The windows of the room were opened, making it bright and transparent. The slightly hot sunlight came in, making the smell of herbs not strong, and the atmosphere was exceptionally serious.

There are several jars of herbal medicines on the table, which are steaming hot. Just sniffing them into the nose is very bitter.

In addition, two candles as thick as a baby's arms were burning continuously in the room, exuding a scent.

This candle is extracted from the fat of fur seals (seals). Even though there is no shortage of fur seals in Lake Baikal, they are still a rare luxury product in Fengjing City.

Even though the room was very bright, it still gave people a sense of ambiguity, and the aura of the dying person could not be concealed.

Shunzhi coughed, looked at the soup cans, and said in a deep voice: "Sir, don't talk too much, you have to take care of yourself."

"As the saying goes, seventy-three or eighty-four, if the King of Hell does not come, he will go away. I have run out of gas, so don't waste those medicinal materials..."

Hong Chengchou's face was pale, and his originally rounder cheeks had become thinner and thinner. Only his eyes were brighter, exuding a little vitality.

At seventy-one years old, he obviously already knew that his life span was short, and he was very open-minded.

It's a pity that no one knows Shunzhi's pain.

Hong Chengchou was both civil and military, and although he had the intention of surrendering to the enemy and betraying his country, it is undeniable that he had a long-term vision and superb methods of governing the country. He was a first-class talent to assist the left, both locally and in the court.

In other words, they are ministers who rule the country.

The Eight Banners only knew how to fight, Fan Wenchen, Ning Wan and I only knew how to play politics. Hong Chengchou was the only one who could do both.

Shunzhi gets a headache when he thinks about what will happen in the future.

"Your Majesty, the imperial court has been in the North Sea (Lake Baikal) for a long time. The Rakshasa people's stronghold has been destroyed. They dare not fight against them and can only trade."

Hong Chengchou took a breath and stared at the thirty-year-old Qing emperor with sharp eyes:

"In Mobei in the south, tens of thousands of Chechen Khan tribes have been devouring and encroaching. Ming people dare not mess around. Zhasak Khan tribe colludes with Rakshasa and is timid. It seems that the Qing Dynasty has reached the point where there is no threat."

"Be prepared for danger in times of peace. Although I am leaving, I still can't let go of Your Majesty——"

After such a long period of time, Hong Chengchou's face turned a little pale again, and the concubine who was waiting beside him hurriedly beat his back and took another sip of medicine before he regained his composure.

Shunzhi saw that his expression had recovered a little, and then he waved his hand: "You all, please step aside——"

"twitter--"

Both men and women, including Tang Ruowang, all left the room and were guarded by Zheng Jun outside the door.

Now, only Hong Chengchou, who was half dead on the bed, and Shunzhi, who was listening, were left.

"The number of people in Fengjing Prefecture is increasing. If the old minister's prediction is correct, in a few years, the number of people in the Qing Dynasty will exceed two million."

"Now it's 1.8 million." Shunzhi said clearly: "It's only been two months since I learned about it."

When they first came to Beihai from Liaodong, the Eight Banners, Manchu, Mongolian, and Han, totaled only 400,000 people. After conquering the entire Buryat Mongolia, they got 600,000 people.

The Chechen Khan tribe, plus some Mobei people, easily obtained 300,000 people.

In other words, after sufficient food and material supplies were obtained, whether it was the Mongols or the Eight Banners, Dingkou continued to breed, increasing by 500,000 to 600,000 in more than ten years.

And all this was due to Hong Chengchou's large-scale farming. Animal husbandry and agriculture supported each other, which caused the population of the Qing Dynasty to continue to grow.

"One million and eight hundred thousand." Hong Chengchou murmured, and then said: "Does your Majesty personally lead a million people?"

Shunzhi choked, thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Fengjing Mansion, including Bao Yi, only has eight or nine hundred thousand!"

When they first arrived in Beihai, almost all the nobles of the Eight Banners were wearing sackcloth and wearing filial piety, and the prestige of the imperial power continued to decrease.

After all, at this time, Shunzhi and Kangxi had not experienced the reduction of power, and the imperial power was only the largest Eight Banners nobles.

The meeting of kings and ministers who discussed government affairs was the center of power for the entire Qing Dynasty.

The Central Plains were lost, the old nest in Liaodong was also lost, everyone was separated from their wives, and there were many complaints. It seemed that military chaos might break out at any time.

In this case, a crisis may break out at any time, turning the entire Manchu Qing Dynasty into another Northern Yuan Dynasty.

In order to gain a foothold and consolidate the imperial power, Shunzhi listened to the opinions of civil servants and the nobles of the Eight Banners, and distributed the Buryat Mongolian tribes one by one according to their distance, proximity and merit.

At that time, Shunzhi owned Zhenghuang Banner, Xianghuang Banner, and Zhengbai Banner, and received the largest piece of cake, nearly one-third of the land and tribes.

