Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 203 Urgent Report
In Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Bo Luo sat at the top of the government office, with Tulai and Baiyintu, the two Yellow Banner Generals, on his left, and Eshehei, a scholar from the Secretariat, on his right. These four were the core figures of the Qing army's attack on Fujian.

Everyone in the hall looked at the battle report in their hands, and everyone's face was solemn. Bo Luo held the battle report in his hand, his face was livid, and finally he could no longer bear it and shouted angrily
"Useless, these two idiots, they just told me that the army was unstoppable and infallible, but in just a few days, the whole army was wiped out. Tong Yangjia and Li Chengdong both deserve to die!"

Bolo roared angrily and slammed the battle report on the table with a loud bang.

On November 15, Zheng Zhilong arrived in Fuzhou to surrender. At that time, most of Fujian Province had been occupied by the Qing Dynasty, and only Zheng Zhilong's troops still controlled Anping and other places at the junction of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. Once Zheng Zhilong surrendered, the entire Fujian Province had been recovered by the Qing Dynasty.
Tong Yangjia, the governor of Guangdong Province, and the general of Guangdong Province also reported victory after victory. Within ten days of entering Guangdong, they had already reported victory after victory, claiming that they had occupied Chaozhou and Huizhou and were planning to attack Guangzhou.
The situation was very good at that time. The mission given to Bolo by the Qing court was to conquer Fujian and Guangdong. Zhejiang Province had been conquered. After Zheng Zhilong surrendered, Fujian Province was also recovered.

So after Bolo detained Zheng Zhilong, he ordered the Governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, Zhang Cunren, to take Zheng Zhilong's letter to persuade Zheng's generals to surrender.
On November 18, Bolo himself led his 6,000 Jurchen soldiers, escorted Zheng Zhilong and the captured Longwu cabinet minister Huang Mingjun and others to the north.
If they moved out of Fujian at this time, they could take Zheng Zhilong away from Fujian Province, which would make the Zheng family afraid to take risks.

Secondly, there were many bandits around Nanjing at this time. Returning to Nanjing at this time could not only deter the bandits in the south of the Yangtze River, but also help the army return to the capital before the summer arrives to avoid the summer heat in the south.

The Jurchen soldiers in the Qing army had lived outside the Great Wall for generations. They could tolerate cold but not heat, but the weather in the south was extremely hot.
After entering the Pass, the Qing court often launched an offensive during the cool autumn weather, and then returned to the capital to escape the heat before the summer heat arrived. Of course, this was limited to the Jurchen soldiers in the Qing army, and the surrendered Han people did not receive such treatment.
Bolo and his men set out from Fuzhou, passing through Xianxialing and Jinhua, and arrived in Hangzhou. They were about to return to Nanjing, but suddenly received an urgent report from the rear saying that Tong Yangjia and Li Chengdong had fought a fierce battle with the Ming army under the city of Guangzhou, but were defeated by the Ming army, and tens of thousands of troops were wiped out in one day.

Bolo was the commander of this southern expedition. He glanced at the silent crowd below and finally spoke first.

"According to Li Shilian, all the soldiers under Tong Yangjia and others were annihilated. Tong and Li are also unknown whether they are alive or dead. They are either killed in battle or captured by the Ming court. What do you think we should do now?"

Tulai on the left frowned and said nothing, while Baiyintu flipped through the battle report in his hand with a gleam in his eyes. The secretary on the right, Eshehei, saw that the two were silent, so he also spoke directly.

"The army that entered Guangdong was defeated. The Ming army pursued Li Shilian and approached Chaozhou. Beyond Chaozhou is Fujian Province. We should immediately lead the army back and take charge of Fujian Province. Only in this way can we make up for this defeat."

Bolo above frowned slightly when he heard this, but before he could say anything, Baiyintu below spoke.

"What you said is not right. We received the imperial edict and conquered Zhejiang and Fujian. Beile led us south and fought dozens of battles along the way. We even destroyed the Longwu Dynasty of the pseudo-Ming Dynasty. Only then did we finally achieve great success."

"Now that Zhejiang and Fujian have all submitted to the imperial court, we have already achieved our goal, so how could we be defeated?"

"Our duty is to recover Zhejiang and Fujian. Tong Yangjia and Li Chengdong are the governors and generals of Guangdong Province. Their defeat is their own business and has nothing to do with us."

Bolo nodded slightly upon hearing this, looked at the Baiyin diagram below, and said

"General Baiyintu is right. When Tong Yangjia and his men attacked Guangzhou, we had already left Fujian. How they conquered Guangdong was all planned by themselves and had nothing to do with us."

