Since Zheng Zhilong came with an idea, it did not have much impact on Nanjing's original plan to leave the school.

At the end of June, the Hongguang Imperial Court appointed Shi Kefa as the superintendent, and gathered a total of 54,000 soldiers and horses from Zuo Mengeng, Yuan Shizhong, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zhaoji, and Zhang Tianlu to cross the Yangtze River to the Northern Expedition. Zheng Zhilong set sail again, and his generals Shi Fu, Liang Li, Huang Ting, Cheng Sheng, and Hong Xishan led the fleet along the river into the sea in batches.

Nanjing has Qian Qianyi in charge, and Jiangxi Governor Yuan Jixian is responsible for the logistics of Shi Kefa's army, and the new Fengyang Governor Qu Shiyun has been in office for more than half a month, he is Qian Qianyi's henchman, with his response, Shi Kefa's army has been unhindered all the way, very smooth. In early July, it arrived at the junction of Huai'an and Xuzhou, and stationed in Pizhou, east of Luliang Mountain, just a stone's throw away from Shandong.

Huaiyang Governor Lu Zhenfei told Shi Kefa, Zuo Mengeng and others about the current situation in Shandong.

As early as May, Zu Kefa and Zhang Cunren, who participated in the political affairs of the Qing Metropolitan Procuratorate, suggested to Dolgon: "Shandong is the way of grain transportation, and Shanxi is the way of merchants, so it is urgent to appease them." If the soldiers and civilians of the two provinces return to our territory, then the wealth will be provided, and the country will not be scarce. Dolgon accepted his words, first with the Ming subordinate Fang Dayou as the deputy envoy of the supervising army to appease Shandong, and then made the Ming subordinate Wang Aoyong go to Shandong to clean up the place in the name of the household department and the Ministry of Industry, and sent Gushan Ezhen Bahana, Shi Tingzhu and Pingxi King Wu Sangui and other troops as a backing.

On the ground of Shandong, since the defeat of the Dashun army in Beijing, the King of Lu and King De of the former feudal lords of Shandong and other Ming clans were either killed by the Shun army or had already run, and the forces of all parties were surging. Gong Wencai of Manjiadong in Jiaxiang County, Ma Yingxuan of Fujialou are all emerging big bandits who have taken advantage of the situation to support more than 10,000 people, Qingzhou garrison Li Shiyuan, Laiwu County Dewangfu commander Bi Weidi, Deping County general Gao Jie, Wuyi County guerrilla Yuan Canran and other former ministers of the Ming Dynasty also mostly joined forces with local students and squires to clear the Dashun officials to occupy the city.

After the Qing army marched into Shandong and occupied Dezhou, Leling County and other places in the north, the Qing court felt that the situation in Shanxi was changing too quickly and needed more troops, so it decided to transfer the Bahana and other troops to Shanxi. Shandong only let Wang Aoyong and Fang Dayou recruit thousands of stragglers to stabilize the situation, although Ke Yongsheng was subsequently appointed as the general army of Jiaozhen to be responsible for clearing Jiaodong, but with only Wang, Fang, and Ke, the Qing army's power in Shandong was obviously not solid. Moreover, the Qing army spread the text in Shandong in the name of the regent Dorgon, but the results were not ideal. In particular, Dorgon's policy of forcing soldiers and civilians to shave their hair has aroused countless complaints. Following the anti-Shun rebellion, various localities in Shandong began to vigorously oppose the Qing Dynasty, and the forces of all sides were intertwined, and the situation was extremely complicated.

"In May, the Tartars forced my Han family children to shave their hair and make them easy to wear, which caused the anger of the heavens and the resentment. The people of Shandong look forward to the rain when my king and division are looking forward to the rain, and as soon as my heavenly soldiers arrive, they will have to respond in groups. Lu Zhenfei said with his sleeves covered. He said that the people looked forward to Zuo Menggeng's army, but in fact, he was most pleased with the arrival of Zuo Menggeng's army. If he hadn't taken care of his image, he would really want to shed tears and share his experience of supporting the turmoil in Shandong and Huaiyang during this time.

