Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 166: Your Highness Has Lost His Position
Morning of September 7
After Huang and Ma left last night, Zhu Cilang inspected the camps again. Only after he saw that the defenses were secure did he return to his tent to rest.

To be honest, his situation was very embarrassing.

Although he might be able to take advantage of this opportunity to seize Hangzhou, deep down, he still felt that with a powerful enemy at hand, stability should be the priority.

No matter what reasons the officials on the other side have, they cannot cover up the fact that they abandoned the soldiers guarding the city.

If they are not punished, military morale instability is foreseeable.

But how should this punishment be carried out?

If the punishment is too lenient, not only will it fail to stabilize the morale of the army, but it may also damage his prestige in the soldiers' hearts; if the punishment is too severe, the soldiers will be safe, but how can the deeply rooted local forces sit idly by and wait for death?

If his army had returned by now, Zhu Cilang would certainly use the most severe methods to punish these people, and it is not impossible that he would even take this opportunity to uproot the local forces in Hangzhou.

But now the force he could safely use was only five or six thousand people, and it was not enough to use them to defend against the Tartars. How could he dare to act according to his own will and risk chaos in the city?

This situation was a dilemma, and Zhu Cilang didn't know what to do for a moment.

However, Zhu Cilang ultimately overestimated the courage of these people. They hid on the other side of the river and dared not cross the river, which fully demonstrated the so-called "class weakness".

As a result, Huang Daozhou became a channel for conveying certain information.

It was God's blessing that the officials on the other side did not dare to return to the city rashly, and the Qing army did not take any action because they had just suffered a defeat. They finally survived the most critical night.

“Have all the things been delivered?”

It was already very late when Zhu Cilang fell asleep last night. Adding to the fatigue accumulated from days of running around, he slept a little too long.

However, he was worried and was only delayed for an hour. By the time he left the tent, the soldiers had just finished their breakfast.

"Your Highness, General Fang has received orders from Lord Ma to collect food, wages and equipment."

"Where's the wood?"

"They say they are raising funds."

"Tell them to hurry up. It's not a good idea to keep the door open like this."

Although he was urging him, Zhu Cilang still admired Ma Shiying's efficiency.

He managed to get things that Fang Guoan had been struggling to get for a long time in just a few hours. Although this was related to Zhu Cilang's orders, his ability to get things done should not be ignored.

It's just this wood.
To those who have never done anything practical, finding some gold and silver might be difficult, but it's just a pile of broken wood, so it's easy to find it.

But the actual situation is that it is really impossible to find it. Even with the help of the noble families in the city, this matter cannot be accomplished in a short time.

In a big city like Hangzhou, even the firewood used for daily cooking has to be chopped from the mountains by woodcutters in the surrounding areas and brought into the city. How can the city easily find usable wood?

Of course, if the houses in the city were demolished, the required wood could be gathered, but from a house, at most only a few beams and pillars could be dug out. Considering the time and effort required, it would be better to wait for Ma Shiying to plunder them from the wealthy families.

"Send someone to ask the Tartars if they still want Nikan's body."

After being disturbed by Zhu Cilang yesterday, Kong Youde returned to the camp without even saying a few words about business. Now he can use this as an excuse to delay for another half a day.

It is indeed not pleasant to say such behavior out loud, but now the soldiers have not yet trained their weapons and the gaps in the city walls have not been repaired. If the Tartars really attack without any regard for the consequences, Hangzhou may not be able to hold out for long.

After some negotiation, news came from the Qing army that Duoduo agreed to meet at noon.

Zhu Cilang felt relieved but also a little nervous.

It can be imagined that no matter what the negotiation is like this time, Duoduo will not let a corpse delay his siege of the city again.

This meant that he needed to rely on more than 10,000 poorly equipped militiamen and 6,000 battle-hardened soldiers to keep the Tartars out of Hangzhou.

Under such circumstances, the more than 10,000 militiamen naturally became extremely important.

Li Yongmao was not very famous in later generations, and his official position was not so prominent among so many ministers, but his act of coming thousands of miles to help still left a deep impression on Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang only made a few hurried trips back and forth, and all his energy was focused on various important matters. He did not have many opportunities to be alone with the Governor of Jiangxi. Naturally, the intimacy between the "king" and the minister was not as good as that with the other few people.

