In the face of Wang Yongji's temptation to ask for help, Zheng Chenggong's first priority option was, of course, to persuade them to cross south as Zhu Shuren hinted before he came.

Zhang Mingzhen chose to keep silent for the time being - Wang Yongji is the governor and a civil official, and Zheng Chenggong is also a civil official in theory, and it is better for Zheng Chenggong to deal with the discussion between civil officials. Zhang Mingzhen is only responsible for persuading generals such as Wu Sangui and Li Fuming when the time comes.

Zheng Chenggong said in a big way: "What Governor Wang said is very true, now Shanhaiguan is suffering from the enemy, if it continues to be muddy, and if it encounters the enemy, I am afraid that it will lose my Ming Jian'er in vain, and it will only make the relatives and enemies happy."

Before the lower official went north, he also had the surname of the country to be allocated, and he had imagined various situations, and the surname of the country had explained that if there was disharmony, he could assist Governor Wang to temporarily withdraw the troops of Shanhaiguan, and first go to Denglai to stay temporarily, jump out of the fire pit, and think about it in the long run. Let the thieves compete with the two tigers of Dolgon, and when they are both defeated, our army will plan later. ”

After Zheng Chenggong threw out the conditions, Wang Yongji was actually a little moved in his heart.

Historically, among the civil and military forces in Shanhaiguan, Wang Yongji also tended to lead the army to flee for his life, it was Wu Sangui who insisted on staying in Shanhaiguan, reluctant to Liaoxi Jiangmen's base area, and finally Wang Yongji left alone, and no one hindered Wu Sangui.

This attitude is actually very normal. Because Liaoxi has been intertwined for generations, the territory here is very well managed, and it is their own family property.

The Wu family, the ancestral family, the Li family, these big families have been operating Liaodi since the time of Li Chengliang as early as possible, and the clan power is intertwined, and the land and land are also theirs.

If they give up this land, what will they have left in the south?

The civil officials are different, they are all liuguan, and they serve for a few years, and Wang Yongji was transferred after Qiu Minyang was martyred two years ago.

Before coming to Liaoxi, the northernmost part of his officialdom resume was only to Beijing as a Beijing official. So of course Wang Yongji has no feelings for Liaodi, how can he not run if he has the opportunity to run justifiably?

In addition, in fact, if you dig deeper, it is not difficult to find that the origins of these civil officials also have a huge impact on their choices when the country is ruined and their families are destroyed-

Governor Wang Yongji and Governor Li Yutian made different choices in history, one fled south first, and the other directly became traitors on the spot.

Isn't it because Wang Yongji is a native of Gaoyou, Yangzhou, and he found that after the north completely collapsed, he could still choose to flee south and return to his hometown. He didn't become a traitor until his hometown in Yangzhou was also occupied by the Tartars.

And Li Yutian is a native of Shaanxi, his hometown has long been a thief's territory, and once Beijing is broken, it is impossible for him to return to his hometown, so he will vote on the spot.

There are countless examples of this in history.

Take the Song Dynasty's Lanyuan Alliance as an example, later generations said that Kou Zhun had backbone, swore to persuade the emperor to resist, and let Song Zhenzong personally drive to Lanzhou. And said that the other two prime ministers, Wang Qinruo and Chen Yaosuo, are soft-boned traitors and traitors.

But if you look at everyone's origins, if Wang Qin is a new person from Jiangxi, then when he heard that Song Zhenzong had the idea of fleeing south and moving the capital, of course he would strongly persuade Song Zhenzong to move the capital to Nanjing. And Chen Yaosu is a native of Langzhong, Sichuan, and of course he is inclined to persuade Song Zhenzong to learn from Li Longji and move the capital to Chengdu.

And Kou Zhun is a native of Shanxi, if Song Zhenzong really gives up the north, his hometown will completely become a fallen area, of course he has more motivation to resist - not that Kou Zhun does not have a part of righteousness for the country, but it must be admitted that a person's family interests and hometown interests will also affect decision-making.

After the signing of the alliance of the Yuanyuan, Kou Zhun was counterattacked by Wang Qinruo, saying that "he risked the emperor's safety for the sake of family and local interests", Song Zhenzong really felt afraid after thinking about it carefully, so he listened to Wang Qinruo's advice and released Kou Zhun from the prime minister, indicating that the emperor can also understand the logic.

It's a complex world, and everyone's decisions are influenced by trade-offs in many ways.

……

After Wang Yongji was easily convinced, the pressure came to Li Yutian and Wu Sangui.

