scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 206 Self-defeating
In order to show the so-called majesty, Xiao Mazi has only called a big rally twice since he overthrew Oboi to call all officials above the fourth rank in Beijing to participate in the early court. The first time was when he wiped out Oboi's party like lightning Yes, the second time is to discuss whether to implement the peace treaty meeting between the Qing court and the Pingxi Palace.

But unfortunately, this second meeting was destined to become one of the most painful meetings in Xiao Mazi's life. ——Attention, just one of them.

Finally ended this extremely unhappy big fight, Xiao Mazi told the eunuch to inform some absolute confidantes to go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to kowtow, and led a group of eunuchs and maids alone back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the result was unexpected for Xiao Mazi It is expected and not surprising that Xiao Mazi's grandmother Xiaozhuang, the old witch, has been waiting for a long time in the Hall of Mental Cultivation with Lagu Su Ma and Li Yinzheng.Seeing this scene, Xiao Mazi inevitably murmured in his heart, "Why is grandma always like this? Always treat me like a child? Do I still need to be reminded of everything now?"

He whispered quietly, but Xiao Mazi still didn't dare to waver in his respect and trust for the old witch of Xiaozhuang. He quickly walked up to Xiaozhuang, knelt down on both knees and kowtowed, and said respectfully, "Emperor Sun pays his respects to grandma." , Grandmother Wanfu Jinan."

"Your Majesty, Su Ma, hurry up and give your Majesty a hand." Xiao Zhuang waved his hand lightly, and then said with a smile: "Your Majesty, when there are no outsiders, don't be rigid, you don't need to follow the rules."

"Thank you grandma." Xiao Mazi kowtowed again, stood up with the support of La Aunt Su Ma, and nodded her pockmarked face to express her gratitude to La Aunt Su Ma, and at the same time expressed her gratitude to La Aunt Su Ma, who was actually her adoptive mother. Show respect.Finally, Xiao Mazi tentatively asked: "Grandmother, you came to the Hall of Mental Cultivation today because of the peace treaty signed between Ye Bilong and the old thief Wu Sangui?"

"That's right." Xiao Zhuang nodded, and beckoned Xiao Mazi to sit down, "Grandmother thought that you would be uncertain about such a big matter, so I came here to wait for you, but I didn't expect that today's big The court meeting ended so quickly. How is it, did the court meeting have any results?"

"There is a result." Xiao Mazi replied weakly: "Although some courtiers objected, my grandson still agreed to approve the peace treaty signed by Ye Bilong. Just considering the state treasury's ability to bear and the actual situation, my grandson decided to Send Wang Xu and Xiong Cilu as envoys to Wuchang to contact the old thief Wu Sangui to discuss and sign the peace treaty and implement it."

"Has it been approved?" Xiao Zhuang was a little surprised, he never thought that his grandson would make up his mind so quickly to suffer the humiliation under his crotch?Originally, according to Xiaozhuang's estimate, with Xiao Mazi's age and personality, he would have to go back and forth on this matter for at least a few days before he could make up his mind.

"Don't blame grandma, and my grandson doesn't want to approve the peace treaty, but the situation forced me to do so." Xiao Mazi obviously misunderstood the reason for Xiaozhuang's surprise, and quickly explained: "My 65 troops in the Qing Dynasty were killed and captured. Together with the rebels, it has almost reached half. The remaining [-] troops are either guarding the local area and defending the frontier. On the battlefield, this power is not enough to wipe out the old thief Wu Sangui, but to prevent the old thief Wu Sangui from going north and east, and the capital is seriously insufficient, and urgently needs time to recruit new troops and equip them for training."

"In addition, there are more than [-] princes and princes Baylor, nearly [-] Eight Banners soldiers and more than [-] Manchu people in the Qing Dynasty who fell into the hands of the old thief Wu Sangui. It hurt them. Our Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty has a weak population, and we simply cannot afford such a large loss of personnel."

