In March, Li Zicheng of the Dashun regime captured Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Wanshoushan, hanged himself. In such a rapidly changing situation, the Manchu regime in the northeast also paid close attention to the situation in the Central Plains, and since the capture of Liaodong by Taizu Nurhachi, their goal is no longer a corner of the northeast, but a rich and prosperous Central Plains.

In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty captured Jinzhou, he was seriously ill and died, under the planning of Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou of Hanchen, Huang Taiji Zhuang Concubine won over the most powerful Prince Rui Dolgon within the Manchu imperial family, when Huang Taiji died, Dolgon and Huang Taiji's son Haoge are real power figures, are strong contenders for the throne, on the two yellow flags headed by Haoge and the two white flags headed by Dolgon and Duoduo, the two sides competed with each other, and the commission was not lowered. Knowing that the conditions were not yet ripe for self-reliance, Dolgon's resistance came from the cronies of the former Emperor Taiji of the Two Yellow Banners, and as a last resort, Dolgon finally agreed that the ninth son of the Emperor Taiji, the six-year-old Fulin, would become emperor. As a result, Prince Dai Shan and others were blessed to ascend the throne, and the ministers of the kings and ministers of Baylor jointly swore an oath to declare the heavens and the earth, and at the same time announced that the Prince of Zheng Zilharang and the Prince of Rui Dolgon would be the auxiliary government, and the Yuan Shunzhi would be changed.

Since the beginning of the year, Dolgon has been watching the changes in the situation in the Guannai every day, he has spent a lot of money, sent many detailed works to Beijing to investigate, and in addition, he has bribed those officials of the Ming Dynasty, and he did not hesitate to buy those important news. Regarding the disputes and plans in the Beijing court, as well as the movements of Li Zicheng in Shaanxi, almost every three or two days, Xizuo lurking in Beijing reported to Shengjing and reported to Dolgon, who was thinking about how to lead a large army into the Central Plains every day.

Around the end of the first month, Dolgon even got a report, saying that the leader of the "thieves" named Li Zicheng had established the Dashun Dynasty in Xi'an, changed the Yuan Yongchang, and from the end of December last year to the beginning of the first month of this year, sent hundreds of thousands of horses out of the customs, all the way from Shanxi to the Ming capital Beijing, all the way to cross the Yellow River, into Shandong, all the way is invincible, invincible, the Ming Dynasty officials are looking at the wind and surrendering, Li Zicheng is a huge force to seize the Ming Dynasty.

In Dolgon's mansion, a secret secret meeting was held, and apart from Dolgon himself, there were only three people, Prince Zheng Zierharang, Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou. The report from Beijing said that Li Zicheng led an army of 300,000 from Juyong Pass to the south, and was about to launch an offensive against the city of Beijing, if Li Zicheng occupied the Central Plains, would the Manchus still have a chance, and the Manchus, Mongolians, and Han were all only 200,000 men, and in the absence of a chance of victory, they must not rush south, lest they be defeated by Li Zicheng's hands, and they did not have so many troops to consume.

"The situation of the Ming Dynasty, the minister can say a few words, if Li Zicheng hits Beijing City, it is very likely to take Beijing City, Chongzhen this person is mean and unkind, suspicious and arbitrary, the Ming court ministers have been sitting on pins and needles every day, Li Zicheng still has some means, in just two years, gather millions of people, now it is Wenchang Wusheng, the Ming Dynasty has no one available, if Li Zicheng is in the city, it is difficult to guarantee that no one will open the city to surrender, in that case, Li Zicheng wants to take Beijing City, it does not need to spend much effort, After Li Zicheng occupied the city of Beijing, the situation was extremely unfavorable to my Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng was the founding king, and he would definitely take the initiative to attack my Qing Dynasty, and Li Zicheng's prestige among the people was very high, and there were not a few people who were willing to serve the dead......"

