Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 229: Being used as a gun by this bastard again
August in the south of the Yangtze River is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, so the weather is naturally as hot and humid as a steamer.

The native guards could generally tolerate this kind of weather, but Zhu Cilang, a pure northerner, couldn't stand it.

Therefore, when he left Hangzhou and went to Suzhou via Taihu Lake, he changed into a lighter and more breathable bright yellow dragon robe.

According to his original plan, with the previous example of Hu Maozhen's troops, it would not be difficult to subdue the Qing troops in Suzhou City.

But who would have thought that the two generals in the city did not show much resistance when they surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Now, not only did they try to break out several times, but also after failing, they showed an attitude of destroying themselves together with the enemy. It makes people wonder whether the Tartars are really that good to them?
Of course, the main purpose of this trip is to appease Wu Zhikui.

After all, although Wu Zhikui had only tens of thousands of people under his command, they had stood up when the Ming Dynasty was in danger. Based on Zhu Cilang's style of doing things, he would not end up in such a disastrous situation for no reason.

It is easy to imagine what will happen after the meeting.

With Hu Maozhen's tens of thousands of battle-hardened troops at his side, and Huang Fei and Wu Yi having already blocked all the surrounding waterways to prevent the Qing army from escaping, when Zhu Cilang mentioned the reorganization, Wu Zhikui immediately expressed his understanding and support for the court's decision.

"Well, General Wu is an experienced general. He knows that dismissing slippery people is the only way to improve combat effectiveness. I am just adding unnecessary things." Zhu Cilang paused for a moment, and after seeing Wu Zhikui nodding repeatedly without any resentment, he turned his gaze to the people present: "The main reason I came here this time is to end the war in Suzhou as soon as possible. I wonder what you think?"

Zhu Cilang had been away from Yingtian for many days, and the decision made by the court had already been passed on to the ears of the generals through various channels, so when this question was asked, everyone spoke out what they thought according to their own status.

In fact, what everyone was thinking of was unlikely to be very original. When Hu Maozhen's attempt to persuade them to surrender failed, the only options left were a violent attack or a siege.

The benefits of a strong attack are very obvious. It can eliminate the largest Qing army stronghold in Suzhou and Songjiang in the shortest time. In this way, Zhu Cilang can focus his energy on rectifying the local area and consolidating his rule as soon as possible, which will definitely be extremely beneficial to stabilizing his small court.

But the disadvantages of a strong attack are equally obvious. After all, Suzhou is one of the largest cities in the south of the Yangtze River, and its city defenses are even stronger than those of Hangzhou.

If the Ming army chose to attack by force, it would inevitably come at the cost of huge casualties. If it really captured the city, it would be fine, but if the attack failed, the morale of the army would definitely suffer a severe blow.

Now that Zhu Cilang's direct troops have already been reorganized, if any trouble arises in Susong because of this, it would be like not getting the meat but getting into trouble.

At this time, Zhu Cilang actually felt somewhat regretful.

In the original history, Li Chengdong and Wu Shengzhao both rebelled against the Qing Dynasty within two years. Although Wu Shengzhao was discovered because of his careless actions, Li Chengdong caused considerable trouble to the Qing army.

With this understanding, he took it for granted that with Hu Maozhen's persuasion, it would not be difficult to persuade the two generals of Suzhou to abandon their evil ways and join the light.

This led to the embarrassing situation where the local area was not yet stable, but all the direct descendants had to undergo reorganization at the same time.

After listening to everyone's statements, Zhu Cilang also had some understanding of their ideas. In the final analysis, those leading the navy supported a strong attack, while those leading the land force believed that they should surround the enemy.

There is nothing special about this book. After all, everyone cares about their own business. If you don’t speak up for your own interests, who can you count on?
"General Hu, have Generals Li and Wu replied?"

Q: How should a leader handle conflicts of interest among subordinates?

A: First see if there are other ways to avoid these conflicts of interest.

Well. This is just one of the reasons why Zhu Cilang asked this question. The main reason is that he just can't figure it out. He has absolutely no clue.

Although in that time and space without him, Generals Wu and Li rose up in anger after being treated unfairly by the Qing court.

But in the current situation, both of them have been abandoned by the Qing army like rags, and their situation is even worse than before. Zhu Cilang naturally can't understand why the two of them are still holding on here.

"Reporting to Your Highness, the two rebels did not reply."

