běijīng, the Qing Emperor who sat on the throne was Shunzhi, and this year is the sixteenth year of Shunzhi of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Shunzhi looked down at a report on Yunnan, where his recent imperial case was littered with notes about the Kunming fire, most of which impeached Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong for their incompetence, and officials demanded that the imperial court punish them severely. Originally, Hong Chengchou was also scolded very badly, but later heard that Hong Jingluo failed to escape from the fire and was burned to death in Kunming, so the officials stopped attacking Hong Chengchou, after all, he died for the imperial court, and how much of a crime he committed during his life should be erased.

As more reports of damage reached Běijīng, Shunzhi's anger at Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong became uncontainable. Although there was Sun Kewang in the southwest for this attack, the materials were all scavenged from the southeast. In order to prepare for this attack, Shunzhi not only risked causing chaos in the southeastern provinces to raise taxes, but also temporarily reduced the supply of bannermen against public opinion. As a result, these materials that were scavenged and transported to Yunnan were set on fire together with the seizures in the southwest.

"Gunpowder, grain, cloth, cotton, silver, tents, military uniforms, armor......" Shunzhi sneered, and counted the requirements on Wu Sangui's urgent letter of help with his fingers: "Does he have anything else he doesn't want?" ”

"Wu Sangui is incompetent and misleads the country, Zhao Liangdong mistakenly believes in Jiān people, and the slaves think that they should be punished heavily." It was Sony who spoke, and he was one of the few cronies who could accompany Shunzhi's study. This time, in order to expedition to the southwest, the quota for the banner people was reduced so much at once, and the eight banners were full of complaints, and Sony was poked in the backbone because of his decision to support Shunzhi, saying that he was a jiān minister. He suffered such a big grievance, but Wu Sangui poked such a big leak, Sony was so angry that he couldn't wait to step on his feet.

Shunzhi didn't answer the conversation, just glanced at Sony coldly. He felt that in recent years, this old minister has become more and more like a slippery Han subordinate, his heart is getting smaller and smaller, he can't stand grievances, he can't bear responsibilities, and even the tone of his usual speech is changing. However, this is to compare Sony with the still sharp Aobai, if compared to other minions, Sony's ability and sense of responsibility are still quite outstanding.

"No punishment!" As Shunzhi expected, Aobai, who was standing on the other side, immediately shouted. Although he has been repeatedly taught about the etiquette, Ao Bai's voice became loud as soon as he was in a hurry, and he was repeatedly taught the crime of "losing his manners in front of the king", but Shunzhi never bothered with him.

"Is it still treated like a millstone mountain?" Sonny asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

In the battle of Mopan Mountain, Wu Sangui brought the army into Li Dingguo's ambush circle, if it wasn't for Lu Guisheng's timely surrender to report Li Dingguo's plan, the consequences would be really unimaginable. After the incident, the Qing court severely punished those negligent generals, including flag generals and flag soldiers, many people were convicted of such crimes as "unfavorable investigation", "fear of the enemy", "ineffective in killing thieves", and those who were dismissed were dismissed from their posts and fined silver, but only Wu Sangui, the commander of the army, did not punish him at all, and as the person most responsible for bringing the whole army into danger, the Qing court did not even have a word of importance for him.

"What can you do with him? Can you ask about the chop? Can I be removed from office? Ao Bai shouted. Wu Sangui abandoned Kunming this time, lost his strategy, lost tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and lost all the army's reserves. However, Ao Bai and Sony are very clear that not to mention execution, whether they can take away Wu Sangui's rights need to be carefully considered, and the feasible punishment is at most a demotion to the knighthood, a fine of silver, and a few cruel words.

"Since this is the case, it is better not to punish at all, and not even mention the meritorious service." Seeing that Sony was speechless, Ao Bai expressed his attitude. Believing in rewards and punishments is to scare small fish and shrimps, and it is a completely different rule of the game for Wu Sangui's heavyweight general, and the Qing court will put on an attitude of not caring about anything, so that everyone in the world can see clearly: as long as the meritorious service is made to the point of Wu Sangui, no matter what mistakes are made, it cannot be compared with his merits.