The Chechen Khanate was also divided up in this way.

The consequence of this is that the entire Fengjing Prefecture is directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and Shunzhi personally controls the tribes and land.

Using the Eight Banners of Manchu and Eight Banners of Han to suppress the Eight Banners of Mongolia, and then using the Eight Banners of Han to check and balance the Eight Banners of Manchuria, it can be said that the entire imperial power was revitalized.

But this alternative enfeoffment also obviously weakened the central government.

The sequelae was that after leaving Fengjing Mansion, the emperor had to discuss everything with the Eight Banners nobles, and it would not work to go his own way.

"Many newborns seem to have forgotten that Liaodong is their hometown." Hong Chengchou said with a hint of helplessness in his tone: "It is good to serve the capital, but if you forget to fight, you will perish."

At this point, he suddenly stood up slightly and said: "The first disaster for the imperial court is that the Eight Banners are arrogant and do not obey the king's orders."

"The second is to be at ease. If a soldier has no fighting spirit, he will fall into a state of decline."

"Are you talking about Shaowu?" Shunzhi was stunned and felt that it was a bit impossible: "As far as I know, Beihai is more than three thousand miles away from Beijing. It would be okay to send a few thousand cavalry, but if it exceeds 20,000, it will only lead to death.

.”

"And we still have Fengjing City, but the cavalry can't take the city."

As a result, a contradiction arises.

At a distance of thousands of miles, if infantry is used, the material supply alone can drag down the Ming people to death; and if only cavalry is used, even if a large number of Qing troops are defeated, the strong Fengjing City will make them collapse.

Naturally, people throughout the Qing Dynasty felt at ease.

After all, who could have thought of long-lasting food like canned food? It is completely inconsistent with what people think at this time.

"Your Majesty, living in Beihai, the imperial court is just another Northern Yuan Dynasty." Hong Chengchou said, hating that iron cannot be made into steel: "The most important thing for the imperial court now is to fight."

"Whether it's going north to deal with the wild men in the forest, or going south to wipe out the Ming people's tribe, we need to do it."

As he spoke, he was panting: "Only in war will your orders be fully implemented."

Hearing this, Shunzhi suddenly realized.

Only war can unite the Eight Banners and show the imperial power. But if peace lasts for a long time, distance will continue to shrink the imperial power.

"Sir, I understand."

Hearing these words, Hong Chengchou felt relieved, and his whole face glowed with blood.

Returning to the light——

Shunzhi sighed and had his family members called over.

Twenty years after Hong Chengchou surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, although his wife was in the south, he had many concubines, mostly clan daughters and Han women.

I have several heirs, so I have no regrets.

Soon, a group of women came in with their children. Shunzhi shook his head and left directly.

After Hong Chengchou finished giving instructions, his eyes were astigmatized. He didn't even look at the group of women and murmured:

"I'm sorry for my mother, I'm sorry for my wife and children..."

I don't know how long it took, but a loud cry echoed through the entire house. Shunzhi just walked out of the yard and sighed:

"I issued an order to confer Mr. Hong the title of Zhongxiang Gong and give him five thousand taels of money for funeral expenses."

"Yes!" The eunuch on the side responded quickly.

Sighing, Shunzhi boarded the carriage.

"Your Majesty!" Tang Ruowang consoled him, "You are considered extremely honorable. Mr. Hong will definitely be happy to know that you know something underground."

"These are just for living people to see."

Shunzhi shook his head: "It is a pity that this loyal dog Hong Chengchou died, but I am sighing that the heroes of the entire Qing Dynasty are gradually withering away..."

In Fengjing, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties also often held imperial examinations, but the participants were only Han Chinese and senior Manchu and Mongolian officials.

If 30 people are admitted to a subject and only 200 or so people compete, how many talented people will come out?

Living in a corner is indeed a slow poison, and you will definitely die if you continue to do so for a long time.

"War is inevitable."

Shunzhi murmured, his eyes gradually becoming firmer.

…

At this time, Thang Long City in Annan was caught in a fierce war.

It was originally estimated that the Qin army would encounter layers of obstacles before arriving at Thang Long, which would weaken their energy and disrupt their logistics. By the time they arrived at Thang Long, they would be exhausted.

At this time, Zheng's army was recharging its strength, annihilating them in one go, and reunifying the entire Annan.

But before his 100,000 soldiers could be assembled, the Qin army came from the sea and directly surrounded Shenglong City.

At this time, there were only 30,000 troops in the city and they could barely defend the city. The 10,000 troops outside the city were helpless.

"Your Majesty——"

Zheng Zhao was wearing armor and patrolling the city with a pair of men and horses, his face full of seriousness.

Facing the greetings from the military generals, Zheng Zha just nodded, and then left straight away, carrying out patrols meticulously.
To be continued...