Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 179 There will be five dangers
January 7

Hangzhou Qing Army Camp
"Snapped!"

Wang Siwa took the whip back from the back of the soldier in front of him, then took two quick steps to his side and kicked him.

"You are a bunch of killers! You can't fight, and you can't work. Don't you know that all the food has gone into the dogs' stomachs?!"

In the battle the night before, he was ordered to ambush near the artillery position, but he never expected that as soon as the Ming army attacked, the surrendered troops assigned to him were directly defeated.

When he was ordered to reinforce the camp's defenses yesterday, he vented all his resentment on these soldiers.

Well. As I said before, although we are all surrendered soldiers, we will be divided into different levels in the eyes of the Manchu nobles.

For example, those who are able to fight and kill under Gao Jie will mostly be regarded as reserve armored men. Although they will undertake various tasks with high casualties, their treatment and status in the army are still good.

If their troops' combat power could catch the eyes of nobles like Li Chengdong and Hu Maozhen, they might even be wooed by various parties, and it would not be impossible for them to be stationed in various places.

Of course, the Qing army's money and food did not come from the wind. People like Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing were not so lucky.

Although the combat capabilities of the two towns' troops were not exactly the same, in the eyes of the Jurchen nobles they were basically just Aha.

If we break it down, Liu Liangzuo's troops will still be considered regular troops because their commander is still there and they still have some combat power.

As for Liu Zeqing and his men, they could only be used as civilians and coolies. The Jurchen nobles would never send them to the battlefield unless it was absolutely necessary.

Wang Siwa was angry about this.

That night, the mission of his unit was to ambush the Ming army. Although the generals made a mistake in their planning and did not expect that the Ming army would be unaware of the situation, he did not just flee after the attack. He was also thinking about how to stop the Ming army's attack after retreating to the artillery position.

But who would have thought that the group of bastards stationed in the artillery position would run away before they retreated, and his plan was completely shattered.

If it were just this, he probably wouldn't hate the surrendered soldiers to such an extent. After all, the root cause of this was the generals' poor planning.

However, a place like an artillery position was not very conducive for escape, and the darkness greatly slowed down his troops' speed. Later, his soldiers were caught up by the Ming army, and most of them were killed before he escaped.

In this situation, where can he vent his anger?

Can I still go to Duoduo or the Crown Prince of Ming?

"Captain Wang, we are both surrendered soldiers from Jiangbei, why do you have to force us too much?!"

Although Liu Zeqing ran away, many of his generals were still in the army. Seeing Wang Siwa's appearance, a man dressed as a garrison stood up.

Although his military rank was high, Duoduo had already assigned their troops to Li Benshen, so he could not be considered very tough when facing the captain Wang Siwa.

"Captain Liu, these bastards have caused the death of so many of my brothers, and now they are working in a sneaky and cunning way. You are kind-hearted and cannot be used according to military law, so I have no choice but to do it for you."

It is said that a higher-ranking official can crush people to death, but this higher-ranking official also depends on how he acts.

Seeing the main force rushing towards him, Wang Siwa casually bowed, and then launched into a barrage of sharp words, which made the guard clench his fists and his face flushed. If the soldiers had not secretly pulled him a few times, it is unknown whether a fight would have broken out on the spot.

"When we were in Jiangbei, your town was very domineering. I never thought that after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, you would still be the same. You should know that neither of our towns has a commander, so don't cut off your retreat completely."

The garrison commander's surname was Liu, and he served as a garrison commander in Liu Zeqing's army. I think he must have some connection with him.

If he had said it earlier, he would have tried to separate Wang Siwa's head and body, but now he was under someone's roof and had to bow his head. After he said these harsh words, he decided to avoid the attack and wait for the next day.

But now he had forgotten that after Gao Jie was murdered, these towns took advantage of the opportunity to not only secretly trip him up, but also openly seized many of his territories.

This eventually forced Li Benshen, Li Chengdong and others to turn their attention to Shi Kefa, thus paving the way for the town to surrender without a fight.

Now hearing these words coming out of his mouth, Wang Siwa, who was already upset, thought of the many things that happened in the past. The anger that had been suppressed for a long time suddenly made the blood rush into his brain, and his hands immediately lost control.

With a thud, Liu Shoubei, who was about to turn around, was knocked off balance by a punch from Wang Siwa. Then he heard a burst of scolding.

