scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 216 A New Page

"I don't want to talk too much nonsense! I originally planned to make some concessions, but based on the attitude and sincerity shown by your imperial mission, I decided not to give in a single step!"

"It's not that this king is unreasonable, it's that you are shameless and despicable first!"

"Within three months from the signing of the peace agreement, the ransom of 450 million taels of silver for military pay and 350 million shi of grain must be delivered to the king as promised!"

The rest must be paid off within one year!Before the 500 million taels of silver and 500 million shi are paid off, don't even think about this king releasing a prisoner of war! "

"By the way, don't think that this old man is really afraid to kill the prisoners! I'm getting anxious, don't even think that any of your bannermen prisoners of war will go home alive!"

"You are responsible for all the consequences! This king has done his utmost to be benevolent and magnanimous! It is you, shameless first——!"

Amidst the hysterical roar of old traitor Wu, Wang Xu, Ye Bilong and other envoys of the Qing Dynasty left the temporary camp in desperation, and left Wuchang City, escorting Xiong Cilu, who was almost crippled by the Wu army soldiers, and the disgraced Returning to Hanyang City on the north bank of the Yangtze River, he used six hundred miles to speed up his horse and report to Xiao Mazi who was far away in the capital about the dismal outcome of the second negotiation.On the same day, the Wu army once again started to show off its strength at the Yangtze River Fort, firing hundreds of artillery shells to sink two Miqing warships.

The distance from the capital city of Mite Qing is quite far, so let’s not talk about the reaction for now. On Wu Jun’s side alone, while driving away the Mite Qing mission, there are eleven former old Wus who appeared on Wu Yingqi’s list. The traitor's confidantes were all temporarily deprived of all rights by the old traitor Wu, and sent to prison to wait for questioning, and the bribe money they received from Xiong Cilu was also used by the old traitor Wu on the suggestion of Hu Guozhu, Fatty Lu and Wang Shirong. The reward was given to Wu Yingqi who had a rare discovery of conscience.

At the same time, several important civil and military officials of the Wu army who were publicly exposed by Wu Yingqi for accepting bribes from Xiong Cilu also suffered bad luck. All the civilian officials were dismissed from their official posts and went home to study behind closed doors. Quan, the direct line army was broken up by the anger of the old traitor Wu, and half of it was reorganized and distributed to several important cronies who had shown loyalty in this matter. The direct line army directly under Fatty Lu also reached a giant of eight thousand ! ——Don't underestimate this number. The total strength of the old traitor Wu is only about 20. Fatty Lu, who has just been under the command of the old traitor Wu for five years, can get such a big piece of cake in the star-studded Pingxi Palace , is already quite difficult.

Fatty Lu would not want the old traitor Wu's trust and army in vain. On the same day, he put forward a proposal to write the original text of the peace treaty between Wu Jun and the Qing army, as well as Xiong Cilu's actions in Wuchang City, and print it as a leaflet. , Distributed through various channels, and written as a plain text memorial, published through the official post of the Qing court, so that everyone in the world can take a look at what Xiao Mazi's favorite ministers have done, shameless deeds!In a rage, the old traitor Wu agreed without hesitation, and followed suit!

The big problem was finally kicked back to Kang Mazi's side.And when things have come to this point, even the most stupid people can see that the old traitor Wu has been completely irritated by the Qing court, and the more than 3000 million taels of silver and 500 million shi army rations requested by the truce for the time being are not so much compensation Giving the old traitor Wu the military salary and food for the old thief Oboi is more like demanding ransom for more than 5 mite soldiers and more than 2 mite people!Even if Kang Mazi pays as promised, it is a foregone conclusion that the war between the Wu army and the Qing army will resume in the future!

By the way, if the Qing court tore up the peace treaty and broke its promise, then the Qing court would not only lose 2 elite troops and more than [-] Eight Banners parasites that the Qing court relied on as the foundation of its rule, but also the Qing court and Kang Mazi Prestige, authority, reputation and credibility!Can such a loss be tolerated by Kang Mazi who just overthrew Oboi and took power for the first time and lost all face?

"Useless trash! Idiot! Shameless, incompetent, and useless! Extremely trash! My famous name in my life has been implicated by you, a dog slave!"

