Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 23 The way forward
Why did the Ming Dynasty end up in such a mess?
This problem is really too big.

Although Zhu Cilang, a history enthusiast, could not give a satisfactory answer, he had some understanding of the decline of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

When the Qing army entered the pass, everyone including Wu Sangui regarded the peasant army as a big enemy. No one thought that hundreds of thousands of Manchus could do anything to the Ming Dynasty, so they all planned to use the Manchus to suppress the bandits.

Does this mean they are wrong?

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had an army of nearly two million. Although many of them were just refugees, their main force of hundreds of thousands was actually very powerful.

This can be seen from the fact that Li Dingguo's troops among Zhang Xianzhong's remnants had two famous kings.

In comparison, who could have thought that things would come to this point?
The 30,000 Manchu Eight Banners plus the Guanning Iron Cavalry led by Wu Sangui defeated Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, who had dominated most of China, in a matter of seconds.

At this point, the Southern Ming court showed their stupidity and incompetence.

When the Manchus were as surprised at their own strong fighting power as the Jurchens were in the past, the Southern Ming court was still thinking of using the enemy to suppress the rebellion.

Ultimately, the Southern Ming, mired in internal struggles, failed to stop the enemy's advance southwards like the Southern Song did.

What is the difference between these two regimes?
In Zhu Cilang's view, the biggest difference between them was that Zhao Gou possessed unquestionable legitimacy, while Hongguang was just a vassal king who was forcibly helped to take the throne.

Just imagine, if Zhao Gou was not the emperor's son, and did not have the title of Grand Marshal of the Army appointed by his father, could the Southern Song Dynasty really stop the Jin people?
Of course, there are no assumptions in history, and Zhu Cilang does not have time to tell others about this.

At this time, he was rushing to the military camp without stopping.

Wu Xue had a really uncomfortable meal. It would have been fine if he didn't say anything, but as soon as he opened his mouth, everyone would put down their buns and chopsticks and act as if they were listening attentively.

This was really a torture for an ordinary person from modern times, so he could only take two steamed buns and flee with Wang Fuping after asking a few questions about the registration situation.

As for whether the clerks felt relieved or moved by His Highness's approachable manner after they left, Zhu Cilang had no idea.

The distance between the martial arts school and the craftsman camp is not far, but it is not close to the camp in the north of the city.

You should know that the residential area for the people of Yingtian City only occupies one-third of the main city, and this one-third can accommodate one million people. You can imagine how huge it is.

It took them quite a while to complete this journey. When he arrived at Chang Guanlin's place, his first question was, "How long does it take to learn how to ride a horse?"

It’s not entirely because Zhu Cilang can’t stand the fatigue, the main reason is that it wastes too much time.

"I need some tea."

Seeing the surprise on his face, Chang Guanlin explained in detail.

After a while, Zhu Cilang finally realized his cognitive errors.

He always regarded people who could ride horses as cavalry, and always felt that as long as there were horses and people who could ride horses, there would be cavalry.

But things are not that simple, the man needs to be skilled in riding and shooting, and the horse needs to be well-trained, otherwise he can only be called a horseman but not a cavalryman.

After explaining the reason, Chang Guanlin, this stubborn guy, suddenly seemed to have a sudden realization and ordered people to bring two horses.

"Your Highness, you and Brother Wang should practice with these two horses first. I will find you a better one after you are familiar with them."

Zhu Cilang had no objection, and after agreeing, he asked about recruiting militiamen.

There were still quite a lot of people gathered in various government offices in the city after the registration was distributed. And although there were only a dozen clerks in charge of receiving the people at the military camp, there was not a long queue.

The biggest reason was that the personnel were assigned when they registered at the government gate. When the militiamen came to the barracks with the paper, the clerk only needed to classify and file them, and then order the soldiers to take them to the empty barracks.

One of the purposes of Zhu Cilang's trip was to find some suitable small flags for these militiamen.

It so happened that today all the captains of the general flags would also leave this military camp and go to the camps allocated for them, so Zhu Cilang planned to hold the farewell and selection together.

Under normal circumstances, he, the crown prince, would not be needed for these trivial matters, and even the commander Chang Guanlin would not need to be there.

However, becoming a small flag means leaving the status of an ordinary soldier and entering the officer class, and a relationship will be established between the promoter and the promoted.

Don't underestimate this kind of relationship. Chang Shenkai held the position of the principal of Huangpu Military Academy, and many famous generals shared hardships and hardships with the soldiers and gave away their clothes and food. Wasn't it just to establish this kind of relationship?
As for how to select from them, isn’t it easy to pick one that you like?

Honestly speaking, this was not a problem in Zhu Cilang's eyes. There was not much difference between these soldiers and militiamen anyway. His only worry now was that there were too many people to choose from.

If ten people choose one small flag, and if they recruit at least 100,000 strong men, Zhu Cilang will have to recruit more than 10,000 people.

Taking a step back, there are now more than 20,000 people reporting to the camp, so he should at least select the small flags of these people first.

Just as Zhu Cilang was worried about this, Hongguang, who had fled to Lishui, was also worried.

However, Zhu Cilang's worry came from defending the city, while Hongguang was worried about where to escape.

Contrary to rumors, Hongguang had discussed his escape with Ma Shiying, and for safety on the road they also used Guizhou soldiers from Ma Shiying's hometown to take away most of the garrison troops in Yingtian.

However, before leaving Yingtian Prefecture, the news of the Tartars' crossing the river was leaked by someone who didn't know the seriousness of the matter.

Soon after, a mutiny broke out in the army in Yingtian, where almost all of his family members were stationed.

It is easy to imagine what happened next. The mutinous army didn't care who was the emperor or the prime minister. They just dispersed after looting.

Fortunately, these soldiers were newly recruited, otherwise how could Hongguang and these young eunuchs be safe and sound?

"What should we do now? We can't find Lord Ma, and we don't have the money for the carriage. How can we get to Hangzhou? Does God really want to destroy our Ming Dynasty?"

Hongguang had no idea what to do and could only sit cross-legged on a big rock and sigh.

This is no wonder. How could a prince who spent the first half of his life only eating, drinking and enjoying himself have any knowledge?
If it weren't for the persuasion of Ma Shiying, Lu Jiude and others, he would not even have thought of escaping from Yingtian.

"Your Majesty, why don't we go to Dangtu first."

"Dangtu? Is that okay?"

When Hongguang heard the young eunuch's words, he immediately stood up from the big rock.

"Your Majesty, Dangtu is the seat of Taiping Prefecture, only 40 to 50 miles away. Let's go there to get some money and send a team of soldiers to escort us. Otherwise, it will be difficult to reach Hangzhou."

Hongguang was quickly moved by the young eunuch's reasons, but the road was muddy and difficult.

As soon as the young eunuch saw Hongguang's expression, he guessed what he was thinking. Then he turned around and walked backwards towards the big rock.

"Your Majesty, please mount your horse."

(End of this chapter)