A young man less than thirty years old strolled into the waterside pavilion, glanced at Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yucong, and said with a smile:
"Oh, hehe, I have long admired you, General Xiang, Princess Leping. Oh, please take a seat."
To the two of them before, Emperor Guangwu was just a symbol, existing only in newspaper photos and voices on the radio. And this symbol represented the bloodbath of the clan, the vicious southern invasion, and the terrifyingly huge "Thousand Masters"
Army", its consistent rogue behavior internationally, its brutal labor camps, and the entire centralized, dark, and decadent Manchu Empire.
But now, this symbol suddenly turned into a living person in front of their eyes, a thin young man less than thirty years old, who was still greeting them in a friendly manner. The contrast was really great. And it was precisely because of the previous
That scary symbol now turned into the person in front of him, Xiang Xiaoqiang or Zheng Yucong, and they all quickly returned to their previous state.
The two of them nodded with a smile and sat down on the other two chairs.
Emperor Guangwu opposite took out his pocket watch and took a look at it, then turned his head and clapped his hands twice. Immediately a palace maid came in from outside, and Emperor Guangwu ordered her:
"Pass the meal."
The palace maid received the order and exited.
Emperor Guangwu leaned back in his chair, looked at them with a smile, and then basically focused on Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Xiang Xiaoqiang also leaned back in his chair and looked at the legendary Emperor Guangwu in front of him with a smile.
After a while, Emperor Guangwu first smiled and said:
"General Xiang, it seems a bit rude to invite you here for a meal so presumptuously. I hope you won't be offended."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"It doesn't matter. Your Majesty, the climate here is good and the scenery is beautiful. There is nothing strange about eating in a place like this."
Guangwu nodded and smiled and said nothing more. After a while, he looked out at the vast expanse of blue lake waves and sighed:
"Look, it's so interesting... A few months ago, there were still artillery fires on the Yangtze River in Nanjing. I didn't expect that today the two of us would be sitting together to eat..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was amused in his heart, thinking that this is unexpected. In order to have dinner with me, you sent your brother to Nanming as a hostage. As long as the price is high enough, let alone sit with me for dinner, and
Is it possible for our chief ministers and ministers to sit together and have dinner together?
But he knew that he couldn't say that. Now that he was still in the hands of others, he had already made up his mind that he would pretend to be a grandson when he came to Beiqing. As long as he could bring back thousands of officers and soldiers from the Ming Dynasty, he would do anything.
Xiang Xiaoqiang also nodded and sighed:
"Yes, yes... I really didn't expect... the rolling world... fate plays tricks on people..."
Emperor Guangwu nodded and said:
"General Xiang must have guessed it. He strongly invited the general to join the negotiation team to come to the Qing Dynasty. This is what I meant."
He nodded to Xiaoqiang and said:
"Yes, I guessed it."
"But does General Xiang know why?"
"To be honest," Xiang Xiaoqiang said, "when I first heard this request, everyone, including myself, thought that His Majesty the Emperor wanted me to come to Beiqing just to kill me and make me angry. To be honest, I
Indeed, he has done a lot of things that will make people hate him. If I were you, I would definitely try to put this person to death.
He died. But...since His Majesty the Emperor can send his younger brother to Nanming as a guarantee, it shows that Your Majesty has no ill intentions. This is the only reason why I dare to come to Beiqing. So why did Your Majesty invite me to come to Beiqing?
It's easy to guess. But try to guess, maybe His Majesty the Emperor wants to discuss with me the gains and losses of the Battle of Nanjing?"
Emperor Guangwu leaned back in his chair and laughed.
"General Xiang," Guangwu laughed for a while before stopping, and said with a smile, "if I want to discuss the gains and losses of the war, naturally there will be a large group of real generals to discuss it. I'm sorry, General Xiang, even though I call you general,
But I don’t think you’re a real general. You could say I just called you by your rank.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at him coldly and suddenly felt his face burning up.
