Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 39: Kill Li Zicheng and you can negotiate

"Your Majesty..."

"His Majesty."

Du Xun and Song Ye spoke at the same time, but the former still had fear in his bones.

"Didn't you hear what I said? Go back and tell Li Zicheng that I'm waiting for him at Deshengmen." Zhu Youjian walked into the hall with an expressionless face and repeated what he had just said.

Du Xun forced a smile that was uglier than crying, "Your Majesty... my Prince Chuang really has no intention of coveting the great treasure. As long as..."

Zhu Youjian interrupted Du Xun directly and said, "If you say one more word, you will be beheaded on the spot."

"Ah?" Du Xun's whole body trembled violently. He wanted to continue to persuade him, but he saw the Jinyiwei who had surrounded him.

In the end, he didn't say anything and fled out of the Qianqing Palace with a trembling body.

Song Ye was also a little confused.

Didn’t we agree at the beginning to fight and talk at the same time to delay time?
Does this mean you want to negotiate?!
Before he could figure it out, Zhu Youjian spoke again.

"Song Aiqing."

"I'm here." Song Ye quickly came back to his senses.

"Have you found the envoy to send to Chuangni? What conditions are you going to propose?"

"Your Majesty, the envoy is ready and will leave the capital and enter the city at the hour of You."

"The terms were drafted by Prime Minister Ni and the ministers of various ministries. They roughly entailed handing over 50 taels of silver to the rebel army, and being granted the title of Great Xibo and the post of Governor of Shaanxi Province."

Song Ye quickly explained the negotiation.

These were basically finalized by Ni Yuanlu, who also specifically stated that except for the title of king, everything else could be discussed.

According to common sense, these conditions are already extremely favorable for the current situation of the Ming Dynasty.

The current crisis can be resolved by simply paying some money and gaining the approval of the court.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Youjian kept shaking his head.

"No, this isn't a negotiation! This is ceding territory and paying compensation!"

"Ah? But..." Song Ye was stunned.

Your Majesty still thinks this condition is not enough, what exactly does Your Majesty want?

Zhu Youjian said with a serious face, "First, the rebel army must pay 50 million taels of silver as war reparations to compensate for the losses suffered by the Ming Dynasty in Shaanxi, Shansi, northern Sichuan, and Zhili."

"Secondly, we demand that the rebels surrender the ringleaders of the rebellion, led by Li Zicheng, and bring them to justice!"

"Finally, the entire rebel army surrendered to the capital."

"Only by agreeing to these three conditions can peace talks be possible!"

"Also, try to make sure everyone in the Chuang army knows the terms of the negotiation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Song Ye felt numb all over.

Is this a peace talk!?

Not to mention that the two armies were equally matched, even if the two armies were to switch positions openly, Li Zicheng would never agree, right?!

Your Majesty, what is this for?
Just to provoke Li Zicheng and make him attack the city?
Or is it that His Majesty has lost his mind?!??

Before he could wake up, Zhu Youjian urged him to convey the message to the envoy.

Walking out of the hall in a daze, Song Ye looked at the clear blue sky and felt a little helpless for a moment.

Zhu Youjian was certainly not stupid. The reason he put forward such conditions was because he didn't want to negotiate at all!

The imperial court at the end of the Ming Dynasty was rotten to the core and was simply beyond redemption!
It must be destroyed before it can be rebuilt.

Just because of his behavior of extorting money and beheading officials, in normal times, he would have been criticized as a king like Jie and Zhou, and there would have been constant rebellions in various places.

Especially the ministers in the court, who could normally obtain the support of the major families in the south of the Yangtze River, contact the officials privately, and concentrate on dealing with him, the emperor.

How could an ordinary person like him fight against these old foxes?

If they were all killed, who would rule the world?

Now that there is an external threat from the Chuang army, internal conflicts can be channeled into external conflicts, which just makes it convenient for him to fish in troubled waters.

While confiscating the property, he also sorted out the court.

