Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Roll around,

I am Zhang Shikang, the admiral of the Beijing Camp, and your nephew was defeated by me.

I heard that you captured Sun Chengzong's family and wanted to use this old man to exchange for your eldest nephew?

You're overthinking it. Your eldest nephew is very good at fighting and is full of energy. I wonder how many Ming Dynasty soldiers he will kill in the future.

How about we meet and negotiate face to face?

You don't have to talk about it. Your eldest nephew eats too much. It would be a waste of food if he stayed in the barracks. I plan to cook him directly and let the soldiers have a taste.

Boarskin has a companion down there now, doesn’t he?

Oh, then I will send someone to send a letter to Daishan, saying that his son was cooked because you didn't want to talk, hehe.

It's not that I don't know how to be pedantic, I'm just worried that what I wrote is too pedantic and you barbarians won't understand it. Alas, I have really put a lot of effort into it.

Zhang Shikang, the commander of the Beijing Camp."

After reading the reply from the Ming army camp, the Han minister's hands were shaking and sweat was beading on his forehead. He glanced at Prince Rui Dorgun secretly, fearing that he would kill him.

He didn't know who Zhang Shikang was, but the letter was really disgusting. Not only was it full of typos, but it also wrote Dorgon as Duoergun, and the language was plain.

It is obvious that this person is vulgar and has no literary talent, but he insists on saying that he is worried that His Royal Highness the Prince will not understand. He is really shameless.

Not to mention His Royal Highness the Prince, even he would be very angry when he saw it.

"Your Highness, this guy actually dared to insult the Qing Dynasty. How hateful!" In order to distance himself from the matter, the man quickly knelt down on the ground.

Although Dorgon was only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, he had already been engaged in battles for nearly ten years, conquering the Mongolian tribes, Korea, and the Ming Dynasty. Because of his merits, he was conferred the title of Prince Rui by his elder brother Huang Taiji, and the title was inherited by his descendants.

His eyes were sharp and shrewd, and he looked at the Han minister with disdain.

Of course he was also very angry about the letter, but he was not like his brothers who would get furious at every turn.

Anger will make people lose their reason. This was the advice his father gave to everyone before his death, but not many people can really remember it.

Yuetuo's combat effectiveness was not weak, and his heavy cavalry could be ranked among the top five among the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

The man named Zhang Shikang was no simple man, as he was able to defeat Yuetuo head-on.

Dorgon certainly understood that Zhang Shikang's letter was meant to make him angry. Dorgon even guessed that the letter might also be intended to force him into a decisive battle.

But even though he knew that Zhang Shikang was deliberately trying to anger him, Dorgon almost couldn't hold back his anger. It would have been fine if he had just called him Duo'er, but he actually insulted his father.

The name "Wild Boar Skin" is indeed a literal translation of the Manchu word "Nurhaci". In the Manchu people's concept, wild boars are very ferocious beasts. The name "Wild Boar Skin" implies that the wild boar is as tough as wild boar skin.

This is just like how the Han people in the Ming Dynasty liked to name their children Gousheng and Tiedan, just for the sake of good luck.

Zhang Shikang repeatedly called him "Wild Boar Skin" in the letter, which was a complete insult, just like "telling your father that he is leftover dog, etc."

Nurhaci is the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty. How could Dorgon tolerate you calling him "Gousheng" or "Tiedan"?

During this invasion, Yuetuo suffered a series of defeats, and Dorgon had long been dissatisfied with this.

The Qing Dynasty was a new regime that admired strength. As long as the elite heavy cavalry of the Bordered Red Banner were preserved, Dorgon generally did not care much about Yuetuo's life or death.

But Zhang Shikang's threat was not without effect. It didn't matter whether he cared or not, but once his brother Daishan knew about it, it would be a different story.

He launched a surprise attack on Gaoyang and captured Sun Chengzong, actually in order to exchange him for Yuetuo. However, this Ming general named Zhang Shikang did not seem to care much about Sun Chengzong's life or death.

