Thanks to the blessing of the intelligence network that Wu Lao Han has painstakingly managed for so many years, Wu Jun's side is not completely ignorant of the actions of the Qing court, Kang Mazi approved the armistice and peace treaty signed by Kubilong and Wu Jun, and sent a second wave of negotiation delegations headed by Wang Xu Not long after leaving Beijing, the news has spread to Wuchang City. At the same time, there was also a scaly claw of Wang Xu and his entourage on this mission - how powerful it is to persuade Wu Jun to leniency the Qing court after the 80s, the key is that Kang Mazi is openly discussing this matter among all the officials above the fourth rank in Beijing, although this move does not rule out that Kang Mazi has the intention of deliberately creating public opinion and psychological foreshadowing, but even if the Wu Army Intelligence Network does not want to collect this information, it is really difficult.

After receiving these news, Wu Laohan, who had never had any opinions, had to gather a few dog-headed military divisions to discuss and discuss countermeasures with everyone, and it was a coincidence that because he wanted to come back and let Wu Laohan find a way to find a new source of raw materials for Wu's new firearms battalion, Lu Fatzi also happened to be in Wuchang City, so Lu Fatzi was also cheeky and squeezed into this meeting - this was also the unlucky urging of the Qing Dynasty.

"Accurate news, good news." As soon as the meeting began, Wu Lao Han, who had fulfilled his wish, announced the good news to several important lackeys with a smile on his face: "The Mangou Emperor and the Mangou Imperial Court have recognized the armistice and peace treaty signed between the old thief and my Pingxi Palace. ”

"Okay!" Hu Guozhu, Wang Shirong, and Lu Fatzi, who were present at the meeting, applauded and cheered together, and all of them were smiling happily, saying that this time it was better, whether it was the reconstruction of Wuchang, the development of Hunan and Guangxi, the compensity of the fallen soldiers, the development and construction of new weapons, and so on, there was no longer any need to worry about money, money, and food, and the pressure on Yunnan and Guizhou, the rear of the Wu army, could also be greatly reduced.

"Don't get too excited just yet." Wu Laohan smiled and said: "But there is also not very good news, Emperor Mangou Mazi couldn't take out so much money and food at once, and sent Wang Xu, Xiong Cilu and Kong Sizhen as Qincha, who came to Wuchang to start a second negotiation with the old man, and wanted the old man to give them some time appropriately, or appropriately reduce the amount of some military salaries, grain and grass and ransom for prisoners of war, and also wanted the old man to release their prisoners of war in advance." You say, how should the old man answer? ”

As he spoke, Wu Lao Han took out the information collected by the Wu Army's intelligence network and handed it to Hu Guozhu, Lu Fatzi and others for circulation. After carefully reading this information, Hu Guozhu was the first to say: "Father-in-law, the son-in-law thinks that it is still possible to consider appropriately releasing the payment period of military salaries, grain and grass, and ransoms for prisoners of war, after all, the annual income of the Mangou Imperial Court is placed there, and we are forcing Emperor Mazi to death, and he still can't take it out." And the persecution is too tight, it may also cause the Mazi Emperor to jump over the wall in a hurry, and add twists and turns, it is better to give in a little and take a step back to open the sky, which is also very good for us. ”

"Of course, you can make a slight concession on the time limit, but you must definitely not give an inch in terms of quantity, and the military salary, grain and grass and ransom for prisoners of war promised by Kubilong are exchanged for our blood and life in Pingxi Wangfu, and the quantitative concession is not only a loss, but there is no way to explain it to the soldiers."

"The students agreed with General Kongo." Wang Shirong echoed: "In a short period of time, the Mangou Imperial Court will come up with such a large sum of money and food, and the Mangou Imperial Court really can't do it, rather than taking the risk of causing the Mangou Imperial Court to tear up the peace treaty and forcibly force it, it is better to give in a little bit and give the Mangou Imperial Court a little more time, so that it is more stable." ”

Speaking of this, Wang Shirong paused and added: "However, the Mangou Imperial Court's request for our army to release prisoners of war in advance must not be agreed!" If we make concessions in this regard and release the Mangou prisoners of war in advance, the Mangou court will have no worries, and no one can say whether it will continue to pay the remaining military salaries, grain and grass, and the ransom of the prisoners of war. ”

