Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 260 The outstretched hand finally received a response
Although the figure was not wearing armor as usual, Wu Changrui still confirmed the other party's identity after he arrived at the door of the restaurant.

However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was wearing the White Dragon Fish Suit obviously because he didn't want others to recognize him. Although he was two or three feet away, he still hesitated and didn't dare to step forward to recognize him.

"Wu Changrui? Why are you here?"

His figure was too conspicuous. Not only was he dressed like a soldier, but he was also missing half of his arm. Plus, the steps of the restaurant were higher than the street level, so it took Zhu Cilang only three or four breaths to notice the one-armed soldier looking at him.

Ok.

As his name was heard by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Wu Changrui, who was already hesitant, immediately became at a loss.

When Zhu Cilang walked towards him, this brave soldier who had experienced life and death first half-bent his body as if he wanted to salute, but then stopped, obviously considering the occasion.

"Let's go inside and talk."

This greeting finally relieved Wu Changrui's embarrassment. Afterwards, under his guidance, Zhu Cilang went to the private room on the second floor.

Then he sent the young man named Lu Dashan away and bowed his head to the ground.

"Wu Changrui, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Get up. You were not polite at first."

After cursing with a smile, Zhu Cilang looked at Wu Changrui carefully. When he found that Wu Changrui was in good spirits, he began to speak to Hu Yiqing who was following beside him.

"If he hadn't risked his life to save us, I'm afraid we would have been killed by the Tartars long ago."

Hu Yiqing was supposed to lead the troops in Jiangxi, but for some unknown reason, Zhu Cilang took him with him when he passed through Ganzhou on his way back.

As a result, this brave general on the battlefield temporarily took on the job of a personal guard.

This was not because Zhu Cilang used any tricks to control people. The main reason was that the changes in the situation in Hunan produced a series of chain reactions, and under this chain reaction, he also had new ideas.

That night, the three confused generals of the rebel army finally understood that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had no hidden agenda after everything was said.

Zhu Cilang's method was simple. He explained the current situation one by one without reservation, and then put forward all the solutions he could think of for the three to weigh.

After some consideration, Hao, Li and Tian not only agreed with Zhu Cilang's method, but also volunteered to go and persuade the other generals. In this way, the difficult problem of the Chuang army was solved.

Simple?

It seems extremely simple, but if Zhu Cilang did not have a thorough understanding of these rebel generals because of his foresight, who would dare to easily open up to these former mortal enemies?

The so-called righteous people are usually butchers, and the so-called unfaithful people are usually scholars.

Regardless of the reasons for this situation, and whether or not someone would privately laugh at the "dog butchers", it is undeniable that when Hao Yaoqi, Tian Jianxiu, Li Guo and other generals of the humble army felt enough respect and full honesty from the Prince Regent of the Ming Dynasty, many problems that originally seemed impossible to solve disappeared like snow meeting the sun.

Of course, this does not mean that Zhu Cilang gained the same control over the various units of the rebel army as he did the imperial guards overnight.

But it is undeniable that after a series of operations, the object of gratitude of the generals of the Chuang Army naturally changed from He Tengjiao and the officials of Hunan to Zhu Cilang.

As long as he doesn't make any stupid moves, it is easy to foresee that this group of people's loyalty to him will gradually increase over time until it reaches the level of the imperial guards.

In the original history, these rebel troops did have various problems after they returned to the Ming Dynasty, but this was due to both their own internal strife and the internal struggles within the Ming court. Therefore, all the problems cannot be blamed on this group of people who persevered to the end.

Take Longwu’s death for example.

At first, after he realized that the Zheng family was not reliable, he ordered people to contact He Tengjiao. After everything was confirmed, he tried to go to Hunan via Tingzhou.

But who would have thought that when He Tengjiao sent out Hao Yaoqi, he instructed him "never to turn the fake into real one". Later, Longwu, who had no one to pick him up, was captured in Tingzhou. He Tengjiao, who originally controlled the entire Hunan Province, had to retreat to Guangxi due to the defeat of the Ming army.

Through this incident, we can easily see that by the time Longwu ascended the throne, the central government of the Ming court had actually lost control over the local areas. Although He Tengjiao did not really intend to kill his own emperor, his actions actually led to this result.

