"The best knife, the hardest knife to parry." Fan Wencheng added some firewood to the brazier, poured the liquor in the cup on it, and when the fire burned, a blue flame erupted, becoming more and more vigorous, reflecting his face like gold paper, like a god in the temple, he looked at the gradually rising flames, and said word by word: "Chong, Zhen-" Huang Taiji disagreed, shook his head and said: "Chongzhen relies on him too much, how can he kill him?" ”

A waning moon rose to the eastern sky, the moon was cold and the stars were scarce, the winter sky was extremely high, a few gray clouds floated in the air, and a gust of north wind blew, and some grains of snow-like snow fell down, rolling down everywhere.

Outside the gate of the canal, on the boundless wilderness, the gray tents are one after another, and in the middle of the tent stands a large tent lined with yellow silk, and the top of the tent made of gold shines in the light of the stars and the moon, and in front of the big tent hangs a branch of nine large tents, which is blown by the wind. This gold-topped cowhide tent is the temporary palace of Huang Taiji. As soon as the sky was dark, Huang Taiji and Daishan, Mang Gurtai, Abatai, Dolgon, Azig, Yuetuo, Zierharang, Sigel Zhubeile generals discussed the use of troops, Dabeile Daishan said: Our army is far away, and it will be tired for a long time, and it has been more than a month since the division has been out of the division, and the soldiers are anxious to return, and there is no fighting spirit, so it is better to retreat. The second Belle Amin and the third Bel Mang Gurtai also agreed: Yuan Chonghuan led the elite soldiers of Guanning to stick to Beijing, and it was urgent and difficult, and the squad was the best policy.

Huang Taiji didn't listen at all, and said resolutely: "It's not time for the class teacher yet. I have been planning for a long time this time, and I must not give up halfway. At present, the reinforcements from all over the Ming Dynasty have not arrived, there are only 30,000 or 40,000 horses in Beijing, Yuan Chonghuan is brave and good at fighting, his elite soldiers are less than 10,000, and it will take a few days for Guan Ning's infantry to arrive, so why rush to retreat! Seeing that the Great Khan was resolute, Yue Tuo, Zilharang and others urged them to take advantage of the situation and fight with each other. The generals had the intention of retiring, Huang Taiji really did not expect it, until late at night everyone dispersed, not convinced, he was angry, sleepy, alone around the brazier sullen eating and drinking.

"The Great Khan is so interested!" The curtain was raised, Fan Wencheng strode in, beat Qian'er to ask for peace, and said: "We Han people have a saying: If a person doesn't eat wine, the Great Khan dares to avoid everyone drinking because he thinks there is less wine?" ”

"Fan Zhangjing, it's so fast! Shall I take it to myself, and have not left you a cup? Huang Taiji smiled and motioned for him to sit across from him.

"It's not too far from Zunhua to get here, and the horse will arrive as soon as he stretches his legs." Fan Wencheng drank it all in one cup.

In terms of physical appearance, Huang Taiji is much more powerful and fat, but Fan Wencheng is quite lavish in drinking, and he is on par with him. In a short time, two pots of sorghum soju were drunk. Huang Taiji's face was red and bright, and he briefly said the situation of discussing the use of soldiers with deep frowns, and sighed: "It is not unreasonable for a few Baylors to worry, I listened to Zhang Jing's words, avoided Yuan Chonghuan's edge in Jizhou, and approached Beijing, and you taught to surround but not fight, and held each other under the city for a few days, so empty consumption, needless to say, the grain and grass are not continued, once the division of King Qin from all over the Ming Dynasty came, Yuan Chonghuan left troops in Funing, Yongping, Qian'an, Fengrun, and Yutian to leave troops to deploy, and wanted to cut off my way back. ”

Fan Wencheng said: "Great Khan, Yuan Chonghuan defends without fighting, he is provoking me to attack the city, and the ministers are besieging but not fighting, it is to provoke him to fight, he is defending the chance of winning the battle, and the minister is attacking without a chance of winning." The elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are mostly in the nine sides, and among the nine sides, Liaodong is the most, as long as Yuan Chonghuan is at the mercy, the other sides can look at the wind. ”

