On the outskirts of Shenyang in May, Huang Taiji and a group of Jurchen relatives sat on a hillside and watched. Suddenly they heard a thunderclap, and a black pit suddenly appeared on the green and pleasant hill outside the city, and soon a shout came from the bottom of the mountain, "Report to my masters, there is no crack in the cannon, and this cannon has succeeded." ”

After hearing this voice, the solemn expression on Huang Taiji's face finally relaxed, and he couldn't help but get up and walk down the mountain, and Dai Shan, Yue Tuo and others immediately followed.

Seeing Huang Taiji coming down, Tong Yangxing, who was checking the cannon, suddenly dropped the things in his hand and greeted him, "Congratulations to King Khan, this cannon has finally been built." This cannon imitates the Hongyi cannon and is made, the gun body is about more than zhang long, the head is small and the tail is thick, the caliber is about 3 inches and 8 minutes, and the gun truck weighs about 4,200 catties.

The cannon weighs 16 kilograms, 10 kilograms of gunpowder at a time, and can reach up to 1800 steps, but the accuracy within 900-1000 steps is better. With such a cannon, the walls of the Ming people will not be afraid in the future. The minions congratulated the Khan and asked the Khan to give his name. ”

Huang Taiji looked at the crude benzene iron tower in front of him, and suddenly lost the excitement of seeing the successful launch just now. Since the Ming army has even begun to eliminate such sharp weapons, what does the new cannon developed by the Ming people look like.

After a long while, he forced a smile and said, "Just call Tianyou to cheer the general cannon, and in the future, I will inscribe this name on the cannon." As for the nickname of the Hongyi Cannon, it will also be changed, it will still be called the Red Cannon.

In addition to the Heavenly Blessing Cheer General Cannon to be cast, other small cannons must also be cast, even if the power is not as good as the Great General's Cannon, it can also allow craftsmen to practice their hands. All the craftsmen and stewards involved in the cannon casting are to be reported to the list, and Ben Khan will reward them one by one.

In addition, the Wuzhen Chao Harbin Army must also practice and be proficient in artillery shooting. It can only come in handy when you go to the battlefield in the future. If you are in charge of casting the cannon, let Cao Zhenyan take charge of the drills, and reward those gunners who are excellent in training..."

Dai Shan, who was standing behind Huang Taiji, was quite silent when he looked at everything in front of him, but he didn't expect Huang Taiji to invest so much money in firearms. The Eight Banners Field War is not afraid of any opponent, if there is a siege weapon like a red-coated cannon, will the city and the Great Wall that the Ming people rely on to hold on to still be useful?

Listening to the excited voices of the young people around him, Dai Shan knew that the shadow caused by the small setback under the Ningjin defense line had been dispelled by the newly built cannon in front of him. At this moment, Dai Shan inadvertently remembered it, and he didn't know what kind of trouble Dolgon, who was sent to the Ming Kingdom to negotiate peace, would encounter in the Ming Kingdom.

The setback under Ning Jin City made the Jurchen nobles, including Huang Taiji, realize that the Ming army on the opposite side was regaining its combat effectiveness. The two unsuccessful attempts of the Later Jin to attack the Ming State not only greatly dealt a blow to the morale of the domestic military and the people, but also made the Ming army begin to break away from the nightmare of fearing the Later Jin army.

Later Jin established the country by force, with a population of less than one million, east of Korea, south of the Ming Dynasty, west of Mongolia, in addition to seven points of relying on their own force, there are also three points of intimidation of neighboring countries relying on the past glorious achievements. Once the force of Houjin was questioned, the armies of the surrounding countries dared to take the initiative to attack the Eight Banners, and the population of Houjin could not defend the huge Liaodong region at all.

What worries them even more is that once Houjin falls into a long-term stalemate with a certain country, especially a behemoth like Ming that is extremely rich in population and resources, then just fighting for consumption can grind Houjin to death little by little. To deal with an enemy like the Ming Kingdom, either you don't fight, or if you fight, you have to bite a piece of meat, so that you can strengthen yourself and weaken the other party.

