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

Chapter 873 Candidates

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten what happened to Yuan Chonghuan? Yuan Chonghuan was the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao in the Ming Dynasty. He forged an imperial decree to kill Mao Wenlong and then sold grain to the emperor. Why do you think he did this? Is Yuan Chonghuan really incompetent? Or is he disloyal to the Ming Dynasty?"

"No! Yuan Chonghuan is still a man no matter how bad he is. If he really wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, wouldn't it be better for him to lead his troops to surrender to the emperor when the Qing Dynasty entered the pass and attacked the Ming capital during the Ji Yi Rebellion? If he did so, he would not only escape Chongzhen's punishment, but he could even make great contributions to the Qing Dynasty. With the emperor's magnanimity, what if he made Yuan Chonghuan a king of a different surname?"

"But Yuan Chonghuan didn't do that. But looking back at what he did before, is there a contradiction between the two? In fact, this is easy to explain. Although Yuan Chonghuan was loyal to the Ming Dynasty, he was also loyal to his own interests. Ming Dynasty officials are like this. To put it bluntly, they want to be whores and also want to be saints. They are short-sighted and hesitant. There are many people like Yuan Chonghuan. These people may not be able to accomplish things, but they are more than enough to fail."

"Well said!" Huang Taiji's eyes lit up as he listened, and he looked at Fan Wencheng with admiration. Fan Wencheng really deserved to be his trusted think tank! He analyzed the complicated situation clearly and even came up with a practical solution.

Just when Huang Taiji was delighted and was about to ask Fan Wencheng how to do it specifically, someone suddenly came to report that an envoy had been sent by the Solon tribe.

"The Solon people are so bold!" Huang Taiji got angry when he heard this. The Solon tribe had taken advantage and had the courage to send an envoy. Did they really think that they could compete with the Qing Dynasty by getting some weapons from the Ming Dynasty? Just when Huang Taiji was about to have someone drive the Solon envoy away, Fan Wencheng, who seemed to be thinking about something, persuaded Huang Taiji to stop.

Fan Wencheng said that since the Solon tribe had sent an envoy, Huang Taiji would have to meet him anyway. If the Solon people really came to show off their power, it would only take a word to kill the envoy. What if the other party came for other purposes? It would be inappropriate to drive them away without even hearing or seeing them.

Huang Taiji was a man who listened to advice. After thinking about it, he suppressed his anger and ordered someone to bring the envoy of the Solon tribe over.

After a while, the envoy of the Solon tribe met Huang Taiji. As soon as he saw Huang Taiji, he knelt down and kowtowed respectfully, and stated his identity and origin.

Later, the envoy of the Solon tribe said that he was asked by their leader, Dular Bomubogor, to ask Huang Taiji why the Qing Dynasty sent troops to attack the Solon tribe, which had always been respectful to the Qing Dynasty. What mistakes did the Solon tribe make?
The previous war was not what the Solon tribe wanted. It was entirely because the Qing Dynasty and the Mongols attacked the Solon tribe without any warning. In order to protect themselves, the Solon tribe had no choice but to resist and won by chance.

But even if they won the war, the Solon tribe had never thought of officially going to war with the powerful Qing Dynasty, let alone offending the Qing Emperor Huang Taiji. This time they came specifically to state the matter and give an explanation, and also brought an apology from the Solon tribe to the Qing Dynasty to show their sincerity.

Finally, the envoy said that as long as the Qing Dynasty did not regard the Solon tribe as an enemy, the Solon tribe would not take the initiative to be hostile to the Qing Dynasty. Of course, the Solon people were not soft persimmons that could be manipulated at will. If they really reached a point where they could not retreat, even if they had to fight to the last Solon, the Solon tribe would fight to the death with the enemy who intended to annex the Solon tribe.

There are only Solon people who died in battle in this world, and there has never been a Solon people who are servile and afraid of death. I hope the Qing emperor can understand this. If the Qing emperor has no objection, Dular Bomubogor is willing to continue to coexist peacefully with the Qing as before. The Solon tribe respects the Qing as its master and pays tribute every year. I hope the Qing emperor will show mercy and let the Solon tribe go and give them peace.

After listening to the words of the Solon envoy, Huang Taiji sneered in his heart. Dular Bomubogor had a good plan. Did he really think that he had the bargaining power with the Qing Dynasty after winning the battle? In name, he came to explain and seek peace, but in fact, he was warning and threatening. He was just telling Huang Taiji not to push the Solon tribe too far, otherwise they would break up. Even if the Solon tribe was wiped out, they would fight the Qing Dynasty to the end.

With a flash of anger on his face, Huang Taiji was about to shout for someone to come in and drag this daring Suolong envoy out to chop off his head. But at this moment, Fan Wencheng persuaded Huang Taiji, gave him a complicated look, then smiled and talked to the envoy for a few words, then asked the envoy to withdraw, and arranged for him to stay temporarily and treat him well.

After the messenger left, Huang Taiji was about to ask, but Fan Wencheng laughed first.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"Mr. Fan, what's the reason for your joy?" Huang Taiji was stunned and asked in confusion. Fan Wencheng smiled and said, "Today, the Solon tribe sent an envoy and proposed that the two families stop fighting. After that, the Solon tribe will still be a vassal of the Qing Dynasty and respect the Qing Dynasty as its master. This shows that Dular Bomubogor has no intention of really wanting to fight to the death with the Qing Dynasty and going south to start a war."

"From this, we can see that although the Solon people have benefited from the Ming Dynasty, they were not instigated by the Ming Dynasty to provoke a war between the two families. Moreover, Dular Bomubogor was worried that the emperor would be furious and blame him, so he sent an envoy to explain. This also proves that even if the Solon tribe is stronger than before, it is still possible to fight for it. Isn't this a good thing?"

