In the next few days, Zhou Ting was responsible for implementing the details of the agreement with the Qing court officials, and Wang Qiang was accompanied by the Qing court officials to visit all parts of the city.

On this day, Dolgon took advantage of Zhou Ting to come to the pavilion when he went out, and asked Wang Qiang to watch the Qing army drill, the two rode to the east of the city, in the center of the school field, nearly 20,000 Qing soldiers stood in a neat line, Dolgon accompanied Wang Qiang to sit on the viewing platform, the general who was responsible for directing the drill waved the flag, and the Qing soldiers knelt on one knee and shouted neatly: "Greetings to the marshal!" Greetings to Lord Wang! ”

Dolgon smiled and waved his hand, the general waved the order flag again, the war drums rumbled, the Qing soldiers began to practice, the playground suddenly dusty and smokey, Wang Qiang and Li Gang learned the formation, he carefully observed the actions of the Qing army. I saw that the soldiers of the Qing army followed the beat of the drum, interspersed and ran, acted quickly, divided and combined, advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, and practiced various formations, obviously well-trained. Wang Qiang was shocked, and said in his heart: "The strength of the Qing army cannot be underestimated, if this army was sent to fight in western Liaoning, I am afraid that the Ming army will not be an opponent at all." ”

Dolgon said to Wang Qiang, "Lord Wang, what do you think of the combat strength of this army? ”

"Well, well-trained, tough-hearted, really a mighty teacher!" Wang Qiang praised from the bottom of his heart.

"Hehe, but this army is the Liaoyang defenders who were beaten by you and fled." Dorgon said with a smile.

"Ahh Wang Qiang was stunned for a moment, he clearly remembered that the Ming army attacking Liaoyang said in the battle report: "The defenders of Liaoyang abandoned the city and fled because they were afraid of the Ming army, and the Ming army took advantage of the situation to pursue and annihilate nearly 10,000 enemies!" "If it was true that this army was guarding Liaoyang at that time, how could the Ming army be so easy to succeed? There can only be one reason: the Qing army took the initiative to abandon Liaoyang! even took the initiative to abandon the entire western Liaoning region, and his series of "victories" were simply picked for nothing! Wang Qiang frowned slightly, compared the situation and situation before and after the Battle of Jinzhou with an analysis, and suddenly felt that his scalp was numb, and his back was cold, before the Battle of Jinzhou, the Ming army and the Qing army in the northeast were basically in parity, and whoever wanted to defeat the other party had to pay a great price, but now, the Qing army has occupied an absolute advantage, defending such a vast area with the existing strength of the Ming army, and then it is impossible to "concentrate troops and hold on to the city", at present, the Qing army can wave its division south at any time and break the Ming army. Occupy a large area of territory outside the border. "Fooled!" Wang Qiang came to his senses, but then he was puzzled: "Why does Dolgon want to tell himself this?" ”

Wang Qiang pondered, and when he was distracted, Dolgon asked beside him, "What does Lord Wang think?" ”

"Oh? Oh! Wang Qiang pretended to be calm and smiled: "This, I'm thinking, your Emperor Taizong is really a wise lord, and he is eloquent!" You won the battle of Liaoxi. ”

Seeing that Wang Qiang understood Huang Taiji's strategic intentions, Dolgon couldn't help but smile and said: "Lord Wang is really smart, yes, in the battle of Liaoxi, although our army lost a large amount of land, it established an absolute military superiority. This is all due to the strategic deployment of my lord's lofty thoughts, there is a way for good ministers to choose the lord and serve, I can follow such a holy lord, it is really a blessing in this life, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has this holy lord, but also my people's luck. ”

Listening to Dolgon's heartfelt praise of Huang Taiji, Wang Qiang remembered his jealous and narrow-minded master, and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

After the parade, it was already noon, Dolgon took Wang Qiang to leave the school field, rode along a narrow street and alley, turned around three times, passed a few gates, Wang Qiang saw that there were Qing court guards on both sides of the road began to stand guard, and couldn't help asking: "Marshal, where are we going?" ”

Dolgon said mysteriously, "I'll take you to meet someone, and you'll be there in a moment." ”

