Han ride

Chapter 365 Politicians
"Hundreds of thousands of people are important, but if Jiannu doesn't die for a day, our northern border will be harassed by Jiannu." Hong Chengchou shook his head and said: "What's more, the military expenditure of the imperial court in Liaodong is several Millions of taels of silver, in order to maintain the absolute advantage over Jiannu, the court spends a lot of money every year. I heard that even the emperor has not changed his dragon robe for several years, and the queens, concubines, etc. in the harem are all based on frugality. Lord, these are the sins of the ministers!"

As soon as Hong Chengchou finished speaking, everyone in the big tent nodded their heads immediately.But he didn't notice the smile on Hong Chengchou's mouth.Hong Chengchou is a politician, what he needs is how to preserve his strength so that he can get more benefits.Li Xin's daring not to attack naturally has Li Xin's benefits, that is to support the bandits' self-respect, so that the court cannot find Li Xin in a short time, but what Hong Chengchou needs is merit.He is not young anymore. Although he holds the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, he is a civil servant. What civil servants most want to do is very simple.Hong Chengchou is also thinking about going out and becoming a prime minister.It is conceivable that if he destroys Huang Taiji, what kind of rewards he will get. He didn't dare to imagine before. He didn't have this opportunity. Now it's different. His subordinates are full of elite soldiers and strong generals, and Jiannu is trapped in the In Zunhua city, one cannot escape, this is the best chance to kill Jiannu, Hong Chengchou doesn't want to miss it.

"Everyone, everyone is a leader in the battle. What we want is military merit. Right now, military merit is ahead. Over the years, Jiannu has been harassing me at the Daming border. The emperor is very dissatisfied with this. If we can take advantage of this opportunity to eliminate Jiannu, you must have your portraits on Lingyan Pavilion." Hong Chengchou stood up and said.

After Lu Xiangsheng and the others heard this, their eyes could not help showing a trace of fire. It has to be said that Hong Chengchou's words are very attractive.And everyone knows that there is indeed such a thing.Whether it is the slaves outside the pass or the rebels in the Central Plains, they are all the confidantes of Emperor Chongzhen.Look, General Cao Wenzhao defeated a lot of rebels, and he was named the general soldier, that is a first-rank general.For the rest of them, as long as they can wipe out a banditry, Chongzhen's imperial decree of reward will arrive immediately.Compared with the banditry in the Central Plains, the slavery outside the pass is even more worrying.At least the rebellion in the Central Plains has not yet established the country, but the slaves outside the pass have gone through two generations. Even Huang Taiji claimed to be the emperor, so a ceremony was inserted. It can be seen that this person is very harmful. These people have a nest, and the credit can be said to be unimaginable.

"The supervisor gives an order!" Qin Liangyu said loudly: "Although the old woman is a bit old, she can still mount a horse and kill the enemy. White soldiers are not vegetarians."

"Yes, Lord Hong, give the order!" Zhang Fengyi also said loudly, although he is the Minister of the Ministry of War, but in real terms, his prestige in the court or in the army is far inferior to that of Hong Chengchou.

"The Tianxiong Army is at your command." Lu Xiangsheng also stood up.

"I would like to listen to the adults." Zuo Liangyu and others also stood up one after another. No matter it was sincere or helpless, everyone dared not hold back at this time.

"Okay, since you all have such ambitions, Hong Chengchou will not fall behind." Seeing this, Hong Chengchou was very happy, and said to Lu Xiangsheng: "General Lu, you have met Li Xin. How is the Northern Army going?"

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while, and finally said: "The army is well-groomed, a rare elite division, although Han Fan is among them, but it is a rare elite soldier." Lu Xiangsheng would not lie, so he thought about it and said to Hong Chengchou.

"Since he is in the Northern Army, let's come together!" Hong Chengchou thought for a while and said, "Since Li Xin has accepted the imperial edict, it means that he still considers himself a general of the imperial court, and immediately pass on the order of the governor, ordering The Marquis of Zhengbei immediately led the army to Zunhua, and the army encircled Zunhua together." Hong Chengchou said loudly, without even thinking about whether Li Xin would agree.Lu Xiangsheng and the others thought for a while, then nodded, and ordered someone to pass on the order without mentioning it.

