When Hong Shiming spent six days gritting his teeth and drove 1,200 miles from Dawu Mountain to Huai'an, he was almost exhausted. If it hadn't been for several Goshiha sent by Sun Sike to lift him off the horse, he would not have been able to get off the horse himself.
But at this point, he still didn't dare to slack off even a little bit. After entering Huai'an City, he went straight to Emperor Kangxi's residence.
This is not because of how diligent he is, but because he no longer knows whose slave he is? He doesn't even know if he is still a slave?
Although he rebelled under orders in Jiangning City, he rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and surrendered to Zhou Dynasty. But Wu Sangui, an old fox, not only didn't fall into the trap, he didn't even give Hong Shiming an official position!
Hong Shiming rebelled in Jiangning... Although he rebelled under orders, he was still a rebel! Since he rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, he was definitely no longer an official of the Qing Dynasty. And Wu Sangui didn't grant him an official title, so wouldn't he be "without an official position, he would be light-hearted"?
Well, he has been an official for more than 20 years and is used to it. Suddenly he "lost his official position" and became a commoner... What's going on?
Moreover, he is still a poor man!
All his properties in Fujian were confiscated by Zheng Jing! He had not had time to bring out the money he had embezzled while serving as governor of Jiangning. And his property in Beijing... was probably recovered by the Qing court.
In other words, he is now not only unemployed, but also propertyless.
If he doesn't work harder now and try to get his official position back in the Qing Dynasty, then he will really have trouble living in the future... He might even have to beg for food!
This is truly an insult to our ancestors! And he doesn’t know how to beg for food!
When he thought that he might not even be able to survive, Hong Shiming was eager to see Kangxi, and he didn't think that Taichang Temple Shaoqing was being left out.
He really wants to be on the bench now!
Thinking of his beloved cold bench, Hong Shiming met the furious Emperor Kangxi while traveling in Huai'an.
"Hong Shiming? You...why aren't you dead yet?"
The questions raised by Emperor Kangxi as soon as they met made Hong Shiming feel that something was wrong.
"Slave..."
When Hong Shiming didn't know how to answer, Kangxi spoke again: "How did you create your rebellion? I clearly asked you to lead Jiangnan Province to join Wu Sangui, but the eleven prefectures and one state in Jiangnan Province failed to do so. A false Ming Dynasty? Even the inner city of Jiangning has a false Ming Dynasty!"
It turned out that during the days when Hong Shiming was traveling between Jiangning - Dawu Mountain - Huai'an, Zhu Heji's Northern Expedition army also made rapid progress.
When the army arrives, it just looks for the wind and descends!
Even if there were a few guards who wanted to put up a little resistance, they were all tied up and sent to Zhu Heji.
Now south of the Yangtze River, the only ones that are definitely still in the hands of the Qing Dynasty are the Purple Mountain Fortress and Jiangning Outer City under the control of the Jiangnan Camp. Zhu Heji has not yet arrived in Jiangning, and his army has just arrived in Zhenjiang.
Another important Qing stronghold south of the Yangtze River, Anqing Nancheng, was defeated by Prime Minister Zhuge's army a few days ago!
Faced with this overwhelming defeat, Kangxi could only blame the "rebellious" Zu Zepu and Hong Shiming.
So after Emperor Kangxi learned that the Ming army's "rocket boats" entered the Yangtze River from the Grand Canal and launched a rocket bombardment on the Qing army's naval camp in Guazhoubu. He immediately issued an order to Sun Sike of Jiangnan Camp, asking him to behead the two rebels Zu Zepu and Hong Shiming in public.
This is a clear edict!
This edict was sent out just the afternoon before yesterday. I don’t know if it has been sent to Jiangning now?
So Emperor Kangxi was surprised when he learned that Hong Shiming had arrived - was this too efficient?
But when Kangxi saw Hong Shiming's head, he realized that the head was attached to the body!
That's why Kangxi asked such a question when they first met.
"Slave, I don't know that the unruly people in Jiangning City are so bad, and I don't know that the servants of my ancestral family are all cheating... This slave deserves death! Master, please punish me!"
Hong Shiming is still asking for forgiveness!
When Kangxi heard his plea, he knew that he had not yet seen the clear edict to kill him.
"By the way," Kangxi thought of something again at this time, "Where have you been these days? And where did you come from?"
