Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 182: Making meritorious deeds
The hot and humid weather in Hangzhou in early July has almost reached its peak. Not to mention those coming from the north, even the locals find it unbearable.

"Marshal, our hometown is still the best. No matter how hot the weather is, we can just hide in the shade. It's not like it is now."

"After this battle, I will ask the prince to transfer me back."

Hearing the words of his personal soldiers behind him, Li Benshen made a promise to them without thinking.

This is not bragging. No matter whether it was voluntary or forced, he has saved Duoduo from disaster this time. Using this favor in exchange for moving the town to another place would not be a difficult task no matter how you look at it.

At this time, he was heading southwest with a team of personal soldiers, apparently to respond to an appointment with the Crown Prince of Ming. Although his expression did not show any nervousness or anxiety, it still made people who were familiar with him feel a little unnatural.

According to common sense, the reason why the Crown Prince of Ming wrote to him was that he wanted to meet Duoduo. Under the current circumstances, he should have rejected the letter directly with a tougher attitude to avoid exposing his true identity.

But he feels guilty!
The Crown Prince of Ming had wanted to make such a request before, but at that time the prince was seriously ill, so King Gongshun came forward on his behalf.

With the precedent in place, he felt a little caught in a dilemma and was afraid of what might happen next.

But after some thought, he finally decided to go out and meet her.

The reason was simple. If he chose not to meet, then only the Crown Prince of Ming would receive the message, and he would gain nothing.

If they meet, from the perspective of obtaining information, both parties will at least be equal, and they will not be in a passive position as if they do not meet.

Of course, the leaders of the two warring parties wanted to make some preparations before the meeting, but with previous experience as a basis, they only had to go through the process again.

So it didn't take much time for Li Benshen to arrive near the original artillery position.

"Marshal, the Crown Prince of Ming is waiting outside the city."

After hearing what the soldiers said, Li Benshen rode out on his horse. In just a few breaths, he met the person who had put him in this situation.

"Li Benshen meets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Before, Kong Youde was a prince of the Qing Dynasty, and his status could be considered similar to that of the prince of the enemy country, so when they met before, they just hugged each other with fists.

But Li Benshen was just an admiral, so due to the relationship between the two parties he could not be too attentive, but he had to be the first to salute.

"Li Benshen? But he's Gao Shuai's nephew?"

Zhu Cilang could see from a distance that the man was not Kong Youde. When the two got closer, he found that the man was dressed in Ming army uniform and was obviously not a Manchu.

Although he was somewhat confused by the situation, he was just waiting for the other party to introduce himself.

After the other party announced his name, he briefly recalled the person's general information in his mind.

"I never thought that Your Highness knew my humble name."

"When I was in Yingtian, Yue Zhongcheng praised the general as a loyal and righteous man, so it naturally left an impression on me."

Describing a surrendered general as a loyal and righteous man was probably a sarcastic remark, but when Li Benshen saw that the young man in front of him was serious and not joking at all, he couldn't get angry and just replied in a dull tone.

"I abandoned King Chuang first, and then abandoned the Ming Dynasty. How can I be loyal?"

Normally, it would be difficult to continue the conversation at this point. After all, what Li Benshen said was all fact. No matter whether Zhu Cilang agreed with him or disagreed with him, it would be difficult to continue with what he really wanted to talk about.

just
"Although I don't know what happened back then, according to common sense, there must have been some friction between General Gao and the bandits, and it must not be as simple as it appears. As for what happened later..." Zhu Cilang let out a long tone, and waited until Li Benshen recovered from his surprise before he said, "In the end, the court let you down."

Everyone said that Gao Jie surrendered to the Ming Dynasty because of Li Zicheng's wife, but as his dear nephew, Li Benshen knew that Li Zicheng had already become suspicious of his uncle at that time. If he had acted slower, he might even lose his life.

He was already a little surprised after hearing the first half of Zhu Cilang's sentence. When he heard the second sentence, he was so shocked that his mouth opened wide and he didn't know how to respond.

"I am not speaking empty words. I have already said this when General Hu rebelled. If the court had not made inappropriate moves, you would not have fallen into such a situation."

As Zhu Cilang spoke here, his eyes were focused on the soldiers behind Li Benshen. However, no matter how he checked, he found nothing unusual, which made him feel confused.

Normally speaking, if a person who has surrendered for only a few months is sent to see his "old master", the new master would have to be on guard to some extent.

