"But why don't you go back to Shengjing directly, but go to Hetuala?" "We can take advantage of the soldier's sharpness that has not yet been wiped out!" ”

"There's nothing more sharp, Dodor!" Dorgon whispered, "Even if there was such a tossing back and forth for hundreds of miles, there would be no sharpness!" At least where there is food and barracks in Haotuala; And Shengjing City only has cold city walls and red-coated cannons! ”

"What are you going to do next when you get to Haotuala?"

"I don't know, at least not yet!" Dolgon turned and stared at his brother with his cold eyes: "We must do it as soon as possible, as soon as possible, and it is better to have a pair of wings grow under everyone's ribs, it is a matter of whether we live or die!" ”

As soon as Duoduo saw Dorgon's gaze, he knew that there was nothing more to say, and he turned around and quickly put his brother's order into action. www.biquge.info Under the strict orders of Dolgon, the Houjin army marched at a speed of exhaustion, resulting in heavy losses. Sick and sprained feet and livestock were abandoned and left to fend for themselves because they could not keep up with the pace of the brigade. Every morning, when the soldiers got up and prepared to leave, there were always people lying on the side of the road, unable to wake up from their sleep; In the afternoon, some of them collapsed on the side of the road from exhaustion; And when night fell, some of them became deserters, and they disappeared into the woods on both sides of the road, preferring to risk falling into the hands of the beggars rather than endure the torment. When Dorgon arrived at Hatuala, his army had lost a quarter of its men without a fight, and the price was that it took only half the time it had taken to return to where it had started.

The Dorgon brothers were greeted with bad news, as an Azig slave who had escaped from Shengjing brought detailed information - the betrayal of Suppilon, the fall of Shengcheng, and the death of Azig and Zilharang.

"How is this possible?" Duoduo groaned: "Shengjing's city walls are at least five zhang high, there are red-coated cannons, and the defenders are more than 20,000 people, how could they fall to the enemy overnight?" How could Azig die like this? ”

"Because that idiot is as stupid as you are, thinking that many defenders, tall walls, and red-coated cannons will be enough to save his life!" Dorgon scolded in a low voice, "but forgot that a dagger sticking out of his back was enough to kill him!" Damn Huang Taiji, after he dies, he is still as troublesome as when he was alive! ”

"Huang Taiji? What does this have to do with him? ”

"If it weren't for Huang Taiji's arrangement before his death, would an elm stake like Ji Bilong come up with the idea of taking refuge in Liu Cheng to deal with us?" Dolgon sneered: "I bet that Babutai is next to Abatai, and Huang Taiji will not let us live in peace if he dies!" ”

Although Dorgon was a first-class commander, he was far less talented in political struggle than Dorgon, and he could no longer keep up with his brother's rapid thoughts, so he could only stand there stupidly with his mouth long, and after a while he asked in a low voice, "So, what should we do now?" ”

"Rush back to Shengjing at once, open the city gate, take out the intestines of this bastard, and hang him around his neck on a tree!" Dorgon sneered, "Of course it's the best option, but can we do it?" ”

"Of course not!" Duoduo shook his head: "Without the necessary siege equipment, it is impossible to capture Shengjing, and Suppression is very clear about our situation, and we can't use the internal response!" ”

"You're right!" Dorgon sighed: "And Daishan will definitely tell him to keep the soldiers' families in his hands, if we can't take it in the first few days, our army will be defeated!" ”

"So what should we do?"

"There's no way, I can't think of a way for the time being!" Dolgon's voice was so low that only he could hear it: "If nothing happens, I'll have one last way left!" ”

Daning City.

When Liu Cheng got off the horse, his stiff legs could barely support his body, but fortunately, Hao Shaoqi, who never stayed away, grabbed him from behind, so he didn't fall to the ground.

"Quick, hurry up and prepare food, hot water, mare's milk wine, and horse feed for the soldiers!" Liu Cheng shouted loudly, the continuous march made his whole person extremely tired, but his spirit was in an extremely excited state: "Guoying, where is the bathhouse, I want to take a bath first, eat and drink, and then sleep well, and continue to rush tomorrow morning!" ”

"Yes, sir!" Du Guoying, who was standing at the gate of the city, leaned over and said in a low voice: "My lord, there is 100,000 urgent news!" ”

"Something to talk about in the bathhouse!" Liu Cheng scratched his scalp vigorously: "Damn, take me to the bathhouse, these fleas are about to eat Lao Tzu!" ”

The bathhouse in Daning City was a low, dark, misty house with two layers of walls that were twelve feet thick, which helped to keep the temperature out of the cold plug. There are many large wooden bathtubs in the house. When Du Guoying walked into the bathhouse, Liu Cheng was already sitting in a half-person-high wooden barrel, lying on the edge of the barrel, and letting the two soldiers scrub the skin on his shoulders and back with brushes.

