"I have long seen that you are not afraid of death!"
Gao Wencai's words without hesitation gave Zhu Ling some confidence. He thought that there would be capable civil servants in this court, but he never thought that after the court meeting just now, he completely gave up.
Before his death, Emperor Chongzhen once looked up to the sky and shouted: "The civil servants have wronged me! They have wronged the country!"
"I wonder what your Majesty wants your subordinates to say?" Gao Wencai, an unknown member of a hundred households, could be appreciated by Zhu Ling today, so naturally he was very angry with Zhu Ling in his heart.
A generation of monarchs, no matter how downcast they are, are still revered gods in the hearts of the people at the bottom.
"Write all my words here and give them to Li Zicheng. Tell him that I still have war-worthy soldiers in the south of the Ming Dynasty, and there are even more brave generals. I can agree to all your requests, and I can even make more promises to you.
, but you must withdraw from the city of Beijing today, and no soldiers like you are allowed to be seen in the suburbs of Beijing. I have sent emergency documents to the southern provinces. If you insist on going your own way, you and I will perish together!"
When Gao Wencai heard the last sentence, his pupils suddenly tightened and he looked at Zhu Ling. Your Majesty is so unafraid of death, how can we be afraid of death! But then he realized that this was a disrespectful act, and he lowered his head in an instant.
, his eyes were already filled with tears.
"One more thing: redeem Ping Xibo's father, Wu Xiang, the admiral of the Beijing camp, and his concubine Chen Yuanyuan. These two people are extremely important. Tell the intruder! I am willing to exchange them for two hundred thousand silver!"
After the explanation was over, Zhu Ling felt a sharp and severe headache in his head, then dismissed Gao Wencai and asked him to go do it as soon as possible. He also asked him to leave the Hundred Jin Yiwei Banner School behind, and then sat back on the Dragon Cavalry to rest for a while.
Everyone in the world said that since Emperor Taizu, only Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian was the most diligent. Today, it seems that this sentence is not half true. I didn't expect that his body was already overdrawn to this extent.
…
Here, Du Xun had returned to the Chuang Army camp under the protection of several volunteers. As soon as he saw Li Zicheng in the camp, he knelt down and said loudly: "Congratulations to King Chuang! Congratulations to King Chuang! Emperor of Ming Dynasty
The peace terms you requested have been agreed to."
Li Zicheng was also temporarily distracted by the sudden congratulation. He came back to his senses after being reminded by his subordinate Liu Zongmin. Surprised, he went straight forward to help Du Xun up personally.
In the past, Li Zicheng, who was full of contempt and dislike for eunuchs, had never acted like this.
Du Xun also slowly stood up with Li Zicheng's help, with a few tears hanging from the corners of his eyes, very excited.
"Master Du is worthy of being the emperor's closest ministers. He is so quick to persuade!"
Hearing King Chuang's words, Du Xun felt a little embarrassed. It was strange to say that when he went to the court, he was not only despised and scolded by the ministers, but also ignored and teased by Zhu Ling. Looking back on the scene just now, he felt even more embarrassed by King Chuang.
It warms people's hearts here.
"The servant only knew the pros and cons and talked about the pros and cons. The emperor was stunned for a moment and cried bitterly in the court. He was even more grateful that King Chuang was so considerate and generous, because the servant agreed without saying a few words.
Already."
"only……"
"Just what? Say it!" Liu Zongmin on the side couldn't see the eunuch's face the most. When he stopped talking, he immediately shouted and urged.
"Zongmin, please be kind to Mr. Du, you are our great hero." Li Zicheng scolded Liu Zongmin for not being so loud, then turned around and asked softly: "Master Du, please speak."
"The emperor said that there are not one million taels of silver in the treasury. Even if taxes are imposed on every household in the capital at this time, it will only be 500,000 taels. Therefore..." At the end of the sentence, Du Xun did not dare to continue speaking.
"Aren't you going to give it to me?"
Liu Zongmin's fierce words rang out again in the camp, and a pair of tigers mooed towards Du Xun, frightening him so much that he immediately trembled.
"Fifty thousand taels?"
Li Zicheng returned to the coach's position holding the knife, muttering something in his mouth, groping back and forth on the handle of the knife, unable to make up his mind for a moment.
Seeing that King Chuang didn't know what to do, Song Xiance, who was standing aside, raised his hands and said, "Five hundred thousand taels are a little short. Our army is attacking all the way, and the journey is far away. The dissatisfaction has already grown in my heart. If it hadn't been
If you pay enough to appease the soldiers, it will inevitably cause a mutiny in the military camp, which is a taboo!"
Niu Jinxing, who was on the side, turned his eyes and stepped forward: "In my opinion, the emperor's son must have deceived us. Which of those literati families is not well off? Which one does not have hundreds of thousands of silver? If it were me
When we attack the city, we can seize the silver taels by force ourselves, perhaps more than this million taels of silver."
Seeing that everyone's opinions were so unified, Li Zicheng didn't know what to do.
From the time he occupied Shanxi to the time he reached Beijing, he heard more and more things along the way. Suddenly, Wu Sangui from the north was entering Beijing to serve as king, and the slaves outside the pass were also approaching Beijing with 100,000 troops, while the same people from the south were
Zhang Xianzhong of the rebel army also proclaimed himself emperor in Wuchang, and his country was named Dazhou.
I even heard that there were troops from the imperial court in areas south of the Yangtze River, Shandong and other places on King Qin's journey. If he captured Beijing, he would be lucky enough to be happy for a while, but if other forces besieged the city a few days later, he would probably end up dead.
Have to reconsider.