As for Hao Yaoqi.
His idea was probably very simple: we had so many brothers at the beginning, and Governor He allocated enough quotas to us. We should eat our own salary and do our own business. Why should the emperor have anything to do with us?
Of course, even if Hao Yaoqi rushed to support, he might not be able to bring Longwu out, but from this sentence, He Tengjiao's ambition was obvious.

However, at this time, it is estimated that He Tengjiao will not have such an opportunity again.

After all, the number of troops he can truly control now is only about four or five thousand, and the various units of the rebel army also know where their food comes from.

Without the support of a powerful force, how could he have any other thoughts?
Finally, before Zhu Cilang left Hunan, the various rebel armies had already begun to lay off the old and weak in their ranks, and these laid-off soldiers would be used as garrison troops to fill the gaps in land that had been left uncultivated due to population loss.

This was a win-win for everyone. Although the rebel army maintained a large number of people once they started the rebellion, and even deliberately involved ordinary civilians who had no fighting power, in the final analysis this was only due to the nature of their bandits who needed chaos, and they did not really expect to kill an elephant with a large number of ants.

Therefore, when Zhu Cilang talked about laying off the old and weak and offered a solution for their resettlement, these generals of the Chuang Army, who had already developed trust in His Royal Highness the Crown Prince because of his frankness, agreed after a slight hesitation.

Of course, this process naturally takes some time. Even after the military farming troops are formed, it will take some time for the main forces of each unit to truly recover their combat effectiveness.

But once all these things are completed, not only will Zhu Cilang's control over the southwest and Huguang be greatly enhanced, but even Fujian will be able to feel the tremendous pressure from the surrounding areas.

No more gossip.

After some casual chatting, Zhu Cilang asked Wu Changrui why he appeared in Hangzhou. When Wu Changrui told him in detail what he had said in the mansion before, Zhu Cilang's originally good mood suddenly became gloomy.

"Don't say too much or do too much when you go back. Just keep everything as it is. I want to see how big a wave they can make."

"Yes, Your Highness, but..."

"What's wrong?"

"That's all your money, they're doing this."

"It doesn't matter. I'm idle anyway. Jiangxi still needs time to prepare. It's good to have someone to keep me company." Having said this, Wu Changrui naturally wouldn't say anything more. However, when he heard the middle sentence, he couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, can you transfer me back to the army? Those local people are too cunning. If they didn't just treat me as a lazy person, I would really be kept in the dark."

"It's hard for you."

"Ah! Your Highness, I'm not complaining. It's just that being in the countryside is not as comfortable as being in the army. I just..."

"I understand," Zhu Cilang said these three words, and then he fell silent. When Wu Changrui became a little nervous, he continued, "But if even you are unwilling to help me, who else can I trust?"

When Wu Changrui heard the words, he was stunned at first, but then he thought about what he had seen and heard in the past few days, and it was as if a channel in his brain was suddenly opened.

"Your Highness, I understand. We will definitely help you keep an eye on them!"

After hearing Wu Changrui's statement, Zhu Cilang was naturally pleased.

But at the same time, he also knew that someone like Wu Changrui, who had been in the army for a long time, even if his brain was still working well, how could he possibly defeat that group of officials who were already extremely cunning?
However, after today's incident, he finally saw the effectiveness of his plan to conceal the truth. After all, he had learned through Wu Changrui what that group of people were doing.

For this reason alone, he is far better than his cheap father who is kept in the dark about everything.

After talking for a while, Zhu Cilang took Hu Yiqing back to the street.

He had entered Hangzhou last night, but it was not until this morning when he suddenly felt like going out to the streets to see how people's livelihood had recovered.

"Master, why don't you arrest all of those people?"

From the moment he met Wu Changrui, Hu Yiqing consciously became mute, but he was, after all, a hot-blooded fighter. After listening to what Wu Changrui said, he could temporarily suppress his anger, but how could he keep suppressing it forever?

“Can you catch them all?”

"Probably. It's hard to catch them all."

Upon hearing what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, his first reaction was to catch them one by one, as he would eventually catch them all. But when the words came to his lips, he changed his mind and then he began to force an explanation.

