Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 219: Unexpected Events

difficult.

He Tengjiao's situation can be described as being between a rock and a hard place, which can be described as difficult.

But living in troubled times, who wouldn’t have a hard time?

As the military most powerful among the few remaining provinces of the Ming Dynasty, he has been slow to make a statement, so the other provinces, whether they have evil intentions or not, can only hesitate and wait and see.

This logic is actually not difficult to understand. From the perspective of other governors and governors-general, no matter what He Tengjiao himself thinks, after being coerced by the remnants of the rebel army, Hunan is very likely not to welcome Zhu Cilang.

If they rashly make a statement when the situation is unclear, then once Hunan goes crazy and attacks, who can resist?
This is not just the governors' imagination.

Chinese history stretches back thousands of years. If you look carefully, you will find that whenever someone harbors rebellious intentions, they will mostly start by targeting local forces loyal to the court.

After completely clipping the wings of the imperial court, they would enter the central government with various reasons, and the imperial court would essentially have changed its master.

However, the governors and governors thought that Hunan would not get to this point. As long as He Tengjiao was not stupid enough to declare that he would accept the leadership of the small court, there would always be room for the situation to turn around.

However, under such circumstances, the small court, which had not yet been recognized by local governors, became somewhat embarrassed.

According to common sense, after turning the tide, Zhu Cilang should have inherited the throne with the power of a great victory and his extraordinary achievements. However, the governors and governors-general in various places have not yet responded to his "regency for state affairs". How could he ascend the throne without local support?

To be honest, there have been people who have told him these days that he should ascend the throne and command the world. Besides, he has the support of Nanzhili, Zhejiang and half of Jiangxi, so it is not completely impossible for him to ascend the throne by force.

But is an emperor who does not have the support of local governors of the Ming Dynasty still the emperor of the Ming Dynasty?
Most of the important officials in the court understood this truth, so after expressing their attitudes, they never mentioned the matter again.

However, Zhu Cilang did not intend to just wait like this.

Although he is a serious pragmatist and has always believed that holding power in one's hands is the right way, over the past few thousand years, the title of emperor has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. If he fails to ascend the throne for a long time, there is no guarantee that rumors of all kinds will arise among the people.

Therefore, before leaving Wuhu, he had a long talk with Yuan Jixian, a very senior local governor.

In Yuan Jixian's view, the local governors and governors-general who have not yet expressed their attitude towards the prince's regent have their own reasons and cannot be treated the same way.

For example, Yunnan may not be able to respond in time due to long distances and blocked roads.
For example, in Guizhou, when officials from this region such as Ma Shiying and Yue Qijie were serving in the court, even if the governor had some doubts, there would be no need to worry as long as they took action from within.

For example, in Sichuan, there has been little news since Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan several months ago, and it is still unknown whether the messenger can arrive safely.

For example, Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian each have their own situations, but they cannot be regarded as vassal states opposing the crown prince's regent.

The rest is Hunan.

Before being placed under house arrest by Zuo Liangyu, Yuan Jixian's official position was Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Right Censor-in-Chief, stationed in Jiujiang, and in charge of military affairs in Jiangxi, Huguang, Anqing, Yingtian and other places.

People like He Tengjiao and Li Yongmao can actually be considered his subordinates.

Of course, conflicts would arise between the governor and the local governor due to various issues, but this did not prevent Yuan Jixian from believing that He Tengjiao was not a cunning person.

In addition, when Zhu Cilang was imprisoned, he and Zuo Liangyu wrote letters to argue for him, so Yuan Jixian felt that Hunan's failure to express its position must be due to other reasons.

Yuan Jixian enjoyed great esteem in the court and the country, and he even supervised the military affairs of several provinces during the Chongzhen period. The thinking of such an old minister could not be wrong. However, he had not expected that He Tengjiao would have doubts about supporting the prince of the previous emperor because he had accepted the rebel army, nor had he expected the chaos in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Guangxi. Guilin

"This journey is difficult and dangerous, you must be extra careful."

After giving the last instruction to the servant, Qu Shisi looked around vigilantly.

This man worshipped Qian Qianyi as his teacher in his early years, and later served in various places with remarkable political achievements. When his teacher was defeated in the court struggle, he was implicated and dismissed from office.

In the following ten years, he cultivated gardens in his village, entertained himself with poetry and wine, and compiled the witty sayings of great scholars into ten volumes of "Guilin Manlu", and he lived a carefree and comfortable life.

However, as a student who is a fan of the Prime Minister, he cannot live like this for the rest of his life.

When the Hongguang Dynasty was established, Qian Qianyi and Ma Shiying reached some kind of agreement, and Qu Shisi was first appointed as the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture, and was soon promoted to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief and Governor of Guangxi.

