Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 26 Imagine
On this day, everything in Yingtian City was revolving around Zhu Cilang's thoughts, as if he, the fake prince who had been imprisoned in the Ministry of War's prison the day before, had suddenly become the ruler of the world.

Such changes seem to be irrational and even a bit absurd, but Zhu Cilang, the initiator, is very clear about the reason behind this absurdity.

Each power node he controls along the way can only be maintained for a very short time, but when he has opened up all the nodes, they will check and balance each other, thus forming a certain temporary stable state.

Just like Wang Fuping, if Zhu Cilang still relies on him now, the jailer in Yingtian Military Prison will soon appear in front of him.

On this point, Chen Si, Zhu Guobi, Qian Qianyi, and even Xu Yinjue and Chang Guanlin are no different from Wang Fuping.

Fortunately, Zhu Cilang completed this cycle at an extremely fast speed and unexpectedly broke up the most organized army in the cycle, making it completely impossible for everyone in this cycle to turn the situation around.

But this is not the end.

He also needed to use the army to resist the Tatar attacks, so restoring its organization became an option he had to do.

In this way, those with ulterior motives will have the possibility of turning the tables, and history may return to its original track.

Of course, this possibility may be delayed for a long time, and Zhu Cilang needs to use various means to make this possibility come as late as possible, until this cycle is truly stabilized.

"You don't have to follow me starting tomorrow."

Seeing Wang Fuping looking at him in surprise, Zhu Cilang continued, "Although I have absolute confidence that I can hold on until reinforcements arrive, some people still want to use Yingtian as a means of advancement for themselves."

Having said that, how could Wang Fuping still not understand what His Highness meant.

Although these people are not liked by officials and common people, when it comes to their understanding of Ying Tian, ​​how many people can compare with them?

"Your Highness, are you asking us to investigate those who are colluding with the Tartars?"

"Not sure, just check. If there is any situation, please report to me first."

"Qing" means the power of law enforcement; "Cha" means the power of investigation. The two words are different but there is a world of difference between them.

Not to mention that he is not yet at the point where his words are law, even if his position is stable now, he would not hand over such power to one person.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"You have to be careful about this, understand?"

I understand. Of course I understand. As a jailer who has been in the Ministry of War prison for half his life, Wang Fuping knows too well what Your Highness means.

When the late emperor ascended the throne, he abolished the East and West Factories and took away the power of the Jinyiwei to supervise all officials. This allowed those officials to act with impunity.

Now the prince obviously wants to resume supervision over officials. If this is not done quietly, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause.

"I understand."

Wang Fuping responded, and then Zhu Cilang gave the two of them a few more instructions before he and Xiang Rensheng left.

After returning home, Wang Fuping went straight into bed.

Normally, since he had been following Zhu Cilang for a whole day, no one would find it strange if he fell asleep immediately. However, he lay there for a long time with his eyes closed, and he became more and more energetic as he lay there.

On that day, he was respected wherever he went, and he was even able to stand in the same hall with senior officials to discuss matters.

Of course, he had no room to express his opinions during the meeting. Even when all the adults shouted "I second the motion", he just knelt down and did not dare to make a sound.

But then again, he probably wouldn't have dared to imagine in his dreams the day before yesterday that he would be able to kneel in the same hall with the red-robed official.

However, the reason for Wang Fuping's insomnia was not the discomfort and fear brought about by the sudden increase in status, but the longing and expectation for the future.

It's ridiculous to say that the Qing army that swept across the north was about to arrive at the city. It was rare to remain calm, but Wang Fuping could actually have such thoughts, which really made people marvel.

But this does not mean that Wang Fuping is stupid or crazy. He just observes the problem from another angle.

Since entering the pass last year, the Qing army has won victory after victory, advancing all the way from Shanhaiguan to Jiangnan, but does this also mean that they are exhausted? If Your Highness can really defend Yingtian, it seems that it is not impossible to drive this exhausted army back to Jiangbei in one go.

If this is really possible, then it goes without saying that His Highness will ascend the throne and become emperor, which is what everyone wants. The key lies in me, His Highness's close minister.

Wang Fuping's optimism cannot be said to be wrong, but he just saw a point that was favorable to his side among the many factors that determined the outcome of the war and fantasized about it.

But as the actual commander of this battle, Zhu Cilang could not do the same as him.

The Qing army had come from afar, so of course they would encounter problems such as acclimatization and supply difficulties. In addition, they were fighting a siege, so their chances of winning were not enough to completely crush the Ming army.

However, these problems of the Qing army were all technical and could be overcome, while the situation of the Ming army was just the opposite.

The many problems facing Zhu Cilang were all caused by the entire system. If this system was not completely crushed, how could it be so easy to drive the Qing army back to Jiangbei?

Fortunately, God allowed Hongguang and his court to escape completely, so Zhu Cilang had precious time to put his ideas into practice.

Otherwise, even if Zhu Cilang had thousands of plans and insights, he would probably still be imprisoned in the Ministry of War.

As the sky gradually darkened, people who had worked hard all day fell asleep one after another, and the entire Yingtian City became quiet.

But outside Dangtu City, more than a hundred miles away from Yingtian, there was still a group of people shivering in the wind.

"Your Majesty, why don't you open the city gate?!"

"If you say so, then it is? There are so many rebel soldiers these days, who knows if you are pretending to be them?"

"Your Majesty is wearing the royal robes, how can others pretend to be him?"

"You said you were attacked by rebels and all your keepsakes were stolen, but why is this imperial robe still on you? I think you are the rebels! Shoot!"

Following the man's command, a sound of breaking through the air suddenly reached Hongguang's ears.

Fortunately, the young eunuch saw the opportunity early and pulled Hongguang far away when the call was made, otherwise the man on the city would have been charged with regicide.

But this is not the fault of the people on the city wall. No one could have imagined that the person who ran to the city gate and knocked in the middle of the night was actually the emperor.

"Hey, what should we do? What if we encounter rebels again..."

Hongguang sighed deeply, and it was obvious that he had no plan in mind.

"Your Majesty, you can go to Duke Jingguo."

"No, the four towns are all arrogant and domineering. What if he does what Cao Cao did?"

When Hongguang heard the words "matters about Cao Cao", he was shocked for a moment, but then he thought that even in Yingtian, wasn't the government in the hands of Shi Kefa, Ma Shiying and others?

Thinking of this, Hongguang suddenly felt angry: If they could not even defend the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, how could he have to suffer the hardship of sleeping in the open air?

“We should go to Hangzhou.”

"Hangzhou is still hundreds of miles away. How can we get there without money or a carriage?"

"It's neither left nor right, so where do you think we should go?"

When Hongguang came to his senses, the young eunuchs had already started quarreling.

Seeing them like this, Hongguang suddenly felt annoyed.

"Go to Lord Jingguo's place!"

(End of this chapter)