On the sixth day of the sixth month of the twenty-fifth year of Chongzhen, in the capital.
Outside Deshengmen, two post soldiers rode their horses and rushed into the city one after the other.
The people dodged as usual, fearing that they would block the post soldiers' way.
After entering the city, the two post soldiers went to different places.
One of them went to the Ministry of War, and the other went directly to the palace to meet Chongzhen.
Under the guidance of the eunuch, the post soldiers came directly to the outside of the Qianqing Palace with the news.
He held up the Tangbao with both hands and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, a great victory in Liaodong, a great victory in Liaodong!"
Wang Chengen was as happy as a child. He quickly took the newspaper from the postman, opened it and read: "On the second day of the sixth month in the twenty-fifth year of my dynasty, the Ping Liao army besieged the city of Hetuala..."
Chongzhen was also very happy.
He sat on the dragon chair and listened quietly to the contents of the newspaper.
This Tangbao was written by Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong, and the person who delivered it was the Jinyiwei.
After listening to the content, Chongzhen asked the Jinyiwei: "Did Dorgon escape?"
"yes."
"Are you sure it's heading towards North Korea?"
"Yes," the Jinyiwei replied, "Not only did the surrendered soldiers and generals testify, but many mountain people also saw it with their own eyes. In addition, in order to track the whereabouts of the Jiannu, His Royal Highness Prince Ding has sent the Jinyiwei to Korea, and they will get news about the Jiannu within ten days at the latest."
"Good, very good." A proud smile appeared on Chongzhen's lips.
Chongzhen went to great lengths to allow Dorgon to escape to Korea.
Fortunately, Dorgon did not disappoint his expectations.
"Go down and claim your reward!" Chongzhen waved his hand to signal the Jinyiwei to leave.
With the departure of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the Palace of Heavenly Purity returned to its former tranquility.
"Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen came behind Chongzhen and patted his shoulders: "Are we going to attack Korea next?"
"No," Chongzhen shook his head.
Wang Chengen was stunned: "No... not attacking North Korea?"
"No."
Wang Chengen reminded him, "But Dorgon has already fled to Korea with nearly 20,000 defeated soldiers. If Your Majesty does not fight now, it would be like letting the tiger go back to the mountain! Once Dorgon gets his revenge, he will come back at any time."
"Haha!" Chongzhen smiled mysteriously: "The Ming Dynasty has many enemies. In addition to Dorgon who is in the open, there are many people hiding in the dark, ready to deal a fatal blow to me and the Ming Dynasty. If we eliminate Dorgon now, those enemies hiding in the dark will continue to hide."
"But if we let Dorgon go for now, once the right opportunity comes, those enemies in the dark will be unable to resist jumping out!"
Wang Chengen seemed to understand, but also seemed not to understand.
He did not think deeply about the matter, but continued to massage Chongzhen's shoulders.
As he was hammering, footsteps were heard outside.
It was Gao Shiming, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, who walked in.
He had just learned about the great victory in Liaodong and came here to express his congratulations to Chongzhen.
After finishing his congratulations, Gao Shiming said, "Your Majesty, the Jinyiwei has already prepared the personnel, and they can set off as soon as Your Majesty gives the order."
Chongzhen took a deep breath and said slowly: "Let them go."
"Yes!" Gao Shiming walked outside the door and whispered a few words to a eunuch.
The eunuch quickly turned around and ran out of the imperial city.
There are two teams of Jinyiwei outside the imperial city.
They rode out of the city immediately after receiving the order.
One team of Jinyiwei rushed to Sichuan, and another team of Jinyiwei rushed to Jiangxi.
Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity and muttered to himself, "I hope this good news will make you two better."
After a while, a young eunuch came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister Fan Jingwen and the Minister of War Wang Jiayan request to see you."
"Let them in."
"yes."
The eunuch went out and brought the two men in.
As soon as Fan Jingwen entered the room, he shouted at the top of his voice: "Your Majesty, a great victory in Liaodong! In this battle, the Ping Liao army not only recovered Liaodong, but also captured the Jiannu chieftain Hauge. It can be said that it is a double happiness!"
Although Chongzhen had known the news in advance, he still appeared happy.
He stood up and put his hands behind his back, praising non-stop.
He first praised the soldiers of the Ping Liao army, and then praised the cabinet and the six ministries.
After expressing his joy, Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Rewards! From the governor-general to the ordinary soldiers, everyone will be rewarded! Especially for those soldiers who died in the battle, the pensions must be sent to their families."
"I obey your order." The Minister of War Wang Jiayan responded.
"Your Majesty," Fan Jingwen reminded in time, "The deficit of the national treasury this year has not yet been settled. I am afraid that the reward silver cannot be collected in a short time, and the pension silver will not be easy to arrange in a short time."
Chongzhen closed his eyes and said, "Don't worry about the money. Minister Xie Sanbin has his own way."
Fan Jingwen and Wang Jiayan looked at each other and became worried about Xie Sanbin at the same time.
Since Xie Sanbin became the Minister of Revenue, he has been either making money or on his way to make money every day.
This year's deficit is at least three or four million taels.
They tried every possible method including fundraising, selling official positions, building more ports, and currency reform.
The money that can be collected has been collected, and part of the money that cannot be collected has also been collected.
What else can Xie Sanbin do?
Just when they were worried, Chongzhen asked, "What will the Ping Liao army do next?"
"Your Majesty," Wang Jiayan saluted again and said, "There are still many Jiannu in the mountains with a radius of dozens or hundreds of miles around Hetuala City. The Ping Liao army will enter the mountains and search them, killing the strong and the old and the young, and strive to empty their hideouts and burn their houses, block their holes and empty their nests."
Chongzhen nodded, very satisfied with the arrangement of destroying their nest and exterminating their species.
He asked, “How long do you expect it to take?”
"One month is enough."
"Yeah," Chongzhen nodded again and began to close his eyes to rest.
Wang Jiayan thought for a moment and took the initiative to say, "Your Majesty, according to the Ping Liao army, Dorgon led nearly 20,000 defeated soldiers to flee to the Korean area, and they intend to enter Korea to pursue him."
"What does the Ministry of War mean?" Chongzhen asked.
"The Ministry of War believes that we should root out the weeds at the root, so we can go into Korea to pursue them. Moreover, Korea was originally a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the Jiannu have been destroyed and Liaodong has been pacified, sending troops to Korea at this time is just the right time to make Korea return to the Ming Dynasty."
"Where is the cabinet?" Chongzhen looked at Fan Jingwen.
Fan Jingwen replied: "The cabinet also thinks that we should cut the grass and root it out, but instead of Ping Liao's army, we should let the Koreans do it."
"Lord Fan!" Wang Jiayan said beside him, "North Korea has already surrendered to the Jiannu!"
Fan Jingwen turned his head and said, "That was before. The situation is different now. Last year, North Korea sent envoys to resubmit to the Ming Dynasty, but..."
He said half of his words and didn't say the second half.
At that time, everyone in the cabinet thought that Chongzhen would agree, but Chongzhen refused the Koreans' surrender.
This left the cabinet extremely puzzled.
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