Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 202 Are there so many twists and turns?
Is Zhu Cilang’s provocation really that powerful?

The answer is naturally no.

In the original history, the territory and power of Dorgon's faction expanded rapidly in the process of fighting with the Southern Ming Dynasty, while Hauge suffered heavy losses in the wars with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

Therefore, after the fundamental change in the balance of power, Hauge was framed by Dorgon and stripped of his title. Just over a month later, he died inexplicably in confinement.

The power struggle within the Qing court also eased with the defeat of the two blue flags represented by Hauge.

This incident clearly shows that after the dispute over the throne between the two parties came to an end, their contradictions were not fundamentally eased. Instead, they became increasingly intense due to the development of the situation, until they reached the point of a fight to the death.

Therefore, after suffering huge losses in his own strength, it was understandable that Duoduo would be wary of Bolo and Tunqi out of self-preservation.

As for Kong Youde
Regardless of whether Kong Youde was showing it deliberately or from the bottom of his heart, after years of subtle influence, every powerful person in the Qing court thought that he was a person who was extremely sentimental.

Back then, Huang Taiji not only made Kong Youde, who was like a lost dog, a king, but also entrusted him with important tasks. This can naturally be described as a favor as heavy as a mountain and tantamount to giving him a new life.

As a result, Duoduo, who had disrupted Huang Taiji's arrangements before his death, would naturally have to be on guard against this person who was extremely sentimental after he himself fell into danger.

Of course, Kong Youde has behaved very prudently since he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He has never gotten involved in the internal struggles among the Manchus. Naturally, he would not stab Duoduo in the back at this time.

Duoduo did this without really intending to do anything to Kong Youde. To put it bluntly, he just wanted to be absolutely sure and did not want to rely on the whim of others for his own safety and the stability of the court.

Therefore, from a realistic perspective, Zhu Cilang's instigation of discord can only be regarded as an introduction. Its greatest function is to throw the reality clearly in front of both parties, forcing them to deal with it head-on.

If there had not been a life-and-death struggle within the Qing army, even if Zhu Cilang was really eloquent, what effect would it have had if all parties united as one?

difficult!
Duoduo is in a very difficult situation now!
It was obvious that we could not stay in Xuancheng for long, but how to return north required some thought.

But which of the Qing troops still left in Jiangnan is not in a difficult situation?

In comparison, as the commander of an army, he had nothing to complain about.

Since the siege of Ordu, Li Chengdong and Wu Shengzhao have been firmly pinned down in Suzhou by the navy of Huang Fei and Wu Yi.

Honestly speaking, their biggest worry originally was that they would be held accountable by their superiors for failing to rescue the Ordu tribe.

But as the situation changed, their minds gradually changed. After Nikan's troops were annihilated and Duoduo ordered all the troops to gather together, they realized how urgent the situation was.

just
"Since you don't want to fight your way out, let's just part ways!"

Li Chengdong drank the wine in the glass and then smashed it on the table. However, Wu Shengzhao just looked up and frowned, thinking about his own thoughts.

Nikan's troops had a total of more than 40,000 people, including not only the powerful Hu Maozhen, but also thousands of genuine Tatar soldiers.

But such a powerful force was completely wiped out by the Ming army within three to five days!
Under such circumstances, how could Wu Shengzhao dare to leave Suzhou easily?

But at the same time he also knew that Li Chengdong was right.

Since the prince has ordered his troops to be gathered, the situation has naturally become uncontrollable. If the war situation is really irreversible, they will be trapped in Suzhou and will be waiting to be killed.

It's really a dilemma.

With this in mind, Wu Shengzhao also drank the wine in the glass, but then he just refilled the glass on the table without saying another word.

"The military situation is urgent!" Seeing him like this, Li Chengdong was naturally a little annoyed. After snatching the wine glass from his hand, he continued: "We are trapped in Suzhou. If we wait until the Ming army surrounds us, I am afraid we will not be able to leave even if we want to!"

He thought very clearly that now there was only the Ming navy outside Suzhou city, but they could not completely seal off the entire city.

If we decisively break out now, we will certainly have a chance. But if we wait until the Ming army is free, let alone break out, I'm afraid we won't even be able to get news from the outside world.

Such considerations are naturally very realistic, and in Li Chengdong's view, Wu Shengzhao was the one who started the war in Liaodong, so he should be able to think of these things.

But now the man was walking back and forth in this half-dead state, so he felt annoyed.

