"Look at this." Tao Min couldn't hide his excitement, "Li Zicheng has defeated Xi'an." I really didn't expect that the first move to contact Li Zicheng was the right move. ”

Tao Gong was also very happy after reading the information: "Brother, I think we should send someone to find Li Zicheng again, help him, and send him another batch of firearms no matter what." With him to contain the Ming Dynasty, it will be much easier for us. ”

"Aid to Li Zicheng is a must." Tao Min slowly said his thoughts, "But what I'm thinking about now is whether I can divide the world into three parts." ”

Tao Gong was said stupid by his brother again: "Brother, who do you want to divide the world with, how do you divide the world." ”

"Brother, you listen to me explain slowly." Tao Min pulled Tao Gong to sit down, "According to Xie Tian's intelligence, Li Zicheng's side now has at least 100,000 to 200,000 troops. We have 80,000 new Korean troops in our hands, and we will work hard to recruit some more Koreans at once, so that the new Korean army will reach 100,000 to 120,000. There are also 70,000 or 80,000 people on Huang Taiji's side, and there are almost 400,000 of us together. ”

Tao Gong asked: "Brother, do you mean to divide the world with Huang Taiji Li Zicheng?" ”

"No, we want to unite with Huang Taiji and form a three-point world with Chongzhen and Li Zicheng." Tao Min shook his head and continued to explain, "Li Zicheng actually doesn't have the idea of dominating the world, his biggest wish is to occupy Shaanxi and establish a country on his own, so we will promise him." Let him hold back the main force of the Ming army in Xi'an, and we will work with Huang Taiji to break through the pass with all our might, forcing Chongzhen to move the capital to Nanjing. As long as Beijing is defeated, there will be no problem with the three-legged situation. ”

"Brother, this seems unlikely." Tao Gong touched his head, "Don't forget, Chongzhen would rather hang himself than leave, will he definitely be able to move the capital now." ”

"Chongzhen may be unwilling, but someone will definitely force him to go." Tao Min said with a smile, "Yulin Bay will not think of this, even if others can't think of it, Xu Lang and Leng Tianbing will definitely think of it." Dividing the river to rule Yulin Bay is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. ”

Tao Gong wanted to say something more, but Tao Min raised his hand to stop him: "Brother, come on, I'll give you an analysis of the current situation." ”

Tao Min called Tao Gong to the front of a map, pointed to the map and said: "Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are in Xi'an, with 200,000 troops. The strength of the Yulin army is only twenty or thirty thousand people, and Yang Sichang and Hong Chengchou may not have many troops in their hands now, so it is not clear that all the Ming troops in the north will be sent to Xi'an to exterminate Li Zicheng, and even the army of the important town of the nine borders will go. In this way, the northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty will be empty, although there are still Wu Sangui's Guanning iron cavalry, but Zu Dashou's side is also wavering. I personally went to Shengjing again and persuaded Huang Taiji to join forces with us and attack Beijing. ”

"Brother, you wait first." Tao Gong raised his doubts, "What about Lushun, Lushun still has the Ming army, will they take the opportunity to attack Shengjing." There is also Japan's Zheng Zhilong, he will not be without action, Zheng Zhilong also has a battleship in his hands, will he come to Busan. ”

"I've thought about what you're talking about, too." Tao Min said, "The Ming army in Lushun is not large in number, and its combat effectiveness is not good. Let Huang Taiji send 5,000 people to watch them, as long as we take Beijing, Lushun will surrender without a fight. ”

"As for Zheng Zhilong." Tao Min pondered, "I think even if Zheng Zhilong makes any moves, he will only pretend, he won't take out the old book, Zheng Zhilong is interested in money." I sent a letter to him and made it clear to him what was at stake, and he would not be unaware of the trade-offs. Don't forget, didn't Zheng Zhilong surrender to us in the original history, and even his son couldn't persuade him. ”

Tao Gong felt that his brother seemed to have thought about the problem simply, but he couldn't raise any objections. Tao Min put his finger on the location of Nanjing on the map: "Now I am only worried about one question, what if Chongzhen does not move the Ming army in the north, but transfers the army in the Nanjing area to pacify Li Zicheng, then we may be in a little trouble." ”

"There's one more question." Tao Min pointed his finger at Guihua City again, "There are still 20,000 Mongols in Guihua City, they can be used as a surprise army, but where to let them go, whether to help us fight Beijing or Xi'an, and help Li Zicheng from the north." ”

"Brother, you're thinking too complicated." Tao Gong asked, "Just tell me what we should do now." ”

"You do." Tao Min began to arrange his own plan, "I will write a letter immediately, you find an absolutely reliable person to go to Nagasaki to find Zheng Zhilong. According to our people in Japan, Zheng Zhilong should still be in Nagasaki. Remember, it doesn't matter if you can't find Zheng Zhilong, just leave the letter to him. But we must keep it secret, and we must not let the Ming Dynasty government and Yulinwan know, this time I will clearly tell Zheng Zhilong our identity. ”

"Brother, what else?"

"You stay in Busan to do three things. First, we should pay close attention to conscription and strive to recruit another 20,000 or 30,000 troops within two months; The second is to find someone to strengthen the city defenses of Busan and Tsushima Island, and we can't help but prevent Zheng Zhilong from attacking. After I arrive in Shengjing, I will send you a message at any time, and according to my arrangement, I will gradually send the new Korean army to the Yalu River to assemble. Don't be in too much of a hurry, and don't be too slow; Thirdly, five thousand flintlock muskets and 30 guns were immediately ready for delivery to the place where they were last time. If this matter is fast, I will immediately send someone to deliver a letter to Li Zicheng and ask him to pick up this batch of firearms. ”

"I made a note of it, brother."

Tao Min thought for a moment and asked, "Do we have a large number of 12-pounder guns and 18-pounder guns?" ”

Tao Gong replied, "It's okay." Since we moved the arsenal and shipyard to Busan, I have been supervising the manufacture of these two guns, and there are almost 30 of them now. ”

"That's it." Tao Min commanded, "Five thousand flintlock guns, 30 6-pounder, 6 each of 12-pounder and 18-pounder, ready to go immediately." ”

"Okay." Tao Gong asked again, "Brother, Dolgon is still in North Korea, what should he do?" ”

Tao Min smiled: "It's better to let him stay here first, if he also returns to Shengjing, I'm afraid he will have other ideas." ”

Tao Min finished arranging and said to himself: "What do you say Yulin Bay will do now?" ”

Tao Gong asked rhetorically: "Brother, I don't know what Yulin Bay is doing, but I thought of another thing. Li Fuqiang and Lin Zhaolong have now laid down Phnom Penh and have also cooperated with Ruan Youyi, do you think there will be any big action on the Vietnamese side? ”

"Over there in Vietnam?" Tao Min walked around the house twice with his hands behind his back, "You can't be unguarded." I will write another letter to the North Vietnamese side, and you will find someone to send it over, saying that the South Vietnamese side has the intention of the Northern Expedition, and that Vietnam will be confused first. ”