Chapter 139 Hong Chengchou fights with Qian Qianyi
The Ming Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops suddenly marched towards Shanhaiguan with great momentum, which really frightened Dorgon. He had to temporarily give up his plan to conquer Mobei and went to Jinzhou to take charge in person.
If we talk about the entire Western Liaoning Corridor, Shanhaiguan is the western entrance, then the eastern entrance is undoubtedly Jinzhou.
Since returning to Shenyang after failing to move into the Central Plains last year, Dorgon began to follow Hong Chengchou's suggestion and set up a defense line centered on Jinzhou.
A full 100,000 Han troops were recruited to garrison Jinzhou City and various nearby castles. Almost all of these castles were built by the Ming Dynasty at a cost of countless manpower and material resources.
In addition to 100,000 Han soldiers, there were also 10,000 real slaves and 20,000 Mongolian Tatars, which shows the importance attached to Jinzhou.
There is no way, just like Shanhaiguan did to the Ming Dynasty, once the Ming army breaks through Jinzhou, it means that it controls the entire Western Liaoning Corridor, and the army can march straight in.
These 100,000 Han soldiers also followed the Ming Dynasty's garrison system, working in the fields and guarding the border.
It's just that the commanders and Qianhu were replaced by the Eight Banners, and the Baihu flag officers were old Han soldiers. As long as they performed well and achieved military exploits, they could directly carry the flag and take over the fields, and even reward Korean women.
Therefore, these 100,000 Han soldiers were almost completely devoted to the Eight Banners, and their morale was very high. Whether it was farming, training, or building city walls, they worked extremely hard.
This may be the difference from hell to heaven. The huge gap made all the Han men in Liaodong suddenly alive.
In fact, Hong Chengchou's complete advice to Dorgun was completely based on the Qin Dynasty's farming and warfare model.
It is a pity that in the past twenty years, the women of the Eight Banners have become accustomed to pampering themselves, and the high-ranking officials are all slaves and women. Once Hong Chengchou's suggestion is followed, and they are asked to release the slaves and divide the fields, I am afraid that people's hearts will immediately disperse.
Coupled with the tragic death of Brother Aji, Dorgon lost an arm and did not dare to make drastic reforms.
In the end, Hong Chengchou had no choice but to perform castration, which was to first conscript some Han male slaves into the army.
After performing meritorious services, being awarded a title, granting land and starting a family can be said to be very attractive to Han men.
As for Han women, they could still only be reduced to slaves and reproductive tools for the men of the Eight Banners.
After Korea was captured, the senior officials of the Eight Banners were given male slaves to raise horses and farm. The beautiful women were given to the Eight Banners, while the ordinary ones were rewarded to the Han Eight Banners and the Mongolian Eight Banners.
The large amount of land obtained was also distributed entirely according to military merit, which made the entire Eight Banners senior leadership compromise and be willing to hand over 100,000 Han male slaves.
It can be said that it was too late for Huang Taiji to obtain Hong Chengchou. It would have been really serious if he had captured Hong Chengchou a few years earlier.
Precisely because of the existence of the Jinzhou defense line, Dorgon was not too worried about the Ming army's attack, but he still gave Duduo an order to deal with North Korea as soon as possible.
At this time, Duduo led his army to North Korea's Gyeonggi Province and surrounded Seoul, the capital of North Korea, with water.
The Duduo army was very fast and did not give North Korea any time to react. After the army entered North Korea's Ping'an Road, North Korea's hastily assembled army of 70,000 to 80,000 troops was like paper in front of the Eight Banners' cavalry, and collapsed at the first touch. .
Duduo also followed Hong Chengchou's strategy and did not chase down the defeated troops or take care of the cities along the way. He only plundered some food in the surrounding areas and went directly to Seoul to capture the thieves and the king.
There are eight provinces in North Korea, which are equivalent to the provinces of the Ming Dynasty.
