Li Shouhan temporarily and indefinitely halted the commodity trade with the Liaodong rebels. This order was immediately implemented to the letter within the Nanyue Army system.

Dozens of Fu boats, which originally had an extremely deep draft and extremely heavy loads, received orders along the way on their way to Liaodong that all grain should not be transported to Shishikou, Jinzhou and other places. As a result, the wharves in Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan became lively.

"Major General, the eldest young marshal received your letter and understood your difficulties, so he intercepted the grain and rice that was originally going to be shipped to Tianjin, and allocated it to the brothers in Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan as military rations. The young marshal still has something to say, as long as you are on the line of Ningyuan in Shanhaiguan for a day, your subordinates don't have to worry about the grain and grass! ”

Almost all of the seaside wharf roads outside Ningyuan City are made of the above good bluestone barriers, and at the beginning, because of the task of bearing the military port and the transfer of a large number of military materials for the Liaodong War, the Nanyue Army repaired it here. It used to be extremely busy, but now, with the far away of the Liaodong War, it has gradually become cold. The wharf is densely packed with tall warehouses, and I don't know what big local businessmen or powerful people own. Between the warehouses and the direction leading to the wharf, in order to facilitate the transportation of materials, there are bluestone roads or small stone roads, which are very easy to walk, compared to those potholed official roads, this road is simply a highway.

In order to carry the grain and rice as soon as possible, thousands of people were summoned to hold a flat rope in their hands, or a coarse cloth on their shoulders to wait outside the wharf for loading and unloading.

People rushed to the edge of the wharf and watched the porters on the side of the ship unload bags of grain onto the wharf with the help of pulleys under the command of the sailors, and these people caught the grain and carried it to their wagons or wheelbarrows.

Look at this lively and busy scene. Hearing that the chief shopkeeper of the long reign called himself in the tone of the family members of the Southern Yue Army, Wu Sangui's heart was a lot more stable. He also received rumors that there would be no grain to sell to Jiannu in the near future, and the slaves and thieves were short of food, so they were bound to move. At that time, he would have a reason not to go to Shanxi to fight with Li Zicheng. Guarding the seaside, what you want, enough to feed these tens of thousands of troops, if there is really a change in the world, you can also wait for the price to sell.

Ben Shuai turned around and repaired the family letter, showed his heart to his mother, and swore to follow his mother and grandfather to the death. In addition, I would like to ask Mr. to bother, there is a letter to the uncle of Jinan. The armies of Liaodong are the only ones who look forward to the uncle's horse. Speaking of which. Wu Sangui's age is almost the same as Li Huayu's, and even a little older, but he doesn't feel numb at all, but is very kind.

The shopkeeper also got Li Peiting's secret revelation and knew what the purpose of his errand was. Seeing that Wu Sangui had such a clear attitude, he naturally knew that this errand was done very successfully. Hundreds of thousands of stone grains are not too much of a price for the Nanyue Army. To be able to exchange this grain for the actions of tens of thousands of troops, this deal. Worthwhile!

Of course, Wu Sangui is not the kind of person who only knows how to take advantage. When he ordered his generals to take the treasurer to deliver the horses. Thousands of fine Mongolian horses, and hundreds of Mongolian herdsmen. As for the origin of the horses and herdsmen from the Horqin grassland, Wu Sangui didn't say anything, and the shopkeeper of Long Shengxing didn't bother to ask, just accept the inspection of the situation of these horses. Beckoned the shepherd slaves to take a bath, eat and change clothes, and arranged for Langzhong to plant cowpox for them.

The things in the world are not long in solitary yin and not long in solitary yang. One after another is a cycle of heavenly dao. Wu Sangui of Ningyuan was in a high mood, and Dolgon in Jinzhou and Shengjing was not happy.

The minions who were originally sent to the Jinzhou dock to prepare for the handover of the goods were very frustrated and told him that there was no wind at sea these days. Those grain ships with heavy drafts could not arrive for a while. Only the ships that carried salt, silk, porcelain, spices, etc., arrived, and after unloading the goods, they carried away our red and blue dyes and dyed cotton cloth, leaving a sentence saying that in a few days, when the wind on the sea would rise, there would be a grain ship.

