After the New Year, the reason for the heavy snowfall, Emperor Chongzhen did not return to Beijing until February, accompanied by the original three battalions under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and the soldiers of the Xinjing Battalion who made military achievements in the battle of Guihua City.

The strength of the Ming Jing Battalion, in the period after the founding of the country, was more than 400,000 horses. However, the change of Tumubao caused the destruction of the 400,000 elite troops of the Beijing battalion. The number of people in the newly established camp was 150,000, and after the restoration of Yingzong, it was increased to 230,000.

By the time Ming Wuzong succeeded to the throne, there were only more than 60,000 troops left in the Jingying army. As a result, Emperor Zhengde summoned the border army into Beijing, with a total of 380,000 people on the register, but in fact there were only 140,000, and the elite only had 20,000 horses.

By the time the Jiajing Dynasty Altan Khan entered the land of Koujinggi, the number of people in Jingying was 50,000 or 60,000. Therefore, Emperor Jiajing reorganized the army and selected 40,000 elites from all over the country to enter Beijing.

During the Chongzhen period, the Beijing camp was completely unable to fight, and there were only one or two hundred people who usually went out to exercise.

In the original history, when Li Zicheng attacked the Beijing division in the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, there were only about 3,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp who could defend the city, how could they hold such a large Beijing division!

Now, Emperor Chongzhen has sent a total of 60,000 meritorious soldiers from the border armies of Qin and Jin to Beijing. It's not that he can't choose the elite, but Emperor Chongzhen doesn't have much money in his pocket, and this number is already his limit.

The army, if it wants to be an elite army, training is indispensable, and excellent ordnance is indispensable.

"I can't afford it!" Emperor Chongzhen said with emotion in his heart.

This is still taking the elite route, don't look like it costs a lot. But once you use it and you can win the battle, it's earned. Otherwise, what's the use of raising more soldiers? If you send them out to fight a war, if you lose a battle, the cost of raising troops will be wasted, not to mention, and you will lose power and humiliate the country.

On the way back to Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen calculated the cost of this expedition by himself.

Although the war was won, there were a lot of trophies, such as tens of thousands of horses, and countless beef and mutton, etc., but it still couldn't make up for the consumption of money and food on this expedition, at least in the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, he thought it would be earned or flat, but in the end it was still a little worse.

The main reason is that this time it is far away from Beijing, and it is impossible to solve it quickly, so the consumption is particularly large. The three major expeditions of Wanli have drained the treasury, and they are not casually talked. Fighting, especially when the Ming army relied on firearms, was even more costly.

However, if you count the other things that come with this victory, it is definitely earned.

If the people of Qin and Jin can live and work in peace and contentment, and no longer suffer from military disasters, then the value they have created will far exceed before.

There is also the fertile land of the Hetao Plain, which can be said to have been eaten by the Ming Dynasty. In a few years, it will be Ming.

There were also more than 10,000 Jianguo annihilated, which was another major blow to Liaodong Jianyu. If it is weakened several times like this, the military strength of Liaodong Jianyu will be greatly weakened, and when he recovers Liaodong one day, he will save a lot of effort.

In addition, not to mention Emperor Chongzhen's own prestige, with the victory of the war, it is also getting higher and higher; The people's hearts and military spirits of the Ming Dynasty have also developed for the better under the nourishment of victory; And Jianyu's side will inevitably be affected; The Mongolian tribes in the steppe will definitely be affected......

In this way, this battle cannot be measured only by money and food.

After thinking about these things, Emperor Chongzhen began to pay attention to the news in the eavesdropping system again. He found that the Xilin Jueluo, who had been sent back to Liaodong by Zierharang last year, had arrived in Shenyang and was meeting Huang Taiji.

"What?" After listening to Xilin Jueluo's message, Huang Taiji couldn't help but stand up from the dragon chair in surprise, stared at him and asked, "Emperor Ming personally led the army in Yulin Town, and wants to crusade against Guihua City?" ”

There is no source of Jin merchants, and there is Shanhaiguan to hold the land route to Liaodong, and the Jianyu Sailor is completely annihilated, and the sea is the world of the Daming Sailor, therefore, Emperor Chongzhen personally went to Qindi, such a big thing, Huang Taiji has no way to know.

As soon as Xilin Jueluo heard it, he chose the important news again and said it again.

After Huang Taiji asked, he actually understood that it was impossible for Xilin Jueluo to deceive himself with this kind of thing. So, when Xilin Jueluo spoke again, his heart was like a monkey tickling, anxious, flustered, itchy, and he couldn't think about it for a while, so he simply bypassed the imperial case and walked back and forth in the Chongzheng Palace.

