Also on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Ao Bai and the poisonous butterfly girl returned to Shenyang, the capital of the Manchu Dynasty, and then were taken to the Dazheng Palace, where Huang Taiji interrogated Ao Bai in front of the Manchu civil and military forces.

In fact, Huang Taiji already knew what happened to Ao Bai in Anyang, and Huang Taiji had another purpose in putting Ao Bai on trial in front of the minister.

Huang Taiji looked at Aobai, who was full of hairy beard and looked like a savage, and asked with a gloomy face: "Aobai, you went this time, the mission failed, why don't you end yourself, not far away, linger for a long time, and return to Kyoto?" ”

Ao Bai is worthy of being the first warrior of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, although his martial arts have been abolished, but his eyes are still bright, and he replied loudly: "Back to the Great Han, although I am disabled, but my will has become more determined, Yu Xiang Xiaoer, destroy my physique, humiliate my Qing Dynasty." If the first warrior of the Qing Dynasty committed suicide by humiliation, he fell into his treacherous scheme. I not only want to let his wishful thinking fail, but also keep a broken life, one day a shame, let Yu Xiang'er know, humiliating my Qing courtiers, humiliating my Qing Dynasty is the most terrible mistake he made, I swear, in my lifetime, I will cut him with a thousand knives, and raise my Qing Dynasty prestige! ”

Huang Taiji said loudly on the armrests of a row of dragon chairs: "Okay, Aobai, you are worthy of being the first warrior of my Qing Dynasty, your courage is your will and spirit, not your strong body and superhuman martial arts, I have such a warrior in the Qing Dynasty, why worry about the injustices of the world!" Huang Taiji glanced at the ministers and asked, "Yu Xiang is rampant, how to get rid of his arrogance?" ”

Walking out of the Wenchen, Huang Taiji fixed his eyes on it, it was Fan Wencheng, a Han cultural official he relied on.

Fan Wencheng said: "Recently, the minister often heard Yu Xiang and his person, this person is a fascination, behaved perversely, since he appeared to less than a year of effort, suppress bandits and resist the enemy, drought and disaster relief, Henan politics in an orderly manner, fame, Henan, merchants, people, gentry will be worshiped as a god, this person does not get rid of, will become the scourge of my Qing Dynasty, the slave thinks, take this person's wings are not yet full, cut it as soon as possible. ”

This is exactly what Huang Taiji wants, and he nodded and said: "What the scholar of the Inner Secretary Academy said is very true, and I also have this intention, but he is in the interior of the Central Plains, and my Qing Dynasty Iron Cavalry is contained by Wu Sangui in the Guanning area, how can I fight with Yu Xiang Xiao'er?" ”

Fan Wencheng said bluntly: "The Ming Empire is full of talents, but now, civil strife is everywhere, the country is ruined, the fundamental reason is that the courtiers are light on each other, and they are against each other, but where there are capable people, they will be besieged by the courtiers, as far as I know, Yu Xiang is currently the target of the courtiers, if there is no Chongzhen's protection, I am afraid that this person has already lost his bones." But Chongzhen is narrow-minded, ambitious and talented, if he shakes his confidence in Yu Xiang, Yu Xiang will become the enemy of all people in the Ming Dynasty, if he can take over the hands of the Ming people, it will be better to cut it off, if it really can't be cut off, it will be forced to rebel, the Ming Dynasty will not stop civil strife, and he will not be able to free up his hand to deal with my Daqing, and the Qing Dynasty can sit and collect the benefits of the fisherman. ”

Huang Taiji was overjoyed when he heard this, and the general direction was set, and Huang Taiji convened a secret discussion with his henchmen, and then a plan to knock the mountain and shock the tiger was thrown out.

The Qing envoys came to the imperial capital of the Ming Dynasty and handed over the protest documents to protest against the Ming Henan Governor Yu Xiang arbitrarily brutalizing the Qing generals Ao Bai, and asked the Ming Dynasty to cut Yuxiang off his official position and hand it over to the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty would retreat three hundred miles, and the two countries would always be reconciled.

Chongzhen received the protest document, in the imperial study, alone haha happy, this is too relieving, so many years, the Manchu Qing Dynasty conquered the city, stirred up the people's resentment boiling, and saw the Manchu Qing Dynasty extinguished. Fresh, extinguished. Ancient, but the Ming Dynasty was worried about internal and external troubles, self-care, and the national strength was declining, but the Manchu Qing Dynasty was just the opposite, the national strength was strong, aggressive, and the Ming Dynasty was at the end.

