The emperor's personal expedition required a lot of preparations, the most important of which was, of course, the preparation of grain and grass, and the selection of elite soldiers and strong generals to accompany him, but in the subsequent discussion, Shunzhi ordered a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses to accompany him from the Manchu, Mongolian, and Han Eight Banners. As for the green battalions of Shandong and Henan, which have been weakened by Yan zhòng, Shunzhi said that there is no need to wait for them this time, as long as the soldiers and horses of the Eight Banners are assembled, they will set off immediately, and if there are still soldiers and horses available in the green battalions in these two places, they can catch up later.

"The will of my relatives will be released to Jiangnan today." Shunzhi's tone was firm and unquestionable, and it seemed that if the Eight Banners gathered too slowly, Shunzhi would let them set off to chase his chauffeur later: "Within two months, I will celebrate in Jiangning." ”

Finally, someone had the courage to step forward to persuade the emperor to act safely, but he was immediately sprayed by the furious Shunzhi: "There are tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in Jiangnan, and I have tens of thousands of forbidden brigades accompanying me, do you think that I will not be able to defeat the Deng thief?" ”

The people who went up to advise were beaten by the emperor's guards and were uncertain, and the other people who wanted to come out shrank back, today's court meeting was almost a word hall of Shunzhi, and the holy decree of dispatching troops was wholesaled like flowing water.

Finally waited for the end of the dynasty, Sonny and Ao Bai glanced at each other, the two emperor's most intimate minions did not go home, but knelt side by side outside the upper study.

Shunzhi didn't let them wait longer, and the two of them were taken into the study by the guards before their knees were sore.

"The emperor's condolences." Sonny said cautiously.

"I know what you're thinking? I thought Concubine Dong E was dead, but I lost my heart and went crazy, right? ”

"Minions don't dare!" Sonny was so frightened that he fell to his knees again, and although Ao Bai didn't have time to speak, he quickly followed and fell on the ground.

"You don't dare!" Shunzhi waved his hand and asked the two minions to get up.

After the two of them got up, Shunzhi sorted out his mood and patiently explained to the two: "I have thought about it, Deng Ming is a big trouble after all, and he has to get rid of it urgently, Li Guoying is old, and it will take several years to pacify Sichuan, I can't wait so long, I can't let Deng Ming become the climate." However, if Deng Ming really hid in Sichuan and didn't come out, I really didn't bother to arrest him for a while, but he was so rampant that he dared to wander to the south of the Yangtze River. I personally conquered and supervised the battle, the officers and soldiers of Liangjiang and Huguang did not dare to be tired and afraid of war, and they would definitely intercept bravely, I want to see where the Deng thief is running! ”

Ao Bai thought that Li Guoying's countermeasures were very reasonable, and even if he was in person, he might not be able to catch Deng Ming, so he tentatively persuaded him: "Deng Ming jumped off the beam clown, Lin Qilong can repel it, why do you need the emperor to do it in person?" ”

"Hehe, what do you think Deng Ming's strength is now?" Aobai's question made Shunzhi laugh heartily.

"A soldier is less than 10,000, even if he joins the Zhoushan Kou, he still has nothing to do with Yangzhou and Jiangning," Sony felt that there was a play, and hurriedly persuaded him together: "The emperor's personal expedition is inevitably too exalted to him." ”

"Exactly!" Shunzhi smiled more happily and nodded heavily: "Deng Ming was originally fledgling, this time he was arrogant, and the lone army went to Jiangnan to commit murder, first attacked Wuchang Buke, and then occupied Jiujiang for a few days and was driven away by the officers and soldiers, and after arriving in Jiangning, he began to think of tricks, but despite this, he was repelled by Lin Qilong in Yangzhou, and he was under the city of Jiangcheng, and I concluded that he was already at the end of the crossbow, and now he only thinks about how to escape back to Sichuan." ”

Hearing this, Sony and Ao Bai understood a little, and it turned out that Shunzhi thought that Deng Ming was close to the end of his rope.

"And Zhou Peigong, if I agree to Liangjiang's request and let him concurrently serve as the governor of the two provinces, then he will definitely be able to drive Deng Ming away lightly. At that time, the imperial court will definitely have to pay him heavily, although I know very well that he is just beating a water dog, but the officials in the world don't know, they will only see that it was Zhou Peigong who drove Deng Ming away from the southeast hinterland, if the court does not reward it heavily, wouldn't it be chilling, if it is rewarded, this reward is really wronged. Shunzhi felt that instead of giving this simple credit to the famous Zhou Peigong, it was better to simply grab it: "Didn't you say that Deng Mingshui had the advantage?" The Hunan soldiers were originally guest troops, and there were few warships, and most of them were unwilling to desperately intercept the fleeing Deng thieves, so I estimated that Zhou Peigong would have no problem relieving the siege of Zhenjiang, and it would not be a big problem to intercept and kill some stragglers, but most of the Deng thieves could still get out of the way, and after suffering this loss, he might not have such courage to wander thousands of miles next time, and it would be difficult to arrest him again. ”

After the death of Concubine Dong E last night, Shunzhi didn't sleep all night, when this thought occupied his mind, the more Shunzhi pondered, the more he felt that his method was good, killing two birds with one stone, no, it was a few birds with one stone: "Didn't you make an order to conquer yourself today?" Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, another holy decree will be issued, agreeing to Liangjiang's request, and let Zhou Peigong act as the political envoy of Jiangnan and the political envoy of Jiangxi, and be fully responsible for intercepting Deng Ming's affairs, and not allow him to escape back to Sichuan alone and in one boat. ”

If there is no name of pro-conscription, it is not easy to revoke the appointment of Zhou Peigong and the two provinces afterwards. But now it's different, the imperial court can completely interpret this appointment as part of the pro-conquest action, if Zhou Peigong betrayed the holy grace and let Deng Ming run away, and the emperor did not catch the thief, it would be of course a heavy sin, not to mention the reward, just let

He continued to keep the prefect of Wuchang, all of whom were favored by the emperor; And if Zhou Peigong stopped Deng Ming, Shunzhi could also easily dismiss Zhou Peigong's appointment after the end of the pro-conquest - this appointment was originally a preparatory work for the pro-conscription, and now that the pro-conquest is completed, of course, it will be lifted.

