Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 98 The Southern Dynasty's wealth is too great.

Angbang Zhangjing is not a single person.

It was an official position.

The military and political minister in charge of guarding Shengjing and the three Jianzhou guards.

Its predecessor was the General Commander established by Nurhaci.

During the Qianlong era, it was renamed and became the well-known Shengjing General.

There are currently thirteen Angbang Zhangjing (a type of military officer) remaining in Shengjing and Jianzhou, and they are also subordinate to the Military Affairs Department.

It is somewhat similar to the Five Military Commissions of the Ming Dynasty.

On the surface, they could command the Eight Banners armies, including the Jurchen, Mongol, and Han, but in reality, their power was terrifyingly low.

They don't even look at who the leaders are; they're either from Nurhaci's lineage or Huang Taiji's lineage.

What right do they have to demand military power?

Therefore, the largest number of soldiers under the command of Angbang Zhangjing was only one Jiala.

Especially on the section of the road from Lushun to Shengjing, there were only three Zhangjing, making a total of fourteen Niru.

After learning that Zheng Chenggong had landed in Lushun, the Angbang Zhangjing could only send out messenger hawks and report to Shengjing.

……

Outside Luoyang City.

Dorgon held the letter in disbelief, staring at the handwriting, unable to recover for a long time.

He truly hadn't expected that the Ming army would still have a navy capable of attacking Shengjing from the coast.

Did the Ming army not fear at all that their emperor would die in battle?

Are his and Dodo's 100,000-strong army really that ineffective?

Dorgon desperately wanted to see the problem with the letter so that he could accept that it was a deception by the Ming army.

After examining it for a long time, I found no flaws in the letterhead, the writing, or the letter paper.

This means that the Ming army did indeed land at Lushun and march straight towards Shengjing.

Currently, only Hauge's Plain Blue Banner remains outside the pass, and its elite troops have all been dismantled by him.

If what the secret letter says is true, and the Ming army has tens of thousands of soldiers, then Shengjing is in grave danger!
Even if Dorgon doesn't return to help, if he's slow to return and Shengjing falls, he shouldn't even think about seeing the throne.

Even amidst the overwhelming public outcry, the best outcome for Dorgon's faction was demotion to commoners.

After a long silence, Dorgon finally spoke for the first time.

"Mr. Fan, could you tell me how many days it will take to capture Luoyang? And how many more days will our supplies last?"

The voice was so hoarse that it took Fan Wencheng a long time to understand it.

The latter's Adam's apple bobbed, but his gaze went past Dorgon's shoulder to look outside the tent. "Your Highness, please look. My army has been attacking for several days and has suffered thousands of casualties, but Luoyang City has not moved an inch. If we want to take the city, it will probably take another month."

"And the army's provisions will probably only last for fifteen days."

After speaking, Fan Wencheng looked at Dorgon with a puzzled expression, "Does Your Highness intend to withdraw the troops?"

As intelligent as he was, how could he not see Dorgon's unusual behavior?

Dorgon didn't say anything, but simply tossed the deerskin tube into Fan Wencheng's arms.

When the latter saw the three wolf head patterns on the sealing wax, Fan Wencheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

"The Ming navy has captured Lushun!" Dorgon looked down at the table and reached out to gather the map and command token.

Fan Wencheng picked up the secret report and scanned it, reacting much like Dorgon.

Shock mingled with disbelief.

After the Yongle Emperor, no one in the Ming Dynasty was allowed to go to sea. The only one with a large fleet was Zheng Zhilong in Fujian.

But aren't they pirates? Why would they so obediently send a large army deep behind enemy lines?
Despite his doubts, Fan Wencheng didn't abandon his professionalism and quickly asked, "When will the city fall? Have the garrison burned down the docks?"

Dorgon shook his head, and Fan Wencheng turned to grab the command flag. "If the Lushun dockyard still exists, the Ming warships can sail up the Taizi River! If they join forces with the Ming army in the north, the retreat of 300,000 troops will be cut off!"

"At this moment, we must immediately send Prince Yu back with his troops to provide reinforcements. There should be private merchant ships in Shandong; we should requisition them immediately!"

