Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 263 This is only the second day

In the 277th year of the Ming Dynasty, on the first day of the twelfth month, Gengchen, the 20th day was Jiachen.

After three requests and three declines, Zhu Cilang, the son of Emperor Shaotian of the Ming Dynasty, was finally unable to go against the wishes of the Empress Dowager, ministers and the people, and ascended the throne of the Ming Dynasty in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing Yingtian, and changed the reign title to Jingwu.

Like his predecessors, Zhu Cilang spent most of his accession edict on describing the current situation and his own legitimacy. However, compared with his predecessors' vague statements, he clearly pointed out the Northern Tartars in the edict for the first time.

In this regard, the civil servants who have always attached great importance to the court's etiquette have not made much statement.

After all, this gentleman is not Hongguang. Although he does not have strong control over the government, he holds the sharpest knife south of the Yangtze River.

Under such circumstances, even if someone really wanted to suppress the imperial power, they would not dare to follow the example of the cabinet ministers in the Jiajing Dynasty.

It is worth mentioning that this time when Zhu Cilang ascended the throne, he not only received congratulatory messages from the central court and officials in central, southern and southeastern regions, but even the three more distant southwestern provinces wrote early to express their support for him.

This is understandable. Although he only went as far as Changsha during this trip to the south, his influence spread to the entire southwest through the ground connection between Hunan and Guizhou.

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"I think the three ministers have seen these two proposals, but I don't know why they haven't made any votes."

On the second day after ascending the throne, Zhu Cilang summoned three people from the cabinet. After asking the eunuch to pass two copies of the memorial to the three people, he slowly asked a question.

One of the two memorials was from Fan Yiheng, the governor-general of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and the other was from Wang Yingxiong, the governor-general of the military affairs of Sichuan, Hubei, Yunnan and Guizhou, who was specifically responsible for dealing with the Sichuan bandits.

Last time when Zhu Cilang was regent, the two of them were unable to submit their congratulations in time due to various reasons. It was only after Hunan was somewhat stabilized that they learned about the current situation in Jiangnan.

People like them would never miss an opportunity twice if they missed it once. After they had a little understanding of the situation in Hunan, they went to Yingtian to submit their memorials respectively.

Due to the distance, they did not know when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would ascend the throne, but in this memorial, they expressed their apologies for not being able to submit congratulations in time, and declared their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty and their support for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Therefore, this non-congratulatory message is just a stopgap measure they made out of their fear of falling behind again.

Under any other circumstances, there would probably be no other content in these two petitions. However, due to the special situation in Sichuan and Guizhou, they not only described the current situation in Sichuan and Guizhou in this petition serving as a congratulatory letter, but also severely criticized each other.

According to Fan Yiheng, after he retreated into Guizhou, he had been looking for opportunities to launch a counterattack against Zhang Xianzhong's troops, but Wang Yingxiong relied on the imperial sword to repeatedly issue different orders to his subordinates.

This situation not only slowed down the preparations for the counterattack, but also made the generals helpless, which had a great negative impact on the morale of the army.

Therefore, Fan Yiheng pleaded with the court to define powers and responsibilities so that he could devote all his energy to the counterattack against Zhang Xianzhong.

As for Wang Yingxiong's portion.
In essence, it is not much different from Fan Yiheng's. In other words, the generals relied on the support of others and disobeyed orders. However, in the relevant impeachment content, he added one more item, "it seems that he has the suspicion of holding his own troops."

Honestly speaking, it’s not the two’s fault that this situation occurred.

On the surface, Fan Yiheng was only the governor-general of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and his troops had retreated to Guizhou. According to his official position, he should have obeyed Wang Yingxiong.

But the reality is extremely complicated. How could it be possible to clarify it in just a few words when two governors brought the case to the central government when the new emperor ascended the throne?

The troops led by Fan Yiheng followed him all the way from Shaanxi to Guizhou, and before Wang Yingxiong was appointed governor, he not only stabilized his position in Zunyi, but also launched several effective counterattacks. Even though the results of these counterattacks were only the occupation of one or two counties, it can be seen from this that his military combat effectiveness was slowly recovering.

The so-called changing of commanders at the critical moment of battle is a recipe for defeat.

From this point of view, Fan Yiheng is still the best choice to preside over the Sichuan-Yunnan war, but if you think from Wang Yingxiong's perspective, he feels very aggrieved.

