Li Guo took it casually, weighed it, and checked it carefully: "There is no hair on the mouth, and the work is not firm." This unreliable thing dares to be presented to the emperor, what if it is a thief's trick? After reprimanding Li Laiheng for a few words, Li Guo looked at Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty, it's better for Weichen to open it and check one or two." ”

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, very satisfied with Li Guo.

He is now the emperor, since the founding of the country and the emperor, the ministers have courtesy to him, but the old brothers who fought the world together have not completely turned around for a while. Among the generals, the most praised him is Li Guo, if it weren't for Li Guo's humility and courtesy, setting an example for the generals, Liu Zongmin would not be the only one who dominated.

After Li Guo opened it, there was indeed only a letter in a roll, he sniffed it, checked it, and found that there was nothing special except for the relatively small words written.

"Let the military advisor help you take a look." After Li Zicheng read it, he handed it over to Song Xiance.

Song Xiance took it and looked at it, the expression on his face was extremely exciting, and he finally said: "Li Zhaoji said two things, he said, this raid on Liaodong, it is determined that the eastern captives will come to fight, and Dashun should return to the capital, he is willing to negotiate with Wu Sangui at Shanhaiguan to prevent him from surrendering to the eastern captives, and will arrange people to communicate with Dashun to communicate news."

The second thing is that if Dashun's soldiers and horses return to the capital to deal with the Dongyu, he will provide all kinds of help, and this Li Zhaoji's sincerity is very sufficient. ”

"What sincerity?" Zhang Nai said.

Song Xiance smiled: "Yihou, aren't you to the little Hongyi under Li Zhaoji...... No, field artillery is interested? Li Zhaoji said that he had sent a ship to send the field artillery and some artillery to Tianjin Wei, and asked us Dashun to let people receive it, and these artillery would support Dashun to deal with Dongyu, but if they attacked Shanhaiguan or Zhu Ming, they would not fight. ”

"The artillery and artillery are in our hands, and we can't help him." Zhang Nai said lightly.

Li Laiheng said: "Yihou, let's come as agreed, listen to the people of the Oriental Trading Company, the field artillery is light and small, it is not possible to attack the city, and the siege is used by heavy artillery." There is another thing, Weichen thinks that Li Zhaoji's department has other great uses. ”

"Listen carefully."

Li Laiheng responded, and said in detail: "It stands to reason that this raid on Liaodong is to prove that what Li Zhaoji said is true, but the Dongyu has invaded the country. But Weichen found that Tang Mu and others under Li Zhaoji, during the raid, investigated and interrogated this kind of thing in more detail than we did.

He inquired in detail about the geography of the mountains and rivers in Liaodong, and also recruited people who could speak Manchu, as if he wanted to prepare for the invasion of Liaodong.

Your Majesty, this time the Dongyu sent troops to the country, and the troops exceeded my Dashun, and Shanhaiguan was unstable, and we were suffering from the enemy on our backs. But if you can unite with Li Zhaoji and let them send troops to Liaodong, wouldn't you also copy the back road of the Eastern Captives? ”

"Is Li Zhaoji willing, even if he is willing, does he have that ability?" Zhang Nai asked.

Li Laiheng said: "What Yihou said is extremely true, but this kind of thing, it is man-made, how can you know it without giving it a try?"

As for whether he is willing or not, Weichen thinks that Li Zhaoji is a businessman, he colluded with Wu Sangui and contacted us privately, asking for benefits, and the benefits we give may not be able to be given by others. For example, the title, Wu Sangui promised not to count, but the emperor's promise was true.

Moreover, it is not wrong for businessmen to seek profits, let people send troops, and give some military salaries. Isn't it just for these benefits that he Li Zhaoji went north, as long as we give it and give it in place, what is he unwilling to do?

