In the third year of the Republic, the tenth day of the first month of November.

Li Zhongshan, who had moved to Yuezhou, an important town in northern Hunan Province, unexpectedly met his two teachers, Nalan Mingzhu and Duolong, who followed Li Yat-sen's father-in-law, Lao Taishan Wu Guogui, from Jiangling, the capital city of Jingzhou, to Yuezhou to meet the generals of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, these two did not come all the way to talk about the friendship between teachers and students with Li Yat-sen, in fact, they came to see Li Yat-sen as the envoys of Wu Xuanye and Wu Mazi, the "United Emperor" of the Qing Dynasty.

Moreover, these two envoys of the Qing Dynasty and Wu Guogui also told Li Zhongshan a piece of news that made him laugh and cry - the Qing Dynasty and the Great Zhou Dynasty have now reached a "Northwest Mutual Guarantee", and if the Ming Dynasty wants to attack any country in the Great Qing Dynasty or the Great Zhou, the other country will definitely send troops to help. Because the Great Zhou is in the west and the Great Qing is in the north, this is the Northwest mutual insurance!

Hearing this astonishing news, before Li Zhongshan could do anything, his father Li Fuchen had already mocked in a weird manner, "Northwest mutual insurance? Third Brother Wu, why does this old Wu family have to rely on Tartars to protect every critical moment? ”

"Say what?" Wu Guogui didn't let this "Taishang General" at all, and replied with a glaring eyeball, "Now Kangxi is not a Tartar, he has recognized my father as a grandfather, it is Wu Xuanye!" That is, the cousin emperor of the Great Zhou Honghua Emperor. You can't write two Wu characters in one stroke, they are all emperors of the old Wu family, shouldn't they support each other? ”

Li Zhongshan turned his head to look at Nalan Mingzhu and Duolong: "Two teachers, is that the case?" Kangxi has changed his surname to Wu now? Don't the ancestors of the Aixin Jueluo family want it anymore? ”

Nalan Mingzhu replied with a smile: "Shikai, this Wu is the Han surname of the Qing Emperor, and Aixin Jueluo is an old Manchurian surname, this is not contradictory!" ”

Doron nodded and said, "Yes, yes, it's not contradictory!" Do you think that Song Gaozong and Zhao Gou were also given the surname by the Jin Dynasty? ”

Wu Guogui also smiled and said to Nalan Mingzhu and Duolong: "That's it, this Kangxi's Han surname is actually more than one Wu surname, and his surname is Li." ”

"Surname Li?" Li Zhongshan was stunned for a moment, "Li Chengliang's Li? ”

"That's right!" Wu Guogui nodded, "Nurhachi is Li Chengliang's adopted son, of course his surname is Li Lishikai, speaking of which, this Kangxi is not only my family, but also your family!" ”

Okay, this Kangxi already has three surnames in a blink of an eye, and he is also home with Li Fuchen, Li Zhongshan, and Li Zicheng.

Li Zhongshan smiled bitterly: "Together, we are fighting for hegemony in the Three Kingdoms, or are we fighting our own people?" ”

"Originally," Nalan Mingzhu said, "it was originally my own person!" Not to mention how many surnames the emperor of the Qing Dynasty has, even from marriage, the three families are also their own people! Today's Qing Empress Nala Lan'er's Han surname is Yang, the small character Xiaomi, and she is the sister-in-law of the Yang family in Shikai's side room. And Shikai, your eldest wife Wu is the cousin of the Great Zhou Honghua Emperor, and your other side room is the sister of the Great Zhou Honghua Emperor, aren't they all relatives? ”

Li Zhongshan said: In fact, Kangxi and the third prince Zhu are also brothers-in-law. It's just that he doesn't know it yet!

Wu Guogui said with a smile: "Shikai, since they are all relatives, or don't fight, let's rest and recuperate first, and let the people take a breath, and each family will also cultivate virtue." ”

"Yes, yes," Nalan Mingzhu said with a smile, "Shikai, this is also what the Qing Emperor meant. He stationed 200,000 troops in Kaifeng Mansion this time not to fight with you, but to relieve the fight! ”

"Unraveling?" Li Zhongshan smiled, "Kangxi is also learning from Lu Fengxian now?" I wonder how he wants to solve the fight? ”

