As a commander-in-chief, you should consider the worst-case scenario in any situation and prepare in advance.

According to many battle reports sent from the front line of Ningzhen, Zilharang's army has been taking the initiative to attack and has always held the initiative on the battlefield, although the situation has become complicated after Zheng Chenggong joined the war, but Jilharang still has a great chance to win this battle, Dolgon is more just a rainy day, considering who to send to rescue Jilharang in case the war is unfavorable.

Yes, this is the "worst possibility", Zierharang's command is the elite of the Qing army, in case the war is unfavorable, at most learn from Kong Youde in Huguang, hide in the city of Nanjing, and it is impossible for the Chu army to eat his tens of thousands of troops in one bite.

If this happens, who will be sent to the rescue of Zilharang? Dolgon picked and chose Wu Sangui.

Jierharang includes half of the elite of the Eight Banners, and there must be no mistakes, Jiangnan is the foundation of the Qing court's grain endowment, and there can be no mistakes, if this "worst possibility" really appears, even if Hanzhong is lost, Shaanxi is lost, Wu Sangui must be transferred south.

But Hong Chengchou knew that since Dolgon had thought of this problem in advance, he would make arrangements for Shaanxi and Hanzhong, and he would not be forced to take the extreme measures of a strong man breaking his wrist when the matter was approaching.

His mind was extremely quick, and he subconsciously asked Dolgon if he was planning to make peace with the Western Army.

This kind of thing is not so simple, he just asked in passing, but he didn't expect Dolgon to admit it calmly.

Wishful thinking!

Unreliable!

"This ......, I'm afraid it's not easy!"

If another person claims to negotiate peace with the Western Army, Hong Chengchou will not pay attention to him at all. But when the words came out of Dorgon's mouth, the weight was naturally different. Hong Chengchou had to seriously consider how feasible it was to negotiate peace with the Western Army.

"Since ancient times, the two armies have made peace. Either they bow down to their subordinates, or they use war to promote peace, but the Western Army is clearly not among them...... The regent of the imperial father has always been far-sighted, and there must be a long-term arrangement, but the old minister is dull and can't see through the mystery. ”

Don't play dumb riddles here, come on, what cards do you have in your hand?

Dolgon smiled faintly: "Cao Governor Wang Wenkui recently sent an urgent report, he found a hidden court criminal when he was clearing the traitors in Anqing Mansion. This person claimed to be Wang Shiyuan, under Miki, but he confessed that he was Zhu Cihuan, the fourth prince of Chongzhen, and was coerced out of Beijing by Li Chuang's chaotic army in the first year of Shunzhi, and fled to Anqing Mansion, where he hid incognito until now......"

Hearing what Dolgon said with a nose and eyes, and the details became more and more precise, Hong Chengchou suddenly raised his head, and did not hide the shock on his face.

"The Eternal King of the Victorious Dynasty? I had seen him back then......" His eyes flashed. said lightly: "Could it be that Wang Wenkui made a mistake?" Over the years, there have been many lucky people who pretended to be the name of the prince of Chongzhen, or invited the favor of the imperial court, or bewitched the people to make trouble. This Wang Shiyuan, who calls himself Zhu Cihuan, must also be a fake, and Wang Wenkui should be ordered to execute him quickly! ”

If this person is really Chongzhen's prince, he must be a huge threat to the Qing court. Of course, he had to be killed, but the Manchus claimed to inherit the orthodoxy of the former Ming Dynasty. Dolgon and Shunzhi also went to worship the Ming Dynasty emperor's tomb from time to time, and they could not openly kill Chongzhen's prince. The best thing to do is to kill him in the name of counterfeiting without having to distinguish the authenticity. (According to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was overthrown by Li Zicheng, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was seized from Li Zicheng's hands, and the Qing army entered the customs in order to hang the people and avenge Emperor Chongzhen, as for the Southern Ming regimes such as the Hongguang Dynasty and the Longwu Dynasty, they were all illegal pseudo-Ming.) ）

"Hahaha, not necessarily! When Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he still crowned Zhu Cihong, the prince of Chongzhen, as the king of Song. Dolgon burst out laughing, and the laughter was generous and heroic.

