Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 493 Do you understand?

The second year of Jingwu
April 15
Yingtian
Fengtian Hall

"I, the guilty minister, the Imperial Guard, Deputy Commander of the Central Military Commandery, Admiral of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Navy, Acting Commander of the Huaidong War, and Earl of Zhennan, Huang Fei,

Transferred to Chang Guanlin, the commander of the Qingche, deputy commander of the Qianjun Dudufu, commander of the Qianjun, and assistant commander of the Huaidong war.
In addition, he was promoted to the position of Light Cavalry Commander, Deputy Commander of the Front Army Commander's Office, Commander of the Rear Guard Army, and Assistant Commander of the Huaidong Campaign, Mei Chun.

Tears of blood report:

Since we, the ministers, received the imperial order to launch the Northern Expedition, we have been working hard and striving for progress every day.

Fortunately, with the great blessing of Your Majesty and the bravery of our officers and men, we defeated the enemy on April 13 and finally brought Huai'an back to our dynasty.

However, the Jiannu were brutal and brutal, and they massacred the civilians when the city was broken, and even Taishang Hongguang was killed.

The three of us are aware of our grave guilt and that we cannot escape death, so we ask Your Majesty to punish us according to the law of the country."

As the battle report from the front slowly spread through Zhou Quan's mouth, the whispers that had arisen due to another great victory came to an abrupt end.

Today is the Wangchao Court, which according to etiquette is more of a ceremonial court ceremony and does not directly deal with government affairs. However, when His Majesty arrived, he skipped the court ceremony process and asked Zhou Quan to read the poem directly. It was not until this time that the ministers realized that such a big event had happened in Huai'an.

The name Hongguang was almost a taboo in the Jingwu Dynasty. Even though everyone knew that the former emperor was detained in Huai'an by the Tartars, all the civil and military officials in the court automatically ignored it, as if the current emperor ascended the throne after the previous emperor died for his country, and there had been no twists and turns in between.

In the eyes of others, the current emperor himself is not averse to the name "Hongguang" and even said earlier that he would respect him as the Supreme Lord. However, under such circumstances, all the civil and military officials in the court still regard this name as a taboo. This is quite strange compared with the Southern Song Dynasty, which often used the method of welcoming back the second emperor to control Zhao Gou.

However, those who can reach the core are not ordinary people, they can see it clearly.

The current emperor is not Li Yuan, nor is he Zhao Gou. The battles he won personally and the land he seized personally have given him extremely high prestige among the people and the army. If anyone really thinks that he can use that waste to control the current emperor, the only fate that awaits him is probably the confiscation of his property and the extermination of his clan.

Under such circumstances, everyone thought that the Tartars would keep Hongguang firmly in their hands, and at most use this "former emperor" who had no much value anymore to disgust the current emperor.

Therefore, at the beginning of the Battle of Huai'an, everyone including Zhu Cilang thought that the Tartars would take Hongguang away in time and would not let this card completely lose its effect.

But who would have thought
As their thoughts turned, several important officials of the court could not help but glance at the dragon throne stealthily. At this time, Zhu Cilang took another petition from Zhou Quan, opened it, and then stood up from the dragon throne.

"These three idiots only apologized but didn't tell us the details of the battle," Zhu Cilang said, and then he glanced into the hall. When he saw that all the ministers were silent, he smiled and shook his head. "It was the soldiers who risked their lives. The Tartars thought they could break through our camp with their superior forces, but so many troops fought for an hour and ended up in disarray. Later, Li Benshen and a surrendered general turned against us, and the city was broken."

Zhu Cilang spoke calmly, but the ministers could not remain silent. However, when they were about to praise him lavishly, the voice of His Majesty came again.

"In this battle, our army, with 30,000 soldiers, killed 9,000 and captured 80,000. In addition, enemy chiefs such as Hong Chengchou, Lekedehun, and Tong Yangjia were either killed or captured. This can be considered a great victory!"

When the news spread, the civil and military officials in the palace immediately had a real understanding of the Huai'an Campaign. Then there were cheers one after another. Zhu Cilang returned to the dragon throne after throwing the battle report to Zhou Quan.

He actually didn't think much of the battle in Huai'an. After all, the strengths and weaknesses of both sides had already been clear, and all arrangements had been made.

Regardless of whether the generals in the front can withstand the first wave of attacks from the Tartars, the armed merchant ships that have been waiting at the mouth of the Yellow River and the Huai River will block the Tartars' retreat along the river.

Even if the Ming army suffered a minor defeat by then, the more than 100,000 Qing troops in Huai'an would be trapped like turtles in a jar, and he would not be able to pay much attention to them.