The two walked a little further, dismounted at the gate of a moon, and the reins were taken by their attendants, and the two walked through a large garden, and came to a large house, where Dolgon knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Dorgon, the minister, has been ordered to invite Wang Qiang." ”

I heard a deep voice from one of the people in the door: "Oh! Invite Mr. Wang in. ”

"Yes." Dolgon got up, opened the cotton curtain, stretched out his hand, and said, "Mr. Wang, please come in, my Emperor Taizong is in the house." ”

Only then did Wang Qiang realize that he had arrived in the inner courtyard of the palace of the Qing court and was secretly arranged to meet the emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty. He stepped into the room, only to see Huang Taiji looking at a huge map on the north wall with his back to him, Huang Taiji turned around, and the two looked at each other. That Huang Taiji was in his fifties, not tall, with a dark face, a broad forehead, and deep eyes, as if he could see the depths of people's hearts at a glance.

Wang Qiang believed that he was an envoy of a country, and only waved at Huang Taiji, and said lightly: "Wang Qiang, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, see the emperor." ”

Huang Taiji didn't mind Wang Qiang's attitude, and said casually: "Hehe, Mr. Wang, please take a seat, Shengjing is a bitter cold and remote place, Mr. has come here from afar, are you still used to it?" ”

"Oh, with Emperor Lao's concern, everything is fine." Wang Qiang said.

Huang Taiji said in a deep voice: "Lord Wang has lived in the capital for a long time, dare to ask how this Shengjing is better than that capital?" ”

Wang Qiang didn't know the intention of Huang Taiji's question, and replied bluntly: "If you want to say that the terrain is superior, the climate is comfortable, the capital is better, you want to say that the government and the people are harmonious, and the social stability is better in Shengjing; If you want to say that the products are abundant, the prosperity and excitement are in the middle. ”

"Well, to put it thoroughly, Mr. Wang is really a cool person." Huang Taiji praised from the bottom of his heart. He stood up, walked to the large map on the north wall, and beckoned, "Mr. Wang, please come over here." ”

Wang Qiang got up and came to Huang Taiji's side, and looked at the map side by side with him, which was a map of the boundaries of the Ming Dynasty, in which the borders of the countries and provinces were drawn very clearly, and various geomorphological features were also clearly marked, rivers, mountains, plateaus, and grasslands were depicted in different colors, and all the place names were in Manchu, annotated in small Chinese characters below, and small flags of various colors were drawn on the map, representing the current range of domestic factions.

Huang Taiji pointed to the map and asked, "Mr. Wang, do you have any insights when you look at this map?" ”

Through what he has seen and heard in the past few days, Wang Qiang has learned the eloquence of Huang Taiji, knowing that this person has the ambition to dominate China, he thought for a while and said: "This map shows the emperor's mind and vision, and he is judging in vain, the emperor is idealizing the unification of such a huge empire!" ”

"Those who know me, Mr. Wang! Yes, this map is the future Qing Empire in my eyes, and I think about it day and night, and what I dream of is to build a prosperous empire. It doesn't matter if others say I'm ambitious or delusional, it's an ambition I've set since I was a teenager, and it's my life's pursuit! Huang Taiji said eloquently.

Wang Qiang listened quietly and thought.

"What I want to create is not only a huge empire, but also a peaceful and prosperous era where the people are prosperous and happy, when there will be no wars, no bandits, no ethnic discrimination, no border disputes, the common people live and work in peace and contentment, the country will be strong, and all nations will come to court. What do you think of such a prosperous world? Huang Taiji spread his arms and waved.

Wang Qiang sighed and said: "The emperor is broad-minded and ambitious, and he admires him, but I don't know how many years of war it will take to establish such an empire, and how many killings will be caused." ”

"Yes, it will come at a great cost and cause a lot of casualties! But have you ever thought about how many people have been displaced according to the current situation of civil strife in the Ming Dynasty? How many people have been bloodied and killed in the war? A few years ago, a major drought in the north killed how many Lebanese people starved to death? Huang Taiji's series of questions made Wang Qiang speechless.

