Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1129 Mu Tianen

Haoge stood up and bowed, his voice choked with sobs and his eyes even glistening with tears, which made Zhu Shenzhui secretly admire him.

This guy is not a rough guy at all, he is obviously a smart man. This made Zhu Shenzhui feel a little embarrassed.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Shenzhui said, "You can't go back to Liaodong. I think you know the court's policy towards Liaodong. Letting you go back to Liaodong is not only against the policy, but will also make all the officials in the court uneasy. In addition, it will not be good for the court's subsequent strategy of setting up a province in Liaodong."

Haoge's heart sank. Although he had expected this, when these words actually came out of Zhu Shenzhu's mouth, Haoge finally gave up.

You know, as a Jurchen, Liaodong is their homeland! Even though he knew the court's subsequent resettlement policy for the Liaodong Jurchens, including the Eight Banners, he was still hopeful. If he could stay in Liaodong, although he could not return to the glory of being the eldest son of the emperor, Prince Su, anyway, he would be much freer in Liaodong than in the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, this hope was not great before, and now it is completely shattered.

Hauge did not say anything, but just lowered his head and continued to listen to what the emperor said, not daring to express his inner thoughts.

Zhu Shenzhui continued, "The promise we made in Korea is still valid. I will give you a second-class Shunyi Marquis title, with a first-class salary, and it will be hereditary. How do you think?"

His heart, which had just cooled down, suddenly became hot again. Haoge couldn't help but look up at Zhu Shenzhui. Seeing Zhu Shenzhui looking at him with a smile, Haoge hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. I bow to thank Your Majesty!"

After saying this, he stood up and bowed again.

Hauge did not expect that he could get a second-class marquis title. The titles of the Ming Dynasty were the same as those of the Qing Dynasty, or in other words, the titles of the Qing Dynasty were set up by Huang Taiji according to the Ming Dynasty, except that there were additional special titles such as Beizi and Beile.

In the Qing Dynasty, there was also a title of second-class marquis, which was not low. Although it was far inferior to his original title of Prince Su, it was considered a good level among the Eight Banners nobles.

And how can the titles of the Qing Dynasty be compared with those of the Ming Dynasty? In name, the Qing Dynasty was a country, but in reality, at the peak of the reign of Huang Taiji, it only occupied Liaodong and had influence over Mongolia. In other words, the territory of the Qing Dynasty was only the size of one province of the Ming Dynasty, and its population was even smaller. The difference in value was huge.

Before coming to Beijing, Haoge had thought about the arrangements that the Ming Dynasty would make for him. He thought about it and estimated that he could only get a title of Earl at most, which was a good reward for a surrendered person like him. But he did not expect that Zhu Shenzhui would give him a hereditary second-class marquisate today. Although the name of this marquisate was not very good, the so-called Shunyi Marquis sounded like a title for surrender, but a marquisate was still a marquisate after all, and the emperor also specially treated him with the salary of a first-class marquisate.

Zhu Shenzhui's voice continued, "According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, since you are the Shunyi Marquis of the Ming Dynasty, you should change your name and surname, and you can no longer use your previous name. What do you think about this?"

"Your Majesty, I will not hide the truth from you. I have long wanted to change my name, but I have not received your permission. I am worried that the name I change to will not be what your Majesty wants, so I am thinking of bringing this up after I see your Majesty. Now that your Majesty has mentioned it, I dare to ask your Majesty to grant me a name as a token of your grace."

"Haha, your idea is not bad. Let me think about it..."

Zhu Shenzhu thought for a moment and said, "How about this? You just said that you have no regrets in seeing the Emperor's face today. If that's the case, I will grant you the surname Mu and the name Tianen. How do you think?"

"Mu Tianen?" Hauge thought of this name in his mind. This name sounded meaningful and easy to pronounce. Especially since it was a name given by the emperor, how could Hauge refuse it? No matter what the emperor's real intention was in giving him this name, he would certainly accept it.

"Your Majesty, I, Mu Tianen, thank you!" Haoge... No! Mu Tianen was delighted and thanked the emperor for giving him his name. Seeing him like this, Zhu Shenzhu nodded with satisfaction and then told Mu Tianen that since he had the title of Shunyi Marquis, he would not be short of military ranks and positions. He would be given the rank of General Dingguo according to Zhang Xianzhong's example, and at the same time, he would be appointed as a councilor in the General Council Office.

It was impossible to lead troops, but he was allowed to keep 180 personal soldiers, which was the same treatment as other marquises. In addition, Zhu Shenzhui gave Mu Tianen a task, which was to cooperate with the court in the future disposal and placement of the Jurchens, including the Eight Banners nobles. To put it bluntly, he was used as a knife to deal directly with fellow Jurchens. This would not only completely cut off his future influence among the Jurchens, but also test his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty in this way. Mu Tianen agreed without thinking. Of course, he knew the emperor's intention, but now he had no other choice. Since he had surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, obtained a title, and had the surname and name given by the Ming emperor, would Mu Tianen consider anything else?
Nothing is as important as himself. The Qing Dynasty has fallen. Wouldn't it be better for him to be the Shunyi Marquis of the Ming Dynasty in peace? At least his wealth and splendor are preserved, including his wife...even his wife and children are preserved. As for the life and death of others, what does it have to do with him?
The result of meeting Hauge this time was quite good. This guy was quite tactful and smart. Zhu Shenzui liked to deal with smart people. If Hauge had any concerns or refused to answer his questions, Zhu Shenzui would not be polite to him, let alone treat him so well.

