After accepting two powerful generals, Zu Kuan and Cao Bianjiao, Li Xiao was very happy and immediately ordered a banquet to celebrate the two generals Zu Cao.

Those who win talents will win the world. Li Xiao was extremely happy to get these two powerful generals in the late Ming Dynasty. That night, he drank happily with a group of generals, and even exchanged cups with Zu Kuancao and Bianjiao, and laughed and stopped until he was drunk.

The next day, Li Xiao sent troops to prevent the invasion of the Tartars and strengthen the city defense, forcibly entered important prefectures and counties in Shandong, so that the entire Shandong could be firmly controlled by him.

The arrival and acceptance of important prefectures and counties in various places was generally very smooth.

Of course, there are also some generals who are dissatisfied with Li Xiao, such as Chen Hongfan, General Denglai, Deputy General Liu Liangzuo, Deputy General Shandong, Ni Chong, etc., who hate Li Xiao for his domineering and tough methods and curse him secretly.

However, although they were dissatisfied, they did not have the courage to have a head-on conflict with the fierce Tang army under Li Xiao, nor did they have the courage to refuse the Tang army's entry. Like Chen Hongfan, general of Denglai, and Ni Chong, deputy general of Shandong, who were reluctant, they had to concede the reality of Li Xiao's Tang army's entry.

As a foreign guest, Liu Liangzuo simply left Shandong and returned to Shanxi in a hurry, and finally broke away from Li Xiao's control.

When Li Xiao forced his troops from Xingzhong Town to various parts of Shandong, the Qing army retreated from Shandong to Northern Zhili and then retreated northward from Northern Zhili, and finally retreated smoothly from Qingfengkou of Yongping Prefecture to the Qing Dynasty.

There was no Ming army to stop this retreat. The 60,000 Qing troops marched on the vast Hebei plain, as free as in their own country.

However, when he retreated to Jinghai County, Emperor Chongzhen was very dissatisfied when he saw the Qing army retreating to the north so carelessly, so he forced the chief assistant Liu Yuliang to command the Beijing camp and the Northern Zhili troops to attack the retreating Qing army.

Liu Yuliang, who was already afraid of Tartars, was almost scared to death after receiving the order from Emperor Chongzhen.

He led these Ming troops to follow the Qing army with courage, deliberately maintaining the so-called safe distance, and did not dare to harass the Qing army even if it was a small amount of harassment.

After following the Qing army, he walked northward until he watched them safely leave Qingfeng's mouth, Liu Yuliang let out a long sigh, played the victorious music, beat the triumphal drum, and returned to the capital with great enthusiasm. He also wrote a brilliant mastermind and sent someone to report the victory to Emperor Chongzhen's Pegasus.

The 60,000 Qing troops, led by Dorgon, came out of Qingfengkou, to avoid interception by the Ming army in western Liaoning, specially walked around Kalaqin Mongolia and Korqin Mongolia, then turned back to Guangning, and then returned to Shenyang east.

The 60,000 army stood silently outside the west gate of Shenyang, waiting for the imperial court to send an order to arrange the disposal.

Without cheering, greeting, and comfort, outside the deserted west gate of Shenyang, the 60,000 army stood awkwardly and silently as if it had been forgotten.

In Shenyang in early July of the lunar calendar, the scorching sun was in the sky and the heat was unbearable. The scorching sun was exposed above the heads of the 60,000 troops, but it looked like a silent sculpture, with a dark face and standing still.

The main general Dorgon, deputy generals Haoge, Dudu, Abatai and other major generals were filled with worry and panic. They didn't know what to do with the fat man in Shengjing Palace next.

It took a full half an hour before a eunuch came out of the city gate and passed the order coldly.

"The emperor's sacred edict was passed on, and the entire army was dismissed on the spot and returned to the base camp. In addition, Prince Rui Dorgon, Prince Su Haoge, Anping Beiledudu, and Rao Yu Beile Abatai entered the palace to meet him, and I admire him."

"Well, the servant follows the order."

The 60,000 troops dispersed in an uproar. Among the dispersed soldiers, dissatisfied curses could be clearly heard. The curses from the lower-level soldiers were like sharp knives that were stabbed in Dorgon's heart.

Dorgon suddenly felt that the journey from outside Chenyang City to Chongzheng Hall of the Imperial Palace was so long that it seemed like it would never be completed in his lifetime.

Before entering Chongzheng Hall, the largest and most magnificent main hall of the Chenyang Palace, Dorgon took a deep breath before he walked into the palace with his teeth.

"My me, Dorgon, come to the Emperor. Long live my emperor."

"My minister, Haoge, come to the Emperor, long live Khan Ama."

"My minister, Du Du, come to the emperor,..."

"My son, Abatai,..."

Huang Taiji, who was sitting upright on the dragon throne, looked at Dorgon and others kneeling under the Dan Steps with a expressionless look.

However, under his calm expression, blood was dripping in his heart.

