Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 460 You know I won’t ignore it
As time went by, the news of the large-scale mobilization of the Ming army was no longer a secret. Both the Ming people south of the Yangtze River and the Qing army generals north of the Yangtze River knew that a war was imminent.

According to Zhu Cilang's original idea, the area of ​​Lianghuai is densely covered with water networks. As long as the Ming army breaks through the Qing army's outer fortresses, they can replicate the Battle of Ganzhou in Lianghuai. At that time, the Qing army stationed there will suffer a devastating blow, and the pressure of the Northern Expedition will be much lighter.

At first, the Qing army, which wanted to negotiate peace, did not act as Zhu Cilang expected.

Although Beijing allowed the Lianghuai garrison to build large-scale projects along the waterways, it was extremely cautious in the use of military forces and did not send a single reinforcement for several months.

Faced with such a situation, Zhu Cilang acted decisively.

After realizing that the Qing court was unwilling to risk its life, he simply drove Wang Zhengzhi back to Jiangbei, and Beijing was caught in a dilemma.

If you fight, you will most likely end up losing both your money and your life after investing massive resources.

If we don't fight, we will give up such a rich and fertile land in vain. The person who made the decision will have to bear the corresponding responsibility.

Back then, when Dorgon's family was the only one in power, it was not difficult for them to make some tactical concessions in order to escape from the strategic dilemma, but now...
Beijing
Forbidden City.Wuying Hall

This hall is located west of Xihe Gate. When Dorgon arrived in Beijing earlier, he used this place as the place for his meetings.

At that time, leaders of various banners and officials from the six ministries often came and went outside this palace. In detail, it was the power center of this huge empire.

What happened next is all clear and there is no need to say more.

The armies heading south were defeated one after another, and Dorgon lost his position as regent. The structure of the court began to look like it was divided into three parts.

According to common sense, at this point, he would have to restrain himself a little. Even though the strength of the two white flags still had a huge impact on the Qing court, those superficial treatments should be completely eliminated.

But the development of things was beyond everyone's expectations. Dorgon, who had been described as wise and brave since he came to power, insisted on coming to the Wuying Hall every day to handle official business and did not feel that there was anything wrong.

The nobles of the Eight Banners had all sorts of things to say about this situation. If it weren't for old Daishan's words at the critical moment, there's no telling how far this fermented glutinous rice wine incident would have fermented.

Later, the rules for Dorgon's work in Wuying Hall were set, but there were very few court officials coming and going there.

But today, no one knows what happened, but Old Daishan and Jirgalang came together, making the eunuchs serving here very nervous.

"Brother Sanxi, I heard that the south is going to mobilize troops again."

"Well, that's what happened."

After hearing the words of his attendant, the young eunuch known as Sanxi looked around and answered in a low voice.

Although Prince Su had defeated the rebels earlier, he was soon taken advantage of by the Southern Dynasty. At that time, those who served in the outer court knew that it was only a matter of time before war broke out again, and they were much calmer than the newcomers to the palace.

"Can we win, then?"

"I don't know. The emperor of the Southern Dynasty is very fierce. Several princes have been defeated in battles one after another. I'm afraid this time it will be very difficult."

As soon as the words fell, the eunuch's face immediately fell. After three or two breaths, he timidly asked, "Didn't a lot of people die in the palace when the thieves broke in before?"

"Well, quite a few died, but they were there to protect the emperor. If you find a place to hide, no one would care," Sanxi said, and then he glanced at the eunuch next to him. Seeing that he still looked worried, he glanced around and said, "Why are you panicking? The prince grew up in the palace, so he wouldn't be like that thief."

"Prince? Isn't the one in the south a fake?"

The little eunuch was just a half-grown boy after all. He was full of worries one moment and his mind was completely distracted by the gossip the next moment.

According to the official statement of the Qing court, the legitimate crown prince of the Ming Dynasty died of an acute illness after being sent away by the Zhou family, and the emperor of the Southern Dynasty was just a fake puppet pushed forward by Qian Qianyi, Ma Shiying and others.

Such a statement can naturally confuse ordinary people, but it still has many loopholes for Sanxi, who grew up in the palace.

"We don't know whether the Southern Dynasty emperor is real or fake, but the one who died is most likely a fake."

"fake?"

The young eunuch was startled when he heard the words. If they were not in a remote place, the noise would have been heard by others.

Seeing this, Sanxi scolded him a few times, and only after the other party calmed down did he begin to explain in detail.

It is said that the prince entered Zhou Guozhang's house in November of the previous year, and left after meeting Princess Taiping in the house.

When he came again later, Changping told him that there were too many people in the palace and gave him a brocade robe and told him not to come again. But who would have thought that the prince was so tactless and ran back after more than ten days.

