However, the surrounding scholars, officials and even generals completely ignored this point.
As soon as Chongzhen finished speaking, huge cheers soared into the sky, almost tearing off the roofs of the people walking by.
Amid the cheers, brothers Zhu Cixiang and Zhu Cijiong hugged each other, Gao Qiqian and Lu Jiude hugged each other, Huang Zongxi and Zheng Sen hugged each other, and Du Yinxi and Jin Xuan also hugged each other.
These officials, scholars and even eunuchs were all very happy.
The Dukes of Gungun who were far away in Nanjing could not understand this feeling.
But everyone in Xuzhou knew that this victory was hard-won.
So when Jiannu really retreated, when Xuzhou really defended, when the Huanghuai defense line really defended, everyone felt uncontrollable excitement and joy, the Ming Dynasty was saved!
Because of the excitement, Chongzhen completely lost his sleep.
Not only Chongzhen, but also Zheng Hongkui, Du Yinxi, Huang Zongxi and others were also completely sleepless.
Nearly a hundred people gathered in the hall, discussing the next action enthusiastically. Even if Jiannu did not suffer decisive losses in Xuzhou, and even if Jiannu was still invincible in the field, the Ming army could never defeat everything.
If you don't do it, you will definitely have to pursue it. Even if you can only kill a few hundred slaves, it is still a good thing.
What's more, the Ming army doesn't have no chance, after all, they still have a navy.
At least half of the Jiannu slaves are now south of the Yellow River. If these Jiannu slaves want to return north, they have to cross the Yellow River north. At this time, the navy can seize the opportunity to teach them a cruel lesson.
And the Jiannu slaves in Xiao County have become a lone army.
Chongzhen suddenly regretted that he would not have withdrawn Jin Shenghuan and other border troops from the three towns if he had known better.
If Jin Shenghuan and other three-town border troops are still near Xiao County, more than 10,000 border troops can surround Xiao County with just one quick horse. Even if they cannot surround Xiao County, they can at least hold it back.
blue flag.
If they can take this opportunity to eradicate one of the Eight Banners of Jiannu, then the Ming army will make a bloody profit.
But it's too late to regret now. Xianglan Banner must have received orders to retreat to Guide Mansion.
At dawn the next day, more accurate news came. Jiannu had indeed withdrawn its troops. Not only the Xianglan Banner stationed in Xiao County had retreated to Guide Mansion, but also the Zhenghong Banner and Zhenglan Banner stationed in Peixian County.
, and the Zhengbai Banner stationed in Xin'an Town also withdrew its troops to the north at the same time and had already entered Yanzhou Prefecture.
Huang Degong sent his horse to ask for instructions whether to pursue northward?
Lu Zhenfei, the governor of water transportation stationed in Pizhou, never thought of pursuing him.
However, Chongzhen did not let Huang Degong pursue him. Again, at this stage, the Ming army can only fight to defend the city. As for field battles, they can be tried on a small scale or under specific conditions. Large-scale frontal field battles are still possible.
Forget it, even Huang Degong's ten-town frontier army can only give away their lives.
But there was no problem in sending the navy to intercept Jiannu.
At that time, Chongzhen said to Zheng Hongkui: "Zheng Qing, you will lead the navy up the Yellow River and send more scout fleets. Once you find signs that the Jian slaves are collecting fishing boats or building pontoons to cross the river, you will immediately try to stop them! In short, you
Remember one thing, you can’t let Jian Nu cross the river easily. If you want to cross the river, you have to shed a layer of skin!"
"I accept the order." Zheng Hongkui bowed his hands and turned to leave.
Chongzhen said to Hu Guozhu again: "Hu Qing, you have to work hard for a few more days and lead 800 Yiding people out of the direction of Guide Mansion to continue to detect the movements of the slaves. If you find anything wrong, report it immediately."
"Although the Jiannu have withdrawn their troops, we still cannot be careless."
"Otherwise, the Huanghuai defense line will be completely destroyed if we are killed by Jian Nu."
After a pause, Chongzhen continued: "If this is really the case, our monarchs and ministers will become the laughing stock in future history books, and we will be the laughing stock for thousands of years."
"I accept the decree."
Hu Guozhu turned around and left in a hurry.
At this time, Gao Qiqian asked: "Long live the Lord, will the remaining green seedlings still be plucked?"
"This..." Chongzhen was also a little hesitant. Now that Jiannu has withdrawn his troops, there seems to be no need to pull out the remaining young plants. Before, Jiannu occupied Xuzhou and they were pulling out the young crops of Jiannu, but now Jiannu has withdrawn his troops and left.
Once you get to Xuzhou, you will be pulling out the young crops of the Ming Dynasty.
After a short pause, Chongzhen said: "Keep pulling out, pull them all out!"
"We're not afraid of ten thousand, we're just afraid of what might happen. What if Jiannu really kills us?"
