Fang Yuan closed his eyes slightly, he had already indicated to Huang Taiji in person that the conditions for the peace talks were to take the Liao River as the boundary, not to pay compensation, and to sign a peace treaty directly, but now the Manchu envoy came to the lion and opened his mouth, what did he want to do?

In his mind, he has gradually understood the diplomatic trick of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's current peace talks, that is, when Fang Yuan has not yet returned to Middle-earth, he lied about the results of the battle of Liaodong and the military situation, and then greatly blackmailed Chongzhen to withdraw his troops back to Liaodong.

What's even more vicious is that if the envoy of the Korean state to pay tribute is beheaded, it will sever the connection between the Ming Dynasty and the Korean state, and the Korean state will inevitably turn to the Manchu Qing Dynasty completely.

Without the strong support of the Korean state, and even such an enemy with hundreds of warships, if you want to sneak attack Liaodong later, it will be half the effort. Without the worries of Liaodong being attacked by a sneak attack, the Manchu Qing would have no scruples if they tore up the peace treaty and then sent troops to attack the Ming Dynasty.

This trick is really cunning!

If Fang Yuan hadn't rushed back to Middle-earth in time, the benefits that the Manchus could not get on the battlefield would have been easily obtained at the peace table by relying on diplomatic tricks.

The monarchs and ministers of the Ming Dynasty, including the crown prince Zhu Cihong, didn't even know anything about the situation in Liaodong and Korea, so they relied on their imagination and took it for granted to negotiate, and it was strange not to lose all their pants by the Manchurian reckoning.

"Wait!"

Fang Yuan interrupted Chongzhen's words in a deep voice, and said lightly, "Your Majesty, this condition for peace talks is absolutely unacceptable!" ”

Chongzhen's eyes all fell on Fang Yuan, the prince who had come to invite merit was ruined by Fang Yuan, and he was even more angry.

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "On this trip to Liaodong, I have already figured out the bottom line of the Manchu peace talks, that is, the Liaohe River is the boundary, and there is no need to invade each other, and there is no need to pay silver, cloth, and even less to kill the envoys of the Korean state." ”

Zhu Cihong said sharply, "Governor Fang is obviously alive, but the envoy of the Korean State deliberately did not report it, causing his father to lose face and carry out a state funeral, don't you dare to kill?!" ”

Fang Yuan said coldly, "Did the envoys of the North Korean state know about it and didn't report it, should they be killed or not, at least they should be given a chance to refute, why should they kill people without interrogation?" ”

He bowed his hand to Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, the ministers in Liaodong rely on the support of the Korean State to survive until the spring flowers bloom and return." The Korean state has no merit and no fault, and must not kill the envoy indiscriminately, otherwise he will fall for the treacherous tricks of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and make the relatives and enemies happy! ”

He was reasonable, the killing of the envoy of the DPRK was a major diplomatic matter, and how could he kill him if he wanted without asking?

Chongzhen also nodded and said, "Okay, let someone summon a Korean envoy to the Qianqing Palace, and I will personally interrogate him." ”

Wang Chengen immediately sent someone to go, and Chongzhen took Fang Yuan's hand again, "The imperial banquet is ready, I want to dine with the horses, and then discuss the matter of peace talks with the Manchus." ”

Chongzhen was obviously on Fang Yuan's side, and Empress Zhou and Zhu Cihong retired with gloomy faces.

Princess Kunxing was hiding outside the Dongnuan Pavilion, and when she saw Queen Zhou leaving, she secretly came in, sat down with Chongzhen and Fang Yuan, and had a royal banquet together.

Fang Yuan's words aroused Chongzhen's impatience again, no matter how the compensation is a shameless matter, if Fang Yuan's negotiation conditions can be followed, the two sides are on an equal footing in the peace talks, that is the best.

In fact, he has a bigger question, that is, why did the envoy of the DPRK suddenly disappear and suddenly appear again, if there is no help from the court and the people in the palace, it is absolutely impossible, it seems that the water of this matter is still very deep, only wait to see the envoy of the DPRK and ask the ins and outs.

Fang Yuan was restless and eating dinner with Chongzhen, but he was worried about the situation on the side of the Korean envoy, Chongzhen couldn't help but ask, "Don Ma, are the Manchus really willing to sign a non-aggression pact without any conditions?" ”

Fang Yuan said truthfully, "When I was in Liaodong, I had a clear face-to-face interview with Huang Taiji, although the Ming Dynasty had internal and external troubles, the Manchu Qing Dynasty also had internal and external troubles, and the first truce was a win-win situation for both sides, why did the Ming Dynasty have to pay a large sum of silver, cloth, and sever relations with the subject countries to negotiate peace?" This is a trick of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and he didn't lose the battlefield, but he lost all his money at the negotiating table! ”

Chongzhen looked straight at Fang Yuan and said lightly, "Donkey, you actually had a private interview with Huang Taiji?" ”

Fang Yuan was stunned, it seemed that the matter of private peace talks was really taboo, but at that time, it was really a last resort.

He smiled with a clear conscience, "Your Majesty, the minister has not only talked to Huang Taiji face-to-face, but also talked to Prince Rui Dolgon, so the internal strife of the Manchu Qing is clear!" ”

He patiently explained how Huang Taiji gave marriage to Princess Gulun and surrendered, and how Dolgon promised his daughter Donggu Gege to form an alliance to enter the Central Plains.

