Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 123: Not Difficult at All

The so-called defeat is like a mountain collapsing.

From the moment Liu Liangzuo's flag fell, the outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt.

After the Yingtian Army broke through the intercepting Qing Army, it attacked the Qing Army's retreat route under the leadership of the Suwei Camp and the Zhutang Army.

How to choose in this situation?

If Zhu Cilang's trusted troops had come here, they would probably have fought to the death. However, Liu Liangzuo's army was composed entirely of veterans from top to bottom. They could fight like wolves and tigers when the wind was favorable, but their true nature would be revealed when faced with adversity.

In the end, the Qing army was defeated and the Ming army launched an attack, but due to the lack of cavalry, two or three thousand Qing soldiers still escaped.

However, such a result was a huge surprise for Fang Guoan, who almost died for his country.

"Fang Guoan thanks General for the rescue!"

As soon as they saw Chang Guanlin, Fang Guoan and a group of generals knelt down.

"Oh! Please stand up quickly, please stand up quickly." Seeing a group of people kneeling in front of him, Chang Guanlin took a few quick steps and came directly in front of Fang Guoan: "I am just a commander, how can I deserve such a great honor from the general."

"In public, the general saved Hangzhou; in private, the general saved my nephew. In any case, please accept my greetings."

It was fortunate that they were not destined to die. When Fang Yuanke's battalion realized that there was no hope of breaking out, they formed a battle array to protect themselves under the heavy siege of the Qing army. This way they were able to hold out until the arrival of the Yingtian army.

Despite this, the losses were not small. Fang Yuanke suffered multiple stab wounds, needless to say. The most crucial thing was that there were only three or four hundred elite soldiers left in this battalion.

It can be imagined that if the reinforcements had not arrived in time, even if Fang Guoan could finally break through the siege, there would probably not be many men left.

Thinking in this way, Chang Guanlin could probably bear this bow.

After some polite refusal, the two finally had a face-to-face conversation. Only then did Fang Guoan ask solemnly, "May I ask your name, General? Who do you serve under?"

"I am Chang Guanlin, a soldier under the command of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"His Royal Highness?"

"Correct."

"The one from Yingtian?"

After getting confirmation from Chang Guanlin, Fang Guoan thought for a long time before he found a corresponding person in his mind. However, when he blurted out the name, Chang Guanlin, who had never been arrogant even for saving his life, suddenly frowned.

"My Lord, be careful with your words!"

Seeing this, Fang Guoan naturally apologized for his crime, but he really couldn't understand in his heart how the young man in prison could do this.

"I think your Excellency has many questions. After all the officials in Hangzhou are gathered, let the Duke of Baoguo explain the matter about His Highness in detail."

"Duke Baoguo?"

"Ah."

"that is."

Originally Fang Guoan was going to say that it was Zhu Guobi, the opportunistic man, but after what happened before, he swallowed the rest of his words as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Then I'll trouble General Chang to invite you in!"

"Why?"

Today was full of twists and turns, and Fang Guoan was so overwhelmed by the continuous shock of extreme sorrow and joy that he even forgot about that cruel man.

When he talked about inviting Zhu Guobi into the city, he remembered that there was still an evil obstacle that needed to be dealt with.

However, after the Qing army retreated, they continued to attack for a while, but they didn't know whether the evil creature had already escaped.

After explaining to Chang Guanlin, the two led their men straight to the city of Hangzhou.

But who knew that when they arrived at the city, they saw the gate wide open, and Huang Daozhou was coming towards them with an anxious look on his face.

When Huang Daozhou learned that His Royal Highness the Regent and Chen Hongfan were leading a group of people to the city, he keenly sensed something unusual.

This is actually not difficult to understand. If Zhu Changxun really had the courage to go up to the city to help in the battle, then Huang Daozhou would not have worried that he would abandon the city and flee.

Despite this, Huang Daozhou never thought about anything else.

In his opinion, even if His Royal Highness the Regent wanted to run away, he should go to the pier at the edge of the city.

As for how this situation could have happened, the most likely possibility is that His Royal Highness the Regent was held hostage.

However, the facts were very different from what he imagined. After Fang Guoan's explanation, he just stood there in a daze without saying a word.

"Mr. Huang, there are thousands of soldiers who can testify to this. It is absolutely true."

"Mr. Huang, if you don't believe me, you can always go and ask."

Fang Guoan said several sentences in succession, but Huang Daozhou still did not respond. Seeing this, he felt a little annoyed, and then he said goodbye and prepared to go find Zhu Changxun.

"His Highness is still in the city."

"Ah? He didn't escape?"

"No."

After Huang Daozhou realized that Zhu Changxun might be held hostage, he borrowed hundreds of slaves from the wealthy families in the city to rescue him.

