At the end of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, a major event also occurred in Nanjing, at the welcome banquet held by Emperor Hongguang, Emperor Hongguang suddenly euphemistically proposed that in view of the fact that the court situation had been stabilized, he hoped that Li Hongyu could complete the war against the Japanese State as soon as possible.

This not only freed up the Ming to deal with the Manchus and Dashun with all his might, but also fulfilled the last wish of Emperor Chongzhen.

The implication is that Emperor Hongguang hopes that Li Hongyu can go to the Wa Kingdom to sit in the town and make a quick decision, which makes the noisy banquet quiet in an instant, and the civil and military officials who participated in the banquet looked at the scene in front of them in surprise.

The people who can appear at the banquet have been in the officialdom for many years, and naturally they can see at a glance that the real intention of the Hongguang Emperor is to transfer Li Hongyu away and reduce Li Hongyu's influence on the court situation, so everyone wants to know what choice Li Hongyu will make.

"The minister will obey the holy decree, and he will rush back to the Japanese kingdom after the year." Under the concerned gaze of everyone, Li Hongyu bowed to Emperor Hongguang and solemnly agreed.

With a bang, there was a commotion at the scene, and no one expected Li Hongyu to agree so happily and leave the power center of Daming so easily.

Emperor Hongguang was also stunned for a while, he was actually ready for Li Hongyu to refuse, but Li Hongyu agreed without any hesitation, which made him feel an inexplicable guilt in his heart.

At this moment, no one knows how complicated Li Hongyu's mood is, as a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, he originally wanted to help Emperor Hongguang and make Emperor Hongguang establish his own lineage, but he didn't want to become Emperor Hongguang but was suspicious of him, so he naturally left, so as not to be involved, and he could be regarded as doing his last effort to the royal family.

The officials at the scene couldn't help but look at each other, some with happy expressions on their faces, others with anxious expressions, and some with blank expressions.

"Your Majesty, this matter must not be ......"

After the initial stunned, a middle-aged official took the lead in coming back to his senses, got up and bowed to Emperor Hongguang, wanting to dissuade Li Hongyu from leaving Beijing, you must know that Li Hongyu is now the mainstay of Nanming, and once he leaves, all kinds of contradictions that have been suppressed before will inevitably erupt.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what the emperor said is right, the attack on the Japanese State has cost a huge amount of financial, manpower and material resources, and it should be solved as soon as possible, and this is an edict issued by the first emperor to this Taishi, and this Taishi is duty-bound."

Before the middle-aged official could finish speaking, Li Hongyu had already interrupted him loudly and said in a serious voice.

"Your Majesty, the situation is urgent, and the minister has decided to leave Beijing after the year and rush to the Wa Kingdom to defeat the Wa Kingdom as soon as possible." As he spoke, Li Hongyu bowed to Emperor Hongguang and said with a resolute expression.

Seeing this situation, a sigh suddenly sounded at the scene, and many people shook their heads secretly, it seemed that Li Hongyu had made up his mind, what was the matter, the good situation was ruined like this, and no one in Nanjing City could replace Li Hongyu's position in the officialdom.

Facing Li Hongyu, who decided to leave, Emperor Hongguang was a little at a loss for a while, his face turned red, he never expected that Li Hongyu had no nostalgia for the Nanming regime, and he couldn't help but feel a little remorseful in his heart.

But Jun has no jokes, and Li Hongyu has already expressed his attitude, so it is difficult to have room for maneuver in things, and Emperor Hongguang has to bear what he does.

Yangzhou's Ran Xingrang was taken aback when he learned that Emperor Hongguang had driven Li Hongyu out of the capital, and hurriedly followed Princess Shouning to Nanjing City to persuade Li Hongyu to stay.

Compared with Princess Shouning, Ran Xingrang knows more about the importance of Li Hongyu to the Nanming Dynasty, Zhu Yousong has no foundation in the Nanming officialdom, and belongs to an out-and-out lonely person, if it weren't for Li Hongyu being there in the town, who would take Zhu Yousong to heart?

Since Li Hongyu came to Nanjing, Zhu Yousong has gathered some loyal courtiers around him, and now his royal authority is still shallow, and driving away Li Hongyu at this time is undoubtedly self-defeating.

However, to Ran Xingrang's disappointment, Li Hongyu had already made up his mind to leave Nanjing to go to the Wa Kingdom, and there were already many rumors in the Nanjing market about him replacing Zhu Yousong.

Ran Xingrang naturally knew that Zhu Yousong was suspicious of Li Hongyu, so Li Hongyu's best choice was to leave, but in this way, Nanming's good situation would be ruined.

Li Hongyu led the sailors to Beijing City to welcome back the coffins of Emperor Chongzhen and others, regardless of his safety, and had done too many things for the Ming Dynasty, and he really couldn't ask too much of Li Hongyu.

