On the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, at the court meeting, when the court decided to ask Hong Chengchou to lead the troops to expel the Qing army in Tongzhou, they only heard good news.

Good news? Could it be that Chen Xinjia led the Xuan army to victory?

All the ministers were buzzing with discussion, but only Zhu Cihong smiled and said nothing.

"Your Majesty, Zhou Yuji led the Tianwu Army to break through the Donglu Tongzhou camp last night, captured more than 4,000 Tatars, and captured the slave chief Dorgon alive!"

"What? The Tongzhou camp was breached?"

"It was broken in one night? And you still captured the slave chief Dorgon alive?"

"Who gave the order?"

"It's my order!" Zhu Cixiang said calmly.

The facts confirmed Zhu Cixiang's guess. The main force of the Qing army was not here at all. The real Qing army in the Tongzhou camp only had more than 10,000 people. The others were mostly surrendered Ming troops and captured civilians.

What Zhu Cixi didn't expect was that the Qing army's Tongzhou camp was so vulnerable that even Dorgon was captured.

Chongzhen said happily: "When Xuanzhou met with good luck, he brought the slave chief Dorgon to the palace!"

Not long after, Zhou Yuji, who was dressed in armor, walked up to the palace and saluted: "General Zhou Yuji, long live my emperor!"

Chongzhen called him up and praised him, and then he couldn't wait to have Dorgon brought to the palace.

"Let me go! I can leave by myself!"

Dorgon, who was wearing a white dragon-patterned iron leaf armor, cursed along the way, causing all the ministers in the palace to frown, secretly cursing the slave chief for his lack of kingliness and for being a vulgar common man.

Zhu Cixiang frowned. Is this guy Dorgon? Why do you look so anxious? But the armor he is wearing, you can tell at a glance that it belongs to Dorgon.

A few years ago, when Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor, he ordered that no one except the emperor could wear yellow satin or clothing with five-clawed dragons sewn on it. Only those who had been specially rewarded by the emperor could wear it.

Almost all the princes who made outstanding military exploits in the Eight Banners were rewarded by Huang Taiji with five-clawed dragon pattern armor, while Beilebeizi and others were rewarded with four-clawed robes.

The Eight Flags use red, white, orange, and blue as the basic colors, with four-color borders staggered from each other to form the Eight Flags uniform colors, and the flag names are determined based on the uniform colors.

The armor of the Zhenghuang Banner is all yellow, the armor of the Yellow Flag is yellow with red edges, the armor of the Zhengbai Banner is white, the armor of the White Flag is white with red edges, the armor of the Zhenghong Banner is red, and the armor of the Red Flag is red.

With white edges, the True Blue Flag Armor is all blue, while the Inlaid Blue Flag Armor has a blue background with red edges. Each Flag Armor is inlaid with copper bubble nails all over the body.

He wears a white battle armor with no trimmings and a five-clawed dragon pattern. Dorgon is the only one in the world who wears a battle suit like this.

Xu Sheng, who was not far away from Zhu Cixiang, quietly approached and whispered to Zhu Cixiang.

Zhu Cixiang was slightly surprised, and then he shouted: "Babuhai! Where is Dorgon?"

Babuhai was startled and said subconsciously: "How do you know my name?"

"Isn't he Dorgon?" Everyone was in an uproar and felt extremely surprised. Some people looked at Zhou Yuji.

Zhou Yuji's face changed slightly. Such a result caught him off guard, and he secretly regretted that he had reported it without checking Dorgon's identity.

Chongzhen looked slightly angry and said, "What's going on?"

Xu Shenghong said: "Reporting to your majesty, this person's name is Babuhai. I faced him for a while on the battlefield. He claimed to be Nurhaci's eleventh son, Aixinjueluo Babuhai."

Babuhai looked at Xu Sheng and felt that he was very familiar. Isn't this the big Zhuang from back then?

"It turns out he is also the son of a slave chief..." Chongzhen's expression softened and he did not convict Zhou Yuji.

In any case, the Qing army camp in Tongzhou was taken over by Zhou Yuji, who not only rescued many people, but also captured the brothers who established the slaves and puppet emperors. There is no reason to blame Zhou Yuji.

Zhu Cihong pointed at Babuhai and shouted: "Tell me, where has Dorgon gone? Where is the main force of the Eight Banners Army?"