As for whether he has this ability, Wechen heard that there are four or five thousand elite people under Li Zhaoji's command, although this number is not large, but Liaodong, the hinterland of Dongyu, is now very empty, all the men have been taken away, and the capable ones have gone out to enter the border wall of Kou, and the old and weak stay in the Dacheng Pass, not to mention four or five thousand people, Wechen feels that even if there are two thousand people, they can turn Liaodong upside down. ”

The more Li Zicheng thought about it, the more reasonable he felt, and he looked at Li Guo: "Marquis Bo, what do you think?" ”

"Weichen is the acting emperor, negotiate with him, but whenever there is an opportunity, Weichen will definitely not let it flow out of his hands." Li Guo's words are to show his attitude, obviously, he stayed in the Shanhaiguan area, and the task was not only to deal with Wu Sangui, but also to negotiate with Li Zhaoji.

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, and said to Li Laiheng: "Laiheng, you have made a lot of contributions to this raid on Liaodong, and you have grown a lot by your father-in-law in the past few years." I thought that I would reuse you in a few years, but now it seems that it would be overkill to let you be your stepfather's retinue.

I have named you General Guoyi, and you are still walking beside the Marquis of Bo, and you have to serve more and share the responsibilities of the Marquis of Bo in the matter of communicating with Li Zhaoji of the Oriental Trading Company. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, Weichen knocks on Longen." Li Laiheng was so excited that he immediately knelt on the ground.

Li Zicheng said: "Yihou, you personally go to Tianjin Wei and bring those artillery and field artillery according to the place Li Zhaoji said."

As you saw some time ago, these field guns are light, fast, and powerful, and they will be of great use against each other, so you should treat those artillery with a kind attitude, and if they need horses, mules, and gunpowder, you must supply them all.

In addition, if Li Zhaoji gives them a salary, after you ask clearly, according to the salary prescribed by Li Zhaoji, we will give another copy, if Li Zhaoji does not give them a salary, you can also ask how much he is paid, and he will be paid twice as much as he works in Dashun. ”

Zhang Nai's heart actually meant the same thing, Li Zicheng explained this, he was even more happy, and said: "Yes, the emperor, Weichen will definitely dig out his heart and lungs for these people, and he will be better than Li Zhaoji to them, and when Li Zhaoji thinks of them one day and calls them back, they don't want to go back." ”

"Well, well, that's what I mean."

Li Laiheng said on the side: "Your Majesty, I heard Tang Mu say that the artillery sent to us was hired from a place called Macao in Guangdong, and many of them were foreigners. ”

"It's someone like Father Tang." Li Zicheng remembered that when he met with the officials of the former Ming Dynasty in the capital, there was Tang Ruowang, the Qintianjian supervisor, and his appearance and language were very strange.

"Yes, that's the kind of person.

Westerners mostly believe in foreign religions, and their food and language are very different from ours. When Weichen was in the capital, he settled Father Tang and them, and they made a lot of jokes. Li Laiheng said.

Li Zicheng nodded: "Zhang Nai, then you first send someone to Beijing, invite Father Tang, and recruit these Yangyi gunners with you." ”

"Yes, it's still the emperor's thoughtfulness." Zhang Nai nodded again and again.

Li Guo said: "Your Majesty, the situation in Gyeonggi is tense, and the eastern captives are strong to fight, and with the existing soldiers and horses, I am afraid that it will be difficult to deal with it, so it is better to transfer troops and reinforcements." ”

Li Zicheng replied: "I also have this meaning, but the soldiers of Huguang cannot be transferred, and they must put enough pressure on the Ming Kingdom." The soldiers who stayed in Shaanxi and Gansu were to guard against harassment by the Tartars, and now that the Eastern Captives are coming to fight the capital, the Tartars will inevitably follow, so there is no need to be guarded. ”

"Your Majesty, speaking of Shaanxi and Gansu, before the military discussion, there was an envoy from Shaanxi and Gansu, because the emperor summoned him, and Weichen didn't see him for a while." Song Xiance said.

"Strategist, you go and see you quickly to see what the situation is."

Song Xiance hurriedly went, and the rest of the people chatted and asked Li Laiheng about the situation of the Oriental Trading Company and Li Zhaoji, obviously very interested in this person's power, and when he said it, he saw Song Xiance hurrying over and said: "The emperor, the emperor, it's confirmed, and the east is in the palace." ”

"Oh, but there's been a trace of the East Captives found over there in Jizhen?" And all the people were alert.

