There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 205 Those who advocate peace will be executed!
Wuchang.

The imperial envoy's boat carrying Liu Yong and Ji Xiaolan was detained, and they were received by Chen Xinghuai, the governor of Hubei Province of the Han Dynasty.

Chen Xinghuai was transferred from Jingzhou to Wuchang three months ago after Nie Yu declared himself king, and was promoted to governor of Hubei.

The situation in Wuchang and Hanyang was quite special, as the territory was extremely dilapidated and nearly half of the local officials in Hanyang were severely understaffed.

Wuchang was even more difficult. The Han army could only control the prefectural city. The rest of the area was either out of reach or controlled by local militias, who simply flew Han flags.

In addition, these two prefectures are located in strategic locations, so they were not appointed as prefects. Instead, a high-ranking official who could keep order and supervise military affairs was needed.

Chen Xinghuai gave Liu Yong and Ji Xiaolan a brief reception. He was also quite bewildered, as he had only been in Wuchang for three months when the Qing court had already sent people to negotiate peace with them.

Although Liu Yong insisted that he had come to offer amnesty, Chen Xinghuai was not stupid and could tell what the other party really meant.
News of the Qing court's peace negotiations and the arrival of its envoys in Wuchang was immediately transmitted back to Jingzhou via radio.

The Prince of Han's Mansion.

Nie Yu is convening a small meeting with the civil officials of various departments of the cabinet.

Wang Ruoyu laughed and said, "The pseudo-Qing actually sent an imperial envoy to negotiate peace with us. They can do such an absurd thing. It seems that the pseudo-Qing is already overwhelmed. This is a good thing for our Great Han!"

Lin Wenchang also smiled: "Since the puppet Qing wants to negotiate peace, the initiative is in the hands of our Great Han. We can take this opportunity to ask the puppet Qing court for exorbitant prices, for real gold and silver, for military expenses and supplies."

Gu Jing proposed, "We can demand money and provisions, and we can also demand a title. Your Majesty can take this opportunity to force the Qing envoy to acknowledge Your Majesty's title if he truly wants peace. If the Qing agrees, Your Majesty will then be the rightful King of Han, not a traitor who rebelled against the Qing, and the Qing's prestige will suffer a severe blow. If the Qing does not agree, Your Majesty will still be acting in accordance with Heaven's will, expelling the Tartars and restoring China!"

……

Everyone chimed in with their suggestions.

Nie Yu observed the whole thing coldly, letting the ministers speak freely for most of the hour. Liu Jun, who hadn't said a word from beginning to end, suddenly shouted, "Gentlemen, please listen to me!"

"..."

The hall fell silent instantly.

Liu Jun stepped forward: "Your Majesty, we absolutely cannot negotiate peace!"

These words caused an uproar, with everyone confused about what Liu Jun was trying to say.

Nie Yu asked expressionlessly, "Why can't we negotiate peace?"
Liu Jun cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty, since the day our Great Han rose up, the banner we have carried has been to overthrow the Qing and restore the Han. If we were to negotiate peace with the pseudo-Qing now, how could we be considered to be overthrowing the Qing, or to be restoring the Han?"

Lu Zhihong couldn't help but remind him: "Minister Liu has misunderstood. What we mean is not that Your Majesty really wants to negotiate peace with the pseudo-Qing. The so-called peace talks are just a pretense, a way to deceive and appease the pseudo-Qing."

"I'm afraid that in the end, I'll end up fooling myself too."

Liu Jun sneered, “Your Majesty, history records countless instances of peace negotiations throughout the dynasties, all of which ended in the death of the ruler and the destruction of the state. Just as Minister Lü said, this peace negotiation is a sham… Heh, there is no such thing as a sham peace negotiation in the world; what is fake will eventually become real.”

"If our Great Han were to negotiate peace with the puppet Qing now, not only would the strategic advantages we have already gained be lost, but frankly speaking, who can guarantee that the officials and people of our Great Han would continue to oppose the Qing and restore the Han after the peace negotiations?"

"Since peace has already been negotiated, why should we continue to fight and risk our lives? What's wrong with enjoying ourselves?"

Though the words were crude, the principle was sound; these words instantly awakened the group that had just been trying to negotiate peace.

That's absolutely right!
They can indeed negotiate peace now, but after the negotiations, even if they know it's just a sham, many people will definitely lose their original drive.

