Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 90: Not even a chance to open your mouth!

The night before, Duoduo used a combination of coaxing, deception, and soft and hard tactics on Hongguang. In the end, although the captured emperor did not agree to surrender, he did not explicitly refuse either.

Seeing this, Duoduo knew that his intention was not firm, so he returned to the central army tent, but Hongguang could not even close his eyes.

He knew very well what Dodo wanted to do by keeping him here, and he also knew what kind of blow he would cause to the morale of the defenders once he appeared at the gates of the city.

But since he has arrived here safely, it means that he has no intention of dying, so he can only let Duoduo control him.

Sure enough, he was brought to the central military tent early this morning, and the somewhat damaged bright yellow dragon robe was put back on him. Then Duoduo selected some men and horses and took him to the foot of Yingtian City.

"The world does not belong to one person or one family. The Ming Dynasty has run out of luck. Our Qing Dynasty will continue to govern the people."

When they arrived at the city, soldiers went to negotiate, and Duoduo took the opportunity of waiting to explain the situation to Hongguang.

"It was fate that Ming lost his deer. It was not your fault. Prince Fu should not blame yourself too much."

Previously, Duoduo analyzed the failures of the Ming Dynasty from various angles, but Hongguang just stared blankly ahead without saying a word. However, when Duoduo turned the topic here, his eyes suddenly regained some luster, and he looked much more energetic.

"Does the prince think so too?"

"Huh? Hmm!"

The sound was so loud that Duoduo had not expected it, and even he, who had fought in wars for nearly twenty years, was unable to react.

"How hard my life is."

Hearing Duoduo's affirmation, Hongguang immediately became like a different person.

Then he commented on everyone's actions after crossing the river from his own standpoint, and Duoduo just listened carefully like an old friend without any intention of interrupting.

According to Hongguang's story, Shi Kefa had no ability to make changes, but he just happened to be the Minister of War in Yingtian when the previous emperor died for his country, so he was able to become the commander-in-chief of the Ming army in Jianghuai.

In his words, Ma Shiying was even worse. He was simply the living Cao Cao of the Ming Dynasty. However, this living Cao Cao did not have the great talent and strategy of the dead Cao Cao, which made the situation of the Ming Dynasty like a collapsed dam.

As for the others, every one of them was either busy fighting or wanted to fight the enemy but was unable to do anything.

In the end, even Huang Degong was scolded by him, and the only reason was why he didn't take him to escape south.

"how about you?"

"what?"

When Duoduo heard Hongguang's comments on Shi Kefa, he was already a little angry. If he had not wanted to learn more about the Ming Dynasty officials from him, he would have slapped Hongguang in the face long ago.

But after enduring for so long, when Hongguang scolded Huang Degong, Duoduo could no longer suppress the anger in his heart.

He had learned from the people who had returned that Huang Degong fought to the very last moment before dying of blood loss.

This foolish man actually slandered such a minister, which made Duoduo want to stab him through to death to vent his anger.

"And you?!"

"I? What's wrong with me?"

"The blame lies entirely with me, don't you have any reason at all?"

"I would like to find some problems of my own, but who among the civil and military officials in the court would listen to me?"

Having said that, Duoduo actually lost interest in listening to this guy anymore, but when he wanted to reprimand him, he suddenly had an idea.

"The situation of the man in the city is a hundred times worse than yours. If it were him, I don't think the king's army would have come to Yingtian City so easily."

As soon as these words were spoken, Hongguang seemed to be deflated. He just stared blankly at the city wall in the distance, not knowing whether he was thinking about this possibility or simply disagreeing with Duoduo's assumption.

"The walls of Yingtian City are high and thick. If the royal division returns without success, I wonder how the history books will compare you two."

Duoduo said this lightly and stopped talking, but he would occasionally notice Hongguang's expression as he looked around.

Another quarter of an hour passed, just when Duoduo was getting impatient, there was finally movement on the city wall.

When Zhu Cilang learned that Duoduo wanted to meet him, he guessed his real purpose. However, he did not rush to meet him, but waited until the sacrifice was over before leisurely coming to the city with qualified officials.

"Which one is Dodo?"

Zhu Cilang had just asked Ji Qingyuan a question when he saw several riders running out from the enemy army.

Judging from the speed alone, these knights did not seem to be trying their best, but the Qing army was only about two arrows away from the city wall, and his shouts reached the city in an instant.

"Listen up, people in the city!"

Duoduo had been in Yingtian for several days, and except for a night attack, he had not taken any action.

The message sent at this time must have been a major change in the military situation, so everyone in the city pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

"The false emperor surrendered in Hangzhou, and Huang Degong died in Wuhu."

The knight stopped here, as if he had guessed how much impact these two sentences would have on the Yingtian defenders. The reaction in Yingtian City was just as he expected. A buzzing sound was heard before he finished speaking.

"His Majesty has come? What should we do?"

"The Tartars have always been here, why did Hangzhou surrender?"

"Duke Jingguo has tens of thousands of troops, how can he..."

Listening to the whispers that kept coming into his ears, Zhu Cilang felt neither happy nor sad, as if these had nothing to do with him.

"Wherever the king's army goes, the people of Jiang praise them. My prince thinks that you are trapped in Yingtian and do not know the time and people's hearts, so he pardons your crime of resisting the king's army. Please do not make mistakes!"

Perhaps he was getting a little impatient, but before the buzzing sound from the city had died down, the knight shouted out the rest of his words.

"quiet!"

"Silence!"

The buzzing sound in the city became louder and louder, causing the generals to constantly suppress it.

Looking at the noble officials and civil servants, although they were closer to Zhu Cilang and therefore not as badly affected as the ordinary soldiers, they could not conceal the panic on their faces.

Under normal circumstances, Zhu Cilang should have stood up and said something now, but when Yue Qijie and others looked at him anxiously, they saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed to be frozen in place by a spell. Not only did his body not move, but his face showed no emotion at all.

"Your Highness."

"Wait."

Xu Yinjue called out softly, but Zhu Cilang only uttered one word lightly.

Just when he was wondering what there was to wait for, he saw more than ten riders coming towards Yingtian City, and among these riders was a man dressed in bright yellow.

In this situation, who would not know that the Tartars wanted Hongguang to show up at the gate of the city to verify that what they said before was true.

When things got to this point, the Ming army on the city wall believed more than 90% of what the Tartars said.

At this time, not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even Xu Yu and others were somewhat desperate.

"bass!"

The sound of the sword being unsheathed echoed over Yingtian City.

Everyone turned their eyes towards the source of the voice and saw Zhu Cilang holding up a sharp sword in one hand and tightly wrapping the sword with the other hand.

Then, without waiting for the people around him to make any move, he pulled hard, and the sword was stained red with blood.

"Zhu Cilang, son of Emperor Xiaolie of the Ming Dynasty, swore an oath to heaven.

If the imperial uncle dies, all the Jian slaves should be slaughtered. If the imperial uncle returns safely, he should be treated as the Supreme Lord.

From now on! I will supervise state affairs!"

(End of this chapter)