But no matter how he observed, he only found expressions similar to Li Benshen's on the faces of those soldiers.

This situation either means that Duoduo has won over the people around Li Benshen, or it can only mean that Li Benshen has gained his complete trust.

After such a long time, it is possible that the people around him could be won over, but the last time he met Kong Youde, he had a golden rat tail. Could it be that the Tartars failed to infiltrate Kong Youde but infiltrated Li Benshen?

"But why can't I see Duoduo or Kong Youde?"

There was too little information for Zhu Cilang to make any judgment. Having already said his provocative words, he turned the topic to his real purpose.

"Oh, because you didn't say anything useful last time, the prince ordered me to come here."

I don’t know if those words worked, but Li Benshen was not only much more polite than before, but he also clasped his fists and bowed when answering, as if he was talking to his boss.

He didn't think too much about it, he just felt that the prince was quite reasonable, so he was more polite.

But Zhu Cilang felt that something was wrong with this reaction, but he couldn't figure out the reason.

"This Duoduo doesn't know much. He has already acted according to my plan, but he still says it's useless."

As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, Li Benshen on the other side immediately became nervous.

His plan?

Could it be that the prince escaped because he listened to the words of the Crown Prince of Ming?

Can.
"Forget it. I am not a stingy person. Here is a letter to Dorgon. Please pass it on when you return."

what's the situation? !

what is happening? !

Could it be that he already knew that I was left behind to cover his retreat? !
impossible!
It's impossible!

Since ancient times, we have only heard of ministers secretly colluding with enemy countries without telling their masters, but have we ever heard of masters secretly colluding with enemy countries without telling their ministers?

unless
What agreement the two sides reached is not convenient for the ministers to know!

The more Li Benshen thought about it, the clearer his mind became. In the end, he was almost certain that Duoduo was using the lives of those surrendered soldiers as the price in exchange for the Ming prince letting him go.

After thinking this through, he finally connected everything in his mind.

The last time they met must have been to discuss this matter. After Duoduo's last struggle was crushed by the Ming army, he decided to accept his advice.

Perhaps it was out of consideration for the morale of the troops, or because he was unwilling to give in, or perhaps, in short, Duoduo did not reveal these to himself when he left.

In this way, even if he did not fight the Ming army to death, he would do his best to delay the battle. By then, the Ming army would be so angry that they would not leave any chance for the Hangzhou camp to survive. And he, Duoduo, could leave calmly without worrying about the Ming army's pursuit. How cruel!
When he thought of this, Li Benshen only felt a buzzing sound echoing in his ears.

If he hadn't had any concerns, he would have wanted to tell the Crown Prince of Ming directly about Duoduo's whereabouts.

"Admiral Li?"

At this moment, a light shout pulled Li Benshen out of his thoughts. When he looked carefully, he saw that his own soldiers had dismounted to pick up the letter that had fallen on the ground.

"You reminded me of some past events because of what I said. Please forgive me."

"It doesn't matter."

After replying magnanimously, Zhu Cilang was ready to test him again, but before he could say anything else, he saw Li Benshen clasping his fists and saying goodbye.

"If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

In this situation, he couldn't force the other party to stay here to chat, and after a while, he could only watch the other party leave.

He was very sure that the other party's abnormality must contain a lot of useful information, but for a moment he was really confused about the relationship between them.

As a result, when he returned to his tent, he still looked worried, which discouraged the soldiers who were planning to join him along the way.

However, for the soldiers, they could only see that His Highness was worried and could not bear to disturb him. But for Zhang Yinli, who had been kneeling outside the tent for a while,
"I, the guilty minister, Zhang Yinli, the prefect of Hangzhou, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

When a sound of footsteps sounded behind him, he immediately realized who was coming.

Then, without caring whether His Highness would stay by his side or not, he shouted loudly and kowtowed on the ground.

"come in."

Zhang Yinli's official rank was nothing compared to people at the top like Zhu Cilang and Ma Shiying, but as a prefect, the people under his jurisdiction numbered in the millions.

Although such people may make some mistakes due to the difference in information they receive, in terms of intelligence and strategy, they are not much worse than people like Ma Shiying.

Therefore, when that team of guards broke into his residence aggressively, he really thought that his life would end today. But when he was thrown outside a military tent and no one cared about him anymore, he began to feel a lot of hope in his heart.