In Zunhua City, Huang Taiji had already occupied the mansion. In the mansion, Dorgon explained in detail how he met Li Xin, and then stood there, waiting for Huang Taiji's decision.

Huang Taiji glanced at Dorgon not far from the opposite side. He knew that Dorgon had not deceived himself, but it was really hard for him to make this decision, not to mention that the amount of silver Li Xin wanted was too large. More importantly, Li Xin asked Dorgon to go back to rescue soldiers and redeem himself with money. He was really worried about this.

"It seems that Li Xin and the Ming court are not on the same path. Your Majesty, this is a good opportunity!" Fan Wencheng suddenly discovered the mystery inside. He didn't care what Dorgon was thinking, he just hoped Everyone can escape.

"Where can I find so many silver taels?" Ning Wanwo said with a sad face.If you are not in charge of the family, you don't know that Chai Migui is expensive. How can Fan Wencheng know how much silver taels Jiannu still has.

"That's right! Li Xin is extremely vicious." Huang Taiji said with a cold snort: "If I don't redeem those soldiers together, I will lose the morale of the army. I wonder if any of these people have parents and wives. Everyone in my family will resent me, and in the future, will anyone go to war for me? If I redeem them all, there might not be so many silver taels in the palace!"

"If you don't have it, grab it." Dorgon said grimly: "Your Majesty, with so many soldiers, at least we have to redeem most of them. My younger brother thinks that these silver taels can be obtained. First, we can snatch some of them from North Korea." The second is to get a part from Horqin and other Mongolian tribes, and the other part is to collect gold and silver from the people, plus all the gold and silver in the palace, it is almost enough."

"This?" Huang Taiji frowned a bit. There was nothing wrong with Dorgon's words. It can be said that following Dorgon's method, he might be able to gather tens of millions of taels of silver to redeem himself. It is possible, but in this way, it is tantamount to disappointing Horqin and other Mongolian tribes.If not done well, they will be forced to rebel.

"Your Majesty, what Fourteen Baylor said makes sense." Ning Wan and I also said: "Your Majesty, if the Emperor is in trouble, you only need to redeem our Manchu soldiers. As for the other Han and Mongols, you can let them tribal The general will redeem it himself. In this way, a lot of money can be saved.”

"I still need to think about this matter." Huang Taiji glanced at Dorgon and said, "Fourteenth brother, you should go to Li Xin's place, even if I, Huang Taiji, keep my word, as long as he lets us go, I will return these silver taels to him one by one. In addition, I have a big thank you. During his lifetime, when I saw him, I would stay away from him. I will never invade the grassland again."

"Yes." Dorgon's heart skipped a beat, and he retreated respectfully. The rest of the ministers were also silent. It can be said that the promise made by Huang Taiji just now was too great.Only Fan Wencheng took these words as nonsense, people who play politics are a bunch of beasts in clothes, what they just said here, they will regret it in a blink of an eye.Huang Taiji's move may have other calculations.As for the calculation, I don't know.

After Huang Taiji let Dorgon leave, he waved his hand, and everyone could only retreat. Only Fan Wencheng stayed, and he had to stay.

"Sir, what do you mean Li Xin asked Fourteenth Brother to go back to Shengjing alone?" In the hall, there was silence, only Huang Taiji was walking around in the hall, and finally said to Fan Wencheng.

"Ah!" Fan Wencheng's complexion suddenly changed, he heard the meaning of Huang Taiji's words, and now he regretted staying.This Huang Taiji is suspicious of Dorgon!
"Your Majesty, Li Xin is extremely treacherous. Just as he said, this matter can only be done by two people, one of whom is the Emperor himself. Undoubtedly, Li Xin is now a rare commodity, and he will not let the Emperor go. Come on, the only person left is Fourteen Baylor." Fan Wencheng explained with a wry smile.He wasn't sure if this was Li Xin's plan to divorce, but whether it was or not, at this time, he had to say good things for Dorgon, and they were also good things that were realistic.

