In 1652 in the Western calendar, it was the fifth year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, and the ninth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty. When summer arrived, the two regents of the Qing Dynasty issued orders to gather troops almost at the same time!
After all, Azig and Dodo are brothers. Not only did they gather their troops at the same time, but they also used the same excuse - to attack the Rakshasa Kingdom!
Because neither side has achieved complete "separation of soldiers and peasants", and it is a situation where you have me among you, and you have me among you, there is no suddenness in the war.
Just recruiting troops and training will take less than a month to complete!
Not to mention that both Azig and Duduo knew each other's plans, even Emperor Zhu Da, who was busy making up lessons and taking exams in Nanjing, received the "Tao Luo" issued in the name of Emperor Shunzhi in June of the fifth year of Hongxing. A copy of the "Edict to the Kingdom of Chasha".
This copy was brought back to Nanjing by Huang Dabao, along with a fourteen-frame portrait - the portrait was indeed a pretty iconic little beauty.
With a soft popping sound, Zhu Cixiang threw the fourteen-frame portrait on the table. The look on his face was half-smiling, a little playful, but also a little proud. Finally, he laughed: "Such a beautiful girl is given away for free." Wow, this Emperor Shunzhi has great plans, and he seems to want to be a fisherman! I really hope that he can be a good fisherman and seize the power of the Northern Qing Dynasty...whether it is Duduo or Aji. Ge, they are much more difficult to deal with than him!"
After Zhu Cixiang said this, he looked around. He is now in the Xiyang Building, having just finished his military classes, and is communicating with his classmates. Sitting next to him are Zhu Cijiong, Wu Xiang, Wu Sangui, Wu Sanfu, Wu Guogui, Wu Guoyong, Li Yan, Feng San, Hao Yaoqi, Hao Jian (cousin of Hao Yaoqi), Li Ruolian, Li Shaoyou, Yu Daren, Tian Qingyi, Zheng Sen, Zhou Quanbin, Gan Hui and others.
Except for Zhu Cijiong, this group of people represents the four major military groups under Emperor Zhu Da. One is the Guanning Group headed by the old Wu family; the second is the refugee group headed by Li Yan and Hao Yaoqi; the third is the Beizhi Group headed by Li Ruolian and Zhu Chunchen; the fourth is the Dongning Group headed by the Zheng family.
The four major military groups are like four pillars, supporting the country of Nanming!
Zhu Cixiang brought all the core generals of these four major groups to Nanjing for tutoring. The purpose was not only to improve their professional skills, but also to connect with each other - from now on, everyone will be classmates who attended the tutoring class together...
Emperor Zhu also gave gifts to his cram school classmates - a combination of Chinese and Western style villas located near Laoshan Palace in Nanjing. The villas cover a large area and come with a small horse farm. Emperor Zhu would later give them Indian fold horses and Arabian horses, including stallions, mares, and geldings that could be ridden on the battlefield.
Although Prince Kong Dai believed that Emperor Zhu's cavalry route was a bit crooked, Zhu Cixiang did not intend to give up the breeding of high-quality war horses.
Moreover, he also planned to involve the high-ranking officials and military generals of the Ming Dynasty in the activity of breeding high-quality war horses - this matter cannot only rely on the national horse administration, but also relies more on hype!
If it cannot lead the trend of breeding high-quality war horses, how many high-quality Arabian horses and fold-eared horses can the national horse administration raise?
If all the rich and powerful owners could come to play horse racing and polo, then there would be an overwhelming number of good horses...
Zhu Cixiang was silent for a moment, then turned to ask Wu Sangui: "Uncle Chang, what do you think about the internal strife in Beiqing? How long will it last? Will Beiqing be divided into two? Is it possible for us to win over Henan and Shandong? Is the Green Flag Soldier going to be the right person anyway?”
Wu Sangui has been in a good mood recently, and his skills have improved! That short, skinny guy from France has real skills! Wu Sangui is also a good student. After joining the cram school, his fighting ability improved by leaps and bounds! Now he is able to play with the Spanish phalanx, Morris phalanx and Gustav phalanx, and his level of use of cavalry has also risen to more than one level.
If he had been as capable as he is now during the San Francisco Rebellion, Emperor Kangxi would have been in dire straits...