The negotiation conditions offered today were actually the same as Wu Xiang's empty city plan, which was to lure Li Zicheng into attacking the city first, so that he would feel that the capital was heavily guarded and that a head-on attack would result in heavy casualties.

In addition, Li Zicheng really had no intention of becoming emperor, so he would definitely negotiate again.

After fighting for a day and negotiating for a day, by the time Wu Sangui arrived, Zhu Youjian had almost gathered 40,000 regular soldiers and sorted out the nobles and officials in the capital.

Then we can look for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle!

tomorrow
While thinking this, he added the few entries he had just drawn to the Yongwei Camp according to his habit.

After all, it is the only one that can be used in the capital...

and many more!

Zhu Youjian was suddenly stunned. It seemed that since the lottery started, most of the entries had been added to the Yongwei Camp...

Quickly open the system page of the Yongwei Camp.

In an instant, densely packed entries were arranged.

Legacy of the Qi Family Army (Purple)
Iron Wall (Purple)

Golden Knife (Purple)

There are three purple entries alone, not to mention countless blue, green, and white entries.

What kind of monster have I raised?
……

After leaving the imperial city, Song Ye did not go to the Ministry of Rites to explain Zhu Youjian's new conditions.

Instead, he went straight to the Ministry of Revenue to find Ni Yuanlu.

This matter is too big. If something goes wrong, it may bring a devastating disaster to the capital and even the Ming Dynasty.

The consequences are not something that a mere Hanlin scholar like him can bear!
In the lobby of the Ministry of Revenue, Ni Yuanlu and Fan Jingwen, who was selecting refugees, were also confused.

"Are you sure that His Majesty said this?" Ni Yuanlu asked again and again.

Song Ye nodded repeatedly, "It's the real Prime Minister, I definitely didn't remember it wrong!"

Fan Jingwen sat aside, rubbing his goatee, with confusion in his eyes.

"Could it be that Your Majesty does not want to negotiate?"

"No." Ni Yuanlu shook his head. "If Your Majesty did not want to negotiate, you would not have sent an envoy, let alone received the envoy from the rebels."

"Then why do you put forward such harsh conditions?" Fan Jingwen asked.

Song Ye also stretched his neck, wanting to hear the opinions of the current Prime Minister.

Ni Yuanlu looked as if this was the way it should be. "Those who rebel should be executed immediately! Your Majesty, by granting these conditions, you are showing great grace."

"Cough!" Song Ye almost choked to death on his own saliva, his face flushed red.

Fan Jingwen widened his eyes and wanted to scold Ni Yuanlu.

But looking at the other person's expression, the words on the tip of his tongue suddenly changed.

A bold guess came to my mind.

"What the Prime Minister means is... Your Majesty wants to use your power to pressure others?"

"That's right~" Ni Yuanlu stroked his beard and laughed.

Only Song Ye hadn't figured it out yet. Looking at the laughing Ni Yuanlu, his eyes were full of question marks.

Fan Jingwen explained, "Your Majesty wants to use the power of the court's legitimacy to dissuade the rebels."

"Since ancient times, those who rebelled have been punished with death. Although our Ming Dynasty has been plagued by natural and man-made disasters, we still have the two capitals and nine prefectures. Even the traitor Li doesn't know the details of the capital, let alone the rebel soldiers."

"If the traitor Li cannot take the capital in one battle, then the refugee surrender troops will be useless!"

"Song Hanlin, just do as you're told. Make sure the negotiation terms are known to most of the rebels."

If Song Ye had a bad brain, he would not have been able to become a Hanlin scholar. After hearing what Fan Jingwen said, he immediately understood the deep meaning.

He quickly bowed to the two of them and said, "Thank you, Yuan Fu and Lord Fan, for clearing up this humble official's doubts! This matter is of great importance and still needs to be handled by the Ministry of Rites. I will take my leave now."

Ni Yuanlu nodded and said, "By the way, go find Governor Wu and ask him to give you 13,000 battalions and 200 brave guard battalions to accompany the envoy."

(End of this chapter)