The day after Dasu's recital arrived in Beijing, Shunzhi again convened an imperial council to discuss the situation in the south. In the recital to Shunzhi, Dasu said that the loss of the sailors was not small, but the combined armor soldiers only lost more than 10,000. Judging from Dasu's report, the Fujian Qing army was only a small setback, at most it was a broken muscle and bones, but it was definitely not a major injury. The more than 200,000 Qing troops concentrated in Fujian before the war had 60,000 armor, and nearly 10,000 sailors could also be used as armor at critical moments.

The problem is that Shunzhi does not know whether to believe the content of this recital, according to his experience, Han officials like to exaggerate the results of wars and minimize losses, Shunzhi has heard many courtiers talk about the Ming Dynasty's civil and military habits in a sarcastic tone since he was a child, and he always laughs when he hears it.

However, Shunzhi has always regarded this as a bad habit unique to the Han people, and the fierce Manchurian soldiers will not bully the king, but this time Shunzhi Yue Dasu's performance, the more uneasy he is. The Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade sent to Fujian suffered extremely heavy losses. The Manchurian troops suffered such heavy losses, nearly 2,000 people fell in Xiamen, but the northern green battalion was all right, and together with the sailors, they only lost less than 10,000 people? Shunji felt a little confused.

"What lost 10,000 armor, at least 30,000, but the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade can't be hidden, and the losses of the Green Battalion can be said less." Sony guessed so much in his heart, but all the Eight Banners officers of the Southern Expedition insisted that the losses in the battle of Xiamen were not more than 10,000, and Sony would not jump out to expose the lies of so many Manchurian officers, anyway, no matter whether the Green Battalion died seven or eight thousand, or thirty or forty thousand, it was all Han Chinese, and Sony had no need to ask for compensation for them.

But when the emperor's inquiring gaze swept to his face, Sony said that he agreed with the report of Dasu and other southern expeditionary troops, and that the naval division of Quanzhou was at most a small setback as described in the song, and the loss of the green battalion was easier to explain, that is, the Manchurian soldiers were too brave, and they took the main blow of Zheng Chenggong, and therefore paid huge casualties.

Before Dasu went south, Shunzhi had explicitly ordered that the Eight Banners of Manchuria should not be allowed to take the lead, and only allowed to be used as a team of warlords, and Sony pointed out that Dasu's biggest sin was not obeying Shunzhi's orders. However, Sony thinks that this is also understandable, after all, the Manchurian warriors are full of enthusiasm for fighting, and they have not fought a hard battle since they went south, and it is not uncommon for them to occasionally suppress their enthusiasm for making meritorious contributions.

Ao Bai listened without saying a word, he knew that Sony was giving himself a favor.

If it was someone else, maybe Ao Bai would jump out of loyalty to his master and accuse Sonny of lying, but today's situation is different, Da Su and Ao Bai used to stand guard together in Huang Taiji's tent, and they have been comrades in life and death since they were young, and their relationship has always been very good.

Therefore, Ao Bai could only echo Sony's law, insisting that although he lost this time, the main force of the Qing army was still there, but Dasu did strictly violate Shunzhi's prior order. If Dasu could suppress the enthusiasm of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, then his ability to supervise the battle would not have declined, and the defeat of the Eight Banners of Manchuria would have caused a large number of soldiers of the Green Battalion to flee in fear and desertion, and this was the whole process of the failure of the attack on Xiamen. Most of the tens of thousands of Qing troops who landed were able to retreat back to their starting positions, which is enough to prove that Da Su's words were true, and the Qing army's naval divisions did not suffer any losses, and they were still able to control part of the sea control in the waters of Xiamen.

Since Sonny and Aobai are in agreement, Shunzhi dispelled the little doubt that had just risen in his heart, and seriously discussed the next step with his courtiers.

Originally, Shunzhi also hoped that Dasu would be able to return to Zhoushan after Zheng Chenggong was exterminated, and help Jiang Guozhu clear out Deng Ming and Zhang Huangyan's troops who attacked and harassed Liangjiang, but now he must not be able to count on it, at least in the short term, Fujian soldiers and horses will not be able to return to Liangjiang. Fortunately, Shunzhi also has a way to make up for it, he has already issued an order to Wuchang yesterday, so that Zhang Changgeng can quickly dispatch Chu troops into Liangjiang to assist in suppression. Until now, Zhenjiang is said to have been under the control of the prefect, and Jiang Guozhu has long reported that Zhenjiang Mansion is extremely empty, and even such a palace city that the Governor of Liangjiang Yamen has almost abandoned can't take, which shows that Deng Ming's strength is also limited, and Shunzhi feels that it should not be a big problem to concentrate the forces of Liangjiang and Lianghu to drive him away.