After watching the hysterical roar of the pseudo-dragon case for a long time, Kang Mazi, who couldn't get rid of his anger, picked up Wang Xu's six-hundred-mile express report, threw it heavily on the ground, and shouted: "The decree, the six-hundred-mile rush to Wang Xu." Xu, tell him not to bring Xiong Cilu back, and just tell Xiong Cilu to go back to his hometown in Nanchang, and never use it again!"

"Master...forgive me for being bold." Suo'etu kowtowed and said tremblingly: "The slave thinks that the punishment of Xiong Cilu seems inappropriate."

"Why, do you think I punished him too severely?" Kang Mazi knew that Suo'etu and Xiong Cilu had a close friendship, and also said that Suo'etu was planning to intercede with Xiong Cilu, so he couldn't help but squint and ask angrily.

"The master misunderstood, the slave would never dare to mean that." Suo'etu was taken aback, and hurriedly kowtowed and said, "The slave just wants to say that if you just drive Xiong Cilu back to his original place and never use it, it is tantamount to acquiescing." Xiong Cilu's bribery of Wu thief's running dog was ordered by his master, so the slave felt that for the sake of his master's face and prestige, Xiong Cilu should be dealt with more severely! It is best to let everyone in the world know that bribing Wu thief's running dog This matter was done by Xiong Cilu behind his master's back, and the master didn't know about it beforehand."

It is notorious that the emperor likes to offend his subordinates. Although Suo'etu's act of betraying a close friend is shameful, Kang Mazi was very moved when he heard it, but he still had some hesitation, hesitatingly said: "The words are not bad. , but as the Son of Heaven, I have entrusted my ministers to let them take responsibility, isn't it a bit..."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I believe that this action is definitely not the emperor's entrusting his ministers." Zhang Ying, Kang Mazi's new minister of the upper study, knelt out, kowtowed and said: "As a minister, it is only natural to sacrifice one's life to protect the master. Back then in Xingyang If Ji Xin hadn’t pretended to be Han Gaozu Liu Bang and went out of the city to feign surrender, how could Gaozu have defeated Xiang Yu in the next battle and established the 400-year foundation of the Han Dynasty?”

"Now the emperor is forced by the situation to imitate the sages and bribe the important ministers of the bandit army. He was accidentally exposed, and the authority of the emperor was shaken. Xiong Ci, as a minister, should stand up and stand up for the Lord. I believe that even if the emperor does not do this In order to be loyal to the king, Xiong Cilu must volunteer to take responsibility on his own initiative, the emperor is wise, how can he stop his subordinates from being loyal and filial?"

"Aiqing's words are reasonable, and I can't let down Xiong Aiqing's painstaking efforts." Kang Mazi nodded at once when he had a step to go down, and said: "Zhang Ying draws up an order, Xiong Cilu steals from the master, and secretly bribes the Pingxi prince's mansion Minister, you have greatly damaged the face of the Heavenly Court and should be executed, but considering his loyalty is commendable, he pardoned the death penalty, and Wang Xu escorted Xiong Cilu back to the capital and handed it over to the Ministry of Punishment for deliberation."

"My minister complies with the decree." Zhang Ying kowtowed in agreement, and hurriedly got up to draw up the decree.But Zhang Ying just stood halfway, and Kang Mazi casually ordered: "Re-draft the decree, since Zhang Ying, the servant of the South Study, has been loyal, diligent and prudent with me, and talents are rare, he will be awarded a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the eldest son Zhang Tingzan and the second son Zhang Tingyu , and secretly attacked the third-class chariot captain."

Zhang Ying was overjoyed, but her face turned pale with shock, she quickly kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, I don't have any achievements of any size, I really dare not accept the decree." Over there, Suo'etu, Mingzhu and Nanshufang attended Gaoshi Qi and the others were also very jealous, and they all envied Zhang Ying's quick climb up.

"If I don't have no one to use, how can I make this decree cheap for you?" Kang Mazi snorted coldly in his heart, and then shouted: "I have made up my mind, and Ai Qing must not refuse." Zhang Ying had no choice but to kowtow to thank her .

The scandal of bribing important officials of the Wu army was barely concealed—with Xiong Cilu's cleverness and character, even if he had a hundred courage, he would not dare to call for injustice at the Ministry of Punishment and push the responsibility back on Kang Mazi.However, a more thorny and difficult problem was put before Kang Mazi, that is, whether to fulfill the peace agreement and send the money and food to the traitor Wu according to the agreement?After hesitating and hesitating for a long time, Kang Mazi finally asked Suo'etu, the current chief assistant of the imperial court, "Suo'etu, how are you doing with the errands that make Bei Le, Prince of Beijing, and wealthy businessmen all over the country happy to lose money and food? How much did you get on?"