"Leave? Where to go? How can we survive now?"

Perhaps hurt by Li Chengdong's words, Wu Shengzhao finally spoke slowly.

"Why can't we go?! Can his navy block the entire road?"

Hearing Wu Shengzhao's extremely negative words, Li Chengdong felt angry again.

He has a fiery temper and acts decisively, and although Wu Shengzhao's considerations are much more thorough than his, he also appears to be fussy and indecisive.

There had been no trouble in the past, and the two had not had any quarrels due to their opposite personalities. But now all decisions were related to the safety of the entire army, so he naturally hated Wu Shengzhao's character.

But who would have thought that he had only asked a question and a half when he heard Wu Shengzhao ask quietly, "How did Nikan die?"

How did you die?

The two of them were trapped in Suzhou and did not know the details of the battle, but a few days ago, someone finally risked his life to enter the city, so they learned something.

"Didn't you say we were ambushed?"

"Ambush? What kind of ambush could kill 40,000 to 50,000 people in just a few days?"

Hiss~~~~~
Hearing this, Li Chengdong couldn't help but take a breath.

He was a man of such character that he always liked to rush forward when faced with things, but he had no habit of deep thinking. So after learning that Nikan's troops were ambushed and annihilated, his thoughts and considerations only stayed at this level, and he never spent any more time on this matter.

But after all, he was not a stupid man. After Wu Shengzhao's reminder, he immediately realized the problem.

"伱means"

"Water Master."

Wu Shengzhao emphasized these two words, and Li Chengdong naturally filled in the unknowns in that battle.

Yes.

With the combat effectiveness of the Ming army in Jiangnan, let alone defeating Nikan's 40,000 to 50,000 men, even trapping them would be a pipe dream.

In this situation, what other possibilities are there except relying on the navy?

After understanding this, Li Chengdong naturally understood why Wu Shengzhao was half dead.

What is this place?
This is an area east of Taihu Lake, densely networked with waterways. Once the protection of the city walls is lost, let alone a smooth return to the north, I am afraid that I would be surrounded and killed somewhere by the Ming navy before I even see the Yangtze River.

But to put it bluntly, sitting in Suzhou is just waiting to die.

The Qing army had no navy, so naturally it was unable to compete with the Ming army in the densely networked waterways of Suzhou and Songjiang. Even if the Qing could really save the situation in the south of the Yangtze River, it was unknown how much time it would take to break in and rescue them.

By that time, who knows whether Li Chengdong will still be in this world.

With this in mind, Li Chengdong had a better understanding of his current situation.

Can't advance, can't retreat.

These six words can fully describe their current situation.

If someone else were to understand these things, they would probably sigh like Wu Shengzhao, at a loss as to what to do. But who is Li Chengdong?

Since he is called Li Hezi, how could he be willing to sit and wait for death?
"We still have to fight our way out! Most of us are cavalry. Even if we plan the route well, it is not certain that the Ming army will be able to deploy defenses in time."

After Li Chengdong finished speaking, Wu Shengzhao was too lazy to even give a response.

In the past, the hot-tempered Li Chengdong would have said something retorted, but this time he acted out of character and walked straight towards the map as if nothing had happened.

“Walk in Wuxi
not.

Go to Kunshan.
not.

Walk."

People like Li Chengdong may often fail to think things through, but due to his strong ability to act, he can be considered an extremely outstanding general in battle.

In the original history, Li Chengdong was dispersed after he followed Duoduo across the Yangtze River. Afterwards, not only were almost all the Ming troops in the Suzhou and Songjiang areas destroyed by him, but Li Chengdong also led his troops to participate in the conquest of Fujian and Guangdong and Guangxi, and made great military achievements for the Qing Dynasty.

However, everyone has flaws. Li Chengdong is good at charging into battle and conquering cities, but he is very naive when it comes to political struggles.

In addition, his temper easily offended people, so he not only had to deal with the inequality between merit and reward, but also had to deal with various struggles within the Qing army.

This great general who had made great contributions to the Qing Dynasty was forced to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty.

just
The Ming Dynasty may not be as good as the Qing Dynasty in other aspects, but when it comes to internal fighting, it is several times more intense and consistent.

How could Li Chengdong, who couldn't even gain a foothold in the Qing Dynasty, gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty?
Therefore, under the constraints of his colleagues and the suppression of the Yongli court, no matter how strong Li Chengdong was, the result was predictable.

Hmm. That’s getting off topic.

