When he returned to the post office, Xiao Yongzao was still angry about what happened today. After sitting down, he couldn't help but scold the shameless thief, especially when he scolded He Xianzu loudly, looking at his posture, he wanted to eat his flesh and sleep with his skin.

"Mr. Xiao, the seller who seeks honor will be punished by God. It is useless to say more now. I have seen the internal thief today. His arrogance is really arrogant and he rejected the peace talks and ceased the ceasefire proposed by us. I wonder what Mr. Xiao thinks?" Cha Shenxing persuaded him and turned the topic to the main topic.

Xiao Yongzao snorted coldly and said, "The Southern Thief is nothing more than being a strong man on the outside and being a mysterious man."

"What if the thief in the south really crosses the river and attacks north? What will happen according to Mr. Xiao's opinion?" Cha Shenxing asked.

Xiao Yongzao opened his mouth and wanted to refute it, but before he could say it, he closed his mouth again. Cha Shenxing was not an outsider, and there was no need to refute it in front of him to maintain the dignity of the court. Moreover, this time when he went south to Jiangning, the two of them were the main envoy and the other was the deputy. The purpose was to negotiate and communicate with the southern thieves and complete the tasks assigned by the imperial court. Moreover, Xiao Yongzao had served as the Minister of War and was familiar with military affairs. He saw the strength of the southern thieves throughout the journey. If the southern thieves did not have the intention to cross the river and attack north, it was impossible, but if the other party really did this, there would be no confidence in whether Yangzhou could defend him.

Seeing that Xiao Yongzao did not speak, Cha Shenxing had guessed his thoughts and immediately sighed and showed a worried look on his face. The two of them sat at each other for a long time, but Cha Shenxing still asked again: "What do you think of this thief Zhu Yicheng, Mr. Xiao?"

"This person..." Xiao Yongzao was hesitant. Before coming, he had some early judgment of Zhu Yicheng. As a young man who had risen from an unknown young man in just one year, he had risen from Jiangnan at such a fast speed, and he fought eastward and west to occupy Jiangnan and Taiwan from the Qing Dynasty. In addition, what he saw and heard from Jiangning, this person should be a hero.

But when I saw him today, I was disappointed and felt that Zhu Yicheng was just an ordinary young man and didn't look ordinary. Moreover, Zhu Yicheng spoke less than ten words today. On the contrary, several major officials of the Southern Thief, such as Liao Huanzhi, Wu Sidao, Dong Dashan, etc., showed aggressiveness. This was completely different from the idea of ​​Zhu Yicheng before the meeting, which was really strange.

After thinking about it, Xiao Yongzao then expressed his feelings. Cha Shenxing nodded and said that he felt the same way. It seemed that as he was the name, he could not use Zhu Yicheng at all. More importantly, Zhu Yicheng did not directly reject the conditions they proposed in the end, but instead discussed it again. This seemed to feel a little confused.

Perhaps, there are other unknown secrets inside the Southern Thief? This idea suddenly flashed through the minds of the two of them. They were all human beings in the officialdom for a long time, and they immediately started to discuss it softly, and finally felt that they could break a breakthrough from Liao Huanzhi.

At this moment, Zhu Yicheng was quietly thinking about the meeting with the Qing envoy today.

Wu Sidao had long made some judgment on this, mainly because Zhu Yicheng expanded too quickly, and the fall of Jiangnan and Nanjing was a major blow to the Qing court. In addition, the world was full of wars, and both Yuan Qi and Zhu Jiancai were disturbing the world in the heart of the Qing court. In addition, the Ming army was in full swing. After losing Jiangnan and the Yangtze River natural danger, the Qing court had to have time to protect Jiangbei and stabilize its position at the same time.

In this case, it is normal for the Qing court to send envoys to come and contact. Military is a continuation of politics. Zhu Yicheng once heard this sentence, but in fact, it makes sense to say that the other way around. At present, the most important thing for the Qing court is to get a breathing time. Only time can the Qing court mobilize strength to protect Jiangbei and stabilize the situation in the Central Plains and other places.

From the letter brought by Xiao Yongzao and Cha Shenxing today, including the conditions proposed, it can also confirm the previous judgment. In addition, Zhu Yicheng is now holding more than 30,000 captives of the Eight Banners and the Governor of Liangjiang, as a senior Qing Dynasty officials, Kangxi must not refuse to save it. At least it is necessary to make a rescue posture. If these people can be saved, it will be a good thing for Kangxi.

It is necessary to talk about it, because now not only does the Qing court need time, but Zhu Yicheng also needs time. The territory expanded too quickly, and the Ming army was a little indigested. Only the territory that was fully mastered could be converted into real power. The imperial examination that was about to begin is to prepare for stability. In addition, the reorganization of the Qing army captured and the training of the rebels absorbed by each, etc., could not be completed without half a year.

In addition, in terms of military strength, crossing the river and attacking the north may succeed in taking Yangzhou, but what can we do after taking Yangzhou? After taking Yangzhou, the Ming army was at the end of its strength. Although it could occupy a piece of territory in Jiangbei, it also lost the power to continue to advance north. Xiao Yongzao said nothing wrong today. Although the Qing court's defense in Jiangbei was full of loopholes, the overall military strength should not be underestimated, especially the cavalry of the Eight Banners, which had a great advantage in fighting on the plains. If it was frustrated, it would even consume the precious military power meaninglessly to occupy a piece of territory in Jiangbei. Zhu Yicheng would never do this loss-making transaction.

