scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 207 Fighting poison with poison

Thanks to the intelligence network that the old traitor Wu has painstakingly managed for so many years, Wu Jun is not completely ignorant of the actions of the Qing court. Kang Mazi approved the armistice treaty signed by Ye Bilong and Wu Jun, and sent Not long after the second wave of negotiating delegation headed by Wang Xu left Beijing, the news spread to Wuchang City.At the same time, there is also a piece of claws from Wang Xu and his party's mission this time - persuading Wu Jun to extend the deadline for payment of military pay, food and ransom promised by the Qing court, and to release the Qing Prince Baylor who was captured by Wu Jun as soon as possible Cum Banner Parasite!
By the way, it's not how powerful Wu Jun's intelligence network is, the key is that Kang Mazi openly discussed this matter in all the dynasties where officials above the fourth rank in Beijing participated, although this does not rule out that Kang Mazi deliberately created public opinion and The intention of psychological foreshadowing, but even if Wu Jun's intelligence network does not want to collect this information, it is really difficult.

After receiving these news, the traitor Wu, who has never had any opinions, had to call a few dog-headed military divisions to discuss and discuss countermeasures with everyone. Coincidentally, because he was coming back, the traitor Wu would find a way to find new raw materials for the new firearms battalion of the Wu army. The source, Fatty Lu happened to be in Wuchang City too, so Fatty Lu had the cheek to force himself into this meeting—this was also prompted by the bad luck of the Qing court.

"Accurate news, good news." As soon as the meeting started, the old traitor Wu, who had his wish fulfilled, announced the good news to several important lackeys with a smile on his face: "The Emperor Mangou and the Mangou court have recognized the old man Ye Bilong. The thief signed a truce with my Pingxi Palace."

"Okay!" Hu Guozhu, Wang Shirong, and Fatty Lu applauded and cheered together. They all smiled and said that life is easier now, whether it is rebuilding Wuchang, developing Hunan and Guangxi, paying for the fallen soldiers, developing new weapons, etc. Wait, you don't have to worry about money and food anymore, and the pressure on Wu Jun's rear in Yunnan and Guizhou can also be greatly reduced-with these two world-famous poor provinces as logistics bases, Wu Jun's life is indeed very difficult.

"Don't be too happy yet." Old man Wu said with a treacherous smile, "But there is also a piece of bad news. The emperor Mangoumazi couldn't afford so much money and food at once, so he sent Wang Xu, Xiong Cilu and Kong Sizhen As an imperial envoy, I came to Wuchang to start a second negotiation with the old man. I want the old man to give them some time, or reduce the amount of military pay, food, and prisoners of war. In addition, I want the old man to release their prisoners of war in advance. You say, old man How should I answer?"

As he said that, the old traitor Wu took out the intelligence collected by the Wu Jun intelligence network on the court proceedings of the Qing court, and handed it to Hu Guozhu, Fatty Lu and others for circulation.After carefully reading the information, Hu Guozhu was the first to say: "Father-in-law, my son-in-law thinks that it is still possible to consider appropriately extending the payment date of military salaries, food and grass, and prisoners of war ransom. There, even if we force Emperor Mazi to death, he will not be able to get it out. Moreover, if the pressure is too tight, Emperor Mazi may jump over the wall in a hurry, causing extra problems and adding twists and turns. It is better to make a little concession and take a step back. It will be great for us. There are benefits."

"Of course, we can make some concessions in terms of deadlines, but we absolutely must not compromise in terms of numbers. The military pay, food and grass, and prisoners of war ransom that Ye Bilong promised were paid for by our Pingxi Palace with blood and lives. Concessions in terms of numbers are not only disadvantageous, but also harmful to the soldiers. They can't explain it either."

"The students agree with General Jinwu's point of view." Wang Shirong echoed: "It is really impossible for the Mangou court to provide such a large sum of money and food in a short period of time. Instead of risking the Mangou court to tear up the peace treaty, forcefully , it is better to make a little concession and give the Mangou court a little more time, so that you can be more careful."

Speaking of this, Wang Shirong paused, and added: "However, the Mangou court's request for our army to release the prisoners of war in advance must not be granted! One of the most important reasons why Mangou is seeking perfection now is that we hold the prisoner in our hands. For these important prisoners of war, if we make concessions in this regard and release the Mangou prisoners of war in advance, the Mangou court will have no worries, and no one can say whether they will continue to pay the remaining military pay, food and prisoners of war ransom."

