Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 7 Figure it out
Xu Yu is a loyal and upright person, with a bit of the pedantic air of an old scholar, but how could it be easy for him to wear a scarlet robe?

Even though he had verified the young man's identity that day, he still had doubts in his heart about the young man's authenticity.

Many officials escaped from Beijing, and they all described the prince's characteristics over and over again. Only the Minister of Rites Wang Duo said with certainty that the young man was fake.

After a round of questioning, he even said: "I was told that I served on duty for three years, and I was only two feet away from you, but you didn't know who I was?"

But if he was really so close to the prince that he could tell the real from the fake at a glance, why would he bother asking?

It is true that Wang Duo had worked in the Eastern Palace, but the Crown Prince did not leave the palace to study until February 7, the eleventh year, and Wang Duo was transferred elsewhere on the twelfth day. It was unknown whether he had met the Crown Prince during that period. How could he be a witness?
To put it another way, he had indeed been with the prince every day during those five or six days, but now seven or eight years had passed. Who was Wang Duo? Why would the seven or eight-year-old prince remember him?!
The identity verification was full of loopholes, and Xu Yu was not the only one who noticed the problem. So why was he able to use this as an excuse to officially deny the young man's identity?
In the final analysis, there are factional struggles at home and Tartar rioters outside. If there is any more trouble, how can we keep this half of the country?
However, the officials of the current dynasty have been worthy of the late emperor by not wiping out the only bloodline, otherwise the crime of impersonating the crown prince could not be avenged by lingchi (death sentence) or extermination of the entire clan.

"What does Dalang want to do?" Xu Yu pondered for a moment before asking again.

He had a clear idea in his mind whether this young man was real or fake, but since the official had already denied it, he could not regard this young man as the prince until there was a change.

"Hold Yingtian firmly and wait for reinforcements."

"Why not ascend the throne first?"

"Your Majesty, how can you be on a tour like this?"

Hearing Zhu Cilang's answer, Xu Yu nodded slightly in his heart. This man who had received orthodox royal education was different from those princes. He could see the danger at such a young age.

He came here just to see how the bloodline of the previous emperor would deal with this crisis. If this young man only wanted to ascend the throne to become emperor, then he would just turn around and leave. But now...

"I'm afraid these people are not enough."

Zhu Cilang quickly stood up from his chair and rushed to Xu Yu in two steps.

"What does Master Xu teach me?"

"You can't call me Sir, just call me Mr."

The support of a red-robed court official was of great significance to Zhu Cilang. Even though he had not publicly acknowledged his status as the crown prince, having such a big Buddha would certainly make this makeshift team more stable.

"Please teach me, sir."

Zhu Cilang bowed, and Xu Yu helped him up before saying, "Xincheng Earl Zhao Zhilong has called the city's noble officials to his house to discuss the defense of the city. You will go with me later."

In his opinion, all officials of sufficient rank were invited. If he could take this opportunity to verify the identity of this young man, it would be a great benefit to defending the city.

But he didn't expect that after hearing this, the young man not only did not show any joy on his face, but frowned, not showing any joy at all.

Xu Yu was afraid that he didn't understand the key, so he explained: "Your Majesty is on a tour, and Yingtian should have someone from the royal family to stabilize the people's hearts. Recently, some officials from the north have just arrived in Yingtian, and maybe there are people who know you."

Zhu Cilang didn't know much about the Southern Ming, but he knew that Yingtian surrendered without a fight, and the leader seemed to be named Zhao Zhilong.

No matter what the motivation of this meeting was, the final resolution would definitely be to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. So was he running there so eagerly because he was afraid that these people would not have enough bargaining chips to negotiate with the Qing Dynasty?
"Are they discussing whether to defend the city or surrender to the Qing?"

Hearing this, Xu Yu was stunned.

Zhao Zhilong was deeply trusted by the late emperor, and Xu Yu had never thought that he would surrender to the Qing Dynasty. However, after being reminded of this, he seemed a little uncertain.

If the commander flees before the three armies fight, the battle will be lost no matter where it takes place.

How many people are willing to fight this battle with their lives?
Originally, he had thought that if he could correct the young man's identity, he would have a backbone to defend the city, but could the scattered people's hearts really be gathered together? Would Wang Duo and his people allow him to do this?

Xu Yu's originally excited mood immediately became depressed.

"Sir, can you take me to the Duke's Mansion?" "Duke's Mansion? Which Duke's Mansion?"

"Well, whatever."

"I have had contacts with the old master of Duke Wei's Mansion. It should not be difficult to bring someone in."

"Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Xu."

Xu Yu was about to ask more, but he saw Zhu Cilang turned around and said to a strong man, "Fourth brother, I have something to say to you."

In the past, Chen Si lived in a miserable situation. He was truly a man of many plans and predictions. But since he met Zhu Cilang, none of his plans have been realized.

At this time, the prince was having a very pleasant conversation with the official in red robe. He had no one to talk to about his annoyance, so he just stood aside sulking. He only came to his senses when Zhu Cilang called him.

"The grass-roots people have met the adults."

Chen Si wanted to pay great respect to Xu Yu from a distance, but he was muttering in his heart: Before the rebels, he might have been more respectful to his superiors than I am!

"Fourth brother, come closer."

Seeing that he was a little embarrassed, Zhu Cilang said in a deep voice: "Fourth brother, if someone wants to surrender the city, do you think it would be more meritorious to take the heads of the opponents in the city or to surrender the city peacefully?"

"This is a great achievement after winning a battle."

This question was obviously beyond Chen Si's scope.

"Then do you think there will be someone in Yingtian City who will use our heads to seek credit from the Tartars?"

"How...how could that be? We didn't fight with the government troops!"

"Aren't there enough cases of government troops killing innocent people to claim credit for their achievements?"

Chen Si's eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. However, in his heart he had already agreed with Zhu Cilang's statement.

Like Xu Yu, Chen Si had never thought that the leaders in the city would surrender to the Qing Dynasty, so he thought that the prince was a rare treasure and rushed to the Ministry of War prison first.

But after listening for a long time, it seemed that even Lord Xu in the red robe agreed with His Highness's statement. In that case, wouldn't it be possible for people like them to become the good ones who killed the good ones to claim credit?

"Fourth brother, you and I are like grasshoppers tied to a rope. Whether we will achieve success or die depends on the next few hours."

"The next few hours?" Chen Si changed his previous attitude and asked Zhu Cilang humbly.

"Well, someone wants to surrender to the Tartars, we must not let him do so."

"If they surrender to the Tartars, they won't recognize you as the crown prince. Without this status, what can we do?"

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Cilang and Xu Yu both smiled. After all this time, Chen Si still hadn't reacted. Among all the officials in Yingtian City, Xu Yu was probably the only one who barely recognized Zhu Cilang's identity.

"Fourth brother, is there any way to sneak into the Xincheng Earl's Mansion?"

Every time Zhu Cilang said something, Chen Si would be stunned for a moment. After being stunned for so long, he no longer cared about the meaning and just answered truthfully according to what the prince said.

"What's so difficult about this? I can even get into a duke's mansion, let alone an earl's mansion."

This time it was Zhu Cilang who was stunned.

(End of this chapter)