Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 178 I have a plan!
Don't let others know.

On the surface, this sentence means that the search for the late emperor's portrait must not be known to others, in order to prevent them from inferring the extent of the Crown Prince's "amnesia" from this matter.

The group referred to by "others" here is basically just those people at the top of the empire.

But how can you find the emperor’s portrait just by looking for it?
For security reasons, the appearance of the emperor was kept strictly confidential in all dynasties. Even the portraits that focused more on temperament and less on actual appearance were only kept in the palace and had no possibility of being circulated among the people.

Therefore, if Li Yongmao wants to complete this task, he must look for it in a higher circle.

Is it possible for him to accomplish this task without letting any word leak out?

The answer is obvious. As long as he takes action, the news that someone is secretly looking for the portrait of the previous emperor will spread quietly in a certain circle. After some speculation, the ministers can probably guess who this "someone" is.

Well, as long as things develop to this point, Zhu Cilang’s goal has been achieved.

I have forgotten even what my own father looks like. If someone brings a random cat or dog to me for identification, I will have to ask you what your intentions are first.

Of course, the effect achieved by just saying "don't let others know" will naturally not be limited to this level.

When these words reached Li Yongmao's ears, it also meant that this theoretically powerful governor felt the trust of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

As the saying goes, "When a ruler regards his subjects as his own hands and feet, the subjects regard their ruler as their own heart and soul; when a ruler regards his subjects as grass, the subjects regard their ruler as their enemy."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is willing to entrust such a private matter to you, Li Yongmao, which naturally represents extremely deep trust. So, can you, Li Yongmao, not get closer to His Royal Highness?

At this point, everything was extremely simple. It seemed that it only took one sentence to win over a powerful official with a large army. But who would have thought that before looking for Li Yongmao, Zhu Cilang had considered it several times? How many times had he considered it?

When Zhu Cilang thought of using this method to improve the relationship between himself and a certain minister, he thought of not only Li Yongmao, but also people like Zhu Datian, Ruan Dacheng, etc. who were once in his candidate range.

As for why the unremarkable Li Yongmao was finally chosen
Simply put, he deserves it.

If he had not taken action at the beginning, the fate that awaited Ma Shiying would certainly not be much better than that of the rebel king and his group. However, he offended Donglin because of this, and even with a large number of troops under his command, he did not have much say in Zhu Cilang's small court.

Being able to pay such a price for his former superior, this man must be different from other court officials.

Of course, this does not mean that Zhu Datian and Ruan Dacheng are not worth winning over.

Judging from past battle records, Zhu Datian is probably the only one who can be called the commander in Zhu Cilang's joint-stock company. If there is a chance to win him over, he will naturally do it at all costs.

But this old minister has been through many storms and ups and downs. No matter how you think about it, he should be invulnerable to water and fire. If you want to win him over, you can't use this kind of means.

Ruan Dacheng had long been overwhelmed by his hatred for Donglin. As long as he was asked to cause trouble for Donglin, he would naturally be willing to do so. There was no need to deliberately win them over.

Therefore, the task of finding the portrait of the late emperor for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince fell on Li Yongmao.

After breaking things down, some people may think that Zhu Cilang is too scheming, but the relationships between people will change due to various things. In the end, it is just the difference between intentional and unintentional, so we cannot be too demanding and blame him.

Closer to home.

The news that Anji had fallen into the hands of the Ming army had already reached Hangzhou, and Tulai's troops scattered in Liyang and Guangde naturally also received the news.

After leaving the Yingtian camp, he first went to Jintan and then took Liyang. Later, when he saw that all the surrounding cities had surrendered, he directly dispersed most of his troops and sent them to various counties.

By the time Duoduo's earlier military order arrived, he had already captured more than a dozen cities west of Taihu Lake.

According to Duoduo's military order, he needed to gather his troops and rush to Hangzhou as soon as possible to join up with the main force, but this was easier said than done.

Not to mention the effort required to pass messages and prepare troops, just the thought of how to get the soldiers to willingly abandon the encircled land was enough to make Tulai's head explode.

This is not to say that he, as the commander-in-chief of the Plain Yellow Banner, has no control over the soldiers. The main reason is that everyone, including him, has doubts about Duoduo's military orders.