"In addition, Sun'er's detailed eyeliner also reported to Sun'er that the rebels Zheng Jing in Taiwan, Galdan in Northwest China, and Geng Jingzhong in Fujian have all shown signs of being ready to move after hearing that the main force of the Qing Dynasty has been destroyed. They have sent envoys to congratulate the old thief Wu Sangui openly or secretly, and they already have the intention to join hands with the old thief Wu Sangui to cause trouble, if the thief leader Wu Sangui is not appeased as soon as possible, the consequences will be disastrous."

"So, there is no other way, grandson has no choice but to approve this peace agreement." Xiao Mazi's voice became lower and lower, and he said dejectedly: "Now grandson only wants to buy two to three years of preparation time. Redeem the soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, and then use them as the core to form and build a new Great Qing army, and then fight to the death with the old thief Wu Sangui to wipe out this traitor!"

"The emperor misunderstood." Xiaozhuang shook his head and said with a smile: "Grandmother didn't blame you for approving this peace treaty. Grandmother just didn't expect that you, grandson, could make up your mind so quickly. You couldn't bear to approve and accept this peace treaty." A peace agreement. It seems that Aijia's grandson has really grown up and matured, and Aijia can worry less in the future."

Hearing Xiao Zhuang's sincere praise, Xiao Mazi just smiled bitterly, his heart felt like a knife was being twisted, and his hatred for the traitor Wu, Fatty Lu and others was even more to the bone.Xiao Zhuang asked again: "Son, what are your plans for sending Wang Xu and Xiong Cilu to meet the old traitor Wu Sangui?"

"The main thing is to ask the old thief Wu Sangui to allow him more time." Xiao Mazi replied with a gloomy expression: "That old idiot Ye Bilong promised to give the old thief Wu Sangui 500 million taels of silver and 500 million shi of military rations. , but the yearly revenue of my Qing treasury is only more than 2000 million taels, and the grain grain is only about 500 million shi. How can I get it out in a hurry? So I have no choice but to let Wang Xu and Xiong Cilu go to Wu Sangui's elder The thief explained the situation and begged him to give him a few more years of grace."

Speaking of this, Xiao Mazi paused, and added: "In order to show sincerity, my grandson also plans to ask them to bring Wu Shilin, the grandson of the old thief Wu Sangui, and his daughter-in-law, Princess Jianning, to Wuchang, as well as the whole family of Oboi. Send them together to Wuchang and hand them over to the old thief Wu Sangui."

"Based on our actual situation, and the current actual situation of the old thief Wu Sangui." Xiao Zhuang pondered: "Wang Xu and Xiong Cilu persuaded the old thief Wu Sangui to give him time, I am afraid there is still some hope, but if the old thief Wu Sangui The thieves insist on not seeing the rabbits and not spreading the eagles, grandson, you don’t release the prisoners until you pay the army’s food and grass, so what can you do? Grandson, your plan to rebuild the Qing army with these Eight Banners soldiers as the backbone will be completely smashed messed up?"

"The grandson has also considered this." Xiao Mazi explained: "So the grandson plans to adopt Xiong Cilu's prison, and bribe Wu Sangui's confidantes with gold, silver and jewels, so that they can persuade the old thief Wu Sangui to accept my request , release these important prisoners ahead of schedule.”

"It must not be like this!" Xiaozhuang's tone suddenly became serious, and he warned: "Son, although the methods of bribing important officials of the enemy have existed since ancient times, and there are many successful ones, but the internal situation of Wu Sangui's old thief is different. Wu Sangui's old thief With sons, nephews and sons-in-law running the army, sharing life and death with each other, the possibility of being bribed by my Qing court is very small!"

"And there is another point, the important confidantes around the old thief Wu Sangui are not something we can buy, whether it is Hu Guozhu, Fang Guangchen, Liu Xuanchu, Wang Shirong or Guo Zhuangtu, they are all shrewd and loyal to the old thief Wu Sangui Role. Grandson, if you send people to bribe them, not only will it be extremely difficult to succeed, but they may even report to the old thief Wu Sangui, completely angering the old thief Wu Sangui, and then the situation will be even more difficult to deal with."

