I was living at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and I dealt a brutal blow to the Eight Banners!

September, the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen reign.

The main force of the Qing army rested and reorganized in Haizhouwei, while Huang Taiji returned to Shengjing to recuperate.

On the Gaizhouwei side, Wu Guozhong commanded the First Army to garrison the area, reorganizing the Ming soldiers who had surrendered to fill the vacancies in the army.

The Dengzhou navy brought a large amount of grain and supplies from Fuzhouwei, and Japanese laborers also repaired the defenses of Gaizhou city.

Meanwhile, the people of Gaizhouwei who had previously fled south to escape the disaster also returned home by boat.

Phoenix City was still garrisoned by Yu Dai's elite cavalry and Gu Renhou's Goryeo camp.

Gaizhouwei and Fenghuangcheng were located to the southwest and southeast of Haizhouwei respectively, forming a pincer movement to deal with the main Qing army force of Haizhouwei.

……

Tian Hongyu then arrived at Fuzhou Guard.

From the moment he first set foot on this land, his fate had been changed by the Earl of Pinglu.

The events that occurred in the past two or three months were dramatic and unprecedented in his decades of life.

During his time in Fuzhouwei, he was in great distress.

I lost my appetite and became thin.

Fortunately, the old man finally returned.

Sitting in the hall of the Marquis of Pinglu's residence, Tian Hong blew on the tea in his cup and sighed deeply:

"To be frank, if it weren't for Lord Pinglu keeping order in Liaodong, I don't know how anxious His Majesty would be!"

People, all for power and status, are thinking about how to please their superiors, but they forget that without subordinates to flatter and fawn over them, they are nothing.

"That's right. Now that His Majesty has established a fiefdom in Liaodong and the Marquis of Pinglu has taken up his post, His Majesty no longer needs to worry about the Qing barbarians in Liaodong. The Imperial Envoy is truly insightful," said Gao Yushun, the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree, flattering him.

Gao Yushun was a shrewd man. During his stay in Fuzhou Guard, he naturally witnessed the atmosphere there.

In addition, with the matter of Pinglu Bo being enfeoffed as a marquis, Pinglu Bo can be said to be the most powerful person in the entire Liaodong region. Moreover, as a powerful minister with his own army, even the imperial court had to be mindful of his feelings.

Currently, the bandits in Sichuan and Shaanxi are causing great trouble, and the imperial court may invite the Earl of Pinglu to lead his army into the pass at any time.

By then, the weather might change just as easily.

How could a royal eunuch who was adopted by Wang Chengen and entrusted with important responsibilities not have the ability to assess the situation? If he could climb the social ladder by associating with the Earl of Pinglu, wouldn't that pave more opportunities for himself?

Therefore, Gao Yushun also wanted to establish a good relationship with Pinglubo through Tian Hongyu.

"Heh, vision? If I hadn't experienced the ups and downs of officialdom and tasted the bitterness and sweetness of life over the years, how would I have had the opportunity to be sent to Fuzhou Guard like a dog?"

This isn't about vision; it's about a person's fate.

"I, Tian Hongyu, am destined to follow Lord Pinglu, and I will brave any danger, even going through fire and water!"

joke,

Tian Hongyu had petitioned for the title of Earl of Pinglu in front of His Majesty, for which he was even put on the execution platform and nearly had his head chopped off by a ghost-headed sword.

This kind of experience is enough for him to brag about for a lifetime.

"But this Marquis of Pinglu is really something. After defeating the Qing invaders, he should have returned to receive the imperial decree, completed the enfeoffment ceremony as soon as possible, and settled into his fiefdom so that he could take charge of Liaodong sooner."

Now that we're finally back, he hasn't summoned us at all. Could it be that Lord Pinglu is keeping a mistress and wants to relieve his boredom first? Hehe..."

"Snapped!"

Tian Hongyu stood up and slapped Gao Yushun across the face.

This slap was delivered with full force, leaving a red handprint on Gao Yushun's face.

"You heartless wretch! Although this is not the capital, we cannot tolerate your insolence here!" Tian Hongyu cursed angrily. "What kind of person is Lord Pinglu? He is a pillar of the country, and the entire Liaodong region depends on him to take charge of the overall situation!"

