Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 473: Destroy the big one to stabilize the place
"Master Liu! Master Liu!"

"Oh! Don't shout! Don't shout! How can a small clerk like me deserve to be called an adult?"

Liu Shirong was still sorting out his account books in the cabin. When the voice came, he went out without even checking who the visitor was.

Earlier, Liu Shirong thought that the clerk examination was just an excuse for His Majesty to increase their salary. After being transferred to Zhenjiang, he felt that things were not that simple.

After all, although the work of the yamen has always been done by clerks like them, the higher-ups will inevitably send an official with a formal academic background.

But during this period in Zhenjiang, he was the only clerk in charge of the huge warehouse. Not to mention officials of the fifth or sixth rank, the court did not even send an official of the seventh or eighth rank.

As someone who had worked in a ministry, he naturally knew how many people in the Hanlin Academy and other noble government offices were waiting to be sent out, and he could naturally taste the unusual circumstances behind it.

Of course, this matter is not without a reasonable explanation.

After all, he was just a warehouse manager, and it was possible that they forgot to send a regular officer over. But when the military order came down ordering him to cross the river with the army, the glimmer of hope in Liu Shirong's heart disappeared.

In that military order, the Duke of Wei, who was in charge of all matters along the river, ordered him to transport part of the warehouses to Gaoyou for the convenience of supply, and asked him to do his best to assist the army in stabilizing the area.

To be honest, although it is not his responsibility to stabilize the place, it is normal for him to contribute some effort since he is here.

just
"Master Liu, the vanguard has entered the city, you should also prepare here."

The visitor did not say much in response to this humble remark. After reporting the previous situation, he turned around and left.

In the past, Liu Shirong would have let the other party leave directly. After all, his authority and responsibility were only after the city was captured, and the specific process of the siege had nothing to do with him.

But today he heard some rumors, and then he had some associations. Now he wanted to get more information to verify something, so he couldn't let the person leave easily.

"I heard that the city had sent people out before?"

"Ah, that's what happened."

"Then why"

Although Liu Shirong did not finish his words, his inner meaning was already made clear.

Faced with such questions, the visitor seemed a little surprised, but then he seemed to think of something and said with a smile: "Master Liu, you don't know, they are late."

After he finished speaking, Liu Shirong showed gratitude on his face, but the doubts in his heart were not resolved at all.

According to common sense, there is nothing wrong with this statement.

If you in Gaoyou really had this intention, you should have sent someone to contact us before the soldiers arrived.

But the army's actions were too sudden.

As soon as the warships arrived, the cannons were set up there. By the time people were sent out from the city, the cannons had already been firing for a while. It seemed that this action was intended to give Gaoyou no chance to surrender from the very beginning.

Forget it, I don’t want to think about it anymore. Let’s take it one step at a time.

Seeing that no useful information could be obtained, Liu Shirong could only sigh in his heart. Then the man turned and left. He picked up two account books and went under the boat.

As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses move, food and grass go first.

Although he was not the quartermaster under the generals at the front, since the superiors had decided to set up part of the storage in Gaoyou, he had to complete the preliminary preparations as soon as possible.

It was obvious that to accomplish these things successfully, the assistance of a large army was necessary, and this was the intention of the army to inform him in the future.

After about three or two incense sticks, the central army command platform appeared in Liu Shirong's sight. But when he was about to ask the soldiers to report, he saw several tied figures kneeling in front of the platform.

Seeing this situation, he did not expect to be summoned by several generals immediately, but unexpectedly, as soon as he explained his purpose, the soldiers on duty made way for him.

He could see clearly that those kneeling people were wearing official robes of various colors and were obviously fake officials captured from Gaoyou. How could he, who did not even have any rank, rashly barge into such an occasion?

As his mind turned, he moved closer to the guard, and when he was less than an arm's length away, he whispered, "Are those people the officials who surrendered from Gaoyou?"

"That's right, the general was just captured."

"Then I'll wait."

"The Marshals are waiting, but Sir Liu cannot delay any longer."

"wait for me?"

"Ah."

When Liu Shirong heard the words, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Then he didn't care about whether it was strange or not. After giving a fist to the soldier on duty, he went straight to the commander's platform.

"Three generals! We are rebels and we shouldn't be treated like this!"

