Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 22: Strike first to gain the upper hand

"Which direction did the intruder come from?" Zhu Cilang narrowed his eyes and quickly analyzed the situation in his mind.

"They came from Jinghai County in the north. When they were still seven or eight miles away from Lujiazhai, they were spotted by the scouts deployed by His Highness."

"Is there any movement in Qing County?"

“Hasn’t found it yet!”

"Where is Lujiazhai?"

"After this group of bandit cavalry entered the village, they probably didn't come out again. There are people outside the Lu Family Village watching them the whole time."

"Lüjiazhai, Jinghai County, Qing County, more than a hundred riders, arrived after nightfall."

Zhu Cilang's mind was a little confused for a moment. He didn't have a deep understanding of the local situation, but judging from the time when this Shun cavalry appeared, they should not be coming for him. Perhaps because of the rain this afternoon, they arrived at Lujiazhai after nightfall.

In other words, these Shun troops should have been invited by Lujiazhai. The new magistrate of Shunting in Qing County might not know about this either. But what about the secret sentries from Lujiazhai that appeared outside Linjiazhai?
"Lin Yongan is definitely hiding something!"

By analyzing the few pieces of military intelligence available, Zhu Cilang quickly made a basic inference about the dynamics and intentions of all parties, but this was not enough for him to make a final judgment on the current situation.

"Zhou Shixian!"

"Chen is here!"

Zhou Shixian's mind was also confused at the moment, but when he heard Zhu Cilang's order, he immediately bowed his hands and clasped his fists, waiting for orders as if by conditioned reflex.

"What are your orders, Your Highness?"

Zhu Cilang frowned slightly and said sternly, "Go tell Li Banghua to bring Lin Yongan to see me without any delay!"

"Here!"

Without waiting for Zhou Shixian to retreat, he immediately turned to the scout who had just returned with the news and said, "Pass on my order. Tell Chen Fu to keep an eye on the movements of Qing County and Lujiazhai at all times. Report any disturbances."

"Here!"

The incident happened suddenly, and Zhu Cilang had to make a quick decision. Since the Shun cavalry that entered Lujiazhai had not taken any action yet, the most urgent task was to find out what the problem was between Linjiazhai and Lujiazhai.

The servant of the Lu family who was staking out outside the Lin Family Village was the key to this complicated situation, and was also the clue button that enabled Zhu Cilang to make a basic judgment after some analysis.

Soon, Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian brought Lin Yongan, the head of "Lin Family Village", to the west courtyard where they were. The two sons following behind Lin Yongan were blocked outside.

"You all stay here and behave yourself. The nobles have their own rules!"

As Lin Yongan spoke, he winked towards the outside of the yard. His two sons understood and immediately bowed and retreated.

Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian naturally saw Lin Yongan's little tricks. At this time, they naturally would not let any chaos happen in Linjiazhai. Zhou Shixian immediately winked at the soldiers guarding the gate of the yard. They immediately took action and directly blocked the two people who wanted to go back to the front yard to call for reinforcements.

"Master Lin, I just want to see you. Don't be nervous, just follow me!" Zhou Shixian smiled, raised his eyebrows slightly, and then said:

"You should have seen it clearly when we entered the village today. If these warriors started fighting, how many of the people in your village would survive?"

When these words came out, Lin Yongan was immediately horrified and nodded quickly, saying, "Brother Zhou, you are right. It is the old man who is ignorant!"

Soon, Lin Yongan's two sons calmed down under his comfort and waited obediently at the gate of the west courtyard.

He followed Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian, trembling with fear as he walked through the corridor of the west courtyard. For the first time, he felt that this place was so unfamiliar, especially when he saw more than a dozen fully armed soldiers standing outside the room where Zhu Cilang was. He was so shocked that his mind went blank.

"He really is the son of a noble duke!"

At this point, although Lin Yongan felt uneasy, he had no choice but to continue following Li Banghua. However, with every step forward, he felt that the weight on his feet seemed to increase, and his heart became more and more uneasy.

When Zhu Cilang entered the village, he left such a deep impression on him. To Lin Yongan, he was like a noble man from heaven. Now with such an unfathomable aura, how could he not feel any waves in his heart?

The group quickly walked through the corridor of fifty or sixty steps. Lin Yongan followed Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian, only to see four armored soldiers guarding the door of the nobleman, directly blocking their way into the house.

After conveying Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian's words through the guards inside the door and obtaining the permission of the nobleman inside, the four armored soldiers respectfully made way for them. Then, the guards inside the room opened the door from the inside with a loud "whoosh".

As far as Lin Yongan could see, behind the tables and chairs on both sides of the main hall in the west courtyard stood more than twenty armored soldiers, who were tall and strong with serious faces and were fully armed.

But there was no sound at all. These soldiers who looked fierce and domineering seemed not to dare to breathe hard at this moment. Everyone's eyes were focused on the nobleman who was resting with his eyes closed under the candlelight on the main seat in the main hall.