This is the first time to receive a protest document, the Ming generals actually bullied the Manchurian ministers, and also crippled them and put them back, in fact, this information Chongzhen has already obtained, Wang Chengen has already reported this situation truthfully, and Chongzhen did not pay attention to it at the beginning, Chongzhen felt that the criminals should be executed, not crippled and released, never expected to make such a big move. Chongzhen was very moved when he saw that Yu Xiang was handed over and the Manchu Qing retreated for three hundred miles, if so, he could get three hundred miles of the city without spending a single soldier. He was going to put the news above the court and see how the ministers reacted.

The next morning, Chongzhen threw out this document, and when the eunuch finished reading the contents of the document, he saw that the ministers were all worried, and almost none of them showed joy.

Chongzhen was strange, but he still kept quiet. He asked in a deep voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, what should you think of this matter?" ”

Everyone couldn't see Chongzhen's attitude, but you look at me, I look at you, and no one stepped forward to reply.

"Yang Aiqing, tell me your opinion!" Chongzhen named Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang hurriedly came out of the queue and replied: "Long live Qiqi, Weichen feels that this matter has to be considered in the long run!" ”

"Oh~? How to take a long-term approach? Chongzhen asked.

"Wei Chen thinks that this matter should be investigated clearly, and if it is the responsibility of Governor Yu, we should never be partial. What's more, this time the Qing people showed an extremely sincere attitude and retreated three hundred miles, so they should be cautious before drawing conclusions at this time. Yang Sichang replied ambiguously.

Xue Zunxian didn't know why, he thought that Chongzhen was still partial to Yu Xiang, and he didn't care about the hatred of other ministers, so he came out to say good things for Yu Xiang and said: "This Aobai, without my Ming customs clearance documents, sneaked to Henan to do something, clearly plotting against him, Wei Chen thought that Yu Xiang's move would increase my Ming morale and destroy the prestige of the Manchu Dynasty, and he should not be punished!" ”

As soon as these words came out, they aroused a lot of discussion among the courtiers, and everyone turned their angry eyes on Xue Zunxian.

Xue Zunxian was consciously reasonable, his waist was straight, and Ling Ran was not afraid.

When Chongzhen saw the courtier's attitude like this, he originally wanted to praise Yu Xiang in the court, but he was afraid of causing misunderstanding, thinking that he was biased against Yu Xiang and causing everyone to misunderstand. Therefore, I simply pressed this matter and put it aside for the time being.

Xue Zunxian felt strange, the courtiers could understand his strange gaze, but Chongzhen didn't say anything in front of the obvious facts, he sniffed a little smell, so he was silent, and hurriedly returned to the mansion to convene a group of strategists to open and close the meeting.

Chongzhen privately summoned Yang Sichang and asked, "Now there are only two of us left, just say what you think." ”

Yang Sichang said: "The outside must first be peaceful, the internal strife is uneven, the external troubles are endless, the internal and external troubles will be restricted, the Qing Dynasty is currently like a rainbow, if there is a full-scale war with him, I am afraid that the enemy will be on the back of the enemy!" ”

Chongzhen nodded slightly, this is also what he is worried about, the domestic situation is difficult to return, and it will be difficult to improve for a while. But in the face of the aggressive momentum of the Qing Dynasty, if you blindly admit defeat, wouldn't it make the Qing Dynasty even more arrogant. And if Yu Xiang is really handed over, I am afraid that the situation in Henan will get out of control, and if Yu Xiang is reversed, then the situation will be even worse. Chongzhen did not hesitate to say what he thought.

Seeing Chongzhen in a dilemma, Yang Sichang said: "At this time, take one step at a time, adopt delaying tactics, and the imperial court will send someone to Henan to thoroughly investigate the ins and outs of this matter, so that Yu Xiang can also be a little more restrained in Henan, and don't do anything too out of line." ”

Chongzhen felt that there was some truth, and he said: "Zuo Liangyu in Jiangsu, Anhui in the name of suppressing bandits, launched a special law in wartime, borrowed money and grain everywhere, and his practice is similar to Yu Xiang, how do you think to deal with it?" ”

"Weichen thinks that this matter needs to be considered in the long run, and listen to the opinions of the household department and the official department." Yang Sichang kicked the ball away smoothly. Zuo Liangyu supported the Donglin Party in public, and such a powerful and capable general was exactly what he wanted to encircle.