Sonny was still opposed, he understood that Ao Bai was right, but now Běijīng didn't know how many Eight Banners disciples were waiting to see Wu Sangui's joke. It was not only Wu Sangui's western expedition that caused their rations to drop, but also because of the unfair rewards and punishments in the battle of Mopanshan not long ago: the banner people were all punished, and one banner man was even locked up and taken back to Beijing and imprisoned because his subordinates were defeated by Li Dingguo. No one has anything to say about the defeat of the army and being punished for a serious crime, but why did Wu Sangui, the culprit who was unaware of it in advance, have nothing to do? This time the news of Kunming came, there were a lot of gloating voices among the flag people, if Sony did not speak out against it, it is estimated that everyone's resentment towards Wu Sangui would be transferred to him again.

Shunzhi knows the psychology of this minion, and Sony's attitude towards the aftermath of the First Battle of Mopanshan is a little ambiguous, and the consequences of Kunming are even stricter, so he naturally wants to show the attitude that he should be punished. Shunzhi is also very aware of the dissatisfaction of the flag people, so he needs a scapegoat, but fortunately, not every slave is like Sonny who refuses to share his worries with his master: "Just follow what Ao Bai said." ”

Shunzhi set the tone for the handling of the case, and felt that this matter was almost over, but unexpectedly, there was still a follow-up to Aobai.

"Your Majesty, the slave remembers that before the expedition, the emperor promised to hand over Yungui to Wu Sangui to take care of."

"Yes," Shunzhi was stunned for a moment, and then he became angry: "Do you still want to reward Wu Sangui?" ”

Ao Bai immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, Wu Sangui fought with Li Dingguo with all his strength, not because of how loyal he was to the imperial court, but because he coveted the territory of the two provinces. Now that he was suddenly defeated, Wu Sangui retreated to Guizhou, and he complained again and again in the recital that he needed to replenish the troops, grain and grass, he must have been worried that the emperor would be angry, and he would not give him Yungui, as long as this doubt did not go, how could Wu Sangui continue to work hard? The emperor, a banner man like a minion, if you have merit, the emperor can reward you with some silver, if you don't reward it, give a few words of encouragement, and the minions are also happy; If the slave makes a mistake, the emperor will be fine if he whips him hard. But Wu Sangui, Geng Jimao, and Shang Kexi are not good, they are all Han soldiers, and if they are poorly rewarded, they will feel that the emperor is mean because they are Han soldiers; If the punishment is heavy, they will feel that the emperor is harsh because they are Han soldiers. And the Han army all over the world felt that they were heroes of hard work and high achievements, and the emperor was not good enough for them, but he couldn't get along with the Han army in his heart. ”

"Kunming is like this, I won't punish it, isn't it good enough for them?" Shunzhi understands that Aobai is right, but Wu Sangui has caused such a big disaster, and if he rewards him again, Shunzhi feels that he will lose face.

"Your Majesty, think twice." The reason for Ao Bai has been finished, and he also understands that Shunzhi can't get over it now, so he kowtows on the ground vigorously.

Shunzhi looked at the worship in front of him. This is his father, Huang Taiji's old minister, who became Huang Taiji's personal guard Baijia at the age of sixteen, and I don't know how many military exploits he has made. When Huang Taiji died, Shunzhi was still young, and at that time, Dolgon's strength was strong, and many people were inclined to support Dolgon, and even Daishan and other elders were vague. At that time, Ao Bai directly drew his waist knife in the big tent of deliberations, walked to Dolgon with a bright steel knife, and said that if he did not establish the son of Emperor Taiji, he would not want this life. Aobai's move greatly boosted the morale of Zhenghuangqi, and they all learned from Aobai's appearance, saying that they would fight hard with the people who stole the crown prince's inheritance, forcing Dolgon to say on the spot that the son of Concubine Lizhuang was blessed, that is, Emperor Shunzhi himself.

"And what do you think?" Shunzhi asked Aobaidao. He knew that as soon as this move came out, there would definitely be another uproar, so he needed someone to play this jiān 佞角sè.

The slave felt that Wu Sangui should be commended for his contribution to Guizhou. Although Wang Shi suffered setbacks, the thieves in Huguang, Guangxi, and Guizhou were all swept away by Wu Sangui, which is a great achievement. The emperor could sue Wu Sangui, originally wanting to wait for him to completely pacify Yungui and hand over Yungui to him after the puppet emperor Yongli and Li Dingguo captured Jingshi. Now since he can't make a quick decision, then he can't drag the reward and not send it to the heroes to chill, the emperor will first reward Guizhou to Wu Sangui, and when he will pacify Yunnan, he will officially hand it over to him. The emperor will also transport grain and grass from the southeast for him, so that he can play a triumphant song quickly. ”

