It rained heavily for three days, and the entire western part of Liaoning became a Ze country.

The Qing army suddenly retreated from western Liaoning, hundreds of thousands of Manchu soldiers and civilians crossed the border, and the area around Guanning became a battlefield. The wheat planted by the military households in Guanning was ripe, but there was no way to harvest it, and after heavy rain, hundreds of thousands of acres of wheat were soaked in the ground, and there was no harvest.

The food on Juehua Island is about to run out, and the 100,000 Guanning military households trapped on Juehua Island have become a great burden, and there are more than 100,000 mouths at once.

Fortunately, the transportation has been completely opened, the summer harvest in the south has passed, and the tax grain will soon be transported to the north through the canal, but it will take a while.

The Qing army took advantage of the heavy rain to bypass Ning Yuan, and Ning Yuan's Ming army did not notice it at all, and when they realized it, they couldn't catch up at all.

Wu Ping's general Hou Yi led his troops to attack before the rain, caught up and killed tens of thousands of Manchu people, but was blocked by the heavy rain and could not continue the pursuit.

And when the weather was clear and wanted to pursue again, the main force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty who fled arrived, Hou Yi's army only had 5,000 people, unable to resist the attack of more than 30,000 Qing soldiers, and was killed to a great rout, fortunately there were sea ships from the sea to respond, only to escape more than 1,000 remnants, this was the biggest defeat of the Ming army in the face of the Qing army, Wu Ping blamed himself for not detecting the traces of the Qing army in time.

After several days of brutal fighting and bloody battles, the Ming army successfully recovered Shanhaiguan and most of the western Liaoning corridor from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan, leaving only the Jinzhou area still in the hands of the Qing army.

In this battle, the Ming army wiped out more than 10,000 soldiers of the Eight Banners, killed and captured nearly 200,000 Manchu people, and the corpses of Manchu people were strewn all over the corridor from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan for hundreds of miles. The Manchu Qing Dynasty was hit hard like never before, and it was absolutely impossible to recover its strength in twenty years!

There were only 30,000 bannermen left in the entire Manchu court, and almost all the men escorted more than 200,000 women and children to flee to the outside of the Guan.

After several days of heavy rain, the flood rushed down from the mountains and flowed into the Bohai Sea through the western Liaoning corridor. The river swelled and swamped all over the place, making the rest of the march very difficult.

It was not until the road was dry and hard that the army could pass through that Chen Yue led the army from Shanhaiguan, joined Ningyuan Wuping, and led an army of 100,000 to attack Jinzhou.

In the face of the offensive of the Ming army, the Qing army was unable to garrison at all, and did not resist, and directly abandoned Jinzhou Guangning one after another, and retreated to the east bank of the Liao River, and the entire western Liaoning corridor was completely controlled by the Ming army.

Just when the generals were clamoring to cross the Liao River, attack Liaoyang and Shenyang, and directly attack the Manchu Qing Dynasty's lair, Chen Yue stopped his military operations. The reason is that there is no shortage of grain and grass, and the logistics cannot be supplied at all.

The Northern Expedition for more than half a year has exhausted the financial resources of the Ming court, and now the treasury is impoverished and no longer able to support the continued offensive.

Although the summer grain has been collected, there is no need to count on the war-torn north, and the tax revenue of the entire Ming Dynasty is more than 2 million silver a year. Chen Yue's army now has more than 200,000 troops, and it costs four or five hundred thousand taels of money and food every month, and the tax revenue of the imperial court is not enough at all.

What the army needs is not only food, but also gunpowder, firearms, armor, and various weapons, and it has to pay salaries and distribute silver to the army.

Fortunately, in the process of intercepting the Manchu people, a large amount of property was seized, which was worth hundreds of taels, and half of the wealth plundered by the Manchu Qing Dynasty from the Ming Dynasty fell into the hands of the Northern Expeditionary Army, which was also a solution to the urgent need.

There is enough silver, and grain should soon be able to be transported from the south. However, Chen Yue did not intend to continue the attack, but decided to slow down.

From Guannai to Shenyang, Liaodong, the battle line stretched for more than a thousand miles, and it was not so easy to drive thousands of miles directly to defeat the Manchus.

The situation in Shenyang is complicated, and there is no help but the power of the Manchus and the Mongols, and the Manchus are weak, and the Mongols will inevitably take advantage of the weakness. From Shenyang to the north, there are white mountains and black waters, dense forests, and more desert and cold land. forced the Manchus to retreat north, even Chen Yue was not sure to catch up with them and annihilate them.

Now after the catastrophe in the north, the population is sparse, and there are only more than 100,000 people left in the entire western Liaoning corridor, and there are no Han people in eastern Liaodong, even if they take Shenyang, there are not enough people to defend it. And immigrating to Liaodong is not an overnight thing, and it requires the efforts of the entire Ming court.

