Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 167 How dare you tease me!

In the end, Zhu Cilang sold Nikan's body to Duoduo for three hundred dan of grain, and agreed to cut it off outside the city at dusk.

On the way back to the city, Fang Fang Guoan had been secretly observing Zhu Cilang, seemingly trying to see from the Crown Prince's performance whether he realized that he had leaked important information.

But at this time, Zhu Cilang frowned and said nothing. He had some guesses in his mind, so he silently followed him back to the city.

Anyway, the current situation is that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has made the move, and these fighting men should just follow closely. Even if they are defeated and killed in the end, they will just return to the original path. There is nothing to regret or linger on.

Thinking of this, Fang Guoan, who had been a little uneasy, suddenly felt his thoughts become clear, as if he was no longer affected by all kinds of troubles.

But who knows.
"Burn the grain after the handover. Remember to let the Tartars see it clearly."

??
When Xiang and Fang heard the words, they were stunned. If the horses under their crotch had not been returning on their own, they would have been left behind by Zhu Cilang.

After not getting a response for a long time, Zhu Cilang naturally noticed something was wrong with the two of them. When he turned his head, he saw that their faces were dazed and they obviously didn't understand the order, so he began to explain it in detail.

The method of using Nikan's corpse to delay the Tartar bombardment has probably reached its limit. If no agreement can be reached, the bombardment will probably be resumed in a day or two.

Under such circumstances, he naturally had to find a way to squeeze out all the value of this pile of rotten meat.

After the explanation, the two still didn't understand, but since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not at a loss, they just did as he was told.

As to what effect can be achieved.
"I'm afraid the Ming army will run out of food."

After learning about the conditions of the Ming army from Duoduo, Kong Youde slapped his thigh and made a conclusion.

Although he tried to get Nikan's body back from the Ming army yesterday, it was just a routine matter to avoid trouble from the bannermen.

Now that he heard that Duoduo was going to exchange three hundred stones of grain for that pile of rotten meat, his first reaction was what he said, and his second reaction was that it was truly not worth it.

After Zhenjiang was captured, Duoduo ordered all troops to go out to collect food and fodder.

During the initial period, the harvest was indeed not small. Every time a county was taken over, one or two thousand stones of oil could be obtained. However, there was a time when the oil lumps were refined into oil residue. In addition, the current period was already a time of famine. Even though many families had been wiped out in the various armies, the amount of food flowing into the camp had also decreased a lot.

By now, the people and horses have been eating and drinking for nearly a month, and taking into account various losses during transportation, there is actually not much food left in the camp.

But under such circumstances, Duoduo insisted on exchanging three hundred dan of grain for that piece of rotten meat. Kong Youde naturally could not agree with such an approach.

Of course, no matter what he thought in his heart, he would not really say these words.

All arrangements have been made, and the war in the south of the Yangtze River will probably be over in ten to twenty days. Even though three hundred shi of food and fodder is indeed a lot, there is no need to be a bad guy for this.

Therefore, after hearing Tudor's narration, he only expressed part of his opinion.

"Pity."

"Ok?"

"It's a pity there isn't enough poison."

Hearing Youyou's words, Kong Youde thought that Duoduo also felt that the three hundred stones were a bit of a loss, but when he heard the next sentence, he was speechless.

It seems that Duoduo was very angry with that kid, otherwise why would a dignified prince of the Qing Dynasty care about these things.

"There are still three or two hours left. It's probably too late to find it."

“Hahahaha~~~~!”

This was just a casual promise, but it made Dodo laugh.

Seeing that his performance had surprised Kong Youde, he did not explain much and told Goshha, "Find as many as you can."

Duoduo was indeed very angry with Zhu Cilang during this period, and he was even very serious when he came up with the idea of ​​finding some poison.

But for a person like him, his loss of composure only lasted for a moment. After Kong Youde said something that was obviously a promise, he realized that something was wrong with his state, and the haze in his heart was swept away.

After all, the tasks of each army have been arranged. As long as there are no accidents during the period,
"That kid is quite a character to be able to force me to this extent."

"The Ming army has the advantage of terrain. Otherwise, how could those ugly people of theirs be a match for our army?"

No matter what Kong Youde thought in his heart, what he said was not unreasonable.

