Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 125 Dilemma
Since leaving Yingtian, Xu Wenjue and his nephew Xu Shaoyue had been running around in fear, until they arrived in Hangzhou and learned about the situation in Yingtian, and they finally felt relieved.

According to Yang Tinglin's original intention, he planned to rush all the way to Yingtian, but after leaving Jixi, they found that several cities along the way had fallen into the hands of the Tartars. It was a complete pipe dream for them to break through the numerous obstacles with just their men and horses.

So Yang Tinglin wanted to contact more people and go to Yingtian together.

But who knew that before they could contact this group of people, they received Huang Daozhou's letter for help.

The letter said that the situation in Hangzhou was unstable and someone seemed to be preparing to open the city and surrender. He had no soldiers or generals and urgently needed support from Yang Tinglin.

As a result, these groups of people rushed to Hangzhou.

But they were still a little late. If the Yingtian Army had not arrived in time, they would have been helpless and sighed when they arrived at the city of Hangzhou.

"Your Highness is truly a master planner. If we were to rely on our own strength, I'm afraid Youxuan and the others would have died for their country by now."

After the discussion last night, it was almost midnight, and everyone went back home without any chance to drink and chat again.

Therefore, today Yang Tinglin invited Zhang Guowei to a restaurant in the city, which was also the first communication between these two outsiders.

"That's right. I heard that General Fang has made up his mind to fight to the death. If the Yingtian Army hadn't arrived in time, Hangzhou would definitely not have been saved."

Yang Tinglin started the conversation, and then the Minister of Military Affairs Zhang Guowei echoed a few words.

The Minister of Military Affairs was in charge of military affairs and commanded the Five Armies, Shenshu and Shenji camps, with more than tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. However, when the Qing army entered the capital two years ago, all the eight generals led by Zhang Guowei were defeated, so he was implicated, dismissed from his post and imprisoned.

To be honest, the three major camps in the capital were already in a state of disrepair at that time, and the eight regiments he led were all from outside. The general did not know his commander, and the general did not fear his commander, so it was reasonable that they were defeated.

It can be said that what Zhang Guowei was best at was not leading troops to fight or training soldiers or delivering supplies, but building canals and controlling water.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, he repaired Wujiang Shitang, Changqiao, Sanjiang Bridge and Wengjing Bridge. In order to solve the problem of poor drainage of Taihu Lake flood, he wrote a letter requesting to dredge the drainage channels on both sides of Changqiao in Wujiang County. After more than ten years of accumulation, he finally completed the hydraulic engineering masterpiece "Wuzhong Hydraulic Complete Book".

Fortunately, Chongzhen released him after more than a year in prison because of his contributions to river management. However, it was impossible to let him lead the troops after the war had become like this.

As a result, he rushed to Jiangnan in his position as the Minister of Military Affairs to supervise the training of troops and the supply of supplies. It was not until the Qing army crossed the river that he led the trained troops to support Hangzhou.

"Sir Shangshu, in terms of official rank, you are a second-rank official, and I am just a commoner, but you and I are both former ministers of the late emperor. Today, I, Yang Tinglin, would like to ask, what is the situation with Ma Shiying?"

According to common sense, this statement is indeed a bit abrupt.

Last night, Ma Shiying avoided the criticism from Huang Daozhou's men by saying that he had gone out to seek reinforcements. Today, he asked Zhang Guowei to come out to discuss the matter.

What's more, they had no previous friendship, so it was wrong to do this no matter how you thought about it.

But Yang Tinglin has been in officialdom for decades after all. Although he often gets himself into danger due to his personality, it does not mean that he is stupid.

At this time in Hangzhou City, the forces of various parties were complicated and intertwined.

For example, Yang Tinglin, although he had a very good personal relationship with Huang Daozhou, had little connection with the local forces represented by him. Another example was Zhang Guowei, although he was also from Zhejiang, he never got involved in party disputes and had nothing to do with the local forces represented by Huang Daozhou.

The two of them seem to have nothing to do with each other, but one thing is enough to support Yang Tinglin's "frankness".

That is, they were all deeply trusted by Chongzhen and could be called the former emperor's old ministers.

As for Li Yongmao, although he was also trusted by Chongzhen, he even had a plaque inscribed with the words "Be Clean and Loyal" written by the emperor himself, praising him as "the unparalleled national talent in southern Henan and the best in Hebei."

But after all, he had served under Ma Shiying for many years and made great contributions to Hongguang's succession to the throne, so in Yang Tinglin's view, he was not one of his own.

"I guess he's going to look for Li Yongmao first."

"Do you believe it?"

