"Yes, yes, yes, the Duke taught me a lesson, and my nephew has learned a lesson."
Uncle An Xiang got up from his house and admitted his mistakes again and again.
"Okay, sit down. Sit tighter this time so you don't fall down."
The British Duke Zhang Weixian was too lazy to teach him a lesson. Nowadays, most of the nobles in Jingnan are like An Xiangbo, or even worse. At least An Xiangbo still has the courage to go to Yuquan Mountain, which is occupied by rebels. .
Uncle Anxiang carefully returned to his seat, this time sitting with his buttocks a little longer.
"Have you considered it? Let's go to Yuquan Mountain again." British Duke Zhang Weixian asked again.
Hearing this, Uncle An Xiang trembled and said hesitantly: "Even Wang Jue is not willing to accept the tiger thief. Even if my nephew goes again, it will be of no use."
From the bottom of his heart, he was afraid of Yuquan Mountain.
In his opinion, all rebels are capricious people. If they come back alive this time, who knows if they will come back alive next time.
"This time you go to Yuquan Mountain not to represent the imperial court, nor to issue orders to the rebels." British Duke Zhang Weixian stared at Uncle An Xiang's face.
Hearing this, Uncle An Xiang looked surprised and asked puzzledly: "Since I'm not going to Zhao'an, why did my nephew go to Yuquan Mountain?"
"Seeking a way out for us nobles." British Duke Zhang Weixian said word by word.
Upon hearing this, Uncle An Xiang's expression suddenly changed.
He stammered: "Guo, duke, you want it!"
He didn't say the next few words, but the panic on his face already revealed what he meant.
The British Duke Zhang Weixian knew what he was thinking, and immediately shook his head and said: "How can I, a noble nobleman of the Ming Dynasty, take refuge in a rebel like the tiger thief?"
Hearing this, Uncle An Xiang breathed a sigh of relief.
If even a Duke of England like the Duke of England wants to surrender to the tiger-character flag, then the Ming Dynasty is really hopeless, and there is no need to defend the capital. You must know that the Duke of England has always been the head of the nobles, and most of the nobles in the capital camp are Follow the British Duke's orders.
"I have also gotten to know this tiger thief in the past few years. He is not on the same path as us. If he surrenders to them, we, the family fortune accumulated by our ancestors, will not be able to keep it. Even if we have a turban, we can join him. Only nobles like us can No." British Duke Zhang Weixian said.
Uncle Anxiang said: "Since you know all this, Lord, why do you still arrange for my nephew to go to Yuquan Mountain? Even if my nephew goes to Yuquan Mountain, those tiger thieves will not let us go because of my nephew."
The wealth of the nobles was accumulated by their ancestors from generation to generation. He did not think that the Tiger Banner Army would let go of the wealth in the hands of these nobles after taking over the capital.
"Of course you can't go empty-handed, but if you exchange benefits with the tiger thieves, you may not be able to achieve your goal." British Duke Zhang Weixian said.
Hearing this, Uncle An Xiang became more and more puzzled. He said, "My lord, what interests do you think you can use to make the tiger thieves let go of noble families like us?"
For a moment, he really couldn't think of any reason for the people of the Tiger Character Banner to let go of these nobles who had retired from the country.
"Capital Master." British Duke Zhang Weixian raised a finger and pointed to the sky.
As soon as these words came out, Uncle An Xiang was stunned, and a layer of cold sweat immediately appeared on his back.
The first thought in my mind was whether I would be killed by the British public after hearing such treacherous words.
"My lord, do you want to dedicate the city?" Uncle Anxiang confirmed to the British lord.
British Duke Zhang Weixian said: "Under the current situation, do you think the capital can still be defended? Even if it can be defended temporarily, the canal is blocked, the Dagukou is lost, and there is still no news from Shanhaiguan. I'm afraid something has happened. , in such a situation, is it still necessary to defend a capital?"
After several questions, Uncle An Xiang remained silent.
The situation in the capital was no longer optimistic.
Even if there hadn't been the three-pronged attack by the tiger-character banner army, people in the capital have been panicked since Shandong was lost. The price of food has been rising day by day, and all kinds of chaos in the capital have increased significantly. Dongcheng is a little better. Over in the outer city, carloads of corpses are transported out every day.
"Use the capital in exchange for a way of survival for our nobles. Uncle Anxiang has been to Yuquan Mountain and has seen tiger thieves. This important task will be handed over to you. If it is done, your prestige among the nobles will be as high as Marquis Dingyuan, his future title may not be unmentionable." British Duke Zhang Weixian said.
Uncle An Xiang hesitated for a moment and said, "Is this matter the intention of the Duke alone, or is it the intention of others?"
"What do you think?" British Duke Zhang Weixian did not answer directly, but asked a question.
Uncle An Xiang was stunned for a moment, and then he smiled bitterly.
That's right, how could the British Duke decide such a big thing on his own? Without the consent of other distinguished nobles, this matter would not be possible at all.
Only then did he realize that if he hadn't been required to go to Yuquan Mountain, I'm afraid he wouldn't have known that people like the British Duke had thought of sacrificing the capital in exchange for peace on the day the capital fell.
"Does Your Majesty know?" Uncle An Xiang asked curiously.
The British Duke Zhang Weixian frowned and said, "How can I tell His Majesty about this kind of thing? Your Majesty is still waiting for the King's troops from all over the country to come and save the capital."
"What will your Majesty do if the capital falls?" asked Uncle An Xiang.
The British Duke Zhang Weixian hesitated for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty is the emperor, and he will be blessed by God. I think he will definitely turn misfortunes into good fortune."
Uncle Anxiang understood that he wanted to give up on the emperor.
It's right to think about it. Your Majesty sacrificed the capital. If the emperor knew about it, people like the British Duke would definitely not end well and would definitely be liquidated.
Everyone else can live, but His Majesty needs to live and die with the capital.
"Once the capital falls into the hands of tiger thieves, how can we ensure that the tiger thieves will abide by their agreement and will not liquidate us in the future?" asked Uncle An Xiang.
Even the capital and the emperor were sacrificed. He wanted to know how people like the British Duke could ensure the survival of these people. After all, no matter how good the agreement was, it could only guarantee temporary safety.
British Duke Zhang Weixian said: "Of course we can no longer stay in the capital. We can go to live in Nanjing. As early as after the fall of Shandong, many of those in turbans fled to Nanzhili. Although we are nobles, we have gone Nanjing is also a noble of the Ming Dynasty. It just happens that the whole north is handed over to the tiger thieves and let them fight against the slave thieves in Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty can also reduce its burden and may not be able to regain it one day in the future."
Uncle Anxiang looked thoughtful.
Going to Nanjing may not be a solution.
In those days, the Ming Dynasty had two capitals just to deal with the situation today, and when they arrived in Nanjing, they, the Jingnan nobles, would stick together to keep each other warm and ensure the titles of each family. Even if they were temporarily in an unfamiliar place, they only needed to run the business for one or two generations. , may not be able to regain its original power.
