On December 8, the Ming army of the East Road entered the Santun camp city, and Chongzhen immediately ordered to repair the place for a day, and sent scouts to conduct sentinel in the direction of Zunhua. In the afternoon of the same day, Zhang Hongmo, who had retreated to Xifengkou, rushed to Santun Camp with more than 3,200 defenders from all passes of the Great Wall.

Although these Ming troops accepted the order issued by the emperor and rushed to the Santun camp city after assembling, they were still full of uneasy emotions on the way here. However, when they arrived at Santun Yingcheng, they heard the news that the army led by the emperor had defeated the Houjin army, and their morale was much higher.

However, when Chongzhen saw the arrival of these Great Wall defenders, he was greatly disappointed. Although Jizhou Town has gone through a round of reorganization, it is obviously not very effective. The defenders of the various passes of the Great Wall who were summoned in front of them seemed to be few strong and many old and weak.

After the last time the city was set on fire, the city was basically in ruins except for the fact that the town was still intact. Although the garrison who had been called up did not seem to be very capable of fighting, it was useful to clear the ruins of the city and reorganize the defenses of the Santun camp.

In the evening of that day, the scouts sent by the Ming army also sent back the news that they had encountered the Houjin army sixty miles west of the Santun camp city. According to their observations, this Houjin army erected four flags and numbered about 5,000 people.

That night, Chongzhen convened a meeting of the generals to discuss how to deal with this Houjin reinforcement. The successive victories of the Ming army made the morale of the army high, and even these generals changed their previous problem of cowering when they heard the Houjin army, and they were eager to try to fight this Houjin army.

Of course, the reason why these Ming generals were so bold was not unrelated to the fact that more than 25,000 Ming troops had gathered in the city of Santun Camp. Most of the generals believed that they could take advantage of the fact that the main force of the Houjin had not yet arrived, and fight another battle with more and fewer battles. No matter how strong the Jurchen army's combat effectiveness is, after the defeat shakes their morale, they may not be able to defeat the Ming army with all their might.

However, this time, the staff officers of the General Staff Headquarters all opposed this proposition, and Li Hongyuan believed that since the Houjin advance had arrived 60 miles west of Santun Yingcheng, the main force of Houjin should not be far from them. It is more than 130 miles from Santun Yingcheng to Zunhua City, and the place where the Ming army scouts met the Houjin reinforcements was in the middle of the two places.

The Ming army set out from Santun Camp to arrive at the Houjin army's stationing site, which took at least one day's journey. And this is enough for the main force of Houjin to catch up from Zunhua City. The position of the main force of Houjin may not be farther than that of Zunhua, and if the position of the main force of Houjin cannot be determined, it is undoubtedly a gamble to mobilize the whole army to attack.

Therefore, instead of taking the risk of attacking, it is more appropriate to sit and defend the Santun camp city and wait for the Houjin army to come to attack the city. With the current weather, no matter how much these Jurchens adapt to the severe cold and continue to camp in the wild, their combat effectiveness will continue to decrease.

Moreover, the Houjin army, which is dominated by cavalry, is also difficult to collect forage near the Santun camp city in such weather, and the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for the Houjin army.

Wang Zaijin felt that Li Hongyuan and other staff officers were right, and with Santun Yingcheng as a support, there was really no need for them to continue to take risks. It is also impossible for the Houjin army to bypass the Santun camp to the east, otherwise it will be equivalent to handing over the back road to the Ming army, and such an action at such a moment is undoubtedly suicide.

After listening to the propositions of both sides, Zhu Youzhen finally adopted the opinions of Li Hongyuan and others. It was decided to hold on to the Santun camp city first, and then send sentries to continue to reconnoiter the movements of the Houjin army, waiting for the opportunity to attack.

After this meeting, Zhu Youzhen left several generals such as Wu Huai, Zu Dashou, and Li Hongyuan, and asked them about their opinions on the disposal of those Houjin prisoners, especially the treatment of Wu Nag and those Jurchen prisoners.

Wu Huai admired Wu Nag's martial bravery, and thought that he might as well try to persuade him to surrender and see if he could be used by the Ming army. However, for those Jurchen prisoners, they should all be hanged to avenge the death of the soldiers and civilians in Liaodong.

Zu Dashou, Li Hongyuan and others all opposed Wu Huai's idea of executing all the Jurchen captives, believing that if the Ming army did this, I am afraid that no Jurchen would be willing to surrender next time.

Moreover, the killing of prisoners was obviously too brutal, which was not in line with the Master's way of forgiveness, and also damaged Chongzhen's reputation. However, their opinions on persuading Wu Nag to be used by the Ming Dynasty were surprisingly unanimous.

After sending these generals away, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but ask Lian Shanxiang beside him: "What do you think of Wu Nag?" Do you think he can be used by the Ming Dynasty? ”

Lian Shanxiang thought for a moment before he said to Chongzhen: "The time for our people to ask him is too short to see what he really thinks. However, according to the records of his interrogation on this day, this person was very uncooperative, except for his personal family relationship, he did not confide in the affairs of the Houjin Kingdom. The minister thought that it would be better to treat such a person by detaining him for a year or two, and then persuade him when the strength in his heart was relaxed. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while, then made up his mind and said: "Daming doesn't have so much money to support this kind of idler, let Jinyiwei start from his subordinates, ask Wu Nag about the crime of slaughtering my Ming soldiers and civilians in Liaodong in the past, and after the Houjin army withdraws from the pass, he will organize a military court to try his crimes and pay tribute to my compatriots who died in Liaodong."

