"Li Zicheng, Dorgon has already gone to attack Beijing. What are you waiting for?”
Li Daoxuan shouted from Weiyuan Sect.
His voice echoed in the sky.
"Li Zicheng, Dorgon went to attack Beijing. What are you waiting for?”
Then, the tens of thousands of Ming soldiers on Shanhaiguan Pass let out a tsunami of shouts, accompanied by countless gloating laughter.
Two miles away from them, under the North Wing City, there were countless formations of the Shun army. In the middle of the Shun army, under the big flag of the word "Chuang", Li Zicheng, dressed in gorgeous golden armor, controlled his horse and looked at Shanhaiguan with a cold gaze. He looked at the figure on the Weiyuan Gate tower that was said to be Emperor Chongzhen. This dog Emperor, who he had chased out of Beijing and left his wife and children behind, had suddenly returned in such a shocking manner. It had indeed caught him off guard. Previously, he had lost 30,000 yuan for a month, but he had not been able to take down Shanhai Pass. Now that this dog Emperor had returned, it would be even more troublesome.
"Your Majesty, we must be on guard!"
Bai Guangen, who was beside him, said in a low voice.
"Dorgon's army has indeed withdrawn from Ningyuan for a few days. Although he has suffered heavy losses at Ningyuan City, it is far from the point of being severely injured. He still has at least 70,000 troops, and this is not counting the Mongols who will definitely join him. They are all cavalry, and it will take them less than half a month to enter the pass by taking the west path. If the Qing army really attacks Beijing, we must return as quickly as possible to be ahead of them.”
He continued.
"What's there to be afraid of? Zunhua and Gubeikou have tens of thousands of people. There were still 50,000 soldiers in Beijing, and Jiang Yao's men in Xuanhua. How many steps would it take to cross Juyong Pass? With them, how can we not stop the Tartars? Let's take down Shanhaiguan and cut Wu Sangui into pieces first!”
Liu Zongmin said.
Many of his most trusted subordinates had died during the siege, especially because he had failed to conquer Shanhaiguan for a long time. During this period of time, the Shun army had also accused him of kidnapping officials, especially Wu Sangui's concubine. They had the intention of making him take the blame, so they hated Wu Sangui to the core!
Bai Guangen smiled bitterly.
There were indeed a large number of troops in Zunhua and Gubeikou. There were also 50,000 defenders in Beijing, but they were all surrendered troops. During the Ming Dynasty, they could run away at the sight of the Qing army, let alone now. However, he did not dare to say this. After all, he had surrendered. How could he dare to fight Liu Zongmin head-on? How could these bandits know the power of the Eight Banners Cavalry? If Dorgon really appeared in Gubeikou or Zunhua, he could almost guarantee that the only thing the defenders would do was: It was to open the city gates and surrender.
"All of you shut up and order all the troops to attack. Leaving this dog emperor alive is a disaster!”
Li Zicheng shouted.
At this moment, a cavalryman ran along the stone river bank and quickly rushed in front of him. He knelt down with a panicked expression and said,"Roaming King, a large number of Ming Navy warships have arrived!”
"Warship? How much?"
Bai Guangen asked hurriedly.
"The entire sea is boundless!"
the soldier said.
"Your Majesty, it's the Jiangnan Navy. We can't delay any longer!”
Bai Guangen said anxiously.
Li Zicheng lashed his whip hatefully.
At the same time, Li Daoxuan let out a long sigh.
Just as the soldier who reported the news said, endless sails appeared on the sea in the direction of Old Dragon Head. The place where the sea and sky met became a dense forest of masts. Battleships of various sizes slowly moved toward the shore on the blue sea like dark clouds that covered the sky. It looked extremely spectacular. His perseverance finally paid off. The reinforcements from Jiangnan had arrived, and around him were the ecstatic cheers of countless Ming soldiers. Their persistence had finally paid off.
Amidst the cheers of the Ming army, the hundreds of thousands of Shun troops surrounding Shanhaiguan retreated like a tide.
He was saved.
"Your Majesty should be in Nanjing, right?"
Wang Yongji asked carefully.
"Nanjing? I said before that I will never go to Nanjing. I will not go anywhere. I will reorganize the army at Shanhaiguan and then take back Beijing. What I have lost, I will take back with my own hands.”
Li Daoxuan said.
Lao Wang quickly shut his mouth. At the same time, he was relieved. The reinforcements had arrived, but they were not here to save them. Instead, they were here to escort the emperor to Nanjing. He was very clear about this. If it was just them, those Jiangnan gentry would not care about their lives even if they were bored to death. However, the Emperor could go to Nanjing, but the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan could not. Not to mention that there were not many ships, even if there were ships, these soldiers and civilians were all locals. It was impossible for them to leave their homes and go to Jiangnan. However, if the Emperor left, those gentry in Jiangnan would not let this place perish completely, but they would not serve him sincerely. Unless the Emperor was still here and continued to hold high the banner of the king, they would be able to continuously pull in reinforcements and food. Therefore, the Emperor had to stay.
Three hours later.
