When Dolgon was frowning, a house slave suddenly came in and said, "Master, Mr. Fan and Mr. Ning are outside the palace and ask to see each other." ”

"Oh?" Dolgon was about to send someone to find these two hardcore men, and immediately said happily, "Invite them in." ”

The house slave took the order and left, and soon led Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan and I in, and the two hardcore Han Jian knelt down on one knee and slapped a thousand to Dolgon, and said flatteringly: "The slave knocks on the master." ”

Dolgon solemnly said, "Two gentlemen, please get up." ”

When Fan Wencheng and Ning finished getting up, Dolgon said again: "The two gentlemen entered the palace late at night, is there anything important?" ”

Fan Wencheng said: "The slave does have something to discuss with the master. ”

"Oh?" Dorgon said, "Sir, please." ”

Fan Wencheng said: "Can the matter of shaving hair and being easy to wear be postponed?" ”

Dolgon's brows tightened in an instant, he could obey Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan I for other things, but he didn't want to listen to Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan me, as Dolgon's understanding of Han culture deepened, he gradually came to a conclusion: The final failure of Dajin, Mongolia and other foreign races to dominate the Central Plains was because they were completely assimilated by the Han people!

Dolgon didn't want the Manchus to repeat the mistakes of Dajin and Northern Yuan, so the Manchus could not let the Han people assimilate, but also in turn assimilate the Han people, and forcing the Han people to shave their hair and change clothes was one of the most important measures!

In Dolgon's view, the Han people attached great importance to their body hair and skin, and once they were forced to shave their Manchu hair, and then forced them to change into Manchu horse coats and robes, then these Han people would be psychologically subservient to the Manchus, and under three generations, they would forget that they were Han.

Seeing that Dolgon was silent, Fan Wencheng carefully explained: "Master, not long after my Qing soldiers entered the customs, the thieves in Shaanxi have not been completely wiped out, and the remnants of the Ming forces in Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu, Shandong and other places have not completely returned to their hearts, and the most important thing is that the former Ming prince Zhu Cihong has ascended the throne in Nanjing and proclaimed the emperor, and the remnants of the Ming forces in the five northern provinces will fall to the Southern Ming at any time, at such a moment, the slaves think that it is unwise to forcibly shave their hair and change clothes......"

Dolgon raised his hand, and Fan Wencheng's words came to an abrupt end.

"Mr. Fan, Mr. Ning." Dolgon said with a gloomy face, "Don't discuss the matter of shaving your hair and changing your clothes, within three days, the officials and people of Yanjing must forcibly shave your hair and change it forcibly." ”

Ning Wan said hurriedly: "Master, forcibly removing hair and changing clothes may provoke a civil uprising......"

"Then send the army to suppress it!" Dolgon said in a cruel voice, "In a word, keep your head without hair, keep your hair without your head!" ”

Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan were relatively silent, although they felt that now was not the time to shave their hair and wear it, but since Dolgon had made up his mind, they had nothing to say.

"Report ......" A Goshha entered the hall sweating profusely, knelt on the ground and said, "Master, Shandong is urgent!" ”

"Shandong?" Dolgon's face sank, and he said loudly, "Speak! ”

Goshha gasped: "Tong Tulai urgently reported that at least 50,000 troops from Nanming are heading north from Guide Mansion in Henan, and the 5,000 elite soldiers in the front line are approaching Puzhou, less than two hundred miles away from Liaocheng!" ”

"What! The army of the Southern Ming? Dorgon's face changed greatly when he heard this, and he said loudly, "Send an order, let the defenders of Jinan immediately reinforce Liaocheng, and then let Boluo of the Daimyo Mansion lead the army to rescue Liaocheng!" ”

"Wow!"

Goshha took the order and left.

Ning Wan said with a solemn expression: "Master, Jinan only has two thousand Han Army Eight Banners and 5,000 former Ming Army, and the Daimyo's Beile Ye (Boluo) only has 5,000 Korean Eight Banners and 5,000 Mongolian Eight Banners, plus 2,000 Red Banner Iron Cavalry, and we have to guard against the thieves in Henan and rescue Liaocheng, this strength is too thin, and we must send reinforcements as soon as possible." ”

Fan Wencheng said: "The minions think that the top priority is to find out who the leader of the Nanming army is?" If it is only Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, Gao Jie and other generations, it is not a matter of concern, if it is Wang Pu, then the problem is serious! ”

Dolgon stood up, pacing back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back.

