In the dead of night, Taifu's house.

Li Hongyu hugged Qin Yue and lay on the bed and whispered, Qin Yue went to the south to reunite with Li Hongyu four years ago, and then he never saw him again, so he naturally had a lot to say.

"Xianggong, this time Jiannu is menacing, the officials and troops outside the gate have now become frightened birds, how can the 30,000 forbidden army alone defeat Jiannu?"

Qin Yue snuggled on Li Hongyu's chest, and said worriedly, the current Manchu Qing is much stronger than the Houjin back then, and Huang Taiji has been working hard since he succeeded to the throne, expanding his territory externally, suppressing factional disputes internally, strengthening centralization, and increasing his national strength by leaps and bounds.

Otherwise, Huang Taiji would not have the idea of fighting the Guanjin defense line, and he made it clear this time that he wanted to pull out the nail of the Guanjin defense line and drive the Ming army back to Shanhaiguan, so that the land outside the pass would be owned by the Manchus.

It is particularly important that in this way, the Manchu Qing will have an advantage in the confrontation with the Ming Dynasty, forcing the Ming Dynasty to change from the previous offensive and retreatable to a passive defensive position, and Huang Taiji can transfer the army to defend against the Ming Dynasty for other purposes, avoiding being on alert at all times, and thus saving a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, which can be said to be counted in one fell swoop.

Therefore, Huang Taiji will definitely do his best to fight the Ming army this time, and will not have scruples like Nurhachi in the past to preserve his strength.

In terms of strength alone, the strength of the Qing army was not less than that of the Ming army outside the Guan, which is also the main reason why the Ming army is so passive now.

The current strength of the Qing army is composed of three major parts, namely the Jurchen Eight Banners, the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Army Eight Banners, with a total strength of about 200,000 troops, which is completely different from relying on Jurchen soldiers to fight the world.

The biggest difference between Huang Taiji and Nurhachi is the use of Mongols and Han Chinese, he realized that the population base of the Jurchens was too small, so he vigorously absorbed the Mongols and Han Chinese, which greatly resolved the ******** of serious antagonism during the Nurhachi period.

Although Huang Taiji is an enemy, Li Hongyu has to admire Huang Taiji's ability, and it is rare to be able to organize a plate of scattered Houjin into such a strong force in just over ten years.

Originally, Huang Taiji's opponent should be the Emperor of the Apocalypse, but the will of heaven made people, and the Emperor of the Apocalypse died young, otherwise how could Huang Taiji build the Manchu Qing Dynasty into such a strong and prosperous state so smoothly?

"Huang Taiji is bound to win the Guanjin defense line, and the forbidden army will naturally not be able to stop the Qing army, but Xianggong is in danger this time, and I am afraid that he will not compete with Huang Taiji head-on."

Li Hongyu, who closed his eyes and recuperated, smiled slightly, and said lightly while caressing Qin Yue's hair, "Huang Taiji knows that the battle outside the pass must be resolved quickly, so he will definitely go all out to attack the trapped officers and soldiers, especially Songshan City, where Hong Chengchou is located, is the focus of the attack, maybe Songshan City will be broken before the minister leaves the pass." ”

"Zu Dashou is now short of soldiers and food, and all his hopes are pinned on the officers and soldiers of Songshan City, as soon as Songshan City breaks through Jinzhou City, the officers and troops of Jinzhou City will definitely not be able to hold it, so that the Guanjin defense line will be broken."

Qin Yue suddenly showed a look of surprise when she heard this, since she stayed in the capital to sit in the capital, she was naturally very clear about the battle situation outside the pass, she didn't expect things to be so bad.

If the Ming army in Songshan City and Jinzhou City is lost, even if Li Hongyu rescues the Ming army in Xingshan and Tashan, then the troops in his hands will be seriously insufficient, and it will be easier said than done to defeat the Qing army? Moreover, the imperial court will not let Li Hongyu fight to the death with the Qing army outside the pass.

Therefore, Li Hongyu's exit this time was not to defeat the Qing army that came to attack, but to rescue the Ming army besieged by the Qing army.

"Yue'er, the capital is not a place to stay for a long time, I will ask the emperor to let you go home to serve my mother before I leave the customs."

