To be honest, Hong Chengchou is also very curious about the current situation of the Ming Dynasty.
He had analyzed it for Jilharang before. However, judging from the news we have learned now, it is probably wrong.
Because of this, he became even more curious.
There was at least one thing that Hong Chengchou couldn't figure out.
According to the account given by the captured Ming army, at least the Ming army in Shanhaiguan no longer has payment arrears. In Hong Chengchou's view, this was simply unimaginable.
Before he surrendered, he was the governor of Ji Liao. The Guan Ning Army under his command was actually the frontier army that the imperial court valued most, and the money and food allocated to it were also the most among the frontier armies everywhere.
But even so, Guan Ningjun never said that there was no salary owed.
With the little financial resources of the imperial court, even if they received three salaries, they would definitely not be able to pay military salaries on time if they were turned upside down by the bandits!
After hearing Dorgon ask him, he actually wanted to say, "I'll go back and take a look."
However, Hong Chengchou actually understood that Dorgon would never let him go. Because if he leaves, he will probably not come back.
Now that he was begging for food here, Hong Chengchou naturally wanted to show off his talents in the hope of being reused. Of course, he has always done this.
After thinking for a while, he respectfully replied to Dorgon: "Your Highness, if you want to spy on the news inside the pass, you can only send people into the pass. It is not convenient for people from Liaodong, so it is best to have people who are originally from the capital. .”
"How to go? How to get back?" Dorgon listened and discussed seriously, "How can we ensure that he sends back the news and that the news sent back is not false news?"
Hong Chengchou's mind was indeed bright. After hearing so many questions, he did not think hard, but immediately answered Dorgon: "There is no way to enter the customs from Shanhaiguan. The only way is from along the Great Wall in the Gyeonggi area. A remote place, go over there."
Seeing that Dorgon was listening carefully, he continued: "As for coming back, it would be best if you can bribe the Ming Army garrison! If you can't bribe them, you can only sneak past the Great Wall. Over there on the Mongolian grassland, we must also There are people who respond regularly.”
After hearing this, Dorgon nodded and said, "Continue!"
"As for ensuring the authenticity of the news, the only way to ensure the authenticity of the news is through cross-referencing." Hong Chengchou gave Dorgon an idea, "You can send two or even three groups of people to sneak across the Great Wall without knowing each other. , Your Highness will be able to verify the information by comparing it."
At this point, he paused, and after secretly observing Dorgon, he continued: "As for whether it is reliable or not, His Highness can choose to send those Han people who have small families and take care of their families. Although it cannot be guaranteed, it can still be done. Ensure their loyalty to the Qing Dynasty to the greatest extent possible!"
After Dorgon heard this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, Han people's brains are better!
So, he followed Hong Chengchou's suggestion in his mind.
To be honest, it’s hard to choose the manpower!
Here in Liaodong, the Han people in the capital area are generally the lowest class. Where did these coatings come from? If they are put back into the customs, they will definitely go there and never come back!
If these Han people are temporarily brought together to start a family in Liaodong, there will be no emotion, and they will basically leave and never come back.
And these people were sent into the customs, because they had to work for the Qing Dynasty, so they must be given a lot of money. In this way, even if the family is young, it is very likely that they will never come back, remarry a wife and have children in the pass, and live a prosperous life.
Thinking about this, Dorgon couldn't help but have a headache.
Finally, he raised his head, looked at Hong Chengchou and asked: "Is it okay for the Han people in Liaodong?"
Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou knew what Dorgon was worried about, and answered him: "It is possible for the Ming Dynasty to withdraw all the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong into the pass and send the Han people from Liaodong to enter the pass, but relatively speaking, there are no Liaodong soldiers." The accent is nothing compared to the local accent from the Gyeonggi region!"
Dorgon listened, thought about it carefully, and still had a headache. Finally, he praised Hong Chengchou and sent him away without any substantial reward!
Later, Dorgon went to discuss with Daishan.
For now, the two of them are the regents. As long as the two of them discuss things, it is basically settled.
Daishan also had a headache after hearing Dorgon's words. After thinking for a long time, he said to Dorgon: "It is too inconvenient to travel back and forth within the pass. It would be much more convenient if we could bribe the Ming Dynasty border army garrison. For this purpose, we still need to send someone who is trustworthy and capable of doing things." People have to go over there!”
In response, Dorgon nodded, and the two of them started to think about the candidates again.
Zu Dashou, if this guy escapes back to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will definitely believe him. However, the Qing Dynasty will not believe him, no!
Kong Youde? Geng Zhongming? Very gratifying...
After discussing the past one by one, Dorgon and Daishan finally selected three people.
Geng Jimao was the son of King Huaishun Geng Zhongming. He had always performed well and was loyal to the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, Geng Jimao just gave birth to a son, who was only a few months old. I heard he named him Geng Jingzhong. When he goes to Guannei, Dorgon and Daishan can rest assured.
