Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 3 The Prince's Personal Army
When Wang Zhixin saw the corpses and blood on the ground, his face became even more terrified, and he was so scared that tears and snot all flowed down.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang remained calm as usual, and even waved his hand, signaling Chang Denggui to let someone in.

So, under such circumstances, the other five armored soldiers who were guarding the yard, who were already frightened and like frightened birds, immediately made way and let the two strong men dressed as servants and holding knives into the yard.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, I am wronged! I have never surrendered to the rebels. I have always been loyal!"

The two men quickly walked in front of Zhu Cilang, completely ignoring Wang Zhixin's wailing, and knelt down at the same time. The man in the lead was quite courageous and bowed to Zhu Cilang and said:

"Your Highness, we two have captured the Traitor King's Heart and are handing it over to Your Highness for disposal!"

At the same time, at the signal of Chang Denggui, the two armored soldiers immediately stepped forward, lifted Wang Zhixin up again, and tore off a piece of bloody cloth from the corpse next to them, and directly blocked his noisy mouth with it.

"Who are you?" Zhu Cilang took a few steps forward with the knife in his hand and asked with full energy.

"I was originally a servant in the palace. Just now, my brother and I responded to the decree of His Highness to kill the traitor. Thanks to Your Highness's blessing, we succeeded in capturing the heart of the traitor king. Now I am Your Highness's personal soldier." The man who had just bowed and clasped his fists was not afraid at all in the face of Zhu Cilang's question, and answered in a resounding voice.

"Okay, this palace needs talents like you right now!"

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but feel pleasantly surprised. The people in Wang Zhixin's mansion were indeed worldly-wise. And these two men had a large bag of stolen money tied to their chests. It was obvious that they had probably bumped into Wang Zhixin by accident when they were looting the mansion.

But now, it was obvious that the two of them wanted to use Wang Zhixin as a token of allegiance and follow them to gain a future. This showed that his performance just now had worked and he had established prestige in the hearts of quite a number of people.

"What's your name and where are you from?"

"My name is Lin Changfeng, and I'm from Guangning, Liaodong. This is my younger brother, Lin Changping." Lin Changfeng paused and continued:
"Your Highness is fearless in the face of danger and is dignified. He is a true hero. My two brothers want to follow His Highness, achieve great things, and avenge our parents and sisters."

"What about you?" After hearing this, Zhu Cilang turned to Lin Changping, who had a face full of stubble and looked extremely evil.

"Me, me too!" Lin Changping was so anxious that he completely forgot what his elder brother had just told him, and stammered.

However, after hearing this, Zhu Cilang had a rough idea of ​​the reasons behind the two men's choices. Their skills and combat prowess must be extremely strong, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to abduct Wang Zhixin so quickly in front of everyone. It's very likely that they were former soldiers. So, he nodded and said,
"You two brothers have successfully captured the traitor Wang Zhixin and have performed a great deed. Once we reach Nanjing, I will naturally reward you accordingly. In the future, I will also appoint you as the vanguard in the Northern Expedition to annihilate the enemy and recover our homeland in Liaodong."

After saying that, he walked straight forward without any nonsense and without any intention of listening to Wang Zhixin's explanation. As the other party shook his head desperately and trembled in fear, he raised his hand and swung the knife with all his strength. A stream of blood gushed out instantly, and Wang Zhixin's head fell to the ground with a "bang".

The soldiers from the Beijing camp and the two palace servants from Liaodong in the yard were all used to seeing life and death, but at this moment they were still stunned by the cruel prince.

After Zhu Cilang personally killed this eunuch who brought disaster to the country and the people, was greedy and even tried to offer himself to Li Zicheng, he turned to look at Chang Denggui and asked:
"General Chang, do you need any more manpower?"

The three people Chang Denggui sent to confiscate the property had not returned yet, and he was feeling guilty. Although Zhu Cilang had just promised not to bring other soldiers from the Beijing camp, these two people were servants of the royal palace. In addition, Zhu Cilang directly killed the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department in front of him, a big shot who was as high as the sky in his eyes, and he did not dare to object at all.