"I heard that last year, the thieves sent the puppet official Lu Bizhou to represent Lord Lu?" Shi Kefa asked, sitting upright.

"Exactly, that Lu Bi Zhou was originally the deputy envoy of Henan University, talented but undisciplined, and bent his knees to serve the thief. Not only him, but also Jinshi Wusu, who was appointed by the thieves as the defense envoy to appease Xu and Pei, were all defeated and killed by the official. "Lu Zhenfei has a lot of military and political talents, although he has not been in office for a long time, but he has trained two Huai regiments to train 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers, all because of his guard Huaiyang as a barrier, Nanzhili and other places will not be in chaos.

"Lord Lu has elite soldiers, and he can send them to the north with the army." Shi Kefa said seriously. Although he himself knew that he had been excluded and had no real power in the army, he did his best to restore the state affairs of the Ming Dynasty, and he did not slack off.

"With this intention, the official immediately selected 10,000 brave people, led by dogs, and obeyed the dispatch of the superintendent." Lu Zhenfei nodded, and pointed his finger at a young man sitting at the bottom, "The dog Lu Zenong, who is proficient in literature and ink, is skilled in arching and horses, and the Huaiyang situation has been maintained so far, and he has contributed a lot." ”

When Lu Zenong heard this, he hurriedly got up and saluted Shi Kefa: "Lu Zenong has seen the supervisor. ”

Shi Kefa saw that although he was young, he had a kind of calmness between his gestures, and he liked it in his heart, and nodded and praised: "Tiger father has no dog." Huaiyang has a road adult, Fengyang has a Qu adult, like two doors, lock my Nanjing portal. ”

Lu Zhenfei said at this time: "At present, the superintendent is heading north, and there are these forces that have to be prepared. First of all, Liu Zeqing, the Marquis of Dongping, who is now stationed in the Feng and Pei areas of Xuzhou......"

When Zuo Mengeng heard this, he was puzzled: "Didn't Liu Zeqing accept the reward from the imperial court, it was his own person, and he should hurry up and vote for a letter of repair, what is the defense against him?" ”

Lu Zhenfei replied: "Master Hou doesn't know, this Liu Zeqing is a scoundrel, and he can't do anything just to take advantage. Earlier, the emperor named him the king of Qin, and he dared to shirk it in every possible way, but now the saint does not remember the old mistakes and crowns him with a title, but he is a person who is unkind and unrighteous, where will he think of the good of the court, and still support the army. Xuzhou is about to become the world of his Liu family. ”

Liu Liangzuo was dissatisfied: "It's not good where this guy goes, he has to entrench himself in Xuzhou, and he doesn't give me face, how can it be reasonable." "He was the chief soldier of Xusu first, and Xuzhou was within the scope of his town. Liu Zeqing took advantage of his order to go south to steal Xuzhou, even though he is no longer the general soldier, but Liu Zeqing occupies the front and he is the marquis, and he still has a kind of unhappiness about being occupied by the dove.

"This Liu Zeqing has a lot of soldiers and horses, and he is powerful and prosperous in Xuzhou, named Hou Ye, but he is actually an official thief." Lu Zenong said politely, "If it weren't for my father's repeated dissuasion, I would have sent troops to fight over there." ”

Lu Zhenfei said: "Liu Zeqing is the marquis of the title in the end, and how to deal with it, it is not your turn for me to decide." ”

Shi Kefa bowed his head and said: "Liu Zeqing has been in the past, but he does not repent. The court is lenient, salute first and then soldier, but send someone to him to tell him, if he is still obsessed, then ......" said this, and turned his eyes to Zuo Mengeng.

