Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 82 If the mountain doesn’t come to me, I will go to the mountain

The Qianqing Palace in the imperial city of Beijing.

Zhu Youjian sat high on the dragon throne, looking at the report in his hand in silence.

In the hall, Ni Yuanlu and Wang Jiayan frowned, while Huang Degong stood aside.

To be precise, Zhu Youjian read three reports, and none of them contained good news.

Shanhaiguan was broken, and Wang Erhu led 9,000 Jizhou troops and 5,000 Xuanfu troops to station in a small town 30 miles outside Shanhaiguan.

Confrontation with the Qing army at Shanhaiguan.

Huang Degong also wrote his speculation in a memorial, fearing that Zhu Youjian would not be able to convince the court officials, and he even came to the court in person to argue.

However, he overlooked one thing, which was Zhu Youjian's current control over the imperial court in the capital.

After upgrading the court's entries, the efficiency of the court has finally been improved.

Ni Yuanlu was a little worried. "The Jiannu are really ambitious. My imperial army in the capital just defeated a million-strong army and shocked the world. But the Jiannu are not afraid and are marching south. How dare that old villain Dorgon do that?"

"If it's true as General Huang said, then things are bad. King Zhou just sent us a report yesterday, saying that a hundred thousand troops can reach the canal today and reach Beijing in seven days by going north along the river." Wang Jiayan said with fear.

"If a Jiannu army were to patrol the river and attack, I'm afraid the Jiangnan royal army wouldn't be able to reach them!"

"In my opinion, we should quickly send troops to Xifengkou to block the Jiannu's southward advance!"

"I understand what Hushan means, but the 4,000 Zhejiang soldiers cannot be sent to Xifengkou." Zhu Youjian put down the report in his hand and said to Huang Degong.

The latter was startled and hurried to dissuade him, "Your Majesty! The Zhejiang soldiers defending the capital are indeed foolproof, but if we allow the Jiannu to plunder Shandong, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Zhu Youjian shook his head and said, "I don't mean to let the Jiannu go to Shandong."

"Let me ask you, if it is true, as you speculated, that a detachment of troops marched out of Xifengkou and headed straight for Shandong Road, given the speed of the Jiannu, I'm afraid by the time the Zhejiang troops arrived, Xifengkou would have already been breached, right?"

"This..." Huang Degong was stunned. This was indeed something he had overlooked. Although it took a detour of 400 miles to get to Xifengkou, Dorgon had already stayed outside Shanhaiguan for two or three days. With the marching speed of the Jiannu, if the detachment had set out with Dorgon, they would probably have passed Xifengkou by now.

"So the Zhejiang troops shouldn't be sent to Xifengkou, but to the Shanhaiguan front!" Zhu Youjian reported, pressing down on the table. "Keep Dorgon near Shanhaiguan, and prevent the Jiannu central army and its logistics from advancing an inch."

"Send the garrison troops near the capital to Xifengkou. It's not too late to mend the situation."

"It's not appropriate. Since the Jiannu army has crossed Xifengkou, we should urgently dispatch heavy troops to support it. The defenders of Shandong Road are only tens of thousands, and there has been no fighting for a long time. Ten thousand Jiannu can sweep them away." Huang Degong thought about it and rejected this strategy.

There was nothing wrong with Zhu Youjian's arrangement, but it was aimed at the Jiannu in Shanhaiguan.

When the Jiannu army swept through Shandong, the north was completely reduced to an enclave.

With the Jiannu in the north and the rebels in the west, even if Dorgon's central army was stopped, it would be of no use.

Zhu Youjian shook his head again. "Ze Qing's army in Shandong Province has 30,000 men. Didn't they submit a memorial the other day saying they wanted to come to the king? Tell him not to come, just stay by the Yellow River and guard it for me."

After saying that, he looked up at Wang Jiayan again, "Wang Qing, where are Shi Kefa's troops?"

"Your Majesty, Minister Shi just left Xuzhou at 3:00 AM yesterday and should be arriving in Caozhou soon," Wang Jiayan replied.

Although the great victory in the capital did not intimidate the Jiannu, military leaders across the country were still shocked.

His attitude towards the court also became more respectful.

