Gao Hongtu had nothing to say when he saw Qu Shichun.
Turning around, he looked at Qian Qianyi again and said: "Mr. Ge, the reason why I hope that Mr. Ge can support the peace talks is because the Ming Dynasty needs time to develop a strong army so that it can have the strength to go north without itself. How can our strong army compete with the Qing army on the battlefield in the future?"
"Zi Yu, you didn't support an alliance with the Qing Dynasty before, so why do you want to have peace talks with the Tiger Character Banner this time?" Qian Qianyi asked Gao Hongtu.
Gao Hongtu said: "Xiaoguan supports the alliance with the Qing Dynasty because the Ming Dynasty has no choice. It does not form an alliance with the Qing Dynasty. Ming Dynasty alone cannot resist the tiger-character banner army that may move south at any time. Now that it has a choice, it can help It is extremely important for Ming Dynasty to gain more time to reorganize its armaments."
"It's really so serious that we need to reorganize our armaments." Qian Qianyi frowned.
The army is in the hands of military generals. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he does not want an army that is too powerful to appear in the Ming army. Because the army is too powerful, the military department of the court will be difficult to control and the generals will be out of control.
Gao Hongtu said: "This must be done, unless the Ming Dynasty wants to stay in a corner and give up a few provinces in the north. But even if the Ming Dynasty does not send troops to the north, it is impossible for the Tiger Character Banner to not send troops to the south. No one will give up on unifying the world. Chance."
Qian Qianyi frowned.
He would indeed be a little worried if the Tiger-Character Banner army went south.
In his mind, it would be best if this situation were maintained. The north would be handed over to the Tiger Flag, and the Tiger Flag would fight the Qing army, while the Ming Dynasty would stay in the south and watch on the sidelines.
"You can train troops, but the important thing is whose hands are in control of the troops!" Qu Shichen said.
Gao Hongtu said: "In order to train troops, the new army must be directly controlled by the Ministry of War, but the choice of the new army's leader is also crucial, and a suitable person is needed."
The two men talked about the issue of the new army.
At this time, Qian Qianyi said: "The matter of the new army is not decided by the Ministry of War. It requires the consent of several auxiliary ministers. The top priority now is to determine whether there will be peace or war between the Ming Dynasty and the Tiger Flag."
If the peace talks are successful, there will naturally be no need to use weapons. Choosing to form an alliance with the Qing Dynasty is tantamount to choosing to go to war with the Tiger Flag.
"I hope that we can have peace talks." Gao Hongtu said, "The only thing that can threaten the Ming Dynasty is the Tiger-Character Banner. As long as we have peace talks with the Tiger-Character Banner, we can buy more time for the Ming Dynasty, which is most beneficial to the current Ming Dynasty. "
Qu Shishu said: "If the teacher supports the peace talks, it will damage the teacher's reputation, and may even attract more people to Shi Xianzhi's side."
Gao Hongtu opened his mouth and finally sighed.
The peace talks were beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, and even to Qian Qianyi, the chief minister of the cabinet, but Qian Qianyi was the one who publicly declared in the court that he wanted to expedition to the north to welcome back the emperor.
Suddenly choosing peace talks at this time will turn Qian Qianyi into a capricious villain in the eyes of others, which will be extremely harmful to the Donglin Party members who value reputation.
This will make some Donglin Party members who originally supported Qian Qianyi choose to defect to Shi Kefa.
"Currently, the people from the Tiger Character Banner have just arrived in Nandu. It is hard to say whether the peace talks can go smoothly. Let's take a look at the situation before making a decision. Wei Guogong and others still have a fight with Eunuch Yang." Qian Qianyi decided not to get involved in the peace talks. initiative.
He decides which side has a greater chance of success, and then decides which side to fall to. He can even vigorously oppose the peace talks after the peace talks are successful. In this way, not only will his reputation not be damaged, but his reputation may also increase.
Gao Hongtu stopped trying to persuade him this time.
Although the peace talks may give Ming Dynasty the opportunity to train a new army, Qian Qianyi's presence in office will be of greatest help to him. His ability to join the cabinet in the future will depend on Qian Qianyi's efforts.
If Qian Qianyi fails, he doesn't know how many years he will have to wait to join the cabinet, or even have no chance of joining the cabinet in his lifetime.
The Duke's Mansion of the State of Wei.
Duke Guo of Wei invited all the lords in Nanjing City.
Among them, the seats of three auxiliary ministers are placed at the top.
The three princes have not arrived yet, but other marquises and counts have filled all the seats in the room except for the three princes.
"Have one." Hou Ning handed a cigarette to Marquis Linhuai beside him.
The Marquis of Linhuai took the cigarette, put it under his nose, smelled it, and said, "Sent from the north?"
"The only cigarettes sent from the north are good for smoking. In my workshop, the cigarettes taste bad no matter how you smoke them. I don't know how the tiger thieves made the cigarettes. As a result, the cigarettes made in my workshop cannot be sold. ." Hou Ning said, lighting a cigarette for Marquis Linhuai.
The Marquis of Linhuai took a deep breath, exhaled the smoke slowly from his mouth, and said: "If your workshop is so desperate for money, it will make less money and ensure that the cigarettes produced are not much worse than those of Tiger Thief."
"Who can do business that doesn't make money?" Hou Ning curled his lips disapprovingly.
Marquis Ningyang, who was not far away, smiled and said to Marquis Linhuai: "Don't worry about whether the cigarettes in Marquis Funing's house can be sold. As long as Marquis Funing gives the order, the tiger thief's cigarettes will not be able to enter Nanjing. At that time, those who wanted to smoke could only smoke cigarettes made in the workshop of Marquis Ning’s home, and money continued to pour into their pockets."
"Haha, what Marquis Ningyang said made me, the Nanjing garrison, regard the garrison in the city as my own private soldiers." Marquis Funing laughed and handed over a cigarette.
Marquis Ningyang waved his hand towards him, refused to roll cigarettes, took out his cigarette pot, and said: "I am used to using this, and I am not used to smoking cigarettes."
As he spoke, he twisted some tobacco from his purse and stuffed it into the pipe pot.
Several people were talking and laughing, and soon the room was filled with smoke and a fairy atmosphere.
These people are all lords of Nanjing City. Their families have no shortage of property, and naturally they have no shortage of money. Several generations of their families have spent their lives eating, drinking, and having fun, and they also lived the same way after inheriting the title.
They are frequent visitors to Qinhuai River, and women who smoke, drink, and drink have long been with them.
"Hey, are you going to burn down my father-in-law's house?"
As the words fell, Wei Guogong, Cheng Guogong, and Ding Guogong walked in from outside the house.
People in the room stood up to greet him.
The Duke of Wei walked to the empty seat in the middle and sat down, while the other two Dukes sat on his left and right.
"Open the windows and let in the smell." Wei Guogong ordered his servants to open the windows and doors.
When the others saw this, they pinched out all the cigarettes in their hands.
"Gonggong, please call all the people here. Do you have anything to say?" Hou Ning looked at Wei Guogong and said.
Everyone else in the room also looked at Wei Guogong at this time.
The lords of Nandu have always been headed by the Duke of Wei. Even if there are any frictions between the various families, it has never changed that the Duke of Wei is the leader.
