At the end of February, spring ploughing in North China has begun for half a month.

However, the harsh environment of the Xiaoice period still has a small spring snow from time to time, which is destined to freeze some seedlings that germinate early, resulting in another poor harvest year this year, and the people are miserable.

Historically, the sixteenth and seventeenth years of Chongzhen were the two most frequent and severe natural disasters at the end of the Ming Dynasty. It is not entirely a coincidence that the Ming Dynasty finally came to an end abruptly at this point in time-

Taking a closer look at the historical details, it is not difficult to find that at least half of the teams of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, in terms of scale, were suddenly coerced by Chongzhen after 16 years.

In those two years, their expansion speed was like an extra hanging, much faster than in previous years, as if they had suddenly broken through a threshold and critical point, opened up the second pulse of Rendu, and then plummeted for thousands of miles.

Obviously, objectively and naturally, it was precisely because of the severity of the disasters in those two years that the number of people who suddenly couldn't survive at all skyrocketed by an order of magnitude, giving all the thief chieftains endless resources.

And history often tells people a lesson: after a series of catastrophes, it often does not end with the demise of a dynasty.

The catastrophe was supposed to last for three or four years, and if the previous dynasty died just after the first two years, then the latter dynasty would have to bear the aftermath of the catastrophe for another year or two after it caught up.

God won't suddenly stop disasters just because Ming is dead.

It's just that, according to the original development, although the initial stage after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, although it was also a tragic disaster, it just caught up with the expansion period of the contradiction of transferring to the south. After conquering Jiangnan, he was able to immediately rely on the shaving order to slaughter the massive population of the city, and snatch all the surplus food in the south to maintain his rule.

According to the research of later generations, at the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the drought and flood locust plague that lasted for more than three years and nearly four years were superimposed, and it could be from the sixteenth year of Chongzhen to the third year of Shunzhi (the first year of Shunzhi and the seventeenth year of Chongzhen coincided, so the seventeenth year of Chongzhen was delayed for two years, and it could be until the third year of Shunzhi)

After four years of Shunzhi, the disaster gradually eased, and the people's production and recuperation gradually recovered.

However, other areas in the north, except for the capital, still need to be restored to Shunzhi for another eight years to ensure that the local fiscal balance is balanced, and there is no need to rely on robbery and foreign transportation to maintain local grain self-sufficiency.

Four years of disaster relief, six years of disaster suspension, and eight years of self-sufficiency.

However, now, with the successive deaths of Duoduo and Nikan, at least the Manchu troops equivalent to two integrated flags have been completely annihilated in formation, and many troops have been severely damaged.

The wheel of history used by the Qing court to transfer contradictions to the outside world and solve the shortage of food was forcibly twisted, and it could no longer roll forward.

……

When the news reached the capital, Dolgon, as the regent, was naturally shocked and grieved, and also felt great pressure and unease.

】

Not only did the national fortunes of the Qing Dynasty become obscure, but even his personal political future was cast a thick shadow -

When Huang Taiji first died, he and Zilharang's regency status was equal. Although Hauge reached a behind-the-scenes deal with him and Zilharang and suppressed it, Hauge still has some slight influence in the army and in the DPRK.

It's just that Zilharang is relatively old and lacks progress. A few months after Huang Taiji's death, the Qing Kingdom encountered a heaven-sent opportunity for Chongzhen to be killed and Wu Sangui's Qing army to enter the customs.

On this major issue of right and wrong, Dolgon was a resolute main battle faction, insisting on responding to Wu Sangui, leading troops into the city of Beijing, and insisting that the young Emperor Shunzhi move the capital to Beijing.

And conservatives such as Hauge and Zilharang have more or less lost points on this series of issues. Many of the old Manchu guards were worried that after moving the national capital into the Guan, they would lose their strategic depth in the future, and if the Central Plains changed, it would be inconvenient to retreat outside the Guan.

Dolgon once again insisted on making the capital of Beijing, and then dispatched two half-brothers to the west and south to deal with Li Zicheng and Nanming respectively.

He conquered so much land in one year, which made Dolgon's personal prestige rise to the peak, and also made Zilharang and Hauge completely lose the possibility of fighting for power.

It can be said that Dolgon's status is not caused by a small conspiracy of infighting, it is a real effort to expand the territory and set policies, and the tricks of infighting are only auxiliary, and striking iron needs its own hardness.

But now, with the death of Dorgon in battle and the destruction of most of the Southern Expeditionary Army, the army that Dorgon was able to control and was still loyal to him, which was directly reduced by half! It is no exaggeration to say that he was cut off an arm!

