The five-year treaty of the Ming and Qing Dynasties was reached in the first year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, which means that it will not expire until the sixth year of Hongxing. Now it is the end of the fourth year of Hongxing, and there is still one and a half years before the peace treaty expires.

If Emperor Zhu wanted to pursue the suddenness of the war, of course he had to choose to start before the expiration of the peace treaty. However, the Qing Dynasty never relaxed its vigilance, so the suddenness of the war basically did not exist.

Since a surprise attack is impossible, we should make full efforts to prepare!

Zhu Cixiang's eyes slowly swept across the auditorium, taking in everyone's expressions. The civil servants were all eager to try, and it seemed that there would be no big problem with money and food. The military attachés all had solemn expressions...

..The Northern Expedition is not easy to win!

"I have always been true to my word, so I must abide by the five-year agreement and set the date of war in the autumn of the sixth year of Hongxing." Zhu Cixiang said slowly, "But among all the ministers in the court, you know the Qing Dynasty best.

Let me tell you the situation first...how many years will it take for us to succeed in the Northern Expedition?"

It is natural to choose the Northern Expedition in autumn, because the water levels of the Yellow River and Huaihe River are high in spring and summer. If the Qing army jumps over the wall in a hurry, they will use water to replace their troops. Although the Yellow-Huaiyuan Project has been completed, the Huaihe River Dam has been greatly reinforced, and the Hongze Lake flood discharge

The district has also carried out a comprehensive cleanup. However, no one can guarantee that there will be no floods in the spring and summer of the sixth year of Hongxing. If the Huaihe River floods and the Yellow River burst in Guidefu area come together, the Huaihe River will still cause flooding.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty still occupies a lot of territory on the north bank of the Huaihe River in Huaibei. It also established two vassal towns, Huaibei and Xuhai, with Huang Degong and Gao Jie serving as military envoys respectively.

If Huaibei and Xuhai towns were flooded, the Ming court would also suffer serious losses.

The reason for setting the start of the war next year is not entirely to keep one's word, but to reserve enough supplies to support a long-term war.

Therefore, the date of the war can only be between August and September of the sixth year of Hongxing, which is September-October of 1653 in the Western calendar.

Zu Kefa, the fourth minister, is now the deputy military envoy of the Generalissimo's office, which is also an official position such as deputy chief of general staff or deputy director of the general staff's operations department.

The reason why his first and four ministers were so highly valued was of course because they "know the Qing". The current chief and deputy military advisors Li Yan and Li Ruolian were not considered the Qing sect, so Zhu Cihong transferred Zu Kefa back from Wu Sangui and served as a member of the army.

Deputy envoy.

"Your Majesty," Zukefa stood up and bowed to Zhu Cihong, "I think the Northern Expedition can be successful in a few years. It depends on whether Azig and Duduo can be reconciled, or who can win the battle between the two kings.

If Azige wins, it will be completed in three to five years. If Duduo wins...then the Northern Expedition should first focus on the interior of the pass, and then talk about Ping Liao.

If Azige and Duduo can coexist harmoniously, I suggest that we first seek a situation of confrontation between Liao and Song in the north, and then make any progress."

"How powerful is Duduo?" Zhu Cixiang asked.

"The Brave King Duduo is the best at fighting in the Manchurian army. In the past two years, he has been in charge of military affairs against the Rakshasa Kingdom and Japan, and has not been alienated from the battlefield." Zu Kefa said, "In addition, Dorgon

Duduo has always been cultivated as a successor, so he was allowed to command the Nine Banners outside the Pass, and also let him integrate the Baerhu and Sauron tribes. Now the Pass has its own system, and even the population has returned to what it was before Manchuria entered the Pass.

level.”

It is actually natural for the population outside the Pass to grow. Before Nurhaci swept through Liaodong, the Han population in Liaodong was in the millions. Later, due to years of wars, massacres and the massive influx of Manchus into the Pass, the population became sparsely populated.

And although it is still the Little Ice Age, the land outside Guan Guan is not uncultivable. Although the climate outside Guan Guan is cold, there is not much precipitation, and the heavy snow in winter can be continuous. And the temperature outside Guan Guan is not bad and sufficient.

Supports the growth of relatively cold-tolerant sorghum, spring wheat and soybeans.

In addition, there are a large number of pastures outside the customs for grazing, which can feed many cattle and sheep.