"Harder, harder!" Liu Cheng's voice echoed in the bathhouse: "You two are not girls, the dirt on Lao Tzu's body is half an inch thick, and there is hair, and there are a million fleas in it!" ”

"Your Excellency!" Du Guoying owed Liu Cheng in the barrel, his eyes turned to the two pro-soldiers, and the pro-soldiers felt Du Guoying's gaze, and took half a step back, ready to retreat.

"What? Keep doing your work, don't stop! Liu Cheng stopped his soldiers: "Guoying, what's the news?" Could it be that Ah Gui's plan succeeded, and he took Sheng Jing down? ”

"Yes!" Du Guoying nodded, and took out a piece of parchment from his arms: "The messenger arrived the afternoon before yesterday!" ”

"Really?" Liu Cheng stood up from the bathtub, revealing his red skin like steamed shrimp, he took the parchment and looked at it carefully, stomped his foot fiercely, and splashed all over the sky: "This bastard, he really did it!" Then he fell into deep thought, Du Guoying didn't dare to disturb Liu Cheng's thoughts, and stood aside and waited quietly.

"General Du, what do you think is the most important thing now?" After half a cup of tea, Liu Cheng's voice had returned to its former calm, and he stretched out his hand and took a bath towel from the wooden frame next to him to wrap his body.

"We should give an answer as soon as possible to calm the hearts of the people who have surrendered to the east!" Obviously, Du Guoying has been thinking about this issue for a long time: "As long as this matter is settled, the great trouble that has plagued the imperial court for 20 years will be solved, and the great achievement of the adults will be ironclad!" ”

"Great achievement!" Liu Cheng suddenly laughed: "Hahaha! So what do you think the court will use to reward the merits? ”

"My lord is now the governor of Zuodu, and he is already a good product, and I am afraid that there is no promotion in the official position, but there is still a further way to the title, the duke is at least, and it is not impossible to break the rules and seal the king! Maybe we can reopen the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and control the Chinese and foreign military! Recreate the old things of Zhongshan and Kaiping (Xu Da was posthumously crowned the king of Zhongshan, and Chang Yuchun was posthumously crowned the king of Kaiping)! ”

"Hahahaha!" Seeing that his subordinates were talking about his promotion, Liu Cheng suddenly laughed: "Guoying, are you so looking forward to driving me to reopen that Laoshizi Metropolitan Governor's Mansion?" So that you can go further? In fact, there is nothing difficult about it, with the credit you have made, even if it is the King of Zhongshan and the King of Kaiping that you just said, I can also seal you one! Even if it is a ripping of the soil, it is not impossible to be hereditary! ”

Hearing Liu Cheng's words, Du Guoying's face changed greatly, Liu Cheng's words were already very explicit, and it was impossible to cause misunderstanding.

"My lord, do you mean to rebel?"

"Huh!" Liu Cheng chuckled twice, but did not directly answer the other party's question, made a gesture, and the two pro-soldiers walked to the door, Hao Shaoqi was still standing behind Liu Cheng, holding a knife, like a lifeless puppet.

"Guoying, do you think that with the name of the imperial court, you can still repay me for my contributions?" When Liu Cheng said this, his tone became solemn: "You are a disciple of Jiangmen, you should have read some books." The Dongyu Rebellion has gone through four emperors, the chieftain took the land of Liaodong, established the country, broke the border twice, the soldiers went straight to Shenjing, burned and looted dozens of prefectures and counties, abducted hundreds of thousands of cattle and people, lost hundreds of thousands of teachers in the imperial court, and spent tens of millions of silver. The authority of the Son of Heaven is nothing more than two ways of reward and punishment, what do you say the Son of Heaven wants to exchange for my 100,000 iron horsemen and great achievements today? ”

Du Guoying is not a fool, the implication of Liu Cheng's words is very clear, since the Son of Heaven cannot reward his merits, then he can only be killed. Liu Cheng wears the prestige of the Lord of Zhen, and he does not reward his merits, even if Chongzhen does not kill him, how can he be seen in the world? There was really only one way left in front of him.

