Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 203 No one can be happy for long

Yingtian
Ministry of War Lobby
Ever since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince escaped from trouble, this place became the place where ministers handle official business, which probably has some of the meaning of Wenyuan Pavilion.

However, the Wenyuan Pavilion can only truly control Yingtian, and the cabinet ministers are somewhat idle.

However, this situation has changed dramatically in the past few days.

After the entire Jiangnan war situation was summarized in Hangzhou, it was transmitted to Yingtian along the waterway. Naturally, all kinds of thoughts arose in everyone's mind.

"Although we are still trapped in Yingtian, we still have to shoulder the burden we should shoulder. It is impossible for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to fight the enemy in the front while those of us who have been by his side since the beginning cannot even help a little bit."

Qian Qianyi seemed deeply distressed when he said this, as if he was extremely disappointed with the "inaction" of those people.

In fact, he had already talked to everyone in private right after the news came out from outside, but several key figures did not give him any positive response.

In the end, Qian Qianyi was left with no other options but to gather everyone together and try to put some more pressure on those stubborn guys.

However, although we say everyone, in the half day after Hongguang escaped, most of the officials from Yingtian had already fled. Except for Liang Yungou who committed suicide, there were only a few people who could appear in this "Wenyuan Pavilion".

"Your Excellency is right. We all put in a lot of effort when His Highness had no one to use. It doesn't make sense that the situation has improved but those who ran away have taken the lead!"

As soon as the words fell, someone in the hall responded immediately.

The person who spoke was Zhu Zhichen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. As one of the only two remaining vice ministers in Yingtian, he was naturally qualified to attend this meeting.

This man had served as the prefect of De'an, the deputy envoy of Guining, and the governor of Jiangxi. He was known for his integrity. However, when the ministers gathered at Zhao Zhilong's residence that night, he did not make a clear statement. He was probably just prepared to go with the flow.

Afterwards, Zhu Cilang took charge of Yingtian. As the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, his job was relatively stable. Apart from helping Qian Qianyi deal with some general affairs in the city, he never caused trouble for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince like Liang Yungou did.

In general, he is just an ordinary bureaucrat within the system who puts self-preservation first.

But his behavior today was somewhat uncharacteristic. He was the first to jump out after Qian Qianyi finished speaking.

Why?

It's just a matter of profit.

No matter what the intentions of those who stayed in Yingtian were, in reality, they did accompany His Royal Highness the Crown Prince through an extremely dangerous time.

If nothing unexpected happens in the future, each of them will be a loyal minister of the emperor.

But things did not always go as planned. With the changes in the war situation in Jiangnan, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did many big things in Hangzhou.

In this way, not only will their merits in following the emperor be diluted, but even their central position will be replaced by those cowards in Hangzhou.

Under such circumstances, how could the ministers of Yingtian, headed by Qian Qianyi, not be anxious?

But these people all knew very well that after several major battles, they alone could no longer compete with Hangzhou.

Therefore, it naturally became a top priority to win over certain people who occupied a considerable position in the mind of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Qian Qianyi had already done some preliminary probing, but the results were not very good. Those people either pretended not to understand or avoided the topic, and it was obvious that they had no intention of getting involved in this matter.

If we hadn't left them, there would have been no guarantee of gaining control of the center.

Mr. Qian, who has always been very concerned about his reputation, probably would not force someone in such an obvious way.

Zhu Zhichen, the only assistant minister in Yingtian, naturally would not act as a pawn. He would take the initiative to expose the situation on behalf of the "elder" in order to force certain people to take a positive stance.

But the face of the "Grand Master" is still more important. Even though everyone knows that Zhu Zhichen's words were instructed by Mr. Qian, he still has to try his best to maintain his composure.

"Minister Zhu is wrong. We can hold on to Yingtian, so how can we cling to power? If those people in the south are not really trustworthy, what's the harm in giving up all the official positions?"

Mr. Qian seemed worried when he spoke, as if he was really worried that Zhu Cilang was deceived by those cowards in Hangzhou. Although he didn't know whether Zhu Zhichen would complain in his heart, he could only agree verbally.