"The worst case scenario is that we will lose all this farming season. I will adjust grain from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to feed the people of Xuzhou."
In short, there is no shortage of money in Chongzhen now. If there is money, there will be food. For a state machine, it is not difficult to feed more than one million people for a year.
The total is nothing more than more than two million taels of silver.
What's more, this money does not necessarily come from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In fact, Chongzhen had already planned it.
…
Outside Kaifeng City, Dorgon's big tent.
The carnival that lasted for three days finally came to an end. Most of the Eight Banners soldiers who entered the city returned home with their loads. These Eight Banners soldiers not only grabbed a lot of property, but also a large number of livestock and people.
In comparison, the Eight Banners Han Army and the Eight Banners Mongolia did not gain much.
Because when it was their turn to enter the city, it was already the evening of the next day, and the good things had already been snatched up by the Eight Banners Manchuria.
Not to mention the Outer Mongols, they didn't even have a chance to enter the city. To put it bluntly, the Outer Mongols were just servants, and it was Dorgon's mercy to not let you bring your own dry food for the expedition.
He Luohui came to Dorgon's tent with great joy, knelt down and shouted: "Master, all the banners have withdrawn from the city."
There was no need for He Luohui to report, Dorgon had already seen it, because a fire had already broken out in Kaifeng City. Judging from the intensity of the fire, Kaifeng City was destroyed.
It is estimated that there is only one ruin left.
Seeing the city of Kaifeng in flames, Hong Chengchou, Fan Wencheng and Ning Wanwo all felt a little melancholy.
These three traitors naturally knew what the catastrophe in Kaifeng would mean. It would mean that the people of the Central Plains would hate the Qing government even more from now on, and it would be even more difficult for the Qing government to unify the Central Plains.
However, there is no way to wash Kaifeng with blood.
Without the bloodbath in Kaifeng, the property losses of the Eight Banners soldiers would not be compensated, and the morale that was damaged in the Shanyang and Xuzhou battles would not be restored.
At least, after the bloodbath in Kaifeng, the morale of the Eight Banners army has been restored.
This can be clearly felt from the smiles on the faces of the Eight Banners soldiers.
However, Dorgon was still a little unwilling and asked in a deep voice: "He Luohui, is there much food in Kaifeng City?"
He Luohui said: "Master, there is not much food in Kaifeng City, but a lot of people have been robbed. We have made up for all the slaves we lost in Shanyang and Xuzhou, and there are more."
Dorgon said: "A city as big as Kaifeng has a population of more than 100,000, but there is no food?"
He Luohui snorted lightly and said, "Master, how about I ask each banner to hand over all the grain they have grabbed? Let you distribute it uniformly?"
Dorgon seemed a little moved.
Hong Chengchou and the others hurriedly advised: "Master, think twice!"
Dorgon let out a sigh of relief and said to He Luohui: "Forget it, you go find a place to build a pontoon first."
Watching He Luohui walk out of the big tent, Dorgon said with a dark face: "Three gentlemen, I am not willing to give in, I am not willing to give in! If all the food snatched from Kaifeng City are collected, plus the food left by each banner,
With more than 400,000 shi of grain, we may not be able to sustain the harvest of winter wheat next year, and we may still have a chance."
"It's not enough," Hong Chengchou said, "unless we can keep the Xuzhou farmland."
"I was about to say this." Dorgon's eyes flashed and he said, "After learning that our Qing troops have withdrawn, Chongzhen and the Ming army will probably give up the action of pulling out young crops. At this time, our Qing soldiers will suddenly come back and attack Ming Dynasty."
The army will not have time to pull out the young seedlings, and they may have a chance to save enough wheat seedlings!"
"Master, this is no longer possible." Hong Chengchou sighed.
Ning Wan also advised me: "Chongzhen would not have made such a mistake."
Fan Wencheng also sincerely advised: "Master, those in power are most afraid of making changes in the morning and evening."
After Ning Wan, I added: "The key is that the order to retreat has been issued, and the warriors of all banners have returned home. At this time, we have taken away the food they looted from Kaifeng City, and asked them to return to Xuzhou to fight with the Ming army."
This war is likely to last for two or even three years, which will inevitably affect the morale of the military. If there is a mutiny by then, it will be a big trouble."
Dorgon also sighed when he heard this. Why didn't he understand the truth?
He is just unwilling to give in. Dorgon is really unwilling to give in. His only chance is gone?
Thinking of this, Dorgon couldn't help but ask the three of them: "Three gentlemen, do you really only have one chance?"
"Not necessarily." Now, Hong Chengchou has changed his words, "Although the barbarian regimes that have emerged from the frontiers since ancient times usually only have one chance to unify the Central Plains, there are not exceptions."
Fan Wencheng said: "It took the Yuan Dynasty a full fifty years to finally destroy the Southern Song Dynasty."
