Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 254 Mission

Yangtze.

Feng Quan stood at the bow of the boat, the river breeze blowing on his face, blowing up his robe. He looked out at the Yangtze River in front of him and saw the surging water and magnificent waves. Feng Quan couldn't help but feel an inexplicable emotion in his heart. This is a river that has been praised as a natural barrier since ancient times. It has witnessed the rise and fall of many dynasties.

"What a natural barrier! What a natural barrier! What a pity." Feng Quan murmured to himself.

The members of the Qing court's peace negotiation delegation were also silently gazing at the river, and among them a familiar face suddenly appeared, he was Mao Xiang.

Since Mao Xiang arrived in Beijing, he met Dorgon once. However, Dorgon was obviously not very interested in Mao Xiang's title of the Fourth Young Master, and casually sent him to the Inner Three Courtyards, where he served as a clerk in the Hongwenguan.

The Inner Three Courts were the predecessors of the Hanlin Academy. After the Qing army entered the pass, they inherited almost all of the political systems of the Ming Dynasty. However, the Hanlin Academy was established relatively late, in the first year of Shunzhi. Before that, Huang Taiji established the Wenguan in the third year of Tiancong, which was a variant of the Hanlin Academy.

At that time, Wenguan was the main institution for recruiting and placing Han Chinese literati. In the tenth year of Tiancong, the number of people in Wenguan increased, and it was changed to the Inner Three Courts, which included the Inner National History Court, the Inner Secretary Court, and the Inner Hongwen Court.

The Qing army entered the pass and established the Hanlin Academy in the first year of Shunzhi. Because most of the people working in the Hanlin Academy were Han officials, this conflicted with the interests of some Manchu nobles. Therefore, in the second year of Shunzhi, the Qing court abolished the Hanlin Academy and the Hanlin Academy personnel were managed by the Inner Three Academy.

When Feng Quan went on a diplomatic mission to Nanjing, he specifically asked the regent Dorgon for Mao Xiang. On the one hand, it was because Mao Xiang was a serious southern scholar and had just arrived in Beijing from the south. On the other hand, Mao Xiang was from the Donglin Party. Mao Xiang had participated in the establishment of the Fushe Society and wrote articles to criticize the remnants of the eunuch party. His reputation was resounding throughout the southeast.

This group of hypocrites kept saying that I was a eunuch and a scourge to the country and the people, but in the end, didn't you, Mao Xiang, also shave your head and surrender to the Qing Dynasty? Feng Quan deliberately brought Mao Xiang with him, and every time he saw him, Feng Quan always felt a sense of pride in his heart?

At this time, Feng Quan turned around, smiled, and asked Mao Xiang: "Pijiang, do you think Meng Jun will agree to this peace agreement?"

"Your Excellency, I don't know." Mao Xiang said with his head down.

"Hahaha, Mr. Mao is a man of great literary talent and reputation. He once gathered celebrities in the city of Jinling, sang wildly and tragically, and vigorously criticized the remnants of the eunuch party. He also drafted the "Public Declaration to Prevent Chaos in the Capital" and cursed Ruan Dacheng to death. How could I not know such a talent?" Feng Quan showed a bright smile on his face.

Mao Xiang heard this and responded in a low voice: "Your Excellency, I was... I was young and frivolous. Please don't blame me."

Feng Quan showed a trace of mocking smile on his face, and said, "Blame? No, no, no, I am a member of the eunuch party approved by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty himself. However, the eunuch party has been eliminated, and the court is full of upright people. Logically, the country should be peaceful and prosperous. Why did it fall to the ground?"

Mao Xiang could only say, "Xiang, I am not very talented and knowledgeable, so I dare not comment on the gains and losses of the previous dynasty."

"Hahaha" With Feng Quan's laughter, the ship finally arrived at the other side. The peace negotiation delegation set foot on the land of Jiangnan. They were greeted only by a team of soldiers sent by Bai Yongfu. This team of soldiers would escort the delegation to Jinling.

Inside Jinling City.

