In September of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Datong Mansion City.

This famous city in northern Shanxi Province is not only one of the nine important towns of the Ming Dynasty, but also a trade route connecting Saibei and the mainland. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, during the Hongzhi period, Ye Qi changed the law, and changed the opening of the salt government to the folding method, the border pass was bleak, and Datong Mansion also lost its former prosperity and began to gradually decline. However, the biggest damage to this border town was the Qing Dynasty that was about to settle in Yanjing.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), the second entrance battle of Houjin took place in the territory of Xuanfu and Datong. In July of that year, the Houjin army divided its troops into four ways to attack Xuanda and Datong, although it did not break through the city of Datong, but it ravaged the surroundings of Datong for more than 50 days, besieged more than 50 large and small towns and forts, plundered and slaughtered without counting, and finally fled, causing serious damage to Xuanda and Da. Outside the Xuanda city, it was barren and bleak.

Now, although ten years have passed, the vitality of Datong Mansion has still not recovered. A little farther away from Datong City, it is sparsely populated and the land is barren.

Along the official road from Shuozhou, a subordinate prefecture under Datong Prefecture, to the north to Datong Prefecture, you can still see the remains of the village from time to time, broken walls and ruins, without the slightest vitality. Shi Luoxiu, the acting governor of the palace, took thirty or forty horsemen and horses at this time and walked on the way back to Datong Mansion from Hunyuan Prefecture.

He and his horses were dressed as dusty high-rollers, wearing thick sheepskin jackets, leather hats buttoned over their heads, swords at their waists, quivers and bows on their shoulders. The dust on his face is quite thick, and at first glance, he is a good man who walks a long way and washes his face less, and no longer cares about the wind and rain.

The reason for this dress is that Luo Xiushen has just come down from Kelan Mountain. Kelan Mountain is located in the territory of Taiyuan Province and is part of the Luliang Mountain Range. This area is high and densely forested, and the terrain is partial, and it has been a small territory under the control of the king since ancient times. When the Ming Dynasty was prosperous, there were many bandits and tyrants entrenched in it. Not to mention now, the area around Kelanshan, including Kelanzhou City, is not under the control of Li Zicheng, who occupies Taiyuan.

There are more than a dozen local bandits of all sizes, and now they are in control of the surroundings of Ke Lan Mountain. Among them, the most powerful is Zhang Xixian, the leader of the White Lotus Sect in the northwest of Jin, and Kelanzhou City is now in the hands of Zhang Xixian.

Luo Xiu's purpose in Kelan Mountain was to go to the main altar of the White Lotus Sect in the mountains in the northwest of Jin Province to meet with Sect Master Zhang to discuss Zhao'an.

The purpose of recruiting the head of the Zhang sect was to replace Wang Zhu Cijiong in the Luliang Mountains to establish a "palace in the mountains", and the idea of establishing a base on the Luliang Mountains was put forward by Zhu Cihong through the secret decree of the wax pill.

Now Datong Mansion is isolated in the north, and the southeast region controlled by the Ming Dynasty is separated by the territory of the Qing Dynasty and Dashun, so it can only be communicated through secret envoys.

And Luo Xiushen is an important chess piece planted by Zhu Cihong in Datong Mansion, so naturally there is a secret communication line to contact Prince Zhu. Therefore, long before Zhu Cihong went south from Dengzhou, the wax pill secret decree of "Shanglu Liang" was sent to Datong Mansion.

The secret decree was written by Zhu Cihong himself, mainly saying two things, one is to avoid the conflict with the Dashun army and the Qing army, although the Datong Ming army claims to be 80,000 people, but the real fight is only 10,000 or 20,000 people, and they can't help but consume.

And their existence itself is the greatest support for the Ming Dynasty in the southeast!

The second is to establish a stronghold in Luliang Mountain, recruit Luliang Qunkou, and establish a "palace in the mountain" as a way out.

Once the city of Datong Fucheng is likely to be besieged by the Qing army, the acting king Zhu Cijiong should immediately move to Luliang Mountain!

Zhu Cijiong is Chongzhen's third son, and theoretically he is the real "Third Prince Zhu"! In history, the name of the third prince of Zhu was like a ghost, haunting the three emperors of the Qing Dynasty: Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. Until the Qianlong period, there were still righteous people who opposed the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty to revolt under the banner of the third prince of Zhu.

Now that there is a genuine third prince Zhu, how can Zhu Cihong not make good use of it? And to make good use of the theme of the third prince of Zhu, first of all, you can't let him be arrested by the Qing Dynasty.

However, the Datong Mansion City, where the "Third Prince Zhu" is located now, is really not very safe. Although the city is strong, the food and grass in the city are really a little scarce, just look at the barren scene in Datong Mansion!

