"Shen Qing, do you confirm that the letter only contains these drugs?"
Zhu Yuanzhang thought of Zhu Cihong's previous words and said to Shen Zhanran again.
Shen Zhanran nodded and said: "Weichen can confirm that because the paper material is weak and the poison is extremely corrosive, the paper cannot withstand it at all, so it can only be soaked with some mild drugs."
Zhu Yuanzhang heard what he said was reasonable, and seeing that Wang Youde had no adverse reactions, he asked: "In your opinion, this poison only makes people sleepy, then why do you need to administer this kind of poison again?"
Shen Zhanran was silent for a while and said: "This poison does only make people sleepy and palpitated at first, but if they are attacked by these poisons for a long time, in addition to the gradual deterioration of the body, people will also be prone to irritability, palpitations, timidity and hesitation. "
"And the medicine in this letter is extremely strong. If you have been poisoned by similar poisons before, you will most likely faint after being exposed to it this time."
When Shen Zhanran finished speaking, he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang again, and then lowered his head respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while, then looked at Wang Youde who was sitting on the ground and said, "You don't have to be nervous. You should pretend you don't know about this when you go back."
"Also, let me tell you, Master, that we have absolute trust in him and let him do his errands seriously. As long as he works hard, even if there is a hole in the sky, we will repair it for him!"
Wang Youde originally thought that he would not escape death this time, but he did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang not only refused to punish him, but also encouraged him so much. He kowtowed quickly and said: "Thank you for not killing me. Your servant and master will work seriously in the future. Please rest assured, Lord Long Live."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction. After asking him to step back, he looked at Shen Zhanran and said, "Shen Qing, do you see that we have been poisoned?"
Hearing this, Shen Zhanran quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was not aware of this before. It was only after I discovered the ingredients of the poison in the letter that I felt something was wrong with Your Majesty's health."
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Shen Zhanran and said tentatively: "Then do you think our poison can be cured?"
Shen Zhanran said: "Although your Majesty's complexion is different, he is still full of energy, and the medicinal energy has just been emitted, and your Majesty has not felt any discomfort. I think there are just some residual poisons in the body that have not been cleared, so your Majesty does not need to worry too much!"
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly sighed and said with regret: "Hey, when Zhang Tianshi saw us, he could tell at a glance that we were poisoned. It's a pity that he...hey!"
When Shen Zhanran heard this, his body trembled slightly and he said in a deep voice, "Wei Chen understands!"
"No, you didn't understand what we meant. I remember asking Wang Shoulin to bring you a message, but you forgot!"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Shen Zhanran who was bowing his head and said solemnly.
Shen Zhanran was stunned for a moment, and then said with trembling words: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, signaled him to get up, and then asked: "Has a plan been drawn up for mobilizing people to defend the city?"
Shen Zhanran said respectfully: "Wei Chen and Mr. Fan have just made a plan to defend the city to inspire the people, but I'm just a little worried."
"Because the land used for the reward this time was raided by rich households and officials. Not only is it large in quantity, but it is also in an excellent location. I am worried that the people may not believe this."
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was silent for a while and said: "We understand what you mean, but land annexation is a big issue. We will discuss it after the rebels are defeated."
"What you have to do now is to make the people believe that as long as they are willing to defend the city, we will reward them with land and ensure the safety of their land."
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's serious face, Shen Zhanran couldn't help but feel happy, and said quickly: "Wei Chen understands. Wei Chen will go back to discuss with Mr. Fan right now and draw up a clause to protect the people's property and submit it to His Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and was about to signal him to leave when a young eunuch came in to report that Li Guozhen and Wang Shoulin were outside asking for a meeting.
"Shen Qing, do you understand the Jurchens?"
Zhu Yuanzhang motioned to the young eunuch to let Li Guozhen and the others in, and then said to Shen Zhanran.
Shen Zhanran was stunned and said: "Weichen did travel to some places when he was young. Although he has never been to the Jurchens, I heard that it was a bitter and cold place. We obtained food, pig iron, etc. through trade with us... ..”
Li Guozhen and Wang Shoulin came in and saw Zhu Yuanzhang listening to Shen Zhanran's story with great interest, so they also stood aside and listened.
After Shen Zhanran finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Guozhen and said, "Uncle Xiangcheng, has Wang Qing told you why he called you here?"
Li Guozhen glanced at Wang Shoulin and said with some confusion: "Wang Baihu only said that His Majesty summoned him, but did not tell me anything else."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Wang Shoulin with satisfaction, and then smiled and said to Li Guozhen: "We have just granted Wang Qing a thousand households, and asked him to accompany you out of the city to persuade Bai Guangen and others to surrender."
"But you only need to show the court's sincerity in recruiting them for this trip. It would be best if they can surrender on the spot. If not, you don't need to pay attention. The rest of the matter will be left to Wu Mengming and others to follow up."
Li Guozhen said with a surprised look on his face: "Your Majesty, this surrender is related to the safety of the capital. If I only communicate with them once, I really don't have much confidence in convincing them."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Uncle Xiangcheng, you are wrong. We are not asking you to go as a lobbyist, but to express the court's position."
"If you regard yourself as a lobbyist, you are playing into their hands, because we believe that Tang and Bai now think the same way as you do."
“So the more you persuade, the higher the price they may ask and the longer the time will take, which is extremely detrimental to us.”
"Besides, we are just asking you to go out of the city to persuade you to surrender this time. Your real destination may be Datong or Shengjing!"
Li Guozhen was a little confused at first, but when he later heard Zhu Yuanzhang say that their destination might be "Shengjing", he was stunned.
Because when he heard the word "Shengjing", he immediately remembered that in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, was beheaded for negotiating peace with the Jurchens.
Then he thought that he was fighting Li Zicheng now, and negotiating peace with the Jurchens was of no use, so he said doubtfully: "Your Majesty, the top priority now is to solve the siege. Should we put the Jurchens' matter aside for now?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he knew that he had misunderstood what he meant, so he asked Wang Shoulin to tell him about the interrogation of Van Defu.
After listening to Wang Shoulin's story, Li Guozhen frowned and said, "Does your Majesty want me to lobby the Jurchens to withdraw their troops?"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "In addition to wanting a share of the pie, the most important thing for the Jurchens to send troops this time is to take the opportunity to establish their power and deter their political opponents. How can you convince him with your empty words?"
"The reason why we ask you to go to Datong or Shengjing is to take advantage of the Jurchens' internal disagreements and trigger internal strife among them, so that they will have no time to invade south."
Hearing this, Li Guozhen's frowned brows relaxed and he said respectfully: "I will fight to the death to complete the mission!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Li Guozhen agreed so happily, he couldn't help frowning and said: "Uncle Xiangcheng, how are you going to trigger an internal fight among the Jurchens?"
When Li Guozhen asked, he bowed and said, "I just heard what Wang Qianhu said. Fulin is just a child. The power is in the hands of Dorgon. That Hauge will definitely not accept it."
"I plan to spread rumors that Hauge is dissatisfied with Dorgon's regency and plans to join forces with ministers to remove his regent power."
"At the same time, someone disguised as Dorgon was sent to assassinate Haug, making him hate Dorgon and triggering internal fighting among them. And then..."
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Li Guozhen's story, he was silent for a while, then looked at Shen Zhanran and said, "Shen Qing, what do you think of Uncle Xiangcheng's plan?"
Shen Zhanran bowed and said: "Wei Chen thinks that Uncle Xiangcheng's plan is probably feasible, but there is one thing that still needs to be considered, which is Hauge's current strength."