Zuo Mengeng patted his chest and said, "Wrap it on this Hou Ye!" ”

Lu Zhenfei arched his hand and said: "Liu Zeqing is really for my two chronic diseases, I can dissolve him, this official here first thank the supervisor and the Hou Ye!" He continued, "In addition to Liu Zeqing, there are still thieves in nearby Suqian who will flow Dong Xueli, and there are also three or four thousand people. ”

At the same time as Li Zicheng marched into Beijing, he sent a number of troops, including Dong Xueli, to attack Shandong, Huaibei and other places, but Dong Xueli did not take advantage of Zhenfei on the road, and the more he fought, the more he fought.

"This Dong Xueli was originally the deputy general of my Ming Ningxia guard Hua Ma Chi, who was greedy for life and afraid of death. I have some old feelings, and if a few adults like him, I am willing to surrender on my behalf. Liu Liangzuo said at this time.

Lu Zhenfei said: "Although Dong Xueli does not have many soldiers, he is a veteran of northern Shaanxi, and he is quite resistant to war, and his officers have been surrounded and suppressed several times, but they have not been able to defeat him, and looking at his recent whereabouts, it seems that he has the meaning of breaking through to the west to meet the main force of the thieves." If he is let go, the states and counties along the way will surely suffer a catastrophe. If you are determined to destroy him, you are afraid of delaying the progress of the army. ”

Shi Kefa thought for a while and said: "Since he is my old general of the Ming Dynasty, he may not be able to give him a chance to change his mind." After that, he looked at Zuo Menggeng.

Zuo Mengeng also said: "Yes." He threw it over, and I had 3,000 more soldiers, and 3,000 less thieves. As soon as it came and went, our army had the advantage of 6,000 soldiers and horses out of thin air, and of course it was better to surrender. ”

Lu Zhenfei agreed, and said: "In addition to Liu and Dong, there are Gong Wencai, Ma Yingjiao, Li Wensheng, Yang Hongsheng and other local bandits in Cao, Pu and other places, blocking in front of them. There are a lot of them, but they are less powerful. ”

Zuo Mengeng clapped his hands and said impatiently: "It seems to be so small, I don't have much to say." In the past, those who surrendered were adapted, and those who did not surrender immediately sent troops to break through the walled city. ”

Lu Zhenfei didn't know Shi Kefa's actual status, and was a little surprised by Zuo Mengeng's strong attitude, Shi Kefa coughed lightly and said in time: "This official also thinks so, so it's just done." Only then did Lu Zhenfei's confusion disappear temporarily.

"The rest of the prefectures and counties in Shandong are insignificant, but those who can be worried about are the Tartars who occupy the northeast and east of Shandong." Lu Zhenfei's face froze, "The Tartar entered the customs, claiming that he was here to hang the people for my Ming Dynasty, and it was feasible to shave his hair and make it easy to obey, obviously he wanted to turn my Ming homeland into a barbarian land for the wholesale left." ”

"This ......" Shi Kefa was obviously quite worried about the Qing State, and he stopped talking.

Zuo Mengeng said disdainfully: "Isn't it just a Tartar, dare to have different intentions, why should our army be afraid?" Lord Lu, you just said that the Tartars don't have many troops in Shandong, and I have tens of thousands here, are you afraid that he won't succeed? He added, "I want to see who can get to Beijing first in the end!" ”

Shanxi Fenzhou, Huangluling Pass.

A few cannons rang out, and Han Gon and Zhou Yuji each led their horses to gallop in front of the pass, and entered through the collapsed gap in the pass. Not long after, Hou Dagui, who was sitting in the rear, received the news that the front army had captured Guancheng.

"There are not many thieves in the city, most of them are temporary guards nearby, and as soon as the thieves and puppet officials die, they will disperse immediately." Zhang Xianbi greeted Hou Dagui and passed through the gap in the city where there was still its own soil and stones, "Take this pass and cross the Huqi Mountain, which belongs to Yongning Prefecture in the west of Taiyuan Prefecture." Then turn to the northwest, through the fox village of Jiazhou, you can go straight to Yulinwei. ”

"Is there any movement on the thief's side?" Hou Dagui asked.

