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Chapter 203
The Messenger Chen who had gone to Guihua City returned not too late; with their small number and the use of fast horses throughout the journey, they actually caught up before the main force arrived in Nanjing.
Cao Xue had been sensible enough not to ask for the results, but that Messenger Chen was quite clever; he took the initiative to find Cao Xue and said, "The Tumet are indeed being heavily bullied by the Khorchin, now they can only cling to life by huddling together with some surrounding small tribes. They are extremely interested in firearms trade and are willing to pay a higher price, but unfortunately, they are unwilling to submit to Great Ming."
The Messenger Chen basically went through the entire situation. Since he had no right to meet the Emperor, he certainly had to explain everything clearly to his superior; there was no use in hiding anything. He would likely continue working in the Ministry of Rites in the future, so he could not afford to offend the Vice Minister.
He was not worried that Cao Xue would take credit for his work; he indeed lacked the status to meet the Emperor, but he did have the status to meet the Grand Secretary.
Cao Xue said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Messenger Chen. I will certainly report this matter to His Majesty."
Zhu Ci also did not expect the mission to be so capable; not only had they reached an agreement with the Ordos, but they had also gone to Guihua City to reach verbal agreements with tribes like the Tumet.
Of course, it was only a verbal agreement, but Messenger Chen did not make a definitive commitment; he only expressed a willingness to return and plead the case. Indeed, he even brought back a cartload of goods, containing many high-quality wolf and fox pelts.
Zhu Ci glanced at the map and said, "It's not that we can't sell them."
Initially, the firearms they sold to the Ordos were not many, which was also to prevent the Ordos from using excuses to delay once they had received everything.
When the time comes, they'll just say they're preparing for a campaign, if they take three to five years to prepare, what can you do?
Supporting the Tumet and other tribes would be a good choice; on one hand, it would create a sense of competition for the Ordos, on the other, it would cause some trouble for the Khorchin first.
The Tumet and other tribes might not be able to do much to the Khorchin, but they could certainly manage to harass them.
As for weapons, it doesn't matter who we sell them to.
Anyway, there were still plenty left in the Great Ming's warehouses. Most of them had been stockpiled by Fu previously, another portion had been captured after defeating the Qing Army, though theoretically, a significant amount of the captured portion should also have been manufactured by the Great Ming.
The Tumet Mongols were men of their word; after the first batch of weapons was delivered, they immediately opened fire on the Qing Army's Blue Banner Chahar.
Zhu Ci was completely shocked when he received the news: "Are the Tumet Mongols really this stubborn?"
The area around Guihua City, where the Tumet Mongols are currently located, is also quite far from the Khorchin Mongols, separated by the Chahar Mongols, the Balin Mongols, the Ujumchin Mongols; therefore, Zhu Ci did not place his hopes in them at first.
After all, the Tumet Mongols were too weak to be a match for these tribes, but although the Ordos Mongols were far away, they could definitely defeat them.
As it turned out, the Tumet Mongols really did act on their word.
According to intelligence sent by Li Chuangwang, because the Chahar Mongols did not expect the sudden attack by the Tumet Mongols, combined with the fact that they did not have many firearms, they suffered heavy losses and could only head toward the Balin Mongols to seek reinforcements.
However, the Torghut Mongols did not simply charge in as a single tribe; instead, they allied with other small tribes in the surrounding area.
These small tribes, when all counted together, actually amounted to dozens, even if their numbers weren't large, they still totaled about two or three thousand people.
Zhu Ci smacked his lips and suddenly said, "A single spark can start a prairie fire."
Fu also hadn't expected this result. After offering his congratulations with a smile, he said, "I suppose you could call this a case of planting willow seeds and seeing them grow into a grove.
The Khorchin Mongols will definitely not sit idly by; I wonder how things are going now," Zhu Ci thought for a moment and said, "Have the Secretariat Drafter draft an imperial decree for Li Hongji. If tribes like the Tumet Mongols request aid, help them if we can.
After Li Zicheng received the imperial decree, he clicked his tongue and turned to Li Guo beside him, saying, "I would love to help, but they can't be found anywhere."
It was true that although the Tumet Mongols had launched a surprise attack on the Chahar, they had no intention of fighting to the death. After the Chahar Mongols went to the Balin Mongols to seek reinforcements, the Tumet and other allied tribes simply retreated.
