Like the news received by Li Xiucheng, Mo Xiangzhi, the so-called peace envoy of the Wu army, took the waterway to Yifengmen Wharf, bypassed the Taiping army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang outside the city, and directly got in touch with the Taiping army in Nanjing, and also bypassed Li Xiucheng, and directly informed Hong Xiuquan of the intention.

The reason why he was able to get in touch directly with the Taiping Army in Nanjing was because of the communication channel established between Wu Jun and the Taiping Army when they were in the honeymoon period, and because Yang Xiuqing had sent the Taiping Army Observation Envoy to Daye to lead the way, so it was so smooth. However, it is a pity for Mo Xiangzhi, the envoy of the Wu army, who has been overly guilty, that the Nanjing Taiping Army, which has changed its boss, not only did not welcome the Wu army into the city with a grand ceremony as before, but also tied him and his two entourages before escorting him into the city.

But it's okay, because Mo Xiangzhi came to ask for peace talks, Hong Xiuquan, who hated Wu Jun to the bone, ordered Mo Xiangzhi to be cut down without saying a word, and was very happy to ask Meng Shiyong, a favorite minister who had come to report the news, whether he should accept Wu Jun's request for peace, Meng Shiyong didn't dare to take such a big responsibility, so he could only suggest that Hong Xiuquan consult Li Xiucheng, Hong Xiuquan adopted, and then there was a matter of the envoy of the Heavenly King's Mansion summoning Li Xiucheng into the city.

During this period, of course, Mo Xiangzhi has been imprisoned in the cell of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, eating coarse bran and rotten vegetables, and being scolded and abused by the Taiping soldiers, until the morning of the next day, he was tied up and escorted into the Tianwang Mansion, and was escorted to the Golden Dragon Hall of the Tianwang Mansion where the golden splendor chased the Jinluan Palace in Beijing, and then before Mo Xiangzhi could carefully look at the situation in the palace, the Taiping soldiers who escorted him had already kicked him on the crook of his knee and shouted: "Kneel." ”

was kicked by the Taiping sergeant and almost knelt down, but Mo Xiangzhi tried to stand up straight and did not kneel, and at the same time looked up to see Hong Xiuquan sitting in the middle of the hall, and what appeared in front of Mo Xiangzhi was a round-faced man in his fifties wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, quite tall, with a well-trimmed beard, quite majestic, but his face was a little reddish, and at first glance it gave people a feeling that his temper was not very good.

Then it immediately confirmed Mo Xiangzhi's judgment, seeing that Mo Xiangzhi refused to kneel, Hong Xiuquan really shouted with an angry face: "Bold demon envoy, why don't you kneel when you see this heavenly king?" ”

"Because the envoy doesn't know your identity." Mo Xiangzhi said loudly: "When the little envoy set off, the king of my family, Zhennan, had repeatedly told him that after the little envoy arrived in Tianjing, in addition to being able to kneel and bow to the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he must not bow down to anyone!" Because in the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, only Hong Tianwang Hong Wansui is qualified to let the envoys of the rebel army kneel, and the small envoy kneels to others, which is an insult to our king of Zhennan and the soldiers of our rebel army! ”

"Beyond the little demon said that?" Hong Xiuquan's face slowed down a little.

"Absolutely." Mo Xiangzhi nodded solemnly, and said loudly: "The soldiers of the appropriate noble army forced the little envoy to kneel, but they didn't explain your identity and name to the little envoy, and the little envoy didn't know if your noble car was the Heavenly King Hong Long Live of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so the little envoy must not kneel easily, lest he kneel to the wrong person!" ”

Hong Xiuquan's face looked a little better again, and he bowed to Meng Shiyong next to him, and ordered: "Meng Aiqing, tell him who I am." ”

"Wechen obeys." Meng Shiyong respectfully agreed, and then turned to Mo Xiangzhi and said: "Demon envoy, hear clearly, this is our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Heavenly King, quickly kneel down and salute, otherwise be careful of your head!" ”

To the surprise of the other Taiping soldiers present and to Hong Xiuquan's joy, after hearing Meng Shiyong's introduction, Mo Xiangzhi knelt down on Hong Xiuquan's knees without hesitation, and said solemnly while kowtowing: "Little envoy Mo Xiangzhi, long live the Taiping Heavenly King, long live the King of Heaven, long live the King of Heaven." ”

