Fortunately, even though the deaf old dog Qian was going mad, He Shen and Zhong Tang were somewhat more rational. At the least, they knew their place better than the deaf old dog Qian.
Seeing that the deaf old dog Qian was about to lose control, He Shen and Zhong Tang immediately advised him with tears streaming down their faces, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your humble servant knows you care for all the people under heaven, and cannot bear to see them suffer in the hands of those rebels. Your humble servant..."
The deaf old dog Qian snorted and kicked He Shen and Zhong Tang away, cursing, "I care for the people, my foot! Is this a matter of me caring or not? Look, just look!"
"Look at what those lowly servants in Guangping Prefecture have done! They, they have actually raised the banner of 'Overthrow the Qing, Restore the Ming'!"
"These dog servants have forgotten who gave them their present circumstances!"
The deaf old dog Qian swayed slightly, leaning on the wooden frame where his armor hung, and continued to curse, "Overthrow the Qing, Restore the Ming, huh? What Qing are they overthrowing! They are the bedrock of our Great Qing, and our bedrock is going to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming!"
"I tell you, anyone in this world can rebel, but they cannot! If they rebel, where does that leave me!?"
"I, am the eternal sinner of this Great Qing!"
Seeing the deaf old dog Qian in such a state, He Shen and Zhong Tang, disregarding the kick they just received, quickly went to support him and lamented, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your Majesty, this is all the trickery of that rebel Zhu Jinsong!"
"Think about it, the servants of the Lower Five Banners are, after all, the bedrock of our Great Qing. They all know that their current good life is given by Your Majesty. How could they possibly raise the banner of 'Overthrow the Qing, Restore the Ming'?"
"In your humble servant's opinion, this matter is most likely a fabricated rumor deliberately spread by that rebel Zhu Jinsong. If Your Majesty were to get sick from anger because of this, wouldn't that be a pleasure for that rebel, and a sorrow for your humble servants? Your Majesty, it is most important to protect your dragon body."
With He Shen and Zhong Tang's persuasion, the deaf old dog Qian's anger subsided somewhat.
It was true that although the servants of the Lower Five Banners in Guangping Prefecture, Zhili, were also the bedrock of our Great Qing, they were born to receive their silver pay. It was unlikely they would get involved with those rebels.
Perhaps the truth of the matter was as He Shen had said, that the rebel Zhu Jinsong had intentionally sent people to spread rumors, or had held knives to their throats, forcing them to raise the banner of "Overthrow the Qing, Restore the Ming" to disgust him?
But the deaf old dog Qian could not swallow this insult.
What was a servant? A servant should be loyal to their master. Even if that rebel Zhu held a knife to their throats, those servants should still be loyal and sacrifice themselves for our Great Qing!
After comforting himself with a self-deceptive rationalization, the deaf old dog Qian forced himself to calm down and irritably asked, "Tell me, what should we do about Guangping Prefecture, Zhili? What about Daming Prefecture? They have all fallen into the hands of that rebel Zhu Jinsong."
He Shen and Zhong Tang's dead-fish eyes darted slightly, and then he bowed and said obsequiously, "Replying to Your Majesty, your humble servant believes that Daming Prefecture and Guangping Prefecture were originally located between Shandong and Henan. There were not many of our Great Qing's bedrock there, and they were extremely close to the rebels' territory. In fact, they were like chicken ribs – tasteless to eat, but a pity to discard."
"Your humble servant believes that the most important thing now is to continue to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, as Your Majesty originally planned, and let those rebels continue to kill each other."
The deaf old dog Qian then snorted, allowing He Shen and a few eunuchs to help him remove his armor. He then leaned back on the soft couch, squinting his eyes, and asked, "Then, in your opinion, what should be done now?"
He Shen and Zhong Tang's eyes rolled, they flicked their sleeves, knelt on both knees, and kowtowed to the deaf old dog Qian like dogs and horses before looking up and saying cautiously, "Replying to Your Majesty, your humble servant has an idea, but, but your humble servant dares not speak it?"
The deaf old dog Qian looked at He Shen and Zhong Tang's demeanor and snorted, "Speak, I grant you immunity."
He Shen and Zhong Tang said "Yes," and then cautiously replied, "Your humble servant believes that Your Majesty could summon the Fifteenth Prince and Eldenbao back to the capital."
The deaf old dog Qian couldn't quite fathom He Shen and Zhong Tang's reasoning, so he couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean?"
