At noon on February 24 in the third year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youzhen hosted a banquet for Du Du, Ah Shan and other Jurchen surrenderers at Diaoyutai in Xiyuan. The Diaoyu Tai in the West Garden naturally cannot be compared with the garden built by the Jin Dynasty on the edge of the Yuyuan Pond outside the Fucheng Gate, but since Chongzhen began to feast on his ministers here a year ago, the Diaoyu Tai Pavilion on the east bank of the Taiye Pond in the West Garden has also been renovated many times, and has now become the most outstanding building in the West Garden of the Imperial Palace.

Du Du, Ah Shan and other Jurchen defectors were very excited to enter the palace and accept the emperor's hospitality. Their excitement was not in how beautiful the scenery of Diaoyutai was, nor in how beautiful the banquet was in the emperor, but in the fact that Chongzhen finally did not leave them aside.

Compared with Du Du and Ah Shan, who are still a little reserved, Ah Shan's second brother Ada Hai, fourth brother Kalai, son Seh and second brother Ada Hai's two sons Chata and Mo Luohun, plus Yasun and others, the enthusiasm for Chongzhen between the banquet is closer to sycophancy.

Especially Yasun, who came from a humble background and fled to the Ming Dynasty alone, knew that he was not as noble as Du Du, and he was not as powerful as the Ahsan family, so he could only try his best to show his loyalty to serve the new master.

After listening to Yasun's words of loyalty to him, Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Chengen to take a golden cup, then poured it full of wine himself, got up and held the wine glass and said, "What General Yasun said, I don't agree. ”

Yasun, Du Du, and Ah Shan were shocked when they heard this, but Chongzhen looked at the three of them with a cup, and said with a slight drunkenness: "I have you, Du Du, and Ah Shan, the three generals, I hope that you can become the wings of the Ming Dynasty and help me soar above the green clouds."

You can be my ministers, my generals, and my friends, but you can't be my slaves. In my opinion, since you have abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, and are willing to belong to my Daming, the Ming is your family, and you are naturally the master of this family, how can there be any reason to be a slave in your own home.

General Yasun said this too badly, I will punish you with three cups, and come up to receive the punishment. ”

Yasun's heart suddenly relaxed, he stepped forward gratefully, took the fist-sized golden cup from Chongzhen's hand, and drank it without hesitation.

Chongzhen took the wine jug from Wang Chengen's hand, and personally refilled Yasun twice with wine, and when Yasun returned the golden cup and returned to his seat, his face was already a little red.

Although Du Du and Ah Shan are better at controlling their emotions than Yasun, they were also greatly moved after listening to Chongzhen's words. Du Du raised his glass to Chongzhen and said: "We were ignorant in the past, and we were really guilty of fighting against the Celestial Empire. However, His Majesty does not remember the past, and treats me and other guilty ministers with kindness, and the ministers are really ashamed.

The ministers did not bring anything else with them, and they could not give them to His Majesty to repay His Majesty's favor. But the minister still has a piece of Dan heart willing to serve His Majesty, and also asks His Majesty to allow the minister to guard the frontier for the Ming Dynasty, crusade against the ministers, and redeem the past. ”

After listening to Du Du's words, Ah Shan and Yasun, who had just returned to their seats, also got up and asked Chongzhen together, hoping that the emperor could let them do something for Da Ming.

Seeing that all the Jurchens knelt down to ask for appointment, Zhu Youzhen was a little drunk, but he didn't readily agree to them.

He staggered up from the royal seat on the upper steps, then walked down the steps, and after helping the three Jurchen generals kneeling in front of him, he said to the Jurchens kneeling behind: "Get up, get up, today is the feast of celebration for you to return to the Ming Dynasty, what's the matter with kneeling, get up and talk." ”

When all the Jurchens were called up by the emperor, Zhu Youzhen said to Du Du, Ah Shan, and Yasun in front of him: "Since you have already belonged to my Da Ming, I naturally want to use you." As a Daming person, everyone has the right to contribute to the Daming, and of course, it is also an obligation.

But how to contribute to the Ming Dynasty, we always need a process of understanding and familiarizing. It is my power and responsibility to put the right people in the right places to serve the country.

You have just returned to the Ming Dynasty, and I am not familiar enough with you, so how can I use it for you? In addition, you also need a process of learning and understanding how to do things in Daming, otherwise it is easy to have contradictions, which is not good for you and others.

So these days, I will send people to visit all parts of the capital, let you understand the development and customs of the capital, and then let you choose the job you want to do, and then let someone take you to study and see if you can be suitable for these jobs.

What do you think of my proposal? ”

Under Chongzhen's gentle words, Du Du, Ah Shan, and Yasun did not dare to object, and could only lead everyone to accept and thank the emperor.

When the banquet dispersed and Zhu Youzhen, who was on the way back to the Qianqing Palace, blew the cold wind before he completely sobered up, he stopped and asked Wang Chengen behind him: "Can the cabinet discuss any conclusions about the knighthood of Du Du, Ah Shan, and Yasun?" ”

Wang Chengen thought for a while and said: "The cabinet thinks that it is nothing for Du Du and Ah Shan to be knighted. After all, the former is the eldest grandson of the old slave, and his surrender can hit the morale of the Houjin country.