Damn it! The army that entered the pass by 100,000 actually lost a total of 40,000 troops. This is an unprecedented loss suffered by the Qing Dynasty since the founding of the Later Jin Dynasty!

What's even more hateful is that in this battle to enter the pass, there were two royal families, Yue Tuo and Nikan, who were killed by the Tang army on the battlefield, which was an incalculable major blow to the entire Qing court!

The battle to enter the pass lasted nearly two months, and all the gains were only the more than 100,000 people and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that they had captured before entering Shandong.

This gain is insignificant compared to the painful price of the total 40,000 Qing troops being wiped out in the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, during this battle to enter the pass, the two Jin Fuzhous, who were completely destroyed by Li Xiao, and the royal family member Adali, who was skinned and executed by the Tang army in Fuzhou, suffered an unprecedented loss.

On the same day, after hearing the news, Huang Taiji felt that his heart had fallen into the bottom of the ice lake.

He understood that after the Qing army suffered such a great loss, the Qing army, which had suffered severe energy for at least two or three years, would never have the ability to enter the pass and invade and abduct.

The way I wanted to attack the Ming Dynasty by entering the pass again and again and again, and finally completely collapsed, would no longer work.

What made Huang Taiji, who was more talented and wise was that as time went by, it seemed that the Ming Dynasty had gradually become an opponent that was not worth worrying about, and the Hangou Li Xiao, who was entrenched in Shandong and had a large area of ​​overseas territories, was his real opponent and the biggest and most dangerous opponent.

He even felt more and more that Li Xiao, who was powerful and intelligent and brave, seemed to be operating the territory under his rule into an invisible empire that was completely uncontrolled by the Ming Dynasty, but was full of vitality and bright future and increasingly powerful.

The light emitted by this invisible empire, which is as bright as the sky, seems to cover all the two empires of the Ming and Qing dynasties, making these two empires pale under its blazing light.

The ambitious Emperor Chongde Huang Taiji never felt like he was now. He seemed to be crawling and living a life of ease under the shadow of a person.

This is simply an indescribable shame!

Huang Taiji sighed and finally came back to his senses from his reverie.

"You guys can rest assured." Huang Taiji finally spoke.

"Thank you, the emperor."

Haoge, Dudu, and Abatai stood up and retreated to the side, but Dorgon seemed to have not heard it and could not get up.

Huang Taiji looked coldly, and the unruly and intelligent brother who could not stand up on the ground, his feelings were very complicated.

In front of the common and powerful enemy Li Xiao, the rift between his brothers seems to be worth mentioning.

In fact, after Dorgon was annihilated by 40,000 troops in Jinan City, he immediately made a quick decision and judged the situation, and no longer forced a battle with the Tang army with a strong morale. Huang Taiji still admired the whole army's approach of immediately retreating to the Qing Dynasty to preserve his strength.

After all, in such a dangerous situation, being able to revenge without any brains and bring back all the remaining 60,000 troops is enough to show that Dorgon is a very qualified military commander. From this point of view, he did not disappoint his expectations.

However, in such a collapse of 40,000 troops, Yue Tuo, Nikan and others died tragically under the Tang army. If no one was responsible for this, it would be really unreasonable. If Dorgon and others did not punish him, it would be difficult to convince the public.

"Dorgon, how was Yue Tuo's troops destroyed? Let me tell you in detail." Huang Taiji left this sentence coldly.

Dorgon gritted his teeth secretly, but he still tried to maintain a calm tone, and explained in a concise and quick way to make decisions, how to make decisions with Yue Tuo, how to advance, how to attack from the middle and northern Shandong, and finally eliminate the plan of Li Xiao entrenched in Dengzhou.

When Dorgon was telling, the Chongzheng Hall, which was full of civil and military officials in the court, was silent, and only Dorgon's voice was circling in the hall.

"The emperor, according to the plan, my brother and General Yangwu Jun Yue Tuo divided the 100,000 troops into two parts, with a unit of 40,000 troops led by me, and made a strategic illusion that he wanted to go straight to Dengzhou from the northern part of Lu, thereby attracting the enemy to gather together in Wudingzhou and creating favorable conditions for Yue Tuo to divide his troops into Luzhong area."

Seeing Huang Taiji listening carefully, Dorgon continued, "And the real main force of our army was the 60,000 troops led by Yue Tuo. After they bypassed Dezhou, where the Ming army was heavily defended, there was basically no enemy army in the entire central Lu Plain. Therefore, Yue Tuo divided 60,000 troops into three parts, the south, central and northern parts, of which 10,000 troops were led by Abatai, 10,000 troops in the north, and Dudu, and Yue Tuo and Nikan led 40,000 central troops. The three routes of troops were supported by each other, guarding the central troops from the north and south wings, and sweeping the Ming army into reinforcements to ensure that the 40,000 troops in the middle can take Jinan directly without being disturbed by enemy reinforcements."