Historically, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the use of wicker walls to prevent Han people from leaving the country saved a large area of ​​sparsely populated and fertile land for Tsarist Russia and later Japan.

But now, the Qing Dynasty's rule within the Pass is facing a huge threat, so it has to work hard to manage outside the Pass as a retreat.

Although Han people who have not shaved their heads are still not allowed to leave Shanhaiguan, bannermen with shaved green flags and green flags (actually Han people) are pouring out of Shanhaiguan in large numbers.

In addition, the system of "Nine Banners, Angbang, Zhangjing, and Prefectures" implemented during Dorgon's lifetime also accelerated the flow of Han people from within the Pass to outside the Pass.

Because the Angbang Zhangjing Yamen, which is in charge of the state capital, has the right to recruit slaves and send them to cultivate the flag land outside the customs - these people are nominally Baoshi, but in fact they are shaved tenants. The land outside the customs is fertile, rich in resources, and also

Far away from the front lines of the Ming and Qing wars, taxes and corvees were very light, so it was certainly an ideal place for poor households struggling to survive in the pass.

As for where those poor households who cannot survive come from...it's frustrating to talk about, because quite a few of them are refugees from the north who returned from the Ming Dynasty!

Although Emperor Zhu tried every means to find a way for these people to survive, there were too many of them, and the national power of the Southern Ming Dynasty was limited. Therefore, after the armistice between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was a situation of "Northerners returning to the North", with a total of 200,000 to 300,000 people every year

Return flow.

These numbers are of course insignificant to the Ming Dynasty - according to the household statistics conducted in the third year of Hongxing, excluding internal and external vassal towns and vassal states, the population in the land directly managed by the Ming Dynasty alone was as high as 12,700

More than 10,000 people, and the annual increase is estimated to be around one million people!

But for the empty Guanwai, it is a very huge population supplement!

According to the information Jinyiwei received from the "Jia Le Shi Xing", the population of Gushan in the Nine Banners outside Guanwai has been growing rapidly since the first year of Hongxing, with an increase of more than 300,000 every year. By the beginning of the fourth year of Hongxing, the population of Nine Banners outside Guanwai

The population has exceeded 2 million! Among them, the "Eight Banners Manchuria" only has forty or fifty Niulu, with a population of only tens of thousands. Even including the newly joined Barhu people and Sauron people, the total number does not exceed 100,000.

.....

Zhu Cixi thought for a while and asked again: "Is it possible for Azig and Duduo to be reconciled?"

"This..." Zukefa thought for a moment, "Ajige and Duduo are brothers from the same father and mother after all, so they may not be incompatible. Besides, I, the Ming Dynasty, are still watching Dandan, so Azig

"It is possible that the two brothers Ge and Duoduo will stick together to survive." He paused, "But no matter how they stick together, it will still be different from when Dorgon was alive."

Zhu Cixiang said: "Then we have to push Azig and Duduo to fight as much as possible! Kefa, do you have any clever ideas?"

"Your Majesty," Zukefa said, "do you remember the peace talks between the Song and Jin Dynasties?"

"The Heavenly Family negotiates peace? Is it a matter of the Southern Song Dynasty professing vassalage to the Jin Dynasty in exchange for land in Henan and Shaanxi?"

Zu Kefa said: "Yes, it was that time... Our court may follow suit and sign three more peace treaties with the Qing Dynasty on the condition of taking Henan and the land south of the Daqing River in Shandong."

"Three peace treaties?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned, "Why three?"

Zukofa said: "Sign one with Duduo, one with Azige, and one with Emperor Shunzhi!"

"Will they agree?" Zhu Cixiang asked.

"No." Zukofa replied, "But they will negotiate with us... As long as we can negotiate, we can use tricks to provoke Azig and Dodo to go to war!"

"How to use a plan?" Zhu Cixiang asked.

Zukofa said: "We can make Azig and Shunzhi believe that Dodo has signed a secret agreement with us. After all, Dodo's foundation is outside the pass, and the main thing we want to take is the land inside the pass, even if we finally build a Great Wall as a boundary

, Duduo doesn’t suffer much either.”

"That's a way!" Zhu Cixiang laughed, "Who can take this trip?"

Zu Kefa said: "I can take a trip to Liaodong... In addition, Zu Zeqing can go and talk to Azige. As for Emperor Shunzhi... I can't think of how to contact him at the moment."
Chapter completed!