In the Palace of Qianqing, candles are brightly lit.
Chongzhen walked back and forth between the light and dark areas of the candlelight, with a slightly excited look on his face.
"The new fire gun... No, how many rods can the Chongzhen 15th style fire gun produce in a month now?"
"I would like to inform my father, according to the current feedback from Anmin Factory, the current output of about a thousand rods per month may be more after the manpower and materials are ready..."
"Okay, okay, this way I can rest assured, but how do you plan to use these firecrackers?"
After Chongzhen finished speaking, his eyes were slightly erratic, as if he meant something.
Chen Xinjia, the Secretary of the Ministry of War on the side, said quickly: "If these guns can be equipped on the front line, it may be able to save the current crisis, at least the possibility of holding Kaifeng will be greater..."
"No."
Zhu Cixi flatly refused. He faced Emperor Chongzhen who looked puzzled and said: "Father, although these new weapons are powerful, they must be matched with new combat methods to achieve their maximum effect. If we just issue them to The soldiers on the front line cannot play a big role, and they may be lost, giving Chuangni and Donglu an opportunity to take advantage."
Chongzhen was still hesitant at first, but after hearing that the new weapons might be lost, he changed his mind.
"Your Majesty is right, these magical weapons must not be obtained by the enemy, but have you thought about how to use them?"
Naturally, Lin Jing had already thought of the arrangement. He said respectfully: "I think that all the Chongzhen Type 15 muskets can be given to the pro-army camp first to train new tactics. After gaining a certain amount of experience in the future, they can Popularize it to the Feather Guard Army, and after the production is expanded in the future, the remaining armies can be gradually adapted."
Chen Xinjia was immediately disappointed, but he knew that what the prince said was the truth, so he stopped refuting and stepped aside.
After this incident, Chongzhen's mood improved a little. He handed the memorial on the table to Lin Jing and sighed softly: "You should read it first."
Lin Jing was very curious at first, so he quickly took the memorial, and after a closer look, it turned out to be a peace treaty memorial with Donglu.
With great curiosity, Lin Jingzi read the memorial carefully, and then he understood why Chongzhen had such a complicated psychology.
In fact, there are six main contents in this letter and memorial.
1. If there is a wedding or funeral event between the two countries, they must send envoys to each other to celebrate.
Second, the Ming Dynasty sent thousands of taels of gold and one million taels of silver to the Qing Dynasty every year. The Qing Dynasty sent thousands of ginseng and thousands of mink skins to the Ming Dynasty.
3. Rebels of the Qing Dynasty (Manchus, Mongols, Han people) who escape into the territory of the Ming Dynasty must be captured and sent to the Qing Dynasty. Rebels of the Ming Dynasty who escape into the territory of the Qing Dynasty must be captured and delivered to the Ming Dynasty.
Fourth, demarcate the national boundaries. The ridge in the middle of Shuangshubao in Ningyuan will be the national boundary of the Ming Dynasty, and Tashan Mountain will be the national boundary of the Qing Dynasty. Lianshan will be used as a suitable location to conduct mutual trade.
5. From the ridge in the middle of Ningyuan Shuangshubao along the coast to Huangcheng Island, the Ming boundary is to the west and the Qing boundary is to the east. They cross the border with each other.
Those who act recklessly will be punished by death.
Sixth, the Qing side did not care about the superiority-inferiority relationship between the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Strictly speaking, judging from the current situation alone, the requirements of this peace treaty memorial are not excessive. Take the first paragraph as an example, "Let's celebrate each other's good and bad events". It is just an ordinary diplomatic etiquette. It is just like negotiating peace with Song and Jin Dynasties. They are two different things, and although the second one is relatively high in gold and silver, the two parties have come and repaid each other, and it is not impossible to talk about it later.
As for the third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs... Although in terms of boundary division, the Ming court ceded to the Qing court many areas north of Ningyuan that had not yet been lost, it at least gave itself a chance to breathe.
Lin Jing understood that Emperor Chongzhen wanted to agree intentionally, but the problem was not whether the treaty was harsh or not, but mainly because of the internal problems of the Ming court, which made him currently afraid to agree rashly.
The reason is also very simple. The Ming court did not have a real sense of equal exchanges with the outside world. In the eyes of the Ming court officials, they represented the upright and upright country, while Manchuria was just a 'barbarian'. The relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Eastern captives
The war is nothing more than a counter-insurgency war.
It is precisely because of the existence of this awareness that Chongzhen did not dare to rashly promote Manchuria to an equal force capable of face-to-face negotiations, otherwise internal opposition would label Chongzhen as an emperor like Zhao Gou.
As far as Chongzhen is concerned, this is not allowed.
Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War who was leading the negotiation process, looked slightly uneasy at this time. He didn't know whether the prince would agree with this plan, but if he didn't agree, then the two-sided war would continue, which would make Ming Dynasty more passive in the future.
However, thinking of Lin Jing's words before, Chen Xinjia felt slightly relieved.
After Lin Jing finished reading the memorial, he said softly: "Father, looking at these funds, it is difficult to agree, and it is also difficult not to agree. But I think that we should consider the overall situation. However, the current situation is like this, and there is no way to have both.
We still need to make peace at home before we can fight against the outside world.”
Hearing Lin Jing expressing his opinions so simply, Wu Sheng, the new chief minister who had been silent, had a little surprise on his face and said curiously: "Your Highness's words are really thought-provoking. The current situation has indeed reached a point where a decision needs to be made.
when."
Having said this, Wu Sheng said respectfully: "Your Majesty, please make an early decision."
Chongzhen was silent for a long time, and then sighed and said: "Currently, the officials in the imperial court are arguing endlessly, and there are still people who have no way to save the country and are just talking about it. In their opinion, the world is purely my fault, but they don't want to think about the current internal and external difficulties and the very serious situation.
In difficult times, it is not empty words that can make up for the reality. Why don’t I want to imitate Taizu Chengzu, clear up the world, and wipe out the four directions? However..."
Chen Xinjia on the side quickly said: "Your Majesty, now we in Ming Dynasty are just suspending the attack on the Eastern captives. First, we can pacify the country, and then we can suppress the thieves and then return to the army to pacify Liaodong. By then, the world will be peaceful and all directions will be safe. Your Majesty will be the hero of the world."
host."
Chongzhen shook his head. Since the end of the Battle of Songjin, his inner ambitions have also been destroyed. Now he talks about the so-called ZTE master, and he feels that it is just a dream. It is good to be able to hold on to the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, it was difficult for Chongzhen to tell everyone what he was thinking, so he could only vaguely say: "What you said is true. I will not propose to Donglu until it is absolutely necessary... Four years ago, Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian
The secret master proposed the plan, but unfortunately the news was leaked. Unexpectedly, Lu Xiangsheng and others arbitrarily opposed it, causing the plan to be abandoned midway. The state affairs have been following the rules until now. Fortunately, I have you in charge of it, so please try your best to do it. "
After finishing his words, Lin Jing couldn't help but be a little stunned. Chongzhen's skill in pushing the blame was so perfect. On the surface, he seemed to have said everything, but when he took a closer look, he said nothing.
No wonder Chen Xinjia was killed after he leaked the secret in history, and the co-authoring emperor never gave a formal commitment at all!
But Chen Xinjia obviously did not come back to his senses. He was immersed in the grand blueprint drawn by Emperor Chongzhen, but he did not see Lin Jing's concerned eyes at all, nor the vague smile on the corner of the mouth of the chief minister named Wu. This chapter has been completed!