Guangwu smiled and continued:
"General Xiang, don't think too much. Although I am rude, I don't mean to offend you intentionally. I am not saying that you are incompetent, I just mean that your ability is not consistent with the military rank on your shoulders. You
You are so young, only in your twenties. According to the normal promotion in the army, you are at most a captain now. Even if all your achievements are counted, you are at most a major, and never a general. I have read your resume.
, you did not attend any formal military school.
"You are from our north. You were developed into a full member by Dongchang during your college days and received some espionage and agent training. In December last year, the Nanming Grasshopper was sunk in the Yangtze River, and you had the opportunity to come forward and rescue all the crew members.
Return to Nanming.Since
It was only then that you were appreciated by the top leaders of Nanming, and later you started to cause trouble in the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty. You formed the People's Guard and became a colonel. You carried out a coup for Zhu Yourong, prevented a coup, and saved her throne twice. Only then did you deeply understand the situation.
Gain favor and become a general.
"General Xiang, am I right? The reason why your People's Guard is the strongest is because it is a political armed force, Zhu Yourong's private army, and you, the general, are also Zhu Yourong's family general, and
It’s not that you Xiang Xiaoqiang has great military talents or deep military attainments, but because Zhu Yourong can’t find anyone more loyal and more popular than you to be her commander. Am I right?”
Xiang Xiaoqiang said coldly:
"Your Majesty the Emperor, you are so rude in what you say."
"Oh? Haha, I'm used to talking to others like this. If it hurts General Xiang's self-esteem, then I'll drink one drink as a penalty."
"Don't worry about the fine wine," Xiang Xiaoqiang sneered, "Your Majesty the Emperor, no matter what I say to Xiang Xiaoqiang, from a commoner at the lowest level, a 'fart-min' in the Northern Qing Dynasty to where I am today, all thanks to
Your own ability. Your Majesty, you may say that you are here today entirely due to your own ability. After all, you used your ability to launch a coup and seize the throne from your brother! This is of course not easy.
"But don't forget, Your Majesty, no matter what, you were born with a father who was an emperor, which I did not do. Although you were not established as a prince, you were born in an emperor's family after all. From the moment you started, you have become the leader of the whole world.
At the highest level of the empire, in the innermost circle of power
, you naturally have a group of teachers and staff around you, you have your own mother-in-law in the harem, you have your mother's family's military relatives in the army, and there are also some ministers in the outer court who are eager to support you and secretly support you. These are all tied together.
It is a considerable political force.
"These are all things you have since you were born. Although you have not been established as a prince, you are still a prince and a prince, and you are only one step away from the throne. As for me, I don't have any of these. I have to rely on myself for everything.
Work hard at the bottom, and from a pariah in the Northern Qing Dynasty to a general in the Southern Ming Dynasty, my span is greater than yours.
More... Yes, maybe my luck is a little better, but your luck is also good. Your Majesty, there is probably nothing riskier than this coup since ancient times. But Your Majesty succeeded.
.I think the element of luck in it cannot be less than 50%."
Emperor Guangwu was startled for a moment, and laughed again. But this time he didn't say anything after laughing. Instead, he picked up the wine bottle, poured wine for Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yucong, and then poured a glass for himself.
"Haha, well said!" He picked up the cup and said with a smile, "General, Princess Leping, please!"
…
After the first glass of wine, Xiang Xiaoqiang asked with a smile:
"His Majesty the Emperor just said that the reason for inviting me to dinner was not to discuss the Battle of Nanjing with me, so why?"
Emperor Guangwu put his chopsticks on the porcelain chopstick holder, leaned back in his chair, looked out at the vast lakes and mountains, and said:
"General Xiang, there are countless people in our Qing Dynasty who flee from the Yangtze River to Nanming every year. You can also be counted as one of them. But among those who escaped from the north and are in the core and high-level positions of Nanming, you are the only one who fled to the Nanming. General Xiang