The battle in Yangzhou City ended temporarily, and Dolgon led the remnants of the army to retreat to Huai'an City, sitting on the side of the Huai River, and the situation suddenly became clear.

Sometimes it's a pity to put down a relaxed body, but it's a pity that Yangzhou is a rich place.

There was no trace of Qing soldiers from Gaoyou to the south, and the Jurchens got rid of the pain of being stationed in the field during the rainy season.

Zhai Zhe was not in a hurry to continue the march, and first posted a notice in the name of the general, exempting Yangzhou Mansion from three years of land endowment and settling the fleeing refugees.

The Ming army set up camp in Gaoyou City.

The walls of Gaoyou City are riddled with holes, and countless defensive facilities are arranged inside the four gates. The houses inside the city were scattered and scattered, and several camps were built to shelter the shelling from outside the city.

When the defense of the city was at its most critical, Yan Yingyuan organized the men in the city into ten teams, and the old and weak women and children into four battalions. Men, women and children, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, must all participate in the defense of the city, so as to ensure that Gaoyou City is not lost.

The squire and the untouchables are one, and it is really Sven to sweep the floor. However, in the face of Yan Yingyuan's big knife, no one dared to say a word "no".

The king of Jin led his guards to Gaoyou City, and Yan Yingyuan came to meet him, followed by Chen Mingyu, Wang Gongluo and Li Daqing.

Yan Yingyuan looked respectful, reported the military situation, and finally talked about the casualties in the city.

"Our army was killed and seriously wounded 4,220 people, the government soldiers were killed and seriously wounded 3,500 people, and the people in the city suffered more than 20,000 casualties."

He said those cold numbers out of his mouth, and he couldn't hear any emotion.

Chen Mingyu and Li Daqing looked at Yan Yingyuan's back with a heavy heart.

A serious injury, which is also known as a death in battle, refers to a serious injury that has lost the ability to fight again and cannot be treated to return to the army.

"It turns out that nearly half of the casualties" Zhai Zhe looked at Yan Yingyuan differently. Those who can maintain nearly half of the casualties of soldiers and horses without routing must be extraordinary.

"General Yan soldiers, hard work, the defenders of Gaoyou City have defended the city with blood, and have made great contributions to my Ming Dynasty's defeat of the Qing Dynasty.

"Thank you, Lord Xie," Yan Yingyuan's voice was a little agitated.

The salary and treatment of the regular soldiers are far better than those of the government soldiers, and Zhai Zhe changed those government soldiers to regular soldiers, and this reward is far more popular than a few taels of silver. Moreover, the regular soldiers and government soldiers of Gaoyou City combined with more than 10,000 people, and Yan Yingyuan got the power to rule, one step away from General Feng.

Behind Yan Yingyuan, Li Daqing raised his head and peeked at King Jin on the high platform.

The day before yesterday, when Gaoyou City was in danger, he was ordered to go to Yangzhou Daying for help, and then returned to Gaoyou City alone, vowing to live and die with Gaoyou City. Seeing Yan Yingyuan's promotion to the rank of knight today, I felt very uncomfortable in my heart, and it was really a success.

He was stimulated by the anti-shaving order, and he threw his pen from Rong, and his appearance was excellent after entering the martial arts. The first battle of Gaoyou made him see the ruthlessness of war, and he also understood that the battlefield was not as desirable as sung in military songs.

In the following days, the generals reported their merits, and those who made meritorious contributions were rewarded. The general is in charge, the Ming army is convenient to reward, the reward is all in place within a month, the promotion and knighthood are immediately reflected, and Li Daqing is promoted to the coordinated garrison in the army.

The Ming army in Yangzhou was divided into two, Feng Qin assisted the general to command the Gaoyouxing battalion, and Li Zhi led the other half of the soldiers and horses to garrison Yangzhou City.

Before the miscellaneous affairs in the army were dealt with, Jin Xiaoding, the governor of Nanjing, sent a secret letter.

Ying Tianfu soldiers searched the river for three days, and the sailor fished out countless turtle kings in the river, but the little eunuch Zhang Jin still didn't see anyone alive or dead.

