A five-year-old man with short stature and circled legs, but with a shrewd face, was brought to the great tomorrow under the watchful eyes of a soldier of the forbidden army. However, when he came to Zhu Qi Town, which was still four or five zhang away, he was forced to stop by the soldiers with knives and guns: "Come and stop, if you have anything to say, just say it here!" ”

This one didn't mind, according to the rules of seeing the Great Khan on the grassland, he first landed on one knee, and bowed to the young emperor in front of him with his hand on his chest, and then said: "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I came today not to be an enemy of you, on the contrary, I am here to help you." ”

"Help us? How dare you say that? Several soldiers on the side couldn't help but sneer and refute. Yes, his own family was forced to retreat to this mountain by the Mongols, and was surrounded by them, and the other party dared to say that.

It was Zhu Qizhen, who was also gloomy at this time. However, the Son of Heaven has his own majesty, and he can't talk nonsense like an ordinary soldier, so he immediately said: "Although my army was successfully attacked by you because of a moment of carelessness. But don't be too complacent, this place is my Ming territory after all, and there are countless border troops guarding it, so soon, they will be able to come to the rescue. When the time comes, it's hard to say who wins and who loses! ”

"Your Majesty the Emperor, you are right, the strength of our steppe tribes is not as good as yours, if there are more reinforcements to kill, our situation will be even more dangerous." To everyone's surprise, the messenger did not refute, and generously admitted his own weakness.

But before the monarch could feel a hint of joy, he continued: "However, when the time comes, the casualties of your Ming army will also be extremely huge, and they will far exceed our people. Not only that, but if the reinforcements you are talking about arrive a few days late, the fate of these hundreds of thousands of troops on the mountain will also be very miserable. Because we have already found out that there is very little water in the vicinity, and you are short of water in the three armies now, so it will not last long! ”

"You ......" The biggest problem of his family was broken by the enemy, and Zhu Qizhen's face suddenly changed, and he almost stood up from his seat. Fortunately, he reacted quite quickly, and after realizing that this might be a temptation of the enemy, he endured it and replaced it with a sentence: "It's just nonsense, although there is a shortage of water nearby, but this mountain has made my army dig several wells with sweet water, which is enough for my army." ”

Seeing that the Son of Heaven could react in this way to frustrate the other party's spirit, several courtiers showed a look of relief. It seems that this encounter is not all bad, at least it has made our Majesty a lot more mature and stable.

The envoy didn't panic at all when he heard this, but just smiled indifferently: "Really? It seems that we are a little self-inflicted. Originally, I thought that I would take this as an opportunity to talk to your majesty the Emperor and eliminate this war, which is very unfavorable for both you and me, in a more amicable way. Now it seems that it is impossible for you to back down, so forget it, wait a few days, and then see the difference. ”

After saying this, this person did not hesitate at all, and bent down again to salute, and put on a posture of wanting to say goodbye.

Although he has done a lot of this play, he is still full of loopholes in the eyes of many old fritters in officialdom, knowing that this is just a means for him to retreat into advance. The best response to this is to ignore it, and then he will naturally turn the conversation back. And in this way, it is your own family that takes the initiative.

But our Emperor His Majesty was deceived by him, and he couldn't hold his breath and said something to him: "Slow! ”

As soon as he opened his mouth, the faces of all the civil and military officers changed, but the envoy showed a smile, hurriedly turned his body and looked ahead: "I don't know what else you have to order, emperor?" ”

"You say you intend to end this war, but do you mean it?" Zhu Qizhen hurriedly asked. To tell the truth, after experiencing the changes of these two days, he has long regretted it in his heart, and only thinks about leaving this dangerous place and returning to the capital. So as soon as someone gave him such a glimmer of hope, he subconsciously followed.

"That's nature, otherwise why would I venture up the mountain? This is what our master meant, and he also feels that it is not a good thing to end up with a lose-lose situation. ”

After a pause and another glance at Zhu Qizhen, he continued: "But depending on what you mean, Your Majesty the Emperor, this battle is inevitable. Then I can only go back and convey your meaning to our Taishi, and then let the army prepare for a decisive battle. ”

"Actually, this battle may not have to be fought...... the emperor was even more panicked when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "You talk about it first, how can you be willing to withdraw from the army?" ”

The other party was waiting for him, so he immediately said: "Actually, our grassland departments don't want to start a war with the Ming Dynasty, it's really that the officials in your border town are bullying too much this time, so we have to raise troops." ”

"You are reversing black and white, it is obvious that you grassland people do not obey the laws and regulations of the field, kill people at will, and even send troops to invade my Ming border, which caused the current situation!" Before he finished speaking, officials jumped out and directly objected.