That's why his troops have not yet assembled even after so many days of receiving the military order.

"General, now we don't have to rush to gather."

When Tulai, who was in Liyang, received the news that Anji had fallen, he immediately called Cao Hu over.

To be honest, at first he looked down upon Cao Hu, the surrendered general, but after some contact with him, he found that this man could make up for his shortcomings in plundering wealth to the greatest extent.

By now, he no longer measured Cao Hu's value by his ability to fight, but he also sincerely wanted to learn from him the ability to see through the tricks of the Han aristocratic families.

As a result, the relationship between them is completely different from what it was at the beginning.

"We have to gather together, otherwise we will have a hard time explaining to the prince."

It has to be said that Cao Hu is also a weirdo.

It would be fine if he was not good at fighting, after all, most generals only knew how to follow procedures, but the most surprising thing was that even his strategies were far behind those of people of the same level.

So when Tulai finished speaking, he immediately looked puzzled.

"Oh, how come you don't even understand this? The army's retreat route was still there, so even if we moved slowly, it wouldn't matter. But if we remain stable now, what will the generals in the south think? What will the prince think?"

"General, I understand the principle, but what should we do after we gather the troops?"

Hearing this, Tulai felt helpless.

The military order given to him before was to gather troops and march south to Hangzhou, but now that Anji, which was more difficult to travel to, had been lost, the Ming army left Huzhou, which was easier to travel to, empty.

In such a situation, anyone can see that there must be something fishy going on, and he will be more careful when making a decision.

"Should we attack Anji or go to Huzhou?"

After thinking for a while, Tu Lai was still undecided. He didn't know whether he was muttering it unconsciously or really wanted to ask for other people's opinions. This question slowly reached Cao Hu's ears.

Although he was neither good at fighting nor at strategy, this was only compared with people like Li Chengdong and Hu Maozhen. As a general who had served under Liu Liangzuo for so many years, he could still understand the general situation.

According to Cao Hu's original intention, it would be best for their troops to neither attack Anji nor go to Huzhou, but wait for Duoduo to return north in Liyang, far away from the battlefield.

But Tulai made it clear that if they did nothing, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among Duoduo and the generals heading south.

Even if their team was not injured, they would still have to face the blame from their superiors. Maybe they would also be held responsible for the crisis in Jiangnan. Under such circumstances, his original intention would naturally not count.

"Anji is densely covered with waterways. Our army has no advantage of the navy, so we can't attack it head-on. Huzhou is obviously a hole deliberately left open by the Ming army, so we can't approach it rashly."

“Ah~~~~”

As he spoke, Cao Hu's voice became softer and softer, and Tu Lai sighed very appropriately.

Although Duoduo did not specifically report the results of the Battle of Suzhou and Songjiang, it was impossible for people like Tulai and Cao Hu not to have spies in the camp.

Therefore, after learning that more than 40,000 Nikan troops were wiped out in just three or two days, they were already inherently averse to fighting the Ming army in an area with dense water networks.

"Why not feint and attack Angie?"

After the two were silent for a while, Cao Hu finally took the lead in breaking the deadlock.

He thought clearly. Zuo Youtu Lai was worried that inaction would cause Duoduo's dissatisfaction. So no matter where they moved, as long as they took action, wouldn't they no longer have these worries?

In theory, his idea is not a bad choice, but after all, their positions are different, and there will naturally be significant differences in their considerations on this matter.

Cao Hu was just a surrendered general. No matter how you look at it, he had nothing to do with the internal disputes of the Qing court. But Tulai was different.

Don't underestimate him because he is just a guard commander and is inconspicuous among the beile and beizi, but he is a real powerful figure.

When Huang Taiji was alive, the two yellow flags were under his personal command. After his death, the Manchu court had transitioned from the tribal chieftainship system to the centralized power of China with the efforts of many Han officials, so the two yellow flags naturally became the responsibility of the emperor himself.

So the question is, are the orphan and widow in the palace capable of controlling the two yellow flags?
The answer is naturally no.

When those who nominally controlled the two yellow flags had no power, and those who had the power to control the two yellow flags had no power, Tulai, the commander of the guards and Gushan Ezhen, became the de facto leader of the Bordered Yellow Flag.

Don't think that this is a cheap job. If Tulai is really given the right to choose, he might even prefer to be a Jiala Ezhen, just charging into battle and killing the enemy.

