scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 300 Three Good Conditions
Geng Jingzhong actually saw through the current complicated situation, and planned to use Fatty Lu as a shield for Geng Jingzhong's army and as a bait to induce the Qing army in Zhejiang to adjust their strategic focus, just like the old Wu traitor back then. Less Fatty Lu's expectations.It also made Fatty Lu realize that the friendly army to the south of him has already learned well, and is no longer the friendly army that could sell Wu Jun back to Wu Jun for money. In the future, he must not only use this friendly army, but also be wary of it. ——But it's not surprising, Geng Jingzhong has been raped by old man Wu too many times, if he doesn't learn to be good, then Geng Jingzhong, the Prince of Jingnan, will be a fool for nothing.

Fortunately, although Geng Jingzhong's reaction was quick, his awakening was a bit late. Kang Mazi, who had already suffered enough from similar tricks, did not believe that these rebels would sincerely seek peace, especially now. When the anti-Qing situation was very good, Kang Mazi refused to believe that Geng Jingzhong would sincerely ask for peace and a truce.It was also because of this that although Fatty Lu's expectations were greatly exceeded by Geng Jingzhong's actions, Fatty Lu still acted according to the original plan in a calm manner, ordering a banquet to entertain his friend Wang Xu and his party.

At the really plain and simple banquet, Fatty Lu and Wang Xu, who were used to this, chatted and laughed happily, telling each other their love for each other. Suo Mintai and Wu Dan, who ate this kind of simple food for the first time, frowned and chewed. The rough meal, while thanking Fatty Lu for his hospitality, Han Daren, Gao Hongchen and others were unwilling to eat, kept whispering, hating and worried about Geng Jingzhong's shameless behavior.Wang Xu and the others saw it in their eyes and were delighted in their hearts.

After the banquet, Wang Xu and the others went to the post house in the city to settle down first. At night, Fatty Lu suddenly sent Xiao Erlang to invite Wang Xu to come to the mansion, saying that he wanted to have a drink with old friends at night and talk about some personal matters.Wang Xu had been mentally prepared for this, so he quickly agreed, and took Kang Mazi's secret decree to explain to Suo Mintai, Wu Dan and others, and then followed Xiao Erlang to the governor's yamen of Liangjiang occupied by Fatty Lu again, and In the signing room, I saw Fatty Lu with a sick face.

The signing room in Fatty Lu's office was very much to Wang Xu's liking. Apart from a table and chairs and a mountain of official documents, there was no extra decoration.Besides a pot of rice wine, two wine glasses and a vegetable oil lamp, there is only a plate of dried five-spice tofu and a plate of fennel beans on the table for appetizers, and they are reluctant to light a candle. Not as good, Wang Xu couldn't help laughing and said: "Sanhao virtuous brother is really honest, industrious and thrifty, holding half of the south of the Yangtze River, tens of thousands of money pass through his hands every day, and his diet and daily life are so simple. Just because of this, officials all over the world If everyone is like Sanhao Xiandi, then the life of ordinary people will be easier."

"Brother Zizhuan has won the award, but I really don't dare to take it." Fatty Lu gave up his seat to Wang Xu and said with a wry smile: "To be honest, my younger brother is also a person who likes to spend time and drink, but now is not the time. Wan Dajun's foothold in the south of the Yangtze River is not stable, and he has to spend money on everything, and he can't exploit the people too much, and if he doesn't take the lead in thrift, what can he use to make the soldiers spend their days frugally?"

Wang Xu smiled, and took advantage of the opportunity to sit opposite Fatty Lu. Xiao Erlang, who was the only waiter in the room, poured wine for the two of them and turned on the oil lamp, so that the good friends Fatty Lu and Wang Xu could see each other clearly. Xu and Fatty Lu looked at each other and remained silent for a long time.I don't know how long it took before Fatty Lu broke the silence with a sigh, and said slowly: "Brother Zizhuan, you are getting old again. For people under fifty, their braids are almost completely white, and the wrinkles on their faces are also gone. It's much better than when we met last time. It seems that Brother Zizhuan's life has become even more difficult in the past year or so."

"I can't help it. Who told me, the Minister of the Ministry of War, that I just happened to catch up with Sanhao's virtuous brother to show his power? Kill the Quartet?" Wang Xu smiled wryly, and also sighed: "Mihao virtuous brother, you have lost weight again. Remember our first When we first met, Brother Mihao, you were so fat that your chin had three layers, but now, you are so thin that you are almost as thin as Brother Yu."