After hearing what Zhu Cilang said, Hu Maozhen responded without hesitation. Then, as if to prove that what he said was true, he not only recounted the contents of the letter in general, but also prepared to call the clerk who wrote it.

Zhu Cilang tried to comfort him with kind words in response to his somewhat stressful reaction, but this could not avoid the siege and battle among the generals, so after thinking for a moment, he finally decided to make a final attempt.

"Send someone to the city and tell them that I want to see them."

If Xu Yu and others were here, they would probably find a lot of reasons to persuade him, but among the people stationed in Suzhou and Songjiang, except Wu Yi, all of them are military generals, and they are not very familiar with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

So as soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, generals and officers had already gone to arrange this matter.

According to Zhu Cilang's experience, a meeting with an enemy general would probably take one or two hours to arrange. However, who would have thought that within just three or two cups of tea, the general had returned to report, saying: The enemy general requests a meeting in front of the two armies.

Upon hearing this request, Zhu Cilang's first reaction was that it was a fraud.

When meeting with an enemy general, safety naturally becomes the first priority.

Not to mention whether there is anyone in Suzhou City who can fire artillery so accurately, even if there are a few people who can use heavy bows, they will still be a considerable threat.

Can.
Honestly speaking, since Jiangnan had been pacified, he was not worried that these people would dare to disobey military orders. However, there is a huge difference between not daring to do something and being willing to do it. How could he force troops other than his own to attack the city?

If he really did this, not to mention whether the military momentum would be frustrated, even if he was given a reputation like Chang Shenkai, it would have an extremely adverse effect on his integration of the various armies in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

If that doesn't work, just increase the distance a little. At most you'll just have to waste your voice.

With this in mind, Zhu Cilang agreed to the enemy general's somewhat bizarre request. Afterwards, each general returned to his unit to prepare for this grand meeting, while Zhu Cilang recalled the previous reactions of each general in his tent.

Is this boring?
of course not.

Zhu Cilang knew very well that as a superior, he must have a thorough understanding of the backbones under his command, even if these understandings were likely to be wrong, or even very likely to be deliberately displayed in front of him by his subordinates, but in any case, having understanding was hundreds of times better than having no understanding.

The first one is Wu Yi. This person hardly says a word whether on Chongming Island or here, but he has done his best to take care of all matters concerning the settlement of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

According to Zhu Cilang's experience, this is probably the kind of honest person who only knows how to work hard but never reports his achievements to his superiors.

Of course, there is another possibility. Wu Yi had analyzed the Crown Prince's character through Zhu Cilang's actions in Yingtian when they first met on Chongming Island, and that's why he deliberately acted honestly so that the Crown Prince would value him.

But this possibility is so low that it can be completely ignored.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang thought that this military supervisor who was deeply trusted by Shi Kefa was probably the legendary "honest man".

The other one is Huang Fei.

Zhu Cilang had a good impression of this naval commander who had worked with Huang Degong. Although he had been trapped in Taihu Lake in history, he was also a headache for the Qing army. If he could be used correctly, he could be used as a general on his own.

As for Wu Zhikui.
Until now, Zhu Cilang had only seen slickness in him.

But this is not a big deal. After all, no one is perfect in the world. As long as he can persist in resisting the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Cilang will not be intolerant. "Your Highness, all the troops have lined up outside the city."

While Zhu Cilang was still recalling his summary of the generals from Susong in his mind, Huang Fei returned to the tent again. After hearing his report, he did not delay and went straight out of the tent, mounted his horse and headed out of the camp.

At this time, tens of thousands of soldiers from both the Ming and Qing dynasties had already lined up outside the city of Suzhou. Except for the middle area deliberately left for the meeting, there was not much empty space in the originally vast flat area.

The news of the Crown Prince's arrival had already spread throughout the army. Soldiers and officers alike wanted to take this opportunity to see what the young man who had almost single-handedly turned the Ming Dynasty around looked like.

But as the saying goes, there are no limits when you are a thousand people, but there are no boundaries when you are ten thousand people.

This army formation consisting of tens of thousands of people had already blocked everyone's sight. Except for the two sides of the road that led from the military camp to the central open space, the soldiers in other positions would probably have no chance to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"Trample, tramp, tramp."

As the sound of horse hooves came closer and closer, a bright yellow figure appeared in the sight of the soldiers near the passage, protected by hundreds of armored soldiers.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

The appearance of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was like a stream of clear water rushing into the sea, which caused ripples in the army in a moment. When the Ming army soldiers saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually came to the front line, expressions of excitement and admiration immediately appeared on their faces.

