Chapter 2444
"General Qian, this is a man who is two-faced and has no sense of righteousness. He betrayed the country and surrendered to the enemy for his own selfish interests. He slaughtered countless Han people during his service to the Qing Dynasty. This is how he got the title of King Zhishun. This is extremely shameless. General Never believe what he says!”
Shen Shikui spoke fiercely and directly described Shang Kexi as a disloyal and unjust person. The purpose was naturally to persuade Qian Tiandun to give up the meeting with him.
Qian Tiandun was very calm. Shen Shikui's reaction was within his expectation. He asked Shen Shikui: "What is Brother Shen opposed to, is it contact with Shang Kexi or peace talks with the Manchus?"
Shen Shikui was stunned for a moment, and then responded: "Of course I am opposed to contact with Shang Kexi. Today's peace talks with the Manchus are a state matter, and whether to talk or not is the will of the Executive Committee. I am just a commoner under the rule of Haihan. , How dare you discuss the government’s affairs?”
Shen Shikui understood his current situation and position very clearly. He was no longer the Ming army general commanding Dongjiang Town. He had no military power and naturally had no qualifications to make irresponsible remarks on national affairs. What's more, Qian Tiandun was the most famous general in the Haihan Kingdom. He had killed more Tatars than Shen Shikui had ever seen on the battlefield. He also knew that he couldn't do anything to teach the other side how to deal with the Manchus.
Qian Tiandun said: "Brother Shen hates Shang Kexi. I think one is because he betrayed the Ming Dynasty, and the other is because he has old grudges with you. I can understand these reasons. But to Haihan, Shang Kexi is just a full man. A Qing general, what he has done in the past and what his personal ethics are, in fact, what he thinks about this time is The negotiations will not have a direct impact, and I have no good impression of him, let alone trust. This time it is said to be a peace negotiation, but in fact it is just a different battlefield. The enemy is still the enemy, and it is still a life-and-death fight. .”
Qian Tiandun spoke so straightforwardly that Shen Shikui could not accuse him. He really didn't quite understand Haihan's true intention of starting armistice peace talks with the Manchus, but he didn't want Shang Kexi to benefit from it anyway. But if we continue to struggle with Shang Kexi's role as the Manchu negotiator, Qian Tiandun will inevitably think that he is using the topic to oppose Haihan's negotiation with the Manchu. Shen Shikui's current property relies on Haihan's care, so he naturally does not dare to offend Qian Tiandun, so he has to stop attacking Shang Kexi first.
After sending Shen Shikui away, a subordinate came in and reported that hundreds of people gathered outside the camp to watch. They seemed to be dissatisfied with the visit of the Manchu envoys, and the number of people was still increasing. However, no one had made trouble yet. , just shouting and cursing the Manchu envoys outside.
It is not surprising that such a situation would occur. In addition to the Haihan garrison and military dependents, most of the permanent population in the local area are Han people from the former Dongjiang Town and Haihan rescued from the Liaodong area over the years. These people may Some relatives died at the hands of the Tatars, or they themselves were enslaved by the Tatars, or their family property was taken away by the Tatars. Most of them had irresolvable hatred against the Manchus, and naturally they did not want to see Haihan reach a reconciliation with the Manchus. . The Manchu and Qing envoys who came to Jinzhou for peace talks naturally became a thorn in their side. If the envoys had not lived in the military camp, I am afraid they would not just be watching from the outside.
"Be careful and don't let the people rush into the camp." Qian Tiandun ordered calmly.
The officer who came to ask for instructions was slightly surprised and asked softly: "Don't you need to disperse the onlookers outside the camp?"
"No, if they want to make trouble, let them make trouble. Just don't rush into the camp. It just so happens that Shang Kexi can see what the people of Haihan want." Qian Tiandun raised his head and glanced at his subordinates: "Keep a good balance, do you understand? ?”
"Understood, let's take care of my humble duty." The subordinate officer understood now and took the order.
Qian Tiandun did not care about the public's public display of anti-Qing sentiment. As long as he used it properly, he could turn this atmosphere into pressure on the Manchu mission. If Shang Kexi would lose his composure because of this, then Haihan would have found an effective way to deal with him.
However, so far, Qian Tiandun has not officially contacted Shang Kexi. According to the arrangement of the executive committee, Tao Donglai would be personally responsible for this meeting. Qian Tiandun did not want to overstep his authority, so he decided to wait until Tao Dong came to Jinzhou to discuss everything. Anyway, after waiting for so many months, there is no rush to contact the other party within a day or two.
