Chapter 152 The Ten-Performance Net

The smoke from Datong Prefecture has dissipated, but there are clouds of war outside Beijing.

Dorgon led a 100,000 Jiannu army and was unstoppable. He successfully arrived outside Beijing last night and set up a camp outside Guangqu Gate. After the army rested for a night, Dorgon was preparing to meet the Qi flag army to launch a tentative attack on Beijing when bad news suddenly came.

The Ming Dynasty's royal army arrived, and it was the most difficult Hong Chengchou!

Dorgon did not dare to neglect his squad aides, Fan Wencheng and Ningwan, rushed to the tent for discussion. Fan Wencheng and Ningwan, came to Dorgon's tent with a happy heart, and knelt down to Dorgon and said, "I'm going to see my master."

Dorgon Sudou said, "Please get up, two gentlemen."

Fan Wencheng and Ningwan, I got up and settled the first stop at Dorgon. Dorgon said with a serious expression: "Mr. Wencheng, my husband, I just found a large group of Ming cavalry in Wanping. It is roughly estimated that it is at least more than 10,000 cavalry, and it is under the banner of Hong Chengchou."

"Hong Chengchou is here so soon?" Ning Wan said disapprovingly, "But that's nothing. No matter how powerful Hong Chengchou is, he can't even get over the sky with his ten thousand light cavalry."

"That's not the case." Fan Wencheng shook his head, "These tens of thousands of light cavalry are probably just vanguards. Since the vanguard has arrived in Wanping, it means that the large group of people is not far from Beijing. Hong Chengchou is not a good person. He has many elite troops in the border army under his command. Master, you should not underestimate it."

Dorgon nodded and said, "I think so too. If Hong Chengchou's army really arrives in Beijing, this battle will inevitably turn into a protracted war of attrition. But this place is not Liaodong after all. Beijing is in a hurry. The army sent by the Ming Dynasty to various places will arrive continuously, and the consequences will be unimaginable."

Fan Wencheng said in a dark voice: "It seems that the attack on Beijing is going to be suspended. Hong Chengchou must be killed first."

Dorgon looked at Fan Wencheng eagerly and asked anxiously: "I wonder what Mr. Wencheng has to offer?"

Fan Wencheng took his long beard and paced back and forth in the big tent for a few steps, and suddenly stopped and shouted: "Well, master, I have a trick to deal with Hong Chengchou!"

"Oh?" Dorgon said happily, "Mr. Wencheng, talk quickly."

Fan Wencheng smiled and said, "Hong Chengchou left the army and only brought 10,000 light cavalry to help Beijing, which means that Chongzhen's son was already anxious, and Hong Chengchou was also anxious. The master happened to use Chongzhen's son's impatience to set up a trap, so that Chongzhen's son forced Hong Chengchou to jump into the trap set up by us, hehehe..."

Dorgon couldn't wait to ask, "How to set up a trap?"

Fan Wencheng said: "The master can send a large army to Wanshou Mountain. He sets out his posture to dig the ancestral tomb of Chongzhen's child and cut off the dragon veins of the Zhu family. Chongzhen's child will be anxious when he knows it. He will definitely let Hong Chengchou quickly ride to Wanshou Mountain to protect the tomb. The master can lay an ambush on the road that must be passed to Wanshou Mountain. Open the ten-sided net to wait for Hong Chengchou!"

"Good plan." Ning Wan praised me, "As long as Hong Chengchou is killed, even if the subsequent army arrives, it will not be afraid."

"But..." Dorgon frowned and said, "My Qing army is in danger. Beijing is already in danger. Will Chongzhen's son ask Hong Chengchou to lead troops to protect the tomb of Wanshou Mountain? And Hong Chengchou is a smart person. He can't not know that it is a trap. He will really get in obediently?"

Fan Wencheng said proudly: "Master, it seems that you still don't understand the essence of Confucianism."

Dorgon said honestly: "I would like to ask Mr. Wencheng for advice."

