The Qing court army was delayed, Ao Bai was arrested and returned to the capital, and Li Chengdong hid in Huai'an City and did not dare to fight without authorization.

In half a month, the Ming army captured Taixing and Rugao in Yangzhou Prefecture, including Gaoyou City, which was taken without a fight.

That's all.

The real war had not yet begun, and the Ming army had only captured a few places where grain and grass were stored. Yangzhou has Huai'an Mansion in the north, Chuzhou Mansion, Luzhou Mansion and Fengyang Mansion in the west, and finally Xuzhou Mansion, which must pass through the Northern Expedition.

And at the moment, the Ming army is still just going around in Yangzhou Mansion.

Under the city of Yangzhou, the Ming army camp.

The generals of the Ming army who crossed the river gathered in the big tent of the Chinese army.

This is their second military meeting.

A huge map hung on the wall of the big tent, and Zhai Zhe stood facing it. The map marks the large and small roads between the Jianghuai River, the dangerous passes and the key passes where the Qing soldiers are stationed.

Behind him stood several generals and generals, black and oppressive, and their eyes fell on his back.

"The expedition of the army across the river can be divided into three stages, first to take Yangzhou City and Huai'an Mansion. Yangzhou and Nanjing face each other across the river, and His Majesty and all the scholars think about the north of the river, and they can't sleep at night. How can others snore next to the couch, so Yangzhou is determined to win. Huai'an is on the side of Hongze Lake, close to the Huai River, guarding the northern passage of Yangzhou, and taking Huai'an City can ensure that Yangzhou Mansion will no longer be invaded by the Qing captives. ”

Zhai Zhe turned around and beckoned Zhai Tianjian, who was standing on the side, to come to his side, took a slender poplar strip from his hand, pointed to the center of the map slightly to the west, and said: "Fengyang has the Mausoleum of Emperor Taizu, and the government and the opposition are uneasy in the hands of the Qing Dynasty, so the second stage is to target Fengyang." ”

When he was at home, Zhai Zhe was kind to his son a lot, this is when Zhai Tianjian saw his father's bright armor and pointed out the country, and he couldn't help but have a yearning in his heart.

Zhai Zhe didn't pay attention to his son, he paused for a moment, and then pointed to a small place at the top of the map with a poplar stick, and said softly: "The last is Xuzhou, Xuzhou locks the south and the north of the town, and it is not strong enough to defend it, it may not be the work of this year." ”

The capture of Xuzhou is still very far away, and there is no need to capture Xuzhou, the land of four wars, before preparing troops to enter Beijing.

None of the generals objected.

Today's King of Jin, General Ning Shao of the past, the words that come out of his mouth are not much worse than a holy decree.

"So you have to be prepared to fight in Jiangbei for a long time, maybe this year, maybe next year, maybe three or four years to end this war. I just hope that in the end we are not forced to go back to Gangnam."

Zhai Zhe's expression was grim, he was usually very gentle to the generals, and immediately changed his face when he was in battle.

"I estimate that the Qing army will soon move south, and the army will be led by either Dolgon or Zilharang." Zhai Zhe's right hand pointed to the second general on the right hand of the second column and shouted, "Yan Yingyuan"

"The last general" Yan Yingyuan stepped forward.

"You immediately lead your troops and horses into Gaoyou City to block the Qing troops from moving north. If our army does not capture Yangzhou City one day, you will be nailed there. ”

"Obedience"

Yan Yingyuan was the only one among the generals who had not been on the battlefield with Zhai Zhe, and he commanded 10,000 regular soldiers and 10,000 Jiangyin soldiers. Those people have accompanied him to stick to the isolated Jiangyin City.

Zhai Zhe's eyes met Yan Yingyuan's, and said: "Gaoyou City is poorly defended, it can't compare to Yangzhou, and it can't compare to Jiangyin, but Gaoyou City is the only barrier in the north of Yangzhou" Its intention is self-evident.