He Shen and Zhong Tang replied, "Replying to Your Majesty, your humble servant believes that since Your Majesty wishes for all the rebels under heaven to kill each other, why not recall the Fifteenth Prince and Eldenbao, and then send someone to negotiate peace with the rebel Zhu Jinsong?"
Negotiate peace?
The deaf old dog Qian widened his dog-like eyes, his gaze at Zhong Tang filled with disbelief.
To make me actively recall my Eight Banners cavalry, and then actively negotiate peace with the rebel who incited rebellion against the Great Qing?
The deaf old dog Qian laughed out of anger, let out a "ha" laugh, and then looked at Zhong Tang and asked, "He Er, are you planning to make it so that I have no face to see our Great Qing's Sacred Ancestor Emperor even after I die?"
He Shen was greatly alarmed and quickly knelt and said, "Your humble servant dares not! Your humble servant deserves death a million times!"
The deaf old dog Qian let out another "ha" laugh and said, "Then tell me, how should we negotiate peace?"
He Shen and Zhong Tang carefully considered before cautiously replying, "Replying to Your Majesty, your humble servant believes that Your Majesty could enfeoff the rebel Zhu in Shandong as the Little Ming King, and enfeoff the rebel Zhu in Shanxi as the Great Ming King. In this way, these two rebel factions in Shandong and Shanxi will certainly kill each other."
He Shen and Zhong Tang's words were somewhat ambiguous. If it were a normal person, they might not have understood the meaning of He Shen and Zhong Tang's words.
But what kind of person was the deaf old dog Qian? He was praised by some bondservants as a self-disciplined, cruel, ruthless, meticulous, and highly intelligent man. Therefore, as soon as he heard He Shen and Zhong Tang's words, the deaf old dog Qian immediately understood the unspoken meaning.
To put it bluntly, it meant sending someone to tell Zhu Jinsong and Zhu Zhongzhi that our Great Qing no longer wanted this world. Since both of you believe yourselves to be fifth-generation descendants of Emperor Chongzhen, whoever is more capable can take the world. Our Great Qing only wants this region of Zhili. The rest of the land belongs to you. Although it is not a division by river, it is essentially no different from a division by river.
In this way, the rebel Zhu Jinsong, who was the first to raise an army, would certainly not be satisfied with the title of Little Ming King, and that rebel Zhu Zhongzhi would definitely want to vie for the throne. Therefore, these two rebel factions would surely fight.
The deaf old dog Qian, squinting his eyes at the main beam of the hall, pondered in his heart. After a good while, he let out a grunt and said, "It is worth a try."
He Shen and Zhong Tang were overjoyed and bowed again, "Your master is wise!"
The deaf old dog Qian grunted again, but after a while, he suddenly asked, "What about the Solun tribe?"
When the deaf old dog Qian asked this, He Shen and Zhong Tang didn't know how to answer.
As the saying goes, what is the state of our Great Qing's Eight Banners? Don't you, the Emperor, have any idea?
Yes, Your Majesty, you are known as the Old Man of Ten Completions. You have fought in Burma, conquered both the Jinchuan regions, completely destroyed the Dzungar Khanate, and pacified the Begs of Haje and Khoja. You consider yourself to have achieved brilliant military exploits among all the emperors. But have you ever thought that your military exploits were achieved by our Great Qing's Eight Banners soldiers?
Do you really think our Eight Banners nobles can charge under artillery fire?
The ones who can charge under artillery fire without regard for casualties are precisely the cavalry of the Solun camp!
Your so-called ten great military exploits were achieved by the Green Standard Army and the Solun camp nine times out of ten!
Now, our Great Qing's Green Standard Army is scattered, and the Solun camp has colluded with the rebel Zhu in Shandong to revolt. And you, Your Majesty, want our Shengjing General to lead troops to suppress the Solun camp?
Is it that you overestimate the Shengjing General? Or do you underestimate the Solun camp?
However, before He Shen and Zhong Tang could figure out how to answer the deaf old dog Qian's question, the words "Urgent Report" were heard from outside the hall, and then a hurried messenger with a red feather rushed into the hall. As soon as he entered, he knelt and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Fifteenth Prince and Eldenbao Batulu have been defeated outside Lingqiu County!"
The deaf old dog Qian, who had been leaning on the soft couch, suddenly sat up straight, looking at the red-feathered messenger kneeling on the ground in disbelief, and asked, "What did you say? Say it again?"