Now hearing Zhu Cixiang's question, he smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I think the internal strife in the Northern Qing Dynasty will not last long, and it is even less likely that it will be divided into two... Maybe a battle can tell the difference. Because there are too many grasses on the wall, whichever way the wind is stronger, they will all fall over.
As for those people under the Zhenglu Banner of the Northern Qing Dynasty, if the price is right, some of them will of course switch sides, but Your Majesty should not have too high expectations for those people, and there is no need to offer too high a price. These people can be eliminated if they can be eliminated, and expelled if they can be. There is really no point in bringing them here. If you win over too many people like this, the battle will be lost! "
Wu Sangui hates losing money the most now!
In his opinion, isn't the most valuable thing in the Central Plains just that little bit of land? If all the land was given to the grassroots, wouldn’t the Ming Dynasty’s Northern Expedition suffer a loss? Moreover, he and his men did not want to live in the northwest, but wanted to answer their hometown in Liaodong in the future. This matter involves how to take back the "flag land"! But the defecting Green Flag soldiers cannot be allowed to continue to occupy the land. If this matter is established as a rule, the land in Liaodong may not be recovered in the future.
Zhu Cixiang turned to look at Li Yan again. He was from Henan, so of course he should listen to him in the battle to regain Henan.
Li Yan said: "I think what the Duke of Jin said is right! Isn't your Majesty preparing for the success of the Northern Expedition in ten years? Then there is no need to rush for success... If your Majesty wants a quick victory, there is no need to go to Zhongzhou and land directly in Tanggu. Then go straight to Yanjing and rely on a battle to win or lose. However, since the Beiqing has plans to move back outside the Pass, it is probably not afraid of a decisive battle in Beizhili, so I do not recommend taking Beijing quickly.
If you don’t seek quick victory, I also recommend operating in Zhongzhou! To run Zhongzhou, Zhengluqi should be expelled or eliminated. Because now the land in Zhongzhou is either allocated to the people of Zhongzhou through oral transfer, or it is occupied by Zhenglu Banner. Can we not take back the land allocated to the people? If the land allocated to Zhenglvqi is not taken back, how will Zhongzhou operate? Where should the meritorious soldiers and the meritorious ministers who follow His Majesty go to get the land? "
Zhu Cihong looked at Li Ruolian again, and Li Ruolian said: "Your Majesty, I also feel that the areas of Zhongzhou, Beizhi, and Shanxi should be managed properly, and we cannot allow the treacherous people with Zhengluqi and Xiangluqi to occupy large areas of land. Otherwise, we will follow Your Majesty to the south. What to do with the meritorious officials who came? What to do with so many meritorious soldiers?"
The three major military groups agreed...
Zhu Cixiang let out a breath. He understood why these three families didn't want the people from the Two Green Flags to take refuge - they all had their eye on the land owned by the Two Green Flags!
Why else the Northern Expedition?
Or for the land!
In the final analysis, these three major military groups that Zhu Cixi relied on were still a group of northern landowners and military nobles!
Of course they want more land!
Zhu Cixiang was unwilling to allocate too much southern land to them, because that would significantly reduce the court's annual income, and then they could only target the land in their hometown in the north.
Zhu Cixiang looked at Zheng Sen again. The senior brother did not want the land in the north. For him, putting money on the land was too inefficient.
"Your Majesty, I also think that the flag land in Zhongzhou should be taken back." Zheng Sen said, "The green flag soldiers are already very lenient regardless of their crimes when they come back. How can we allow them to continue to occupy the land? There are still many northerners in the south. Food and clothing are very difficult, so we can use that land to resettle them."
Emperor Zhu remained silent and turned his attention to Wu Xiang, who attended cram school with his two sons.
"Your Majesty," Wu Xiang said at this time, "it is good to subjugate the enemy's army without occupying it... If your Majesty wants to fight steadily, it is better to ask the Northern Qing court for the land of Zhongzhou."
"How to ask for it?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
"Aren't they going to marry the Fourteenth Princess to His Majesty? Then they will ask for the land in the name of dowry." Wu Xiang said, "Although the land cannot be asked for, it will scare away many flag men with the green flag... ..If they run away, it will be easier for us to fight."
"It makes sense!" Zhu Cixiang nodded and said with a smile, "We have to let them know that I will not choose between the Fourteenth Gege and Zhongzhou, I want both!"