Hong Chengchou raised his eyebrows slightly: "What does the king mean by this?" ”

"You choose a few old female officials and eunuchs from the palace, go to Anqing Mansion on my behalf, and see if this Zhu Cihuan is true or false.

"Hiss......, this, this is indeed a clever plan to kill two birds with one stone, but there is a suspicion of drinking to quench thirst, the regent of the imperial father, please wait, wait for the old minister to consider one or two."

The matter is very important, Hong Chengchou put aside all the false courtesies between the monarch and the minister, and repeatedly weighed the pros and cons.

It is easy to catch an important figure of the enemy, but to send him back intact, at first glance it sounds a little unbelievable, but when you think about it, it is a good move with great meaning.

The reason why Sun Kewang of the Western Army returned to Emperor Longwu was more because of the form, if he was allowed to get the prince of Chongzhen, what would he do?

Kill people directly?

No kidding, what's in it for him? The Manchu Qing not only borrowed a knife to kill people, but also pinched his sore feet, as long as it was revealed, Sun Kewang would immediately be pointed at by thousands of people.

Give Zhu Cihuan to Emperor Longwu?

This is possible, Sun Kewang took himself out, but the hot potato was handed over to Emperor Longwu. Emperor Longwu was not in the right position, and in the face of Guiwang Zhu Youlang, he was weak and short of breath, and suddenly a genuine prince of Chongzhen appeared, and great chaos would inevitably occur within the Southern Ming Dynasty, and there was even the possibility of a civil war.

Hide Zhu Cihuan secretly?

This possibility also exists, but once he does this, the subsequent development of events will not be up to him, and the Manchu Qing can poke this matter out, expose his wolf ambitions with sufficient evidence, and drive a wedge between the Western Army and the Longwu court.

Directly serve Zhu Cihuan as the main and break with the Longwu court?

For the time being, this result is the most beneficial to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it can be said that both hands are welcome, Sun Kewang if he meets with the sword soldiers of Emperor Longwu, of course, he can no longer care about attacking Hanzhong and Shaanxi, and can only negotiate peace with the Qing court.

Some other possibilities, such as Emperor Longwu, hurriedly abdicated as soon as he saw the appearance of Prince Chongzhen, and there was no need to consider it at all.

On the whole, this matter did more good than bad for the Manchus, occupying the moral high ground without any loss, and it might also alleviate the military urgency, the only thing to worry about. It is Sun Kewang who is expected to use Zhu Cihuan to sit big and cause greater trouble in the future. Killed a hungry wolf, but fattened a tiger. After all, Zhu Cihuan is the genuine prince of Chongzhen, and his appeal is far from being comparable to that of Zhu Yujian, Emperor Longwu......

Hong Chengchou thought of this and hesitated.

"May I ask the regent of the imperial father, Zhu Cihuan, can he be like a hero?"

"According to Wang Wenkui, it is not as good as Zhu Yujian." Dolgon picked up the memo of Wang Wenkui, the governor of Caoyun, and handed it to Hong Chengchou: "This man is sixteen years old, and he is a cowardly young man, and after being captured, he repeatedly begged Wang Wenkui for a living. Claim that my Qing Dynasty has three great favors to the former Ming Dynasty, and I am willing to be loyal to the people for generations......"

Hong Chengchou took the fold and took a closer look, Zhu Cihuan's claim of the three major graces was that the Qing court defeated Li Zicheng, avenged Emperor Chongzhen, and often worshiped the Ming Tomb, etc., according to Wang Wenkui's investigation, Zhu Cihuan did not have obvious rebellion, and lived in seclusion in the countryside for a long time, if it were not for the sudden entry of the army into Anhui. No one would have thought that the third prince of Zhu was hiding in Anqing Mansion.

