Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 296 Who will lead the troops?

"Call the three elders and Mr. Zhu over."

After receiving the news of the fall of Guangzhou, Zhu Cilang did not become immediately furious as the young eunuchs had expected.

After reading the report carefully, he just said something lightly and stared out the window in a daze.

On February 28, the Dutch led thousands of Qing troops and pirates to raid Guangzhou.

At noon, the Dutch suddenly joined the battle. Xu Renjue was wounded several times and many soldiers were killed or wounded. The defenders had to retreat into the city to fight the enemy.

That night, Xu Renjue led the remaining troops to counterattack, but the enemy was numerous and we were few. Although they killed and wounded countless people, they were still unable to turn the tide of the battle.

In the end, Guangdong Governor Song Yingsheng died for his country, Acting Guangzhou General Xu Renjue was killed in battle, and Guangdong Governor Gu Yuanjing retreated to Zhaoqing.

Although Zhu Cilang was facing the window at this time, all that came to his eyes was the description of the Battle of Guangzhou, and not even a bit of the scenery outside could be seen.

In Wan Yuanji's memorial, the description of the Guangzhou battle was only a few dozen words, and it did not even describe how Song Yingsheng died for his country or how Xu Renjue died in battle.

But between the lines, one could see the best efforts of the people of Guangzhou. Even without a detailed description, Zhu Cilang could imagine the urgency of the time.

In the final analysis, our tools are inferior to ours.

If the Guangzhou defenders also had the Dutch cannons and flintlock rifles, even though the attack was very sudden, it would definitely not force Xu Renjue to the point where he was "several wounds" and "suffered heavy casualties" and had to risk a night attack.

He originally thought that he would take one step at a time and work on things like muskets and cannons after all the basic problems were solved. However, who would have thought that the Dutch would eventually intervene due to changes in the situation, leaving him with little time to proceed step by step.

"Call Li Yongmao as well."

"Yes."

As soon as he finished speaking, a young eunuch took the order and left. Just when Zhou Quan thought that His Majesty's emotions had calmed down, a long sigh suddenly came from the warm room.

“Ah~~~~~~~.”

Because of this sound, Zhou Quan suddenly realized something, and there was some worry in his eyes when he looked at Zhu Cilang.

Your Majesty had never entered the Yingtian Palace before he ascended the throne, and the eunuchs who were confined there only had some vague rumors about him through various rumors.

The Ming army, which had been defeated repeatedly during that period and finally surrendered, was led by the "Prince" and captured Zhenjiang, rescued Hangzhou, killed Nikan, and defeated Duoduo. The eunuchs who were not allowed to go out of the palace felt that this prince was simply the reincarnation of Wu Qu.

Later, His Highness became His Majesty, and by chance he was transferred to work in the Qianqing Palace.

Honestly speaking, he was walking on thin ice during those first few days, fearing that one mistake would anger His Majesty, who held countless lives in his hands.

But to his surprise, this Majesty, who had risen to his present position step by step by relying on his military exploits, although extremely wise and brave, and a master of strategic planning, was very kind to them, his servants, and did not show any airs at all.

At that time, he really felt that His Majesty was like a god. Otherwise, how could all the good qualities that could be mentioned in the world be concentrated in His Majesty?
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Your Majesty is only sixteen or seventeen years old after all.

Even though all the civil and military officials in the court and millions of people need his protection, in the past two years, countless disasters have hit him one after another, and countless burdens have fallen on his shoulders.

Now, General Xu Er, who had been following him from the beginning, was wondering, even if His Majesty did not show any sign of distress in public, how could he be as calm in his heart as he looked on the surface?

Thinking of this, Zhou Quan became more and more worried that His Majesty would hurt his body by suppressing his emotions. Seeing that his majesty was more absent-minded, he couldn't help but say, "General Xu and Mr. Song both got what they wanted. Your Majesty, please don't let your grief hurt your body."

"It is inevitable that a general will die on the battlefield, and it is inevitable that a clay pot will break by the well, but..." Zhu Cilang paused for a moment, and when his clenched teeth gradually relaxed, Zhou Quan heard a slightly trembling voice: "But they survived such a difficult time, why are they so unhappy now..."

From a public perspective, he knew clearly that Xu Renjue and Song Yingsheng must die in Guangzhou. Otherwise, with the treatment of disloyal officials in Jiangnan as a foundation, officials from all parties might become more and more wavering when facing the enemy.

