Chapter 319
If there was even half a choice, Huang Taiji would be willing to make peace with Ning Haijun, but the problem was that he had no choice in the face of Ning Haijun's refusal to act according to common sense.
If you fight, you have to be able to fight. Now they are blocked in Shenyang City by Ning Haijun, with no place to run. The tall and solid city wall, instead of protecting them, has become a shackles restricting their movement. There are eight gates in Shenyang City. Ning Haijun only needs to place one or two thousand people in front of each gate, and they will not be able to rush out.
As early as the Battle of Bali Bay, Huang Taiji had a deep memory of Ning Haijun's artillery and thunder cannons. Of course, what he didn't actually know was that the current Ning Haijun had stronger firepower than the original Ning Haijun in the Battle of Bali Bay. More than several times.
Regardless of the more than one hundred breech-loaded rifled guns, the more than two hundred Fire Dragons alone can fire thousands of rocket shells in one salvo. Each rocket shell is loaded with twelve kilograms of nitrocellulose gunpowder. Shooting is equivalent to launching more than three tons of TNT. With this firepower density, let alone the Ming Dynasty's Jiannu, even the German army during World War I would have to kneel down.
Huang Taiji's decision was too timely, just a few breaths before Ning Haijun's artillery fired. If it was ten breaths later, Shenyang City would turn into a sea of fire, allowing them to enjoy the pleasure of two heavens of ice and fire.
Seeing the envoys coming out of Shenyang City with white flags, Zhang Yu, who was responsible for directing military operations, also breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Zhou Ning and said: "Fortunately, Huang Taiji did not fight to the end!"
"The commander is right, those who wear shoes are afraid of those who are barefoot!"
Zhou Ning actually also analyzed Cheng Shijie's decision. If Huang Taiji was unwilling to cooperate and instead resorted to fighting to the death, then there might be no winner this time.
With the strength of the Ning Navy, it can certainly annihilate most of the slaves, but it is also powerless in the face of the more than 400,000 Mongolian troops moving south. It will take them at least more than a month to deploy. Once the Mongolian army breaks through the Great Wall defense line, the entire Shanxi , Shaanxi, and Beizhili will probably be in a mess.
I don’t know how many people will die because of this blizzard. Fortunately, luckily among the misfortunes, Huang Taiji gave up.
The person responsible for negotiating on behalf of Huang Taiji was Dabeile Daishan. Ning Haijun asked Zhou Ning to be responsible for the reception, and the two sides started negotiations under Shenyang City.
Huang Taiji was very angry at this time. What caught him off guard was that Fan Wencheng arrived in Shenyang on the front foot and Ning Haijun arrived on the back foot. He picked up the whip and wanted to slap Fan Wencheng. However, the moment he raised the whip, he figured out one thing, that is, he had many sentries deployed on the north bank of the Hun River.
Even if Fan Wencheng arrives in Shenyang with Ning Haijun, these sentry riders will report to him, but the problem is, these sentry riders seem to have disappeared.
"Fan Qing, what do you think is going on?"
"This... slave dare not say it!"
"I forgive you!"
"I thought that because of the severe cold weather, those sentry riders did not hold up!"
"This Khan has deployed six to seven thousand sentries and more than twenty bulls. It's impossible!"
"That means...someone betrayed King Khan!"
In fact, Fan Wencheng's guess was not correct, but two in one. Some of the Jiannu sentries froze to death, while others surrendered in the face of Ning Haijun's steamed buns and hot milk tea. When Ning Haijun decided to take action, these sentries and cavalry reorganized and surrendered to Ning Haijun. There were more than 4,000 people in front and behind them, so Huang Taiji had no time to arrange, and he didn't even have a chance to escape.
From the Ning Haijun camp outside Shenyang City, a group of cavalry galloped out. The knight on horseback held a strong bow in his hand, a bag of white feather arrows on his back, a long saber, and was wearing a steel helmet and iron armor. They were very well-equipped. , their skills are extremely strong, and they are obviously skilled riders on bows and horses. Their iconic black-as-ink cloaks were flying like flags, and the terrifying momentum like the desert wind was overwhelming, and the Jiannu warriors were horrified.
