Now the officialdom in Jiangnan is unstable, rumors are flying all over the sky, and even the governor will be suspicious, and he has repeatedly reported that there is a mutiny in the green camp. The court judged that about 30 percent of these mutinies were excuses, 30 percent were instigated by high-ranking officials, and the remaining 30 percent were spontaneous acts. However, there are so many problems in the morale of the military and officialdom, and it is indeed not a good time for large-scale investigation.

In addition to the auxiliary ministers, there were also several Han courtiers who participated in the decision-making of the imperial council, and the Han people did not have the right to choose or build, and the auxiliary ministers let them participate in the meeting only as a gesture of trust. These Han Chinese were also die-hard royalists, and all the Manchu and Han courtiers were inclined to adopt a policy of softness towards Jiangnan for the time being. Didn't the report sent by Jiangnan say that Zhu Guozhi's remnants of the party were Tongdeng? Although this explanation is doubtful in the imperial court, it might as well pinch its nose and admit it first, behead Zhu Guozhi, and publicly announce that the fall of the former emperor has nothing to do with the governor of Jiangnan. After the new emperor's throne was stabilized and the ambitions of those princes and ministers were suppressed, they slowly investigated.

Jiangnan officials also reported that the emperor's murderer, Deng Ming, had fled upstream with his army, apparently trying to escape through Huguang to his Sichuan lair.

"When the first emperor was there, he intended to mobilize heavy troops in Sichuan and Shaanxi, and then smashed into Chengdu to sweep the holes." At first, Sony did not oppose Shunzhi's plan, although he knew that this plan was very costly, but the Qing court had the spare power to make this attempt; After the First World War, Gaoyou Lake changed dramatically, and the southeast was a wealthy place of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, although it is only a bit unstable now, but it is necessary to prepare for the worst. Sonny played: "This time the southeast has suffered a military disaster, and Deng thieves have poisoned the place, and I am afraid that next year's taxes will be greatly affected." The servants thought that it was not appropriate for the imperial court to continue to invest troops and financial resources in Sichuan and Shaanxi. ”

Suke Saha was bent on hugging Sony's thigh, and said that what Sony said was undoubtedly right, so he hurriedly stood up and agreed: "The enmity of the emperor is not shared, but it is really not easy to move lightly at this time, and the slave thinks that he can let Li Guoying play in reality, if Chongqing really consumes too much, it is not a big deal to give up temporarily." ”

The death of Shunzhi, the fiasco of the Praetorian Guard, coupled with the successive defeats in Xiamen and Nanjing, not only lowered the prestige of the imperial court to a very dangerous point, but also began to say strange things within the Eight Banners. Especially the two white flags, yin and yang weirdly said that if it were not for the two yellow flags in charge, the situation would not have been so turbulent. The most important thing for the imperial court to avoid now is another big defeat. If it is defeated by a new heavy dà, it is difficult to say whether the imperial court will be able to deter the governors in the south and the Mongols in the north. What's more, Guizhou, Liangguang, and Fujian also have the three feudatories with heavy troops. In order to control the three feudatories, especially Wu Sangui, the strongest among them, the imperial court has always used both soft and hard, not only with a strong military deterrent from the Eight Banners, but also with preferential treatment of military salaries.

Zheng Chenggong and Deng Ming attacked Jiangnan twice before, so that the imperial court could not continue to supply a large number of supplies to Guizhou, which had already made Wu Sangui angry. Fortunately, Wu Sangui was already scared by the Manchurian Eight Banners, and he didn't dare to speak cruelly if he was resentful; But if the imperial court continues to defeat one defeat after another, so that Wu Sangui thinks that the imperial court can no longer help him, maybe he will start blackmailing the imperial court by force; Shang Kexi, who was entrenched in Guangdong, and Geng Jimao, who moved to Fujian, only had military power, and had hinted that they also wanted to gain power like Wu Fan and become a veritable state within a state, but when they saw that the imperial court made a face, they immediately said that they had no such intention. Now that the authority of the imperial court has declined, no one dares to guarantee whether these two guys will have the intention of asking for a vassal state again.