At the beginning of the southward migration, Yingtian had already cut off contact with Sichuan. Later, without knowing the situation in the southwest, the Hongguang emperor and his ministers appointed Wang Yingxiong as the Minister of War and Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, governor of the military affairs of Sichuan, Hubei, Yunnan and Guizhou. Chu, Yun, Guizhou and Guangdong were all under Yingxiong's command, specifically to suppress Zhang Xianzhong, and he was given the Imperial Sword.

At first glance, this means that half of the military power of the Ming Dynasty has been handed over to him alone, but no matter how great the reputation is, it must be backed up by strength.

At that time, the imperial court had just been established and did not even have much money, let alone enough troops to allocate to him.

In the end, Wang Yingxiong took office with 30,000 taels of silver and a broken sword that the court had finally gathered. It can be said that "he was given the task at a difficult time. He was called the commander-in-chief but had no commander to command. He had no achievements and was just sitting there to receive respect."

It was also because this old minister cared about state affairs that, after realizing that he could hardly command Fan Yiheng's men, he spent all his family wealth to barely form a team of three to four thousand people. However, this small number of people could only barely support the establishment of a governor's office. How could they possibly use this to fulfill their duties?
As a result, a conflict arose between the two.

"Your Majesty, this is a dispute between the governor and the governor-general, so we dare not draft a bill on our own," Qian Qianyi said, looking up at Zhu Cilang's expression. Seeing that he had no expression on his face, he continued, "In addition, the enthronement ceremony was just over yesterday, so we were thinking..."

"You want to wait a few days before telling me again, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the three old ministers all bent their waists, and Zhu Cilang realized that something seemed wrong with his condition after seeing their reactions.

He didn't know whether it was because he was used to living in the military camp, or because of the inexplicable deaths of his predecessors, but he had never been able to relax since he moved into the palace.

Of course, his protection is still the responsibility of the Palace Guards, and the eunuchs and palace maids around him have also been carefully screened by Wang Fuping. In theory, his safety should not be a problem.

But it is easy to avoid an open attack but difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark. There are so many people in this palace, who knows what they are thinking?

Therefore, after a night of tension, when he discovered the two unwritten question books, he couldn't help but become alert and suspicious.

I'm probably overthinking it.

Ma Shiying and Donglin did not see eye to eye, Yuan Jixian had not yet established a firm foothold in the central government, and even Qian Qianyi, a true member of the Donglin Party, gradually stood on the opposite side of the civil servants for various reasons.

It seems that the civil servants are not yet capable of competing with me.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang secretly adjusted his mentality. When the three people in the hall began to speculate wildly due to some invisible pressure, he put on a smile again. "Why are the three elders like this? Although I have ascended the throne, it is no different from before. You don't have to be so restrained."

I don’t know if these words have the effect of psychological suggestion, but Zhu Cilang’s tone becomes more relaxed as time goes on.

At the end, he saw that the three men did not seem to be as they were in the past, and he even asked, "Hey, whoever it is, bring some chairs over for the three elders."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat."

Seeing the three people behave like this, the smile on Zhu Cilang's face froze a little. While the three people were sitting down, he relaxed his stiff facial muscles a little, and then tried to speak in a relaxed tone.

"What do the three elders think about the dispute between the two governors, Fan and Wang?"

As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, Yuan Jixian stood up from his chair, then bowed slightly, and only after he had done so did he express his opinion.

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, most of the troops in Zunyi were brought by Fan Yiheng from Sichuan and Shaanxi. It would be better to recall Wang Yingxiong and order Fan Yiheng to focus on destroying Zhang Xianzhong. This way, the morale of the army will not be disrupted by changing the commander in the middle of a battle."

"Your Majesty, Fan Yiheng went from Shaanxi to Sichuan, and then from Sichuan to Guizhou. He not only lost cities and territories, but also gathered tens of thousands of troops in Zunyi. If his power and responsibilities are added, he may become another He Tengjiao!"

Yuan Jixian's statement certainly made sense, but who would have thought that before he finished speaking, Ma Shiying directly stood up and expressed his firm opposition.

Zhu Cilang had expected Ma Shiying to react so violently. After all, the appointment of Wang Yingxiong was decided when Ma Shiying was in power.

Even though the situation was different then and is different now, on the second day after the new emperor ascended the throne, would he allow others to deny his original appointment?
Of course, this was only Ma Shiying's selfish motive. If we assume that he also had public-spirited intentions, how could he not have doubts about Fan Yiheng, who had been defeated all the way without any evidence?
Honestly speaking, Zhu Cilang didn't know much about these two local governors, but he was certain that if these two were allowed to fight with each other in the southwest, the final result would most likely be that the generals under his command would not listen to anyone.