Will Haug and Zilharang continue to listen to him? Can he still hold it down?

……

Grief is grief, the problem still has to be solved,

Therefore, a few days after receiving the news of Nikan's death, Dolgon privately found Prince Zheng and "Xinyi Auxiliary Uncle" Zilharang, who was also an auxiliary minister, and wanted to discuss with him the next military and political strategy.

There is only one core question: in the short term, should we continue to invest in blood and organize a new round of southern expedition as soon as possible!

The two "Regent Uncles" and "Auxiliary Uncles" have nothing to avoid trespassing, anyway, the emperor is still a child and can't govern himself, so the two started this meeting in the Wuying Palace.

Dolgon was a big, black fat man with a big beard, and his appearance did not match handsomeness at all, and at most he could barely describe him as "heroic", or for the muscles that he hid under the fat.

Dolgon and Zilharang sat opposite each other, and did not overpower the people, but asked the eunuch to serve Zilharang good tea and fine milk wine, so that he could drink whatever he wanted.

After settling down, Dolgon got straight to the point: "This time the fifteenth brother and Nikan were defeated, and this king will naturally not shirk it." When you first order, you should think that they are impulsive and decisive, and they are prone to desperate bets. The loss of our two banners and horses is really deplorable by the government and the opposition.

However, the battle is dangerous, the victory or defeat is unpredictable, I have suffered this small setback in the Qing Dynasty, and I should work together to regroup as soon as possible, and must not give the southern barbarians a chance to breathe and gain a firm foothold, I don't know what Brother Wang thinks? ”

Zilharang did not respond immediately, but was silent for a while, and then snorted without hearing the tone:

"Do you want to fight again? Although my Daqing Erlang is good at fighting, there is no reason to fight with the barbarians every year, since he has been frustrated this time, he also needs to rest and rebuild the army, how can he rashly make a desperate bet? Besides, even if the army is reorganized and sent out, will the regent be sure of victory? ”

Zilharang said, also casually giving a few examples:

The war between the Ming and Qing dynasties, during the Chongzhen period, fought a big wave from the second to the third year of Chongzhen (that wave broke through the pass was also the main reason why Yuan Chonghuan was finally killed), and then the Qing army stopped for two or three years, and only broke through again in the sixth and seventh years of Chongzhen.

Later, Chongzhen broke the pass in the ninth year, grabbed a handful and went back that year, broke the pass again in the eleventh year, and went back again that year (killed Lu Xiangsheng), from the autumn of the thirteenth year to the spring of the fifteenth year, it was a tug-of-war with Hong Chengchou's continuous consumption......

It can be said that although the Qing army is belligerent, it also has a period of recuperation, and it enters the pass every three or four years in the early stage, and at least one or two years later, unless it is the time when it is a war of attrition with Hong Chengchou, because it has been holding each other and cannot retreat.

The Eight Banners are not fought with iron, how can they keep fighting without breathing? And if you want to talk about rotating troops, the Qing army does not have this strength now.

Two flags were completely wiped out, and one flag was severely damaged to the limit, and only five flags had combat effectiveness.

Among the five banners, there was also a banner in Azig that lost more than half of its troops, all of which were fought in a war of attrition with Zhang Huangyan, including the one that was attacked by Zhu Wenzhen's Huguang cavalry when he first came into contact with the Nanyang Ming Army last year.

So, only four half-full flags can be thrown directly into battle.

Duoduo's two flags were given in vain, if two more flags were put up, maybe they would be hit hard, then they would have to be pressed all four and a half, and if the rear was completely empty, what would the northern Han people do if they rebelled?

Zilharang doesn't need to be reasonable, just from the analysis of the comparison of strength, he thinks that he can't fight anymore.

After taking stock of the key points, Zilharang summed up with great momentum:

“…… Therefore, this king thinks that the most important thing at the moment is to rebuild the two white flags that have been completely annihilated! At the same time, the two red flags that have been damaged can also recuperate! Instead of taking the enemy lightly and taking a desperate bet!

Prince Ying's offensive in Nanyang should also be reined in, let the damaged troops return to the rear, re-enlist the two red flags and the two blue flags, make up for the shortage of the main soldiers killed in battle, and then conduct drills.

Since the two white flags were completely annihilated as an establishment, now I am afraid that even the generals and left officers needed for reconstruction will not be able to get together, in my opinion, it is better to transfer some soldiers from the two yellow flags as the backbone to rebuild the two white flags.

