Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 200 Hmm. I understand, but not completely.
"In addition, I have analyzed it."

The warhorse's speed soon reached its limit under the whip, but Zhu Cilang's shouts still reached Duoduo's ears intermittently.

To sow discord means to stir up disputes, create conflicts, and cause others to become disunited.

But if there are already disputes or conflicts among others, this word probably won't be used.

But everyone knows their own business, and Duoduo's understanding of the contradictions within the Qing court is naturally much deeper than Zhu Cilang's.

For the throne, there was almost a fight between the Eight Banners. If it weren't for the intervention of old Daishan, the anniversary of Dorgon's brothers would have passed.

Therefore, when he first came to power, Dorgon's most important task was to weaken Hauge's two blue flags, split the emperor's two yellow flags, and stabilize old Daishan's two red flags. Only after that came the war with the Han people.

However, the subsequent war went too smoothly. Not only did the Ming army collapse and surrender at the first sign of trouble, but even Li Zicheng's peasant army did not pose much of a hindrance to the Qing army.

Seeing the huge profits to be made, the main goals of all parties naturally changed.

After all, what the three parties were fighting for was just that bitter and cold land outside the Great Wall, but what the Han people had in their hands was the colorful world.

Therefore, in the one year after entering the Pass, all parties in the Qing court were able to work together. Even though some more idealistic means were used, the overall situation was generally stable.

If Zhu Cilang were to say, this situation was a period of national rise and internal conflicts were temporarily shelved.

But no matter how much you talk, this is just a shelving measure. Once the rising period is interrupted, these contradictions will erupt a hundred times more violently.

Of course, Duoduo couldn't say such words, but he also knew that the conflict arising from the struggle for the throne was a struggle between life and death.

Now everyone is using the Ming Dynasty as a piece of fat meat to strengthen their own power, but once the offensive against the Ming Dynasty is thwarted, all kinds of thoughts will surely arise in everyone's mind.

not to mention.
"This damned traitor actually said this to those people!"

Duoduo left first, but Kong Youde was not slow either. When he was controlling his warhorse to ride side by side with Duoduo, he heard his hateful voice coming into his ears along with the whistling wind.

In his early years, Kong Youde might not have understood the struggles among high-level officials, but in the past decade or so after he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he relived his experiences over and over again.

At this point, although I can't say I'm an expert, I can still figure out the key points under such circumstances.

As long as the two parties have not completely torn their faces apart, even if each of them wants to strangle the other party to death, they will try their best to maintain the relationship in the open, and their means will mostly be to trip up the other party in secret.

But now, that sinister guy has thrown the matter out clearly, and is patiently and meticulously helping both parties to crush it into pieces and distinguish them carefully.

What’s even more disgusting is that he actually made the matter known to both parties without hiding anything!
Isn't this equivalent to helping the two families tear each other apart?

Even though Duoduo and Bolo wanted to maintain harmony on the surface, they had to be wary of each other in this situation.
Vicious!

Extremely vicious!

Is this all that is taught in the palace? !

With this in mind, Kong Youde wanted to persuade them but he didn't know where to start. Before he could figure out how to start, Duoduo asked a question that made him even more embarrassed.

"I heard earlier that a Ming prince was captured, but I don't know what happened to him afterwards."

Kong Youde knew some of what Duoduo asked, but even though he was in the vicinity of Beijing during that period, all his energy was focused on pacifying the local area, so naturally he did not know much more than Duoduo.

After the Qing army entered the pass, there were two princes of Chongzhen in the south and the north. The southern prince was naturally Zhu Cilang who fell into Hongguang's hands, while the northern prince fell into Dorgon's hands.

The Northern Prince has more experience than Zhu Cilang.

It is said that he entered Zhou Guozhang's residence in November last year, and left after meeting Princess Taiping in the residence.

When he came again later, Changping told him that there were too many people in the mansion and there were too many eyes. She gave him a brocade robe and told him not to come again.

But who would have thought that the Northern Prince was also so tactless that he ran back after more than ten days.

This time his luck was gone. Zhou Guozhang asked him to call himself Liu, but the Northern Prince refused. After being driven out of the mansion, he was arrested by the police for violating the curfew.

As a result, the Northern Prince fell into the hands of the Qing court.

"It is said that he died of illness at the beginning of the year."