For the construction of Sony and Sukh Saha, Ao Bai also agreed. The top priority is to accumulate strength to ensure that the imperial court does not mess with itself, and the money saved can be used to stabilize the three feudatories; At the same time, it can also prepare for a new southern expedition. If Jiangnan is exposed, then the Manchus will have to go south with all their strength anyway, and there will be a new conquest to ensure financial resources.

"The slave thought that he could reiterate the agreement of the emperor to the three feudatories, especially Wu Sangui." Ao Bai said.

The Qing court had to further appease the three feudatories, and in the Shunzhi era, Ao Bai strongly advocated favoring Wu Sangui, whether it was Deng Ming's previous life or this life, this was Aobai's consistent proposition. Aobai resisted opposition within Manchuria and persuaded Shunzhi to marry Princess Jianning to Wu Sangui's son Wu Yingxiong, and asked Shunzhi to give Wu Sangui complete military and governing powers. Because Ao Bai concluded that Wu Sangui was a little rich and peaceful, these costs were enough to make Wu Sangui die of old age and death in bed with satisfaction; As for the imperial court's promise to the southwest of Wu Sangui Yongzhen, the solution can completely fall on Wu Yingxiong. First use the extravagant life and favor to make the prince of Pingxi grateful to the court, and wait until Wu Sangui's death, Wu Yingxiong is the natural lord of the vassal state, and then let Wu Yingxiong come forward to ask the court to take back the vassal state, and the emperor agreed to it. At that time, Wu Sangui's generals and elite soldiers were all dead, even if there were still people with different aspirations, but even the vassal kings were of the same mind as the imperial court, how could they make a big trouble?

In Deng Ming's previous life, Aobai's strategy was indeed quite successful. When Kangxi recklessly decided to make a move against Wu Sangui, who was about to enter the earth, and Wu Sangui decided to rebel, Wu Yingxiong still stood firmly on the side of the Qing court, and would rather die than betray Kangxi and flee; After the rebellion of the three feudatories, the courtiers still thought that Wu Yingxiong was useful, because Wu Sangui was old and could be killed at any time, and Wu Yingxiong could call on the Wu army to lay down their arms and play a role similar to Sun Kewang. But Kangxi was unmoved and ordered him to be executed. Until he was dragged to the execution ground, Wu Yingxiong was still loyal to the court and believed that he had fulfilled his duty as a loyal minister.

The three auxiliary ministers reached a consensus that the other courtiers would not oppose such a wise strategy, so the first imperial council was completed. The decree was sent to the whole country, the officials in the southeast were exempted from responsibility, and the three feudatories were rewarded -- this was also a secret threat to the unstable southeast, and as long as the three feudatories remained loyal to the imperial court, then if something really happened to the southeast, the three feudatories could immediately go north to quell the rebellion.

Although there was no explicit order in the edict to Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, the imperial court hinted that he could abandon Chongqing on his own initiative. If Governor Li proposed such a proposal, not only would he not be regarded as cowardly by the imperial court, but would think that he understood the general situation and knew what to prioritize.

Although Gaoyou Lake was a heavy blow to the Qing court, the Qing court was still quite optimistic about the prospects of the war. Both the Empress Dowager and the Auxiliary Minister are convinced that as long as they are not provoked by Deng Ming, they will still be able to level Chengdu with their absolute superiority after the imperial court has relieved itself.

The Empress Dowager announced the dissolution of the meeting, and at the same time asked the courtiers to seriously consider Huang Wu's strategy of forbidding the sea, and held another meeting of important ministers on the matter five days later.

……

A few days later, Huai'an.