Nalan Mingzhu said: "The emperor means that the territory of the Qing Dynasty, the Great Zhou, and the Ming Dynasty in Henan, except for Guangzhou, which was transferred from the Great Zhou to the Ming Dynasty, the rest will maintain the status quo; The dividing line between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty to the east of Henan is divided according to the provincial boundaries of Shandong and Jiangsu; The western boundary between the Qing Dynasty and the Great Zhou Dynasty was divided along the Yellow River, with the Qing Dynasty boundary to the east of the river and the Great Zhou boundary to the west of the river. The Great Zhou and the Ming Dynasty in Hubei came to divide the accounts, the Great Zhou occupied Xiangyang, Yunyang, Yichang, and Shinan four prefectures, and the Ming Dynasty occupied Wuchang, Huangzhou, Hanyang, De'an, Anlu, Jingzhou, Jingmen, seven prefectures; The dividing line between the Great Zhou and the Ming Dynasty in the southwest is divided along the border between Hunan and Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, as well as the boundary between Guangxi and Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. ”

Wu Guogui said: "This is also the meaning of Prime Minister Wu of the Great Zhou. The world has been in turmoil for many years, and now it has formed a situation of the Three Kingdoms standing on its feet, although the Ming Dynasty is strong, but it does not have the strength to sweep two-thirds of the world. Instead of the futile Northern Expedition like Jiang Wei, it is better to give the people of the world a period of time to recuperate for the time being. The three of us can also use this time to rectify our internal affairs. Shikai, do you think that's good? ”

Li Zhongshan frowned and was silent, looking as if he was reluctant to suspend the process of sweeping the world, but in fact he also understood that he could not complete the great cause of unifying the world in just a few years - in history, if a fierce person like Zhu Yuanzhang had a gap of eleven years from the capture of Jiqing Road to the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains!

And it has only been five years since he occupied Nanjing, and it has only been six or seven years since he occupied Guangdong. In the past six or seven years, it has occupied all the eight provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Hunan, plus most of Hubei and Henan, and the territory occupied has caught up with the territory of the Ming Dynasty before Zhu Yuanzhang swept the north.

This cannot but be said to be a miracle!

However, the route to achieve this miracle is a bit special, and this route is called "Republic"!

Although this "republic" can mobilize the enthusiasm of the people to fight for the country to the greatest extent, it can also reconcile the contradictions of the major factions in the country. But this "republic" is, after all, a long-lost ancient system for China, and in a sense, it is also a new deal.

It's not easy to get it neat and straightened out, it takes time!

In addition, the enthusiasm of the Chinese people to fight does not come entirely from the republican system, but also from the generous treatment. And the generous treatment needs a strong financial backing! And the reason why the Ming Dynasty can rise so quickly is actually due to a method of raising military funds that was rarely used in the past on the territory of China - debt!

But in this day and age, borrowing still has to be repaid. Therefore, Li Yat-sen, a great general, could not put aside the issue of rectifying finances and only cared about the east and the west.

In order to straighten out the finances, of course, a few years of recuperation are indispensable.

Finally, the promotion of this republican system in various parts of the Ming Dynasty will also take time. The republic of the Ming Dynasty now only exists in a small number of state capitals, and it is far from being extended to the whole country!

What's even more troublesome is that the "kings" who participated in the republic have not really completed the transformation from big warlords to parliamentary kings!

A republic is not a warlord!

However, Li Zhongshan can't easily agree to the peace proposal put forward by the Zhou and Qing dynasties because he also needs time to rectify the interior, after all, the Ming Dynasty is now winning consecutive battles, and it is the time to gain the upper hand!

So you have to slaughter the surname Wu and the surname "Aixin Jueluo, Li, Wu"!

"If Wu Shifan and Aixin Jueluo. Xuan Ye can be called a minister, and the general can agree to the harmony of the three families. Li Zhongshan paused word by word and threw out his own conditions.

"That's easy to say!" Wu Guogui said with a smile, "The old Wu family has been favored by the Ming Emperor, and now although he is the emperor, he does not forget his old master, and it is natural to call him a minister to the Ming Dynasty!" As for Wu Xuanye, he had called Da Zhou a minister before, and now he can transfer it to Da Ming? In this way, Wu Xuanye is also a second minister! ”

Well, Kangxi is not only a slave with three surnames (Aixin Jueluo, Li, and Wu) this time, but also a second minister!

If there is a Qianlong in the future, when he asks people to compile "The Biography of Erchen", the first one should be his grandfather Emperor Kangxi Aixin Jueluo. Wu. Plum. Xuanye!

"Two teachers," Li Zhongshan smiled and looked at Mingzhu and Duolong, "There are two Lao to tell Kangxi!" He said to his father-in-law, Wu Guogui, "Old Taishan, I also have to ask you to go to the Great Zhou Kingdom to talk to Honghua Tianzi and Prime Minister Wu Cheng, if they can agree, then bring the ministers and envoys together." I'm just waiting for news in Jiangxia City! ”

Wu Guogui met Honghua Tianzi and Wu Chengxiang in Xiangyang Mansion this time, and they arrived in Xiangyang at the beginning of November, and then did not move their nests again, preparing to spend the winter in Xiangyang, and then go to Chang'an next spring.

