Regarding the procedure for the exchange of prisoners, Lang Tingzuo and Liang Huafeng disagreed, with Lang Tingzuo wanting it to be done in secret, while Liang Huafeng advocated that it should be done publicly.

In the script negotiated between Lang Tingzuo and Deng Ming, the governor of Liangjiang was definitely not exchanged back - this made Lang Tingzuo feel too humiliated, but was "robbed" by Liang Huafeng from the Ming military camp. Therefore, Lang Tingzuo hopes that all transactions will not be known, so as not to lead to his future miraculous escape will also be associated with "transactions". Liang Huafeng benefited from this script, so he initially supported secret transactions, but soon Liang Huafeng found that this was impossible, and he had no way to release a large number of Fujian prisoners out of the city without knowing it.

Liang Huafeng absorbed the lessons of Guan Allegiance, and did his best to flatter the Manchurian soldiers, not only never letting the Manchurian generals who were traveling with him take the lead, but also admonishing his subordinates to give up the best mounts to the Manchurian soldiers. After hearing that Deng Ming had dozens of Manchurian generals in his hands, Liang Huafeng had been thinking about how to exchange them for good life, so as to win the greater favor of the children of the Manchurian Eight Banners -- if the exchange was carried out in secret, how could Liang Huafeng take the opportunity to boast about his exploits? And after these Manchurians came back alive, it was impossible to keep the secret.

According to the original script, Liang Huafeng earned a reputation for bravery, and Liang Huafeng felt that the latter was more valuable than showing his loyalty to the Manchurian soldiers. Therefore, Liang Huafeng not only publicly announced that he would exchange prisoners, but also caused a storm in the city, making everyone in Nanjing well-known.

There are now only more than 2,000 Manchurian families in Nanjing, and after the Battle of Zhenjiang, Nanjing's Manchurian Eight Banners lost thousands of banners, and many families died of men, and many other families only had one man left. The circle of Nanjing's city is not large, the banner people don't look up and don't look down, although there are not many Manchus who were caught by Deng Ming, but the Manchus in the city know them, if they can't come back, there will be dozens of families who will die on this male Ding Ding left.

It is precisely because of this that when Liang Huafeng began to blow the wind to exchange prisoners, a large number of Manchurians came to visit - this situation was not unusual at the end of the Qing Dynasty, but in the Shunzhi period of the early Qing Dynasty, Liang Huafeng suddenly had a feeling that his face was as big as a mountain. The first to visit are the wives who are concerned about their husbands, or the old mothers who have come for her last son. However, soon, a male xìng banner man couldn't bear the favor, and also came to Liang Huafeng's camp to ask for an exchange place for the youngest son of his seventh aunt and eighth aunt.

So many flag people begged for their heads, of course, Liang Huafeng couldn't help but be happy. Not long ago, when he personally led his subordinates' best mounts to the Manchurian soldiers, the other party did not thank him, but took the reins with a reasonable expression, and turned his nostrils to the sky and got on his horse. However, there are joys and worries, more than 50 Manchurians who were captured by Deng Ming have relatives and friends who came to ask for places, Liang Huafeng can not afford to offend anyone, a short list of ten people was written and torn, torn and written, and it was still not determined after two days of tossing.

Liang Huafeng didn't dare to designate the list of people by himself, but he couldn't find the right person to help with ideas. Originally, the commander of the Eight Banners of Jiangning garrison was a good candidate, but now this person is already a street rat in the city of Nanjing, and everyone is eager to bite him down with two pieces of meat, and Liang Huafeng will definitely refuse to give him this opportunity to win favors. Another suitable candidate is Lang Tingzuo, the governor of Liangjiang, who is also a banner man of the Han army and has a high status, but Lang Tingzuo is currently living in the Ming military camp and it is not easy to communicate, and the governor of Liangjiang is not willing to wade into troubled waters when his identity is delicate, so he categorically rejected Liang Huafeng's request, and only replied with seven big words "Admiral Liang acts cheaply".

Liang Huafeng hesitated for another day, and Deng Ming, who was outside the city, couldn't bear to wait, and sent a messenger to ask what the hell was meant by it?

Liang Huafeng reluctantly told the envoy that he had respectfully asked Mancheng to give him the list of the first batch of exchange personnel, and five people had been determined. Because the city is now full of dragons without a leader, and it is a matter of the lives of relatives, there are endless quarrels in the city, and it is optimistically estimated that it will be another day before it will be known.

