A letter and memorial were delivered to the cabinet at the same time.
The letter is in the emperor's handwriting. Everyone can recognize the dog-crawling handwriting, and most people can't really forge it. The emperor's letter only talked about one thing - peace negotiation.
From the analysis of handwriting, the emperor¡¯s writing hand was quite strong, which shows that he had not been abused in any way, and he could run and jump for the most part, and he was fat and white.
This is reassuring. For the cabinet ministers, they may hate the emperor deeply, but the emperor is the emperor, and the king is the king. After learning that the emperor was safe and sound, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The other letter is a memorial letter from Liu Chengfeng.
Liu Chengfeng is now at the peak of his power. The good news has reached the capital a long time ago, and the soldiers and civilians are greatly encouraged. At this time, Liu Chengfeng is just like Yu Qian in Tumubao, and he is welcomed by almost everyone.
In any case, the threat from the Mongols is real. Once they enter the capital, they don't care whether you are a noble or a commoner, whether you are a scholar or a merchant. Everyone is in the panic of approaching the city. If it hadn't been for King Chu's efforts to turn the tide, everyone still wouldn't know what it would be like now.
So whether people like Liu Chengfeng or not, they only feel grateful to Liu Chengfeng now, but some people are more grateful and some are less grateful.
In this current situation, no one can ignore Liu Chengfeng's opinions, so his memorial has received great attention. The first person to see Liu Chengfeng's memorial was Li Dongyang, and then he put his memorial in It was circulated in the cabinet, and when everyone had read the memorial, Jiao Fang couldn't help but said: "The Queen Mother has entrusted full power to the King of Chu to handle peace negotiations, but why does the King of Chu still write to ask whether to negotiate peace? Do you have any advice? ?¡±
Everyone usually fights openly and secretly, but now there is really no need for intrigues. Yang Tinghe also feels strange. This memorial is to inquire about the details of the court's peace talks. The King of Chu has already been ordered to deal with the war in the face of danger, and Yi's decree is true. It was also specially noted that if the Mongols wanted to negotiate peace, Liu Chengfeng would have full authority to make the decision.
But at this time, the King of Chu came to write a memorial, but for what purpose? It would not be impossible for the King of Chu to write a letter explaining what happened. No one would say that he was monopolizing power, but this vassal king asked what to do now, whether to fight or make peace?
Li Dongyang lowered his head in silence, but thought of something, and said: "I understand, the King of Chu does not want to negotiate for peace? Think about it, if the King of Chu wants to negotiate for peace, why do you need to ask the court? Unless the King of Chu does not want to negotiate for peace and intends to continue He will only report to the court for questioning if the fight continues. He is afraid of bearing the consequences, so that when the time comes, the imperial envoy will impeach him for disregarding His Majesty's safety."
Yang Tinghe and Jiao Fang were shocked. Of course they knew that the Ming army had taken the absolute initiative. Judging from the situation, now was indeed the best time for the Ming Dynasty to annihilate the Mongolian army in one fell swoop. The Mongols had fallen into the trap of King Chu. There is nowhere to escape even if you want to. If you continue to stay, it will only be a matter of time before the entire army is annihilated.
This is of course a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but there is one problem that no one can avoid. The Mongols still have the emperor in their hands. This is the Mongols¡¯ trump card. Once the Ming army continues to press, who can guarantee what the Mongols will do to the emperor? Something happened?
Total annihilation failed, but the peace talks were unwilling. I am afraid that this is what the King of Chu is thinking now.
The problem is that if peace is not negotiated, what will the emperor do?
Liu Chengfeng was naturally unwilling to take on this responsibility, so he kicked the ball to the cabinet.
Or rather, the kick was given to Jiao Fang.
Jiao Fang smiled bitterly in his heart. He now understood that this memorial from King Chu was not for the court, but for himself.
The King of Chu did not want to negotiate peace, but the political risks involved in not negotiating peace were too great, so there must be a legitimate political reason. In other words, someone had to convince Queen Mother Zhang to agree with King Chu's political views.
But the problem is, Li Dongyang, Yang Tinghe and Liu Chengfeng have no stake, so why should they run for you, and the matter involves the emperor, who dares to put his head on his belt to support Liu Chengfeng?
¡°Then only Jiao Fang is left. Jiao Fang has taken refuge with Liu Chengfeng and is now a lackey under King Chu¡¯s sect. Now someone offers him a look, does Jiao Fang dare to refuse? So he had to personally take action in this matter, and he had to obtain the Queen Mother Zhang's decree no matter what. This was the tragedy of a lackey, who would always be taken advantage of.
The problem is that Jiao Fang had to be used by Liu Chengfeng. He was able to join the cabinet first because of Liu Jin and then because of Liu Chengfeng's support. In fact, Jiao Fang was notorious in the court and was far less stable than Yang Tinghe and Li Dongyang. , once he loses the King of Chu as his backer, there is no need for the King of Chu to deal with him at all. Tomorrow, the envoys and six ministries of each department will make him anxious.
Jiao Fang sighed inwardly, was silent for a moment, and said: "This matter is of great importance, and the Queen Mother still needs to make the decision. How about this? I will bring the memorial to the palace and ask the Queen Mother to make a decision. What do you think?"
