There is a very quiet courtyard in Handkerchief Alley.
The house with three entrances and a west garden looks no different from an ordinary house from the outside. But it is very luxuriously decorated inside.
The entrance to this alley is heavily guarded. Some people who look very untouchable are milling around.
This place is actually a secret door. The old bustard who runs it was the top one ten years ago, and no one knows the background behind it. However, no one has ever come to cause trouble.
This place is not open to the public, and only mysterious people who come here are hiding their faces.
Li Banghua, Minister of the Ministry of War, who was suffering from illness at home, came here in a small sedan chair dressed in blue. He did not bring many people with him, just two bearers, a maid, and five servants in front and behind.
Followed by a swordsman on the side. He was dressed in linen, wearing a Fan Yang bamboo hat, and hanging on his waist was an ancient sword with a mottled scabbard.
Today he came here to have a secret meeting with Qian Longxi. This place is hidden and is a stronghold for internal communication, gatherings and planning in Donglin.
At this time, the two were having a secret conversation in a flower hall in the garden.
"Huang Tai still won't let go. Does he have to deal with the fortune teller before he can negotiate for peace?" Li Banghua asked with a frown.
Qian Longxi nodded and handed several letters to Li Banghua. Li Banghua opened them and read them carefully. These are copies of the correspondence between Yuan Chonghuan and Huang Taiji. (The original texts of the letters below are all taken from old Manchu documents and are not fabricated.)
The first letter was from the first month of last year.
One hundred thousand taels of gold, one million taels of silver, one million taels of satin, and ten million taels of cloth should be given as gifts of reconciliation. After the peace, the two countries will make peace and exchange envoys. Every year, ten pearls from the east of our country will be given.
Thousands of mink skins and thousands of catties of ginseng were given to you. Your country repaid me with ten thousand taels of gold, one hundred thousand taels of silver, one hundred thousand pieces of satin, and three hundred thousand pieces of cloth.
It means: I originally respected you very much. But you did what we call the Seven Hatreds and bullied us. So we are very angry. If you want to be friendly, you must agree to the following conditions:
First give us one hundred thousand gold, one million silver, one hundred annum of silk and tens of millions of cloth.
Then every year we give the Ming Dynasty ten beads, a thousand mink skins, and a thousand pounds of ginseng. I hope you will give us ten thousand gold, one hundred thousand silver, one hundred thousand silk, and three hundred thousand cloth.
Li Banghua sneered at the corners of his mouth, and the lion opened his mouth. He was indeed a barbarian, and his greed was written directly on the paper. He didn't even know how to use tact.
However, if a ceasefire can really be achieved, it is not unacceptable to pay this price in one year.
The money saved from military spending can be used to build walls. This is a lot of money, so it is a good deal.
Yuan Chonghuan boasted a lot and returned to the Liao Dynasty in five years. It has been almost two years, but he has not made any achievements. He still kept asking for an official position from his subordinates. Chongzhen pinched his nose and got it right. Who let him be trapped by Yuandudu?
Now, the only way to change this matter is to negotiate.
Let the big golden statue become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
Doesn't this count as the restoration of Liao in name? Donglin planned to use this to fool the emperor.
Therefore, after Yuan Chonghuan came to power this time, he began to contact Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji sent a white lama to Yuan Chonghuan's mansion in Ningyuan to live in secret to provide communication between the two parties.
Since this year, the two sides have communicated several times. Yuan Chonghuan is particularly courageous, which can be seen from the fact that he rode out of the border alone. As early as the Ningyuan period, he secretly communicated with Nurhachi. Nurhaci was shot and seriously injured, and had to retreat. , Yuan Chonghuan also sent an envoy to express condolences and sent a letter.
Nurhachi also received the envoy gracefully, replied to the letter and sent a gift in return.
In March, Yuan Chonghuan responded to a letter to Huang Taiji, saying that although we, the Ming Dynasty, were also at fault regarding the Seven Hatreds, you also killed many of us. You have taken revenge over the years. This matter can be considered even.