In the past, who would care about your Ministry of War except for paying salaries?

"Inform Shi Kefa and tell him not to come to the capital. Promote him to the positions of Chief of the Shandong Provincial Criminal Investigation Department, Provincial Administration Department, and Military Command Department, and Governor of Shandong's defense. Take your men directly to Jinan Prefecture."

"He has 50,000 men, Liu Zeqing's men, and all the garrisons in Shandong Province are under his control. If he needs money or food, he can use local resources. I will not care about him until the war is over. I will just make sure that no Jiannu soldiers are allowed to cross Shandong!"

"Ah?" Wang Jiayan and Huang Degong cried out in shock at the same time.

This gave Shi Kefa too much power!
The three officials are in the same body. If Shi Kefa wants to establish himself as the emperor today, he can ascend the throne tonight!
However, Ni Yuanlu did not show any surprise.

Or perhaps he has become accustomed to it. Ever since the rebel army captured Xuanfu, His Majesty has completely changed the way he does things.

No matter whether you are loyal or treacherous, and no matter what you want, as long as you can complete the task he gives you, he will give you everything.

A model of trusting people when you employ them and not employing people if you don't trust them.

If it were a peaceful time, Ni Yuanlu felt that his Majesty could be on par with Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Taizu of Han.

Of course, that's just what he thought.

"Gentlemen, please do not say anything more. Minister Wang will go down and pass the order to Shi Kefa. I will have Wang Banban draft the imperial edict and send it to Ye Bu Shou."

"I...I obey your order."

Zhu Youjian had made up his mind, and Wang Jiayan had no choice but to obey.

Huang Degong was silently calculating in his mind. According to his speculation, the number of people in this detachment could not be too large. After all, they were traveling thousands of miles, and food and grass were a big problem. The court had not yet figured out the food and grass reserves in Shandong Province, so it was impossible for the Jiannu to send a large army there.

The number of people in one flag is already the limit. With Liu Zeqing, Shi Kefa and the Shandong Road Guard Station, 100,000 people should be able to rely on the strong city and the natural barrier of the Yellow River to hold them off.

There is only one threat now.

"Your Majesty, outside Shanhaiguan there are Dorgon's two yellow flags and the bordered blue flag. The detachment should undoubtedly be the white or bordered white. However, the Jiannu had eight flags, and at this time, four are still remaining. The Khorchin and Tumed tribes of the Mongols, as well as the various tribes in the northern border, are also subservient to the Jiannu."

"Since Dorgon intends to annex the northern lands, the remaining troops cannot remain outside the Great Wall."

"I am worried..."

Zhu Youjian nodded slowly, "I know."

"Hushan is simply worried that the remaining Jiannu forces and the rebel coalition will jointly invade the northern part of the Ming Dynasty."

This speculation is very reasonable and even very likely to happen.

If Zhu Youjian was still the original Chongzhen, he would definitely transfer his few remaining troops to the Datong area to guard against Li Zicheng.

But he came from later times and knew what Li Zicheng had done.

In his previous life, after Li Zicheng conquered the capital, the first thing he did was not to go south, but to mobilize a large army to the north to prepare for a decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty.

Although one of the reasons was that Wu Sangui led the Qing Dynasty into the pass.

However, the historical books that Zhu Youjian had read all recorded that before Li Zicheng took over Shanxi, he had already, with the assistance of Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance, decided that after conquering the capital, Li Yan would go south and Li Zicheng's army would go north.

It can be said that although Li Zicheng was a traitor to the Ming Dynasty, he was still a Han Chinese.

Coupled with Zhu Youjian's previous two theories of Han and traitors, the probability of an alliance between Li Zicheng and the Qing Dynasty was almost zero.

Unless he doesn't want the base in Shanxi and Shaanxi.

"Don't worry about this. Li Zicheng will definitely not join forces with the Jiannu. Hushan only needs to focus on the movements of the remaining Jiannu troops."

"Your Majesty...I obey your command." Huang Degong opened his mouth several times, but finally lowered his head.

"Tell me, where should the remaining Jiannu troops be?" Zhu Youjian asked again while looking at the three people in the hall.