"Yuan Chonghuan has a good way of governing the army, and he is worthy of the general! My Dajin Xiang is famous for his fast horses and sharp arrows, how did Yuan Chonghuan's Guanning Iron Cavalry be so fast that he actually occupied Jizhou first? If these characters are used by me, my gold is like a tiger with wings, why can't I take revenge! Huang Taiji knew that Yuan Chonghuan would never be obedient, but he admired him as the only opponent today, and he felt a lot of regret, drank a large sip of spirits, and said: "Fan Zhangjing, since Ning Jin's defeat, I really want to fight with Yuan Chonghuan again." The elite of his horse army is no less than my Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, but after all, the number of people is ten times smaller than me, and he is tired from afar, and there is no strong city to prove it, so he can kill him without a piece of armor. ”

Fan Wencheng said with a smile: "Great Khan, a hard attack is not a method. Beijing is by no means a lonely city outside the Guan, not to mention that the city wall is tall, and there are countless red-coated cannons at the head of the city, which is the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and the residence of the emperor, how can the Ming army not defend it? Although Yuan Chonghuan said that he was stationed outside the city, once the outside of the city could not be supported, he would inevitably retreat into the city to hold on, and defend the city with his method of sticking to Ningyuan. ”

"So you agree with the class teacher?"

Fan Wencheng shook his head and said: "Isn't it a pity that the Great Khan broke the public opinion, personally led the army, and went deep into the dangerous place?" In the future, I am afraid that it will be more and more difficult to convince the public. ”

"Don't fight and don't retreat, what plan do you have?"

"Not bad. What the minister said before about entering the Ming Dynasty was to take Ning Yuan, but now it seems that the gains and losses of one city and one place are not a pity in the Ming Dynasty, and Ning Yuan will not take it! ”

"Ningyuan is an important town outside the pass, I have always been like a fish in my throat, I have a great feeling of not vomiting and unhappy, if I can take Ningyuan from my teacher, how can I not take it?"

"Ningyuan's projectile land, but with Yuan Chonghuan, it is intimidating, if it weren't for this person, how could Ningyuan's lonely city be as stable as Mount Tai?"

"You still have to calculate Yuan Chonghuan?" Huang Taiji's eyes lit up.

"Calculating him is calculating the entire Ming Dynasty." Seeing that Huang Taiji was a little confused, he asked, "Great Khan, a figure like Yuan Chonghuan, what do you think is the best way to deal with it?" ”

"It's best for me."

"Can't you use it?"

"Kill it." Huang Taiji shrugged his eyebrows, and his face was full of coldness.

"Use it if it is suitable, otherwise it is better to kill than to stay, what the Great Khan said is very true. However, Yuan Chonghuan's men have a lot of fierce deaths, and it is not easy for us to kill them. ”

Huang Taiji was silent, his heart suddenly felt gloomy, and he slapped his thigh and said, "Could it be that I can't help this person?" Then what do you want to cut down the Ming Dynasty! ”

Fan Wencheng said: "We can't kill him, we can think of teaching others to kill him." The third of the thirty-six plans has the so-called non-self-help, borrowing a knife to kill, and the Great Khan can give it a try. ”

"Whose knife to borrow?"

"Nature is the best knife to use, the most difficult knife to parry." Fan Wencheng added some firewood to the brazier and poured the liquor in the cup on it, and when the fire burned, a blue flame erupted, becoming more and more vigorous, reflecting his face like gold paper, like a god in the temple. He looked at the rising flames, sniffed the fragrance of wine, and said word by word: "Chong, Zhen—"

Huang Taiji disagreed, shook his head and said: "Chongzhen can't rely on him yet, how can he kill him?" ”

"Does the Great Khan remember Jiang Gan's book theft?"

A thought flashed in Huang Taiji's heart, and he blurted out: "You said to use a counter-plot? ”

"Not bad! Since Yuan Chonghuan was difficult to tame for a while, he could control him after all. Fan Wencheng got up and lifted the tent, a strong wind rushed towards him, he couldn't help but shiver, pointed to the dark Guangqu Gate opposite, smiled coldly, and said: "Chongzhen is a suspicious person, and the Great Khan thinks he is like Cao Cao?" ”

"Chongzhen is not Cao Cao after all, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" must also be proficient in reading, and it is naturally difficult to deceive him like this. There is an old saying among the Han people: If one is too much, how can it be again! I'm afraid this plan is not feasible. ”

