Just when Zhao Shijie was negotiating with the Spaniards about the export of Merino sheep, the situation of the Ming Dynasty underwent a big change, and the army of Houjin relied on strong firepower to approach Shanhaiguan.

After besieging the city for several weeks without withdrawing the army, Hou Jin's move can be said to have added a lot of fire to the eventful Ming Dynasty, and Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army had already captured Luoyang, and now the northern border is under the pressure of a large army.

This made Emperor Chongzhen have to urgently convene a cabinet meeting to discuss countermeasures, some said that troops should be immediately transferred for reinforcements, and some said that negotiators should be sent to negotiate peace with Houjin, after all, Li Zicheng is the most tricky at the moment.

Peace talks need money, how can there be peace talks after no money, so this point was vetoed by many Donglin Party members, the imperial court has no money, and if you want to take money to peace talks, it must be them, the representatives of the gentry class, who take the money.

For its own interests, the Donglin Party does not recommend sending peace talks, but sending additional troops, but at present, the Ming can mobilize only a handful of troops, and it is absolutely impossible to transfer troops from the south, the most important point is that the troops in the north are empty, and they have to deal with Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army.

The Ming Dynasty, which had no troops to adjust, had fallen into an embarrassing situation, and it could even be said that as long as there was a move in the deployment of troops in the north, Li Zicheng could successfully open a gap.

In history, it was about half a year before the death of the Ming Dynasty, and the seemingly powerful Ming Dynasty did not expect that it would be overthrown by a group of mud legs in the end.

But this group of mud legs has no ability to sit in the world, and they have picked up a big bargain for Houjin in vain.

Houjin's sudden attack also surprised Feng Zihai, who was in charge of the Houjin region, this time he didn't receive any news at all, and it can even be said that Houjin's secrecy is so high, he even wondered if he had made a mistake in what aspects made people suspicious.

But Aobai's words made him feel a lot more at ease. It is said that this sudden dispatch of troops was Dolgon's idea, he wanted to test the reality of the defenders of Shanhaiguan, after nearly three weeks of testing, he could feel that the defenders of Shanhaiguan were strong in combat, if they were hard to fight, they would definitely lose a lot, and it could even be said that the gains would outweigh the losses.

Dorgon had ordered his troops to stand by and attack with artillery. Houjin, who has its own imitation cannon, now basically uses artillery for siege and land grabs.

The soldiers approached the city and did not send troops directly, and this alone also brought a lot of trouble to the defenders of Shanhaiguan, because you don't know when the other party will attack like this.

Wu Sangui, as the general of the defending army at Shanhaiguan, has not slept well these days, and the imperial court cannot send troops over, and even if his soldiers are super strong, it is impossible to resist the cannonballs.

When did these Tartars become so rich and actually use cannons to fight constantly, in fact, these cannons can be said to be not fully mature products. The senior management of Houjin also knows that he is busy with counterfeit products, and many things are not up to standard, so it can be said that it is not his intention to come here to attack Shanhaiguan, and although the Ming Dynasty is in civil strife, it is not something that Houjin can swallow.

Dorgon, a military strategist, decided to experiment with these cannons, which could be equipped directly to the banners if they were really good, and could also reduce the damage caused by the explosion.

But his approach obviously made Da Ming a little unbearable. This is a huge army of people, and it is absolutely impossible without any countermeasures.

Chongzhen can definitely be regarded as a good emperor. A diligent emperor, if he was the second or third emperor in the early days of the establishment of the dynasty, then he could definitely be counted as a famous monarch, but he was in the last generation when the Ming Dynasty had gone downhill, and the last emperors were tragic after all.

Maybe he himself may not be able to figure out why he is so diligent and diligent in his own hands. I can't figure it out.

But whether you want to get through it or not, the fact is that the current problem must be solved, the refugees need to be solved, the peasant army needs to be solved, and the Houjin problem needs to be solved.

At this time, Donglin had not paid too much attention to Liangguang. Because the situation in the past two years can be said to have largely solved some of the troubles in Donglin.

Donglin is mainly based in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the fact that those refugees did not pour into these places solved a big problem for them.

However, at present, the army of Houjin is pressing, and how the imperial court should deal with it is indeed an extremely tricky matter, and the Ming cabinet did not get a result in the end, so Chongzhen had no choice but to announce that it was under discussion.

In the discussion of this word, Chongzhen no longer knows how much to say, and it can even be said that the most in recent years is a word, for an emperor who is ambitious and wants to reform, it is absolutely unbearable, but what can he do if he can't bear it, the situation of the dominance of the Donglin Party is caused by himself.

On the side of Houjin, although the brothers of Huang Taiji are not in harmony, they can be said to be very united at this time in the face of major rights and wrongs.

At this time, according to reliable information, Huang Taiji was terminally ill, and the cause of his death was quite controversial in history, but after Feng Zihai's judgment, he should have suffered from blood disease, and according to his judgment, Dolgon should not have been poisoned.

Although there was a battle for the throne between Dolgon and Huang Taiji, Huang Taiji did not refrigerate him but let him lead his troops into battle, bringing his talents to the extreme.

This tentative attack is Dolgon's solo leader, as an important leading general of the Later Jin, Dolgon's intelligence is affirmed, this temptation let him know that the Ming Dynasty has no extra reinforcements to support Shanhaiguan, and is ready for further entry into the Central Plains.

It seems that the army is pressing, but in fact it is just a military temptation, the Ming court and Wu Sangui have not been able to detect the true intentions of the Later Jin, to say why Dolgon has such a big idea about the Central Plains, the main reason is that the Later Jin has been greatly inspired in the use of firearms in combat.

In the face of large-scale operations, it is not necessary to rely on superior numbers to overwhelm the opponent, as long as you have a large killing weapon in your hand, you can be worth a million troops, although the population of Houjin is not large, but at present it has mastered the technology of manufacturing artillery, as long as it is applied, it is still very possible to enter the Central Plains.

The ambitious Erdolgon was not sure that he could lead the army into the Central Plains before, but now it can be said that he is more confident, and full of confidence, as long as the internal strife of the Ming Dynasty continues, and the peasant army continues to consume the military strength of the Ming Dynasty, he may take advantage of the opportunity to enter.

In the face of Dolgon's ambitions, Feng Zihai can be said to be very happy, as long as Houjin uses firearms on a large scale, he will definitely fall into the Australian artillery plan. (To be continued.) )