Since Dasu's losses were not very large, Shunzhi still hoped that he could attack again and eliminate Zheng Chenggong in one fell swoop. As long as Zheng Chenggong was eliminated, a large number of coastal defense military expenses on the southeast coast of the Manchu Qing Dynasty could be saved, and there was no need to spend millions of taels of silver every year to repair turrets, boats, and train sailors. Eliminating Zheng Chenggong means that he can save millions of taels of silver a year, and this time in order to concentrate 200,000 troops in Fujian, Shunzhi has already entered a lot of money, and if Dasu returns to the division, it will be a waste of previous achievements.

After a serious discussion with Sony and Aobai, of course, the loss of the Eight Banners of Manchuria could not be ignored, and Shunzhi ordered the accompanying white flag Gushan Ezhen Suohong to be dismissed and questioned - there are people at the level of the flag owner who can be accounted for, and this is a person with a white flag, and Shunzhi has no psychological burden to clean up. As for Dasu, who was inlaid with the yellow flag, he was guilty of meritorious service, and the post of General Annan was handed over to Bei Ziluo, and Shunzhi hoped that the two of them would make persistent efforts to win Zheng Chenggong in one fell swoop.

After the big strategic discussion was properly discussed, Shunzhi retreated back to the harem to rest, Sonny and Ao Bai left the palace side by side, and after walking outside the door, Ao Bai hurriedly stepped forward and thanked him: "Thank you for your help just now." ”

"It's a small thing." Sonny waved his hand, signaling that Ao Bai didn't have to take to heart what he said for Dasu just now, jokes, Luo Tuo and Dasu have many relatives and friends, not to mention that the two of them fought a big defeat, even if they fight a few more Sony, they will not fall into the ground.

"But what's going on in Fujian, you must tell me clearly, otherwise you won't be able to share the emperor's worries." Sonny knew that Dasu would definitely report the matter to Aobai as soon as possible, and maybe Dasu's envoy would send a letter to Aobai's family before going to the symphony. Sony estimates that Aobai is the one who has the clearest understanding of the situation in Fujian in the whole of Beijing at the moment.

"Yes." Ao Bai replied respectfully, and his palanquin followed Sonny back to the latter's mansion, and then followed Sonny to his study.

In the first battle of Nanjing, Jiangning garrisoned the Eight Banners suffered heavy losses, the Qing court attached great importance to the battle of Xiamen, and intended to be ashamed, and the Manchurian troops brought by Dasu and Suohong totaled nearly 10,000, which was of course a luxury lineup for the Shunzhi Dynasty with only more than 50,000 people. It was precisely because of the strong lineup that the Qing court could not afford to lose, because if the Eight Banners were repeatedly frustrated, it would shake the reputation of the invincible Manchurian soldiers.

When waiting for Ao Bai to speak, Sony was also very nervous, for fear that the other party would spit out half of the result of annihilation.

"The loss is the nearly two thousand children," Ao Bai said with a sad face: "No matter how bold Da Su is, he will not dare to deceive the emperor in this matter." ”

Sonny let out a sigh of relief, what he was most afraid of was that Dasu concealed the loss of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, if he really stabbed such a basket, then even if Sony, Aobai and other henchmen joined forces, they would not be able to hide Shunzhi.