However, today is indeed an opportunity. Under normal circumstances, neither Zhu Cilang nor Li Yongmao would take the initiative to approach each other, but now with a powerful enemy at the door, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince met Li Zhongcheng by chance while patrolling the city, and had a cordial conversation with him, but no one could say anything.

Again, in the eyes of others, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can win over whomever he wants and suppress whomever he wants, but what Zhu Cilang can really hold tightly in his hands are only the city of Yingtian and the army of the Suwei.

Although the others all appeared to respect Zhu Cilang as their leader, the actual relationship between them was like that of a joint-stock company.

If he, as the chairman, does something evil and upsets the shareholders, the process of removing him as the chairman may be initiated in no time.

To put it more bluntly, morality and legal system ultimately need to be supported by strength, otherwise how could Cao Mao be killed in the street?

Of course, Zhu Cilang’s current situation is completely different from that unfortunate child. Not to mention that he is the biggest military leader of the Ming Dynasty in Jiangnan, the prestige brought by a series of victories is enough to secure his position as chairman.

However, as the chairman of the board, his shares are not enough to enforce his will, so it is inevitable that he will have more concerns when doing things.

As they traveled along the way, Zhu Cilang discovered that although the soldiers under Li Yongmao looked still useful, their armor and equipment were truly worthy of the name "civilian soldiers".

He originally thought that this situation was due to the fact that Jiangxi was poorer than Zhejiang, but when he asked casually, he saw Li Yongmao's face immediately looked embarrassed.

"Li Zhongcheng, I don't like beating around the bush. If you have any difficulties, just speak frankly."

"Your Highness, I will reply."

Completely different from people like Yang Tinglin and Zhang Guowei, Li Yongmao had never had any connection with military affairs since he entered the officialdom. When he took office in Jiangxi, he had Yuan Jixian, the governor, and Zuo Liangyu, the Earl of Ningnan, over him.

As a result, after Yuan Jixian was deceived by Zuo Liangyu, the military affairs in Jiangxi fell into chaos. As a governor who had no military power and did not understand military affairs, he had done his best to achieve this situation.

"troubled you."

Zhu Cilang was silent for a long time, and finally suppressed his somewhat excited emotions and said a few words.

He remembered that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a very timid man who would tremble with fear even if the wind blew hard or the thunder struck loudly. But one day, when the king was in trouble, this timid man got on his chariot trembling with fear to go to the rescue.

In the end, he was frightened to death on his chariot before he could achieve any success, but everyone who heard this story praised his bravery.

In Zhu Cilang's eyes at this moment, Li Yongmao was just like that man. He knew that he did not understand military affairs and that his soldiers were not well trained, but he still led his troops to Hangzhou.

How could he not be excited with such a minister?
"Are there many armors in the city?"

"It is gone."

Although Zhu Cilang had some guesses in his mind, he couldn't help feeling disappointed after hearing Xiang Rensheng's answer.

The so-called Jiangsu and Zhejiang, these two places have always been regarded together, and the Governor-General of Zhejiang, who is in charge of the two provinces, is stationed in Yingtian. It is reasonable that Hangzhou did not have much military supplies.

"After this battle, I will find a way to repair the armor for the soldiers." "I thank you on behalf of the soldiers, Your Highness."

Having said that, the temperature was actually high enough. If he did something else, it would seem a bit deliberate. Besides, the time agreed with Duoduo was approaching, so Zhu Cilang went down along the city wall.

Although this trip is intended to win over Li Yongmao, it does not mean that he will just patrol the city as a formality.

He knew very well that for ordinary soldiers, being able to meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was already a great encouragement. If it was accompanied by some promises of rewards, the morale would certainly be extremely high.

After this, Zhu Cilang left one camp after another amid the cheers of the soldiers. By the time he returned to Fangguo to set up camp, it was only about a quarter before noon.

"Your Highness, the enemy leader must be on the other side."

“Are there enough things?”

After seeing Zhu Cilang from afar, Fang Guoan stepped forward to report, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was obviously more concerned about military supplies. He organized his words a little and replied: "The armor and weapons are basically enough, as for the food."

"What? Not enough?"

"There are still more than a thousand stones in the warehouse."

Seeing him hesitating, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but ask another question, but the answer he got made him a little shocked.

