Regarding the candidate to follow Dolgon to envoy Houjin, Zhu Youzhen thought for a long time before saying to Li Hongyuan: "Since Houjin is ready to retreat, obviously this agreement is meaningless.

It is impossible for us and the Houjin to agree to terms that are unfavorable to us, neither side is in a favorable position, we cannot keep the Houjin army, and the Houjin army cannot remain in a stalemate with us here.

So in the end, this agreement is just for us and Houjin to express our position to each other. In this case, sending a formal envoy will inevitably make these Jurchens feel too good about themselves, thinking that I am afraid of them.

If the status of the emissary sent is too low, it will give people the impression that we are not sincere about the peace talks, but give the Jurchens an excuse to refuse to sign the agreement.

Fortunately, I was about to find a reason to send Du Du back. You go and find Du Du, I talk to him, and let him serve as the envoy of our Ming Dynasty, and negotiate with Huang Taiji and them. ”

Li Hongyuan subconsciously objected: "Du Du? Your Majesty, that's the eldest grandson of the old slave. Last time, His Majesty released him, but this time he still desperately launched an attack on our army, which shows that this person is still loyal to the Houjin State and the Jurchen clan.

Looking for him to be the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, let's not talk about whether he is willing or not, if he returns to the Houjin army and deliberately betrays the interests of my Ming Dynasty, wouldn't the result of this negotiation be unfavorable to me? ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and smiled and said, "That's not right, so we have an excuse to refuse this armistice agreement." Anyway, we have no intention of fulfilling this agreement, whether the Ming Dynasty and the Houjin are fighting or making peace does not depend on a document, but on the comparison of strength between the two sides.

If we are strong, we will naturally not make peace with Houjin. If we are weak, Houjin will not make peace with us either. Therefore, the validity of this armistice agreement does not have much shelf life. So we don't have to pay too much attention to this negotiation, we need to focus on what is not part of the negotiation.

Nurhachi put gold on his face, saying that he relied on 13 pairs of armor to raise troops, unify the Jurchen tribes, defeat Mongolia, Daming, and Korea in succession, and finally occupy the land of Liaodong and establish the Houjin State.

Although we don't have all the information about Nurha's red family, the history of the rise of the old slave is obviously not as mythical as he himself boasted. At least we know very well that without Li Chengliang's support, the old slave would not have been able to unify the Jurchen ministries to establish the so-called Jianzhou Jurchen.

A small Jurchen tribe in Liaodong with a population of only a few dozen households was able to build the Houjin State that towers over Liaodong today, and we must admit that the personal talents of the old slaves played a great role in it.

However, we must also realize that in addition to the personal talents of the old slaves, the hope of the various Jurchen tribes in Liaodong to end their tribal vendetta and establish the internal cohesion of a unified nation is the foundation for the existence of the Later Jin State.

In our history, the sudden rise of such ethnic minorities is not a minority, or Xiongnu, or Xianbei, or Khitan, or Jurchen, or Mongolian. Among them, the most outstanding performance is the Mongol Empire founded by Genghis Khan, which finally succeeded in conquering the Central Plains.

Therefore, if we want to defeat the Houjin Kingdom, we must first defeat the internal cohesion of the Jurchen clan. Previously, I proposed to negotiate peace with the Later Jin, which was nothing more than to ease the external pressure of the Later Jin State, so as to pin my hope on the internal division of the Later Jin State.

This Du Du is the eldest grandson of the old slave, and his father was the heir to the throne of the Later Jin State before he was executed by the old slave, so his status in the Later Jin State is relatively special. Theoretically, he should be more qualified than Huang Taiji to inherit the throne. But because of his father's death, he lost his hope of ascending to the throne of Khan.

However, with Du Du's identity, whether he opposes Huang Taiji in China or defects to my Daming, he will be an important banner that shakes the internal cohesion of the Jurchens. Let him serve as the messenger of my Daming, I just want to see how much Huang Taiji's trust in Du Du is left? And how long can Du Du's loyalty to the Houjin Kingdom be held out without asking for anything in return. ”

Li Hongyuan paused for a moment, and finally lowered his head and said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty is far-sighted, and the minister can't reach it." ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at him and couldn't help laughing: "It's just a little game to test human nature, what kind of foresight are you talking about, Hongyuan, are you slapping me again?"

You don't have to worry too much, even if something goes wrong with Du Dudang's envoy, it won't change the pattern between Houjin and my Daming all at once. The war between us and Houjin ultimately depends on the strength of both sides. But if one or two Dudu were on our side, it would greatly speed up the course of this war..."

On the morning of the 12th, Dolgon and his entourage left Santun Camp City together with the Ming envoy in a carriage. After some ideological struggle, Dolgon took away the two white flag guards who had been isolated for nearly two days. Of course, Ah Shan and 23 other Jurchen soldiers who had already developed symptoms were still left in the quarantine area of the Ming army.

Dolgon even rejected Li Hongyuan's offer to visit the quarantined Jurchen soldiers before leaving. Being able to leave Santun Camp safely, Dorgon should have felt relaxed. However, he looked at the carriage with the envoy sitting next to him from time to time along the way, and his expression was a little dignified.