Now if you want to cease the war and repair it, then when will you pay us back if you occupy our land and plunder our people? China is a big country, but it is not something you can blackmail whenever you want. Why are you attacking North Korea?
In the first month of the third year of Tiancong (1629, that is, this year), Zheng Xin, the minister of health, sent a letter to Yuan Chonghuan from the general manager Daliang:
The Emperor of Manchukuo sent a letter to Mr. Yuan. Due to the previous reconciliation, he sent Fang Jina back and forth to negotiate. You said that it was not suitable for me to go to Korea to conquer Korea, so you gave up the peace talks and raised troops to come. I also sent troops to meet him. Therefore, the envoys stopped visiting.
Zisi'er is a man of a great country and is well versed in the past and the present. My conquest of Korea has nothing to do with you, and I am not like someone who conquers Korea arbitrarily for no reason. I have no enmity with Korea.
In the year of Jihai, there was an unprovoked attack on me to subdue the troops of the eastern tribes. In the first year, in the year of Jiwei, North Korea raised troops to attack me on the Verkhash Road. In the second year, they also accepted my escapees from Liaodong. In the third year, North Korea invaded me three times. I will repay you, why not!….
Li Banghua read all the way and saw what was going on. On the surface, you wanted to negotiate a peace, but secretly you supported Mao Wenlong's sneak attacks, harassment, and lack of faith. You doubted your sincerity.
This year, Yuan Chonghuan and Huang Taiji exchanged letters frequently. However, there was obviously no progress in the peace talks. Both sides were entangled in some trivial matters.
Li Banghua rubbed his eyebrows worriedly. He could see that Huang Taiji was not sincere enough, and was more like hanging on Dong Lin and teasing them. Yuan Chonghuan was obviously a little anxious, as if he was eager to have a certain breakthrough with the other party. However, Huang Taiji Tai Chi is obviously not in a hurry and takes the initiative.
Qian Longxi said: "Look at these transcripts. These are the correspondence between Mao Wenlong and Huang Taiji. They came from Li Yongfang's channel."
Li Banghua opened the first letter, which was written by Kuo Ke to Huang Taiji.
Kuo Kegu Shan Ezhen is the special envoy of one-way communication between Mao Wenlong and Huang Taiji.
In May of the first year of Chongzhen, Kuo Ke visited Dongjiang again. After a secret meeting with Mao Wenlong, he returned. He was sent by Huang Taiji three times as an envoy to Dongjiang. He was captured for the third time and escorted to the imperial capital.
The second letter was written by Mao Wenlong to Huang Taiji.
While Mao Wenlong did not stop harassing and fighting against Hou Jin, he secretly communicated with Huang Taiji. It seems that fighting is to reflect one's own value. Communication is to maintain a retreat. If he can't survive in the Ming Dynasty, there will be more A choice.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Farewell to Governor Mao Wenlong: On April 26th, five people including Keke Niulu and Ma Tongshi arrived in Zhenjiang and received the news on May 3rd. Pi Dao. There is a household department distributing food and wages on the island, and following the notification of the personnel of the household department, the headquarters is very suspicious, and tries every possible means to explain it, saying that the barbarians often come and go.
After being busy with things for a few days, I stayed for a few days and made clothes. On May 16, I sent them to Zhenjiang by sea. I sent three old friends and two camels with gifts back to Shenyang.
Recently, the general troops of the Shandong Deng Prefecture sent ships from time to time to the coast to go ashore and sent out sentries. The Dengzhou Road also went to Pidao. It is unknown whether there were generals below who sent people to pick up relatives and friends.
Of course I ban him, and I will never listen to lies from my subordinates. When I do this with you, I will never break your promise. I am busy, so I will reply here.
(Source: "Manwen Old Documents" Letters from Mao Wenlong and others, Mao Wenlong's Letter of Surrender IV)
Li Banghua fell into deep thought. Mao Wenlong was still very active in landing harassment in the early days, but since he made a fortune doing business in Dongjiang Town, Mao Wenlong has become more and more satisfied with the current confrontational situation.
