Last year, Zu Zerun was ordered to follow Shen Yongzhong into Songshan City to persuade him to surrender. Not only did he fail to persuade him to surrender, but Shen Yongzhong was also detained at Yang Zhen's side.

After Zu Zerun returned to the Qinglu camp, the news he brought directly caused many people in the Qinglu side to become suspicious of Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang.

As a result, Huang Taiji not only failed to recruit and surrender Yang Zhen, but Yang Zhen finally used this opportunity to instigate Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang and his group.

Ever since Huang Taiji's condition improved, he would get angry every time he thought about this matter.

Zu Zerun, who was originally highly valued, his status in front of Huang Taiji subsequently declined.

Huang Taiji not only no longer kept Zu Zerun by his side and trusted him, but also canceled his position as the right political advisor of the Ministry of War of the Qing Dynasty, knocking him back to where he was when he first surrendered to the Daling River.

The position of third-class Aung Bang Chang Kyung.

This time, Huang Taiji personally went on the expedition, but instead of waiting for him to join the expedition, he ordered him to go to the Western Front and asked him to serve as a communication channel between Baylor, the king of the Qing Dynasty and Zu Dashou on the Western Front.

At that time, Zu Zerun was asked to go because it was Songshan City, Jinzhou in western Liaoning, and the various units of the ancestral army in Xingshan were close at hand, and there was a factor of calculating Zu's birthday.

But right now, this is Zhenjiang Castle on the banks of the Yajiang River, eight hundred miles away from Jinzhou and other places in western Liaoning. Zu Zerun's special status as the eldest son of Zu Dashou's heir is of no use here.

For Huang Taiji, this Zu Zerun failed more than he succeeded, and he could no longer be trusted by his side.

Therefore, even if Zu Zerun is in front of the army now, Huang Taiji will never ask him to go to Zhenjiang Castle to persuade Yang Zhen to surrender for him.

After Huang Taiji rejected the suggestion of mounting a yellow flag to solidify the forehead of the mountain to worship the music, he looked at the crowd and saw that they all lowered their heads in silence and avoided his gaze. He felt very angry for a moment and bit his molar teeth.

asked coldly:

"Isn't there any servant in this big tent who is willing to come forward and share my worries?"

However, after Huang Taiji finished asking questions, the princes, Baylor, and ministers in the big tent lowered their heads even lower. Some of them wanted to dig a hole in the ground and bury their heads in it.

When Huang Taiji saw this, anger surged in his chest, the veins on his forehead swelled, and his face turned black and red. He was about to burst into rage. At this moment, someone suddenly said:

"Master, calm down. If the Emperor does not have a suitable candidate, my servant, Fan Wencheng, is willing to share the Emperor's worries."

"Mr. Fan, are you willing to go?"

Huang Taiji was a little surprised that Fan Wencheng came forward and offered to be the envoy to persuade Yang Zhen to surrender.

He knew that it would be difficult to go to Zhenjiang Fort to persuade him to surrender, and his life would be in danger if he failed to do so.

Therefore, he had never considered sending Fan Wencheng to take this risk before.

Because Fan Wencheng's position in his mind is still very important, and he is a counselor and think tank that he relies on very much.

"Mr. Fan is my Grand Bachelor of the Secretariat, how can he——"

When Huang Taiji said this, he suddenly remembered that it was an imperial meeting and some words could not be said in public, so he stopped immediately.

But what he wanted to say was very clear, that is, a bachelor of the Internal Affairs Bureau like Fan Wencheng should not take risks easily.

However, he could not say this clearly in public. After all, it was true that Fan Wencheng was a bachelor of the Internal Secretariat, but who among the people present was not more valuable than him?

They were either from the clan or Jianzhou old Jurchens, and there were a few Han Chinese who were all princes or subordinates. Who could easily ask them to take risks?

Therefore, although Huang Taiji wanted to prevent Fan Wencheng from taking risks, he could not say this in front of everyone.

However, Fan Wencheng saw what he meant, and Fan Wencheng was indeed a good and respected slave of Huang Taiji, who would not embarrass his master at all.

"Master, don't be anxious. The reason why a slave recommends himself is that a slave recommends himself. The master wants to recruit Yang Zhen, which is of great importance. However, the slave knows that the master has deep thoughts and far-reaching plans. When he met Yang Zhen, he acted expediently.

.”

Fan Wencheng was actually not optimistic about recruiting Yang Zhen, so he was very wary of the hidden dangers.

However, if Huang Taiji could successfully recruit Yang Zhen to surrender, he would not be opposed to it, or in other words, he would be happy to see it happen.

Fan Wencheng's ambition is to assist Huang Taiji in entering the Guan Hun Yiyu.

If we can recruit Yang Zhen and work hard with him, then this goal will be within reach.

In this regard, Fan Wencheng felt that besides his own ability to do this, if someone else did it, it would most likely be self-defeating and mess up the matter.

Rather than letting other envoys go who don't understand Huang Taiji's intentions and the significance of this matter, it's better to take action himself, so that he can adapt to the situation and take advantage of the situation.

"As for the personal safety of this slave, I am concerned about my master. I don't know Yang Zhen personally. Although there is no old friendship, there is no old grudge. Even if there is any offense during the meeting, I don't expect that the slave will be harmed."

Fan Wencheng has never met Yang Zhen, and even until last year, he had never heard of Yang Zhen's name.