"Mr. Liu, it's fine if you don't mention the past, but now things have changed, so I'll collect some of the interest first!"

Under normal circumstances, if two soldiers who were not under each other's command started fighting, there would always be people to persuade and stop them.

But today's situation was special, and the words and actions of the two men had aroused the anger in the soldiers' hearts. Before they could be pulled apart, the soldiers next to them started fighting.

This conversation was only heard by the soldiers in front, and those who were a little further away saw the commotion here and kept asking the reason.

If not for this, the Qing army camp might have started a firefight before Zhu Cilang led his troops to attack.

Liu Shoubei has many men under his command, but their fighting ability is weaker. Wang Siwa has fewer men under his command, but they are all experienced warriors.

In addition, both sides knew that this was not just a fight, so they did not use weapons. However, for a while, the fight was fierce and difficult to determine.

However, this was in a military camp after all. How could the superiors allow them to act so recklessly?
Only within an incense stick of time from the time Wang Siwa took the initiative to attack, a loud roar echoed above the battle group.

"stop!"

When he received the report from the patrolling soldiers, he only knew that Wang Siwa had had an argument with someone. When he arrived here, he saw that the two sides were already fighting.

In this situation, he knew that shouting alone would be useless, so without waiting for the voice to fall, he ordered his personal soldiers to hold scabbards and chop forward.

"The admiral has ordered! Separate!"

These personal soldiers were the strongest group under Li Benshen's command. In addition, they shouted military orders and killed anyone they saw. Within a short while, except for those lying on the ground, the soldiers were arranged on both sides according to their affiliations.

"Who made the first move?!"

"It's the bid!"

Wang Siwa was a man who dared to act and take responsibility. When he heard Li Benshen's question, he did not shirk his responsibility. He answered with his neck stiff and then knelt down on the ground.

"How dare you to fight in the army! Drag him away and give him ten severe punishments!"

Li Benshen waved his hand behind him, and several of his personal soldiers came out and walked forward. Then Wang Siwa saluted him and followed the personal soldiers to the place where the military execution was to be held.

Wang Siwa did not feel resentful about this result. As a captain who had been in the army for so many years, he knew very well that this was the admiral's protection.

As soon as Li Benshen opened his mouth, he characterized the incident as a "military fight" rather than an attack on friendly forces or infighting, which reduced the guilt by 80%.

Afterwards, he sent his own soldiers to carry out the execution, so it was impossible for him to do anything bad to Wang Siwa. This was probably a kind of balance. I had already dealt with my own people, and it depended on whether you, the other party who participated in the "military brawl", knew your place.

"Why is this happening? Why is this happening!"

Sure enough, when Wang Siwa was about to be taken away, Liu Shoubei ran to Li Benshen shouting.

"Admiral, I just had a small argument with Captain Wang, why should I be punished with ten military sticks?"

Although the armor on Liu Shoubei's body was a little scattered at this time, it was generally complete, except for a red spot on his face. It was obvious that Wang Siwa, this idiot, did not take the "don't hit people in the face" seriously.

"Don't turn around for him. He has been with me for many years. How could I not know his temper?" Li Benshen said, grabbing Liu Shoubei's arm affectionately, and after pulling him around, he said, "There were indeed some conflicts between our two towns in the past, but now we are both serving the Qing Dynasty, and those past things are nothing."

"My Lord Admiral, please be magnanimous. I am truly ashamed."

As the two men talked, they walked towards the big tent. The soldiers saw this and felt that the beating Liu Shoubei received was not in vain, as he had used this opportunity to climb up to the high position of admiral.

But everyone knows their own business. Liu Shoubei has already escaped the status of a grassroots officer and of course knows that the current situation is special. Li Benshen is just using this as an opportunity to appease the soldiers.

But even if he knew, what could he do?

He couldn't do anything when he was a lieutenant commander, and now the admiral needs his cooperation, can he still lose face?
After a while, the tortured Wang Siwa was helped into the tent. Liu Shoubei knew that the process had been completed, so he expressed some false concern and then said goodbye and left the tent.

With a rustling sound, no outsiders were left in the tent. Li Benshen stopped smiling. Seeing that Wang Siwa looked seriously injured and dying, he grabbed the order on the table and threw it over.

"Stop pretending to be dead!"

Although he was partial to his own interests, he was also really annoyed in his heart that Wang Siwa ignored the overall situation.

But this guy has followed him for many years after all, and Li Benshen is a man who cherishes old friendships, so this is probably all he can do.

