The darkness in all directions was full of shouts of killing, and an imperial guard hurried to Shunzhi to report to the emperor what he had learned.

Most of the sentinels who stood guard outside the camp and then went to inquire about the intentions of the Ming army were killed by the Ming army, but there were also a few who fled back, and according to their reports, the rebels they saw were all Qing soldiers.

"It's all the Green Camp?" Shunji asked in shock. At first, some imperial guards speculated that there was a camp roar, and some people were even more worried that something had happened to the Meng Baqi outside. But the surrounding Mengbaqi camps are now on fire, and no one has been spared, so it seems unlikely that the Mengbaqi will launch a mutiny. Besides, these Mengbaqi are also treated preferentially on weekdays, and logically speaking, there should be no reason to rebel.

There was fire everywhere, all the outlying camps were attacked in such a short time, and all officers with combat experience pointed out that the strength of the enemy troops was not trivial. After hearing the report of the imperial guards, Shunzhi looked around and shouted anxiously: "Who can incite a rebellion here?" ”

The nearest is Lin Qilong in Yangzhou, but the number of officers and soldiers in the river is limited and distributed throughout the canal. Besides, the emperor also knew the strength of the river officers and soldiers, and their combat effectiveness was not much higher than that of the government officers, and if he wanted to gather the river officers and soldiers on the long canal to launch a rebellion, he would inevitably think too highly of Lin Qilong's ability. In addition to Lin Qilong, the most suspicious is the governor of Jiangning, who acts as the governor of Liangjiang and the yamen affairs, but the base camp of the governor of Jiangning is in Nanjing, and the officers and soldiers of Liangjiang are distributed in a larger range, and if Jiang Guozhu gathers his troops and horses and sends them across the Yangtze River, Lin Qilong and the magistrates of Liangjiang will not be completely unaware.

"Maybe Lin Qilong and Jiang Guozhu colluded." A former officer shouted. Only when Lin Qilong and Jiang Guozhu colluded could they know that the imperial army was weak now, and they could send the Liangjiang troops across the Yangtze River unknowingly and unknowingly. However, there is still a big loophole in this statement, even if we know that the imperial camp now has only 5,000 soldiers and horses, Gaoyou is still too far away from Nanjing, and Jiang Guozhu's gathering of Liangjiang troops is too big to completely hide from the local government and county. If it is really the Liangjiang troops besieging the imperial camp now, it not only shows that Lin Qilong participated, but also shows that almost all the prefectures and counties of Liangjiang are also insiders and participants. Such a large-scale rebellion is too appalling, and if such a wide series can really be carried out, there is no need for Jiang Guozhu to act in Gaoyou. The long distance greatly offset Jiang Guozhu's home advantage, and even after taking into account the subsequent 15,000 soldiers and horses, Jiang Guozhu should choose to wait until the imperial camp crossed the Yangtze River and approached Nanjing, so that the imperial camp would be deep in the hinterland of the south of the Yangtze River, and it would be more difficult for the emperor to escape the trap.

The officers in front of the Imperial Court were talking wildly, and those with military experience quickly overwhelmed the wild speculation of the young officers, who pointed out that Chiang Guozhu's choice to launch a rebellion in Gaoyou only showed that he lacked control over the Jiangnan army and officials to call them to a blatant rebellion, which contradicted the premise that Chiang Guozhu was presiding over today's turmoil.

Some people also suggested that maybe Zhou Peigong or Liang Huafeng rebelled, which has a certain amount of truth. Now they are leading troops to intercept Deng Ming, and there are assembled troops around them, but why didn't Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong find out about their moves? If Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong were also involved, then the question would have come full circle and returned to the old road - since the Jiangnan officialdom had already controlled the army so powerfully, why did they not choose to do it in Nanjing, but came all the way to Gaoyou to do it.

No one can perfectly explain the above contradictions, at least not in such a short period of time. At this time, the battle around the imperial camp became more intense, and two of the military camps of the Eight Banners had been caught in flames, and it seemed that the troops on the periphery were almost unable to support it.

"Your Majesty." An experienced officer of the Eight Banners saw that the outer camp was rapidly collapsing, and he anxiously asked Shunzhi: "Do you want the imperial front to go out of the camp to support?" ”

"How does this work?" Soetu's lips trembled, and although he had heard his father tell about the war, it was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes; When listening to his father's reminiscences of the past, Suo Etu always listened very vigorously, but when he saw with his own eyes that there was a fire all around, Suo Etu felt that his heart was about to jump out of his throat, and said in a panic: "The imperial guards are all servants of the emperor, how can they go out and work hard?" ”

Suo Etu's words represent the voices of many imperial officers and soldiers, it stands to reason that the Manchurian soldiers are the emperor's pro-slaves, and the imperial front is from the upper three banners, and it is a good slave selected among the pro-slaves to be able to go to the emperor's side on an errand, why sacrifice these emperor's most confidant minions in order to save the Mongols?

Not only are Suo Etu and other officers and soldiers in front of the emperor unwilling, but even Shunzhi himself is not willing, the two thousand Manchuria and Eight Banners in front of the emperor are the emperor's heart, and when the army is in chaos, let them go out to reinforce the outer camps, then the emperor's security will not be weakened.

Therefore, Shunzhi vetoed the construction of the imperial camp to send reinforcements and ordered them to strictly defend the imperial camp.

