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

Qing Dynasty, Shengjing, Chongzheng Hall.

Emperor Chongde sat on the dragon throne. He was stout, with two mustaches on his lips, and he wore a brocade yellow robe. He did not look at all like a tough person who came from the powerful Jurchen people.

Not only that, Huang Taiji had a gentle expression and looked more like a wealthy Confucian scholar.

In contrast, the other royal family members sitting in the hall looked particularly contrasting.

Prince Li Daishan sat below Emperor Chongde. As the second son of Nurhaci, he was older than Emperor Chongde, but at this moment his brows were furrowed and he looked full of sadness.

Prince Zheng Jirgalang sat next to Daishan, he sat upright with a serious expression.

The first person sitting on the other side was Emperor Chongde's eldest son, Prince Su Haoge. He was not wearing a hat, and his big bald head was shiny and oily. His right hand was stroking the rat braids on the back of his head, and his left hand was holding a thick book.

It was a book called "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

There was an empty chair below Hauge, and below that was a hat, the owner of which was no longer there.

Daishan stared at the hat in a daze, because that position once belonged to his eldest son, Yuetuo.

The only person standing in the hall was Prince Rui Dorgon, who had just escaped from the interior. He had changed into new clothes and was no longer in such a dishevelled state as when he had just escaped from the interior.

But even so, whenever Dorgon thought of the bloody battle a few days ago, he still felt a lingering fear. It was the most bizarre battle he had ever encountered in his life.

"Your Majesty, I have failed in my mission and lost many elite soldiers. Please punish me." Dorgon knelt down solemnly and apologized.

Hauge looked at this uncle who was younger than him with interest, put down the book in his hand, and seemed to have found something more interesting than reading The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Emperor Chongde stood up from the dragon throne, walked over gently and helped Dorgon up with his own hands.

"You and I are brothers, why do you have to do this, Fourteenth Brother? Tell everyone, what is the reason?"

At this time, the Qing Dynasty had not yet entered the country, and there were not so many rules in the court.

In addition, those who can sit here are all the most powerful royal family members of the Qing Dynasty, all of them are blood relatives. Without that group of foreign ministers, they can be more casual with each other.

In fact, the news of Dorgon's defeat had reached Shengjing three days ago.

First, Yuetuo was defeated and captured, and then the war became tense. Unexpectedly, he was still defeated in the end, and his defeat was very complete.

When the news first came back, everyone, including Emperor Chongde, was shocked.

The reason for the shock was not entirely because of the difficulty in accepting the loss, but the confusion over the consecutive defeats.

The Ming Dynasty had long been corrupt. They could understand its failure in an occasional small battle, but the fact that it suffered such a major defeat twice in a row could only mean one thing.

Perhaps a remarkable figure emerged in the Ming Dynasty.

The reason for this speculation, of course, is based on the understanding of Dorgon by those present.

Although Dorgon was only 27 years old, he had fought in the Mongolian desert, Korea, and the Ming Dynasty for nearly ten years, and had made great military achievements. Everyone knew his command ability and bravery.

It was for this reason that the people present did not look down on Dorgon because he suffered a defeat.

Although Dorgon was unruly, he still believed in his brother. Seeing that his brother did not blame him and even helped him up, he felt warm in his heart. Then he said with deep hatred:

"That man...is called Zhang Shikang."

Dorgon had every reason to hate him, as many of his followers died at the hands of this man, because this man destroyed all the reputation he had accumulated through years of bloody battles.

"Zhang Shikang?" Emperor Chongde frowned, as if searching his mind for those important officials of the Ming Dynasty court that he knew.

"I have never heard of this person before." After a moment, Emperor Chongde gave up.

"Is this the person who killed my son?" Daishan asked coldly.

He seldom took the lead in meetings and rarely argued with others present. His temperament was somewhat similar to that of Emperor Chongde.

But no one dared to underestimate him. As the second son of Emperor Taizu, after the death of Emperor Taizu, he was one of the candidates vying for the throne of the Han Dynasty, but he gave up the throne to Huang Taiji for the sake of the overall situation.

Huang Taiji always trusted him and let him lead the Zhenghong Banner, and his son Yuetuo led the Xianghong Banner.

But now Daishan could no longer bear the grief in his heart. As soon as he heard the name Zhang Shikang, he immediately stood up.

"This man was originally the youngest son of the Duke Ying of the Ming Dynasty. The scouts in Beijing said that this boy was a perpetrator of all kinds of evil in the capital and was the most dissolute person in the capital.

But for some reason, he was trusted by the Ming Emperor and first became the commander of the Beijing Camp. Now he is named the Grand Marshal of the Army and is said to be able to control all the troops of the Ming court."

Dorgon told the people present the news he had received.

Emperor Chongde first comforted Daishan. Hauge, who was sitting next to him, threw the book on the table and said:

"The news is wrong, Uncle Fourteen, this doesn't make sense. If Zhang Shikang is a playboy, how can a playboy know how to lead troops in battle? Or... Uncle Fourteen, you underestimated the enemy?"

Hauge looked sincere when he spoke, but he was actually harboring evil intentions. He said, "You, Dorgon, had made great military achievements, but you were defeated by a playboy. This doesn't make sense in itself."

If you have to find a reason, there are only two: either you underestimated your enemy, or Zhang Shikang is not a playboy at all.

This proves that the information Dorgon obtained was wrong. No matter what, Dorgon was always at fault.

After hearing what Hauge said, Jirgalang frowned, as if he disagreed with what Hauge said.

The uncle and nephew did not get along, but he felt that they should not argue over such things. Hauge was clearly trying to anger Dorgon.

But Dorgon didn't get angry for some reason. He recalled the situation during the negotiation with Zhang Shikang that day and said:

"I have met him, and the news should be correct. Zhang Shikang is undoubtedly a playboy.

But who says that a dandy boy really has no other talents?" Dorgon stared at Haoge coldly.

"Haoge! Shut up and stop talking nonsense." Seeing that Dorgon was dissatisfied, Emperor Chongde taught his eldest son a lesson.

Hauge was about to refute, but after being ridiculed by Emperor Chongde, he dared not disobey. After sitting down, he simply picked up the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" again.

After Emperor Chongde finished teaching his son a lesson, he signaled Dorgon to continue, as he knew that his fourteenth brother would tell him the answer.

"From what I have seen of Zhang Shikang's words and deeds, I find that they are consistent with the information conveyed by the scouts.

In this battle, the real commander of the Ming Dynasty court was the Governor-General of Xuanda, Lu Xiangsheng.

That Zhang Shikang seems to be just a figurehead." After Dorgon finished speaking, Hauge wanted to refute again, but Dorgon said:

"I thought so at first, too, that the powerful people in the Ming Dynasty sent their children to the military camp to gild their reputation.

Until Zhang Shikang dragged the emperor of the Ming Dynasty to the battlefield, I thought it was a merit sent by the Ming Dynasty.

But I was wrong.

If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was really capable, the Ming Dynasty would not be what it is now. How could he have the courage to lead the army in person?

Therefore, from the very beginning, this was Zhang Shikang's trap!"

……