"The green battalion lost more than 30,000, and Dasu did it according to the emperor's instructions, and did not let our people go to sea first, and the 4,000 people brought out were also ready to supervise the battle behind the battle. After more than 30,000 green battalions landed, Dasu let our men go up, but he didn't expect that the Han sailors would be defeated in a blink of an eye, and the 2,000 people lost were lost because they didn't have time to retreat. Ao Bai relayed Dasu's report to Sony in detail, and scolded the sailors of the Green Battalion: "But thanks to Tongan Shilang, this person is very capable of commanding the army." When he found that the sailor could not resist, he immediately organized a retreat, and the 2,000 children who boarded Xiamen on the North Road did not leave a single person behind, and all of them were brought back by Shi Lang. On the return trip, Zheng Rei's ship chased after him, and the shape was extremely critical, but Shi Lang commanded effectively, so that all the sea ships rushed in time, and he also personally broke the rear, and did not leave the ship until the last child escaped, and Dasu was also full of praise for him. ”

"Hmph, I finally made up for it, I remember that he was the one who attacked it, right?" Sonny said coldly, and asked again, "What about the loss of the water division?" ”

"Wu Liuqi didn't come at all, Dasu said that he had already sent him a message, but he didn't arrive for a long time, so he didn't hurt a single hair in the headquarters. As for the Liangguang military ships sent by Wu Liuqi, they were also wiped out by Zheng Wei, and now the sailors of Shandong, Liangjiang, Zhejiang and Xiamen are gone. ”

"Gone?" Sonny asked, incredulous.

"Definitely not, adults must not know what Huang Wu proposed." Without waiting for Sonny to ask, Ao Bai immediately told the other party: "He asked Da Sujian yì, first, from Shandong to Liangguang, evacuated all the living people within fifteen miles of the sea, and burned all the houses; second, including Wu Liuqi's remaining sailors, burned all the warships and abandoned them ashore; Third, all the merchants engaged in maritime trade will be confiscated, and no one will be left! ”

"Oh." In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also carried out a similar move to ban the sea in order to deal with Fang Guozhen's remnants, but mainly around Zhejiang, and the object was also a small island that is difficult to control overseas - that is to say, Zhu Yuanzhang thinks that these overseas islands are difficult to control in hand, so instead of spending energy to fight and defend, it is better to withdraw all the above situations. However, Huang Wu's proposal to build yì from Shandong to Guangdong, not only the overseas islands should be abandoned, but also the coastline, which undoubtedly shows that in Huang Wu's mind, the Qing court is now unable to defend all coastal areas; And the construction of burning the remnants of the naval division ashore shows that Huang Wu judged that the Qing army was unable to rebuild the naval division in the short term to compete with Zheng Chenggong, in this case, it was better to destroy it all by himself, so as not to waste military funds or be captured by the Zheng army.

The last one is even more critical, the Qing court has been in the customs for more than ten years, Sony also knows some about the profits of sea trade, and knows that from Shandong to Guangdong, there are countless merchants who make a living by engaging in sea trade, and the Qing court also extracts taxes from their trading houses. And the subtext of Huang Wu's construction is that these thousands of miles of sea are destined to be controlled by Zheng Chenggong, and any maritime trade is no longer safe, but will become Zheng Chenggong's help.

"Does Dasu agree with this construction?" Sonny asked.

Ao Bai nodded: "Da Su hopes that the imperial court will summon Huang Wu to Beijing, and he will explain the sea ban policy in detail." ”

"The water division of the five provinces is no longer there," Sonny sighed, if Da Su and Huang Wu still had the slightest hope of exterminating Zheng Chenggongbao, they would never propose such a large-scale ban on construction. If the Naval Division has indeed been completely destroyed, then Sony estimates that he will also approve of the ban on the sea, and what needs to be done now is to confirm whether the Naval Division of the Five Provinces has been damaged to the point that it has no hope of rebuilding in the short term, and whether it is completely incapable of defending coastal defense: "Let Huang Wu come." ”

Although destroying the naval division and retreating the coastal residents will cause a lot of economic losses to the Qing court, it will at least save millions on the military expenses of coastal defense - if the naval division does not exist at all, and all the coastal defense of thousands of miles depends on building fortresses and garrisons for defense, I am afraid that millions of taels of military expenditure will not be enough - and although this is harmful to the Qing court, it is also fatal to Zheng Chenggong, and no sea trade is just a lack of tax source for the Qing court, but for Zheng Chenggong, it is a loss of vitality.

"Cut off sea trade and lure heavy money." Sonny groaned slightly, and then took out a supplement: "We completely banned sea trade, Zheng Wei sat and ate nothing, and hundreds of thousands of henchmen were alone overseas for a few days?" When his subordinates can't eat, and then we offer a reward for Zhao'an, sooner or later they will surrender.