Ao Bai believed that it was necessary to completely eliminate the resistance of the Han people as much as possible. Although the Yongli court is cramped, it has many dreams at night. Ao Bai remembered that when Nurhachi raised troops in Liaoshen and there were only tens of thousands of people, who would have thought that there would be today's shape? And they are still aliens, this Yongli is more appealing than Nurhachi at the beginning: "Hong Chengchou knows no one and befriended bandits, so that there is a defeat in Kunming and a dead innocent." The male should be beheaded, and the female dependents should be given Ningguta and enslaved by the armor-clad people. ”

"Just as you say." The Shunzhi order was drafted according to the meaning of the worship. If Hong Chengchou is not punished according to the reports of Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong, then this case will be unsolved, and there is no need to make the generals who hold military power uneasy for the sake of a dead man. As for whether anyone will think that this is mistreating Hong Chengchou...... Anyway, that's the idea of worship, right?

Looking at this loyal courtier again, Shunzhi said to him in his heart: "Just continue to work for me, don't worry about other people's resentment, I will keep you." ”

After setting the general principle of "Wu Sangui sealed the domain, Zhao Liangdong fined silver, and Hong Chengchou was beheaded all over the house", Shunzhi talked about the protagonist of the Kunming fire: "Who is that Deng Ming?" Eighteen people turned Yunnan upside down, but he is a good talent, I don't know if he can recruit An? ”

"Li Guoying said that he may be from the Zhu Ming clan." Ao Bai replied. This is the recital of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi sent today, and it has not yet had time to be sent to Shunzhi for inspection. Ao Bai felt that Li Guoying's judgment was ridiculous, and he told it as a joke to his master and colleague Sony.

As Ao Bai expected, Shunji and Sonny were stunned at first after hearing this, and then laughed.

"What did Li Guoying say?" Shunzhi scolded with a smile: "How dare he write a recital after drinking? ”

When he first heard the rumors about the identity of Deng Ming's clan, Li Guoying didn't believe it, so he didn't report the matter. However, this rumor spread more and more, and Li Guoying can no longer turn a blind eye. After the Kunming fire, both Běijīng and Guiyang urged him to report Deng Ming's life experience as much as possible, but Li Guoying searched and searched for Deng Ming's past records, and was forced to be anxious, Li Guoying reported it regardless of it, including rumors about Deng Ming, Deng Ming's battle with Tan Hong and Tan Yi.

Ao Bai briefly introduced the content of Li Guoying's recital. Originally, such a ridiculous piece of music Sony didn't need to spend jīng effort to read it again, and it was directly dismissed, but listening to Ao Bai's ridiculous speech, he also read it again, and laughed again after reading it: "Even Deng Ming himself didn't admit that it was a certain clan of Zhu Ming, and he Li Guoying couldn't wait to identify the other party." Even if Li Guoying wants to take credit for capturing a prisoner clan, he has to catch someone first and then publicize it. Besides, is this his final say? Isn't it necessary to sacrifice the Jingshi and hand it over to the imperial court for inquiry? ”

"Li Guoying is incompetent enough." Shunzhi heard it clearly on the throne, the judgment of the two henchmen was the same and very reasonable, he had no need to pay attention to this absurd report, and directly ordered it to be dismissed, and at the same time reprimanded Li Guoying for having nothing to do. Li Guoying has never been able to find out Deng Ming's identity for so long, and he has not even found any clues, which Běijīng is quite dissatisfied with.

However, Li Guoying also provided Tan Yi's report, Tan Hong's general's report, and some circumstantial evidence of Wang Mingde.

"Can write and write, and know how to paint, he must be a son of a scholar, he seems to have seen the world, such a person must not have fallen from the sky, how can he not find out the calendar?" Shunzhi thought about it in his heart, and was even more dissatisfied with Li Guoying's incompetence, shaking his head and saying: "I have never heard that Yongli has such a capable person, and there are no other Zhu Ming puppet kings. ”

"The thieves of Sichuan should be annihilated quickly, and they should be killed by a large army while they are now in shock." Ao Bai said.

At present, the military expenditure in the southwest is huge, and Ao Bai did not advocate a large-scale attack on the Sichuan battlefield, but also built a military attack supplemented by Li Guoying. But after seeing Deng Ming's series of expressions, Ao Bai thought that this could develop into a trouble, although this person has not yet formed a big threat, and Li Dingguo is far from comparable, but given the time, it is difficult to say that this person will not occupy the territory and gain higher prestige.

Shunzhi and Sony are of course in favor of eliminating the resistance in Sichuan, but where will the military spending and grain and grass come from?