It turns out that Sun Sike did not report to Kangxi that Hong Shiming went to Wu Sangui... This matter is not easy to report, and it seems that Sun Sike secretly communicated with Wu Sangui.
So Kangxi didn't know about this.
"I went to Wu Sangui's place," Hong Shiming replied truthfully, "Now I am here to see the emperor on Wu Sangui's order."
Oh, that can’t be killed!
Kangxi said in his heart: "When the two countries are at war, why not kill the envoy!"
"What did Wu Sangui ask you to say?" Kangxi's expression immediately softened, "Are you going to join forces with me to deal with Fake Ming?"
Until now, Kangxi has not realized that Wu Sangui and Zhu Heji are almost in danger, so he is still thinking of joining forces with Wu Sangui to defeat Zhu Heji!
"No, it's not..." Hong Shiming said tremblingly, "Wu Sangui saw through our plan!"
"Did you see through it?"
Kangxi thought to himself: "By the way, Wu Sangui has the world's best military strategist Yang Qilong next to him! Zhou Peigong's strategy cannot fool him! What a miscalculation!"
"Then what does he want?" Kangxi asked again with a livid face.
"Wu Sangui is going on the Northern Expedition!" Hong Shiming said, "He has ordered Wu Yingqi and Wu Shicong to lead an army of 100,000, and will soon leave Xiangyang and march north to Henan..."
"What?" Kangxi suddenly stood up from the throne, clenched his two fists together, and his eyes were filled with anger, "If he wants to fight, why did he send you here?"
Hong Shiming said with a sad face: "He, he sent his slaves to see the emperor to persuade him to follow Yuan Shunzong's example..."
"Damn!" Kangxi was furious, "I still have half of the country and hundreds of thousands of troops. He only sent out a mere 100,000 people. Do you think he will win?"
"That's not true," Hong Shiming shook his head, "Your Majesty, Wu Sangui said that if the 100,000 troops he sent were defeated, Zhu Heji would send another 100,000 troops to the Northern Expedition... Then you can use the troops you just defeated After finishing the Wu family army, the exhausted troops go to fight Zhu Heji, and I am afraid that even Yuan Shunzong will not be able to do it properly."
Wu Sangui's move was also very powerful, and he brought Zhu Heji together to scare Kangxi. If Kangxi had been less courageous, he might have been scared away.
But how could Kangxi take advantage of him!
"He..." Emperor Kangxi stamped his feet, "He has Zhu Heji as an ally, and I also have a Manchu-Mongolian alliance! My Mongolian warriors knew that the Qing Dynasty was in trouble, so they came forward to ask for a fight. Prince Chahar and Boer Ni also said that he has summoned five thousand Mongolian warriors and is just waiting for my order!"
"Your Majesty," Hong Shiming said, "I also learned from Wu Sangui that the Fifth Great Lama sent envoys to him and also sent Qinghai Yellow Sheep!"
Kangxi was a little dumbfounded now. If what Hong Shiming said is true, then the person who colluded with Wu Sangui was not the fifth great lama, but Dal Khan of the Kashote Khanate - because Qinghai, where Qinghai yellow sheep are produced, is a Mongolian native of Kashote Khanate. A nomadic place.
The great lama sent Qinghai specialties to Wu Sangui. There is a profound meaning in this!
Seeing Kangxi standing there stupidly, Hong Shiming didn't know what to say. It seems inappropriate to talk about official matters now, right?
But I don’t want to be an official...how will I live in the future?
At this moment, Emperor Kangxi suddenly spoke, with a firm tone without any intention of compromise, "Hong Shiming, go back and tell Wu Sangui that I am the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the Enhe of Mongolia, Amgulang Khan! Not only do my subordinates There are Heavenly Soldiers of the Eight Banners, Mongolian warriors, and soldiers of all ethnic groups inside and outside the Great Wall. I have no less than a million armored men...not to mention his 100,000 rebels, even if he comes with Zhu Heji, I'm not afraid either.
Not only will I not retreat outside the pass, but I will also wipe out him and Zhu Heji one by one, so that the world will return to the unification of the Qing Dynasty! You tell him to wait for my heavenly soldiers! "
"This slave takes the order!" Hong Shiming saw that Kangxi looked like he wanted to eat people, so he didn't dare to ask for an official position, so he had to take Kangxi's order and continue to run errands as a messenger.