If the leading general of the Nanming army is really Wang Pu, the problem is really serious!

This time into the pass, Dolgon almost moved, 60,000 Jiannu Eight Banners all dispatched, 20,000 Han Army Eight Banners and 20,000 Korean Eight Banners were also dispatched by the whole army, in addition to 60,000 Mongolian Eight Banners, at first glance it seems that there are a lot of troops, all plus a full 160,000 army, but to use this force to conquer the Central Plains is too thin.

Fortunately, there were also Wu Sangui's Guanning army and various former Ming troops as the Manchu Dynasty's pawns, fighting fiercely with the thieves for several months, most of the casualties were the Guanning Army and the former Ming Army, and the Manchu Eight Banners did not suffer too many casualties.

Now, Wu Sangui's 80,000 Guan Ning army (which incorporated many remnant Ming surrender troops) is cooperating with Duoduo's 100,000 Jiannu army to fight the thieves at Mengmen Pass.

At present, the situation in Shaanxi is still unclear, and although the thieves have become frightened birds, they still have a large number of troops in Guanzhong, and as the battle line shrinks, their superiority in strength is becoming more and more obvious.

Now the thieves and Jiannu are fighting whose qi is longer, if the thieves can't hold it first, they will be defeated like a mountain, losing the last foundation of Guanzhong, if Jiannu can't hold it first, the rapid offensive that lasted for two months will disintegrate and disintegrate, once the thieves can ease their breath, it will be difficult to seek Guanzhong again!

Therefore, Dolgon would never transfer the army of Duoduo and Wu Sangui back to Yanjing unless it was absolutely necessary.

Wu Sangui and Duoduo's army could not move, and Dolgon only had 60,000 Eight Banner soldiers and 20,000 former Ming Banners in his hands, and the 20,000 former Ming Surrender Army were all rabble, and the combat effectiveness was negligible, and the remaining 60,000 Eight Banners included 20,000 Jiannu Eight Banners, 10,000 Korean Eight Banners and 30,000 Mongolian Eight Banners.

It would take at least 20,000 men to stay in Yanjing, which means that Dolgon could mobilize a maximum of 40,000 troops to support Shandong.

If the Southern Ming army attacking Shandong was only a part of Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, Gao Jie and others, and these 40,000 Eight Banner soldiers were enough to clean them up, but if it was Wang Pu's army, the situation would be completely different! Jiannu suffered a great loss from Wang Pu in Datong, and Dolgon still clearly remembers the cruel scene outside the east gate of Datong: more than 40,000 casualties in one day!

In August last year, after Jiannu returned to Guanwai, Dolgon had analyzed the battle of Datong with Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan, and the three of them came to the conclusion that if it was a tough battle, the price to be paid would be unbearable if they wanted to conquer Datong, where Wang Pu's 5,000 musket team was stationed!

If it is a field battle, it is necessary to mobilize at least 5,000 Mongolian cavalry from all directions to carry out continuous harassment, and then transfer the artillery team surnamed Tong Yang to bombard it, and finally use 5,000 iron cavalry of the Eight Banners to carry out a decisive battle, so that it is completely certain to annihilate Wang Pu's 5,000 musket team.

It was precisely because of the discovery of the horror of the musket team that Dolgon formed a musket team of thirty cattle at any cost.

However, it is a pity that these thirty Niulu's musket team and Tong Yang's artillery team were sent by Dorgon to fight the thieves in the Duoduo army.

After a long time, Dolgon paused and asked Fan Wencheng, "Mr. Wencheng, do you think the commander of the Nanming army may be Wang Pu?" ”

"The slave thinks that everything should be good, but he must be prepared for the worst!" Fan Wencheng said, "If the main general of the Nanming army is Wang Pu, and we are not fully prepared, once Wang Pu's army reaches the city of Yanjing, the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

"yes." Ning Wan also echoed with a solemn expression, "If Wang Pu's army is allowed to fight under Yanjing City, Tang Tong, Wang Chengyin, and Jiang Jiao, the remnants of the Ming Dynasty, will defect again, and then the Eight Banners army of my Qing Dynasty will fall into the heavy encirclement of the Southern Ming army!" ”

Dorgon said, "Then, in the opinion of the two gentlemen, how should we deal with it?" ”

Fan Wencheng said: "Puzhou is still thousands of miles away from Yanjing, if the master recalls Prince Yu's army at this time, it will be too late!" ”

Dolgon frowned and said, "What if the army of Prince Yu is recalled and the Shaanxi thieves take advantage of the situation to counterattack Shanxi?" ”

Fan Wencheng said: "You can let Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, guard Shanxi." ”

"Alas......" Dolgon sighed and said helplessly, "in that case, then recall Prince Yu's army, but before that, we must first raise the food and grass needed for the army." ”

Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan glanced at each other, and asked in a low voice, "......What does the master mean?"

