The thick black smoke firmly blocked the sky, the sunlight could only shine through the gaps, the plaque engraved with the word "Gaoyang" on the city gate tower was full of feather arrows, and the not-so-tall city walls were full of gaps, and the Qing soldiers wearing uniforms and dragging braids on the back of their heads rushed into the city through these gaps, and the messy screams could be faintly heard in the city. The cavalry let go of their mounts and rushed straight through the gates.

Dorgon did not enter the city, but stood on a high slope outside the city gates, and looked at the scene with cold eyes, which he had seen many times recently, and completely lost the excitement and exhilaration of the beginning.

A small Gaoyang city, the city is dilapidated, and the garrison is only a thousand people, but it took three days to take it. After the city was broken, there were not many people left in the city, and most of them died in the offensive and defensive battles of these days.

Look at those corpses, there are old and weak, women and children, they are not soldiers, but they picked up knives and guns and fought to the death with the elite of the Eight Banners, and finally fell in this hometown where they didn't want to leave. At this moment, Dolgon's mood is a little complicated, this is not the first time to invade the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but it makes Dolgon have a little ominous premonition, the resistance of the Ming people is much stronger than the previous times, but those Ming troops, but it is really far less than in the past.

Just as he was thinking about it, a group of horsemen roared out of the city, and in the blink of an eye they came near, wrapped in two carriages without carriages.

"Brother!" Duoduo did not wear a helmet, his thick black braids rose high in the wind, and his face was full of color.

Rein in the horses. Dordor pointed to the two chariots with a whip. "Brother, the Nanren who commanded the defense of this city has been caught, but it's ......!"

There were more than a dozen corpses side by side on the board, including underage children, each covered with scars from knives and guns.

Dorgon frowned, waved the horsewhip in his hand, and struck Dordor's armor crisply, "Didn't you say you want to live?" ”

Duoduo smiled wryly, "Brother, I can't help it!" These southerners said that they would not surrender anything. We don't do it. They will rush up and take our lives! Just that old man......! Dodor gestured to the body of one of the old men.

"I was stunned and slashed two of my own soldiers, and finally died of exhaustion, I heard that he is the old man, surnamed Sun!"

Dorgon was stunned. Hurriedly rolled the saddle and dismounted. Come to the front. Although Sun Chengzong in front of him was already out of breath. But the two eyes were still wide open, and an unwilling look jumped on the face.

Dolgon stood still, slamming at Sun Chengzong's corpse. Duoduo pouted disdainfully. Didn't dare to speak again.

"Bury this old Sun Ge and his family outside the city, put up a sign, and show the southerners where he is buried!"

Dolgon was stunned, this way, there was no Ming official willing to belong to the Qing Dynasty, whether it was Sun Chengzong or ordinary officials in front of him, no one surrendered, although these Han people are weak, but the integrity is really admirable.

"Brother, Hauge is here!" Riding on his horse, Dordor looked at a military horse galloping in the distance and said to Dorgon.

Haoge, the eldest son of the Manchu Emperor Huang Taiji, more than eight feet tall, heroic and martial, led the army to break through the city from the side wall of Dongjiakou, and a month ago, he joined forces with Dolgon in Yizhou and defeated Lu Xiangsheng's Xuanda army. Now he has teamed up with Dolgon to take Gaoyang.

Hauge came to the front in a hurry, and saluted Dolgon on his horse. "Uncle Fourteen, there is not much food in Gaoyang City, which is not enough for the army. After Ning Wan, I sent someone to deliver the letter, and the business of the Fan family hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in Dingzhou, and our army broke through Dingzhou to eat! ”

Dolgon waved his hand, and Duoduo took out a map made of cowhide from his bosom, looked carefully at the location of Dingzhou, and asked, "Where is that barbarian Lu Xiangsheng now?" ”

Dodors leaned over and pointed to a location on the map and said, "My spies are consistent with the news from our outpost. After Lu Xiangsheng's new defeat in Yizhou, he was stationed in the right guard of Shenwu in Zhending Mansion to gather the remnants of the army, and his current movements are unknown. ”

Dorgon pondered for a moment, then waved his hand decisively and ordered. "Order the army to immediately turn to the south, within three days, take Dingzhou, raise grain and grass, and then march to Zhending, and be sure to annihilate Lu Xiangsheng's troops in one fell swoop."

"Order!" Duoduo immediately became excited, and was about to turn his horse's head to leave, but Hauge suddenly said, "Uncle Fourteen! ”

"Isn't the eldest brother still unaware of the king's military orders? Do you want this king to repeat it again? Dorgon said coldly.

Hauge arched his hand, "The last general will not dare!" It's just that the troops of the right-wing Abatai Department have arrived in Ningjin, and according to the previous agreement, my left-wing army should immediately march east to join them, and then attack Shandong! ”

"Humph!" Dorgon scoffed, and tossed the map back to Dorgon. "This doesn't need the eldest brother to remind the king. The plundering of Hebei and Shandong was a strategy that had been laid out before the departure of the army. But things are easy to change, and what soldiers pay attention to is a random adaptation, and this king can't always be stubborn, and he doesn't know how to be flexible! ”

Dodor on the side couldn't help but laugh.

Hauge glared at Dordor, although Dolgon's cynicism had filled him with anger, but Dolgon was the commander of the Southern Left Wing Army after all, even if he was a few years older than him, but Dolgon was his out-and-out elder, so Hauge could only swallow his anger.