"It's also thanks to Brother Zizhuan." Fatty Lu also smiled wryly, "Brother kills an enemy on the front line, Brother Zizhuan will send brother two enemies, burn an enemy ship, Brother Zizhuan will send Brother Zizhuan Three boats, took one catty of grain and grass, and brother Zijian sent another five catties, endless and endless, the consumption can consume my brother to death, and brother will not be able to lose weight if he wants to."

After finishing speaking, Fatty Lu and Wang Xu looked at each other again and smiled wryly. They all lamented that the best friends and the most confidant friends had to fight to the death, had to rack their brains and exhaust their efforts. Put the opponent to death.After staring at each other with such wry smiles for a long time, Fatty Lu picked up the wine glass, turned it around and said, "Brother Zizhuan, tell me, what is the purpose of Kangxi sending you here?"

"Brother Yu's intention to come, with the shrewdness and ability of a virtuous brother, can you still not guess it?" Wang Xu smiled helplessly, and finally took out a roll of yellow silk from his arms, stood up and said loudly: "The imperial decree of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, the Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty Lu Yifeng, the magistrate of Qujing, Yunnan, knelt to receive him!"

Fatty Lu remained calm, let alone knelt down to accept Kang Mazi's imperial edict. Wang Xu waited for a moment, then reminded: "Master Lu, the emperor's imperial edict, you should kneel down to accept the imperial edict."

"Brother Zizhuan, let's talk about the content directly." Fatty Lu said lightly: "I haven't made up my mind whether I recognize Emperor Kangxi or not."

"Brother Sanhao, how long are you going to be wrong?" Wang Xu's tone became serious, and he said solemnly: "Yes, before Long Live, there was indeed something I was sorry for you, and Long Live the Emperor himself admitted this, and he also understands that. Brother Sanhao, you are a peerless genius that is rare in ancient times. But you can’t blame the emperor entirely. Long live the emperor also listened to the instigation of Kong Sizhen, Tu Hai and Li Shizu’s gang of villains. Now Kong Sizhen is absconding in fear of crime. Go to prison, Li Suzu ransacked his family and wiped out his family, what else do you want? Do you really want the emperor to kneel down and admit his mistakes to you before you will forgive him?"

"Go on." Fatty Lu remained calm, continued to play with the coarse porcelain wine glass and said, "Brother Zi Zhuan, please continue to talk and see if you can impress me."

"Well then, brother Yu can be blunt. Don't blame my brother if you offend me." Wang Xu sighed again, and said seriously: "Brother Yu, brother Yu admits that Wu Sangui is good to you, not only knowing you well Zhien, you still obeyed your words, relied on you as your confidant, and even betrothed your granddaughter to you. It can be said that there is nothing to add, and the righteousness is as heavy as a mountain! But, my brother, you think that Wu Sangui really trusts you absolutely, really put Have you become a pillar of the sky? If he really trusted you, why did he detain your only son in Yunnan? If he really used you, then with your talent, you can already sweep the world, all directions, why have you been It was five months ago that you were given the chance to be your own brother?"

Fatty Lu continued to turn the wine glass, but the speed was getting slower and slower. Obviously, he had already felt something. Wang Xu observed his words and quickly said, "My dear brother, let's not talk about it far away. Let's talk about your capture of Jiangning. If Wan Live and Wu Sangui Changing places, how much credit do you have? How much reward should you get? But how did the old thief Wu Sangui treat you? He didn’t reward you for his meritorious service, and his son even sent a letter scolding you. Is the unknown master someone you can assist?"

"Brother Zi Zhuan, how did you know that the second prince came to reprimand me?" Fatty Lu finally stopped turning the wine glass, and there was a look of surprise on his fat face.

"This foolish brother can't tell you." It was rare for Wang Xu to play tricks on Fatty Lu, and it also saved Wang Shaobo from disaster.At the end, Wang Xu lowered his voice and said: "In addition, brother Yu also knows a secret, including the secret of your army that you don't even know, my brother--the [-] troops of King Duoruo were surrounded by your army on the two sides of Baoning. Yue, the reason why your army was not completely wiped out was not because Wu Sangui was merciful, or because he wanted to use hunger to completely drag down our [-] troops of the Qing Dynasty, but for another reason!"

"What's the reason?" Fatty Lu was stunned for a moment, then immediately came to his senses, and blurted out, "Could it be that the prince is ill?"

