a time." Negotiate with the rebels first, and act at the opportune time. Lianyu Pingkou is the next policy after all. ”

Chen Hongfan nodded and did not speak.

In a few days, it was April. At the beginning of April, thousands of miles away, the city of Runing Mansion in Henan Province had been besieged for half a month.

Since mid-to-late March, it has been raining incessantly.

The sky was miserably overcast, the rain was falling like a line, and there was no sign of improvement. Hou Dagui braved the rain, galloping back and forth outside the city of Runing Mansion, the horse's hooves trampled heavily, splashing muddy water and feet as high as people.

After separating from Guo Ruke in Ye County, Hou Dagui led his army into Runing Mansion, and soon joined Huang Degong's army from the south and strangled all the passages in Runing Mansion City. Wang Wenyao and Xie Yinglong, who rushed to the aid of Runing Mansion from Kaifeng and Guide in the north, entered the Fucheng and seemed to be ready to assist Ren Guangrong and Shen Wandeng to defend the Fucheng and wait for the support of the Shun army in Shaanxi or Shanxi, Beizhili and other places, more than 20,000

Hou Dagui was overjoyed when he saw that the Shun army had given up the field battle, and he was ready to attack the city. But the sky was not beautiful, and suddenly it rained heavily. Although Zhao Ying's firearms have waterproof measures and are not afraid of light rain, the rain is as strong as a scoop, which is naturally difficult to use. Hou Dagui had to temporarily stop attacking the city and wait for the rain to light up.

But who knows that this rain has the intention to oppose him, intermittently, and it is difficult to judge. Several times Hou Dagui wanted to bombard the city with the empty air of the clouds and rain, but the rain was like a rush, and it fell again in an instant, which made Hou Dagui so angry that he smoked.

At the end of March, Hou Dagui couldn't bear it anymore and braved the heavy rain to urge the soldiers to carry out several fortifications, but they all gave up because they could not use firearms and the city was wet and the walls were slippery. listened to Huang Degong's persuasion and continued to wait. Seeing that it was April, most of the time spent under the city but there was no deposit, Hou Dagui was worried that the progress of the attack on Henan Province would be dragged down, second, he was worried about demoralization, and third, he was worried that the reinforcements of the Shun army were coming unexpectedly, so he was anxious, and wandered outside the city every day for several days, pondering how to break the city.

The more anxious he was, the more he couldn't think of ideas, and he didn't pay attention several times, and was almost sniped to death by the crossbowmen of the Shun army who were ambushed in the city. He was furious and scolded the city for a long time, wanting to provoke the Shun army to fight, but the Shun army in the city seemed to have made up their minds to be a shrinking turtle and turned a deaf ear. There was no movement except for a few sporadic shots of arrows in response.

On this day, Hou Dagui was full of sorrow, came back from outside the city, refused Huang Degong's invitation to drink, and sat alone in the big tent of the Chinese army and sulked while being distracted. was extremely depressed, but his ears heard the sound of rustling footsteps at the door of the tent, and he was annoyed and annoyed, and he didn't look up and shouted: "Which thief is there, roll over to Lao Tzu!" ”

Hou Dagui twisted his face and was about to use the question to play a fire, but he saw the person in front of him holding a goose feather fan, his white robe fluttering, and three strands of long hair fluttering with the breeze blowing into the tent, as if he was a fairy.

Look closely, but it is preaching to make Mu Gongchun. This person was appointed by Zhao Dangshi as one of Hou Dagui's temporary military advisors, so he joined the army.

"Mr. Mu." Hou Dagui couldn't get angry with him, but he was upset and didn't have the heart to deal with him, so he turned his head away with a short exhale.

"Xiaosheng knows why Manager Hou is worried." Mu Gongchun said lightly.

Hou Dagui muttered in his heart Since you know that you are still bothering me, he just laughed a few times dryly.

Mu Gongchun shook the goose feather fan lightly and slowly paced around Hou Dagui, Hou Dagui looked up at him with a puzzled expression. If it weren't for the fact that Mu Gongchun was a scholar and annoyed him, he really wanted to knock him down with a punch.

Not long after, Hou Dagui couldn't stand Mu Gongchun circling around like a moth, and said helplessly: "What does Mr. Mu say?" "Mu Gongchun's pretentiousness is known to everyone in Zhao Ying, and Hou Dagui knows that he must have something to say when he takes the initiative to come to see him, but he is proud of his talent and arrogance, and he is willing to say it only when others ask him to say it. Hou Dagui couldn't beat him, and he didn't want to entangle with him, so he couldn't bear his unhappiness and pinched his nose and asked this.

"Hmm......" Mu Gongchun responded, his footsteps stopped abruptly, and he paused for a moment before saying, "Xiaosheng is here, there is a plan for Chief Hou, but he can break the city of Runing Mansion." ”

Hou Dagui was shocked when he heard this, and suddenly stood up, and the unhappiness in his body dissipated at this moment like melting ice on a spring day.