Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 451 Shanhaiguan

Shanhaiguan is not just an ordinary fortress, but a huge defense system. As the starting point of the northeastern defense line of the Ming Dynasty, Shanhaiguan is one of the most critical passes in the entire defense system.

Shanhaiguan's defense system is very complete. The main city is in a quadrilateral shape, with a city wall that is five meters high and more than three meters thick. There is a gate on each of the four sides, and a huge plaque with the words "The No. 1 Pass in the World" hangs on the east gate.

In addition, Shanhaiguan's defense system also covers multiple citadels, enemy towers and passes. The entire defense line connects Jiaoshan in the north to Bohai Sea in the south, with a total length of about fifty miles.

At this time, Ajige in Guancheng was drinking and admiring the beauty. Ajige sat in the hall with a flushed face. He put down the wine glass in his hand heavily, making a crisp sound.

There was a gleam of desire in Ajige's eyes. All around him was melodious music, and dancers were dancing with their red sleeves fluttering. However, his attention was no longer on the beauty of the music. Instead, he was staring at a dancer. Her graceful figure was like a willow swaying in the wind, yet with a hint of barely perceptible nervousness.

Suddenly, Ajige stood up abruptly, strode towards the dancer, and pulled her to his side. The surrounding noise froze instantly, and everyone held their breath. Ajige's face muscles twitched and a ferocious smile appeared. Then Ajige looked around and said fiercely: "Did I ask you to stop?"

The music all around immediately sounded again, and the melodious music covered up this brutal scene.

"Beauty, how about having a drink with me!" Ajige's voice was a little hoarse, his fingers tightly clasped the dancer's wrist. The dancer forced a smile but could not hide the fear in her eyes.

Ajige forced her to drink a mouthful of wine, then rudely pulled the dancer over and yelled, "Get out of here!"

At this moment, the others did not dare to say anything more and immediately left the hall, leaving only screams of surprise.

Ajige's character is much worse than Dorgon's. Ajige has a rough personality, and in terms of political wisdom, he is completely different from Dorgon.

For example, during the funeral of Concubine Hai Lanzhu, he sang, danced, drank and had fun, which offended Huang Taiji. After the Battle of Songjin, when rewards were given according to merit, Ajige felt that he did not receive the rewards he deserved, so he was very dissatisfied.

At the celebration banquet hosted by Huang Taiji, he left in anger before any reward was given. The kings and ministers questioned his behavior, accusing him of not caring about state affairs and of rebelling against his superiors. They demanded that his title be stripped, his property be confiscated, and he be detained. However, Huang Taiji only fined him 10,000 taels of silver.

Especially when Huang Taiji died and the kings were fighting for the throne, the result of the compromise was to make the six-year-old Fulin the emperor. Although Ajige did not participate in the fight for the throne like his brother Dorgon, he was very dissatisfied with the enthronement of a young emperor. He used the excuse of being seriously ill to not attend Huang Taiji's funeral.

After venting his anger, Ajige summoned his trusted subordinate Haninga and called Baiyi.

Ajige sat down on the chair and panted, "Dorgon is dead. He was the regent and I was his brother. Why can't I be the regent? He won't even give me an uncle. Haha, he deserves to die!"

Baiyi looked back nervously and whispered, "Your Majesty, be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall."

Ajige glared at Bai Yi and cursed: "Look at how cowardly you are. Dorgon is dead, what are you afraid of?"

Seeing Bai Yi muttering nothing, Ajige continued to complain: "I accept that Prince Zheng is the regent, but why can that kid Bolo be the regent? I am the elder, and Fulin and that old woman are doing this, which clearly shows that they don't take me seriously!"

Just as Baiyi was about to persuade him, he heard Haningga next to him agreeing, "Yes, Your Highness is right. Why? In terms of military exploits, Your Highness has entered the pass several times and has made great achievements. What did Bolo do? He lost the battle in Jiangnan, and Meng Jun took advantage of him. If Your Highness had gone to Jiangnan, there would be no Meng Jun now. The world would have been peaceful long ago. What kind of regent prince is that? With Your Highness's merits, you are more than qualified to be the regent!"

These words made Ajige very happy. At this time, Baiyi gritted his teeth and advised: "Your Highness, the Qing Dynasty has just withdrawn from the Shanhai Pass, and you occupy Shanhai Pass. The Meng thieves will definitely send troops to attack. There are only 4,000 bannermen and more than 10,000 Han soldiers in the Shanhai Pass. Should you ask Shengjing for help?"

These irrelevant words made Ajige's attention turn back to his own situation. Although Ajige was irritable, he was not a fool. At this time, putting himself in Shanhaiguan and facing the front line of the Meng bandits was too obvious.

Ajige's joyous mood turned irritable again, and he cursed: "Buerbutai, this bitch, it must be this fickle woman who came up with the idea to hold me in Shanhaiguan to eliminate my hope of becoming regent!"

Ajige's eyes were wide open, his indignation was evident in his words, he paced back and forth while cursing, which showed his inner anxiety and dissatisfaction.

If you dig out Haninga's brain and weigh it, it's not even as heavy as a pig's. He is also a muscular man. After hearing what Ajige said, he said indignantly: "Your Highness, if you ask me, we should go back to Shengjing directly. Whoever wants to guard Shanhaiguan can do so. Why should we stay here? Why do Bolo and his men drink fine wine and sleep with beautiful women in Shengjing?"

When Bai Yi heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched. He knew his own prince's temper very well. As expected, Bai Yi saw Ajige nodding repeatedly, indicating that what Haninga said was very reasonable.

Bai Yi could only advise, "Your Highness, Shanhaiguan is the main route for the Qing Dynasty to enter the country. Other routes such as Qingshankou and Xifengkou are not as convenient as Shanhaiguan. If we leave like this, and Meng thieves occupy Shanhaiguan, won't we have to force our way through this strong city?"

After hearing this, Ajige felt that what Bai said made sense, and then he said, "Go on, come up with a good idea. Anyway, I want to be the regent, or at least the assistant prince!"

This was completely embarrassing for Bai Yi, but Bai Yi's mind turned and his eyes lit up as he said, "Your Majesty, the Meng thief will definitely come to attack Shanhaiguan. As long as Your Majesty defeats the Meng thief, then Your Majesty will have great achievements and will have no worries about the position of regent!"

"Hmm?" Ajige was stunned for a while before hesitantly asking, "With this amount of troops now, if the Meng bandits come in large numbers to attack, it will be difficult to defend the city, let alone defeat them."

Bai Yi said quickly: "Yes, so we must request reinforcements from Shengjing as soon as possible."

Ajige nodded, and then he ordered: "Immediately send fast cavalry to Shengjing to get troops." After delivering the order, Ajige cursed again: "Damn Dorgon!"

While Ajige continued to curse, Zhou army general Zhao Yongping had already assembled his troops in Zunhua and was preparing to attack Shanhaiguan from inside the pass.

Meng Jun promoted Zhao Yongping to commander-in-chief of the Hebei camp, and put him in charge of Bai Yongfu, Hao Yongzhong, and four newly formed towns, as well as Gulbuha's 5,000 Mongolian cavalry, totaling more than 70,000 people. At the same time, Meng Jun also ordered Jiang Xiang to lead his 50,000 troops to cooperate with Zhao Yongping in capturing Shanhaiguan.