"Brother Ran, Yangzhou is too close to Nanjing, our Customs Department is a little conspicuous, in my opinion, it is better to move to Haicheng in Shanghai to avoid unnecessary trouble." When Ran Xingrang left, Li Hongyu remembered something, so he solemnly said to Ran Xingrang.

Although Li Hongyu is in charge of the Customs Department, Ran Xingrang is the nominal chief officer of the Customs Department, so Li Hongyu must discuss the relocation of the Customs Department with Ran Xingrang.

"Can't Yangzhou hold on?" Ran Xingrang's body couldn't help but tremble when he heard this, and he looked at Li Hongyu with a surprised expression.

In recent years, the business of the ten imperial merchants under the jurisdiction of the Customs Department has gradually moved from Yangzhou City to Haicheng built by Li Hongyu in Shanghai.

This is actually nothing, it is a normal business change, after all, with the prosperity of overseas trade, Haicheng has become a trade center of the Ming Dynasty.

But the top ten imperial merchants gradually sold off many industries, including the Jiangnan region, to recover a large amount of money, and then invested in the expansion of overseas businesses, which made Ran Xingrang feel very strange.

Under the influence of Li Hongyu, Ran Xingrang also let his family sell the property that was not the location of the customs department's power, and invested the funds in Haicheng and other places where overseas trade was prosperous, and he was very puzzled by Li Hongyu's move.

However, when Li Zicheng unexpectedly captured the city of Beijing, and the Manchu Qing defeated the Dashun army at Shanhaiguan, Ran Xingrang finally understood the intention of Li Hongyu's move.

Now Li Hongyu actually proposed to move the Customs Department from Yangzhou to Haicheng, which had to shock Ran Xing's heart, could it be that Li Hongyu was not optimistic about the Ming army holding Yangzhou?

"Freezing three feet is not a day's cold, and some things have to be guarded against." Li Hongyu groaned for a moment when he heard this, he did not answer Ran Xingrang directly, but sighed and said with a heavy heart.

Ran Xing suddenly fell silent when he heard this, his heart was full of bitterness, although Li Hongyu said it very tactfully, but of course he could hear the meaning inside, knowing that Li Hongyu was not optimistic that the Ming army could hold Yangzhou, and Li Hongyu's prediction had always been accurate.

Now, Ran Xingrang can't take care of other things, the top priority is to take care of his family's affairs, as for the fate of Daming, it can only depend on the will of God.

Therefore, after the Chinese New Year, at the same time that Li Hongyu set off from Nanjing, Ran Xingrang gave a note to Emperor Hongguang, hoping to move the Customs Department to Haicheng to manage the affairs of overseas trade nearby.

Emperor Hongguang naturally wanted to give Ran Xing this face, and besides, the Yamen of the Customs Department was too close to Nanjing City, which was easy to affect the court situation in Nanjing, so he happily agreed to Ran Xingrang's request.

Subsequently, Ran Xingrang began to organize the Yamen of the Yangzhou City Customs Department to move south to Haicheng, and sold the property of the Customs Department in Yangzhou City, and harvested a lot of money.

In the eyes of the outside world, Li Hongyu and the Customs Department were forced away by Emperor Hongguang, so they all sympathized with Li Hongyu and the Customs Department, which made Li Hongyu's reputation rise again and became a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty who suffered from unfair treatment.

After Li Hongyu returned to Haicheng, he dealt with some urgent matters at hand, and then took the Sea Dragon to Xiaoliuqiu to visit the resettlement of the people who moved south from Xiaoliuqiu, and then returned to the Japanese country to prepare for the offensive of the Japanese army on Kyushu Island.

The red lady did not go to Haicheng with Li Hongyu, but went north to Xiangyang Mansion, preparing to surrender the Dashun army and civilians related matters, with Li Hongyu's judgment that the Manchu Qing Dynasty will launch a decisive battle against Li Zicheng this year, and it is difficult for the Dashun army to resist the Qing army's Eight Banners who have been tempered by the war in Liaodong.

Don't look at Li Zicheng's current army of hundreds of thousands, he has become a powerful armed force that has divided the southwest, but in fact, his foundation is very weak.

In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng was defeated by Hong Chengchou and had to lead the remnants to lie dormant in Shangluo Mountain in southern Shaanxi, and it was not until the end of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen that he killed Shangluo Mountain and entered Henan.

The reason why Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were able to develop and grow rapidly was because there was a famine in the Central Plains and Northwest of the Ming Dynasty at that time, and thousands of hungry people flocked to join the breakfast team in order to survive, which caused the peasant army to expand dramatically.

