Hearing what Li Yan said, everyone was startled.
"What do you mean?" Huang Degong asked with a frown.
"The Tatars plundered at least nearly 20,000 people along the way, but after several fights for cannon fodder and those who escaped, there were only more than 8,000 people left. This is what the Tatars themselves said, but we don't know how much property they plundered." It's clear, but looking at the baggage of several hundred cars, it shouldn't be a small amount."
"At present, the Tatars have to hand over what they have looted. For them, their work is in vain. They are unwilling to do so. For example, instead of handing over the food and grass, they would be better off. The early release of the people may be to save food and grass." Li Yan reasoned.
Huang Degong couldn't help but scolded: "Originally, Tatars only eat three meals a day and only eat half full. Now they have to eat five meals a day. They eat until they are full. They would rather waste it all than give it back to us."
Li Yan nodded: "Maybe."
"Then why don't they return the baggage ahead of time? It would be so troublesome and slow down the process," Tu Yuan asked.
This Li Muxian can answer: "The baggage is all-encompassing, including gold, silver, jewelry, and trivial items. The Tatars keep it, firstly, as a talisman, and secondly, it does not exclude the possibility that they will carefully select the valuable gold, silver, and other items." They are hidden on the body... we can't search them one by one when they leave the customs."
"That's so fucking disgusting, the dog Tatars are so evil, no less evil than the little eunuchs," Huang Degong said bitterly.
"These are all speculations. We cannot rule out other tricks. We must deal with them carefully." After Li Yan thought for a while, he ordered Tu Yuan and Hao Yaoqi to lead three thousand troops to immediately reinforce Cheng Ming's troops to strictly control the movement of the Qing army. He also ordered someone to send the news to Chang Yu.
The ancient town is just a large village between Haifeng County and Binzhou. However, it was burned down by the Qing army when they went south. As for the villagers, they were also taken away. They may still be prisoners at this time, or they may have been used as cannon fodder. Well, who knows, the Qing army doesn’t care about this anyway.
After the peace talks, the morale of the Qing army was low and it rained all night. As a last resort, Dorgon ordered to camp in an ancient town to rest and recuperate to slow down morale. To be honest, the Qing army was really tired.
I was chased and blocked by the Ming army all the way from the capital, and it didn't stop for a while. I finally ran thousands of miles to the foot of Qingzhou City, and fought several times without success. I have hardly been idle for more than half a month, except for being highly nervous. The preparation for war in China is to attack the city and fight, and even the iron can't stand it.
Originally, they could survive for a while and a half depending on their morale, but since the news of the peace talks spread throughout the army, the soldiers knew that their work was in vain, and they suddenly became listless.
It was raining and falling at the entrance of the handsome tent outside the village. Dorgon looked at the dilapidated ruins in front of him and was quite emotional. When he came, he was so arrogant and ambitious that he never expected to leave in such a mess.
Man Dahai came over and whispered: "Your Majesty, the Ming army has increased its troops and is watching five miles away."
Dorgon smiled slightly: "Let them go, as long as they don't go within five miles, don't conflict with them." After saying that, he turned around and walked to the tent and met Duoduo's eyes. The little eunuch's reaction was very sensitive and quick!
"That means he is very unhappy, so I will be happy!" Dodo snorted.
Li Yan and Li Muxian speculated that Dorgon's original intention of suddenly releasing thousands of people in advance was to have evil intentions, and this evil intention was proposed by Duo Duo.
Releasing the hostages can not only reduce burdens but also save food. More importantly, it can cause a lot of trouble to the Ming army and add a huge burden!
Just imagine, suddenly there are thousands more mouths to eat, how can the little eunuch relax? He can't just ignore these people and let them starve to death! Even just setting up a porridge shed is a big price.
"What you see is just his unhappiness, but what I see is his caution." Dorgon sat down with a dark face: "Yesterday, there was a dog tail behind him, but Qian Yu was still wandering ten miles away. Since we released After only an hour of holding the hostages, he increased his troops by nearly five thousand and approached them five miles away. This shows that even after peace was reached, he was still extremely cautious."
"Brother Fourteen is actually worried because he sees the dog eunuch being so cautious and has no way of taking action." Duduo smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Brother Fourteen, I know you are unwilling to do so, but the situation is pressing and now it is best to leave the seclusion safely and preserve your strength. Plan, put aside your petty thoughts for the time being, you have also seen that the dog eunuch is so careful, if the conversation breaks up accidentally, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Dorgon said nothing with a dark face, and took a long breath: "Even if you put your mind aside, who can guarantee that the dog eunuch will not do any dirty tricks, just based on his golden words?"