He looked at the map and planned out a route to return north, but they were all rejected one by one. When he was almost at his wit's end, he turned his attention to Kunshan, which he had already rejected.

This road is actually not bad. Although there is a water network from Suzhou to Kunshan, these rivers all run east-west and do not hinder their march.

After that, they only had to pass through several cities and cross several not-so-wide rivers to reach Jiangyin.

If we can get here safely, we can probably escape.

After all, there is no river blocking the road from Jiangyin to Zhenjiang, so even if the Ming army wanted to intercept them, they would have to have the ability to do so.

However, this road is quite long and there are many troubles on the way from Kunshan to Jiangyin. But apart from this road, the others are almost as difficult as ascending to heaven.

This way.
“Let’s go to Kunshan!”

After thinking for a long time, Li Chengdong finally made his final decision.

It is absolutely impossible to let him sit and wait for death. Even if he has to go around Kunshan, he will have to fight all the way, which is better than sitting in Suzhou.

But people are different, with different personalities and experiences, so their ideas are naturally different.

"Kunshan?"

Muttering to himself, Wu Shengzhao just glanced at it and turned his attention back to the table.

"Then you might be able to cross the Wangyu River?"

In fact, he had thought of these methods a long time ago, but he felt that the possibility of success was too small, so he never mentioned them to others.

Now that Li Chengdong had just proposed this path, he saw the difficulty at a glance and naturally had no intention of explaining it in detail.

The Wangyu River runs between Kunshan and Jiangyin, and is a must-pass place on the route chosen by Li Chengdong.

Actually, although it is called a river, it has been more than two thousand years since it was dug by the Yue doctor Fan Li, and its river channel has long turned into swamps and embankments.

Even though the Ming army's navy could not pass through, it was extremely difficult for the cavalry to pass through this area.

"It's better than sitting here and waiting to be killed!"

Hearing Wu Shengzhao's question, Li Chengdong responded and turned around and sat back on the stool.

If the situation in the past few days had continued, the two would probably have remained silent again when talking about this.

But several days have passed since they received all kinds of information, and everyone's mentality has undergone subtle changes.

Therefore, Wu Shengzhao tentatively expressed the idea that he had been pondering in his mind for several days.

"What kind of person do you think the Crown Prince is?"

Ok?
Hearing this, Li Chengdong looked over with confusion, and Wu Shengzhao directly answered his question after the other party responded.

"Look, this gentleman was able to turn the situation around when the empire was about to collapse. He must be a wise ruler."

As soon as the words fell, Li Chengdong roughly understood what Wu Shengzhao meant.

To put it bluntly, it means to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and join the Ming Dynasty.

It’s just that they surrendered only a month ago, and as soon as they encountered setbacks they surrendered again. Do they have any shame at all?
Moreover, the previous rebellion allowed the Tartars to easily seize the entire Jiangbei region. Even if these people were only following orders, they could not escape the blame.

In this situation, how could the Ming Dynasty tolerate them?

In his heart, he was disdainful of Wu Shengzhao's words, but it would be more appropriate to flee north with a stronger military force, so Li Chengdong spoke patiently.

"His Royal Highness is naturally wise. If he had come to power earlier, we might not have surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. But you have to understand that the wiser the person, the less he will tolerate people like us."

"wrong."

Ok?
In the past, it was often Li Chengdong who interrupted Wu Shengzhao, but this time, before he could say everything he was thinking, he was interrupted directly by Wu Shengzhao.

"You are still a simple-minded person after all."

Seeing that the other party was no longer as irritable as before, Wu Shengzhao wiped away his worry, put the wine glass in his hand on the table and said directly: "If there were not both a tyrant and a traitor in the court, how could we rebel? Now that the government is in the hands of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we can abandon the dark and join the light!"

Hearing this, Li Chengdong was speechless.

Although they were not surrounded in the hills like Guan Yu, they were actually in a strategic desperate situation.

Although this is the truth, someone has to acknowledge it if you want to make it known.

You can't just return to the Ming Dynasty self-righteously, only to have all your reasons not be recognized in the end. Even if you can save your life in the end, the rest of your life will be completely ruined.

It would be better to give it a try and fight for a way out.

"You're thinking wrong!
We rebelled against the Ming at the hands of Hongguang, and returned to the Ming at the hands of the crown prince.

Doesn't this just show that Hongguang is unpopular and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the popular choice? ! "

Are there so many twists and turns?
(End of this chapter)