Although Wu Sangui has also received the favor of Zhu Shuren, he is the most reluctant to build a foundation in Liao. At this moment, he had to be this villain himself, emphasizing the importance of the responsibility of defending the land.

"Brother Zheng Xian, I'm afraid your words are against loyalty! Although we are suffering from the enemy, as long as we can try to squeeze the Tartars and make them believe that I am willing to fight with them and join forces to deal with the thieves, the Tartars may not dare to start a war with my Ming and the thieves at the same time!

Dolgon is not stupid, if he can pull one more ally, why doesn't he pull it? Although Wu's support is cut off, there are 20,000 or 30,000 elite soldiers in the headquarters, tens of thousands of strong people and more than 10,000 friendly troops, and the combat power is still okay, and Dolgon will not have to force this elite of tens of thousands of people to the hostile side!

He can expect me to run out of food and collapse, but when the day comes, he won't be afraid of me to defect? For the sake of today's plan, as long as we stick to the Shanhaiguan, there will be a chance to negotiate conditions, so that the one with the highest price of Dolgon can win! ”

When Zheng Chenggong heard this, he couldn't help but laugh a little, but he was a civil official and didn't want to quarrel with the generals, so Zhang Mingzhen took over the conversation just right:

"General Wu, you can't say that, so what if Dolgon never agrees to your conditions? Can you really get the highest price and not be able to vote? Then you are a great sinner, betraying your father, and ignoring your great hatred! ”

Wu Sangui's face was a little embarrassed, and he argued strongly: "Of course Wu won't break in!" Isn't this just a threat to make Dorgon think that this is possible, so that he can pay a high price? ”

Zhang Mingzhen was also not polite, and sneered in response: "Since you all know that you can't break in, Dolgon can't think of this?" He knows that General Wu is a faceless person, so he can shamelessly force you to lower the price!

You asked Tartar to detour through the Thistle Gate to enter the customs before, if he was willing to agree, he would have agreed a long time ago! I haven't agreed yet, I must have decided that you are afraid of ruining your reputation! ”

Governor Wang Yongji was inclined to flee south, and when he heard Zhang Mingzhen say it was so reasonable, he followed up to put pressure on Wu Sangui: "General Wu, Zhang Junmen is reasonable, and this official also knows that you are responsible for defending the territory, and you don't want to give up my Ming territory."

But Dolgon is cunning and despicable, and it is precisely because he has eaten your loyalty, and knows that you will not compromise with the great enmity of the monarch, so that he has no fear and wants to force more conditions.

If you are coerced and played by him like this, you may only need to sell some more negotiable conditions now, but over time, I am afraid that you will fall deeper and deeper, and in the end, you will not be able to do it! ”

Wang Yongji's words were not prophetic, he was not a traverser, and it was impossible to predict Wu Sangui's future behavior.

But he just uses common sense to measure it, anyone who falls into the abyss is slowly sliding step by step, and few people want to be a bad guy in the first place.

In the end, the sunk cost is getting bigger and bigger, and I am more and more reluctant, and there is no turning back.

Wu Sangui was squeezed left and right, and it was difficult to resist for a while, so he had to hold on to the name of righteousness, so as to protect his body: "Governor Wang, Zhang Junmen, you may not be too worried, right?" Wu can swear by the heavens that he will never betray the Ming Dynasty in this life!

Wu talked to Dolgon about the conditions, and there was a bottom line! What's more, now that the thieves and Tartars have not attacked Shanhaiguan after all, what kind of system will our army become if they do not flee without a fight?

Wu received the great favor of the first emperor and will swear to die in retribution! The first emperor entrusted me with Shanhaiguan, and the city is in me! The city is ruined, and I am dead! It's a big deal to follow the first emperor underground, how can you give up my Ming land without a fight! ”

was sung so loudly by Wu Sangui, Wang Yongji and Zhang Mingzhen were really speechless for a while. The other party doesn't tell you the details of gains and losses, but only talks to you about righteousness, and you have to persuade again, but it becomes disloyal and unjust.

Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong both know in their hearts that Wu Sangui is definitely not so loyal, but they can't stand that he can act so loyal now, and you can't expose him.

The situation was at a stalemate for a while, Zhang Mingzhen could only sum up with Zheng Chenggong and decided to adopt the second set of plans: before they came, Zhu Shuren also sent a few words to them, it is best to persuade Wu Sangui as well, if Wu Sangui can't be persuaded to do so, then retreat to the second, at least get Li Fuming and other people to deal with it.