Huang Taiji continued: "Killing is not to kill, and fighting is to stop the war." I will unify China and give the world a peaceful homeland, what's wrong! Don't hide it, sir, with the military strength of my Qing Dynasty, not to mention the Northeast, even if you are now raising troops in the Central Plains, it is more than enough to occupy Beijing! But I don't want to do that, do you know why? ”

Wang Qiang shook his head silently and said, "I don't know, please enlighten the emperor." ”

"It's because I want to kill less." Huang Taiji pointed to the map and continued: "Although the Ming Dynasty is in civil strife, it is still only a corner of the northwest and southwest, and most of the countries in Jiangnan, Zhili and Shandong have not been in chaos, some places are still relatively rich, and some people still have a way to live, and they still have a trace of nostalgia for the Ming court. If we march into the Central Plains at this time, we will inevitably provoke fierce resistance from the vast number of Han people, because in their eyes, we are aliens and Tatars! Huang Taiji said this, his face was slightly red, obviously a little angry, and then said: "But according to my judgment, it won't be long before the Ming Dynasty will fall apart, because you have an emperor who is too incompetent and selfish, and Li Zicheng will soon destroy the Ming court." At that time, the world will be in turmoil, the smoke will be everywhere, and the people will be displaced and miserable. At that time, our dynasty will send troops to chase the Central Plains and dominate the world, and the people will naturally support us when they get peace, and there will be a lot less killing. As the so-called chaos is concerned, there will be great governance. In fact, the Manchu and Han are originally a family, and this great tomorrow is originally a mixed ethnic group, Miao, Mongolian, Manchu, Hui, and Tibetan are not all descendants of Yan and Huang? Why do you have to be the emperor of the Han people! Those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and those who lose the hearts of the people lose the world, your emperor is mediocre and narrow-minded, even loyal ministers and good generals like Yuan Chonghuan can be killed, so perverse, everyone still protects him to do something! ”

Huang Taiji turned around, held Wang Qiang's shoulder, and said solemnly: "Mr. Wang, I open my heart to you today, I hope you can abandon the darkness and turn to the light, return to the Manchu Qing, I am willing to give you the position of prince, how about you and I work together to create a peaceful and prosperous era for the descendants of Yan and Huang?" ”

Wang Qiang was deeply moved by Huang Taiji's words, especially Huang Taiji's ideal of creating a peaceful and prosperous world is also his own deep heart's desire.

Wang Qiang was stunned on the spot, falling into deep thought, he felt that it was really a blessing for all the people to let a holy monarch like Huang Taiji rule the world, and he didn't know much better than Emperor Chongzhen. But then he thought that in history, the Manchus were known for their brutality and thirst for killing, and the Manchu enclosure caused the Han people to lose their land and become poor; forced the Hermes-Epitek to wear braids, otherwise he would be killed; In the conquest to unify the world, he also repeatedly committed the crime of bloody massacre of the city, and the brutal killing of the Han people by the Qing soldiers outside the city of Jinzhou is also vivid. This is far from the peaceful and prosperous era described by Huang Taiji, why is this so? Wang Qiang was puzzled. Wang Qiang recalled history, and suddenly, he remembered an extremely important question, and all his doubts were answered.

Huang Taiji still held Wang Qiang's shoulders, expecting him to make a decision. Wang Qiang shook his head slowly and vigorously, walked back to his seat and sat down, looked at Huang Taiji and said: "Your Majesty, your eloquence is greatly admired by your subordinates, and your ambition to create a peaceful and prosperous era is also impressive, but I can't agree to your request." ”

Huang Taiji's expression darkened, and he said calmly: "Everyone has their own ambitions, I will not make it difficult for others, since you make this decision, there must be your reasons, I don't know if you can see it." ”

Wang Qiang smiled and said: "Of course, the emperor has all the people in the world in mind, and he is the first generation of holy lords in the world, but with all due respect, your ambition alone is not the ambition of the entire Manchu Qing Dynasty, the ambition of your life, not the ambition of the descendants of all generations." You can sympathize with all the people of the world and have the desire to build a peaceful and prosperous world, but what about your subordinates? What about your children and grandchildren? Have you ever thought about what the world will be like once you are a hundred years from now, what will your subordinates and your children and grandchildren think and do? Throughout the dynasties, most of the founding monarchs were self-denying and self-disciplined, had the ambition of strengthening the country and enriching the people, and wanted to build an indestructible foundation, but when it was passed on to the descendants, they often forgot the wishes of their ancestors. Besides, I think the Manchus are still murderous and warlike on the whole, and you alone have the heart to help the world, and I am afraid it will be difficult to mobilize so many people. So after thinking about it, I still want to stay in the Ming Court, wait and see what it becomes, and besides, as a Han people, I don't want to bear the infamy of aiding and abusive, and I hope the emperor can forgive me. ”