But selfishly speaking, one of these two people is a general he wants to use to stand on his own, and the other is a huge help in climbing the technological ladder. If he really asks him to value the two, I am afraid that no matter how many cities he has, they are far less than that.

Having said this, both Zhu Cilang and Zhou Quan remained silent, but the silence in the warm room only lasted for a short while before the voice of the eunuch's report was heard from outside.

"Your Majesty, the three ministers and Zhu Butang have arrived outside the palace."

"come in."

"Your Majesty, I request that the Marquis of Annan be dispatched to lead the Fujian navy to meet the enemy."

No one has seen it, but the sound comes first.

Just when Zhu Cilang's words were still lingering in the warm room, Zhu Dadian's voice came directly in.

Obviously, he had behaved disrespectfully in front of the emperor, but Zhu Cilang also knew that this civil servant who was very good at leading troops in battle was also worried about the series of chain reactions brought about by the fall of Guangzhou, so he did not intend to blame him.

After all, his position is now stable, and he doesn't need to use some trivial things to influence people.

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"The Marquis of Annan has just arrived in Yingtian. If we send him back in such a hurry, does that mean we don't have enough people in the Ming Dynasty?"

Qian Qianyi obviously had other plans regarding Guangzhou's response. Without waiting for Zhu Cilang to say anything, he pushed back.

In fact, Zhu Datian's idea is not unreasonable. If we only consider it from the perspective of combat, Zheng Zhilong, who once won the Battle of Liaoluo Bay with a fire attack, is definitely the most suitable person to lead the troops to fight the enemy.

But does Qian Qianyi’s words make sense?

Zheng Zhilong just entered Yingtian on the 23rd of last month. Although the court later promoted him to marquis, it essentially stripped him of his military power.

If it takes a few years, when the situation is more stable, it is not impossible to release him, but now it is not even a month yet. If the court lets him lead the army to fight the enemy because Guangzhou has fallen, let alone whether it is possible to let the tiger go back to the mountains, just letting him be called up in a time of crisis is something that the central government cannot accept. "Mr. Qian is joking. Our Ming Dynasty is rich and there are all kinds of people in the country, but if we want to win this battle, I don't know who has the ability to do so."

If it were someone else facing Qian Qianyi's questioning, they might have avoided it a little, but Zhu Datian's political spectrum was quite complicated. He was a member of the eunuch party and a Zhejiang person. The combination of the two made it possible for him to save face with the Zhejiang faction of Donglin due to their fellow townsmen's friendship, but he could only use veiled attacks against the Yingtian faction.

In fact, he had been an official in the court for so many years, how could he not understand why Qian Qianyi was unwilling to let Zheng Zhilong return to Fujian?
But in his opinion, the Ming Dynasty is no longer what it used to be. When facing the Dutch temptation, it would be best to do its best and win the battle steadily.

Otherwise, if they were to see that the Ming Dynasty was strong on the outside but weak on the inside, who knows if they would launch a large-scale invasion.

By then, the Ming Dynasty would have no generals who were good at naval warfare, and would inevitably let Zheng Zhilong go back to the mountains. It would be better to let him go back to Fujian now. Even if it would cause the court to lose control of this place, at least it would not add another foreign enemy.

Honestly speaking, both of these two people's views have their own merits, the only difference is how to weigh them. As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cilang's job all day long is not to make choices from the right and wrong, but to try his best to find a suitable one in this vast gray area.

"What do the two elders think?"

Seeing that the two were about to engage in another verbal dispute, Zhu Cilang turned his attention to Ma Shiying and Yuan Jixian.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, if we want to retake Guangzhou, we have to do it by land and sea. It is not necessary to let the Marquis of Annan suffer from the bumpy journey again."

When his majesty's gaze swept over him, Yuan Jixian expressed his thoughts without hesitation. After he said this, Zhu Cilang leaned forward slightly, and then he continued.

"Gu Yuanjing has never led an army before, so he probably can't do anything about the current situation. It just so happens that he has already asked for help from the surrounding provinces. Why not pick someone who knows military skills from among them to lead the war?"

It has to be said that Yuan Jixian's words somewhat hit the point, but after speaking at such a long paragraph, he did not even mention a single candidate.

Apparently, this old minister, who had dared to risk his entire army to open the road to Yingtian, had undergone some subtle changes after entering the cabinet.

Zhu Cilang had no intention of blaming him for this.