Fan Wencheng said: "The essence of Confucianism is loyalty and filial piety. What is loyalty? Loyalty means that the king is the main body of the minister, that is, the king wants the minister to die, and the minister cannot die. As long as Chongzhen's son issues an imperial edict, Hong Chengchou has to go; what is filial piety? Filial piety means that the father is the main body of the son, that is, the father wants the son to die, and the son cannot die. If Chongzhen's son does not want to be criticized by the unfilial sons and grandchildren, he must send troops to protect the tomb of Wanshou Mountain, even if he knows that he cannot protect him, he must send troops."

"So that's it." Dorgon said, "That's not a good thing about Confucianism, it will kill people."

"It depends on who uses it and how it is used." Fan Wencheng said, "If it is used well, Confucianism is a powerful tool for governing the country and pacifying the world. If it is not used well, it is the culprit for the destruction of the country and losing the world."

"There is another problem." Dorgon thought for a while and said. "How can I let Chongzhen know that we are going to Wanshou Mountain to dig his ancestral grave to cut off his dragon veins? I can't let me send someone to deliver a letter to him, right?"

Fan Wencheng said: "This is simple. Didn't the master arrest a lot of eunuchs along the way? These eunuchs are all from the palace. They have the ability to see Chongzhen's son directly. We just need to find an opportunity to leak the news to a eunuch in the area, and then find an opportunity to let him run away. Chongzhen's son will know the news immediately."

Dorgon disagreed and said, "Isn't this the trick that the late emperor used before, does it work?"

"Of course it works." Fan Wencheng smiled sinisterly, "The late emperor's counter-espionage plan actually did not deceive Chongzhen's children, but Yuan Chonghuan died in the end. Do you know why?"

Dorgon didn't say anything.

Fan Wencheng continued: "That's because the officials of the Ming Dynasty always had parties, and they were in internal conflicts. This party said it was true, and the other party would definitely say it was false. No matter whether the matter was true or false, they opposed it just for the sake of opposition, so Yuan Chonghuan died in the end. So this time, whether Chongzhen's children believed it or not, he had to let Hong Chengchou lead his troops to protect the tomb."

Fan Wencheng is worthy of being the number one dog-headed military advisor under Dorgon, and is also a knowledgeable scholar who is well-read on the "books of sages". He has thoroughly understood the thoughts of the officials in the Ming Dynasty. What they would think and do after encountering things is already under his calculations.

The Forbidden City is built.

The morning court is underway once a day without any storm.

Emperor Chongzhen looked gloomy and looked at Chen Xinjia who was kneeling down on his knees and asked, "Chen Aiqing, is the martial law in the capital strictly imposed?"

"Get quit." Chen Xinjia responded anxiously, "The whole city was already martial law the night before yesterday."

"The outer city, the inner city and the imperial city are all martial law, and no one is allowed to enter and exit." Emperor Chongzhen said with a dark face, "The spies from Jiannu are everywhere, and the Fushun, Kaiyuan, Tieling, and Liaoyang in Liaodong are all captured in this way. We must not give them any opportunity to take advantage of it."

"I understand." Chen Xinjia said, "All the sects have sent guards to the Beijing camp. Don't worry, Master."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and asked again: "Where did Hong Chengchou's vanguard cavalry go? Where did the subsequent army go?"

Chen Xinjia said: "Before going to court, Weichen received the latest report from Hong Chengchou. His nine thousand vanguard cavalry had arrived in Wanping, and the subsequent 80,000 troops had already passed Baoding."

Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and his mind calmed down. Hong Chengchou finally arrived.

At this moment, a little eunuch hurried in from the side door, and whispered a few softly with Wang Cheng'en's ear.

Wang Chengen's face suddenly changed when he heard this. Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but frowned and asked in a deep voice: "Wang Chengen, what happened again?"

"Long live the Lord..." Wang Chengen said, "Can you..."

"Tell me!" Emperor Chongzhen said coldly, "What can't be said in front of all the civil and military officials in the court?"

Wang Chengen said: "Just just now, the general of Zhuozhou Guards Yan Cong escaped from the Jiannu camp and brought back an astonishing news. It said that Jiannu wanted to send troops to Wanshou Mountain to dig the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty... and also said that he wanted to cut off the dragon of my Zhu family..."

"It's outrageous, Jiannu is too arrogant!"