"That's right, Gu also thinks so." The old man Wu nodded his head, and said with a relaxed smile: "The annual income of the Mangou court is only more than 2000 million taels of silver. This year, to support the Southwest War, this annual income has long been spent. It’s clean, no matter how much you force Kangxi Xiaomazi, if he can’t get it out, he will give it for nothing, so in terms of the deadline, you can still make a little concession. But the early release of prisoners of war and reduction of military pay, food and ransom for prisoners of war are all things that the imperial court can’t think of. Don't think about it, the old man is not that stupid."

After finishing speaking, the old traitor Wu turned his gaze to Fatty Lu again, and asked with a smile, "Yifeng, what's the matter? Usually, you are the one who talks the most at times like this. Why didn't you say a word today?"

"Back to grandfather, grandson-in-law is thinking about one thing." Fatty Lu replied honestly.

"What are you thinking?" Old Traitor Wu asked.

"The son-in-law is thinking about the increase in taxes and taxes of the Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty." Fatty Lu replied: "The son-in-law is very strange. The emperor of Chongzhen knew that the northern land was thousands of miles away and the people had no income at that time. Why did he insist on raising taxes? , forcing people everywhere to rise up and rebel?"

"No wonder everyone says that your scholar was picked, and you don't even know about this?" Wang Shirong sneered: "At that time, there were thieves everywhere in the Northwest of the Ming Dynasty, attacking cities everywhere, killing people and setting fire to them, and the dogs were full of dogs watching the Northeast Tiger. Threatening the capital of the former Ming Dynasty, if Chongzhen did not raise taxes, how could he support the army to counter the rebellion and resist the Manchurian dogs? So even if he knew it was a glass of poisoned wine, the Chongzhen emperor whose throat was smoking with thirst would have to... "

"Huh?" At this point, the sneer on Wang Shirong's face suddenly disappeared without a trace, replaced by a nervous frown and deep thought.Hu Guozhu over there was not stupid, so he immediately came to his senses and asked tentatively, "Yifeng, do you want to object to your father-in-law making concessions to Mangou?"

"Back to Uncle, that's exactly the case." Fatty Lu nodded, and said seriously: "Grandfather, uncle, forgive my grandson-in-law for boldly reminding me that if our army makes time concessions to Mangou, our army will not be able to take advantage of it. On the contrary, it will suffer greatly! What Mangou owns is the prosperous Central Plains and the prosperous Jiangnan. What our army owns is only Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, which have been poor and remote since ancient times, and Wuchang, Sichuan, which was destroyed by the war. Bian Yuan, regardless of manpower and material resources, is far from being a full-fledged opponent, the longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it will be for our army!"

"Grandfather, uncle, Mr. Liangchen, please think about it, if our army promises Man Gou to pay the military salary, food and prisoners of war ransom in two years, then Man Gou will have two years to prepare for war. In the past two years, how many troops can the Mangou court recruit? How many troops can be trained and equipped? How many weapons and warships can be built? How many guns and cannons can be cast?"

"As for our army, if we abide by the promise of a two-year truce, then the comprehensive strength comparison between us and Mangou, which we have finally narrowed, will be reopened by the Mangou court, and we will fall back into the situation of using the weak to attack the strong and outnumbering the many. After two years of hard fighting, the military pay, rations, and prisoners of war ransom obtained two years later cannot be immediately converted into army supplies and used in the war. Does getting it mean not getting it? At that time, our army will suffer a loss if it does not tear up the armistice treaty. If you can't get the rest of the money and food, you will also lose your trust in the world, wouldn't you suffer even more?"

"But if the situation is reversed, grandfather, you old man resolutely refuses to give in, and forces the Mangou court to pay the military pay and food according to the previously agreed time limit, then what will be the consequences? First of all, in order to pay the military pay and food, the Mangou court has You have to learn from the former Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, who raised taxes and taxes on the gentry, which caused anger and resentment, and lost the hearts of the people. It will have infinite benefits for you, grandfather, to fight in the Quartet and Dingding Central Plains in the future. At the same time, the tax money and food full of dogs were dedicated to us. When the army is rebuilt, it will be stretched everywhere and cannot make ends meet. Isn’t this a better news for us?”