"Yes, Li Xin is very treacherous, but tell me, do you really want Dorgon to go to Shengjing?" Huang Taiji asked again.It's a pity that it's hard for Fan Wencheng to speak this time. No one can guarantee that Dorgon will try his best to rescue him after he goes to Shengjing.If he took the opportunity to rebel, since Huang Taiji was in the pass anyway, and he didn't give money, maybe Li Xin really killed him?
"But don't let him go back?" Huang Taiji said to himself.This was the most difficult decision that Huang Taiji had ever made. Huang Taiji had never felt like putting his life in the hands of others.

"Your majesty, I think that Fourteen Baylor should be allowed to return to Shengjing." Fan Wencheng gritted his teeth and said, "Not to mention, Li Xin will only let Dorgon go, and he can only let him go. If other people go over, I'm afraid Li Xin won't get the money. Moreover, even if the emperor, Fourteen Baylor wants to rebel, I'm afraid no one will support him. Unless he can redeem all the [-] soldiers, otherwise, the court No one in China will support him. What's more, Li Xin will not support him either."

"Why doesn't Li Xin support it?" Huang Taiji said in disbelief, "He can't wait for such a thing to happen?"

"Your Majesty, what Li Xin needs is a chaotic Daikin, not a unified Daikin." Fan Wencheng stroked his beard and said, "If Fourteen Baylor is really capable and succeeds in usurping the throne in Daikin, next step, Li Xin will definitely let the emperor go back, only in this way, Da Jin will ignite the flames of war in order to fight for the throne, and Li Xin can benefit from it."

"Well, that's right. Only in this way can Li Xin gain the greatest benefit." Huang Taiji nodded.

"What I am most worried about now is the Ming Dynasty. Whether it is Hong Chengchou's frontier army or Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong army, they are all soldiers and horses of Emperor Chongzhen. They are extremely loyal to Chongzhen. Don't say that we are now There are tens of thousands of people, even if there are a million people, they will not take it seriously. These people are now in our hands, and all their money and fields have been plundered. After returning, they are also slaves. These people are in troubled times , became the master of the rebellion, such a person would like to die in the Ming Dynasty? Your Majesty, the land annexation is extremely serious in the Ming Dynasty. In this case, one way is to expand the land, and the other way is to die. If there are too many, these lands can be distributed to those who have no land. The emperor captured several 10 people this time, but a large area of ​​land was vacated. If these people died cleanly, maybe the Ming Dynasty would thank the emperor and said Not sure?"

"You mean to say that the 10 people I have captured have no binding force on Hong Chengchou?" Huang Taiji's face turned blue. The reason why he dared to live in Zunhua was because of these hundreds of thousands of people. With the common people in hand, neither Hong Chengchou nor Li Xin dared to act rashly.Now that he heard that these people had no influence on Hong Chengchou, he was naturally unhappy, which meant that he might face the attack of hundreds of thousands of Ming troops.

"Maybe so." Fan Wencheng himself didn't dare to guarantee it.

"Boom!" At this moment, a cannon sound came.The two monarchs and ministers in the hall were shocked.The two looked out immediately, and heard the rumbling of cannons again.

"This Hong Chengchou is really bold. Don't you even want the lives of hundreds of thousands of people? Fortunately, he is still a scholar, so he is so inhuman." Hearing the sound of cannons outside, Huang Taiji jumped up angrily .He didn't even think about it, if it was about viciousness, Jiannu was no different, and his Huang Taiji was no fun either.The eldest brother said that the second brother is not a fun thing.

Fan Wencheng smiled wryly. In the eyes of these officials, what is the life of these common people?Just like nothing, if you die, you will die. As long as you can destroy Huang Taiji, that is a military exploit.In the future, who will remember the hundreds of thousands of people who were killed in Zunhua?Even these accounts will be recorded on Huang Taiji.