Huang Taiji took a long breath and said: "Sir's words are thorough, and the rise and change of dynasties do not follow this iron law. In fact, I have a lot of concerns about what my husband said, but I have never found a good solution, so I can only put more effort into instructing my children and grandchildren and electing the crown prince. Don't hide it, sir, now I have invited one of the teachers to my emperors to teach Chinese and Manchu, and the other is a Buddhist monk, I do this in order to give them more Buddhism and less tyranny of our Manchus, but what I have done is nothing more than that, and it is difficult to imagine that it will be passed on to future generations. It's a pity that life is only a hundred years, and whether you can get your long-cherished wish depends on the will of God. Alas! ”

Both of them expressed their hearts and mouths, and they talked very speculatively, and they didn't realize that it was past lunch time, and at this time, Concubine Zhuang Yu'er led the prince Fulin in. It turned out that it was lunch time, Yu'er found that the emperor did not eat, and when she inquired, she knew that he was meeting Wang Qiang in the imperial study, and she thought it was speculation to talk about, and she even forgot to eat, so she ordered someone to send the wine and food over, and she was also quite curious about Wang Qiang, so she brought her son Fulin over with her.

Huang Taiji introduced Yu'er and Fulin to Wang Qiang, the queen is only in her thirties this year, known as the first beauty in Manchuria, well-behaved, elegant, she is not only beautiful, but also smart and capable, do not let the eyebrows, she worships Fan Wencheng as a teacher, devotes herself to the study of Sinology, has a deep study of the culture, customs, history, psychology and so on of the Han people, is one of the indispensable staff assistants of the Huang Taiji.

Fu Lin was only four years old, and his face was like a crown of jade, with thin teeth and red lips, and he was endearing, but his temperament was very gentle, and he was a little woody, and he did not have the majesty of his father or the wisdom of his mother. When Wang Qiang saw it, he made a calculation in his heart, and said secretly: "This kid should be the later Emperor Shunzhi, Kangxi's father." ”

Huang Taiji valued Wang Qiang and made friends with him as equals, so he beckoned Fulin to kowtow to Wang Qiang with the gift of his son and nephew, and Fulin was very well-behaved, turned over and knelt down, and shouted: "Nephew to my uncle!" ”

Wang Qiang hurriedly stopped Fulin and said: "Absolutely not, never possible, the prince's body of a thousand catties can not afford it." ”

That Yu'er Bingxue was smart, and when she saw the situation in the house, she knew that Huang Taiji's persuasion to surrender was unsuccessful, and her mind moved, and she said with a smile: "Mr. Wang is a guest from afar, and he is an envoy of the Heavenly Empire, and he is a brother with my emperor, and there is no superiority of a monarch and a minister, so if you don't let Fu Lin kowtow, don't you want to be friends with my emperor?" Hehe, Lin'er, don't you kowtow to your uncle soon. ”

Fu Lin was obedient and knelt down to kowtow to Wang Qiang again, Wang Qiang was at a loss by Yu'er's words, so he had to reluctantly bear it.

Na Yu'er continued: "Mr. Wang, my son's head is not for nothing, I have long heard that Mr. is erudite and talented, whimsical and wise, loyal and benevolent, and is a hero and hero in the world. ”

Wang Qiang was embarrassed by Yu'er's words, and quickly nodded and said, "That's nature, that's nature." ”

Yu'er was not willing to give up, so she said: "Mr. Wang is really a refreshing person, we are full of promises, and we are the most honest to our friends, you agreed, do you dare to swear with Yu'er?" ”

Wang Qiang found out that he had fallen into Yu'er's trap, but he had been forced into a corner by Yu'er's words, and it was difficult to shirk again, so he said: "Okay, according to Niangniang's words, if the prince is in trouble in the future, Wang Qiang will do his best to save him and never break his promise." He deliberately emphasized that "the prince is in trouble" and left room for himself.

