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

On the eighth day of the second month, outside the Great Wall, in Yizhou City.

Huang Taiji was sitting in the city lord's mansion in Yizhou in military uniform. There were already a dozen or so brave generals of the Eight Banners standing in the hall.

Although Huang Taiji was only 49 years old this year, he looked as if he was already in his 50s or 60s, whether it was due to an old illness caused by years of fighting or because he was in poor health.

He was obese and would cover his chest and cough from time to time. His complexion also did not look good. I don’t know if it was because he did not sleep well or what, but he always looked tired.

"Choketuo, you are stationed in Yizhou. What do you think about the things in Jinzhou?" Huang Taiji asked Chuoketuo, the commander of Yizhou.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have spies in Jinzhou City. They took advantage of the riots in Jinzhou two days ago to report to me.

He said that Zu Dashou had already instructed the entire army to open the gates of Jinzhou City to welcome Your Majesty as soon as our Heavenly Master arrived.

In the past few days, Zu Dashou's subordinates have been in their respective military camps persuading the Liao soldiers to obey Zu Dashou's orders and surrender to the Qing Dynasty together with Zu Dashou.

I think that the 20-year-old crappy marshal of the Ming Dynasty is simply a madman. Last year, this man was bloodthirsty in the interior of the Ming Dynasty and killed so many officials.

Now that we have arrived at Shanhaiguan, how can we tolerate Zu Dashou's habit of following orders but not announcements?

Zhang Shikang wants to wipe out the Zu family, and the Zu family has no other choice but to submit to us. Therefore, I think it is logical for Zu Dashou to submit. "

Chuoketuo reported truthfully based on the intelligence he had obtained, and also stated his own views after finishing his speech.

Huang Taiji was very satisfied with Chuoketuo's answer. The reason why he ordered Chuoketuo to garrison such an important city as Yizhou was because he saw Chuoketuo's steadiness.

Huang Taiji received the secret letter from Zu Dashou six days ago. It was already night and he had gone to bed.

But when he heard that it was Zu Dashou's letter, Huang Taiji immediately forced himself to check it in person despite his tired body.

In Huang Taiji's eyes, Zu Dashou is no longer just a person. Zu Dashou represents the eternal pain in his heart - the Guanningjin Defense Line.

No one understood the importance of Guanningjin to the Qing Dynasty better than him. If he couldn't take Guanningjin, even if he could enter the pass every year to plunder the Ming Dynasty and kill people without restraint, as long as Guanningjin was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, he would never be able to rule those captured cities within the pass.

He thought about capturing Guan Ningjin day and night. It was also because of this that even though Zu Dashou had deceived him before, he still did not show it too much. Every time when he wrote a letter to Zu Dashou to persuade him to surrender, he always lowered his posture and acted courteous and humble.

After a long time, Huang Taiji actually got a little tired of it.

But he didn't expect that Zu Dashou's letter would arrive at this time, and it was a letter of trust that he had never dared to dream of.

In the letter, Zu Dashou said that the foolish emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty appointed a dandy boy who was just over 20 years old as the commander-in-chief of the army, which was a chaotic policy that led to the country's destruction.

He was never trusted by the Ming Dynasty to begin with, and now that damn marshal actually sent troops to Shanhaiguan to humiliate him in public.

He believed that if he did not make a decision, his ancestors would surely be killed without a burial place, so he fled to Jinzhou City overnight, hoping that the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty would quickly bring the Heavenly Master here. He was willing to surrender the city and pledge his loyalty to the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

After reading the letter, Huang Taiji couldn't help but pace back and forth in his palace for a long time.

But after the surprise, he began to doubt again, thinking that things had taken a turn too quickly and worried whether this was a complete set.

But he still wanted Guan Ningjin so much that he decided that night that no matter whether it was true or false, he must not miss this God-given opportunity.

He quickly mobilized the army. In order to improve efficiency, he ordered Dorgon to lead 6,000 cavalry to set out first the next day, while he himself led 20,000 troops from Shenyang on the third day.

Huang Taiji was still analyzing Zu Dashou's sincerity. He felt that if the matter was true, Zu Dashou would have no more choices.

On the way to Yizhou, he kept receiving news from spies in Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan City, Songshan Fort, Xingshan Fort and Jinzhou City.

Everyone indicated that Zu Dashou had indeed defected. Zhang Shikang even led a large army to besiege Jinzhou City, but was repelled by Zu Dashou's artillery and even blood was shed.

Now that he had heard the statement from Chuoketuo, the defender of Yizhou, Huang Taiji believed that Zu Dashou might really want to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

Guan Ningjin... Guan Ningjin...

Huang Taiji muttered.

"Your Majesty, for the sake of safety, Your Majesty should first summon Zu Dashou to come to Yizhou. If he dares to come, it means that he is sincere.

If he doesn't dare, no matter how much evidence or testimony there is, Your Majesty must not take the risk." Prince Zheng Jirgalang said.

"Your Highness is right. I also think that we should let Zu Dashou come for questioning. The Han people are full of tricks and we must be on guard." Chuoketuo also advised.

Huang Taiji calmed down after hearing this and nodded.

“It is said that Zhang Shikang is still staying outside Jinzhou City, and he keeps cursing at Zu Dashou in Jinzhou City every day.

If we only send scouts to deliver the message, it may not be delivered.

My dear brother, how about I lead 8,000 cavalrymen to deliver the letter in person, and meet that bastard on the way? If we are lucky, we may be able to catch that bastard Zhang Shikang directly!" Prince Rui Dorgon volunteered.

The Battle of Jingshui was regarded as a humiliation by Dorgon. Now, more than a year has passed, and whenever Dorgon thinks of his embarrassment in that battle, the anger in his heart has never dissipated.

He has been waiting for an opportunity for revenge, not only revenge, but also an opportunity to wash away his shame.

"I can't send you this time, Fourteenth Brother, remember, anger will only make people lose their reason.

Prince Zheng, you should go with 10,000 people, just to deliver the message, don't fight!" Huang Taiji said to Jirgalang.

Jirgalang gladly accepted the order, but Dorgon frowned, seeming extremely dissatisfied.

……

Outside Jinzhou City.

Zhang Shikang had been clamoring in Jinzhou City for seven or eight days. At first, he even started cursing personally, but Zu Dashou was no longer seen on the city walls.

He then ordered the more than 4,000 garrison soldiers to retreat, and if they saw black smoke coming out of the city walls, they were to run away.

The soldiers in the garrison are not very good at fighting, but they are very professional at scolding people, and their way of scolding is different every day.

The soldiers of the garrison were cursing in the streets, and Sun Weifan and Liu Zhaoji led 11,000 people to support them from behind.

Of course Zhang Shikang thought this was boring, but since he was attacking Zu Dashou, he naturally had to put on a show.

For example, the cannons on the city walls. If Zu Dashou didn't fire them, the play wouldn't be able to be performed at all.

Fortunately, Zu Dashou was not a saint. He fired as soon as he said so. As long as they were within the range, black smoke would appear on the city wall.

On this day, Zhang Shikang was about to order the garrison soldiers to go back to work, but suddenly a team of scouts came running over from the rear.

"Marshal, it's bad, the Tartars... the Tartar army is coming!"

……