"The minister thinks that even if he can't kill Yuan Chonghuan, it is not difficult to make him abandoned." He turned around and sat down, lifted the golden pot and filled the two cups, respectfully handed it to Huang Taiji and said: "Chongzhen used Yuan Chonghuan, the government and the opposition thought that Liaodong won people, and they could sit back and relax, but now the Great Khan detoured to Mongolia to enter the customs, and Gyeonggi was shaken, and the government and the opposition must be secretly disappointed in him." Yuan Chonghuan rushed to Jizhou first, the Great Khan avoided its edge, and approached Beijing, the two armies did not fight for more than ten days, and the government and the opposition had suspected that he had a secret agreement with the Great Khan, and rumors arose for a while. A God-given opportunity, it is a good plan, and the Great Khan must not hesitate to miss it. ”

"Fan Zhangjing, what do you say about the arrangement?"

"The minister asked the Great Khan to agree first?"

"Say it straight!" Huang Taiji had no intention of eating and drinking, and looked directly at him.

"Lost to Yuan Chonghuan."

Huang Taiji was puzzled and asked, "You mean to deliberately lose to him?" ”

"The Great Khan is willing to lose this battle, and the counter-plan is easy to arrange. His less than 10,000 men and horses fought against my 100,000 army, and if he won unexpectedly, Chongzhen would be suspicious. The Great Khan sent some soldiers to pretend to be the people of the Ming Dynasty to blend into the city, and spread the streets and alleys that Yuan Chonghuan had an appointment with the Great Khan, pretending to be defeated and retreating to save him some face, and it was also convenient for him to advise and negotiate peace, and Chongzhen's suspicion naturally increased. After the defeat of our army, we retreated to the outskirts of Beijing, where there were mostly the Ming Dynasty magnates Qi Wan's other industry grange, the Great Khan could take the opportunity to plunder everywhere, grab more gold, silver, grain and grass, Yuan Chonghuan could not divide his troops to rescue, the manor house suffered this catastrophe, those powerful Qi Wan even the ordinary people would hate him to the bone, and the discussion of the government and the opposition was enough to kill. ”

"Is Jiang Gan easy to find?"

"The minister has already found two people."

Huang Taiji laughed: "There are so many Jiang Gan? The two of them drank heavily, and a pot of soju was drunk again in a blink of an eye.

As soon as the sky was bright, the Houjin army rushed straight to Guangqumen, and Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly led his troops to meet it. From the fierce battle, Chongzhen arrived at Guangqumen, dressed in a military suit, secretly lined with soft armor, the eunuch Gao Shiming, the commander of the Nine Gates, Shen Liangzuo, the commander of the Beijing camp, Li Fengxiang, the assistant commander of the Beijing camp, and Liu Zhilun, the right attendant of the military department of the assistant Beijing camp, Cao Huachun, the head of the Qianqing Palace, and others were surrounded around. Guangqu Gate is the main gate of the east of the outer city, commonly known as Shawo Gate. Originally, Beijing only had three walls: the Forbidden City, the Imperial City, and the Inner City, and there were no outer cities. Due to the repeated southern invasions of the Mongol cavalry, they often approached the capital. Emperor Shizong Jiajing ordered to build an additional 120 li of the outer city, surrounded the inner city on all sides, and then due to lack of financial resources, only a section of the outer city of 28 li was built in the south, but seven city gates were built: Dongbian Gate, Guangqu Gate, Zuo'an Gate, Yongding Gate, You'an Gate, Guang'an Gate, Xibian Gate, Beijing became a convex shape, no longer square. Among the outer city gates, Guangqu Gate only has a single eaves rest on the top of the gatehouse, which is slightly lower than Yongding Gate and Guang'an Gate. Chongzhen dismounted and entered the arrow tower, and saw a Houjin general wearing a yellow robe dancing sword command to rush forward to kill, holding a clairvoyant mirror to watch, the person was tall, full of beard, very powerful, and asked Gao Shiming: "Is this person Huang Taiji?" ”

Gao Shiming is in the middle of the forbidden, where have you seen any Huang Taiji? It was hard to speak, but fortunately, Li Bingchun, a staff general in charge of the artillery battalion, had served Ning Yuanjun before, and vaguely remembered his appearance, and said immediately: "Your Majesty, this person is not Huang Taiji, but his son Haoge." ”

"So is the Son, and the Father knows." Chongzhen worriedly went down to the city? Look, seeing Yuan Chonghuan holding a long sword in his hand, the Ming army was not chaotic at all, and a row of archers in front of him fired thousands of arrows, making it difficult for the Houjin army to advance half a step.