Later, another guard came in and reported that Yue Yongshou, the Ming Dynasty's special envoy to Jinzhou, asked to see him. Qian Tiandun was not sure what the other party wanted, so after some thought, he asked the guards to let him in. During the period when Yue Yongshou was stationed in Jinzhou, Chen Yixin was in charge here, so it was Chen Yixin who dealt with him in the past. Qian Tiandun only met Yue Yongshou this time when he returned to Jinzhou as the acting chief official. Twice, it’s hard to say there was any friendship. However, Qian Tiandun could roughly guess that the reason why Yue Yongshou came to visit him was probably related to this multinational meeting.
Qian Tiandun's hunch was correct. Yue Yongshou's purpose of coming was indeed related to this meeting, and he brought the news that Haihan had been waiting for for a long time - Ming Dynasty would send officials to participate in this meeting, and it would be held soon. Arrive in Jinzhou.
"Master Yue, if I understand you correctly, you are saying that your country will directly participate in this meeting and not just sit on the sidelines, right?" After Qian Tiandun heard the other party's explanation of his intention, he once again confirmed that his understanding was correct. .
Yue Yongshou nodded repeatedly and said: "That's right. This meeting is related to the interests of the country. How can the imperial court just sit on the sidelines and send people to participate? Moreover, the slaves are cunning and the imperial court is worried that they will play tricks on your country again. , so we specially sent people to participate in order to expose his conspiracy face to face.”
What Yue Yongshou said was plausible, but before that, the official attitude of the Ming Dynasty was very vague, and Yue Yongshou never made any clear statement on the multi-national talks. After all, sitting down to talk with the Manchus was called negotiation at best, or seeking peace at worst. This was naturally not acceptable to Ming Dynasty, which had always adopted "no peace" as its diplomatic policy.
Fortunately, it was the Manchus who initiated the talks this time, and it was Haihan who arranged the specific matters. The Ming Dynasty was just a third party invited by Haihan. Since this was not a negotiation led by the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court did not have to bear the infamy of "peace negotiation".
Of course, Ming could still refuse to participate in such talks, but the problem is that the armistice peace talks between the Qing Dynasty and Haihan will inevitably involve Ming's interests. If they put on airs and refuse to participate, they will only end up in a passive situation. Even if Haihan would not join forces with the Manchus and send troops to attack the Ming Dynasty, as long as they ceased their activities in Jinzhou and allowed the Manchus to concentrate their forces to invade the south, it would be enough to give the Ming Dynasty a drink.
Yue Yongshou had actually thought of the connections and stakes involved when he received the news of the talks. However, with his status, whether he supported or opposed the talks, it might be overturned afterwards, so he simply remained silent. He stated that he would only report the matter back to the capital at the request of the Haihan people and leave it to the court to make a decision. Now that the imperial court has decided to send people to participate in the talks, it means that the concerns above should be consistent with Yue Yongshou's. If he comes out to express his position at this time, he no longer has to worry about choosing the wrong side. Qian Tiandun couldn't see through Yue Yongshou's little calculation. He was secretly amused in his heart, but on the surface he still had to agree: "Master Yue's words are reasonable. In terms of experience in dealing with the Manchus, it is indeed your country." More informative. I would like to ask again, which adult will your country send to Jinzhou to host the talks this time? ”
Yue Yongshou responded: "The person who came to Jinzhou on behalf of the imperial court this time is Mr. Yang Sichang, the current Minister of the Ministry of War and the bachelor of Dongge University."
Qian Tiandun nodded and replied: "I see, then I will wait for Mr. Yang in Jinzhou. Mr. Yue, I will transfer a few carriages to you later so that you can arrange to welcome the delegation."
Yue Yongshou quickly thanked Qian Tiandun, said goodbye happily and left. Haihan was having peace talks with the Manchus in Jinzhou. Of course, he, the Ming Dynasty's special envoy, was in the most uncomfortable situation. He could neither participate in the talks nor intervene, and could only worry on the sidelines. But once the Ming Dynasty envoy arrived, all matters were taken care of by the imperial envoy, so he no longer had to be roasted on the fire, and he finally got out of the predicament temporarily.
Qian Tiandun shared the good news with Tao Donglai as soon as he arrived at the Nanguanling camp, and Tao Donglai's reaction was also quite happy. Only when Ming Dynasty officially participated can Haihan make full use of the situation to express his gratitude to Tao Donglai. Ming exerted pressure to obtain more benefits. The only suspense at present is how capable Mr. Yang is and whether he can achieve an ideal result for Ming Dynasty in such a delicate international situation.
