Ashes

This is a small house, compared to the identity of the owner, this house looks a little crude.

Dorgon walked into the hall, several heavily armed Qing soldiers stood on both sides, and an old man sat on the main seat in the center.He is very old, his face is full of grooves, the skin on his hands is dry and wrinkled, his clothes have been stained with dust and mud, but it can be seen that he has wiped every dust and tidied up the floor. Not at all messy, although he is old, but he is hale and hearty, and he does not have the dull feeling of ordinary old people. He is sitting upright, with his eyes closed, with a graceful demeanor, without the slightest fear, as if he is just resting.

He sat there as if he was not only the owner of the house, but also the city, the land, and Dorgon was the intruder.

Dorgon smiled faintly: "Old Sun Ge."

He is Sun Chengzong, the teacher of Emperor Tianqi, the second place in the 32nd year of Wanli.In short, his merits and fame are brought out, which makes people feel strenuous.

Sun Chengzong calmly opened his eyes and looked at Dorgon: "You are Dorgon?"

Call him by his first name, these years few people can call him by his first name directly, at least they have to respect him: Prince Rui.

Several Qing soldiers guarding him looked angry, but they had nothing to do with him.Because he sat there, he naturally had an aura, an inviolable aura.If Dorgon hadn't come, maybe they didn't know what to do.

But Dorgon knew that Sun Chengzong didn't scold his slave face to face, but called him by name, which was already giving him face.

"Yes, I am Dorgon." Dorgon didn't care.

Sun Chengzong stared at him carefully for a while, closed his eyes again, and ignored him.

Of course, Dorgon didn't expect him to ask him to sit, so he found a seat at random and sat down.

He said casually: "I thought it would be easy to take this place, but I didn't expect it took a lot of time. I heard from my subordinates that you are leading the people in the city to defend the city, right?"

Sun Chengzong listened but did not hear.

"Why bother, there is no Ming army stationed here, and your emperor doesn't want you anymore."

Sun Chengzong opened his eyes: "This is our home."

"In the future, you can also live here with peace of mind, especially you, Mr. Sun Ge. Our emperor has always admired you and praised you as a man of great wisdom. As long as you can serve us, prosperity and wealth will naturally be indispensable." Dorgon He was lazy when he said these words, because he knew it was useless to say them.

Sun Chengzong sat as firmly as Mount Tai, still indifferent.

"I also heard that more than 40 members of your family, including six sons, twelve grandsons, and some nephews, all went to the tower." Dorgon paused, and said word by word, "It can indeed be called a full family. Loyalty."

When mentioning his family, Sun Chengzong's old cheek showed a trace of pain. He sighed on his back, opened and closed his mouth, and finally said nothing.

At this time, silence is better than sound. For this 76-year-old old man, he has given everything for this dynasty, and he has no regrets in his heart.

Dorgon got up and left, he had nothing more to say, there were still many things waiting for him to do.

In November of the 11th year of Chongzhen, Qing soldiers captured Gaoyang. Sun Chengzong resisted the enemy and was captured. He hanged himself in the city.

In the first month of the following year, the armies on the left and right wings completed their expedition and were about to return to Liaodong to fight and retreat with the Ming army. On the way home, Dorgon received the news he had been waiting for for a long time——Yue Tuo was seriously ill.

"Prince Su, continue to take the army back, I'll go and see Yuetuo." Dorgon ordered Hauge.

"I want to go to him too!" After all, Hauge knew Yue Tuo very well, and when he heard that Yue Tuo was seriously ill, he became very anxious.

"They're all gone, who will lead the troops? The emperor will blame him if he finds out, and Yue Tuo's illness is not suitable for too many people to see."

Hauge wondered, "What kind of disease does he have? Is it really that serious?"

"Pox."

Smallpox, a frightening infectious disease, regardless of high or low, age, gender, or race, as long as it is infected, there will be a very high mortality rate.

After hearing this, Haoge was even more worried: "Then I have to see him even more, in case..." What if it is the last time?Hauge didn't say this.

Dorgon comforted him and said, "Don't go, lead the troops well, and do what you should do."

As soon as they arrived at the right-wing army led by Yue Tuo, they felt the dignified atmosphere here, and there was no joy of returning from victory.

Dorgon came in a hurry, and the generals here were somewhat relieved, and finally someone with weight came to call the shots.

He first ordered everyone to still lead his own soldiers. Except for the guards, Du Du temporarily took over Yue Tuo's people, but when he proposed to visit Yue Tuo, everyone was shocked again.