"The city is in the people" replied crisply. Yan Yingyuan's face was flushed, like the statue of Guan Gong in the temple.

Zhai Zhe's eyes slipped back, and then ordered: "From today on, Li Zhi'an will attack the north gate, Yuan Qizhou will attack the south gate, Zheng Zunqian and Sun Zhijing will attack the west gate, Fang Yuanke will attack the east gate, and the Fengqin garrison will be on the side of Aijia Lake on the canal, and the camera will support Gaoyou." ”

The voices of the "obedient" generals were uneven.

After the end of the military discussion, the generals basically understood Zhai Zhe's strategy, and he still focused on stability. The Ming army fought near the river, which can be said to take advantage of everything. It is very convenient for all materials in the south of the Yangtze River to be transported to the north of the Yangtze River by water.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Zhai Zhe's eyes have been locked on the huge map, which is the result of Zhao Zhicheng for more than a year.

"Dolgon, we haven't played each other in a long time"

He touched the saber on his waist, and Lu Gong was also defeated at the hands of Dolgon before he died in the giant deer. He didn't go to remember Lu Gong for a long time, he had crossed the river this Qingming Festival, and he didn't have the opportunity to go to Yixing to sweep the tomb.

Deliberately or unintentionally, the image of Lu Gong in his mind became more and more blurred. What he is doing now is not what Lu Gong wants, and what he wants to do, Lu Gong can't imagine.

Suddenly, a voice rang in his ears.

"Dolgon, is it scary?"

Zhai Tianjian listened to Fang Yizhi and other students in Suzhou College discuss the general trend of the world, and the students derogated Dolgon in their words, and often scolded Dolgon and the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.

Seeing his father showing the severity and solemnity that he had never seen before, he had doubts in his heart. It is impossible for a person who has been degraded to the extreme to be an opponent that his father values so much.

Zhai Zhe turned his head and said, "It's terrifying" His expression was stern, and he was a little frightened by Zhai Tianjian.

"However, he is not the most terrible person" Zhai Zhe recalled the journey of the grassland, and said: "If Huang Taiji can live for ten more years, we will not know how to float to that isolated island by boat." ”

Dolgon's abilities are in the middle of Yue Tuo's, and his achievements today are standing on the shoulders of Huang Taiji.

Seeing Zhai Tianjian's confused expression, Zhai Zhe smiled and confided all his thoughts in recent years, and said: "You have to remember that if the Han people can unite as one and not be blinded by selfish desires, even if there are hundreds of Huang Taiji and Dolgon-like figures in the Manchu Dynasty, they can only bow down under the banner of the Ming Dynasty. All misfortunes are self-inflicted, and there is no need to complain. ”

"The child knows"

Zhai Zhe smiled, reached out and touched his son's head, he knew less.

Along the way, talent is also needed.

Zhai Zhe never thought of himself as a person who was good at playing with power, but he also slowly learned to check and balance and use.

In this expedition, the Ming army was 90,000 soldiers, and 100,000 government soldiers and people gathered in Yangzhou Mansion, and the elite of Jiangnan was exhausted.

It is impossible for such a large-scale conquest not to have an impact on the people of Jiangnan.

Zhai Zhe's sudden Northern Expedition was not actually a Northern Expedition in the true sense, but a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing court for Jianghuai. This battle can be seen as a prelude to the Northern Expedition, and it can also be seen as a sequel to the recovery of Jiangnan.

Those who built a country in the southeast rarely stick to the Yangtze River for a long time.

The Qing court has not recovered since the loss of Jiangnan, and has been continuously restrained by Jiang Jian and Wu Sangui anyway. If the Qing court had come to its senses, the Yangtze River defense line without depth would have been like a rope around the neck of Nanjing.

Since the war, the happiest are the three weapons workshops in Fuyang County.