Gu Yanwu published the news that the Qing envoys were about to arrive in the newspaper. The text said: "Your Majesty has repeatedly defeated the enemy, and they sent envoys across the river to seek peace. They know that they are exhausted and can no longer fight, so they want to give in. However, Your Majesty is very determined. Unless the Qing court withdraws all its troops from the interior of the Great Wall and retreats to the outside of the Great Wall, there will be no peace talks."

Once the article was published, it immediately caused widespread discussion in the city of Jinling. The people of Jinling were skeptical about the Qing court's sincerity in negotiating peace. Some people also said that if the Qing court agreed to withdraw from the area outside the Great Wall, then peace talks would be possible.

Meng Jun's order puzzled the officials of the shogunate. Meng Jun did not send shogunate officials to welcome Feng Quan, but instead ordered Qian Biao to go and meet him.

When Qian Biao received the order, he was puzzled and went to the palace to ask Meng Jun. However, Meng Jun just smiled and said, "The general is of noble character and can intimidate the enemy envoys!" Then he sent Qian Biao away.

Qian Biao returned home and thought hard but could not come up with any clue. Looking at his wife who was busy in front of him, he suddenly had an idea and asked his wife tentatively.

When Qian's wife heard Qian Biao's question, she frowned and said in a bad tone: "The king asked you to go, so why don't you just go? Why are you asking me?"

Qian Biao threw his sleeves in annoyance and used the new idiom he had learned: "Women, with long hair and short knowledge, are ignorant and uninformed. They are not worth consulting with boys!"

Although Qian's wife was uneducated, she could still tell good words from bad. Upon hearing this, she cursed and cried, "You heartless man, now that you are an official, do you despise me because I am the daughter of a butcher? Why don't you think about the fact that if it weren't for my father, you would not be alive until now..."

For a while, the Qian family was in chaos. When Qian Biao ran out of the house in a panic, there were three blood marks on his neck. Qian Biao sighed helplessly and said, "What a fierce woman."

He looked back at his house, shook his head, and prepared to go to the army. After walking for a while, he suddenly thought, yes, I can ask the great god Li for divination and let him tell it for me. Thinking of this, Qian Biao immediately turned a corner and headed towards Li Wendao's residence.

Li Wendao had no property, so Meng Jun had someone give him a house. The house was not big, but it had everything he needed. When he arrived outside, the door was wide open. Qian Biao walked in without knocking.

Li Wendao was seen wearing coarse clothes, lying on his back under the eaves to enjoy the cool air, with an old palm-leaf fan covering his face. When Qian Biao saw Li Wendao, he shouted loudly, "Master."

Li Wendao took away the palm leaf fan, looked up, and saw the cut on Qian Biao's neck. He asked curiously, "How did General Qian's neck..."

"Ah, I caught it myself last night when I was sleeping. This is not important, Taoist priest. I came here to ask you something."

"I would like to hear the details, General. Please speak."

Qian Biao immediately expressed his doubts: "Master, the Tartars sent a peace delegation this time. Why didn't the king send those civil officials to welcome them, but only sent me?"

"General Qian, if you have any questions, why don't you ask the king directly?"

"Well, I asked, and the king said I was good-looking!" Qian Biao was not stupid, and he knew what he looked like.

Upon hearing this, Li Wendao took a closer look at Qian Biao, suppressed his smile and said, "Well, if the king says it looks good, then it looks good."

"Master, you..."

Li Wendao waved his palm-leaf fan, then slowly said, "The king asked you to go and greet the delegation, so just go. What's there to ask?"

"If you let me, Old Qian, wield a knife and kill people, then I can definitely do it. I have never done this kind of job of welcoming the envoys. I feel uncomfortable accompanying that group of spineless guys." Qian Biao sat down next to Li Wenda and said in a muffled voice.

"The king asked you to go, so just be the same as you normally would be when you go." Li Wendao stopped fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and turned to Qian Biao and said, "General Qian, why bother guessing about the king's intentions? Just go if he asks you to go, don't overthink it."

……

Qian Biao still had a puzzled look on his face. He walked out of Li Wendao's house in confusion, thinking to himself, how come this Taoist priest said the same thing as his uneducated wife.

Li Wendao looked at Qian Biao's departing back and said slowly, "Negotiate peace. The Qing court doesn't want peace, and the king doesn't want peace either!"