Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 42: Game between the Emperor and His Ministers (Happy New Year, Book Friends)

Deafening cheers erupted from the Fengyang Prefecture government office. Not only the nine people in front of the government office hall, but all the soldiers present also knelt on one knee upon hearing this, shouting in unison:
"Your Highness is mighty and mighty. We will swear allegiance to you and the Ming Dynasty until death!"

The matter was settled. Under Zhu Cilang's orders, Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Wang Hui and others immediately led their trusted servants to begin to rectify the chaos in the city.

Gao Jie was very arrogant in front of the other three people at this time. Xing was his wife, and Li Benshen and Hu Maozhen were two generals under his command, both of whom had made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion.

Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo had always looked down on him as a defeated general who came from a bandit family. They had excluded him everywhere before. Now, because he was a step slower in following the dragon, his status was greatly affected. He dared not put on airs in front of Gao Jie anymore.

As for Wang Hui, he was originally just a governor-general and a commander of a battalion who was not worthy of being mentioned in public. If Lu Zhenfei had not been placed under house arrest by Lu Jiude, and Lu Jiude had not bribed him and promoted him, he would not have had this opportunity.

Therefore, the four of them worked very hard to rectify the chaos in the city. Even Liu Liangzuo sent all his trusted servants to do his best to round up the disorderly soldiers in the area he was responsible for.

However, his strength was similar to Wang Hui's, and he was no match for Gao Jie and Huang Degong. When he encountered Lu Jiude's scattered personal soldiers, he could only rely on the banner of Crown Prince Zhu Cilang to persuade them to surrender.

Gao Jie gathered dozens of Lu Jiude's personal soldiers who had been defeated, as well as hundreds of ordinary soldiers. He originally wanted to secretly swallow some of them to expand his own strength, but Li Benshen immediately told Xing and dissuaded him.

Although he finally handed over those troops, he was still somewhat unwilling to accept it. As the most meritorious person in suppressing the rebellion among the current Nanzhili troops, Gao Jie did not have much respect for Zhu Cilang. If Xing and Li Benshen had not persuaded him at the same time, he would not have given in.

Huang Degong knew that he was one step behind, so he completely stopped thinking about these things. Although he had already drunk blood wine with Zhu Cilang, he was still very worried about his future and did not want to be suppressed by Gao Jie.

The open and covert struggles among the four people had already begun from the moment they joined Zhu Cilang's army. This was the most common manifestation of the old-school army of the Ming Dynasty at that time!
It was not until dawn that the three generals and a battalion commander finally managed to basically put the situation in order in the city.

Except for some of the defeated soldiers of Fengyang Camp who escaped from the city or died in the chaos, more than 2,000 people were recovered, including more than 400 armored soldiers, more than 100 of whom were Lu Jiude's personal soldiers who surrendered, and the rest were Ma Shiying's personal soldiers left in the city.

Zhu Cilang immediately gave several people another credit, and then ordered him to be promoted along the way. Chen Fu, who was already the battalion commander of the Beijing Camp at this time, temporarily led the Fengyang Standard Camp and took his soldiers to reorganize the remaining soldiers of these standard camps.

At the same time, Zhou Shixian, who was already the commander of the Jinyiwei and the son-in-law of the emperor, immediately collected ships with the assistance of the four people and brought the 3,000 palace troops from Jiangbei to Fengyang City.

Zhu Cilang finally found some of the armor, swords, and spears he had always desired in the armory in Fengyang Prefecture. However, the armor was still very scarce, but the swords and spears were quite sufficient.

Seeing this, Lu Zhenfei immediately said that there was still a batch of armor and swords in the Huai'an Prefecture's arsenal, which could be shipped to equip the army. During his tenure, he had been actively supervising military affairs, of which armaments and food were the most important.

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang quickly continued to inquire about the military supply reserves in Huai'an Prefecture and the cities in Jianghuai.