However, even if the condition of the sailor is not as bad as Sony thinks now, there is no need to expect Dasu to attack Xiamen again in one or two years, Ao Bai anxiously talked about Shunzhi's order: "Then what should the emperor do if he orders to conquer Xiamen again?" ”

"Let Luo Tuo and Da Su stay in Fujian for a year and a half, and when the emperor's anger passes, he will play and say that he has won a great victory." Sony quickly came up with a countermeasure: "Let's just say that Zheng Chenggong will be defeated, and then the class will be good." ”

"What if the emperor is happy to let them take advantage of the victory to attack Xiamen?" Ao Bai is still a little worried.

"It's okay, when the time comes, I'll report that I heard that Zheng Yi was beaten to death." Sonny was confident: "Since Zheng Wei may be dead, then the rest of the things can be done in Fujian Green Camp, and there is no need for our children to stay in the hot Fujian; Even if it is found out that Zheng Chenggong is not dead a few days later, it is also Xiamen where he escaped by cheating, and our children will have already returned to Beijing at that time. ”

Whether Xiamen can be fought or not will have nothing to do with the Manchurian Eight Banners, and it will not damage the reputation of the Manchurian Eight Banners as invincible in the world, after all, they returned to the dynasty after the great victory. In this way, the emperor's face is saved, and Man Baqi can leave the front line happily, and a large number of officers such as Luo Zhi and Dasu will be rewarded, and no one will be unable to get along with this plan.

The two discussed some details and decided on a general plan.

In Deng Ming's previous life, after Luo Zhi took charge of the seal of the general of Annam, he and Dasu stayed in Quanzhou until the limelight of the Battle of Xiamen passed, and then announced the great victory of the Qing army, found that Zheng Chenggong was dead, and triumphed from Fujian. In Deng Ming's previous life's "Qing History Manuscript", it is still said that Luo Cheng defeated Zheng Chenggong, and all the Manchurian Eight Banner officers who served in the expedition were meritorious and rewarded, and after achieving these meritorious deeds without time and place, the Fujian Qing army took advantage of the victory class, and Zheng Chenggong was on the expedition to Taiwan at that time.

……

In Guazhou, 20,000 Ming troops had completed the crossing of the river, and Deng Ming's headquarters was ready to attack Yangzhou. As for Zhang Huangyan and Ma Fengzhi's troops, in addition to a small number of stays, they will also come to Jiangbei one after another, following Deng Ming and going north along the canal.

"The purpose of our army's battle this time is to eliminate the river troops of the Caoyun Governor, occupy the wharves and shipyards on both sides of the canal, and go directly to the city of Yangzhou, cut off the internal and external traffic of Yangzhou, and force the Manchu Caoyun Governor to agree to our request." Deng Ming made the final pre-war mobilization to the officers: "Our army must do its best to keep the captured boats, the wharves, and the shipyards occupied, and the proper preservation of these things can exert greater pressure on the Manchu governor of Caoyun to force him to bow his head earlier." We will not attack Yangzhou unless absolutely necessary, but if our demands are not met, the army must also be prepared to attack the city. ”

At this mobilization meeting, Deng Ming also announced to his captains and officers: "In addition to the previous articles, our demand should also add at least one million taels of silver in military compensation, if it were not for Lin Qilong's stubborn insistence on confronting our army, this military operation could have been completely avoided." For this attack, our army used all its strength, and the friendly forces of Zhang Shangshu and Admiral Ma were also forced to participate in the operation, so Lin Qilong of course had to bear all the military expenses of our army, which was a completely reasonable request - in this million military compensation, in addition to the consumption of grain and grass and medicine for our expedition, the excess was punitive damages. If it weren't for Lin Qilong's deliberate provocation of the incident, our army could have studied, trained, or rested, but now has to spend its precious time marching into Yangzhou, so punitive damages are also a reasonable and legitimate demand. ”

Most of the officers under Deng Ming were literate in the Sichuan army, and they had never been exposed to any other values other than loyalty to the monarch and love for foreign countries. It is always easier to draw on a blank piece of paper, and after hearing Deng Ming's speech, the officers in the audience nodded their heads one after another, and all nodded sternly in agreement.

"We must inform the whole army of the above, so that our officers and men can fully understand the reasonableness and justice of our army's demands." Deng Ming said loudly, it feels really good to personally cultivate a group of emperor officials and an emperor team.