Liu Shirong did not hear the previous words, but when he quietly walked into the commander's platform, the chief official's pleading voice clearly reached his ears.

Now he understood that the marshals had no intention of giving Gaoyou a chance to leave the city and surrender, so the fate of these officials was not difficult to foresee.

Logically speaking, he was just a warehouse manager, and whether or not to leave the opportunity was none of his business. But after realizing this, Liu Shirong became more and more uneasy.

The imperial court has its own rules and regulations. For a certain period of time after taking a city, the responsibility of maintaining local operations will fall on the military. However, the military basically has no suitable candidates, so in most of the time they will keep the demoted officials in office.

But judging from the current situation, the generals have no intention of leaving any way out for the officials of Gaoyou. So where will the responsibility of maintaining the operation of the place fall?

With this in mind, Liu Shirong glanced at the commanding officer's platform, and at this moment, Marshal Chang Guanlin, who was in charge of the front army of the imperial guards, pointed his whip at several officials kneeling on the ground, and then an angry shout spread out.

"Sweet words and flattering appearance! They are not honest people. General Huang, there is no need for us to say anything more to these cunning fellows. We should just withdraw and kill them all, so that they will not have any connection with the Tartars anymore!"

"Marshal, please spare us! Marshal, please spare us! We really want to get back at the beginning, but..."

"General! We had no choice but to do it earlier! It was not intentional!"

"Marshal, spare my life!"

As Chang Guanlin finished speaking, a cry of pleading immediately came from the mouths of the officials in Gaoyou. After seeing this scene, Huang Fei inadvertently glanced at Liu Shirong who was huddled aside, and then he asked him a question.

“How many do we need to leave to keep the place running?”

"Ah?" Faced with this sudden question, Liu Shirong immediately froze in place.

Keeping the place running.

These words sound simple, but they represent enormous power.

If he was an official from a legitimate academic background, even if he was only an eighth or ninth rank official, he would not be so shocked. But after all, he was just a clerk. It was understandable that he assisted the chief officer in completing the tasks, but how could this "maintaining the operation of the local area" have anything to do with him?

"Huang Shuai is asking you a question."

After all, he had spent most of his life in the government, and even though he was stunned by those words a moment ago, when Chang Guanlin's rather impatient voice came, he immediately looked at the officials kneeling on the ground.

Things have come to this point, and although he has not yet figured out the cause and effect behind it, he knows what to do.

Then he went over the government offices in his mind, and after sorting out the priorities, he bowed and replied, "It will be enough to have a governor, a prosecutor, a censor, and a prison warden."

He did not touch upon financial power or personnel matters, so in the eyes of others he did not grasp the main point.

But he understood clearly that since the higher-ups were doing this, they probably wanted to completely destroy the government office in Gaoyou. If he wanted to maintain local operations, he must have a detailed grasp of the local situation. With the assistance of these institutions, he would be able to control the local situation with the least number of personnel.

As soon as the answer came out, the surrounding soldiers dragged away the officials who were not named like wolves and tigers. After an incense stick of time passed, the screams of ghosts and wolves stopped abruptly, and Huang Fei turned his eyes to Liu Shirong.

"I have kept these people as you said. The operation of Gaoyou government office now falls to you." Huang Fei paused for a moment, and then his mind turned several times, and his words changed: "You are a smart man, you should be able to see that this matter is extremely involved. If you handle it well, there is no need to say more. You will be promoted in a short time. But if you mess it up."

"Little understands."

Liu Shirong remained extremely calm in the face of such slightly threatening words. Huang Fei did not say much after seeing the performance of this clerk and ordered him to retreat.

This incident seemed ordinary to Chang and Mei, but Huang Fei sensed something unusual based on his years of experience.

After conquering Yangzhou, His Majesty issued an imperial decree, requiring them to carefully screen the local officials and their families, and to ensure that those who had any connection with the Tartars were not allowed to infiltrate the court.

At first he didn't think it was a big deal.

Although being too harsh might cause the local forces in Lianghuai to completely side with the Tartars, the Ming Dynasty at this time was no longer the same as before, and there was no need to show leniency to officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang as before.

But when he learned some news from Duke Wei, this seemingly ordinary action immediately became quite meaningful.