It was precisely because of those hungry people that Li Zicheng was able to gallop through the Central Plains, crisscross the Guanshan Mountains, and finally went east to subvert the Ming Dynasty.

When Li Zicheng conquered Beijing, the soldiers of the Dashun Army under him had only three and a half years of combat experience at most, and the soldiers who fought with them were all second-line troops of the Ming army, and the main forces that the Ming army could fight were transferred to Liaodong to fight against the Qing soldiers, so it was difficult for the soldiers of the Dashun Army to be tempered from the battle.

Therefore, in terms of combat quality and experience, the Dashun army is far from catching up with the Qing army's Eight Banners soldiers, who have been fighting with the Ming army outside the pass for more than 20 years, and once the Qing army attacks with all its might, the Dashun army will not be able to resist at all.

In the first year of Hongguang, in February, there was a jubilant scene in the Forbidden City, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty moved the capital to the main hall in full swing.

At Dolgon's suggestion, your young Emperor Shunzhi moved the capital from Shengjing to Beijing and became the new owner of the Forbidden City, which also meant that the Manchus had ambitions to conquer the Central Plains.

"Emperor Hongguang of the Ming Dynasty actually drove Li Hongyu to the Wa Kingdom, God really helped me!"

After moving the capital to the main hall, Dolgon was talking and laughing with several Manchu princes, and a soldier handed him an urgent official document, and when he saw the contents of the official document, Dolgon was stunned at first, and then he showed a happy look on his face, laughed and said to the people around him.

"Li Hongyu was driven to the Wa Kingdom?" Several princes were taken aback when they heard this, no one thought that Emperor Hongguang would be able to do such an outrageous thing, wouldn't this be self-destruction of the Great Wall.

"Since Li Hongyu has left, then there will be no one in the Ming Dynasty who is my opponent of the Qing Dynasty, it seems that God wants me to sit in the world in the Qing Dynasty."

Dolgon looked at the princes with high spirits, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the opportunity given by God for us to dominate the world, we can't miss it!" ”

"Regent, you mean we're going south?" Hearing this, Prince Su Haoge couldn't help but ask in surprise, Dolgon wanted to use the Yellow River and the Ming Dynasty as the boundary before.

"The Ming Dynasty is already weak, and it has squeezed out Li Hongyu, who stabilized the morale of the army, although they are outnumbered, but are those wastes the opponents of my Qing warriors?"

Hearing this, Dolguan nodded with a smile, and said to Haoge and the others with a heroic face, "As soon as Li Hongyu leaves, we will have no resistance to the south, and we will cross the Yellow River in one go while the situation in the south is unstable, and then the richest Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty will be ours!" ”

"Regent, you just give the order, we just can't defeat the Jiangnan Ming army and can't counterattack us."

Hearing this, Prince Yu Duoduo clenched his fists and said excitedly, Jiangnan is a prosperous and rich paradise full of gold in the eyes of him and the Manchu Qing soldiers and civilians, and as long as he knocks it down, he will get rich rewards.

"Regent, this is God going to destroy the Ming Dynasty, and we can dominate the world if we take Jiangnan."

Prince Azig also expressed his agreement excitedly, judging from the previous battles, the Ming army had no combat effectiveness at all, no wonder it had to be entangled with the Manchus outside the pass for so many years.

"This matter should not be rushed, we must think long-term, and convene the Eight Banners Banner Masters tomorrow to discuss the next military plan."

Seeing that the interest of Duoduo and the others was aroused, Dolgon pondered for a while and said, this is a military affair, and it is natural to decide after deliberation, isn't it child's play.

So, the next day, Dolguan convened the Manchu Eight Banners and nobles to discuss the attack on the northwest and Jiangnan, and the Eight Banners were very excited about attacking Jiangnan and wanted to plunder.

After discussion, the Qing army attacked the Dashun army in two ways:

The northern route was led by the British princes Azig, Wu Sangui, and Shang Kexi from Datong to Shaanxi through the Mongolian steppe, and then south from Yulin and Yan'an.

The southern route was led by Duoduo and Kong Youde, the princes of Yu, to attack Tongguan through Henan, and after capturing Tongguan, they went south to attack the Hongguang regime of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, Prince Hauge led the Qing army of his headquarters to capture Henan and Shandong.

While the Manchus were preparing for a massive military campaign, the Southern Ming regime was in a state of malaise, with constant infighting, poor government decrees, and party struggles.

Not only that, the military department Shangshu Shi Kefa supervised the division of Jiangbei and set up four towns of Huai, Yang, Feng, and Lu, and granted military and political powers, hoping that the soldiers and horses of the four towns could make great efforts to ensure the safety of the north of Nanjing.

In contrast, Nanming has fallen behind in this life-and-death war with the Manchus, and the result is naturally not difficult to guess.

(End of chapter)