As envoys representing Huang Taiji to negotiate with Ning Haijun, Yue Tuo and Dorgon followed closely behind them. Behind them were more than 300 cavalrymen, including Daishan. All the Jiannu cavalrymen stood up straight with their chests and backs straightened. . Everyone has self-respect. In the face of natural disasters, the various ministries of the Jiannu slaves are now in extreme embarrassment and are almost like drowned dogs. However, in front of the Ning navy cavalry, they still subconsciously want to hold on to the dignity that no longer exists, so as not to be People look down upon them.
All the Ning navy cavalry quickly lined up in two rows without saying a word. They moved quickly and the formation was as neat as a straight line. There was no angry look, no murderous intent, and the momentum of a powerful army was naturally released in every gesture, making people dare not look down upon him.
The neat queue separated on both sides, and Zhang Yu, Zhao Wencai and Zhou Ning came on horseback. The cavalry shouted in unison: "General Zhou, General Zhang, and General Zhao are here!"
Daishan, Yue Tuo, and Dorgon hurriedly rolled off their saddles and dismounted, and showed noble courtesy to Zhou Ning, Zhang Yu, and Zhao Wencai: "Daishan, Yue Tuo, and Dorgon have met General Zhou, General Zhang, General Zhao!"
Zhou Ning smiled and said: "Everyone, there is no need to be polite, thank you for your hard work!"
Zhou Ning took out three bags of wine and handed them to the three of them respectively. He smiled and said: "The border area is poor and lacks money. I can't give you anything good to greet you. I can only offer you a bag of wine and express my feelings. Come on, do it first as a token of respect!"
Daishan, Yuetuo, and Dorgon were not polite. They took the wine and drank heavily.
In fact, Shenyang City is now short of food. As early as winter, Huang Taiji issued a prohibition on alcohol. No one is allowed to make wine privately. They have long been addicted to alcohol.
"Mellow and strong, good wine, good wine!"
"Everyone who is brave, please come in!"
Daishan, Yue Tuo, and Dorgon entered the Ning Haijun Camp with 300 personal guards. When they came to a large tent of the Chinese Army, they suddenly felt as warm as spring.
This large tent is different from the cowhide tents they built as slaves. It is actually pieced together from RVs. It is about one foot and eight feet high. It is not very tall, but it is three feet off the ground. It is difficult for the cold air to get in. There is boiling water inside. Although the cold wind howls outside, the stove is as warm as spring inside, but there is no smoke from the charcoal fire.
What makes Daishan feel most incredible is that there are actually wine and food in the big table. The wine and food are not light but very rich. There are eight hot dishes and eight cold dishes, eight meat and eight vegetables, but they are all delicious and delicious. Just looking at them will make you drool.
The wine was mixed with potato wine. It was mellow and strong, and it suited Yue Tuo's appetite. This guy didn't even have time to look at Zhou Ning's face. After sitting down, he picked up the bowl and chopsticks and threw away his cheeks to eat wildly, leaving a mess on the cup and plate. .
Zhang Yu looked at his former rival and was speechless: "Have you never eaten anything?"
"It's been four months!"
Daishan explained: "It's been four months and I haven't had such a sumptuous meal!"
Although Daishan has not been crowned king now, the problem is that he is now a powerful person second only to Huang Taiji. Even he lives such a miserable life, not to mention how miserable ordinary people are.
While eating, a guard came over in a panic and reported to Yue Tuohui: "Master, Master, no... it's not good, Ye Chen is dead!"
Yue Tuo was shocked and said: "Dead? How did he die!"
"He ate so much rice and meat that he was stuffed to death!"
The veins on Yue Tuo's forehead bulged one by one. He wanted to scold him, but he didn't know how. What an evil thing. A warrior as strong as an ox actually died on the dinner table. Damn it! Ye Chen is his sixth Niulu Ezhen, six feet three inches tall and as strong as an ox.
However, the strong man who originally weighed more than 200 kilograms has lost weight to less than 160 kilograms due to lack of food. Even the armor looks like a robe.
Zhou Ning said slightly apologetically: "Baylor, I'm really sorry. It's my fault. I didn't tell you to control the food supply!"
Yue Tuo smiled bitterly: "General Zhou, this has nothing to do with you. It's because that idiot is too greedy... Actually, we can't blame him. We haven't had a full meal in recent years. Suddenly seeing so many delicious things, he How can you control your mouth?"