Therefore, after determining that it was impossible to decide the victory or defeat with the Ming army in a short period of time, and it was impossible to take advantage of the Ming State. Huang Taiji discussed with the Jurchen relatives and nobles and decided to make peace with the Ming Kingdom, and first turned around to clean up the Mongol tribes, especially the Chahar tribe who fled to the Hetao. Only by eliminating the titular Mongol Khan Lin Dan Khan will the Mongol tribes on the steppe surrender to the Later Jin and become the help of the Later Jin to go south to the Central Plains.

However, Hou Jin, who wanted to make peace with the Ming Kingdom, unexpectedly found that the attitude of the Ming people had changed from before, not only did he no longer take the initiative to send an envoy to make peace, but asked Hou Jin to send a banner lord Baylor to Beijing to negotiate new terms of peace.

Amin was imprisoned, and it was naturally impossible for Zilharang to leave the blue flag that had not yet been surrendered to the hearts of the people. It is naturally impossible for Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai to go, and Duoduo, the owner of the White Banner, is too young. Yue Tuo is a cronie that Huang Taiji used to contain Dai Shan and control the descendants of Beile, so naturally he can't take risks.

In the end, the 19-year-old owner of the White Flag, Dorgon, had to accept the daunting task. Because of this defeat, the soldiers of the Eight Banners realized the urgency of making peace with the Ming Kingdom, so even the soldiers with white flags did not speak out against this decision.

Just when Dai Shan was thinking about Dolgon, the Jurchen and Shuobeile, who were canonized as Morgen Daiqing, finally entered the city of Beijing in early May after a half-month journey.

For Chongzhen, the name Dolgon is not unfamiliar, if he heard that Dolgon came to the capital three years ago, it is estimated that he would not be arrested and hanged, but also to find a place to imprison him. After all, this is the culprit who implemented the shaving order after entering the customs, and a series of massacres that broke out because of the shaving order have greatly damaged China's vitality.

It's just now, thinking of the division that finally began within the Jurchens, Zhu Youzhen thought about it for a long time, and finally decided to give up these ideas. In the end, Huang Taiji could not find another excuse to reunite the hearts of the people within the Jurchens. Besides, the current Da Ming seems to be getting farther and farther away from these nightmares, and there is no need for him to do such a quick success.

After thinking about it for a long time, he asked Du Du and Kur to receive Dolgon, and asked Nan Juyi, the attendant of the Ministry of Rites, to consult with Dolgon. Compared with three years ago, this time Huang Taiji asked Dolgon to bring much more relaxed conditions for peace, not only gave up the condition of asking Daming for 10,000 taels of gold and 1 million taels of silver every year, but also expressed his willingness to accept the canonization of Daming, such as the Shunyi Wang.

Regarding these peace conditions brought by Dolgon, Nan Juyi and other officials felt that Houjin probably really wanted to make peace this time. However, Zhu Youzhen disagreed, three years ago he wanted to make peace with Houjin, although he was sincere, but the current situation cannot be so simple to make peace.

He summoned Nan Juyi and Du Du, and after inquiring about the negotiation process with Dolgon, he said to the two: "If King Shunyi is the case, then Huang Taiji is willing to live in the capital for a long time?" ”

Nan Juyi was dumbfounded for a moment, and after coming over for a while, he said: "I'm afraid that what Houjin said is like the Shunyi Wang, which means that he is willing to accept the canonization of my Ming Dynasty in exchange for the annual city reward, not to let Houjin merge into Daming." From the minister's point of view, if the sword soldiers between the two countries can really be dispensed with, it will not be the second Longqing peace, which will be beneficial to the people of the two countries. ”

Zhu Youzhen was noncommittal about this, he glanced at Du Du, who was silent on the side, and asked: "Dong'an Hou's meritorious service this time is not small, you can talk about it, how should we think of Houjin's peace negotiation?" ”

Du Du, who had just been promoted to the Marquis of Dong'an, listened to Chongzhen's question, hesitated for a while, and then spoke: "Huang Taiji, the Great Khan of the Later Jin, although he is loyal on the outside, he is very cunning on the inside. The minister was worried that this peace proposal was just Huang Taiji's strategy to delay the army.