However, each province is about the same size as a province and has a similar population. The richest one is naturally Gyeonggi Province.
At this moment, looking at the Jiannu army outside the city, King Li Zhu and all the civil and military officials had pale faces.
Qian Jianyi on the side looked like a gentleman, but he felt weak in his heart, and he mostly cursed his bad luck.
He had just arrived yesterday, and today the Tatar cavalry came to besiege the city.
Now I couldn't run away even if I wanted to, but looking at the tall city wall, I finally felt a lot more at ease. I asked King Li Zhu on the side: "Master Li, do you know how many soldiers there are in the city that can fight?"
"The good minister knows that there are still 50,000 soldiers in the city, but he doesn't know when the heavenly soldiers will arrive?"
Li Zhu hurriedly replied, and then looked at Qian Qianyi expectantly. Everyone else also looked directly at Qian Qianyi, obviously taking him as a life-saving straw.
"Well...calculating the time, I am afraid that our Ming Dynasty's army has already arrived at Shanhaiguan. The news will reach North Korea in twenty days at most. So as long as Lord Li holds on for twenty days, the Tatars will retreat!"
Qian Qianyi touched his beard, pondered for a moment and said.
Everyone's hearts suddenly went cold, and they obviously didn't have the confidence to hold on for twenty days.
Li Zhu said tremblingly: "We still have twenty days, what should we do?
"Master Li, don't worry. Jiannu is not good at attacking the city. The city of Seoul is high and thick, with plenty of food and grass, and an army of 50,000. As long as we work together, let alone twenty days, there will be no problem even if we defend it for three to five months."
What's more, this time Jian Nu is going deep into the city alone. Lord Li can ask reinforcements to come to rescue him. When Jian Nu can't attack for a long time and his morale drops sharply, he can attack Jian Nu from both inside and outside. He will be able to defeat Jian Nu in one fell swoop. I'm afraid there's no need to wait.
On the 20th."
Qian Qianyi put his hands behind his back, looked calm and calm, and said one thing after another.
This noble and distinguished demeanor made all the Korean civil servants and generals nod their heads frequently after hearing this.
He said directly in his heart, he is truly worthy of being a great Confucian from the Kingdom of China.
In the blink of an eye, he had already thought of a strategy to turn defeat into victory, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of both the enemy and ourselves clearly and clearly.
"Yes, what the envoy said is reasonable. We have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in all the Korean provinces. It was just a temporary delay in planning, and we were caught off guard by Jiannu."
Li Zhu also nodded, regaining his confidence again.
Immediately, he handed over the responsibility of defense to his nephew, and then took Qian Qianyi and a group of civil servants back to the palace to enjoy singing, dancing, and fine wine and food.
Outside the city, Duduo was also humbly seeking advice from Hong Chengchou, a famous scholar of Han origin.
It has to be said that compared to people of other ethnic groups, the Han literati of this era knew astronomy from the top and geography from the bottom.
The knowledge reserve is simply not comparable to that of other ethnic groups.
As for marching and fighting, anyone who has read a few military books or history books can talk about military affairs on paper and speak eloquently.
The difference lies in the combination of theory and practice.
The best combination is the combination of civil and military talents, such as Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, etc.
If the combination is not done well, then Yang Sichang, Shi Kefa and their ilk will cheat people to death without repaying their lives.
"Mr. Hong, should our army attack immediately, or should we encircle and not attack?"
"The open terrain around Seoul is perfect for cavalry. Our army only needs to encircle it without attacking, wait for work, and constantly attract reinforcements from all over North Korea to come to rescue, and then annihilate it."
Hong Chengchou stroked his beard and said slowly.
They came here to destroy North Korea this time, so naturally they wanted to focus on destroying North Korea's army. As long as they attracted the standing armies of North Korea's various provinces to be destroyed near Seoul, and then broke through the North Korean capital, the subsequent occupation would be much easier.