This whole process took a lot of time. By the time he arrived, the Qing army had already collapsed, and the hundreds of soldiers under Chen Hongfan surrendered directly.

Zhu Changxun thought that the visitor was here to arrest him, so as soon as they met, he blamed everything on Chen Hongfan.

In this situation, Chen Hongfan would certainly not sit idly by and wait for death, but the two men's argument confused Huang Daozhou, who came to rescue the Regent.

Only in this way would he wait for Fang Guoan to return outside the city in the hope of finding out the truth of the matter.

Needless to say, what happened next took a lot of time, whether it was cleaning up the battlefield, pacifying the people, notifying officials, or settling Zhu Changxun.

By the time they finished all this, it was already evening when the people from Yingtian met with representatives of various forces in Hangzhou.

The most important thing about a meeting is to test the other party's attitude.

As for which aspect to test.
The plans of each party are somewhat different.

"Sir, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Your Majesty has already denied the Crown Prince's status. Why are you doing this again?"

After some polite greetings, Huang Daozhou directly raised the question.

To others, Yingtian's army had just saved Hangzhou, and he seemed to be turning his back on them by doing this. However, everyone present knew that the authenticity of the prince's identity was an issue that could not be avoided. If the matter was not made clear, then no matter what they talked about with Yingtian, it would all be just illusions and castles in the air.

As the first civil official to come into contact with the Yingtian Army, it was most appropriate for him to raise this question.

"Emperor Hongguang was deceived by Wang Duo and others."

Zhu Guobi's words concluded the matter. After he finished speaking, he glanced at everyone's expressions before explaining in detail.

He made a lot of preparation this time, from Wang Duo's tenure to Ji Qingyuan's testimony, from the letters between Zhu Cilang and Zuo Liangyu to various supporting evidence. It took a lot of time to talk about everything.

"On that day, when the Qing army forced Emperor Hongguang to surrender outside Yingtian City, your Highness and his nephew finally recognized each other. It was really sad and lamentable."

With this as a conclusion, Zhu Guobi put on a compassionate expression again. As for whether the crowd agreed with this statement, or whether their attention was attracted by the word "persuasion to surrender", he didn't care much.

To be honest, Zhu Guobi was a little anxious before coming here.

Although the most important task Zhu Cilang gave him was to use the opportunity of "Zhenjiang being broken and the Tartars having no food" to keep Hangzhou going.

But in his opinion, it was indeed a bit too much to influence the ideas of the officials in Hangzhou with only these 2,800 soldiers. Even if the "Tartars have no food" was added, it would probably not be enough.

After all, this is a land of plenty. How much trouble would it take to levy it from the people?

But when he led his fleet into the Qiantang River, things went unexpectedly smoothly.

First, he rescued Fang Guoan's troops, then learned from them the cruel and insane actions of the idiot Zhu Changxun, and then he easily won over the 30,000 homesick Yingtian soldiers after a visit to the military camp.

Under such circumstances, the overall situation in Hangzhou can be said to have been decided, and the rest is just some talk.

This made Zhu Guobi think:

Is it all just a coincidence?
If it is a coincidence, does it mean that God is on his side?

If it wasn't a coincidence, would the whole thing still be worth thinking about?

Retracting his thoughts, Zhu Guobi once again focused his attention on the expressions of the people in the hall.

As a representative of the local forces that persisted in resistance, Huang Daozhou first realized it, and then he appropriately expressed his disgust for those treacherous ministers.

Ma Shiying's followers, who had lost their backing, had different expressions. In their hearts, they were probably more concerned about their own fate, and did not care much whether His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was real or fake.

The ones with the most complicated expressions were Zheng Hongkui and King of Tang Zhu Youjian.

Ever since the news that Zhu Changxun wanted to surrender came out, Zhu Youjian has been hiding on the Zheng family's ship. Naturally no one would believe them if they said they had no other plans.

However, judging from the current situation, unless they really dare to return to Fujian and become independent, it is unlikely that they will cause much trouble.

"May I ask, sir, how should we view today's incident?"

As one of Ma Shiying's followers, Zhu Datian was naturally worried that he would be purged, so when no one among the ministers questioned Zhu Cilang's identity, he used today's events as a test.

Zhu Changxun is involved in two sensitive and critical issues.

First, there is no two suns in the sky and no two rulers in a country. If the emperor is captured, the regent will be the ruler of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, how to determine the situation in which there are regents in Yingtian and Hangzhou at the same time needs to be put first, and this determination can clearly show Zhu Cilang's attitude on certain issues.

Secondly, Zhu Changxun’s behavior today can be described as insane. It is an absolute scandal no matter which dynasty it is in, for him to aid the enemy as a regent.

