Soon after, Zhang Ning followed Zhu Heng's suggestion and temporarily abandoned Jingzhou; then the Zhuque Army stationed supplies of grain, grass and weapons in Yuezhou, and transferred ships to transport baggage down the river. The soldiers traveled overland and approached Wuchang by waterway.
Although they occupied Yuezhou, the navy was unable to block the entrance to the Dongting Lake and was unable to cut off the Yangtze River. The waterway and baggage were still under the control of the Jingzhou navy. It was agreed that the army could only protect the fleet. If an official encountered
When the navy attacked, they moved the fleet closer to the south bank, and then used artillery to resist the enemy from land.
The army drove down and fought another battle in Linxiang City, and then the various places surrendered without a fight. The troops were approaching Wuchang, but no powerful officers and soldiers were sent to reinforce them. It seemed that nothing could stop the Suzaku Army from seizing Wuchang City.
.
At this moment, the envoy who had previously set off from Changde City to Nanjing returned and met up with Zhang Ning's Chinese Army on the way. The envoy was still Chen Maocai, a man who was good at eloquence and had been ordered to do this kind of thing several times for some reason.
Zhang Ning first met with Chen Maocai at the Chinese army's tent and learned that the King of Han had also sent a few people to contact him. He immediately felt that there was something interesting about this matter. At least Nanjing responded positively.
In fact, the content of this negotiation is very simple: the guards of Jiujiang Prefecture had already responded to the King of Han; but the King of Han mainly operated in southern Zhili, and all the troops were deployed there. Jiujiang Prefecture and other places in the west not only neglected operations, but also basically
With no control and not many soldiers, the defense against the government troops was better than nothing, and the local officials were likely to repeat themselves. Zhang Ning hoped that the king of Han would send a general to lead troops to station in Jiujiang Prefecture, and properly manage the surrounding important towns and strongholds.
This proposal was originally beneficial to both parties. The overall situation is to connect the middle and lower reaches into a complete line, forming a confrontation between the north and the south. For the King of Han, he was unable to expedition to Wuchang Prefecture, but now he can complete the previous strategy as long as he consolidates Jiujiang Prefecture.
It can eliminate the wēixié in one direction without the need for a big battle, why not?
Unexpectedly, when Chen Maocai described the attitude of the Han Palace, everyone in the Council was greatly surprised. This time, the Han Dynasty sent several envoys to accompany them. It turned out that they were here to negotiate terms: Nanjing agreed to Huguang's suggestion in exchange for several conditions.
First, let the "Jianwen Army" hand over the traitor Zhu Heng and escort him to Nanjing to await the fate of the King of Han; second, after the Han King's army arrives in Jiujiang Prefecture, the Suzaku Army must provide some money, food, and new firearms to consolidate the defense operations of various places...
…
After listening to Chen Maocai's account, the people in the Council of Counselors all cursed. One of them shouted: "If our troops were not so weak right now, after defeating Wuchang, we would have gone straight eastward along the Yangtze River and taken Jiujiang and other places. At that time, the King of Han would have been attacked from both sides. Please help us."
It’s too late, how can you still have the nerve to negotiate terms?”
When Zhu Heng heard the mention of himself, he had no choice but to stand up, kneel down and express his position: "After all, we are unable to make progress. For the sake of big things, the prince can hand over the minor ministers and exchange one person's body for the stability of the overall situation."
Zhang Ning stepped forward and helped him up with his own hands, and said without thinking: "Obviously it's impossible." Everyone knew that Zhu Heng was highly regarded by King Xiang as his minister, thinking that he would have something to say to win over people's hearts.
Unexpectedly, one sentence is so simple that it cannot be the end of it.
Liang Yan, a staff member of the Council of Ministers, has always been very low-key. At this time, he couldn't help but say: "Did the King of Han seek his own death, or are all the people in the palace just pig-brained! If we go to the capital camp and fight in Nanjing like this, how will all the civil and military personnel be killed?"