When Babuhai raised his head, he looked very manly and looked like he wanted to die heroically.

Zhu Cixi said coldly: "Pull him down and let him speak within two quarters of an hour!"

Xu Sheng chuckled and dragged Babuhai out of the hall...

In just a quarter of an hour, Babuhai, who had no idea what he had gone through, immediately and honestly explained what he knew.

It turned out that Dorgon adopted the strategy of diverting the tiger away from the mountain, leaving the Zhengbai Banner and letting Babuhai pretend to be himself, while Dorgon himself led the troops to retreat.

As early as the second day after the Qing army besieged the capital, Dorgon led the cavalry to the capital first, and sent a messenger halfway to inform Babuhai, asking him to attack the capital.

It would be best to capture the city of Beijing. Even if it fails, it will attract the surrounding Ming troops to come to the rescue. In this way, the main force of the Qing army can escort the baggage from Tianjin to the north and get out of the customs safely.

Dorgon and some of the Zhengbai Banner cavalry did appear at the gates of Beijing, but they only stayed for half a day and left in a hurry. Babuhai has always been a pawn in his hands.

"What a move, the golden cicada escapes from its shell!" Zhu Cixiang was secretly shocked.

Dorgon is far more difficult to deal with than imagined. According to information from the Intelligence Ministry, the assassin at the Shangyuan Night Banquet was probably the hand of Dorgon. Based on the layout of the assassination plan, it can be seen that Dorgon also has a mysterious force in his hands.

Intelligence network.

If the second most powerful man in the Qing Dynasty was like this, how terrible would it be for Huang Taiji, who was even more shrewd than Dorgon? Zhu Cixiang felt that he must pay more attention to the Qing Dynasty.

After the small court meeting, when he saw Zhu Cihong and the civil servants and generals of the Tianwu Army leaving the Huangji Palace talking and laughing, Hong Chengchou felt infinitely melancholy and began to worry about gains and losses.

King Qianli Qin, before he even warmed his feet when he arrived, the enemies in front of him were wiped out by the Tianwu Army. Hong Chengchou suddenly felt that he was useless in the capital.

"Why are Commander-in-Chief Hong sighing?" A strong voice came from behind him.

Hong Chengchou suddenly turned around, only to see his assistant Yang Sichang standing in front of him, looking at him with deep meaning.

Hong Chengchou said quickly: "It turns out to be Prime Minister Yang, and he has lost his composure..."

Yang Sichang walked forward slowly, while Hong Chengchou was half a step slower and followed closely. He knew that the famous man in front of the emperor still controlled the central military power of the Ming Dynasty, and there was absolutely no way he would strike up a conversation with him for no reason.

Yang Sichang said casually: "Yan Yan, don't be disappointed. The Holy Spirit has a very good impression of you, and there will be a surprise soon."

This short sentence was no less than a thunder in Hong Chengchou's ears. He immediately understood that Yang Sichang was showing his favor to him, and his position would also be changed.

Hong Chengchou did not dare to entrust his superiors, so he repeatedly asked Yang Sichang for advice, showing great respect for him.

Yang Sichang said: "The nine-sided defense of the Ming Dynasty, Xuanda and Liaodong are the most important. Xuanda has Chen Xinjia, so I am relieved. As for Liaodong..."

Halfway through, Yang Sichang stopped talking and gave Hong Chengchou a meaningful look.

Hong Chengchou was a smart man and understood immediately after hearing it. He quickly raised his hands and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister Yang, for the promotion!"

Yang Sichang chuckled and said, "If you and I work together, why worry about the unrest in the northern country?"

Hong Chengchou kept saying: "The lower-level officials have little morals and little talent, and they need to be reminded by Prime Minister Yang from time to time..."

Hong Chengchou was overwhelmed with emotion. Wu Aheng, the governor of Jiliao, died in the battle, and the post of governor had been vacant. He did not expect that it would fall to him.

Among all the governors of the Ming Dynasty, Governor Ji Liao was the most noble. A large area from Jizhou through Shanhaiguan to Jinzhou and the Liaohe River was under the control of Governor Ji Liao. He had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses at his command, and he was also the most respected among the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty.

Elite.

.......
Chapter completed!