On September 20 of the 16th year of Chongzhen, after nearly a month of slow marching, Li Zicheng's army finally arrived near Shanhaiguan. During this period, Wu Sangui had already received the bad news that he had been punished, and he also knew that the way to Dashun had been cut off, so he began to recruit village warriors on a large scale, and divided his troops to garrison the East and West Cities on the front line of Shanhaiguan, especially the main force to defend Xiluo City, preventing Li Zicheng from directly attacking the Shanhai Pass City.

At this time, together with the 20,000 villagers recruited, Wu Sangui had a total of 60,000 troops. Li Zicheng ordered He Renlong, Tang Tong, Bai Guangen and other generals to command 30,000 troops to detour to a stone outside the pass to cut off Wu Sangui's retreat. And he himself led the main force of 80,000 to storm the city of Dongxiluo.

Shanhaiguan has been operating for the Liaodong Governor for decades, the north is close to the Angle Mountain, the south is near the Bohai Sea, the city is high and the wall is strong, and the outside is built to build Luocheng and the Wing City as the horns, and the area is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Coupled with the large number of artillery and firearms deployed, it caused great casualties to the besieging Dashun army.

Five miles outside Xiluo City, Li Zicheng's Chinese army imperial camp was stationed on the high ground called Fenghuangpo, watching the various departments under his command return one after another in vain, Li Zicheng, who had been accustomed to smooth sailing in the past two years, suddenly became a little anxious.

Song Xiance was a little uneasy, and attacked Luocheng and Yicheng, which were high-walled and strong, with the elite of Dashun, such casualties were inevitably too great. As early as on the march, the seventh battalion had sent back a lot of news, pointing directly at the frequent exchanges between Wu Sangui and the Manchu Qing, although there was no conclusive evidence that Wu Sangui was going to defect to the Manchu Qing, and the Manchu Qing was also at a critical moment when the two kings were vying for the throne, but the eyebrows between the two still made Song Xiance and Li Yan extremely worried.

Within this month, Song Xiance had already advised Li Zicheng more than ten times in person, since the Eastern Expeditionary Army had set off, it was better to mobilize the soldiers and horses of Shanxi to come later, and launch a general attack on the Shanhaiguan line with one army, even if the Manchu Qing sent troops to reinforce Wu Sangui, the many soldiers and horses of the Shun army could completely block the joint offensive of the two of them.

But Li Zicheng didn't take his construction to heart at all, perhaps until now, Li Zicheng didn't realize who the opponent who would eventually compete with him in the world.

Thinking of this, Song Xiance couldn't help but look at Li Yan who was standing with a sword not far away, but Li Yan didn't say a word abnormally, his face was full of solemnity, and Song Xiance couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Since Li Zicheng ascended the throne, the original reliance on Li Yan has ceased to exist, on the contrary, suspicion and dissatisfaction with Li Yan are increasing day by day. There are also rumors that have suddenly popped up in the army recently, saying that it is the "Eighteen Children's Main Artifact" but there are other people, how will he react when such rumors reach Li Zicheng's ears? Presumably, the first thing that comes to mind is none other than Li Yan.

It is no wonder that after Li Yan set off from Beijing, the whole person became much more silent.

The siege lasted for most of the day, although the Wu army was under heavy artillery fire, but the Dashun army that followed Li Zicheng was the elite of the world after all, although the casualties were quite large, but they still gritted their teeth and took down the northern wing of Shanhaiguan. Dongluo City is also crumbling at present, and the Wu soldiers began to form an organization to fall towards the Dashun army.

Li Zicheng, Song Xiance and others finally breathed a sigh of relief, and according to the current development, it is estimated that they will be able to completely take Shanhaiguan the day after tomorrow at the latest.