After all, the battle of Huaidong was just a means for him to achieve his goal. The war itself had no suspense when the river mouth fort was bombarded. Instead of focusing on this, it would be better to calculate the income of the Haimao Group.

But he was not a god after all, and he not only miscalculated the process, but also the result.

Not only did the two armies resist the counterattack of the Tartars, but Huai'an itself also suffered from internal strife. In the end, no one knew which smart guy had created such a trouble, and he had to come out to deal with it.

After a while, the cheers gradually died down, and then Zhu Cilang said a few humble words and directly stated the purpose of this trip.

"Although the three generals at the front have made great contributions, the emperor's uncle was killed by the Tartars after all. According to the national law, the capture of the vassal king is already a serious crime, not to mention that the emperor's uncle was in charge of government affairs." After saying this, Zhu Cilang swept around the hall. Seeing that all the ministers just lowered their heads and refused to look at him, he could only continue: "But after all, the three of them won a great victory by defeating the majority with a small number of people. If the court punishes the meritorious officials for the Tartars' atrocities, it will not be able to stop the people from talking. So I still want to hear the opinions of all the ministers."

When the words spread, the ministers in the hall still kept silent, and no one was willing to stand up and say something. Seeing this, Zhu Cilang felt a little dissatisfied, but he could still understand everyone's thoughts to some extent.

Going back to the roots, Hongguang still has some value.

Even if the Tartars did not use them as bargaining chips to reach a secret deal with the Ming Dynasty, they should have evacuated them directly before the city was captured. At this time, the battle report from the front said that they were "killed by the Tartars". Anyone who has been in the court for two years would not believe it.

With this understanding, the ministers naturally had another guess about Hongguang's death, and His Majesty's purpose became clear.

Alas~~~~~ Your Majesty is still too nostalgic.

Seeing that all the ministers remained silent, Xu Yu sighed in his heart and stood up directly.

"Your Majesty, merits and demerits cannot be offset. Although Huang Fei and his three generals won a great victory, their crimes are unforgivable." Having said this, he raised his head and glanced at the dragon throne. Then, the extremely surprised look fell into his sight, and he became more determined in his mind: "If Your Majesty believes that there is something wrong with the national law, you can deal with them according to the law first, and then discuss the revision with the ministers."

As the voice spread, surprised eyes kept looking at him from all directions.

He understood that His Majesty did not want to punish the three Huai'an generals for Hongguang's death, and he also understood that Hongguang's death could not be blamed on these people.

But that's not how it works.

If Your Majesty really pardoned Huang Fei and the other two, then in the eyes of some people, Your Majesty's order for them to kill Hongguang would become an ironclad fact.

By then, no matter how many people opposed Hongguang during his reign, and no matter how badly Hongguang made the Ming Dynasty, the reputation of being vicious and ruthless will inevitably be cast on Your Majesty, and this holy monarch of the Restoration will have an indelible stain.

Under such circumstances, how could a minister like Xu Yu, who only cared about the emperor, allow him to ruin his own reputation?

Looking at the extremely determined Xu Yu, Zhu Cilang felt helpless.

If these words were spoken by someone else, he would have considered whether there were other thoughts behind it, but when it came to Mr. Xu, there was only one possibility.

Honestly speaking, he was not a pedantic person. If the situation really forced him to let his subjects take the blame, it would not be a big deal. However, judging from the current situation, even if he admitted the matter in the court, it would not necessarily cause any trouble. There was really no need to discourage his subjects. "Well, Mr. Xu's words are indeed mature and prudent, but I wonder if you have anything else to say?"

After a while, no one in the hall responded. Seeing this, Zhu Cilang wanted to call out someone's name directly, but to his surprise, before he could choose who to answer, a minor official in a green robe stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, I, Fu Guowei, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, have something to report."

Fu Guowei?
It seems that he is the new top scholar.

After recognizing the man's identity, Zhu Cilang thought that this was someone who wanted to speak up for him. However, he had guessed wrong several times in the past few days. As soon as the top scholar's words were heard, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Your Majesty, the ruler is the leader of the ministers. The Supreme Lord is personally recognized by your Majesty and is also the ruler and father of Huang Fei and the other two. However, they only care about military merits and forget that the ruler and father are still in danger. Such traitors have no respect for the ruler and father..."

"shut up!"

"Crazy!"

"Get out!"

Just as the new number one scholar was talking, several scoldings were heard from various places in the court officials' ranks. Then Zhu Cilang looked around the hall with a smile and saw Qian Qianyi, Li Yongmao and Huang Daozhou glaring at him.