"Your Excellency is right. I am sorry for my words."

After he finished speaking, Zhu Zhichen turned around and sat down on the chair. He then stopped talking, like a clay sculpture or a wooden carving.

China has a tradition of thousands of years, and has always regarded integrity as the code of conduct.

Of course, being upright is easier said than done, but this does not prevent the rise of a worship of open conspiracy in Chinese civilization.

This kind of worship is deeply rooted in civilization and has formed a unique logic when reflected in the officialdom.

This logic has always been to pursue a situation where one has to do something because the people involved usually know clearly what each party gains and loses, and they will be willing to do it under the influence of the general trend even if their own interests are harmed.

Therefore, all struggles and transactions are completed as silently as possible, and the key is not to speak it out loud, let alone put it on paper.

If you are not really in the situation, let alone understand the key points, even the words will seem vague, as if they were said with no intention of being understood by anyone.

"Well, it doesn't matter if you make a mistake in your words. The right thing to do is to be honest and upright."

Qian Qianyi used this sentence as an opening remark, and then turned the topic to the war.

Unlike Zhu Cilang and military generals, Qian Qianyi's focus when reviewing recent wars was on logistics, rewards and aftermath.

The so-called power struggle, to put it bluntly, is a struggle for work.

Whoever gets the most work and controls more resources will naturally have more power.

However, these people are not newcomers to the officialdom. They understand that it is impossible for all the power of the court to fall into their hands, so it is necessary to sort out the key points in advance.

Needless to say, the logistics were in trouble. During the battle, the army relied entirely on Hangzhou and southern Zhejiang for supplies. Even though the war was now gradually moving northward, there were still tens of thousands of Qing troops surrounding Yingtian City, so even if Qian Qianyi and others wanted to intervene, they were powerless.

What remains is reward and follow-up.

Theoretically speaking, the reward should naturally be decided by the central government, but ever since Liang Yungou was dealt with, there are only a few people left in Yingtian’s Ministry of War.

What's more, these battles were all commanded by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself, and the participating troops were all from the South.

If Ying Tianzhen managed to get the job of deciding the rewards, it would be a huge problem. In the eyes of others, it seemed natural that if he got the power of reward, he could control the generals and bias their positions.

But with Liang Yungou's incident before their eyes, who among these people in Yingtian would have the guts to withhold the rewards of the soldiers and generals?
Since you can't withhold rewards, how can you control people?
It would be better to just throw this matter out there, maybe you can even see a good show.

Of course, when these things are really discussed in front of His Highness, they will naturally act as they should. If they don't let those fence-sitters in the south exhaust their strength, wouldn't it be more troublesome when the real target appears?
Yes, the goal of these people in Yingtian is to clean up the mess.

Don't think that dealing with the aftermath is just a pure chore since you have no control over money or the army.

But those who know the inside story know that this is a great opportunity to extend their reach into Jiangnan.

There is no need to say much about other things. Just the identification of local officials is enough to make a faction stand firm in the court.

"So I think the center should focus on the aftermath."

Qian Qianyi said this for a while, and set the tone for this meeting. After Zhu Zhichen and others expressed their agreement, he turned his head to the main person today and asked, "What do you think, Minister Yue and Priest Xu?"

Party strife!

Although Yue Qijie had been working in the local government and Xu Yu had been working in Yingtian Imperial College, they knew these two words very clearly.

Since the Jiajing period, various factions have been coming and going. When the eunuch party was destroyed during the Chongzhen period, the imperial power was completely cut off. The nature of this party struggle changed from a struggle between civil servants and the emperor to an internal affair among the civil servants.

In the current situation, they naturally understand that the embryonic form of factional strife has already taken shape. As people who hold a unique position in Zhu Cilang's heart, how could they get involved in these matters?
But who can do whatever they want?

Today, Qian Qianyi has done things to this extent. As the sum of social relations, how can they cut themselves off from these colleagues who have "shared the same suffering" with them?
"Lord, I understand what you mean, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a clear mind. Some things must not be taken too far. We must always put the overall situation first."