Therefore, only after accumulating strength in the last two years, it is easy to continue to send troops to attack, recover the entire Liaodong and even rebuild Nuer Gandusi.

Anyway, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had 30,000 men and more than 200,000 women and children, and they had no ability to threaten the Ming Dynasty anymore, and it was unknown whether they could keep Liaodong. The Mongols and the northern Jurchens were bound to have their eyes on the wealthy Liaohe Loop.

After consideration, Chen Yue decided to leave Jin Xin as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, responsible for rebuilding the defense line of Guanning and Ningjin, and guarding the entire Liaodong corridor. More than 100,000 Guanning military households on Juehua Island were also relocated to western Liaoning, and all adult males were enlisted in the army and mixed with the army under Jin Xin.

Chen Yue decided to move hundreds of thousands of people from Shandong to fill western Liaoning, and when Liaoxi settled down in the last few years, it could become a powerful rear for the strategy of Liaodong to rebuild the Nuer Gandu Division.

As for Wu Sangui and his Guanning army, after a series of battles, the number was sharply reduced to more than 5,000 people. Chen Yue ordered these people to be disorganized and mixed into the rest of the Ming army. The former Guanning Army completely did not fit the existence.

As for Wu Sangui, after Chen Yue went to the imperial court, he restored his title of Earl of Pingxi and transferred to Nanjing to take up his post, and he had already taken several servants to Nanjing to perform his duties.

Facing the extremely strong Chen Yue, Wu Sangui didn't dare to complain at all, and obediently took his family away.

After everything was arranged, Chen Yue returned to Guannai with his troops and arrived in Beijing on the first day of July.

"We welcome the triumph of King Qi!" Outside the Chaoyang Gate, Qian Fenglin and Shan Minglei took the officials and generals of Shandong and Northern Zhili to welcome Chen Yue back to Beijing victoriously.

Inside and outside Chaoyang Gate, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians greeted the Northern Expeditionary Army that expelled the Manchu Tartars and recovered the rivers and mountains. The loess is paved, the water is sprinkled on the street, the front of the house is full of wine and food, and the people are eating to welcome the triumph of the army.

For more than 30 years, in the face of the Jurchen Eight Banners that rose in Jianzhou outside the Guan, the Ming army failed one after another, lost the generals, lost the division and humiliated the country, the Eight Banners entered the customs several times and plundered most of the north, and then took advantage of the Liumin Army to break through Beijing when they entered the customs, and after occupying Beijing, they drank the Yangtze River, and had the potential to replace the Ming Dynasty to dominate the world!

For the people of the entire north, the Manchurian Eight Banners is a nightmare. Horse racing, their own fields and homes became the private property of the Manchurian aristocracy. He was forced to change from Han to barbarian, and turned his back on his ancestors. Throughout the northern land, the dignified Chinese are everywhere, and countless Han people have become slaves of foreign races.

And now, Chen Yue, the king of Qi, led an army of 100,000 troops to the north, and after half a year of fierce fighting, he finally drove the Manchurians out of the pass, recovered the entire north, relieved the people of Li to hang upside down, and saved the rivers and mountains in the generals.

In the eyes of the vast majority of the people, Chen Yue, the king of Qi, is a well-deserved hero, and in the eyes of the soldiers who greeted him, Chen Yue was even more like a military god.

There is no need for people to agitate, and when they heard that the army had returned to Beijing today, the people of the entire city of Beijing enthusiastically came to greet them.

Riding on a horse, looking at Beijing in the distance, Chen Yue also sighed in his heart, a few years ago, when Li Zicheng led a large army to attack Beijing, he led the army from Tianjin Qinwang, and then escorted Chongzhen to flee to the south.

After several years, he came to Beijing again, and returned to Beijing with an army of 100,000 to expel the Manchurian Tartars and recover the rivers and mountains.

Looking back on the past, when I had just passed through poverty and desperation, how could I have thought that there would be today's scenery?

Father, father, you earnestly teach the children, let the children be loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and let the children be loyal to the court and the Ming Dynasty. Now you have seen in the spirit of heaven that the child really drove away the Manchurians and recovered the rivers and mountains!

"Lord Wang, the soldiers' camp has been arranged. Your line is temporarily placed in a house on Qipan Street, which used to be the mansion of Chengguo, and Chengguo was killed by Li Chuang, but the mansion is still complete, covering a large area, and the scenery is very good. Gu Junen smiled and told him about the preparations he had made, and told Chen Yue that he had completely prepared the Metropolitan Governor Xingyuan, and was waiting for Chen Yue to move in.

Chen Yue shook his head and said in a low voice: "If I don't go to the Chengguo Mansion, I want to go home and have a look." ”

"Home?" Gu Junen was stunned.

Chen Yue didn't explain, and rode straight into the city.

"General Stone, what do you mean by that?" Gu Junen didn't dare to stop Chen Yue, so he grabbed Chen Yan's horse reins and asked in a low voice.