"The lackeys of Wu Sangui that grandma mentioned may be difficult to buy, but the inside of the old thief Wu Sangui is definitely not monolithic." Xiao Mazi retorted unconvinced: "As far as my grandson knows, Wu Yingqi, the second son of the old thief Wu Sangui, That is a famous idiot two hundred and five! There is also Wu Sangui's son-in-law Xia Guoxiang and his favorite generals Ma Bao and Wei Pu. They are also capricious and greedy despicable villains! As long as they can be used by their grandsons, they can persuade Wu Sangui's old thief There is great hope for the early release of our prisoners of war!"

"These people do hope to be bought over, but they still have limited influence on the old thief Wu Sangui." Xiao Zhuang continued to shake his head, resolutely objecting: "Grandson, according to what grandma sees, you'd better not take this risk. The old thief Wu Sangui and many people around him were already hostile to our Qing court. Once Xiong Cilu's strategy fails and is exposed, it will give these people an excuse to continue to make trouble, and you, grandson, will also lose your trust in the world , it was self-defeating to make a laughing stock, and even gave the old thief Wu Sangui an excuse to raise troops, he might tear up the peace treaty at any time, and start a new rebellion."

"Grandmother, don't you think that old thief Wu Sangui will earnestly fulfill this so-called peace agreement?" Xiao Mazi asked with a wry smile: "The reason why old thief Wu Sangui is willing to sit down and negotiate honestly is because he has already taken advantage of the territory he has taken. It is big enough, and the expansion of the army is not enough. Time is urgently needed to solve these problems, so he agreed to the truce negotiation. After he solves these problems, does this war have to continue?"

"Besides, after the breath is relieved, even if the old thief Wu Sangui doesn't do anything, grandson won't just sit back and watch him rule the southwest for a long time." Xiao Mazi's voice suddenly became extremely cold, and he said darkly: "Grandson now So I am wronged, and spend money to buy peace, just because my grandson urgently needs time to regroup and fight again, and I never hoped to draw a border with the old thief Wu Sangui across the river and never violate each other! Since I and the old thief Wu Sangui will have to reunite sooner or later Why do you care about him breaking the peace treaty suddenly and rebelling again? Wouldn’t it be better to save more money and food to prepare our army for war?”

"Grandson, you are wrong to think so." Xiao Zhuang quickly dissuaded him: "The current situation of the old thief Wu Sangui is very similar to that of the Qing army before we entered the customs. They are more than self-protected and not aggressive enough. Grandson If you take the initiative to provoke the flames of war and send troops to the south, then our Qing Dynasty will repeat the same mistakes of Saerhu and Guangning in the previous Ming Dynasty, and be gradually weakened by the old thief Wu Sangui. Take advantage of the opportunity to shake the entire country."

"So grandson, in the current situation, you have only one solution, grandson, and that is to be prepared with both hands. While guarding against the sudden attack of the old thief Wu Sangui, at the same time, try your best to appease the old thief. The fighting spirit of Wu Gou's army, when Wu Sangui kicks his legs, the world will surely return to your hands!"

"Your Majesty, please allow this servant to intervene." Aunt Su Ma also persuaded: "My servant believes that what the Empress Dowager Lafayette said is right, and the root of the old thief Wu Sangui has been cut off by us now, and there is no successor. Once he dies of old age, there will be civil strife in Wu Gou, and it will be easy for the emperor to destroy Wu Gou at that time, so why take the risk of resuming the war and fight against the strong and powerful old thief Wu Sangui on the battlefield?"

"Grandmother and Enie may be right, and I can do it, but is Wu Sangui willing to do it?" Xiao Mazi retorted forcefully: "I have already said that Wu Sangui is very ambitious, and now he is fighting and winning like a rainbow." , I’m afraid that the heart of usurping has already been born, even if I tolerate him again and again, I am afraid that not only will I not be able to stabilize this thief, but it will make this old thief think that I am weak and can be bullied, and I am more determined to go north and east.”