This surprised him greatly. In his impression, the Ming court was the most concerned about face, although he himself scoffed at this.

"Your Highness, I just received an oral order from His Majesty. If the situation is untenable, His Majesty has instructed us to withdraw our troops in an orderly manner."

While he was thinking about it, the officer Wu Nahai came in to report.

Dorgon frowned when he heard the news.

This entry into the pass was quite smooth at the beginning. They captured more than a dozen cities of the Ming Dynasty in succession and captured a lot of money and grain.

But since the name of Zhang Shikang was known, the situation of the war seemed to become confusing.

It was heard that Yuetuo was about to defeat Lu Xiangsheng. As long as they captured Julu, they could advance into Shandong, which was under the control of the Ming court, or retreat into the capital of the Ming court. The results of the battle would surely be expanded.

However, Zhang Shikang suddenly appeared. This man was previously unknown, but he defeated Yuetuo in one battle, which really surprised Dorgon.

Of course he understood what His Majesty meant. Although there were gains this time, compared with the thousands of Yuetuo tribesmen who died in the battle, the gains were not worth the losses.

Although the warriors of the Eight Banners were brave and fearless, their numbers were still too small compared to the Ming court.

Now Yang Sichang of the Ming court has gathered an army of hundreds of thousands and has always been very wary of him. This man is cautious in using troops, like a turtle, but he can't do anything about Yang Sichang.

The Ming court couldn't afford to waste time, and he couldn't afford it even more.

The Ming court could not afford to waste time because of money and food, and he could not afford to waste time because he did not want to lose too many elite troops. They had originally entered the pass to extort money.

Now, in addition to Yang Sichang, there is also Zhang Shikang, which makes us really in a difficult situation.

But even so, Dorgon was still somewhat unwilling.

"Got it. Tell His Majesty that I intend to try again. If there is still no chance after ten months, I will return."

After weighing the pros and cons, Dorgon decided to go to Unahaidao.

Unahai took the order and left. Dorgon wandered around the tent for a while and finally decided to meet Zhang Shikang.

It is important to bring Yuetuo back, but Dorgon wants to see who this Ming general named Zhang Shikang is.

Gaoyang was only a day and a half's journey away from Zhending Prefecture. If a fast horse only took five or six hours, Dorgon would have set the location of the negotiations outside Qizhou City, which was between Gaoyang and Zhending.

It was also agreed that the armies of both sides should not approach Qizhou and should stay at least ten miles away. Each negotiating party could only bring a maximum of 300 people and was not allowed to carry firearms.

After all, it was a meeting between high-ranking generals, so safety had to be considered. Dorgon even thought with a sense of evil humor that Zhang Shikang should not be frightened and dare not come.

After all, the three hundred brave warriors of his Eight Banners are no match for the sheep-like Han people.

If he broke his promise and let his 300 personal guards charge at the enemy, Dorgon was fully confident that he could kill Zhang Shikang before the enemy's main force arrived.

However, whether to do this or not depends on whether Zhang Shikang is worth it.

On October 14, Zhang Shikang received a reply from Dorgon.

Lu Xiangsheng and Wang Chengen both opposed Zhang Shikang's going to the appointment, thinking it was too dangerous.

Wang Chengen was almost crying with anxiety. If something happened to Zhang Shikang, he really didn't know how to explain to the emperor.

Lu Xiangsheng even wanted to go to the negotiations on behalf of Zhang Shikang. He had long since become indifferent to life and death, and believed that compared to himself, Zhang Shikang was more important to the court and the people of the world.

Even Yang Sichang did not recommend Zhang Shikang to go. Although he hated Zhang Shikang, he also felt that Dorgon might have ulterior motives.

"I'll go," Zhang Shikang said confidently. To reassure everyone, he added:

“But we can carefully select these three hundred people and find some capable fighters.

Even if we can't reach an agreement and a fight breaks out, we both have one head on two shoulders, so who's afraid of who?"