As an envoy of the Wu army, kneeling and kowtowing to Hong Xiuquan is of course a matter that makes Wu Chaoyue and the soldiers of the Wu army lose face, but it doesn't matter, Mo Xiangzhi did this directly from Wu Chaoyue's order, and there is no need to worry about being settled by the queen of autumn in the future. At the same time, as Wu Chaoyue expected, after seeing the enemy's envoy obediently kneeling and kowtowing to him, the narcissistic and arrogant Hong Xiuquan was indeed 'Longyan Dayue', although he did not open his mouth to let Mo Xiangzhi flatten, but he also had a good impression of Mo Xiangzhi, and subconsciously dispelled the idea of chopping Mo Xiangzhi into pieces and feeding them to the dog.

"Mo Demon Envoy, what is the reason why the little demon sent you to beg to see me?" After quietly nodding in satisfaction, Hong Xiuquan asked more majestically.

"Long live the King of Heaven, I came to seek peace." Mo Xiangzhi kowtowed and said: "The king of my family, Zhennan, please live the king of heaven in large quantities, raise your noble hand, let our army's army on Yuhuatai have a way out, don't attack Yuhuatai again, and negotiate to solve all kinds of contradictions and disputes between your and our armies." As compensation and repayment, the king of my family, Zhennan, is willing to make certain concessions in terms of territory and city, in order to thank the king for his magnanimity. ”

"Dreaming!" Hong Xiuquan categorically refused, and said sharply: "Feng Sanbao's demon thief is so bold that he dares to offend my Tianwei, bring demon soldiers to fight Tianjing City, kill my brother and occupy my land, and if I don't kill Feng Sanbao's demon soldiers, I can't get rid of the hatred in my heart!" ”

I don't know very well the specific situation of the Wu army in Yuhuatai, and Mo Xiangzhi can't tell whether Hong Xiuquan's words are bluffing or arrogant, so he can only keep in mind Wu Chaoyue's instructions that he asked himself to satisfy Hong Xiuquan's vanity as much as possible, and kowtowed heavily and replied: "Long live the King of Heaven, and please also ask the King of Heaven to live Mingjian, our King of Zhennan does not have the strength to break through the Tianjing City now, nor is he sure to defeat the Heavenly Army under your command, but if you want to rescue our army surrounded by the King of Heaven in Yuhuatai, It's not that our Zhennan King is not without this certainty....... ”

"Bold demon envoy, dare to threaten me?!" Hong Xiuquan was furious.

"Long live the King of Heaven forgive your sins, even if the envoy has a hundred guts, he will never dare to threaten you." Mo Xiangzhi hurriedly kowtowed again, and said tremblingly: "The little envoy means this, if Wu Chitose, the king of the south of my family, uses force to rescue the army surrounded by the king of heaven in Yuhuatai, whether it succeeds or not, it will definitely lead to a further expansion of the scale of the war between your and our armies, both of which have killed and injured the soldiers of your and our armies in vain, and if you and our armies want to turn enemies into friends, turn hostility into jade silk, and continue to join forces to destroy the remnants of the Qing demons, it is bound to be even more difficult, so the little envoy has the courage to beg the king of heaven for the sake of the people of the world, For the sake of thousands of Heavenly Kingdom soldiers, Kaien will consider negotiating peace with our Zhennan King Chitose. ”

Of course, Hong Xiuquan will not mind how many people will die in the war, and Hong Xiuquan doesn't particularly care about how many Taiping Army soldiers will die innocently if the war continues, but Mo Xiangzhi's title of long live makes Hong Xiuquan very satisfied, plus Mo Xiangzhi's honorific title for Wu Chaoyue is only a thousand years old, Hong Xiuquan is naturally more comfortable in his heart, so Hong Xiuquan's face slowed down again, and he snorted very disdainfully: "Okay, for the sake of your demon envoy's words, let's say, how are you going to negotiate peace?" ”