Yue Tuo waved his hand and asked someone to find a place to bury Ye Chen. Don't bother him with such nonsense.
Zhou Ning discovered that the predicament encountered by Jiannu was more serious than he imagined. In fact, Shenyang City still had food, and it was not small, with more than 100,000 shi. However, there was only so much food left in the entire Jin Kingdom. There are hundreds of tribes affected by severe snowstorms. Once these grains are divided, nothing will be left.
Since then, negotiations have become much simpler.
After Daishan was full, he patted his belly and said, "I'm so full. Thank you General Zhou for the hospitality! Let's get down to business now?"
"Easy to say, easy to say!"
Zhou Ning looked at Daishan and the others and said, "Are you really in such a difficult situation now?"
"After our autumn harvest, we don't have much food at all. We can't even eat those skinny livestock. Many herdsmen have gone to the point of exchanging their children for food. You can't imagine this kind of embarrassment."
Daishan smiled bitterly and said: "We are willing to talk and make peace, but how to make peace needs to be made clear. We are not lambs to be slaughtered. If we cannot be satisfied, we still have more than one million people. Instead of starving to death here, a madman who is starving to death, he might as well try his best, and even if he dies, he must be a starved man!"
When they heard the words "Change a child and eat it", both Zhou Ning and Chang Yu couldn't help but feel slightly moved. I don’t know how many times these four words appear in history books, "Changing children to eat, breaking bones to make food." These eight short words, but their cruelty has exceeded the limit of everyone’s psychological endurance, making people uncomfortable. Have the heart to read and think about it.
No matter which party this happens to, it is worthy of sympathy, because you are a human being first, and secondly a person from which country. As long as you are a human being, there is no way to completely wipe out your own conscience!
What's more, in today's Ming Dynasty, it is not uncommon for people to change their sons and eat them. Zhou Ning, Chang Yu, and Zhao Wencai have all witnessed it.
"I deeply sympathize with your department's difficulties and am willing to help you, but..."
Daishan was shocked: "But what?"
"But after all, Liaonan has been ravaged by war and is in dilapidated condition. It has just recovered a little bit of strength, and I'm afraid there won't be much food available. Besides, Liaonan has also suffered greatly from this snow disaster!"
Dai Shan's heart sank and he said anxiously: "We Jurchen men also know what is good and what is good. If you help us, we will do our best to repay you and we will not let you suffer!"
Daishan knelt down again: "Please, please save us!"
Zhou Ning felt helpless and said to Dai Shan: "Speak carefully if you have something to say, don't kneel down all the time... It's definitely not possible to give you food for free. After working hard for more than half a year, we have just enough food to eat, how can we give it to you for free?" ?But we can open a border market and you can exchange things for us!"
Dorgon was overjoyed: "Really!?"
Then he became extremely frustrated: "Even if you are willing to reopen the border market, I'm afraid we won't be able to get anything to exchange for it. Now we have nothing!"
Zhou Ning smiled: "Yes, you have something we urgently need!"
"Really? What is that?"
"Horse, your horse!"
Dorgon felt a heartache: "We...we only have less than 100,000 horses left!"
"You have less than 100,000 war horses left. So, where are the draft horses? Where are the camels?"
"You want draft horses and camels?" In Daishan's impression, the Ming Dynasty's only purpose of opening border markets was to obtain war horses. As for draft horses, there were many in the pass and there was no need for them at all.
"Farming is inseparable from plows and harrows, and plows and harrows are inseparable from large livestock. The journey to sell cattle from the pass is too long and expensive, and cattle are also needed in the pass, so I hope you can bring a group of draft horses and The camels come in exchange for food, and we each get what we need, you get life-saving food, and we get enough animal power.”
After bargaining, the two parties reached a deal at the price of two dan of grain per draft horse. At the same time, there were also frozen horses and cattle that could be traded at prices ranging from one shi of grain to eight buckets of grain per horse. Also includes frozen sheep.
Finally returning to the topic, Zhou Ning said: "Now that I have said that, I will say it directly. We have three demands. The first one is to unconditionally release the captured Ming soldiers and civilians. Your Fan Wencheng said that you have more than 200,000 people in your hands." , this is the first article, allowing you to keep the property and food of these more than 200,000 people, which can be delivered now. To compensate each of them, we can give you the same weight of potatoes or sweet potatoes!"