Although Kong Youde was surprised why Yu Duoduo suddenly asked this, he told him what he knew.

"This shady guy was discovered in December?"

"Ah."

"Do you think the person who entered Zhou Guozhang's mansion is not the same person?"

! ! ! ! !

Kong Youde was shocked when he heard this, but before he could sort out the cause and effect in his mind, he heard Duoduo continue, "Forget it, let's talk about this later."

Duoduo mentioned these things naturally not out of gossip.

He now knew very well that this sinister guy was the biggest enemy of the Qing Dynasty's unification of the world.

But he also knew that there would be no variables in this battle, and it would be a blessing to be able to bring these people back intact. Even if he wanted to raise troops to attack again later, it would not be possible overnight.

By that time, this sinister fellow should have gained a firm foothold in Jiangnan, and even the remaining provinces might be completely under his control.

Thinking of this, Duoduo could also think of ways to restrict it. Judging from the current situation, the only thing that could cause some trouble in his process of controlling other provinces is probably the identity of unknown authenticity.

Of course, Duoduo was not so naive as to think that this alone could cause much trouble to that sinister guy. He asked the Northern Prince just to clarify the connection.

In fact, he already has a better idea, but he still needs to go back and discuss it carefully with Dorgon.

Zhu Cilang naturally didn't know all this. After watching Duoduo flee in panic, he returned to Xuancheng from the east gate.

For him, after this meeting, the battle of Jiangnan was actually over, and all that remained was to see how the two families performed.

To be honest, he still wanted to take this opportunity to bite off another piece of meat from the Qing army.

However, most of the troops he had available had already fought in several battles. Except for the several thousand men under Hou Chengzu, the rest were either recruited militiamen or the volunteer army in southern Anhui.

These troops were full of courage and were willing to fight, but they were extremely short of weapons and equipment. If they were sent to fight the well-armed Tartars, it would not only be irresponsible to the soldiers, but would also seriously overdraw the war capabilities of the areas under Zhu Cilang's jurisdiction. In this way, it would be better to surround three sides and leave one side open, leaving these Tartars a way to survive, and avoid the two Tartars, who were already estranged, from reuniting under heavy pressure, which would cause these good seedlings to suffer losses before they grow up.

However, although good seedlings are good seedlings, there are still many hidden dangers. The questions he asked Jin Sheng before leaving were precisely to solve these hidden dangers.

Jin Sheng was not an ordinary pedantic scholar. He wrote many memorials on current affairs during the Chongzhen period. Although his opinions were not adopted in the end, it can be seen that he had some strategies.

Later, he led an army to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and at one point even recovered the entire southern Anhui. If he had not been betrayed by a traitor and defeated and killed, he might have been able to form a tripartite alliance with the Ming army in Jiangxi and Taihu.

Although such a person did not understand the meaning of Zhu Cilang's words when he first heard them, he gradually realized the problems in southern Anhui during the process of thinking.

Therefore, when he saw Zhu Cilang returning to the city, he went straight to greet him.

"Your Highness, is everything going well?"

Seeing Jin Sheng coming, Zhu Cilang jumped off his horse. When the two were only two feet apart, Jin Sheng was busy bowing, while he had a relaxed smile on his face.

"It went smoothly. Now it depends on how Duoduo takes it."

Although Zhu Cilang could be said to have played Duoduo in the palm of his hand, he would not brag when talking about this.

But after all, he has two loyal followers by his side. Even if Xiang Rensheng is a little slow to react on these matters, Chang Guanlin, who has been in the officialdom for many years, will not just sit there and do nothing.

"You didn't see it, Imperial Censor Jin. His Highness only used a few words to persuade the enemy chief to flee in panic. I'm afraid he will not be able to sleep all night tonight."

Hearing this, Jin Sheng immediately showed curiosity, but after Chang Guanlin explained the whole story in detail, although he also responded with a few words, there was a hint of worry between his brows.

According to Chang Guanlin's narration, the Qing court generally had some idea that soldiers were the ones who served the generals.

As a result, various factions in the court began to fight for the throne and interests, and this fight naturally spread to Duoduo's army.

Therefore, the wise and brave Crown Prince took advantage of the conflicts within the Tatar army to divide them, and then turned the tide and stabilized the collapsing empire.