Dorgon shook his head again, "It's too late for Dodo to go back. Shandong is thousands of miles away from Shengjing. Even if there are ships, there are no boatmen to operate them. If we turn back by land now, it will take at least fifteen days. I'm afraid Dodo's supplies will be running low. Once he is surrounded by the Ming army, all will be lost."

"What does Your Highness mean?" Upon hearing this, Fan Wencheng knew that Dorgon had a plan in mind, so he remained silent.

Dorgon didn't say much, but simply got up and lifted the tent flap to show Fan Wencheng.

The latter looked up and saw Eight Banner soldiers escorting hundreds of Han craftsmen toward the rear of the camp.

These days, the cannon-casting craftsmen that Dorgon had specially ordered each banner to collect are all huddled in the autumn wind.

"In fact, I had already prepared for the possibility that I would not be able to conquer the Ming Dynasty in this battle when I was in Kaifeng."

"Since we can't swallow it all, let's try to get as much benefit as possible."

"No matter how useless Hauge is, he is still a member of my Eight Banners. With the Plain Blue Banner under his command, the Ming army cannot break through Shengjing."

"It's nothing more than us, charging into enemy territory and seeing whose people have the higher morale."

"It seems we've lost now."

Fan Wencheng was taken aback at first, and then looked at Dorgon in surprise.

The latter completely ignored him and shouted loudly towards the outside of the tent.

"Send the order to all departments."

"The meal was prepared at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), the camp was broken up at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), the craftsmen and gunpowder were loaded onto carts and left first, and all males over the age of fifteen were taken away."

"Sony led five thousand men as the vanguard, bypassing cities and pacifying villages. All males over fifteen years old along the way were recruited, and blacksmiths and carpenters were given rations."

After saying that, he turned around and went back into the tent, where he came to the map hanging beside the tent.

He muttered to himself, "The Southern Dynasty is like a broken pot; you can still use it by smashing the edges, but if you lift the lid..."

"The hot soup inside spilled out was scalding hot."

"The late emperor retrieved chestnuts from the fire, then ladled out a bowl of hot soup and let it cool down a bit."

"I think this soup has been stirred by Li Zicheng for a long time and has cooled down. It's time to enjoy it."

"But unexpectedly, there was someone burning firewood under the pot, and the person burning the firewood was none other than the emperor of the Southern Dynasty!"

“But…” Fan Wencheng was about to speak when Dorgon interrupted him.

His fingertips traced the sheepskin map, and he tapped the three small vermilion characters "Shanhaiguan" heavily. "Mr. Fan, do you know why the late emperor during the Chongde era preferred to detour through Xifengkou rather than launch a direct attack on this pass?"

"Is the fortress strategically located and heavily guarded?"

“Wrong!” Dorgon shook his head.

"Shanhaiguan is a buffer zone between the area outside and inside the pass, and it is the big mouth of this pot. As long as Shanhaiguan is guarded by the Southern Dynasty, the Southern Dynasty will continue to burn this broken pot."

“Once Shanhaiguan is lost, this pot can no longer be used to cook soup, and the Southern Dynasty will use the money spent on jewelry and clothing to repair the pot.”

"The Southern Dynasty has too much wealth. Once they realize what's happening and patch things up before the pot leaks, we'll never get a taste of the soup again!"

"So this time..."

The neighing of warhorses came from outside the tent. Tan Tai, reeking of blood, burst in, his iron gauntlets still stained with dust from the walls of Luoyang. "Your Highness! Did you receive the messenger from Shengjing? That old dog Hauge..."

"Shut up!" Dorgon suddenly grabbed the paperweight from the table and threw it at Tan Tai. Tan Tai turned his head to dodge, and the white jade unicorn shattered on the felt carpet.

He said dismissively, "Shanhaiguan is still in the hands of the Bordered Blue Banner. Let's hurry back to the border!"

A cold glint flashed in Fan Wencheng's eyes, and he asked in a serious tone, "How did the Prince know?!"

Tan Tai didn't take it seriously. "How many messenger hawks have been sent from Shengjing? Not only me, but even my men know that a Ming army has landed at Lushun and is almost at Shengjing."