The Emperor of the Ming Kingdom actually led his most elite Imperial Forest Army to Qindi, so what should he do on his side to make the Qing Dynasty reap the greatest benefits?

At the first time, Huang Taiji thought of the idea of immediately sending the elite to Guihua City to annihilate the Ming Emperor and his elite Imperial Forest Army on the grassland, which was the best policy and the most beneficial to the Qing Dynasty.

As long as the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom and his elite Imperial Forest Army were wiped out by the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Kingdom would still be the same Ming State as before, and the Qing Dynasty army could gallop freely, obtain the desired population and materials, and strengthen the strength of the Qing Dynasty.

However, Guihua City is too far away from Liaodong, and if you send troops to rush over, the war is probably over, right? Even if he didn't finish the fight, Huang Taiji still had another hidden worry in his heart.

It's just that he doesn't know how many Jinyi Wei spies there are in the Qing Dynasty, or those who have their hearts set on the Ming Kingdom. Sending troops to the city of naturalization, there are fewer soldiers, and it is useless; If there are too many soldiers, the news will definitely leak out; If the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom knew that the Qing army had been reinforced, he would definitely have retracted it, and if he didn't do it, he would have ordered the Guanning Army and the Dongjiang Army to invade the hinterland of Liaodong. If this is the case, it will be dangerous if the foundation of the Qing Dynasty is not done well.

Thinking of this, Huang Taiji ruled out this idea.

Then, according to Zilharang's suggestion, immediately send troops to the land of Gyeonggi. In the land of Gyeonggi today, without the elite Imperial Forest Army of the Ming Kingdom, the remaining troops would definitely not dare to fight with the Qing Dynasty, and they would be able to start plundering people and materials as before?

Thinking of this, Huang Taiji suddenly slapped his head in annoyance, obviously having a headache.

If this was the case, he would definitely be sure that Lu Xiangsheng's Dongjiang Army would definitely invade the hinterland of Liaodong. Previous news has confirmed that the Dongjiang Army has 2,000 cavalry, with war horses, coming and going like the wind, and the entire hinterland of Liaodong is not safe.

The battle of Pyongyang has proved that the combat power of this new Dongjiang army is definitely very strong and can compete with the elite of the Qing Dynasty. If the main force of the Qing Dynasty left Liaodong and only relied on a small number of elites to stay behind, Liaodong was so big, and Huang Taiji could hardly imagine what it would become after being ravaged by this Dongjiang cavalry army?

At this time, Huang Taiji really hated why he didn't take down Pyongyang, destroy the Dongjiang army, and then return to Liaodong!

Eight hundred miles expedited, eight hundred miles expedited, or eight hundred miles expedited, all of which were urged by those things that didn't know the importance of the matter!

If there was no Dongjiang army, the Qing Dynasty would not be so passive, and there would be almost no extra choice.

Neither of these strategies seems to be feasible. Then, if you want to make good use of the opportunity of the Ming Emperor and his elite Imperial Forest Army to stay away from the Jingshi, there is only one way to go.

The white-eyed wolf in North Korea that can't be raised, I couldn't destroy it last time, and this time we must destroy it, by the way, see if we can still have a chance to get rid of the scourge of the Dongjiang Army! Anyway, the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom and his elite Imperial Forest Army are not here, and relying on the current Guanning Army alone, it is impossible to do anything to the Qing Dynasty.

Thinking so, Huang Taiji made a decision and immediately convened his ministers to discuss the crusade against Korea.

The last time he sent troops to North Korea, although he was finally deceived back to Liaodong, it was not without success, and at least half of North Korea's territory, that is, northern Korea, has been reduced to scorched earth. If you send troops to Korea this time, there is no need to waste Qing troops in these places.

After some decision-making, Huang Taiji decided to dispatch 20,000 cavalry to launch a surprise attack on Seoul, North Korea, and directly destroyed Korea.

I thought that by the way, I could still destroy the Dongjiang Army, but under the analysis of Fan Wencheng and others, I felt that Lu Xiangsheng had already been fooled once, and the possibility of being fooled again was very small. Moreover, if it is to attract Lu Xiangsheng to lead the Dongjiang Army to the rescue, then the Korean war will definitely not be resolved quickly, and I don't know how long it will drag on!