This time his luck was gone. Zhou Guozhang asked him to call himself Liu, but the Northern Prince refused. After being driven out of the mansion, he was arrested by the police for violating the curfew.

As a result, the prince fell into the hands of the Qing court.

Although Sanxi is not a man of great strategy and decision-making, he can see the weirdness inside after being in the palace for so many years.

The Qing army had just entered the city at that time, and a curfew was imposed before dark. If the Zhou family really wanted to draw a line between themselves and the prince, they should either hand him over to the court directly or find another time to send him away. In any case, they should not drive him out in the middle of the night.

But in the end, the Zhou family chose such a method that was not good for both sides. Not only were they regarded as treacherous and immoral in the eyes of the remnants of the previous dynasty, but they also did not get any benefits from the Qing court.

Unless the Zhou family intended to use this method to send that person to the Qing court, there is no reasonable explanation at all.

Further on, it was the palace that was to be identified.

At that time, Zhou Guozhang and Princess Taiping both claimed it to be true, while Prince of Jin Zhu Shenxuan and former Cabinet Grand Secretary Xie Sheng both said it was false.

For this reason, Qian Fenglan, the Langzhong of the Criminal Department who was in charge of presiding over the case, "angrily insulted the King of Jin", and even the people of Beijing said that Xie Sheng was "a beast without moral principles" and "scolded him to his face for being disloyal".

As a eunuch in the palace, Sanxi naturally knew that it was impossible for a mere doctor of the Ministry of Personnel to have ever seen the prince. The reason why he did such a rebellious thing in the court was probably because he was afraid that Zhu Shenxuan and Xie Sheng would ruin the Zhou family's plan of replacing the prince with a cat.

After all, everyone knew that if the prince fell into the hands of the Qing court, he would not have a good ending.

Now that there is a fake impostor, the Qing court can relax its pursuit of the prince on the surface, and those two rebellious guys actually intend to foil this plan. No matter whether Qian Fenglan is a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty or for his own considerations, he can't tolerate it.

In the end, Dorgon's behavior also indirectly confirmed Sanxi's guess.

Although he recognized the prince as the real one, he sentenced Qian Fenglan to death for being rude in the palace, but was kind to Zhu Shenxuan and Xie Sheng.

If he really believed that the prince in his hand was real, he should reward Qian Fenglan, who helped the court confirm the prince's identity, and punish Zhu Shenxuan and Xie Sheng.

At that time, Dorgon made such a move because he probably did not believe in his heart that the prince was real. He just accepted the matter in order to cut off the hope of the remnants of the previous dynasty and prevent anyone from rebelling against the Qing court under the banner of the Crown Prince of Chongzhen.

Thinking in this way, Dorgon's actions become reasonable.

Although Qian Fenglan helped the Qing court in fact, his heart was still with the former dynasty, so it was reasonable for him to be executed; on the contrary, although Zhu Shenxuan and Xie Sheng almost ruined the situation, they said everything they said and did not hide anything from the Qing court, so they had to appease such good dogs. Following Sanxi's words, the young eunuch seemed to understand the hidden truth, but there seemed to be something he didn't understand. But when he was about to ask his good companion a few more questions, he heard a loud shout from behind him, and then he was knocked out by a strong force.

"Okay, okay, the Queen Mother asked us to be more careful a few days ago, but I didn't expect to run into you two remnants of the previous dynasty today!"

"Grandpa, please spare me! Grandpa, please spare me!"

When the two young eunuchs heard the words, they turned pale with fright. However, their kowtows and pleas for mercy were worthless in the eyes of the young eunuch who was speaking. Then several eunuchs pounced on the two men.

“Bored!”

"twitter!"

At an order, two thin figures were dragged away from the Wuying Palace. The young eunuch did not show any joy at the discovery of these remnants of the previous dynasty. After taking a look at the hall inside, a trace of worry appeared on his face.

In the past, the Qing Dynasty was unstoppable, and everything inside and outside the palace was stable. But now it has suffered several defeats in succession. Not only are some of the ministers of the previous dynasty slightly unsettled, but even the eunuchs in the palace dare to talk about such rebellious things in broad daylight. This makes the confidants around the empress dowager worried.

"Go ask the princes if they can come up with any rules."

"twitter!"

According to common sense, an inner court eunuch like him should not appear in a place like Wuying Palace, but a great war was about to break out in the south, and several princes could not decide how to respond.

It so happened that the three princes who usually couldn't get together were all in the Wuying Palace today, and the empress dowager sent him here out of worry.