As for the captured Jurchens, each had to build a file and then have them verify the authenticity of their confessions with each other. It is rare for us to catch so many Jurchens, and we must ask everything we can ask, not only the military organizations of the Jurchen Eight Banners and the people of each banner, but even the daily life of the Jurchen Eight Banners must be explained to them one by one.

These confessions of the Jurchens will be the source materials for our study of the social activities of the Jurchens. Sun Tzu didn't just say: Know yourself and know your opponent, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles. If we don't even know the daily life of a minority who has been at war with us for 10 years, we still talk about how to defeat them. ”

Lian Shanxiang subconsciously nodded and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty." But..."

Hearing that Lian Shanxiang had some doubts, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but look up at him, "But what?" ”

After successfully arousing Chongzhen's interest, Lian Shanxiang hurriedly said: "However, Wu Nag is the Houjin general we have captured so far, and his status is second only to Du Du. Although his status in the Later Jin Kingdom is lower than that of Du Du, the eldest grandson of the old slave, he is not a broken family like Du Du, and he is the Later Jin general who really mastered the right camp of Mongolia.

It is said that this person has also won the trust of Huang Taiji, the lord of Houjin Khan, if he can be submissive to my Ming Dynasty, the blow to the Houjin State may be no less than Du Du's submission.

Moreover, Wunag had a high prestige among the surrendered Mongols, especially among the Mongols of the Ulut Banner. If I can subdue him, my Ming influence on the Mongol tribes may have a stage of rapid growth.

Since Your Majesty can tolerate even the old slave elder Sun Dudu, why will he no longer tolerate Nawunag for a few days? ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said: "I can tolerate Du Du because neither the Jurchen nor the big or the small Baylor can tolerate Du Du being in power, because they and Du Du have the right to kill their father and seize the throne." Du Du was still loyal to the Houjin Kingdom before, and that was because he had nowhere to stay without the Houjin Kingdom.

So I really want to know if he will be as loyal to the Houjin Kingdom as he was before, and to his group of relatives who framed his father. It doesn't matter if he remains loyal, an old slave eldest grandson who was suspicious of the Jurchen and Belle was captured by us twice, and he will inevitably become a laughing stock among the Jurchens with the most important military achievements.

In my opinion, if he can return to Shenyang safe and sound this time, I am afraid that he will only be an idle person in Shenyang City in the future. Led the army twice in a row, both of which ended in the annihilation of the whole army, who else would want to follow him into battle?

And Du Du himself is not a willing to be bland, during the period when he was captured by our army, he showed his admiration for the old slave everywhere, and the mind of the great effective Pharaoh's slave's exploits. If such a person sees that there is no hope of getting ahead in the post-Jin country, he will inevitably have other thoughts. So we just have to watch.

But Wunag is different, although this person is a Mongol, his family lives in Yehe, and he is a Jurchen Mongol. It can be said that apart from his bloodline, his daily behavior is no different from that of the Jurchens.

He was highly regarded in the hands of both Lao Nu and Huang Taiji, and was an important figure used by the Jurchens to control the vassal Mongol tribes. If such a person wants to make him surrender, I think it is extremely difficult. If he had been locked up for a long time, he might have increased his reputation for unyielding loyalty among the Mongols.

At that time, these Mongolian tribes will come to intercede for him, and it will be a difficult problem to let him go or not. To release him is to return a sign of the Jurchens to solicit Mongolian tribes; If he didn't let him go, he hurt the hearts of those Mongolian tribes who pleaded for mercy.

Therefore, it is better to take advantage of the fact that the Mongolian tribes of the vassal Houjin do not have a deep relationship with our Ming Dynasty, and cut him down first, so as not to embarrass me in the future. Besides, we can't let Wunag submit to obedience, but we can't increase the appeal of my Ming Dynasty to the Mongolian tribes. However, if he was cut down, it would greatly reduce the influence of the Later Jin Kingdom among the Mongol tribes.

From this point of view, it is much more advantageous to kill Wunag than to lock him up. Of course, killing cannot be indiscriminately killed, it must be punished canonically, and then killed after approval. Therefore, you have to sort out a copy as soon as possible, and come out with the crime of Wu Nag mutilating my Liaodong soldiers and civilians, so that you can tell the world why I want to kill him. ”

Seeing that Chongzhen had already made up his mind, Lian Shanxiang no longer continued to persuade, and after agreeing, he changed the topic and asked: "The minister understands, and when the minister goes back, he will hurry up and let people sort out Wu Nag's crimes." There is another matter, the minister also wants to ask His Majesty for a word or two. ”

"What's the matter, you say." Chongzhen lowered his head again and looked at the information sent from everywhere, and replied casually.

"It was in this battle that we captured a group of Korqins. Some of them claimed that they were not captives, but guests who had been pardoned by His Majesty. They said that the envoys sent by His Majesty told them that as long as they did not attack the Ming army, they would not be treated as enemies.

They did not attack the Ming army during the battle, so they demanded that His Majesty fulfill his promise and let them go. The minister did not know what to do with these people, and hoped that His Majesty would give instructions. ”