"Master, although the servant has tried his best, the situation is still not optimistic." Suo'etu replied dejectedly: "During this period of time, the princes, princes, and civil and military officials in the capital have only lost less than 60 taels of silver. Over there is the number from six days ago, only 2 million taels."

"Why is it so small? There are so many princes and princes in Beijing, how can they be happy to lose such a small amount of money?" Kang Mazi was shocked, and the last hope in his heart was completely shattered.

"Back to the master, they are reluctant to take out the silver, and the slave is really powerless." Suo'etu replied with a mournful face: "Among the kings in Beijing, only Prince An's mansion sold some enclosures and collected 1 taels of silver to lose. The other princes and kings only paid 2000 taels or 3000 taels, and only Duoluo County King Eza donated 5000 taels. Most of the civil and military officials did the same, and the most donated were slaves and Ming Zhongtang. The slaves sold Ama Some of the jewelry left behind made up 2 taels."

"A group of dog slaves, don't even understand the truth that if the skin doesn't exist, how can it be attached?" Kang Mazi scolded angrily, then gave Suo'etu a sneaky look, secretly scolding the dog slaves for wanting to deceive me?I sold the jewels left by Sony's old servants to make up 2 taels, do you think I really don't know?Just the respect given to your family by officials from other places is 100 taels per person-this is not counting the respect for entering the second door!

After thinking about it for a long time with a pockmarked face, Kang Mazi asked again: "Then tell me, can we get together 450 million taels of silver and 350 million shi of grain before the fourth day of the first lunar month?"

"If you count the silver deposits in the internal treasury, and add in the income from donating officials that the master decreed to rebuild the Qing army in the second half of the year, it may be barely enough." Suo'etu said tremblingly: "Even if it is still a little short, There won’t be a lot of them, so there should be some hope of getting them all together. However, the master’s plan to expand the army and prepare for war has no money to carry out, and if there are any big expenses during the period, the treasury and the internal treasury can’t bear it either.”

Kang Mazi's pockmarked face was even more ugly, he gritted his scorched teeth and remained silent.On the contrary, Mingzhu, a representative of Kang Mazi's think tank, climbed out, kneeled in front of Kang Mazi, kowtowed and said, "Master, according to the slave's opinion, this money and food must never be given! If it is given, my Qing Dynasty's plan to rebuild the army will definitely come to an end." Stranded, the old thief Wu Sangui can use this money to further expand his military power, when the enemy is getting stronger and our Qing army is getting weaker, and the old thief Wu Sangui suddenly attacks again, how will the court resist?"

Kang Mazi's yellow teeth almost bit his lips, but he still refused to say a word, and he regretted that he didn't listen to the old witch of Xiaozhuang's earnest advice. It's almost a foregone conclusion, and even the hope of temporarily stabilizing the old traitor Wu by paying tribute coins is very slim.

"Master, this slave knows that you are a mouse-thrower, and is worried about the safety of the soldiers of the Eight Banners captured by the Wu thief." Mingzhu kowtowed and said solemnly: "But the situation is critical now. If the master fulfills the contract, then our Qing court will also lose the reconstruction of the army. The power of self-preservation, so the slaves think that for the sake of the future generations of the Qing Dynasty, they can only be wronged. Besides, the old thief Wu Sangui may not really dare to slaughter these prisoners."

"I can break my promise to the world." Kang Mazi asked with a hoarse voice, "But no matter who disregards the responsibility of the captured bannermen and soldiers, who will bear it? Do you Mingzhu have the courage to submit this memorial in the morning to ask me Abandon these bannerman prisoners of war and start a new war with the old thief Wu Sangui? If you dare, I will approve it at the court."

Mingzhu didn't dare to speak anymore, and at the same time offended the entire Qing ruling class, no matter how courageous Mingzhu was, she didn't dare to do it.Kang Mazi waited for a long time, and seeing that Mingzhu still hadn't spoken, he smiled bitterly: "Slave, you don't have the guts, do you? But I don't blame you, don't say you have the guts, even I wouldn't dare to recite such a sentence." Responsibility! Oh——!"

