Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 66: Planning for a Way Out

Guangde was under the direct jurisdiction of Nanjing, bordering Zhejiang to the east and Anhui to the west, and was a thoroughfare connecting three provinces.

Although there are many places in China called the thoroughfare of Province X, this is a prestigious title after all, and the people of Guangde are quite proud of it.

But who could have imagined that it was precisely because this place was the western gate of Hangzhou that Guangde got into such a disaster.

After Ma Shiying became separated from Hongguang, he went straight to Hangzhou with Empress Dowager Zou under the protection of Guizhou soldiers.

But who knew that after arriving in Guangde Prefecture, the prefect Zhao Jinghe refused to open the door on the grounds that "Lord Ma should be with Your Majesty."

Ma Shiying then ordered an attack on the city, and Guangde eventually fell into burning, killing and looting.

"Ma Shiying! You first abandoned Yingtian, then abandoned His Majesty, and now you are slaughtering your own people. You have read all the books of the saints into your dog's stomach!"

"Drag him away! Behead him."

After several soldiers dragged away the cursing Zhao Jinghe, Ma Shiying frowned and began to think.

This place is only more than 200 miles away from Hangzhou. If we speed up the march, we can arrive there in four or five days at most.

But what to do when you get there?
Abandoning Yingtian was the result of a joint discussion between him and Hongguang. Now that Hongguang was missing, it was obvious that he had to take the blame alone.

By then, who knows what tricks the Donglin Party might have prepared.

After thinking for a long time, Ma Shiying finally found some ideas, but if he wanted to resolve the current crisis, he still needed the support of one person.

Thinking of this, the already quite old Ma Ge Lao immediately stood up from his chair.

"Go and inform them that I want to see the Queen Mother."

The servant responded and prepared to leave, but just as he reached the door, he heard another sentence: "Tell them to rob the property, but don't kill people if you can."

There have been many brutal people in China's thousands of years of history, but there are only a few who, as civil servants, ordered the looting of their own cities.

Is Ma Shiying a murderous devil?

I don't think I can be one of them.

Didn’t Ma Shiying know that doing so would make him infamous forever?

I think he should know.

But he still did it in the end, even though he felt a little unhappy about it.

The reasons are very complicated, but if we have to single out the most critical one, it can probably be summed up in four words: no bottom line.

After walking along the corridor next to the front hall for a while, Ma Shiying finally stopped at the gate of a courtyard in the back yamen.

"Your subject, Ma Shiying, requests an audience."

Soon, a palace maid led Ma Shiying in. When he reached the door, he bowed politely and said, "After thinking it over, I still think we should go to Hangzhou."

"It's fine if Lord Ma decides on such military and national affairs. What do I, a woman, know?"

The elder reported to the Queen Mother and she approved.

Normally, this meeting should have ended successfully here.

But who would have thought that Ma Shiying not only had no intention of leaving, but also did not stay in the house to look around.

Queen Mother Zou was the second wife of Prince Fu. Although she often said that "women don't understand state affairs", how could she know nothing when she was the last laugh in the palace struggle?

She knew very well that her son's succession to the throne was entirely thanks to the four towns in Jiangbei.

Now the troops of the four towns have either surrendered or fled, leaving only Huang Degong, who not only has few soldiers and generals, but is also hundreds of miles away. The only one that the mother and daughter can rely on is Ma Shiying.

Of course, she knew that Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa originally wanted to welcome Prince Gui to the throne, but what did that matter?
At this point, the matter was a done deal. Faced with the Donglin Party, whose influence spread throughout Jiangnan, the two families were natural allies.

Therefore, even though Ma Shiying's behavior was quite rude, Empress Dowager Zou still suppressed her dissatisfaction and asked kindly, "Does the Lord have anything else to say?"

"Your Majesty, this is your humble servant."

