Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 128: Impartiality

According to the report, the Ming army in the Suzhou and Songjiang areas had more than 270 large and small warships, more than 300 civilian ships, 18,000 naval troops, 30,000 land troops, and nearly 30,000 other civilian soldiers.

If we look at the numbers alone, this is a considerable force.

But Zhu Cilang knew in his heart that these numbers were just for listening, and even they themselves were not sure how much water there was in them.

Of course, if we think about it more positively, these people are not trying to deceive deliberately, but their actual combat capability should be carefully considered.

Take Yingtian for example. When calculating the military strength, Zhu Cilang only included the government troops who could be deployed for field battles and the militiamen who had been in battle.

As for the garrison troops and ordinary militiamen guarding the city, they were at most considered reserve troops.

If we follow Zuo Liangyu's calculation back then, there would be no problem at all for Zhu Cilang to have an additional 200,000 or 300,000 people under his command.

However, according to the current situation, since the ministers have already reported the figures, it is not easy for him to refute them. After all, this is the time to recruit people and he cannot let people lose their confidence because of some silver.

Okay, I admit it, mainly because there is no way to deal with them, and there is no way to verify how many soldiers they have.

At this time, the various tribes were scattered in Suzhou and Songjiang. Not to mention whether sending people there could really find out anything, even if there were no obstacles, the trip would take at least a month, and by then, we didn't know what the situation would be like.

So accepting this number is actually out of helplessness.

However, facing this situation, Zhu Cilang did not feel too dissatisfied.

He thought very clearly that rights and obligations correspond to each other. Sometimes it seems that an obligation is lost, but at the same time a right is also lost.

Take the issue of military pay for example. If the emperor is unable to support the army, then this obligation will naturally be taken over by someone else.

It is not difficult to imagine what will happen next. Things like obeying orders but not decrees and the transformation of military towns into warlords will follow.

After that, it will be the emperor's turn, and this year it's my turn.

Of course, all the problems that had accumulated over the dynasty at the end of the dynasty broke out at this time, and the relationship over money was just one of them.

However, Zhu Cilang now has the gift of nature, so he is not short of a few thousand taels of silver. Besides, he is facing a powerful enemy at hand, so he should wait until the situation stabilizes before doing anything else.

"Your Highness, Suzhou controls the waterway of Taihu Lake. If we can capture it, Yingtian, Chongming, Taihu Lake, and Hangzhou will be connected. Then our army can attack from all sides with the advantage of the navy. In this way, the Tartars will not be able to gain a foothold in Jiangnan."

Previously, Zhu Cilang asked the officials of Suzhou and Songjiang about their opinions on the current situation, but no one answered for a long time after he finished speaking. In this situation, Huang Fei finally stood up.

"Do you all think this way?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Yes, Your Highness."

When the question was raised, all the generals answered in unison. Seeing this, Zhu Cilang understood their thoughts. After a moment of hesitation, he asked.

"According to Lord Zhennan's opinion, what should be the main focus of this four-sided attack?"

What is the main focus?

Huang Fei fought from Liaodong to Jiangnan, and he had seen countless military battles and devised countless strategies. But even in such a situation, Zhu Cilang's question "What is the main focus" still stunned him.

"I am a dull person and do not know what Your Highness is referring to."

"Mr. Zhennan is too modest. In my opinion, Suzhou should be placed last."

"at last?"

"Exactly."

After the words fell, not only Huang Fei was filled with surprise, but even the other generals were extremely puzzled.

In their opinion, the plan of the Earl of Zhennan was correct. The most critical parts of the so-called Suzhou and Songjiang areas were Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture.

Previously, the generals acted independently and had no way to deal with the 20,000 Qing troops in Suzhou City. Now that His Highness has unified the command, how can they not take Suzhou first?

"Your Highness, please forgive me for what I said. Suzhou is more important than anything else. Even if we take over all the surrounding counties, as long as the Tartars attack from Suzhou, we will have to abandon it. This will only damage our morale."

"Zhennanbo misunderstood. I have no intention of occupying the county town."

Upon hearing this, the generals were speechless. Wu Zhikui, who was already a little emotional, even complained in his heart: Since we are neither attacking Suzhou nor the county town, then why are we still gathering here?

Everyone thought Yingtian was lost earlier, so no one paid attention to what happened there.

