******
After a difficult decision, Hong Chengchou finally chose Tulai. When he said the word "Tulai", he could no longer hide his annoyance and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Although choosing Tulai would cause dissatisfaction among Duoduo and even the entire Han army, it could relieve some pressure on Dorgon politically. Dorgon was already in a tough enough situation with both foreign and internal difficulties.
Now Dorgon is the foundation of Hong Chengchou's survival in the Qing Dynasty. None of the other Jurchens value Han officials as much as Dorgon does, including Dodo and Ajige, who are in the same camp as Dorgon. They are extremely disdainful of Han officials, so Dorgon cannot fall.
Gan Nan smiled faintly and said sarcastically, "I should have expected that Academician Hong would choose Tulai. After all, Tulai is the master. How can the master not save the slave but save the slave? Hahaha... Although Academician Hong, like Shang Kexi and Kong Youde, is just a slave of the Tartars!"
"Hmph!" Hong Chengchou snorted coldly and said coldly: "Gan Shaoqing, there is no need to show off your eloquence. I, Hong Chengchou, have done my best for the Ming Dynasty. I have been in the military for half my life, and I have done my best in the battle of Songshan. However, the fate of the Ming Dynasty has ended. How can human power save the situation? If Gan Shaoqing was in my situation, he might not do better than me, Hong Chengchou."
"You are wrong. I didn't say you were sorry for Zhu Ming. You did try your best for Zhu Ming. You are sorry for all the descendants of Yan and Huang in the world. Apart from other things, hundreds of thousands of compatriots were slaughtered in Yangzhou alone, and the corpses piled up like a mountain. You, Hong Chengchou, turned a blind eye and even helped the tyrant to commit atrocities. Can you cover up the heinous crimes you committed against the descendants of Yan and Huang by saying you did your best for Zhu Ming?"
Gannan shouted loudly, leaving Hong Chengchou speechless. His fingers were trembling slightly, and it was obvious that he was suffering from unspeakable torment in his heart.
Gan Nan was too lazy to look at him any more, and said in a deep voice: "Please bring General Han here as soon as possible. The specific exchange location can be in Ma'anshan or Jiangyin City. Remember, my king hopes to see a complete Han Gang. If General Han suffers any additional torture, I'm sorry, my king will be very angry, and you, Hong Daxueshi, will have to weigh the consequences yourself."
Gan Nan stood up, ready to leave the city and end this mission. At the end, he said, "Don't worry, Master Hong, although my king will not let you go back for the time being, he will not harm you. Of course, this is not for your sake. With what you have done, it is not too much to kill you.
"My king did this for Madam Hong's sake. After hearing that you surrendered to the Qing, Madam Hong cried all day and said that she would personally kill you, the traitor who forgot your ancestors. How pitiful are the hearts of parents in the world, alas!"
After Gannan left the city, Hong Chengchou sat alone in the general's office for a long time without saying a word. If he could still ignore Gannan's scolding him for committing a heinous crime against the descendants of Yan and Huang, then Gannan's last words undoubtedly deeply hurt his heart.
No one knows a mother better than her son. Hong Chengchou knew that Gannan was not lying because of his understanding of his mother. "Seventy-eight, seventy-eight..." He murmured his mother's age. He was trapped in a state of confusion and pain and could not extricate himself.
After a long while, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart, and suddenly woke up, thinking to himself, "Great!" Gannan's words and actions were definitely not intended to persuade him to surrender, but he just wanted to make him, the commander-in-chief, suffer mental torture and make wrong deployments. This time, he almost fell into his trap.
When you figure some things out, you will feel that they are just trivial tricks, but the parties involved are confused, and Hong Chengchou almost fell into Gannan's trap.
But did he really not understand Gannan's way? The impact of that three-choice question could not be seen for the time being, but it must be like poison in the body, slowly corroding the body, and there is almost no antidote.
Hong Chengchou understood the seriousness of the matter and quickly submitted a memorial to Dorgon, asking Dorgon to make preparations in advance.
At the same time, he wrote another letter and asked someone to deliver it as soon as possible to Huang Xiyin, who was responsible for persuading Zheng Zhilong to surrender.
Now the military and political power of Jiangnan was nominally under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Hong Chengchou. In terms of major strategic arrangements, Bolo, Nikan, Fei Yanggu and others did listen to him. The problem was in the specific implementation. Not everyone strictly followed his plan. Even Li Chengdong dared to disobey orders and massacre the city, not to mention Bolo and other unruly Manchu generals.
