"Ezhen," Dan Tiqing looked at the distracted Mang Gurtai, "it's getting dark, and it's inconvenient to march at night." ”

"You know, it's not safe to stay here at night." Mang Gurtai interrupted Dan Tiqing's words, and he waved his hand, "Eat a full meal first, pack up your things immediately when you're done, and rush back to Xiping Fort overnight." ”

The Jurchen soldiers ate quickly, and because they had to march, the soldiers were not allowed to drink mare's milk wine.

The soldiers did not rest, and immediately began to pack up their tents, food, and other baggage.

There were too many tents, which were originally intended for 5,000 people, but now there are only more than 1,000 soldiers, and they can't be taken away.

"Bring as many as you can, the rest will be set on fire, and it must not be left for the Ming army."

After Mang Gurtai gave the military order, he took the lead in running to Xiping Fort in the northeast, with the remnants of his defeated army behind him.

The remaining tents, stacked on top of each other, had been lit by the soldiers, and they had been soaked in butter or mutton fat to protect them from the rain.

The flames flew into the air, delaying the daylight for a moment.

The Ming army was under the city, harvesting the heads of the Jurchen soldiers, gathering the uninjured war horses, Du Wenhuan stood quietly at the head of the city, the sun and moon military flag was floating over his shoulders, he was still annoyed, and some of the Jurchen cavalry fled from under his nose.

"Throne, fire." The pro-soldier pointed to the northeast.

Du Wenhuan looked in the direction of his soldiers' fingers, and the fire had already burned half of the sky, "Is this the location of the Mang Gurtai Tent?" ”

"Yes, Commander, Mang Gurtai may have escaped, shall we chase after him?"

"Catch-up? He has already fled, and Jiannu is fast, and we can't catch up at all. Du Wenhuan's gaze turned to the city, "It's better to harvest the heads of these Jiannu first, it's serious." ”

The soldiers were deeply sorry, but he knew that Du Wenhuan was right, Jiannu had already fled, and the Ming army couldn't catch up at all, besides, it was already dark, who knew in which direction Jiannu would escape?

Mang Gurtai marched in a hurry overnight, running for more than a hundred miles, and at dawn, Xiping Fort was already in sight, but the soldiers were extremely tired.

"Lord Belle, the Ming army didn't chase after you at all, let the soldiers rest for a while!" Hulus rode after Mang Gurtai.

"Hold on for a moment, go back to Xiping Fort and rest again!" Mang Gurtai understood that the soldiers fought fiercely for a long time and ran for another night, not only people, but also horses, but also reached the limit of fatigue, once the soldiers stopped to rest and their bodies relaxed, it was difficult to get nervous in a short time, in case of a sneak attack by the Ming army, it would be dangerous.

It is safe only to return to Xiping Fort, which is protected by the city walls.

"Yes, Lord Belle." Hulus did not dare to disobey Mang Gultai's orders.

The cavalry slowed down slightly, but the cavalry outpaced the infantry, and after two more hours, it was nearly noon when Fort Xiping finally appeared before their eyes.

"Xiping Fort!"

"Xipingbao has arrived!"

"We're finally safe!"

……

The Jurchen soldiers shouted excitedly, and they urged their horses one by one, trying to enter the city as much as possible.

After entering Xiping Fort, the soldiers had a full meal.

After eating beef and mutton and drinking mare's milk wine, the soldiers went to sleep in the barracks.

But Mang Gurtai could not sleep.

Of his 9,000 soldiers, less than 1,500 remained, and the city of Quang Ninh was not captured, but the casualties of the cavalry exceeded eighty.

What made him even more annoyed was that he had no idea how he had been defeated at the hands of the Ming army.

Although he didn't want to admit it, Mang Gurtai knew very well in his heart that he had been defeated, and he was defeated.

"The Jurchen is not more than 10,000, and there is no one who is invincible!"

Mang Gurtai began to wonder who was making such rumors?

Yue Tuo had nearly 10,000 cavalry, and in the end there were only 300 left, if he hadn't escaped quickly, I am afraid that his life would have been lost in Quang Ninh.