After the battle of Hangzhou, they learned that Yingtian had not only blocked the Tartars' attack, but also attacked Zhenjiang and burned all the Tartars' food and fodder. That was why gentry from all over the country came to them to seek help.

But then again, since the Tartars marched south, so many generals have failed to stop them. Who would really think that such achievements were the result of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy who grew up in the deep palace?

So, when everyone was unable to understand what Zhu Cilang said, they would naturally wonder if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was making trouble.

Of course, this was not Zhu Cilang's deliberate attempt to keep the audience in suspense. He was just talking to himself and, at this point, he felt a little helpless.

"In the short term, our army's main goal should be to kill or injure the Qing army."

Originally Zhu Cilang thought that after he said this everyone would understand his strategic intentions, but who would have thought that after he finished speaking, except for Huang Fei who seemed to be thinking about something, the other generals all looked as if they didn't understand.

"If you keep the land but lose the people, both the people and the land will be lost; if you keep the people but lose the land, both the people and the land will be preserved.

With our army's strength, if we fight the Tartars in Suzhou City head-on, we will inevitably suffer considerable losses.

But if we first deal with the small number of Qing troops scattered in the county town, and then retreat when the enemy advances, and harass when the enemy retreats, what choice should the Qing army make?"

Zhu Cilang poured out all the speeches he had prepared in one breath, and then looked at the expressions of the ministers, some were surprised, some were confused, some had sudden enlightenment, and some were bewildered.

But no matter what expression it was, as a general leading troops, he knew that this sentence was not simple at all, so he couldn't help but think in his heart: Could it be that all these battles were fought by His Highness?
"If your Highness's words are true, the Qing army in Suzhou will certainly be in a dilemma, but..."

After a moment, Huang Fei immediately figured out the key, but after some deduction he still had some doubts.

"No problem, just say it."

"Your Highness, you said earlier that we should focus on killing and wounding the Qing army, but if we do so, the Qing army will retreat into the city, and then our army will have difficulty achieving any results."

"Zhennanbo only saw Susong. What if he broadened his vision?"

"Hey~~."

Hearing this, Huang Fei took a breath of cold air.

Since Suzhou and Songjiang are densely covered with water networks, everyone's attention has been focused on this area from the beginning. However, Taihu Lake is located right in the middle of the south of the Yangtze River. Although there are many different waterways, it can be used for traffic attacks without much problem.

If we really take Taihu Lake as the core and strangle the Tartars along the water network, wouldn't it really make the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River uneasy?
Huang Fei was excited when he thought of this, but after a moment, a trace of doubt arose in his heart.

However, he had already raised a lot of questions. If he continued to raise them, he didn't know whether it would make His Highness unhappy. Under such circumstances, this man who had fought for many years showed hesitation. "Zhennan Bo, do you think I was punished for my words?"

"Your Highness, since you are able to turn the tide, you will not be punished for your words."

"Then what are you afraid of? Just tell me what you have to say."

Since Zhu Cilang had said so, he had nothing to worry about. After sorting out his thoughts, Huang Fei began to speak.

In his opinion, this strategy was good in every way, but there was one thing that was not well considered.

Judging from the situation in Suzhou and Songjiang, there should be at least tens of thousands of Qing troops in the counties of Jiangnan. If a few thousand were killed by the Ming army, it would not attract Duoduo's attention. But if he really wanted to kill all the scattered Qing troops, how could the Tartars in Yingtian and Hangzhou not react at all?

"What we want is their reaction."

"Hey~~."

Huang Fei took a breath of cold air again.

If the other party needs to respond, then His Royal Highness the Crown Prince already has a plan in mind.

just
Thinking of this, doubts arose again, but this time he didn't say anything. He just bowed and retreated.

His Highness is polite, but he cannot really ask questions one after another.

It will take quite some time to prepare, operate and contact all parties, so reminding them in a few days won’t delay anything.

As Huang Fei left, everyone at the table roughly understood the Crown Prince's plan.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang was about to discuss what to do, but before he could open his mouth, he heard Wu Zhikui ask loudly: "Your Highness, according to what you said, we should not defend this city, but what if the local gentry insists on it?"

After he finished speaking, Zhu Cilang was speechless for a while, but when he saw Wu Zhikui's concerned eyes, he immediately figured out the key.

The Qing troops are all in the city. If we want to annihilate them successfully, we must have support from inside the city.