"General Baiyintu, how do you think we should respond at this time?"

Baiyintu understood what Bolo said, and then he said

"In my opinion, we should continue to return to Nanjing now!"

When Eshei heard this, he was shocked. The defeat in Guangdong would definitely shock Fujian. Now the main force of the Qing army in Fujian was only Zhang Cunren in Fuzhou. It was too late for them to return to Fujian, so how could they continue to return to Nanjing? This was simply absurd.
E Se Hei was about to speak, but Bai Yintu did not wait for him to speak and continued

"Now that we have set out, we must not turn back. If Beile returns to Fujian Province at this time, he will be asking for trouble."

"We left Fujian on November 18th. Everyone in Fujian knows this, and it can be used to prove our innocence."

"I think we should pretend to be ignorant at this time and lead the army back to Nanjing first to make a clear handover with Hong Chengchou and first make clear the division between us and Fujian Province."

"After we arrive in Nanjing, if the imperial court orders us to return to Fujian Province to defend it, it won't be too late for us to return to Fujian."

Bolo's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately understood what Baiyintu meant. Since they had already left Fujian Province before Tong Yangjia and others were defeated, they only needed to pretend they didn't know and return to Nanjing, and this matter would have nothing to do with them.
Bolo is the General of Pingnan. If he were still in Fujian Province, he would theoretically be in charge of the war in the south.
If they return to Fujian Province at this time, Bolo will be linked to the defeat of Guangdong Province. If someone wants to make a fuss about this matter in the future, it will be difficult for them to explain it clearly.

Baiyintu's intention was very clear, that is, to return to Nanjing first, sort out the defeat of Guangdong Province, separate everyone from this matter, and then lead the troops back to Fujian Province cleanly.

Baiyintu glanced at Eshei, who looked dissatisfied and wanted to argue, and said

"Master, I am not saying this just for myself. We are all in the same boat now."

"You are also aware of the current situation in the court. Although the Regent is wholeheartedly trying to assist His Majesty in governing the court, Prince Zheng and others are unwilling to understand the Regent's painstaking efforts and are eyeing the Regent covetously. After the Regent took charge of the six ministries last year, Prince Zheng was submissive on the surface, but he was unhappy in private."

"Our expedition to Fujian was decided by the Regent himself. After entering the Pass, our dynasty was invincible. Wherever we went, the Ming court surrendered. Now we have suffered a great defeat in Guangdong Province, which has greatly damaged our military prestige. Someone must be held responsible for this."

"If we return to Fujian Province at this time and are involved in the defeat of Guangdong Province, have you ever thought about the consequences?" Upon hearing this, Eshei's face suddenly changed. He was a civil official who had only focused on the war before. After being reminded by Baiyintu, Eshei immediately realized the seriousness of the matter.

One year before the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass, Huang Taiji died suddenly. Both Hauge and Dorgon coveted the throne. The two sides argued endlessly, and in the end, the young Emperor Shunzhi ascended the throne.

Hauge was badly defeated in this fight, but Dorgon had won over Prince Zheng Jirgalang in advance, and the two sides jointly controlled the Qing court.

Originally, Dorgon and Jirgalang were both uncles who served as regents, and Jirgalang's position was even higher than Dorgon's. But when Dorgon led his army to defeat Li Zicheng and led the Qing court into the capital, the situation in the court suddenly changed.

Dorgon and Jirgalang were both regents at first, but after the Qing court entered the Pass, Dorgon immediately became the regent, while Jirgalang became the regent. It was even stipulated that all affairs of the ministries had to be reported to Dorgon first, and then to Jirgalang.
Dorgon's men, including Duoduo, won victory after victory and helped the Qing Dynasty to conquer most of the Central Plains. Thanks to the great achievements of his men, Dorgon's power in the court became increasingly prominent.
Now, almost all the affairs of the court were controlled by Dorgon. Jirgalang only had the title of regent uncle, but his power was taken away. How could he not have complaints?
However, even if Jirgalang was dissatisfied, he dared not express it. Dodo, Ajige, Lekedehun, and Bolo, who had made great contributions to the Qing court in its wars, were almost all Dorgon and Dodo's men.

Even though Jirgalang was of a higher generation, he had no achievements. How could he compete with Dorgon?

Although Jirgalang was submissive on the surface, everyone in the court knew that the two sides had long been at loggerheads. In fact, Dorgon had long wanted to remove Jirgalang from his position as the regent uncle and make himself the only regent.

However, Jirgalang was extremely cautious and obedient on the surface. Dorgon could not find any evidence against him. Therefore, although Jirgalang had no real power until now, he was still the regent of the Qing court.

