Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 98 Two Skins

To be honest, although Yang Tinglin's official position in Beijing was not very high, it was not much different.

The communication with Chongzhen was limited to the memorial impeaching Yang Sichang.

But for some reason, he seemed to have an extremely strong loyalty to Emperor Chongzhen.

If it were other ministers, since the previous emperor had died for his country, they would have been loyal to his successor. However, Yang Tinglin not only refused the official position in the Hongguang Dynasty, but also seemed to be extremely hostile to this regime that had lost the bloodline of Chongzhen.

Such performance is completely different from that of Ma Shiying and others.

After learning the news of Hongguang's capture that day, Ma Ge Lao of the Ming Dynasty asked for the empress dowager's decree as quickly as possible, and then used various means to force Lu Wang Zhu Changxun to agree to serve as regent.

Normally speaking, there is nothing wrong with Ma Shiying's approach.

After all, a country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Even if it is still unclear whether Hongguang is alive or dead, no one can find fault with finding a prince to take charge of the overall situation.

Of course, this is without taking into account what he did afterwards.

"Dongming, what exactly do the Qing troops mean?"

Ma Shiying sat upright in the center of the hall. After everyone in the hall had completed the formalities, he calmly asked.

The man called Dongming was a military general named Chen Hongfan, who was a military candidate. He had previously represented the Hongguang court to go to Beijing and negotiate with the Qing Dynasty several times. Therefore, when Ma Shiying wanted to make peace with the Qing army again, he was the first person he thought of.

"Sir, the one leading the army this time is Nikan. Although he is a member of the royal family and is highly valued, he dare not make decisions on such an important matter. We can only wait for Duoduo to arrive before discussing it."

After Chen Hongfan finished speaking, Ma Shiying began to think about it in his mind.

He had heard of the name of Nikan and knew a general idea of ​​his life.

Based on this, Ma Shiying felt that there was nothing wrong with Chen Hongfan's statement.

After all, Dorgon is the one in charge of the Tatars now, and Nikan, who has experienced many ups and downs, naturally knows how to act in moderation.

"You've dealt with the Qing army before, but didn't you find out anything else?"

"My Lord, although there are some people in Nikan's army whom I have dealt with before, let's be honest, we are in the middle of a battle, how could they easily reveal their true colors to me?"

Chen Hongfan seemed extremely aggrieved when he spoke, but Ma Shiying was stunned for a moment after seeing his expression, and then he realized that his words seemed to imply doubt.

To be honest, he knew that Chen Hongfan was called the "living Qin Hui" and he also knew that this person was not trustworthy.

However, Nikan’s army had already reached Anji, and it was possible that they would be able to reach Hangzhou within two or three days. If they could not successfully negotiate peace before then, how could Hangzhou hold out? How could the imperial court gain a chance to catch its breath?
"I made a mistake."

"Your Excellency's words are too sincere! With the country in such a state, I wish I could die in retribution, so how could I think of anything else?"

Chen Hongfan seemed extremely saddened by this situation, and even cried at the end of his speech.

"Hey~~~ I wish the commanders of each town could be half as loyal as you."

Ma Shiying's emotion seemed to be extremely sincere, but he remained silent after that.

Seeing this, Chen Hongfan knew it was time to leave and planned to stand up, but as soon as he moved, he knelt down again as if he had remembered something.

"Sir, I have something to say but I don't know whether I should say it or not."

"Oh? To be honest, I am not a person who is guilty of words."

Among the ministers of the Hongguang Dynasty, Ma Shiying was considered capable. But now the troops were approaching outside the city and there were a myriad of issues to deal with inside the city. Under the double pressure, he was completely confused and didn't know how to respond except to ask for peace.

So when he heard that Chen Hongfan, who knew his enemy well, had something to say, he naturally wanted to hear it.

"I think that Your Highness should hurry up to perform the ceremony of supervising the state."

"What do you mean?" Originally Ma Shiying felt that the ceremony of being the regent was no joke. If he did not put in enough effort, the Tartars would inevitably look down on him. So after persuading Prince Lu, he sent people to choose an auspicious day to perform the ceremony.

But now, hearing what Chen Hongfan said, this matter seemed to be something that needed to be dealt with urgently, and Ma Shiying became a little puzzled.

"Yingtian is only two or three days away from Hangzhou. If Duoduo arrives, we don't even have a regent here. What should we do if he uses this as an excuse to attack the city directly?"

Hearing this, Ma Shiying was shocked.

This reason may seem far-fetched, but if you think about it carefully, it is not completely impossible.

The most important thing for him now is to make peace with the Qing army. In order to achieve this goal, he naturally has to eliminate all reasons that may allow the Qing army to attack.

"That makes sense. I will step up the matter in front of others."

Having accepted the suggestion, Ma Shiying was not a person who would procrastinate. He asked someone to prepare the car without waiting for Chen Hongfan to leave.

Chen Hongfan was not a person who didn't have good eyesight. Seeing what was happening, he didn't realize that Lord Ma was going to find someone to discuss things with. He apologized and walked out.

After he returned alone from Beijing, the imperial court became suspicious of him. Not only did they remove him from his post as commander-in-chief of the Five Towns Navy, they also sent him back to his hometown.

God have mercy on him. Chen Hongfan is from Liaodong. If he is sent back to his hometown, wouldn’t that mean he will become a subject of the Qing Dynasty?

However, he did not become depressed under such circumstances. Not only did he maintain close contacts with the commanders of various towns, he also wrote "A Brief Account of the Northern Mission" to show how he would rather die than surrender in Beijing.

It is not known whether this article, whose authenticity is unknown, worked or whether the small court that fled to Hangzhou had no one to use, but Chen Hongfan endured for nearly a year and was finally valued by the court again.

He also had another chance to finish.
Ma Shiying's residence in Hangzhou was not too big, so it didn't take long for Chen Hongfan to reach the outside of the residence. But before he could get on his horse, someone patted him hard on the back, and then he heard someone say, "I was just looking for you."

Chen Hongfan was startled by this slap. When he turned his head, he saw a general in armor looking at him with a smile.

"Meet the Marquis of Zhendong."

"Why are you being so polite? Although you were dismissed from the military, you were just like me at the beginning."

The Marquis of Zhendong was named Fang Guoan. The troops under his command were the most powerful one in the vicinity of Hangzhou. Not to mention Chen Hongfan who had lost his military power, even Ma Shiying treated him with courtesy.

But the reason why he was so polite to Chen Hongfan at this time was unclear whether it was because he really cared about their old friendship or he had other plans.

"My Lord, you are looking for me?"

"Well, I have something to ask you."

Fang Guoan glanced around as he spoke, and when he found that no one was watching him, he pulled Chen Hongfan aside.

"You and I are both fighters, can you tell me the truth?"

"What's the truth?"

"Of course, it's peace talks."

Upon hearing this, Chen Hongfan couldn't help but look embarrassed, as if he didn't know whether he should reveal such confidential information to Fang Anguo.

Looking at Fang Anguo, although he was extremely concerned about the peace talks, he didn't even dare to breathe when he saw Chen Hongfan's expression.

"Negotiations are unlikely to succeed."

"what?"

"I'm afraid the only way is to surrender to the Qing Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)