Yue Qijie's idea is actually not complicated. To put it bluntly, who can stop party struggles?
As long as you are careful in the process, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will probably be happy to see it.

So when there was no way out, he could only compromise.

"Oh, what are you talking about, Yue Zhongcheng? If those people in the south were not so untrustworthy, I would actually be happy to live in peace."

Hearing Yue Qijie's words, Qian Qianyi smiled like a flower. Then he turned his gaze to Yue Qijie, waiting for Xu Yu to express his opinion.

"Since you know your limits, I am willing to share your concerns."

"Good! Good! Good!" Qian Qianyi said three times in a row, and then planned to make a concluding speech for this successful meeting. However, before he could organize his words, a voice came from outside the door.

"Huh? Everyone is here today, so I don't have to run around anymore."

As the voice came in, all the ministers turned their eyes to the door, and then saw the tall figure of Xu Yinjue walking into the hall.

This group of nobles are really rude.

Qian Qianyi muttered inwardly and then stood up from his chair: "How come the Duke has time to come to the Ministry of War today?"

He did not invite Xu Yinjue to this meeting.

On the surface, this was Qian Qianyi upholding the Ming Dynasty's tradition of keeping civil officials and nobles in the same court without interacting with each other.

But in fact, they knew better than anyone how much importance the Crown Prince attached to military power. With the precedent of Liang Yungou as a lesson, they ignored it.

"Yesterday I received the military order from His Highness, but after thinking it over, I still have no clue. That's why I came here to discuss it with you all."

As he spoke, Xu Yinjue found an empty seat and sat down. When everyone's attention turned to him, he continued, "Your Highness ordered me to try to contain the Qing troops outside the city."

"what?!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone was shocked. Some of those with poorer psychological quality even cried out, and they looked at Xu Yinjue with some sympathy in their eyes.

Why?

At first glance, there are tens of thousands of garrison troops trained by Your Highness in Yingtian City, as well as tens of thousands of militiamen who have been trained for nearly two months. Although it is impossible to expect these more than 100,000 troops to defeat the Qing army outside the city, it should not be the case if they just want to contain it.

However, those garrison troops have not yet been fully staffed with a thousand households, and the militiamen are only trained as small flag teams.

To put it bluntly, these more than 100,000 soldiers are just a pot of tofu. There is nothing wrong with pretending to be one, but it is really too much to ask them to carry out large-scale combat missions.

Under such circumstances, it was natural that everyone looked at Xu Yinjue with sympathy.

"Sir, none of us have ever led an army, so even if we have an idea, it's all just a mirage, a castle in the air."

Don't say too much! You must cut off all ties!

This was Qian Qianyi’s first reaction.

During the month that Zhu Cilang was away, they also got to know the specific situation in the army. They naturally knew that using such a team to contain the Tartars would most likely result in defeat.

Knowing this, they wanted to ask Xu Yinjue to leave immediately. How could they risk taking the risk of "helping in the discussion"?
"Ah~~~, this is difficult to deal with." Seeing that the opponent's strong hand was not going to extend to this grinding hole, Xu Yinjue sighed and complained again: "The soldiers and horses on the city still need to guard the city, and they can't leave easily. Although those militiamen have been trained, they are not fully equipped."

At the end of his words, his voice stopped abruptly, but who knows what he would say next would be "How can we contain the Tartars?"

"Sir, just tell me what you need. I will ask the Ministry of War to save some time and effort. It will not delay the war!"

"This"

"Don't worry, sir! The Armory has already purchased a lot of weapons these days. Even if there are some shortages, it will not delay the war!"

"Ah~~~~!" With a heavy sigh, Xu Yinjue seemed to have understood that Qian Qianyi was unwilling to intervene. He then clasped his fists and walked out directly: "Since the elder is unwilling to help, then I will not bother you!"

Looking at the departing figure, Qian Qianyi breathed a sigh of relief, but Xu Yinjue put on a smile as soon as he stepped out of the Ministry of War.

But just as he smiled, he heard the servant's report, and then the teasing smile turned into a bitter smile.

"Master, Meichun is here to challenge us again."

(End of this chapter)