But he still couldn't make up his mind which one to stay and which one to leave.

"Your Majesty, why not give some of the Hunan Chuang army to Wang Yingxiong, and then order them to lead their own troops and not to exceed their authority. Whoever achieves success first will be recalled. This should be a win-win solution."

Bad move!

While Zhu Cilang was constantly weighing the pros and cons, Mr. Qian seemed to have absorbed the advantages of the opinions of the two cabinet ministers. However, as soon as he spoke, several people present criticized him in their hearts at the same time.

He had his own reasons. Fan Yiheng was in charge of a large army, but he was defeated all the way. His ability was obviously not enough to support the battle with Zhang Xianzhong's troops. Wang Yingxiong, on the other hand, was alone in Sichuan and had gathered an army, and even stood firm in the face of a powerful enemy.

Under such circumstances, as long as Wang Yingxiong is given a group of people, he may be able to make contributions before Fan Yiheng.

In this case, it was reasonable for the central government to capture Fan Yiheng, and the generals in Sichuan naturally had nothing to say.

Zhu Cilang thought that this was probably Qian Qianyi's point of view at this time, but Mr. Qian had never thought about how Qian Qianyi would respond if he used the same method to decide the candidate for the Prime Minister now.

Will they stab you in the back just to secure the position their own generals have earned, or will the other side strike first?
This would not only fail to resolve the original contradictions, but would also create the possibility of internal strife between Sichuan and Guizhou. If this idea was not considered a stupid move, Zhu Cilang didn't know what was.

Alas~~~~~, after all, I am still not good at practical work.

Facing Qian Qianyi's slightly expectant gaze, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but have this thought in his mind.

He knew that the Prime Minister needed to be well-informed about all matters of the court, but he was also aware that if there was no buffer between himself and the civil servants, then within three to five months, the conflict between him and the civil servant group would inevitably erupt in some unexpected way.

By then, even if he can suppress the civil service group because he holds a knife in his hand, he will inevitably be at the center of the conflict.

In this case, under the pressure of the imperial power that has shown its claws, the civil service group that is in internal strife may unite and aim to suppress the imperial power. How can he be at ease to plan the battle of Jiangxi?

This was not something Zhu Cilang thought too much about.

During the Ming Dynasty, the struggle between the imperial power and the civil service group never stopped. However, in this struggle, the smarter emperors would arrange some treacherous ministers and eunuchs to execute their will. The representatives among them were Jiajing, Yan Song, Tianqi, and Wei Zhongxian. The slightly stupider ones like Chongzhen would fight bare-handed, which eventually caused a complete breakdown between the imperial power and the civil service group, leaving themselves alone.

At this time, Zhu Cilang planned to train Qian Qianyi into a treacherous minister who could suppress the civil service group for him. However, this treacherous minister seemed to be lacking in ability, which made him feel powerless.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang looked at Qian Qianyi with some helplessness in his eyes. Then he glanced at Yuan Jixian who had a solemn expression, and finally suppressed the thoughts that had just arisen in his mind.

"What the three elders said makes sense, but I think it would be best if there was someone who could calm down the two governors Fan and Wang and make them work together."

You don't want to stay in the palace for a moment.

As soon as the words fell, the three of them not only immediately understood what His Majesty meant, but were also speechless after understanding it.

Who else in the court has the prestige, ability, and status to suppress the two local governors, except Zhu Cilang, the emperor on horseback?
Honestly speaking, Zhu Cilang's idea was indeed a good one. Based on his current military achievements and prestige, and considering the importance of Hunan to Sichuan and Yunnan, he would not need to bring many troops to make the two of them forget their grudges and laugh it off.

But then again, this is only the second day of his ascension to the throne.

If the emperor continues to go on military campaigns outside, let alone how the civil servants who have always wanted to lock the emperor in the palace for life will deal with the three cabinet ministers, they may not be able to save face.

"Your Majesty, I am a slow-witted old minister. I have not yet thought of whom to send. Why don't you give me another half a day and report back when you have found a suitable candidate?"

Although Qian Qianyi was not good at practical matters, he was rarely awakened by such matters that required carefulness. As soon as he finished speaking, the other two realized that this was a delaying tactic and immediately followed suit.

"Okay, then I'll give you half a day."

(End of this chapter)