"In this way, this plan is feasible, I will take a look after I go to Anqing Mansion, if Zhu Cihuan is a treacherous person inside. Then ask the royal father regent to decide. After reading the folds carefully, Hong Chengchou nodded in agreement, there is never a perfect way to govern the world. Handing over Zhu Cihuan to Sun Kewang would not cause substantial damage to the Qing court. But if it can add chaos to Nanming, it's worth trying.

He thought about it. He also asked, "Does the king plan to take this person hostage and negotiate peace with the Western Army?" ”

Dolgon smiled and waved his hand: "Hey——, he has to hand over people to him left and right, but if this matter makes trouble, does he still have the heart to fight Hanzhong?" As long as it drags on for a few months, when I quell the rebellion in Shanxi, the pro-unification army will naturally drive it back to Yunnan! ”

……

Let's talk about the third prince of Zhu.

In the forty-seventh year of Kangxi, the case of the third prince of Zhu was in an uproar, and the Qing court found an old man suspected of being a descendant of the Ming Dynasty royal family in Wenshang County, Shandong, who was seventy-five years old this year, calling himself Wang Shiyuan, and his sons were all ranked with the word "and", and the names were all in line with the strange words next to the soil characters, which was completely in line with the naming law of the Ming Dynasty royal family.

The case was in an uproar at the time, Zhang Tingyu and other five college students jointly tried the case, and finally wrote to Kangxi, this old guy was obviously an impostor, and Jian yì put him and his children and grandchildren to death...... Say you're fake, you're fake, kill your whole family, cut down the grass and eradicate the roots!

History is written by the victors, in the "History of the Ming Dynasty" compiled by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the so-called third prince of Zhu is nothing, several princes of Chongzhen died very early, and the prince Zhu Cihuan died young, so this Wang Shiyuan must be a fake.

However, later generations of historians of the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as Meng Sen and Gu Cheng, all believed that Wang Shiyuan was indeed the son of Chongzhen.

Who to trust? Let's take a look at the relevant records in the History of the Ming Dynasty.

"Mourning King Cihuan, the fifth son of Emperor Zhuang Lie. Born at the age of five and sick, the emperor looked at it, and suddenly said: 'The Nine Lotus Bodhisattva said, the emperor treats his relatives thinly, and he will kill all his sons. 'Sui Xue ......"

This passage is from "History of the Ming Dynasty? The Legend of the King of Mourning Spirits", the details are vividly described, and the picture sense is very strong, in short, tell us one thing, Zhu Cihuan hung up when he was five years old...... In the case of the third prince of Zhu, Wang Shiyuan, who was killed, called himself Zhu Cihuan, but Zhu Cihuan died young, so he must be an impostor.

It seems that this set of logic is completely self-justifying and seems to be unassailable.

Let me say,!

Translate the above passage into vernacular, let's take a look again - Zhu Cihuan is Chongzhen's fifth son, he was five years old when he was suddenly ill, Emperor Chongzhen went to see him, Zhu Cihuan suddenly jumped up and said: "Nine Lotus Bodhisattva said, you treat the emperor's relatives too harshly, and your sons will not live long." Then he kicked his leg and died.

You are "official history"!

Is it good to have a fantasy novel that is not the starting point?

The five-year-old child was sick to death, pretending to be a ghost before he died, and said such a set of things to Chongzhen, what about you?!

To put it simply, the record of Zhu Cihuan in the "History of the Ming Dynasty" is pure nonsense, and the several princes of Chongzhen are also confused, deliberately putting on a crown and wearing Li Dai, there must be something greasy behind it.

Meng Sen is a historian of the Republic of China, is the founder of Qing history research, especially the most profound study of the history of the founding of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he once pointed out that the fourth son of Chongzhen obtained the third prince of Zhu in the 47th year of Kangxi, in fact, the fourth son of Chongzhen was named the eternal king, and the Qing court in the matter of the third prince of Zhu, "the eyes and ears are reversed for two or three hundred years, and the emperor's wit is engraved for a long time, which is unprecedented for the ancient ......" (to be continued......