A helpless wry smile flashed at the corner of Li Hongyu's mouth, as the Taifu of the Ming Dynasty, of course he didn't want to see the Qing army capture the area outside the Guan, but some things were not transferred by his will, and he said after a deep sigh.

"Xianggong, although the official army lost the battle outside the Guan, Yijiannu's current strength is not yet able to cross the Shanhai Pass to attack Gyeonggi."

Qin Yue suddenly showed a look of surprise when she heard this, the current situation is far from the point where she left to take refuge, the Qing army dominates Guanwai at most, due to the huge disparity in national strength, it is simply wishful thinking to attack Gyeonggi within 20 years.

"Jiannu is not afraid now, Xianggong is worried about the local rebel people, who are getting stronger and stronger, and they are a greater threat to Gyeonggi than Jiannu."

Li Hongyu shook his head and said with a solemn expression, Now the peasant armies that rebelled against the imperial court have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, making the imperial court tired of encirclement and suppression, and once it enters Gyeonggi, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Qin Yue suddenly fell silent when she heard this, she knew that the peasant army surging in various places had disturbed the peace of the imperial court, and those local guards were simply embarrassed to take on the task, and they had no fighting spirit in the face of those peasant troops with hoes and sticks, and fled in the wilderness.

In this case, the greatest threat to Gyeonggi was the peasant army in the country, not the Qing army.

Qin Yue knew that Li Hongyu would never let her leave the capital for no reason, so she didn't argue about anything anymore, to be honest, she was tired of the intrigue and deceit in the capital.

Early the next morning, Li Hongyu went to the camp of the forbidden army outside the city to mobilize the generals of the forbidden army to reorganize their arms for battle.

Li Hongyu's appearance made the morale of the soldiers of the forbidden army high, and they were ready to go out of the customs to make meritorious contributions, and they were steadfast with Li Hongyu, and they never thought of defeat, after all, Li Hongyu had not tasted defeat in the southern and northern wars for more than 20 years since he first went out of the customs and fought with Houjin in the 47th year of Wanli.

In the afternoon, when Li Hongyu was accompanied by the generals of the forbidden army to inspect the barracks, one of the palace attendants rushed over in a hurry, and Emperor Chongzhen urgently announced that he would go to the audience.

Li Hongyu realized that it must be the latest battle report from Guanwai, and it seemed to be extremely unfavorable to the Ming army, otherwise Emperor Chongzhen would not have sent someone to call him at this time, you must know that he would lead the senior generals of the forbidden army into the palace to eat the send-off banquet set by Emperor Chongzhen in the evening.

Sure enough, when Li Hongyu hurried to the Qianqing Palace, he got bad news, the Qing army had captured Songshan City last month, many of the city's general soldiers were killed in battle, and the life and death of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, were unknown.

Emperor Chongzhen was shocked and annoyed by this matter, he never expected that Songshan City, where tens of thousands of Ming troops were stationed, would be attacked by Jiannu so quickly, in his opinion, Hong Chengchou could hold out for at least a few months.

Because the road to the south was blocked, so the news only reached the capital today, Li Hongyu sighed secretly in his heart, it seems that Jinzhou City is over, and the echo of the Ming army in Songshan City has been lost, Zu Dashou will definitely not be able to hold it, even if Zu Dashou wants to defend it, but the army's heart must have dispersed, and he can't hold it if he wants to.

When Li Hongyu arrived, all the important civil and military ministers of the court were already present, and they naturally arrived in the city before Li Hongyu, who was outside the city, and gathered in groups in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace to talk in a low voice about the loss of Songshan City.

Who would have thought that the Qing army would capture Songshan City, which had tens of thousands of Ming troops, so quickly, knowing that the siege was far more difficult than a field battle.

Emperor Chongzhen sat on the dragon chair with a blank face, he now needed the ministers on the scene to come up with a solution to the problem, but those ministers had nothing to do but express their shock.

"Your Majesty, the minister has been to Songshan City before, although the city defense is not as good as Jinzhou City, but it has also been built very strong over the years, it is a military town on the Songjin defense line, Jiannu is now mainly trapped, they now have the advantage, and they will definitely not rashly attack the city, otherwise there will only be casualties, and the chief Huang Taiji will not do this kind of thing that outweighs the loss."