Suddenly, the soldiers of the Houjin army shouted in unison: "Long live the Great Khan, long live the Great Khan, long live the Great Khan!" "The cry came from far and near, louder and louder, surging like a tide. But seeing this, the Jin army flashed open to both sides, and a yellow nine-sword was raised high, and the iron horse galloped close with a divine horse. The horse was covered in inky black, with a circle of white hair on its forehead like a full moon in the middle of the sky, and its four hooves were also snow-white, and the end of the divine horse was abnormal. The general on the horse was dressed in bright yellow robes, the huge golden helmet shone under the harsh winter sun, and a shark skin sheath waist knife hung under his ribs, majestic and majestic, like a god.

"Your Majesty, this person is Huang Taiji." Li Bingchun shouted.

"This man's majesty and bearing are indeed far above his son." Chongzhen not only sighed.

When the Houjin officers and soldiers saw that the Great Khan was riding his beloved treasure horse Xiaobai to supervise the battle, their morale was greatly boosted, and they rushed towards the Ming army camp with a shout. The yellow flag and the inlaid yellow flag are the personal soldiers of Huang Taiji, the most sharp, do not avoid arrows, and strive to be the first. Yuan Chonghuan saw that the Houjin army was attacking fiercely, took another order flag with his left hand, looked back and waved sharply at the head of the city, signaling to fire artillery. At a glance, I saw from afar the outside of the arrow tower brocade guards and Beijing camp soldiers, when I saw that the emperor had arrived, and saw the city on both sides of the arrow tower crowded, the black pressure was full of people in the capital, those bold people poked out their heads from behind the female wall and the moat to watch, the blood boiled when they boarded, and they raised their arms and shouted: "The emperor drives the city, a good man repays the king's grace and is loyal to the country, and at that time, kill-" The horse rushed forward. The soldiers had always respected Yuan Chonghuan, listened to him shouting majestically, and then followed closely, each with a sword and stepped forward bravely. All of a sudden, the horn sounded, the arrows flew like locusts, the long knives were shining in the sun, the iron horses were rushing, the smoke and dust were filling the sky, the two armies were fighting and fighting, the sound of weapons hitting and the sound of arrows and arrows were mixed together, the sword light and sword shadow, and the blood was confused. Most of the people in the city were born without half a step out of the capital, where have they seen any battles, seeing thousands of horses galloping, the two armies crashing into each other like a tide, the momentum is fierce, it is really like the sky is falling apart, the heart is all shocked, almost frightened.

Yuan Chonghuan saw that the Houjin soldiers were coming in a steady stream, and they rushed into several sections of the nine thousand men and horses, separated and surrounded them, and he was in a hurry, and shouted to Zhou Wenyu: "Command the drums and erect a big drum!"

"There is a huge disparity between the enemy and us, and if the Houjin soldiers see Daxu, the superintendent will be in danger. In case you can't get out......"

"There must be no commander in the army, otherwise morale will be difficult to muster. Don't be wordy, give the order! ”

The drums were loud, the word "Yuan" rose high, and the Ming troops everywhere saw it, and they were all excited, shaking their spirits, and they all fought to the death with one as ten.

"Yuan Manzi is here! Yuan Manzi is here! ”

"Capture Yuan Manzi alive and avenge the old Khan King!"

After the Jin soldiers couldn't stop shouting, the team rushed out of a white-robed general, with a bow and arrows, aimed at Yuan Chonghuan, the arrows came like lightning, close to each other, Yuan Chonghuan heard the sound of the bowstring, and then dodged it was difficult, and hurriedly swung his head, the arrow flew in front of the door, and the wolf's teeth drew a deep blood groove on the face, and half of the face was blurred with flesh and blood, dripping onto the robe. Lin Xiangfeng beside him was furious, slapped his horse and rushed straight towards the white-robed young general, seeing that he was going to shoot again, he waved his right arm and threw the spear in his hand hard, the white-robed young general hurriedly threw the bow and arrow, holding the long sword in both hands, aiming at the spear and struggling to swing it, the spear shot obliquely, its momentum was unabated, and the guards next to him passed through his chest. Lin Xiangfeng succeeded in the surprise attack and took advantage of the momentum to rush into the enemy formation. Later, the Jin soldiers were shocked, raised their swords and halberds, and stepped forward to intercept them. Yuan Chonghuan was afraid that he would lose, so he raised his hand to wipe the blood on his face with his sleeve, lifted the reins of the horse, and galloped, the horse neighed like thunder, and then killed like a whirlwind. The Ming army occupied the advantageous position, but the Houjin army relied on a large number of people and fought fiercely for a long time, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. Yuan Chonghuan worked hard to support, he governed the army strictly, and the soldiers would rather die in battle than take half a step back.