Wang Xu's eyes widened, and he nodded after a long while and said: "Your brother is really talented, you can see the whole leopard at a glance! Yes, Wu Sangui is ill, and the illness is not serious, he can't manage at all, and he is worried about sending the main force Leave it to others to command, that's why we adopted the strategy of encircling and not fighting, and gave Lord Duo Luo a chance to survive, otherwise, my army of [-] in the Qing Dynasty would not be able to get out of the encirclement!"

"Really or not?" Fatty Lu asked suspiciously: "Brother Zizhuan, you are not lying to me, right? Then there is such a coincidence that our prince just fell ill when he surrounded Eza?"

"Brother Sanhao, you underestimate Brother Yu too much at this point. Although Brother Yu is not talented, when did you lie?" Wang Xu showed some dissatisfaction, gritted his teeth again, and said, "Well, Brother Yu will not hide it. You, but there is a person named Sun Xu in your lord's palace book office?"

"Yes." Fatty Lu nodded, and asked again: "Is he the inside line that Zi Zhuan brothers placed next to the prince?"

"This is not our intentional arrangement." Wang Xu explained: "Sun Xu was originally a Jinshi in the Wuyi Division in the second year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty. He was arrested and imprisoned because he praised Zheng Chenggong's traitor in the text. This person escaped from prison. After that, he went to Yunnan to join Wu Sangui, and was registered as the secretary of the royal family. Later, he found that Wu Sangui treated scholars poorly, did not know the rewards and punishments, regarded the students as slaves, and frequently abused and killed them. The heart (the above historical facts). Then Wu Sangui suddenly became seriously ill, and Sun Xu knew it was an opportunity, so he sent his confidants to secretly send the news to Prince Eza’s army, so that Prince Eza made up his mind to break out and escape.”

Fatty Lu didn't speak any more, but secretly scolded traitors everywhere, especially in the former Qing Dynasty, but his face remained calm, showing no trace of indignation.Wang Xu checked his words, and said again: "Brother Mihao, the news of Wu Sangui's serious illness was concealed from even you. Isn't this a solid proof that he didn't treat you as a confidant at all? If he really uses you and trusts you You, why do you still have to block the news from you, why didn't you call you to your side in a hurry, and do the lonely thing? He is 63, so he is afraid of what happens? "

"Brother Sanhao, you are a smart person. You must be clear about the hidden dangers of your army. If Wu Sangui is really sick, what will happen to your army? How can you not know what will happen to your army? Retire In terms of ten thousand steps, even if Wu Sangui survived this serious illness, you acted behind his back and took the risk of taking Jiang Ning, escaped his control, and refused to listen to his command. How to bear it?"

"Brother, let's take another ten thousand steps back and say, even if Wu Sangui can't pursue your crimes for the time being, how long can your lone army last in Jiangning? You have also seen Geng Jingzhong's attitude. On the surface, he asked for peace and a truce. But it is actually encouraging the Qing court to encircle and suppress you with all its strength, and relieve him of the pressure! And this Jiangning City is extraordinary, the Qing court will never sit idly by, let alone sit and watch you stay here for a long time, my dear brother, just in case That day the emperor really agreed to Geng Jingzhong's request, let the main force of the Qing Dynasty in Zhejiang return to the army, and attack you from all sides. Even if you have three heads and six arms, my dear brother, how long can you resist? Can you still count on Wu Sangui to fly over with wings? , help you?"

When Wang Xu said something, Fatty Lu's fat face became gloomy, and when Wang Xu finished speaking, Fatty Lu's fat face was already full of depression and worry, and he couldn't help but raise his head and drink the rice wine in the cup After that, he put the wine glass heavily on the table again, and said, "Pour the wine!"

Xiao Erlang stepped forward honestly and refilled a glass of wine for Fatty Lu, but Wang Xu said with a smile: "My good brother, what's the use of using wine to relieve boredom? You just drank up all the wine in Jiangning City. Danger, can it be resolved?"

Fatty Lu kept his face stern and refused to touch the wine glass again. After a long time, Fatty Lu said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Zizhuan, what exactly did the emperor write in the imperial decree?"

"Your majesty? There's a joke!" Hearing Fatty Lu's change of tone, Wang Xu was overjoyed and hurriedly said in a low voice, "Forgive my younger brother for all his previous sins, and also forgive all his subordinates. In addition, the emperor will make you a town official." General Nan, first-class Duke Lu Ding, added the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, rewarded with a thousand gold, ten thousand taels of silver!"