"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. The most urgent task before us is to help His Royal Highness the Crown Prince stabilize the court and live up to the trust of the late emperor."

"Master Zhang is absolutely right. Please."

"please."

According to the previous situation, Yang Tinglin asked Zhang Guowei to investigate Ma Shiying's "search for reinforcements", but after a few words, he didn't get any results. Then the two clinked glasses of wine, smiled at each other and never mentioned Ma Shiying again.

Hearing the laughter coming from the private room, Xu Wenjue and his nephew, who were at another table outside, looked puzzled.

In their eyes, reinforcements had arrived and the danger in Hangzhou was temporarily resolved, so the two of them wanted to go into the city for a walk.

But who knew that before they left the camp, Yang Tinglin called them away, asking them to accompany him to meet someone.

You said you would meet them, so let them meet. But when they came, you didn't let them in, which made Xu Wenjue very upset.

"What do you think is going on? Does he, a small boss, really treat us as servants?"

"Don't be upset, Third Uncle. Lord Yang is not that kind of person. He must have something to ask us to come here."

"What's the matter? If there's something wrong, why did you leave us out in the cold?"

Seeing that his words failed to appease Xu Wenjue, Xu Shaoyue didn't know what to say next.

But she thought that Lord Yang was not unreliable and there must be some reasons for his behavior. So she started to think about how to calm her uncle down so that he would not get into trouble again if something really happened.

At this moment, a voice came from the side. Xu Shaoyue suddenly had an idea and said to Xu Wenjue: "Uncle San, listen."

"what?"

"The table next to us is talking about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Back when he was in Yingtian, Xu Wenjue had a hunch that all the officials in the court were useless, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was only slightly better than them. Otherwise, with a population of one million in the city, the Tartars would be drowned with just a spit from each of them, and they would have no right to show off their might outside Yingtian City.

But after escaping from Yingtian, his thoughts gradually changed.

The Tatars are indeed very strong. Not to mention the white-armored soldiers who are picked from thousands of miles away, even ordinary Eight Banners soldiers are the elite among the elite in the Ming Dynasty.

This is only the situation in terms of soldiers. If the scattered morale of the army is taken into account, Yingtian will indeed be difficult to defend.

Based on this, he felt that the officials of the current dynasty were just wimps, but definitely not trash. And in his heart, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was able to defend Yingtian under such circumstances, was like a god.

So whenever he heard people talking about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he would listen carefully for a while.

"The Tartars were nothing. They were completely defeated after being charged by the Yingtian Army for a while. I don't know how they managed to get to the city of Hangzhou with such a strong force."

"My dear brother, you may not know that the troops coming to support us this time are the Crown Prince's personal troops, so their combat power is naturally extraordinary."

"I don't know about that. Where did you hear that, brother?"

"I happened to be staying at my uncle's house these days, so I learned some of the inside story."

"Oh? Please tell me quickly, brother."

Hearing the voice, Xu Wenjue glanced at the table next to him and saw two young men in long gowns with black edges chatting enthusiastically.

Originally, he had no good feelings towards this bunch of corrupt scholars, and he was also a little annoyed, so he had no intention of listening any further. But when he was about to laugh at his niece, this bunch of people wanted to talk about some "inside story", so he pricked up his ears again.

"You know that His Highness was imprisoned earlier."

"I know. It is said that a group of ministers have identified Your Highness as a fake." "Hey, you believe this? If he is really a fake, then why do the noble ministers of Man Yingtian recognize him now?"

"You mean!"

The older one had just said a few words when the younger ones immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course it is so, otherwise why would there be inconsistency?"

"They are truly a bunch of idiots who are harming the country and the people. They dare to frame the bloodline of the previous emperor just for their own titles and salaries!"

"Keep your voice down, walls have ears."

"Oh."

The two men behaved extremely cautiously, but they had no idea that most of the people in the hall were secretly listening to their conversation.

At first everyone thought that Yingtian had been lost, but who would have thought that when Hangzhou was about to fall, an army of the prince's personal troops from Yingtian suddenly appeared.

Under such circumstances, everyone wants to know what changes have taken place in Yingtian and how His Highness defends Yingtian.

But now the two people's voices were getting lower and lower, and the diners around them could no longer hear their words. So a middle-aged man walked to the table of the two people, and then saluted with a fist under their surprised gaze.

"Young gentlemen, please come and tell me about Yingtian in detail."

"this."

Seeing that the older scholar seemed a little hesitant, some of the diners around him began to speak up to him.

"Tell me about it, young sir. Everyone thought Yingtian City was lost. How did His Royal Highness save the situation?"