If we agree, the latter Kim can go all out to deal with the Mongol tribes on the steppe to eliminate worries. If we don't agree, Huang Taiji can also use this to gather the hearts of the people in the country, so that the Houjin people can abandon the illusion of peace and continue to fight against me. Harmony and discord are all expected by Huang Taiji. ”

Only then did Zhu Youzhen nod and said: "Dong'an Hou is the old man who wants to seek the country, and this is what I think." ”

Nan Juyi suddenly said with some unhappiness: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not the right way to speculate about Houjin's intentions like this. The Ming Dynasty is the Heavenly Empire, and if we reject the foreign countries who sincerely seek peace, I am afraid that in the future, foreign countries will lose their closeness to our Ming Dynasty and turn to be enemies of me, which is not a good thing. ”

When Du Du was about to refute Nan Juyi's statement, Zhu Youzhen said first: "Nan Shilang doesn't have to be angry, he has made the most detailed judgment on Houjin, and we can make the most appropriate response, right?"

Dong Anhou's speculation tells us that agreeing to or refusing to negotiate peace will have an impact on Houjin, but it does not mean that we must reject peace talks. I would like to ask Nan Shilang, do we agree to make peace with Houjin? Or is it better to do it the other way? ”

Nan Juyi calmed down, thought for a moment and said: "The minister thinks it's better to make peace, Houjin and Mongolia are at war, no matter who wins or loses, it will be a problem for me Daming." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Du Du again and asked, "What do you think of Dong'anhou?" ”

Du Du gritted his teeth and said: "The ministers think that it is impossible, the Mongols respect the oath the most, and Your Majesty swore an oath with Lin Dan Khan and the leaders of the tribes in Zhangjiakou to fight against the Houjin together." If a peace treaty is reached with Houjin in turn, I am afraid that the Mongol tribes will lose their trust in His Majesty.

In addition, the Mongol tribes were in harmony and separated, and although Lin Dan Khan had the title of Mongol Great Khan, he could not make the Mongol tribes obey orders. If the Houjin was allowed to attack the steppe with all his might, the minister was worried that there might not be anything to lose both, but instead gave the Houjin the opportunity to annex the Mongol tribes.

His Majesty had said before that the Ming Dynasty and the Houjin were now evenly matched, and what could influence the rapid change in the strength of the two sides was who could obtain the allegiance of the Mongol tribes. If the Ming Dynasty had the help of the Mongolian tribes, it would be difficult for the Houjin to go west out of the grassland. If the Later Jin integrated the forces of the Mongol tribes, the northwest frontier of the Ming Dynasty would be directly threatened by the Later Jin.

With the border of thousands of miles to the northwest, I am afraid that even with the strength of the Ming Dynasty, it will be difficult to build a border defense area like the Ningjin Defense Line. Therefore, the minister thought that he should refuse. ”

Zhu Youzhen raised his hand to stop Nan Juyi, nodded at the two and said, "What the two Aiqing said is very reasonable, but I have already figured it out, we will neither make peace with him, nor refuse him to negotiate peace, just delay the negotiations."

Didn't Houjin refuse our request for a sum with 10,000 taels of gold and 1,000,000 taels of silver a year? Now you propose to Dolgon that since Huang Taiji has the intention of emulating King Shunyi, then either he will come to Beijing himself, or send a son to Beijing. In addition, the Han people in Liaodong should all be returned to our country, and the two countries may have the possibility of negotiating peace..."