"Reasonable, Lone thinks so too." Wu Laohan nodded, and said with a relaxed smile: "The annual income of the Mangou Imperial Court is only more than 20 million taels of silver in a year, and this year, in order to support the Southwest War, this income has already been spent, no matter how much he forces Kangxi Xiao Mazi, he can't take it out and give it for nothing, so in terms of the deadline, he can still give in a little way." But the early release of prisoners of war and the reduction of military salaries, grain and grass and ransom for prisoners of war or something, the Mangou court can't even think about it, and the old man is not so stupid. ”

After that, Wu Lao Hanjian turned his gaze to Fat Lu again, and asked with a smile: "Yifeng, what's wrong?" Usually at times like this, you have the most words, why don't you say a word today? ”

"Back to my grandfather, my grandson-in-law is thinking about something." Fat Lu replied honestly.

"What do you want?" Wu Lao Hanjian asked.

"The grandson-in-law is thinking about the tax increase of Emperor Chongzhen of the former Ming Dynasty." Lu Fatzi replied: "Grandson-in-law is very strange, Emperor Chongzhen obviously knew that the northern red land was thousands of miles away at that time, and the people had no income, why did he insist on increasing taxes, forcing the people everywhere to rise up one after another and rebel?" ”

"No wonder everyone says that your show was chosen, and you don't even know this?" Wang Shirong sneered: "At that time, the northwest thieves of the former Ming Dynasty were everywhere, attacking cities everywhere to kill people and set fires, and the dogs were delaying in the Northeast, threatening the former Ming Jinggi at all times. So even if he knew that it was a cup of poisonous wine, Emperor Chongzhen, who was so thirsty that his throat was smoking, had to ....... ”

"Huh?" Speaking of this, the sneer on Wang Shirong's face suddenly disappeared without a trace, and was replaced by a nervous frown and deep thought. Hu Guozhu over there was not stupid, he immediately came to his senses, and asked tentatively: "Yifeng, do you want to oppose your father-in-law giving in to Mangou?" ”

"Uncle Hui, that's exactly the case." Fat Lu nodded and said solemnly: "Grandfather, uncle, forgive my grandson-in-law for daring to remind me that if our army makes a concession in time to Mangou, our army will not be able to take advantage of it, but will suffer a big loss!" Mangou has the prosperous land of the Central Plains and the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, and what our army has is only Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, which has been a poor and remote country since ancient times, Wuchang, Sichuan, which was destroyed by the war, and there is a Biyuan that can barely maintain normal operation, no matter how manpower and material resources are far from being Mangou's opponents, the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be to our army! ”

"Grandfather, uncle, Mr. Liangchen, please think about it, if our army agrees to Mangou and let Mangou pay this military salary, grain and grass and prisoner of war ransom in two years, then Mangou will have two years to prepare for war, and in these two years, how many troops can the Mangou court recruit? How many troops are trained and equipped? How many weapons ships are built? How many musket artillery were cast? ”

"As for our army, if we keep our promise to stop fighting for two years, then the comprehensive strength comparison that we have finally narrowed with Mangou will be reopened by the Mangou court, and we will fall back into the arduous battle of defeating the strong with the weak and outnumbered. At that time, if our army does not tear up the armistice and peace treaty, it will suffer a loss, and if it tears up the armistice and peace treaty, it will not get the remaining money and food, and it will also lose its trust in the world. ”

"But if the situation is reversed, grandfather, your old man resolutely refuses to give in, and forces the Mangou court to pay military salaries and food according to the agreed deadline before, then what will be the consequences? First of all, in order to pay for this military salary, the Mangou Imperial Court had to learn from Emperor Chongzhen of the former Ming Dynasty, and increase taxes to the common people and gentry, which caused the anger of the heavens and the people, and lost the hearts of the people. At the same time, when we are given tax money and food full of dogs, we will be stretched thin everywhere when we rebuild the army, and we will not be able to make ends meet. ”

"Then, the situation is more favorable to us, Mangou pays off this money and food within a year, then Mangou's army reconstruction plan will be greatly slowed down, and our army can also calmly convert this money, food, and military salary into weapons and firearms, and further narrow the comparison with the comprehensive strength of the Mangou court. At the same time, after completely relieving his worries, whether his grandfather wants to be the emperor or wants to capture the Central Plains in the south of the Yangtze River, he doesn't have to worry about tearing his face with the Mangou Imperial Court. ”

"Grandfather, uncle, Mr. Liangchen, you say, is it better for us to make concessions to Mangou, or not at all?"