So, negotiations can be negotiated, but Zhu Yicheng needs to grasp how much time it is discussed, how much time it is discussed, and how much time it is discussed. To put it bluntly, both parties to such negotiations are just fighting for time, and this kind of negotiation will definitely not have any results. This is a very clear truth from the beginning.

In fact, it was not only Zhu Yicheng, but the Emperor Kangxi in the north might also use such a plan and use negotiations as an excuse to gain time. So, whether it is Zhu Yicheng or Kangxi, these two opponents who have never met are basically the same in their minds, just like two exhausted boxers fighting in the boxing ring, each retreating to their own areas to rest for a while, replenish their physical strength, and then deciding the winner in the next round.

In this regard, the so-called negotiations were temporarily put on hold, and Zhu Yicheng had not yet seen the Qing envoy again. However, the courtesy of Xiao Yongzao and Cha Shenxing in Nanjing was not lacking. In addition to restricting their free access in various places in Nanjing, the rest of the living benefits were arranged very generously.

The most important thing to put the negotiations on hold is the imperial examination. Ten days later, the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty were finally held, which means that the Ming Dynasty has reappeared on the political stage of China and is of great significance.

Because the preparation time is tight, and the Ming Dynasty is now only controlled by Jiangnan, Taiwan and other areas, and there are still many people who have hope for the Qing court, so the total number of scientific examinations is not large.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the average number of Jinshi students in each subject varies, at most, at more than 300, and at least nearly 100. The imperial examinations are normally divided into provincial examinations, imperial examinations, palace examinations, and examinations at each level. Each examination is once every three years. In the provincial examinations, the imperial examinations are called juren, the imperial examinations are selected as tribute scholars, and the imperial examinations are selected as jinshi. If the number of candidates in these three levels is added up, there are more than 10,000 people in the country, which does not include the children's examinations who have obtained students before, that is, scholar qualifications.

Only two or three hundred people were selected from such a large scale of the imperial examination. This is indeed a one-plank bridge that has thousands of troops crossed the single-plank bridge. If the differences between the north and the south are added, especially in places like Jiangnan where many literati emerged, it is even more difficult to pass the imperial examination. Even great talents like Wu Sidao failed the imperial examination, let alone others.

Considering special reasons, Zhu Yicheng adopted the following policies: First, recognize the imperial examination fame and honor achieved in the Qing court, such as scholars, juren and other Ming Dynasty, who had previously received their fame and honor, only a new list and record was needed to replace the designated institution. Second, this imperial examination, the provincial examination, the imperial examination, the palace examination, and the joint examination were conducted at the third level to reduce the cumbersome links and lower the threshold to attract the students to participate. Third, if anyone who has achieved the reputation of juren before can choose to directly conduct the imperial examination or register in the relevant institutions. Fourth, add the two subjects of Mingfa and Mingsuan to attract talents outside the Jinshi. Fifth, civil and military examinations were conducted simultaneously, and the martial arts examinations were held.

Because of these five points, there were more than 1,600 scholars in the imperial examination, including 328 martial arts examinations. Although the number was slightly less than expected, you should know that this is Jiangnan! There are so many scholars in Jiangnan. In an ordinary village, dozens of scholars can be found casually. As for counting one county and one state, there will be more scholars.

Although the number of participants was not as many as expected, Zhu Yicheng was not surprised by this. As the saying goes, there are first things in everything. Besides, there are 328 martial arts participants, which is satisfying. Zhu Yicheng believes that when the imperial examination is completed and the power of the Ming Dynasty gradually grows, then by the time the second imperial examination is underway, it will not be like this now.

When the Ming Dynasty held the imperial examination, Xiao Yongzao and Cha Shenxing, who had been shelved for many days, were extremely anxious at the post office. After discussing, they were about to open a gap from Liao Huanzhi. After bribing the officials who were entertaining them, they handed the news of their request to meet Liao Huanzhi. After Liao Huanzhi accepted the gift, he also took time to meet them a few times. The two sides communicated privately on the previous negotiation content.

From Liao Huanzhi's mouth, they learned that Zhu Yicheng seemed to have some ideas about the negotiations, but some ministers in the court, especially generals in the army, opposed the negotiations. Although Zhu Yicheng was a state-controlled country, his views on these real power figures in the army were not easy to directly reject, so he was still hesitating. Judging from Xiao Yongzao and Cha Shenxing, their judgment of Zhu Yicheng was correct, and it was even more firm that the so-called state-controlled country Zhu Yicheng was just a cover taken by the Southern Thief, or that the real power was not as great as before.

This judgment made the two of them secretly excited, as if they felt that there was hope for completing the negotiation. Next, they were even more enthusiastic about Liao Huanzhi's win over, hoping that Liao Huanzhi would assist them in completing the negotiations. But as soon as the matter went smoothly, the imperial examination of the Southern Pirates began with great fanfare. Liao Huanzhi, as the chief examiner, could not be separated, so this matter naturally delayed again.
Chapter completed!