But the envoy didn't want to argue with him, because he knew that in terms of eloquence, he couldn't beat these civil officials, not to mention that there were dozens of them. So he just looked at the great tomorrow in front of him: "Your Majesty the Emperor, no matter what, this time you are still trapped here by my grassland warriors." So, if you want us to retire, you'll have to agree to a few conditions......"

"Presumptuous! I am a great and brilliant country, how can I be coerced by you! Several officials shouted again.

"Zhongqing, please dissipate your anger first, and listen to what he has to say before making a decision." Zhu Qiyu finally opened his mouth at this time, and glanced at these guys who kept opening their mouths with some annoyance. Now that there is finally a turnaround, why can't they stop for a while?

The Son of Heaven opened his mouth, and these officials could only obey the order, turn around and shut up and say nothing more. In fact, they also know that if they continue to fight, they will probably be unable to escape death, after all, they are all weak scholars, and they have no power to protect themselves on the battlefield. However, the integrity of being a minister made many of them unable to accept the situation that the Son of Heaven was coerced to retreat.

It wasn't until they retreated that the messenger continued: "Our conditions are actually very simple, first, Your Majesty the Emperor, you will severely punish those murderers who killed my steppe tribesmen in this conflict, and I have a list here. As he spoke, he handed over a piece of paper with dozens of names written on it.

After Zhu Qizhen took a look, his face suddenly sank, all the important officials and generals mentioned above were important officials and generals in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty, and even Hu Sui, the chief soldier of Datong, was among them.

The envoy's words continued: "Second, this time our grassland departments have suffered great losses, so we need the Ming Dynasty to compensate us for our losses. We don't want silver or gold, but if you are willing to provide us with food for three years, and the utensils and supplies necessary for the ministries, it will be sufficient. I have also listed the specific names and numbers of these materials. As he spoke, another slip was handed over.

The faces of the officials became more and more ugly, this was Chiguoguo's blackmail, which was equivalent to forcing Daming to sign the alliance under the city. This is really a great insult and unacceptable to all.

But because the emperor had just spoken, no matter how much dissatisfaction they had, they could only endure it.

"Third, before we withdraw our troops, you must hand over thirty officers as hostages. In this way, you can be sure that you will abide by the first two covenants. I wonder what His Majesty the Emperor is willing to do? ”

The three conditions are not harsh, including Zhu Qizhen, everyone's faces have become extremely ugly. If they did so, they would become an existence that was ridiculed by later generations like the Song Dynasty.

But the current situation looks more critical than the Northern Song Dynasty when the alliance was signed, not only is it surrounded by enemies on all sides, but there is also a shortage of water and food on the mountain, so it can't hold out for long. Do they dare to refuse each other's demands at all costs?

In the end, after a long silence, Zhu Qizhen spoke: "This matter is very important, even I can't make a decision immediately." Can you go back first, and then send someone down when we have a decision? ”

"Yes. However, we can't afford to delay too much time, and I hope His Majesty the Emperor can understand. He nodded his head in agreement, then saluted again, and under the gaze of everyone's resentful eyes, Shi Shiran turned around and left.

"Your Majesty, we must not accept such conditions!" Seeing that the envoy was leaving, the ministers finally moved, and they all knelt on the ground and complained bitterly to the Son of Heaven.

In fact, the emperor is also well aware of this, if he really agrees to all the conditions and does it, he will inevitably bear a great infamy in the history books, I am afraid that it is worse than Song Gaozong Zhao Gou and others. But when the words came to his mouth, he hesitated a little, after all, his life and death were at stake.

At this time, Wang Zhen, who had not spoken for a long time, finally spoke: "You are so bold, you dare to threaten Your Majesty like this!" Do you really have no kings and no fathers to the point of preferring to watch Your Majesty being killed by the Tartars? There are 100,000 Tartar horsemen surrounding us outside, and what else can we do but agree to their demands for the time being. ”

"Wang Zhen, you are harming Your Majesty!" Someone couldn't help but echo and choked: "If Your Majesty agrees, even if you can return to Beijing safely, how will the people of the world view this matter?" In the future, where will the dignity of my Ming remain? ”

"Your Majesty, don't make a wrong decision because of a moment of confusion!"

"I hope Your Majesty will think twice before acting...... the ministers suddenly knelt down and said in unison.

Faced with the appearance of such an admonition from an official, Zhu Qizhen's original thoughts were suddenly shaken. And Wang Zhen watched from the side, but his face was pale and pale, and he couldn't do it......