The reason was simple. During this period of time, everyone in Hangzhou knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince liked to live in the army. Could there be any other reason for bringing him to the door of the military tent other than that His Royal Highness summoned him?

So the question is, if he is to be beheaded and dismissed from office, is it necessary for Your Highness to meet him?
With this in mind, Zhang Yinli's top priority is to show the most sincere attitude of admitting his guilt.

Seeing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince enter the tent, Zhang Yin immediately straightened his official uniform.

Afterwards, he estimated that His Highness had sat firmly, so he took two steps into the tent and bowed while shouting.

"Your humble servant, Zhang Yinli, the prefect of Hangzhou, pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I wish His Royal Highness a thousand years of life! A thousand years of life! A thousand thousand years of life!"

This was repeated three times. After three kneelings and nine kowtows, Zhang Yinli stretched out his hands, put his head and knees on the ground and stopped making any sound. It was obvious that he was waiting for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to make the decision after completing the grand ceremony.

"Do you know why I called you here?"

Seeing Zhang Yinli doing this, Zhu Cilang didn't feel the slightest bit disturbed. He just asked and looked over with some amusement.

He summoned him because he wanted to use him to control Hangzhou.

Honestly speaking, this person is not a good choice. Not to mention that he has worked in Hangzhou for many years, it is hard to say how much leverage he has in the hands of local forces.

The fact that he stayed on the other side and refused to return showed that no matter how respectful he was now, it was the reaction of being forced into a corner.

But now it should be no problem for Zhu Cilang to find a few strong generals, but it would be extremely difficult for him to find a suitable person to replace the position of prefect of Hangzhou.

In this situation, what other options does he have except hoping that this person can be used for his own benefit?
"I have been staying on the other side of the river and have been delaying my return, causing a civil uprising in the city when the enemy is at hand. I am guilty of the death penalty, the death penalty."

"Oh? You also know that you are guilty of a capital crime?"

After saying this with a sneer, Zhu Cilang hoped in his heart that Zhang Yinli would understand what he meant as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if he still doesn't understand after saying this, then His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty can only use him as a chicken to scare the monkeys.

"Your Highness, since I entered the government, I have served as county magistrate, the Ministry of Revenue, and the prefect. I am well aware of the harm caused by aristocratic families, but I have failed to prevent them from happening and fulfill my duties. I am ashamed of your trust."

Zhang Yinli naturally knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted to use him, but he was really unsure where he wanted to be used.

Of course, he had some guesses in his mind, but how could he dare to place a bet easily before conducting sufficient trials?

"Absurd! The noble families are the foundation of our Ming Dynasty. This time it was only because Ruan Dacheng acted inappropriately and someone with ill intentions instigated the incident. How dare you, a criminal official, lie in front of me? Are you going to follow in Ruan Dacheng's footsteps?!"

confirmed!
Zhang Yinli heard the Crown Prince's scolding and looked frightened.

But his mind was as clear as a mirror. He not only understood what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted him to do, but also understood how to do it.

Why?

According to Zhang Yinli's thinking, the difficulties facing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are nothing more than those few.

Tartars, money, and power.

Your Highness has 100,000 or 200,000 troops at his disposal, so he certainly wouldn't expect a civilian like him to repel the enemy.

After eliminating this, what remains is money and power.

In terms of money, it is nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure; in terms of power, it is nothing more than the court and the local authorities.

After implicitly revealing his thoughts on money and power through words of apology, whatever His Highness took on represented what he needed to do.

Thinking in this way, things become simple. No matter whether His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is happy or angry, all his words fall on the aristocratic families, and he does not pay the slightest attention to his own record in the Ministry of Revenue.

Doesn't this explain the problem?
If His Highness' words were to be said in another way, it would roughly mean: I need you to deal with the aristocratic families in Hangzhou, but now a wave of chickens have been killed, so you can't use Ruan Dacheng's method.

"Your Highness is wise. I have been seriously ill these days, and my mind has been clouded by phlegm, so I have come up with such absurd ideas."

"Oh? Is your delay also due to illness?"

"I am guilty of a crime for which I cannot bear death, and I dare not excuse myself."

"Ah~~~, considering that you have a reason, I will let you redeem yourself from your crime and assist Ma Shiying and Huang Daozhou in searching the houses of those leaders."

"Your Highness~~~~! Your Highness!"

Zhang Yinli, his voice choked with sobs, bowed again.

(End of this chapter)