I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

Li Zicheng ignored him and instead looked at Liu Liangchen.

"I'm open to discussing cooperation, but I have one condition!"

Liu Liangchen's face lit up with joy, and he quickly said, "Your Majesty, please speak!"

Li Zicheng said, "Go and persuade Liu Liangzuo. I don't care what methods you use, the goal is the same: his troops cannot leave Tongguan!"

"this……"

Liu Liangchen frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "I can try to persuade them..."

Li Zicheng interrupted, "It's not a trial, it's a must-do, otherwise there's nothing to discuss!"

"Alright!"

Liu Liangchen nodded emphatically and said, "I will personally go and persuade them. No matter what, this army will not leave Tongguan!"

"Um!"

Li Zicheng smiled with satisfaction and then said, "Go back and tell Dorgon that cooperation requires sincerity. After we take Beijing, the Ming Dynasty will be divided in two, with the Shun and Qing Dynasties standing side by side, with the Juyong Pass to Tong Pass as the boundary. The west will belong to the Shun Dynasty, and the east will belong to the Qing Dynasty."

Liu Liangchen said, "Our Great Qing army is strong and well-equipped. Even without the assistance of the Shun army, taking Beijing would not be difficult. I advise Your Majesty to consider whether becoming the Northwest King of the Great Qing is a good idea."

"There's no room for negotiation on this matter. Go back and tell Dorgon that if he's willing to cooperate, he should agree to my conditions. Otherwise, my Shun army will withdraw to Xijing now, and you'll have to face the main force of the Ming Dynasty alone!"

Li Zicheng was well aware of the enemy's intentions. If he hadn't been there to hold them back at Juyong Pass, the Ming army could have retreated to Gubeikou to defend it. No matter how many troops the Jurchens had, they would never have been able to capture Beijing.

This is a golden opportunity, and Dorgon is not going to let it slip away easily!

Liu Liangchen must have a bottom line when he came to discuss cooperation, and that bottom line is the bargaining chip in the negotiation.

As expected, seeing Li Zicheng's attitude, Liu Liangchen stopped insisting and said, "This humble subject will immediately relay His Majesty's conditions to His Highness the Regent and give His Majesty a reply as soon as possible..."

"No reply is needed. Tell Dorgon that if he agrees, launch the attack as soon as possible. I'll give you three days. If your troops don't appear within three days, my Great Shun army will immediately retreat to Xijing!"

"Isn't three days a bit too rushed?"

"Emperor Chongzhen is in Zhengding. If we travel day and night, we can return to the capital in a single day and night. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will be fleeting. If you don't act now, you'll miss your chance!"

"Then it's settled. This humble servant takes his leave!"

Having made up his mind, Liu Liangchen did not linger any longer and turned to leave.

Li Guo watched Liu Liangchen's retreating figure and asked, "Second Uncle, are you... really sure?"

This time, Li Zicheng did not correct the issue of addressing him, but instead smiled dismissively.

"What do you know? The Jurchens are launching an attack on the Ming Dynasty; this is our opportunity!"

Li Guo was greatly puzzled and asked, "We've fought Chongzhen all this way, only to let these Jurchens reap the benefits. Isn't that humiliating?"

"Dorgon wants to take advantage of me? It's not that simple!"

Li Zicheng chuckled lightly, "He told us to fight the Ming Dynasty to the death, then take advantage of the situation. When the Jurchens take control of the Central Plains, how could they possibly tolerate me?"

"If that's the case, why did you agree in the first place?"

"You're still young!"

Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "Now is the best opportunity for the Jurchens. Dorgon will never give it up easily, and he will agree to whatever I say. However, these Jurchens are inherently suspicious. If we don't take this opportunity to ask for more conditions, how can they be expected to believe us?"

"Second Uncle, what exactly do you mean?"

Li Guo felt increasingly confused as he listened, and kept scratching his head.

Li Zicheng said, "Let's ask for more conditions to show our sincerity in cooperating. First, we can use the Jurchens' power to stop Liu Liangzuo from entering Tongguan, preventing that bastard from getting us into trouble. Second, Dorgon wants to be the mantis stalking the cicada, but little does he know, he's the mantis himself!"

Li Guo understood somewhat and said, "Let the Jurchens and Chongzhen fight to the death, while we play the role of the oriole unaware of their prey!"