Ao Bai advocated sending a flag army into Sichuan: "There are not many soldiers, 3,000 people are enough." Now Chengdu and Jianchang are frightened and repeatedly surrendered generals, and the minions are willing to go to Sichuan in person, and I heard that the minions took the emperor's 3,000 pro-troops to kill, and most of these people were scared of their courage. And with the minions and the emperor's flag soldiers as the vanguard, Li Guoying's Sichuan and Shaanxi soldiers definitely did not dare to be lazy. Not only will they not be lazy, but they think that showing their faces in front of their minions is showing their faces in front of the emperor, so they will work hard, so that even if they give less silver and grain and grass, they will not complain if they have hope in their hearts. ”

……

Yunnan.

Ma Bao, who had made meritorious contributions, sent back a report from the front that he had killed the few remaining soldiers of the Qing army and re-seen the Kunming city wall.

Since Ma Bao's rebellion, Bai Wenxuan also took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the Qing army that was in trouble in the border area, and fought all the way back to the Nujiang River from the Yunnan-Burma border. The Qing army in Yunnan was retreating eastward at this time, and most of them had withdrawn from Yunnan and returned to Guizhou, leaving only a few remaining around Kunming. After these armies were wiped out by Ma Bao, there were no more enemies in sight in front of the Yongli officers and soldiers.

"Quickly report the victory to Tengchong, and report it to the King of Jin." Bai Wenxuan, who had already crossed the Nu River, hurriedly asked his subordinates to report the good news to Li Dingguo's headquarters, who had returned to Tengchong.

Soon Li Dingguo received Bai Wenxuan's report. Kunming was recovered, and the Ming army re-entered the rich central Yunnan region. Although Yunnan production must have been severely damaged by this catastrophe, seeing Kunming is seeing hope, only by asking for land, it is possible to gather the people to resume production, and soldiers can be recruited to supplement the army. Now Li Ding** is full of joy, since he walked out of the border mountains and embarked on the road back home, the generals who were originally low morale and have different thoughts have regained their spirits, and they are shouting that they want to fight with Wu Sangui again.

"Hurry up to the court and ask the Son of Heaven to drive back to Luan." Li Dingguo did not delay for a moment, and immediately took up the pen to write the chapter on the recovery of Yunnan, handed it to a cronie, and asked him to take it to Burma as soon as possible.

Previously, as the shape of the Ming army became worse and worse, Burma's attitude towards the Ming army became worse and worse, and Li Dingguo and Yongli had been openly prevented from communicating. However, after the news of the Kunming fire was confirmed, Burma's attitude relented overnight, and soon two eunuchs from the side of Yongli Tianzi were sent to bring the news of Li Dingguo's court safety. And when Ma Bao anyway, after the Ming army launched a counteroffensive and broke through the Nu River, Burma's original hardline position was completely softened, and the envoys between the imperial court and Li Dingguo continued to exchange, and the Burmese side no longer interfered with it.

Although Li Dingguo was very happy to re-enter the central Yunnan region, he still never forgot the great plan to go north to Sichuan, the plains of western Sichuan and Liu Wenxiu's legacy, and the 100,000 old troops in the Three Gorges area. These are the capitals for Li Dingguo to continue to fight the war. However, in order to integrate the strength of the Ming army in Sichuan, so that Wen Anzhi of Fengjie and the generals of Changdong would bow down to their orders, Li Dingguo had to drive to Sichuan by the Son of Heaven.

I don't know how many times, Li Dingguo once again assured the Yongli Imperial Court that Yunnan was safe, there was no danger at present, and the Son of Heaven could return to China boldly with confidence. Now Li Dingguo no longer mentions "going to Sichuan, and then going down the river through the Three Gorges, to the back of the main force led by Wu Sangui, crisscrossing the Central Plains and the south of the Yangtze River." "This plan - he is afraid that this strategy of moving to the enemy territory will frighten the Son of Heaven, and now Li Dingguo is just blindly asking Yongli to return to China quickly, as for the subsequent strategy, it is not too late to wait for the Son of Heaven to return and then slowly persuade him.

"And that Deng Ming, who is undoubtedly the hero of this battle." Li Dingguo already knew some rumors about Deng Ming, but it was not very detailed, and it was far less than Jianchang's voice: "He should be loyal to the imperial court, right?" But why haven't we seen his recital to the court yet? What about Wen Anzhi's? I don't seem to see it either. Even if the road is difficult, you can always send a messenger to make up and send it. ”