Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 24 Everything
Zhu Cilang's method of selecting the small flags of the militia was somewhat casual, but in the eyes of the soldiers, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must have thought it over carefully.

Otherwise, why would I be chosen as an officer from among tens of thousands of people?

This is the mentality that everyone will have. No matter how fast Zhu Cilang is in selecting people or how carelessly he behaves, those who are selected will always be able to tell from clues that His Highness must have noticed their unknown strengths and only entrusted them with important tasks.

She might even regard Zhu Cilang's casual glance as encouragement to herself, and then develop the desire to "die for His Highness".

Do you think it's a joke?

But when Li Chaodong and dozens of his team stopped in front of Zhu Cilang, and watched His Highness quickly pick out more than ten people from the team, he felt nothing but envy in his heart.

He took over his father's position at the age of sixteen and spent twenty years in the army before he climbed to the position of a centurion.

On the one hand, this was because the garrison troops in Yingtian had fewer opportunities to fight and make merit, and on the other hand, it was because all the official positions in the army were occupied by generals.

The generals held high positions, the junior generals held low positions. For an ordinary military household like Li Chaodong with no background, being able to get to such a position was already the ceiling.

Li Chaodong, who was well aware of the difficulties involved, realized when those people were selected that they and he had embarked on two completely different paths.

Even though they were just small flags, and even just small militia flags, the one who chose them was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which meant that they had a backer!

From today on, their contributions will no longer be exchanged for small change, and their qualifications will no longer be ignored. Isn't this worthy of his envy?

However, Li Chaodong was just envious because he also had the opportunity to become the prince's direct descendant.

That day, His Highness said that he would select a thousand households from among these hundred households. If he could be selected, he would become His Highness's direct subordinate. So when the order came down to station them outside the city, he acted contrary to his usual behavior and forcibly suppressed the voices of dissatisfaction among the soldiers.

After leaving the military camp, the atmosphere in the team became relaxed, and some people with strong family connections even half-jokingly mocked Li Chaodong.

"Sir, even if His Highness intends to leave all the thousand households vacant, there are only a few dozen positions. Do you really need to work so hard?"

"How dare I think about these things? I am in the limelight now, so I should not be the one to take the lead."

Faced with these slightly sarcastic words, Li Chaodong sneered in his heart, but maintained his usual low-key style.

As a mid-level officer, his way of thinking is naturally different from that of a private. Plus, as he is older, he can see the ins and outs of it better.

If we only talk about the garrison, it would be extremely difficult to be promoted to a thousand households.

But the Tartars are about to arrive at the city, so Your Highness will not use the recruits only as militiamen.

If they were included, the chances of being promoted would naturally be much greater.

Even if he is finally transferred to be a militia commander, his future may be better than staying in the army.

How could such an opportunity not excite him, a man who had wasted so many years?

Li Chaodong saw it quite clearly, but Zhu Guobi and Xu Yinjue, both dukes, saw farther and deeper than him.

Although the two men stayed in the Ministry of War that day, nothing that happened outside escaped their eyes.

It's just because of their different focus that the two people see different things.

From the very beginning, Zhu Guobi planned to seize the military power through Zhu Cilang.

Although he was later conferred the title of Duke, his family was originally a marquisate and he still had considerable influence in the military.

With this power, if the control over him is relaxed a little, he will be able to gain considerable influence in the army in just a day or two.

But who would have thought that the first thing Zhu Cilang did after entering the northern camp of the city was to lock up all the thousand-householders in the general's corps, and then he planned to select new thousand-householders from among the hundred-householders.

In this case, even if there were still centurions willing to follow him, how could he contact them without the superior officers as a bridge? God had mercy on him, contacting a small official like a thousand households was already a sign of respect for the virtuous and humble, and at the level of a centurion, he really couldn't even remember a single name.

As for Xu Yinjue, who had no ambition, his view on Zhu Cilang's move was more from the perspective of defending the city.

As Chang Guanlin said, without two levels of command, it would be impossible for him alone to keep the army functioning normally when fighting the enemy.

So when Xu Yinjue learned that Zhu Cilang had arrested all the thousand households, he almost sentenced the defenders of the city to death.

Even after hearing the news that Zhu Cilang had dispersed all the hundred households outside the city, his desperate mood did not improve at all.

But when the servant who delivered the message mentioned Zhu Cilang's words "There is no need for unified command, as long as we can follow the procedures", he realized something.

We are defending the city now. As long as we find that the enemy is attacking the city, each hundred households can go up to the city to defend it in time. It seems redundant to have a thousand households and commanders.

But what if the enemy attacks a certain section of the wall and the defenders are unable to resist? Does His Highness need to personally lead the troops to support?
Xu Yinjue met Zhu Cilang shortly after nightfall, but he didn't have the chance to ask about the doubts in his mind.

Because ever since Zhu Cilang stepped into the lobby of the Ministry of War, the old man Qian Qianyi has been chattering non-stop, leaving no chance for others to interrupt.

Qian Qianyi had never been involved in any specific affairs, so what he said was only about how to deal with Zhao Zhilong and Wang Duo.

"Your Highness, the two beasts have evil intentions. I suggest that their entire clan should be executed."

Zhu Cilang did not answer directly, but asked the others: "What are your opinions?"

Logically speaking, Zhao Zhilong and Wang Duo intended to surrender the Ming Dynasty's secondary capital and the city's population of one million to the enemy, and their crime was much more serious than treason.

No matter what you say, it was your Emperor Zhu who escaped first, and not only did they take away most of the troops, they didn't even leave a single word of instructions. It's really not justifiable to kill all nine generations of their clan like that.

But in the current situation, who would use this to plead for him?

"I second the proposal."

"I second the proposal."

"I second the proposal."

"I second the proposal."

All the ministers in the hall spoke in unison, but unexpectedly, His Majesty in the hall expressed a different opinion.

"I think it's still a bit heavy. After all, it was His Majesty who went on the tour first."

Hearing this, Zhu Guobi, who was still immersed in the failure of seizing power, immediately raised his eyebrows.

This is to put most of the blame on Hongguang.

This kid is really not an easy person to deal with!
Zhu Guobi thought of this, but he didn't say anything. At this moment, he was in no mood to be Zhu Cilang's supporting actor.

But apart from a few minor officials of the seventh and eighth ranks who stayed in Yingtian, who in the hall was easy to deal with?

After a moment, someone said, "Your Highness is kind and gracious. Those two beasts must be deeply grateful for your kindness."

Zhu Cilang looked at Qian Qianyi who was kneeling in front of the hall and was speechless.

Long En, why don’t you just call him Your Majesty?

He really didn't understand what this old gentleman was trying to do. Could it really be the illusory prime minister?

Not to mention whether he could survive this, even if he did, his family would only occupy the city of Yingtian. Is it really worth it for him to be the Prime Minister?
(End of this chapter)