Just when Yue Tuo was about to speak, Daishan waved his hand.
Yue Tuo had to shut up, because Huang Taiji let Daishan take the lead this time, and Dorgon and him were just cooperating.
"The second point is that you Jurchen warriors launched an attack on the Mongols who attacked the Great Wall defense line, and exchanged the Mongolian heads with us for food. The tentative standard is that each Mongolian head will be exchanged for one hundred kilograms of food. It is speculated that, There are more than 400,000 Mobei Mongolians going south this time, which means that as long as you kill these Mongols, you can get no less than 40 million kilograms of grain."
"The third point is to hand over the traitors of the Han Army Banner. This is the list..."
Human nature is actually like a female prostitute. Even if she is reluctant the first time, after taking off her clothes, it will be much easier the second time. It is just a matter of the price.
Daishan had no time to delay, because every moment, there were people starving to death in Shenyang City. What they wanted to bargain with was how much food they could exchange for the captured soldiers and civilians of the Ming Dynasty. This time Mobei Mongolia went south, it was not just the Qing Dynasty. Strong, old, weak, sick and disabled, as well as children, women and children, can these people be exchanged for food?
Zhou Ning was not fooled. Jian Nu incorporated the sixteen tribes and forty-nine tribes of Monan Mongolia. These Mongolians numbered five to six million people. Now, hundreds of thousands of them have died due to the snow disaster. If they could exchange it for food, they could even immediately cut off hundreds of thousands of heads and give them to Ning Haijun.
Zhou Ning and Daishan and others discussed repeatedly and finally decided that children under three feet would not be counted, nor would women, children, old and weak, only young and strong. Of course, Daishan could not pass off inferior quality. If the heads of old, weak, women and children were taken, In exchange for grain, if found once, 10,000 catties of grain will be deducted.
Of course, even if they can't exchange for food, the old and weak people in Mobei Mongolia won't be able to survive, and Jiannu has no food to feed them.
…
Henan, Ruzhou, Tianxiong Army Camp.
In May of the eighth year of Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng succeeded Tang Hui and served as the right deputy censor of the capital and governor of Huguang. He garrisoned Xiangfan to intercept the peasant army. As the peasant army grew in strength, the imperial court established the "Premier of the Five Provinces" in August, with Lu Xiangsheng concurrently serving as the envoy to oversee the military affairs of the five provinces of Nanzhili, Henan, Shandong, Sichuan, and Huguang. Hong Chengchou, the governor of Shaanxi Province, was also responsible for the encirclement and suppression campaign. The peasant army in the northwest, Lu Xiangsheng, was responsible for encircling and suppressing the peasant army in the southeast.
In November, Lu Xiangsheng took advantage of the fact that the peasant army of Li Zicheng and Gao Yingxiang was about to invade Xianling from Nanyang, and rushed for reinforcements. Lu Xiangsheng led 5,000 troops and pursued them to Ruzhou, where the peasant army was located. He ordered his lieutenants Li Chongzhen, Lei Shisheng, Zhou Yuanru and others. They joined forces to suppress the army and fought from morning to midnight. The outcome was still undecided. Lu Xiangsheng sent Zhu Wenjin, Chen Qimei and others from the capital to reward the soldiers with dried glutinous rice. The soldiers gained strength again and defeated the peasant army at noon the next day, beheading thousands of people. , captured Zi Laihu, Yonghu, Gongshanhu, Zhang Xin'er, etc. alive, seized twelve cannons and countless other equipment, and the peasant army fled to the southeast of Lushan.
Just when Lu Xiangsheng was preparing to pursue the remnants of Li Zicheng, cabinet minister Wu Zongda suddenly arrived in Ruzhou. Lu Xiangsheng did not know what medicine Wu Zongda was selling in the gourd, but he entertained Wu Zongda with good wine and food.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Wu Zongda took out a copy of "Liaodong Times" and placed it in front of Lu Xiangsheng. Lu Xiangsheng took a look and took it in. It's just a pity that Lu Xiangsheng's performance was not as expected by Wu Zongda. Instead, he watched it over and over again with great interest.
In front of Lu Xiangsheng, he had read the article that could be called a treasonous article over and over again several times, and his reaction was thought-provoking.