"Your Majesty, regarding this point, you think too highly of the old thief Wu Sangui." Xiaozhuang laughed and said, "The old thief Wu Sangui knows that he is used to muddling along and being timid and cowardly, so he should not be forced into a corner." Just never rise up and resist, perhaps he has the ambition to become emperor, but it is even more difficult for him to muster up the courage to go north and east, and compete with you, the emperor, for the whole world."

"So, Your Majesty, you must listen to your grandmother on this matter. Give up the plan to buy Wu Sangui's confidants, and also give up the plan to wipe out Wu Sangui's old thief in a short period of time. It is too dangerous. If something unexpected happens, the consequences will be disastrous. Your Majesty, you can't bear it." .”

"Didn't the old thief Wu Sangui want money and food? Give it to him, and give it to him. If you can't get that much in a short time, you can explain the situation to him. Make an appointment to pay on time, and the old thief Wu Sangui will definitely agree. After the delay After a period of time, grandson, you can still consider continuing to pay the old thief Wu Sangui his military salary, food and grass, keep him steady, and continue to wear him down! As long as the old thief Wu Sangui is not troubled, the other rebels will suffer from scabies. It's not enough!"

"Didn't I become the weak and foolish king of the Southern Song Dynasty?" Xiao Mazi's voice was filled with anger, and he said through gritted teeth, "Use old tribute coins to buy peace? Let the old thief Wu Sangui be like our ancestors in the Qing Dynasty." Just like gold, because we pay tribute every year and receive coins every year, do you give us a break?"

"Then in the end, did the Song people destroy the Dajin Kingdom, our ancestor of the Qing Dynasty, or did the Dajin Kingdom destroy the Song people?" Xiao Mazi was speechless when Xiao Zhuang asked.Xiao Zhuang said earnestly again: "Your Majesty, for the sake of our Daqing's society, and for your Majesty's perpetuity, please bear with me. Even if the old thief Wu Sangui wants to separate the Southwest and call himself emperor, you can do it." It can be admitted that the old thief Wu Sangui is already 61, how many days can he live? Grandson, you use a little money to stabilize him, and when he kicks his legs and no one succeeds him, the people who have been invaded by him will not be able to live. Go back to your arms obediently? Listen to what grandma said, since you have endured it once, let's endure it to the end."

"I listened to you, grandma, and deliberately forced Wu Sangui against the old thief with some kind of drive, so the situation has become like this now!"

As soon as Xiao Mazi couldn't help but say something, not only Xiao Zhuang, Lagu Su Ma, and Li Yinzheng were stunned, but even Xiao Mazi himself was stunned—Xiao Mazi never thought that he could say such words to contradict him Xiaozhuang old hag!After being shocked, Xiao Mazi hurriedly left the table, knelt down in front of Xiaozhuang, kowtowed and pleaded guilty: "Grandmother, forgive me, but my grandson suddenly became obsessed with ghosts and made such absurd words. My grandson deserves death, please." Don't worry about it, grandma."

Xiao Zhuang didn't speak, just stared at Xiao Mazi with his slightly cloudy old eyes, as if in a daze.Aunt Su Ma saw that the situation was not good, she quickly knelt down on both knees, kowtowed and said: "Lafayette, the emperor made a slip of the tongue for a while, and the slaves believe that the emperor definitely did not do it out of intention, let alone blame Lafayette at all, please forgive me Don't take it to heart and forgive the emperor's unintentional mistake." Li Yinzheng also quickly knelt down, with his forehead pressed against the ground, not even daring to take a breath.

Xiao Zhuang still didn't speak, but just looked carefully at Kang Xiaomazi, who had already reached his age, and found that although Xiaomazi's appearance was still ugly, the childishness on his body had already faded away, replaced by a heroic spirit and arrogance all over his body. And confident, Xiao Zhuang couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "After all, my grandson has grown up and has his own thoughts and practices. I can't tell him everything as an old woman. I should let him be more independent. Otherwise, not to mention hindering his growth, it may also cause him to resent the old woman, and hate me even more."