Do you think the Qing invaders were so easily defeated?

Xiong Tingbi, the Liaodong military commissioner, built a border wall of over 700 li and seven cities, and stockpiled 300,000 shi of grain within three years. Wasn't that impressive?

Sun Chengzong, the Left Pillar of State, has worked tirelessly for nearly four years, recruiting and training over 100,000 Liao soldiers and single-handedly establishing the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line. How well did he manage it?

Yuan Chonghuan, the military governor of Jiliao, achieved great victories at Ningyuan and Ningjin in Liaodong, and also repelled Huang Taiji's invasion of Beijing. He was quite capable in battle, wasn't he?

But who among them could take three or four cities from the Qing invaders?

Who could personally lead three thousand elite cavalry on a thousand-mile raid on Maolianwei in the heart of Jianzhou and seize more than forty thousand warhorses from the Qing army?

Who can completely annihilate a Bordered Red Banner and capture its leader?

Who?

Our Lord has done great things!

Why are you coming back a few days late? What's wrong with that?

As soon as the imperial edict was issued,

He's now the Marquis.

My lord, my lord!

In the last hundred years, has our dynasty produced a single Marquis of Military Merit?

You spineless, worthless wretch, how dare you joke about the Marquis?

"Lord Tian, ​​I was wrong, I will never dare to do it again, I will never dare to do it again." Gao Yushun was so frightened that she quickly knelt on the ground, covered her face, and looked at Tian Hongyu with tears in her eyes.

Tian Hongyu glared at Gao Yushun for a moment, then sighed, "Get up."

If Tian Hongyu hadn't needed someone to gather information in the palace, he would have loved to go up there and beat them up.

Seeing Gao Yushun shakily get up, Tian Hongyu said earnestly:

"Remember, the reason we can have the Marquis as our backer isn't because we're particularly capable or have exceptional foresight; it's simply because we're lucky."

Even with the best of luck,

That's no match for your own reckless act of courting death!

……

After resting in the backyard for two days, Zhang Jingchuan finally met Tian Hongyu and the imperial eunuch Gao Yushun.

Gao Yushun originally intended to announce the imperial decree in public.

As it turned out, Zhang Jingchuan didn't go through the proper procedures; he simply took the imperial edict and left.

As for the ceremony of conferring titles upon nobles

Zhang Jingchuan refused outright, citing his heavy military duties.

For Zhang Jingchuan, being granted a title and taking up a fiefdom was not about honor, but rather a legitimate pretext for taking charge of the military and political affairs of Liaodong and controlling the troops there.

To put it bluntly,

At present, more than half of Liaodong is still in the hands of the Qing army.

To take up a fiefdom?

What kind of vassal state is this?

In the end, we still have to fight our way up, city by city, step by step.

The reason he went to such lengths to acquire these titles was simply to maintain a semblance of dignity with the imperial court, so that the people of the Ming Dynasty could reasonably accept his own military power and his practice of supporting bandits for personal gain.

The saying goes, "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."

Zhang Jingchuan didn't want to leave a bad impression on the people inside the pass.

Zhang Jingchuan dictated the memorial, which Tian Hongyu wrote down, and it was a lengthy document of several hundred words. It was to be brought back to the capital along with Luo Luohun.

Of course,

As for Dorgon's forces outside Shanhaiguan, Zhang Jingchuan naturally couldn't lead his troops to attack them from both sides; he could only let the generals inside Shanhaiguan fend for themselves.

Zhang Jingchuan didn't have three heads and six arms. He had to manage the Liaodong Guandao, contain tens of thousands of Qing troops in Haizhouwei, and also send troops to rescue Shanhaiguan.

Sorry,

You didn't give me a single copper coin or a single grain of rice. Why should I lead my troops all the way there?

Soldiers?

No!

Go to rescue Shanhaiguan?

We can't go any further!

Just as Zhang Jingchuan began training the cavalry, Xu Anguo sent news from the Ishimi Domain.

Tokugawa Iemitsu hoped to negotiate peace.

……