"That's exactly what I mean!"

Li Zicheng nodded in satisfaction and said, "This tactic is called 'using a plan against a plan.' You fool, you should learn from this!"

"But……"

Li Guo still didn't understand and said, "We can only launch a large-scale attack because we are fighting Chongzhen to the death. How can we get Chongzhen to abandon us and fight the Jurchens to the death?"

"It's very simple!"

Li Zicheng smiled meaningfully and said, "It's very simple. Just tell Chongzhen the news of the Jurchens' large-scale attack, and he will naturally divert troops to deal with Dorgon!"

"I see, Second Uncle, you're really something, turning Dorgon and Chongzhen into complete fools!"

Li Guo suddenly realized what was happening and burst into laughter.

"I've told you many times, don't call me 'Second Uncle' anymore!"

"Yes, yes... Your Majesty!"

Li Guo quickly corrected his form of address, then asked, "But how should we spread this word? We can't very well send a messenger to Chongzhen and say that Dorgon has amassed an army of 500,000 to attack you, and that you should hurry and take him down at Gubeikou!"

Li Zicheng waved his hand: "Do we need to send people to do this? Just let a little word out, and those 'black rats' won't be idle!"

"Black Rat" was the nickname of the Night Scouts, because these men carried out espionage under the enemy's noses, usually operating at night, like rats that couldn't be seen in the light. The Mongols and Jurchens, unable to bear their harassment, called the Night Scouts "Black Rat."

"Okay, I'll take care of it!"

Li Guo agreed and then turned to leave.

That night, he inspected at least a dozen camps, and at each one, he "accidentally" leaked the news that the Jurchens were preparing to march south.

In the darkness of night, a swift horse galloped south, arriving at Zijing Pass at dawn.

"I have important information, open the gate immediately!"

The guards on the city wall should not be negligent; they hurriedly went to the barracks and dragged Liu Dadan away.

"Who is it so early in the morning?"

Because of Liu Dadan's good attitude in surrendering, Gao Jie did not replace him after occupying Zijing Pass. Liu Dadan was still in charge, only his identity changed from the Shun army to the Ming army.

Liu Dadan didn't care. He only had a small salary each month, so what difference did it make who he worked for?

"The other party claims to be the night watchman of Juyong Pass, and has important intelligence to deliver to His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, it is Zhen Ding Prefecture. Why must we take the Zijing Pass to get to Zhen Ding Prefecture from Juyong Pass?"

"Commander Liu, that man is a scout who has been lying in wait outside Juyong Pass."

"Okay, identity verified, you can go!"

After Liu Dadan finished speaking, he turned over and went back to sleep.

The city gates opened, and a fast horse galloped past, heading straight for Zhen Ding Prefecture.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from Juyong Pass!"

Li Ruolian rushed in, holding the secret letter.

After examining it carefully, Zhu Youjian's expression suddenly turned very ugly.

After the great victory at Zhending Prefecture, a celebration banquet was held and rewards were given. It was thought that we could focus on dealing with Li Zicheng, but unexpectedly, the Jurchens arrived!

According to the timeline of his previous life, Li Zicheng had already declared himself emperor in Beijing half a month ago.

The attempt to persuade Wu Sangui to surrender failed, and the two sides fought a major battle at Shanhai Pass.

Wu Sangui was no match for Li Zicheng and was thoroughly defeated. In desperation, he surrendered to Dorgon, opened the Shanhaiguan Pass, and turned the tables on Li Zicheng, defeating him decisively.

By working backward from the timeline, we can deduce that Dorgon was already assembling troops and moving towards Shanhaiguan when Li Zicheng captured Beijing.

Huang Taiji changed the name of the Later Jin to the Great Qing, and thus had the idea of ​​conquering the Central Plains. Unfortunately, he died too young.

The world is in chaos now, which is the best time for the Jurchens to enter the Central Plains. However, history has quietly changed. Li Zicheng is still struggling outside Juyong Pass, Wu Sangui does not need to surrender, Shanhaiguan is still there, and the Jurchens cannot threaten the Central Plains for the time being.

This is also why I focused all my attention on the southern front and ignored Liaodong.

Unexpectedly, Dorgon did not go through Shanhaiguan, but chose Gubeikou instead.

This battle is getting increasingly chaotic; we need to adjust our strategy!