"First-class Duke Lu Ding?" Fatty Lu was a little surprised, thinking that the mite survivors still have the face to say that Kang Mazi is a master of Sinology, why is his vocabulary so poor, and the extremely vulgar General Weiyuan Pao and Wu Cheng Yonggu General Pao Forget it with General Shengong, how come you can't even get a title like this?
"Three good things, do you think the emperor's award is too low, or do you think it is too high?" Wang Xu didn't understand why Fatty Lu was so surprised, so he quickly added: "Before leaving, the emperor told Brother Yu himself that Yixian The younger brother's talent, the emperor really dare not confer the title of the virtuous brother too high, otherwise, after the virtuous brother has wiped out the Geng and Wu feudal clans, what will the emperor give the virtuous brother? The emperor can never be above the prince. Will there be a ninth ****?"

Fatty Lu stopped talking again, and picked up the wine glass again and slowly turned it around. Seeing Fatty Lu's heartbeat, Wang Xu whispered again: "My dear brother, there is another important matter. I, the youngest daughter of Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty, He Shuo Duanmin The princess was originally promised to Horqin's flag Zasak Doro Darhan County King. She never thought that the county king was not blessed. She passed away in the eighth year of Kangxi, and Princess Heshuo Duanmin has been waiting in her boudoir. The emperor appreciates the good brother Talented, so I ordered Brother Yu to be a matchmaker, and wanted to recruit my virtuous brother as my brother-in-law, to be the emperor's brother-in-law."

"Princess Duanmin? Is she beautiful?" Fatty Lu finally showed some surprise.

"This..." Wang Xu smiled wryly, and said, "Brother Yu just asked Yu Blind, what kind of status is Brother Yu, how could he have the opportunity to see the princess's face?"

"Cut! It's useless to ask, what kind of good stuff can be born from the genes of Kang Mazi's family?" Fatty Lu, who didn't know that Duanmin was just Shunzhi's adopted daughter, murmured to himself.

"Brother Sanhao, brother Yu is so earnest, he has already said everything he can say." Wang Xu straightened his face again, and said seriously: "I ask you to decide how to choose."

Fatty Lu twisted his glass and kept turning the glass with his fat fingers. After a long time of silence, Fatty Lu stopped the glass suddenly, drank the rice wine in the glass again, and then smashed the glass hard on the ground, hoarse He said in a low voice: "Brother Zizhuan, I have a personal question, please tell me the truth, brother Zizhuan?"

"Brother, please tell me." Wang Xu replied quickly.

"Brother Zizhuan, long live to comfort me, is it true or false?" Fatty Lu gritted his teeth and asked, "Or just want my younger brother to donate Jiang Ning and the fifty thousand army, and then hide all the birds and hide them? The younger brother will be hacked into pieces and executed Ling Chi?"

"My emperor is benevolent and holy, how could he do such a thing?" Wang Xu said sincerely: "If you don't believe me, Brother Yu is willing to protect the lives of the whole family!"

"Brother Zizhuan, it's not that I don't believe it, it's that I have done too many wrong things." Fatty Lu shook his head, and said in a deep voice, "If nothing else, just rely on the four-killing order that my younger brother enforced in Nanjing. I believe the emperor will sincerely forgive the younger brother!"

"Quadruple killing order? What quadruple killing order?" Wang Xu asked in surprise.

"Okay, it seems that no one has brought this matter to Kang Mazi." Fatty Lu was delighted in his heart, and quickly let out a long and heartbroken sigh, and then explained the quadruple killing order he issued when he occupied Nanjing City, and this order. The effect, and truthfully introduced it to Wang Xu.

"Brother Mihao, why are you so confused?! Brother Yu doesn't even know how to say hello!" Sure enough, after listening to this, Wang Xu's face changed color and he stomped his feet and sighed.After a moment of nervous calculation, Wang Xu said seriously again: "My dear brother, fortunately, there is still room for redemption. No officials or generals reported this matter to the emperor, and you took the initiative to confess your crime to Brother Yu and surrender yourself to atone! So As long as you sincerely surrender anyway, brother Yu will definitely protect you in front of Long Live and declare this matter for you even if you risk your life!"

"Brother Zizhuan, of course I believe it." Fatty Lu said with a wry smile: "But brother Zizhuan, do you have the final say on such a big matter? My little brother is confused. He killed thousands of Manchus with four surnames in Nanjing that day." , once their relatives and family members in the imperial court seek revenge, how can my younger brother bear it?"

"This..." Wang Xu is a loyal person. He put himself in Fatty Lu's shoes and found that Fatty Lu was indeed right. With the viciousness and narrow-mindedness of the barbarians in Manzhou, the possibility of seeking revenge from Fatty Lu is indeed very high.