"Good!" Yu'er praised it, stretched out her jade hand and struck Wang Qiang three times in a row, and made an oath. In the Manchus, men and women are not as particular about giving and receiving as the Han people, so Yu'er can high-five Wang Qiang generously, and Wang Qiang blushed a little shyly.

Huang Taiji smiled and watched Yu'er fiddling with Wang Qiang, and when he saw her simple words, he left a place for his son's future, which was completely effortless, and he also liked her talent for change.

After a while, the palace people arranged the wine and food, Huang Taiji invited Wang Qiang to sit down and eat together, and Yu'er withdrew with Fulin.

The emperor raised his glass and said, "Mr. Wang, it's really a pleasure to talk to you today, come and drink this cup with us." ”

Wang Qiang also raised his glass and drank with him.

Huang Taiji put down the wine glass, looked at the water bottle of warm wine on the table and said: "The ancients talked about heroes with green plum wine, but today I want to discuss the enemy with Mr. Wenjiu." ”

"Oh?" Wang Qiang looked at Huang Taiji curiously.

Huang Taiji poured himself a drink and asked, "Mr. Wang, looking at the whole world, do you know who is the enemy I am most worried about dominating the world?" ”

Wang Qiang also drank a cup by himself, thinking about the well-known figures in the historical process of the late Ming Dynasty, and said with a smile: "I guess it should be Li Zicheng, he lives in the northwest, and he also has the heart to fight for the world, and he has many fierce generals and ministers, and he is now putting forward the slogan of free grain in Juntian, which is deeply popular with the people, and should be your fierce rival in unifying the Central Plains." ”

Huang Taiji shook his head and said: "Otherwise, Li Zicheng is a strong opponent, but he was born recklessly, relying on the courage to lead the army, killing and plundering land, having the courage to fight the country, and the ability to govern the country, after all, he is just a hero. So this Li Zicheng is not to be afraid. ”

Huang Taiji has been actively preparing for the unification of the world, so he secretly sent people to reconnoiter the various factions of the Ming Dynasty, and he has a very detailed understanding of the situation of those who threaten him.

"That Zhang Xianzhong is more incompetent than Li Zicheng, so naturally it's not anymore?" Wang Qiang asked.

"Not worth mentioning." Huang Taiji shook his head and replied.

Wang Qiang pondered that there were Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui in the northeast, and these two people should be stumbling blocks for the Manchu Qing Dynasty to march into the Central Plains, so he said: "That's Hong Chengchou or Wu Sangui in front of you." ”

Huang Taiji drank a glass of wine and said: "No, although this Hong Chengchou is old and spicy, he has no fighting spirit, and he is already very suspicious of Chongzhen, and he has neither heart nor power. Wu Sangui is a general who commands the army, but he is also extravagant and greedy, and he is not difficult to deal with. ”

"Who else could there be? Lu Xiangsheng is already a defeated general under the Ming army; Shi Kefa? He's too young now, and he doesn't know where he is. Chongzhen? , don't mention him. Wang Qiang thought about it for a long time and couldn't think of it.

Huang Taiji drank another cup, sighed deeply and said, "Alas! Mr. Wang, why did you forget about yourself! ”

"Me! Hahahaha. Wang Qiang laughed when he heard it, and said: "Your Majesty, your words are a bit sensational, I am just an empty shell of a little eunuch, there is not a single soldier under my command, and the dough is kneaded by others, this time I go back, I don't know how the emperor sent me, how can I be your enemy." Although I have repelled the Qing army twice, but others don't know, you should know in your heart that the first time in Tongzhou was to rely on the fortified city and artillery, and you were lucky; This time, in Jinzhou and Liaoxi, the Qing army took the initiative to evacuate, which actually fell into your strategy to disperse our troops. ”

Huang Taiji looked at Wang Qiang silently and said: "Mr. Wang's words are wrong, don't hide it from Mr., since you started to run a big market, we have begun to pay attention to you, I think I know more about you than your master." He stood up, paced and said: "Running a market, opening a bank, supplying military supplies, you have done everything well, the peasants who farmed the land were trained by you into a tiger and wolf division in such a short time, and tens of thousands of Qing troops were repulsed. You subdued Li Gang, Shang Dayong, and Tian Jingming, and let them die for you, and now you have set up a school to cultivate capable generals and good generals, which shows that you are good at employing people and cherishing talents; You were conspired against by others, and you attracted the suspicion of the emperor, but you were able to keep your light and keep quiet, endure humiliation and steal life, and live deep in the inner part of the dung bucket work, which shows the depth of your city. These are your strengths, but if these are not the only ones, there are three other things that are really terrible for you. ”

Wang Qiang was very surprised to see that Huang Taiji knew so much about his situation, and heard him say that he still had three terrible things, but even he didn't know what they were, so he couldn't help but stand up with curiosity, looked at Huang Taiji, and waited to hear what was going on.