"Marshal, I have caused you trouble again."

Seeing his commander-in-chief in such a state, Wang Siwa knelt on the ground with a solemn expression.

"Hey!" Li Benshen sighed heavily and swallowed back all the curses he was about to say: "Luckily I got there in time this time. If the situation had really gotten out of hand, how could we, with only four or five thousand people, have been able to suppress them?"

"I know I was wrong, please punish me severely, Marshal."

If it were someone else, they would probably first say that the other side's soldiers were slack, and then talk about the past conflicts between the two armies. However, Wang Siwa knew his commander very well, so when he heard this, he buried his head deeply, and his attitude of admitting his mistake was extremely sincere.

"One crime should not be punished twice. Since you know your fault, I will forgive you this time. But you should know that the prince has gone to attack Anji. We should be extremely careful when we are outnumbered."

"I understand. I will never cause trouble for you again."

"Go."

Hearing this, Wang Siwa kowtowed on the ground and walked out of the tent, while Li Benshen had a sad face and no one knew what he was thinking about.

Sun Tzu once said that a general faces five dangers: he must die, so he can be killed; he must live, so he can be captured; he is quick to anger, so he can be insulted; he is honest and incorruptible, so he can be humiliated; and he loves the people, so he can be troubled.

This statement lists five qualities of a general and provides methods of restraint based on these qualities.

So if a general does not have these five qualities, will he be invincible?

The answer is naturally no.

Every person must have his or her own special qualities, and as long as the enemy knows his or her ways, it probably won't take much effort to find a way to restrain him or her.

So the key to this sentence is not the five qualities listed, but to not let the enemy figure out your ways.

just
It is important not to let the enemy figure out your moves, but it is equally important not to let your subordinates figure out your moves.

Just like at this time, Wang Siwa had followed Li Benshen for many years, so he naturally knew that his commander was a nostalgic person. Therefore, he dared to attack the friendly forces at this special time.

In this regard, Zhu Cilang did much better than Li Benshen.

It has been nearly two months since they came here. Both the ministers in Yingtian and Hangzhou feel that their prince has a strong temper, even stronger than the previous emperor, and is a man who would rather break than bend.

But they had no idea that what Zhu Cilang was most proud of in the past two months was not winning several battles, but quietly letting Wang Fuping revive the almost abandoned Jinyiwei.

Of course, Zhu Cilang was just an ordinary person before, how could he understand such profound knowledge.

In the final analysis, it is just the situation that forces us to do so.

The so-called resolute man, when Zhu Cilang was defending Yingtian City, he was almost without soldiers or generals. Faced with numerous difficulties, what else could he do except put on an attitude of "I dare to die here" in front of the soldiers?

As for quietly letting Wang Fuping pick up the Jinyiwei, it was even simpler.

Although the civil officials had let his cheap father abolish the East and West Factories along with the Jinyiwei without much persuasion, if he wanted to rebuild them now, it would surely cause a violent counterattack.

Zhu Cilang, who knew the matter well, naturally had to act quietly and not dare to let any news out.

But there are always people better than you, and even a shrewd person like Jiajing could not avoid being figured out by some of his ministers. Although Zhu Cilang did not have people like Yan Song and Zhang Juzheng around him, he could not avoid being smelled by some people.

"It seems that Your Highness cannot remember so much."

Ruan Dacheng and Zhu Datian sat on both sides of Ma Shiying's residence, but Li Yongmao, who was the most important to him, was not among them.

After receiving the order from His Highness yesterday, Li Yongmao used various channels to inquire about relevant information from the palace servants who escaped from Yingtian.

But he could never have imagined how many of the palace maids brought to Hangzhou were Ma Shiying's spies.

Early this morning, Ma Shiying not only knew that Li Yongmao was looking for something in the palace, but also figured out what it was from various pieces of information.

Therefore, Ma Shiying called Ruan Dacheng, who was busy dealing with the civil unrest, and Zhu Datian, who had just returned to Hangzhou for one night.

However, he did not expect that after he told the two of them the whole story and his conclusion, Ruan Dacheng was still thinking about it carefully, while Zhu Dadian spoke directly without pausing for a moment.

"Sir, listen to my advice. His Royal Highness is not as simple as he appears to be. If we can work together to help His Royal Highness drive out the Tartars, we will surely go down in history. But there is really no need to think about anything else."

(End of this chapter)