Huang Taiji was in a very good mood this time, not only did he gain the upper hand in the battle for the remnants of the Khalkha with Lin Dan Khan of the Han Dynasty, but the remaining troops also repelled the Dongjiang Army squad sent by Mao Wenlong to harass him many times, and the only fly in the ointment that made him feel that he could not completely eliminate any of the men and horses in the south or north, so that he had to take care of both ends and could not let go. After receiving the letter sent by the Ming army, Huang Taiji immediately agreed to send someone to negotiate, and his negotiator was designated as his elder brother Daishan or younger brother Dolgon, anyway, whoever was slaughtered by the Ming army would only be happy and not distressed. The latest free chapters of the book can be found here.

In the end, it was Dolgon who became the negotiator, because he understood the truth of seeking wealth and danger, and also understood that obedience under the coercion of power was the way to protect himself. Although Dolgon was young, he was not vigorous, he knew that the current Ming army and the Jurchens did not fight at least on the surface, and everyone needed temporary peace, not to mention that he had just turned fourteen years old and ate fifteen years old, and he couldn't do anything to make it difficult for him. For Dolgon's spirit of not being afraid of hardship and death at a young age, the emperor greatly appreciated it, and promised to promote him to the title of Baylor as long as he successfully completed the task.

Huang Taiji didn't know why the Ming Dynasty court would negotiate with him at this time, and he also knew that there would be no substantial progress in this negotiation, but in any case, it would be too child's play to send a doll with no hair to negotiate, so he thought about it and sent a deputy to assist Dolgon, this deputy was a Han scholar named Fan Wencheng. Fan Wencheng has a very famous ancestor named Fan Zhongyan, Fan Zhongyan's 'first worries of the world, and then the joy of the world. This idea has been admired by loyal ministers of all generations, but in Fan Wencheng's generation, it has become 'good birds choose trees to perch on, and virtuous ministers choose their masters.' He was good at speculation and took the initiative to take refuge in the Jurchens very early.

After Fan Wencheng sold himself to the Jurchens, he came up with a lot of ideas to betray the country and betray his ancestors, and made great contributions to the Jurchens consolidating the rule of Liaodong, but he was very low-key, because he knew that the Jurchens were just using themselves and did not appreciate their own treason, and the Ming Dynasty would not be able to go back, if they annoyed the Jurchens because they were too public, then there was no way out. Fan Wencheng's low-key is very suitable for a person's spleen and stomach, this person is not Huang Taiji who first ascended the throne of Khan, nor is he a daishan who pushes the throne to give up the country, but Dolgon, who is also in Taoguang.

Dolgon's mother Abahai is Nurhachi's favorite concubine, after Nurhachi died, Abahai was executed by Huang Taiji and others who felt threatened, Dolgon knew this but was indifferent, because he knew that he and his brother were still too weak, and now they could only make a difference when they were strong enough to make a difference‖ and the same kind of psychology made Dolgon have a limited friendship with Fan Wencheng, and Huang Taiji sent Fan Wencheng to assist Dolgon to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty also knew this, I believe that these two people who have tacit cooperation may bring back the true intentions of the Ming Dynasty, and he now needs to stabilize the Ming Dynasty so that he can free up his hands to kill the disobedient Mongols.

Dolgon and Fan Wencheng led 500 men to Ningyuan City in mid-December, where they met with the Ming negotiators, Zhu Changhao, the king of Rui, and the Marquis of Yushi, who had arrived a few days earlier. After everyone met, they first praised each other and then arranged to stay and rest, originally Dolgon and others were going to live outside the city, although the city of the Ming army was strong, but there were too many uncertain factors, and living outside the city could make people feel at ease. Hou Sui felt that it was not a way of hospitality to let others live in the ice and snow on a cold day, so he discussed with Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Liaodong, and decided to vacate ten sections of Yuezi Guancheng between Ningyuan City and Ningyuan Pass to house the Jurchens.

Early the next morning, Fan Wencheng got up early and came to the arrow tower to climb high and look into the distance, although there was no snow in the past two days, but because of the cold weather, there was some frost on the walls everywhere. Looking at the towering Ningyuan Pass in the north and the majestic Ningyuan City in the south, and then looking at the Yuezi Pass City that was lined up one by one and divided into countless sections, Fan Wencheng fell into deep thought↓ When he was thinking alone, Dolgon's voice came from behind him: "What is Mr. Fan looking at early in the morning?" ”

Fan Wencheng was startled, turned around and saw Dolgon with a smile on his face, nodded and said: "Ezhen got up so early, I am looking at the layout of the Ming army, you can see if there are any loopholes in the Ming army's arrangement." ”

Dolgon said: "When we entered Ningyuan Pass yesterday, we had already seen the dangers inside and outside the pass, and I was thinking that unless we dug up the mountains on both sides, we would not be able to attack it head-on. When I got up, I also saw the solidity of Ningyuan City, and only by besieging such a fortified city can it work, otherwise even if it is captured, it will pay a very big price. It's just that the place we live in is a little weird, what is it that doesn't look like a city or a city? ”