Now it's his turn, nine thousand cavalry, there are more than a thousand left in no apparent way, if it is not for the overnight escape back to Guangning, and give the Ming army another chance to sneak attack, whether there are three hundred people left, it is uncertain.

He didn't dare to write to Huang Taiji for the time being, he had to find a reason for his defeat first, otherwise, with Huang Taiji's hatred for him, he would definitely not be spared as easily as he did with Yue Tuo. His head hurt, he couldn't think of anything, and he fell asleep groggily under the stimulation of mare's milk.

When he woke up, it was already evening, and Mang Gurtai immediately summoned Hulusi and Dan Tiqing.

In the presence of Dan Tiqing, Hulus again complained to Mang Gurtai that he had "violated military orders and withdrew his troops without authorization, leaving his soldiers alone and suffering heavy losses."

Mang Gurtai asked Ming Yuan how to punish Dan Tiqing, and he was in trouble.

At that time, the target of the Ming army's bullets was Mang Gurtai and the cavalry around him, and he was so patronizing and escaping that he didn't have time to give any military orders to Hulus and Dan Tiqing.

It is true that Dan Tiqing violated military orders and withdrew his troops without authorization, but he kept more soldiers, and Hulus strictly followed military orders, but the soldiers suffered more casualties.

Whatever the reason, those who violate the military order must be punished, and in the end, Mang Gurtai demoted Dan Tiqing from Jiala Ezhen to Niu Lu Ezhen, which was regarded as a punishment for him.

The cavalry to which the three belonged together was less than fifteen hundred, which was not enough for the number of a Jiala.

Mang Gurtai decided to draw more than 100 people from the soldiers in Xiping Fort to join his army, and just formed a Jiala, with Hulusi as Jiala.

"Lord Belle, the soldiers in the city are all people with white flags, will Dorgon agree to Lord Belle's recruitment of his soldiers?" Dan Tiqing was deprived of Jiala Ezhen, and he was angry in his heart, and now it was Hulusi who served as Jiala Ezhen, and he had the heart to give Mang Gurtai some problems.

"I can't care about it so much, it's important to defend Xiping Fort now." Dolgon was just a small Belle in the Dajin Kingdom, and Mang Gurtai didn't take this newly adult brother seriously at all.

"Yes, Lord Belle." Mang Gurtai has already made a decision, Dan Tiqing can't help it, there are so many soldiers in the city, in case the Ming army comes to attack, I don't know if Xiping Fort can be defended. In the face of dealing with the Han Chinese, the interests of all Jurchens were the same.

Mang Gurtai came up with another way to expand the number of soldiers: "Dan Tiqing, you select three hundred fierce people from the Han people in the city to serve as soldiers and form a Niu Lu. This Niu Lu formed an army alone and was responsible for guarding the city gates in peacetime. ”

"Yes, Lord Belle." Dan Tiqing's voice suddenly became louder, although it was still Niu Lu Ezhen, but his soldiers were formed alone and no longer accepted the jurisdiction of Hulus.

………………

Yuan Chonghuan reported the news that the heads of 3,962 Jurchen soldiers and the Zhenglan Banner had been completely crippled to Sun Chengzong, the governor of Jiliao in Shanhaiguan, and Sun Chengzong, who was completely numb, immediately sent it back to the military headquarters in the form of a military report.

When the military report arrived in Beijing, Zhu Youzhen was meeting with Huang Taiji's secret envoy Cha Si Ma Jin in the Huangji Palace.

Before Zhu Youzhen met with Cha Si Ma Jin, Huang Liji, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Li Chunye, the secretary of the Ministry of War, had already met with him separately, but he opened his mouth and insisted that the Ming army withdraw from Guangning, Jinzhou, and Ningyuan and return to Shanhaiguan, and there was no progress in the negotiations between the two sides.

Zhu Youzhen became interested: Who is this Chasi Ma Jin? How can you have such a big breath? So he summoned Chasimajin.

Under the guidance of the guards in the big house, Chasi Ma Jin stepped into the main hall with his head held high, and Zhu Youzhen sat on the dragon chair and quietly looked at the envoy of Huang Taiji.