Princess Kunxing suddenly asked, "Fang Yuan, the Manchu Qing is Princess Gulun again, and she is Gege, why don't you agree?" ”

Fang Yuan knew what she wanted to hear, so he truthfully said to please her, "What I told Dolgon is that I still like the princess of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Princess Kunxing couldn't hold back her smile like a flower, and immediately lowered her head, hiding her shyness and inner joy by eating.

Chongzhen heard that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was also a princess and Gege's marriage to solicit Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan categorically refused, he was in a good mood, "Okay, good, I really didn't mistake the horse's loyalty to Daming!" ”

While everyone was talking, the little eunuch of the Qianqing Palace hurriedly came to report that the envoy group of the Korean State had disappeared again and disappeared.

Under the root of the imperial city, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, the person Chongzhen wanted to interrogate was not coming back, and disappeared inexplicably, Chongzhen patted the dragon case angrily and said, "Wang Chengen, immediately send Jinyi Wei to investigate, a messenger group is so big, how can it be said that if you don't see it, you won't see it?" ”

Fang Yuan silently looked at Chongzhen, who was embarrassed and angry, since the North Korean envoy group disappeared again, it also confirmed his previous guess, above the court, there must be eyeliner traitors in the inner court, otherwise the North Korean mission would never have repeatedly made haunting dramas.

This disappearance is estimated to be the last disappearance, and it will soon be wiped out!

Fang Yuan did not hold out hope for the search of the North Korean mission, the top priority was not the life and death of the North Korean mission, but Chongzhen must issue an order to appease the North Korean state, and must not cold the heart of the little brother of this subject country.

Fang Yuan said bluntly, "Your Majesty, whether the Korean mission can be found or not, Your Majesty should also issue an order to praise the great achievements made by the Korean State this time, don't make the Korean State feel cold." ”

Chongzhen nodded and said, "But the Korean state is now nominally a subject state of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and if it is praised in public, it may be detrimental to the Korean state." ”

How could Fang Yuan not know where these joints were, he smiled and said, "So you only need Your Majesty to secretly cover a jade seal in the form of a secret book, and then reward some treasures in the palace, silver, and cloth, and order your subordinates to secretly send them to the Korean Kingdom." ”

Chongzhen nodded, and immediately ordered Wang Chengen to arrange for someone to go to the inner treasury to find some gold, silver and jade left before, and then allocate 50,000 taels of silver and 100,000 pieces of cloth from the imperial silver to bring them to the Korean country as a reward.

These rewards were all spent from the imperial treasury, which avoided the turmoil in the court and reached the ears of the Manchus.

Fang Yuan asked about the battle between the Qin army and the Liukou in Shaanxi during the time he left, and Wang Chengen hurriedly said, "In December, the thieves broke through the Qin army's Weishui defense line. The Qin army, which had been defending Tongguan for nearly half a year, returned to Xi'an with the whole division before being outflanked. The thieves then entered the pass to besiege Xi'an, and the battle had lasted for three months, and the city of Xi'an was still holding on and was not broken by the thieves. ”

Shaanxi can support it for a year, which has already greatly exceeded Fang Yuan's estimate. Fang Yuan's greatest concern was that during the war with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, after Li Zicheng broke through Shaanxi, he would move his army eastward, and the Ming Dynasty would inevitably collapse in the face of a two-front battle.

But at this moment, after a year of fighting between Fangyuan, the Ming army and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng still did not take Shaanxi, and then attacked Shanxi and even Gyeonggi in the east, which was enough to declare his defeat. As long as he can achieve the results of peace talks with the Manchus, even if Li Zicheng takes Shaanxi, that is, he is at the end of the road, trapped in the northwest, and waits for the end of being annihilated.

Chongzhen asked, "Don't you save Shaanxi now?" ”

Fang Yuan didn't answer and asked, "Your Majesty, can the vassal kings and clans of the Ming Dynasty implement the policy of opening the floodgates and releasing water offered by the ministers?" ”

Chongzhen sighed and said, "The King of Jin, the King of Lu, the King of Dai, the King of Tang, the King of Shu, plus the two or three thousand registered clans have received some homeless displaced people, and it is estimated that there are only forty or fifty thousand people, but it is a drop in the bucket and to no avail. ”

"Forty or fifty thousand people, it's better than nothing!"

Since these Ming princes didn't realize the importance of population, Fang Yuan was reluctant to do so, and said with a smile, "The minister is willing to accept another 500,000 displaced people from Henan and Huguang in the four prefectures, and I hope Your Majesty will approve it." ”

He is willing to settle homeless refugees in Jiangnan, that is, to give Li Zicheng a salary and place 500,000 yuan, which is to make Li Zicheng lose 500,000 soldiers. ”

Fang Yuan said, "Save, of course save, Your Majesty immediately sent a civil official to Xi'an City to discuss the matter of Zhao'an with Li Zicheng." ”

Chongzhen was stunned and asked, "Zhao'an?" The thieves attacking the city are really the heinous culprits, and they must not be recruited. ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this is just a delaying tactic, and it can also be regarded as a support for King Qin. After the ministers negotiated a peace treaty with the Manchu Qing and relieved the siege of Ningyuan, they would come to care about the thieves. ”

Since Fang Yuan was willing to take the initiative to bear the burden of peace talks with the Manchus, he was more reassuring to Chongzhen than the crown prince Zhu Cihong, and Chongzhen was overjoyed, "Okay! Good! It was the horse that presided over the peace talks with the Manchus. ”

After Fang Yuan gave up his thanks, his eyes met the rippling eyes of Princess Kunxing, this little princess now worships Fang Yuan as a hero.

Fang Yuan smiled at her, and Princess Kunxing pursed her lips and snickered in shame, overjoyed.