Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 38 Letters
The Yangtze River has been known as a natural barrier since ancient times, but as time goes by, this barrier has become less and less of a part of the entire defense system.

After the saying "To defend the Yangtze River, one must also defend the Huai River" came into being, it became impossible to just defend the riverside and make the enemy sigh in despair.

Although the Southern Ming regime still controlled most of the Jianghuai region at the beginning of its establishment, due to internal strife, the Qing army in the east easily broke through this heavily guarded area.

The Southern Ming rulers and ministers, who were completely in fear, made another major strategic mistake after the "alliance with the invaders to suppress the bandits."

In other words, in the minds of Hongguang's emperor and his ministers, the solid walls of Yingtian City were simply unable to stop the Qing army that was advancing like a hot knife through butter in Jiangbei.

It's not that no one in the Southern Ming court noticed the weakness of the Qing army, but these people either had few soldiers and generals or were excluded from the core, so they did not have much influence on Hongguang's decision.

Zuo Liangyu was the person who was excluded from the core.

The Hongguang court's vigilance against Zuo Liangyu was due to his inherent arrogance and domineering nature, as well as internal struggles.

But in any case, the Hongguang emperor and his ministers should not exclude him from the core after the throne has been settled.

It is even more inappropriate to set up Huang Degong's defense zone to guard against Zuo Liangyu.

After all these operations, even though the elderly and sick Zuo Liangyu had no intention of rebelling, he had to consider his sons and nephews.

Finally, the Crown Prince case broke out in Yingtian, and Zuo Liangyu took the opportunity to send troops along the river to attack Yingtian.

It is hard to say whether it was luck or misfortune for the Southern Ming court, as Zuo Liangyu died of illness as soon as he arrived in Jiujiang.

Afterwards, his subordinates supported his son Zuo Menggeng as the commander and continued to send troops to Yingtian, but when they encountered the arrangements of the Hongguang emperor and his ministers, they were unable to make any progress.

As the saying goes: Good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly.

At this time, Ajige broke into the Zuo army's lair, and Zuo Menggeng, who was unable to advance or retreat, had no choice but to surrender. The Qing army easily obtained more than 100,000 combat-capable soldiers.

However, Zuo Menggeng is not as embarrassed as he was in history. Although he is still under attack from all sides, Zhu Cilang's letter gives him another choice.

"I wonder what you think, my Lord?"

Zuo Menggeng waited until the old man in front of him read the letter carefully before asking cautiously.

The old man did not answer immediately after hearing this. Instead, he read the letter again before picking up the jade pendant from the table and examining it carefully.

Seeing this, Zuo Menggeng became more and more anxious but he couldn't urge him. After all, the old man not only had a close personal relationship with his father, but was also the genuine Governor of Jiangxi.

Even though he has been under house arrest for more than a month, Zuo Menggeng still places his hopes on the old man to reverse the unfavorable situation.

"Looking at the details in the letter and the quality of the jade pendant, it should be written by His Highness himself, but..." The old man was already 80% certain that the letter was from the Crown Prince, but there were some issues that he couldn't figure out.

"The messenger said that after His Majesty fled, the people of the city welcomed His Highness to take charge of the situation. That's it."

The old man cleared up his doubts, but when he saw Zuo Menggeng's expression, he smiled and asked, "Are you worried about the generals?"

"Uncle, I understand clearly that my father originally wanted to welcome the late emperor's crown prince. Now that Your Highness has escaped, I will fulfill my father's unfulfilled wish," Zuo Menggeng said passionately, then his face turned slightly red, as if he was a little ashamed: "It's just that the attitudes of the generals are unclear, and I am afraid that acting rashly will lead to disaster."

The old man nodded slowly. Although he said nothing, he gave him high praise in his heart.

Although Zuo Menggeng was elected as the military leader by the generals, this was more like a compromise among the generals, and it was not clear how much say he had in decision-making. If it were an ordinary time, Zuo Menggeng could use the methods passed down by the old man to regain this say.

But now that his old nest has been lost and the army's morale has been shaken, where does he find the time?
Under such circumstances, the left army seemed to have many options, but in fact the only way left was to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, the generals who held military power naturally received high positions and generous salaries, but how would the Tartars treat Zuo Menggeng, who only had a nominal title?

Therefore, in the old man's opinion, this handwritten letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was most likely another path that Zuo Menggeng had created for himself out of the impossible.

"But... what if he deceived the whole army and went to Yingtian? Did he really expect the generals to have no choice but to join him in the siege?"

Looking at Zuo Menggeng who was waiting for him to express his opinion, the old man thought again and again but still couldn't figure out how to appease the deceived generals after arriving in Yingtian.

"Forget it. It's better than surrendering to the Tartars. When we get to Yingtian, I will do my best to protect his life in front of Your Majesty. This will also preserve our friendship with Kunshan for many years."

Thinking of this, the old man waved to Zuo Menggeng, and when he leaned over to his ear, he whispered instructions.

It was normal for the old man to think this way. Who could have thought that Hongguang would abandon the fortified city and flee without making any arrangements? Who could have thought that Zhu Cilang, who was designated as the "fake prince", could actually take control of Yingtian?
After a while, Zuo Menggeng left the boat and returned to the city, but when he reached a secluded place, several people left the entourage without a sound.

When Zuo Menggeng saw those people leave, he urged his horse to get back on the road.

At this moment, he finally let go of the worry that had been hanging over his head for nearly a month.

Naturally, he didn't believe that Ying Tianzhen was in the hands of the prince. How could a teenager subdue so many forces in the city?

But what does it matter?
No matter who actually controls Yingtian, as long as he is under the banner of the prince, he cannot treat me badly for raising an army to rescue the prince.

On the other hand, with the time to advance into Yingtian as a buffer, and the endorsement of the late emperor's prince, his voice in the army would be greatly enhanced.

At that time, it would be convenient to continue to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty or to bargain with the Tartars. It would be a matter of attack or defense.

But all this was based on Zuo Menggeng's ability to "persuade" military generals who were even more domineering than his father.

To be honest, although Zhu Cilang's letter gave him another choice, this choice was not so easy to achieve.

In the Battle of Zhuxian Town, Zuo Liangyu's five battalions of personal soldiers suffered heavy losses. After that, he could only maintain his position among these hundreds of thousands of troops by relying on the prestige he had accumulated over the years.

After his death, the generals in the army became even more domineering.

If there were not the imperial army in front and the Tartar army behind, and if everyone had not had to bargain with all parties in the name of the Zuo family, this army of hundreds of thousands of people would have gone their separate ways long ago.

Zuo Menggeng naturally could not accept such a gap, but he had to do his best to maintain the relationship due to the situation and try his best to prevent the two sides from tearing off the last piece of fig leaf.

So after receiving Zhu Cilang's letter, Zuo Menggeng immediately thought of using the Governor of Jiangxi Yuan Jixian to consolidate his power.

He did not look down on Yuan Jixian at all just because he was under house arrest.

The Governor-General of Jiangxi had been in office for many years and was proficient in both civil affairs and military affairs. He also had tens of thousands of troops under his command. If he had not lost his vigilance due to his long-term friendship with his father, he would not have been so easily punished.

After a cup of tea or two, the Anqing city gate appeared in Zuo Menggeng's sight. Looking at the somewhat dilapidated city gate, his eyes flickered but no one knew what he was thinking.

(End of this chapter)