The reason why this is so is because Wu Zhou's retreat is not only a transfer of troops, but also a large number of government soldiers to be transferred with their families, and then they have to be relocated to Sichuan - almost a Huguang, Shaanxi, and Gansu to fill Sichuan!

If you don't fill it in, you can't do it!

In the past, there was a rich land in the Great Zhou Dynasty where you could levy grain and silver, and although the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty could not get much military salary, the military food was enough, not only for themselves, but also for their families.

Therefore, a large number of government soldiers who were assigned to the Grange in Sichuan did not actually go to Sichuan to reclaim.

But now it's not going to work, the rich land of Huguang is almost gone, and if you don't go, you won't have anything to eat!

So this time, Wu Yingqi planned to send the soldiers who moved out of Huguang, as well as some of the soldiers from Shaanxi and Gansu, and Sun Jiqing's men and horses who ran out of Guangxi, to Tuntian, Sichuan.

In order to send so many people to Sichuan, there will be food rations for the first year after entering Sichuan, as well as farm tools, cattle, and seeds needed to reclaim farmland, all of which must be raised from the rich land in Huguang, which has not yet been withdrawn. If you can't raise enough money, you have to find Li Zhongshan and Wu Guogui to buy it, so Wu Yingqi and Wu Shifan have to sit in Xiangyang.

In addition, Wu Yingqi is also ready to let Wu Shifan meet an alliance with Wu Xuanye and conclude a "Northwest Mutual Insurance" agreement.

Regardless of whether the Ming Dynasty agrees to make peace, the Great Zhou in the west and the Qing Dynasty in the north need to conclude an alliance.

Of course, this alliance is not only against the Ming Dynasty, the Great Zhou and the Qing Dynasty in the west and north, there are also common enemies, and there are also spheres of influence that need to be divided.

As for the matter of proclaiming ministers to the Ming Dynasty, Prime Minister Wu and Emperor Wu are quite open.

"That's it? Then it's called, it's not that it hasn't been weighed! Wu Yingqi didn't care, and said to Wu Shifan with a smile, "Your Majesty, did you and that Third Prince Zhu know each other early?" ”

Wu Shifan nodded, very emotional: "I went to Guangdong with the third prince of Zhu, but at that time I didn't know that he was the third prince of Zhu. I really didn't expect that among the people who left Beijing together, there were two emperors! ”

"This is fate!" Wu Yingqi asked with a smile, "The third child, that. Now that we are vassals to the Ming Dynasty, can we buy some seeds and ploughing cattle or something? It is best to take an account on credit, in the name of the emperor. ”

Wu Shifan also sighed leisurely - he, the emperor, seems to be the same as Zhu Cijiong, both of whom are the masters of the Five Elements who are short of money, and they are destined to be in debt.

"This." Wu Guogui's face was embarrassed.

"Can't you?" Wu Yingqi looked at Wu Guogui, "That General Li is the son-in-law of our Wu family!" Can't be that stingy, right? ”

Wu Guogui frowned and said: "It's not impossible to do this, but can the Great Zhou Kingdom still be able to do it?" There are many silver numbers in the Ming Dynasty that specialize in lending to merchants and the imperial court, as long as there is a way to repay debts, there must be a way to borrow debts. ”

"It's still on!" Wu Yingqi said, "Don't hide it, before the war with Daming this time, I had already asked Shi Cong to go to the Western Regions to step on it!" The Western Regions are wide and weak, and I turned around and sent Shi Cong to bring tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to fight over and open up the trade routes in the Western Regions. ”

"The Western Regions Trade Route?" Wu Guogui thought for a while, "Is there this trade route?" ”

"Yes!" Wu Shifan said, "During the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an was a place where Hu merchants gathered, but it was only later that the Tang Dynasty lost the Western Regions and the trade routes were cut off, and Chang'an changed from a prosperous place to such a bleak place today." If our family can reoccupy the homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties in the Western Regions, we can once again turn Chang'an into a prosperous commercial capital. ”

"That's a good feeling!" Wu Guogui said with a smile, "Otherwise, you will send an envoy who can speak well, and go to Jiangxia to see Li Shikai with the top table of the minister and the strategy of borrowing money to pass through the Western Regions." ”

Kaifeng Mansion, the Qing Emperor is here.

These days, Emperor Kangxi is leading an army of 20,000, falsely claiming to be 200,000, and stationed in Kaifeng Mansion in the name of relieving the fighting for the Ming and Zhou dynasties.

