Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 46 Reply
Xu Yinjue is neither very smart nor a strong man. If you put aside the halo of Duke of Wei, he is just a good brother in an ordinary family.

However, this does not mean that he can cry bitterly in front of his younger brother and daughter without any psychological burden.

In fact, he had originally planned to give his younger brother a beating and then lock him up in the ancestral hall, but who would have thought that as soon as the door was opened, the pressure that had accumulated in his heart over the past few days, his helplessness against the Tartars, and his concerns about the future of his family could no longer be suppressed and surged into his heart.

Fortunately, he was trained as an heir since he was young, and his out-of-control emotions were brought under control in an instant. Otherwise, his image as a strict brother and kind father would have been somewhat damaged.

After a while, Xu Yinjue calmed down. The somewhat flustered Xu Laosan seized the opportunity and said, "Brother, you get up first. This is all my fault. Don't get so angry that you get yourself hurt."

"You are right, it was me who was wrong."

After Xu Yinjue answered, the uncle and nephew thought that he was still angry, but his next words scared them.

"My Xu family has been blessed by the emperor for generations, so dying on the battlefield is our duty. But Prince Fu abandoned the city and fled without any arrangements. Yingtian was no longer defensible, so I just went with the flow."

At this point, Xu Yinjue paused for a moment, waiting for the two to digest the information before continuing, "Now that Your Highness has decided to hold on, our Xu family will serve you wholeheartedly, even if it means sacrificing our lives."

As he listened, Xu Laosan became more and more confused. If that was the case, why would his eldest brother be so angry?

"But if my three brothers all die, will you let our lineage die out? Will you let Yue'er struggle alone in this chaotic world?"

After hearing this, Xu Laosan finally understood what his brother was thinking.

Although he didn't particularly care about the breakup at his age, his heart still ached when he heard "Leave Yue'er alone in this troubled world".

But why was it me and not my second brother?
The entanglement and unwillingness on Xu Lao San's face revealed all his thoughts. Xu Yinjue also knew that he was wavering, so he struck while the iron was hot and said, "I know you are angry that Lao Er stopped you, but he is only a close relative. If he is allowed to take on this responsibility, it will surely attract the covetousness of others. Then."

Xu Laosan is not a stupid man. How could he not understand the meaning of what his elder brother has said?

Just like the previous fight for the throne, the princes of various families competed with each other and the court officials also used various means.

After several battles, although the various forces in the Ming Dynasty did not completely break up, some people had already pretended to obey the central government's orders, which eventually allowed the Tartars to easily cross the natural barrier of the Yangtze River.

And he, Xu Laosan, is like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to the Xu family, Duke of Wei.

As long as he is there, the side branches will not be able to make any waves, the Xu family will still be a whole, and the power and resources scattered across the place will have a chance to be gathered together.

Even if his Xu family lost the title in the end, they still had the capital to lie dormant and would not be brought to ruin.

"If you can think clearly, do your job well."

Now that the truth had been explained, Xu Yinjue said no more. He stood up with the help of Xu Shaoyue, then turned around and left after saying a few words.

Zhu Cilang did not think too much when he sent Xu Laosan to the Xincheng Earl's Mansion. He simply felt that since the eldest and second sons of the Xu family were in the army, it would be unreasonable to send the third son as well.

Moreover, in his opinion, although Yingtian City had been besieged, it was still far from the point where all the people had to be mobilized as soldiers. Otherwise, with Yingtian's population of one million, why would he only plan to recruit 100,000 militiamen?

Of course, this does not mean that he has the confidence to defeat the 200,000 Qing troops outside the city. Everything is based on his judgment of the situation.

Although the Qing army was unstoppable all the way, in the final analysis, its main force of the Eight Banners had a total of no more than 100,000 troops, and the number of troops assigned to Duoduo was at most 30,000 to 40,000.

These troops are precious elite field combat troops. How could Duoduo use them in a war of attrition such as siege?

In this way, the only troops the Yingtian defenders would have to face in the short term would be the surrendered troops.

Although those surrendered troops were much stronger than the Yingtian defenders, they were not strong enough to crush them. After a few battles with them, they would be tempered by the war, and even if the Tartars sent the Eight Banners to attack the city, they would be able to fight back.

As long as the Tartars can be held back at the gates of Yingtian City for three or two months, the Southern Ming would have a chance to recover.

By then, the reinforcements that had returned home in response to the surrender of Tiankai City in history might have been like a pack of wolves, driving the exhausted Qing army back to Jiangbei.

It sounds easy, but all this is based on the assumption that the Yingtian defenders can withstand the first wave of attacks from the Qing army.

The defense of Yingtian was lax and the morale of the defenders was low. Even though there had been considerable improvements in the past few days, people still felt uneasy.

Therefore, it is particularly important to buy some more time.

It was for this reason that Zhu Cilang repeatedly sent Ji Qingyuan into the tiger's den.

However, the adventure was not in vain. Ji Qingyuan not only brought back the news that Duoduo was willing to negotiate, but also found out a lot of key intelligence.

"Divide the troops and set up camp?"

"Yes, the soldier probably didn't see me coming," Ji Qingyuan paused, then added, "I saw him tied up when I left the camp. I think it was because he revealed the military secrets."

"Is it necessary?" Zhu Cilang was obviously very confused about Duoduo's arrangement.

Although Yingtian is large, if the Qing army is stationed west of Tangshan, they can lock down Yingtian with their strong scouts and field combat capabilities, so there is really no need to divide the troops and set up camps.

"The Tartars should be preparing for a long-term siege."

Zhu Cilang nodded, agreeing with Xu Renjue's judgment.

If he were the attacker, he would have to be prepared for a long siege when facing such a strong city, and the most important of these preparations would be to isolate the internal and external passages.

Of course, relying on the scouts' strong combat capability and good mobility, the Qing army was still able to lock the Yingtian defenders, who had no field combat capability, in the city by setting up camp in one place.

But Duoduo didn't know that the people in the city were all losers.

To put it another way, among so many surrendered soldiers and generals, there were indeed a few who knew the details of the Yingtian defenders, but how dare Duoduo be so arrogant?

After all, after six months of fierce attacks and fighting, they were now isolated and deep in the enemy's territory. Not to mention that the area south of the Yangtze River was still in the hands of the Ming army, even the area north of the Yangtze River was not peaceful.

If reinforcements suddenly appeared from somewhere and rushed into the city, it would make the siege much more difficult.

After figuring this out, Zhu Cilang signaled Ji Qingyuan to continue.

"The enemy chief means that everything else can be agreed to, and Your Highness can lead a small number of guards to leave Yingtian, but it is absolutely impossible to ask them to withdraw their troops."

"Hmm?" Duoduo's frankness was beyond Zhu Cilang's expectations.

In his impression, even Zhao Zhilong, who had made great efforts, seemed to have only obtained a title similar to Viscount, so he worked hard to fight for the treatment of the dignitaries in Yingtian, hoping to use this as an introduction to continue negotiations.

But who would have thought that Duoduo would agree so readily? If he had not proposed that the Qing army withdraw to Zhenjiang and wait for him to withdraw before handing over the city defense, I am afraid this drama would not have been able to go on.

After I submit the draft, I will try to speed up the process, but I am a little worried that it will affect the fullness of the plot. I am very conflicted.

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(End of this chapter)