I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 594: Prince Ning Raises an Army
"Of course it's true!" Xia Yan said firmly.

"The King of Jing has committed atrocities and persecuted the gentry, royal family members and military officers of the garrisons. The scholars of the one capital and eight provinces in the south have suffered greatly from him, but they dare not speak out but are angry. Now the one capital and eight provinces in the south have united as one and serve Your Highness as the leader. With the one capital and eight provinces in the south, the scholars and people are eager to contribute to the military expenses, and it is easy to raise an army of one million, among whom there are many experienced and brave warriors," Xia Yan continued.

"The South is rich, while the North is bitter and cold; the South is rich in products, while the North is poor in products; the South is populous, while the North is sparsely populated; the South's population is twice as large as that of the North; the South's financial resources are several times that of the North; the South can build up a far superior military force than the North, so our strength is far greater than that of the Northern Dynasty!" Xia Yan said firmly.

Zhu Houcong looked at Xia Yan and nodded slowly, agreeing with his statement. He said, "If that's the case, why haven't you started a rebellion yet, but instead are engaging in a verbal battle with the Northern Dynasty?"

"Your Highness, the officials in Nanjing believe that this is a time when the King of Jing has made many stupid moves. Every day that passes, the King of Jing loses a little more popular support, and our strength will increase. As this situation weakens, it will be better for us to start the rebellion later. Please don't be impatient, Your Highness." Xia Yan continued.

After listening to this, Zhu Houcong remained silent.

Xia Yan guessed Zhu Houcong's thoughts, and then said: "However, the officials in Nanjing also considered that Anlu is too close to Henan. If the Northern Dynasty noticed the unusual movement in Anlu and sent light cavalry to attack, it might cause great trouble. Therefore, the officials in Nanjing welcomed His Highness to leave Anlu and go to Jiangnan."

"That's great!" Zhu Houcong nodded slightly.

Just when Xia Yan breathed a sigh of relief, someone suddenly ran out of the door panting.
"Your Highness! We have urgent news!" The person who came was Xia Yan's colleague.

"What urgent news? The Northern Dynasty is attacking?" The three people in the temple immediately became nervous.
"No, there's a change in Jiangxi!"

"Has Jiangxi changed? What could possibly change in Jiangxi?" Xia Yan snatched the letter from the visitor and read it quickly.
Zhu Houcong and Yan Song looked at Xia Yan closely
Xia Yan's expression became increasingly gloomy.
"Prince Ning! It's Prince Ning! Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao raised an army in Nanchang on June 14th!" Xia Yan said with a dark face.

Zhu Houzhao's series of brilliant military exploits frightened Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, who originally started a rebellion in the 14th year of Zhengde, back.
Even if Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao was blinded by greed, he did not think that the more than 10,000 soldiers he secretly trained could compete with Zhu Houzhao's 150,000 elite guards who were suppressing the Mongols. If he dared to rebel, he would definitely be defeated by the guards and would not see any hope of victory.
So Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao had no choice but to endure it, but he was still unwilling to give in, so he studied the tactics of the Guards while making money.
This is not surprising, because the brilliant achievements of the Imperial Guards shocked many people, so anyone in Ming Dynasty who was interested in military affairs would study the Imperial Guards.
Then he actually figured out some tricks and realized that the core weapon of the Guards was the new flintlock rifle, so he recruited craftsmen to study the relevant technology and even poached some craftsmen from the Tangshan Industrial Zone.
In addition, the Royal Group has been spreading technology to the people of Ming Dynasty for many years.
Therefore, the team organized by Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao was able to manufacture the Zhengde 16-style infantry musket very quickly, but the yield rate and manufacturing speed were much lower than those of the Tangshan Arsenal, and the cost was also much higher than that of the Tangshan Arsenal.
But then Zhu Houzhao made even more brilliant military exploits, which made Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao even more desperate. He could not find a way to defeat Zhu Houzhao at all. He once wanted to disband the secretly trained army and give up the rebellion.
Just when he was in despair, Zhu Houxuan's series of reforms began. Zhu Chenhao, the Prince of Ning, who was in the local area, keenly noticed the series of changes that Zhu Houxuan's series of reform policies had brought about among the people of the Ming Dynasty.
But at this time, with Zhu Houzhao, the great military god of the Ming Dynasty, pressing him down, he dared not make any unusual moves.
But then Zhu Houzhao, the military god of the Ming Dynasty, fell, and the collusion between the southern gentry of the Ming Dynasty became public.
The rebellious forces in the South began to unite all the forces they could to fight against the North.
Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao was happy to contact them and provided them with a lot of help, and they also welcomed his joining.
But when Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao wanted to get in touch with them more deeply, he found that they were not so enthusiastic about him and became perfunctory.
Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao quickly figured out what was going on, and after being angry for a while, he quickly calmed down.
He knew this was his best chance, better than any he had ever had.
The flame of his desire to become an emperor never died out, and it burned brighter and brighter.
Although he was almost sixty years old, and although the gentry in Jiangnan did not support him, he still fought for his dream without hesitation, vowing to take back the half of the world that Zhu Di promised to the first Ning Wang.
From the 26th year of Zhengde to the 29th year of Zhengde, the North and the South were almost semi-openly preparing for war, and the military strength of both sides was expanding rapidly. Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao was also not idle. He almost spent all his family wealth to arm his own army.

The rebel forces in the south also turned a blind eye to this. After all, the power developed by Prince Ning was also against Zhu Houxuan. More power is always good.
So on June 14th of the first year of the Republic, which was the 59th birthday of Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao, Prince Ning invited officials in Nanchang City to come to the palace to celebrate his birthday.

Although the Beijing court had lost control of the southern regions, the southern regions did not fall into chaos, and governments at all levels were functioning normally. However, they no longer obeyed the orders of the Northern Dynasty and achieved autonomy to a certain extent.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the chief of Jiangxi celebrated his birthday and gave him a toast, he suddenly went on stage and announced: "The Empress Dowager has a secret order to raise an army. Do you officials understand the righteousness of the cause?"

These words confused everyone present. Although everyone present knew that the South was going to rise up against Zhu Houxuan, the leader was not Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao!

Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao is already 59 years old this year. How many years can he live?

Zhu Houcong is 29 years old this year, in the prime of his life. Everyone knows what to do.
But it would not be a good idea not to respond to Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao on this occasion, because they were also preparing to rebel, and this time was earlier than they expected.
In real history, because officials in Jiangxi refused to submit to Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao was furious and killed many officials, including Governor Sun Sui, Jiangxi Deputy Censor Xu Kui and others.
At this time, all the officials invited by Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao came to him, because it would be too unworthy to die here.
(End of this chapter)