Song Xiance hurriedly handed a note to Li Zicheng and said, "It was the Yulin guard general Wang Liangzhi's note that told him about the deeds of Dongyu. ”

"How does the Yulin guard know the whereabouts of Dongyu?" Everyone was suspicious, after all, Yulin was in northern Shaanxi, and it was not next to Dongyu.

But when the content of the recital is known to everyone, everyone will understand.

It turned out that Li Zicheng occupied Xi'an and ascended the throne as emperor, and the news was soon known by the Mongolian Ordos Department, and these Manchu foreign vassals immediately passed the news to Dolgon, who at that time decided to march into the Central Plains, and immediately sent a letter to let the Mongols go to Xi'an and hand it over to Li Zicheng.

In the middle of the recital, this letter was sent by Dolgon, which read: "The Qing Emperor sent a letter to the marshals of the West according to the Ming Dynasty: I am far away from the public, the mountains and rivers are far away, but I am named after hearing the merits of victory....... Hereby, I send a letter to the people, I want to work together with the princes, and take the Central Plains, if I mix a district, the wealth and nobility will be shared.

I don't know how to hear it, but I send a messenger to tell you, and I am sincere and wishful.

In the first year of Shunzhi, the twenty-sixth day of the first month. ”

Obviously, at the beginning of this year, Dolgon had already set up a plan to attack the Central Plains, so he sent people to contact Dashun and wanted to cooperate.

It's just that when he wrote this letter, Li Zicheng had already led the army to leave Xi'an, and the Eastern Expedition was complete, and the letter arrived in Yulin, it was already March, and the Yulin guards were sent to Xi'an, and then sent to the capital, which was delayed for many days.

"It's confirmed, I'm at ease, and I'll do my best to deal with Dongyu from now on." When Li Zicheng got this letter, he was at ease.

Shanhaiguan.

"Mr. Li, Mr. ........"

Li Zhaoji had just arranged for Tang Mu to establish a contact point with Dashun in Tianjin Wei, when he heard Wu Sangui shouting outside, and as soon as he entered the door, Wu Sangui and Wu Xiang were full of excitement, and Wu Sangui even said: "Oh, Mr. is really a god."

Li Chuang has withdrawn from the army, and my scouts said that from yesterday afternoon to this morning, Li Chuang's brigade retreated to the capital, and now those who remain in the camp are all cavalry. ”

"Haha, this is not giving up, what should the cavalry do, the decisive battle in the field is okay, but the siege is useless. Could it be that Li Chuang's war horse can jump up the mountain pass? Wu Xiang also said on the side. He also said: "Zhaoji, you are really resourceful, let people take Li Chuang's envoy to Liaodong for a turn, and catch a few real prisoners, and the other party immediately retreated." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled: "The two of you are so complimentary, let me speak, come, please sit down."

Ping Xibo, Wu Lao Ye Ningyuan direction, how is the situation, is there any movement over there? ”

Wu Xiang immediately said: "Our Wu family's old contact with that side has not been broken, these people must have been coerced by Dolgon, and everything is normal in the correspondence, and those cattle in Jinzhou have not been drawn, but even so, we have found that something is wrong."

Since Jinzhou was captured by the Eastern Captives, it has always been an important garrison, and the Eight Banners were stationed in turn, and the Manchurian soldiers were the main force among them.

But recently, the scouts sent by Sangui went in and out to investigate, and found that there were fewer Manchurian soldiers, the front line was replaced by the Han army, and traces of the movement of Hongyi artillery were found. ”

"What do you two think?"

Wu Sangui said: "This is a typical old and suspicious formation, Dongyu Wuzhen Hachao arranged to Jinzhou, in fact, because the Hongyi artillery of Dongyu is heavy, around the grassland Koubian, unable to march, this army can not participate, simply arranged to Jinzhou."

And this arrangement is also deliberately shown to us, that is, we want to think that the heavy artillery is here to hit Ningyuan. If we hadn't sent someone to raid Liaodong and learned the inside story, maybe we would have really been deceived by them. ”

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