A hint of hideousness flashed across Dolgon's face, and he said in a deep voice: "The people of Zhili to the north...... Levy food! ”

■■■

Caozhou, Wang Pu Xingyuan.

A huge map of the five northern provinces of the Ming Dynasty was hung on the wall due north of Xingyuan, and the map was filled with small colored flags representing the forces of all sides.

Liu Qingyan pointed to the map with a wooden pole in his hand and explained to Wang Pu and Liu: "Master Hou, if you are a sister, now the forces in the five northern provinces mainly have the following forces, Jiang is entrenched in Datong, Wang Chengyin is entrenched in Xuanfu, and Tang Tong is entrenched in Yanqing Prefecture and Baoan Prefecture. ”

"Oh?" Wang Pu's eyes were pleased when he heard this, "This is good news." ”

Liu Qingyan continued: "In addition, the thieves have retreated to Shaanxi, the Red Lady of Henan has completely broken away from the thieves and stood on their own, Jiannu has occupied most of the three provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, and Beizhili, in addition, Wu Sangui's Guan Ning army is fighting fiercely with Li Zicheng's thieves at the junction of Shanxi and Shaanxi. ”

Wang Pudao: "How many Jiannu are there left in Yanjing?" ”

Liu Qingyan said with certainty: "All the troops are added together, and there will be no more than 80,000 people at most." ”

Wang Pu said again: "How are these 80,000 people distributed? ”

Liu Qingyan said: "These 80,000 people are mainly stationed in Changping, Shunyi, Tongzhou and other places on the periphery of Yanjing, obviously to guard against Jiang Pin, Wang Chengyin and Tang Tong, in addition to about 20,000 Jiannu stationed in the Daimyo's Mansion, obviously to guard against the Red Lady in Henan, the Jiannu garrison in Jinan and Liaocheng is weak, and the total is only about 10,000 people. ”

"Less than 10,000 people?" Wang Pu pondered for a moment, and said in a condensed voice, "The flying pigeon sent a letter to Shanxi Tangkou, asking them to closely monitor the movements of Shanxi Jiannu, and once Jiannu shows signs of returning to the division and retreating, the flying pigeon will immediately return." ”

"Yes."

Liu Qingyan glanced at Wang Pu coquettishly.

Wang Pu asked Liu Ru again: "Where is Shi Lang's sailor now?" ”

Liu said: "From the itinerary, it should be almost Jining." ”

After Shi Lang led the fleet of sailors to transport 40,000 elites from Jiangbei to the Yanziji camp in Nanjing, he immediately rushed north along the canal day and night, and now he has almost caught up with Wang Pu's army.

"yes, okay." Wang Pu happily bowed his head and said, "Shi Lang is good, the sailor is moving fast, and immediately ordered Scarface to let his forward battalion seize Puzhou before dark, and the rest of the battalions will speed up the march, tomorrow morning, Ben Hou will have breakfast in Puzhou with the whole army." ”

"Master Hou." Liu Ru suddenly proposed, "The little woman thought that the forward battalion of General Scarface should be allowed to bypass Puzhou and attack Liaocheng overnight!" ”

Wang Pu's heart jumped, and he asked in a condensed voice, "Why?" ”

Liu Ru pointed to the map on the wall and said: "Master Hou, whether the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is unblocked or not will be related to the success or failure of the Northern Expedition!" Liaocheng is a nail stuck in the Grand Canal, and whether this nail can be pulled out will be related to whether the Grand Canal can be penetrated. If the Grand Canal cannot be penetrated, grain, grass, baggage, weapons and ammunition can no longer be transported to the north, and the Northern Expedition of the Central Army can only reach Liaocheng. ”

……

(To be continued)