After a long sigh, Kang Mazi sat down weakly, and ordered weakly: "There is still some time now, six hundred miles to send an urgent message to Wang Xu, ordering him to negotiate with the old thief Wu Sangui again, and tell the old thief Wu Sangui that I have already agreed. Before the fourth day of the first lunar month, pay [-]% of the promised military pay, but after Wu Sangui receives the [-]%, he must immediately release all the captured bannermen."

"In addition." Kang Mazi added in a voice so low that he could hardly hear him: "Put the money and food that are going to be paid on board and send them to Hanyang under the escort of Tong Guogang. In addition, increase the donation of officials and issue an order Let the officials contribute their ideas and efforts to see if there is any way to solve the current money and food crisis..."

………………

After Wu Jun advanced to the Yangtze River defense line of the Qing court, the biggest benefit for the Qing court was that it was much more convenient and quick to communicate with the front line. Kang Mazi's imperial decree was expedited day and night through six hundred miles, and it took only seven days. It was sent to Hanyang City and handed over to Wang Xu.After listening to the imperial decree, Wang Xu cried loudly, and then crossed the river again to negotiate and report the situation to old traitor Wu.

This time, Fatty Lu never showed mercy to Wang Xu's subordinates again. In front of Wang Xu, Fatty Lu directly proposed a countermeasure to the old traitor Wu—since Kang Mazi only paid [-]% in advance within three months, then Wu Jun will pay [-]% in advance. After receiving [-]% of the money and food, only [-]% of the prisoners of war will be released, and when the remaining [-]% will be paid by the Qing court, when will the Wu army be released!As for the [-]% who will be released first, it will be determined by drawing lots for the prisoners of war!The traitor Wu, who had no trust in Kang Mazi, was overjoyed when he heard it, applauded and immediately approved.Wang Xu was helpless, so he had no choice but to write down the old traitor Wu's reply as a memorial, and sent someone to the capital to ask for instructions.

Fatty Lu, the former beloved minister, was so ruthless and vicious that it was useless for Kang Mazi to yell at him, but fortunately, Wu Jun did not completely insist on paying all the military salaries before releasing the prisoners of war, and he also made quite a few concessions.Kang Mazi had no choice but to agree to Wu Jun's conditions with tears of humiliation, and ordered Tong Guogang to transport the money and food to Wuchang before the fourth day of the first lunar month, and hand over the money and the people!
On the third day of the first lunar month in the 12th year of Kang Mazi in the Tartar Qing Dynasty, the truce negotiations between the Qing court and the Pingxi Palace finally reached a truce. Back to the Qicheng Bannerman prisoners of war who were captured by the Wu army.Although the three most important captives of the Qing court, Jie Shu, Le Erjin and Shang Kexi, were extremely lucky to be able to be released early, Tong Guogang was surprised and extremely angry that none of these prisoners of war had a right-hand man. thumb!
"Prince Pingxi, what do you mean?" At the handover scene, Tong Guogang yelled at Old Man Wu and asked, "Why are their thumbs gone?"

"I can't help it. I really can't blame the king for this." The old man Wu spread his hands and said helplessly: "Who told your captives to riot several times, killing the guards of the king, and killing ordinary people and soldiers on the way to escape?" Raping the women of the people, and I don't want to bear the bad name of killing prisoners, so I had to chop off their right thumbs as punishment."

"Father-in-law, please forgive my son-in-law for correcting me." Hu Guozhu added with a smile: "A large part of the right thumbs of these prisoners of war were cut off on the battlefield, and a large part was because they harassed the people and were beaten by the people. The fierce Yunnan and Guizhou people chopped it down, but we really didn’t cut it down, but there were not many.”

"Sophistry!" Tong Guogang said angrily: "You are breaking your promise and getting rich. When they surrendered to you, didn't you promise to guarantee their personal safety?"

"My king guaranteed their personal safety." The old man Wu said with a treacherous smile, "If Master Tong doesn't believe you, you can go to the prisoner-of-war camp and ask if this king killed a prisoner at will? Even those who participated in the riot and killed the guards The captives, this king is also merciful and did not take their lives, what do you want this king to do?"

"Even if there is a prisoner-of-war riot and the guards are killed, it is impossible for all the prisoners of war to participate in the riot?" Tong Guogang shouted with red eyes, "No, stop the handover immediately. I want to report to the emperor, please do it."