"Guoying, in addition to my brother-in-law, there is also Du Gu. Among the generals under my command, you are the earliest to follow me, and you have the greatest credit. You should know very well the situation of the imperial court, the elite soldiers of the world are concentrated in the nine sides, and the elite soldiers of the nine sides are concentrated in the two towns of Xuanda and Guanning, and the elite soldiers of Xuanda are all in my hands, and the Guanning army should not be attacked by the east. As long as I annex the Jurchen tribes, it will be easy to take the world of the Ming Kingdom! Speaking of this, Liu Cheng said with a smile: "The eldest husband was born in the world, and he should have made meritorious contributions, left a name in history, and sealed his wife and son, so he has no regrets about going through this experience in the world." This kind of thing can't be forced, but I want to warn you, have you forgotten how you met me in the first place? ”

Liu Cheng's last sentence touched the most sensitive nerve in Du Guoying's heart, when he led a battalion of soldiers with his uncle to Beijing to learn from King Qin, the army was about to run out. had no choice but to take out his private pocket to bribe the county officials for military rations, but in the end, he was able to exchange for several truckloads of stale rice, and he could not eat. Under the anger, there was chaos in the army, and he and his uncle were held hostage to capture the county seat, and he also changed from a dignified court officer to a "thief". If he hadn't met Liu Cheng, I'm afraid he would have turned into a pile of dry bones on the side of the road. Thinking of this, Du Guoying had no doubts, lifted the front of the robe and knelt in front of Liu Cheng: "If there is no adult to mention it, my uncle and I would already be a pile of dry bones on the side of the road, and this body has been owned by adults, so we should do the work of dogs and horses!" ”

"Good, good!" Liu Cheng smiled and helped Du Guoying up: "Today's events, you know what I know, and I know it, and I know it, and I know it, and I must not say it to the fourth person!" ”

"The minister understands!" Du Guoying carefully changed the title.

"The news that Ah Gui took Shengjing can't be hidden for long, and soon the imperial court will know. Yang Wenqiao is a smart person, he won't let me eat Dongyu's strength so easily, only by preempting him to create a fait accompli will it be beneficial to our next move! Liu Cheng thought for a moment and asked in a deep voice, "Where are they now?" ”

"I have joined forces with the Chechen Khan, it is said that I have crossed the Kukun River, and I am coming this way!"

"The Kukun River?" Liu Cheng frowned: "That means there are at least twenty days to go?" ”

"That's what the Lord said!" Du Guoying nodded.

"Then don't wait for him!" Liu Cheng sighed: "How many centaurs do you have here?" ”

"A foot battalion, the cavalry has fifteen hundred horsemen, but they are all elite soldiers!"

"Okay, I have more than 10,000 people here, and yours is almost the same!" Liu Cheng thought for a while and said: "Tomorrow we will set off together, along the Laoha River Valley, take the road of Guangning, and go directly to Shengjing!" ”

"Quang Ninh? It's a fortified city heavily guarded by the Eastern Captives! Du Guoying was taken aback.

"It's okay!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "There is a problem inside them, and the guards everywhere must be playing drums in their hearts. Speaking of this, Liu Cheng sighed: "I know it's a risk, but Donglu is like a lost deer, whoever runs fast is whoever, Ah Gui took a big risk and grabbed one antler, giving us the first hand, how can I not catch another antler because I am afraid of the risk?" ”

Du Guoying was persuaded by Liu Cheng's words, he bowed down and said: "What the lord said is very true, but the minister has a small request, please give permission!" ”

"Oh? What's the matter? “

"Please also ask the Lord to allow Weichen to be the vanguard and open the way for the army to build bridges!"

As the location of the Ming Dynasty's nine-sided town, the garrison of the Liaodong General Army, Guangning City is located in the transition area between the Liaoxi Corridor and the Liaozhong Plain, and at the same time it is also on the communication line from the Mongolian steppe to the Liaodong Plain. Therefore, this important town has a double meaning for the Ming Kingdom: it is not only a bridgehead for the Ming Empire to enter the Liaodong region, but also a steel knife to cut off the Mongol forces in the steppe to connect with the Jurchen tribes and even the Goryeo tribes. For hundreds of years, it was from here that groups of Ming troops set out to conquer the enemies in Liaodong, the Monan grassland, and even the Korean Peninsula, and guarded the safety of the Beijing Division. Until the Battle of Quang Ninh in 1622, the Ming army was defeated, and Quang Ninh fell into the hands of the Later Jin. From then on, the Ming State fell into a situation of complete passive beating, and then the Jin were able to expand their power into the Mongols, rising from being confined to Liaodong to a northern power that could compete with the Ming State.