The Beiqing side designated Xiang Xiaoqiang to also join the Nanming negotiation team and go to the Beiqing. After the foreign minister read out, the imperial study room was filled with astonishment.
Zhu Yourong's face turned slightly pale. She raised her head and glanced at Xiang Xiaoqiang. Her lips moved but she didn't say anything. But she pretended to be calm, picked up the teacup, took a sip, and put it on the table. A little tea spilled out.
Xiang Xiaoqiang's head buzzed, and a cold air rose from his back. Then, a surge of anger rose from his heart. But he kept a straight face and didn't say anything.
This is obviously the boy from Guangwu who wants to take the opportunity to take revenge and trick me into going to Beiqing, and then click. If I didn't say anything, I definitely can't go, only a fool will go.
But he knew that he was absolutely inconvenient to say this "can't go" and had to let others say it. Even if he didn't say it, the ministers in this circle would definitely object and point out that Emperor Guangwu had no good intentions and we couldn't be fooled.
, General Xiang cannot be allowed to go.
However, if you don't say it first, then you are greedy for life and afraid of death: Why, who do you think you are, Xiang Xiaoqiang? Do you value your own life more than the lives of thousands of soldiers?
Xiang Xiaoqiang glanced at Zhu Yourong and saw that the girl was pretending to be calm, but her eyes were also full of concern and worry. Xiang Xiaoqiang felt warm in his heart again, and he had an impulse: If a confidante is like this, as long as she feels it is necessary, she can speak up and let him
Go, then even if you risk your life to kill him, what's the big deal.
Zhu Yourong's face was still a little pale, but he spoke in a calm voice:
"My dear friends, what do you think? Tell me."
Zhu Yourong wanted to say "Xiang Xiaoqiang can't go" with her own words, but she felt guilty and did not dare to say it. Although her relationship with Xiang Xiaoqiang has not been made public, many people can guess it. A young man and woman
, Xiang Xiaoqiang often ran to the palace, and Zhu Yourong also listened to Xiang Xiaoqiang on everything... In everyone's eyes, this was nothing but nothing.
Shen Rongxuan coughed and pondered for a moment. Instead of saying anything himself, he looked around at several ministers and said:
"Yeah...what do you think? Tell us."
Foreign Minister He Ziguang glanced at Xiang Xiaoqiang and then at Shen Rongxuan. The Foreign Minister of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be the second most important person in the cabinet after the chief minister. Now Xiang Xiaoqiang himself is silent, and His Majesty is silent.
If Shen Ge doesn't speak, then it will be his turn.
He Ziguang knew that Shen Ge always wanted Xiang Xiaoqiang to go, and it would be best if he never came back. As a cabinet minister, he had always hoped that Xiang Xiaoqiang, a political force, would "disappear". However, he could not say
I agree to go to Xiang Xiaoqiang. The Qing captives want to lure and kill Xiang Xiaoqiang, a famous anti-Qing general. This is too obvious. If you agree, then there is a problem of stance.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Shen Ge, everyone," He Ziguang spoke slowly, "Ziguang thought that General Xiang must not go. This is obviously a deception method by the Qing captives. What General Xiang did alone in the hinterland of the Northern Qing Dynasty, coupled with
The outstanding performance during the battle to defend Nanjing has long made the Qing captives hate him to the bone. If General Xiang goes there, he will definitely be in trouble. We must not be fooled."
After He Ziguang finished speaking, several ministers also nodded in agreement. Zhu Yourong's face softened a little, showing some smile, and also nodded, "Yeah".
Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed softly, shook his head, and said lightly:
"Actually, it's okay for me to take some risks alone. As long as I can rescue thousands of soldiers from the Ming Dynasty, even if I die in the north, it won't be a loss. Alas, the problem is that once this example is opened, let the Qing captives taste it.
When the deception was successful,
I'm afraid they will enjoy it endlessly in the future. In that case, as long as it is the people they hate, such as Princess Liaoyang, Pu Hengbeile, and those anti-Qing patriots who fled the Ming Dynasty, they may be in danger of their lives."
Zhu Yourong immediately nodded and sighed:
"Yes... what Xiang Qing said is absolutely true. This is the truth..."