Who can escape death penalty?"
Zhu Heng sighed: "Maybe the Han Dynasty Palace knew that we were asking for help, and took the opportunity to extract some benefits. In any case, the Han Dynasty must be protected at the moment. If the Beijing camp breaks through the river defense from the lower or middle reaches, once the Han Dynasty is destroyed
, our situation is unfavorable, and we have to look at the coldness of lips and teeth."
This is indeed true, but Zhang Ning felt that it would be too much for the King of Han to negotiate passively because of this... However, no matter how the King of Han said that there were hundreds of thousands of troops, it played a great restraining effect; otherwise, once the eastern front was also controlled by the imperial court, Suzaku
The army is obviously facing a situation of being besieged on all sides.
It is conceivable that Jingzhou is still in the hands of the official army, and there is a wēixié upstream; the northern front is also a long front; approaching Nanjing as the center in the east, the Jiang defense will be gone; although King Mu on the other side of Yunnan is far away, it is not within reach
Ignore it.
Therefore, Zhang Ning personally met with the envoy of the King of Han and actively bargained with them. Except for the first item, which showed that there was no room for negotiation, other benefits were negotiable, even if they were unreasonable demands.
The envoy of the King of Han specifically mentioned that he wanted new firearms for the Suzaku Army. Apparently Nanjing also noticed the situation in the Huguang battle. In the Battle of Yuanshui, more than 10,000 people broke through 100,000. The performance was so eye-catching that all parties realized that Zhang Ning had
The power of firearms. Zhang Ning was afraid that after rejecting the condition of handing over Zhu Heng, the Han Palace would lose interest in the negotiation and treat it negatively... As a member of the Jianwen line, the Han King was probably wary of it; Zhang Ning was ready to offer to assist the Han King with arms and firearms.
condition.
The Senate is quite controversial about this matter.
Opponents were not only worried about the proliferation of firearms technology and losing their own strengths and advantages; they also raised concerns about the danger of freeing tigers. After all, the Han Palace occupies a good place and has many soldiers, so it would never be possible for the King of Yan to be on the same road as the Suzaku Army.
In the end, there was no room for compromise between the Clique and the Jianwen Clique. Not only was the Han Palace on guard against the Suzaku Army, but the Suzaku Army's Consultative Department was also on guard against them.
Among the supporters is Zhu Heng. Zhu Heng believes that firearms technology has been leaked to the government and military. The government and military have not used it on the battlefield for the time being, but because it requires a process from mass production to actual training, sooner or later it will appear on the battlefield.
On the battlefield.
"More than half a year ago, we have confirmed that the Jin Yiwei persuaded some people from the Ordnance Bureau to surrender, including the former Ordnance Bureau promoted Fan Si; there were also the defeat of Lizhou, the fall of Changde and other times where we lost cities and territory, the army was annihilated, and the battlefield was chaotic
It is impossible for the defeated army to destroy all the weapons. There must be physical objects falling into the hands of the government troops. Except for the newly made long-barreled field guns, mortars, French cavalry guns, and matchlock guns a few months ago, all the secrets have been leaked; I went to the Ordnance Bureau workshop
After many inspections, I think it may not be easy to design these firearms in the first place, but if they are to be imitated, the requirements are not high. Not to mention that Jinyiweinan Town Fusi specializes in developing these things, even private workshops can imitate them...
If these firearms are used by the government and army in the downstream battlefield in the future, the Han army will be at a disadvantage in the battle, and it will not be good for us if the Han army is destroyed. Since it has been leaked to the court, it is not impossible to show goodwill to the Han Dynasty with firearms as a condition. Just now
Some people have suggested that raising tigers is a danger, but I don't agree with it. The current situation of the Han Palace is not a serious concern for us at all; the real enemy is the imperial court in the capital."
