Forbidden City, Wuying Palace.

After Dorgon walked out of Ciqing Palace, he went straight to Wuying Palace.

He, the imperial uncle and the regent, is a little different from other princes. He does not live in the palace, but in the palace and spends the night in Wuying Palace.

Wuying Hall is also the place where Li Zicheng ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in the 17th year of Chongzhen.

Times have changed. A year ago, Chongzhen had not yet died for his country, the Ming Dynasty had not yet been destroyed, and the people standing here were still the central ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

More than half a year ago, Li Zicheng led the Dashun Army to overthrow the Ming Dynasty. There was still a new dynasty atmosphere here, and the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Yongchang was held happily.

However, who could have imagined that within one year, the Forbidden City had changed three owners, and the one now in charge was the Qing court headed by Dorgon.

And if nothing unexpected happens, it will always be this group of people in the next three hundred years.

Dorgon chose to live in Wuying Palace, firstly for the convenience of handling government affairs, and secondly because it was a metaphor for replacing Li Zicheng.

Of course, there is naturally a little bit of ambition at work.

Last year, the Qing army entered the customs. As soon as Dorgon arrived in the city, he moved into the imperial city and chose Mingnan Palace, located in the Nanchizi area on the south side of Donghuamen Street, as his palace.

At present, the construction of Prince Rui's Palace has not yet been completed. It was supervised by Feng Quan, the former minister of the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty. It cost a lot of money and the regulations were comparable to those of the imperial palace.

In the Qing Dynasty, Feng Quan hugged Wei Zhongxian's thigh and regarded the eunuchs as being excluded by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty. As soon as the Qing army entered the pass, they immediately found a new master.

He naturally tried his best to supervise the construction of Prince Rui's Mansion.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Nanchizi area, like the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Sheji Altar, was a place exclusively used by the royal family. It was called "Dongyuan" in Yongle and later "Nangong".

After the Tumu Fort Incident, Zhu Qizhen, the Ming God of War, was imprisoned here by Emperor Zong Jingtai of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Qiyu.

Dorgon stayed overnight in Wuying Hall and chose Nangong as the place to build Prince Rui's palace, which also caused undercurrents in the Qing court.

After entering the customs, some supporters of the Two Hundred Banners continued to persuade Dorgon to enter the country on the grounds that Emperor Fulin of Shunzhi was young.

Dorgon's answers were always very vague, neither refusing nor showing any sign of submission.

Jierhalang and Dorgon were both auxiliary kings and held the blue flag. Their support for Fulin's succession was just a political compromise to avoid the split of the Qing army.

His position was actually in favor of Huang Taiji's eldest son, Hauge.

However, the rude and honest Hauge is no match for the wily Dorgon, let alone the two brothers Azig and Duduo.

These two brothers were both die-hard supporters of Dorgon's succession to the throne. They held heavy troops and made many military exploits.

The Qing court seemed to be united, but there were still undercurrents.

Outside Wuying Palace, people were coming and going. It was very different from the crowded Ciqing Palace and Fulin's place of study. It was very lively.

After Dorgon moved into the Wuying Hall, it became the political center of the entire Qing Dynasty. The imperial seals were all brought to the Wuying Hall, imperial edicts were issued here, and political discussions were held here.

Dragons and tigers gather together, and the situation is overwhelming.

National affairs, military information and government affairs all come from Wuying Hall.

This is also the reason why Bumbutai is worried, because compared with the powerful Dorgon, the power of mother and son is too weak.

Fortunately, there are also many forces in the DPRK and China opposing Dorgon, which allows Bumbutai to find some allies.

As Dorgon angrily returned to Wuying Palace, edicts were sent to all parts of Beijing, and the news inevitably spread.

One after another, the princes and ministers were summoned to Wuying Hall. The first thing they saw after walking through the corridor and entering the main hall was Dorgon's cold face.

The entire Wuying Hall exuded a depressing atmosphere.

Some people with poor xinxing may even find it difficult to breathe here.

The news of the defeat returned from Tongguan was beyond everyone's expectations. Everyone thought that capturing Tongguan and seizing the northwest was just a matter of course.

Fighting abroad has become a means of training for the sons of these Eight Banners princes and ministers, and no one thinks they will lose.

