Haizhou City.
On the city wall, Dorgon held a telescope in his hand and looked into the endless distance.
Fan Wencheng stood beside him with a serious expression.
After a long time, Dorgon put down his clairvoyance and asked, "Mr. Fan, what do you think about the attack on the Khorchin tribe?"
"It must have been done by the Ming army."
"Why are you so sure?"
"The more chaotic Liaodong is, the more advantageous it is for the Ming army, so they must have done it," Fan Wencheng replied.
"The emperor asked me to allocate some food and fodder to the Khorchin tribe. Should I send it or not?" Dorgon asked again.
“It must be delivered!”
"But we don't have a lot of food. If we give them some, the Eight Banner soldiers won't have enough to eat this winter." Dorgon said reluctantly, "The smuggled food is expensive, but the loss during transportation is also huge. This is not a solution in the long run."
Fan Wencheng said leisurely: "So I think we should launch a counterattack against the Ming army, kill their soldiers, rob their food, and make up for the deficit of the Qing Dynasty!"
"Mr. Fan's idea coincides with Hong Chengchou's!" Dorgon took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to Fan Wencheng while speaking. "This is the idea that Hong Chengchou gave to the emperor. The emperor did not dare to make the decision, so he wrote a secret letter to ask for my opinion."
Fan Wencheng opened the letter and read it carefully. His expression changed slightly, but not much.
"How is it?" Dorgon asked, staring into Fan Wencheng's eyes.
"Hong Chengchou is really capable." Fan Wencheng praised generously, "He actually thought of using Shengjing as bait to catch the big fish of the Ming army!"
Dorgon smiled and said: "No matter how capable Hong Chengchou is, he is not as good as Mr. Fan."
Fan Wencheng smiled awkwardly: "Your Majesty, you are really too kind! Before reading this letter, I had not yet come up with a specific strategy. In terms of ability, I am not as good as him."
"Then...Mr. Fan, what do you think of this plan?" Dorgon put away his smile and asked seriously.
"I think it's feasible!"
Dorgon was silent for a long time, then raised his head and asked, "I am afraid that the Ming army will have captured Shengjing before we can come to support them! In this way, not only will we fail to achieve our goal, but we will also lose the capital."
"By then, I will not only be ashamed to face the emperor, but also feel guilty towards the Eight Banners soldiers. I may even become a criminal of the Qing Dynasty!"
Fan Wencheng clasped his fists and saluted: "In fact, losing the capital is a good thing for the Qing Dynasty."
"Losing the capital will be a fatal blow to the morale of our army. How can it be a good thing?" Dorgon became suspicious unusually.
Fan Wencheng did not explain, but suddenly asked: "Your Majesty, do you think the Ming army wants to fight a decisive battle?"
"Of course I did. They have tens of thousands more soldiers than ours and are eager for a decisive battle!"
"Does Your Majesty want to fight?"
"No! Our army is short of soldiers and generals, and morale is low. We have no chance of winning a decisive battle at this time."
Fan Wencheng took a deep breath and said, "The Ming army is sending naval forces to the Liao River to build a floating bridge. When they arrive, our army will not be able to destroy the Ming army's floating bridge as easily as before. Even if we can destroy the floating bridge, the Ming army will still be able to cross the Liao River when winter comes. How will the prince deal with it then?"
"This king..." Dorgon was speechless.
"After crossing the Liaohe River, they will advance towards Shengjing step by step. At that time, the prince will have only two choices, one is to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army, and the other is to avoid the battle and retreat. When retreating to Shengjing, the prince will not be able to withdraw, and will be forced to fight." Fan Wencheng began to analyze in detail.
"Also, I just said that we would launch a counterattack against the Ming army, but the current Qing army is not strong enough to fight back against the Ming army. But after abandoning Liaoyang and Shenyang, things will be different. Without the pressure of defense, the Qing cavalry will be able to move freely in the future."
"Just as Hong Chengchou said, it is easy for the Ming army to capture Liaodong, but difficult to defend it. To the north of Yizhou and Guangning is the grassland, where the Great Wall has long been destroyed, and the cavalry can easily approach the city."
"There is no need to say more about Shenyang. To the north is the grassland, and to the east is Hetuala, the birthplace of our Qing Dynasty!"
"After the Ming army moves in, they will be attacked from both sides."
"So...if we want to stop the current decline, we can only retreat in order to advance!"
After listening to Fan Wencheng's analysis, Dorgon thought for a long time.
He didn't dare to make a rash decision.
His words will not only affect the current war, but also the fate of the entire Qing Dynasty.
"But after abandoning Liaoyang and Shenyang, what should we do with southern Liaoning? It is not only a transit point for smuggling, but also the base of the Qing Navy!" Dorgon suddenly thought of southern Liaoning.
"Abandoning southern Liaoning and handing it over to the Ming army will further disperse their forces. As for the navy, I suggest splitting it into two, sending one part to Korea to continue smuggling, and the other part abandoning the ship and going ashore to serve as infantry and cavalry."
Dorgon said nothing and fell into deep thought again.
Thousands of miles away in the capital, Chongzhen was also deep in thought.
He was thinking about how to deal with Zu Dashou.
He received news early this morning that Zu Dashou would be able to arrive in Beijing before noon.
The Prince of Lu also went to Beijing with him.
The Liao River is more than a thousand miles away from the capital, and considering the noble status of King Lu and Zu Dashou's advanced age.
So the convoy moved very slowly.
It took more than half a month to reach the capital.
Before Zu Dashou came to Beijing, the court had a heated discussion on how to deal with him.
Some people think that he committed a capital crime by surrendering to the Qing army, and should be executed immediately after his return, with his head sent to the nine frontiers.
This view is supported by the most people.
Some people think that Zu Dashou had pretended to surrender to the Jiannu before, but later found an opportunity to escape back.
This time was no exception, I just never had the chance to run back.
There are very few people who support this view.
Some people also think that Zu Dashou did commit a capital crime, but he had made contributions to the court before.
Moreover, his son and many of his clansmen are still serving the court.
He should be given a lenient sentence.
Be it demoted to a commoner or sent into exile.
Should not be put to death.
To this end, Chongzhen convened the cabinet and the Imperial Household Department for discussion.
He raised his head and glanced at all the cabinet members and the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department one by one.
"Tell me, what should we do with Zu Dashou?"
No one present is a fool.
Especially the cabinet members, they were very clear about Chongzhen's intentions.
What was Chongzhen’s intention?
He definitely doesn’t want Zu Dashou to die.
If you really want him to die,
Just let him rot in Liaodong, there's no need to go to so much trouble to bring him back.
But the people in the cabinet did not want to follow Chongzhen's wishes.
Their relationship with Chongzhen was both cooperative and antagonistic.
If they just followed Chongzhen's lead, they would lose the meaning of their existence.
So everyone chose to remain silent.
Chongzhen didn't indulge them at all and started to call out names directly, "Lord Fan, how do you think Zu Dashou should be dealt with?"
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