"Long live the King of Heaven, you can talk about it as much as you want." Mo Xiangzhi said with a rather flattering expression: "Long live the King of Heaven, we are seeking peace, how to talk about it, of course, long live the King of Heaven, you have the final say." Long live the king of heaven, if you want, you can send a plenipotentiary envoy back to Hubei with the envoy to negotiate with our king of Zhennan face to face, the conditions are as long live as you want, and our king of Zhennan must agree as much as he can. Long live the Heavenly King, if you don't want to send an envoy to Hubei, our Zhennan King can also send another plenipotentiary envoy to Tianjing to meet and negotiate with the Heavenly King in person. ”

"Send another plenipotentiary? So, aren't you a plenipotentiary messenger beyond the little demon? A middle-aged man in his forties in the Golden Dragon Hall suddenly spoke, smiled and asked, "What?" Beyond the little demon sent you to sue for peace, he didn't let you serve as a plenipotentiary messenger? ”

Mo Xiangzhi didn't rush to answer, but just glanced at the middle-aged man first, and saw that he was wearing the same bright yellow royal costume as Hong Xiuquan, but the golden crown was smaller than Hong Xiuquan's gorgeousness, and he vaguely guessed his identity but didn't dare to be sure, so he could only ask cautiously: "Dare to ask the name of this prince." ”

"Li Xiucheng."

Li Xiucheng, who had already entered the city yesterday afternoon, replied loudly, but to Li Xiucheng's surprise, when he heard his name, Mo Xiangzhi actually showed a happy look, and deliberately got up and turned to him to bow on one knee, and arched his hand and said: "Little envoy Mo Xiangzhi, I have seen the loyal king of the heavenly kingdom, Chitose Chitose, Chitose Chitose. ”

"No courtesy." Li Xiucheng waved his hand and said, "You don't need to be so polite, answer the king's question." ”

"It should be, it should be." Mo Xiangzhi said respectfully: "Zhongwang Chitose, our Zhennan King also asked the little envoy to bring you a gift, which is currently kept by the soldiers of your army. ”

"No need, this king doesn't lack anything." Li Xiucheng said casually: "You can keep the gift yourself, it can be regarded as a reward from the king." Also, to answer the king's question, why did you ...... beyond the little demon who sent you to sue for peace? ”

"Please be sure to accept it." Mo Xiangzhi interrupted Li Xiucheng's words and said: "Don't hide from the loyal king Chitose, the gift given to you by our King Zhennan is a new foreign gun that can shoot continuously, it comes from the Citigroup country tens of thousands of miles away, and it can't be said to be priceless in our Chinese land, and it can be regarded as a thousand gold." ”

"A new type of foreign gun that can shoot continuously?!" Suddenly remembering the mysterious and terrifying Wu army team on Yuhuatai, Li Xiucheng was suddenly moved, and finally nodded, and said: "Okay, then the king is not welcome, if there is a chance, this king must surpass the little demon." ”

"Thank you Chung Wang Chitose, thank you Chunwang Chitose." Mo Xiangzhi was overjoyed, and hurriedly thanked Li Xiucheng again and again, and emphasized without being too wordy: "King Zhong, Chitose, the foreign gun that our King Zhennan gave you was packed in a long wooden box and wrapped in silk. If it is convenient for you to be loyal to King Chitose, you can send someone to fetch it in a while, and when the envoy enters the city, the soldiers of your army who were escorted to the envoy are temporarily confiscated. ”

"Okay, okay, don't be wordy, this king will send someone to fetch it later." Li Xiucheng interrupted Mo Xiangzhi very impatiently, and urged: "Answer this king's question, beyond the little demon sent you to sue for peace, why don't you be the envoy of the plenipotentiary?" ”

"Hui Zhong Wang Chitose, because the official position of the envoy is too low and his qualifications are not enough." Mo Xiangzhi replied respectfully: "Also, our King Zhennan is not sure whether the King of Heaven will agree to negotiate peace with us, so he sent a small envoy to ask for the passage first, and obtained the consent of the King of Heaven, and then sent a plenipotentiary envoy to meet the King of Heaven." ”

Li Xiucheng smiled and said with a smile: "Your King of Zhennan has a good calculation, as long as our Heavenly King agrees, whether we send an envoy to Hubei, or you send another envoy to Tianjing, it will take at least half a month to come and go, and then drag it out a few times during the negotiation, and a few months will pass casually, right?" ”

"Chung Wang Chitose, what do you mean by this, why can't the little envoy understand?" Mo Xiangzhi asked with a forced smile.