Because of this, he took it for granted that since he and Yang Zhen had no grievances in the past, had no grievances recently, and were not close to each other at all, then even if the surrender trip failed, Yang Zhen now did not agree to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, no matter

After agreeing to join Huang Taiji, there was no need to kill him even if he thought about it.

Furthermore, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty personally led tens of thousands of Eight Banners elites and surrounded Zhenjiang Castle on all sides. No matter what Yang Zhen thought, no matter whether he thought about it or not, he had to leave a way out for himself.

"Actually, the slave's safety is entirely in the hands of the emperor's master. As long as the master tells Yang Zhen to see clearly that Zhenjiang Castle will be destroyed sooner or later, the slave will be safe during this trip."

"This, let me think about it carefully."

After hearing what Fan Wencheng said, Huang Taiji felt that what Fan Wencheng said was not unreasonable, but when he thought that if something unexpected happened, he would lose a close adviser, his heart was agitated and confused.

He was not worried that Yang Zhen would kill Fan Wencheng for no apparent reason. He did not believe that a person as deep-minded as Yang Zhen would do such a reckless thing.

What he was worried about was that Yang Zhen might detain Fan Wencheng as a hostage in Zhenjiang Fort when he was undecided.

When Huang Taiji repeatedly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, the whole tent was completely silent, and this situation made Huang Taiji feel even more uncomfortable.

Huang Taiji sat on the couch and glanced at the group of people kneeling or sitting silently in the big tent. He looked around and finally fixed his stern eyes on Shang Kexi.

“It’s so gratifying!”

"Slave - here!"

Shang Kexi, who was kneeling in the crowd, had not dared to say anything since he heard that the imperial meeting was to determine the candidate for the envoy to Zhenjiang Castle to persuade him to surrender. He lowered his body and tried not to attract the attention of Huang Taiji and others.

But in the end, Huang Taiji noticed him.

"During the last imperial meeting, you asserted that Yang Zhen must be in Zhenjiang Fort. I still remember that you said at that time that many of Yang Zhen's generals, such as Shen Zhixiang, Yuan Jin, Xu Tianchong, Qiu Zhenhai, and Yu Liangtai, were all with you.

Old acquaintance, is this true?"

"Ah? This, yes, the slave made a mistake at that time. In fact, the respectful prince and the huaishun prince, like the slave, also know a little about the old generals of Dongjiang."

Huang Taiji's sudden question startled Shang Kexi, and he immediately became acutely aware of Huang Taiji's intentions behind his words.

——The emperor’s master is planning to use his background in the Dongjiang Army to get close to Yang Zhen and his generals!

Thinking of this, he originally wanted to deny it, but Huang Taiji had already said that he remembered what he said, so he dared not deny it.

Just when he was most flustered, he suddenly remembered that the obedient King Kong Youde, Huaishun King Geng Zhongming and the generals under their command who were kneeling in front of him were all from the former Dongjiang Town.

So in a panic, Shang Kexi dragged Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming into the situation.

Who would have thought that when he said this, Huang Taiji had not yet opened his mouth. Kong Youde, the obedient king, and Geng Zhongming, the Huaishun king who were mentioned by him, were the first to get angry and said to Huang Taiji almost in unison:

"Your Majesty, this servant has something to say!"

"Master, this slave has something to say!"

"Oh? Then, Prince of Obedience, you say it first!"

Huang Taiji knew that Shang Kexi was right. Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, like Shang Kexi, were both born in the former Dongjiang Town.

Some of them or some of their subordinates must have various connections with Yang Zhen's subordinates who also came from Dongjiang.

Selecting an experienced person from among them, or from among their subordinates, and sending him to Zhenjiang Fort may play an extraordinary role.

"What Mr. Zhishun just said is totally wrong. I was a dim-witted servant at that time, and he served in Dongjiang Town in the Southern Dynasty for many years. This is indeed true. But when I served in Dongjiang Town, the person in charge was Mao Wenlong.

"After Mao Wenlong's death, the slaves immediately moved to Denglai, and then led his troops across the sea to serve the Qing Dynasty. During this period, Dongjiang Town in the Southern Dynasties experienced personnel changes and repeated civil strife. Things had changed and people were not the slaves.

Got it.

"It seems that at the previous imperial meeting, Duke Zhishun said that there were several generals under Yang Zhen who were from Dongjiang. When I was in Dongjiang, I had never heard of them. They were probably Huang Long or Shen Shikui's generals a few years after I left Dongjiang!"

"Exactly so!"

As soon as Kong Youde finished speaking, Huaishun King Geng Zhongming, who was kneeling next to him, immediately took over his words. He first affirmed what Kong Youde said, and then said to Huang Taiji:

"When I was in the former Dongjiang Town, I was a peer with Prince Gongshun, so I know that everything Prince Gongshun said is true. After Mao Wenlong's death, Dongjiang's commander-in-chief was replaced many times, and there were frequent civil strife. First, Chen Jisheng, and then Huanglong. Huanglong was taken over by me

After the Qing soldiers killed him, he was succeeded by Shen Shikui.

"Now, the generals under Yang Zhen who came from Dongjiang are actually all subordinates of Huang Long and Shen Shikui, and they were exactly the colleagues of Duke Zhishun during his time in Dongjiang, and they were very familiar with each other.

"And to this day, the reason why Duke Zhishun still regards his slaves as enemies rather than as fellow ministers in the same palace can be traced back to the fact that when the slaves were ordered to capture Lushunkou, they killed many ministers.
Chapter completed!