"Your Majesty." Wang Jiayan stepped forward first.

"I believe that the Jiannu's ambitions are well known to everyone when they entered the pass. They are trying to drive the Holy Emperor south and seize the northern lands."

"Enemy forces are present at Shanhaiguan and Xifengkou, forcing our army to advance northward. This leaves the western territories empty. The remaining Jiannu forces must be waiting for this opportunity to enter through Zhangjiakou and sweep through Xuanfu and other cities."

Ni Yuanlu agreed deeply, "I agree."

"I feel the same." Huang Degong also felt that the Jiannu would attack Xuanfu from the west, exerting pressure from three sides and forcing the court to move south.

And there is almost no solution to this situation.

Even if he followed his strategy and blocked the central army at the Shanhaiguan line, he could only barely hold on.

If they wanted to turn the tide later, they would have to rely on reinforcements from the south. But as it stands now, the only reinforcements that could arrive in a short period of time would be the Zhou King's 100,000 troops.

After all, Shi Kefa's troops were to be stationed in Shandong Province.

With these 100,000 troops, plus the remaining 70,000 troops in Northern Zhili, Huang Degong really had no confidence to fight against the 200,000-strong army of the Jiannu.

This number must at least be doubled to have a chance of winning.

The gap in individual quality between the two sides is too big and cannot be made up overnight.

"If the remaining Jiannu forces join forces with the Mongol tribes and invade from Zhangjiakou, how should the imperial court respond?"

Zhu Youjian looked at the three of them and asked in a deep voice.

"This..." Wang Jiayan and Ni Yuanlu were speechless for a moment.

Huang Degong could only bite the bullet and explain, "Your Majesty, the remaining four banners of the Jiannu have at least 100,000 troops. There are also 30,000 from the eight banners of the Mongols, 20,000 from the eight banners of the Han army, and 30,000 from the Tumed tribe and other tribes. That makes a total of 180,000."

"Aside from the troops supporting the Shanhaiguan front, the Xuanfu royal army only has 26,000 men left."

"I...I think...we can't hold it..."

Huang Degong's voice was almost inaudible when he said the last sentence.

Zhu Youjian had no reaction. "Well, with an army of 180,000 marching south, it's impossible to defend the city with only 20,000 men."

"How long will the spring plowing in Xuanfu take?"

"It will take another nine days." Huang Degong replied quickly.

"Nine days..." Zhu Youjian calculated.

Xuanfu is indeed moving very quickly, and spring plowing will be completed in nine days, while the fastest time for other places is about ten days.

A city like the capital has a large population and needs more land to be reclaimed, so it will take at least fifteen days to complete.

In other words, he had to hold on for at least fifteen days before he could return to the capital to defend the city with peace of mind.

The first batch of silver from Li Ruolian will not be delivered until a month later.

In other words, according to his own idea, in order to defend northern Zhili without affecting spring plowing, it would be necessary to keep the Qing army outside the pass for fifteen days and then defend the city for another fifteen days.

King Zhou's reinforcements only have seven days left. Considering their combat effectiveness, which can defeat Li Yan's 40,000 men, their strength is almost negligible. It will take 15 days for the 3,000-man battalion to return from Mo Nan.

So... he had to rely on the more than 70,000 people in his hands to hold off the Qing army of more than 200,000 in a field battle for a full 15 days.

The rest are easy to deal with. After all, the only troops of the Qing Dynasty that have real combat capability are the Eight Banners Army.

At most six flags and 120,000 people.

The five military camps, together with the Black Armor Cavalry and the Qi Family Army, should be able to defend the border city.

In Zhu Youjian's eyes, he only needed to consider how to prevent Dorgon from running around and follow him at the border for fifteen days.

This matter was so easy to Zhu Youjian that it was terrifying.

It's just fishing. Isn't that how Li Zicheng took the bait?

Dorgon wanted to move south.

But he refused, he insisted on going north!

Shanhaiguan was broken, and there were still several small towns behind it that served as military fortresses.

"In that case, then forget it."

When the three heard this, they thought that Zhu Youjian had finally given up his stubbornness. After all, the Jiannu army was attacking from three directions at the same time, with more than 200,000 troops approaching, so there was no need to defend to the death.