It has to be said that although Chang Guanlin's summary was not very comprehensive, the key points were basically covered. However, during his narration, Jin Sheng, who was already worried, only focused on one word: "the soldiers are for the general."

Earlier, Zhu Cilang had asked him what he thought about southern Anhui after the war, so he took the opportunity to think carefully while His Highness was out meeting with the enemy chief.

In his opinion, if the Tartars were to be repelled, restoring production would naturally be the top priority, and he continued thinking along this line.

Things like gathering refugees and preparing seeds and tools are no problem. As long as the situation stabilizes, it will probably only take a few months.

But when he thought about how to place these rebels, he became troubled.

In name, the rebel forces in southern Anhui all responded to Jin Sheng's uprising, but in detail they were divided into several groups.

There is no need to mention anything else. The fact that the rebel army's composition is extremely complex alone made Jin Sheng have a lot of problems when he was thinking about how to deal with it.

The common people who have lost their homes, the servants of the big families, the brave and aggressive outlaws, and the vagrants without a leader, if these people are not properly resettled, they may soon become the cause of a civil unrest.

In fact, when Jin Sheng thought of this, although he felt that the matter was quite complicated, he just thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was asking him to prepare for a rainy day and not to create any trouble in the process.

But when he thought about the problem more deeply, he suddenly realized a problem.

Although the uprising in southern Anhui was only a month old, the leaders of each rebel army can be regarded as local emperors.

If some people really have other thoughts after tasting the power, then will the resettlement of the rebels be as smooth as imagined?
At this point, the placement of the rebel army has become something that Jin Sheng needs to treat with caution.

But who would have thought that Chang Guanlin's words "Soldiers belong to the general" made this matter several times more important in his heart, and it even took precedence over resuming production.

Each of these teams was formed by leaders of varying sizes with their own abilities. Isn't this the case of soldiers serving their generals?
If they really continue to develop
"I dare to ask Your Highness to allow the soldiers of the Righteous Army to return home after the battle."

lay off!

Disband the armies quickly before they can gain momentum!
As a civil servant, and as a civil servant who had been in the court for a long time, even though these rebel armies included the troops he had painstakingly assembled, Jin Sheng still firmly believed that they should be disbanded as soon as possible after thinking about it.

To be honest, the civil servants these days are very wary of the rebels, an armed force that is not part of the system.

In the original history, even though the Qing army had occupied Jiangnan and crossed Jiangxi to Huguang, the civil servants did not have much trust in them because of the difficult situation.

As a result, many people became disillusioned with the Ming court, which in turn led to the gradual decline of the anti-Qing struggle.

Zhu Cilang was naturally aware of this, and he certainly would not abandon the Southern Anhui Volunteer Army under such circumstances.

"Returning to one's hometown depends on one's own will and should not be forced."

After hearing Jin Sheng's words, Zhu Cilang realized that he understood what he meant.

Hmm. But not thorough.

If he really wanted to get rid of the rebels, he could just gather all the leaders together after the war in the name of rewarding them. Why would he tactfully remind Jin Sheng, the biggest rebel leader?

It is said that the king regards his subjects as dirt, and the subjects regard their king as an enemy.

Although this statement was made up by civil servants to deceive the emperor, it is not completely without reason.

For example, Zhu Cilang, that cheap father, can really be said to use people in a positive way and not use them in a negative way when treating his subordinates.

Of course, there is a reason why they were deceived by the ministers and could not believe them.

But it is undeniable that Chongzhen’s meanness and ingratitude played a role in the Ming Dynasty’s current situation.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang paid special attention to this when doing things.

Even if certain individuals or forces can be dealt with directly, they must be made to the point where they incur the wrath of heaven and the hatred of the people and have to be killed.

"The righteous army has made great contributions in this battle. The imperial court will certainly reward the meritorious soldiers generously, but the question of whether to stay or leave depends on their wishes. I cannot make a decision for them."

After he finished speaking, Jin Sheng couldn't help but glance at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince again. When he saw that there was no sign of hypocrisy on His Royal Highness's face, he bowed and said, "Your Royal Highness is kind and benevolent. It is a blessing to the court and the people!"

"Don't mention these. I don't think Duoduo will stay in Xuancheng for long. I want to meet the leaders of the various rebel armies after he retreats."

(End of this chapter)