But this time it was different. The Qing Dynasty had been sweeping across the north and south, but now it suddenly suffered heavy losses in Guangdong Province. If they were involved in this great defeat, there was no doubt that Prince Zheng and others would not miss this opportunity.

As long as they could defeat Bolo and his people, they would be able to deal a heavy blow to Dorgon's prestige. How could Jirgalang and his people give up such an opportunity?

Although Dorgon is now in power, on the other hand, it also means that Dorgon is now an enemy of the whole court.
Dorgon has all the power in his hands. How could he not be hated? Jirgalang, Hauge, Daishan, and others are just waiting for Dorgon and others to make mistakes.
Once they find an opportunity to take advantage of this, they will attack in unison. I'm afraid even Dorgon will not be able to protect them. The best outcome for them will probably be that they will be stripped of their titles, their military power will be taken away, and they will become commoners.

This has nothing to do with how much responsibility they bear for this defeat. As long as they have anything to do with this incident, they will definitely be convicted and imprisoned.

When Eshei thought of this, his expression darkened and he no longer mentioned returning to Fujian Province immediately.
In the Qing court, the Manchus certainly had many privileges compared to the Han people. Even if the Manchus beat or scolded their Han superiors, in the end, most of the time, the incident would be resolved.
But this is only limited to the struggle between the Manchus and the Han people. The struggle between the Manchus is often more bloody, cruel and direct than that between the Han people.
Although Eshehei was loyal to the Qing court, he was not willing to die for the sake of the Qing court's interests.

Boro looked at the silent E-Se-Hei below him, then looked at the gray-haired Turai below him, and said

"What does General Tulai think?"

Tulai was about to speak when he heard this, but before he could open his mouth, he suddenly started coughing. The more he coughed, the more violently his cough became. The handkerchief in his hand was stained with blood, and his face turned pale.

Boro looked at the veteran below, a trace of worry flashed in his eyes, and said
"How is Lord Xiong Yong's health? There are doctors in this palace. These Chinese doctors are very skilled. Why not ask them to come and treat Lord Xiong Yong?"

"I had it checked out when I was in the capital. It's just an old problem, nothing serious."

Tulai's coughing gradually subsided. He waved his hand and said directly:

"Although what General Baiyintu said makes sense, according to what Li Shilian said, the Ming army has already set out to approach Chaozhou. If we don't return to Fujian Province now, how will we explain to the court once the Ming army invades Fujian Province?"

Baiyintu's face darkened when he heard this. If they wanted to pretend they didn't know and continue to return to Nanjing, then the four people present must be of one mind. As long as one person disagrees, then this matter cannot be carried out. But now it seems that Tulai has other ideas.
Eshehei and the others had already discovered the danger of returning to Fujian Province at this time, and did not want to bring trouble upon themselves. Bolo and Baiyintu below looked at each other and spoke in a deep voice.
"Does Lord Xiong Yong think that we should return to Fujian Province immediately?"

Tulai glanced at the people in the field, but did not answer. Instead, he talked about another matter.

"Beile, do you remember that we only captured Zheng Zhilong? The hundreds of thousands of people in the Zheng family have not formally surrendered yet. Beile, have you thought about the consequences of this matter?"

When Bo Luo heard this, his expression changed immediately and he looked serious.
They only took 6,000 Jurchen soldiers with them when they left Fujian. The remaining 20,000 Han soldiers were all left to Zhang Cunren, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, to suppress the rebellion in Fujian.
Although the Zheng family claimed to have tens of thousands of people, the Ming army was weak in combat. At this time, Zheng Zhilong was captured by them. The Zheng family was leaderless. Twenty thousand people were enough to intimidate the Zheng family and make them surrender.

But at this time, Tong Yangjia and his men were defeated in Guangdong Province, and the situation immediately changed.
The Ming army won a great victory over the Qing court in Guangdong Province and approached Chaozhou Prefecture. Once the Ming army marched into Fujian and contacted Zheng's army in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, Zheng's army would most likely surrender to the Ming court.
With the Gui Regent of Guangdong Province in command, the Ming army would instantly have more than 100,000 troops in Fujian Province. If they were not careful, they might lose the Fujian Province they had just taken.

Tulai looked at Bolo above him with a serious expression, shook his head slightly, and said

"If Zheng surrenders to the Ming court, Fujian will be lost"

Bolo listened to what Tulai said, and his expression became more and more gloomy.

It would be fine if Tong Yangjia and others were defeated in Guangdong Province, as Guangdong Province had nothing to do with Bolo. But if Fujian Province was lost, even if he was not to blame, he would still be in trouble.
(End of this chapter)