Dorgon covered his face with his hand in silence.

Now they have no choice but to leave, even if they don't want to.

"Your Highness, although Lushun has been lost, as long as Shanhaiguan is still standing, we can still move faster." Tan Tai was interrupted by Dorgon before he could finish speaking.

"I already know. Go and take good care of your men. The messenger has just given the order to withdraw. Do everything according to my orders!" "Go back and tell your men that Shengjing is guarded by Hauge and the Plain Blue Banner. There will be no trouble!"

Tan Tai was scolded by Dorgon and slunk out of the central command tent.

Dorgon lost interest in continuing to play games with Fan Wencheng and spoke directly.

"Now that Shanhaiguan is occupied by the Eight Banners, and the Southern Dynasty emperor is fighting desperately with Daishan in Xuanfu and Datong, the Ming army in the north is focused on these two. In addition, the Ming army has landed in Lushun. The Southern Dynasty emperor must think that we will rush back to the pass. So let's do as he wishes."

"Sony has a grand strategy. With five thousand elite soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians, he has built up a strong reputation and, together with Dodo, rode swiftly back from Shanhaiguan to the outside of the pass. Jirhalang did the same. After returning, Sony immediately abandoned the pass and returned to defend it. Then, he detoured through Xifengkou and re-entered the pass, with Dodo as the commander to act according to the situation!"

"The rest of you will follow me back to Beizhili via the same route and go after the Southern Dynasty emperor!"

"Since I can't lift the pot, then I'll drink a few bowls of his hot soup!"

Fan Wencheng nodded repeatedly after listening.

Dorgon's plan was flawless, but it still had the same problem: it was too risky.

The plan's success depended on the fact that Shanhaiguan was still standing and that Daishan was still confronting Zhu Youjian.

Given the Ming army's combat strength, there shouldn't be any problem, right?

For some reason, he suddenly felt a pang of panic.

Five watch.

Bonfires were lit in a row of camps thirty miles outside Luoyang.

The Eight Banners soldiers planted arrows coated with kerosene into the ground, and the Han craftsmen were chained together in a long line. Among them, an old coppersmith with white hair and beard suddenly shouted, "Even the King of Hell can't take me! I'm going to earn a thousand-household rank for my grandson! Let's fight the Tartars..." Before he finished speaking, the Eight Banners' swords had already split open the old man's head.

Fan Wencheng was still worried and was riding back and forth in the camp when he happened to see Tan Tai whipping the Han Chinese supervisor with his horsewhip. "Damn it! What I want are living people who can build siege ladders, not female slaves!"

"You Southern Dynasty people have abacus beads running through your bones, yet you dare to use female slaves to impersonate craftsmen!"

"Guards! Execute him for me!"

Fan Wencheng interrupted, "Wait!"

Tan Tai turned around, his eyes filled with hostility. "Does Mr. Fan intend to stand up for the Southerners?!"

Fan Wencheng shook his head helplessly, "What does it matter to me whether the Southerners live or die? I have long been a bondservant of the Plain Yellow Banner."

"I only wish to remind Your Highness that Prince Rui's request for this withdrawal is to take as many Southerners as possible, and not to kill them without cause. I hope Your Highness will not ruin Prince Rui's grand plan."

After saying that, Fan Wencheng spurred his horse and rode away. Although he was a Han Chinese, he was still the chief Han Chinese and did not need to give face to anyone except for powerful princes like Dorgon.

Tan Tai watched Fan Wencheng's retreating figure, his teeth itching with anger. When did their Manchu warriors ever need to be subservient to the Han people?

Turning around, seeing that his personal guards hadn't made a move yet, he immediately lashed out with his whip and cursed loudly.

"I told you to kill him, didn't you hear me?!"

The guard was taken aback, then stammered, "But Mr. Fan..."

"Whose soldiers are you?! I am your Gushan Ezhen! This Beizi grants you permission to execute me!!"

The guard responded twice and drew his sword.

Seeing that there was no way out, the supervising officer actually looked up to the sky and roared.

"You bunch of bastards, you'll get what's coming to you!"