"Then, the situation will be even more favorable to us. If Mangou pays off the money and rations within one year, Mangou's army reconstruction plan will be greatly slowed down, and our army can calmly spend the money and rations." Military salaries were transformed into weapons and firearms, which further narrowed the comprehensive strength comparison with the Mangou court. At the same time, after completely eliminating worries about the future, whether my grandfather wanted to become emperor or captured the Jiangnan Central Plains, he didn’t have to worry about tearing his face with the Mangou court. This huge sum of money and food has been wasted, and what is lacking is a reasonable excuse for development.”

"Grandfather, uncle, Mr. Liangchen, do you think it's better for us to make concessions to Man Gou, or is it better not to make any concessions at all?"

Fatty Lu was habitually eloquent up to this point, and the old traitor Wu, Hu Guozhu, and Wang Shirong were already deep in thought. After a long time, the old traitor Wu hesitated and said: "Although the virtuous grandson-in-law is reasonable, but if you say a little If you don't give Emperor Mangou any face, will Emperor Mangou become angry, refuse to pay a penny and a dou of military pay, and fight this old man to the death?"

"Emperor Mangou doesn't have the guts, and he can't bear the consequences." Fatty Lu said firmly, "Grandfather, please pay attention to our information. Finally, when Emperor Mangou ended his dynasty, he ordered to cut down all unnecessary items. Expenditure, this is enough to prove that Emperor Mangou is also making two-handed preparations. One is to use the strategy of delaying the army to gain time and stabilize us for a longer period of time. Time to breathe."

The old traitor Wu's eyes rolled wildly, and he hurriedly asked Hu Guozhu for the information on the capital collected by Yang Qilong and others, and carefully looked at the last paragraph.After Hu Guozhu and Wang Shirong looked at each other, they nodded and said, "Grandfather, it's Yifeng's thoughtful consideration. We'd better not make any concessions. Anyway, the peace treaty has been signed, and we are justified in refusing to make concessions. Emperor Mangou's refusal is a breach of trust." The world will deal a great blow to his authority and reputation."

"Emperor Mangou probably didn't expect so much and so far, but he really can't afford so much money and food in a short period of time, so he came to beg us." Wang Shirong still looked like he didn't even bother to look at Fatty Lu, and said darkly: "But regardless of whether Emperor Mangou has considered so much and so far, as long as we have considered it, the students also agree to refuse to make concessions and let Emperor Mangou force the people to lose popular support."

"Emperor Mangou's face, I have to give some of it." The old man Wu groaned, and finally made up his mind: "I can only make one concession at most, that is, within three months, Emperor Mangou must pay the military salary, food and grass. Sixty-five percent of the ransom for the prisoners of war, and other concessions, the Emperor Mangou doesn't even think about it!"

"My lord is wise." Hu Guozhu, Wang Shirong, and Fatty Lu bowed and saluted together, flattering and fawning.At the end, Fatty Lu said again: "Grandfather, my son-in-law still has something to ask. This time, Emperor Mangou sent Wang Xu, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, as the imperial envoy. inconvenient……."

"Then you don't participate in the negotiation this time." Of course, the old traitor Wu knows the friendship between Fatty Lu and Wang Xu, and he doesn't want Fatty Lu to bear the reputation of being ungrateful, so he immediately nodded and said: "This time the negotiation, the country Zhu, you bring Fang Xueshi to carry it alone, anyway, Wang Xu is an old-fashioned person, and the reason is on our side, so it is not difficult to deal with."

"My son-in-law obeys." Hu Guozhu bowed and agreed.But now it was getting late, the old man Wu was old and frail, and he explained a few more things about the negotiation, and quickly ordered everyone to retreat. Next, help the old traitor Wu back to his room to rest.

After leaving the meeting hall of old traitor Wu, Fatty Lu was not in a hurry to return to his residence in Wuchang City to rest, but walked to the brazier of the sentinel outside the hall, warming up while waiting.What made Fatty Lu puzzled was that Wang Shirong, who never gave himself any good looks, didn't rush back to his room to rest. He also came to the brazier and warmed up while waiting. Seeing his ugly expression of 800 million taels of silver, he didn't have any good looks towards Fatty Lu.

