Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Return
The day when the army returned to Shenyang was February 9th——the army withdrew from Juehua Island on January 27th and returned to the east. The progress of this journey was much slower than when it came.
Maybe it's because there is no need for "super speed", maybe it's the projection of a heavy heart—maybe, the power of life is gradually weakening, and the steps become slow unconsciously.
It was February, and the spring air was getting stronger, and the accumulated ice and snow began to melt. Along the way, there were occasional hints of greenness passing by his eyes, which was the new buds of the trees. However, he couldn't feel it at all in his heart.
The mood is always sullen, the brows are always unfurled, the sleep situation at night is poor, and the energy during the day is also weak...
The battle on Juehua Island did restore the morale of the Mongolian soldiers, but it could not improve his mood; along the way, he was silent, sitting in the car all day long, not only rarely moved his body, but even held the most frequent watch in his hand. The map no longer appeals to him.
And none of his nephews, courtiers, and followers dared to muster up the courage to speak to him, which made the journey all the more silent.
When they arrived in Shenyang, the concubine Abahai led all the concubines out to welcome them. After the salute was over, Abahai was shocked when he raised his head, and thought to himself: "It takes less than a month to go back and forth. The profuse sweating seemed to be a different person—you lost so much weight and were so emaciated; what’s going on?"
My heart was throbbing as I thought about it: while trying my best to endure it, I maintained a nonchalant look on the surface, greeted and accompanied me respectfully; at night when no one was around, I took her own son Azig and Dorgon called for questioning.
Both brothers had joined the army this time—she thought she could tell.
"Has your father Khan ever fallen ill?"
This is the focus of her concern.
However, Azig and Dorgon gave her only an answer: "No—Father Khan just failed to attack Ningyuan, and he is depressed. Eat less food occasionally!"
But Abahai was not satisfied with this answer, she shook her head again and again, and said with absolute certainty: "Impossible! Before departure, he was as strong as a tiger. If he had never been sick, how could he have become so haggard in just over twenty days?" ?”
As she spoke, she continued to add: "It's been twenty-five years since I came to him—how many storms and waves has he experienced in the past twenty-five years? Battles, big and small, life and death, have you ever seen him frown? This time, even if it was the first defeat in his life, it was nothing. Even if it was a wall of iron and steel, it was just a city. Rest for two days, and then fight it down, wouldn’t it be enough? He wouldn’t Take this matter as a big deal! It must be because of other things, tossing—”
And these words, neither Azig nor Dorgon could answer, they could only bow their heads silently.
However, Abahai didn't dare to relax, and said in a deep voice, "Your father Khan is getting old, and he can't suffer from any minor illnesses, you know?"
She seemed to mean something else, but perseveringly, the two brothers didn't care about it, they just accepted her lesson silently.
However, some words are inconvenient to say clearly, so she can only instruct her sons: "From now on, you must pay more attention to everything about your father Khan; whenever you have free time, come and spend more time with him, let him see you more, Tell you a few more words!"
After all, Dorgon is a smart person by nature. After thinking for a while, he said to Abahai: "Father Khan is worried because our army failed to attack the city because of the powerful cannons on Ningyuan City; If the method of using cannons on Ningyuan City comes, and the soldiers are brought to defeat Ningyuan, Father Khan will definitely be happy!"
When Abahai heard this, a smile rose from the bottom of his heart, and he praised him and said, "This is clear! Come up with a way to bring down Ning Yuan as soon as possible!"
As she spoke, she paused for a moment, then raised her eyes and stared straight ahead, and after a while she retracted her eyes, first let out a soft sigh, and then said: "You have to fight for your breath, and think of a way - you have to catch up with others. Go ahead and defeat Ning Yuan, and your father's legacy will be passed on to you!"
She finally confided her long-buried thoughts in front of Dorgon, and she seemed to be guiding her son, who was only fifteen years old and had high hopes, to fight for the right of inheritance as if planning for a rainy day.