Of course, if Li Zhongshan, the great general of the Ming Dynasty, must fight to the death of Wu Shifan, the new emperor of the Great Zhou, he, Wu Xuanye, can only provide all support except help.

However, after Kangxi's analysis, he felt that the probability of his success in "unraveling the fight" this time was still very high, because Da Ming couldn't swallow the entire Wu Zhou in one bite, and Da Ming's top priority was not to swallow Wu Zhou, but to unify the interior.

This war between the Ming Dynasty and Wu Zhou and Geng Jing was actually an internal strife between the kings of the Ming Dynasty!

And the reason why this internal strife happened was because the Ming Dynasty was not unified internally, and there were too many territories and armies of the kings, as if they were the kings of a country. After the center of the Ming Dynasty was controlled by Li Zhongshan, Li Fuchen, Lu Sanhao, and Chen Yonghua, there would naturally be forces that did not obey them and rebelled.

If Li Yat-sen wanted to completely eliminate the risk of internal strife, then he had to take advantage of the great victory to rectify the interior and nationalize the armies and territories of the kings.

But it's not easy, and it won't be able to do it in a few years. If you don't get this done, you only know that you will go east and west with your head covered, then the bigger the territory you will be, the greater the strength of the vassal kings below, and sooner or later there will be people like Wu Sangui and Geng Jingzhong.

In fact, Kangxi himself was also troubled by the princes and ministers of the princes, but fortunately, there were no particularly powerful princes on the Qing side, except for Prince Gong Changning and Yang Qilong, the Korean superintendent. And Yang Qilong and Chang Ning are not in a group, so the two will not collude together to rebel, so Kangxi can still control the situation at the moment.

If he can continue this "liberation", reach a "mutual guarantee in the northwest" with the Great Zhou, and then negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty, even if he can only win peace for five years and ten years, then he can further consolidate his dominance in the Northern Qing Dynasty.

However, the peace conditions of Li Yat-sen, who Nalan Mingzhu and Duolong brought back, made him a little difficult.

He had already lost a lot of prestige when he was a minister to Wu Sangui before, and if it weren't for Fuquan's fighting skills, he wouldn't be the emperor now.

This time, I want to be a second minister and call myself a minister to the Ming Dynasty. Don't provoke Chang Ning again!

So when he met Mingzhu and Duolong today, he didn't nod his head immediately, but he was still thinking about his thoughts at this time, and he returned to the harem.

"Concubine greetings the emperor!"

Yang Xiaomi's delicate voice interrupted Kangxi's thoughts.

Kangxi looked up and found that he had arrived at the dormitory where Empress Yang was walking.

"Flat," Kangxi squeezed out a smile, "Queen, let's walk a few steps with you." ”

"Your Majesty, do you have something on your mind?" Yang Xiaomi stood up and followed Kangxi in the courtyard, she saw Kangxi's numbness, so she took the initiative to inquire.

Her behavior belongs to the harem to interfere in politics! Kangxi is very opposed to the harem meddling, except for Empress Yang. Her Manchurian name is Nalalan'er, isn't it natural to be a politician?

"Li Datou wants me to be a vassal to the third prince of Zhu!" Kangxi said, "I have already called Wu Sangui a minister, and now I want to do it again."

"Oh, is the emperor unwilling to be a second minister?" Yang Xiaomi really dared to say it.

Kangxi's numb face suddenly sank and he was unhappy, but when he turned his head to look at Yang Xiaomi's face, chest, and belly, this anger disappeared.

People want to have a face, a figure, and a son!

With a son, Kangxi's throne is stable!

"It's nothing to be a second minister," Kangxi said, "just if someone uses this as an excuse to raise troops again, isn't this another chaos in the world?" ”

"This is easy to do," Yang Xiaomi said, "just let the fifth master send an envoy to Nanjing to pay tribute to the third prince of Zhu." ”

"Let Chang Ning go?" When Kangxi heard this, he was very happy, if Chang Ning went to be this minister, then what reason did he have to rebel?

He then frowned a little: "But is he willing?" ”

"How could you not?" Yang Xiaomi said, "Don't you have a share of the Qing Dynasty?" Daqing is about to be beaten by the Ming Northern Expedition, and he is the first to be beaten in Shandong! Your Majesty, it's inconvenient for you to tell the fifth master about this truth, and the concubine will go and talk to him. Keep him and let him propose to go to Nanjing as an envoy! ”

"That's great!" Kangxi said with a smile, "Changning will come to Kaifeng Mansion in two days, and when the time comes, I will go to Xuzhou to meet Wu Shifan, and you stay in Kaifeng Mansion to meet Changning." ”

(End of chapter)