"Mr. Liangchen, the snow is so heavy, why don't you go back to your room to rest?" Fatty Lu asked curiously.

"It's snowing so hard, why don't you go back to your room to rest?" Wang Shirong asked indifferently.

"Officer and others."

"I'm waiting for someone too."

"Mr. Liangchen, who are you going to wait for?"

"I will wait for whoever you are waiting for."

Fatty Lu couldn't help laughing at the end of the short and unnutritious answer, and asked, "Mr. Liangchen also saw it?"

"You can see it, but I can't?" Wang Shirong asked proudly.

"Then why didn't Mr. Liangchen remind the prince just now?" Fatty Lu asked with a smile: "Could it be that Mr. Liangchen is also afraid of offending others, and even more afraid of leaving the impression of sowing discord in front of the prince, so he didn't dare to tell the prince. The prince issued a warning?"

Wang Shirong was silent, and after a long time, he replied firmly: "Don't think that you are the only one in the world who is slick and slick."

"Then Mr. Liangchen thinks, in my Pingxi Palace, who are more dangerous?" Fatty Lu asked in a low voice.

Wang Shirong hesitated for a moment, seeing that the old Wu traitor guards around him were far away, and then replied in a low voice: "The second prince, Ma Bao, Wu Yingjing, Xia Guoxiang, Han Daren, and the three old generals who stayed in Yunnan And Wei Pu, although they are far away in Yunnan, it is not ruled out that Man Gou took advantage of the opportunity to visit important prisoners of war and attacked them. In addition, Zhongshu Chengzhi Yang Shanzi (son of Yang Sichang) and Zu Shusun may also be Man Gou. object."

"Thank goodness, I'm not there at all." Fatty Lu laughed, and said, "I'm still worried that Mr. Liangchen will also make me a suspect."

"Who said I didn't doubt you?" Wang Shirong glared at Fatty Lu, and said in a low voice angrily: "Your mouth can turn the dead into the living, and the black into the white. What I am most worried about now is you And the second prince, if you go forward to slander the prince, then we might lose all our previous efforts."

Fatty Lu smiled, knowing that Wang Shirong had already thought about something with him, so he didn't talk much, but waited patiently while admiring the snowy night scene, and the same was true for Wang Shirong.After waiting so patiently for a long time, Hu Guozhu, who was most trusted by the old traitor Wu, finally came out of the conference hall slowly. When Fatty Lu and Wang Shirong called him to stop, Hu Guozhu was startled at first, and then said with joy: "Good minister." Sir, Yifeng, it’s so late, you two haven’t left yet? But it’s just right, I’m planning to send someone to invite you, so I’ll save the effort.”

"Uncle, it's so late, what do you want us to do?" Fatty Lu asked with a smile.

Hu Guozhu's expression was not as relaxed as that of Lu Fatty. He saw that no one was eavesdropping, and then he lowered his voice and said, "The good minister, Yifeng, have you noticed? The information collected by our army shows that Mangou cabinet scholar Xiong Cilu once proposed to the Emperor Mangou to buy his father-in-law’s confidants with beautiful women in gold and silver, and let them persuade his father-in-law to agree to extend the payment of military pay, food and grass, and the ransom of prisoners of war, as well as release the important prisoners of war in advance. The Man Dog Emperor rejected it in public, but I suspect that the Man Dog Emperor just couldn't keep his face, and was actually planning to use this idea against us."

Before Hu Guozhu finished his serious words, Fatty Lu and Wang Shirong couldn't help laughing, but Hu Guozhu misunderstood what they meant, and said angrily: "What's so funny? Since ancient times, such methods have emerged in endlessly. Those who succeed It’s not uncommon, you don’t know how soft your father-in-law’s ears are, if Man Gou succeeds, wouldn’t our previous efforts be for naught?!”

"Uncle, forgive me, we are not laughing because of this." Fatty Lu quickly apologized, and then said in a low voice: "Uncle, since you have already seen this, why didn't you warn your grandfather just now to remind him of this danger?" Could it be that when my uncle sent my grandfather back to his room to rest just now, he sent a warning to his grandfather alone?"

Hu Guozhu hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "At first, I had this plan, but after sending my father-in-law back to his room, I hesitated repeatedly, and I still didn't say it."