"Pretending to be like it." Li Xiucheng sneered and said, "Didn't your King of Zhennan tell you that he did this just to delay the army?" ”

"A delaying tactic?" Mo Xiangzhi's face was full of surprise, and he said in surprise: "Zhongwang Chitose, what kind of plan does our Zhennan King do to delay the army?" Why the delaying tactics? Why still can't the little envoy understand? ”

"Shut up!" Li Xiucheng shouted angrily: "Don't play this set of stealing chickens and touching dogs in front of this king!" What kind of trick is surpassing the little demon, this king has already seen it! Tell me honestly, what is the purpose of transcending the little demon and sending you to delay the war?! ”

"Wronged!" Mo Xiangzhi shouted loudly, and quickly turned to Hong Xiuquan, who was easier to deal with, and said while kowtowing: "Long live the King of Heaven, the little envoy is wronged, the little envoy is really here to sue for peace, not to do some delaying tactics." ”

"Long live the Heavenly King, please don't believe the nonsense of this demon envoy." Li Xiucheng also hurriedly bowed his hand to Hong Xiuquan and said: "This demon envoy came to sue for peace for the little demon, the purpose is to temporarily stabilize us, and buy time for the transcendent demon to mobilize troops to reinforce the Yuhuatai demon soldiers, if we are fooled, the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

Hong Xiuquan groaned, stared at Mo Xiangzhi and calculated, and only after a while did he suddenly say: "I will give you a chance to prove your sincerity, you go to Yuhuatai to meet Feng Sanbao, the demon general, and ask him to leave Yuhuatai with the demon soldiers and withdraw to Wuhu, I will believe that you are really here to sue for peace and negotiate with you." ”

Mo Xiangzhi also thought about it, and then said cautiously: "The little envoy can only give it a try, try to persuade General Feng to agree to your request, long live the Heavenly King, although the little envoy does not dare to guarantee that he will be able to persuade General Feng to agree, but whether it succeeds or not, the little envoy will personally come back to kowtow to the Heavenly King, and face General Feng's reply." ”

Hong Xiuquan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, I will believe you this time, but I also have a word first, if you don't go back, you will bear all the consequences." ”

"Please rest assured that the little envoy will definitely come back." Mo Xiangzhi kowtowed and replied.

Hong Xiuquan nodded with satisfaction again, and then ordered the guards to escort Mo Xiangzhi out of the city, escort him to the Yuhuatai battlefield and release him, and let Mo Xiangzhi go to Feng Sanbao to negotiate for him. Li Xiucheng next to him was no longer silent, and was just thinking about how to take advantage of this opportunity to meet Hong Xiuquan next, and join forces with Meng Shiyong, Qin Rigang and other Hong Xiuquan's favored ministers to expose Wu Chaoyue's delaying tactics and want to capture the past, and persuade Hong Xiuquan to leave Nanjing City as soon as possible.

Next, of course, is the key, after being escorted to Yuhuatai by the guards of the Heavenly King's Mansion, Mo Xiangzhi, who was temporarily freed, did not rush up to Yuhuatai to contact the Wu army, but ripped off a few copper buttons on his clothes, quietly stuffed them into the hands of the leader of the guards who escorted him, and said in a low voice: "General, my button is only plated with copper on the outside, and gold on the inside." ”

glanced at Mo Xiangzhi with some surprise, and then checked the weight of the buttons and found that Mo Xiangzhi should not be lying, so the leader of the guards said in a low voice: "What do you want to do?" ”

"Trouble General, you have a message for your loyal king Chitose, and after the matter is completed, I will give you ten times the weight of gold." Mo Xiangzhi said in a low voice: "Please tell King Zhong, Chitose, I gave him the foreign gun for King Zhennan, and there is a mezzanine in the wooden box containing the foreign gun." ”

After that, Mo Xiangzhi turned around and left according to his clothes, but unfortunately, the leader of the guards suddenly pulled out his waist knife, turned the handle and smashed it heavily on the back of Mo Xiangzhi's head, knocking Mo Xiangzhi to the ground on the spot, and then ordered his subordinates to step forward and hold Mo Xiangzhi down, re-tied and escorted him back......