Zuo Liangyu was nothing more than a rebel general; no matter how grandly he spoke, even with claims of "Clear the Emperor's side," he could not hide the essence of his betrayal.
"If the rebel Zuo wants to declare himself Emperor, he should first ask that little fellow from Pseudo-Ming," Li Zicheng sneered.
Even if he were at his lowest ebb, he would never surrender to Zuo Liangyu.
He threw away Zuo Liangyu's letter of surrender, had the envoy sent by Zuo Liangyu driven out, then glanced at He Gang.
He knew He Gang. There were only a handful of famous generals in this world; He Gang was not the most outstanding among them, but he was well known, now his position in the Pseudo-Ming was quite influential.
The Pseudo-Ming Emperor sent him, which could be considered a sign of great sincerity.
Li Zicheng looked at the Pseudo-Ming surrender letter; to be fair, the other side's imperial court was indeed more formal, adhering to ritual and etiquette more strictly than his Dashun Army from every perspective.
He stared at the letter of surrender with an unreadable expression for a long while before finally slowly opening it.
The moment it was opened, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he seemed to catch a faint scent of weeping Chinese hawthorn.
That fragrance was very faint, so fleeting that it might have been his illusion.
Li Zicheng looked at the letter of persuasion, his expression becoming increasingly serious.
Compared to how he had tossed Zuo Liangyu's letter of surrender aside not long after reading it, this had actually been quite a long time.
What exactly did the Pseudo-Ming Emperor write?
The officials of the Dashun Army all found it somewhat strange and could not help but glance at He Gang and Jiang Quan.
He Gang.. He Gang didn't even know what His Majesty had written.
Before he arrived, the Emperor specifically instructed him to hand the letter of surrender directly to Li Zicheng and not to read it himself, but to let him read it.
To be honest, this seemed a bit improper, but he was a military officer, the Dashun Emperor before him wasn't particularly particular about etiquette either, so it didn't matter much.
But.. what exactly did His Majesty write?
Li Zicheng had originally intended to read this letter of surrender with a sense of indignation; when he opened it, he was still thinking about what kind of nonsense this young brat could possibly spout.
However, when he saw the sentence, "To perceive the hardships of the people and devise policies to benefit them," he felt a flicker of surprise in his heart.
When he saw the next sentence, "The common people of the world seek nothing more than food and clothing without worry, a life of peace and prosperity," he vaguely felt that this Little Emperor indeed seemed quite extraordinary.
As for the later part where Zhu Ci promised him that he would be treated generously if he surrendered, he only glanced at it briefly before setting the letter of persuasion aside and looking at He Gang, asking, "Did your master say anything else?"
He frowned slightly; their Majesty was the Emperor, calling him Li Zicheng in such a manner was far too disrespectful.
However, he remembered the Emperor's previous repeated instructions that he should not take issue with Li Zicheng's attitude.
He shook his head calmly and said, "Your Majesty gave no other instructions."
Li Zicheng pondered for a moment before asking, "I have heard that you also once redistributed land? How was it implemented?"
He Gang??
Why are you suddenly asking about land redistribution? This is the national policy of our Great Ming; how can you just ask such a thing so casually?
The main thing was that he simply didn't know!
He Gang focused most of his energy on the army; his position was neither high nor low, not quite reaching the core, yet he did not need to personally handle every single matter.
He also did not interfere much in national policy, focusing all his efforts on earning military merit.
Regarding the matter of land distribution, he only knew a little about it.
Fortunately, Jiang Quan was still there. Jiang Quan had been by Zhu Ci's side all along, so he knew exactly what his Emperor had been doing.
Seeing that He Gang was somewhat unable to answer, Jiang Quan immediately stepped forward to explain the current policies of the Great Ming.
Matters of national policy are kept secret before they are implemented; once they are, Li Zicheng could simply send someone into the common people to ask a few questions and find out.
Li Zicheng listened quietly, the more he listened, the more he realized, understanding why the Pseudo-Ming Emperor's letter of persuasion was so gentle, with every line revealing admiration and agreement for him.
As he listened, he realized more and more where he had gone wrong.
Regarding the equalization of land and the exemption of taxes, the land equalization was correct, but the tax exemption was a massive mistake. It wasn't that taxes couldn't be exempted, but they should be based on actual circumstances rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
You could rely on looting to maintain military expenses at first, but what about later?
Furthermore, Li Zicheng's control over his subordinates was truly inadequate. After he became Emperor, it wasn't that he didn't kill people, but he killed them out of suspicion, which caused people's hearts to scatter and his reputation to rot.
Of course, Zhu Ci's reputation wasn't any better than Li Zicheng's.
However, Li Zicheng's reputation was rotten from top to bottom; the common people who had initially supported him became his enemies after being plundered.
Therefore, as Li Zicheng fled along the way, no one helped him except for his own subordinates.
Zhu Ci had even encountered instances on his journey where commoners had proactively opened the city gates for him.
In fact, Jiang Quan was merely repeating it; many times, he did not understand the reasoning behind His Majesty the Emperor's decisions.
Never mind him, even the Dashun Army officials present only had a half-understanding of it; only Li Zicheng, the Emperor, felt as if a sudden enlightenment had washed over him upon hearing it, followed by a heart full of bitterness.
He repeatedly called the boy a mere child, yet this child was more fit to be emperor than he was.