"General Jinwu, this is a fatal matter. How can you not remind the prince?" Wang Shirong said anxiously in a low voice: "The students of Mr. Maoya and I are always outsiders, and it is inconvenient to say something to the prince. General Jinwu You are the most trusted son-in-law of the lord, what are you afraid of?"

Hu Guozhu was silent, and after a while he said in a low voice: "Although it is said that a son-in-law is half a son, he is still not a son, and I have no evidence. How can I let my father-in-law pay attention to my son based on imagination and guesswork? If the second prince finds out, Why don’t you hate me to death? Besides, the eldest son is gone now, if my father-in-law chooses the second prince in the future, do I still want to live? So I have no choice but to discuss it with you to see if there is any way to deal with it. "

"It turns out that General Jinwu and we both wanted to be together." Wang Shirong nodded, and said in a low voice: "To be honest, the students and Mr. Maoya's students were also worried about this, so they stayed here to wait for General Jinwu, just to get along with Jinwu. The general discusses countermeasures."

"So that's it." Hu Guozhu nodded, then frowned and said: "This matter is not easy to handle. The most dangerous thing on our side is the second prince and my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law is easy to deal with. Anyway, I am not afraid of him. If he If I find out if I dare to mess around, I can immediately ask my father-in-law to clean him up. But the second prince is not so easy to handle. No matter how much the father and son bond, we won the trust of the prince, and it is not easy to bear the burden of separating the father and son from the prince. Infamy."

"If General Jinwu also feels helpless, that's the only way to do it." Wang Shirong frowned and said: "General Jinwu, please spare some people to keep an eye on the second prince secretly. Once I get the evidence, I will come forward to impeach the prince. We have finally established such a plan." So many advantages, we must not lose them in vain.”

Hu Guozhu's own talent is quite good, but the biggest shortcoming is that he is afraid of taking responsibility, and his cowardly personality is comparable to that of the old man Wu. He also has a serious relationship with his character.Because of this, Hu Guozhu immediately said happily: "Then please Mr. Liangchen, please rest assured, Mr. Liangchen, if the second prince blames Mr., I will try my best to keep it safe."

"It can't be like this." Fatty Lu suddenly objected, and said in a low voice: "First, the mite dog's actions must be confidential, and there is little hope of being discovered by my uncle's eyeliner and getting evidence. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable. Third, if this incident becomes serious, the morale of our soldiers will be severely damaged."

"Then what do you say?" Wang Shirong asked angrily.

"I have a plan. I can fight poison with poison." Fatty Lu said in a low voice, "As long as my uncle and Mr. Liangchen cooperate with me, I can not only put an end to this matter, but also make the second prince one of our people and our master." Paotongzi, come forward to be this villain, and stop all civil and military officials of our army from betraying the interests of the Pingxi Palace."

Note: Wu Yingqi's greed and stupidity is by no means a fiction in this book. "The History of Pingdian" records that before the decisive battle in Yuezhou between the Wu army and the Qing army began, Fang Guangchen worked hard to hoard enough military rations for three years in Yuezhou for Wu Jun's long-term plan, which caused the price of Yuezhou food to rise. It was only one-third of the grain price in Wuchang, where the Qing army was entrenched. Seeing that it was profitable, Wu Yingqi sold all the grain.Wu Yingqi was stopped by a general surnamed Wang, but Wu Yingqi not only refused to listen, but wanted to kill the general surnamed Wang, forcing the Wang surname to surrender to the Qing army. To the extreme.

In addition, Wu Yingqi also did a famous stupid thing. "Guangyang Miscellaneous Notes" records: Ma Bao entertained Wu Yingqi, Wang Fuchen and others in his tent. Wang Fuchen found flies in the meal, because Ma Bao had a violent temper and liked to kill people. If you say it, the cook will die. In order to avoid the tragedy, Wang Fuchen called the flies black rice and ate them.As a result, after Wu Yingqi found out, not only did he not support Wang Fuchen's doing this, but he laughed at it, wondering if Wang Fuchen would eat the shit if he found a bowl full of shit, which completely angered Wang Fuchen, causing the two to draw their swords at each other, and also forced Wu The old traitor was forced to personally mediate.

(End of this chapter)