If it weren't for the dense water network in Suzhou and Songjiang, and the Ming army had the advantage of the navy, let alone the battle with the Qing army to this extent, Zhu Cilang would have been considered a qualified commander even if he could integrate the Ming army that was fighting separately.

Duoduo was of course aware of this, but now he felt that he had won, so he appeared more generous when he spoke.

"The geographical advantage is not entirely his. What about the Prince of Fu and the Prince of Lu?"

Since the analysis came to the Ming army, Kong Youde wanted to speak and the discussion immediately became heated.

As time passed, the two of them became more and more involved, and they even responded casually when the general who was escorting the grain and fodder asked for orders before leaving.

In Kong Youde's view, the blame for the Ming Dynasty's fall to such a state should mostly be placed on the ministers and the emperor. However, in Duoduo's view, these factors were merely superficial, and the root cause was that the Ming Dynasty had run out of luck.

It was also because Duoduo had not been well educated and did not know what a "general outbreak of social problems" meant. No matter how much he talked, he was unable to make Kong Youde, a fierce warrior, believe in such mysterious things as fate.

Finally, when it was getting dark, the two stopped analyzing and discussing and focused their attention on the exchange with the Ming army.

"It's become popular outside the camp."

"Ah."

Normally, someone of Nikan's status would have had his body transported back, but after hearing Duoduo's slightly sad words, Kong Youde simply responded without showing much surprise.

The reason is simple. If the bodies are to be transported back, they must be embalmed, otherwise it might cause plague or something like that in the army.

But now it has been several days since Nikan's death, and coupled with the humid climate in the south of the Yangtze River, the body has probably begun to rot. Even if Duoduo wanted to transport his nephew, who is about the same age, back to Beijing, he did not dare to take the risk.

After a while, Dodo's Goshha entered the military tent with slightly hurried footsteps.

"Your Majesty, we are back."

"Is it done?"

"That's it."

After hearing this, Duoduo, whose mood had improved, suddenly became silent again.

He and Nikan had frequent interactions when they were young because of their similar situations, and when they grew older they became even closer because they often fought together.

Later, the brothers took control of the government. Although there was some difference between them and Nikan, their private relationship was not much different from the past.

Originally, Duoduo wanted to add more burdens of state affairs to Nikan, but who knew that he would get ahead of him now.

"I won't go over there. I'll have to trouble you to handle it for me." "Don't worry."

Kong Youde was well aware of the relationship between the two of them, and was also worried that Duoduo, who was in poor health, would collapse after seeing Nikan.

Originally he was thinking about how to give some tactful advice, but fortunately, this matter was brought up by Duoduo himself, so he readily agreed.

But when he was about to leave, he saw Goshaha still kneeling on the ground, as if he had something to report.

Seeing him like this, Kong Youde was naturally impatient: It would be better to finish Nikan's matter earlier, as there were more important things to do in the evening. Now he was wasting time like this, which was really tactless.

"Anything else?"

Duoduo was still immersed in sorrow and did not seem to notice Goshaha's abnormality. Kong Youde, seeing this, took the initiative to ask a question.

"The Ming army burned the food."

Burnt?!
When he heard the words, not only Kong Youde looked in disbelief, but Duoduo also looked over with wide eyes.

According to their original thinking, since the Ming army was short of food, they should treat the three hundred stones as a treasure. Even if they suspected that there was tampering with the food, they should wait until it was transported back before conducting an investigation.

But now they are doing this, either they are sure that the grain has been tampered with, or they do not take these 300 stones seriously.

Of course it won't be confirmed so quickly, so there is only one possibility left.

"You brat! How dare you tease me!"

With a roar, Duoduo's eyes went dark, his body swayed and he fell to the ground.

Kong Youde had not taken a few steps when Goshaha knelt in front of him, otherwise Duoduo might have been seriously injured.

"Call the doctor!"

Kong Youde's anxious shout came into his ears. Although Duoduo felt weak, he finally regained control of his body. However, he also understood that his body needed rest. After thinking for a moment, he slowly said something.

"I'm like this. I'll leave the evening's affairs to you."

Duoduo is in his prime and shouldn't be so angry over such a teasing.