"I am Li Banghua, the Left Censor-in-Chief. I am Zhou Shixian, the Captain of the Imperial Guard and a Captain of the Imperial Guard. I am late. Please forgive me, Your Highness." Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian immediately knelt on one knee and bowed to Zhu Cilang to apologize.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness." Lin Yongan's heart, which had already risen to his throat, was about to jump out. His legs instantly became weak and he knelt on the ground.

In later generations, some people would find it strange that Qin Wuyang dared to kill people in the street at the age of thirteen, so why was he so frightened when he saw the King of Qin?
This is just like the young men in Linjiazhai who were terrified when they saw the soldiers who had killed countless people, and the frightened Lin Yongan who was terrified when he saw the prefect, and the panicked Lin Yongan who saw the crown prince of the current dynasty.

The majesty and dominance of the King of Qin caused the psychological defenses of Qin Wuyang, a small gangster, to collapse quickly. Although Zhu Cilang was still far inferior to the King of Qin at this time, it was enough to scare a small leader of the Cao Gang.

The incident happened suddenly, and Zhu Cilang had to understand the actual situation here as quickly as possible.

If Lin Yongan guessed that he was the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, then it would be the same whether he revealed it or not. But if the other party didn't guess it and only thought that he was a wealthy nobleman who wanted to unite the Lu Family Village and the Shun Army to make a fortune, then if he brought up his identity as the crown prince at this time, the deterrent effect would be completely different.

Li Laoer dared to hold Li Banghua hostage, but he did not dare to hold Zhu Cilang hostage. In this chaotic world, the power and prestige of civil officials were not as great as before, but the crown prince still had natural power and could lead countless people to swear allegiance to him until death.

Zhu Cilang was naturally well aware of this. Looking at Lin Yongan's expression, he immediately signaled Li Banghua to step forward and comfort him, and then he slowly spoke:

"Lin Yongan, I want to ask you, are you familiar with the Lü Family Village? I'm heading south tomorrow morning. Can you contact the Lü Family Village and borrow a boat?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yongan turned to look at Li Banghua, then at Zhou Shixian. He wanted to answer, but he stuttered, unable to utter a single coherent sentence. He had only vaguely heard of the title of Left Censor-in-Chief, let alone the fact that he had a son-in-law standing beside him, a renowned member of the Imperial Guard.

Seeing this, Li Banghua immediately comforted him, "Master Lin, His Highness asks you a question, just answer it carefully. Whether you can or can't, just answer it. There's no need to be so nervous."

After hearing these words and seeing Li Banghua's kind face, Lin Yongan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He bowed and clasped his hands towards the crown prince Zhu Cilang at the top and said:

"Your Highness, you may not know that I have always had a grudge against the Lu Family Village. If I were to borrow the boat in my name alone, I'm afraid it would not be possible. However, now that Your Highness is here in person, I think the Lu Family Village will not dare to act presumptuously. That's right, that's right..."

Lin Yongan stopped talking halfway through, as if he had something to hide. Seeing this, Zhu Cilang smiled in his heart, thinking that he had guessed right.

"But what?"

"Your Highness, the Lu Family Village has colluded with the rebels. I'm afraid, I'm afraid they have already had second thoughts about the Ming Dynasty." After Lin Yongan said this, he knocked his head directly to the ground, and even his voice was trembling.

"Oh?" Zhu Cilang smiled, not seeming surprised at all.

Not only him, but also Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian were the same. They had already decided to surrender to Lujiazhai, but the attitude of Linjiazhai still required a definite answer.

Judging from the fact that Lujiazhai sent people to monitor Linjiazhai, the relationship between the two sides should not be good. The Shun army in Qing County did not move, but the Shun army in Jinghai County was dispatched. This shows that there is a high possibility that there are young men from Lujiazhai serving as soldiers under Hao Yaoqi.

Zhu Cilang knew Hao Yaoqi well. This fierce anti-Qing general in the late Ming Dynasty was brave, but his subordinates had extremely poor military discipline. If they were not under the command of Li Zicheng and were not restrained, they would have burned, killed, and looted without any restraint.

Now, Li Zicheng's direct troops were all making money in Beijing. Although he, as a ragtag army that had defected halfway, occupied the transportation hub of Jinghai, the wealthy businessmen and officials there had already fled, and the food and grass shipped from the south of the Yangtze River were all in Tongzhou.

In other words, just as Zhu Cilang came to Linjiazhai on the recommendation of the Linjiazhai disciples, Hao Yaoqi's subordinates were most likely introduced by the Lujiazhai disciples and went south.

Lin Yongan had already been frightened by Zhu Cilang's attitude, but he was a man who had traveled all over the country for decades. After regaining his composure, he quickly explained the whole story.

Whenever there is a change of regime, it is a time to redistribute wealth. If you can seize the opportunity and find a backer in the new regime, or if you already have certain connections and can cling to them, it will be easy to soar to the top.

The two major Cao gangs in Qing County, Linjiazhai and Lujiazhai, are vivid portrayals of this.

Lujiazhai now has the Shun Army as its backing, while Linjiazhai only has a weak relationship with the Beijing Camp. The friendships it had accumulated with the clerks and magistrate of Qing County, as well as the prefect of Hejian Prefecture, are now worthless.