Yang Zhaofeng, who followed behind him, replied: "The thief just wants to make a move, but it's too late." ”

At the end of last month, the two armies of Hou Dagui and Guang Wenlu joined forces to break through Weihui Mansion, and the Shun general Liu Rukui killed himself. Because the two sides could not agree on the next strategic intentions, Hou Dagui immediately led his troops to leave Weihui Mansion, turned north along the eastern foot of Bailu Mountain, and first went to Zhangde Mansion, where the thieves had a thin army, to make the illusion that they were about to attack Beizhili Daimyo, Shunde and other places, and then turned the spearhead, crossed Lin Shu Mountain in the west, and attacked Lu'an Mansion.

Liu Zhong, the Dashun Ping Nanbo who stayed in Lu'an Mansion, apparently learned that Weihui Mansion had fallen, and laid complete defenses throughout Lu'an Mansion. Hou Dagui successively attacked Huguan, Changzi and other places, but without success. Even so, Hou Dagui found that Liu Zhong was just blindly on the defensive, without the slightest intention of counterattacking, and even had no intention of breaking through. So it was judged from here that Liu Zhong, who was bent on holding on, must have wanted to wait for the arrival of reinforcements. In other words, the main force of the robbers in Taiyuan is likely to have reacted.

Hou Dagui used Han Gon and other horse armies to fight in Lu'an Mansion, and led the infantry to retreat south into Zezhou in advance, and at the same time inquired about the movements of the main force of the Shun army through sentry swatches, merchant travelers, and Shun army prisoners, and soon learned that the Shun army in Taiyuan Province was gathering in the direction of Liaozhou and Qinzhou. This shows that the follow-up of his people will inevitably go to the southeast of Jin.

The strategy worked, Hou Dagui immediately withdrew the soldiers and horses from Lu'an Mansion one after another as planned, leaving behind the baggage, the horse army in front, the infantry army in the rear, and the starry night, crossed the Wuling Mountain and returned to Jiangzhou. Sure enough, the 10,000 people of Yuan Zongdi in Jiazhuang had disappeared, and Hou Dagui was overjoyed, and immediately went north with all his might, and all the prefectures and counties along the way were detoured if there was no nuisance. In just a few days, he left Pingyang Mansion from the mouth of Lengquan and entered Fenzhou.

It can be seen that since the Shun army was heavily damaged in Beizhili Company, it has been very cautious in the deployment of troops, and will not blindly disperse its troops unless it is forced to do so. Li Zicheng wanted to rush to the southeast of Jin, and almost all the Shun troops in the areas of Pingyang Prefecture, Fenzhou, and Taiyuan Prefecture were ordered to assemble. This is reasonable, after all, the current situation is unstable, the turf is unpredictable, and only by retaining the vital force can the regime be supported.

It is reported that only 20,000 Li Guo stationed in Xinzhou were left in the troops left by the Shun army in northern Shanxi, and the sky was far away, and it was difficult to resist Hou Dagui's army. Hou Dagui stayed in Jiexiu County for two days to supply military supplies, and then bypassed Fenzhou and conquered the Jinsuo Pass.

"Fortunately, the lord only gave me 10,000 people, if there are more people, this thousand-mile transfer will not work." Hou Dagui complained that he had few people earlier, but now that it is smooth, he is glad that he has fewer people.

"Seon lost his horse, and he didn't know if he was blessed. Use whatever chips you have in your hand, just to earn as much as you want. Mu Gongchun's miraculous plan has basically been realized, and the big stone in his heart has fallen to the ground, which has added more spirit in the past few days.

"I don't know what the situation is on Yulinwei's side, these days, it seems that I haven't met the displaced people who have fled from there, is the war in Yulinwei clear?" Hou Dagui said with his hand on his head.

"If we start tomorrow, we can let the Korean system go first and collect news in advance, so as not to be unable to adjust at that time and fall into a predicament."

"Well, that's how it should be." Hou Dagui agreed.

But he didn't expect that on the night when he stayed at Huangluling Pass, Yulinwei's battle situation was quickly sent to the front.