There was nothing wrong with Hong Chengchou's response, and it could even be said to be brilliant, but when it was actually implemented, everything went wrong. If everyone could follow his plan, why would the people in the south of the Yangtze River resist so fiercely
Now the Qing army is trapped in Jiangnan like being stuck in a quagmire, making it difficult for Qin Mu to get in trouble everywhere. The situation on their side is becoming more and more difficult, and they can only hold on and wait for the opportunity.
The so-called opportunity was, first, that Duoduo would go south again after suppressing the rebellion in the Central Plains, and second, that he would persuade Zheng Zhilong to surrender. Once successful, the crisis could also be resolved.
***
"My lord father, we can't do this! Surrendering to foreign races and harming our compatriots is something that will be despised by all eternity. Please think twice, lord father." Zheng Sen knelt on the ground, kowtowed continuously, with an excited expression.
This was the sixth time his son came to dissuade him. Zheng Zhilong was furious and shouted, "I, your father, have worked hard all my life and survived many dangers to build this business. Now you live a life of luxury, but you say that your father is not good enough. Do you know what kind of life your father lived? Hmm? Do you know?"
I was forced to make a living when I was only a teenager. Did the Ming emperor ever give me a meal? Did anyone in the world care about my life or death? I have lived on the edge of a knife and licked blood all my life. I only know one truth: if a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth.
"Father, even if you are thinking about our Zheng family, you don't have to surrender to the Tartars? Father..."
"Shut up, you know nothing! Don't think that just because you've studied for a few years, you can teach your father a lesson. Who wants to surrender to the Tartars? This is a business, do you understand?"
"You can sell anything but not your country..."
Snapped!
Zheng Zhilong, unable to bear it any longer, slapped Zheng Sen in the face. Having practiced martial arts all his life, he did not hold back at all. Zheng Sen fell to the ground, half of his cheek became red and swollen, and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.
"roll!"
"Father, please listen to what I have to say."
"Come on, take this unfilial man away and lock him up. Don't let him out without my order."
Compared with the pain on his face, Zheng Sen felt more pain in his heart. He was taken to the woodshed by several of his father's men and locked up. No one paid any attention to him even when he shouted.
Zheng Zhilong quickly called his younger brother Zheng Zhibao over. After hearing about Zheng Sen's situation, Zheng Zhibao advised: "Brother, Sen'er was probably just confused for a moment. Why do you have to be so angry? Let him go."
"Don't worry about this. I asked you to come here for business. Qin Mu refused to follow Longwu as his master, and he also said everywhere that Longwu was just a puppet set up by our Zheng family with ulterior motives. He also built a lot of warships. If he takes over the world, there will be no place for our Zheng family."
"Brother, I don't think it's that serious, right?"
"You are still dreaming. If Qin Mu had the will, he would have sent someone to contact my Zheng family to attack Jiangsu and Zhejiang together. What does it mean that he didn't send anyone? Once he captures Jiangnan, the next target will definitely be our Zheng family. By then, he will attack from both eastern Zhejiang and southern Jiangxi. How can Fujian still be defended?"
"Brother, I don't think so. Qin Mu didn't contact us because he probably didn't want to be associated with Longwu. I heard that he treated the remaining troops of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong well."
Zheng Zhilong showed a look of disappointment and said earnestly: "This is a different time. When he conquers Jiangnan, he will not be like that. Moreover, I heard that he hates traitors the most. He even sent people to Yanjing to exchange 3,000 prisoners for the heads of Hong Chengchou and the other two."
Zheng Zhibao was a little confused. What did Qin Mu's hatred for traitors have to do with the Zheng family? He asked in a daze, "Brother, please speak directly. There is nothing that cannot be said between us brothers."
Zheng Zhilong slammed the table angrily and said, "To be honest, I once sent Hong Chengchou's son to Nanjing to deliver a letter. Now, Hong Chengchou's son and the letter have been kidnapped by Qin Mu's men. I can't clear myself even if I jump into the Yellow River. Qin Mu will definitely not let our Zheng family go in the future."
"Hey, big brother, why didn't you discuss this with everyone beforehand? This..."
"What's this? A man who is narrow-minded is not a gentleman, and a man who is not vicious is not a man. Rather than waiting for Qin Mu to come and destroy our Zheng family in the future, it is better for us to strike first. What's more, Qin Mu will not offer us the same price as the Qing Dynasty."
"What do you want to do, brother?"
"Didn't Longwu call for a northern expedition? We can use this as an excuse to send our fleet north to control the Yangtze River waterway. No matter what, as long as we prevent Qin Mu from pacifying Jiangnan and let the Qing Dynasty and Qin Mu restrain each other, it will be most beneficial to us."
*******************(To be continued...)
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