You can draw one Niu Lu from the two yellow flags, make up for the two white flags, and then recruit new soldiers from the two white flags, make up the remaining four Niu Lu, and use the old to lead the new with a belt of five, so as to quickly form an army and re-form combat effectiveness. ”

I have to say that from the perspective of army building, Zilharang's opinion is still very old-fashioned and seeking the country.

In later generations, even in modern times, and even during World War I and World War II in modern times, when it was necessary to expand the army and mobilize reserves in wartime, it was basically like this to bring new soldiers.

For example, in the German army in World War I and World War, all of them brought new recruits according to three to four times the number of veterans, and during the war, a division of the regular army was divided into multiple regiments, and each division was put into the new army with a regiment of veterans, and the remaining regiments were newly mobilized reserves. After a few months, the new unit will have formed its initial combat effectiveness.

Now that the two white flags have been beaten to the point that even the seeds of the officers are gone, and the regiment has been completely wiped out, if you want to rebuild, of course, you have to seconded officers at all levels from other flags to rebuild the team.

Of course, considering that many of the families of the two white flags are from noble families, those relatives of the former Gushan, Meler Ezhen, Jiala, and Niu Lu can continue to be officials directly if they are added to the army, even if they have no military positions before, they can also become officials by blood.

But in any case, professional military personnel must be supplemented. Otherwise, it will all rely on the "Zhao Kuomen" who are in the upper position of blood to lead the troops, and the new army will not be finished?

But the problem was that Zilharang's suggestion, which seemed to be completely in line with the public's intentions, seemed so harsh to Dorgon's ears that it could touch several sensitive nodes in his nerves at once.

"It's a good calculation, the two white flags are the foundation of our original power, but the two yellow flags are absolutely loyal to the first emperor...... Let the two yellow flags draw people to rebuild the two white flags, and the two white flags that will be built in the future can still obey the king......" Dolgon thought viciously in his heart, but he didn't dare to reveal it on the surface.

Here we have to talk about a piece of eucalyptus when Huang Taiji died.

In fact, those who are familiar with Qing palace dramas, especially those such as "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang", basically know that when Huang Taiji died, the two yellow flags initially supported Hauge to succeed to the throne, but the two white flags held by Dolgon and Duoduo never agreed, and they also put on a posture of "if Hauge wants to seize the throne, he will fight to the end, and he will not hesitate to fight in the civil war".

Later, in order to avoid civil war, the two yellow flags, under the coordination of Zilharang, expressed their willingness to take a step back from Dolgon: the two white flags did not support Dolgon's succession, and in exchange for the two yellow flags, they also allowed another son of the first emperor (Huang Taiji) to succeed to the throne, which led to the success of Fulin (Shunzhi).

It can be seen that no matter who the two yellow flags finally pushed to the throne, they are loyal to Huang Taiji and only accept Huang Taiji's son to take the throne, which has never changed.

Now the biggest problem of Duoduo is not only that Bai gave two flags, but also that Bai gave him and Dolgon's lineage, which made the power structure within the Qing Kingdom extremely unbalanced-

Of course, at this time last year, Duoduo chose to bring two white flags as the main force of the southern expedition, and this choice itself was no problem. Because he was almost chosen this way in history, in the eyes of Duoduo at that time, going south to fight Jianghuai and Jiangnan, those Han people in weak places were simply picking up a piece of merit for nothing.

Since there is an opportunity to make great contributions, why not leave it to your own descendants? Who would have thought that this opportunity for meritorious service would eventually turn into an opportunity to die?

At this moment, Dorgon had already guessed what Zilharang was up to, but he really couldn't resist, who had greatly weakened his main descendants! His authority has been shaken!

Dorgon had no choice but to find other high-sounding reasons on the surface, for the sake of the state, to convince Zilharang:

"Prince Zheng! Whether or not to continue to fight against Nanming cannot just depend on whether our Daqing has the spare strength to fight! Even if you don't have the strength to achieve a decisive victory, at least you should fight and keep the pressure on!

You didn't care about civil affairs before, and you probably didn't know how scarce the treasury of the Qing Dynasty and military supplies in various places are now! The reason why Chongzhen died last year was mainly because the disaster in the north was too serious for many years! Millions of Han people followed the thieves and others to uncover the rod!

This year, the disaster situation has not improved at all, you look at the end of February outside, there is still spring snow, how many seedlings will freeze to death? I am afraid that many people will starve to death in the spring famine this year! There is no good harvest in the autumn harvest, and at least one million people starve to death in every province and every year! The world has reached an unprecedented level of famine!

