Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 238 Do you think I don’t know?
fair and just.

This is what a ruler must do, well, at least on the surface.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to punish Ding Kuichu in the name of defeat.

This is not difficult to understand.

Chongzhen could punish his subjects in the name of defeat, or even behead them directly. Only people would plead for mercy, but no one would say a word of objection.

But the current Ming Dynasty is no longer the empire that unified China.

Not to mention that there were only a few officials in the entire court who had never been defeated or fled. The fact that he had only lost half of the country did not allow Zhu Cilang to punish anyone in the name of defeat.

Of course, if one day, Zhu Cilang's small court could gain a firm foothold south of the Yangtze River, then if there was another defeat, he would naturally have to find someone to take the responsibility. But at such a critical juncture, how could he have the conditions to ask for so much?
just
"Old minister! The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ding Kuichu, and other officials of Guangdong pay their respects to His Royal Highness the Regent Prince."

Convinced that he could pass the test safely, Ding Kuichu calmly led the others to the riverside.

He was very sure that without proper charges, not only a prince, but even an emperor could not really do anything to him.

In the past one or two years, he has already established close ties with local forces. As long as the local forces in Guangdong do not suffer a devastating blow, there will naturally be no problem with him being a spokesperson.

If others saw it, his confidence was really unfounded. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had a large army under his command, so he could kill anyone he wanted. Why would he care about the local forces?

However, over the past thousands of years in China, the most important historical thread has been the struggle between the central government and local forces. If the local forces were truly powerless against the central government, how could they have persisted throughout history and only been temporarily suppressed by the great men?

Let me say a few more words.

The local forces you think of have connections in the court and business in the local area. Officials from all walks of life have to give them face for various reasons, and local people dare not offend them because of their power.

But in reality, the local power, a prominent family in a certain place, owns the land of a county or even several counties.

The roads and bridges here were repaired by his family, the bandits were suppressed by his family, and the taxes were collected by his family. Hundreds of thousands of local people depended on his family, and the healthy ones tilled the fields and the strong ones became his servants.

Dozens of his sons and daughters joined the army, and dozens of them entered the court. Although his students and former officials were not everywhere in the court and the country, it was not difficult for him to find a few well-known acquaintances wherever he went.

More importantly, the relationships between these local forces are complicated and they will stick together when faced with external forces.

If there is a real need, a team of 10,000 people can be assembled in a short time. Even if there is a temporary shortage of equipment, it will not be difficult to get some from the local garrison if we really have to fight back.
If you don't have a legitimate reason, come and kill one of these forces.

Don't think this is alarmist.

Look at the more than 100,000 civilians recruited by ministers from their hometowns under Zhu Cilang. If Zhu Dadian, Yang Tinglin and others had to rely on the majesty of the court to recruit their troops, why didn't they recruit soldiers locally and had to go back to their hometowns? Is that official position only useful in one's hometown?

In short, the strength of local forces is far beyond the imagination of ordinary people, even in later generations
Let’s put aside the idle talk for now.

Seeing the Guangdong officials kneeling respectfully on the ground when they were still several feet away from him, Zhu Cilang did not ask them to stand up immediately. Instead, he looked at them for a few seconds before asking slowly.

"Oh? I thought the officials in Guangdong were going to establish a new emperor."

After the words were spoken, all the officials were frightened, but Ding Kuichu seemed unaware of the murderous intent in the words. He remained calm and composed, straightened his body slightly from the ground, and then began his explanation.

"Your Highness, I originally wanted to send this good news and congratulatory letter to Hangzhou after suppressing the rebellion of Prince Jingjiang, but who would have thought that the war would drag on until now. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

As Ding Kuichu finished his speech, a voice of apology immediately sounded from behind him.

Faced with such a situation, although Zhu Cilang did not show it on his face, he was already sneering in his heart.

When he just left Jiangnan, he had two plans for Guangdong.

The best thing, of course, is to take advantage of the conflicts between local governors and governors-general to re-establish a balance in Guangdong, and then slowly weaken Ding Kuichu's power and eventually take him down.

As for what the specific process will be, you can roughly refer to the treatment of Qu Shisi during the Longwu Dynasty.

And the worst
Ding Butang was trying to quell the rebellion of Prince Jingjiang in Zhaoqing and his Royal Highness the Crown Prince came from afar to rescue him upon hearing the news.