Lu Fatzi's habitual surname talked about it endlessly, Wu Lao Han Jian, Hu Guozhu, and Wang Shirong were all in deep thought, and after a long time, Wu Lao Han Jian hesitated and said: "Although the virtuous grandson-in-law is reasonable, if he doesn't give the Mangou Emperor any face, will the Mangou Emperor be annoyed and angry, refuse to pay a penny and a bucket of military salaries, money and food, and fight with the old man to break the net?" ”

"The Mangou Emperor doesn't have the courage to do this, and he can't afford this consequence." Lu Fatzi said categorically: "Please grandfather pay attention to our information Finally, when the Mangou Emperor ended the dynasty, he ordered to cut all unnecessary expenses, which is enough to prove that the Mangou Emperor is also making two preparations, one is to use the strategy of delaying the army to gain time and stabilize us for a longer time, and the other is that after the plan of delaying the army fails, he can only abide by the previous peace agreement to pay money and food, and strive for a precious year to breathe." ”

Wu Laohan's eyes rolled wildly, and he hurriedly asked for the information collected by Yang Qilong and others in the capital from Hu Guozhu, and looked at the last paragraph carefully. After Hu Guozhu and Wang Shirong glanced at each other, they nodded and said: "Grandfather, Yifeng is still thoughtful, it's better for us not to make any concessions, anyway, the peace treaty has been signed, and it is justified for us to refuse to make concessions, and the refusal of the Mangou Emperor is to lose trust in the world, and it will deal a great blow to his authority and reputation." ”

"It is estimated that the Emperor Mangou didn't expect so much and so far, but he really couldn't get so much money and food in a short period of time, so he came to beg us." Wang Shirong still looked like he didn't bother to look at Fat Lu, and said in a yin voice: "But no matter whether the Mangou Emperor has considered so much and so far, as long as we take it into account, the students also agree to refuse to make concessions, and let the Mangou Emperor force the people to lose the hearts of the people." ”

"Full of the face of the dog emperor, the old man has to give a little." Wu Laohan groaned, and finally made up his mind: "The old man can only make one concession at most, that is, within three months, the Mangou Emperor must pay sixty-five percent of the military salary, grain and grass and the ransom of the prisoners of war, and the other concessions, the Mangou Emperor can't even think about it!" ”

"The prince is wise." Hu Guozhu, Wang Shirong and Lu Fatzi bowed and saluted together, flattering. At the end, Lu Fatzi said again: "Grandfather, grandson-in-law still has one thing to ask for, this time the Mangou Emperor is to send Wang Xu, the secretary of the military department, as the envoy of the Qincha, Wang Xu is kind to his grandson-in-law, if the grandson-in-law participates in the negotiations, it is too inconvenient to ......." ”

"Then don't participate in the negotiations this time." Of course, Wu Lao Hanjian knew about the friendship between Lu Fatzi and Wang Xu, and he didn't want Lu Fatzi to be infamous for being ungrateful, so he immediately nodded and ordered: "This time for negotiation, Guozhu, you take Fang Xueshi to carry it alone, anyway, Wang Xu is an old-fashioned person, and reason is on our side, so it is not difficult to deal with." ”

"The son-in-law obeys." Hu Guozhu bowed down and agreed. And at this moment, it was late, Wu Laohan was old and frail, and explained a few words about the negotiation, and soon ordered everyone to retreat, Lu Fatzi and Wang Shirong agreed, saluted and retired, Hu Guozhu was extremely filial to stay, and helped Wu Laohan to go back to the room to rest.

After leaving Wu Laohan's meeting hall, Lu Fatzi did not rush back to his residence in Wuchang City to rest, but walked to the brazier of the sentry outside the hall, and waited while warming himself by the fire. What puzzled Fat Lu was that Wang Shirong, who had never given himself a good face, was not in a hurry to go back to his room to rest, and also came to the brazier to warm up while waiting, but of course, Wang Shirong still had an ugly expression that Fat Lu owed him eight million taels of silver, and he didn't have a good face for Fat Lu.

"Mr. Liangchen, the snow is so heavy, why don't you go back to your room to rest?" Fat Lu asked curiously.

"The snow is so heavy, why don't you go back to your room to rest?" Wang Shirong ignored the rhetorical question.