We have to feed 200,000 Qiding, men, women, and children add up to 900,000 Manchurians, can we expect to squeeze the grain and grass we need from these only 10 million or 20 million Han people in the north? Don't say that you can't squeeze it, even if you can squeeze it, you will lose the people's hearts!

Now my only chance in the Qing Dynasty is to transfer the anger and unwillingness of the Han people in the north to starve to death to the hatred of the Han people in the south!

We don't have enough Manchurian troops, and it will take time to rebuild the Eight Banners, so immediately expand the new army composed of pure northern Han Chinese! Use the bait of robbing the rich lands in the south to lure the Han people in the north to fight for us! ”

Dolgon said, and finally threw out his countermeasure to deal with Zilharang's strategy of "slowly drawing and rebuilding the Eight Banners" - to establish a green battalion army of the Han people! Give the Han people autonomy, rob for personal gain, and encourage the Han people to arm snowballs!

Zilharang was conservative, and he couldn't help but be shocked and angry when he heard it: "How can you expand the army be so careful!" We Manchus rule the Han people, and we are already walking on thin ice,

Although the Han people in the north have experienced many years of severe droughts, floods, locust plagues, and military plagues, and their household registration has been halved repeatedly, although they do not know the exact number, there must be more than 10 million, and less than 20 million.

We are only more than 200,000 young and strong men, counting the old and weak, women and children, the whole clan of 900,000 people, almost to rule 15 times the northern Han people of our race, if the northern Han people are armed, one day they will directly make trouble against our Qing Dynasty, you Dolgon is the sinner of the Qing Dynasty! ”

The two sides have too deep differences in philosophy, and they are tense as they talk.

But fortunately, there are not many personal grudges, mainly because the understanding of the method of governance is too different.

After Dolgon calmed down a little, he knew that his defeat was so big, and it was impossible to think about it again, and the only way to do it now was to find a way to "take a step back" with Zilharang again and find a new balance.

He couldn't help but think about it, and secretly said: What he asks for is nothing more than two things,

One is to immediately organize a new southern expedition, divert contradictions against the Southern Ming, rob enough money and food to maintain rule, and prevent internal collapse.

The other thing is a means to serve the purpose of the Southern Expedition, that is, to prepare for the formation of the Green Battalion New Army.

If the second thing can't be done, even if Zilharang promised him the first thing and organize a new southern expedition, now that the Qing court has insufficient troops, it will be in vain to go.

In this case, it is better to make a painful choice, and postpone the immediate organization of the New South Expedition, in exchange for Zilharang's consent to his formation of the Green Battalion,

At the same time, the matter of mixing sand from the two yellow flags to the two white flags made it clear that he couldn't stop it, so it was better to push the boat down the river to do a personal favor.

Even if the two white flags are rebuilt in the future, they will be brought together by Zilharang and Haugra to a considerable extent, and they will no longer be absolutely loyal to themselves. But as long as the Han Green Battalion led by him remembers his Dolgon's goodness and knows that Dolgon in the Qing court is the one who is relatively allowed to delegate power to the Han armed forces, then he may still have a hole card in the power struggle with the support of the Green Battalion in the future.

Thinking of this, Dolgon showed a painful expression and exchanged conditions with Zilharang: "Okay, now immediately organize a new southern expedition, there is really no chance of victory, even if the green battalion is formed, it will take time to practice and run-in, and it will not be able to be used this year."

In any case, this year can only be a hardship for the people, even if it is a tyrannical expropriation, it is necessary to raise enough money and food to raise troops and expand the army, even if more thieves are provoked, there is no way, just use the thieves to practice!

This king is willing to promise not to mention the southern expedition within this year! The reconstruction of the two white flags also allows the backbone of the two yellow flags to be drawn! But Prince Zheng must also agree to the formation of the Green Camp Army! Otherwise, the king's first two promises will be null and void! ”

Zilharang's eyelids jumped for a moment, and he calculated whether this game condition was a gain or a loss, and in the end, the interests of the small group overtook the interests of the country.

He had always regretted that the two yellow flags did not fully have the right to speak, and he was in his throat about the threat of civil war with the two white flags.

This time, Dolgon was willing to back down, so he took advantage of it first.

As for the establishment of a green battalion independent of the Han army flag system, although Zilharang was jealous, he finally knew the most simple truth - he Dolgon was also a Manchurian, and Dolgon would not get a Han army to create his own rebellion, right?

Perhaps, what other tricks does he have to restrain the Green Battalion generals and ensure their loyalty?

Whatever the means, he could only believe that Dolgon was at least okay with the national position.

Zilharang weighed it up and agreed to the compromise.