Eventually the rebel king was defeated, and Ding Butang asked His Highness to leave an army to stabilize the area.

Well, this is the worst outcome Zhu Cilang had expected.

After a long journey, in the end, there was no fundamental change to the situation in Guangdong.

However, the current situation is completely different from what was expected, and he will naturally extend his hand into Guangdong.

"Take it and show it to Ding Butang."

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang waved his hand gently, and then a guard brought a stack of papers covered with words to Ding Kuichu.

This stack of papers was handed over by Huang Jin and other veteran officials on behalf of the gentry when Ding Kuichu left Guangzhou. It is obvious what the contents were, which were mostly the crimes that Ding Kuichu had committed in Guangdong in the past one or two years.

At this point, Ding Kuichu had no room to struggle any longer. He roughly flipped the stack of papers a few times and then collapsed to the ground.

"Your Highness, this is all slander! This is all slander! I have worked hard for the court in Guangdong. Even if I have no merit, I have worked hard, Your Highness!"

"Take him back to Yingtian and hand him over to the Ministry of Justice and the Supervisory Office for questioning."

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards arrested him, and Zhu Cilang said to the other officials: "I came here only to quell the rebellion of Prince Jingjiang, but I didn't know until I arrived that Ding Kuichu was such a glutton."

The officials and generals had not straightened up since they started paying their respects, and after hearing what the Crown Prince said, they all wanted to burrow into the ground for fear of being noticed.

If it were a peaceful time, Zhu Cilang might use Ding Kuichu as a cover to stir up a big case in Guangdong or even Guangxi. But now there are wars everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. It would be a pleasant surprise if he could capture Ding Kuichu this time. How could he have the energy to organize Guangdong as he did in Jiangnan?
"Considering that you are all forced by your superiors, I will not pursue the matter this time."

As soon as the words fell, everyone in the field breathed a sigh of relief. Some of them were so frightened that they forgot to control themselves and exhaled loudly.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Cilang wanted to give them a little more warning so that they would not think that they could go back to the old days after passing this hurdle. However, just as he was about to open his mouth, a report came from there.

"Your Highness, General Xu Qian has reported that the rebel king has been killed on the spot for his stubborn resistance."

"Well, bury him on the spot." Upon hearing this, the guard trotted forward to deliver the order. However, when Zhu Cilang looked at the officials still lying on the ground, he lost interest in saying anything more.

The outcome of this trip south had actually been basically determined at the banquet that night. The only difference was whether Prince Jingjiang could escape back to Guilin as happened in history.

About an hour later, all the rebel navy and land camps were wiped out. After resting in Zhaoqing, Zhu Cilang went straight up the river and approached Wuzhou.

Before leaving, he sent all the Guangdong officials back to Guangzhou and asked them to inform them that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had ordered Gu Yuanjing to act as the Governor of Guangdong and Song Yingsheng to act as the Provincial Governor of Guangdong.

This arrangement is a helpless move.

According to his original intention, he did not want Gu Yuanjing to govern Guangdong.

Firstly, this person seemed to be slightly lacking in ability; secondly, he was born in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If Qu Shisi from Guangxi was taken into consideration, then the two areas of Guangxi would fall into the hands of Donglin.

In such a situation, the power of various parties in the court will inevitably be unbalanced because Donglin has gained two more provinces, and the political struggle that has temporarily stabilized may become intense again.

Although this is the truth, he really has no one who can take on this position. After thinking it over for a while, Zhu Cilang could only comfort himself by saying that Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi were not on good terms.

There is nothing much to say about what happened next. Prince Jingjiang is already dead, so what else can his followers do?
Zhu Cilang had just led his army into the unguarded Wuzhou when Qu Shisi appeared outside the city with a group of Guilin rebels tied up.

Speaking of Qu Shisi, he had a hard time. He was suddenly captured in Wuzhou. Afterwards, he was determined not to rebel, but due to various factors, Prince Jingjiang did not harm him. He just sent him back to Guilin under house arrest and ignored him.

But who would have thought that he had only been back in Guilin for more than ten days when the news came that Prince Jingjiang was defeated and killed in Zhaoqing.

In this situation, he understood that it was time to take action. After contacting Yang Guowei's men, he suddenly launched an attack in his capacity as the Governor of Guangxi. Then, with the assistance of Lieutenant General Jiao Lian, he killed Yang Guowei and captured Guilin City.