"Now that you put it, it seems to be a good thing." Huang Taiji understood Fan Wencheng's meaning and said after thinking about it.

Fan Wencheng smiled and said, "Not only that, since the other party wants peace, why shouldn't the emperor go with the flow? If we can appease the Solon tribe first, it will not only be beneficial to our Qing Dynasty, but also give us more opportunities."

"Chance?"

"Yes! Opportunity!" Fan Wencheng nodded heavily. "Just now, I said that Dular. Bomubogor is the key to the emperor's annexation of the Solon tribe. As long as this person is gone, the Solon tribe will not be a threat. Since he sent an envoy today, the emperor agreed to it, but even if he agreed, he could not agree completely. He could send some people to the Solon tribe. It is natural for the two families to send envoys to each other peacefully. As long as people go there, they can not only find out what happened between the Solon tribe and the Ming Dynasty, and understand the real situation of the Solon tribe, but also take this opportunity to find possibilities. It would be even better if they can instigate internal disputes. As long as Dular. Bomubogor has some accidents or even dies of illness, then what is there to fear for the Solon tribe?"

"Apart from this possibility, it might be feasible to instigate the Solon tribe and the Ming Dynasty. Even if it fails, it will not be a loss for the Qing Dynasty. Anyway, the emperor has no intention of destroying the Solon tribe for the time being. In the final analysis, he wants to annex the tribe for the use of the Qing Dynasty. Isn't this more appropriate than sending troops to fight a decisive battle?"

"Haha! Hahaha!" Huang Taiji burst into laughter. Fan Wencheng's words touched his heart immediately. Huang Taiji, who had not figured it out just now, now completely understood Fan Wencheng's intention. Not to mention that his idea could really be implemented if he thought about it carefully. Once successful, the gains would be huge. Just as Fan Wencheng said, Huang Taiji did not want to completely destroy the Solon tribe, nor did he plan to send a large army to conquer the Solon tribe immediately. Since that was the case, why not take this opportunity to go with the flow?
Not only that, Fan Wencheng also suggested a two-pronged approach, that is, while targeting the Solon tribe, also send people to the Ming Dynasty to cause trouble. It would be best to go to the south of the Ming Dynasty and provoke confrontation between the north and the south of the Ming Dynasty. It would be even better if a civil war could break out in the Ming Dynasty.

As for how to do it, Fan Wencheng also thought about it. Fan Wencheng said that on the one hand, he could bribe the officials and gentry groups of the Ming Dynasty and spread rumors in the Jiangnan area to provoke the confrontation between the north and the south and the contradiction between the local and the central government. In addition, he also had to take action against the princes of the Ming Dynasty, especially the close relatives of the Ming Dynasty royal family, that is, the contradiction between the princes of Zhu Di's lineage and the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shenzhui.

After all, since Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Campaign, the imperial family of the Ming Dynasty has been transferred from the descendants of Crown Prince Zhu Biao to Zhu Di's lineage. From the Yongle Emperor to the Chongzhen Emperor, there have been fourteen emperors and more than two hundred years of continuity. The replacement of the throne has always been in the hands of Zhu Di's lineage, and now Zhu Shenzhu replaced Zhu Di's lineage with the descendants of the King of Jin, which is equivalent to changing the inheritance of the imperial family of the Ming Dynasty. This is not only a result that the abdicated Emperor Chongzhen cannot accept, but also something that Zhu Di's lineage of princes and clans cannot bear.

Although on the surface the princes had acknowledged Zhu Shenzhui's ascension to the throne, there were definitely many who were indignant and dissatisfied with this result in private. These people were all royal family members, with high status and noble blood. Could they be willing to watch their family fall into the status of ordinary royal family members?

Fan Wencheng thought that there would be people who were dissatisfied, and since this was the case, there was an opportunity to take advantage of it. In particular, the Fu Wang family, who was the closest to Emperor Chongzhen, was the first choice. You must know that Fu Wang was the son of Emperor Wanli and the uncle of Emperor Chongzhen. In order to make his son the crown prince, Emperor Wanli fought with the civil service group for many years. Although he did not succeed, Fu Wang had the highest status among the kings. Now Fu Wang Zhu Changxun lived in Luoyang, and Zhu Shenzhu became the emperor. How could Fu Wang not feel lost?

In addition to Prince Fu, there was also Prince Lu. Prince Lu was the only younger brother of Emperor Wanli. Emperor Wanli was extremely kind to his younger brother and even ignored etiquette and held a grand wedding for Prince Lu, the scale of which even exceeded that of ordinary princes.

The contemporary Prince of Lu is Zhu Changxun, who is the nephew of Emperor Wanli and a close relative of the Ming royal family. Like Prince of Fu, wouldn't he have any thoughts about Zhu Shenzhu occupying the throne?
In addition, there are several other princes in the same situation. If these princes can win over a few of them and unite with the civil service group and local gentry to launch an attack, regardless of whether they can succeed or not, it will be enough to make Zhu Shenzhu suffer. Once the Ming Dynasty is in civil strife, then wouldn't the Qing Dynasty have an opportunity?

"I have two people who can do this. As long as the emperor agrees, I will send them out. When they arrive in Ming Dynasty, combined with my arrangements, they will definitely bring a surprise to the emperor." Fan Wencheng said confidently.

Huang Taiji was overjoyed and immediately asked who the two men were. Fan Wencheng smiled and told Huang Taiji that he knew these two men and they were not outsiders. One of them was Fan Yuwei, the grandson of Fan Yongdou, a Shanxi merchant, and the other was even more famous. He was Yuan Chongyu, the younger brother of Yuan Chonghuan, the former governor of Ji and Liao in the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)