They believe that Li Fuming was rescued by them from the Tashan front line the year before last and picked up a life, and Li Fuming is not from Liao, so there is no problem of being unable to leave his homeland. As long as Zhu Shuren's people open their mouths, there is a chance that they will succeed in pulling Li Fuming away.

The reason why Li Fuming was not only pulled before was that once this opening was opened, Wu Sangui would probably be out of play. It is best to tie Wu Sangui and Li Fuming together and withdraw together. After the separate division, Wu Sangui and the southern regime were less fettered.

At this moment, seeing that there was little hope, Zheng Chenggong opened his mouth to remind: "General Wu, your words are biased!" This Shanhaiguan garrison is not all your troops, and not all of them are Liaodi!

There are also some guest troops, but they were temporarily sent by the emperor to garrison during his lifetime. If you don't want to go, don't you allow others to go south to save King Qin and defend the new monarch in the future? Even according to the laws of the imperial court, these soldiers and horses do not all have to guard the Shanhaiguan! ”

Wu Sangui was shocked, knowing that the other party was preparing to break up the forces that his subordinates had put together temporarily, and pulled away the guest army and the non-descendant troops alone.

However, Governor Wang Yongji is also on the other party's side, so if the other party does this, it is really possible to succeed, and he has no power to completely stop it, he can only manage his own core descendants.

He can't fight with the other party for this matter, after all, Shen Tingyang Zhu Shuren's father and son have also provided him with military rations for a few years, if he wants to tear his face, his subordinates may be in chaos first.

It seems that the other party can only tolerate digging into the wall.

The atmosphere on both sides was a little awkward, and in the end, Li Yutian, the governor who was in the middle and was the old peacemaker, came forward to play a round: "Why should everyone be angry, this matter can be discussed in the long run."

It will take a few days for the army to approach Shanhaiguan, and the conditions on the Tartar side can be discussed again, General Wu, it is better to talk to the Tartars about the conditions, we will give you two or three days, if the Tartars do not agree in the end, you should also listen to the persuasion of Governor Wang and Zhang Junmen. ”

With Li Yutian's suggestion, everyone decided to calm down for the time being for two or three days and not to make any substantive moves to split the army.

However, after the meeting was dismissed, Zheng Chenggong had already privately found Li Fuming alone and had a showdown with the other party, and the remnants of thousands of soldiers in Li Fuming's headquarters also began to prepare for the trip, apparently planning that once Wu Sangui refused to go south, they would lead an army to retreat south with Zhang Mingzhen's fleet alone.

At the same time, even Wu Sangui's descendants were unstable, and several people, including General Zhang Guozhu, also began to contact privately, planning to consider abandoning Wu Sangui and going south alone. After all, not all the soldiers of Wu Sangui's descendants were local Liao, and there were also Ming troops who recruited foreign origins.

……

In the days that followed, of course, both sides were intensively preparing.

Fortunately, Li Zicheng's side still has illusions about Wu Sangui, and he is constantly sending scouts to investigate the latest situation, knowing that Wu Sangui has not yet released the Qing troops into the customs, so he is not too urgent, and the military attack on Shanhaiguan has always been in a state of inducement.

Obviously, Li Zicheng was also worried that the action would be too drastic and stimulate Wu Sangui, forcing the other party to surrender directly.

This bought time for all parties to mediate, and Wu Sangui desperately sent new conditions to Dolgon, making some concessions appropriately, and at the same time telling Dolgon that the pressure on his side was also very high, and the governor was nominally pressing, and all the armies were not satisfied.

If Dolgon insisted on the initial condition of "occupying Shanhaiguan by the Qing army", he Wu Sangui could not guarantee that the generals would obey!

After Dolgon received the letter, he was still not in a hurry, feeling that Wu Sangui was not desperate enough, so it was better to wait for Li Zicheng to fight with Wu Sangui.

In terms of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, which of the forces in the world can be more stable than Dorgon! He is alone in the Northeast, and no one else can beat him except Wu Sangui, he can hold it for as long as he wants!

Waste days, Wu Sangui will definitely not be able to consume him!

Wu Sangui's side negotiated the conditions again without success, but Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong's side waited for a new turn in the past few days.

On the twenty-second day of the first month, that is, the fourth day after Zhang Mingzhen and others arrived at Shanhaiguan, a small group of sailors and boats arrived at Shanhaiguan at the mouth of the Daqing River in the south and got in touch with Zhang Zheng and the others.

There were not many troops coming, but the key was to bring the latest instructions from the Zhu Shuren to them.