"Our Emperor said he would stand up for us! If you kill me, you will pay with ten lives!"

With a soft thud, half of the supervisor's neck was severed, and blood gushed out.

Tan Tai thought he would intimidate everyone, but unexpectedly, he aroused the fighting spirit of the Han people instead.

"That's right, we still have His Majesty!"

"His Majesty will stand up for us!"

"Kill the Tartars! Kill the Tartars!"

One after another, the Han Chinese, inspired by the blood of the supervising officer, charged towards the Eight Banner soldiers around them with howls.

But how could a Han Chinese who was unarmed and bound be a match for the Eight Banners soldiers?

All that was gained in return were corpses.

Even so, the Han people's fighting spirit was not extinguished.

Of the more than 30,000 Han Chinese who had been captured from nearby prefectures and counties, 5,000 were killed before the situation was barely calmed down.

As the morning mist enveloped the area, the vanguard battalion had already set foot on the Taihang Pass.

Sony's light cavalry swept across the wheat field like a pack of hungry wolves, trampling the newly sown wheat seedlings even more firmly.

But before the wheat seedlings have fully grown, the more they are trampled, the more vigorously they grow.

Dorgon looked back at the tattered "Ming" banner on the city wall of Luoyang from his horse, and suddenly smiled at Fan Wencheng, "Mr. Fan, after this parting, I don't know when I will be able to come to this ancient capital again."

"Your Highness, please rest assured, it will be soon," Fan Wencheng said with a smile.

Dorgon laughed and asked, "What do you think the Southern Dynasty emperor is doing now?"

"Eighty percent of them were counting the number of soldiers under Prince Li's command on the city walls of Xuanfu."

"Haha, yes, it's already quite impressive that the Southern Emperor can hold off Dai Shan's 200,000-strong army."

"If we can't conquer the Southern Dynasty, then let's conquer the Southern Emperor!"

Dorgon pointed his whip northeast, "Jirgalang has left 30,000 fresh troops at Shanhaiguan. Add Dodo and Sony, and that makes another 100,000 troops!"

"Let's have 30,000 troops flank around from the rear, and Daishan will have 200,000 troops pressing forward. I'll put on a show for him that's the best it's been in three hundred years!"

"The army sets off, heading north!"

……

Just as Dorgon thought, Zhu Youjian did indeed have the number of soldiers in the Shudaishan army.

However, there are some differences.

He was counting how many prisoners he had taken.

The Jurchens were truly formidable back then; even after such a rout, they hadn't captured many prisoners.

However, the sheer number of cavalry from the various Mongol tribes astonished Zhu Youjian.

From Obama down, there are as many as fifty leaders of the Taiji class alone!

In addition, there were nearly 40,000 cavalry and 90,000 warhorses.

It's no exaggeration to say that even if the war ended here, Zhu Youjian would have accumulated enough resources.

But the war did not end; on the contrary, the gains continued to expand.

Zhu Youjian estimated that he could still devour at least tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers!

From yesterday to today, we pursued them all night and captured more than 2,000 defeated soldiers from Daishan's army.

Wang Erhu reported that Jirhalang's army had inexplicably moved to support Daishan.

He was leading the Jizhou army in pursuit.

The surprises didn't stop there. Zhang Shize's troops, whom they hadn't been able to contact for a long time, were leading three thousand battalions back and had already reached the Tumed tribe.

He successfully persuaded the Chahar tribe and led the entire Chahar people to Zhangjiakou.

According to Obama, Daishan had previously sent nearly 50,000 cavalry to intercept Zhang Shize.

The Mongol cavalry's fighting strength was undeniable; Zhang Shize didn't even need to make any special preparations. He could simply charge in once they encountered them.

These 50,000 cavalrymen then became Zhu Youjian's possession.

Adding Zhang Shize's nearly 40,000 cavalrymen and the 40,000 captured cavalrymen, the total number of cavalrymen is a full 110,000!
Just spend some money to upgrade, and draw some new affixes...

The Ming Dynasty's cavalry combat power would immediately surpass that of the Yongle period!

Let alone the Jurchens besieging the pass, he dares to launch a counterattack beyond the pass!

(End of this chapter)