Liu Taiguang returned to the city of Nanjing, and according to the custom, he came to Liu Suifeng's mansion on the second day of his return home to meet his uncle, and his father Liu Quan walked with him. The merchant's son has long been in charge, and he has been in charge of the Liu family's weapons workshop for several years.

Liu Tai is widely refined, but lacks sharpness. After he was born, his family was already wealthy, so he was more like a gentleman than his brother Yoo Tae-hee. Otherwise, there would not have been such an absurd thing as bribing the craftsmen of the Hu family to steal the samples of the flint.

Liu Suifeng doesn't like this second son of the Liu family very much.

As soon as Liu Taiguang entered, he sat for less than a quarter of an hour, and began to habitually point out the country, saying, "Uncle, your mansion is too old."

Liu Suifeng originally smiled at Liu Quan, but immediately sank down when he heard the words.

Liu Quan beckoned to Liu Taiguang and said, "Come here"

Ryu Tae-gwang didn't know what was going on, and walked up to his father. Liu Quan stood up, suddenly stretched out his hand, and slapped him hard in the ear. Liu Taiguang reflexively blocked it, and quickly withdrew his hand and stood still. Liu was all angry, and he didn't dare to let go of his fart.

Liu Quan was not relentless, and twitched three times in succession, and Liu Taiguang's face quickly swollen on both sides.

"Okay, stop fighting" Liu sat on the chair with the wind and did not move.

Only then did Liu Quan stop and scolded: "I have no respect for my superiors, I act recklessly, and I will let you remember it for a long time today."

Liu Taiguang's tears rolled in his eyes, and he couldn't understand why he had provoked such a heavy punishment when he said casually.

Others may not be able to see that Liu Quan has been in Nanjing and knows it well. Last year, the King of Jin ruled that the flint gun should be jointly developed by the three workshops, and the Ministry of War gave priority to ordering from the Hu family. After that, King Jin was much more indifferent to Liu Suifeng.

This year, Fan Yongdou was not promoted, Liu Suifeng was not promoted, and the cabinet was still controlled by the Jiangnan family.

Liu waved his hand with the wind and said: "Okay, it is inevitable that young people will make mistakes"

Liu Quanyu was still angry, and said: "My Liu family is in business, and it has always been based on integrity, even if you don't want the profits of the flint, you can't be looked down upon by the Hu family."

Ryu Tae-hiro realized that the matter was not over yet.

The afterglow of October last year did not explode until the New Year, when King Jin left Nanjing City.

"It's all in the past, don't blame the child anymore" Liu Suifeng smiled bitterly and said: "I was also confused at the time, with Ji Hong here, what can I hide from the prince." "Zhai Zhe can tolerate him to make mistakes, but he can't tolerate him deceiving himself.

"Hey, the war in Jiangbei is tense, and the weapons workshop must be stepped up, so don't drag the army back."

Liu Quan waved his hand and ordered Liu Taiguang to retreat.

The old man didn't know where to go, and there were only two people left in the courtyard, two brothers.

"The General's Mansion conveyed an order the day before yesterday and ordered three weapons workshops to establish a branch in Yingtianfu," Liu Quan spoke.

Liu Suifeng said: "Doing the things assigned by the general is the right way"

Liu Quan looked very distressed, and said: "The prince suddenly went on a northern expedition, and let the Jiangnan people completely control the imperial court, I really can't guess his thoughts" This is the common trouble of those who have gone north recently. The Liu family is the most powerful family that followed Zhai Zhe to the north. After Plug Yinxi took control of the household department, many things were not easy to do.

"Why guess, the prince is in a hurry to go on the Northern Expedition, because he doesn't want the contradictions between the Jiangnan people and the northbound people to explode" Liu Suifeng smiled, he could see King Jin's mind clearly, so what?

"The few people in the cabinet are all cattle driven by the prince's whip, Chen Shangshu and Du Shangshu will firmly support the prince in the Northern Expedition. If we don't go on the Northern Expedition this year, will the prince stay in Nanjing City to watch us fight with the Donglin Party? ”