"Almost!" Li Zicheng said to himself: "Let Tian Jianxiu's soldiers and horses withdraw and rest for a while, Liu Zongmin's troops will launch a general attack, and we must take Dongluo City before dark!" ”

As soon as the words fell, a horse galloped over, and when he reached the high slope, he turned over and dismounted, "Your Majesty, the eastern soldiers suddenly appeared in a stone, and the Lu Guogong Department was suddenly attacked, and the soldiers and horses retreated!" ”

"What?" Li Zicheng was taken aback, "Where did the Eastern Soldiers come from?" ”

Hearing this news, all the generals were shocked, although Song Xiance and Li Yan had repeatedly said that they would beware of the Manchu Qing to support Wu Sangui, but everyone couldn't understand how Wu Sangui and the Manchu Qing had been fighting for more than 20 years, how could the two of them collude together?

Just when everyone was stunned, Li Yan suddenly asked, "How many people are in the east?" ”

The soldier who delivered the letter hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "There are cavalry all over the world, and there are at least 30,000 people!" ”

"Are there any reinforcements in the future?"

"This ......!"

"What is the banner of the Eastern Soldiers?"

"All are white flags, and there are white flags with red edges, but they are all Tatar characters on them, and I really don't know which part of the Eastern Soldier it is!"

"It's a white flag and a white flag team!" Li Yan sighed, "It seems that Dolgon has already taken charge of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, otherwise, he would not have poured two white flags to the south!" ”

"Lin Quan!" Li Zicheng was also a little flustered for a while, "The purpose of the Eastern Soldiers is unknown, why don't we send someone over to contact them, so as to calm down the fighting!" ”

Li Yan smiled bitterly and shook his head. It is no accident that the Qing soldiers came here, the Central Plains melee, such heroes as Dolgon naturally will not sit idly by, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has coveted the Central Plains for a long time since the beginning of Huang Taiji, and Dolgon will not miss such a God-given opportunity anyway.

"There's no need for it! Your Majesty, since the Qing army appeared at this time, it must be that Wu Sangui has surrendered to serve the service, and the two armies have joined forces, and the next thing we have to face is their coalition army. He Renlong's defeat is not his fault, and His Majesty doesn't have to be too entangled, we still have 100,000 elites in hand, enough to deal with it! ”

After all, Li Zicheng was also a hero for a while, and after thinking about it carefully for a while, his confident expression returned to his face, and he immediately smiled. "What Lin Quan said is very true!"

Li Yan's face was not the slightest relaxed, "That being said, we still have to take all possible measures, or ask Your Majesty to issue an edict as soon as possible, mobilize the army of Shanxi to enter the Gyeonggi area to garrison, in case of ......, we can be prepared!" ”

Li Zicheng pretended to wave his hand relaxedly, "Lin Quan is too worried, I am the destiny of heaven, the scenery of all the people, from the corner of the strategy of the army that swept the world, where do you need millions of soldiers to protect Gyeonggi." Isn't it a knife to kill chickens! ”

Liu Zongmin and the others echoed and laughed arrogantly. "Your Majesty, rest assured, with the division of the tiger under the command of the ministers, you will definitely be able to annihilate the Tartars and Wu Sangui's traitors who have forgotten their ancestors in one fell swoop!"

Song Xiance wanted to hold on a little longer, but Li Yan threw a meaningful glance that made him shut his mouth uncontrollably.

……

To the east of Shanhaiguan in Weiyuan Fort, the main force of the Qing Army's Eight Banners has been stationed, and the spies who inquire about the news come and go like a marquee, sending the battle situation between the Dashun army and the Wu army to the Chinese army camp in Dolgon.

At the beginning of September, the Empress Zhezhe of Huang Taiji died of an old illness caused by a sleeper grief, and the battle for the throne between Dolgon and Hauge was temporarily relieved. The whole country of the Manchu Qing Dynasty began to mourn for Huang Taiji and Zhezhe.