These are all small tribes; when they gather, there are many people, but once they disperse.. if you just pick a random direction and run across the great grasslands, where would you ever find anyone?
At the end of the day, they only lived near Guihua City, not actually within Guihua City itself.
After receiving a plea for help from the Chahar Mongols, the Balin Mongols sent people, but the Tumet Mongols, who had been enjoying their recent victory and had used many single-shot rocket launchers, immediately withdrew their forces upon seeing the newcomers.
Li Zicheng had originally intended to help in secret, but the men he sent out failed to find a single trace of them.
The grasslands were too vast, his men had not searched deep within.
Li Guo said, "This is for the best; their small number of men wouldn't be enough to fight anyway."
Li Zicheng was about to say something when a messenger shouted from outside, "Report! Reporting to the Prince, the Mongols have launched a sudden raid on Baodong Prefecture!"
Hmm?
Li Zicheng was taken aback, only after asking in detail did he learn that the allied forces of the Chahar and Balin tribes had launched a surprise attack on Baodong Prefecture.
He was so angry he laughed: "So they couldn't find the Tumet, so they decided to come and pick a fight with me instead? Do they think I'm easy to bully? Let's beat the hell out of them!"
Because of the Mongol reinforcements, Li Chuangwang had to station himself in Taiyuan. Baodong Prefecture was a place they had only recently captured; according to the original plan, the next step was Daizhou, then splitting the forces from Daizhou—one group to Xuanhua and Changping, another to Baoding to put pressure on Tianjin.
In this way, they had almost semi-encircled Beijing, so it was inevitable that the Tartars would panic.
It was just that they were currently being blocked by the Mongols at Baodong Prefecture, which was already making Li Zicheng somewhat irritable, now they were even launching a surprise attack.
Li Zicheng immediately ordered Li Guo to lead his troops to Baodong Prefecture, while he simply split his forces, sending one detachment to Daizhou and another to strike directly at Baoding via Zhengding Prefecture.
His move could only be described as bold; the pressure from the various Mongol tribes had not been small before this, otherwise he wouldn't have halted at Taiyuan Prefecture.
The opposing forces were already quite numerous, by splitting his troops, he risked being defeated one by one.
Sometimes, warfare requires the element of surprise; while the Chahar and Balin troops were entangled with Li Guo, they were also occasionally harassed by the Tumet Mongols.
Over there, Li Zicheng was launching a fierce offensive with the determination to burn his boats and fight to the end.
Seeing that Baoding was under pressure, Dorgon, who had originally intended to capture Nanjing before returning to reinforce, had no choice but to lead his troops back to reinforce.
Liu Zhaoji and Shi Kefa were even more resilient than he had imagined; they actually managed to hold onto Xiaoxian and Pizhou.
But even if he captures Xiaoxian and Pizhou, he would still need to occupy Fengyang and Huaian to pose a threat to Nanjing.
And now Li Zicheng has already nearly reached Baoding Prefecture; as long as the opponent takes Baoding Prefecture, the threat to Beijing will be too great.
Dorgon returned to reinforce, but Jirgalang and Dodo remained here.
Liu Zhaoji and Shi Kefa truly breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the news; if Dorgon had not left, they truly would not have been able to withstand the pressure.
One could only say that there was a reason the opponent could become the Regent; even though their firearms were superior, they were still being suppressed in battle.
Right now, these two brothers only hope that either Li Zicheng can tie down Dorgon for a longer period of time, or simply destroy him, giving them a chance to catch their breath. As for Dodo and Jirgalang.. there is nothing to worry about with those two.
The northern front was unpredictable, things were not much better over in Taiwan.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: I'm tired. How about a rock falls and smashes Dorgon to death? A little kitty趴 on the ground praying and gradually falling asleep. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 204
After the Dutch Navy was defeated on both fronts by Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Huangyan, the Dutch Governor Kui Yi directly led his men to retreat and defend Zeeland City.
The walls of Zeeland City were sturdy, with the addition of cannons, Zheng Chenggong had even attempted a forceful assault in the early stages, only to be met with fierce artillery fire from the Dutch military, resulting in heavy casualties.
He had originally been worried that Zhang Huangyan would hold him accountable for this.
As it turned out, Zhang Huangyan said nonchalantly after learning the news, "The Dutch are holding Zeeland City firmly, it is indeed not easy to break through. In your opinion, what should be done now?"