With the wisdom and bravery of your Majesty, even if you go to the south, you can lead the army to the north and recover the homeland.

What's more, without the emperor and the court as his weak link, Huang Degong could fight the Jiannu with confidence, and the north would not necessarily fall.

Just when the three of them breathed a sigh of relief, they saw Zhu Youjian stand up from the dragon throne.

"The king is drafting an edict!"

"In each city and garrison of Northern Zhili, select the strongest and most capable men from the previously demobilized troops to serve as militia to defend the city. The garrisons of Shuntian Prefecture, Jizhou, and Tianjin will be dispatched to Shanhaiguan to form the Central Army, and the remaining troops will be dispatched to Xuanfu to form the Left Army."

"The left army was led by Huang Degong, and the Minister of War Wang Jiayan and half of the court moved to Xuanfu."

"The cabinet's chief minister, Ni Yuanlu, and half of the court officials stayed in the capital to take care of the spring plowing."

"The Shenji Camp, the Xuanjia Army, the Zhejiang Army, and the Imperial Guards will all be under the Central Army. Tomorrow at noon, twelve dragon banners will be displayed at Desheng Gate. I will personally lead the army!"

As soon as the words fell, the hall fell into dead silence.

Wang Jiayan thought he had fully understood Zhu Youjian's style, and at most he would order a strict defense of the capital, just like when he fought against Li Zicheng, and fight a decisive battle with the Jiannu outside the capital.

But he never expected that Zhu Youjian would actually lead the army in person! ?

That’s the Jiannu!

Those are the two yellow flags that the old villain Dorgon is carrying!
That's because the Jurchens are less than 10,000, but if they are 10,000, they are invincible and invincible in field battles!

Even if we add the Black Armor Army and Zhejiang soldiers that Zhu Youjian got from somewhere, there are only less than 40,000 people on our side.

They are not even in the same league!

You don't really think that you can become invincible just by defeating a million-strong army.

But Wang Jiayan also roughly guessed why Zhu Youjian wanted to lead the army in person.

To put it bluntly, they don't want to hand over the capital and the north, which they have defended with great difficulty.

But the more this happened, the more anxious Wang Jiayan became.

The north had long been turned into a wasteland because of Huang Taiji's invasion of the Pass and Li Zicheng's plundering of land. Even if it was defended, it would be impossible to restore it to its original state within ten years.

Even the millions of people in the north have become a burden.

If Wang Jiayan were to sacrifice an emperor who could have brought the Ming Dynasty back to glory just for such a useless thing, he would never be able to rest in peace.

He immediately jumped out, his face extremely serious, "Your Majesty, absolutely not!"

"As the sage said: A gentleman does not stand on a dangerous wall. Even if Your Majesty is reluctant to leave the people of the North, you should not lead the army in person. Otherwise, what use will we, the ministers and the generals in the court, have?"

"If Your Majesty insists on leading the army in person, then you must first step over the corpse of this old minister!"

Looking at Wang Jiayan, who looked determined, Zhu Youjian said with a half-smile, "Do you think that because that assassin Li Ruolian went to Nanjing, I can't punish you?"

At this time, the other two people who had just reacted also hurried forward.

"Your Majesty, Minister Wang's loyalty to the emperor and his country is clear to all, and he has absolutely no intention of looking down on Your Majesty. However, this journey is too dangerous. Otherwise, I am willing to take command of the army on Your Majesty's behalf and defend the north against the Jiannu." Ni Yuanlu offered a step.

But neither Zhu Youjian nor Wang Jiayan was willing to give up.

Huang Degong also stepped forward to persuade him.

"Your Majesty, the Jiannu are at their peak, have many horses, and are good at field battles. They should prioritize defending the city."

Zhu Youjian raised his eyebrows, "You want me to avoid his edge? Ridiculous!"

He looked up at Ni Yuanlu and said, "Spring plowing in the entire northern land will take another fifteen days. If I didn't lead the army in person, how could Dorgon wait so peacefully outside Shanhaiguan? Do you, Ni Yuanlu, have the nerve to keep Dorgon here?"

(End of this chapter)