If this matter were to be leaked, it would not only become an indelible stain on the officials in Hangzhou, but would also have a negative impact on the dignity of the Ming royal family.

Therefore, how to deal with Zhu Changxun became a sensitive and unavoidable issue.

"When I came here, His Highness had told me that when the country was overthrown, all the ministers worked hard for our Ming Dynasty without any selfish motives, so Prince Lu only needs to step down as regent."

Of course Zhu Cilang didn’t say that!
According to the original plan, if luck was better and Zhu Guobi could arrive before Hangzhou surrendered, the two families would put aside their disputes and fight the enemy together.

If Hangzhou is tougher, it is not impossible to negotiate for him to give up the position of regent. After all, with the title of crown prince, as long as he is strong enough, it doesn't make much difference whether he is regent or not.

But who knows.
Therefore, Zhu Guobi elaborated a little after understanding the leadership spirit.

Don't underestimate this statement. Once it was made, it represented that Zhu Cilang acknowledged that supporting Zhu Changxun as regent was a stopgap measure made in times of national crisis.

Since it is a temporary measure, there is no question of who is orthodox and who is illegal. Then Yingtian and Hangzhou can unite around the Prince Regent and do their best to resist the Tartars.

"As for today's matter, I still need to report it to His Highness and ask the Queen Mother for instructions."

After Zhu Guobi finished speaking, all the ministers nodded slowly.

Theoretically speaking, Zhu Changxun was the regent proposed by the Prime Minister and approved by the Empress Dowager and all the ministers. The only person in the entire Ming Dynasty who could convict him was Empress Dowager Zou, so all the ministers only needed to ask the Empress Dowager for instructions.

But in reality, what does the Queen Mother count for? How many battalions of soldiers does she have?

So the apparent emphasis of this sentence is to consult the Queen Mother, but in fact, reporting to His Highness is the most important thing.

At this point, the questions that concerned the ministers the most were answered.

Huang Daozhou already knew Zhu Cilang's determination to resist the Qing army when the Yingtian army arrived.

Zhu Datian and others realized that Yingtian had no intention of clearing out Ma Shiying's party.

Zheng Hongkui had a general understanding of Yingtian's style of doing things.

Seeing that the ministers had no objection to these matters, Zhu Guobi was ready to turn the topic to the defense of Hangzhou. However, just as he started, Huang Daozhou stood up again.

"Duke, Ma Shiying has brought disaster to the country and the people. Please report this to His Highness and have him brought to justice."

"Huang Daozhou! What crime have you committed?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Dadian immediately stood up and questioned Huang Daozhou.

To be honest, they hated Ma Shiying very much for leaving without saying goodbye again, but based on years of experience, if Ma Shiying fell, people like Huang Daozhou would definitely beat the fallen dog and uproot their party.

Under such circumstances, even though he hated Ma Shiying very much, he had to defend him.

"He abandoned Yingtian, massacred Guangde, and now he is fleeing from the battlefield. How can he be said to be innocent?"

"Yingtian was designated by Emperor Hongguang himself, and Guangde was opened because the prefect refused to open the city. How can you conclude that the elder is deserting the battlefield when his life or death is unknown?!"

"Please wait a moment. Ma Shiying is a senior official of the current dynasty. Your Highness will decide how to deal with him."

Just when the two were about to argue, Zhu Guobi said something slowly, and when the ministers present turned their eyes to him, they saw him take out a letter from his sleeve.

"Before leaving, His Highness asked me to bring a letter. Originally, I had no intention of taking it out because of the drastic changes in the situation in Hangzhou, but looking at the current situation, His Highness's concerns are still reasonable."

After saying that, Zhu Guobi removed the sealing wax from the letter under the gaze of everyone, then took out the letter and began to read it.

"Gentlemen of Hangzhou have witnessed:
The Jiannu army, with only eight banners, almost brought our Chinese land to the brink of collapse.

State affairs are difficult, the country is in ruins, and the nation is in dire straits.

The late emperor died in Beijing, and I am here to defend Nanjing. I may be defeated and killed, or I may drive out all the Tartars. This is my duty.

I have no other request from you all, except that you should put aside past grudges, work together, and prevent Hangzhou from falling into the hands of the enemy.

Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty have a glimmer of hope.

"Tsk! Tsk!"

After the words were spoken, silence fell in the hall.

This letter was almost a swear word, but every word in it was true, leaving everyone present speechless and ashamed.

This was what Zhu Cilang prepared for the worst-case scenario, but he didn't expect Zhu Guobi to use it when things were going best.

Seeing that the two were overwhelmed by the letter, Zhu Guobi planned to say a few more words, but before he opened his mouth, he saw an old man appear outside the hall and then knelt down.

"We are incompetent! We have repeatedly put His Highness in danger!"

(End of this chapter)