Although the latter's status in the Houjin country is not as good as Du Du, he has been fighting with the old slave for a long time, and he has a very good understanding of the internal affairs of the Houjin country, and the Ahsan clan is basically invested in our country, so there should be no problem in loyalty. Therefore, rewarding Ahsan with a knighthood can make the Ahsan clan loyal to my Ming Dynasty with peace of mind, and there is no problem.

But Yasun is different, he is just a slave-born general next to the old slave, who is deeply favored by the old slave, but he turned his back on Houjin after the death of the old slave, which can be described as a poor character. In addition, he took refuge in my Daming only temporarily, so only one single person defected.

The cabinet thinks that a person like him, with his capricious personality, may find it difficult to serve my Daming. Today, he is afraid of Huang Taiji and defects to my Daming, and he may not rebel again because he is dissatisfied with my Daming. Therefore, it is probably inappropriate to reward this person with a knighthood. ”

Chongzhen looked up into the distance, in the dark night, the path dotted by lights was like a heavenly road made of starlight, which looked particularly beautiful.

After thinking for a while, he said to Wang Chengen: "The cabinet still thinks too much, today's Ming clan and nobles can be truly loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and I don't know how many people there will be, let alone these newly attached Jurchens."

The reason why I want to reward them with titles is because they are the first batch of Jurchens to serve my Ming Dynasty, and although Yasun has no reputation and humble background, rewarding him can allow the lower Jurchen soldiers to see another way out, and reduce their willingness to be enemies of my Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the knighthood of the three is just an allusion to the purchase of horse bones by King Yanzhao's daughter. Let the cabinet speed up the deliberations, and if they think that Feng Bo is not suitable, they can be demoted one level, and the Feng Viscount is it.

Besides, there is no such thing as loyalty for no reason in this world, and if we want them to be loyal, we always need to give corresponding benefits and trust. It is obviously unlikely that empty words will make them pay loyalty. ”

Wang Chengen hurriedly said, "Yes, Your Majesty." Tomorrow will convey His Majesty's intentions to the Cabinet, so that they can expedite the deliberations on the titles and rewards of the three people. However, how does His Majesty plan to place these Jurchens? Always let them be trapped in a mansion with nothing to do, and the minister is afraid that they will have trouble then. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and replied: "These Jurchens don't have any other specialties besides fighting. So, in the end, they have to be arranged to go to the battlefield.

But before that, it is necessary to sharpen their temperament and have a basic understanding of their conduct. Except for Du Du, Ah Shan, and Yasun, the other Jurchens, the older ones arranged for an idle errand, and the younger ones let them go to the military academy to study for a period of time, and the artillery, staff officers, and logistics departments were not arranged.

Du Dumo sent him to the Religious and Ethnic Affairs Committee, where he was responsible for political propaganda and settlement of the Jurchens; Ah Shan and Yasun had been fighting for many years, and they were very familiar with Hou Jin's tactics and generals' intelligence, so they asked them to go to the military academy to teach for a few months, and tell Hou Jin's combat characteristics and the generals' intelligence for the General Staff to study..."

When Chongzhen and his party came to the fork in the road leading to the West Sixth Palace and the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youzhen subconsciously stopped, hesitated for a while and said: "Isabella will go south in a few days, I will go to meet her, lest she make any mistakes after leaving Beijing..."

Wang Chengen had no objection to Chongzhen's statement that he wanted to cover up, and he quickly asked the eunuchs who led the way in front of him to turn to the direction of the West Sixth Palace. Of course, he also knew in his heart that the emperor seemed to be very infatuated with this Western woman, which made him a little worried about the reaction of Empress Zhou and Concubine Tian in the future.

Just when Chongzhen found an excuse for himself, Shi Shiran went to the harem. In the city of Geljurgen in the Korqin Division, a meeting was held at the home of Zaisangbuhe in the Badali and Manzhu Xili Zhutaiji of the Horqin Division.

In a large yurt, Wu Keshan, who was captured by the Ming and released, and Budaqi, the brother of Oba, who was sent by Huang Taiji after returning to Shenyang, were divided on both sides of the fire pit, and the rest of the Taiji sat freely around the fire pond.

Wu Keshan previously brought the news that the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom had requested that Buhe's eldest daughter Hai Lanzhu be sent to the Ming Kingdom in exchange for the captured Horqin captives, but because of Buhe's reluctance, it was finally delayed.

However, when Budaqi brought a message from Huang Taiji from Shenyang, asking Hai Lanzhu to go to Shenyang to visit relatives. Zaisambu and the Taiji of the Korqin tribe understood that they were in an extremely difficult choice.

They either want to send Hai Lanzhu to Shenyang or to Beijing, and there is no third option at all. Although there were many people close to Houjin in Taiji, after Houjin's defeat in the Ming Kingdom, they did not dare to ask for the future of the Horqin Department to be tightly tied to Houjin.