Fan Wencheng said: "After thinking about it for a long time, I found that this place can be both garrisoned and inhabited, and it is both a barracks and a fortress. ”

Dolgon wondered: "Mr. Fan's statement makes me feel a little reasonable, this strip of houses is surrounded by a round umbrella shape, which seems to be full of loopholes but is actually extremely stable. Those from outside the city could easily enter from between the two side by side walls, but the narrow road could only be lengthened, which gave the defenders on the walls a chance to shoot and kill. The place where we are now should be the archery tower, and the low houses below are inhabited by people who are on guard and fighting, and it is indeed suitable for defense. ”

Fan Wencheng pointed to the wall section by section below and said: "You see, the soldiers and their families who defend live here, and the soldiers will definitely fight to the end in order to protect their families, and the arrangement of this section by section also prevents a situation where the entire line is defeated." In such a situation, even if the attacker struggles to attack the next quarter, there is still a second and third quarters, which is equivalent to the usual horizontal siege of the city to a vertical destruction, and its difficulty is not ordinarily high. If the Ming army put two more small cannons on the head of the city, the casualties of the besieging side would be too great to bear. ”

Dolgon thought for a while and said: "If I come to attack the city, I will not be so stupid to dig from the head of the city section by section, I will let the cavalry rush through the gap through the gap and go straight to the center of the city. ”

Fan Wencheng shook his head and said, "It's not that simple, do you see a few big holes in the ground outside?" It is estimated that the stone pile is placed, and the defenders can choose to place the stone pile as soon as the real war begins, and the army outside can pass the horse, but the army inside can advance and retreat freely, Daishan Da Baylor should have suffered a loss ♀ in this strange city at that time, connecting Ningyuan Pass and Ningyuan City, so that the attacker can't do it if he wants to encircle and besiege it, don't you say? ”

Dolgon said: "Although the Ming army can make the defense very strong by doing this, it also shows that they are not aggressive, they always want to trap themselves first, thinking that this is the only way to be safe and secure, but in fact this only shows that they are timid." Ning Yuan is not happy that we can go from somewhere else, and one day the Ming army will find that it is in vain to repair such things here. ”

Fan Wencheng nodded and said, "You're right, as long as you defeat the Mongols, where can't you enter the Great Wall thousands of miles to the north?" I really don't know what these Mongols have been doing for more than two hundred years, and Temujin and Kublai Khan should really be ashamed of these descendants. ”

The two were reminiscing about the past and sighing, when someone came to report that the army had sent someone to say hello, saying that they would go to the square inside to negotiate after dinner. After Dolgon and Fan Wencheng finished breakfast, they led people all the way to the Yuezi Pass City, looking at the potholes on the ground along the road and the section by section of the wall, Dolgon asked Fan Wencheng: "Mr. Fan, what do you explain that the army is taking us here?" Aren't you afraid we'll see their defensive set-up? ”

Fan Wencheng thought for a while and said: "They don't arrange negotiations in Ningyuan City, they may be really afraid that what we see is in the city, and they are confident that we won't be able to attack this place." ”

After a while, the two of them came to the central square of Yuezi Guancheng, and saw that in the center was a one-person high platform, and there were several houses built on the high platform, which was used for negotiations. Surrounding these houses is a large area of flat land, on which you can see the traces of countless horses' hooves, and it seems that this is either a place of training or a place of transfer of troops.

The two of them let the hundred people who followed them stay outside, and only brought a few personal guards and recording personnel into the room, and just went up the steps when they saw a welcoming person coming to greet them, and when they entered the room, they saw a large table set up inside, and there were four chairs on each side of the table, which seemed to be for the people who negotiated on both sides. There are several large chairs against the wall, two of which sit on top of two people in their thirties, who are the negotiators of the Ming Dynasty, Rui Wang Zhu Changhao and Yushi Hou Sui, seeing Dolgon and Fan Wencheng coming in, both of them got up to greet each other, and the greeter stepped forward to introduce each other.

After everyone sat down, Zhu Changhao, the king of Rui, said first: "This king also said that the two of us are in our thirties, who knows that you two are even younger, especially this Dolgon Taiji is only fourteen years old, it can be said that he has been a hero since ancient times!" After speaking, he nodded and smiled.

Fan Wencheng said: "King Rui doesn't know that Dolgon Taiji was the previous title, and now it has been named Heshuo Ezhen. ”

King Rui said: "It doesn't matter, as long as you are willing to say what he is, anyway, you don't need a reward from the Ming Dynasty, you can say that he is Prince Heshuo." ”

Fan Wencheng rolled his eyes and asked: "So King Rui can be the master, and it is okay for Daming and Dajin to become brothers?" ”

King Rui said: "When the king came to negotiate, the emperor personally told me that there is no precondition for this negotiation, and the two sides can talk as much as they want, anyway, the result of the negotiation will be taken back for discussion, so there is no need to mention too high conditions, because it is also in vain." ”