At such a time, the nobles of the Eight Banners finally determined the conditions for establishing the prince, that is, insisting on supporting the heir of Huang Taiji as the emperor. Of course, this was also decided after discussing with Dolgon and Hauge in private, and after getting the approval of the two, the nobles of the Eight Banners, led by Prince Daishan of Li, began to consider the candidate for the new king.

Huang Taiji has many heirs, but Queen Zhezhe only has three daughters and has not given birth to a boy. Among the many heirs, most of them are concubines, and there are only three sons-in-law, Haoge, Fulin, and Boguoer. Haoge's biological mother was Huang Taiji's second Fujin Wulanala clan, and now she has long since died. Fulin is from Concubine Zhuang, and Bo Guoer is from Concubine Yi Namu Zhong.

The reason why Dolgon agreed to the proposal of Dai Shan and others was because there were many forces opposing him in the Eight Banners, and he did not have the strength to unify the Eight Banners at present, so he had to compromise temporarily. On the other hand, Dai Shan and others have said that Hauge will also be excluded from the candidate list.

In other words, the candidate for the new monarch will be chosen between Fu Lin and Bo Guoer.

Concubine Zhuang, Da Yu'er and Namu Zhong are both powerful tribes from the Mongolian steppe. Da Yu'er belonged to the Horqin tribe, and his brother Wu Keshan was currently in charge of the tribe, and the Mongolian cavalry under his command made many meritorious contributions to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was an important link in the Manchu and Mongolian marriages. And Namu Zhong is the daughter of King Zignoyan of Abahai. After Namu Zhong entered the palace, she entered the Lintoe Palace, and was the harem concubine second only to Queen Zhezhe, and her status was still above Concubine Zhuang.

But in the end, Dai Shan and others chose Concubine Zhuang's son Fu Linlai to succeed him.

The reason for this is because the nobles of the Eight Banners clearly know that Namu Zhong's identity is too special. As soon as the news of Bo Guoer's possible accession to the throne came out, there was a large number of opposition from the tribes of the Mongolian steppe and among the Eight Banners.

Because, Namu Zhong also has another identity, before Huang Taiji, she also had a husband, who was Lin Dan Khan, the lord of the Chahar tribe of a generation of heroes on the Mongolian steppe.

When Namu Zhong was thirteen years old, he married Lin Dan Khan and was named Doro Da Fu Jin, which means Zhenggong Fu Jin, ranking first among Lin Dan Khan's eight great Fu Jin.

From the time of Nurhachi, Lin Dan Khan planned to unify the Mongolian steppe and compete with the Jurchens. During this period, Lin Dan Khan and the Ming Dynasty joined forces to raise troops many times, causing a lot of trouble for the Jurchens. It wasn't until Huang Taiji ascended the throne that he defeated Lin Dan Khan with great effort.

In the sixth year of Tiancong, after the death of Lin Dan Khan, various parts of Mongolia fell apart. In desperation, Namu Zhong led his subordinates to surrender to Huang Taiji. It was precisely because of her drive that Lin Dan Khan's Fujin and his heir Ezhe were attached one after another, and the jade seal of Dayuan was also sent to Huang Taiji.

Therefore, under the great joy, Huang Taiji announced that Namu Zhong would be included in the harem, ranking second in the harem.

It can be said that Namu Zhong's status is extremely respectful, but it is also because of her status, as well as her ex-husband, Lin Dan Khan, that her son Bo Guoer lost the opportunity to pursue the throne.

Namu Zhong has a strong influence among the Mongolian steppe tribes, especially among the Chahar tribes. But it was precisely because of this that it aroused the jealousy of the Horqin Department and the Eight Banners nobles, who were close to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Once Bo Guoer ascends to the throne, not only will the position of the Korqin tribe be challenged, but the power of the Chahar tribe will gradually penetrate into the Eight Banners. When the time comes, Eight Banners will have to face a huge threat.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, the nobles of the Eight Banners quickly made the decision to inherit the throne by Fu Linlai. R1152