In the original history, Geng Jimao was indeed loyal to the Manchus and made great achievements in helping the Manchus conquer the world.
The second person is King Zhishun Shang Kexi. Since surrendering to the Manchus, he has also performed very well. As the Jianlu conquered the north and south, he made great military exploits, including the Battle of Songjin, where he also made many achievements. Although the navy was defeated, he did not show any dissatisfaction with the Manchus.
Another reason why Dorgon and Daishan chose him was that he had two young children, and he was very good at using his brain. If he had considered the situation and bribed the Ming army's border generals, he would have been more confident than others.
Although he is one of the famous Three Kings, he has never entered the customs. He has been in Dongjiang Town before, so there are definitely not many people in the capital who know him.
The last candidate was Xia Chengde, the Songshan deputy general who surrendered to Jianlu in the Battle of Songjin.
This man secretly colluded with the Manchus and took Zi Xia Shu as a hostage and offered to surrender. And on the night of February 18th, the 15th year of Chongzhen, he welcomed Jianlu and stole the city. In the early morning of the next day, Xia Chengde personally led his troops to capture Hong Chengchou, governor Qiu Minyang, commander-in-chief Wang Tingxiang, Zu Dalue, etc., and caused Qiu Minyang to commit suicide, and Cao Bianjiao and others died in the battle.
He had his son as a hostage, and he had done such a thing. Both Dorgon and Daishan felt reassured by him. Because if he was caught by the Ming Dynasty court, he would definitely not let him go.
After deciding on the candidates, Dorgon interviewed these people respectively, and then gave them a large sum of money to choose their own capable men, quietly detoured through the Mongolian grasslands, and sneaked across the Great Wall to enter the customs.
Of course, Geng Jimao, Shang Kexi and Xia Chengde didn't know each other's existence. That is, these are three lines.
………………
Speaking of Zu Dashou, after hearing about the Battle of Ningyuan, he was shocked and stunned.
He never imagined that when did the imperial army become so powerful?
This is not a naval battle, nor a sneak attack, but a battle between large armies. Moreover, the imperial army attacked mainly and Jianlu defended, and actually destroyed 30,000 Jianlu troops!
It’s incredible!
After he came to his senses, he felt that his decision was the right thing to do!
So, while Hong Chengchou began to quietly inquire about the details of the Ningyuan battle, he was still planning to escape secretly.
Later, when the details of the Ningyuan Battle were no longer kept secret, he knew that his nephew Wu Sangui also participated in the Ningyuan Battle, and he was even more happy.
In order to escape back to the pass as soon as possible, Zu Dashou showed more and more that he had no nostalgia for the Ming Dynasty. In addition to finding his original subordinates to eat, drink and chat to show his loyalty to Jianlu, he also found other people to do this.
For example, Xia Chengde, who is also from the Guan Ning Army lineage.
However, one day suddenly, he couldn't find Xia Chengde, which made him a little confused, so he took Xia Chengde's son Xia Shu to drink.
No matter what, Zu Dashou is just an old fox, and Xia Shu cannot be his opponent at all. After drinking too much, Xia Shu accidentally revealed the news despite Xia Chengde's warning to his son.
Regarding this situation, Zu Dashou remained calm on the surface, as if he had just heard about it. But as soon as he returned, he immediately wrote a secret letter and sent someone to deliver it to his nephew.
………………
On the Pidao side, Li Laiheng, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, Liaodong Bo, looked at the sky from time to time. One look at his appearance showed that he was not interested in handling military affairs and was obviously absent-minded.
When the Jinyi Guard Supervisory Army saw it, he smiled and said: "According to the previous news about the Clippers, the appointment is almost here. How about we go to the dock to have a look?"
There was news before that the navy who returned to Denglai would return to Phi Island in the near future. Along with the ship, in addition to food and fodder, there were also five thousand cavalry.
Originally, with Li Laiheng's title and military position, there was no need to greet him. However, there was something special about those five thousand cavalry troops, which was what made Li Laiheng restless.
The Jinyi Guard Supervisor obviously understood this, so he took the initiative to bring it up.
When Li Laiheng heard this, he was not pretentious. He smiled and said, "Okay, I can't stay in the Yamen anymore anyway!"
To be honest, he was already very happy when he first heard the news that the clipper had arrived and that five thousand cavalry troops were coming to his tent to take orders.
Pidao has never made any more military exploits, because the cavalry of about a thousand did not pose much threat at all when Jianlu was on guard.
What he never expected was that the leaders of these five thousand cavalry troops were actually Li Guo and Gao Yigong.
To be honest, when he first heard it, he couldn't believe his ears. He always thought he was hallucinating.
How could his adoptive father Li Guo and Gao Yigong become the generals of the imperial court? Aren't they always following the generals? Will they be willing to give up the general?
In Li Laiheng's opinion, he didn't think Li Zicheng would surrender to the court!
While I was thinking about these things, someone suddenly shouted: "The ship is coming!"
