Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 343 Duoduo is critically ill

Beijing, Forbidden City.

The spring breeze blows across the earth. Although it is the end of February, the weather in Beijing is still cold.

Dorgon was in the Cining Palace, wearing only a robe, sitting at the table, drinking porridge and reading memorials submitted from various places.

Sitting next to him was the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, who was gently fanning Dorgon. Noticing that Dorgon felt a little hot, she turned around and whispered to Su Malagu to ask the eunuch who was lighting the fire for heating to add less charcoal.

At this time, Dorgon finished a bowl of porridge and said to Xiaozhuang: "Yu'er, Duoduo's army was defeated this time, and the situation in Huguang is unstable. I have sent Prince Zheng to garrison Huguang. I believe he has arrived in Wuchang by now. Prince Zheng has experienced many battles and must be able to stabilize the situation."

Xiaozhuang smiled and said, "Well, it's up to you."

Dorgon sighed and said, "It seems that this person is the only threat to our dynasty!"

After seeing Dorgon finish speaking, Xiaozhuang stroked Dorgon's back and comforted him, "Prince Zheng is mature and prudent, and he should be able to stabilize the war situation."

After finishing speaking, Xiaozhuang hesitated for a moment, but still said: "If it is really difficult to destroy Meng, it is better to negotiate peace, with the Yangtze River as the boundary between the two countries, and stop fighting."

Dorgon pondered for a moment, nodded slowly, and then said: "This strategy may be worth a try."

The two chatted for a while, and then Xiaozhuang changed the topic and said, "The emperor is already twelve years old. Some ministers suggest choosing a teacher with profound knowledge and good conduct to accompany the emperor and teach him..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Dorgon, who smiled and said, "The foundation of Manchuria does not lie in the corrupt Han scholars. It is useless to learn such nonsense. When the emperor is older, he can learn some Han poetry and prose. It is too early now."

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the palace. Not long after, Su Malagu walked in with small steps, knelt down in front of Dorgon and Xiaozhuang and said, "Regent Prince, Queen Mother, this is the military report from Huguang."

"Bring it here quickly!" Dorgon said anxiously.

Xiaozhuang personally stepped forward, picked up the military report and handed it to Dorgon, who quickly opened it and read ten lines at a glance. Before Dorgon could take a closer look, he was so shocked by a few words in the military report that his eyes popped out and he stood up abruptly, which made Xiaozhuang's face change.

A few of the words read: "...Wuchang fell, Wu Sangui captured Xiangyang, Nanyang,..."

"Regent, has something happened?" Xiaozhuang asked with an uneasy look.

Dorgon did not reply, but read the military report word for word. Just when Xiaozhuang was becoming impatient.

Dorgon's cheeks twitched, and he sat down again after a long while. He sighed and said, "Wuchang was lost, and Hauge's 3,000 Mongolian cavalry and 6,000 Green Camp were cut off from the Yangtze River by Zheng's navy. All of them were left on the south bank and surrendered to Meng. Wu Sangui occupied Xiangyang and Nanyang and seized Fangcheng, which was tantamount to separatism!"

Upon hearing this, Xiaozhuang's face changed drastically. She was not a vase. She was very clear about the current situation of the Qing Dynasty. Baiyintu still had more than 70,000 people under his command, and his troops should still be in Jingzhou at this time. If they were surrounded and annihilated by Meng Jun, the consequences would be really disastrous.

Dorgon frowned, deeply worried. The Qing Dynasty withdrew from Huguang, and Meng Jun swept across the south. Who could be the enemy? If Meng Jun could not be defeated on the battlefield, how could the north compare with the richness of the south? Moreover, once the news of the failure of the war spread, there would be people everywhere who were interested, and Wu Sangui might be just the first one.

Only at this time did Dorgon truly feel some regret. Perhaps he had been too hasty in issuing the shaving order, but now it was too late to regret.

The Qing Dynasty, with Manchuria and Mongolia as the main body, ruled the Central Plains, which was like sitting on the crater of a volcano. If they were not careful, they would be swallowed by the raging fire. The Mongolian cavalry surrendered to Meng Jun in an organized manner, which caused Dorgon great panic.

Thinking of this, Dorgon could no longer sit still, and immediately ordered people to control the messenger, and also ordered people to spread the word in newspapers, saying that Prince Yu had beheaded tens of thousands of bandits in Huguang and that the bandit Meng was seriously injured. On the other hand, he issued an edict to appease Wu Sangui, bestowing gold and silver on him, and gave him the title of King of Pingxi, and temporarily took over as the Nanyang General Manager and Pacifier, intending to stabilize Wu Sangui first.

Dorgon knew that Meng Jun had set up a newspaper thing, so he followed Meng Jun's example and started a newspaper in Beijing, which was named Qing Newspaper. However, Dorgon did not pay much attention to this newspaper until the defeat of Huguang, when people in Beijing were in panic and rumors were spreading. Only then did Dorgon remember this newspaper. With the propaganda in the newspaper, the rumors were unexpectedly quelled.

Therefore, Dorgon really attached importance to newspapers. The Qing newspapers did not publish anything else but things that promoted the invincibility of the Qing Dynasty, the defeat of the enemy army, or the Qing officers and soldiers clearing out the bandits and beheading thousands of them, or the auspicious signs appearing somewhere, saying that the Qing Dynasty was destined to be the kingdom of heaven.

This made Lu Ping in Beijing feel that the Qing Dynasty was invincible every time he saw the newspapers. If it were not for the occasional intelligence sent from the south, Lu Ping would have almost lost confidence.

………………

De'an Prefecture.

Haoge retreated to Xiaochang, and Duoduo was also in Xiaochang City. It was not that Duoduo wanted to stay with Haoge, but Duoduo's health was deteriorating and his figure was getting thinner and thinner.

Just a few days after Hauge led his troops into Xiaochang, Prince Zheng Jirgalang, who had come all the way from Beijing, finally arrived at the army.

When he arrived in front of the army, Jirgalang saw that only Hauge came to greet him, and asked with some dissatisfaction: "Where is Prince Yu?"

Haoge was eager to flatter Duoduo and just said he didn't know. Jirgalang didn't say anything either. When Jirgalang came to Xiaochang, he was full of grievances. Huguang was defeated and Wuchang was lost. That was fine. Before he arrived, he heard the bad news that Wu Sangui occupied Xiangyang and Nanyang. Now that he came here, Jirgalang finally understood what it meant that a good cook could not cook without rice.

Even though Jirgalang had heard that Duoduo was ill, he was still shocked when he actually saw Duoduo. His cheeks were fleshless and he looked emaciated, which made Jirgalang doubt whether this man was the once glorious Prince Yu.

Seeing Duoduo like this, Jirgalang couldn't say anything to blame him, and could only sigh and say, "Why is it so?"

Duoduo coughed painfully a few times and said with some difficulty: "The defeat... is all my responsibility. Now that Prince Zheng is here, I feel relieved."

Seeing this, Jirgalang comforted him, "Victory and defeat are common in the military. Take good care of your health. The Regent is still waiting for you to return."

Duoduo just shook his head when he heard this and said softly: "My body, I know, it can't take it!"

Jirgalang frowned and said in a deep voice: "Call all the doctors in the city. If they can't cure Prince Yu, they will all be executed!"