To put it bluntly, during the war, local administrative power did not return to the hands of civil servants. In the case that a large number of surrendered officials were killed, using clerks to maintain the operation of local government offices could be considered a stopgap measure.

But if this battle cannot be ended in a short time.
As his thoughts turned, Huang Fei's eyes gradually became complicated. After a while, he also understood that he only needed to act according to the emperor's orders. There was no need to act like the only sober person while everyone else was drunk at this time.

Afterwards, he waited until all the Qing troops in the city were cleared out before returning to his warship with a lot on his mind, and the Battle of Gaoyou came to an end.

According to common sense, now that they had captured the unimportant Gaoyou City, the only thing left was to plan the next step of the war. But when he was discussing the deployment with the other two, Liu Shirong, who had been in Gaoyou for less than three hours, turned back.

"General, Lord Liu and the local elders are here to comfort the troops."

"Consolidating the troops?"

"Yes."

Hearing this, Huang Fei immediately frowned and felt a little dissatisfied with the clerk.

He knew very well that this so-called entertaining the troops was actually an attempt to establish a relationship with the army, and in essence it was no different from what the Gaoyou prefect had done earlier.

Honestly speaking, if it were an ordinary time, I would have accepted the silver that was delivered to my door, but Gaoyou City is related to Your Majesty's arrangements. If anything goes wrong, it could lead to big trouble.

This clerk could clearly see the power of the situation but still created trouble for the sake of money. Under such circumstances, he was naturally a little dissatisfied.

"Just say that I have already rested and thank the elders of Gaoyou."

"Huang Shuai, this is not appropriate."

Just as Huang Fei finished speaking, Chang Guanlin on the side said something hesitantly. He knew that the people His Majesty employed were not deep-minded people. He sighed in his heart and could only helplessly order people to call in the clerk and a group of elders.

It goes without saying that there is a formality of greeting each other, and it is also reasonable to flatter each other.

The meeting lasted for only a cup of tea in a cheerful atmosphere, and all the local elders turned their eyes to Liu Shirong at the same time. It was obvious that the foreplay was over and it was time to get down to business.

Seeing this situation, Huang Fei's dissatisfaction turned into resentment.

Although he was on official business in the military, he was not completely ignorant of local affairs.

Judging from the situation now, the clerk has obviously become friends with these elders. If someone says that there is no exchange of interests among them, he will never believe it even if he loses his head.

But now the situation has come to this point, and he has no room for turning back. There is no other way for him except to take one step at a time.

How can Your Majesty take these cunning men seriously?

With this in mind, his eyes fell on Liu Shirong. Then the other party stood up from his seat and walked to the center of the cabin before he bowed politely.

"Your Excellency, I have received a lot of help from you since I entered the city. At first, I thought that everyone in Gaoyou was loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but after listening to what you said, I realized that during the time when the Tartars occupied Gaoyou, many people in the city colluded with the Tartars!"

Hmm? Why didn't you mention the money?
Although doubts arose in his heart, Huang Fei still maintained a calm expression. When he swept his eyes over the people present, these Gaoyou gentry and elders immediately came to life.

"Report to the commander! The Li family in the north of the city once presented the Tartars with 30,000 taels of silver and nearly 1,000 dan of grain and grass. Earlier, we were afraid of retaliation from the Tartars and dared not speak out. But now that the royal army has arrived, we must not let these rebels go unpunished!"

"Report to the commander! The Wang family in the south of the city is also a traitor to the country. Not only did they offer silver and food to the Tartars, they also married their daughter to the enemy chieftain as a concubine. Such a disloyal and unjust person who has no king or father must not be allowed to have a good end!"

"Report to the commander! The Zhao family in the west of the city."

After listening to bits and pieces for a long time, Huang Fei realized that all the accusations were focused on the three families of Li, Wang and Zhao.

As an adult, he would not think that these three families were the only ones in Gaoyou City that had any connection with the Tartars, but he could not find the reason for a moment. After hearing all this, he could only turn his attention to Liu Shirong.

"Okay, the Marshals already know what you said. You guys can go back first. The Marshals will make their own arrangements."

After the words fell, everyone left. When there were only four of them in the cabin, the cunning clerk smiled and said, "Kill the big one so that we can stabilize the place."

(End of this chapter)