Lin Qilong returned to his station, Huai'an, and did not stay in Yangzhou. Several governors have created a lot of momentum and publicized their names of loyalty and righteousness to the world, among which Lin Qilong is of course at the top of the list. It is said that the imperial court will not punish him at this time, so as not to chill the officials of the world. But Lin Qilong was not completely sure, and he could not incite the officers and soldiers of the river to rebel, so the trust of the imperial court was particularly important. Lin Qilong returned to Huai'an in order to draw a clear line with the southeastern governors who instigated the mutiny, and while waiting for the ruling of the Beijing court, Lin Qilong also thought that if the court wanted him to go to Beijing to report on his work, he should set off without hesitation, so as to convince the court that he really did not have any weakness.

When the order of the new emperor to ascend the throne arrived in Huai'an, it was already the third day of the Lunar New Year. Since it was not known whether the political struggle in Beijing would be able to determine the winner in time, and whether the new emperor would be able to ascend the throne in time for the first time, the governor of Caoyun, Yamen, was cautious in using the name of Shunzhi, and this decision proved to be correct.

After hearing that the envoy had brought the emperor's enthronement edict and the new year name for next year, Lin Qilong thought to himself: "This should be the case. ”

If the new emperor is unable to ascend the throne for a long time, it will be tantamount to suing the world that the war for the throne in Beijing will not be decided, which will only confuse the officials of the whole world and greatly stimulate the ambitions of the powerful factions from the central to the local. If Lin Qilong sits in the position of a central minister, he must also let the new emperor ascend the throne before the year, so that the world knows that the artifact has a master and the court is united.

This decree was addressed to the world and not to a specific person, so the envoy read it to Lin Qilong and the officials of Huai'an, and after reading it, he would not give it to anyone, but continued to convey it along the avenue.

After the envoy recited the contents of the holy decree, the officials of Huai'an made a prostration, and at the same time prepared to shout loudly: "Long live my emperor", which is a very simple ceremony, after everyone respects the holy decree, the angel will leave.

But Lin Qilong, who was supposed to be the leader, did not make any movement, and the Governor of Caoyun's body stiffened, fixed on the ground like a stone sculpture, and did not react at all for a while.

"Your Excellency the Doge." The person who followed him couldn't hold back and screamed softly.

"Ahh Lin Qilong woke up like a dream, hurriedly knocked his head down, and shouted anxiously: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

Although there was a small incident, the ceremony was finally completed. After the Governor of Caoyun got up, everyone saw that his face was pale and cold sweat flowed, and they thought that he was disturbed by the faux pas just now. Seeing that the governor of Caoyun was so hasty, some officials couldn't help but feel a little disdainful in their hearts, and those officials who were familiar with Lin Qilong were very puzzled, this kind of small loss of mind was nothing, they all knew that Lin Qilong's city was very deep, and it was impossible to be scared like this by such a small mistake.

The governor of Caoyun hurriedly returned to his yamen, and as soon as he entered the study, he ordered the henchman slave who had accompanied him as a hostage with the Ming army to be summoned.

"Sir, what's the new era name?" As soon as this henchman house slave entered the door, he curiously inquired about the news.

"You repeat the words that Admiral Deng said when he released the captives." The Governor of Caoyun, whose eyes were red and his hands were trembling, did not answer, but commanded viciously: "Hurry up! ”

Deng Ming's words when he released the captives made Lin Qilong also puzzled, and when he came back, he secretly discussed it with this henchman slave a few times, and although he was put aside, the house slave felt that it was unlikely that the master would forget it so quickly, but he still honestly repeated: "Admiral Deng said: The era of Shunzhi is over, and the next thing is Kangxi." ”

The house slave saw that the governor of Caoyun suddenly glared at him, looking at him with a cannibalistic gaze, and the fierce light in it became more and more intense, and he asked in fear: "Master, what did the little one say wrong?" ”

"Get out!" Lin Qilong roared violently, and the house slave crawled out with a roll. Lin Qilong stood there for a moment, then suddenly jumped up and swept all the things on the table to the ground.

"Kangxi! Kangxi! Lin Qilong roared, feeling that his head was about to explode: "How could Admiral Deng know? How could he be so sure? Why did Admiral Deng say it in front of me? Why do you say that to the Imperial Guards? Why did Admiral Deng let the court know that he had known it a long time ago? ”