"Dorgon is planning to hold us back first and concentrate all his efforts to deal with Li Zicheng. After he has accumulated enough strength, he will then attack us."
Zuo Mengeng saw through Hong Chengchou's intention at a glance.
"Humph, how can it be as they wish?"
Zuo Dai's face was as frosty as ice.
Zuo Mengeng laughed.
"Why can't it be as he wishes? Of course it must be as he wishes."
Many people here were surprised.
Li Banghua reminded: "If the Manchus are allowed to destroy Li Zicheng first and occupy the Central Plains and the northwest, then it will become a serious problem."
Knowing everyone's concerns, Zuo Mengeng waved his hand, full of confidence.
"If we don't let Dorgon rest assured and don't let the Qing army pursue Li Zicheng, how can we lengthen the Manchu and Qing front lines?"
He walked up to the map and casually sketched out the situation, which made many people feel enlightened.
"Don't you have confidence in our strength? As long as the Qing army's front is lengthened, the speed at which we can complete unification will be accelerated a lot. Why not?"
Hou Xun had already had an affair with Zuo Mengeng and had already mastered the overall strategy.
"Dorgon wants to hold us back, so why don't we want him to relax his vigilance? This is why the devil is as high as the Tao."
Liu Yiyuan asked: "Are you going to have peace talks with the Manchus?"
"Of course it's good to talk. At least it can make Dorgon feel at ease."
Zuo Menggeng set the tone.
Huang Zongxi had the same idea as him.
"Not only do we need to negotiate, but it is best to sign a treaty. Only in this way will the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty not worry too much and use all their strength to attack Li Zicheng."
Zhang Zhenxiu was a little confused.
"Once a treaty is signed, wouldn't it mean that if we take action against the Manchus in the future we would break the trust of the people in the world?"
As a result, many people present burst out laughing.
Zuo Mengeng said with a smile: "The so-called treaty, from the day it was signed, was prepared to be torn up. In the face of absolute strength, the treaty is just a piece of waste paper."
Zuo Yong followed: "When the time comes, you can find any excuse and tear up the treaty."
Zhang Zhenxiu shook his head and smiled bitterly.
He is a traditional scholar-official who values ​​benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom and trustworthiness. After returning to the Xia Kingdom, he has been serving as a chief judge.
In the legal field, the most important thing is rules and credibility, so there is a certain lack of understanding of politics.
After discussion, the Central Committee of the Xia Kingdom sent Wang Yun and Chonghua to Dezhou to join Mao Yuanyi, commander of the Central Military Region, to negotiate with the Manchu representatives.
Seeing that Xia Guo was willing to negotiate peace, Hong Chengchou and the other three were all excited.
"Although your two countries have had many disputes in the past, from now on we promise not to cross the border and never infringe on Xia's territory."
During this period, Hong Chengchou had obtained authorization from Dorgon.
As long as the Xia Kingdom can be stabilized, any conditions can be promised.
Obviously the Manchus and Qing Dynasties also understood that everything they said and did now was just to confuse their opponents, and they had no intention of complying with it.
As the chief negotiator, Wang Yun performed very well.
"This is the best, but we also have conditions."
Just when Hong Chengchou and the others were nervous, Wang Yun made an unexpected condition.
"After Li Zicheng is eliminated in the future, your country must withdraw from the customs and return power to the Ming Dynasty."
It turns out to be this.
Hong Chengchou and the other three breathed a sigh of relief.
Sony quickly said: "This is the right thing to do. When the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, we just accepted the request of the Ming Dynasty officials and avenged the Ming Emperor."
This kind of nonsense is not clever at all. As for whether Xia Guo believes it or not, the Manchu Qing people don't care at all.
As long as the Xia Kingdom does not send troops, everything will not matter.
The three people on Xia's side seemed to really believe it.
"While your country is in the capital, you must not damage the city or harm the people."
The Manchus and the Qing Dynasty readily agreed to all the conditions of the Xia Kingdom, and Mandahai even made a request.
"The area around the capital is barren and the products are limited. I hope your country will not block water transportation. Only in this way can the people of the capital live and work in peace and contentment."
Wang Yun and the three of them got together to discuss it and agreed to this.
"We can ensure smooth water transportation. As long as the food transported to the capital can fall into the hands of the people, there will be no problem."
Sony and the other three nodded like garlic, feeling overjoyed.
At most, some of the grain transported to the capital will be divided and sold to the people. Most of it will definitely become logistical supplies for the Qing army's operations.
Can Xia Guo still check it?
Both parties had the same intention, and the negotiations were very fast and did not take too much time.
After final discussion, the two parties established a series of terms.
With the line between Cangzhou and Dezhou as the boundary, the military forces of both sides are not allowed to cross the boundary to avoid misunderstandings.
Normal commercial exchanges and personnel movements between the two sides along the border must not be restricted, and free entry and exit are allowed.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty ensured that the capital remained intact and that the people in the capital lived and worked in peace and contentment. In the future, after Li Zicheng was eliminated, they would return to the outside world.
Xia Guo guaranteed smooth water transportation and even agreed to the Manchu Qing's request to purchase artillery.
The negotiated terms were sent to the capital and Jinan respectively.
"I think Zuo Mengeng is nothing more than this. In time, the whole world will belong to me, the Qing Dynasty."
Dorgon was so happy that he signed the treaty without saying a word.
"The Manchus have been fooled. Pass the order and all departments should start preparations. It won't be long before we have to clean up the mess."
Zuo Mengeng also signed the treaty.
This treaty was named the "Xia-Qing Non-Aggression Treaty".
The name given by Zuo Mengeng...
Dorgon thought it was very good and readily agreed.
After the two sides exchanged the treaty, they announced it to the world together.
Obviously they want to use this method to contain the other party, so that the other party must abide by the treaty.
When Li Zicheng, who was still on the way to retreat, received the news, he couldn't help but panic, and finally realized that things seemed to be serious.
But there was nothing he could do.
After all, Wu Sangui, Duoduo, and Azige were clinging to his back, not giving him any chance to breathe.
On the eighth day of May, the Qing army caught up with the Shun army in Qingdu.
Qihou Guying led his troops to fight fiercely with the Qing army in the east of the city.
The Shun army retreated all the way, being trapped and exhausted, unable to stop the Qing army's offensive. Even Gu Ying died on the spot.
Later, the Qing army pursued Zhending and fought another battle. However, the Shun army was still defeated and suffered heavy losses.
At this point, the more than 100,000 troops that Li Zicheng brought to the capital were running out. He could only retreat from Jingxing into Shanxi, leaving elite troops to defend the pass.
The war had reached this point, and the Qing army had reached its limit.
After Dorgon gave the order, the Qing army stopped pursuing and returned to the capital.
In order to win over the people, the Manchus held a three-day mourning ceremony for Chongzhen in the capital. This seemed to confirm the content of the treaty, and they really came to avenge Emperor Ming.
And unlike Dashun who treated Ming Dynasty officials extremely harshly, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was extremely tolerant of these people and even promoted them to higher ranks.
All of a sudden, these bereaved dogs surrendered to the Manchus without any bones.
This also caused the Qing Dynasty's strength to skyrocket rapidly.
Dorgon realized more and more what a right choice it was to sign a peace treaty with the Xia Kingdom.