The secret letter was very thick, and Jin Xiaoding honestly pleaded guilty and recorded the information he knew about the entire incident in detail.

After reading it, Zhai Zhe was extremely irritable.

Emperor Longwu was not honest, and if the eunuch escaped alive, he would either go to Fujian or Sichuan.

Zheng Zhilong is not afraid, but he now has a request for Wu Sangui. If the secret edict of the saint really reached the hands of Wu Sangui, the king of Zhenxi might not dare to raise troops on the side of the Qing monarch, but he could openly refuse his mention of sending troops to Shaanxi.

Of course, he did not rule out the worst situation - Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui conspired to attack Jiangnan. If this is the case, the battle of the Northern Expedition is about to stop for the time being.

He meditated for a moment, then took up his pen and wrote a piece of paper.

"The eunuch Zhang Jin committed the crime of defrauding the king, absconded in fear of the crime, and ordered the portraits of Nanzhili, Zhejiang and Huguang to be arrested, and those who have traces of Zhang Jin will be rewarded with fifty taels of silver

The heralds of the General's Mansion quickly sent the official documents to the Criminal Department, and then the Criminal Department went to various places to patrol and arrest documents, and the weather vane in Jiangnan changed dramatically every day. Zhai Zhe thought carefully and left a show for the cabinet.

If Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui are really confused, he still needs to rely on the power of those civil officials.

In early June, announcements of Zhang Jin's arrest were plastered all over the prefectures and counties.

A fleet of ships sailed out of Nanjing and went upstream.

In the middle is a passenger ship, with Zhang Huan sitting in the bow of the Ministry of Rites, and two other naval warships guarding it.

Zhang Huan is Wu Sangui's old acquaintance, and he was promoted from Liu Suifeng's staff to the Ministry of Rites, and the promotion fell on Wu Sangui.

Sailing in the Yangtze River at the beginning of June, as long as it doesn't rain, the scenery along the way can make people forget the fatigue of the journey

Zhang Huan carried a holy decree of reward and a letter from the general in his arms. Before leaving, he specially went to ask Liu Suifeng so as not to misunderstand the general's intentions.

Wu Sangui learned that the imperial court envoy was coming, and ordered Wu Sanrong to go out of Sichuan to greet him.

Wu Sanrong led Zhang Huan into Sichuan, and whenever he went to a critical place, he told Zhang Xianzhong's cruel and inhumane behavior in Shu, and the killing of the Qing soldiers in Sichuan.

Wu Sangui has been in charge of Sichuan for less than a year anyway, and Sichuan has already regained some popularity.

The Qing captives entered Sichuan to implement the shaving order, and Chengdu and Jiangzhou obeyed under the butcher's knife, but the rebels who rose up everywhere have not stopped. Last year, Wu Sangui was anyway, and the imperial court sent a messenger to announce the decree, and the rebel army was immediately disbanded and returned to various places.

Zhang Huan understood all the way that Wu Sanrong's move was not a whim, but hoped that he could convey these things in Sichuan to King Jin. Anyway, the king of Zhenxi is not only for state affairs, but also to save the Sichuan people from fire and water.

When the group entered Chengdu, Zhang Huan first worshiped Wuhou Temple, and then saw Wu Sangui, the king of Zhenxi.

First announced the holy decree to show the reward of the imperial court, and after the ceremony, Zhang Huan handed the holy decree into the hands of Wu Sangui, changed his expression, and said with a smile: "Lord, don't come unharmed."

"Zhang has worked hard all the way," Wu Sangui asked Zhang Huan to sit down.

The two sat down, Zhang Huan seemed to have changed his identity, and said: "Last year, the Qing captives Azig attacked Hanzhong from Longxi, and because it was close to winter, the general was unable to save him in a hurry. This year, the general raised troops to attack Jianghuai, take Yangzhou, and contain the Qing capture of more than 100,000 troops, why didn't the prince take the opportunity to attack Hanzhong to recover the lost territory? ”

He took out a letter in his arms and said, "The general heard that I was coming to Sichuan, so he wrote a letter in Yangzhou City, and sent it to Nanjing by horse, and asked me to bring it to the prince." ”

Wu Sangui took the letter with both hands and said with a smile: "Sichuan is thousands of miles away from Nanjing, and I just heard that the King of Jin is attacking Jianghuai. "That's a clumsy excuse.