Both sides maintain a balance of power, which is beneficial to trade.
Moreover, Mao Wenlong became more and more crazy. He actually wrote a letter asking the emperor to authorize him to supervise and manage North Korea. He also used North Korea as a base to counterattack Liaodong. Isn't this because he wanted to be the Supreme Emperor of North Korea? The court was naturally impossible to agree.
It seems that Pidao and Lushun, as well as dozens of Bohai and Yellow Sea islands, can no longer satisfy his ambitions. After that, Mao Wenlong began to contact Hou Jin more closely. Now, both Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong are actively contacting Huang Taiji , so they got involved. The two of them were trying to undermine each other, and their conflicts with each other became increasingly serious.
In this letter, Mao Wenlong mentioned two major events at the core points:
First, Kuo Kegushan returned from his visit to Pi Island. The time was May 16, the first year of Chongzhen. At this time, someone from the Ministry of Revenue was already on Pi Island. That is to say, during this visit, Denglai General Yang Guodong sent People inquired about the movements of the Dongjiang River, which aroused Mao Wenlong's vigilance.
This is also the reason why he led his troops to Shandong this year to stir up trouble. Mainly to threaten civil and military officials in Shandong and warn them that if they cause trouble in his territory, he will come to Denglai area to cause trouble.
Li Banghua asked: "Can we find out clearly what the big things Mao Wenlong and Huang Tai talked about are specific."
Qian Longxi took out several more letters. They were all transcripts of correspondence between Mao Wenlong and Huang Taiji.
"You take Shanhaiguan and I take Shandong." Qian Longxi sighed and said.
He was also very angry. Donglin wanted to negotiate a peace and cease the war at the existing line of actual control between the two sides in order to maximize his interests. Generally speaking, he was considering the national interests of the Ming Dynasty. But Mao Wenlong didn't care whether he sincerely surrendered to Huang Taiji or not. He went a little too far. This affected Donglin's layout.
Li Banghua was not a fool, and said: "So, this time he brought troops to Shandong to raise wages. In fact, it was Gao who told Huang Taiji that this was a drill for occupying Shandong. You see, I am capable of occupying Shandong. Where is Mao Wenlong? Are there spies from the slave establishment lurking to provide daily contact between the two parties?"
Qian Longxi nodded and said: "It's Wang Zideng, the commander-in-chief of Houjinxianghuang Banner, who is stationed on Pidao. He is stationed on Pidao under a false identity and is lurking next to Mao Wenlong. Mao Wenlong uses him to keep in touch with Jiannu."
(The above contents are all from old Manchu documents. These files were preserved by the Qing Dynasty. Most of them are now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The old Manchu documents of the Qing Dynasty are used for internal review by high-level officials and are not open to the public. They are unlikely to be fake. .)
Kuo Ke was caught when he visited Phi Island for the third time this year. The time was in June. On the second day after he arrived at Phi Island, he was caught by Huang Zhongse, the nuclear pay officer of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The first thing that happened was Ma Tongshi, Kuo Ke's interpreter. After he was arrested, he confessed to Kuo Ke.
Because Ma Tongshi confessed to Kuo Ke, Mao Wenlong knew something was wrong and could no longer hide Kuo Ke. So he tied up Kuo Ke and sent him to Beijing.
Li Banghua nodded and said: "At the beginning of the year, after Kuo Ke was sent to Beijing, I told him why His Majesty stopped the military pay in Dongjiang. At first, I thought it was Yuan Chonghuan's intention. He wanted to punish Mao Wenlong and make him obedient. Later, I sent someone
I went to ask Yuan Chonghuan and found out that it was His Majesty who asked Yuan Chonghuan to stop his hair."
Qian Longxi looked into Li Banghua's eyes and said, "Do you know what consequences Mao Wenlong will have if he does this?"
Li Banghua said: "We can't negotiate peace with him so much. Mao Wenlong can't stay any longer."