Du Du said: "Prince Rui, Baylor's illness is fierce and dangerous, you'd better not go to see it, or just take a look outside the tent. If you are also infected, it will be troublesome."

"How is he doing now?"

Du Du shook his head again and again: "The high fever doesn't go away, and it's rare to be awake, so you can't talk to him when you go, it's better to be safe."

Dorgon pondered for a moment but insisted: "I'd better go and see him, go back to the emperor and ask, so I can have an explanation."

He insisted on going, but Du Du couldn't stop him, so he accompanied him to the tent where Yue Tuo was recuperating, and stopped outside.

Dorgon opened the curtain, and a strong smell of medicine wafted into his nostrils. Several people covered their mouths and noses waited on him, while Yue Tuo lay on the bed, his face was flushed with high fever, and he groaned in pain from time to time.

"You all go out." Dorgon said to those people.

After they all retreated, Dorgon found a chair and sat not far away.He didn't dare to get too close, for fear of contracting this terrible virus, and this position happened to be able to see Yuetuo clearly.

Dorgon stared at him for a long time, then said softly: "Your time is running out, it's time to rest."

Whether Yue Tuo could hear these words or not, Dorgon didn't care, and continued: "Everyone will remember the feats you have made for the Qing Dynasty, and the emperor will also remember. Although he is always suppressing you now, he knows Don’t you have the ability? This expedition will still let you be the commander.” Dorgon seemed to feel a little bored when talking to a half-dead man, so he changed his posture and said, “Okay, I won’t say these empty words Yes. Give me your power, I don’t want your soldiers, I’m afraid I won’t either, but... your military department is mine.”

I don't know how long it took before Dorgon came out of the tent, and once again asked Du Du to lead the right-wing army and bring them back to Shengjing.

Huang Taiji, Jierhalangduoduo and others returned to Shengjing first to welcome the triumphant division.

And Dorgon is most concerned about Duoduo. If he does not perform well and makes Huang Taiji annoyed, it will screw up his entire plan.

"I worked hard. When we retreated, Zu Dashou's soldiers chased after me, and I beat them away!" Duoduo yelled, "You always blame me, do I not let you feel at ease? "

"I just want to be cautious."

"You don't let me listen to the song, and those people were all driven away by me. What else are you dissatisfied with?"

Dorgon also felt that he was being too harsh on Duo Duo: "I know you've worked hard, I just want you... You will have more important things to do next, you know?"

"What is your plan?"

Although he was at Duoduo's mansion, Dorgon still felt uneasy. He called Duoduo to come closer, and said in a low voice, "Yue Tuo is dead."

"I know, everyone knows about this, alas, I didn't expect him to die at such a young age, what a pity."

"I want to say something else."

Duoduo rolled his eyes a few times, and suddenly realized, his expression was serious: "Brother, do you want to seize the military department?"

"Zuo? What are you talking about? He is no longer here, and everyone is entitled to what he left behind."

"That's right...but you are already in charge of the Ministry of Officials." Duo Duo found that Dorgon was staring at him intently, and finally understood, "You want me to take care of it?"

"you are not willing?"

Duoduo slapped the table and said excitedly: "Of course! Who will take this seat if I don't? I am the owner of Zhengbai Banner! If he doesn't always look down on me, I should have a seat in these six films long ago!"

Dorgon smiled: "It's good that you have confidence."

"But... will he allow it?"

"This is not an easy task. Although the Six Ministries of the Qing Dynasty are only newly established and are not perfect in all aspects. The Eight Banners have their own masters, but the Ministry of War is still very important."

"I can do it well!"

Dorgon couldn't say that he had much confidence in Duo Duo. If he was still violent and aggressive, it would be impossible to manage the Ministry of War well, but he still said: "Well, I also believe that you can do well. As long as you listen to My, I will go and tell the emperor, find a way to let you lead the army."

Duduo was so happy that he seemed to have gained power: "Great, finally something decent can be done!"

"Now that you have understood my thoughts." Dorgon stood up, "Then I will tell the emperor now, I think many people are coveting this position."

After leaving Duduo's mansion, Dorgon immediately went to the palace.

Huang Taiji was obviously not surprised by Dorgon's arrival.

"You have worked hard on this expedition." Huang Taiji said.

Dorgon waved his hand: "Those who didn't come back want to hear this sentence even more."

"You can choose to accompany me to visit Prince Li later."

"how is he?"

"That's his most promising son."

"He still has Sakhalian."

"That's why I want to make Sakhalian Prince Ying, and you think it's okay to receive the red flag?"

As soon as he came, he mentioned the issue of job succession, so that Dorgon didn't dare to talk casually, and kept a smile on his face all the time.