The appearance of Zhu Cilang undoubtedly boosted the morale of the Ming army, which already had an advantage.

Although the soldiers did not know the reason for His Highness's visit, they had heard from operas what "the emperor personally led the army to fight" meant. And as a warrior, what could be more honorable than following the "emperor" to crush the enemy in front of them?

"The Ming army is mighty!"

"Wan Sheng!!!"

It’s not like Zhu Cilang had never been bowed to by so many people before, but how could he not be excited by the cheers coming from the mouths of battle-hardened warriors?
"The Ming army is mighty!"

"Wan Sheng!!!"

With the coordinated efforts between the Crown Prince Regent of the Ming Dynasty and thousands of Ming soldiers, the morale of the Ming army has reached an extreme high. Even a general like Hu Maozhen, who has fought many battles, was infected and shouted "Victory".

The Ming army at this time seemed to be blessed by the gods. Even if there were mountains of swords and seas of fire in front of them, they would dare to crush the mountains of swords and fill the seas of fire as long as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gave an order.

In contrast, the atmosphere in the Qing army camp seemed somewhat dull and uneasy.

They had been under siege for nearly a month. Although food and fodder were not scarce during this period, the long siege and the pressure of being isolated had made them exhausted, and they had suffered great physical and mental torture.

Seeing such a huge difference between the two armies, Zhu Cilang was excited but also puzzled: How dare the two generals Wu and Li resist to the end?
"How dare you two not bow to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?!"

When they were about thirty or forty steps away from Generals Wu and Li, Zhu Cilang and his accompanying generals Huang Fei reined in their horses and stopped.

At the same time, Huang Fei's deep and penetrating voice also echoed in the field.

Normally speaking, when two armies are at war, how could it be possible for the enemy's general to pay homage to one's own prince?

But Huang Fei was a man who had managed to save his life during several changes in Dongjiang River. He naturally knew the principle of using his own military might to exert pressure on the enemy.

Therefore, this statement was just a warning.

"I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Ok?
what's the situation?
They are!

As Generals Wu and Li dismounted from their horses and knelt before the Crown Prince who was the regent of the Ming Dynasty, both the Qing and Ming armies, the generals, officers and soldiers were all stunned where they were. Hu Maozhen, who knew Wu Shengzhao's character well, could not help but criticize inwardly.

Damn it, I’m being used as a gun by this bastard again.

Hu Maozhen has been a colleague of these two for more than ten years, so he naturally knew their real plan when he saw this situation. However, the rest of us were not worms in the stomachs of Wu and Li, so we could only be surprised at this moment.

However, Zhu Cilang had experienced many ups and downs in the past two months. Although he was puzzled as to why they were kneeling down to him, his rhythm was not disrupted at all.

"I asked General Hu to persuade you two to give up evil and join the light, why didn't you respond at all?"

"Your Highness, we surrendered to the Qing Dynasty earlier because Hongguang was stupid and the officials only cared about their own interests. But now we are both in the Qing army. How can we be like those slaves of three surnames and rebel again?"

After hearing Huang Fei's loud retelling, Wu Shengzhao first bowed slightly on his horse, and then responded in an even louder voice.

As this voice spread, not only did the subordinates of Wu and Li think of the unfair treatment they had received in Jiangbei earlier, but even Hu Maozhen's troops in the Ming army formation became a little depressed.

After all, the soldiers now lined up on both sides are all from the same army. Not to mention knowing each other, there should be quite a few of them from the same hometown.

But now they are in a hostile situation, even if they have to kill each other later, who can really get over it?

"I have already said that your treason is punishable by death, but your feelings are pitiable. As long as you turn from evil to good and help me recover the lost territory, why can't you turn back as a prodigal son?"

Through Huang Fei's retelling, Zhu Cilang's words once again echoed in the field. At this time, not only the Qing army soldiers, but also many Ming army soldiers cast hopeful glances at the two generals Wu and Li.

"Your Highness! You are willing to sacrifice your life to help people like me who have lost their way. I am so ashamed of myself!"

Following two uniform cries, Generals Wu and General Li prostrated themselves on the ground again, and then the entire venue was filled with the words that the soldiers of both sides had been waiting for for a long time.

"I am willing to lead the horse and stirrup for Your Highness to restore the Ming Dynasty!"

"I am willing to lead the horse and stirrup for Your Highness to restore the Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)