******
Duoduo's army returned to the Central Plains to provide assistance, causing the anti-Qing struggle of the Central Plains rebels to fall into a trough. Many rebel forces were wiped out, and even a team like Dongfang Sheng, which was well organized, efficient, and had smooth intelligence, was forced to retreat into the mountains and shrink temporarily.
But all this did not reduce the political pressure on Dorgon.
Shang Kexi's entire army was annihilated because the two brothers Wang Guangen and Wang Guangtai collapsed first;
Ajige's army was almost wiped out due to the rebellion of the Guanning Army;
Before Hauge gave up Wuning Pass, the first to collapse were the Green Camp soldiers;
The defeat at the Daur Yique Pass was also caused by the rebellion of the Green Camp soldiers;
Now even when Lekedehun was attacking Hulao Pass, the progress was extremely slow because the Green Camp soldiers had no intention of fighting.
These bloody incidents, one after another, made the Manchu ministers extremely distrustful of first the Green Camp soldiers and then the Han ministers, believing that they were incapable of accomplishing anything and were more likely to cause trouble.
There were more and more voices opposing Dorgon's practice of employing Han officials. Jiala Zhangjing Ebilun even criticized Dorgon bluntly, saying that his biggest mistake was to hand over the military and political affairs of Jiangnan to Hong Chengchou.
He also listed the facts, saying that Hong Chengchou's parents, wife and children were all in his hometown in Fujian, which meant they were in Longwu's hands. If Longwu used this as a threat, who could guarantee that Hong Chengchou would not betray the Qing Dynasty
Ebilun's words were recognized by many people, and they all advised Dorgon to take back Hong Chengchou's military and political power.
Ebilun is the sixteenth son of Eyidu, one of the five founding ministers of the Later Jin Dynasty. Now he is very close to Jirgalang. What Dorgon worried about has happened. This shows that Jirgalang is no longer willing to be lonely.
Regardless of whether Jirgalang was truly concerned about the Qing Dynasty or had personal purposes, or perhaps both, this move put Dorgon in an even more difficult situation.
To remove Hong Chengchou at this time would be tantamount to admitting one's political mistake.
The more serious consequence is that this will push more Han officials and Green Camp soldiers to Qin Mu's side.
You should know that the Central Plains and Jiangnan are now governed by Han people, some of whom are even former officials of the Ming Dynasty. They just shaved their heads and changed their clothes.
One falling leaf heralds the coming of autumn. When Hong Chengchou is replaced, the officials in Jiangnan will be the first to feel the chill.
Even if these officials did not defect immediately, they would certainly be insincere in spirit and secretly collude with Qin Mu or Longwu, which would make the difficult situation in the south of the Yangtze River even worse.
Dorgon had no choice but to humble himself and go to Jirgalang's house in person to explain the danger.
Jirgalang, on the other hand, acted calm and composed, saying that the regent had considered things carefully and had far-reaching intentions, and he completely agreed with the regent's opinion.
Dorgon prepared a lot of speeches, but he didn't use a single one. It felt like a punch on cotton, soft and powerless.
Dorgon left Prince Zheng's mansion in a bad mood, and after returning to the Prince Regent's mansion, he had Gan Nan taken to the prison again. He really wanted to kill Gan Nan with a knife. Since this guy entered Yanjing, there has been no peace in the court. Every day's court meeting must be a quarrel.
Although there was no expression on Dorgon's face, for Gannan, no expression was the best expression.
As soon as they met, Gan Nan smiled happily, as if he was on vacation in prison. He said, "It's rare that the Regent King has remembered me again. I wonder what the Regent King wants to see me for today?"
"I am willing to release the families of all the Guanning troops in exchange for all my bannermen." It was an ordinary sentence spoken by Dorgon with a calm tone, but it made people feel as if he was spitting out icicles.
Gan Nan brushed his sleeves subconsciously, as if this could alleviate the strong sense of oppression from Dorgon.
He smiled calmly and said, "I remember I have already told the Regent that whether the families of the Guanning Army can be exchanged is no longer important to my king. However, my king is still willing to exchange 500 captives for the families of the Guanning Army, but the exchange conditions are not negotiable."
Dorgon was just about to ask for more money, at least to get more people back, but Gan Nan said, "Actually, it's not impossible for the Regent to get all the captives back. A total of 13,623, not one less."
"How to change it?" Dorgon's mind moved.
"This is nearly 20% of the Qing Dynasty's military strength. As long as the Regent gives up one thing, my king will release all of these 10,000 bannermen..."
"dream!"
"Hey, does the Regent know what I'm talking about?"
Dorgon sneered and did not answer.