After listening to the envoy's report, Deng Ming immediately ordered that all 50 Manchurian prisoners be pulled out, and five people were drawn up in groups to draw lots, and ten minutes later a list of exchange personnel was drawn up and sent to Nanjing.

After determining the timetable, Deng Ming informed Lang Tingzuo of the incident and invited the other party to visit the Ming army to supervise the exchange of prisoners, so as to confirm to Lang Tingzuo that he was true to his word.

Lang Tingzuo happily accepted Deng Ming's invitation, and asked Deng Ming to provide various makeup supplies, so as not to be recognized by others, and finally specially instructed: "The old man must be rescued by Liang Huafeng." ”

"As long as the officers and soldiers of Fujian come back safe and sound, Governor Lang's wish will definitely come true." Deng Ming assured him again.

The next day, Deng Ming first released 200 soldiers of the Green Battalion. He didn't intend to kill these soldiers in the first place, and if they were released in the name of exchange, he could save two hundred taels of silver in severance pay. But officials in Nanking did not allow the soldiers to enter the city, fearing that there would be a mix of Ming soldiers.

At this time, Liang Huafeng had also taken more than a hundred scrawny Min soldiers out of the city gate, and after untying the ropes on their bodies, he let them return to the Ming army camp on their own.

Today, on the tower of Wengcheng, which is closest to the exchange of prisoners, there are hundreds of flag soldiers standing densely, all of them watching the movements of the Ming army with their eyes, for fear that Deng Ming will repent. However, Deng Ming did not have any intention of breaking the contract, and when he saw the Qing soldiers in the distance untying the Ming army, he ordered the ten bannermen to be put back.

When these ten bannermen silently walked back to the gate of Nanjing, the clansmen in the city looked at them with mixed feelings. They were the first batch of prisoners to be released alive since the Later Jin Dynasty fought against the Ming Dynasty, and in the past, no matter any Ming army, as long as they caught the bannermen, they would not hesitate to behead them. It is precisely because they know that there is no way to survive if they surrender, so the Manchurian bannermen will resist to the death on the battlefield. None of the bannermen who were captured this time were captured because of the suddenness of the incident or because of their exhaustion, and none of them surrendered voluntarily. But instead of abusing them, Deng Ming gave them the same diet as the other captives.

Liang Huafeng, who was waiting in front of the city gate early in the morning, greeted him with a smile on his face with his personal guards, and greeted these prisoners with a cold greeting. It's a pity that Deng Ming is not nearby, and he didn't have the opportunity to witness Liang Huafeng's diligence with his own eyes, otherwise he would definitely feel that the other party is a good material to play the puppet army in the anti-rì movie, if Liang Huafeng knows how to shout "Taijun" twice, it will be even more perfect.

The released Fujian prisoners of war trembled in front of the Ming army's position, and they didn't know what kind of treatment they would receive.

"All the strong men have suffered," Deng Ming strode forward and saluted them with his fists: "Deng Ming, the governor of the lower Jiangnan River." ”

Almost everyone in Nanjing will talk about Deng Ming outside the city, and even if these Fujian soldiers didn't know it before, they are now very clear about Deng Ming's identity. After seeing Deng Ming saluting them, the Min army, who was originally an ordinary soldier, knelt down and kowtowed. A few others shouted in a contrite tone: "The villain is greedy for life and afraid of death, and his sin deserves death." ”

"Why did the strong man say this?" Most people spoke with a Hokkien accent, but Deng Ming understood the words of one or two people, and he hurriedly helped up a soldier who was lying in front of him and wept bitterly.

Immediately, many Ming army auxiliaries rushed over to help up these tortured Ming prisoners, and they also carried stretchers to lay down the Fujian soldiers who were obviously physically exhausted, and then carried them back to the camp.

Most of these Ming army auxiliaries came from nearby areas and were men who had recently joined the army. Since the Ming army encamped in Nanjing, not only have a large number of people around come to join the army, but Anqing has reported that there are many strong men who have recommended themselves to the army and want to join the Ming army as soldiers to eat food. Deng Ming asked Li Laiheng to conduct a careful screening and try to pick those bachelors to stay. In addition, there are some people whose families were ruined by the Qing army, and these soldiers are not so nostalgic for their homeland, even if the Ming army retreats to Huguang, they can take them with them.

