The five-year agreement between the Ming and Qing Dynasties was reached in the first year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, which meant that it would not expire until the sixth year of Hongxing. It is now the end of the fourth year of Hongxing, and there is still one and a half years before the peace treaty expires.
If Emperor Zhu wanted to pursue the suddenness of the war, of course he had to choose to start before the peace treaty expired. However, the Qing Dynasty never relaxed its vigilance, so the suddenness of the war basically did not exist.
Since a surprise attack is impossible, we should make full efforts to prepare!
Zhu Cixiang's eyes slowly swept across the auditorium, taking in everyone's expressions. The civil servants are all eager to give it a try. It seems that there will be no big problem with money and food. The military attaches all had solemn expressions... The Northern Expedition was not easy to win!
"I have always been true to my word, so I must abide by the five-year agreement and set the date of war in the autumn of the sixth year of Hongxing." Zhu Cixiang said slowly, "But among all the ministers in the court, you know the Qing Dynasty best. Let me tell you the situation first...how many years will it take for us to succeed in the Northern Expedition?"
It is natural to choose the Northern Expedition in autumn, because the water levels of the Yellow River and Huaihe River are high in spring and summer, and the Qing army will use water instead of troops if they are desperate. Although the Huanghuai Transportation Project has been completed, the Huaihe River dam has been greatly strengthened, and the Hongze Lake flood discharge area has also been comprehensively cleaned up. However, no one can guarantee that there will be no floods in the spring and summer of the sixth year of Hongxing. If the Huaihe River floods and the Yellow River burst in Guidefu area come together, the Huaihe River will still cause flooding.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty still occupies a lot of territory on the north bank of the Huaihe River in Huaibei. It also established two vassal towns, Huaibei and Xuhai, with Huang Degong and Gao Jie serving as military envoys respectively.
If Huaibei and Xuhai towns were flooded, the Ming court would also suffer serious losses.
The reason for setting the start of the war next year is not entirely to keep one's word, but to reserve enough supplies to support a long-term war.
Therefore, the date of the war can only be between August and September of the sixth year of Hongxing, which is September-October of 1653 in the Western calendar.
Zukefa, the fourth minister, is now the deputy military envoy of the Generalissimo's Office, which is also an official position such as deputy chief of general staff or deputy director of the general staff's operations department.
The reason why he and his four ministers were so highly valued was of course because they "know clearly". The current chief and deputy military advisors, Li Yan and Li Ruolian, were not considered members of the Zhiqing faction, so Zhu Cihong transferred Zukefa back from Wu Sangui and served as deputy envoy to the army.
"Your Majesty," Zukefa stood up and bowed to Zhu Cihong, "I think the Northern Expedition will be successful in a few years. It depends on whether Azig and Duduo can be reconciled, or who can win the battle between the two kings. Win. If Azige wins, it will be completed in three to five years. If Duduo wins...then the Northern Expedition should first focus on the interior of the Pass, and then talk about Ping Liao.
If Azige and Duduo can coexist harmoniously, I suggest that we first seek a situation of confrontation between Liao and Song in the north, and then make any progress. "
"How powerful is Duduo?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
"The Brave King Duduo is the best at fighting in the Manchurian army. In addition, he has been in charge of military affairs against Rakshasa and Japan in the past two years, and has not alienated the battlefield." Zu Kefa said, "In addition, Dorgon Duduo has always been cultivated as a successor, so he was allowed to command the Nine Banners outside the Pass, and he was also asked to integrate the Baerhu and Sauron tribes. Now the Pass has its own system, and even the population has returned to what it was before Manchuria entered the Pass. level."
It is actually natural for the population outside the Pass to grow. Before Nurhaci swept through Liaodong, the Han population in Liaodong numbered several million. Later, it became sparsely populated due to years of wars, massacres and the massive influx of Manchus into the Pass.
And although it is still the Little Ice Age, the land outside the customs is not uncultivable. Although the climate outside the customs is cold, there is not a lot of precipitation, and the heavy snow in winter can reach the ground. Moreover, the summer temperature outside Guan is not bad, enough to support the growth of relatively cold-tolerant sorghum, spring wheat and soybeans.
In addition, there are a large number of pastures outside the customs for grazing, which can feed many cattle and sheep.