However, looking at the flags in the courtyard that were blown by the west wind, Dolgon couldn't help but have a thought in his heart, "Could it be that something happened to the Nanban?" ”

As soon as this thought appeared, Dolgon was shocked into a cold sweat, and soaked the small coat he was wearing closely! Although he is now a regent, he is in a high position; However, he knew very well that the faction loyal to Huang Taiji did not disappear because of Haoge's death, they just temporarily restrained their minions, hiding in the corner and waiting for the opportunity. As soon as they think their chance has come, they will pounce on him and tear him to pieces, leaving not a single bone behind!

"Go, please come Mr. Fan." Dolgon was ready to analyze the situation with Fan Wencheng, a think tank that had already thrown himself at him.

Fan Wencheng didn't come, but Duoduo and Cao Zhenyan hurriedly broke in from outside.

"Second brother, the Nanban outside won't sell us food?" Fine beads of sweat appeared on Duoduo's face, and he also knew very well that now the Eight Banners soldiers of the Liao Thief Group, the clothed soldiers, as well as the craftsmen everywhere, and a large number of non-agricultural population, will not they consume a large amount of grain, rice, oil and salt one day? If there is no stable source of food, in a few days, the hearts of the people in Shengjing City will fluctuate, and in some days, I am afraid that there will be people within the Eight Banners who will secretly conspire to challenge Dorgon's power position.

"How?" Dorgon struggled to control his emotions and hide his inner turmoil.

"There are already rumors spreading everywhere that those Nanban have stopped the grain trade with us, and the grain that was originally scheduled has not arrived."

Cao Zhenyan was also anxious, but the trade of the Nanyue Army was also fair and reasonable, although there was no food for the anti-thieves in Liaodong, but for the red and blue flowers, dyed cloth, fur, ginseng, raw gold and other specialties in the hands of the Liao thieves, the price was also reasonable. Either they were traded for refined salt, sugar, silk, porcelain, etc., or they were traded for silver dollars. Let the thieves who urgently need food and grass to prepare for the winter have suffering, and they can't say anything.

You must know that when Huang Taiji was alive, the Dolgon brothers relied on the money, food and materials in their hands to make friends with the various departments of the Eight Banners in order to expand their strength. Even when there was a price boom in Shengjing, it was only the price of daily necessities such as grain and cloth that skyrocketed, and it had not reached the point where money could not buy things. But. Now that there is a problem with the largest source of grain, relying on businessmen such as the Fan family, the Wang family, and the Huang family in Shanxi, I am afraid that it will be a drop in the bucket to make up for the huge shortage of grain.

In the past two years, relying on the trade of red and blue flowers, the various departments of the Eight Banners have long been full of oil, and suddenly the standard of living has dropped. Those flag lords, princes, and Baylors don't say anything, but they are afraid that they will do all kinds of small actions in private!

"Originally, according to the agreement of the red and blue flower trade, Shandong would use a large amount of grain to offset the payment, so that we could survive this winter, but suddenly Shandong said that the grain could not come for the time being. However, Shandong is extremely resolute in the implementation of the double compensation in the trade agreement, and even paid us a lot of luxury goods such as silk, porcelain, glass, fine sugar and refined salt at three or four times the price! The scar on Cao Zhenyan's face twitched, looking extremely terrifying, "Let's have a bird for these many delicate things?!" Can it be eaten as food or can it be worn as clothing? ”

While complaining here, Cao Zhenyan looked at Fan Wencheng and Bao Chengxian, who walked in with some expressions out of the corner of his eye. At the beginning, it was vigorously implemented in Liaodong, and both ends were outside. The idea to make a huge profit from it came from these two guys. Now, it has allowed the thieves in Liaodong to experience the evil consequences of being out at both ends, and know the difficulties of not being able to buy food even if they have money. (In other words, if you can't buy food with money, you must have done something angry and resentful, which sounds a little familiar, right?) ）

If it weren't for the regent of Dolgon's palace, I'm afraid that Duoduo would have rushed forward and had a close contact with these two Huang Taiji's henchmen and cronies with his big mouth. When Huang Taiji was alive, these two guys gave Huang Taiji a lot of ideas to deal with the three of them. The three of them were also packed up, one Buddha ascended to heaven, and two Buddhas were born.