"No problem." Hu Guozhu agreed without hesitation, and said with a smile: "Master Tong is an imperial envoy, passing the decree on behalf of the heavens. Since Mr. Tong requests to stop the handover immediately, as long as Mr. Tong is willing to bear all the consequences caused by it, then we will naturally respect Mr. Tong." However, for the prisoners of your army, I would like to trouble Master Tong to explain."

Tong Guogang was dumbfounded, and looked at the densely packed Bannerman prisoners of war who boarded the boat one by one on the distant pier, and couldn't help shivering - he would run to these fifty thousand prisoners of war and said that he didn't want to take them home now, and waited to invite them again Then the [-] prisoners of war who managed to get out of the sea of ​​suffering can drown themselves on the spot without using their hands.There are also other consequences caused by this. Once Kang Mazi pursues it, the achievements of the Tong family who have sold their country and sold pants for nearly a hundred years will be destroyed in their own hands!

"If you don't have a thumb, you don't have a thumb! If you don't have a thumb, you can still draw a bow and set an arrow, and cut people with a knife. There will be opportunities to settle this blood debt in the future!" Tong Guogang thought to himself, gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, and said nothing.
"Master Tong, if you have no other opinions, how about we continue with the delivery?" Old Traitor Wu asked with a treacherous smile.Seeing that Tong Guogang lowered his head and refused to speak, the old man Wu smiled triumphantly, and ordered: "Pass down this Wang Jun's decree and continue the delivery."

"Kang Xiaomazi, just wait." The old traitor Wu also swore in his heart, "I will never forget the revenge of killing my son. With this military salary, the remaining [-]% doesn't matter if you give it or not. Years from now, this old man will raise the banner again and settle this blood debt with you!"

"My lord, Master Tong, something is wrong!" Just at this time, a new incident happened. A Qing army messenger rushed over and knelt down on one knee and said: "Yu Zhongtang, he just took poison when he got on the warship. Suicide!"

Tong Guogang's body was shaken, his face was ashen and he refused to speak, while the old traitor Wu sighed, and ordered: "Guozhu, send someone to prepare three sacrifices, and go to the memorial hall in Ye Zhongtang. If there is no coffin on board, give Ye Zhongtang sent the best coffin in Wuchang City. Anyway, he is also an old friend of the king, so he cannot be wronged."

"Young son-in-law obeys." Hu Guozhu agreed, and reminded: "Father-in-law, you have an old friend who is leaving too. Does father-in-law plan to meet him and see him off?"

"You mean Prince Pingnan, right?" Old Man Wu smiled treacherously, and said, "No need, he and your father-in-law have been at loggerheads for the rest of their lives. If your father-in-law goes to send him off, not only will he not appreciate it, but he might even feel even more ashamed ——So, the old man has already sent your niece and son-in-law to see him off."

"Yifeng to send him off?" Hu Guozhu laughed dumbfounded, and said, "I'm afraid that Prince Pingnan will feel even more ashamed if Yifeng sends him off?"

Before the words fell, the old man Shang’s crazy roar came from the pier, even if it was two or three miles away, he could hear clearly, "Get out! I don’t have a son-in-law like you! Get out! One day, I will do it myself Chop you up, you bastard! Chop it up! Destroy your bones! Ling Chi Wan...!"

Shouting here, the roar of old traitor Shang suddenly stopped, and after a while, another rider rushed over and reported: "Reporting to the lord, the lord Pingnan vomited blood and passed out."

"Immediately send a doctor to rescue him." The old man Wu laughed treacherously, "He is the last old friend of this old man in the Qing court. If there are any troubles, this king will be lonely! Hahahaha——!"

Amidst the wild laughter of the traitorous old man Wu, group after group of Miqing prisoners of war boarded the boat and sailed to the north bank of the Yangtze River where the wind and snow were blowing, box after box of real gold and silver and bags of The rice and wheat were lifted out of the boat and piled up in the open area guarded by Wu Jun's soldiers, gradually piled up into mountains and converged into the sea.

Every soldier of the Wu army and every commoner in the Southwest are beaming, because they know that they can rest assured and have a good life this year.Every Qing army soldier and Qing army civilian husband is downcast, because they know that this year's life is difficult for them, and whether they can have a full meal in the army is probably a big problem.

The snow cleared and the clouds parted, and the winter sun shone on Fatty Lu's face. The red light on his fat face with a happy smile seemed brighter than the sun.Fatty Lu uttered a vulgar and nonsensical sentence, "The wheel of history has finally turned to a different track and turned a new page."

(End of this chapter)