In the next three days, the Qing army still tackled key problems every day, and thousands of people threw themselves into it, with great momentum and murderous spirit. It was still the Han army that was cannon fodder, but in order to prevent the surrender of Bai Guangen before the battle from happening again, the Han army was mixed with some Mongolian soldiers, and the generals who commanded the troops were protected by the Mongolian soldiers at the core.

The noisy shouting is very lively, the drums and trumpets are noisy, but the thunder is heavy and the rain is small, the shield car of the Han army is often damaged after a few, it is stuck, and even the position of the first trench can not be advanced, and the waste time is wasted, the Ming army has a tacit understanding that there is no match for the cannon, if you don't enter me, I will not beat you with all my strength, the two sides seem to fight vigorously, but it is a little perfunctory.

Among them, the Mongols were also a little slack, on the one hand, they were afraid of getting close, being hit by the artillery fire of the Ming army, and dying in vain; On the other hand, some Mongolian nobles have opinions on this entry into the customs, they do not have a deeper interest relationship with the Jianzhou Jurchens than the Korqin Department and others, and they are purely here to make a profit.

Dolgon watched the battle every day with a clairvoyant mirror, his face became more and more ugly day by day, and the performance of the Ming army's proper response made him very anxious and irritable, and in the name of ineffective combat and negligence in his duties, he cut off the heads of several Han generals, so that the rest of the Han army did not dare to approach his side.

In addition to killing people and discouragement, Dolgon also waited for the arrival of the red-clothed cannon like autumn water, and asked about the itinerary Sun Long's heart was shocked, lest this uncle would cut himself down if he didn't go well, and the people of nearby states and counties were requisitioned countless times, but this thing could not be transported faster if there were not many people, and the road was like this, no matter how fast it was, it couldn't be much faster.

At noon on the fourth day, the red-coated cannons did not arrive, but a group of dusty men rode into the camp, and the first one, dressed in python robes and the color of the inner court scholars, was directly followed by Mandahai and taken to the Golden Horde of Dolgon.

Dolgon sat on the carpet, leaning on some soft cushions, and was discussing with several Mongol princes, when Mandahai lifted the curtain and Dolgon's eyes shot over.

Hong Chengchou, a scholar of the inner courtyard and the governor of Jiangnan affairs, lowered his head, pushed the mountain and fell to the pillar, and knelt down at the door.

"Sinner Hong Chengchou, meet the regent!"

Hong Chengchou's body was full of dust running all the way, the crimson python robe had lost its true color, covered with a layer of ash, and his already thin body seemed to be a little smaller.

Dolgon stood up, walked over quickly, and in a hurry bumped into a Mongolian prince sitting beside him, went to help Hong Chengchou with his own hands, and comforted him slowly: "Hong Xiang, please get up, you are alone in the south of the Yangtze River, supporting half of the country, what is the crime?" Don't speculate and add to your troubles! ”

Hong Chengchou was grateful, but he knelt down, bowed his head and said to himself: "Please condemn the regent!" Hong is ashamed of the imperial court, several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, once the sky was turned upside down, and Nanzhili changed hands from the hands of the guilty ministers; How many loyal ministers and good generals in the Qing Dynasty have lost the splendid country and mountains that have been laid down with all their hearts and souls from the hands of the criminals, and Hong Chengchou will be unforgivable for his crimes, otherwise the people of the world will not accept it! ”

A few Mongolians sitting on the side frowned, looked at each other, they didn't know much about the situation in the south, and thought that although there were fires everywhere, at least the overall situation was still in the hands of the Qing court.

Without paying attention to the Mongols' reaction, Dolgon maintained the action of supporting Hong Chengchou with a pleasant face, and said: "The great man of the country, his responsibility is like a mountain, how can he pin his weight on one person? What Hong Xiang did in Nanjing was all for the sake of the Qing Dynasty, the heart of loyalty, and the world can learn from it! All the people of the world have seen it, but there are slanderers, and this king gouged out his eyes, cut off his tongue, and punished him for his nonsense! Even if the chaos has been born, the thieves have risen together, it is also the fault of the court, all kinds of strategies, are from this king, Hong Xiang is just executing, if you want to talk about the crime, the first to bear the brunt should be this king, Hong Xiang is not guilty, please hurry up! ”

Hong Chengchou was about to burst into tears from the corners of his eyes, kowtowed again, stood up by Dolgon's hand, and said in his mouth: "Don't dare, don't dare!" ”

Several Mongolians sat in the back and exchanged a look, full of joke and contempt: Hong Chengchou is worthy of being the leader of the Han people, and his posture is very sufficient.

In other words, many Ergon will not be so polite, this is also the result of Hong Chengchou's appreciation of Dolgon, at a deeper level, there is also the consideration of winning over the Han landlord class, Hong Chengchou is the representative of the Han landlords, if he is punished, it will really be the enemy of the Han people in the world, do the Jurchens want to be the co-owners of the three provinces in the future?

So the two of them are acting, acting for each other and the world.

Dolgon took Hong Chengchou's hand and walked into the big tent, the Mongolian princes all stood up, one by one, Hong Chengchou also greeted respectfully, everyone sat down according to the title, Dolgon let Hong Chengchou sit in the second position on the left, and the first seat was Mandahai.

"Hong Xiang came thousands of miles from Shandong, presumably there must be something important." Dolgon waited for Hong Chengchou to drink a few sips of herbal tea before he spoke: "It's all my own people here, but it's okay to say it." ”

Hong Chengchou's face has become thinner and thinner in the past few months, his hair has become more and more gray, his cheekbones are towering, his wrinkles are dense, and a pinch of white beard hangs sparsely on his chin, like an old man who is close to old age and weak, but his eyes are still bright and bright.

He put down the teacup and bowed his hand to Dolgon: "Regent, Hong Mouben recruited troops and fortified in Shandong, in case Governor Tong Yangliang left and had a small opportunity to make trouble, except for destroying a few remnants of the Ming Dynasty who occupied an area and caused trouble, he was impermanent, so he was able to calm down and think about some things in the future. ”

He sat up straight, the expression on his face became serious, and his tone was indescribably awe-inspiring, even Man Dahai, who was sitting beside him, was infected by him, and unconsciously straightened his sitting posture.

Dolgon's brows twisted, and Hong Chengchou looked at each other, his eyes flashed, and he drifted to a few Mongolians who pricked up their ears: "Princes, there is a big battle in the afternoon, all kinds of things, you need to prepare, you wait and go down first." ”

Several Mongolians were stunned, stood up together, saluted, looked at Hong Chengchou, and left with a little dissatisfaction.

In the big tent, there were only three people, Dolgon, Man Dahai and Hong Chengchou.

"There is no one else here, Hong Xiang, please say." In addition to taking care of the emotions of the Han people, there is also respect from the heart, and the two sides are their masters on the battlefield, life and death are fighting each other, and now they have become a man in the trenches, but they cherish each other.

Hong Chengchou's eyes are like torches, like burning his own candles, and his hands are on the case, like a righteous man who forgets his life. Xiang Dolgon said solemnly: "Lord Wang, Hong has taken the crime of great disrespect and suggested that Lord Wang retreat from Shanhaiguan!" ”

(End of chapter)