Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 65: Give in?
Qian Qianyi brought a large group of civil servants with him, so Zhu Guobi naturally could not be alone.

After leaving the camp in the north of the city, he immediately contacted the nobles he was familiar with. Only after all the personnel were in place and preparations were in place did he carefully leave the inner city.

According to the situation at the time, the less time spent, the more defeated troops could be gathered. But if he didn't gather more people, how could Zhu Guobi dare to leave the city alone?
Zhu Guobi was cautious and hesitant all the way, and he didn't even encounter half of the defeated army. In the end, he gritted his teeth and approached a section of the city wall.

Only then did he realize that the Tartars had only shouted for a while outside the city and then retreated.

To be honest, the shock this news brought to him was no less than Hongguang's escape.

In his mind, the Tatars were almost invincible, and the Yingtian defenders were not much stronger than clay.

With such a huge disparity in strength, how could the Tartars retreat after just shouting for a while outside the city?
Fortunately, someone among the nobles reminded him, otherwise Zhu Guobi, who was always shrewd, would not have been interrogating the centurion on the city wall at this time.

"I am glad to see that Your Highness is well, your honorable subject."

This was the first sentence Zhu Guobi uttered.

Although he did not say what happened to the old minister, Zhu Cilang thought that he was probably very happy.

Ha ha.

"I am fine, Duke, there is no need to do this."

Zhu Cilang forced himself to respond, and then Zhu Guobi knelt on the ground and told him how anxious he was when he learned that Zhu Cilang was at Yaofang Gate, and how he remained calm when he saw the beacons on the city wall.

It has to be said that Zhu Guobi did come from an extraordinary background. After hearing his narration, even Zhu Cilang felt that his injuries were nothing.

It was at this time that Qian Qianyi arrived with a large group of people.

"I am glad to see that Your Highness is well, your honorable subject."

Extremely shameless!
The nobles all cursed in their hearts at the same time.

"I am fine, Mr. Qian, there is no need to do this."

"Your Highness, please don't do this again. If you really make a mistake, how can the people in this city escape the Tartar's butcher knife?"

"Of course, of course. I was unlucky this time and got bumped into. There won't be a next time."

The scene of harmony between the ruler and his subjects was so touching that after several incidents, Zhu Cilang finally had time to change the topic.

"Since you are all here, let's discuss the rewards for the soldiers."

This battle was not large in scale, but it was of extraordinary significance.

This victory not only shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Tartars, but also allowed the military and civilians of Yingtian to see his determination to fight to the death, so he wanted to determine the reward as soon as possible so that subsequent publicity could be carried out in time.

But unexpectedly, someone spoke up to refute him before he finished speaking.

"Your Highness, the matter of rewards will be reported to the commander and decided by the Ministry of War. You don't need to worry about these trivial matters."

It was common for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to be embarrassed by his ministers, but in the past few days, all matters in Yingtian were decided by Zhu Cilang alone. He never expected that someone would jump out and confront him at this time.

Minister Liang has lost his mind.

For sure!

But how to say it?
Is it true that he doesn't care about rewards as he said?
"Your Highness, Minister Liang is right. You promoted Li Chaodong three levels the other day, which was an overreach."

Just as Zhu Cilang's brain was working rapidly, a man stood out from the group of nobles and said exactly the same words as Liang Yungou.

Collusion to seize power?

This was the first thought that came to Zhu Cilang’s mind, but within a split second he fell into self-doubt.

Don't underestimate these people because they have a high status and influence on both the common people and the literati. But if they could seize the military power with this, wouldn't Duoduo have entered Yingtian long ago?
But why would they do this if it wasn't for the purpose of seizing power?

Honestly speaking, if this battle was lost, Zhu Cilang would be able to accept it calmly. But this battle was won!

Even though his position was not unbreakable, it was no longer the same as before.

How dare these people jump out at this time?

Do you really think he doesn't dare to kill anyone?

After staring at the noble ministers in the field for a long time, Zhu Cilang had to admit that he really didn't dare.

He dares to kill people, but he doesn't dare to kill people at will.

Killing Zhao Zhilong and Wang Duo was to punish the rebels and it was done in a fair and just manner, which made people very happy.

But if Liang Yun was killed just because of a word in official business.
Let’s not talk about whether Zhu Cilang is so cruel. Even if he can really kill people with a word without any psychological burden, can Yingtian, which has powerful enemies outside, bear the consequences?
The struggle between the emperor and his subjects, the struggle between civil and military officials, and the struggle between political parties.

These three struggles ran through the Ming Dynasty and became an important thread in the history of China over the past two hundred years. It was precisely because of the out-of-control of these three struggles that the Ming Dynasty, which appeared to have the strongest power on paper, became as weak as a piece of paper.

In fact, Zhu Cilang is not opposed to struggle. It is precisely because of struggle that various forces are restrained.

In this way, people's lives will be a little easier.

But is now the time to do this?

Just after winning a battle, someone jumped out impatiently to fight for power. Isn't the current situation enough?
Of course not!
If these noble ministers really had any sense of justice, why would the Southern Ming court flee to Burma and continue to fight among themselves?

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

As his mind was turning, Zhu Cilang suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. The injury he had been enduring for half a day was now affected.

"Your Highness!"

Xiang Rensheng was the only one among all the people present who saw Ustu's kick clearly, so he was the first to rush over when Zhu Cilang kept coughing violently.

"It's okay! I pulled my chest and abdomen before, just cough twice and it will be fine."

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang pinched Xiang Rensheng's arm hard, then stood up and walked forward a few steps, as if to prove that there was nothing wrong with his body.

The counter-case was settled rather quickly.

At this time, Zhu Cilang regretted very much why he did not use the cases of Zhao Zhilong and Wang Duo to carry out a major purge of the noble ministers in the city.

"Your Highness."

Just as Zhu Cilang was thinking about it, Yue Qijie took a step forward.

"The rewards for the soldiers should be discussed by the Ministry of War and then handed over to you for final decision." He emphasized the word "finally", then gave Zhu Cilang a deep look before continuing, "If Your Highness feels it is inappropriate, we can send it back for further discussion."

Should I agree or not?

Zhu Cilang’s brain was working rapidly.

The benefits of agreeing to it are obvious. It can avoid exacerbating internal conflicts when facing a powerful enemy, and also avoid losing the right to speak in assessing merits and rewards.

If not.

The families behind the nobles and civil servants have been rooted in Yingtian for more than two hundred years. If we are not sure of eradicating these two forces, then now is not the time to turn against them.

After all, we can't kill everyone.

But humph.

"Your Excellency Yue is right. The deployment of defenses and training has already taken up a lot of my energy. Let the Ministry of War handle these minor matters."

(End of this chapter)