"You two dog minions, in front of the regent and the former emperor, you talked loudly about the benefits of trade with the Nanban! Tell me about this king. What should be done about this situation now? I can barely survive the winter, but what about the spring? When it really comes to the difficulty of the spring famine, this king will tear the two of you apart and feed the hungry minions with red eyes! ”

Duoduo ordered people to calculate that the grain stored in his storehouse in his white-flag-inlaid Manchuria could still last until the beginning of spring, and it was thought that the situation of Zhengbai-flag Manchuria and Azig's Zhenghongqi Manchuria was similar. However, these three banners are all descendants of their three brothers, and they are still like this, and the situation of the other five banners and eight banners of Mongolia is only afraid of worse. Those guys who are not good at accumulating and can't live a life are all drunk today and drunk tomorrow. Tomorrow, there will be no rice knocking on the rice bucket.

"Lord Yu, don't be impatient. Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, which year has there been no shortage of grain, rice, and cloth? Aren't they all like this? What did you forget all the times you entered the customs and felling for it? Because of the food to the enemy! That time when the army entered the customs and felling Ming, didn't the soldiers go on an empty stomach and come back with a full stomach? At this point, Prince Yu has also led the troops into the customs many times, so I don't need to talk about it in detail with the minions, right? ”

Fan Wencheng didn't care about Duoduo's anger at all, and he had a bit of Taishan's demeanor that collapsed in front of him. He knew that the new master in front of him was furious like a gale and wildfire, but it was only for a while. If you are timid and soft at this time, then what awaits you is really a situation that is more terrible than death.

"What does Mr. Fan mean is that he is going to let my Eight Banners army enter the customs and attack Ming?" Dolgon's eyes lit up, how could I not have thought of this kind of diversion of internal contradictions and crises? The entry of the Eight Banners Army into the customs can not only solve the problem of grain and grass, but also take advantage of the opportunity to weaken the strength of the other banners, strengthen the control of the Eight Banners, and consolidate their own power.

"Exactly! I don't have grain and grass in Liaodong, but there are mountains of grain, rice, cloth, armor and canes in Wu Sangui's warehouse in Ningyuan. In the area of Tianjin, there are also warehouses and warehouses like clouds! As long as the side wall is broken and the army invades, won't the grain and rice of thousands of stones be taken by my Eight Banners? ”

Fan Wencheng is quite seductive and inflammatory. Hearing this, Duoduo and Cao Zhenyan both had sparks in their eyes, and they couldn't wait to take Ning Yuan and attack Tianjin immediately.

"Where did you get this news?"

"Back to the regent's words, the minions learned from the big shopkeeper of Fan Yongdou's Fan family in Shengjing that he had just arrived in Shengjing from Ningyuan a few days ago. Hence the news. ”

The news from Fan Yongdou's family naturally will not be fake. Dorgon nodded in satisfaction.

"Master, actually, we still have some food for the master's tribe to dispatch." Cao Zhenyan also had a flash of inspiration for a while, and suddenly thought of a place to go.

"Say it! Where do I still have food in Daqing? Duoduo kicked Cao Zhenyan's ass. Although it was a kick over, the strength was not large, and it was completely a happy kind of teasing minion.

"Master, the slave went to Jinzhou and Gaizhou a few days ago to inspect the defense, in case the Ming dog repeats his old tricks, and continues to harass in the Liaoyang area. I met with Chen Ban, who was engaged in mining and smelting iron and building weapons in Liaoyang. This guy ordered those miners and miscellaneous servants to settle in tension and other places. He also collected the leftover iron materials from the weapons and turned them into agricultural tools. When the minions arrived, these coated ahas were putting the autumn harvest grain and grass into the warehouse. After a hasty look at a few Zhuangzi, it is not a problem to supply those craftsmen under Chen Banda for a year and a half! ”

As the saying goes, "Jin Fu Hai Gai, Liaoyang is outside." "At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was established in the Liaodong Peninsula of Jinzhou, Fuzhou, Haizhou, and Gaizhou. Fertile fields for thousands of miles, fertile land, and most of the people in this area come from the Han people of the Jiaodong Peninsula, who are very familiar with farming.

Although since Nurhachi's rebellion. The population of the Liaodong Peninsula has plummeted, and the land is barren and the countryside is abandoned. Not long ago, he was robbed by Shi Lang and Wu Sangui, the father and son, but Chen Banda, who opened mines and smelted iron casting cannons in Benxi, Fushun, Jinzhou Haizhou and other places, made his miners open up and reclaim the land in their spare time, and turned the originally abandoned land into farmland again, and the harvest was very expensive.

