Zhu Jinsong let out a cold laugh and said, "Refuse? Based on those idiots?"
It wasn't that Zhu Jinsong looked down on my Great Qing, but rather, from the Treaty of Nerchinsk to the Treaty of Kyakhta, then to the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and finally the Boxer Protocol, Great Qing had truly given people no reason to look up to it.
In any case, these books, documents, and the like, like land, were not originally Great Qing's. Therefore, the old dog Qianlong wouldn't feel the pinch, even if these things could only buy temporary peace. The old dog Qianlong wouldn't mind trading them.
Besides, this matter wasn't something the old dog Qianlong could decide whether he wanted to or not.
After summoning all the big and small leaders of the military departments, Zhu Jinsong directly ordered them, "The Third Division will take Shunde Prefecture, the Second Division will take Qinghe, the Third Division will march out from Zhengjiakou, the Fourth Division will march out from Baotou Store, and the Fifth Division will directly take Qingyun, pushing the front line to the south bank of the Xuanhui River in Yanshan."
"Let's see if the old dog Qianlong wants the empire of his Great Qing or those books and documents."
...
The old dog Qianlong leaned on the soft couch, with Heshen, the Grand Tutor, standing by his side. Xu Kexin, who had returned from his diplomatic mission, knelt on the ground, happily seeking rewards and praise from the old dog Qianlong, saying, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Majesty! Fortunate to have Your Majesty's brilliant strategy and far-reaching foresight, the rebel Zhu Jinsong has agreed to peace talks."
Saying this, Xu Kexin raised the peace treaty high above his head and said, "Here is the peace treaty for Your Majesty's perusal."
The old dog Qianlong grunted and ordered, "Bring it here for me to see."
When Qianlong's trusted chief eunuch, Sandezi, handed the peace treaty to the old dog Qianlong for his perusal, the old dog Qianlong let out a cold哼 and tossed the treaty to Heshen, the Grand Tutor.
The old dog Qianlong snorted and said, "Heshen, take a look, take a look. This is the peace treaty between our Great Qing and that rebel Zhu Jinsong."
Hearing the old dog Qianlong's sarcastic tone, Heshen, the Grand Tutor, couldn't help but become curious. He bent down, picked up the peace treaty, and examined it for a moment. Heshen's face changed greatly.
Heshen, the Grand Tutor, fell to his knees with a thud and bowed to the old dog Qianlong, saying, "Your Majesty, your servant requests the beheading of the traitorous official Xu Kexin!"
The old dog Qianlong remained noncommittal. Xu Kexin, however, was greatly alarmed and asked Heshen, the Grand Tutor, "Why does Grand Tutor say this?"
Heshen, the Grand Tutor, glanced at the old dog Qianlong. Seeing that the old dog Qianlong still looked noncommittal, Heshen stood up and angrily scolded Xu Kexin, "Xu Kexin, oh Xu Kexin, even if you had signed a peace treaty of twenty million taels or even thirty million taels, this Grand Tutor would have praised you to His Majesty."
"But look, look at what you have signed!"
"The Yongle Encyclopedia, the Treatise on Military Weapons, the Illustrated Record of Curiosities, blueprints and documents of the treasure ships, and those documents from the previous dynasty. Are these things that can be traded? Huh!"
"Especially those documents from the previous dynasty. Once Zhu Jinsong, that rebel, makes them public to the world, then the History of the Ming Dynasty that our Great Qing has worked so hard to compile will become a joke, a huge joke!"
Xu Kexin thought to himself, "This is bullshit! Even without these things, isn't my Great Qing already a joke?"
But even though he thought this, being scolded by Heshen, the Grand Tutor, Xu Kexin honestly kowtowed to the old dog Qianlong and begged for punishment, "Your humble servant deserves death a thousand times! Your humble servant was momentarily careless and fell into the rebel Zhu's trap. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
The old dog Qianlong then let out a yin-yang grunt and was about to speak, but Xu Kexin hesitantly said, "However, however..."
"It's just that when Your humble servant returned, the rebel Zhu Jinsong's army had already mobilized on a large scale. Your humble servant heard those rebels say that if our Great Qing did not agree to the rebel Zhu Jinsong's conditions, then..."
Before Xu Kexin could finish his words, a series of increasingly urgent reports came from outside the hall. Soon, several urgent messengers with red feathers rushed into the Hall of Heavenly Purity and knelt to report to the old dog Qianlong, "Reporting to Your Majesty, urgent report from Shunde Prefecture! The rebel Zhu Jinsong's army has marched into Shunde Prefecture, and the Prefect of Shunde Prefecture, Su Atu, has immolated himself to martyrdom!"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, urgent report from Jizhou! The rebel Zhu Jinsong's army has marched out of Qinghe, with its sharp edge pointing directly at Nan'gong County!"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, urgent report from Hejian Prefecture, the rebel Zhu Jinsong's army has marched out of Zhengjiakou, with its sharp edge pointing directly at Gucheng County and Ningjin County!"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, urgent report from Tianjin Prefecture, the rebel Zhu Jinsong's army has marched out of Qingyun! Qingyun is in urgent danger!"
