Zhu Yixi is well aware of the sudden nature of war, and it is important to be prepared but not prepared.
Therefore, in early April, he sent envoys to secretly leave Shanhaiguan and send a signal to the Manchus for peace talks.
"Talk, I want to see how Ming Ting wants to talk."
Dorgon gasped and agreed.
The message is unambiguous and points directly to five conditions:
First, remove the title of emperor, grant him the title of King of Manchuria, and pay homage to the Ming Emperor as a minister.
Second, give up the Liaoxi Corridor west of Jinzhou and hand over all the castle land.
Third, hand over the traitors who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty since Chongzhen...
Fourth, the Chahar tribe should be recognized as a vassal of the Ming Dynasty and should not go beyond bullying.
Fifth, thousands of war horses and tens of thousands of furs are paid as tribute every year...
As soon as these conditions came out, everything exploded.
A large number of Han officials cried bitterly and went to the Regent's Palace, demanding that peace talks be stopped and that the Qing Dynasty would never be a slave.
The nobles of the Eight Banners also had different opinions and had not made a decision on this matter.
In the past, such conditions would have been ignored.
It is a pity that now, in the battle of Chahar, surrounding Chahanhot City, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties could not attack for a long time, and half a month was wasted.
This made the Eight Banners realize that it was impossible to restore the combat strength to the level before entering the customs by just relying on additional numbers.
The Ming army is also very different from before. It has an amazing will and tenacious combat effectiveness.
"Absurd, ridiculous-"
When the fourteen-year-old Emperor Shunzhi heard these conditions, he was absolutely furious and furious:
"These conditions are shameful and ridiculous. Are we worse than the weak Song Dynasty? I don't believe that the Ming court will remain indifferent once the Eight Hundred Thousand Flags are moved."
After venting his emotions, Shunzhi calmed down and ordered: "Publish the fact that I just lost my temper."
"Yes!" The eunuch responded hurriedly.
At this time, the nobles of the Eight Banners immediately united and refused to agree to the terms of the peace negotiation.
Dorgon could not withstand the public anger, so he could only send out the envoys to calm people's hearts.
However, as soon as this move came out, people could see the reality.
…
North Korea, outside Yiju City, by the Yalu River.
"The weather is sunny today, cloudless. Crossing the river——"
Riding on the horse, Wu Sangui held his head high and his chest high.
The Yalu River ahead was as majestic as the Yellow River. In his opinion, its waves were even comparable to the Yangtze River.
The Yalu River, which is hundreds of paces wide, is now lonely on both sides, and the endless mountains and forests tell the story of the loneliness of this place.
After the Manchus and Qing Dynasties went south to Korea twice, all the Koreans who had longed to go north were taken into slavery, and the Jurchens who were fishing and hunting were also forced to join the army. The prosperous two sides of the Taiwan Strait became a wilderness.
Behind Wu Sangui, tens of thousands of army flags covered the sky and the sun, the horses neighed, and the soldiers screamed in surprise. It looked like the troops were strong.
This is the Ming Dynasty allied force of 20,000 Beijing troops and 30,000 Korean soldiers.
"Commander, there is no bridge on this river. When will the navy arrive?"
Li Chengdong rubbed his arms, the river wind was cold. Blowing for a long time will make people shiver.
"Not urgent--"
Wu Sangui said in a deep voice: "The sea is unstable. At this time we have to wait a little longer."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a sail from a distance, and then countless ships came in an endless stream, cutting through the water and heading towards this place.
Two hours later, a large number of ships assembled a dozen wooden bridges on the river. Although they were shaking a little, they were generally safe.
"Crossing the bridge——"
Wu Sangui shouted, and the whole army thundered.
The soldiers, brave and high-spirited, crossed the Yalu River from Uiju in North Korea and arrived at Zhongjiang City.
The castle garrisoned by hundreds of people was on the verge of collapse and fell immediately after a moment.
"Going up along the Chongjiang River, there are Zhenjiang Fort, Tang Station, and then our habitat, Phoenix City."
Wu Sangui originally wanted to find some maps, but there was no such thing in this small fortress. He could only find some slave soldiers to ask about the situation, and then he got the general idea.
He pointed at Phoenix City and said: "The city here is high and the pond is deep. It was originally the right guard of Dingliao. After we capture it, we can put the baggage here and let the Korean soldiers and horses guard it."
"What about you?"
Li Yingren was anxious. Well, when I came to Liaodong, I had to lead Korean soldiers to defend the city. My military exploits were not sticky at all.
"Judging from the old maps of the imperial court, we are going to march west, gather with the army in Liaoyang, and conquer Liaodong Town together."
Wu Sangui said in a deep voice: "The North Korean army is not just defending the city. If the battle ahead goes well, you will also take over the defense along the way and follow me to the battle."
"good--"
…
On the other side, after finishing arrangements for crossing the river, the Beihai Navy was busy again, moving the Beijing camp in Tianjin into the mouth of the Liaohe River.
Since there were too many people in the Beijing camp, the Beihai Navy could only recruit local merchant ships, which would take a total of two trips to fully operate.
But at this moment, the gates of Shanhaiguan were wide open.
Li Jizu led 10,000 men from the Jingying camp and 10,000 Guan Ning troops, holding banners in a mighty manner, heading towards Zhongqiansuo City not far away.
During the Tianqi period, western Liaoning built a large number of castles around Guangning and Jinzhou, with a total of 125 castles.
There are so many castles, and the garrison strength is less than 100,000, which is completely unsafe.
Later, the reason why it fell during the Chongzhen period was because troops were transferred to the Pass to suppress banditry, which gave the Manchu Qing an opportunity to sweep through the Western Liaoning Corridor.
"Give me a blast——"
Li Jizu stood on horseback, looking at the fortified Zhongqiansuo Castle in the distance and said with disdain.
Soon, more than a dozen red-coated cannons roared, covering the entire small Nakazensho Castle.
The sound of the cannon directly silenced the entire western Liaoning.
In less than half a day, the small Zhongqiansuo City fell.
Gaolingyi, Qiantunweicheng, Liangshuihe Station, Pingchuan Yingbao, and Zhonghousuo City fell one by one.
It is only more than two hundred miles away from the famous Ningyuan City, and there are only a dozen or so forts in between.
Mengge, the defender of Mingyuan City, was shocked and urgently mobilized the Eight Banners to defend the city and wait for reinforcements.
Soon, under the flames of war, the news reached Shengjing.
"How dare you pretend to be——"
The cabinet, Fan Wencheng and other bachelors were shocked. Is this going to start a war?
Due to the seclusion and the punishment of Shanxi merchants, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had no information about the customs and naturally did not know about the months-long war preparations.
Several people did not dare to neglect and reported it directly to the regent.
Although Dorgon lingered on the sickbed for a long time, his prestige was too high and he still kept his word in the court.
Meetings of kings and ministers to discuss government affairs are also held at an appropriate time.
At this moment, the Phoenix City guard paid his respects to Chu Ka and urgently sent out a military report, saying that there was an invasion.
At this time, the meeting of kings and ministers discussing government affairs became completely noisy.
Even those with generous personalities like Hauge and Azir settled down and obeyed Dorgon's command.
Half lying on the couch, Dorgon's round face was now a little spiky and pale. From a distance, his beard was a little white.
"The false ambition has been planned for a long time. The so-called peace talks are just a cover-up."