According to common sense, capturing the rebels' lair is a great achievement, and it can be used in the name of stabilizing the area and clearing out the remnants in Guilin City.

But Qu Shisi was different from people like Ding Kuichu after all. He knew very well that Wuzhou City was easy to defend but difficult to attack. After capturing all the remaining main figures of the rebellion, he hurried south with several thousand troops, trying to use his prestige to help His Royal Highness the Crown Prince take over the city.

But he never imagined that the foundation of Prince Jingjiang was far from solid. Except for a few people who knew they had no way out, no one was willing to be buried with him.

Therefore, Wuzhou, which was built on the pass, opened the city and surrendered without any resistance.

"I, the guilty minister, Qu Shisi, the governor of Guangxi, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the regent."

"The guilty general Jiao Lian pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Regent."

"The guilty general Chen Bangfu pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who is the Regent."

Upon hearing that Wuzhou City had fallen into the hands of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Qu Shisi led two generals directly into the city.

Needless to say, the most important thing is that they added the word "guilt" before their self-introductions.

"Oh? Tell me where your sins are."

If another lord was here, upon hearing his subjects confess their crimes, he would either comfort them in a gentle voice or directly punish them according to the law. However, Zhu Cilang chose neither and let them speak first.

Faced with this situation, Qu Shisi was still calm. After all, he was captured because of carelessness, and he saved his reputation in the process. The other two...
"As the governor of Guangxi, I was not only unable to discover the rebellious king's situation early, but was also careless and allowed him to be captured, allowing the rebellious king to become powerful in Guangxi. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, I should be punished for the crime of losing territory."

After saying this, Qu Shisi bowed heavily to the ground, while the other two were frightened when they saw this.

Needless to say, although Jiao Lian turned against the enemy at a critical moment, he could not erase the fact that he had once served under the rebel king. And Chen Bangfu even married his son to the Grand Secretary of the Dongge who was personally appointed by the rebel king.

Under such circumstances, even Qu Shisi apologized for the loss of land. How could the two of them dare to tell His Highness about their problems openly?
Da da da.

Just when the two were hesitating whether to simply apologize or to mention their own contributions, the sound of fingertips tapping on the table suddenly came from the lobby which was already suffocatingly quiet.

"I followed Yang Guowei and became a traitor. Your Highness, please punish me!"

Jiao Lian's words were very concise. After he finished speaking, he knocked his head heavily on the ground and then lay there like Qu Shisi, unable to get up.

This man is quite brave, and can even pull down an armored knight with one hand, but at the same time, his mind is a little simpler. Compared with Chen Bangfu, he is a serious fighter.

Therefore, after feeling the pressure from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he simply stopped mentioning any merits and simply stated his crimes and waited for his punishment.

"I shouldn't have married Sun Jinding."

Both of them had finished speaking, and even though Chen Bangfu was afraid, he had to speak.

Sun Jinding was the Grand Secretary of Dongge appointed by the Jingjiang Rebel King. After hearing that his "Crown Prince" was defeated in Zhaoqing, he immediately defected to Chen Bangfu.

But who would have thought that Chen Bangfu was such a cruel person, that when he saw his soon-to-be-married relative, he beheaded him without a word, and even brought the head with him during this visit.

In the original history, since Qu Shisi once wanted to support Prince Gui, Longwu gave this man great power after Prince Jingjiang was pacified.

But who would have thought that Chen Bangfu would soon collude with Ding Kuichu and completely make Guangdong and Guangxi escape the control of the court.

Without local support, Longwu was left with nowhere to go and no escape, and eventually died at the hands of the Qing army.

Afterwards, this man tricked Jiao Lian into death, and after dealing with the armed forces loyal to the Ming Dynasty, he took the opportunity to surrender to Kong Youde.

Zhu Cilang probably had some understanding of this, so he had no intention of letting this treacherous man go.

After all, Guangxi is not Guangdong, and Chen Bangfu is not Ding Kuichu.

Zhu Cilang felt no pressure at all to kill a small lieutenant general.

"Oh? When did you marry Sun Jinding?"

"Your Highness! I deserve to die! I deserve to die! Please spare my life for the sake of my resistance. Spare my life!"

Zhu Cilang didn't want to say anything more about this kind of person, but when he was about to order people to drag him away, he heard an urgent report from outside the hall.

"Your Highness! Urgent military information!"

(End of this chapter)