Lu Xiao looked at the woman in his study and asked Guo Zhen.
"Master Lu, this is the scabbard given to you by the emperor!"
Lu Xiao: "..." You are a eunuch, why are you so familiar with this kind of joke?
"Master Lu, you have been fighting endlessly for the Ming Dynasty. The aura of killing is too strong in you. You need to reconcile yin and yang to be the right way. Your Majesty gave you this beauty just for your sake."
"But, this..."
Guo Zhen did not respond to Lu Xiao's remaining questions because he couldn't take the next topic.
Lu Xiao looked helplessly at the woman in front of him. The flesh on his waist was already bruised and bruised by Ding Baiying.
It was Zhou Miaoxuan, which Lu Xiao never expected. Perhaps Chongzhen knew that Zhou Miaoxuan had an intersection with Lu Xiao before he came to power. In the movie, Chongzhen never really cared about Zhou Miaoxuan's life. But no matter what,
The scene before him still left Lu Xiao speechless.
"Folk girl Zhou Miaoxuan, I have met you, sir."
Lu Xiao: "..."
What can he say that I can't accept this kind of thing? Then Zhou Miaoxuan can only die. What can he say that I am secretly happy in my heart? Ding Baiying's knife has been half drawn.
Therefore, in the end, Lu Xiao could only arrange a family banquet and received Zhou Miaoxuan in a decent manner.
Ding Baiying was also very generous, and it didn't take long for her to match Sister Zhou Miaoxuan. But there was something wrong with the look on Lu Xiao's face. Lu Xiao knew something was wrong, so he prepared a lot of excuses, not just reasons, and planned to put her to sleep. As a result, everything was over.
Without entering, I was immediately blocked from the door.
In desperation, I could only go back to the study and sleep alone.
.....................
Huang Taiji took action. After repairing the Tatars for a winter, they went south again and began to plunder. They had a good time. They left the mountain at this time, and when they went south to have the results of the battle, it happened to be the summer harvest. By then, there would be enough food to support them through war.
fight and achieve greater results.
Liaoyang and Shenyang were soon completely controlled by Huang Taiji. However, the granaries in the entire Liaodong area were once again burned in large numbers. Countless people in Liaodong were forced to move to the interior. The entire Liaodong had long been turned into a scorched earth. Therefore, Huang Taiji
We must go south as soon as possible.
"Your Majesty, this is all the information about Lu Xiao. According to our spies' reports, Lu Xiao is completely incompatible with the Ming Dynasty's officialdom. He has no clique, no greed for money, and no greed for power. He just concentrates on training soldiers. We in Shanxi
The reason why the food and grass there was cut off was because all the merchants were confiscated and exterminated by him.
He also used the money from confiscating homes to train a new army called Zhongyongwei. It is said that the rogue bandits in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces were so scared that they no longer dared to show their faces."
"Zhongyongwei? What kind of army is this? How many people and what kind of configuration?"
"Back to Your Majesty, there are currently about 15,000 loyal and brave guards. It is said that they are mainly equipped with firearms, supplemented by heavy infantry and a small amount of cavalry."
"Firearms..." Huang Taiji frowned. Unlike Nurhaci, he attached great importance to firearms from the beginning. But unfortunately, the smuggling channels of the Ming Dynasty now include Jinyiwei and Dongchang, which have been rectified by Lu Xiao.
Completely cut off. He only has some third-rate firearms from the early Ming Dynasty. The kind that kill more of his own people than the enemy.
"Those red-haired ghosts haven't come back yet?" He thought of those Western businessmen again.
"Well... Your Majesty, those Westerners refused to trade firearms with us. Only a handful of Western merchants brought in some muskets. But they were all severely damaged and almost unusable."
There was a bump. Huang Taiji slapped the table in front of him heavily.
"Didn't I tell you that when you trade with them, you must clear both money and goods? Only then will they continue to trade with us? Are they buying and selling by force again?" The subordinates were so frightened that they knelt down on the spot.
"Your Majesty, this is true. Those Westerners said that it was Lu Xiao of the Ming Dynasty who gave the order. Anyone who dares to trade with us will be kicked out of the Ming Dynasty forever. Now there are almost no Western businessmen who dare to
Made a deal with us."
Huang Taiji was so angry that he almost fell to the ground. A huge sense of helplessness filled his chest. There was really no way around it. They had nothing in the Qing Dynasty that they could use to attract those Western businessmen.
On the other hand, although the Ming Dynasty has been declining, the foundation is there and there are still many good things. Those Western businessmen will naturally not give up the Ming Dynasty and come to trade with these barbarians. Those who come now are all those who have been squeezed out by others.
Small businessmen. They can't get anything good at all.
"Forget it, since we can't buy it, let's go to Daming to grab free ones."
............
"Huang Taiji came out of the mountain?"
"Yes, this time Huang Taiji appointed an army of 200,000. And he has already announced that he will take over the Central Plains."
"Two hundred thousand, at most 150,000. They don't have enough food and grass to raise that many elites. But 150,000 Tatars are dangerous enough. The Liaodong defense line has been completely paralyzed. Let's start according to the plan."
"This... Sir, isn't it a bit..." Shen Lian's expression was a bit unbearable.
"You want to say it's too cruel?"
"......yes!"
"I know it's cruel, but there's not enough time. If you can make Huang Taiji retreat into the mountains and not come out for ten years, I can end this war in another way. Can you?"
"I can't do this in a humble position."
"That's it. When fighting a war, we fight for the right time, place, and people. Now the time, place, and people are not on our side. People and people can only be so-so. So we can only use some extraordinary measures."
"I understand."
"It's good to understand. You have to remember that there is no room for compromise in the dispute between the two races.
In this battle, we must completely cut off the hidden dangers of the Tatars. Only in this way will the Ming Dynasty have a chance to rise again. As the saying goes, if you hit with one punch, you will avoid hundreds of punches!"
"I humble my position and accept my orders."
Knowing that Lu Xiao was about to go on an expedition, Ding Baiying finally opened the door and let Lu Xiao in. She also specially arranged a surprise to see him off.
Lu Xiao was excited and sighed at the same time. Before leaving, he brought a pack of wolfberry to drink on the road.
There was a basic operation for defending a city in ancient times. Before the enemy arrived, all the fertile fields, woods and even villages outside the city were destroyed. In this way, the enemy could not obtain food, slaves, and siege equipment.
Lu Xiao's plan was simple, he just amplified this tactic a little bit. He asked the Zhongyong Guards to clear out the towns and villages on Huang Taiji's attack route in advance and execute an extreme scorched earth plan.
The original scorched earth plan in Shenyang was just to clear out a city. This time...
But when the Zhongyong Guards attacked, Lu Xiao did not follow. He left the capital quietly and came to a port in Tianjin. Waiting here was a fleet of European merchants, and Lu Xiao had already mastered it.