Gannan was convinced from his expression that Dorgon had really guessed what it was, and he really admired Dorgon's cleverness.
He laughed and said, "It originally belonged to my Great Qin..."
"This just proves that the Qing Dynasty is the destiny of heaven."
"In fact, my king only said it casually. If the regent really agrees to the exchange, my king might feel that he has suffered a great loss. After all, everyone in the world knows that what you have is a fake."
Dorgon still sneered and said nothing.
Gannan realized more deeply that it was not by chance that the Qing Dynasty could survive today, and there should be no room for any fluke in defeating such an opponent.
"Well, I have completed my mission. Although the business may not work out, I still have a sense of justice. I should go back now. When I came here, my king gave me a deadline of three months. If I still don't go back by the end of the period, my king will torture more than 10,000 captives. Considering the distance, it will be too late for me if I don't go back now."
Gannan's mission was actually completed on the first day in the Qing court. He didn't really want to exchange prisoners, he just came here for political blackmail.
"Plus the three states of Luzhou, Tongcheng and Lu'an." Dorgon spoke again.
Gan Nan did not expect Dorgon to propose to exchange cities for prisoners. He was slightly startled, and then laughed even more happily: "The Regent King really thinks beyond others' expectations, but this time the Regent King made a mistake. The whole world belongs to the King, including Liaodong. My King will take it back with my powerful army of the Great Qin, and will never exchange an inch of land. The Regent King uses my King's cities to exchange prisoners. Don't you think it's ridiculous?"
"Plus Shouzhou and Yingshang."
"The Regent has only two choices. Either kill me or let me go. Of course, you can also keep me locked up. I don't mind that."
The strategy formulated by Qin Mu has always been aimed at destroying the enemy's manpower, and he will not care about the gains and losses of a city or a pond. Gannan is very clear about this. Not to mention that the several states mentioned by Dorgon are difficult to defend after they are obtained, even if they are really strategically located, Qin Mu will definitely not exchange them.
Dorgon was extremely angry, but he was suppressed by his reason. Killing Gannan at this time would be useless. Dorgon had no choice but to let him go first and make other plans later.
Gannan once again rode his horse through the streets and slowly left the city in a triumphant manner under the gaze of the people of Yanjing.
***
Quzhou, Lanxi and Jinhua are like the three vertices of an unequal triangle. Han Gang led a thousand Qin troops from Quzhou, preparing to attack Lanxi, threatening Fei Yanggu's retreat and forcing Fei Yanggu to lift the siege of Jinhua.
Fei Yanggu, however, took advantage of the high mobility of the cavalry and rushed to Quzhou with 4,000 cavalrymen. After a fierce attack for half a day, when he saw that Quzhou was difficult to capture for the time being, he chased Han Gang from behind.
The Qushui River in Quzhou flows to Lanxi County. The Qushui River is actually the upper reaches of the Qiantang River. After passing Lanxi County, it is called Lanjiang River. After flowing to Tonglu County, it is called Fuchun River. After reaching Hangzhou, it is called Qiantang River.
The entire Qiantang River basin is mostly mountainous, but the banks of the Qushui River are large plains that are rare in western Zhejiang. This is extremely unfavorable for Han Gang's 1,000 troops.
One thousand versus four thousand, infantry versus cavalry. With no way to retreat or escape, Han Gang had no choice but to confront Fei Yanggu across a tributary of the Qushui River in a place called Chaye Mountain.
Fei Yanggu quickly sent two thousand men to cross the river from upstream. Han Gang had no choice but to retreat to the Tea Mountain. Although the Tea Mountain was also called a mountain, it was actually just a small earthen slope a few feet high.
A thousand Qin soldiers quickly climbed up the hill, formed a circle, and dug some trenches.
After Fei Yanggu's army crossed the river, they immediately launched a fierce attack from the north and south. Amid the earth-shaking iron hoofbeats of the Qing army, Han Gang gritted his teeth and gave a final pre-war encouragement: "I, Han Gang, was brought up by the King of Qin. Today, I am the only one who will die. If you are afraid, go down and kneel down to beg for mercy from the Tartars. But before you go, please take off my Great Qin's battle robe and don't insult my Great Qin's glory. Are you afraid?"
“Don’t be afraid!”
"The only dead ear!"
"I would rather die than be a slave to the Tartars!"
"Kill one and you'll break even. Kill two and you'll make a profit!"
A thousand Qin soldiers, with an extremely tragic and heroic mood, roared at the thundering sound of the Tartars' iron hooves.
**********************
ps: There are still five hours left and April is about to end. Brothers, have you voted for your monthly tickets
The third update, I continue to beg for monthly tickets!
.(To be continued..)
...