She can see all the important points in front of her, but this is the only thing she can say to Dorgon; and once his brothers leave, she can tell herself the other important points: I beg God, it will take another ten years—fifteen years old, still half the age, it’s hard to compete with adults in their thirties—if it’s another ten years, it will be different—"
And how did she know that Huang Taiji was one step ahead of others in everything, how could she let Dorgon rush to take down Ningyuan?This time, he had already collected all the materials, and respectfully sent them to Nurhachi. There was a thick stack of documents, all of which were explanations about the cannons in Ningyuan City. "Hail sent Fan Wencheng to lead more than a dozen subordinates to investigate with all their strength, and finally got a comprehensive understanding!"
He first made a general and simple explanation: "The powerful artillery installed on Ningyuan City was not cast by the Ming Dynasty itself, but bought from foreigners; a total of 30 were bought at that time, and eleven are currently in Ningyuan. ;Because of its powerful power, Ming people regarded it as a divine weapon, and the cannons were covered with red cloth, so they were called 'red cannons'—"
And Nurhachi is most concerned about: "Is there any way to crack it?"
Huang Taiji answered him: "I have asked many times, and Fan Wencheng and others have thought hard for many days, and they believe that the only way that the Han people said is to treat the person with the same way - Ning Yuan used the red cannon Defense, our country uses red cannons to attack, it will definitely work!"
He also explained in detail: "The red cannon has a long range and great power. It is more convenient and faster to attack and blow up the city wall than using the 'iron head', and it can be fired from a distance without being afraid of 'fire attack'—— "
He even made a comprehensive summary of the advantages of the red cannon, and emphasized: "Our country's Eight Banners cavalry are good at riding and shooting with bows and horses, and use less firearms, so they suffered quite a lot of casualties during the Battle of Qinghe, and they were defeated in Ningyuan; Therefore, I think that in the future, our country should add a firearms army, equipped with cannons, bird guns and other equipment, and cooperate with cavalry to fight, so that we can be invincible in the world and occupy the Central Plains!"
After hearing this, Nurhachi was silent for a long time before asking him again: "Since there are only thirty 'red cannons' in total, and eleven are in Ningyuan—how can our country get them?"
Huang Taiji replied: "The Ming Dynasty was purchased from foreign barbarians, why should our country spend a lot of money to buy them from foreign barbarians! What's more, since foreign barbarians can make artillery, why can't our people? I plan to spend a lot of money to buy artillery for one, and buy artillery for the other." Pay a lot of money to hire cannon-casting masters to come to our country to cast cannons in our country and teach Chinese people how to make cannons. The third is to select soldiers who are smart and smart to learn casting and casting skills; Let's get off!"
Nurhachi nodded slowly when he heard it, and at the same time fell into a groan, but at the end he let out a sigh first, and then said: "The Firearms Army can be completed - at least it will take five or ten years! "
He counted with his fingers and said: "The barbarians are far out of reach. Even if people are sent to search for it immediately, it will take one or two years. It is difficult to find it; Cast the spell, go out and kill the enemy—”
He counted and sighed: "Five years, ten years, it's still too little!"
Unexpectedly, Huang Taiji's reaction was quite different from his: "What's the matter in five years or ten years? I will build a country after Jin Jin, and it will be a great cause for thousands of years!"
Nurhachi was taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously looked at him.
Thirty-five-year-old Huang Taiji has ruddy cheeks, glowing eyes, and his whole body is filled with unstoppable heroic spirit, high spirits and full of confidence.
He seemed to see himself in the past...
With mixed feelings in his heart, his eyes stopped unconsciously, so he didn't make a sound for a long time, and even his face was expressionless.
However, Huang Taiji couldn't understand his mood. Seeing that he was looking at him fixedly without speaking, he guessed that he was thinking about the red-clothed cannon, so he asked respectfully: "Father Khan, please give me instructions-what should I do with my son?" Do?"
Nurhachi let out a long breath, then swallowed again, and then calmly said to him: "Just do as you say!"
Then he said to him earnestly: "Five or ten years later, you have to rely on yourself!"