But then again, the eunuchs of the Qing Dynasty were ultimately inferior to those of the previous dynasties. People like him could at most learn a thing or two from other eunuchs, but it was impossible for him to be like the Silijian of the past.

A moment later, the eunuch who was sent out hurried back and whispered something in his ear, but the young eunuch just stood there in a daze.

"Not a word?"

"I didn't say it."

"Prince Li didn't say anything either?"

"I didn't say it."

"Hey!"

Although the young supervisor did not show much reaction on the surface, he was secretly resentful.

At first, it was said that defensive fortifications were to be built in Lianghuai, so the court allocated a large amount of silver; later, it was said that the firearms of the Southern Dynasties were powerful and needed to be purchased in large quantities from Westerners, so the court had to spend a lot of money again.

At this time, the news that the Southern Dynasty’s army was preparing for war was already known to these small eunuchs. However, the two who had just seized power only knew to come looking for Prince Yu. Such people are really bullies in their own backyard!
With this in mind, the young eunuch turned around and went into the palace. Immediately, the area around Wuying Palace returned to its previous tranquility. If someone who didn't know the situation was here, they would probably think it was some secluded place.

To be honest, this young eunuch wrongly accused old Daishan.

Regardless of whether Jirgalang was helpless about the situation in Lianghuai, he was not completely helpless here.

just
"Are they all dead?! The tea bowl is empty, why don't you come and refill it with water?!"

The hall had been quiet for such a long time, but Jirgalang suddenly yelled this sentence, and then a eunuch walked quickly into the hall. Dorgon and old Daishan just raised their eyelids slightly and then became stunned again.

Seeing this, Jirgalang felt depressed, and he broke the deadlock directly after the eunuch left.

"You two are thoughtful, but I am a reckless person. If we don't come to an agreement today, no one can return home!"

He was really anxious. As Hauge's spokesperson in the court, Jirgalang not only knew that the Qing Dynasty could not defeat the Southern Dynasty on the water, but he also knew about the existence of the "Dragoons".

But military intelligence continued to arrive from the front, and the situation in the court was like this.

Up to now, everyone in the first wife's house has been playing dumb, leaving only him from the third wife's house jumping around as if the whole world belongs to him.

Faced with such a situation, he really couldn't bear it anymore.

"Okay, you're all silent, right? Anyway, this world belongs to your eldest branch. When the southern army comes, I can just go back to Shengjing. If I see the old Khan in the underground, will he bother you or me?"

When these words were spoken, both Dorgon and Daishan seemed unaware of it.

Seeing this, Jirgalang suddenly felt a fire of ignorance in his heart, and he strode out of the hall.

He knew that Huaibei and Huainan were difficult to defend. Even if the imperial court built a large number of forts and bought a large number of firearms, if the Southern Dynasty really launched a large-scale attack, this war would ultimately be in vain.

But then again, if we can’t defend it, can we just give up?

If the imperial court easily lost such a rich land, it would certainly be a very bad example to the north.

By then, regardless of whether the Han people still have their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, they will have to find a way out for themselves as soon as possible when facing such a court.

There is probably no place for the Manchus in this world anymore.

Although Jirgalang was not an outstanding figure, he had some vision after decades of ups and downs.

He knew very well that what he could see, Dorgon and Daishan must also be able to see. The reason they acted like this was, to put it bluntly, that they were unwilling to take responsibility for the defeat.

This is not surprising. With Hauge's defeat, the situation in the court gradually slipped from a three-way confrontation to a two-way struggle.

Unless someone can defeat the Southern Dynasty in a place with dense water networks, the blame for the defeat will fall on the family that presided over the Lianghuai War, and the power of the family will be greatly damaged.
He could understand the two people's considerations, but he still couldn't understand how the Qing Dynasty, which still occupied most of the world, could not even maintain the situation of the Wanyan family.

As his thoughts turned, Jirgalang's heart became colder and colder, and at this moment one of his hands had already grabbed the door frame. But when he was still a little hesitant, he felt a force coming from the door, and then the door of the hall opened, and he saw a graceful and elegant woman standing outside the door.

"Queen Mother? Why are you here?"

When the words came out, both kings in the hall turned their eyes. When they were about to salute, the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty knelt upright outside the porch.

"In the past few days, the military situation at the front has been continuous, but the court has never been able to come up with a solution. I know that my uncle and the prince have their own considerations, but my Qing Dynasty has been through a lot of hardships. I hope that the princes can put aside their prejudices and help the Qing Dynasty overcome this difficulty!"

The crying voice kept echoing in the hall, and old Daishan seemed to be frightened and walked quickly towards the Queen Mother.

But he couldn't hide the smile on his face, as if this change was just what he expected.

"Why bother? You know I won't ignore it."

(End of this chapter)