However, he grew up in an extremely cold place surrounded by white mountains and black waters, and he had difficulty acclimatizing to the humid climate of the south of the Yangtze River. Adding to other factors, his body became somewhat weak inside.

Of course, Zhu Cilang knew nothing about these things, and he had never thought that a little teasing could make Duoduo so angry.

According to his original idea, he was short of food, and Duoduo was naturally short of food as well, so his plan was to use Nikan's corpse to destroy the Qing army's food.

As for other thoughts.
"Zhenjiang has been captured, and the Qing army must be short of food. The enemy chief must be very angry."

After burning the food and returning to the city, Fang Guoan seemed to have understood His Highness' intention and immediately started to flatter him.

At first he did not quite understand His Highness's intention, but after seeing the shock on the Qing troops' faces during the handover, he suddenly understood.

Not only did it destroy 300 shi of grain of the Tartars, but it also disgusted them at the same time. This really squeezed out the last bit of value from Nikan's body.

Fortunately, he had previously thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had lost his composure. It turned out that all actions were under His Royal Highness's control, but he had underestimated it.

"Dodo is not an ordinary person. I think he is just a little annoyed."

Zhu Cilang did not expect to achieve any purpose with this plot. After all, Nikan's body was of no use at all. Using it to make the Tartars lose some food and grass was just a side effect.

After all, these were just trivial matters in his eyes and they did not mean much. What happened at night was what he really cared about.

"How are the preparations going?"

When Fang Guoan heard Zhu Cilang asking about serious matters, he became serious. He reported the preparations of each unit in detail and then stood aside, waiting for His Highness to make further arrangements.

Armor, weapons, meat, and money had arrived in the afternoon. After spending an entire afternoon repairing their damaged armor, the soldiers were now enjoying the feast.

At the end, Fang Guoan even mentioned that Ruan Dacheng's arrangements were thoughtful and meticulous, which was considered a credit to his colleague.

Zhu Cilang had naturally foreseen this. Although these people's conduct and morals were quite despicable, their ability to handle affairs far exceeded those of moral gentlemen.

This is also one of the important reasons why Zhu Cilang handed over the coordination matter to the "Eunuch Party" rather than Huang Daozhou, the representative of local forces.

"You must pay attention here. The Tartars may have some plans."

"I have selected many people who are familiar with the surrounding terrain. If the Tartars have any arrangements, they will be exposed."

After receiving Fang Guoan's reply, Zhu Cilang thought for a moment, and feeling that there was nothing more to ask him, he started to patrol the camp with him.

Since Nikan's body is no longer there, the Tartars will have no scruples and will surely launch another artillery attack tomorrow, so tonight is the last chance to destroy the Qing army's artillery positions.

The Qing army would naturally think of this, and they would certainly make certain arrangements based on this situation.

In this situation, if Zhu Cilang rashly rushed straight towards the artillery position, he would fall into their trap.

So it makes sense to make some preparations for such situations.

As time passed, the sky became darker.

The elite soldiers led by Fang Yuanke were also ready, waiting for the right time to leave the city and turn the Crown Prince's plan into reality.

This was not the first time that Zhu Cilang had sent his soldiers to fight, but every time he did, he couldn't help but feel a surge of heroic spirit in his heart.

"Your Highness, please say a few words to the soldiers."

Before going out to the battle, the atmosphere in the army was naturally solemn and murderous. Although Fang Guoan did not use much strength when he spoke, his words were still clearly heard by the soldiers standing in the front row.

This group of people was not established by Zhu Cilang himself like the imperial guards, nor did they have many opportunities to come into contact with Zhu Cilang like the Yingtian soldiers, but their loyalty to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was no less than that of others.

So when they heard the general's request, they all stood up straight and waited for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to lecture them.

This stems from his identity as the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, and also from the fact that Zhu Cilang once saved them from the despair of betrayal, but who can say that there is no gratitude to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for turning the tide?

But what to say?

Since coming here, Zhu Cilang has been in several battles, but this is the first time he has given such a formal speech to the soldiers.

Although I had a lot of thoughts in my mind, I didn't know where to start for a moment.

After a moment, Zhu Cilang finally walked slowly to the front of the army formation.

"From tonight on, you will serve as the frontline guards of my palace! May you win!"

(End of this chapter)