"Grandmother, why don't you talk?" Seeing that Xiao Zhuang didn't say a word for a long time, Xiao Mazi also panicked, took two steps on his knees, hugged Xiao Zhuang's legs, and cried loudly: "Grandma, It’s the grandson’s fault, it’s the grandson’s unfilial piety, grandma can punish her grandson any way she wants, just please don’t get angry, if you get angry, the grandson will die! Grandma, grandson please , hit me, scold me, my grandson is unfilial, my grandson deserves to die...!"

"Your Majesty, get up." Xiao Zhuang finally spoke, sighed, and personally came to help Xiao Mazi, and said softly: "Your Majesty, Ai's family did not mean to blame you. You used the strategy of driving away tigers and devouring wolves, and let you force Oboi to fight Wu Sangui, a loser, and you will lose both, and things will not turn out like this..."

"Grandmother, grandson is talking nonsense, grandson is talking nonsense." Xiao Mazi was frightened out of his wits, and quickly slapped himself hard, crying loudly while slapping his pockmarked face: "Grandson deserves death, grandson punishes himself ...!"

"Your majesty, there is no need to do this." Xiao Zhuang took Xiao Mazi's hand and said with a smile: "Actually, Ai's family is extremely regretful now, because Ai's family never thought of anything before, the old thief Wu Sangui got Lu Yifeng's dog After the thief helped, in just a few years, the military power will grow to such a point that not only is Oboi no match for him, but he is also allowed to fight big with small things, and take away so much land from your grandson in one go The people. It was the grandmother who miscalculated and self-defeating, which led to today's dangerous situation. The grandmother is ashamed of the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, and she is also ashamed of you, grandson."

"Grandmother, don't say that." Xiao Mazi wailed loudly, "The grandson suffered from smallpox when he was young, and it was the grandmother who brought her to the Compassion Palace to take care of her. Pulled the grandson back from the palace of the king of hell. Both parents died when the grandson was eight years old, and the grandmother raised the grandson with her own hands. Over the years, if the grandma hadn't taken care of her day and night and confronted the treacherous officials head-on, the grandson Don't talk about the throne, even life, I'm afraid it has long been lost! Grandmother's kindness to grandson, even if grandson is smashed to pieces, it is difficult to repay the event...!"

"Let him go about the past." Xiao Zhuang smiled bitterly, picked up Xiao Mazi himself, wiped Xiao Mazi's tears with a handkerchief, and said with a smile on his face, "Your Majesty, you have finally grown up." Now, you have your own ideas and ways of doing things, and grandma can no longer be like in the past, telling you everything. In the future, the emperor can make up his own mind about the important affairs of the court, and grandma will not interfere too much. There is something the emperor doesn't understand. And if you are undecided, it’s not too late to ask grandma again.”

"Grandson dare not!"

Xiao Mazi was shocked, and hurriedly knelt down again, but Xiao Zhuang held him back, choked up and said, "Your Majesty, grandma is not angry with you, but grandma is indeed old, and many things are rotten and conservative. Wu Sangui As for the old thief, you can do it according to your own ideas, grandma believes that you can do better than grandma... "

"Grandson dare not!" Xiao Mazi wailed even more, and the old witch of Xiaozhuang was also in tears. The grandparents and grandchildren hugged each other and cried together, and Lagu Su Ma, Zhang Wanqiang, Li Yinzheng and others were all crying.

After making up her mind not to give orders to Xiao Mazi who has grown up, the old witch of Xiaozhuang quickly wiped away her tears, bent her old body, led Lagu Su Ma and Li Yinzheng, and left Yangxin with tears in her eyes. Hall, leaving Xiao Mazi weeping alone in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, regretting his unintentional slip of the tongue.It was only when Xiao Mazi’s tears dried up and it was getting late that Zhang Wanqiang, the chief eunuch of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, walked up to Xiao Mazi, and said tremblingly, “Your Majesty, Lord Suo, Lord Ming, Lord Xiong, and Kong Sigege are already outside the hall. I have been kneeling for more than two hours, waiting for the emperor to summon me."