If we only consider the army, a thousand dan of grain can probably last for eleven or twelve days, but there are more people in Hangzhou city who rely on government supplies than just the army.

If all these are taken into consideration, the food will probably only last for eight or nine days.

"August 9th, August 9th."

Zhu Cilang paced back and forth, muttering to himself.

Previously, he had not been able to interfere in the political affairs of Hangzhou. Seeing that the officials had not mentioned the matter of food and fodder, he assumed that there was sufficient food and fodder in the city.

But who knows.
According to his plan, although the key to this battle lies in Hangzhou, the outcome will be decided in the periphery.

Although he had already issued orders for the mobilization of various units, if the time for maneuvering was taken into account, these eight or nine days could only be said to be barely enough.

"Don't worry about the food and fodder. I will find a way to solve it."

After saying this, Zhu Cilang rode his horse out of the city. With His Highness's promise, Fang Guoan had nothing to worry about and followed closely.

He now has two ideas for solving the food problem. One is to try to allocate food from the south of Qiantang River, and the other is to recruit local food from the wealthy families in the city.

However, both of these approaches cannot avoid the assistance of local forces in Zhejiang, which has created some obstacles to settling scores later.

Under such circumstances, he was in a dilemma and could only appease Fang Guoan with false words first, and then carefully consider the solution after meeting Duoduo.

After a while, the group arrived outside the city. Seeing them coming, several riders from the Tartar formation also slowly came over.

"But Mr. Ai in person?"

. . . . . . . . .

Duoduo was already ill, and he almost vomited blood after hearing these obviously disgusting words. However, he was no weakling, and after a short while he calmed down his anger and launched a counterattack against Zhu Cilang.

"It's really a fake, otherwise how could they not even know the Qing Dynasty's surname?"

"Oh! So Mr. Ai's surname is not this. The palace teaches everything from astronomy to geography, but I have never taught the surnames of the leaders of the Rongdi tribes under my rule. I hope you can understand."

Teng! Teng! Teng!
When Duoduo heard the words, he felt a throbbing in his temples.

Duoduo originally wanted to fight back based on his identity, but who would have thought that Zhu Cilang would just pass over the matter, which instead touched his sore spot.

This is how verbal fights work. If you don't care about what the other person says, you will be invincible. But judging from the current situation, it is obvious that Zhu Cilang doesn't care whether he is true or false, while Duoduo's face is distorted by the word "Rongdi".

In this way, the outcome of this battle is obvious.

"If you only want to engage in verbal disputes like a street scoundrel, then I will not accompany you."

After saying this, Duoduo turned his horse around and prepared to leave, but at the same time, Zhu Cilang's light voice reached his ears.

"After all, he came from a small place, so his temperament is still a little lacking."

"You! I will tear you into pieces!"

Common sense says that someone of Duoduo's status and position should be quite shrewd, but the war has not been going well for more than a month. Not only did Nikan, who was very close to him, die, but also tens of thousands of troops were killed.

Under such circumstances, the evil fire in his heart was naturally aroused by Zhu Cilang's few words.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ai. I am willing to exchange Nikan's body for a thousand shi of grain."

Seeing that Duoduo's face turned very pale, Zhu Cilang knew that he could not provoke him anymore, otherwise if Duoduo really ignored him, his plan would be in vain.

"temple!"

"temple!"

After Duoduo finished speaking, there was no reaction yet, but Fang Guoan and Xiang Rensheng behind him were shocked.

They really didn't expect that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would actually put forward such a condition.

Not to mention that the Tartars knew what impact the food shortage in the city would have on the war situation, even if we completely ignored all this, could we eat the food sent by the Tartars with peace of mind?

Is Your Highness confused?

When they thought of this, they couldn't help but recall what Zhu Cilang had done in the past month.

Defend Yingtian, capture Zhenjiang, stabilize Hangzhou, and destroy Nikan.

All these things not only increased the prestige of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince among the military and civilians, but also made the ministers forget that he was only a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old.

Bearing such great pressure alone, not to mention a young man who grew up in the deep palace, even an old minister who had experienced ups and downs in the officialdom for decades felt like he was going to collapse.

How can we blame you when you occasionally lose your way?

Duoduo saw the reactions of the two people, and the anger in his heart disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"One thousand shi is not enough, three hundred shi at most."

"make a deal!"

(End of this chapter)