Deng Ming had already ordered the whole army to welcome these prisoners with the greatest enthusiasm. When the auxiliaries returned to the camp with these released prisoners of war to change clothes and eat, the Ming troops in the camp stood on both sides and cheered to them. This was a departure from the usual practice, where captured soldiers were treated with scorn as soft-boned cowards. But Deng Ming thought this was not true, and before the prisoner exchange, he explained to Li Laiheng and Zhang Huangyan: "Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and when the situation is critical, should we encourage the soldiers to flee or encourage them to resist firmly?" Obviously, we can't encourage flight, or we will miss a lot of opportunities to turn defeat into victory. And if the soldiers resolutely resist, then they are much more likely to be captured. I thought that we should make the soldiers not ashamed of being captured, but ashamed of fleeing; And we should let the soldiers know that we will do our best to save our comrades who have fallen into the hands of the enemy, and do everything we can to get them back safely. ”

Deng Ming's grand courtesy obviously made the soldiers of the Yanping Domain very uncomfortable, and they all felt guilty in their hearts, and tried their best to stop the respect expressed by the people around them. However, their purpose was not achieved, and when the soldiers entered the barracks and lay down to rest, Lang Zhong, who had been waiting for a long time, began to check their injuries, and Deng Ming also came again with his guards to offer condolences.

Shut down

After the condolences, Deng Ming made a short speech to the Ming soldiers outside the camp, he said: "I have always believed that when facing a strong enemy, the most important thing is the weapons in hand, because this can win victory for us; But when defeat is inevitable, the most important thing is the fate of the kings. Now that the Tartars have occupied most of China, the vast majority of the people have been forced to submit, and only the remaining hot-blooded men are still fighting, and you are one of the few strong men. If, I mean, there is a defeat in the war, and I hope that you will fight bravely to the end, and your persistence may allow more of your comrades to escape. Then, you should do your best to save your life, and not discard it rashly, let alone feel ashamed of surviving. Because you have already fought a battle, you should live with confidence. As long as you are alive, we will have a chance to meet again. ”

After finishing speaking, Deng Ming turned around and left in front of everyone, and the soldiers silently saluted Deng Ming's back. The veterans felt that this was a completely different commander, while the recruits were talking. Today's scene and Deng Ming's speech just now is a huge subversion of their traditional concepts. Even Lang Tingzuo, who came to watch in disguise, felt that what was happening in front of him was incredible. After he learned the content of Deng Ming's speech from the mouth of the Ming army, he couldn't help but ask himself in his heart: "When I return to Nanjing, will I receive such a warm welcome?" ”

The act of exchanging prisoners also gave the Qing army in Nanjing a new idea, they used to think that the Ming army might attack at any time, but since Deng Ming was willing to exchange prisoners, it means that his strength is limited and it is unlikely to capture Nanjing, otherwise why would Deng Ming make another move?

Emperor Shunzhi, who was far away in Běijīng, also felt that he was becoming more and more incomprehensible to the shape of the southeast. Not long ago, when Zheng Chenggong invaded the Yangtze River, several couriers from Nanjing arrived in Běijīng every day, repeatedly begging the Qing court to send reinforcements quickly, and repeatedly declaring that the Nanjing dynasty was not in danger. However, after Deng Ming arrived at the city of Nanjing more than ten days ago, although there were a few urgent letters at first, then both Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu said that the imperial court did not need to rush to send reinforcements, and there was no need to urge the first batch of reinforcements of Commander Dasu.

Later, Da Su also sent back a recital, saying that he had received news from Nanjing, saying that the Qing army and sailors on the Yangtze River had been destroyed and could not guarantee that he would cross the Yangtze River safely, and that Nanjing had told him not to go south at full speed, but to try to collect the ships on his own. Although Nanjing's words seemed to be very reasonable, it was obvious that they were not looking forward to the early arrival of reinforcements, which made Shunzhi feel puzzled.

As time went on, the southeast shape shì一rìx became worse than 一rì, and the latest report received by Běijīng three days ago said that Ma Fengzhi had absconded back to the army and incited his subordinates to rebel, and now Wusong Mansion had fallen into the hands of Ma Fengzhi, as if he still had signs of marching towards Changzhou Mansion.