"It's our prince's former home, Huaishu Hutong on Xuanwumen Street, our home back then. Wang Ye is a native of Beijing. Chen Yan explained.

"This ......" Gu Junen was a little messy, he knew Chen Yue's previous identity, he was a military household in Beijing for generations, but the Chen family had already left Beijing, and the previous mansion was still there, could it still be lived?

Ignoring Gu Junen who was in a daze, Chen Yan caught up with Chen Yue on horseback, carefully guarding his side.

The entire Xuanwumen Street was under martial law everywhere, and the Huaishu Hutong where the Chen family used to be located was full of soldiers.

Chen Yue was full of excitement and pushed open the door of his house, the house was still there, and the well in the courtyard was still there. However, it has become a matter of fact.

This house made of blue bricks and blue tiles was built by his father's subordinate military families after he started his own honeycomb coal business, and he and his father did not have much time to live in this new house.

Standing quietly in the courtyard, looking at the familiar grass and trees, recalling the events that happened back then, Chen Yue's heart fluctuated.

The courtyard is still there, and he has to be crowned a prince if he is famous, but his father will never come back......

"Do you see if this is any different from before?" Chen Yue said softly.

Chen Yan shook his head: "Young Master, it's exactly the same as before, but it's a little old." ”

"The house can maintain its original appearance, it needs popularity, it is impossible that no one lives in it in the past few years, what about the people who live in this house?" Chen Yue asked.

Chen Yan: "I asked, after the Qing army entered Beijing, there was a banner family living in our house, and then the Manchu Qing Dynasty fled, and this banner family also escaped from Beijing. ”

Chen Yue nodded: "No wonder." By the way, you sent someone to find out, those old guys who used to do honeycomb coal business with us are still there? ”

Chen Yan said: "Yes, young master." However, I am afraid that I will not be able to find it, after the Qing troops entered Beijing, all the people in the inner city were driven away, and the entire inner city was vacated to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Manchu people who had migrated from outside the Guan. We old lads don't know where they have gone. ”

Chen Yue sighed: "Try to find it, we are developed now, if those old guys are not doing well, they should help." ”

Chen Yan said: "Yes, young master, do you really want to live here tonight?" ”

Chen Yue said: "Not only me, but also you, all the people who went out of this courtyard before will live here tonight, and I invite everyone to drink!" ”

Chen Yanxi said, "Yes, young master." But only Wu Ping and I are in Beijing, and Chen Mo's kid is still the owner of Dongfan Island. ”

In the past, when Chen Yue was just starting out, he bought three families from human traffickers, namely Wu Ping, Chen Yan, and Chen Mo. Now Wu Ping has become a one-man general, Chen Mo is guarding the foundation on Dongfan Island, and Chen Yan has always been Chen Yue's personal general.

Later, Chen Yue's honeycomb coal business became bigger and bigger, and the family team expanded to 50 people, after several years of war, these 50 people survived more than 30, all of whom became the backbone of the army, among which Jin Xin Li Yi became a single general, and the achievements were not under Wu Ping. As for Yu Feng and Ma Chuang and others, they were not from Chen Yue's family, but Chen Yue became the son of a military family who came to join after the Xishan Soldier Beidao defeated the Qing soldiers several times.

After receiving Chen Yue's instructions, Chen Yan sent someone to inform the former Jiading brothers that there were about 20 people in Beijing, and among these 20 people, the worst of them also achieved the battalion integrity, and most of them were senior officers such as generals and adjutant generals.

On that day, the Chen family house welcomed back the previous owner, and Chen Yue and more than 20 families gathered together to reminisce about the eventful years of the past.

These generals and deputy generals no longer call Chen Yue Wangye, but follow Chen Yan to affectionately call him Young Master, everything seems to have returned to the past, back to the time when he was doing honeycomb coal training. Everyone drank heartily, and one by one they drank crookedly.

"It would be nice if this kid Chen Mo was still here." Chen Yan smirked, remembering his former good brother. Wu Ping also showed a smile on his face, saying that back then, Chen Mo had been secretly competing with Wu Ping, but the relationship between the two was also the best.

"And Miss Wan'er, the food she cooked was delicious!" A former homekeeper continued.

Is Wu Wan'er's cooking delicious? Chen Yue looked at Wu Ping, who was slightly red, stunned for a moment, and laughed.

Wu Ping also smiled, and suddenly missed his sister very much, speaking of which, he hadn't seen his sister Wu Wan'er for a long time.

Chen Yue and his former family members reminisced bitterly and sweetly in the old mansion, and in the current capital governor of the Chengguo Mansion, in a quiet room, Gu Junen and Shan Minglei sat opposite each other and drank tea.

The atmosphere was very calm, but seeing the white steam and the fragrance of tea, the two discussed something earth-shattering.