Huang Taiji stretched out his fingers and said, "First, you have a heart for the people. You killed officials in Shandong and released grain in order to save the people; You took the risk of robbing the camp in Jinzhou and broke the Qing army, in fact, because you were afraid that the people would be harmed again. If you have the heart to love the people and save the people, you will naturally be supported by the people. Once I invade, your husband ascended to the heights and shouted, led the people to resist, and the people obeyed, which was really a problem for my henchmen of the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Second, you have the ambition to be dominant. I see you as a person, not greedy for money, of course, not lustful, but since you came out, you have been actively cultivating wings and accumulating strength, if it weren't for your mediocre master suppression, I'm afraid you are now full-fledged, and no one can check and balance. The purpose of your school is not to mention loyalty to the monarch and serve the country, but to say that the country is strong and the people are rich, and its intentions are far-reaching, how can mortals perceive it! I'm afraid you're not doing this to serve the court, are you? You came to Shengjing this time, I treated you with the courtesy of a countryman, and tempted you with the respect of a prince, you were not moved, so in addition to the throne, what else can make you tempted! You and I both have the ambition to be dominant, but the world can only tolerate one master, so what are we not enemies? ”

"This third, and where you are a hundred times stronger than me, is young! You have already done this at such a young age, how will you get it in a little time! You grow up day by day, I grow old day by day, you can wait, but I can't wait forever. This Manchu Qing has me, and I can still balance you, once I die, no one in my court will be your opponent! So it's not child's play to ask you to swear to take care of my son just now, it's really helpless! ”

"I wanted to do everything possible to persuade my husband to join hands with me to create a great cause, with your age, you can take care of my children and grandchildren for three generations, and ensure that the world shares a hundred years of peace, but my husband refused to agree, which really hurts my heart. If you can't be used by me, you must be an obstacle to my struggle for world domination, and that is my mortal enemy of the Qing Dynasty! In the end, Huang Taiji was fierce and his voice was terrible.

The guards outside the door heard Huang Taiji's roar, thinking that Wang forcibly stabbed him, so he hurriedly broke through the door and rushed in, forcing Wang Qiang with a knife.

Wang Qiang's heart was beating when he heard this, and when he saw this scene, a thought flashed in his heart: "It's not good, Huang Taiji wants to kill me!" Frightened, he sat down in his chair.

Huang Taiji realized that he had lost his temper, and hurriedly ordered the guards to retreat, and said softly: "Just now I was drunk and lost my temper, which frightened Mr. Wang, you can rest assured, although you are my enemy of the Qing Dynasty, but in the territory of Manchuria, you are my friend, we Manchurians have always done things above board, and I will never take advantage of the danger of others to harm you." ”

Wang Qiang stabilized his mind and asked cautiously: "Listen to the emperor's wishes, once I leave the territory of the Manchu Dynasty, you can harm me?" ”

Huang Taiji said awe-inspiringly: "Mr. Wang is my enemy of the Qing Dynasty, I naturally want to get rid of him quickly, and we never talk about forgiveness and benevolence when dealing with enemies. However, my Mr. Jing is a hero, and he will not use poison or assassination, whether it is fighting before the battle, or skillfully using stratagem, in short, he must be above board, and at the same time, he will never show mercy! You have to be careful. However, if one day, you want to submit to my Qing Dynasty, as long as you set foot on my Manchu Qing border, I will still treat Mr. with the courtesy of a national scholar. ”

"Thank you for the emperor's reminder, Wang Qiang should be careful to protect himself." Wang Qiang said with his fists clenched.

Although the two are enemies, they are heart-to-heart, like-minded, talking about the world together, talking and drinking, until they drink so much that their faces are red and they eat and disperse.