"Yuezhou General Zuo Ruo fought fiercely with Luck Dehun in Nanyang for half a year in order to contain the Qing captives last winter, the prince should have heard of it."

Wu Sangui smiled and asked, "I heard that Yangzhou has been down, I don't know where the King of Jin wants to push the war forward?" ”

Zhang Huan didn't think about it, and said, "Jingshi"

Wu Sangui just laughed.

Zhang Huan changed his words and asked, "Does the prince know the experience of King Jin before he invested in the Ming Dynasty?" ”

"This king has heard a little that the king of Jin once dominated the grassland"

"Yes, does the prince know about the recent changes in the Monan grassland?"

"Do you mean Chahar Clearing?" Wu Sangui's face did not change, and his heart was full of waves. He had heard of the uprising of the Chahar Great Khan Ezhe in the Monan grassland, but he did not know the role of the King of Jin in the matter.

Zhang Huan said: "When the King of Jin was in the grassland, he and the Mongolian Great Khan Ezhe were almost friends, if it wasn't for the instigation of the King of Jin, how could Ezhe raise an army against the Qing" The King of Jin did not take the initiative to reveal these news to him, and he did not know the inside story.

Wu Sangui didn't believe it. What was Zhai Zhe's identity when he was in the grassland, and how could he become friends with Ezhe.

"According to the agreement between Ezhe Khan and the King of Jin, Ezhe will attack Shaanxi in the near future, maybe Shanxi, maybe Henan, the situation in the world is already so clear, the prince has a heavy army, is he only trapped in Shu and allowed the Qing to run rampant?"

Wu Sangui was frightened this time.

Ezhe was the Great Khan of Mongolia, not a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, let alone a subordinate of the King of Jin. What kind of friendship is used to coax children to listen. Zhai Zhe has occupied the richest land in the Ming Dynasty, if there is still Mongolia as an ally, is there any doubt about the belonging of the world?

He occupies Sichuan, seals the town of the West King, and can further separate the territory, and take a step back can also be an honest courtier of the Ming Dynasty.

"Really?"

Zhang Huan arched his hand and said, "How dare the little envoy deceive the prince?"

Wu Sangui was puzzled and said: "Mongolia must enter Shaanxi through the strong Yulinwei, and Shaanxi is poor, and the Mongols are unable to capture a big city like Xi'an, how can Ezhe abandon Zhangjiakou and take Shaanxi?" ”

"Because the King of Jin needs," Zhang Huan said bluntly, "the young cavalry of the Ming Dynasty is extremely difficult to fight against the Qing captives in the Central Plains, and the King of Jin wants to open up the northwest passage and traffic war horses from the grassland." ”

The king of Jin needs a war horse, will Ezhe send the horse over? Wu Sangui's brain is not so simple.

The fact that Mongolia and the Ming court in Jiangnan were thousands of miles apart, and that the two sides were able to reach such an alliance shows that there was a high degree of trust between the Great Khan of Ezhe and the king of Jin, Zhai Zhe. Not sworn friends, but the two must have established a foundation of trust in the steppe.

"What does the King of Jin command, Zhang Envoy, please say it directly"

"Hanzhong was originally the territory of the prince, and the king of Jin hoped that the prince could get back the lost city"

Wu Sangui smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I really don't have the ability, and Azig is still in Hanzhong."

"The Chahar Mongols attacked Shaanxi, Zuo Ruo will mobilize a large army to attack Nanyang, Azig will not sit in Hanzhong for long, and the prince will not sit idly by at that time

Without Wu Sangui's support and cooperation, it would be difficult for Zuo Ruobing to pose a threat when he left Xiangyang. Wu Sangui had tens of thousands of cavalry, which was a mobile force that the Ming lacked.

"As long as Azig leaves Hanzhong, I will definitely send troops," Wu Sangui immediately stated.

"After the prince recovers Hanzhong, he can't stop there"

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