I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 331 Brothers

Chapter 331 Brothers

Dorgon frowned and asked suspiciously, "Wang Wenzhou, what exactly is your intention?"

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "It's very simple. What I'm trying to say is that Zhu Youjian actually wanted to be a peaceful emperor. He would spend his days chasing after beautiful women, sleeping with girls, writing poems and composing couplets. That's the life of an emperor. Of course, the fighting power of the Ming army was really terrible. It couldn't destroy the Qing Dynasty. So, the Ming Dynasty wanted to negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty."

"Heh!" Dorgon sneered, "You say you'll fight, and you say you'll talk, and you say you'll talk! Do you think my Great Qing is a prostitute who sells herself, and you can play with her however you want?"

Wang Wenzhou sneered, "Get lost! Don't try to show off to me. I burned 80% of this year's wheat seedlings. When the Qing Dynasty has no food and the people are starving, my Ming Dynasty won't even need to send troops. We only need to provide some grain to get the Qing people to kill the Tartars like crazy!"

"Hmph!" Dorgon scoffed, "Our Qing army is not just for show. In the autumn, we can raid the Ming Dynasty for food."

Wang Wenzhou sneered, "Get lost! You're still too young. Let me put it this way: since I can burn all your wheat seedlings, I have other ways to deal with you. For example, at worst, I can turn the area within 100 li of the Ming border into a no-man's land. Not only will there be no food, but you won't be able to find clean water either. Coming to my Ming to rob? I'll let you starve to death on the road."

Before Dorgon could retort, Wang Wenzhou spoke up, "Of course, I am known as Master Wang, and I have many strategies to deal with you, which I cannot tell you one by one. Just know that no matter what, I will force the Qing Dynasty to negotiate peace."

Wang Wenzhou continued, "Like the Song and Liao states, what's wrong with signing the Treaty of Chanyuan and becoming brotherly states? We can go out and rob together. There are many countries in this world besides the Ming and Qing. For example, the island nation across the sea. I've heard that the island girls are very beautiful. Don't you want to rob a few for fun?"

"Heh!" Dorgon sneered, "If we can seize the Ming Dynasty right next to us, why would we go through mountains and rivers to plunder other countries?"

Wang Wenzhou proudly said, "That's because I didn't exist before the Ming Dynasty. If I had been born a few years earlier, let alone the founding of the Qing Dynasty, I could have wiped out every last Tartar!"

Dorgon did not refute this. He admired Wang Wenzhou's talent; otherwise, he would not have tried so hard to force Wang Wenzhou to surrender to him.

"Get out of here!" Wang Wenzhou continued, "On behalf of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I give you a guarantee: as long as you facilitate the peace talks, our Ming Dynasty will secretly support you in killing Huang Taiji and making you the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty."

"Heh!" Dorgon sneered, "All talk and no action!"

Wang Wenzhou hurriedly pulled out a stack of silver notes, slammed them on the table, and said coldly, "This is 600 million taels of silver, a bank draft from Hanshan Bank. You can withdraw the silver at any Hanshan Bank branch in the Ming Dynasty. At first, I really wanted to use the silver to redeem Bao Bao, but you didn't believe me!"

"Hmm?" Dorgon frowned. He had no idea what Hanshan Bank was.

"You bumpkin!" Wang Wenzhou cursed. "This is 600 million taels of silver. You couldn't get that much even if you robbed for years. This is the sincerity of the Ming Dynasty. I know you don't believe it. It's okay. In a few days, you can send someone to retrieve the silver, and then you'll believe it."

"Take it! Get lost! Don't be polite with me, we're brothers after all!" Wang Wenzhou stuffed the silver notes into Dorgon's hand.

Dorgon frowned and asked in a cold voice, "Does the Ming Dynasty only want to negotiate peace?"

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Of course, before we negotiate peace, you have to give the Ming Dynasty some excuses for peace talks, such as the Qing army being defeated by the Ming army under my command. The Qing Dynasty would have no choice but to compromise and ask the Ming emperor for investiture."

Dorgon asked, "Six million taels a year?"

"You son of a bitch! Shameless!" Wang Wenzhou snatched the silver notes from Dorgon's hand and cursed, "Dorgon, you're fucking shameless! The annual revenue of my Great Ming is only four or five million taels, and you expect me to give you six million taels a year?"

Dorgon frowned, utterly puzzled.

Wang Wenzhou smiled wryly and said, "This six million taels is my own pocket money! The reason I'm giving it to you is firstly because I admire you and want you to kill Huang Taiji and become the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Secondly, I have a lot of children, so you have to make one of my sons a prince, and it has to be hereditary!"

Dorgon felt that his hearing was failing him. How could a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty be using a huge sum of money to buy a throne from a prince of the Qing Dynasty?

Dorgon suddenly asked, "Wang Wenzhou, stop trying to sow discord! Why don't you say these words to Huang Taiji? You just said that as long as there are enough benefits, anything can be discussed."

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Huang Taiji is treacherous and cunning; he's not like you or me!"

"Hmm?" Dorgon frowned.

Wang Wenzhou laughed and said, "Brother Gun! I really admire you! In your heart, your beloved girl and your own child are the most important! But is Huang Taiji that kind of person? For example, my elder brother Zhu Youjian can let his younger brother play with his own girl. What about Huang Taiji? He snatched your girl, Dayuer!"

"Pfft..." Dorgon spat out a mouthful of wine. You know about such a confidential matter?

“A man like Huang Taiji would sell out even his own parents if there were enough benefits! Your father wanted you to succeed to the throne, but what did he do? He stole your throne and killed your mother! Don’t you want to avenge your mother?” Wang Wenzhou mocked. “Any man would be irreconcilably hatreded by the murder of his mother.”

"Heh!" Dorgon sneered, "Wang Wenzhou, how can I trust you?"

"Bang!" Wang Wenzhou slammed the silver notes on the table and said coldly, "Six million taels of silver can't buy your trust? If my Great Ming had six million taels of silver for military expenses, I could wipe out your Great Qing in no time!"

Dorgon frowned and asked, "Since you are so rich, why don't you give the money to Zhu Youjian? With military funds, the Ming Dynasty can destroy the Qing Dynasty!"

Wang Wenzhou said with a wry smile, "Possessing a treasure is a crime! I'm so rich, but do I dare let Zhu Youjian know? If he finds out, not only will he not reward me, but he will also try every means to kill me!"

Of course, Wang Wenzhou didn't dare admit that even with money, the Ming Dynasty probably couldn't destroy the Qing Dynasty. The fighting capacity of the Ming Dynasty's official army was simply too poor.

"Very well!" Dorgon put away the silver notes and said, "I'll trust you this once! Cheers!"

"Brother Gun! Shouldn't your daughter also marry my son?" Wang Wenzhou asked.

Dorgon said generously, "We brothers should be even closer together!"

"Brother Gun is a true friend! Cheers!" Wang Wenzhou took a sip of wine from Wang Ying's mouth.

Wang Ying said softly, "Wang Wenzhou, how could you do such a disloyal thing?"

"Baby, please! Stop making a fuss now! I'll explain later after we get away. The outside is surrounded by Qing troops. How can we escape unscathed without fooling Dorgon?" Wang Wenzhou said hurriedly.

"Phew..." Wang Ying breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, her enemy wasn't a traitor.