"Dayuan." Dorgon nodded slightly and said, "I understand, and I want to learn from Dayuan."
As he was talking, footsteps sounded outside the big tent, and then Zhen Tunqi strode in with a blue flag on his forehead.
"Slave Tun Qi, I'm here to bow to the nine kings." Tun Qi flicked the sleeves of his mantle and knelt down on one knee.
"No need." Dorgon gestured for Tunqi to stand up, and then said, "Tunqi, are you okay with the blue flag?"
"Very good." Tun Qi nodded and said, "According to the orders of the Nine Kings, thousands of bags with white flags were collected along the way. I'm afraid the Ten Kings will have to thank their slaves when they return to Beijing."
"I would like to thank Prince Yu first." Dorgon asked again, "Have the Ming army come to pursue you?"
"Thank them for their courage!" Tun Qi snorted disdainfully and added, "However, the hundreds of cavalrymen from Chongzhen have been following us, like flies, and we can't even drive them away."
"That's just Chongzhen's spy. Just send a banner of Mongolian cavalry to drive it away." Dorgon frowned.
These barbarians were all from western Liaoning and had fought with the Eight Banners soldiers for decades. They were very familiar with each other, so ambush, luring the enemy, and detours all failed to work.
As long as a certain cavalry sticks out its butt, the other party will immediately know what you want to do.
The only way to deal with these barbarians is to send Ye Bu Shu to hunt them down, and these Ye Bu Shu must be at least Hong Jia La or above, otherwise they are just delivering food.
But it is obviously not worthwhile to send the Red Jala to deal with the Yi Ding.
Therefore, the most effective way is to send Mongolia to drive away these barbarians.
"Hey!" Tunqi agreed. Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by Dorgon again.
Dorgon hesitated for a moment and asked, "All the farms in Tunqi and Xiao County were destroyed?"
"Well, they were all destroyed by Ming Gou." Tun Qi said with a dark face, "Not even an acre is left."
At this time, Dorgon finally gave up and no longer wanted to return to Xuzhou.
At that moment, Dorgon said again: "Tunqi, I will lead the army to cross the Yellow River and go north today. After that, I will leave you with the task of setting up the blue flag."
"Hey!" Tun Qi responded.
However, his expression was obviously not as natural as before.
Because this kind of thing is not a good thing.
There is nothing wrong with it, and if you are not careful, you will be bitten by the Ming army.
But there was no choice. No matter how unwilling Tunqi was, he could only obey the order. In any case, Dorgon was the emperor's father and regent of the Qing Dynasty. If he dared to disobey, Dorgon could kill him directly.
"In addition to ending the queen, I have another task for you." Dorgon said in a deep voice.
Hearing this, Hong Chengchou subconsciously wanted to persuade Dorgon. Should he change the flag?
But when the words came to his lips, Hong Chengchou returned them to his stomach, because he had already guessed Dorgon's intention. For Dorgon, this was killing three birds with one stone, and he would never lose no matter what.
If the Yellow River is successfully dug, the losers will be Chongzhen and Ming Dynasty.
If the excavation of the Yellow River fails and Xianglan Banner escapes unscathed, then Jierhalang will lose. Dorgon will definitely take this opportunity to shift the responsibility to Tunqi and Jierhalang.
By then, Jilharang will lose his title as regent at best, or lose his life at worst.
If the excavation of the Yellow River fails and Xianglan Banner also suffers heavy losses, then Xianglan Banner will lose, and the status of the two white flags and Dorgon will only become more stable.
To be honest, Hong Chengchou looked down upon Dorgon's calculations.
I thought that Prince Rui was a little too smart. The Ming Dynasty and Pseudo-Shun had not yet been destroyed, and the Qing Dynasty still needed to unite. From this point of view alone, Prince Rui was still a little behind the late emperor.
Tunqi was already very reluctant and said with a dark face: "What mission?"
"Dig the southern embankment of the Yellow River." Dorgon said, "After my army leaves, you and your men will survey the terrain and find a few suitable places to dig the southern embankment of the Yellow River. This will not only prevent the Ming army from following and pursuing them, but also
It completely submerged the Xuzhou, Guide and Kaifeng prefectures in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and even the Huai'an Prefecture downstream."
Hong Chengchou then said: "This way the connection between Shandong and Nanming will be blocked by the flooding Yellow River, and the armies of the Ten Kings can easily capture Shandong. If they can capture Shandong, then this southern expedition will not be empty-handed."
And when I return to Beijing, I can have an explanation."
"Hey!" Tun Qi's face finally looked better.
If you really return empty-handed, your face with the blue flag will not look good.
At that moment, Dorgon ordered to break camp and took the goods, livestock and people robbed from Kaifeng City along the official road towards Taojiadian Ferry, which was dozens of miles away.