"Robber!" Ren Tang stood behind Deng Ming with a solemn face and commented silently.

"Next is our army's inscription." On the issue of the text, Deng Ming once had a dispute with Ren Tang, just like the confrontation about "urgent subordination" and "the immutability of the law of the ancestors", Ren Tang failed without suspense.

Since it is very likely that the Ming army will not attack Yangzhou and it is unlikely that it will be stationed near Yangzhou for a long time, then don't preach anything to the gentry about recovering the lost territory, so as not to expose those scholars who have the Ming court in their hearts meaninglessly, and lest they not be able to win the trust of people when they really want to recover Jiangnan in the future.

Therefore, Deng Ming set the tone of the text on "hanging the people and cutting down the crime", and the river officers and soldiers of the governor of Caoyun were not friendly to the people nearby, and every time Caoyun would forcibly recruit the people near the canal to pull fiber, they would not be paid, and they were not allowed to go home. Every night, a large number of slender men would flee, and then the river officers and soldiers would raid the surrounding villages to capture civilians to fill the gaps.

“…… When the Admiral heard this, he gritted his teeth and hated it, so he raised the volunteers, went to Yangzhou to avenge the people's grievances, vowed to ask for wages for his father, and sought compensation for the victims......" Deng Ming recited aloud the inscription in his hand, in his plan, the Caoyun Governor Yamen and the Yangzhou prefect also got a sum of silver to compensate those who had been forcibly requisitioned, and Deng Ming would not interfere in the specific distribution, he would distribute the silver to the local gentry and elders in Yangzhou, and they would be responsible for finding the sufferer: "...... Lin Qilong will not return the ICBC and pension for one day, and he will not make a promise that he will never commit it again, and the admiral will not return to the division for one day! ”

Ren Tang once fiercely opposed the text, thinking that this was simply a bare declaration that he was a bandit who came to extort and blackmail, and he was embarrassed to call himself a Ming officer and soldier when he took out this kind of text? And Deng Ming asked rhetorically: "What are we going to Yangzhou for this time?" Didn't you go and ask for money? When you come out to mingle with the rivers and lakes, you have to talk and count, say that the county of Guangfu will be the county of Guangfu, and say that if you want silver, you must get the silver, so that the fathers and elders of the world know that we are true to our words. ”

“…… There are also Hui merchants who are small, relying on their power and oppressing their fathers and elders in Yangzhou...... "Deng Ming has always firmly implemented the policy of cracking down on Huai Yan, so this time he also brought the salt merchants with him in the text, saying that they were dogs and people, colluded with the officers and soldiers of the river, and also forced the people to pull fiber on their salt boats - in fact, Deng Ming did not wronged them, relying on the relationship with the Qing court, and the Hui merchants also did a lot of things on both sides of the canal, and the Yamen of the governor of Caoyun, the salt merchants and the foremen of the Caogong are also inextricably linked, Many of the workers were conscripted coolies, who were usually bullied and oppressed, and even died on both sides of the canal.

“…… Is it tolerable or intolerable to sell good people as slaves and treat human life as a mustard? Deng Ming announced in the article that he believed that in addition to compensating the people on both sides of the canal like the governor of Caoyun, the salt merchants also needed to pay hundreds of thousands of Caoyun workers along the canal a settling-in fee of 100 taels of silver each.

Deng Ming hoped to use guò to show that he was only targeting salt merchants, not wealthy merchants, so that the other merchants would not all defect to his opposite, the Qing court.

“…… Announce Jianghuai, Xian makes it hear. "As for the payment of the text, it also took Deng Ming to think about it, before his title was the governor of Sichuan, although many of the gentry in Liangjiang knew what was going on with Deng Ming, but he was afraid that some local elders would feel strange and not understand how the governor of Sichuan would come to Yangzhou. In order to have a better publicity effect, Deng Ming did not hesitate to change his title, and at the same time sent people to inform Zhang Huangyan and Ma Fengzhi, who were still on the south bank, he also sent people to inform Yuan Dong and Fengjie.

"Admiral Deng of the Yangtze River!" Deng Ming ended his recitation sonorously, some people had objected to this title before, saying that he wanted to be a general of the water division, but Deng Ming still felt that this title was good, and his description of himself was also very appropriate.