The arrival of the Manchu envoys was not an accident, as the Qing court had been seeking peace talks with Nanjing as early as two years earlier.

Although the Qing army has defeated the Ming army, the situation it is facing has not improved, and sending an envoy again must be a matter of renewing the proposal for peace.

Like the last peace, the courtiers around Zhu Cihong were divided into two factions, one faction headed by Chen Zilong and Wang Yan, believing that Zhu Cihong could not meet the Qing envoys and could not negotiate peace, and once the peace was negotiated, it would be equivalent to giving up the orthodox status, and the other faction, headed by Ruan Dacheng, thought that it was time to talk, since the Northern Expedition failed, it should be subdued, and the thieves should be captured to ensure the balance of the situation in the world.

Prior to this, the main battle faction had already grasped the right to speak in the Ming court, but a big defeat made the main peace faction raise its head again, and some of the undetermined main battle factions also changed their attitudes after the defeat.

The two factions couldn't argue, they were very good at talking, and no one could convince anyone, and Zhu Cihong was actually frightened, and in the end Zhu Cihong did not meet the Qing envoy, but adopted a compromise plan, let Ruan Dacheng go to see the Qing envoy, understand the Qing envoy's intentions, and then make a decision.

The failure of the Northern Expedition dealt a great blow to Zhu Cihong, and his whole body wilted.

At the end of November, the weather was already very cold, and it was snowing heavily in the sky, and Zhu Cihong was worried that the Huai River would freeze, so he retreated to Yangzhou overnight.

At this time, the minister asked Zhu Cihong to cross the river and return to Nanjing, but Zhu Cihong did not leave, and found a big salt merchant's house in Yangzhou as a temporary palace, and set Yangzhou as a line and refused to cross the river.

At the beginning of December, in the warm pavilion of Yangzhou Palace, Zhu Cihong, who had lost a lot of weight, kept coughing, and Ruan Dacheng, a university scholar on the side, stood aside and said with concern: "Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, Your Majesty must not take it too seriously, you should focus on the dragon body!" ”

Zhu Cihong stretched out his hand to stop Ruan Dacheng, who wanted to step forward to give him a back, and asked in a deep voice, "What did the Qing envoy say?" ”

Ruan Dacheng saw this and said: "Your Majesty, the request made by the Qing envoy is very simple, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing State have signed a contract, and the two sides are brothers' countries, Your Majesty is older and can be brothers, and the Qing Lord is younger and can be younger brothers." The Qing envoy demanded that His Majesty recognize the status of the Qing State as a Northern Dynasty, and the two sides concluded an alliance, demarcated the border, did not invade each other, and joined forces to destroy Wei. In the end, the Qing envoy made a request, hoping that our dynasty would provide 250,000 stone of rice and 600,000 taels of silver per year to fund the Qing army to fight against the Western Wei Dynasty. ”

Zhu Cihong covered his mouth with his hands, coughing and pondering, but Ruan Dacheng said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this condition is quite good!" Conclude a contract, Your Majesty is a brother, our dynasty is not ashamed, and the food and silver given every year are nothing, which is several times less than the cost of war. The most important thing is that the alliance between our dynasty and the Qing Dynasty can maintain the balance of the world and prevent the Western Wei family from becoming dominant~~~"

In Ruan Dacheng's opinion, the Qing army has won a big victory, and it is really good that the Qing envoy can still give such conditions.

Zhu Cihong waved his hand to stop him from continuing, "Okay, I know, the Qing family will retreat first." I was tired and wanted to rest for a while. ”

When Ruan Dacheng heard this, he could only stop his mouth stupidly, and then bowed, "The minister has retired." ”

Zhu Cihong waited for him to come out of the warm pavilion, coughed a few times, stood up, walked to a map, and fell silent.

This Northern Expedition has greatly damaged the vitality of the Ming Dynasty, and it will be difficult to go north in a short period of time, which means that he can only watch Gao Yihuan perform.

If the Western Wei defeated the Qing army and occupied Hedong, then Luoyang would also be a treasure trove, and within two years, the Manchus would definitely retreat to the outside of the pass.

At that time, Da Ming will face a Gao Yihuan who is even more terrifying than Li Zicheng, and Zhu Cihong has no confidence at all to resist Gao Yihuan.

At this time, Zhu Cihong's belief in recovering Beijing was fading, and his willingness to continue the national honor in Jiangnan was rising.

It's like a person who can't achieve a difficult goal and often retreats to the next best thing to achieve the next goal.

Zhu Cihong was hit, he now felt that Emperor Guangwu couldn't do it, and he felt that Zhao Gou was actually not bad.

However, Zhao Gou is not so easy to do, Zhu Cihong will not be able to pass his own level in the first place, and negotiating peace is equivalent to giving up the northern territory, which will make him ashamed of the ancestors of the past dynasties.

Zhu Cihong stood in front of the map for a while, still unable to pay attention, and finally suddenly waved his hand and said: "Come on, swing, I want to visit Gao Ge Lao!" ”

Gao Mingheng is better at defending, and in this northern expedition, except for blocking Dolgon on the north bank, which he arranged, he did not have many opportunities to show his strengths.

This battle was a huge blow to Zhu Cihong, and the same was true for Gao Mingheng, who saw that the achievements of several years were ruined, nearly half of the elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were lost, and the materials and equipment were lost heavily.

Zhu Cihong came to the house where Gao Mingheng was staying, and saw Gao Mingheng lying on the bed in the bedroom, his face was pale, struggling to get out of bed, and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "The elder is exempt!" ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister can't give a salute." The guards stuffed Gao Mingheng with a quilt on his back and asked him to lean against the head of the bed.

Zhu Cihong said with concern: "Pavilion elders should pay attention to their bodies!" I still have to rely on the old mile. ”

Gao Mingheng nodded, seeing Zhu Cihong's worried face, "Your Majesty came over today, but what's the matter?" ”

"I can't hide anything from the elder of the pavilion!" Zhu Cihong sighed, and then he was about to send an envoy from Jiannu to negotiate peace, and the conditions proposed, as well as the views of the main war and the ministers of the main and two factions, all said, and then asked: "I really can't make up my mind, so I want to ask the opinion of the elder of the pavilion." ”

Gao Mingheng didn't answer immediately, and after he groaned for a while, he said: "The minister thinks that it is impossible to fight for the Lord, and neither can the Lord and the Lord." ”

Zhu Cihong's brows furrowed, "What does Elder Ge mean?" ”

"Now that our dynasty has been newly defeated, we no longer have the strength to take over the north, and the Western Wei Dynasty has risen in Guanxi, it is inappropriate for our dynasty to continue the main battle, and we should join forces to resist Wei, so it is not advisable to make peace with the Lord." Gao Mingheng paused and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, with this identity, Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven if you lose this battle, and if you lose the next battle, you will still be the Son of Heaven. Negotiate peace, the Ming Dynasty will recognize Jiannu and give up the north, Your Majesty is to give up the orthodox status of the world, so it is not advisable to negotiate peace. ”

Zhu Cihong was confused, "Elder Ge said this, which made me confused. ”

After Gao Mingheng coughed a few times, he explained: "There is a drawback in our dynasty, the handling of affairs is black and white, and the main war is blindly the main war, thinking that any main peace is a traitor, and the main peace is blindly making peace, and wants to exchange for permanent peace by attacking the main war faction." This is the legacy of partisanship! The meaning of the minister, the clear main battle, the dark master and the peace, help the slave, do not sign a contract, accumulate strength, and choose the opportunity to fight again. ”

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