According to his original intention, he wanted this old minister to serve as the mainstay of the local government. However, he did not have a suitable candidate to join the cabinet to balance the forces of all parties.

Therefore, this old minister who did not have much foundation in the court had to be brought to the fore.

As a person, if he lacks strength, he naturally has no confidence to speak. What's more, his existence is only to serve as a buffer between several forces. How can he offend both sides with just one sentence?

At this point someone may ask, Yuan Jixian has tens of thousands of troops under his command for many years in the local area, and he has the emperor as his support in the court. Not to mention that they are just discussing matters now, what can they do even if he really confronts them directly?

This is of course true, but it also depends on who you are comparing it with.

Needless to say, Qian Qianyi's influence in Southern Zhili was great. Even though the local forces here had suffered a series of blows, he was still worthy of being called a local tyrant.

Looking at the local provinces, Qu Shisi, who was in charge of Guangxi, was his student, and the Zheng family had a close relationship with him.
This is only at the provincial level. If we look down to the state capitals and even the counties, who can say for sure which one is his most proud student?

The same goes for Ma Shiying. He is from Guizhou and naturally has considerable influence in this place close to the front line.

In addition, it seems that Yue Qijie is his brother-in-law, and He Tengjiao is from the same hometown as him. There is no need to elaborate on the rest. These alone are enough to make people not to be provoked easily.

Of course, having influence does not mean that these people will obey them.

Take Li Yongmao for example. He was the one who helped Ma Shiying when he was in desperate situation. But later on, he lived safely in Hangzhou with more than 10,000 troops under his command and did not get involved in those messy things.

After all, people are always complicated. How can they be as clear as black and white?
Based on this, when Yuan Jixian said something that would not offend anyone, how could Zhu Cilang, who understood his situation, be so demanding and critical?

"Mr. Yuan's words are mature and prudent."

As soon as Yuan Jixian finished speaking, Ma Shiying's praises came one after another. However, what everyone said represented his own opinion. How could he pretend to be dead just by saying this?
"Gannan is fighting the Qing army, but Wan Yuanji cannot be moved lightly. The remaining ones are He Tengjiao and Qu Shisi." Ma Shiying paused for a moment, and then he suddenly added a candidate as if he had thought of it: "Oh, yes, there is also Zheng Sen."

He thought clearly that Zheng Sen was only twenty-three or twenty-four years old and would probably be a runner-up. The person to lead the Guangzhou war would probably be between He Tengjiao and Qu Shisi.

Ma Shiying naturally wanted his fellow villager to take over this task.

Even in the Jingwu period, due to various factors, the connections within the faction were not as close as before, but letting He Tengjiao get the job would somewhat make his position more stable in the court.

Of course, he also knew that Qian Qianyi must have the same idea, but this time he was going to fight. Qu Shisi was completely defenseless against a clown like the Jingjiang Rebel King, so why should he compete with He Tengjiao for this job?

"Mr. Ma has a point."

As Ma Shiying finished his statement, Qian Qianyi was the first to stand up and express his agreement.

At this point, most people present understood that the person to preside over the Guangzhou war would be chosen from between He and Qu, so they naturally had no intention of saying anything more and just waited for the two elders to decide the outcome.

"He Tengjiao does have more experience, but Hunan is adjacent to Sichuan and Shaanxi, where the Tartars and the remnants of the Chuang army are fighting. If he is distracted from the Guangdong war, I'm afraid both sides will suffer if Sichuan and Shaanxi change."

Having said that, the candidates that should be eliminated have been eliminated, the attitude that should be expressed has also been expressed, and the remaining ones are naturally revealed. After Qian Qianyi directly pointed out the biggest disadvantage of choosing He Tengjiao, Ma Shiying had to make a corresponding counterattack.

"Mr. Qian is right to be concerned, but Qu Shisi's performance in dealing with the Jingjiang Rebel King was too bad. It is obvious that he has no military strategy. So I am always afraid that he will repeat the same mistake and make the situation out of control."

"Mr. Ma, you are too serious. He was just a general when the Jingjiang rebel king started the rebellion. It would be a bit biased to conclude that he has no military strategy just based on this."

As the two of them talked back and forth, even Zhu Datian, who was purely based on the war itself, found it difficult to make a decision.

But who would have thought that just when the verbal battle seemed to be reaching a stalemate, Zhu Cilang, who had been listening to the argument, suddenly said something.

"What do you think of Zheng Sen?"

(End of this chapter)