"I am Uncle Cheng, Liu Kongzhao."
"I am the Minister of Rites of Nanjing, Wang Duo."
……
"Knock…"
The group of ministers couldn't continue kowtowing. They looked at the Emperor in front of them in confusion. Although they hadn't seen the Emperor for many years, they still had some impression of the Emperor in their memories. However, they couldn't associate him with the person in front of them. His appearance was indeed the same as the Emperor in their memories, except that he was a little fatter and his height was no different. However, what was with his arms and legs that were more than one size thicker? Also, what was with the murderous aura that was faintly emitting from his body?
"What's wrong? Have you forgotten what I look like?"
Li Daoxuan's face darkened.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Liu Kongzhao and Wang Duo looked at each other and hurriedly kowtowed. The others followed suit.
"Get up, all of you. It must have been hard for you to come all the way here. Did you meet Qing Song and Qing Feng on the way?”
Li Daoxuan said.
"Your Majesty, we met Lord Song and Lord Feng at the mouth of the Yangtze River.”
Liu Kongzhao said.
"Do you know my decree?”
Li Daoxuan said.
" We already know, but I implore Your Majesty to prioritize the country. Shanhaiguan is sandwiched between the rebels and the Tartar people, and it is not a place for the Supreme to live. The people of Jiangnan are all looking forward to it. I implore Your Majesty to go to Nanjing as soon as possible. As for the matter of defeating the rebels, it is the responsibility of the officials. It is enough for Pingxi Marquis and the others to be here. How can Your Majesty charge into the battle?”
Wang Duo said.
"Wang Qing, you are an old minister. Sincerity and the country rest together. You are all my confidants, so I will tell you the truth. If the Ming Dynasty comes to this point, I have no face to face the Jiangnan people!”
Li Daoxuan said with a pained expression.
"Uh, Your Majesty, the officials who caused Beijing to fall deserve to die!”
Wang Duo hurriedly said as he lay on the ground.
Then, the officials who had come to welcome the emperor hurriedly knelt down and apologized.
"All of you, get up. You're in Nanjing, so what does the change in Beijing have to do with you? In short, I will not go to Nanjing. Beijing was lost in my hands, so I will take it back with my own hands. Otherwise, even if I die, I will have no face to face my ancestors. In addition, this is also the decree given to me by Emperor Taizu. As for the matter of Nanjing, it can be handed over to the Tang King to supervise the country, and the ministers can assist him. Although the Tang King violated the rules and was punished, he is the only one with some courage in the imperial clan. With the ministers assisting the soldiers, it should not be a problem to block Chuangni north of the Huai River. I only need you to guarantee that there is no shortage of money and food. I will lead the army to recapture Beijing.”
Li Daoxuan said.
"Your Majesty…"
Wang Duo still wanted to say something, but Li Daoxuan raised his hand to stop him. In this case, he could only wait for the future. Anyway, Li Zicheng's army had already retreated, so there was nothing to be anxious about. He was here, so he would slowly find an opportunity to persuade him!
"How many soldiers did you bring?"
Li Daoxuan looked at the seemingly endless warships on the sea and the soldiers who were disembarking on the dock.
" Your Majesty, we have brought a total of 50,000 people, but most of them are navy troops. Land battles are not their forte. As for weapons, ammunition, food, and so on, we have a lot of them. We have 150,000 catties of food and one million taels of silver. Also, the troops led by the Fujian commander, Zheng Zhilong, are also on the way to the north to help the king. We estimate that they will arrive in half a month at most. Zheng Zhilong is also in charge of Your Majesty's decree to pardon the Danmin and summon them to the north. It is estimated that some Danmin will also go north by then.”
Liu Kongzhao said.
In fact, Li Daoxuan's edict was completely baffling to them. Those Danmin were beggars on the sea and were considered legal untouchables. Because they were forbidden to live on land, they used boats as their homes and drifted among the islands. What use could these people have?
Of course, he didn't know that His Majesty the Emperor liked this.
It wasn't just the Danmin.
Next, His Majesty was going to recruit those shed people, beggars, and miners from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang mountainous areas. In short, he liked all of these low-class duckweeds. They were good because they had no roots, which meant that they had nothing to do with the gentry. Only such people could be truly loyal to him. Moreover, their status was low. As long as the Emperor granted them the status of commoners and gave them land to live, they would be sincerely grateful to the Emperor. As for the land they needed…
Wasn't this simple?
After all this, how much land did Bei Zhili have?
Not to mention anything else, the total population of Xingcheng, Suizhong, and Shanhaiguan, which were located between Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan in modern times, was more than one million. This was not counting the entire Qinghuangdao outside Shanhaiguan and the one million people in Jianchang and Qinglong counties. If his high-yield crops and marine fishing were developed, even without modern fertilizers and pesticide, this area that could be completely controlled could support at least 1.5 million people.
Speaking of which, he would have to farm in the future, but he could not do it without people.
It was absolutely impossible for him to migrate from Jiangnan to this place. How could a good family leave their hometown and go north? Only these lowlifes could do so. It was a huge temptation to get rid of the lowly.
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