At this time, Wang Yu stood up and bowed: "Mo Xue has an idea, and I dare to propose it here. I hope you won't laugh."
Zhang Ning encouraged: "Everyone expresses his or her own opinions so that we can pool our ideas. It doesn't hurt if Qing Mo has something to say."
Wang Yu said: "Now that we are advancing rapidly, we may be growing in power in the eyes of the imperial court. Since we want to unite with the King of Han to deal with powerful enemies together, and the imperial court also has talents who can unite horizontally and vertically, will they adjust their strategy and try to
Convince the King of Han? After all, Xuande’s pseudo-emperor and the King of Han are of the same blood. After they feel the wēixié, can they deal with us together? "
Zhu Hengdao: "To put it this way, Lord Jianwen and King Yan are both from the lineage of Taizu. Although Xuande and King Han are uncles and nephews, who of them has nothing to do with each other until now? As long as one party loses, the other party will not be able to do so.
Qingrao... To say the least, even if the imperial court and the King of Han ceased fighting, the King of Han would not be so stupid as to actually help the court reduce the pressure and help the tyrants to do harm, and in turn beat us. The situation at that time simply changed, from the King of Han to containing the main force of the imperial court, to
It has become our containment of the Beijing camp, but the essence has not changed."
After hearing this, Wang Yu hurriedly said: "What Zhu Butang said makes sense."
After some debate, the Council finally reached a decision to use firearms to help the King of Han in exchange for sending troops to the Jiujiang Prefecture. The next step was negotiation. After all, the conditions proposed by the Han Prince's Prefecture also included Zhu Heng; Zhang Ning sent Wang Yu and Liang
Yan assisted Chen Maocai in talking to the envoy.
The conditions proposed by the Zhuque Army were quite generous, promising that once the Han army arrived in Jiujiang Prefecture, they would provide a large number of matchlocks and artillery, and send officials to help them establish workshops for manufacturing and repairing firearms; with sharp firearms, the Han Dynasty could also use them in various places in southern Zhili
The city defense can more effectively block the attack of the Beijing camp. In addition, after the harvest and tax collection next autumn, the Suzaku Army will transfer grain and grass to Yuezhou, and then send a large amount of money and grain from Yuezhou to Jiujiang Prefecture...
Of course, the latter one is just a drawing, and it looks good, but I don’t know what the situation will be like after next year’s autumn harvest. Maybe both the Suzaku Army and the King of Han’s Army have been destroyed. But the later one was added, opening up trade between the east and west merchants.
In fact, it was good for the King of Han. The southeastern coast was rich but short of food. Once large-scale trade was allowed, Huguang and other places could provide sufficient food security for the King of Han's army.
The Council of Ministers had expressed sufficient sincerity and benefits, and the envoy of the King of Han was also tempted. They said that they would send someone to report to Nanjing urgently and then give a reply. Liang Yan was actually still during the negotiation, hinting at the envoy's personal interests: building a firearms workshop and other matters.
By allocating money, responsible bureaucrats can also make some "fire money" after completing their errands; once business is opened, powerful government checkpoints can also collect taxes...
Liang Yan just hinted, but the envoy actually responded, saying that he knew a lot of people in Nanjing and had a wide network of contacts. If the King of Hunan was willing to help, and he came forward to send gifts and go around, this matter might be easier.
Wang Yu and Liang Yan hurriedly reported the news to Zhang Ning and made some suggestions. At this moment, Zhang Ning suddenly realized that he had been focusing on the pros and cons of the official affairs of both parties, but he had ignored that official matters were also handled by people. He immediately ordered Wang Yu and others to
Promise the envoy a certain amount of money and help deliver it to the place when he goes to Nanjing again; when the envoy from Nanjing goes back to lobby, the ministers in each place will pay as much as they need.
Everyone in the Council thought this was a sound method, otherwise they would have given all the money to the envoy. If this guy took the money and stopped doing anything, who would he turn to?