When he saw the reinforcements, Zhang Mingzhen was also stunned: "Shen guerrilla? Why did the country send you to reinforce us? Could it be that we are afraid that we will not be able to suppress Wu Sangui because we do not have enough troops? ”

It turned out that the person who came was Shen Lian from the Shen family, and when he followed Zhang Mingzhen to rescue Tashan and Xingshan two years ago, he was only promoted to the garrison, and now that another twenty months have passed, he has been promoted to guerrilla, which can be regarded as a chicken and dog ascending to heaven.

The officers around Zhu Shuren who were born from family members and confidants, as long as they can fight and are loyal enough, they can be promoted at the top speed.

Shen Lian did not contain a lake, and said bluntly: "After believing that His Majesty was martyred and knowing the recent situation in Liaodi, the surname of the country was convinced, and he temporarily adjusted the deployment and sent me to convey to you the next countermeasure.

If Wu Sangui doesn't follow, the surname of the country still has a few persuasion strategies, you can see if you can follow the plan. ”

When Zhang and Zheng received the secret letter, their eyes were still suspicious and incredulous. Of course, they knew Zhu Shuren's level of resourcefulness, but they didn't believe that he could still strategize and anticipate the enemy thousands of miles away, and that he was anticipating the enemy when there was a serious information gap.

As everyone knows, in fact, Zhu Shuren could have written and explained his strategy to them long in advance. It's just that Zhu Shuren can't reveal that he is a traverser, and he can't reveal that he has long known that Wu Sangui has a tendency to unite with Dolgon.

Therefore, I had to hold it until the army on the south road was convinced of Chongzhen's death, and then make a deduction based on the new situation, so as not to be too evil.

Zheng Chenggong unfolded the secret letter suspiciously, and after looking at it for a while, his eyes widened.

"Big brother knows Wu Sangui too well! Ten days ago, when he first learned of His Majesty's death, he expected that Wu Sangui might borrow Qing soldiers!

also expected that Dolgon would not easily agree to Wu Sangui's conditions, and would definitely sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and wait for Wu Sangui's situation to deteriorate and have to make more concessions! What a divine scheming to be so divine! ”

Zhang Mingzhen was also in good spirits: "Don't say it, let's see if the surname of the country has any countermeasures, and how to persuade Wu Sangui to talk about conditions." ”

Zheng Chenggong hurriedly retracted his emotion and read carefully: "I found it!" The eldest brother said, let Wu Sangui tell Dolgon that he has a sea grain route, even if he has been surrounded and surrounded by thieves and Qing troops on both sides for a long time, he will not run out of food! So Dolgon's expectation that he would be consumed until he surrendered was wishful thinking!

If Dorgon dares to attack, or if he doesn't agree to his terms, then he really won't surrender to the thieves! But when it really came to the city, he Wu Sangui could withdraw the whole army from the Jieshi Island ferry! Only at the last moment did not give up Shanhaiguan!

When the time comes, he will not bear the infamy of surrendering and killing the first emperor, and he can also keep the soldiers and horses. And Dolgon is waiting for the situation that Shanhaiguan is in danger of being occupied by thieves! They don't want to take advantage of the death of the first emperor to enter the customs! ”

After Zhang Mingzhen read it, he also felt that Zhu Shuren was already very good at negotiating, but he still hesitated a little:

Was Dorgon that ambitious? Just let the Tartars lose a chance to enter the customs, and they will promise to give in to Wu Sangui, without Wu Sangui surrendering, and go through the Jimen Gate instead?

Zhang Mingzhen thinks so, and he can't blame him, because at this juncture, except for the traverser, other people really don't think that the Qing army has so much ambition.

Including within the Qing army, except for Dolgon, even Zilharang and Hauge did not feel that this was an opportunity to completely seize the orthodoxy of the Central Plains.

Their thinking is still stuck in the Huangtaiji era, and they feel that at most, they can take the opportunity to get a vote, divide more strongholds, and even occupy the sixteen states of Yanyun like Liao and Jin did to Song, or go further to occupy the entire Hebei and Shanxi, which is very satisfying.

Including Wu Sangui's side, when he finally had to agree to Dolgon's conditions in history, the last official agreement was also that the Ming and Qing dynasties were bounded by the Yellow River, so in fact, it was the two provinces of Hebei and Shanxi that were ceded.

Later, the ambitions also grew bigger and smoother, and then gradually swelled. Just like when Wang Jianlin first started his business, he only wanted to earn a small goal first, and when the small goal was in hand, it expanded step by step.

Zheng Chenggong sorted out his thoughts and became familiar with the negotiation strategy taught by his eldest brother, so he found Wu Sangui again and persuaded him to make new conditions.