Some officials who were recruiting the Ming Dynasty in the past few days also said that the Ming Dynasty's finances were almost completely depleted at this time, and even official salaries and army salaries could not be paid, making it very easy for them to capture cities and territories along the way.
But now that hundreds of thousands of troops are here, the pay and silver must be obtained. If they cannot be distributed in time, I am afraid that they will fall into the same trap as the Ming Dynasty.
"Calculate, how much silver do we need at least?"
With a wave of his hand, Li Zicheng immediately ordered everyone to calculate the amount of silver needed for the army.
After a few breaths, Song Xiance said: "At least 700,000 silver taels are needed!"
Hearing this number, Li Zicheng sat down on the handsome chair with some frustration, and let out a long sigh. His eyes were full of hesitation. At this juncture of the peace negotiation, he was actually faced with this problem.
"Report!"
A soldier came to the big tent with a loud voice, knelt down and said: "Report, there is someone in the city who wants to see King Chuang!"
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what was happening with the sudden arrival of someone in the city, but then their eyes fell on Li Zicheng.
Li Zicheng raised his eyelids and didn't know what the visitor meant, but he had no other choice at the moment and allowed him to come in.
After a while, the visitor Gao Wencai was taken off his sword by the soldiers and came to the big tent. After entering, he took in the view of the big tent and then said respectfully: "Gao Wencai of the Qianhu of the Jinyi Guards is sent as an envoy to the rebels on the order of the Ming Emperor.
.”
"Oh? Didn't we just talk about it an hour ago? Why did the emperor send you here?" Li Zicheng was actually a rough and arrogant person. His words and deeds were not disguised in front of his high literary talent, and he had the air of a rustic and vulgar person.
Gao Wencai had no expression on his face during the whole process, but took out his Majesty's document and read it loudly: "You all say that my Ming Dynasty has exhausted its strength, so I raise my troops to attack the city and conquer the land, but you don't know that my army is in the south and east.
Reinforcements have already arrived in the north day and night. I remember that you and others have been our subjects of the Ming Dynasty, and we have no choice but to reach this point. The matter of making the king of the northwest has been finalized and there is no need to discuss it again. But for the matter of one million taels of silver, I guess you
Wait until you feel dissatisfied."
Hearing that the matter of one million silver taels was mentioned by the Ming Emperor, everyone in the big tent immediately looked up, waiting for the next words.
"But the national treasury is short of silver, and it is a helpless move. I hope I will try my best to squeeze out 200,000 silver and give it to you to appease the soldiers. However, there is one condition. Wu Xiang, the admiral of the Beijing camp, and his son Chen Yuanyuan
It must be returned to me. This is also a transaction. Whether you agree or not is up to you, King Chuang. I am waiting for you!"
After the reading was over, Gao Wencai took back the document without haste, stood in the center of the tent and scanned everyone coldly. This was naturally what His Majesty had told him.
"These two people are worth 200,000 taels? I'm afraid your emperor is not a fool! Hahaha." Li Zicheng just listened to his reading, and he was a little nervous. He thought it was another difficult condition, but he didn't expect it to be.
Two people?
Wu Xiang knew that the soldiers he led in the imperial camp would collapse when they encountered him, throwing away their helmets and armor, leaving them vulnerable to a single blow. However, Chen Yuanyuan was unknown to the guard, so he loudly asked everyone in the tent, where is this woman?
Liu Zongmin stepped forward and said: "King Chuang, I am here with my subordinates. When they saw that this girl has a beautiful face, they..."
"No need to say more, give it to him!"
"ah?"
Liu Zongmin was afraid that he had heard wrongly, so he looked up, and to his surprise, he was shouted at again by Li Zicheng.
"Just give it to him."
"King Chuang...this." Liu Zongmin is also a lover of beauty. He was attracted to this woman at the first sight. When he was with this woman, his eyes never left his body, but now he wants to send her away?
"Can't you hear me? I gave him a man worth one hundred thousand taels, and there are not many left in this world." Li Zicheng also agreed without hesitation and without thinking.
In his heart right now, no matter how important a person is, he is not worth the 200,000 taels of silver. It is more about the hearts of the soldiers than the silver. Because of them, all this is possible.
"On behalf of your majesty, I would like to express my gratitude to King Chuang for this move." When Gawain saw the intruder's agreement, he immediately replied that what his majesty told him was finally fulfilled.
Seeing this situation, Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing, who were on the side, also knew that King Chuang was determined to negotiate peace with the Ming Emperor. Knowing his intention, they said no more.
"I let him go, where is the 200,000 taels of silver?" Li Zicheng was not stupid. He couldn't let Gao Wencai take him away. He would give him the 200,000 taels of silver later.
"Your Majesty said that after King Chuang agrees, all he needs to do is explain it to me, and the silver will be sent down to the city in half an hour." Gao Wencai responded calmly, not afraid at all in the face of the provocative eyes of everyone in the tent.
"Why do you have to wait half an hour?"
Li Zicheng was confused. If he had some silver, he could just give it away, or throw it away. But he was made to wait for an hour, but he didn't understand.
"Your Majesty did not inform us."
Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance also shook their heads in confusion, and Li Zicheng had no choice but to wait.
At this time, outside the palace, several hundred imperial guards led by Wang Guoxing and Li Ruogui had also gathered. When Wang Guoxing opened the list given by His Majesty, he was shocked and almost dropped the list.
Looking again, the first name above is actually the chief minister of the dynasty: Mr. Chen Ge!
[Author's digression]: According to historical records, Li Zicheng opened the emperor's internal money, which contained tens of millions of taels. I think this is false;
Chongzhen, a man of high literary talent and guarding hundreds of households in royal robes, hanged himself and led his whole family to die for the country;