"Long live the emperor, I must not let Jiannu dig the ancestral tomb of our Ming Dynasty."

"Yes, we can't let Jiannu break the dragon vein of the Ming Dynasty. Long live the emperor, this is a major event that has been related to the Ming Dynasty for thousands of generations!"

The censors in the hall were immediately furious and all stood up and spoke generously. What's more, some even cried bitterly and burst into tears.

Finally, a clerk gave a lecturer and said: "The Emperor's Tomb of Wanshou Mountain cannot be blasphemed by Jiannu. I beg Wansui to immediately transfer nine thousand cavalrymen from the Hong army to protect the tomb."

The ritual department was finished. Thirteen Censors, Censors of the Censorate, and the Sesame Officials from the Hanlin Academy, etc., all went out to discuss the matters. Although these guys were not of high rank, they were just small officials from the earth, but Master Hongwu gave them great power. If these people report together, it would be a big deal.

Zhou Yanru was so treacherous that he didn't dare to come out and touch this bad intention.

Chen Xinjia was still a little tender, and he was also carrying the heavy responsibility of garrisoning Beijing, so he had to give priority to the security of Beijing, so he went out to retort: ​​"Long live, I think the words of Yan Cong, the general supervisor of Zhuozhou, were not trustworthy. This is probably just a trap. The purpose is to lure Hong Chengchou's nine thousand cavalry..."

"Chen Xinjia!" Before Chen Xinjia finished speaking, the first person to speak, the Li Ke interrupted him impolitely and asked sternly. "What a big deal to protect the imperial tomb? How dare you obstruct it? The news brought back by Yan Cong is true or false. If it is true, the imperial tomb in Wanshou Mountain was blasphemed by Jiannu and the dragon vein was destroyed, can you bear this responsibility? Do you want to make Master Wansui's infamy accusation?"

Chen Xinjia's face changed drastically and he didn't dare to say anything anymore.

Emperor Chongzhen also doubted the authenticity of the news that Yan Cong brought back, and he was even more worried that this was a trap set by Jiannu specifically targeting Hong Chengchou.

But Emperor Chongzhen did not express his inner thoughts because he was not very sure of his inference. If he forcibly denies the opinions of the ministers, the final result proves that the opinions of the ministers are correct, it will inevitably damage his prestige as the emperor.

Therefore, the best way is to have ministers stand up and oppose Emperor Chongzhen can denie this proposal. In this way, even if Emperor Chongzhen is wrong in the end, he can still put the blame on the opposing minister. Emperor Chongzhen will not have any responsibility, and the emperor's prestige will not be damaged at all.

Unfortunately, no minister came forward to object this time. Chen Xinjia quickly shrank back after saying something just now. The chief minister of the cabinet, Zhou Yanru, had his eyelids drooping, looking drowsy, but just a moment ago, this guy's eyes were still burning and full of energy.

Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to agree to the ministers' joint report, and the court issued an order to ask Hong Chengchou to lead his troops to protect the tomb of Wanshou Mountain.

In the final analysis, Emperor Chongzhen still valued his reputation and the emperor's prestige more. In order not to damage his face, he could only let Hong Chengchou take risks.

Wanping, Hong Chengchou's camp.

Not far ahead is Beijing City, with 300,000 Jiannu (known as Dorgon) stationed outside Guangqu Gate, waiting for the battle.

Hong Chengchou did not dare to get too close, and led nine thousand cavalry to station in Wanping County. The reason why he hurried over with nine thousand cavalry was not to fight with Jiannu, but to make Emperor Chongzhen and the people of the capital feel at ease, and to restrain Jiannu and prevent them from attacking Beijing City without scrupulously.

Hong Chengchou was always cautious in using troops. As early as when he received the imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen to serve the king, he had already thought of a complete plan to fight against Jiannu. Hong Chengchou believed that Jiannu's soldiers were sophisticated and could not win the battle in a hurry. Only by confronting him with a deep ditches and high bases could he drag down Jiannu in the protracted war of attrition.

So as soon as the army arrived in Wanping, Hong Chengchou immediately ordered the collection of food and grass and prepared to hold on for a long time.
Chapter completed!