"Orthodox?" Yang Jiachen frowned. He grew up on the grassland and had no deep feelings about the so-called orthodoxy. He also never thought that these two words had anything to do with each other. He had always seen the king with strong soldiers and horses.
Seeing that he didn't understand, Hong Chengchou said: "Although the Ming Dynasty lost several northern provinces and the slave chief Taiji of Liaodong also ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, the Ming Dynasty is still regarded as orthodox by most scholars in the world. This is not only because the Ming Dynasty ruled for the longest time, but also because the country of the Ming Dynasty was taken from the hands of the Tartars."
"Is orthodoxy really that important?" Yang Jiachen asked puzzledly. Hong Chengchou thought for a while and said: "How important it is, in fact, it is not that important. After all, our Tiger Character Banner does not expect those scholars to open their eyes, but the officials here in the Ming Dynasty are different. They have lost half of their country, and now they are not that important." The only word left that can be used is orthodoxy."
"To put it bluntly, it's still not of much use." Yang Jiachen said disapprovingly. After hearing this, Hong Chengchou shook his head and said: "No, we must not underestimate the power of orthodoxy. These two words are not a big threat to us, because the Tiger Character Flag is taking the lowest route and has obtained It is also the lowest level of the people's hearts, and the people's hearts of the Ming Dynasty are in the official gentry. Although it is not a big threat to us, if it is used on the Qing Dynasty, there will be a lot of benefits."
"Not necessarily! According to what you said, the Ming Dynasty should not have suffered so many defeats in Liaodong. How could it be like now, with the entire Liaodong falling into the hands of slave thieves." Yang Jiachen thought that Hong Chengchou was exaggerating.
Hong Chengchou wrinkled his nose and said: "The Ming Dynasty has long lost the support of the people in Liaodong. The reason why the Ming army was still able to rely on the Ningjin defense line was more because of the support of the generals in Liaodong and the local officials and gentry for their own benefit. Later, the old slaves massacred the Han people in Liaodong, causing the remaining Han people to dare not take refuge there, which allowed the Ming army to persist in Liaodong for a few more years." Yang Jiachen nodded as if he understood.
Qian Shisheng angrily came out of the courtyard where the envoys of the Tiger Character Banner lived, got on the sedan and returned directly to the government office.
After meeting the official of the Ministry of Rites and telling the story of meeting the envoy of the Tiger-Character Banner, he left the official office and went to Shi Kefa's house.
As a member of the Donglin Party, he was not close to Qian Qianyi. Even though Qian Qianyi had become the Assistant Minister, the only ones who were really close to him were Shi Kefa and others.
Qian Shisheng's meeting with the envoy of the Tiger-Character Banner attracted a lot of attention, as did Shi Kefa and others. After letting Menzi report, Qian Shisheng was taken to Shi Kefa's study.
At this time, some people had gathered in the room. Most of these people are censors of the Duchayuan, and among them, three of the six departments are responsible for the affairs.
"I'm sorry, you're here." As soon as Qian Shisheng entered the study, he was immediately greeted and sat on the upper seat, sitting side by side with Shi Kefa.
As the Minister of Rites, Qian Shisheng's next step was to join the cabinet. Moreover, he was a top scholar and had stayed in the Hanlin Academy for many years. His qualifications were sufficient, and he only had one chance left.
After the servant filled tea for Qian Shisheng, he left the room.
"This time you went to see Hong Hengjiu. What was the result?" Shi Kefa asked Qian Shisheng curiously.
Hearing this, Qian Shisheng said with an ugly face: "Huh, forget it. Hong Hengjiu is determined to go all the way with the tiger thief. I'm afraid it's impossible to win him over."
"It's a pity, this man still has some abilities, otherwise the tiger thieves would not let him be the governor of Shandong." Chen Yuting said with a look of regret.
He admired Hong Chengchou more. I feel that Hong Chengchou is an official who is good at practical matters, and the key is that he is also capable. The Ming Dynasty is very lacking in such officials. If he can join him, it will be very beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.
More importantly, if Hong Chengchou can return to the Ming Dynasty, it will make many former Ming officials under the Tiger Character Banner turn to the Ming Dynasty again.
Even if these officials don't come back immediately, lurking in the Tiger Flag will be a good thing for Ming Dynasty.
"I don't feel any regret at all." Shi Kefa said,
"This person is a snake and a mouse. Even if he turns to the Ming Dynasty again, he is not worthy of trust. For such a person, it is already good not to liquidate him." His words immediately attracted the support of many people.
When Chen Yuting saw this, he couldn't say anything more. Shi Kefa raised his hand to silence the others, and turned to Qian Shisheng and said, "Please tell me in detail how you met the tiger envoys this time. Did they agree to the conditions we proposed?" Zhao'an The tiger-character flag was a solution thought up by a group of civil servants.
Although they don't like rebels like the Tiger Flag, if they can call Zhaoan over, they can use the Tiger Flag to deal with the slave thieves in Liaodong, which will be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.
However, according to the thinking of Shi Kefa and others, it is impossible to give Liu Heng a prince, not even a county prince. They just want to give it to a marquis or earl casually, and the title will disappear in the future.
It's just that the nobles are willing to win over the tiger-character flag to a county prince. However, the prince's title is also a descended title, unlike the real feudal prince's title, which can always be passed down.
"Hong Hengjiu didn't like the title of the county king, so he rejected it directly." Qian Shisheng said angrily. In his opinion, the people of Tiger Character Banner were simply being ungrateful in rejecting Wang Jue.
Shi Kefa frowned when he heard that Wang Jue didn't even wait to win over the tiger character flag. He had the same idea as everyone else. Tiger Character Banner's rejection of the king's title was a lack of appreciation. For a rebel to obtain the title of king, it was already a gift from the Ming Dynasty.
"The tiger thieves have occupied several provinces. An ordinary county king will definitely not be able to get rid of them, let alone just give them an empty title and take away their military power." Chen Yuting said.
He had already encountered that Qian Shisheng's purpose of meeting the envoy of the Tiger-Character Banner was unlikely to succeed. If it were him, he would not hand over his military power just for an empty-headed prince with no real power. If the people of the Tiger Flag were really short-sighted and had accepted the recruitment many years ago, they would not wait until now.
"Master, are you speaking for the tiger thief?" Shi Kefa said with dissatisfaction,
"The imperial court is willing to give a king's title to a rebel. Isn't it a gift? Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, which rebel has had such an honor and been awarded a king's title." He was not targeting Chen Yuting.
But in his heart, the rebels should be exterminated directly. Now that the imperial court can agree to give a title to rebels like Hu Ziqi, it is the biggest concession for Ming Dynasty. In his opinion, these rebels are not worthy of appearing in the court with him as officials.