"I've seen His Majesty the Ming Emperor." Cha Si Ma Jin stroked his chest with his right hand, and bowed down to Zhu Youzhen to perform a Jurchen etiquette.

"Come, sit, tea." Zhu Youzhen only made a sound, but his body did not move.

The little eunuch brought a chair to Cha Si Ma Jin, put it under Zhu Youzhen, soaked it in fragrant tea, and then withdrew from the main hall.

Cha Si Ma Jin shook his wide robe, sat down on the chair, and stared at Zhu Youzhen with those eyes: This emperor of the Ming Dynasty is too young, right?

Zhu Youzhen was also staring at Chasi Majin, like two roosters about to fight, before the battle, both sides wanted to overwhelm their opponents from momentum.

Zhu Youzhen may at any time end the conversation between the two sides under the pretext of "busy state affairs."

"Your Majesty Emperor Ming, I have talked with the officials and soldiers of your country, but they have not agreed to the legitimate requirements of the Dajin Kingdom."

Zhu Youzhen laughed: "Cha Si Ma Jin, they are just scholars, and there are some things that can't be done-of course they can't agree, so let's talk to me now, what requirements do you have, and say them together, and I will see if I can agree to you." ”

Cha Si Ma Jin picked up the tea, took a sip, and peeked at Zhu Youzhen's face, and found that Zhu Youzhen did not look angry, "Your Majesty the Ming Emperor, our requirements are very simple, there are only three things: first, the Ming army withdraws from Guangning, Jinzhou, and Ningyuan, and returns to Shanhaiguan; second, to compensate Dajin 300,000 taels of silver; Third, compensate Dajin for 500,000 stone of grain. ”

Zhu Youzhen laughed angrily, the Ming army won the battle, which was completely like a war reparation after the defeat, but he remained silent, "Cha Si Ma Jin, what reason do you have for making these requests?" ”

Cha Si Ma Jin saw that Zhu Youzhen was not angry, and he was overjoyed, could it be that this young emperor was frightened by the iron horse of the Dajin Kingdom?

He gave full play to his voice as loud as a bell: "His Majesty the Ming Emperor, Dajin and Daming, with Shanhaiguan as the boundary, originally lived in harmony, but the Ming army crossed Ningyuan and Jinzhou one after another, and even our Guangning swallowed, because the Ming army provoked a war and made the Dajin Kingdom lose thousands of iron horses, so, Your Majesty the Ming Emperor, you must compensate us for our losses, so as not to hurt the harmony of the two countries." ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled slightly: "Investigate Ma Jin, who made the covenant with Shanhaiguan as the boundary?" Why don't I know? ”

Chasi Majin's swarthy old face was red, but it quickly disappeared: "Your Majesty Emperor Ming, although there is no covenant, the status quo is to take Shanhaiguan as the boundary. ”

"Hahaha......" Zhu Youzhen laughed loudly and waved his hand: "Chasi Ma Jin is old, and his memory is not good, I remember that before you came to Daming, the status quo was that Daming had occupied Guangning, and the east and north of Guangning were the dividing lines between the two countries. ”

"You ......" Cha Si Ma Jin felt that Zhu Youzhen was reasonable, but he couldn't find a rebuttal for a while, so he was ready to pound the table and smash the teacup to win time to think by "stiffening".

"Uh-huh." Fu Xiaojian, the head of the guard, has been standing behind Zhu Youzhen, he is holding his arms with both hands, carrying a long sword, looking like a jade tree facing the wind, which is in stark contrast to the stout of Chasi Majin.

He found that Chasi Ma Jin was about to go crazy, and hurriedly spoke out to stop it. Fu Xiaojian estimated that if he really wanted to fight, he would not be Zhu Youzhen's opponent, but Chasi Ma Jin was a slave of Banbang, and it was not worth Zhu Youzhen's own hands at all.

Chasi Ma Jin glanced at Fu Xiaojian, and the eyes under the two sword eyebrows were already showing anger, so he had to swallow and spit at the mouth: "Your Majesty the Ming Emperor, it was because of the provocation of the Ming army that unpleasant things happened, Dajin and Daming were originally facing each other across the Shanhaiguan." ”