"If Zhou Peigong desperately stops Deng Ming, then I will carry the flag for him after the pro-expedition is over, and then bring it back to Beijing for use." Shunzhi thinks that his strategy is foolproof, if he doesn't recruit himself, then this kind of behavior is a relatively obvious rabbit dead dog cooking, and Deng Ming's rabbit is most likely not caught; If you can do it in person, the credit will naturally be the emperor's - the burning of Kunming, the continuous capture of Jinglu, the governor's giant Kou Deng Ming, so that the southern governor is at a loss, but Shunzhi can be captured as soon as he goes out - with such martial arts as the background, Shunzhi because he appreciated Zhou Peigong's interception and promoted him to the central minister, which is obviously a favor rather than a suspicion.

As for the fierce Hunan army mentioned in the Jiangnan Song, Shunzhi can also use this personal expedition to appease, in any case, Zhou Peigong has only been in the early stages now, and the generals under his command may have prestige, but they are certainly not consolidated. For these Hunan green battalions, fighting under the banner of Zhou Peigong is, in the final analysis, still meritorious service under the hands of the courtiers, and as soon as the banner of Shunzhi's pro-conquest is beaten, these generals will show their faces in front of the emperor if they have military exploits. Shunzhi can easily win the hearts of these 30,000 green battalions, so that they are not only willing to fight to the death, but also grateful to themselves.

Although the dispatch of troops was a little urgent, although the elite of the green battalions in Henan and Shandong went to Fujian, and although the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade were also weakened a lot, but the Yangzhou army that was able to repel Deng Ming, the Jiangning army that could confront Deng Ming, plus Zhou Peigong's tens of thousands of Hunan troops, Shunzhi unified them, and was worried that Deng Ming could not escape?

Even Sony and Aobai have not been able to come up with any strong reason to stop Shunzhi from going south quickly and conquering Deng Ming in person.

"This matter must be kept secret, if a word is leaked, I am the only one who asks!" Although he knew that these two loyal minions definitely did not have the courage to say what they thought, Shunzhi still told him that he needed a wise and martial image, and he would never be regarded as mean and unkind by his subjects, especially for Hanchen's mind of guarding against microaggressions, he could only do and not say.

The news that the emperor was going to personally conquer immediately spread all over Beijing, and of course the Eight Banners in the city did not know what Shunzhi said to Ao Bai and Sony, so everyone could only guess separately.

"Have you heard that the emperor is going to conquer in person?"

"Do you think I'm deaf? Who doesn't know such a big thing? ”

The two flag-bearers with the yellow flag hid in the house and talked in a whisper.

"I heard that Deng Ming attacked Yangzhou, and then was repulsed, although he besieged Zhenjiang, but he couldn't take it, this momentum can't be compared with last year's Haikou when he entered the Yangtze River, why is the emperor going to conquer it himself?" One of the flag soldiers was full of puzzlement: "And the emperor is still in such a hurry, saying that he will go out in a few days." ”

"Because it's Deng Ming." Another flag soldier said meaningfully.

"What do you mean?" The other one was confused and didn't understand at all.

Although he knew that there was no one in the house, the flag soldier still looked around, walked to the door again, opened the door a crack, looked into the courtyard, and then closed the door lightly, walked back and said mysteriously: "Brother, I will only tell you this alone." ”

"Say it, say it." The other asked impatiently.

"I'm just saying it casually, and I can't take it seriously." The previous flag soldier is still selling Guanzi.

"Not really, not really." The flag soldier who asked was already scratching his ears and cheeks in a hurry.

"Didn't there be a message before, saying that Deng Ming was actually a person who had an enmity with the emperor for killing his father and taking his wife?" The banner soldier who spoke showed that meaningful expression on his face again: "The little master in the palace suddenly died for no apparent reason, and I heard that several henchmen and eunuchs were killed together. Then the emperor suddenly wanted to recruit in person, this, hehe, the water in it is very deep. ”

"Ahh The latter flag soldier's mouth was wide open and couldn't close it, he also remembered that Concubine Dong E had promised another person, and only after half a ring did he murmur: "Isn't it the hatred of killing your father, but the hatred of taking your wife?" The little master didn't die of illness, but the emperor asked the truth, and then he was angry and ......"

"I said it casually, and I didn't mean it when I said it earlier." The former banner soldier smiled incomprehensibly.

After the friend left for a long time, the master was still shocked by the news he had just heard, and when he was thinking about it, there was a loud shout outside the door, and the person who came was another better brother of the master with the same flag.

After this person entered the house, he complained loudly: "Brother, why did you say that the emperor suddenly wanted to recruit in person." ”

"Because it's Deng Ming." The master replied softly.

"What?"

The master hesitated for a moment, then commanded, "Go and close the door." ”

After the second guest was done, the host beckoned him to him, lowered his voice and asked, "You've heard those rumors before, haven't you?" That Deng Ming and the emperor have a hatred for taking his wife......"