From last night until now, he had been busy dealing with the aftermath of Lu Jiude's rebellion, and thinking about how to deal with the royal family members who were still in Huai'an and the gold, silver and jewelry they brought from the north. It was not until the Palace Army entered the city that he was able to spare the time to raise military equipment.

Among the ministers in the south, Lu Zhenfei was already considered a capable minister, and he was not keen on fighting for power and profit. Of course, he was very enthusiastic. Such a minister could be entrusted with important tasks in the future. Of course, Lu Zhenfei, this old stubborn man, was still apologizing for his credulity towards Lu Jiude. Zhu Cilang directly wanted to pardon him, but he was unwilling to do so. Now he could only change the way he said it - to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.

After gaining control of the vast majority of the Nanzhili army, Zhu Cilang's most important task was no longer to ascend the throne in Nanjing. Instead, he wanted the officials of Nanjing to come to Fengyang, the central capital, to invite him before he could set off.

Military power is what Zhu Cilang values ​​most at the moment, but this alone is far from enough. He also needs to control the entire court to ensure that he can mobilize sufficient manpower, material and financial resources as quickly as possible, train new troops, and reorganize and expand the original armies in Nanzhili and Huguang.

This also means that there is still a silent game of power between him and the officials in Nanjing.

Under the current system of the Ming Dynasty, although Zhu Cilang has now completely grasped the initiative, what he wants is that the entire court is completely under his control and his will is fully implemented. There must be no lip service and endless party struggles like in the Chongzhen and Hongguang dynasties.

After sending people to various places in Nanzhili, especially Huai'an and Nanjing, to inform the Crown Prince of his southern travel, Zhu Cilang, on the one hand, sent Lu Zhenfei to continue to coordinate the money and grain in Jianghuai and asked Zhou Shixian to prepare for the worship of the imperial tomb. On the other hand, he personally supervised the training of the Palace Army and appointed and selected grassroots officers.

However, to everyone's surprise, after receiving the news, Liu Zeqing actually took his four generals and dozens of personal guards and rode at full speed, and arrived in Fengyang in two days and two nights.

When Li Banghua arrived in Huai'an and Lu Zhenfei led the standard camp out, he sent out scouts to observe the movements of both sides. Of course, he acted very quickly now.

Although Liu Zeqing had used various excuses not to go to Beijing to support the emperor, now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has come to Nanzhili and killed Lu Jiude, the eunuch guarding Fengyang. He now has the three generals and two battalions in Jiangbei under his command. How could he dare to delay any longer?

Most people of this era were naturally in awe of the imperial power, not to mention that Zhu Cilang had demonstrated formidable strength. After weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Liu Zeqing had already become panicked.

Moreover, in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, he did not dare to bring more soldiers and horses, and only brought a few dozen guards. He knew very well that at this time, the crown prince would never order his death because of the issue of defending the king.

In order to appease people's hearts and take the overall situation into consideration, Zhu Cilang naturally received him cordially in Fengyang. Given the current situation, he still could not do many things as he pleased, and everything had to be based on the overall situation.

As for Liu Zeqing, seeing how obedient and well-behaved Gao Jie, Huang Degong and the others were, he also restrained himself and did not dare to do anything out of line.

He was well aware of Gao Jie's arrogance and strength. The two of them fled to Nanzhili almost at the same time. He had also heard of Huang Degong's military achievements. If Gao Jie and Huang Degong had obeyed the crown prince, then he would have no qualifications to be arrogant.

At the same time, Zhu Cilang watched as the last military leader with a large army in Jiangbei came to express his loyalty, and the last hidden danger of the Nanzhili army also disappeared. He was somewhat disappointed with the reaction from Nanjing.

Logically speaking, Liu Zeqing has already arrived, and Li Banghua went to Nanjing in person to prove his identity, so Shi Kefa and others should have acted quickly!

Could it be that something unexpected happened to Li Banghua?
　Thanks to my book friend Yuekenlu Dazhuang, an ordinary handsome guy in his twilight years, for his reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)