Wei Guogong did not answer the call.
He was unwilling to welcome the Supreme Emperor back.
As long as the Supreme Emperor is not around, he, the auxiliary minister, can call the shots in the court. This is something that has never happened in the lineage of Wei Guogong. Once the Supreme Emperor is welcomed back, he knows very well that he, the auxiliary minister with all the power in the court, will be removed and re-established. Become an ordinary lord again.
Seeing that Wei Guogong was silent, Duke Cheng Guo on the side said directly: "The Supreme Emperor definitely wants to rescue him, but he must also do his best. It is difficult for the Ming army alone to be a match for the tiger thieves. I think it is better to practice in the past two years. Once a good army comes out, it will be much easier to launch the Northern Expedition with good soldiers to rescue the Supreme Emperor."
He, who is also a lord, faces the same problem as Wei Guogong.
He was even inferior to Wei Guogong in some aspects. At least Wei Guogong was always in Nanjing, and their Chengguogong Mansion was tricked from Beidu, but the Supreme Emperor was left in Beidu.
The Supreme Emperor was not very narrow-minded. He was afraid that if he welcomed the Supreme Emperor back, there would be no place for the Chengguo Palace to stand in the court.
"What if the elite soldiers you mentioned, Cheng Guo Gong, are not trained well and the army of tiger thieves goes south?" The great eunuch Yang Guorui looked at Cheng Guo Gong and asked.
Cheng Guogong said: "After the tiger bandits took the northern capital, they no longer sent troops to the south. These people were all bandits and were short-sighted. After they took the northern capital, they thought about glory and wealth. Maybe they never planned to use troops against the Ming Dynasty. .”
"The tiger thief is not necessarily short-sighted." The great eunuch Yang Guorui shook his head slightly and said immediately, "The news from the Jinyi Guards is that the tiger thief has started to recruit soldiers, and has won several battles against the Qing Dynasty, and has occupied More importantly, Liu Heng, the leader of the tiger thieves, only moved into the palace but never proclaimed himself emperor. This shows that his ambitions are not small and he is not an ordinary thieves leader who does not want to make progress. "
At this time, Qian Qianyi said: "The Northern Expedition to rescue the Supreme Emperor has already spread among the people, and everyone is shouting for the Northern Expedition. If the court never sends troops for the Northern Expedition, there is no guarantee that it will not make people inside and outside the court boil."
"No one said not to do the Northern Expedition, it's just that the court needs time." Wei Guogong said.
Qian Qianyi looked at Duke Wei and asked, "How long does it take Duke Wei?"
"At least it takes time to train an elite army." Wei Guogong said.
Qian Qianyi's face showed sarcasm when he heard this.
Previously, Duke Dingguo had suggested training an army that was good at using firearms according to the tiger-shaped flag, but everyone disagreed. Now he said that training an elite army would be a fool.
Just like Song Gaozong, he didn't want to welcome back the second sect.
"You can cooperate with the Qing Dynasty and train troops at the same time, and you can do both without delay." The great eunuch Yang Guorui said, "But if we miss the opportunity to cooperate with the Qing Dynasty this time, the Ming Dynasty will only have to face the tiger thieves in the future. Really When the tiger thieves come, who of you is sure to repel the tiger thieves? Who can take back the Ming Dynasty's lost territory from the tiger thieves?"
As he spoke, he looked at the three princes in front of him.
It was these three princes who opposed the Northern Expedition. Among them, Duke Wei and Duke Cheng were the most violent.
Faced with the question, Wei Guogong hesitated and said: "It's not that he is unwilling to support the Northern Expedition, but he is worried about the slaves and traitors in Liaodong. They are also enemies of the Ming Dynasty. If we form an alliance with them, what if these people have some bad intentions? What will happen to the Ming Dynasty?" It’s not like chasing away tigers and attracting hungry wolves.”
"Wei Guogong's worries are reasonable." said the eunuch Yang Guorui, "but the Qing Dynasty is the only partner in the Ming Dynasty that can cooperate with the tiger bandits so far. No matter what the other party's purpose is, if they want the Northern Expedition to succeed, they will need their help. If we only rely on Ming Dynasty himself, our family is not devaluing itself, and there is almost no hope of regaining the lost ground."
Seeing this, Wei Guogong knew that the alliance with the Qing Dynasty could not be stopped, so he said: "Since Eunuch Yang insists on forming an alliance with the Qing Dynasty, I will not stop it, but can Eunuch Yang guarantee that the Qing army is willing to help Ming regain the lost land in the north? ?”
"Wei Guogong can rest assured about this." The eunuch Yang Guorui said, "Mr. Qian Ge has already met with Fan Wencheng in private and discussed that the Qing Dynasty is willing to send troops to help the Ming Dynasty regain its lost territory."
Cheng Guogong on the side said: "The other party won't have to redeem the lost land of several provinces like Yanyun thirty-six states, and the Ming Dynasty will use money to redeem it!"
"No." The eunuch Yang Guorui said, "The other party doesn't want money, just to deal with tiger thieves."
After hearing this, Duke Cheng Guo snorted lightly and said, "I didn't expect that there would be such good things in the world, and it would fall on us. When did slaves and thieves become so easy to talk to? Why do I not believe it so much!"
"Yeah, I think it's impossible. How could the other party be so kind to help Ming." Wei Guogong also didn't believe that the Qing Dynasty, which had always been an enemy of Ming, would be kind enough to help Ming.
The chief eunuch Yang Guorui did not answer, but looked to Qian Qianyi aside, obviously asking Qian Qianyi to explain.
When Qian Qianyi noticed Yang Guorui's gaze over him, he guessed what he meant.
He also knew that he could not escape, so he said: "The Qing Dynasty only made one request. They want Shanhaiguan."
"Absolutely not."
As soon as Qian Qianyi finished speaking, Cheng Guogong immediately became serious.
The great eunuch Yang Guorui smiled at Duke Cheng Guorui and said: "It's just a Shanhaiguan. Compared with taking back several provinces in the north, the lack of a Shanhaiguan should be considered as compensation to the other party."
"Shanhaiguan is different from other places. If Shanhaiguan is lost, even if the northern provinces are recaptured, the northern capital will not be stable. The Qing army can enter the pass and surround the northern capital at any time." Cheng Guogong stared at Yang Guorui and said.
He didn't believe that Yang Guorui didn't know this.
After hearing this, the great eunuch Yang Guorui nodded in agreement and said: "Shanhaiguan is indeed important to Beidu, but after the Qing army enters the pass to deal with the tiger thieves, who can guarantee that Shanhaiguan will not fall into the hands of the Qing army? By then it won’t matter whether you give it or not. Once such an important place is occupied by the Qing army, do you think they will return it to the Ming Dynasty?”
No one said anything.
Because everyone knows that given the importance of Shanhaiguan, whoever occupies it will not hand it over easily, not to mention that the Qing army is the enemy of the Ming Dynasty.
"There is another reason why our family does not object to the cession of Shanhaiguan to the Qing Dynasty." The eunuch Yang Guorui glanced at several people, and finally fell on Wei Guogong. He said, "With the loss of Shanhaiguan, the northern capital will naturally lose its power. It is suitable to continue to be the capital of the Ming Dynasty, or at most its companion capital."
As soon as the words came out, the eyes of Wei Guogong and others all lit up.
The difference between the word "guodu" and "companion capital" really makes a huge difference.
The capital of the country is in Nanjing, so naturally the center of power must be in Nanjing. They, the officials of Nanjing, can reap the biggest political dividends.