It was almost noon, Huang Taiji thought of Fan Wencheng's words last night, and saw that the time was almost up, so he wanted to retreat, but all the soldiers under his command wanted to establish meritorious deeds in front of the Great Khan, and ignored his intentions. Kill for a while, only know that you don't know how to retreat, it is difficult for Huang Taiji to lose and leave, and it is not good to Mingjin if he does not show his defeat, and if he continues to hold on like this, Yuan Chonghuan is bound to be difficult to support, if he is forced into the city, will those strategies be in vain? was anxious, but heard a great chaos in the back camp, and there was an earth-shattering shout of killing, and the soldiers shouted: "Oh no! fell for Yuan Chonghuan's trick! ”

Huang Taiji was shocked and secretly wondered: Yuan Chonghuan has less than 10,000 reinforcements and horses, all in front of him, where are the people and horses? was stunned, but saw countless Ming troops killed, a big man Pegasus rushed in front, the machete in his hand danced like snowflakes, rushed to a bloody road, went straight to the city to kill, and shouted: "Supervisor, Zu Dashou is coming!" ”

The blood on Yuan Chonghuan's cheeks fell splendidly, his neck and half of his arms were dyed red, and he saw that the Guanning Iron Cavalry, who had followed him for many years, fell one by one, or was injured by stray arrows, or died of exhaustion, and then the Jin army continued to attack, and he couldn't help but sigh again and again, today is going to die in battle. A little distracted, the oblique stab shot out a Houjin general, slashed the knife, Yuan Chonghuan was too late to dodge, seeing that the big knife was about to be cut down, someone next to him shouted, "Hugh hurt my handsome!" "Flying up the knife frame, the two knives intersected, sparks flew everywhere, and they broke together. Yuan Chonghuan backhanded a sword, splitting the thief's head in half, and was shocked, only to see that the person who shot was Yuan Sheng, the guard in front of the tent, and was about to nod his head, and rushed to a group of Houjin soldiers to surround the two of them. Yuan Sheng lost his blade, it was difficult to resist the knife and spear with his bare hands, and he was in danger for a while, Yuan Chonghuan had the heart to step forward to save him, but he was helplessly besieged by dozens of golden soldiers, and he lacked skills. In the midst of the crisis, I heard that Zu Dashou led the troops to kill, and secretly exclaimed luck: The sky has eyes, bless me with great light. At the moment, he was in good spirits and laughed: "Fuyu, you are just in the right time!" The soldiers of his busy subordinates shouted: "The Houjin soldiers are defeated!" Houjin soldiers were defeated! ”

The Ming army suddenly waited for reinforcements, overjoyed, and the sound of shouting and shouting stopped Xingyun, After the Jin soldiers were shocked and caught off guard for a while, the army was in turmoil, Zu Dashou led the Guanning elite soldiers, and it was a new force army that had not been killed, and the two combined troops were like a rainbow, and the Jin soldiers could not resist retreating, and the footing gradually threw flags and threw guns to trample on each other, the dead were countless, the emperor Taiji hurriedly commanded the people and horses to open the formation, strong bows and crossbows shot outward, blocking the offensive of the Ming army, Zu Dashou led the army to rush and kill several times, were shot back by the rain of arrows, Huang Taiji then ordered the rear team to change the front team to the east of the Tongzhou City conflict, and tens of thousands of iron horsemen galloped in the wind, like thousands of clouds drifting away, Yuan Chonghuan looked back at the city, saw that the emperor was still in the arrow tower, and the flag was waved urgently, and then chased until the west bank of the canal, after the Jin soldiers retreated ten miles of abaTai, Azig, and Sigel were all defeated, and this battle lasted from early morning to sunset, and the vicious battle lasted for four hours, and the smoke and dust at the head of the city and the city under the city were still not dispersed at sunset