Listening to the urgent reports from one place after another, the old dog Qianlong calmly waved his hand and ordered the urgent messengers, "I know. You may withdraw."
After the messengers bowed and withdrew from the hall, the old dog Qianlong let out a cold laugh and said, "Good move, good move! The rebel Zhu is telling me that I either agree to his demands or he will march directly on the capital? Haha!"
Heshen, the Grand Tutor, seeing the old dog Qianlong like this, trembled slightly and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty?"
The old dog Qianlong continued to half-close his eyes and snorted, "Forget it. A mere few books and documents, things that were meant to be destroyed anyway, so we can give them. The priority now is to appease the rebel Zhu."
Heshen, the Grand Tutor, quickly flattered him, "Your Majesty is wise. As long as the rebel Zhu can be appeased and accept our Great Qing's enfeoffment, these books and documents are indeed nothing."
The old dog Qianlong grunted again, then suddenly changed the subject and asked, "How is the confiscation of the Prince of Yu's mansion and the Prince He'shuo's mansion progressing?"
Heshen flatteringly replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, your servant found dragon robes, jade seals, dragon flags, scepters, and other items in the Prince of Yu's mansion, and confiscated seven million taels of silver."
"As for the Prince He'shuo's mansion, your servant did not find any dragon robes or jade seals. It is likely that he was misled by Yu Feng, the son of the Prince of Yu, and thus defected. However, five million taels of silver were also confiscated from the Prince He'shuo's mansion."
After thinking for a moment, Heshen, the Grand Tutor, added, "According to Great Qing law, the people of the Prince of Yu's mansion and the Prince He'shuo's mansion should be sent to Ningguta to become servants of the armored soldiers, never to enter the pass again, and their mansions should be returned to the court."
"Including the twelve million taels of silver confiscated from the Prince of Yu's mansion and the Prince He'shuo's mansion, your servant has ordered them to be sealed and await Your Majesty's disposal."
The old dog Qianlong grunted and ordered, "Good. Take ten million taels of silver from it and give it to that rebel Zhu Jinsong. The remaining two million taels can be used to pay the banner silver to our Great Qing's loyal followers, so they won't always say that their lord,朕, treats them harshly."
Look at this, look at this. Although the treasury of my Great Qing is so poor that it cannot even come up with three million taels of silver, with the money from the Prince of Yu's mansion and the Prince He'shuo's mansion, the war reparations to be paid to the rebel Zhu will be covered!
There's even some left over, which can be used to pay the banner silver to the loyal followers of my Tatar Qing.
Moreover, even if no money was confiscated this time, the old dog Qianlong's own private treasury has plenty of money. It wouldn't be difficult to come up with thirty million taels of silver, let alone ten million taels.
Not to mention Heshen, the Grand Tutor, who is by his side. A mere ten million taels of silver is nothing.
Therefore, shortly after Xu Kexin returned to the capital, he once again brought three million taels of silver and a large number of books back to Jinan.
As soon as he saw Zhu Jinsong, Xu Kexin first sought praise, "This humble servant has brought three million taels of silver and the Yongle Encyclopedia. The remaining books are currently being loaded in the capital, and they should be transported to Jinan soon."
Zhu Jinsong's expression turned cold, and he chuckled, "I asked for ten million taels of silver, not three million."
Xu Kexin was startled and quickly nodded and smiled apologetically, "Your Highness, ten million taels of silver is not a small sum. Even if the court wanted to disburse it in full, it would take some time to gather it, wouldn't it?"
"In addition, the books and documents you specified are not only troublesome to organize but also difficult to transport. Therefore, your humble servant can only bring a portion this time. The rest will be delivered within three months."
Zhu Jinsong then suppressed the disgust in his heart and said indifferently, "In that case, I won't make things difficult for you. Go back and tell Qianlong that as long as he delivers all the things I want, I will immediately withdraw my troops and guarantee that I will not attack Zhili."
Xu Kexin smiled apologetically, "Yes, yes, your humble servant naturally trusts Your Highness."
Speaking of which, Xu Kexin's face showed a hint of difficulty again, and he tentatively asked, "Your Highness, your humble servant has one more thing, I don't know if it should be said?"
Zhu Jinsong let out a cold laugh and said, "Since it shouldn't be said, then don't say it."