After Li Hongyu learned the news of the fall of Songshan City, he groaned slightly, bowed to Emperor Chongzhen, and said in an orderly manner, "Therefore, in the opinion of the minister, the reason why Jiannu was able to capture Songshan City is that there is a rebellion in the city!" ”

"Rebellion?" Hearing this, there was an uproar at the scene, no one would have thought of this before, in their opinion, how could the dignified Ming soldiers grovel to the Jurchens?

Emperor Chongzhen's brows suddenly furrowed even deeper, he believed that Li Hongyu would not open his mouth, Li Hongyu knew the Guanjin defense line very well, which was not comparable to those ministers in the court who had never been out of the customs.

"Your Majesty, as soon as Songshan breaks through the danger of Jinzhou, the minister feels that the top priority is to rescue the officers and troops of Xingshan and Tashan, and regroup to wait for the enemy in Ningyuan." Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen's eyebrows were deeply locked, Li Hongyu said with a serious expression, now there is only a retreat to Ningyuan, and Ningyuan's city defense is the strongest in the Guanjin defense line.

"What do you think?" Emperor Chongzhen came back to his senses when he heard this, glanced around at the ministers at the scene, and asked quietly.

When the ministers heard this, they bowed their heads and stood up, fighting with their mouths, and they were far from fighting with real swords and guns, and they didn't know the situation outside the gate, so they had any ideas.

"Since this is the case, then according to Taifu Li's wishes, retreat to Ningyuan City!" Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Li Hongyu and said in a deep voice, his heart was full of loss and gloom.

Originally, Emperor Chongzhen counted on Li Hongyu to turn the tide after leaving the pass, defeat the Qing army, solve the crisis outside the pass, and consolidate the Guanjin defense line.

But now it seems that this wish can only come to naught, once Songshan and Jinzhou are lost, then the strength of the Ming army outside the Guanwai will be reduced by more than half, and Li Hongyu has the ability to reach the sky, and he will not be able to use a group of remnants to defeat the Qing army with a rainbow of morale.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen now hopes that Li Hongyu can stabilize the war situation outside the Guanwai and avoid the annihilation of the Ming army outside the Guanwai, otherwise the Ming Dynasty will be in a passive situation outside the Guan.

"Your Majesty, the minister has a reluctant request, and I hope the emperor can agree."

Li Hongyu had long known that Emperor Chongzhen would agree to his proposal, because now Emperor Chongzhen had no choice, and after hearing this, he bowed to Emperor Chongzhen and reported in a deep voice, "The minister's mother is old, she was sick in bed last year, and the minister's father died early and was raised by her mother, so I implore the emperor to send down a decree and allow the minister's wife and concubine to perform filial piety in front of the window on behalf of the minister." ”

"Our Ming Dynasty is based on filial piety, and Taifu, as a son of man, should be filial piety to his parents, and this matter is approved." Emperor Chongzhen thought that Li Hongyu was going to put forward some conditions, but he didn't expect it to be a family matter, so he nodded and gave permission.

At this moment, no one realized that Li Hongyu's move was to let Qin Yue and other family members take the opportunity to leave the dangerous place of the capital, so as to avoid being slaughtered and **** after the city was broken in the future, after all, the situation in the Ming Dynasty is still under the control of the imperial court, and the capital is very safe in the eyes of the outside world.

"Thank you for your grace." Li Hongyu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard this, and thanked him in a deep voice, with Emperor Chongzhen's words, then Qin Yue, Rou'er and others would be able to leave the capital and return to Huguang openly.

The next morning, accompanied by the Chinese military ministers, Li Hongyu held a grand pledge meeting at the forbidden army camp outside the city, and led the 30,000 troops of the forbidden army camp to Shanhaiguan.

Within a few days, Qin Yue, Rou'er and others set off for Huguang and returned to Xiangyang Mansion to serve their mother-in-law Zhao, and naturally left the capital, a place of right and wrong.

Since then, the former lively Taifu Mansion in the capital has become deserted, and until the death of the Ming Dynasty, Qin Yue and other female dependents never returned, leaving the housekeeper to look after the house.

(End of chapter)