"Isn't there still Wu Sangui, the news we got is that Wu Sangui has moved the soldiers and horses of the people outside the gate into the pass, and Wu Sangui has 50,000 elite soldiers in his hands!" Zierharang asked, Hong Chengchou is a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and he knows a little about the situation of the Ming Dynasty, which he has no objection to, but he is so ambitious, he is a little disdainful.

"The problem is Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui is a person, brave and good at fighting, this is true, but if he is loyal, it is really difficult to judge, when he was a general under me, he was very good at preserving his strength, he is good at drilling camps, please think about it, after the battle of Songjin, everyone was demoted, why only he Wu Sangui was rewarded, for Wu Sangui, we can try to win over, as long as Shanhaiguan is opened, we can drive straight in, even if we can't capture the Central Plains, we must take Shanhaiguan, Prepare for the future trip south! ”

Although Hong Chengchou doesn't know Wu Sangui very well, he also knows a lot, and he admires Wu Sangui and Hong Chengchou very much, because this person can fight, but his character, Hong Chengchou won't say anything, because he himself is a traitorous minister, and he is ashamed of himself with so many evaluations.

"Mr. Fan, what do you think?" As an old minister of the Three Dynasties, Fan Wencheng has always been Dolgon's dependence, and in the case of Manchurian unreliable, then he will reuse Hanchen, they are even more sincere, and there is no threat to himself.

"Troops! At present, the Ming Dynasty is dying in the evening, the change is very much, if the city of Beijing falls into the hands of thieves, it will inevitably shake the whole country, and the hearts of the people will be scattered, even if there are soldiers who will be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and guard the gate, but since ancient times, the land is dead, and the people are alive. Those who make good use of the soldiers can take advantage of the time to make trouble, avoid the real and make the false, attack what they are not prepared for, and tend to defend what they do not defend, and our Qing troops went south several times, threatening Beijing, and the horse stepped on the auxiliary and entered the southern Hebei and swept the Central Plains. Therefore, according to the humble opinion of the slaves, in this extraordinary period, the Ming Dynasty disintegrated, and the soldiers had no fighting spirit, which is our opportunity, we should get a piece of the pie, and we can't watch from the wall. ”

Fan Wencheng's idea is very direct, at this time as a wall-to-wall view, that is tantamount to indulging Li Zicheng, if Li Zicheng gains the momentum, when the time comes to deal with the Dashun army, it will be even more difficult, now while they are not prepared, they must send troops, seize as much territory as possible, and enter the pass, Li Zicheng has a vast army and horses, that is not false, but the Qing Dynasty iron cavalry is not made of paper, the border army of the Ming Dynasty will beat these thieves is the wind and collapse, and the Qing Dynasty iron cavalry beat the Ming army to the wind and fall, then prove, Their soldiers and horses in the Qing Dynasty were far stronger than Li Zicheng's Dashun army.

"Makes sense! Reasonable! Dolgon was in full agreement with them.

"The minister thinks that Li Zicheng claims to have 300,000 soldiers and horses, but the elite is only 100,000, and he is afraid that he needs 100,000 if he stays in Shanxi, even if he enters the city of Beijing, the army is huge, but the elite of the headquarters will definitely not be many, and there are more soldiers in the army who surrendered along the way. Hong Chengchou also seconded the proposal and said that he agreed with their intention to send troops.

Encouraged by the two men, Dolgon was also proud, stood up, and said, "Good! Tomorrow morning, the army will send generals, go west to the Ming Dynasty, enter the Guannai, and realize the last wish of Taizu Taizong! ”

"Huh!"

Hong Chengchou sighed in his heart, but he didn't feel happy, and a bitter taste welled up in his heart. Chongzhen has no really useful people around him, the lords are hakama, the big bureaucrats are mediocre, even if there are two or three loyal and straight ministers, they are also suffering from party disputes, Chongzhen will not use people, seeing that the Ming country is tired, and his heart is also a sigh.