Even if we don't talk about others, these few ministers and cabinet ministers themselves can't guarantee whether they can maintain their original intentions after the peace talks.

If the pseudo-Qing dynasty were to grant them outrageous demands, such as allowing them to rule over Huguang as hereditary Han states and establish their own independent regimes, most of them would probably choose to remain in a corner of the country, just like the Three Feudatories in the early years of the pseudo-Qing dynasty.

If the Qing dynasty hadn't later forcibly reduced the power of the feudal lords, the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories might never have occurred before Wu Sangui's death. This is quite possible; the Qing dynasty's initial agreement to allow the Three Feudatories to remain independent for so long might have been motivated by a desire to buy time by also allowing the Han Chinese to establish their own independent regime in Huguang.

This might have been considered a loss of sovereignty and national humiliation for other dynasties, but for the puppet Qing dynasty, they never considered this place as their own country.

In short, the son sells his father's land without a second thought.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the Qing court even considered abandoning the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan because it had moved the Southern Ming. However, the surrendered Han officials and generals insisted on destroying the Southern Ming, dragging the Qing court into continuing the war.

Liu Jun led the charge and charged the tower. Nie Yu, no longer standing idly by, stepped in and declared, "It's a good thing that the Qing Dynasty wants to negotiate peace with us, but it's only a good thing. The Qing Dynasty can request peace, but our Great Han absolutely cannot agree to peace!"

"why?"

"Because the great cause of our Han Dynasty's uprising today is to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, restore the Han Dynasty, expel the Manchus, and restore China. If we were to make peace with the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, what Qing Dynasty would our Han Dynasty be fighting against? What Han Dynasty would we be restoring?"

These words were extremely blunt, practically exposing the very political legitimacy of the Han Dynasty.

While peace talks may seem beneficial to the Han Dynasty, they could actually put the Han Dynasty in a politically passive position, as peace talks would mean abandoning the original anti-Qing legal basis.

Nie Yu shouted the slogan of "Overthrow the Qing and restore the Han," a slogan that seemed to have little use in normal times, but was indispensable.

If we negotiate peace with the Qing dynasty, no matter what conditions and benefits they promise, the final result will be that the Han dynasty will be inferior to the Qing dynasty and will be regarded as a vassal of the Qing dynasty by the people of the world.

The previous anti-Qing and restoration of Han rule was about expelling the Manchus; but to rebel against the Qing and restore Han rule after becoming subjects would be tantamount to regicide and betrayal.

Sun Quan of Jiangdong knew that he should first declare himself emperor and then ally with Shu (Shu Han) to resist Wei. Otherwise, he would be the only one among the Three Kingdoms to be the King of Wu, which would put him at a disadvantage in terms of righteousness and legitimacy.

It must be said that Sun Quan was very good at seizing opportunities. He first developed his power in a lowly manner for a few years, and only after his national strength increased did he take advantage of the weakness of Shu and form an alliance with it to resist Wei. Through this condition, he obtained Zhuge Liang's reluctant recognition of his imperial throne.

Although this comes at a price...

Nie Yu took a deep breath and said sternly, "I'd like to inform you all that I will never agree to peace talks. Anyone who speaks of peace talks from now on will be executed!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Jun was the first to step forward: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Everyone came to their senses and followed suit, bowing with their hands clasped in greeting.

Using "I" at the beginning indicates a polite tone, while using "alone" at the end signifies a formal announcement.

After his statement intimidated the officials, they returned to the main topic and continued to discuss how to deal with the two puppet Qing imperial envoys in Wuchang.

Liu Jun spoke first: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, when two countries are at war, envoys are not to be killed. This peace envoy can be sent away without much concern!"

Wang Ruoyu shook his head: "Wouldn't that make them come all for nothing? We can receive them in Wuchang first, deliberately leave them waiting for a few days, and then make an outrageous demand for conditions that they absolutely cannot agree to. We can also subtly reveal that our Great Han has joined forces with the White Lotus Sect and is preparing to attack Sichuan and Shaanxi next spring."

Strategic fraud!

Regardless of whether what they say is true or not, would you dare to bet?

What if the Han army really attacks Sichuan and Shaanxi and seizes these two places?

The strategic initiative is now in the hands of the Han, while the puppet Qing forces are insufficient, having lost over 100,000 regular troops in one fell swoop, equivalent to one-fifth of the country's total military strength. This is not something that can be replenished in a short time.

(End of this chapter)