Li Dongyang nodded and said: "That can only be the case. King Chu is the coach after all. It is Zhan Shi and he who can see it most clearly from the front, so he must have his own opinions. As for the Queen Mother, she also has her own considerations. Hey, Mr. Jiao Since you have to go, just do what you want."
Seeing that Li Dongyang and Li Dongyang had no intention of creating any trouble, Jiao Fang felt relieved and quickly set off for Kunning Palace.
Queen Mother Zhang has also begun to interfere in some government affairs these days. In the past, she had a husband and didn't have to worry about it. Later, she had a son after all, so she didn't have to do it herself. But now if she doesn't take charge, the consequences will be unimaginable.
When she heard that Zhu Houzhao had a letter, Empress Dowager Zhang was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly received Jiao Fang. After Jiao Fang saluted, she first handed the emperor's letter and memorial to Empress Dowager Zhang to read.
After reading it, Queen Mother Zhang frowned. She was silent for a moment and asked: "What does the King of Chu mean by submitting this letter? Didn't the Ai family already order him to have full authority to handle it? Why is there still a memorial to ask?"
Jiao Fang replied: "There is a problem at the moment. The Mongols are at the end of their rope, so they asked for peace. The King of Chu did not dare to take it lightly, so he did not dare to agree easily, so he asked the Queen Mother for instructions."
Empress Dowager Zhang nodded and said: "He is just too cautious. He was not like this in the past. When the late emperor was here, he was very bold. But the matter is serious now, so it is reasonable for him to come to ask for instructions." It should be that the Mongols are determined to put the emperor back, which is a good thing. If this is the case, then naturally it is important to negotiate peace as soon as possible."
Jiao Fang had already prepared a plan before coming, and said seriously: "This is easy to say, but it is a bit difficult to do. The Mongols are now at the end of their rope, so they naturally hope that I, the Ming Dynasty, will open up. They are holding the emperor hostage, so they must be They asked me, the Ming Dynasty, to let them out first, but the question is, if they get out of the gate and the emperor is still in their hands, will they still be willing to let them go?"
Jiao Fang focused on this issue. In fact, his choice was right. Since it was a transaction, and there was no credibility in matters between the two countries, how should this transaction be done? If it were Daming, he would naturally propose to hand over the emperor first and then let them out. But the question is, will the Mongols believe in the Ming Dynasty?
And the conditions proposed by the Mongols must be to leave the customs first and then release them. In the eyes of Ming Dynasty, can the Mongols be trusted?
Queen Mother Zhang was so shrewd that she immediately understood the key to this and sighed: "So this matter needs to be carefully considered?"
Jiao Fang nodded and said: "Yes, if you are a little negligent, not only will the emperor not be able to come back, but also the efforts of hundreds of thousands of my Ming army may be wasted. That's why the King of Chu dare not make the decision."
Queen Mother Zhang said: "Is there any other way? I, the Ming Dynasty, will never do anything contrary to his promise. Can you persuade the Mongols to let them release the emperor first?"
Jiao Fang smiled bitterly and said: "In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, the Mongols are cunning people who go back on their word, but in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, I, the Ming Dynasty, are also extremely cunning. They have always called us cunning Han people. Just relying on some rhetoric is not enough." Maybe we can persuade them, after all, the lives of hundreds of thousands of them are at stake.¡±
Although Queen Mother Zhang is eager to save her son, she has to admit this. The important prerequisite for a transaction is that each other can trust each other before, but now no one trusts the other, so what kind of mutual trust is there? Empress Dowager Zhang said: "Jiao Fang, you are a cabinet minister, what can you do? The Ai family only wants the emperor to be safe. As for everything else, we can discuss it."
Jiao Fang said sternly: "Actually, His Royal Highness the King of Chu has already found a solution. The reason why he came to ask the court what he wanted was actually because he did not want to negotiate peace. Madam, hundreds of thousands of Mongolian troops are now trapped in the pass and have become nothing more than meat on the chopping board. , at this time, the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of them are already in the hands of my Ming Dynasty. In fact, although the emperor falls into their hands, he is the safest and will never be in danger."
If the Mongols dared to touch the Ming Emperor, hundreds of thousands of them would not even think about going back. So Jiao Fang continued: "That's why His Royal Highness the King of Chu dares to be indifferent to the Mongols' peace talks, because the King of Chu is not afraid of any danger to the Emperor. As long as the Mongols are in the pass for one day, His Majesty will be absolutely safe. And now, if you want the Mongols People obey my Ming Dynasty's advice, and the only way is to continue fighting until the Mongols are hurt and frightened. At that time, not only can the emperor return safely, but also the serious problems that have plagued my Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years can be solved. The Ming Dynasty has already experienced two Tumu Fortress Incidents, and there cannot be a third time. The humble minister was bold and asked the empress to put state affairs first, and issued an edict to order the King of Chu to abandon the peace negotiation and fight to the death with the Mongolian army!"
Chapter 2 is delivered. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe and reward (this site). Your support is my biggest motivation.)