Xu Kexin was a bit stunned.
Normally, wouldn't you proactively ask this official to finish speaking to show your magnanimity? Why are you not playing by the usual rules?
Damn it all!
Xu Kexin cursed inwardly while nodding and smiling fawningly, "Your Highness is joking. It's like this: before your humble servant came to Jinan, Your Majesty also sent someone to Shanxi to enfeoff Zhu Zhongzhi of Shanxi as the Prince of Jin."
"However, unexpectedly, Your Highness, for the sake of the people of Jinan and Henan, accepted the court's enfeoffment, while Zhu Zhongzhi, that rebel of Shanxi, tore up the letter and killed the envoy, refusing to accept the court's enfeoffment."
"If it were just this, then so be it. It's just that your humble servant heard that Zhu Zhongzhi, that rebel of Shanxi, once boasted that he would lead a large army into Shandong soon to completely eliminate Your Highness."
Zhu Jinsong ignored this, chuckled, and inexplicably asked, "Xu Kexin, I have never accepted the enfeoffment of the Tatars before, nor have I ever been an official of the Tatars. Therefore, I truly don't know what it feels like to be a dog for the Tatars."
"I see you are very diligent in the Tatar court. For the sake of the Tatar court, even though you know that the war between me and Zhu Zhongzhi will affect innocent civilians, you still want to instigate a conflict between me and Zhu Zhongzhi."
"Such a diligent good dog is indeed rare."
"So, can you tell me, what does it feel like to be a dog for the Tatars?"
With every word Zhu Jinsong spoke, Xu Kexin's face turned darker. By the time Zhu Jinsong finished speaking, Xu Kexin's face was like an oil painting shop, with various colors of blue, red, black, and purple alternating.
Yet, Xu Kexin did not dare to retort, nor did he dare to argue.
Seeing the ever-changing expression on Xu Kexin's face, Zhu Jinsong snorted coldly and commanded, "If there are no problems with the silver and books, consider yourself lucky. If there is even the slightest mistake, even if you can run to the ends of the earth, no one can save you!"
After speaking, Zhu Jinsong turned to Ke Zhiming, who was beside him, and said, "Tell our Mr. Xu what he ate last time he returned to the capital."
Ke Zhiming first cupped his hands and responded, then looked at Xu Kexin and said, "Mr. Xu did not return home after his last trip to the capital. He went directly to the palace to seek an audience with the old dog Qianlong. When he returned home, that night he ate meat patties and porridge, and slept in the room of his seventh concubine, Xiang Qiao'er. The next day at noon, he went to the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion to entertain the Assistant Minister of Personnel. The song he requested was 'Beating Jinzhi'. Ke hereby congratulates Mr. Xu on his imminent promotion to the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. The appointment letter is currently in the Ministry of Personnel, awaiting Mr. Xu's return to the capital."
After Ke Zhiming finished speaking, Zhu Jinsong let out a cold laugh and shouted at Xu Kexin, who had already turned pale, "Scram!"
Xu Kexin was completely desperate and didn't even know how he left Jinan Prefecture. If the rebels of Menglianggu didn't have enough informants, how would they know what he ate, and how would they know where the imperial court officials' appointment letters were?
However, it was precisely because he could figure this out that Xu Kexin became even more desperate.
Everything in the court was known to these rebels. My Great Qing...
After Xu Kexin left, Zhu Jinsong summoned the leaders of the Menglianggu rebellion group again, "Three months. Three months from now, we will first eliminate Zhu Zhongzhi, and then take Jiangsu."
Zeng Cheng frowned and said, "Great Leader, there are still civilians fleeing from Zhili, and the drought in Shandong and Henan has not completely passed. Moreover, three months from now will be winter. Isn't this too rushed?"
Zhu Jinsong shook his head and sighed, "Rushed? If I don't rush, I can't."
"Look at all these rebels in the world, they all use the banner of Emperor Chongzhen's fifth-generation descendant, but in reality, none of them care about the lives and deaths of the common people, only about extorting money and grain from them."
"If we don't quickly deal with Zhu Zhongzhi and that Zhu Zhongji in Jiangsu, I'm afraid these rebels will become stronger and attack us first."
"As for the old dog Qianlong..."
Zhu Jinsong paused and said, "No hurry for now. Give him some time to train his troops. Otherwise, if the old dog Qianlong's strength is too weak, it will affect our future plans."
Zeng Cheng was taken aback and asked, "Still want to let the old dog Qianlong train troops and strengthen his power?"
Zhu Jinsong chuckled and retorted, "Why not?"
"The Jiannu, and also greatly useful."
ps: Second update, another four thousand words. Also, recommending another book, written by a fellow book lover, "I Really Don't Want This Damn System."