Even if Wang Yongji and Jiang Hao tried every means to raise money, they couldn't get the grain and grass that could make Datong Mansion last too long.

Shangluliang is the only way

Therefore, in August and September of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Luo Xiushen ran back and forth between Kelan Mountain and Datong City, and took the Zhao'an order issued in the name of Zhu Cijiong, the acting king, to meet and negotiate with the kings of various mountains on Kelan Mountain.

And for the sake of walking convenience and secrecy, Luo Xiushen, the chief of the palace, had to change his disguise, pretending to be a hero of the rivers and lakes.

However, he has not been busy in vain for more than a month, and he successfully won over Zhang Xixian, the leader of the White Lotus Sect on Ke Lan Mountain, on the condition that Zhang Xixian be named the Marquis of Ke Lan, and let Zhang Jiayong Town Ke Lan a state!

As long as the acting king Zhu Cijiong agreed, Zhang Xixian would help the acting palace to build a palace walled city on Luliang Mountain, where the terrain was dangerous.

The condition is that it has been negotiated, and now I don't know if Wang Yongji and Jiang Hao can agree? Thinking of Wang Yongji and Jiang Jiu, Luo Xiushen couldn't help frowning.

These two people were afraid of the Qing Dynasty and the Qing army, and at the same time, they could not resist the temptation of the Shanxi gentry and wealthy merchants who kept running from Taiyuan Mansion, and wanted to go south to seize Taiyuan Mansion, and they were not interested in establishing a stronghold on Kelan Mountain.

So while Luo Xiu was walking towards Ke Lanshan, Wang Yongji and Jiang Jiu were in secret contact with Beijing!

"Changshi, there are a lot of people outside Dongguan Ying'en Gate! It's not here to greet us, is it? ”

One of Luo Xiushen's own brothers suddenly shouted at this time, interrupting Luo Xiushen's thoughts while riding a horse while pondering things. He looked up and saw that the tall and sturdy Datong Dongguan City was almost there. Outside the Ying'en Gate at the east gate of Dongguan, a group of neatly robed officials and soldiers wearing mandarin duck jackets gathered together, obviously greeting someone? However, it was impossible to greet Luo Xiushen and the others, because Luo Xiushen did not inform Datong Mansion when he would come back.

"It's not for us" Luo Xiushen frowned, and already had an ominous premonition, "Go and have a look!" ”

When he and his subordinates rode their horses close to the Ying'en Gate, several cavalry came up from the Ying'en Gate, and the first one was a small officer, who recognized Luo Xiu's body, and hurriedly turned off the horse and saluted.

"What's going on? Who's coming? Luo Xiushen asked.

"It's Changshi's brother who is coming!"

It's Luo Yang's sex!

Luo Xiushen frowned, Luo Yangxing was a big official in the Qing Dynasty, what was he doing here?

"Any idea what he's here for?"

"I've heard it, it seems that the emperor of the Great Qing Kingdom is going to Beijing on the first day of October!"

"It's so fast," Luo Xiushen frowned deeply.

If the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty arrives in Beijing, it means that the Qing Dynasty has completed the relocation of the capital! In other words, there is not much time left for the acting king and Li Zicheng!

If the two sides cannot form an alliance, or even hostile to each other, the situation in Shanxi will only be avoided.

"Master, there is Datong Mansion City ahead!"

was sitting in a bumpy carriage and closed his eyes to recuperate, and Luo Yangxing was also disturbed by one of his relatives at this time. The curtain of the carriage was raised, the sunlight shone in, and Luo Yangxing squinted his eyes and looked forward against the afterglow of the setting sun. I saw a tall golden city appear in the distance, majestic and magnificent, standing on the desolate land of northern Jinbei.

Luo Yangxing sighed, "Such a majestic city, I don't know how many days can I keep it?" ”

His feelings are not without reason, although Dolgon has not yet decided to attack Datong Mansion, but anyone with a brain knows that it is only a matter of time!

Compared with Datong, Li Zicheng's entrenched Taiyuan is a greater threat. Therefore, Dolgon will inevitably choose to solve Taiyuan first, and then attack Datong. And in order to stabilize Datong, Dolgon also came up with very tempting conditions this time to Taiyuan Yi Datong!

According to Dolgon, the Qing Dynasty was the second in the Great Liao, and he didn't dare to think about the whole world, but only wanted to take the sixteen states of Yanyun. And Datong Mansion is the territory of the sixteen states of Yanyun, so it has to be handed over to the Qing Dynasty. And Taiyuan is not the land of sixteen states, and it can be ruled by the king.