How old is that kid? He seems to be only fifteen, whereas he is already thirty-nine this year.
After listening, Li Zicheng fell silent for a long while before saying, "Heroes have been born young since ancient times."
After he finished speaking, he said nothing more, but simply ordered someone to take He Gang and Jiang Quan downstairs to rest.
Jiang Quan was somewhat confused as to whether this meant agreement or disagreement.
He Gang was relatively calm; for such a major matter, the Dashun ruler and his subjects would certainly need to discuss it, so he would just wait.
It seemed that Li Zicheng's attitude was still quite mild; at least he did not drive them out. In contrast, Zuo Liangyu's envoy had been directly carried out, leaving the originally decent-looking scholar in a wretched state, stripped of all his dignity.
After the Great Ming Envoy left, Li Zicheng directly handed the surrender petition to Niu Jinxing and said, "Take a look, Prime Minister."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: When it comes to coaxing people, I'm a professional. A cat carrying a rose. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 121
Niu Jinxing had long been curious about what exactly was written in that surrender letter that caused the Dashun Emperor's expression to become so complex.
After finishing reading it, even Niu Jinxing couldn't help but praise him in his heart: what magnanimity.
If he were in that position, he certainly could not have maintained such a good attitude toward Li Zicheng.
This letter of persuasion did not only avoid disparaging Li Zicheng, but it even highlighted his virtues to praise him.
Under normal circumstances, a high-ranking official like Niu Jinxing would certainly not want Li Zicheng to surrender.
Never mind all that, let's just fight a battle first.
High-ranking officials like them hold great power within the Dashun Army, so it is hard to say how they will be arranged after surrendering.
Look at their Dashun; not a single one has a good background. How can they compete?
However, this letter of persuasion stirred his heart, as it implicitly stated that the Great Ming was currently in dire need of talent.
Niu Jinxing thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, why not send someone to investigate the current situation of the Pseudo-Ming."
This Little Emperor's rise from obscurity to his ascension to the throne happened exactly when they were being chased southward by the Qing Army; they were already struggling to look after themselves, so how could they have any energy left to gather intelligence?
Moreover, there were several different factions in between; trying to gather intelligence was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Li Zicheng nodded and said, "I have already sent someone to investigate."
Whether it was Zuo Liangyu's envoy or the Great Ming's envoy, they had actually arrived in Wuchang long ago.
Li Zicheng was finally seen after he had been left waiting for two days.
Before this, he had already sent people to scout for information regarding these two.
Needless to say, Zuo Liangyu was utterly devoid of conscience. Back then, when the Great Ming Emperor saw that the situation was beyond salvation, he still knew to commit suicide to spare the common people from harm, yet Zuo Liangyu first killed and looted, even set fire to the city before leaving.
Li Zicheng would rather perish alongside Ajige than surrender to Zuo Liangyu.
As for Zhu Ci.. he still needed to wait and see.
Zhu Ci's letter of surrender passed from Niu Jinxing's hands all the way into Li Laiheng's hands.
The young general, who had just been newly promoted, had a strange expression on his face after reading it.
Why does this surrender letter feel so sincere? It even explains exactly why the Dashun Army failed.
Li Laiheng looked up at Niu Jinxing and asked, "Prime Minister, is what the Pseudo-Ming Emperor said correct?"
Niu Jinxing's face flushed red upon hearing this. Why did this troublesome child have to bring up such a sensitive topic? Was he insisting on making him admit that the entire civil and military officials of the court were inferior to a mere teenager?
However, he eventually nodded helplessly, Li Laiheng said, "Then we can just change it, can't we?"
Li Zicheng said, "It's not that easy."
After saying that, he rose and left the main hall, his departing figure appearing somewhat desolate.
Li Laiheng looked at Niu Jinxing, only to find that this Prime Minister was also sighing.
Both Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing knew that whether a national policy could be implemented depended not on the Emperor, but on those executing it below.
The Dashun policy of equal land distribution and tax exemption only lasted for a short time before it collapsed entirely, making it impossible to sustain in the end.
This was partly a matter of national policy, but it was more a matter of implementation.
They dared to write it out clearly in the letter of surrender because they weren't afraid of you doing this; the Little Emperor knows very well that the Dashun Army cannot achieve it, their execution capability, from top to bottom, is non-existent.
It's like saying to his face that Li Zicheng is incapable of controlling his subordinates; there is no difference from being unable to use people.
While the Dashun Army's monarch and his subjects were still here agonizing over whether or not to surrender, Zhu Ci was not simply waiting for their answer.
Ajige did not dare to move, for fear that the Dashun Army would take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, so he set his sights on Zuo Liangyu.
Zhu Ci had almost forgotten this man, but when he arrived in Huangzhou to examine the maps, he suddenly remembered that Zuo Liangyu was still out there.
According to the original plotline, after looting Wuchang, Zuo Liangyu should have gone to Jiujiang to prepare for a water route to Anqing, then onward to Nanjing.
Most importantly, if Zhu Ci is not mistaken, Zuo Liangyu will die of illness on the road to Anqing.
Then his son, Zuo Menggeng, would inherit his position and turn to surrender to the Qing Army, directly increasing the strength of the Qing Army's navy several times over.
Nowadays, Wuchang is using the Dashun Army, with him guarding Huangzhou, neither Zuo Liangyu nor Zuo Menggeng has faced pressure from the Qing Army yet, so they likely won't surrender for the time being.