"What good news?" Dorgon asked impatiently.
The good news since entering North Korea is that there is no.
The bad news keeps coming one after another.
Shang Kexi knelt down and saluted, "Your Majesty, Chongzhen is ill!"
"What?" Dorgon stood up and said, "Say it again! Is the news reliable?"
Shang Kexi took out a letter from his bosom and presented it to Dorgon with both hands: "Zheng Zhilong sent a message saying that Chongzhen is ill."
"When did it happen?"
"Zheng Zhilong wrote this letter on August 29, saying that Chongzhen had not attended court since the end of July, and that rumors were rife in the capital that Chongzhen was ill."
Dorgon still had some doubts, so he took the letter and read it carefully.
However, he did not express his opinion, but handed the letter to Fan Wencheng.
After reading it, Fan Wencheng handed it to Hong Chengchou.
After the two counselors had finished reading, Dorgon asked, "Do you think this is true or false?"
"It's fake, absolutely fake!" Hong Chengchou said without hesitation.
"Why are you so sure, Mr. Hong?" Dorgon asked.
Hong Chengchou's mouth curled up slightly: "Because Zhu Cilang has been staying in Nanjing without any movement, as the crown prince, he has neither gone north to the capital to prevent any accidents, nor has he completely supervised the country and seized power. From this point, it can be seen that Chongzhen is pretending to be sick."
"That makes sense!" Dorgon nodded. "What about Mr. Fan? What do you think?"
Fan Wencheng crossed his left hand over his chest, rested his chin on his right hand and thought, "I also think Chongzhen is pretending to be sick, but I can't figure out why he is pretending to be sick."
The others present also frowned, very puzzled.
In their view, Chongzhen must have other motives in pretending to be sick.
But what could Chongzhen’s purpose be?
Shang Kexi spread his hands and guessed, "Could it be that Chongzhen wanted to show weakness and lure us to leave Korea and counterattack Liaodong?"
"No!" Hong Chengchou waved his hand and shook his head: "Chongzhen is a thoughtful person. He won't think we are as stupid as we think."
"What is it for?" Shang Kexi was a little mad, "It can't be for enjoyment, right?"
Hong Chengchou suddenly nodded: "It's not impossible! The Zhu family didn't live long. Chongzhen is already over 40 years old. He has been fighting wars since he ascended the throne, and he has been fighting until now. He has fought wars all his life, so why can't he enjoy himself?"
"Just forget it!" Shang Kexi pouted, "He's not that careless."
Everyone talked for a long time, but no one could make sense of it.
Dorgon knew that continuing the conversation would lead to no results, so he simply ended the topic.
He said to the crowd: "Everyone, let's put Chongzhen's matter aside for now. Now there is something that needs your help."
"Your Majesty, please speak. It is an honor for us to do so."
Dorgon did not say it immediately, but called Geng Zhongming, Tulai, Sony and others together.
His eyes swept across everyone's faces one by one.
Under the expectant gaze of the crowd, Dorgon said in a deep voice: "What should the Qing Dynasty do next?"
He deliberately emphasized the word "Qing Dynasty".
It means asking where the future of the Qing Dynasty will go.
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
Although Qing was the name of their country, the country was already in name only.
There is neither a capital nor people to pay taxes.
They stayed on North Korean territory and lived on North Korean food.
That's all.
Why do desertions continue despite repeated bans?
Are the lower-level soldiers not getting enough food to eat?
After entering North Korea, although they did not have enough to eat most of the time, they did not starve.
When people were starving before, almost no one deserted.
Now that they are no longer hungry, there are more deserters.
Why?
The reason is their own problem.
If the top management has no goals, the middle management will see no hope of promotion and no light for the future.
They will find a way to escape from here and serve the more promising Ming army.
The soldiers at the lower level who were not getting enough food were already full of complaints.
At this time, the middle-level generals can take a group of people away and desert together with just one word.
In Dorgon's expectant eyes, Hong Chengchou said: "Your Majesty, I think the Qing Dynasty needs a slogan."
"slogan?"
"right."
"What slogan?"
"Restore the country!"
"This..." Dorgon looked at the generals present, trying to find confidence in their eyes.
Gong Adai lowered his head and dared not respond.
Suksaha avoided looking, afraid of making eye contact with Dorgon.
Wu Sangui kept his head down from beginning to end, and not only his eyes, but his entire face could not be seen clearly.
Shang Kexi and Geng Zhongming looked at the sky and the ground respectively.
It seemed like there was something strange there that attracted their attention.
Others also behaved in a similar way, which made Dorgon lose all confidence.
He coughed lightly.
One is to break the deadlock and ease the awkward atmosphere, and the other is to attract everyone's attention.
"Mr. Hong..." Dorgon tried his best to keep his tone calm, "I think the most urgent task is not to restore the country, but to gain a firm foothold!"
Hong Chengchou explained: "This is one thing."
Geng Zhongming shouted nearby: "These are clearly two different things, how did they become one?"
Without waiting for Hong Chengchou to continue explaining, Fan Wencheng rushed to say: "Restoring the country is a slogan! Just like the slogan of the Song Dynasty back then to welcome back the two saints, the purpose of shouting slogans is to rally people's hearts, to mobilize troops, and to have a legitimate reason to fight."
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