"Fortunately, Zunhua City is strong, otherwise, we would be at a big loss." Fan Wencheng thought for a while, and said: "Now we can only hope that Li Xin will be able to dissuade Hong Chengchou from knowing about Hong Chengchou's move. Others don't want to do this." Li Xin still needs [-] people. His foundation is weak, and he needs fame, so he might be able to dissuade Hong Chengchou."

After Huang Taiji heard this, he became even more depressed. When would Huang Taiji act on the face of others, but he had no way to do it. Don't look at him with abundant food and grass, but some strategic weapons. Not many, in a real fight, although these civilians would suffer countless casualties, the [-] army he led would also suffer countless casualties.

"Go, go up and have a look, I want to see how courageous Hong Chengchou is." Huang Taiji said through gritted teeth.In fact, not all of Huang Taiji's [-] troops are placed in Zunhua City. After all, Zunhua City is not very big, so there is no room for [-] troops, so Dorgon led [-] troops to station in the south of the city to resist Hong Chengchou's army. .He and Zunhua have also become horns.

Hong Chengchou's army dispatched and used cannons. Although many of them were Franc cannons, they didn't have much impact on the city walls, but they had an immeasurable impact on morale.

Huang Taiji boarded the tower, pointed to the camp in the distance and said: "Who is in charge of the camp now?" Dorgon left, and there was no one in charge of the camp, so Huang Taiji asked this question.

"It's Dodo." Hauge said dissatisfied.He wanted to command the army by himself, but unfortunately, he couldn't compete with Dorgon, so he could only be the deputy general in the city.

Huang Taiji also frowned. He was dissatisfied with Doduo. Doduo was reckless and easy to kill by nature, so he was not the best candidate for the commander of an army. It is difficult for Huang Taiji to intervene in the army commanded by brothers Dorgon and Duoduo.

"Although Hong Chengchou has hundreds of thousands of troops, according to my humble official, there are only three elite troops among them, one of which is his own frontier army. Hong Chengchou's frontier army is stationed on the three sides of Shaanxi. Not only will he have to pay more to Li Zicheng and others, To deal with the horse bandits on the prairie, there is also an elite Tianxiong army that is Lu Xiangsheng, who also crawled out of the dead people in the peasant uprising, and the last one is the white-armed soldiers. Although these three armies are powerful, but The number of people is very small, but only tens of thousands of people. As for the other troops, they are just making up numbers and are not real. That is to say, what we have to deal with now is only these tens of thousands of troops. I have experienced fights, but they were all aimed at Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and others, and they are far behind my Dajin cavalry." Fan Wencheng explained on the side.

"I'm not worried about these people, I'm worried about Li Xin." Huang Taiji looked to the north, as if he could see Xifengkou in the distance through the thick fog.After hearing this, Fan Wencheng and others also showed a hint of worry on their faces. These people were obviously worried about Li Xin.

"Damn, hate, this Hong Chengchou doesn't care about hundreds of thousands of people!" At Xifengkou, Li Xin was walking around in the hall, cursing as he walked.But Shi Yuanzhi looked at Li Xin with a smile. In fact, he could see that Li Xin was worried about the lives of tens of thousands of people, but more importantly, these 10 people could support Li Xin. The country of Xin has made Li Xin's foundation even more solid.

"My lord, I don't know whether you are going to Zunhua or not?" Shi Yuanzhi asked again.

"Go, why don't you go." Li Xin gritted his teeth and said: "The army is dispatched. I haven't met the generals in the Central Plains. I have to go and see! It can also let the soldiers see the world, let them see Let's see how powerful our army is. Order Zhao Guang to defend the city, and Gao Meng and Jutu go to see the imperial army."

Seeing this, Shi Yuan smiled wryly. This Li Xin probably put Hong Chengchou on his mind. Also, who asked Hong Chengchou to ruin his good deed?
"Master, that Dorgon is here again." Outside the hall, Gao Meng said again.

(End of this chapter)