Although the power struggle within the Qing court has now come to a halt due to external wars, neither side has stopped infiltrating the two yellow flags.

The situation of Tulai, the commander of the guards of the Bordered Yellow Banner and Gushan'ezhen, was naturally more difficult than that of ordinary people.

At first they fully supported Hauge in his fight for the throne, but Hauge was fooled by old Daishan even though he had a large army under his command, and in the end he didn't even get the position of regent.

How will those who are at the forefront cope with this behavior?

In the end, he could only try his best to mend the relationship between the two sides when he followed Duoduo south, and he even threw away the last bit of his integrity for this.

At this time, the war situation in Jiangnan has undergone major changes, which may also have a major impact on the court. Before he figures out the key points, he naturally cannot make rash bets like he did before, so as to avoid putting himself in an extremely passive position again.

Of course, this does not mean that he intends to watch Duoduo being blocked near Hangzhou, but how to do it and to what extent still requires careful consideration.

At this point, some people may think that Tulai is a fickle person with very bad character, but if you can understand all the reasons behind it, you will be able to understand his helplessness.

This is probably the dilemma that one must face when "accomplishing important things from a low position".

"Commander, you are not planning to go to Huzhou to meet the prince, are you?"

Seeing that his proposal had not received any response, Cao Hu asked again tentatively, but Tu Lai still looked as if he couldn't figure it out, which made Cao Hu feel dissatisfied in his heart.

When the generals first crossed the river, these Tartars were more aggressive than each other. Now that they have suffered a few defeats, they are hesitant and cautious in their actions. It seems that the Qing Dynasty is nothing special.

"Let's go find Tunzi!"

"Tunqi?"

Before Tulai could finish his words, Cao Hu shouted in surprise.

Natunqi originally followed Nikan in pursuit of Hongguang. After he succeeded, he led his troops to station at Huang Degong's old camp to block the Ming army from advancing northward along the river.

Although there has been no major battle between the two sides, they are unable to escape. What's more, there are several volunteer armies defending the city in that area. I don't know why Tulai came up with such an idea.

"You see, Huzhou is the Huarong Road set up by the Crown Prince of Ming. If Your Majesty dares to go there, the Ming army will definitely set up numerous ambushes along the water network. But what if Your Majesty neither goes to Huzhou nor to Anji?"

With a good idea in mind, Tulai seemed a little excited when he spoke. In the end, he directly pulled Cao Hu to the first plate of the map and pointed his finger at the mountains west of Anji.

"I'm afraid it would be difficult for a large army to move here."

The army had to choose a smooth road when marching. Otherwise, even if the enemy did not set up an ambush, the various things in the mountains would greatly slow down the march. However, Cao Hu's thoughts were all based on the consideration of the army, but Tu Lai
"What a shitty army! Nikan lost a lot of men. The prince has only about 2,000 bannermen at most. If you add Kong Youde's Wuzhen Chaohalong, there won't be more than 10,000 in total."

"That"

Having said that, even if Cao Hu's reaction was slow, he understood Tu Lai's meaning. He only uttered one word and swallowed the rest of the words back.

From the Manchus' perspective, this was indeed a good idea. They could abandon all the surrendered troops in the Hangzhou camp, or order them to go to Anji and Huzhou to attract the attention of the Ming army. The main force led by Duoduo could take this opportunity to move northward from the area without water network between Anji and Ningguo.

This method not only perfectly avoided the possibility of falling into the trap of the Ming army, but also allowed Tulai to gain huge credit with just some talk.

just
This abandonment involves two or three thousand people.

Thinking of this, Cao Hu suddenly felt a little sympathetic. Today, they could sacrifice 30,000 or 20,000 people without caring about it. What about tomorrow? What about him?

No matter what he thought in his heart, Cao Hu did not dare to show it on his face.

After the two discussed the details for a while, Tu Lai put his thoughts into a letter, and Cao Hu dared to show a hint of sadness on his face only after returning to his residence.

"Thirty to twenty thousand people."

But Anji and Huzhou are obviously not good places to go.

If he still follows the previous military order, he can either attack Anji or go to Huzhou.
The latest release time is probably in the evening. Try to change it back.

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(End of this chapter)