"Xiaguan and others."

"I'll wait for someone too."

"Who are you waiting for?"

"Whoever you are waiting for, I will be waiting for whomever I am."

At this point, Fat Lu couldn't help but smile and asked, "Mr. Liangchen also saw it?" ”

"You can see it, I can't see it?" Wang Shirong asked proudly.

"Then why didn't Mr. Liangchen remind the prince just now?" Lu Fatzi smiled and asked: "Could it be that Mr. Liangchen, like the lower officials, is also afraid of offending people, and even more afraid of leaving the impression of sowing discord and playing right and wrong in front of the prince, so he didn't dare to warn the prince?" ”

Wang Shirong was silent, and only after a long time did he reply firmly: "Don't think that you are the only one in the world who is exquisite, and you can't leave your hands." ”

"So Mr. Liangchen thinks that those people in my Pingxi Royal Mansion are more dangerous?" Fat Lu asked in a low voice.

Wang Shirong hesitated for a moment, and saw that the Wu Laohan guards around him were far away, and then replied in a low voice: "The second prince, Ma Bao, Wu Yingjing, Xia Guoxiang, Han Daren, and the three old generals and Wei Pu who stayed in Yunnan, although they are far away in Yunnan, it is not ruled out that Mangou took advantage of the opportunity to visit important prisoners of war and also attacked them. In addition, Yang Shanzi (Yang Sichang's son) and Zu Shushun may also be the targets of the dog. ”

"Thank goodness it didn't have me." Fat Lu laughed and said, "Xia Guan is still worried that Mr. Liangchen will also make Xia Guan a target of suspicion. ”

"Who says I didn't doubt you?" Wang Shirong glared at the fat man Lu, and whispered angrily: "Your mouth can say that the dead are alive, and the black is white, what I am most worried about now is you and the second prince, if you slander in front of the prince, then we will have to give up all our efforts if we don't do it well." ”

Lu Fatzi smiled, understanding that Wang Shirong had already considered one thing with him, so he didn't talk much, just waited patiently while enjoying the snowy night scene, and Wang Shirong was the same. And after waiting so patiently for a long time, Hu Guozhu, who was most trusted by Wu Laohan, finally came out of the conference hall slowly, and when Lu Fatzi and Wang Shirong shouted to stop him together, Hu Guozhu first said, and then Yixi: "Mr. Liangchen, Yifeng, it's so late, you two haven't left yet?" But just as it happens, I'm about to send someone to ask you to save this effort. ”

"Uncle, it's so late, what did you call us?" Fat Lu asked with a smile.

Hu Guozhu's expression was not as relaxed as that of Lu Fatzi, and seeing that no one was eavesdropping next to him, he lowered his voice and said: "Liangchen first, Yifeng, have you paid attention?" According to the information collected by our army, Xiong Cixu, a scholar of the Mangou Cabinet, once proposed to the Mangou Emperor to bribe his father-in-law's henchmen with gold and silver beauties, so that they could persuade his father-in-law to agree to extend the payment time of military salaries, grain and grass, and the ransom of prisoners of war, as well as the early release of important prisoners of war in Mangou. Although this point was rejected by the Mangou Emperor in public, I suspect that the Mangou Emperor just couldn't pull it down, and was actually ready to use this idea against us. ”

Before Hu Guozhu's serious words were finished, Lu Fatzi and Wang Shirong couldn't help laughing, but Hu Guozhu misunderstood what they meant, and said angrily: "What's so funny? Since ancient times, such means have emerged in an endless stream, and it is not uncommon for those who succeed to do so, and you don't know how soft your father-in-law's ears are. ”

"Uncle forgive us, we're not laughing for this." Fat Lu hurriedly confessed, and said in a low voice: "Uncle, since you have seen this, why didn't you warn your grandfather just now and remind him to pay attention to this danger?" Could it be that when my uncle sent my grandfather back to the room to rest just now, he warned my grandfather alone? ”

Hu Guozhu hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "Originally, I had this plan, but after sending my father-in-law back to the room, I hesitated repeatedly, and I still didn't say anything about it." ”

"General Jinwu, this is a fatal matter, how can you not remind the prince?" Wang Shirong said anxiously in a low voice: "My students and Mr. Mao Yao have always been outsiders, and some words are inconvenient to say to the prince, General Jinwu, you are the prince's most trusted son-in-law, what is there to scruple about?" ”