Duduo sighed: "No one can guarantee that he is true to his word, but both of us can see that the gelding doesn't want to fight unless forced to do so. If he really fights, he can't bear the loss of both sides, let alone us. There are still hostages and supplies in hand, and he won’t dare to let them go until they reach the pass.”
Dorgon hummed: "But I always feel uneasy."
"Brother Fourteen has been working too hard recently. You can relax a little more." Duduo pointed out. He stood up and walked out of the tent and waved. Then several Qing soldiers escorted a beautiful woman with a frightened face into the tent.
In the wilderness twenty miles southeast of Boxing County, Qingzhou Prefecture, hundreds of cavalrymen were walking slowly in the mud. It was Chang Yu and his party who got up early in the morning to break camp and head north after resting by the Beiyang River for the night.
The villages that passed by were mostly ruins with ten rooms and nine empty spaces. Bodies could always be found in the wilderness, mostly civilians. The cause of death was unknown, but they definitely could not escape the hands of the Qing army.
How many lives have been devastated by this war, and how many people have lost their homes and families. The war will always hurt the most, the common people!
At this time, Chang Yu could especially understand the saying, when things prosper, the people suffer, and when they die, the people suffer.
Jia Waixiong and Lao Jiu were chatting side by side in front of them, but they were not as sentimental as the young eunuch. For them, life and death were indifferent and they enjoyed the present.
"Before leaving, I gave Wang Er fifty taels of flowers and asked him to find a good family to marry. Even if she doesn't marry, this money will be enough for her to spend the rest of her life." Jia Waixiong actually felt a little sad.
Lao Jiu sighed: "You are so willing!" Fifty taels of silver was a huge sum of money these days, enough to support a family of three for ten years.
"Hey, isn't this a long-term relationship? I received a lot of rewards this time, so I gave her more. Money, in our industry, I don't know what day I will die, and I am afraid that I will lose my life again. So it’s good to finish it early!” Jia Waixiong shrugged as if he didn’t care.
Lao Jiu smiled obscenely again: "I have been in love for a long time, so I didn't sleep the night before," which made everyone around him laugh.
Chang Yu heard the sound and came over: "I heard that you are calling Fei Nawang Erhua every day not to marry you. Why don't people want to marry you? It's just a matter of words."
"Hey, it's really not the case," Jia Waixiong said seriously: "If the world was more stable, the humble job would really be taken away, but..." He sighed: "In this world, the humble job with no tomorrow is to be a soldier. I don’t want to implicate her, so maybe it would be better to live peacefully in Qingzhou.”
"It sounds like what I said is true. Could it be that Wang Erhua doesn't like you at all and doesn't want to leave with you?" Chen Suole said irritatingly to Jia Waixiong.
"Also, let me tell you that I'm not bragging, but Wang Erhua really likes me. She cried a lot of snot and tears before leaving and insisted on going with me." Jia Waixiong patted his chest: "But my brother refused and said a word to her, so she didn't bother.
What did he say, everyone asked curiously.
"Don't love me, it won't work!"
Damn, everyone immediately fell on their backs and retched. More than ten riding whips were drawn towards Jia Wai Xiong. Are you disgusting?
Jia Waixiong ran away: "It's true, I'm not lying! I have been living among flowers for more than ten years, and countless girls have fallen in love with me..."
Everyone yelled and chased, but Chang Yu laughed loudly from behind, tears of laughter came out, because he believed it was true. It seemed very ridiculous, but in fact, wasn't it just a small microcosm of this troubled world?
How many innocent people have been forced into prostitution by the war, and how many soldiers have no idea what will happen today, suppressing their emotions, focusing on wine and sex, and living one day at a time.
A fast horse came from the front. It was Li Yan's messenger who reported what happened ahead to Chang Yu. Everyone couldn't help but cheer: the Tatars were scared and actually let them go in advance.
"It's disgusting!" Chang Yu breathed out: "Dorgon is unwilling to do something to disgust the governor."
Everyone was puzzled, but Chang Yu analyzed it with them, and then he came to his senses: "The stubborn Tatars have sinister intentions. We soldiers don't have much food, so how can there be any leftover food to help the people?"
"This is the point of his brilliance. He seems to be showing generosity, but in fact he is causing trouble and disgust for me and me. He keeps the food but lets the people go. With these thousands of mouths, hey, we can't starve them to death."
"Since they are so dishonest, why don't you beat them up!" Lao Jiu cursed bitterly.
"Beat, it's easy for the gun to misfire, but it's okay to hit it." Chang Yu sneered.