…
Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a message to the Tokyo Embassy and rejected the request of the Beiqing. The Nanming side accused the Beiqing of lacking sincerity in this request. Because General Xiang Xiaoqiang is only the commander of the People's Guard, his identity has nothing to do with this negotiation. Moreover,
The Ming Dynasty made it clear: General Xiang Xiaoqiang was one of the most hated people in the Beiqing Dynasty. If he went with the regiment to the Beiqing Dynasty, it would be a sheep entering the tiger's mouth.
An hour later, news from the Northern Qing Dynasty came through the Ming Embassy in Tokyo. The Northern Qing Dynasty first said categorically that Xiang Xiaoqiang's participation in the Southern Ming delegation was a prerequisite for the Qing Dynasty to be willing to dialogue with the Southern Ming Dynasty. If this condition could not be met,
Then there was no need for dialogue. Nanming still had only two choices: either exchange for 150,000 Qing prisoners of war, or never want to see his thousands of officers and soldiers again.
Moreover, the Beiqing side also gave an explanation in the telegram, explaining that the invitation to General Xiang Xiaoqiang had no other meaning. It was just that the Qing Dynasty admired General Xiang's performance during the negotiations with Nanyang Minghe and did not lose the face of the Chinese people.
Several adults in the Qing negotiation team wanted to take the opportunity to get to know Mr. Xiang. Moreover, the Beiqing side solemnly guaranteed that the Qing Dynasty would never take the opportunity to detain or harm General Xiang, and would never do anything detrimental to General Xiang.
happens. You can rest assured.
After reading the reply from Beiqing, the imperial study fell into silence again.
After a moment, the Home Secretary snorted coldly:
"Qinglu also said that he appreciated Xiang Sir's performance in the Nanyang negotiations, and did not lose the face of the Chinese people. 'Chinese', hum, Qinglu had the nerve to call himself Chinese? How shameless."
No one else said anything, but their expressions were the same as those of the Minister of the Interior, and they were quite disdainful of the Qing captives calling themselves "Chinese".
Xiang Xiaoqiang has long discovered this phenomenon. At this time, people in the Ming Dynasty generally did not regard the Northern Qing Dynasty as "China". The mainstream view in the Southern Ming Dynasty was that the Northern Qing Dynasty could not be considered China at all, at least it was a castrated China. The real
The only country that can represent China is the Ming Dynasty south of the Yangtze River.
But Xiang Xiaoqiang came from later generations, and in the history of that space, shortly after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Ming Dynasty was completely destroyed. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty replaced the Ming Dynasty and became a dynasty in Chinese history, and it was legal and influenced by history.
A dynasty recognized by scholars. Moreover, after the closure of the Qing Dynasty at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government also interacted with other countries as the Chinese government and was recognized by all countries.
However, in the current time and space, the Ming and Qing dynasties divide the rivers to rule, and do not recognize each other... It is really teasing. In this time and space, although Xiang Xiaoqiang also regards the Ming Dynasty as the orthodoxy of China, he still has this kind of "Ming Dynasty" towards the Ming Dynasty.
The idea of "not recognizing that Beiqing is China" is very inappropriate.
…
In any case, now a reply from Beiqing has once again raised the hearts of Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zhu Yourong. They said categorically: If Xiang Xiaoqiang doesn't come, then let's not talk about it...
Xiang Xiaoqiang frowned, holding the telegraph newspaper, staring closely at the words on it, his mind spinning rapidly, wondering what the other party meant and how credible the other party's guarantee was. Also, even Beiqing's guarantee If it is credible, then what is their motive for inviting me to go?
Zhu Yourong stopped talking and just drank tea with her head lowered, but her eyes showed fear and anxiety. She hesitated for a while holding the cup, and finally blurted out:
"No! Xiang Qing can't go!"
Everyone was staring at her. Zhu Yourong couldn't care less about other people's eyes. He continued to lower his head and said decisively:
"No, Xiang Qing can't go... Send a report over there, saying that we can talk about everything else, but not this..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was very moved. He opened his mouth and was about to speak, when Shen Rongxuan spoke:
"Your Majesty, I have a way. It's not completely impossible for Mr. Xiang to go. But since Qinglu has repeatedly guaranteed Mr. Xiang's safety, then we can seize this and let them give us a real guarantee."