Although Deng Ming's troops were not as strong as Zheng Chenggong's, the Qing army in the southeast was also far weaker than before, and Shunzhi felt that the situation was more critical than before Zheng Chenggong withdrew his troops. However, the judgment of the Nanjing officials seems to be completely different from that of Shunzhi, and Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu are still singing high-pitched words, saying that they have absolute confidence in holding Nanjing. After seeing the recital, Shunzhi was anxious and angry, and shouted: "Where did they get their confidence? ”

The day before yesterday, Liang Huafeng's recital also arrived in front of the imperial court, claiming to have led the Jīng soldiers into Nanjing to participate in the defense. He also joined the chorus of Jiang Guozhu and Guan Allegiance, claiming that Nanjing was impregnable, and Deng Ming, the clown who jumped off the beam, was absolutely helpless against them; Moreover, Liang Huafeng also claimed that Dasu's reinforcements did not need to hurry up, they could go slowly, and if they really had to cross the Yangtze River, they might as well go to Changzhou first to reinforce and suppress Ma Fengzhi's rebellion -- Liang Huafeng also claimed to have absolute confidence in holding Nanjing.

After seeing this letter, Shunzhi was completely stunned, he counted the troops over and over again, it was clear that the shape was so sinister, how could the people in Nanjing City be more confident than the other? I really can't figure it out.

On this issue, Ao Bai can't help. The Qing court obviously sent reinforcements, to help the defenders of Nanjing instead of looking for trouble, why did they desperately push them out one by one? Shunzhi had already decreed that as long as he kept Nanjing, he would not blame Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu for the past, and Ao Bai felt that they should understand the importance and should also know that the imperial court would definitely not let Dasu trouble them before the Ming army retreated...... However, forget it, Ao Bai thought that these two people had been frightened, so he didn't want to say anything to Nanjing; But Liang Huafeng, he shouldn't have anything to worry about, why is he so "confident", is Nanjing really good?

Today, Guan Allegiance sent another letter of loyalty, saying that he planned to play Deng Ming like Zheng Chenggong and play another trick. At the end of the recital, Guan Xiaozhong did not forget to continue to show confidence, saying that Nanjing was all right, and the imperial court did not have to worry. Shunzhi became popular when he saw it, don't you have confidence? What do you do if you have the confidence to surrender? Isn't it to stall for time? But you said you don't want reinforcements to hurry up, so what's the use of delaying time?

At the same time, Liang Huafeng's recital was also sent, in which he first boasted about the strong defense of Nanjing, and then began to sing praises for Guan Allegiance's plan to surrender, and said that he had made up a plan to exchange prisoners with Deng Ming, and use this to paralyze Deng Ming.

"Are they all crazy?" Shunzhi threw the chapter to Aobai: "Liang Huafeng said that he could exchange the captured people with the prisoners of the Fujian army and silver, and said that Deng Ming did not kill the flag man - will he not kill it?" Even if he didn't kill, could he change the prisoner and make the other party believe that Jiang Ning wanted to surrender? ”

"It's not that they want to pay the ransom fee, it's making excuses." Sonny guessed, "If you can buy the thief with money, it's a good idea to delay time." ”

"If the thieves have the ability to capture Nanjing, they will not ask for a ransom fee, and it will not be theirs to take Jiangning? If the thieves can't defeat Jiang Ning, why do they have to pay a ransom fee? Ao Bai looked puzzled, and scratched his bare head shell a few times with his hand, but he couldn't scratch out the thoughts and inspiration: "If it's to delay time, why don't they urge reinforcements?" ”

While Běijīng's Qing court was thinking wildly, Liang Huafeng was actively preparing for a second prisoner exchange. After the first successful exchange, many officials in Nanjing also got involved, and some of their relatives or confidants were captured, hoping to return together. Although there were not many Manchus who were released, after seeing them enter the city safely, the relatives of the remaining forty or so captives also gave birth to hope, and went all out to move around the city to facilitate the next prisoner exchange.

But now there were not many Fujian prisoners in Nanjing, and most of the ordinary soldiers of the Yanping Domain were beheaded by the Qing army, and in addition to the 100 who were particularly lucky, there were dozens of Fujian officers left. Because the Qing army felt that they might get some information about Zheng Chenggong from them, they did not execute them, but locked them in prison with Gan Hui and Yu Xin.

