After listening to Fan Wencheng's analysis, Dorgon opened his mouth in surprise, somewhat unbelieving: "Mr. Fan, is this matter so serious?"
"We will know whether it is serious or not when the army returns..."
Dorgon frowned and guessed from Fan Wencheng's tone that the return journey would be much more difficult than the way there.
"Then what should I do?"
"Didn't Prince Rui prepare dozens of spies in advance? Divide them into two groups and send them out. One group will go to Fujian, and the other group will go to Qufu to investigate this matter."
"Okay, I understand." Dorgon nodded and hurried away.
After he returned to the camp, he summoned two trusted men into his tent.
After entering the tent, the two men took off their helmets.
Strangely, neither of them had their heads shaved.
"Your servant greets Prince Rui." The two men knelt down and saluted.
"Get up," Dorgon waved his hand.
After the two stood up, Dorgon said, "The army will set out to return to Shengjing in a few days. I really can't bear to leave you."
This sentence appears to be concern, but in fact it is a reminder for them not to betray themselves.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I am a member of Prince Rui's Mansion in life and a ghost of Prince Rui's Mansion in death."
"That's good. I have two things to tell you. As long as you complete these two things, you can return to Shengjing to reunite with your family at any time."
"I obey your command." The two men knelt down and kowtowed again.
"You," Dorgon pointed at one of them and said, "Take your men to Qufu and investigate the robbery of Duke Yansheng's mansion."
"I obey your command."
"You," Dorgon pointed at another person, "take your people to Fujian and find a way to find Zheng Zhilong and negotiate with him about shipping. Money is not a problem. As long as he can bring the materials needed by the Qing Dynasty, the price can even be doubled."
After the two men kowtowed and accepted the order, they did not leave, but looked straight at Dorgon.
Dorgon tapped his forehead and said, "Look, this matter has caused so much trouble... I almost forgot about it. Come here, give them some loose change, and bring the banknotes I prepared."
When handing over the banknotes, Dorgon instructed: "These banknotes can only be exchanged at Nanjing Wanyong Money House. They cannot be exchanged anywhere else. Do you understand?"
"I understand. I'll take my leave."
After watching them leave, Dorgon seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden and breathed a sigh of relief.
The Eight Banners did not come into the country just to plunder this time!
If it's just looting, it would be enough to loot only in the northern Zhili area.
After all, it is an important area of the capital, with prosperous merchants and food available there.
There is another purpose for marching straight into Shandong - letting spies open up new trade routes.
Although the land in Liaodong is fertile, it can only grow one crop.
In addition, the Eight Banners soldiers were busy fighting for years and neglected farming, resulting in frequent droughts.
Therefore, Liaodong was not only short of food, but also of various other supplies.
For so many years, they have been relying on the trafficking of mainland merchants to live a worry-free life.
Before Chongzhen killed the merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi, they could transport the supplies from the Central Plains from Xuanfu and Datong to the grasslands, and then from the grasslands to Liaodong.
After those merchants were destroyed, this trade route was cut off.
In order to prevent the Bannermen from starving and freezing, new trade routes had to be opened up.
So...he turned his attention to Zheng Zhilong.
Zheng Zhilong was a general of the Ming Dynasty on the surface, but in fact he was a thorough businessman.
As long as there is profit, he will do anything.
On shore, he is an officer.
Once he's at sea, he's a bandit!
The reason for sending someone to contact him this time was to reopen trade between Korea and Ming Dynasty.
Why do we say reopening?
Because of the trade between Korea and the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen ordered a ban.
The reason was Hei Yunlong’s denunciation.
Hei Yunlong was the deputy general of Datong during the Ji Si Rebellion, and followed the general Man Gui to Beijing to defend the emperor.
As a result, he was defeated and captured.
Later, he fled back to the Ming Dynasty in the Battle of Dalingh River and was promoted to the right general of the Rear Army General's Office by Chongzhen.
After Hei Yunlong escaped, he told Chongzhen that a lot of supplies for the Jiannu came from Korea.
This news immediately made Chongzhen furious, and he issued an order banning trade with Korea.
After the embargo, other caravans did not dare to go to Korea, but Zheng Zhilong's caravan did.
This is also the fundamental reason why Dorgon took the initiative to find Zheng Zhilong!
After resting for a few days, the Eight Banners soldiers set out on their return journey.
As expected, we encountered much more resistance on the way back than on the way here.
In particular, the grain-collecting teams suffered repeated setbacks.
The Eight Banners soldiers did not collect grain from house to house like the Japanese invaders did when they entered the village.
That would be too inefficient.
They would send three or five people to the outside of the village in advance to tell the village chief how much food to prepare.
Pick it up half a day or a day later.
When the time comes, the Eight Banners soldiers will come here again to get food.
If there is enough food, they take it away.
If there is not enough food, start killing people.
One pound less means one person is killed.
Until all the villagers were killed, which is called a village massacre.
In reality, they won't kill them all.
Instead, they would leave behind some of the old, weak, sick and disabled and take them to collect food from nearby villages.
Generally speaking, people from neighboring villages know each other.
With these people as a warning, other villages will obediently hand over their grain.
It was even easier to plunder the people.
Just take away all the food of the people, and the people will naturally follow them in order to survive.
The same approach as the bandits!
At the end of September, the Eight Banners Army began to march north.
In the central army formation, Duoduo was in high spirits.
The herald officer rode on horseback to report to him: "Prince Yu, our army has gained a lot from entering the pass this time."
"We conquered eleven cities, won forty-two battles, captured 162,400 people and animals, 3,906 ounces of gold, and 1,127,324 ounces of silver."
"There are also 52,000 rolls of silk and satin of various colors, 15,000 satin and fur coats, and more than 400 skins of sable, fox, leopard, tiger, etc."
"Good, very good!" Duoduo couldn't help but reveal a proud expression.
Although the gains from this entry were not as great as those from the fifth entry, it was already a lot for him personally.
So much so that he wanted to go back to Shengjing immediately and have a good sleep.
"Order all units to follow closely, with the baggage in front and the elite troops in the rear, to prevent a surprise attack by the Ming army."
"In addition...scouts must ride two or even three horses each to ensure that they can send back information as soon as possible after discovering the Ming army."
"Yes, sir."
At the same time as the Jiannu army was heading north, the Ming army also made corresponding deployments.
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