Huang Taiji has always believed that there are still Jinyi Wei secret agents in the country, and if the time drags on and gives Ming Guo a chance to react, maybe something bad will happen. Therefore, he still made the decision to raid Seoul and make a quick decision.

When he was still in Shanxi, Emperor Chongzhen already knew the news. It's not that he doesn't want to save North Korea, but with the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, there is really nothing he can do.

It's true, it's not that you don't save it, if it's possible, Emperor Chongzhen will still save it.

Although the triumphant division has nearly 100,000 horses, if you don't return to Beijing, it is not impossible to go directly from Shanxi to the Ningjin line. If this is done, in terms of time, it should be able to dare to launch an offensive against Liaodong before the Jianyu army returns from Korea.

However, the army has been on the expedition for half a year, although it is a victory, but it has become a tired division, and the hussar battalion has also lost a lot, if you do not rest and recuperate directly to attack the most powerful enemy of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen is not sure.

Also, although there are 100,000 people, more than half of them are elites selected from border towns from all over the country, and they have not yet been trained and run-in, and they are not going to fight the rabble, so they can just rush to the top.

In addition, 100,000 troops, this is not a small number, what about the corresponding grain and grass raising? The last time the 50,000 army didn't bring any grain and grass, and suddenly came to the Ningjin line, it had already consumed the grain stored there. This time, if you go directly to Ning Jin's side, you will have to raise the grain and grass needed by the 100,000 army from other places.

Finally, more than half of the Ming army now uses firearms. It can even be said that whether it is gunpowder and lead bullets, even other expendable military supplies also need to be replenished. It's not that it's okay for people to pass by.

On the side of Liaodong Jianyu, even if 20,000 cavalry troops were sent, the military strength left in Liaodong could not be ignored. If you want to win easily, I'm afraid it's impossible.

Based on the above reasons, Emperor Chongzhen decided to stand still this time and let North Korea face it alone.

However, after this incident, as well as the previous situation, Emperor Chongzhen felt that the contact with the Dongjiang Army was too delayed, and measures had to be improved.

Anyway, he was idle on the road, so he sent the general soldiers and supervisors from all walks of life to discuss countermeasures.

Whether it is Emperor Chongzhen or these general soldiers and supervisors, they all think that if they want to contact each other quickly, they can use flying pigeons to pass on the book.

However, on the land route, it is safest and safest to expedite 800 miles. From Beijing to Dengzhou, it is urgent with 800 miles, and then from Dengzhou to Lushun, a place that needs to cross the sea, it is used to pass the book with flying pigeons. Another proposal is that on the side of Jingshi, 800 miles will be rushed to Tianjin, and then between Tianjin and Lushun, the flying pigeon will be used to pass the book.

This flying pigeon biography has existed in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and it has also begun to be used in military affairs, but this method is not safe.

First of all, this kind of pigeon has to be trained first, and not all pigeons have this ability. Of course, at this time, there is no need to worry about this, because there are many people who use carrier pigeons in the Ming Dynasty, and they will naturally be trained.

Secondly, if the carrier pigeon flies in the sky and encounters an eagle or something, in case it is caught, or hunted by a hunter, it will not be able to send the news back. This situation, militarily, is fatal. An important piece of news came out, but it was gone halfway, and this side didn't know, then it was dumbfounded. Therefore, the flying pigeon is generally played by wealthy families to pass on family letters. Militarily, it is also impossible to popularize it.

However, this defect of the carrier pigeon is very easy to overcome for Emperor Chongzhen. Because he has an eavesdropping system, he can know whether Lu Xiangsheng has received the news.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen made a decision to mobilize special manpower and material resources to set up this communication network. Of course, just in case, the old-fashioned boat to deliver the message is still required.

Emperor Chongzhen did not know that the carrier pigeon is usually a type of domestic pigeon, and its limit distance is 3500 kilometers, although its average speed can reach 48 kilometers per hour, but it can only fly about 5 to 8 hours a day. In this way, pigeons can only fly a maximum of 384 kilometers per day.

However, it can be regarded as a mistake, the straight-line distance from Tianjin to Lushun is almost 384 kilometers, and you can fly it in one day. This is many times faster than using a ship to deliver a message, I don't know how many times.

Of course, the establishment of this communication network still takes a certain amount of time, and it is not something that can be done by thinking about it. But Emperor Chongzhen's biggest purpose was also to recover Liaodong in the future, not to save Korea this time.

On February 25 of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen led the army and finally returned to Beijing.

In the previous time, when the news of the victory in the battle of naturalization was announced, a messenger had already been sent back to Beijing to report the victory.