"According to historical records, this Yang Sichang was an old slippery man who was very good at flattering his superiors, blaming subordinates, and ostracizing peers and competitors. Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, was dismissed from his post and imprisoned because of his snitching in front of Chongzhen. There was also Lu Xiangsheng, the Minister of War, who was about to take over his position as Minister of War. This time, he deliberately sent him to the front battlefield to fight to the death with the Qing army. In the end, he also placed the responsibility for the defeat on Lu Xiangsheng. Such a sophisticated person is not easy to deal with.”
The Haihan Intelligence Department had previously analyzed that the most likely candidate to attend the talks on behalf of Ming Dynasty was Yang Sichang, so Tao Donglai also did a lot of homework on this, and talked about Yang Sichang's deeds very clearly.
Wang Tom said: "Although this man is good at officialdom struggle, from the information we have, he is mainly good at internal affairs. He is very keen on sending more taxes and encircling and suppressing the peasant army. He does not have any good external strategies. .”
Tao Donglai nodded and said: "Yang Sichang can be regarded as a peace advocate externally. What he advocates is to first negotiate with the Manchus and stabilize the situation in the north, and then concentrate on destroying the peasant army that is rebellious at home. Last year, Yang Sichang and the eunuch Gao Qiqian Negotiations with the Manchus were already underway in secret, but because the opposition in the court was too fierce, Chongzhen finally did not dare to adopt his suggestions. It is said that the Qing army suddenly sent troops into the fortress at the end of last year, partly because of Yang Sichang's operation. This peace negotiation failed to achieve final results, which angered Huang Taiji.”
Qian Tiandun said: "If Yang Sichang is a peace advocate, it can be regarded as a favorable factor for this negotiation. If all parties participating in the negotiation can aim at peace, the possibility of reaching an agreement is very high. ”
Tao Donglai said: "It still depends on what conditions the Manchus will put forward. After all, they did not include the Ming Dynasty in the peace talks at the beginning. I think Huang Taiji may have given up on negotiating peace with the Ming Dynasty. idea. Last year, the Ming Dynasty had already let go of Huang Taiji. If he wants to negotiate peace this time, I am afraid that the Manchu Qing will not let go so easily.”
Compared with the other three parties participating in the talks, Haihan's intelligence work was undoubtedly the most solid and in-depth. He had mastered a large amount of personal information on Yang Sichang, Shang Kexi, and Kim Sangxian, and even the memorial and proposal submitted by Yang Sichang last year. Tao Donglai has also done corresponding research on the content of the debates between war faction officials in front of the imperial court through historical records. Therefore, Haihan already knew quite a bit about the situation of the negotiators from the other three parties, but the information they could collect about Haihan was extremely limited. They even thought that Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom would host the talks, but they did not know The real candidate for Haihan's negotiations this time has just arrived in Jinzhou.
Such a situation is naturally extremely beneficial to Haihan. As long as he can grasp the behavior style and interest demands of the other three parties, he can always take the initiative in the negotiation process and guide the talks to develop in a direction that is beneficial to Haihan. .
"Mr. Tao, do you think it is necessary to have a private meeting with these three parties before the formal meeting?" Qian Tiandun was careful and took the initiative to ask Tao Donglai about the next arrangements.
Tao Donglai thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly and rejected the proposal: "Although meeting in advance can test the attitudes of all parties, it also gives them a chance to get to know me. It would be better for me to appear directly when the time comes, without leaving any reaction for them. time.”
Tao Donglai did not want to turn this meeting into a diplomatic marathon and strive for a balance of interests through repeated mediation among all parties. He hopes to achieve a quick resolution and force all parties to reach a peace agreement as quickly as possible. Therefore, the negotiation strategies he prepared were basically open and closed tactics, and he had no intention of doing ideological work one by one in private.
"I hope that this negotiation can be concluded before the end of May. The negotiation process is too long and requires more compromise conditions, which is not cost-effective for our country." Tao Donglai said in a deep voice: "You have been watching the north for several years. It's time for you to take a long vacation!"
Tom Wang smiled and said: "Actually, it's quite fulfilling to have combat missions all the time. If the war really stops, I really don't know what to do when I have free time."
Qian Tiandun responded: "That's not easy. Change the place and continue to conquer the world. The world is so big, are you still afraid that there will be no battles to fight?"
(End of chapter)