Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 534 The Desperate Manchu Nobles
Since the beginning of the Northern Expedition in October of the 22nd year of Chongzhen to the first half of the 23rd year of Chongzhen.

This is basically the situation of the Northern Expedition of the guards and other troops of Ming Dynasty who participated in the Northern Expedition.

After the second half of the 23rd year of Chongzhen, it will be a stage of the political closure of the entire Northern Expedition.

During the period from October of the 22nd year of Chongzhen to the first half of the 23rd year of Chongzhen, it is naturally impossible for the Manchu Qing to sit and wait for death without doing anything.

After all, the Qing Dynasty at this time was still a newly rising political force, and its ruling group had not yet been completely corrupted, and even most of them were still aggressive.

Although Shunzhi is still only eleven or twelve years old at this time, Bumbutai, Dorgon, Jierhalang and others will naturally not just watch their Qing Dynasty return to the bitter cold place outside the pass or even destroyed.

Since the Manchu Qing court knew the time of the Great Ming Northern Expedition, it has been stepping up its preparations, and it has been doing two-handed preparations.

On the one hand, Jierhalang, who is actually in charge of the government, is actively concentrating his forces to defend the key points, and on the other hand, he is also beginning to prepare for a safe retreat outside the pass.

Even though Jierhalang said that he had moved to the Northwest with the Hao style that might threaten the imperial power and affect internal stability, he took the initiative to ask the regent Dorgon to be in charge of preparing for the withdrawal outside the pass.

In the face of the powerful enemy of Ming Dynasty, Dorgon did not put on any pretense, and readily agreed that Ji Erhalang was actively preparing to quickly clear himself of the Qing Dynasty in the past few years when he might lose the opportunity to occupy the pass. The wealth accumulated in the pass was transported out of the pass to prepare for a comeback in the future.

"There are Zhou Ze and Haoge in the northwest, and the west of Tongguan can be safe, and Shanhaiguan now has Zu Dashou. Maybe there's still a chance."

Dorgon assured Shunzhi, Jierhalang and others in this way at that time.

But what Dorgon didn't expect was that Zhou Ze would send troops to Sichuan privately without the consent of the Qing court.

"This week, Gu is really angry. Gu has been letting him accumulate strength in Hanzhong. Who told him to attack Sichuan! Could it be that he really thought that it would be impossible for the Qing Dynasty to become king in Sichuan? Zhang Xianzhong's army followed Daming!"

Dorgon was very angry with Zhou Ze, and he suddenly remembered that Zhou was the servant of Le Ke De Hun, the king of Doruo County, so he sent someone to call Lu Ke De Hun.

"What, Luke Dehun hasn't come back since he went hunting in Fengrun?"

The first time Dorgon became suspicious of Zhou Ze was when he knew that Luc Dehun was missing.

"Immediately look for it! In addition, go to Zhou Ze, governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, to search for it!" Dorgon ordered.

"My lord, the servants broke into Zhou Zhitai's mansion and found that there is no one in their house. There were a few family members in the past, but now they are gone. Even the stove is covered with dust."

When the people under him replied to Dorgon, Dorgon sat down with a sinking face, without saying a word, and waited for a long time before suddenly roaring:
"Why are you still standing still! Go find it, search the Duoluo County King Luck Dehun and Zhou Ze's family in Guquan City, hurry up!"

After Dorgon finished speaking, he threw a vase on the ground, and even the beads in his hand were about to be crushed by him.

"Prepare the horse immediately, I want to see the assistant king Jierhalang immediately!"

Dorgon immediately informed Jierhalang about the disappearance of King Luck Dehun of Duoluo County and Zhou Ze's family.

Jierhalang couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this: "What I'm most worried about now is whether Luck Dehun and Zhou will vote for Ming Dynasty. From the regent's point of view, what should we do?"

"Speaking of which, it's my brother's fault. These two people belong to me, but I didn't expect this to happen suddenly. From my point of view, now I can only lock up the family members of Nalk Dehun for strict interrogation. Maybe we can ask What happened?"

When Dorgon said this, Ji Erhalang nodded: "The regent is very right. If this is the case, you will handle this matter. Immediately lock up the family members of Nalk Dehun and interrogate them severely!"

Therefore, Dorgon immediately sent people to arrest Lucdehun's family members, but after the torture, no one gave any useful information, only saying that Zhou Ze's people had delivered the letter, which made Lucdehun Suddenly decided to go hunting in Fengrun.

Dorgon began to suspect this matter to Zhou Ze, thinking that Zhou Ze might not be as simple as he thought.

So Dorgon once again sent people to strictly inspect Zhou Ze's mansion.

Even Dorgon sent people all over the city to inquire about Zhou Ze.

Dorgon did know that the assassin who assassinated Feng Quan, a scholar of the Inner Academy of the Qing Dynasty, had appeared in Zhou Ze's mansion, and was nominally a brother of Zhou Ze's old servant.

Dorgon therefore began to suspect that Zhou was Jin Yiwei.

But when he began to doubt, he had already received the news that Hauge had entered Sichuan.

"Haoge, you idiot! Immediately send someone from [-] li to take the emperor's decree to see Haoge, tell him to stay in Xi'an, strengthen the defense west of Tongguan, and don't enter Sichuan to fight!"

After Dorgon roared, he hurried to see the assistant king Jierhalang.

"Haoge is confused, Hauge is confused! If I knew this would happen, I shouldn't have let him go to Xi'an to be a general to conquer the west, but he was lucky, and he really went to conquer Sichuan. In his mind, he should be honest Do you really stay in the southwest?"

Jierharang stomped his feet and sighed.

"It's my fault. Brother Yu used the wrong person. This Hauge has no brains. Could it be that he doesn't understand that we sent him to be a general to conquer the west? The purpose is to guard the west of Tongguan. Didn't Brother Wang give this He made it clear in advance?"

Dorgon also said.

"I said it, why didn't I say it, but this Hauge really wants to be king and emperor, alas, now we can only guard the east of Tongguan."

Jierharang sighed again.

"It might be better if Hauge can really occupy Sichuan and stand on his own, and Zhou Ze just took refuge in Hauge and is not a spy of Ming Dynasty."

When Dorgon said this, Ji Erhalang also nodded.

But at this time, Ning Wan and I walked in: "You two princes, there is an urgent report from the northwest, and Zhou Ze has turned his back on the water. He sent [-] troops to the south to conquer Haoge, and he also said that he would respond to the Great Ming's Northern Expedition."

"What did you say, Zhou Ze really betrayed? Say it again!"

Dorgon roared angrily.

"It's true, I dare not lie to the two lords." After Ning Wan and I said this, Dorgon sat down on the ground angrily.

At this time, Jierhalang also said with a frustrated face: "We can't save Haoge, the only way now is to defend Tongguan, and hope that there will be no Ming army outside the pass."

"My lord, report! Eight hundred miles outside the pass, Xingdu and Shengjing were lost to the Ming army."

When Jierhalang and Dorgon heard the news, they were stunned.

(End of this chapter)