Xiao Mazi, oh no, it should be called Kang Mazi now, Kang Mazi wiped away the remaining tears from the corners of his eyes, cleared his throat, and ordered, "Xuan."

"Cover." Zhang Wanqiang kowtowed and hurried out to summon him.After a while, Suo'etu, Mingzhu, Xiong Cilu and Kong Sizhen, who were kneeling outside until their legs were numb, entered the hall. Seeing Xiao Mazi's eyes were red and swollen, they didn't dare to ask. Wait, please greet the emperor."

"Exemption, peace." Kang Mazi agreed with great dignity.After several of his absolute confidants got up, Kang Mazi pointed to Mingzhu and ordered: "Ming Aiqing, you are the minister who leads the guards and is also in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Tomorrow you will bring Xiong Cilu to the treasure house of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Let him pick out more exotic treasures for later use."

"Cover." Mingzhu agreed by kowtowing honestly, not daring to ask the reason.

"Xiongcilu." Kang Mazi pointed at Xiongcilu again, and ordered, "I asked you to go to the House of Internal Affairs to pick up more rare and rare treasures. I believe you already know what they are used for. You don't have to." I have given too many orders. I only want you to remember two things. One is that treasures are hard to come by. You must spend every rare treasure wisely. You must not waste it or be stingy, so as not to miss my important event !"

"Second thing, Wu Yingqi, the second son of the old thief Wu Sangui, his son-in-law Xia Guoxiang, his favorite generals Ma Bao, Wei Pu and Han Daren are all greedy and extremely favored by the old thief Wu Sangui. These few people are used by me, and if we buy a few more cronies of the old thief Wu Sangui, the matter will be settled!"

"My minister will remember my emperor's advice." Xiong Cilu didn't dare to say a word, but he murmured in his heart: "I don't need your emperor's advice on this point. If the minister didn't come forward to buy you, the emperor would take care of you." When you worship the rest of the party, will it be so easy?"

"Kong Sizhen." Kang Mazi turned his hand to Kong Sizhen, and shouted in a stern voice: "You must have heard about Lu Yifeng, right? Back then, it was because of you, a dog slave, who tried every means to frame and persecute him. Forcibly forced to the old thief Wu Sangui, I lost this talented man with both civil and military skills, are you guilty?!"

"Slave, you deserve death! You deserve death!" Kong Sizhen was so frightened that he was sweating profusely, and hurriedly kowtowed, "I beg the emperor to spare my life, I beg the emperor to spare my life."

"Whether you will spare your dog's life or not depends on your performance!" Kang Mazi yelled viciously: "I will give you a chance to make meritorious service and atone for your sins. I have to persuade Lu Aiqing to come back anyway, and tell Lu Aiqing for me that as long as he is willing to come anyway, he can ask for any official position or reward he wants!"

"I will do my best." Kong Sizhen agreed with a frowning face. She was both worried and had to deal with Lu Fatty's oiled loach, but also secretly happy and nervous.

"Remember!" Kang Mazi added: "Even if Lu Aiqing can't come back anyway, I have to get Wu Gou's new gunpowder formula and Wu Gou's flying boat construction blueprint for me! These two things, no matter which one is done. I can forgive your previous crimes, if you can’t do that, you can come back and apologize.”

"The servant complies with the order." Kong Sizhen was even more frowning, and kowtowed feebly in agreement.

"Sigege, I know your likes and abilities, don't let me down." Kang Mazi smiled darkly, then turned to Suo'etu at the end, sighed first, and then ordered: "Qing Suo, report to me for conscription." Let’s see how many new troops you have recruited for me in the past few months.”

(End of this chapter)