Uncle Fourteen laughed, nephew definitely didn't mean that. The land of Hebei is already dilapidated, and the southerners have sent troops and horses from all walks of life to help the capital, and the nephew is worried that the army will stay here, and once it is besieged from all sides, it will be inappropriate! ”

"Joke!" Dolgon sneered, "The king has also received my news. The southerners have been arguing endlessly, and they still hope that I will negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty, so that we can free up our hands to exterminate the Liukou. Gao Qiqian, the eunuch, led tens of thousands of Liaodong elites to stop at Jize, and all he had was the idea of waiting and seeing. Otherwise, why hasn't Lu Xiangsheng been reinforced! ”

"That Lu Xiangsheng is known as a 'madman', he is a general among the southerners who is the one who advocates fighting to the death with our Qing Dynasty, and now he still has 10,000 troops under his command, once our army advances eastward, he will definitely follow. Now, our army can only completely annihilate Lu Xiangsheng's department and eliminate worries. Since then, the land of Hebei has been allowed to gallop by our army, so is it not appropriate? ”

Hauge was speechless for a moment.

Dolgon didn't say more, turned the horse's head, turned around and said, "Although the eldest brother is brave, but the matter of the battle formation needs to be considered more by the generals according to the changes and shapes, the eldest brother will hand over the soldiers and horses inlaid with yellow flags to the Ao Bai commander, you will stay by the king's side and learn more!" ”

Dodor on the side was already happy, and Dorgon shouted, and left with his own soldiers, Dodor and others.

Hauge's eyes were split, and he almost wanted to draw out his saber several times while holding the handle of the knife, but finally sighed helplessly, and there was nowhere to vent an evil fire in his chest, and he waved his hand to summon a personal soldier, "Tell my messenger that there is no grain and grass in Dingzhou City or his news is wrong, Lao Tzu will pick his skin!" ”

……

The messenger who rushed to the capital ran back and forth in four days, and brought back excellent news. Xu Zhixing, the imperial historian of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Zeng Yun, the official of the Liuke Lang, have agreed to impeach Yang Sichang, both of whom are fellow villagers of Lu Xiangsheng, although their official positions are not high, but they have a friendship with their fellow villagers, and their personal relations are very strong, coupled with Zhu Ping'an's generous contribution of gold and silver, the two happily agreed to go down.

Yanguan is a unique scenery of the Ming Dynasty. How do the people of Shengdou understand the major events of the country, one is to report to the guò residence, and the other is to listen to the mouths of the officials. There are very few literate people among the people, and there is no way to talk about Di Bao. As a result, the actions of the officials have become the focus of discussion among ordinary people in the streets and alleys, restaurants and tea shops.

Hearing about things and not being convicted of words, this is the ancestral precept that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty must abide by. Two hundred years have passed, and the Ming Dynasty's speech officials have also developed a fierce style of daring to fight and speak out. The long-term power struggle has also made the speech officials gradually become the best tool of public opinion, until now, most of the speech officials have no concept of right and wrong, just like a group of fighting dogs locked in a cage, as long as someone opens the cage and throws a bone, they will bark and run towards the goal, and will not stop until the goal is achieved.

Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian secretly negotiated peace with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which has been spread in the capital, the reason why no one dares to move, on the one hand, there is no news for reference, on the other hand, the situation is chaotic, and the major forces have the idea of waiting and seeing at this time, but once someone stands up and fires the first shot, the shape will immediately become lively.

Zhu Ping'an's plan is to find this first gunner. Zhou Kui can't do it, he only knows how to accumulate money, and he knows that he has no connections in this area just from the fact that he has been impeached by the civilian clique no less than dozens of times. He didn't, but there was a ready-made candidate in front of him.

Lu Xiangsheng is a civil official with a strong background, although he has been in charge of military affairs since he came out, and most of the troops are led abroad, his influence among civilian officials cannot be ruled out, Xu Zhixing and Zeng Yu are one of the few chess pieces in his hands that can be driven.

Next, it is necessary to find a character who is enough to compete with Yang Sichang. After thinking about it, Zhu Ping'an thought of Zhou Yanru, according to Zhu Ping'an's memory, this person came back again in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen to occupy the position of first assistant, and was finally given death. But now that the situation is in front of him, Zhu Ping'an doesn't believe that this old guy with a strong desire for power can sit at home and retire with peace of mind. After all, he was a minister who had served as a first assistant, and the power of the court was deep-rooted, and a large number of civil officials who followed him pinned their hopes on his comeback. If it works properly, then this old guy can re-enter the cabinet early.

The chaos between the DPRK and China is a good opportunity to take advantage of. Sure enough, according to the news of Yin Shigang, Zhou Yanru, who is not old-hearted, actually lurked in Tianjin Wei's house early in the morning, quietly observing every move of the court in the dark. Zhu Ping'an understood that he was waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to turn things around and change his fate.

So, Zhu Ping'an sent this opportunity to him. Overthrowing Yang Sichang and seeking a place in the cabinet is Zhou Yanru's goal, and on this point, Zhou Kui, Zhu Ping'an, Lu Xiangsheng, and Yang Tinglin are highly consistent with him. As a result, a small-scale political alliance was quietly formed. (To be continued......) u