"How can you, the nobles, make such a fuss in the court?"

"Your Majesty! This person is clearly trying to gain popularity. In my opinion, he should be stripped of his official position and never employed again!"

In response to Zhu Cilang's question, Qian Qianyi gave an answer immediately.

He is really afraid.

If the previous incident had happened like Xu Yu did, it would have certainly angered His Majesty, but if I had followed His Majesty's wishes, I would inevitably have become the one who stood out.

You must know that the competition in the court is no longer what it used to be, and its intensity is increasing day by day.

There is no need to talk about Ma Shiying and Yuan Jixian, after all, they are on the table. Frontier officials like Fan Yiheng and Wang Yingxiong do not seem to have the possibility of entering the cabinet for the time being, but they are also strong contenders for the position of prime minister.

Under such circumstances, he, as the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, was really walking on thin ice. How could he dare to speak easily on such matters?

But now.
Looking at the new number one scholar who was still foolish and silly, Mr. Qian felt filled with resentment.

It would be fine if this guy just supported Xu Yu, but why did he have to talk about all that nonsense?
If His Majesty is really angry because of his words, then wouldn't I, the Prime Minister, be the first to suffer the Emperor's favor?
As his mind was constantly turning, Qian Qianyi couldn't help but glance at the dragon throne. Although the emperor had a smile on his face at this moment, according to his understanding, this smile could not possibly represent the emperor's true emotions.

Zhu Cilang did not have the habit of scaring his own court officials, and did not let Qian Qianyi suffer in fear for long. When no one in the hall spoke anymore, he stood up from the dragon throne again.

"Mr. Qian, you are too polite. Our new champion is just lacking in experience."

As soon as he finished speaking, the newly crowned number one scholar, who was frightened pale by the big guys, immediately knelt on the ground. But before he could say anything else, the voice of His Majesty came again.

"However, the top scholar is a reserve official of the imperial court. If they are so inexperienced, they will inevitably make mistakes and harm the country." Having said this, Zhu Cilang paused, and then paced under the gaze of the civil and military officials: "How about this, from now on, no matter whether they are top scholars or ordinary reserve officials, they must serve as assistant officials in county-level yamen for two years before being given real positions."

After these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials in the court were confused.

If Your Majesty wanted to give the new number one scholar a warning, he could have just picked him alone. But now, not only has he swept away all the candidates in last year's exam, but he has also implicated all the candidates in the future as well.

This behavior is totally unlike His Majesty's usual style, and it makes people a little confused about the situation.

"Your Majesty is wise! Han Feizi once said that a brave general must rise from the ranks, and a prime minister must come from a prefecture. I have served the country for decades, but I regret that I lack local experience. Now that Your Majesty has decided on this policy, our officials will no longer be confused about government affairs!"

While everyone's minds were still turning, Mr. Qian thought of the deep conversation he had with His Majesty that day. He then knelt on the ground, obviously approving of this decision.

Things have come to this point. Although no one can figure out what the emperor and his ministers are up to, they can only follow the Prime Minister in praising His Majesty for his wisdom.

Afterwards, the cheers of the people once again echoed in the Fengtian Hall, and Zhu Cilang returned to the dragon throne with satisfaction.

This was an unexpected surprise.

With this in mind, Zhu Cilang glanced at the newly crowned number one scholar who looked as if he had lost his parents. Afterwards, the ministers got up from the ground one after another, and he finally turned his attention back to the affairs of Huai'an.

At this point, he didn't feel like playing any more guessing games with anyone.

All in all, although no one agreed with his wishes after the previous inquiry, Xu Yu was the only one who openly raised his objections.

It seems that in the minds of the court officials, whether Hongguang lived or died had nothing to do with them, and it probably all depended on the emperor's decision.

Under such circumstances, if he still waited for the court officials to speak before doing something that went with the flow, he would probably end up in a disadvantageous position.

"Mr. Xu, I understand what you mean."

As soon as the words came out, all the ministers who were still pondering the reason for that arrangement had to let go of their thoughts and force their attention back.

Zhu Cilang said again after seeing the ministers' eyes gradually clear up: "I am just worried that some people will think that I ordered the three generals from Huai'an to kill Hongguang."

As the words reached their ears, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly tensed. Some of the timid ones didn't even dare to move. But Zhu Cilang seemed unaware of it. He just changed into a more comfortable posture and continued speaking.

"I might as well say it directly. Regardless of whether Hongguang died at the hands of the Tartars or not, I will not let my subjects bear the responsibility for me. So he died at the hands of the Tartars, and he could only die at the hands of the Tartars. Do you understand, gentlemen?"

(End of this chapter)