There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. The head of Lujiazhai will naturally not let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

At this time, everything was in chaos. The county magistrate sent by Shunting could not leave the county for a month or two. Even if a family massacre occurred outside the city, he probably would not have time to take care of it.

Linjiazhai and Lujiazhai have been in constant conflict for several generations and hundreds of years. They have fought each other many times to compete for passengers. More than a dozen young and strong people have died and even more have been injured. The two sides are completely hostile to each other.

In extraordinary times, many things are definitely not as complicated as imagined. It is nothing more than killing people and occupying land.

The label of being a remnant of the previous dynasty is enough to put the final nail in the coffin. As long as there are no interested parties involved, no one will come to investigate.

The rise and fall of a family in troubled times, every word is stained with blood.

After listening to this, Zhu Cilang had already made a judgment in his mind. Lin Yongan's explanation was logically sound and basically in line with the facts. If he was the one who had connections in Hao Yaoqi's army, I'm afraid that Lujiazhai would also face the crisis of extermination.

The reason why he came to Qing County instead of continuing to go south to a place farther away from Jinghai and Shun Army was not because he was blind when he got there?
He at least knew a little about Linjiazhai in Qing County, but all the way south he had to rely on the help of the leader of the Cao Gang to complete the purchase of food and supplies, which was not something he could do by just robbing the boats.

This is "trust" in business, which is even more important in chaotic situations!
"Your Highness, we must leave quickly before the bandits find us." After hearing this, Zhou Shixian could no longer sit still. If the more than one hundred bandit cavalrymen knew that the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty was in Linjiazhai, they would probably rush over like crazy.

When Lin Yongan heard this, his heart suddenly sank. If the crown prince left like this, he would probably take the young and strong men in the village hostage, or kill him to silence him. Without the protection of the young and strong men in the village, these family members of Linjiazhai would be like fish on the chopping board in this chaotic world, at the mercy of others.

He turned his head helplessly and looked at Li Banghua, only to see that the other party seemed to be hesitating.

However, at this time, the aloof Crown Prince Zhu Cilang spoke again: "Master Lin, I would like to cooperate with you and go south together. What do you think?"

"Your Highness, the ships from Linjiazhai..." Li Banghua was about to say something, but when he thought of Zhu Cilang's aggressive style since he broke out of the capital, he swallowed back what he was about to say.

Upon seeing this, Lin Yongan immediately knelt and kowtowed, saying, "I will obey your Highness's arrangements. I only ask that you take all the people from the Lin Family Village with you."

"Your Highness, the bandits are cavalry. If we want to escape, we still have to rely on horses. If we sail within a hundred miles, the bandits will quickly catch up. This is really not a good idea."

When Zhou Shixian heard Lin Yongan say this, he was afraid that Zhu Cilang would be moved by sympathy, so he quickly said to him, "While the bandits are still in Lujiazhai, we have the cover of night and will definitely be able to escape successfully."

"This..." Lin Yongan was anxious for a moment and didn't know what to say. If this was the case, he would be worthless.

Upon seeing this, Li Banghua immediately clasped his hands and asked Zhu Cilang, "Your Highness, are you planning to fight that bandit group?"

"That's right!"

Zhu Cilang nodded in satisfaction. Li Banghua had indeed managed to keep his composure. After he had subdued the sixty or seventy elite soldiers of the Three Thousand Battalion, he no longer feared the smaller Shun army.

At this point, it would be safer for him to flee without a fight, and the Shun army would definitely not be able to catch up. However, in doing so, he would have to kill the insider in the Lin Family Village, and it would also be very difficult to get supplies along the way. In Cangzhou, where he was unfamiliar with the place, it would be equally dangerous to find a reliable Cao Gang.

"The Lujiazhai people colluded with the rebels, and they deserve to die. But this group of rebels has more than a hundred cavalrymen. If we want to take action, I'm afraid we have to make careful preparations. After we set up the trap, we can lure them in and wipe them out in one fell swoop." Zhou Shixian spoke eloquently, as if he already had a mature and cautious plan in his mind.

"I am willing to serve Your Highness. Linjiazhai can be used to set an ambush." ​​Lin Yongan quickly expressed his loyalty.

"What are you preparing for? What are you waiting for?" Zhu Cilang suddenly stood up, his eyes sharp and majestic, and said in an unquestionable tone:
"Let's strike tonight and catch them off guard. The intruders are only a hundred cavalrymen. They've just entered the village, so their defenses must be lax. The villagers are vulnerable. Can the so-called village wall stop the brave warriors of my army?"

"Night attack?" Zhou Shixian said in surprise. He had never thought of taking the initiative to attack. It was too risky.

But Zhu Cilang was able to quickly gather a group of guards and break out of the capital because he could make decisions quickly and dared to fight. After weighing the pros and cons and determining that the chances of winning were great, he would naturally take action.

Many times, it is absolutely right to strike first. Hesitation and indecision are taboos. If you strike later, you will probably just wait for death!
"Aren't there enough boats in the village? There are some at Lujiazhai, as well as the food, money, horses, and armor we need for our journey south. I want them all!"

(End of this chapter)