"I never believe that Lin Qilong and Jiang Guozhu were involved in the chaos." The analysis of those experienced officers just now was undoubtedly a lifesaver for Shunzhi, and he immediately grasped it tightly: "In the dark night, it is difficult to distinguish between friend and foe, and some of the officers and soldiers in the camp who may be frightened are killing each other, so they should stick to it." ”

Even some senior imperial officers also agreed with the serious plan, believing that in this chaos, it may not be a good way to go out to reinforce the Mengbaqi, it is better to wait and see the changes, and wait until dawn to see the shape of the enemy and me before making plans. However, there are still people who think that the current chaos may be an opportunity, anyway, the emperor is the only important thing, and the two thousand imperial camps should all attack to cover Shunzhi to take advantage of the chaos to kill out, Suo Etu is one of them.

It's just that the people who advocate a breakthrough are still arguing about where to break through, and some people think that they should go to Gaoyou City, but the rebel party may have guessed this, and no one dares to guarantee that Gaoyou did not participate in the chaos; Fleeing north is also an option, but the rebels may be more likely to deploy heavy ambushes on this route; There are also those who advocate a risky move to break through to Yangzhou, where the city is high and the pond is deep, and there are a large number of officers and soldiers of the two rivers and rivers. However, even if someone dared to guarantee that Lin Qilong and Jiang Guozhu were not involved, Shunzhi did not dare to joke with his life. Perhaps a large number of rebels are coming from the south, and running south will not be a self-defeating snare.

At the time of the controversy, Deng Mingzheng commanded the troops to clear the outlying camps of the Qing army. After attacking the camp of the Mengbaqi on the periphery, the Ming army did not immediately launch a surprise attack in depth, but fought along the trenches and camp walls, constantly expanding their own control area.

"Watch out for the Tartar Emperor to break through!"

Deng Ming repeatedly emphasized before the war that the key to this battle was whether Shunzhi could be killed, and if Shunzhi escaped, then even if the 5,000 imperial battalions were annihilated, the gains would outweigh the losses.

Only by killing Shunzhi can the emperor's personal conquest plan be interrupted and the pressure on Zhang Huangyan and Ma Fengzhi can be eliminated; If the Qing court can be put into a temporary ownerless situation, Zheng Chenggong's plan to expedition to Taiwan will also be indirectly helpful to Li Dingguo's persistence in Yunnan. In addition to these benefits to the allies, it was also the common requirement of the Manchu governors in the southeast to kill Shunzhi, and they could only get a respite if Shunzhi died.

More than a month ago, when Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo asked Deng Ming to be orphaned, Deng Ming persuaded them anyway - since they were all killed and annihilated, what else was there to be afraid of? However, the governor of Jiangxi and the political envoy did not dare until then. They told Deng Ming that although the two of them were the first and second in command in Jiangxi, they did not have the opportunity and time to cultivate henchmen who were absolutely loyal to them, and their control over Jiangxi officialdom and the army was very strong, and Cheng Dùshang still came from the imperial court. Zhang Chao said to Deng Ming in private: If he openly shows the anti-flag, it is estimated that the ability to unite people's hearts is not as good as Jin Shengheng, especially in the context of Shunzhi's personal conquest, once he heard that the emperor crossed the Yangtze River and personally came to crusade against Jiangxi, it is estimated that many people want to make meritorious contributions and will tie up Zhang Chao and hand it over to Shunzhi. Even Dong Weiguo may be lucky, hoping to make a living for his family by betraying Zhang Chao -- if Zhang Chao does not openly rebel, informants may not be able to save Dong Weiguo.

So Deng Ming came up with another plan after thinking hard, that is, the Ming army disguised itself to attack the imperial camp of Shunzhi, and Liangjiang and Huguang provided convenience for this.

For this plan, Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo can accept it. Although they were intimidated by the prestige of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and were deeply afraid, since they were cornered and had nothing to lose, why not fight to the death?

Desperate Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong also supported Deng Ming's second plan. Like Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo, they believed that they could not incite enough green battalions to attack the imperial camp, and they could not guarantee the secrecy of such a rebellion, which involved tens of thousands of people. But they can still use their authority to cover up the whereabouts of Deng Ming's army, provide food and grass to the Ming army dressed as a green battalion, or help Deng Ming find out the news.

Zhang Changgeng, who was far away in Wuchang, finally learned of this plan, and after receiving Zhou Peigong's secret letter, Zhang Changgeng also expressed his full support. Among the governors who participated in the conspiracy, Zhang Changgeng was the one with the strongest mobilization ability. After learning that Shunzhi was bound to go on a personal campaign, Zhang Changgeng even seriously considered the feasibility of defecting to the Ming court - Zhang Changgeng had been running his forces for the longest time, had the most thorough purge work, and still had a sum of savings in his hand that could be used as military expenses. However, Tou Ming was the last resort choice for Zhang Changgeng, because in this way he would inevitably be asked by the Sichuan army and the Kuidong army to take a large area of territory, and Zhang Changgeng did not dare to say how many people in Huguang would follow him - this was only better than the death of the clan.

Shunzhi must die, and the governors involved in the conspiracy reached an unprecedented consensus on this issue, which was also the best outcome for Deng Ming. If Shunzhi had escaped and the Qing court had not been in great turmoil, the pressure on Zhang Huangyan, Zheng Chenggong, and Li Dingguo would not have been significantly reduced, and it was difficult to say what the governors involved in the conspiracy would have done in their desperation.

"Occupy the trenches and prevent the Tartars from breaking through." Deng Ming reiterated. The Ming army seized every outer camp gate, every section of trench and camp wall with all its might, and strived to form an internal defensive line as quickly as possible.

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