Zheng Chenggong hesitated for a moment before saying, "In my humble opinion, it is not advisable to continue with a strategy of direct assault. Instead, we should employ a strategy of besieging a point to strike the reinforcements. By maintaining a long-term siege, since Zeeland City is nothing more than an isolated island, they will inevitably surrender if they are besieged for long enough."
Zhang Huangyan nodded. "Very well, let us do as you say."
Zheng Chenggong said hesitantly, "It's just that the Imperial Court.."
Zhang Huangyan guessed his thoughts and asked, "Are you worried that His Majesty will not agree? Rest assured, His Majesty is most merciful and cannot bear to see our army suffer heavy casualties; he will surely agree."
Zheng Chenggong paused and said, "It is just that this method might take some time. I wonder if the officials in the court will.."
Zhang Huangyan waved his hand: "Rest assured, His Majesty will help us resolve this."
Zheng Chenggong??
Don't you think there's something wrong with what you just said?
As subjects, they ought to be easing His Majesty's worries; how could they possibly let His Majesty help them solve their problems?
In fact, Zhang Huangyan saw the situation very clearly. The current state of the imperial court was not actually that complex; although it was said to be a three-way standoff with the Grand Secretariat and the Censorate both holding power, there was always a distinction between the strong and the weak, regardless of the time.
Nowadays, the Emperor is powerful, the Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat stands on the Emperor's side. Therefore, even if the Censorate has objections, as long as the Emperor deems them acceptable, he will help suppress them.
Zhang Huangyan looked at Zheng Chenggong and said meaningfully, "His Majesty has always believed that if you use a person, do not doubt them, if you doubt them, do not use them. Do you still not understand His Majesty?"
Zheng Chenggong was somewhat speechless after hearing this: You only surrendered a few months earlier than I did.
Although Zhang Huangyan did not surrender much earlier, he could also see that in Great Ming, His Majesty placed extreme importance on military officers, or rather, that His Majesty was not biased.
Military officers on campaign only need to focus on fighting; the Emperor can handle everything else for them.
Seeing that Zhang Huangyan had no psychological burden, Zheng Chenggong also relaxed and said, "We must still be on guard against Dutch reinforcements."
Zhang Huangyan nodded. "Fleets have already begun patrolling."
Zheng Chenggong looked toward the distant Zeeland City; at times he did not want the Dutch reinforcements to arrive, yet at other times he hoped they would arrive quickly.
If reinforcements do not arrive, Kui Yi might hold his breath in anticipation; if they do arrive and he can be defeated, then his surrender is only a matter of time.
The only thing that was uncertain was whether they could win.
They did not have many ships, their military strength was average; it all depended on what choice the Dutch made.
The Dutch reinforcements arrived quickly. Zheng Chenggong landed at Heliao Port in June, by July, the Dutch reinforcements sent a fleet from Batavia, Indonesia.
Zheng Chenggong, who had originally been besieging a point to strike the reinforcements while occupying all the surrounding cities and laying siege to Zeeland City, turned around and led his troops out to sea to fight the Dutch reinforcements.
In just half a month, Zheng Chenggong annihilated the Dutch reinforcements, killing over a hundred enemies and capturing several Dutch ships.
Zhu Ci happened to be in a grand court session when he received the news of the victory. He glanced at those who had previously expressed criticisms regarding Zheng Chenggong's actions but said nothing.
Several people had been trembling in anticipation of the Emperor entering a mocking mode, but to their surprise, the Emperor did not scold them today.
Everyone looked at each other, all feeling that something was quite strange.
Zhu Ci sat at the very top, seeing all their small movements, could not be bothered to contend with them.
After the court session ended, Fu said, "His Majesty said nothing, yet some people are actually the ones who should be worried."
“Worry about what? Such a trivial matter is not worth my resentment.” While standing on the lakeshore feeding the fish, Zhu Ci glanced around to confirm that the eunuchs and female officials were not very close to them before saying, “It is essentially as if I received the answer ahead of time. Winning this way lacks honor, so there is no need to hold a grudge against them.”
If it were Zhu Ci himself, he would have hesitated if he hadn't known that Zheng Chenggong had the ability to defeat the Dutch.
Great Ming is currently fighting on multiple fronts, it has indeed become difficult to sustain the national treasury. For this reason, Zhu Ci has already reduced the scale of sacrificial rites, which has caused many people to voice their complaints.