May 29th, Chongzheng Hall.
Fulin sat high on the dragon throne, with royal family nobles and civil and military officials from various banners sitting on his left and right.
Prince Zheng Jierhalang was the first to kneel down and said, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."
Prince Li Man Dahai knelt down and said, "I am also guilty."
"Guilt? Haha!" Fulin sneered, "You are all the pillars of our Qing Dynasty, how can you be guilty?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I used the troops improperly!" Jirgalang said hastily, "My original intention was to attract the main force of the Ming army to the north to the grassland, and then send the main force of the Eight Banners to besiege Dalinghe Fort, cut off the Ming army's retreat, and finally surround and attack the reinforcements."
"But Li Dingguo of the Ming court did not support Dalinghe Fort. Instead, he marched straight into the heart of the Qing Dynasty and came to the city of Shengjing, causing the emperor to be frightened!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
When the word "frightened" was mentioned, Fulin became even angrier.
Before Li Dingguo's troops arrived at the city of Shengjing, Fulin had been staying in the palace because of his young age.
Upon hearing that Ming troops had appeared outside the city, Fulin decided to take the initiative to climb the city wall to boost the morale of the Eight Banners soldiers.
But he didn't expect that Li Dingguo would slap him in the face with the Ming Dynasty flag.
From then on, let alone climbing up the city wall, I even felt reluctant to go up high to see the distant view.
A moment of initiative results in a lifetime of introversion.
How could he not be angry?
When Fulin was about to rebuke Jirgalang, Man Dahai suddenly kowtowed and said, "It is my fault! I already knew where Li Dingguo was before I besieged Dalinghe Fort. I should have defeated him head-on at that time, instead of using the method of besieging Dalinghe Fort to lure him to the vicinity of Dalinghe Fort."
"Later, I learned that Li Dingguo had penetrated deep into the heart of the Qing Dynasty. I immediately sent Kong Youde back to provide assistance. Unfortunately, Kong Youde underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, and was ambushed by Li Dingguo."
"When the news reached me, I had already captured Dalinghe Fort, and the prospects for the war were bright. But I was worried about the safety of the emperor, so I immediately led all my troops back to provide support."
"......"
Man Dahai said a lot.
But what he and Jirgalang wanted to express were similar.
Although I am guilty, I have tried my best. The emperor can punish me, but the premise is that I am convinced.
Is this a confession?
This is fucking shirking responsibility!
Fulin was so angry that he slammed the dragon desk: "You...you are simply going to piss me off to death!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down and we are guilty!" Jirgalang and Mandahai were the first to kowtow.
Seeing this, other ministers also kowtowed and knelt down in the Chongzheng Hall.
Fulin was still furious: "How can I calm down?"
"That day I was eating in the palace, listening to music, when I suddenly heard the Ming army approaching the city!"
"I just climbed up the city wall to boost the morale of the Eight Banners soldiers, but I didn't expect the Ming army below the city not only raised their flags, but also shouted slogans!"
"Now tell me that this matter is not your fault!"
"It's not your fault, is it my fault?"
The civil and military officials kowtowed again: "Your Majesty, please calm down. This is all our fault. It has nothing to do with Your Majesty!"
Fulin still refused to give up and adjusted his gaze to look at Dorgon.
Before the court meeting, Dorgon told him that he would impeach Jirgalang at the meeting.
Fulin is very angry now and wishes someone could help him vent his anger.
Seeing this, Dorgon immediately stood up and knelt again: "Your Majesty, I want to impeach Prince Zheng!"
The others quickly moved on their knees and away from Jirgalang.
Jirgalang raised his head and sneered at Dorgon: "You have neither done anything great nor helped the emperor and the Qing Dynasty. What qualifications do you have to impeach me?"
"Haha!" Dorgon also sneered: "Yes, you have made a contribution! First you lost Songshan and Jinzhou, then you lost Yizhou and Guangning!"
"I finally remembered that the Eight Banners' advantage was field combat, so I planned to besiege Dalinghe Fort and attack its reinforcements. But Li Dingguo took the lead and attacked its reinforcements. He made a great contribution!"
This kind of ironic words are much more lethal than direct words. Jirgalang gnashed his teeth and said: "You..."
"I am indeed not as good as you!" Dorgon did not give Jirgalang a chance to refute, and rushed to say: "I am a lowly person with little influence, and I cannot help the emperor and the Qing Dynasty."
"You are different! You were afraid that the emperor would be too bored in Shengjing, so you led the Ming army directly to the city for the emperor to see."
"He is truly the first prince since the founding of the Qing Dynasty!"
Every word that Dorgon said makes sense and is true.
Not only did Jirgalang become speechless, even Fulin, who had always looked down on him, could not help but nod slightly, indicating that he felt very relieved after listening to it.
Jirgalang was so angry that he almost jumped up from the ground and hit someone.
Fortunately, he still had his sanity and did not do anything excessive.
Jirgalang forced himself to calm down, thought quickly and said, "Dorgon, ah, Dorgon, you don't use your mind on fighting, but all on thinking about your own people."
"As the saying goes, victory and defeat are common in the military! I did lose the battle, but what about you? Didn't you win the battle too?"
"When your navy saw the shadow of the Ming navy, it was like a mouse seeing a cat. They ran away in panic and didn't dare to fight at all!"
"Everyone is the same, no one should say anything about anyone else!"
"You and I are different!" Dorgon waved his hand: "First of all, our Qing Dynasty is not good at naval battles! It is normal to lose a battle at sea. You are commanded by the Eight Banners soldiers who are good at field battles. It is not normal to lose to the Ming army who are not good at field battles."
"Secondly, the number of soldiers and warships I lost in the battle was only a few, while you... have lost countless troops!"
Jirgalang knew that he was not as eloquent as Dorgon, so he decided not to confront him face to face. He kowtowed to Fulin and said, "I am loyal and have a clear conscience. Please understand, Your Majesty!"
Why did Dorgon target Jirgalang?
Because Jirgalang was the only stumbling block for him to return to the court.
He has already dealt with the Zhengbai and Xiangbai banners, and the Zhenghong and Xianghong banners will also remain neutral.
Fulin was the leader of the Zhenghuang and Xianghuang banners. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Fulin would not personally express his agreement or opposition.
Therefore, the only source of resistance for him to return to the court was the leader of the Zhenglan Banner and the Xianglan Banner - Jirgalang!
"Your Majesty," Dorgon said loudly to Fulin, "I impeach Prince Zheng Jirgalang."
"Oh?" Fulin asked, squinting his eyes as he sat on the dragon chair, "What crime did Prince Zheng commit?"
"He has three crimes!" Dorgon took a deep breath and said word by word: "First, he used his troops improperly. Not only did he lose cities and territories, but he also caused heavy losses to the Eight Banners soldiers."
"Secondly, he allowed the enemy to advance. The Ming army had already reached Shengjing City, but he was completely unaware!"
"It's possible that he really doesn't know, or he might be pretending not to know."
"The last one is the crime of deceiving the emperor!"
"He has neither the talent to lead troops nor the ability to manage the army, and he obtained the position of general by deceiving the emperor. Such a person who misleads the emperor, the country, and the people is really hateful. I hope the emperor will punish him severely!"
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