Since Haoge was willing to become a minister of the Ming Dynasty, it would be fine to treat him well. Moreover, Haoge played a significant role. With him, it would be much easier to deal with the Jurchens and the Eight Banners nobles in the future. As for whether Haoge had any selfish motives, Zhu Shenzhu was not worried. In his opinion, most of these Jurchens, especially the Eight Banners nobles, deserved to die. The latter were stained with the blood of the Ming Dynasty. It was impossible to kill them by mistake. It was the same whether they killed more or less. As long as it did not affect the overall situation, some minor problems were insignificant. What's more, Haoge was only assisting in handling this matter, and he was not the one who really made the decision.

After Haoge left, Zhu Shenzui summoned his second assistant Zhang Zhifa, told him about the matter, and asked the cabinet to draft an edict to carry it out.

Although Wen Tiren has not officially resigned, in fact Wen Tiren is basically no longer responsible for the daily affairs of the cabinet, and most of his powers have been transferred to Zhang Zhifa.

The next step was to wait for Wang Jinwu to return to Beijing, and Wen Tiren officially resigned from the position of the cabinet's chief minister, and then Qian Qianyi was added to the cabinet. So now the person in charge of the cabinet is Zhang Zhifa, who is Wen Tiren's younger brother and has always followed Wen Tiren's lead. Although he temporarily took over the power of the chief minister, he knew his own weight.

When Wen Tiren was around, it was Wen Tiren who made the decisions. If Wen Tiren let go, then he would just listen to the emperor's orders. Zhang Zhifa's tactfulness allowed Zhu Shenzhu to further strengthen his influence on the cabinet. After learning the emperor's intention, Zhang Zhifa agreed without thinking, and then drafted an imperial edict. After the emperor reviewed it and found no problem, he stamped it with the cabinet seal and had the Silijian approve it, and then issued it.

After doing all this, Zhu Shenzui asked Zhang Zhifa to leave and concentrated on thinking about the matter of Prince Song Zhu Mincheng and Charles II.

Yesterday, Zhu Shenzhu summoned Charles II and formally asked him about his previous request. Regarding this matter, Charles II told the emperor his thoughts very frankly and also made generous promises. To be honest, these promises were quite tempting to Zhu Shenzhu himself.

Although the UK is not strong now, it is still a regional power in Europe. Zhu Shenzhu knows better than anyone what the UK will look like in the future. This is the country that replaced Spain and became the second empire on which the sun never sets! Especially since the two countries are far apart, they are not opponents from a regional political perspective, but can become allies instead.

Considering the situation in Europe and the changes in the future world, coupled with the fact that the Ming Dynasty was about to enter the Age of Exploration and intervene in the competition for the New World, becoming an ally of Britain at this time would not only do no harm to the Ming Dynasty, but would also be beneficial.

So after getting the promise from Charles II, and when Zhu Shenzui expressed that he could sign an alliance in the official name of the Ming Dynasty and Britain, Charles II agreed without hesitation.

With this covenant, even if Charles II is not yet the real King of England, it is enough for the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, it is a foregone conclusion that Charles II will become the King of England. Cromwell's rule in England will not last long, and the British people, including the nobles, still intend to let Charles II ascend the throne. From this perspective, cooperation now is like sending charcoal in the snow, which is far better than icing on the cake in the future.

In this way, the two sides drafted a covenant and signed it in the name of the emperor and the king, completing the exchange of their respective interests.

Zhu Shenzhu promised Charles II as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty that he would help him return to Britain and ascend the throne. Charles II also promised that as long as the Ming Dynasty did this, when he became the real King of Britain, Britain and the Ming Dynasty would be allies. Whether in Europe, the Far East, or even in the New World, Britain would cooperate with the Ming Dynasty in a series of economic, cultural, political and military fields without harming the interests of Britain, and promised this in the name of God and the King.

After the alliance was completed, Zhu Shenzhu decided to select 1,000 soldiers from the Eight Banners to give to Charles II, and also gave him some elite firearms of the Ming Dynasty as equipment. These exceeded Charles II's original needs, which made Charles II ecstatic and grateful to the Ming Emperor.

With the emperor's consent, Charles II immediately began to prepare to go to Liaodong, select his subordinates to form an army, and then reorganize and choose a time to return to Europe.

After all, this would take time, and it would take more than half a year to complete. Adding the journey back to Europe and other preparations, it would take nearly a year. Calculated from this time period, when Charles II returned to Europe, it would be about the same time as he had expected.

(End of this chapter)