"But even if we can't catch them all, if we catch one, at least it will make them afraid and they won't act so recklessly."

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Zhu Cilang walked while looking at everything on the street. It seemed that the things on the small stalls were far more important than corrupt officials, which made Hu Yiqing feel depressed for a while.

"With an official seal in hand, who can resist all kinds of temptations except for a few people?" Zhu Cilang said as he moved closer to a grain store on the street. After seeing the prices clearly, he continued, "If you arrest one today, the next corrupt official will be arrested in a few days. If you really keep arresting people like this, I'm afraid all the officials in the world will be arrested."

"Can"

Hu Yiqing was about to say something else when he saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince raised his hand. Then a clerk from the grain store saw several people in luxurious clothes and came over. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked them a few questions before turning around and leaving.

"Of course we have to catch them if we need to. It's best to use the smallest action to cause them the greatest fear. This way we can make them think more without causing a big storm."

If it were the former Zhu Cilang, he would certainly be more radical than Hu Yiqing, but as the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, all he cared about was stability. Unless he was pushed to the extreme, there was no way he could destroy this stability, even though it was riddled with holes, but it was indeed hard-won.

Of course, he could just try to feel good for a while and arrest and kill the corrupt officials one by one. Moreover, with his current strength, as long as he could find a reasonable excuse and leave the officials with some hope, it would probably not cause too violent a backlash.

However, when a country prospers, the people suffer; when a country perishes, the people suffer.

Regardless of the rise and fall of a country, as long as there is a major turmoil, the first to be hit will inevitably be the most ordinary people.

Today he can kill most of the corrupt officials, but the series of consequences that will follow will have to be borne by the people.

Knowing this, how could Zhu Cilang, once an ordinary citizen, risk the lives of ordinary people being drowned in the turmoil? How could he say without any psychological burden: Let the people suffer a little more?
This is probably what it means to be cautious when attacking a rat.

Of course, this does not mean that he would turn a blind eye to Wu Changrui's report. Otherwise, why would he go to such great lengths to settle these soldiers who were loyal to him in the local area?

However, this opportunity is rare, so how to achieve the best effect requires careful consideration.

In the end, Hu Yiqing still failed to understand the inner meaning of His Highness' words, and Zhu Cilang lost interest in continuing the transaction after learning the approximate prices of food, cloth and other items.

"Let's go to the Queen Mother's residence."

After saying this calmly, he led Hu Yiqing to change direction. After seeing their actions, more than a dozen men who were strolling around also changed direction.

After about three or two incense sticks of time, the group arrived at Empress Dowager Zou's residence in Hangzhou. After some reporting, the eunuch came out to greet them. He then entered the courtyard and waited to meet Old Lady Zou.

It can be said that Mrs. Zou is not as well-informed as before. Although Zhu Cilang did not deliberately publicize his news when he entered the city last night, he also sent a message to several important officials of the court in Hangzhou, saying that they do not need to rush to pay a visit, and that he will summon them today.

But even in this situation, Old Mrs. Zou seemed to be unprepared for Zhu Cilang's arrival. By the time she was fully prepared, nearly three or two quarters of an hour had passed since Zhu Cilang was admitted to the hospital.

"Grandson pays respect to the Queen Mother."

According to the rules, Zhu Cilang bowed obediently, and the old empress dowager was as happy as if she had heard great news after hearing the word "grandson".

"Prince, please get up. Prince, please get up. You and I, grandparents, don't need to worry about this."

After standing up, Zhu Cilang found a seat nearby and sat down. However, when he looked towards the empress dowager again, he did not see the beautiful figure, which made him feel empty in his heart.

"My grandson wanted to come and see you after he came back last night, but it was already late and he was afraid that he would disturb the Queen Mother's rest, so he waited until this morning. It is really a sin."

"It's alright, it's alright, as long as your Highness has this intention, it doesn't matter when you come to me."

The old man and the young chatted for a while without any meaning. When the time was almost up, the old queen mother said casually, "The girl Yue who was with me before has been called back home. If the prince has time, can you go and see her for me?"

(End of this chapter)