"Deng Ming said that these people can be exchanged for twenty banner men, plus one hundred officers and soldiers of the green battalion we designated." Liang Huafeng came to the door with a group of flag men today, slapped the table and shouted to Jiang Guozhu: "Does the governor agree?" ”

"These are all the leaders of the sea rebellion, maybe they can dig something out of their mouths." Jiang Guozhu felt that this deal was not cost-effective, and the officers were not as valuable as small soldiers.

But the flag people didn't do it, for them, the Ming army prisoners, both officers and soldiers, were Fujian Yankees thousands of miles away, but if they couldn't save the captured flag people, several families would be wiped out. Those crying and crying family members made the entire banner people in the city have a sense of sadness for the death of rabbits and foxes, and they did not forgive: "These sea rebellions were all captured by Admiral Liang, and Admiral Liang agreed to let them go, Admiral Liang has already said that he is the only one to blame the court, why does Governor Jiang have to make a hindrance from it?" ”

Finally sent Liang Huafeng away, Jiang Guozhu said to Guan Zhongzhong, who rushed to hear the news: "Liang Huafeng has already gained the upper hand, just now he shouted that he would release Yu Xin and them, and the Manchurian soldiers still applauded." Liang Huafeng said that if Deng Ming disagrees, he can add money to ransom people, even if one person gives 10,000 taels, it is not impossible. Doesn't this dog thief know that if he gives money to the thief, the thief will use the silver to recruit troops and horses, creating more trouble for the court? ”

Guan Xiaozhong was silent for a long time, and said slowly: "In order to deal with us, Lang Tingzuo and Liang Huafeng have already ignored a single thing, if they are allowed to sell the country like this, sooner or later Deng Ming will completely ignore us and plant all the charges on our heads with them." ”

…… Eating the rice sent from Nanjing, Zhang Huangyan suddenly said to Mu Tan, who was sitting under Deng's name: "You taught these tricks to the admiral, right?" ”

Mu Tan hurriedly waved his hand and said, "What does this have to do with lowly duties?" ”

"This is obviously the trick of the king of Yanping." Zhang Huangyan snorted. He was a little unaccustomed to Deng Ming's extortion of Nanjing, and felt that it was a violation of the imperial court system, similar to the behavior of kidnappers. But he also knew that Nanjing was difficult to capture, and there was no better way to rescue the Fujian prisoners, so he had to let it go.

"Has the King of Yanping done the same?" Hearing this, Deng Ming asked curiously.

"yes." Zhang Huangyan said that after Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Manchu Dynasty, although Zheng Chenggong resolutely refused to surrender, the morale of the army was fluctuating, many people were eye-catching with the Manchu Qing, and many generals took their subordinates and baggage to defect to the Qing court, which was the most dangerous period for Zheng Chenggong.

In order to gain time to reorganize the army, Zheng Chenggong actively negotiated with the Manchus. During the negotiations, under the pretext that surrender was imminent, he asked the Manchus to be responsible for the salaries of the Zheng army, and took the opportunity to lead the army to collect grain and grass and recruit soldiers in the Qing-controlled area. When the Qing court agreed to Zheng Chenggong's conditions for recruitment, he immediately turned his face and fought the Qing army again; After the victory, Zheng Chenggong will immediately re-propose the conditions of negotiation, start a new round of Zhao'an talks with the Qing court, and at the same time enter the territory of the Qing court again to recruit troops and grain. For a time, the local officials of the Qing court were miserable, and they wrote letters demanding that the Qing court immediately meet Zheng Chenggong's requirements and try their best to recruit Zheng Chenggong to reduce the burden on the local government.

Through repeated negotiations with Zhao'an, Zheng Chenggong survived the most dangerous period and rebuilt an army that was on the verge of disintegration because of his father's surrender.

"It turns out that the king of Yanping still has such a past." Deng Ming laughed out loud after hearing this.

"After all, it will lose the imperial system." Zhang Huangyan shook his head again and again and sighed.

While everyone was laughing, a herald entered the camp and whispered a few words in Deng Ming's ear.

After confirming the news, Deng Ming called Zhang Huangyan and Li Laiheng to an unmanned camp and said to the two: "A messenger from the king of Yanping County has just come to the camp, and he has brought a message from the king of Yanping County -- the king of Yanping himself is rushing to Nanjing. ”