Seeing him hesitate, Empress Dowager Zou suddenly became suspicious. Ma Shiying had a bad reputation, but he was one of the few capable people in the court. Now that His Majesty was missing and the situation in Hangzhou was unclear, could there be something worse that could make him behave like this?

"Master, my mother and I are your subjects, so just speak frankly."

Empress Dowager Zou's original intention was to tell Ma Shiying that they were all in the same boat and should never do what he wanted.

Unexpectedly, Ma Shiying knelt down outside the door before he finished speaking, and his words made Empress Dowager Zou stunned for a while.

"Empress Dowager, we will arrive in Hangzhou in three to five days. Please make plans early!"

Intend?

What are your plans?
Military and national affairs have always been decided by you ministers, even the emperor's words are
emperor!

After several thoughts, Empress Dowager Zou finally grasped the key to Ma Shiying's words.

I have been separated from the emperor for several days, and in these chaotic times, I don't know how likely I am to save my life.

It would be fine if he could return safely, either negotiating peace or moving the capital would be convenient, but if the emperor really died in the chaos of war, then she, the empress dowager, would really have to make plans early.

"Every time I mention this matter, I feel uneasy. I hope you can give me some advice as a woman."

Empress Dowager Zou had a tearful tone when she spoke, as if she was just an ordinary old lady.

Looking at Ma Shiying, although he was still kneeling on the ground respectfully, he couldn't help cursing in his heart: After all, he was not his biological son, and he did not even think of looking for him other than avoiding his own responsibilities.

But even though he kept scolding me, he had to give me some advice on how to resolve this maze.

If the emperor really died, no matter who succeeded to the throne, he would have to get the approval of Empress Dowager Zou.

At that time, for the old lady, it would just be a matter of whether she could live a few more years of comfort, but for Ma Shiying, it would be a matter of life and death.

"King Lu."

After uttering these two words, Ma Shiying fell to the ground without saying a word, while Empress Dowager Zou, who was sitting in the hall, frowned.

When the successor to the throne was chosen, it was the Prince of Lu who was strongly supported by the Donglin Party. Although they failed in the end due to the strong interference of the troops from the Four Garrisons, the connection between the two parties cannot be ignored.

In her opinion, even if all the princes of the Zhu family died out, Ma Shiying should not have mentioned the name of Prince Lu even if he randomly selected a person with the surname Zhu from the people to succeed to the throne.

Is it
It shouldn’t be.

Time passed bit by bit, and Ma Shiying, who was in his fifties, could no longer hold back his anger. However, Empress Dowager Zou just frowned and stared blankly, as if she had forgotten that the Grand Secretary of the Dongke Academy was still crawling at the door.

In this situation, Ma Ge Lao, who had been an official for decades, lamented in his heart and prepared to give up his last resistance.

When Beijing fell, he, as the governor of Fengyang, had nearly 400,000 troops under his command.

At that time, he was so popular that even Shi Kefa, the theoretical first choice for the prime minister, had to avoid him.

But ever since he was forced to support Hongguang, his life has become worse and worse, and his situation has become increasingly passive.

Not only did a small prefect of Guangde dare to stop him outside the city, but he was even forced to this point by a woman.

"The night is long and dreams are many, so we need to cut the Gordian knot quickly."

After hearing this, Empress Dowager Zou immediately understood the meaning. Previously, after much discussion, the throne almost fell into the hands of another family.

Although his son was able to succeed to the throne with the support of the four towns, it also laid the seeds for today's disaster. It would have been better if he had let his son succeed to the throne directly at that time.

Thinking of this, Empress Dowager Zou couldn't help but feel that Ma Shiying was worthy of being a man who had traveled all over the country and thought about things much more thoroughly than she, a woman.

Considering that he would still be useful in the future, Empress Dowager Zou wanted to comfort him a little.

But before I could think of what to say, I heard someone outside the courtyard shouting:

"Your Majesty has news! Your Majesty has news!"

(End of this chapter)