The next day, Emperor Chongzhen summoned the envoys of the Qing Dynasty and said that he would investigate the matter thoroughly, give an explanation to the Qing Dynasty, and let the envoys go back to listen to the letter.

The envoy returned to Shenyang and reported the emperor's attitude and situation to Huang Taiji, who laughed: "Chongzhen is incompetent, he is really afraid of my Qing Dynasty Iron Cavalry, and wants to use delaying tactics to drag me down, hmph, how can I let you succeed." Huang Taiji immediately ordered that Yue Tuoguan, who had thought at home, be reinstated, and grant Yue Tuo Yangwu the general to command the right-wing army; Prince Rui Dolgon commanded the left wing army, known as the conquest of Yu Xiang, the prestige of the Qing Dynasty, and the shame of Yu Xiang insulting the first warrior of the Qing Dynasty.

In March of the 11th year of Chongzhen, Yue Tuo commanded the right-wing army from the north of Miyun, destroyed the Great Wall, broke the border wall into the border, and killed Wu Aheng, the governor of Ming Jiliao. Dolgon destroyed the border wall at Qingshan Pass on 28 September, and the two armies joined forces in Tongzhou, a suburb of Beijing.

When the news reached the capital, the people were panicked, and some ministers cursed Yu Xiang in their hearts for being an ominous person, provoking the Qing people to crusade against the Ming Dynasty and causing trouble to the people. Many literati wrote letters one after another, requesting that Yu Xiang be handed over and investigated, so as to extinguish the hatred of the Qing people and prevent the Qing subjects from suffering.

Emperor Chongzhen was anxious and discussed the matter in the court, and most of the courtiers, led by Yang Sichang, thought that Yu Xiang should be sacrificed for permanent peace between the two countries. In fact, the change in his attitude reflects the change in the attitude of Emperor Chongzhen, with his example, the courtiers have turned to firmly express the attitude of handing over Yu Xiang and negotiating peace with the Manchus.

Several military attachés led by Lu Xiangsheng firmly opposed the handover of Yu Xiang, believing that even if Yu Xiang did not humiliate their first warrior Aobai, they would not stop invading Daming, not to mention that Aobai came to Daming, without the permission of Daming, it was reasonable to be punished, and it was obvious that he was making excuses to provoke, so Lu Xiangsheng resolutely fought the main battle.

The two factions quarreled fiercely.

Chongzhen is embarrassed, if he rashly punishes Yu Xiang, if he is forced to rebel, the consequences are unimaginable, if he goes to war, in recent years, the Qing Dynasty iron cavalry is famous all over the world, the momentum is flourishing, once the fight starts, the Ming Dynasty is defeated, the national prestige is destroyed, the Ming Dynasty internal worries are even worse, after thinking about it, finally summoned Wang Chengen, want to hear his opinion, he thinks that Wang Chengen is loyal to him, and the eunuch is now Chongzhen's most relied on figure.

Wang Chengen is very clear about the ins and outs of Ao Bai and the poisonous butterfly girl, he said: "Long live, Ao Bai was to assassinate Yu Xiang and was abolished by Yu Xiang and expelled back, and now the Manchu Qing Dynasty has a bite back, which is clearly a strong word, if they succeed in this move, I will lose another general, and the Central Plains will return to civil strife, and the consequences will be unimaginable." Now, Yu Xiang is in the Central Plains, and there will be chaos for a while, so it is better to attack the Manchus head-on, raise the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and make it dare not look down on me. ”

After repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, Chongzhen finally made a decision to promote Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xuanda, to supervise the world's soldiers, and give Shang Fang Sword for the third time. Yang Sichang commanded tens of thousands of troops of Guanning Iron Cavalry to cooperate with Lu Xiangsheng. At the same time, he also let Chen Xinjia and the Manchu Qing Dynasty contact in private, and Chongzhen's move was a two-pronged approach, both soft and hard.

Although Lu Xiangsheng is known as the governor of the world, he can only command 20,000 Xuan soldiers, and he can't mobilize the soldiers and horses led by Yang Sichang at all. In fact, Lu Xiangsheng is fighting alone! Yang Sichang said that he didn't cooperate with anything, he and Emperor Chongzhen had a thought, focusing on peace, letting Lu Xiangsheng charge ahead, in exchange for some bargaining weight, if the time is obtained, Yang Sichang will also borrow the hands of the Qing soldiers to cut off Lu Xiangsheng, a diehard who is against him.