But in such troubled times, how could things remain calm?

When Qu Shisi arrived in Wuzhou, Duoduo's army had already surrounded Yingtian. Afterwards, all kinds of bad news came one after another, and he, who had suddenly ascended to a high position, was somewhat confused.

At that time, in the eyes of the officials in Guangdong and Guangxi, the Hongguang Dynasty had already been destroyed, and the most urgent task was to establish another king.

However, they were all local officials after all, and neither their rank nor their reputation were high enough to accomplish such a major event, so they tried to gather information from Jiangsu and Zhejiang while trying to reach a consensus internally.

Once the world is in chaos, all kinds of monsters and demons will have the opportunity to show up.

Just as officials in Guangdong and Guangxi were arguing among themselves, Zhu Hengjia, the Prince of Jingjiang, who was unwilling to be left out, suddenly jumped out.

The Prince of Jingjiang was a descendant of Zhu Wenzhen, the nephew of Emperor Taizu. He had the furthest lineage among all the princes of the royal family. According to the patriarchal concept, he had no qualifications to succeed to the throne.

But he said: "Today, the world is without a ruler. When my ancestor was enfeoffed, he refused to accept the title because of the miasma in western Guangdong. Empress Ma comforted him and allowed him to leave. Then she gave him the guards of the Eastern Palace. Now that the Eastern Palace is empty, shouldn't I be the Eastern Palace? It is the tradition of our ancestors that the crown prince governs the country. Why not?"

At this time, some officials in Guangdong and Guangxi also wanted to gain the credit for supporting the emperor. They persuaded him to ascend the throne in the next three chapters. The ministers cried and complained that he, a prince of a side branch who was not even of Taizu's blood, had actually acted as regent in the capacity of the crown prince.

It must be said that the Prince of Jingjiang had been planning for a long time. Not only did he change Guilin's name to Xijing and set up various officials there, he also sent envoys to Hunan, Guizhou and other places to issue imperial edicts and appoint officials, and ordered the mobilization of the "Tulang Biaoyong" from 45 caves in Liuzhou, Qingyuan, Zuojiang and Youjiang to increase his own military strength.

At that time, Guangxi Governor Qu Shisi and Inspector Zheng Feng were in Wuzhou. When they heard the news that Jing Fan had usurped the throne, they immediately ordered Si'en Lieutenant General Chen Bangfu, who was stationed in Wuzhou, to stay on alert. They also used the governor's seal to inform the chieftain that the wolf soldiers were not allowed to obey the orders of Prince Jingjiang.

Zhu Hengjia knew very well that the attitude of the Guangxi Governor was directly related to the success or failure of his career, so he tried to win him over.

He first sent an envoy with an "imperial edict" to appoint Qu Shisi as the Minister of Justice, but was sternly rejected.

Afterwards, he personally led his troops to Wuzhou and arrested him and placed him under house arrest.

By then, Qu Shisi realized that Chen Bangfu had already surrendered to Prince Jingjiang.

However, it is not known whether the Prince of Jingjiang was afraid or for other reasons, but his supervision of Qu Shisi was not strict.

In this way, he was able to find an opportunity to send his family to convey the situation in Guangxi to the central government.

"Master, the news in the city these past two days has been that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has won a victory."

"Nonsense!" When he heard the word "Prince", Qu Shisi, who had been cautious, immediately scolded the servant.

Although he had good talent, he wasted more than ten years of his efforts, which led to a fatal problem: Qu Shisi was not very good at political struggles.

Take this time for example, he made two serious mistakes in just two months.

One is that he has never held the banner in his hands, and the other is that he has revealed his inclinations too early.

The danger of the first point is now obvious. Because he failed to control the powerful departments, he had no power to resist after Prince Jingjiang arrived in Wuzhou.

As for the second point?
Because he revealed his desire to support the King of Gui too early, Qu Shisi was marginalized after Longwu ascended the throne, which allowed people with ulterior motives such as Ding Kuichu to completely control the military and political power in Guangdong and Guangxi.

In the original history, Ding Kuichu and others surrendered to the Qing Dynasty one after another, which made the situation in the Yongli Dynasty, which was already not very good, even worse.

Just imagine, if Qu Shisi was a little more mature politically, and waited until the situation became clear before expressing his intentions like Ding Kuichu and others, then Guangdong and Guangxi, or at least Guangxi, would not have been lost so easily, and the anti-Qing situation would have been different.

It is useless to just say these things. After all, everyone has their own characteristics, but we cannot always demand perfection and be too critical of them.

"Master, it's not the one in the city, it's the one in Yingtian, uh... the one imprisoned by Emperor Hongguang."