Any scholar would be furious after reading this article, baring his teeth and shouting angrily. The worst he could do was to get up in arms and curse, but Lu Xiangsheng did not react. After reading it several times, he calmly put down the newspaper. Pick up the tea cup and drink tea.
This made Wu Zongda one hundred and twenty unhappy. His mood was like that of some women who went out for a date in later generations. They finally met a man with excellent manners and pleasing words and deeds. However, they had a very pleasant conversation, but after dinner, the man was lukewarm and cold. .
This made the woman very unhappy. I came all the way to Ruzhou and am missing this meal from you? Do you need your cup of tea?
Wu Zongda's current expression was somewhat resentful. He knew clearly that whoever spoke first would be passive, but he couldn't help it and asked with a hint of anger: "Jiandou, you can still sit still?"
Lu Xiangsheng looked calm: "Jiandou doesn't understand what Mr. Wu means."
Wu Zongda snorted angrily: "The snowstorm across the whole north is overwhelming, and countless people are wailing in despair and complaining. This is because Your Majesty favors and trusts the sycophant. The gods are angry and send such natural disasters to alert the Ming Dynasty!"
Wu Zongda's voice got louder as he spoke: "All knowledgeable people can't bear to see the lives of people in ruins, and they have written letters to implore Your Majesty to punish themselves and punish the sycophants in order to seek forgiveness from God. This is a matter of course! And in order to save his life... "
Even if Wu Zongda said that the sycophant was Cheng Shijie, he was still afraid that Lu Xiangsheng wouldn't understand what he was referring to, so he pointed to Cheng Shijie's name in the newspaper and said: "That sycophant... is so crazy that he actually threw out such a demonic letter, confusing right and wrong, and making monstrous words. He deceived the public and tried to subvert the laws of heaven. Now the whole country is outraged. People all over the world are asking your majesty to take down this crazy man and cut him into pieces to quell the public anger!"
Lu Xiang raised his eyes and looked at his nose, and his nose looked at his heart, unmoved.
Wu Zongda pointed at Lu Xiangsheng and said: "You, you, Lu Jiandou, as a marquis of the Ming Dynasty and a high-ranking official in the border areas, is deeply favored by the emperor. It is right for him to stand up and plead for the people. Why are you indifferent? Jiandou, you really let me down. !”
Lu Xiangsheng sighed, put down his tea cup, cupped his hand to Wu Zongda, and said, "Master Wu, calm down. Although there are some inappropriate things in Hai Guogong's article, there are some things that cannot be ignored."
"oh!"
Wu Zongda sneered: "That sycophant is reasonable now?"
"Master Wu, you see, for example, from the twenty-eighth year of Wanli to the present, more than thirty years have passed, and disasters have occurred frequently. Shenzong, Xizong, and the current emperor have all issued edicts on sinners many times, and the traitors have also been executed. There have been a lot of disasters, but natural disasters have become more and more severe year by year. Why is this? Looking back at history, every time there is a natural disaster, which emperor did not fearfully issue an edict and sincerely regret it? But the natural disaster still refuses to obey. No mercy..."
Lu Xiangsheng noticed that Wu Zongda's face was getting darker and darker, so he stopped talking and sighed: "I'm afraid there is something wrong with the theory that we have believed in for thousands of years. The theory proposed by Hai Guogong is not It makes no sense…”
boom!
Before Xiang Sheng could finish speaking, Wu Zongda was so angry that he slapped the table with his palm so hard that the tea cup jumped. His eyes were blazing, he stood up and pointed his halberd at Lu Xiangsheng, roaring angrily: "Lu Jiandou, you...you actually believe his lies!? Do you know what you are talking about!?"
Lu Xiangsheng said calmly: "Jiandou naturally knows."
Wu Zongda let out a loud roar: "That thief is deceiving the public with his evil words and subverting the laws of heaven. His crimes are so heinous that everyone must punish him! You actually agree with his fallacies. Do you also want to become a sinner through the ages like him!?"
Lu Xiangsheng said: "Master Wu, Ming Dynasty has never been punished for words. Everyone has the right to speak. It is really inappropriate to put a big hat on the other party when encountering different opinions!"
PS: Thank God, the call finally came. Beijing released floods and flooded Zhuozhou. There was water everywhere and a cry. God bless Hebei. The next chapter may be late. Lao Cheng doesn’t know when the power will go out or when he needs to evacuate.
(End of chapter)