Hu Guozhu was silent, and only after a while did he whisper: "Although a son-in-law is half a son, he is never a son, and I have no evidence, how can I let my father-in-law pay attention to his son based on imagination and guesswork?" If you let the second prince know, you can't hate me to death? Besides, the son is no longer here, if my father-in-law chooses the second prince in the future, do I still want to live? So there's no way, I can only discuss with you to see if there is any way to deal with it. ”

"It turns out that General Kingo and we all thought of it together." Wang Shirong nodded and said in a low voice: "It's not a secret, the students and Mr. Mao Yao's students are also worried about this, so they stay here and wait for General Jin Wu, just to discuss countermeasures with General Jin Wu." ”

"I see." Hu Guozhu nodded, frowned again and said: "This thing is not easy to do, the most dangerous thing on our side is the second prince and my brother-in-law, my brother-in-law is easy to deal with, anyway, I am not afraid of him, if he dares to mess around and be discovered by me, I can ask my father-in-law to clean him up immediately." But the second prince is not so easy to handle, the matter of father and son's heart, no matter how much we have the trust of the prince, it is not good to bear the infamy of this intermittent separation from the prince's father and son's affection. ”

"If General Jin Wu also feels helpless, then this is the only way to do it." Wang Shirong frowned and said: "Please General Jinwu draw out his manpower to secretly keep an eye on the second prince, once I get the evidence, I will come forward to impeach the prince, we have finally established so many advantages, we must not lose them in vain." ”

Hu Guozhu's own talent is quite good, but the biggest shortcoming is that he is afraid of taking responsibility, and his surname is cowardly and compared with his father-in-law Wu Laohan, after Wu Laohan's sudden illness and death in history, the generals of the Wu army would rather recommend Wu Guogui as the commander of the whole army than choose him, which is also seriously related to his surname. Because of this, Hu Guozhu immediately rejoiced: "Then please ask Mr. Liangchen, please rest assured that Mr. Liangchen will definitely try my best to save if the second prince blames Mr." ”

"It can't be like that." Fat Lu suddenly objected, and said in a low voice: "First, the mite dog must be secret, and there is little hope of being discovered by his uncle's eyeliner and getting evidence. Second, we must not set the precedent of mutual surveillance and mutual dismantling of each other's internal strife, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable. Third, once this incident becomes a big problem, it will inevitably deal a huge blow to the morale of our officers and men. ”

"So what do you say?" Wang Shirong asked angrily.

"I have a plan, I can fight poison with poison." Lu Fatzi said in a low voice: "As long as my uncle and Mr. Liangchen cooperate with me to follow the plan, I can not only put an end to this matter, but also make the second prince our person in turn, and act as our cannon barrel to be this evil person and stop all the civil and military officials of our army from betraying the interests of the Pingxi Palace." ”

Note: Wu Yingqi's greed and stupidity are by no means fictional in this book. "The Beginning and End of Pingdian" records that before the decisive battle in Yuezhou between the Wu army and the mite Qing army began, Fang Guangchen worked hard for the Wu army for a long time and painstakingly managed the military rations that had been hoarded in Yuezhou for three years, resulting in the price of Yuezhou grain being only one-third of the price of Wuchang grain entrenched by the mite Qing army. Wu Jun stopped a general soldier surnamed Wang, Wu Yingqi not only did not listen, but wanted to kill this general soldier surnamed Wang, forcing this Wang surname to surrender to the Qing army, and as a result, when the Qing army surrounded Yuezhou, the Wu army in Yuezhou City was extremely miserable.

In addition, Wu Yingqi also did a famous stupid thing, "Guangyang Miscellaneous" contains: Ma Bao feasted Wu Yingqi and Wang Fuchen and others in his own account, Wang Fuchen found flies in the meal, because Ma Bao's surname is irritable and likes to kill, Wang Fuchen If he says it, the cook will die, Wang Fuchen in order to avoid tragedy, he called the fly black rice and ate the fly. As a result, after Wu Yingqi found out, not only did he not support Wang Fuchen to do this, but ridiculed him, and asked Wang Fuchen if he found that the bowl was full of, whether he would also eat the, which completely angered Wang Fuchen, causing the two to draw swords against each other, and also forced Wu Laohan to be forced to come forward to reconcile in person.

(To be continued)