"So did Yue Tuo directly attack Jinan City with these 40,000 troops?" Huang Taiji interrupted coldly.

"It is. The central army of Yuetuo's army was moving forward very quickly because there was no enemy's interference. After crossing the Daqing River, they immediately sent troops to tightly surround Jinan City. At this point, the defenders in Jinan City had completely become turtles in the jar and had no more escape. The Jinan garrison Liu Zeqing, seeing that our army was so powerful, he was immediately disintegrated and had no desire to resist. He presented the city overnight and surrendered."

When Dorgon said this, he swallowed hard, then shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity that Yue Tuo saw that this Shandong provincial capital Jinan, this thousand-year-old ancient city was so easily fallen into the hands of our army, and was immediately lost by victory. He immediately ordered the entire army to enter the city and plunder the troops, completely forgot to send troops outside the city to prevent enemy reinforcements from coming to attack. This was a major mistake!"

Dorgon paused and continued to say hatefully: "It's a pity that dog thief Li Xiao has already left Dengzhou, but he came to Jiyang City north of Jinan, and joined forces with the general Wu Sangui of Ningyuan, Liaodong. After the post found that our army was about to attack Jinan, he led his troops to rescue him overnight. It was a coincidence that when this thief Li Xiao led his Tang army to Jinan, our army just entered the city, and the city gate was wide open and there was no defense. Then Li Xiao seized the opportunity and led all his troops into the city to attack quickly, thus catching our army off guard!"

Hearing this, Huang Taiji's face on the dragon throne looked painful and couldn't help but sigh.

Dorgon's voice continued: "Because the Tang army emerged, our army was completely unprepared, so we were divided and surrounded by them. They could only fight each other in the city and could not organize effective resistance at all. The Tang army made full use of our advantages of the open and secret enemy, and continuously gathered superior forces to intercept our Qing official army in the city. In this melee, they successively killed Nikan and the chief general Yue Tuo. The 40,000 army that had been struggling to support was immediately destroyed. Except for only a few thousand troops, the Tang army had not yet captured the South Gate and thus escaped from the South Gate, the rest of the troops were destroyed by Li Xiao's Tang army. At this point, the troops and horses of the central army of Yue Tuo were completely lost, and the Jinan city was also lost again, which is really regrettable!"

When Huang Taiji heard this, he waved his hand and signaled that he didn't have to say anything further.

Then, he slowly stood up, looked around the civil and military officials in the hall with a stern look, and shouted to Dorgon in a cold voice: "Dorgon, although Yue Tuo's defeat was severely faulted, the army was destroyed and killed, but as a general who was ordered and the commander of our army, isn't there any responsibility at all?!"

Dorgon was scolded by Huang Taiji in front of so many officials, and was embarrassed and annoyed. He knelt on the ground and gritted his teeth and said, "My brother is incompetent, he has made a mistake in command. Yue Tunikan was defeated and died. I am indeed responsible. I would like to ask the emperor to punish him!"

Huang Taiji snorted coldly and said, "Dorgon, our army has entered the pass with an unprecedented power. I thought that under your command, we could achieve greater results than any previous entry into the pass. However, I did not expect that you would actually defeat my 40,000 army and two royal families, Yue Tuo and Nikan, were killed. The people and animals were captured by money and food, which was much smaller than before entering the pass. You, the commander of the army, cannot be blamed! If I do not punish you, how can I comfort tens of thousands of soldiers who died in the battle, and how can I make the subjects and people of the Qing Dynasty obey!"

Dorgon felt more and more ashamed and angry, his face was burning with a burning heat, but he could only grit his teeth and shout: "But please punish me, I will never complain!"

Huang Taiji sighed and shouted in a deep voice: "Transfer my order. Although Dorgon entered the pass this time, he lost 40,000 troops and horses, and died two royal families. I think that the Qing Dynasty has never suffered such a great defeat since its founding. I am really sad. As the chief general, Dorgon, as the chief general, has no choice but to send him away! He is now sent an order to remove Prince Rui of Dorgon, demote him to Beile, and punish him from his Zhengbai Banner to the Zhenghuang Banner, and fine him another 20,000 taels of silver, and 10 carved horses and horses each."

After hearing Huang Taiji's punishment, Dorgon was extremely angry, his teeth were chewed, but he could only try to reply in a calm tone: "The emperor is wise and I am willing to be punished."

Huang Taiji nodded invisibly and shouted: "Haoge, Dudu, Abatai!"

The three of them hurriedly stepped out, knelt down, and said in unison: "My subordinate is here!"

"You three are deputy generals, but you have not persuaded the commander Dorgon, and you should also be punished." Before Huang Taiji could wait for the three of them to answer, he immediately said loudly: "Each of you three is fined 5,000 taels of silver and three carved horses, as a punishment."

Huang Taiji's punishment order made the three of them breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, compared to Dorgon, his punishment was obviously very light. So the three of them replied in unison: "The emperor is wise, we accept the punishment."
Chapter completed!