What's more, the main force led by Duduo was defeated by the bandits at Tongguan, which is really unimaginable.

How did this fail?

These princes and ministers who have experienced many battles naturally know Duduo's ability. They have repeatedly deduced it in their minds and cannot imagine the possibility of defeat.

This was not just a simple defeat, even Shang Shan died in Tongguan.

Who is Shang Shan?

He was one of the more capable clan generals among the younger generation of the Eight Banners. When he was in his early twenties, he inherited his father Fei Yangwu's title of Duke of Auxiliary State, was promoted to Shanbeizi, and became the commander of the army.

If we continue to develop at this rate, our future will be limitless.

But who could have imagined that he actually died in Tongguan!

Since entering the Pass, the Qing army has never suffered such heavy losses in combat, let alone the death of a duke. This is simply unprecedented.

Shang Shan thus became the highest-ranking general killed in battle by the Qing army so far.

"All the princes already know about Tongguan, so I won't say more. Duduo is currently reorganizing his army in Huaiqing and is requesting the imperial court's next instructions."

"All princes and ministers can express their opinions."

After Dorgon finished speaking, he looked at everyone.

"I think we should just go back outside the customs!"

"It's not too late to go back now. Anyway, I've robbed enough and stayed enough. I'm still comfortable in my hometown outside the customs!"

Soon, there was some discussion.

Many people felt that the two defeats of Tongguan and Huaiqing proved that Dashun still had the ability to fight back. It was better to retreat outside the pass and wait until both the Ming army and Dashun were defeated, then enter the pass to plunder.

After entering the Pass, this kind of voice has always existed in the Qing army.

There have always been quite a few Eight Banners princes and nobles who felt that Guan Nei was not a place to stay for a long time. This voice emerged after the Battle of Huaiqing.

Now that Tongguan was defeated, the impact was comparable to that of the Shanhaiguan battle, and it was actually brought up to Wuying Palace.

"Ahem."

Among the civil servants, the most senior person suddenly coughed twice.

All the princes and nobles of the Eight Banners cast their gazes over, and the voices of discussion gradually subsided, but many people had disdain in their eyes.

The person who spoke was Fan Wencheng, the leading scholar of the Han Dynasty and a bachelor of the inner academy.

"Even if we retreat to the outside of the pass now, Thief Li will definitely be at odds with me and the Qing Dynasty, and we will still fight. Why not continue to stay in the pass?"

Fan Wencheng stood up and stroked his beard.

"I thought that the Dashunliu bandits headed by Li Thief were just returning to their old ways. Rabbits bite people when they are in a hurry, let alone these extremely vicious bandits."

"The top priority is for Prince Yu to organize his army in Henan, and Tongguan must be captured."

"As far as I know, this defeat was mainly due to the slow delivery of Kong Youde's Hongyi cannon, which was taken advantage of by Li Thief."

Dorgon liked to listen to Fan Wencheng's words.

No matter what others say, Dorgon always has one idea: the territory of the Han people must belong to the Qing Dynasty.

The thought of retreating outside the customs had never occurred to him.

"After Prince Yu reorganized his army in Huaiqing, he brought the Hongyi artillery to Tongguan. He will definitely be able to attack Tongguan in one go."

"I heard that on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, Xu Dingguo lured and killed Gao Jie in Suizhou. He had 100,000 high-ranking old soldiers. If they can be recruited properly, it would be a way to quickly increase the number of troops."

Dorgon nodded and asked in a deep voice.

"Where is Haug now?"

Fan Wencheng smiled and said.

"It seems that the intention of my uncle, the regent, is to mobilize Prince Su's troops to move westward, join forces with Duduo, and divide the army into three groups to attack the northwest."

"The main force of Prince Su is now being ordered to chase the remnants of the rogue bandits in Shandong. It will take some time to conquer all of Shandong."

Dorgon nodded, his eyes slightly condensed.

"Recently, the Hongguang imperial court sent envoys north to join forces with the Qing Dynasty to destroy the bandits. What did Mr. Fan think?"

"I see that the Hongguang Imperial Court is in a corner, and has no intention of moving north. I intend to arrange for Azige, Duoduo, and Haoge to gather in the northwest."

"But if this is the case, and there is no protection in the east, isn't the risk a bit high?"
Chapter completed!