Historically, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the use of wicker walls to prevent Han people from leaving the country saved a large area of sparsely populated and fertile land for Tsarist Russia and later Japan.
Now, the Qing Dynasty's rule within the Pass is facing a huge threat, and it has to work hard to manage outside the Pass as a retreat.
Although Han people who do not shave their heads are still not allowed to leave Shanhaiguan, bannermen with shaved green and green flags (actually Han people) are pouring out of Shanhaiguan in large numbers.
In addition, the system of "Nine Banners, Angbang, Zhangjing, and Prefectural Capitals" implemented during Dorgon's lifetime also accelerated the flow of Han people from within the Pass to outside the Pass.
Because the Aungbang Zhangjing Yamen, which is in charge of the state capital, has the right to recruit slaves and send them to farm the flag land outside the customs - these people are nominally slaves, but in fact they are tenants with shaved heads. The land outside the pass is fertile and the resources are rich. It is also far away from the front lines of the Ming and Qing wars. Taxes and corvees are very light. It is of course an ideal place for poor households who have difficulty surviving in the pass.
As for where those poor households who cannot survive come from...it's frustrating to talk about, because quite a few of them are refugees from the North who returned from Ming Dynasty's territory!
Although Emperor Zhu tried every means to find a way for these people to survive, there were too many of them and Nanming's national power was limited. Therefore, after the armistice in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was a situation of "Northerners returning to the North". There are always 200,000 to 300,000 people returning every year.
These numbers are of course insignificant to the Ming Dynasty - according to household statistics conducted in the third year of Hongxing's reign, excluding internal and external vassal towns and vassal states, the population in the land directly managed by the Ming Dynasty alone was as high as 12,700 More than 10,000 people, and the annual increase is estimated to be around one million people!
But for the empty Guanwai, it is a very huge population supplement!
According to the information Jin Yiwei received from "Jia Le Shi Xing", since the first year of Hongxing, the population of Gushan in the Nine Banners outside the Pass has been growing rapidly, with an increase of more than 300,000 every year. By the beginning of the fourth year of Hongxing's reign, the population of the Nine Banners outside the Pass had exceeded 2 million! Among them, the "Eight Banners Manchuria" is only forty or fifty Niulu, with a population of only tens of thousands. Even including the newly joined Barhu people and Sauron people, the total number does not exceed 100,000...
Zhu Cixiang thought for a while and then asked: "Is it possible for Azig and Duduo to be reconciled?"
"This..." Zukefa thought for a while, "Ajige and Duduo are brothers from the same father and mother after all, so they may not be incompatible. Besides, I, the Ming Dynasty, are still watching Dandan, so Azig It is possible that the two brothers Ge and Duoduo will stick together to survive." He paused, "But no matter how they stick together, they will still be different from when Dorgon was alive."
Zhu Cixiang said: "Then we have to push Azig and Duduo to fight as much as possible! Kefa, do you have any clever ideas?"
"Your Majesty," Zukefa said, "do you remember the peace talks between the Song and Jin Dynasties?"
"The Heavenly Family negotiates peace? Is it a matter of the Southern Song Dynasty surrendering to the Jin Dynasty in exchange for land in Henan and Shaanxi?"
Zu Kefa said: "Yes, it was that time... Our court may follow suit and sign three more peace treaties with the Qing Dynasty on the condition of taking Henan and the land south of the Daqing River in Shandong."
"Three peace treaties?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned, "Why three?"
Zukofa said: "Sign one with Duduo, one with Azige, and one with Emperor Shunzhi!"
"Will they agree?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
"No." Zukfa replied, "But they will negotiate with us... As long as we can negotiate, we can use tricks to provoke Azig and Dodo into war!"
"How to use the trick?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
Zukofa said: "We can make Azig and Shunzhi believe that Dodo has signed a secret agreement with us. After all, Dodo's foundation is outside the pass, and the main thing we want to take is the land inside the pass, even if we finally build a Great Wall as a boundary , Duduo won’t suffer much.”
"That's a way!" Zhu Cixiang laughed, "Who can take this trip?"
Zu Kefa said: "I can take a trip to Liaodong... In addition, Zu Zeqing can go and talk to Azige. As for Emperor Shunzhi... I can't think of how to contact him at the moment."
Zhu Cixi smiled: "I have an idea!"