"Brother Zizhuan, let's do this." Fatty Lu said hesitantly: "Brother Zizhuan reported back to the sage, saying that I have the courage to ask the emperor to agree to three conditions, and I will open the city and surrender! Not only that, but also I must control the army, charge into battle for my lord, put down the three traitors Geng, Wu, and Zheng, and redeem my crimes in order to repay the emperor's favor."

"Brother Sanhao, please tell me quickly, Brother Yu must report the truth to the emperor and try his best to get the emperor to agree." Wang Xu replied impatiently.

"One, the emperor must pardon my younger brother for all his crimes in Nanjing." Fatty Lu said: "There are also officers and soldiers who pardoned my younger brother. They are all following orders and are really innocent. By the way, there are Sir Xie Dongxie and General Guerja Halehazi, I also ask my master to pardon me, and promise that I will never settle accounts later."

"This is easy to handle. Brother Yu will try his best to fight for the virtuous brother, and explain to the emperor the determination of the virtuous brother to correct his mistakes." Wang Xu nodded, thinking at the same time, considering the importance of Fatty Lu and Jiangnan, the possibility of Kang Mazi agreeing to this condition great.

"Thank you, Brother Zizhuan." Fatty Lu thanked him casually, and then said in a deep voice: "The second condition, please order the Lord Kang to withdraw his troops from the Taiping Mansion and stop attacking the Taiping Mansion. And anyway, after the younger brother, Prince Kang cannot The army took over the city defense, took over the army—Brother Zi Zhuan, you also know that my younger brother was once captured alive by Lord Kang on the battlefield, and once Lord Kang decides to take revenge, I really can’t bear it.”

"That's okay." Wang Xu nodded, "Master Shengming will naturally consider this difficulty for my virtuous brother, but I can't guarantee the fact that Lord Kang is about to withdraw his troops for the time being. I can only try my best to fight for my virtuous brother."

"Thirdly, please send another high-ranking official to appease you, and it must be an important minister of the Qing court!" Fatty Lu said seriously again: "Brother Zizhuan, it's not that my younger brother doesn't believe you, it's just that everyone in the world knows the friendship between my younger brother and you." , the emperor sent you to Nanjing to surrender, no matter how heartless the younger brother is, he will not be able to kill you. It is really difficult to show the sincerity of the master's surrender. So the younger brother is bold and wants to ask the master to send another important minister to the south to surrender. It is best to ask for the amount One of the three important officials of Tu, Mingzhu and Zhang Ying!"

"That's fine." Wang Xu felt that Fatty Lu's words were reasonable, so he naturally agreed.At the end, Wang Xu asked again: "My dear brother, shouldn't you also show your sincerity anyway? For example, what proof should I ask my dear brother? Or send a confidant to accompany Brother Yu to the capital? Master, express your sincerity face to face?"

"I can't do this." Fatty Lu refused straight away, and said, "Originally, my younger brother could donate the official seal of Great Zhou's Great General Conquering the East, or let one of Wang Shaobo, Xiao Erlang, and Zhu Fangdan go to Beijing with Brother Zizhuan, but younger brother I really don't have the guts. The emperor's surrender came so suddenly that I couldn't believe it. Before the master proved his sincerity to forgive all my crimes, I really didn't dare to risk these brothers who are like brothers. .”

"Brother Sanhao, you are embarrassing Brother Yu too much." Wang Xu made a bitter face.

"Young Master, let me go to Beijing." Xiao Erlang, who had always been like a wooden man, volunteered, "Let me accompany Mr. Wang to Beijing, and represent Young Master to present your difficulties to the emperor face to face."

"No!" Fatty Lu refused straight away, and then said, "Erlang, it's not that I don't believe you, Master, and it's not that I don't think you're qualified, but this time is too risky. How many soldiers of the Qing army have we killed over the years? Before the emperor shows his sincerity in surrendering, I absolutely cannot risk your life—don’t forget, I’m just a brother like you!”

"Master..." Xiao Erlang choked up.

"Needless to say, I will never agree!" Fatty Lu categorically refused.

"Okay then!" Wang Xu stomped his feet helplessly, and said even more helplessly: "Since you don't believe Brother Yu so much, Brother Yu, you should take the lives of your whole family to protect you, Brother Yu! Will the master live forever?" If you will believe it, you will resign yourself to your fate! But, brother Mihao, you should at least write a memorial and let Brother Yu hand it back to the capital for you, right?"

(End of this chapter)