"I think these two heroes are both brave and resourceful, and they are most suitable to stay by His Highness's side to protect him."

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang nodded with satisfaction, and then tried to take the extra set of chain mail from his horse, but the two armored soldiers got there first.

"Your Highness, you are worth a ton of gold. You cannot afford to make any mistakes. Please use our armor!" As they said that, the two of them took out the two sets of chain mail that Zhu Cilang had just asked them to pack up and handed them to the two brothers Lin Changfeng and Lin Changping.

Zhu Cilang's previous appreciation, as well as the decisiveness and magnanimity of the royal family shown in just a few minutes, had already conquered the two of them.

For people of this era, it is indescribable how touched and shocked they felt when they received a word of care and praise from the current crown prince. From the moment Zhu Cilang asked them to stay with him all the way to Yingtian Prefecture, they actually regarded themselves as the crown prince's confidants.

"That's fine." Zhu Cilang didn't reject the two armored soldiers' show of loyalty, but then added, "There are still some armor and swords in the warehouse of the imperial city. I will never let my personal soldiers go into battle without armor."

At this time, the three confidants sent by Chang Denggui finally came back with five or six bags of gold, silver and jewelry each. They couldn't help but be greedy and took several more bags than Chang Denggui had instructed.

"Our most urgent task is to escort His Highness to break out. What are you doing with so much gold, silver and jewelry?" Chang Denggui stepped forward quickly and scolded loudly at the three people who had just returned.

"It's okay. When we break out of the city, it might be useful." Zhu Cilang waved his hand and said gently. But just when the brows of several people relaxed, he suddenly changed the subject and ordered:
"Separate these gold, silver, and jewelry. Each person should carry one bag. It should not affect riding and fighting. Throw away the excess."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chang Denggui immediately took advantage of the situation and personally went up to the scene, throwing the six extra bags of gold, silver and jewelry heavily to the ground with an angry look in his eyes. Seeing this, his soldiers did not dare to say anything.

At this moment, looking at Chang Denggui's reaction, they finally understood that the Crown Prince's orders could not be disobeyed, and the majesty of the royal family still existed!

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang nodded with satisfaction and then ordered:
"General Chang, let's go to the gunpowder bureau, the weapons bureau, and the imperial stables in the imperial city first. If there are still muskets, gunpowder, armor, and crossbows there, take some with you in advance to prepare for any unexpected events. Especially war horses, we need at least twelve more.

After you gather your mounts and equipment, exit the Imperial City directly from Di'an Gate and wait at Dongzhi Gate. As soon as the west and north gates are breached, break out from Dongzhi Gate immediately."

If they want to successfully break out, the twelve horses that Chang Denggui found and the weapons and guns that his eight brothers are equipped with are far from enough.

There were no muskets, but there were two bows, but only about twenty arrows. Each person only had one piece of armor, and the most important warhorse was only one per person. With this level of equipment, if they encountered the Shun army scouts, they might not be able to escape.

"But the imperial city is guarded by soldiers and horses. It's so dark today and people are in panic everywhere. I'm afraid I can't trust my brothers." Chang Denggui hesitated.

He was unsure of the situation in the Imperial City. If he made a wasted trip, he might miss the opportunity to break out. This was a concern for everyone except Zhu Cilang, who already knew when the city would be breached.

"The troops in the Imperial City have been evacuated long ago, so there's no need to worry about that. Besides, the Shun army won't break into the city so quickly, so we still have plenty of time."

Zhu Cilang still had to maintain the royal dignity, so he naturally couldn't directly say that all the soldiers in the imperial city had fled.

He then looked around at the eleven men in the courtyard who were dressed in armor and armed with sharp weapons. These were the team he had built to break out to the south, the so-called personal army of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, and also all he could rely on to escape and go south to rebuild the Ming Dynasty.

"Life and death, success or failure, all depend on this one move." Zhu Cilang paused, his already sharp eyes becoming even more determined, and then he sternly said to the eleven people in front of him:

"Pass on my order and set off immediately to the Imperial City."

(End of this chapter)