I heard that I still had such a place to store food. Dolgon's mind was immediately at ease.

Looking at the two strategists in front of him who looked quite embarrassed, he couldn't suppress his anger in his heart. "If it weren't for you, dog slaves, preaching something in front of this king. can get a lot of profits, how can this king be stretched thin today? Fortunately, there is also Chen Banda, a pedantic minion who is immersed in farming in Liaodong! Dolgon, however, selectively forgot how he spared no effort to promote the two-sided trade activities within the Eight Banners in order to compete for power with Huang Taiji and usurp the throne.

"Cao Zhenyan."

"The minions are here."

"You go to Benxi and go to see that Chen Banda for this king. He was instructed to sort out and report the amount of Zhuangzi grain that had been cultivated in various places. Then let him go with you to Beijing, and the king will reward him in person. ”

Cao Zhenyan was ordered to retreat, and the two brothers Dolgon and Duoduo in the room sat cross-legged opposite each other on the kang, smoking cigarette bags and pots, and bursts of green smoke swirled around the room. Bao Chengxian and Fan Wencheng two. can only sit in front of the two masters in a regular manner, and listen to greetings at any time.

"Prince Yu, you said that if we enter the customs and war, which way is better?" In the middle of the night, Dorgon came up with this sentence to ask Dodor.

"Whew! Second brother, do you still need to ask? Now the so-called nine sides of the Ming Kingdom are a fence wall of a mud lake in the eyes of this king! Except for Wu Sangui on the front line of Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan, who can also fight with our Eight Banners for a few rounds, the rest is not enough to cut at all! ”

Dorgon didn't notice that Dorgon was questioning him as regent, rather than gossiping between brothers. Bao Chengxian, who was sitting opposite the two brothers, although he lowered his eyebrows and was pleasing to the eye, he keenly captured this point and couldn't help but move his ears.

"Now, Shanxi Town has to deal with the army of thieves who cross the river to the north, and the soldiers and horses of Datong Town may have to go south to reinforce Taiyuan. Between Xuanfu and Datong is an empty city! A few days ago, there was a detailed report, and Tang Tong, the chief soldier of Jizhen Town, led the soldiers and horses to the capital of the Ming Kingdom, and immediately drove to Juyong Pass! Doesn't this mean that Jizhen is also an empty city! Let's go from wherever we want! ”

Although Duoduo is known as the prince of absurdity, he has amazing abilities on the battlefield. He has a very thorough understanding of the situation of the enemy and his friends, and at the moment, he is like a few treasures who will tell the movements and details of the Ming army facing the Qing soldiers, and he can't help but make Fan Wencheng look at this fifteenth master with admiration.

"Duoduo, how many days do you think Li Zicheng's Dashun army will be able to break Taiyuan City? When should I send soldiers and horses to enter the customs and war? Dolgon also appreciated the third brother's actions, the so-called knowing oneself and knowing that the other side will win all battles, and Duo Duo can anticipate the enemy in advance, at least he can ensure that the soldiers and horses of the Eight Banners will not suffer losses after entering the customs.

"Among our Qing generals, except for the seventh brother Rao Yu Belle Abatai, the rest of the people have never fought with the thieves. Moreover, Rao Yu Baylor only fought with the thieves in Shandong and Zhili, but he did not fight too many hard battles, but it is difficult to say what the combat power of this thief is. However, Taiyuan City has always been known to be strong, whether it was Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, or my Dajin's predecessor Sticky Han and others, they were all besieged for a long time and lost troops to capture Taiyuan. The Song soldiers even replaced the soldiers with water, flooding Jinyang. Therefore, the combat power of the thieves depends on how this Taiyuan City is. ”

Dolgon also agreed with Duoduo's opinion, so he took the holding time of Taiyuan City as the touchstone of Dashun's combat effectiveness. However, in the minds of him and everyone else such as Duoduo, Fan Wencheng, Bao Chengxian, and Azig, a city like Taiyuan, which has always been known for its solidity, will support him for at least ten days and half a month!

"Lao Chen, you have worked hard this year. Now that we are about to enter the customs of the Qing Dynasty, you will transport the artillery, weapons and armor made of casting to Shengjing to make some preparations for entering the customs. ”

When summoning Chen Banda, the regent Dolgon conveyed his intentions to the head of the military industry of the Qing court very gently. (To be continued.) )