At the same time, there was a gentle light of kindness in his eyes, which made his words more like expectations, and the blood in Huang Taiji's heart surged up, warming his whole body.
However, after Huang Taiji left, his will and spirit that supported his whole body suddenly loosened, and his emotions plummeted like a kite with a broken thread.
His mood was terrible, and what was even worse was that he experienced the sadness of aging and old age—of course, the thirty-five-year-old Huang Taiji could set the founding of the country to be completed in five or ten years, while the sixty-eight-year-old himself Woolen cloth?How can we wait five or ten years before fulfilling our wish?
The original plan was to capture Shanhaiguan in one fell swoop and approach Beijing—the ambition to conquer the Central Plains in one's lifetime has been shattered by the defeat in the battle of Ningyuan.
Huang Taiji's words were not wrong at all, but what he heard touched the extremely bad feeling in his heart, which made his mood sink a level, and the setback and shock of defeat were even more difficult to dissipate from his heart.
Spring is here, and the color of the entire Liaodong land has changed from silvery white to bright green, showing vigorous vitality again, but he just sighed, as if his eyes were completely covered by the smoke and dust from the red cannons in Ningyuan City. He couldn't see the vigorous atmosphere that originally belonged to him.
As a result, less diet, poor sleep, and faster aging.
On this day, the weather was so good that it made people feel happy, the sky was clear and cloudless, and the golden lines of the sun shone brightly all over the place. Ma Benz came to pay his respects to him a week later, and reported to him: "My boy, Fan Wencheng has sent a large number of people to look for barbarian merchants. At the same time, he is also looking for some people who know how to make firearms in Liaodong. I believe it will not take long. There will be eyebrows!"
While quietly paying attention to his expression, he felt that he was depressed, listless, with a very bad complexion and a little trance in his eyes, so he couldn't help feeling a little worried, so he suggested: "Father, the weather is very good today, my son will go out with you for a walk." Horse!"
Nurhachi had no choice but to agree, so the father and son went out of the city together to relax; all the way to the outskirts of the city, Huang Taiji's heart was filled with special feelings, and suddenly thought of a part of his childhood past.
That year, when I was only six years old, my father carried him on a tall horse, galloped forward in the roaring wind and snow, and leaped heartily between the magnificent world; his back was pressed against his father's strong chest , the whole person sat under the protection of his father and moved forward. He felt warm, safe, excited and excited to break through the wind and snow with his father; then, his father told him the story of Haidongqing and Wanyan Aguda...
Memories surged, and his mood became more and more peculiar, and he couldn't help but feel as if he had returned to that time. He called out to Nurhachi by his previous title: "Ama——"
The voice even trembled a little because of being moved, and revealed the admiration he buried in his heart.
How could I know that Nurhachi didn't realize it...
The man rode out of the city gate on horseback, but his heart could not get out of the shadow of defeat; he was still depressed and in a trance; he didn't hear Huang Taiji's call from the bottom of his heart, he was only half confused. Looking up to the sky, he said to himself: "I think and reflect again and again--is it because I am physically and mentally tired, lazy and not fully devoted to governing the country? The country's safety, the people's joys and sorrows, don't I reflect on it? Great merit Have I not valued the upright people in the country? Are there any of my ministers who are not diligent and prudent in political affairs? Are there any generals who are disloyal and brave? Are there any sons and nephews who do not imitate me and serve the country wholeheartedly? None— —No one—then, what is the reason, God doesn’t allow me to lead the people straight into the Central Plains? Is there any place in my whole country that can’t stand up to the emperor and the empress? None of them—”
And these words, even though he didn't say them to Huang Taiji, Huang Taiji could still hear them clearly; but he didn't dare to respond, and he couldn't think of any way to comfort and distract him, so that even Huang Taiji's mood turned bad. Now, he thought silently: "Father Khan is sad after all - unless he immediately captures Ningyuan, otherwise, there is no way to improve; but, how can the problem of the red cannon be solved overnight?"
The more he thought about it, the lower his head drooped, and he didn't dare to lift it up for a long time.
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