It's easy to do when they come, and there won't be any problem if we attack at night. But if the spies are afraid of retaliation and stay when they leave, can we still kill them?
"If they want to go, take them with you. If they don't want to, do your best to cover it up."

"got it."

In fact, Zhu Cilang had never thought about this before. It was not until Wu Zhikui asked him about it that he realized that this matter would probably affect the people's hearts to some extent. But he could not think of a comprehensive solution at the moment, so he said this out of helplessness.

But he didn't expect that Wu Zhikui didn't seem to see the perfunctory nature of this method. He just responded and then walked back.

? ? ? ?
Zhu Cilang was naturally still somewhat curious, but under the circumstances he could not ask questions. After thinking for a moment, he asked everyone to start discussing specific strategies.

Previously, when the general strategy was being discussed, it was basically only Zhu Cilang and Huang Fei who spoke, but at this point everyone was willing to speak freely.

For example, Wu Yi was originally responsible for raising grain for the Jiangbei army. There were fewer soldiers and warships in his fleet, but more civilian ships and men. And because raising grain required dealings with various places, he had some connections in various places.

Under such circumstances, he took the initiative to take on the task of communicating with various places and gathering information.

Another example is Huang Fei. After Huang Degong was killed in battle, he gathered a group of defeated soldiers, so his land camp was the strongest among all the naval forces.

Thus, the county town which was slightly farther away from the river was handed over to him and Hou Chengzu.

In short, after a heated discussion, it was decided who would be responsible for which counties based on the composition and stationing locations of the soldiers under their command.

It is worth mentioning that Wu Zhikui was very active in this process. It seemed that he was not deciding who would attack which county town, but who would move which treasure house.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Cilang didn't say much. He just thought about it for a moment and let him go.

After a while, all the county towns in Suzhou and Songjiang had been allocated, and the banquet entered the stage where Zhu Cilang would bleed.

"It's been a while since Jiangbei was defeated. I guess the various departments have accumulated a lot of unpaid wages."

"Your Highness is very careful. The soldiers have not received their pay for quite some time."

After the words were spoken, all the ministers showed excitement, but due to the rules, in the end only Huang Fei stepped out and responded.

"I won't beat around the bush with you guys. I did bring a batch of silver with me this time, but if you want to collect my salary, you have to follow my rules."

Having said this, Zhu Cilang glanced at everyone's faces, and when he saw that they all seemed to be listening attentively, he continued.

“One is military discipline.

If anyone robs the city, I will kill him without mercy.

The second one is also simple, which is not to draw a salary without working.

I think you all know that soldiers who can fight are the foundation of life. Even if you have a lot of money, it will be all in vain when the Tartars come."

Seeing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince speak so bluntly, the generals were naturally startled, but these were ultimately just words with no lethality, and they didn't know how much effect these newly joined generals could have.

After saying those harsh words, Zhu Cilang put away his previous expression.

Then he ordered people to issue receipts for the silver according to the amount previously reported by the generals.

"Your Highness, this."

"Hmm? Isn't the number right?"

Seeing Huang Fei holding the receipt with a look of surprise on his face, Zhu Cilang took the receipt from him and started to calculate.

"That's right. You have 25,000 navy and army soldiers under your command, which is 30,000 taels of silver per month."

"Your Highness, there are too many."

"too much?"

"Your Highness, all of us are garrison soldiers. According to court regulations, regular soldiers only receive five cents per month."

After hearing Huang Fei's explanation, Zhu Cilang finally realized why he said too much.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the salary varies greatly depending on the source of the soldiers.

Take the areas outside the Great Wall as an example. It cost the imperial court two to three taels of silver to support a recruited soldier, while each garrison soldier only cost four or five cents of silver.

The most direct impact of this situation was that the Guanning Iron Cavalry enjoyed a life of luxury all day long, while the Dongjiang Town soldiers, who played a strategic role behind enemy lines, could hardly guarantee even the most basic food and clothing.

There are many factors that lead to this situation, such as the difference in combat power between recruited soldiers and garrison soldiers, and the weapons, equipment, and food supplies required by the two. But who can deny that there are no relationships that make it easy for civil officials and military generals to manipulate the situation?
Therefore, when Zhu Cilang initially set the amount of military pay, he neither followed the Ming Dynasty regulations nor recruited soldiers from outside the Great Wall. He took an unbiased approach.

"I do not distinguish between recruited soldiers or garrisons under my command. All soldiers who go into battle are divided into twos."

(End of this chapter)