Zhu Yourong raised his head and said:
"What guarantee?"
Shen Rongxuan said:
"Let Beiqing send an equally important person to our side. When Master Xiang comes back safely, we will let that person go back."
"You mean...let them send a hostage over?"
"good."
Zhu Yourong squinted his eyes and said suspiciously:
"Mr. Ge, this matter has caused us to beg Beiqing, and Beiqing has begged us from time to time. If we make such a request, will they possibly agree to it?"
Shen Rongxuan said:
"Of course they may not agree, but there is a possibility of agreeing. No matter what their motives are, it can be seen that they really want to let Mr. Xiang go. If they agree, and the 'hostages' they send We think it is enough, so what do you have to worry about when Mr. Xiang goes to Beiqing? On the contrary, Beiqing has sworn that it will not be detrimental to Mr. Xiang. If they cannot even agree to our minimum precautionary request, then it is really I want to trick Sir Xiang into harming me. In this case, Sir Xiang doesn’t have to go.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at Shen Rongxuan suspiciously, guessing what his plan was. Zhu Yourong hesitated:
"this……"
The Foreign Secretary seized the opportunity and said:
"No matter what, we can give it a try first. Anyway, the choice is still with us. We might as well try Qinglu first."
Zhu Yourong looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang. Xiang Xiaoqiang hesitated and nodded slightly. Zhu Yourong also hesitated and nodded.
The telegram was sent. After a while, the other party's telegram came back.
The Northern Qing agreed. And to the surprise of the Southern Ming, it generously allowed the Southern Ming to choose the "hostages" they thought were suitable.
Zhu Yourong refused to give up and wanted to make a big deal out of her. She directly asked the Foreign Minister to send a report there, and when she opened her mouth, she named Aixinjueluo Yuxuan, the biological brother of Emperor Guangwu's mother, to come over as a hostage.
When several ministers heard His Majesty's crazy request, they strongly opposed it, fearing to make Emperor Guangwu anxious. But Zhu Yourong just wanted to make Guangwu anxious, so he had someone send the telegram.
After two hours, the other party responded to the telegram. To everyone's surprise, Emperor Guangwu did not fall out, but agreed to send his own brother to be a hostage. But he put forward an additional condition: Xiang Xiaoqiang The weight of one person was not enough to ensure the safety of his biological brother. The Nanming side wanted to add one more person. Guangwu named Leping Princess Zheng Yucong and Xiang Xiaoqiang to join the negotiation team and come to Beiqing.
Zhu Yourong was a little anxious when he heard that his best cousin was also asked to be a "hostage". But several ministers were relieved. They gave Zhu Yourong some advice, saying that since Guangwu could take his brother The reason why he asked us to send Princess Leping was because he felt that his younger brother was too important. Nan Mingguang was not qualified to send Xiang Xiaoqiang. To guarantee the safety of his younger brother 100%, he only needs to "add" a Leping Princess.
As for why the other party named His Majesty’s cousin instead of his biological sister, it’s probably because Princess Leping has the best relationship with His Majesty and everyone knows it. Besides, the status of the princess is too high. If there is a princess, the “hostages” of both parties will not be as important. Balanced.
At this time, neither Xiang Xiaoqiang nor Zhu Yourong had anything to say.
Emperor Guangwu's request made Xiang Xiaoqiang feel relieved. Because Shen Rongxuan had always wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of him. If he had gone to Beiqing, Shen Rongxuan would have done something to Guangwu's younger brother. For example, if food poisoning or something happens and the boy dies in Nanming, then Xiang Xiaoqiang will no longer think about returning to Ming Dynasty. Now that Zheng Yucong is tied to him, Shen Rongxuan will never dare to think of any wrong thoughts.
…
That night, Xiang Xiaoqiang and Princess Zheng Da, who was trembling with excitement, both boarded the special train and sailed east to Ningbo, and then took a boat from Ningbo to the East China Sea Fleet.
At nine o'clock in the morning the next day, the Nanming secret delegation boarded the light cruiser "Xuda" and sailed north to the maritime coordinate point agreed with the Beiqing. That coordinate point was approximately 450 nautical miles north of the Zhoushan Islands. .
There will be a light cruiser from Beiqing waiting there.