Seeing this, the older scholar couldn't refuse, so he stood up, bowed to everyone and began to speak.

There were quite a few mistakes in this conversation, but Xu Wenjue listened with great interest. However, at this time, the door of the private room opened a little, and then Yang Tinglin called him.

"Uncle San, come in."

"Ah."

Xu Wenjue responded sullenly. If it weren't for the fact that the old man had taken them in, he would have definitely taught him a lesson. However, when he entered the private room and heard what Yang Tinglin said, he changed his mind immediately.

"Third Master, I would like to find you a job in the army. Are you willing?"

"what?"

"Don't want to?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Well, I will write to your brother when I get back. If he agrees, you can join the army led by Ma Shiying."

"Thank you, sir!"

Xu Wenjue responded and walked out of the private room in a daze. It was not until his niece asked him about it that he realized that his dream had come true.

But didn't he have his own troops? Why did he let me join that army?
After thinking for a while, Xu Wenjue had some guesses in his mind. Just then, the older scholar talked about the battle that night, so he began to listen attentively again.

".His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally went to the battlefield and even suffered some injuries. If not for this, Yingtian would have fallen into the hands of the Tartars."

As the scholar continued his story, the diners in the hall couldn't help but let out exclamations.

Storytellers often said that Emperor Taizong of Tang often went to the battlefield in person, but who would have thought that when the Ming Dynasty was in times of crisis, it would also have such a prince.

With the arrival of the Yingtian Army, rumors about Zhu Cilang gradually spread in Hangzhou City.

It is true that the people are curious about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but who can say that there is no gratitude involved?
However, a battle is bound to have winners and losers. While Zhu Cilang was praised by the people of Hangzhou for the victory of the Yingtian Army, Duoduo was very angry because of Liu Liangzuo's failure.

Yesterday when Liu Liangzuo gathered the remaining troops and returned to the camp, he was already waiting outside the camp gate with a grim face.

Needless to say, he was scolded a lot afterwards. If Nikan and others hadn't persuaded him, he would have even wanted to kill him directly.

"Uncle Fifteen, it's time to eat."

Just as Duoduo was staring at the sand table in the tent, Nikan tiptoed in.

Duoduo has been maintaining this posture since last night, and when it was time for dinner, he didn't move at all.

Seeing him like this, the Goshas were naturally a little worried, but everyone knew that Dodo was a volcano about to erupt at this time. Under such circumstances, who would dare to risk his life to encounter this bad luck?

Therefore, Nikan, whose position in the army was second only to Dodo, was invited.

"You came."

Hearing the voice, Duoduo just looked up and then looked at the map again.

He knew why Nikan came, but after what happened yesterday, the army was caught in a dilemma. If they didn't come up with a solution soon, the situation might be reversed.

"Uncle Fifteen, the various tribes have collected a lot of food and grass in the past few days, so there should be no problem."

"How can you be so confused!"

When Duoduo heard Nikan's "no problem", he immediately became angry.

"When two armies fight, it's all about momentum. Previously, our army was unstoppable, so the Ming army naturally surrendered. But now they all think that our army is short of food, so the momentum has been broken by that kid!"

When he heard that Zhenjiang had been captured, Duoduo's first reaction was to capture Hangzhou before the news spread.

For this reason, he not only tried his best to block the news, but also did not dare to act with all his strength for fear of being exposed.

But who would have thought that when he was about to pick the fruits, he would be interrupted by that boy, not only causing him to waste so much time, but also putting him in a dilemma.

How could he not be angry? How could he not be annoyed?

To others, this was just a small defeat and the loss was only a few thousand surrendered soldiers. How could it be said to be a dilemma?

But if you think about it carefully, you will find that at this time Yingtian and Hangzhou, one in the south and one in the north, were like two big locks that locked the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River.

Unless they were eliminated or retreated to Jiangbei, in this situation the Ming army could attack from all directions along the waterways, while the Qing army could only passively defend. How could they gain a foothold here over time?

Duoduo understood this logic, and Nikan also understood it, but in Nikan's opinion, things had come to this point, and it was useless to just be angry. It would be better to eat and drink enough, recuperate, and then think of a solution.

"Uncle Fifteen, don't be upset. Even if it's broken, what can it do? We fought our way out with swords and guns. If it's gone, we can fight back. Does the Qing Dynasty really fear the southerners?"

"Alas, we, the Manchus, are a small group facing a larger force. We cannot afford to suffer too many casualties."

Nikan was speechless after hearing this. After the uncle and nephew sat there for a long time, they heard Duoduo say, "Let's dispatch troops from Jiangbei."

(End of this chapter)