Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 517 Meeting the Emperor of the Upper Country
If we follow the routine in the Three Kingdoms, whether it is Li Chengdong and the Junggar tribes, or Hu Maozhen and the Ming army navy, they should all hide themselves deeply, and wait until the critical moment in Henan to expose their whereabouts to the Qing court in the most shocking way.

As a result, the Qing army that was fighting fiercely in the front would inevitably be shaken and morale would be low, so it was not surprising that an ambush-like effect would occur.

However, in this plan, Zhu Cilang revealed every intention of his to Dorgon without any concealment, as if both sides were just seeking victory or defeat, but it was not a life-and-death battle concerning the fate of hundreds of millions of people.

To be honest, many people did hold objections to this at first, and even those close to the party like Fang Guoan and Hou Chengzu had hinted at it.

However, at that time, Zhu Cilang was not sure whether the Qing army would act as he expected, so the explanation was not so thorough, until the Ming army broke through Xuzhou and the Qing army followed.

"Have you figured it out?"

Zhu Cilang looked around at all the generals in the court tent and asked with a smile. Then everyone showed different expressions on their faces. He then leisurely picked up the letter on the table.

Yesterday, the vanguard of the Qing army arrived twenty miles west of Xuzhou, and this morning someone delivered Dorgon's handwritten letter to the city.

In this letter, Dorgon first recalled the oppression of the Jianzhou Jurchens by the Ming army outside the Great Wall, and then emphasized that their original intention of entering the Great Wall was to avenge Chongzhen.

When the content was halfway through, Dorgon even said that the reason why the Qing Dynasty went south was to rescue him from Hongguang, but some mistakes occurred in the specific implementation process, which led to the two sides fighting.

Of course, Dorgon was not so naive as to think that he could make Zhu Cilang withdraw his troops with just a few specious explanations, so in the end he added, "The hatred between the two families is deep and there is no need to say too much, but the right and wrong must be judged, so I specially invite Your Majesty to meet outside the city."

It has to be said that all the above were clichés and really meant nothing, but this last request made Zhu Cilang, who had never had the slightest contempt for Dorgon, raise his opinion of him.

"Your Majesty! I have figured it out!"

Just when Zhu Cilang was feeling quite emotional, Fang Guoan stepped forward first. When Zhu Cilang looked over, the general said loudly, "The reason why you let the two armies in the north reveal their whereabouts in advance is to force the Tartars to come to Xuzhou for a decisive battle."

"Well, tell me more about it."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Fang Guoan was somewhat proud of Zhu Cilang's approval. He glanced at the other generals and continued, "We deployed our defenses along the Huai River before. The Tartars would definitely think that if the situation was not right, they would withdraw to the outside of the Great Wall. So you cut off their retreat route and let the army move forward. In this way, even if they wanted to sacrifice the lives of the elderly and the weak, they might not be able to escape the pursuit of the army. So they could only take advantage of the opportunity before the troops were defeated to come to Xuzhou for a fight."

After the words fell, Zhu Cilang nodded, but when he saw that the other generals in the tent did not want to add anything except to agree with him, he could not help feeling a little disappointed.

Fang Guoan's words are certainly correct.

The further upstream the Yellow River goes, the more difficult it is to navigate. Therefore, although both cities are close to the Yellow River, the power that the Ming army navy can exert in Xuzhou is several times that of Kaifeng.

With this foundation, Dorgon regarded Kaifeng area as the preset battlefield, and Zhu Cilang, with his excellent logistical supply capabilities and two unexpected troops, forced him to abandon the geographical advantage and come to Xuzhou to seek a decisive battle.

But then again, this was only a tactical consideration, not the whole plan. So when he found out from Dorgon's letter that the other party had understood his intentions, he could not help but compare him with his generals, and it was understandable that he felt a little disappointed.

This is also inevitable.

After all, vision and the height at which one looks at things are things that are acquired through experience. Among all the generals of the Ming army at this time, except Huang Fei who had the experience of being on his own for a short period of time, the others either served under a general or were simply generals of some garrison troops.

It would indeed be difficult for them to develop a broad vision in just one or two years.

"Minister Fang is right, but I still need you to think from Dorgon's perspective," Zhu Cilang said as he stood up from his chair. He then took a few steps forward before continuing, "First, can we win this battle? Second, what will be the consequences if we lose? Third, what is the best option?"

Can we win?
Of course we can’t win.

If there was really a possibility of winning, the Tartars would have moved south long ago. How could they be stuck in Kaifeng?
As for what will happen if you are defeated.
Isn't this obvious?
The retreat has been cut off, what other outcome could there be except genocide?
There are only a few hundred thousand people at most. Just kill them. Do the Tartars have any other extravagant hopes?

This is the best choice
As soon as the words fell, the minds of the generals began to change. At this time, Zhu Cilang had already walked out of the tent. Then everyone hurriedly followed him, but it was not known how many of them had figured out the situation.

After about three or two incense sticks of time, the group arrived at a wooden platform outside the city.

After Zhu Cilang sat in the middle, everyone lined up on both sides according to their official titles. Then the armored soldiers guarding the side shouted loudly: "Send it! Aixinjueluo Dorgon is here to see the emperor~~~~!"

As the loud voice was heard, all the generals present immediately looked towards the other end of the passage formed by armored soldiers. They were located under a wooden platform, and their sight was blocked by layers of armored soldiers. However, Zhu Cilang, who was sitting on the platform, could see through the numerous obstacles and see several figures in armor of various colors standing still.

In his field of vision, those people were neither whispering to each other nor making any other movements, as if they were only there to show up in front of the Ming army.

Seeing this situation, Zhu Cilang couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

After all, even though the other party agreed to such harsh conditions, it was still unclear where things would develop.
After thinking about it for several times, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but feel a little worried.

It is unknown how long the war in Europe will last. If Ming cannot recover its strength before several countries are freed up, the first-mover advantage that was hard-won will inevitably be wasted.

Then
As his thoughts turned, Zhu Cilang's brows became more and more furrowed. At this moment, a figure wearing white cloth armor finally walked into the passage. When he reached the wooden platform, the figure punched Zhu Cilang.

"Dorgon, the Prince of the Qing Dynasty, greets the Emperor of the Upper Kingdom."

(End of this chapter)