The red-feathered messenger, trembling, replied, "Replying to Your Majesty, the Fifteenth Prince and Eldenbao Batulu drove the Han peasant laborers to attack the city outside Lingqiu County. Unexpectedly, the rebel army on the city wall had powerful firearms. Ten thousand Mongol Bannermen and ten thousand Manchu cavalry, plus twenty thousand Manchu infantry, routed, routed!"
Finally confirming this almost unbelievable news, after a long while, the deaf old dog Qian waved his hand and ordered the red-feathered messenger, "You may go."
After the red-feathered messenger withdrew from the hall, the deaf old dog Qian, like an old dog whose spine had been broken, collapsed onto the soft couch.
In the eyes of the deaf old dog Qian, the beams of the hall were spinning inexplicably, golden stars were flying everywhere before his eyes, and even He Er, who was kneeling on the ground, was swaying back and forth.
The deaf old dog Qian mumbled, "Could it be, could it be that the Great Qing's fate is truly coming to an end?"
The deaf old dog Qian's words left He Shen and Zhong Tang, who were kneeling on the ground, speechless.
Why has our Great Qing fallen to such a state where it is on the verge of collapse, if not for Your Majesty's actions?
The silver from the "fire loss returning to public" was taken by you for your six tours to the south, delaying countless river and bridge projects.
How much harm did you cause to those common folk with each of your grand tours to the south?
Who wouldn't rebel in such a situation?
Fine, we can overlook these matters. After all, our Great Qing always has one or two rebels every year. As long as Your Majesty can handle them calmly, it's no big deal.
But look at your actions, what kind of foolish decisions have you made?
You actually ordered all the bedrock of the empire to withdraw to Zhili, handing over all the prefectures and counties across the land to those rebels?
Let's not talk about anything else, but after losing the prefectures and counties across the land, our Great Qing's national treasury has very little money left to issue banner pay to the bedrock. Isn't it only natural for them to rebel against the Qing and restore the Ming?
Fine, this is also not a big deal. After all, the issue of the bedrock is a minor one. We can personally issue banner pay to them for a hundred or a hundred years. And by handing over all the prefectures and counties across the land to those rebels, allowing those rebels to fight and kill each other, it is not a bad method to seek survival in death.
After all, our Great Qing's ancestors seized the opportunity of the late Ming chaos to enter the passes. Now, it is just a matter of letting the world fall into chaos again, and repeating the actions of our Great Qing's ancestors.
But you, Your Majesty, you actually sent the Fifteenth Prince and Eldenbao to suppress the rebel Zhu in Shanxi, and hypocritically said that you could not bear to see the people of Shanxi suffer under the rebels?
Don't you realize that if the rebel Zhu in Shandong is difficult to suppress, is the rebel Zhu in Shanxi any easier to suppress?
Now look at the consequences! The Fifteenth Prince and Eldenbao, these two wastrels, used the tactic of driving civilians to attack the city, only to have their forty thousand cavalry and infantry scattered by a mere Lingqiu County garrison!
Does our Great Qing court have any dignity left?
He Shen and Zhong Tang even wanted to question the deaf old dog Qian, asking him if he knew what this defeat meant for our Great Qing court.
Of course, even though he thought it in his heart, it was absolutely impossible for He Shen and Zhong Tang to question the deaf old dog Qian. After all, the master is the master, and the servant is the servant; the master-servant hierarchy cannot be violated.
However, the deaf old dog Qian also knew very well what this defeat meant for our Great Qing.
This defeat not only meant that our Great Qing court had lost its last shred of dignity, but it also meant that the Mongol Eight Banners had thoroughly understood how unreliable our Great Qing Eight Banners were.
To put it bluntly, will the Mongol Eight Banners still respect our Great Qing in the future?
Don't forget, our Great Qing has always implemented the policy of population reduction for the Mongol Eight Banners. We do not enfeoff kings in the south, nor do we sever ties with relatives in the north; we divide and enfeoff to control their power; we崇尚 (chóngshàng - to esteem, to revere) Buddhism to control their lives, nakedly demonstrating what plastic relatives mean.
The deaf old dog Qian knew very well that our Great Qing's population reduction policy in the grasslands was as malicious as it could be. Those Mongol princes also knew this, so rebellions were constant in Mongolia.
It was better before. Our Great Qing had many dogs raised in the grasslands. Before our Great Qing's weakness was exposed, those dogs did not dare to bite their master. But now?
Now, after the defeat of the Fifteenth Prince and Eldenbao, our Great Qing's weakness has been completely exposed to everyone. What will those dogs our Great Qing raised in the grasslands do? Will they bite their master?
ps: This chapter is 4000 words! Please vote!