After hearing the scolding, the servant realized that his master had misunderstood him. He then explained and told his master the rumors in the city one by one.

Due to the distance, the news that reached Wuzhou at this time was still at the time when Zhu Cilang defeated the Qing army in Suzhou and Songjiang.

However, for Qu Shisi, this was enough to shock him. After the servant finished speaking, he was stunned for a long time before hesitatingly asking, "Is Yingtian still alive?"

"Ah."

"Kill the Tartar prince?"

"Ah."

"Destroy tens of thousands of enemy troops?"

"Ah."

Every time Qu Shisi heard a confirmatory answer from the servant, he became more excited. When he heard the last answer, his face was even distorted with excitement.

just
"Is this news reliable?"

"It's reliable. I've confirmed it from the Governor's Office."

Hearing this, Qu Shisi became more and more excited, but when his attention fell on the three words "Governor's Office", his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Are there any troop movements in Guangdong?"

"Never."

Since Guangdong and Guangxi are connected, the transmission of information is naturally much smoother.

According to common sense, when the Jingjiang Prince usurped power, the news should have reached Guangdong long ago, and Ding Kuichu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, should have sent troops to suppress it, but now there is no action at all.
When he thought of this, Qu Shisi's heart immediately turned cold, but he was not good at political struggles. After some thought, he came to no avail and could only send the servant away.

Didn’t Ding Kuichu take any action?

With the political situation changing so fast, how could he, as the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, just wait passively?

As early as July, he had actually taken action, but the only news he received at that time was that the Tartar army was approaching the south of the Yangtze River and Emperor Hongguang had escaped and been captured, so his mind was focused on how to gain the greatest benefit for himself from the turmoil in the country.

At that time, he had two choices. One was to wait for the central government to make a decision and then act accordingly, and the other was to directly support the King of Gui.

Although these two options have their own advantages and disadvantages, the biggest difference between them is the difference between risks and benefits.

Under such circumstances, Ding Kuichu's choice was even safer. He showed no movement on the surface, but secretly connected with various people, waiting for bad news from Jiangnan so that he could choose a member of the royal family to be the emperor.

This could be considered a safe method. As the governor of two provinces, more preparations would have helped in preventing the province from being too busy when major events were approaching. However, after Prince Jingjiang started the rebellion, he not only failed to send troops to suppress it in time, but also showed some connivance in it.

Such behavior is not difficult to explain. Although the Prince of Jingjiang has the support of many officials, he can support a side branch who is not even the blood of Taizu. It can be seen that those people are either good-for-nothings or have been blinded by the merit of following the dragon.

Faced with such a clown, Ding Kuichu naturally has the confidence to counterattack and eliminate him when the situation changes.

Therefore, he was at ease allowing these people to stir up trouble in order to test the reactions of all parties.

But when the world is in chaos, there are too many unexpected events.

Just when he focused all his attention on finding out the attitudes of governors and governors-general in various places, he heard that the late crown prince not only defended Yingtian, but also destroyed 40,000 to 50,000 Qing troops in a battle in Suzhou and Songjiang.

If it were someone else, they would probably just sigh that they were unlucky and then lead their troops to destroy Prince Jingjiang and take care of everything.

But in the eyes of people like Ding Kuichu who have seen through the true nature of power, there is still much room for improvement in this situation.

"Have you figured it out in the past few days?"

After asking several generals in the hall a question indifferently, Ding Kuichu glanced at the expressions on their faces.

If one wants to achieve something in troubled times, military force is naturally indispensable. Fortunately, he has never treated these fighting men too badly during the years in power, so after getting the hint, these people were tied to his boat.

But military generals are just military generals after all. Not to mention that these people may not even know how to read, even if they do know, they cannot see the dangers and opportunities contained in the changes in the political situation.

Therefore, after hearing the news of the Battle of Suzhou and Songjiang, he could keep an eye on everyone's movements while waiting for news from Hunan in peace.

"Commander-in-chief, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the descendant of the previous emperor after all. Although his status was previously denied by Emperor Hongguang, he must have received support from the central government to achieve this great victory. If we establish another emperor,

The general was quite eloquent when he spoke the previous part, but when it came to the last sentence, he paused for a long while and didn't dare to finish his words.

Hearing this, Ding Kuichu raised his eyebrows but did not say much. After all the generals expressed the same idea, he said leisurely: "I am a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. It is reasonable for me to make some preparations to deal with the changes. Are you worried that I will implicate you now?"

After the words fell, the generals said they dared not. However, as Ding Kuichu was a high-ranking official of the second rank, how could he have the heart to say more to them?
"I am asking you how to deal with the matter of Prince Jingjiang."

(End of this chapter)