On the afternoon of the 12th, Dolgon and his entourage arrived at the Houjin camp, and when they heard the news that Huang Taiji, Dai Shan and others had come out to greet the Ming envoy, they all showed a look of surprise when they found that the Ming envoy who got off the carriage was actually Dorobele Dudu, who had come down on crutches.

Dai Shan asked Du Du with some uncertainty: "Why did you get off the carriage, the negotiating envoy sent by the Ming Kingdom?" ”

Dolgon coughed, stepped forward and introduced to everyone: "This is the negotiation envoy appointed by the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom, and he is also the Dorobel Dudu of our Houjin Kingdom. ”

When even a Jurchen general stepped forward and pointed at Du Du and asked, "Du Du, could it be that you have surrendered to the Ming Kingdom?" ”

There were also Jurchen generals who were more short-tempered and scolded him: "Don't say that you surrendered to the Ming Kingdom, and you dare to act as an envoy for the Ming Kingdom, do you really not take us seriously?" ”

Dai Shan's face was cloudy, and he hadn't thought about how to react to this matter, but Huang Taiji beside him had already stopped everyone by speaking out, and asked Du Du, who was standing there silently, with a serious face: "Du Du, tell me for yourself, what's going on with you now?" ”

Du Du was still a little frightened when he got out of the carriage, but when he actually stood in front of these people, he realized that things had not changed so badly.

He glanced down at his right leg in a plaster cast, and a wave of resentment finally rose in his heart. In front of them, these clansmen usually guard against isolating themselves, but after going to the battlefield, they actually abandoned themselves and fled without hesitation. If it weren't for Akito who saved himself, even if he didn't die at that time, he would have become a waste person in the future.

The Emperor of the Ming Kingdom asked him to return the favor, but he really didn't feel that he had done anything wrong, after all, he didn't betray the secrets of the Houjin Kingdom, but just ran an errand for the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom.

Du Du, who had settled down, looked at Huang Taiji calmly and said: "Yes, I received the favor of the emperor of the Ming Kingdom, so I was a messenger for the emperor, and I did not surrender to the Ming Kingdom." ”

The Jurchen relatives and nobles on the side naturally did not believe Du Du's statement, and when they were refuting Du Du's statement, Huang Taiji stopped them again and said: "What are you arguing about, what can't you say back to the big tent." Aren't you ashamed to quarrel in front of the soldiers of the Eight Banners? ”

Huang Taiji hugged Du Du with his fists, and after asking him to follow, he turned around and walked towards the camp. A group of Jurchen relatives hurriedly followed behind Huang Taiji, and no one paid attention to Du Du, who they regarded as a traitor, and left Du Du in the open space outside the camp.

Dolgon looked at the situation before he said to Dudu: "Dudubel go in together, I think the Khan has a lot to ask you and me." ”

Du Du nodded at him, and with the help of the two guards beside him, he walked towards the camp. After everyone arrived at the Chinese army's tent, Huang Taiji first asked Dolgon to report the details of the negotiation and what he had seen and heard along the way to Santun Yingcheng this time.

Hearing that the Santun camp city was overhauling its defenses, the Jurchen relatives and nobles all felt relieved. First, I'm glad they hadn't bumped into it before; Second, they felt that since the Ming army had repaired the Santun camp city, the possibility of attacking them out of the city was quite small, and they should be able to evacuate safely.

For Chongzhen not to meet Dolgon, everyone felt a pity and felt that they had missed an opportunity to understand the Ming Emperor. However, when they heard that smallpox might become epidemic in the city, they all showed fear.

Although the Jurchen clan has continuously absorbed the culture and system of the Ming Dynasty under the efforts of the leaders of Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, they still retain the old customs of shamanic witch doctors in terms of medicine.

The Jurchens' understanding of smallpox is basically still in the stage of mystification. They believe that this epidemic is a magic technique controlled by smallpox Niangniang, and it cannot be cured, so they can only pray for the pox Niangniang to recover the pain.

Although at the beginning of the year, Fan Wencheng brought back a doctor from Zhangjiakou, saying that he could grow cowpox to avoid smallpox. But this statement was quickly rebuked by the shamans and lamas who were believed by the Jurchens as nonsense. What's more, it is also said that the doctor's planting of the pox fluid from the cow on people is completely a kind of witchcraft, and it is a vicious ploy of the Han people to exterminate the Jurchens.

Therefore, Fan Wencheng quickly stopped talking and did not dare to recommend the cowpox technique to Huang Taiji, but he found some Han slaves and began to experiment.

Now that they heard that smallpox might be prevalent in Santun Yingcheng, these Jurchen generals suddenly had the idea of staying away from the Ming army. Huang Taiji, who had originally planned to evacuate today and tomorrow, also agreed to the request of these Jurchen generals. It was decided to start the evacuation today, first retreat to the Zunhua camp, and then withdraw to the outside of the pass after joining up with the friendly forces retreating from the west.