Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 155 His Highness is Strong
Ma Shiying and Zhu Guobi both intended to use this retreat to exclude certain people from Zhu Cilang's small court, but Ma Shiying's idea was to control the government by himself and treat Zhu Cilang as a person similar to Hongguang.
In comparison, Zhu Guobi was much more conservative and just wanted to strengthen his position in the small court through this method.

Old Madam Zou had some guesses about the two men's thoughts, but in the past few decades, she had mostly participated in palace struggles, so she could only guess about this kind of struggle between big men.

In her opinion, these two people must have some use for the "Empress Dowager", but she was not sure where this place was.

Therefore, after a while of silence, she took the lead in breaking the silence in the room.

"Yue girl, how long do you think it will take His Highness to return?"

This question was so incoherent that not only did the person being asked fail to react, but even the two cunning old men were stunned for a moment before they put on a smile.

Xu Shaoyue is the Crown Princess chosen by the Queen Mother for His Highness, and basically all the big guys know this, but asking her such a question at this time seems extremely inconsistent with the current situation.

But in a place like this, would anyone really do something meaningless?

"Your Highness always acts unexpectedly. I can't guess."

"Haha~~~, then it won't be difficult for you."

After a burst of hearty laughter, Empress Dowager Zou turned her attention to Zhu and Ma.

But after that, she just looked at the two of them, neither asking them to answer the question nor saying anything else.

The current scene is actually just like an auction, where the seller holds the most scarce resources. Although she doesn't know what the buyer wants to do with the title of "Empress Dowager", she still has to make a bid, right?

Is there another buyer here, and you have to wait until you are the only one left?
This behavior seriously disrupts the market order, and as a seller, we naturally cannot allow this situation to continue.

"I am not familiar with military affairs, so I am not sure when Your Highness will be able to return, but everything needs to be considered carefully. The situation is urgent now, so it is better for the Queen Mother to evacuate as soon as possible."

Ma Shiying had no idea what Zhu Guobi had said before he came in. Interpersonally speaking, he was the most passive one among the three.

Therefore, he can only be the first to express his intention.

"Well, it's only a matter of time before we retreat, but where can I, an old woman, retreat to?"

This sentence was said with deep worry, and the somewhat old female voice made people feel even more pity. But in fact, there were still large tracts of land in the Ming Dynasty, and it would not be difficult to just find a place to go.

The problem is that this place is not just a simple place to stay. Not only must various geographical factors be considered, but also the degree of obedience of the forces entrenched here to the court must be taken into account.

Take the four provinces closer to Hangzhou for example. Most of Jiangxi has been conquered by Ajige's troops, so it is certainly not an ideal place; Fujian is almost entirely controlled by the Zheng family, so it is also not a good choice.

A little further west in Hunan and Guangdong, He Tengjiao and Ding Kuichu, who are in charge of these areas, have not yet expressed their opinions on whether to support the prince as regent. It is obvious that they have their own calculations, and are not like Hongguang who was able to generally obey the court at that time.

Thinking about it this way, it is understandable that Mrs. Zou would sigh like this.

"Your Majesty, you are joking. My Great Ming still has several provinces, so we can retreat anywhere. However, for the sake of the great cause of resisting the Qing Dynasty, I still suggest that we retreat to Jinhua first, and then decide on another place after we meet up with Your Highness."

"Jinhua? Is it Zhu Dadian's hometown?"

"The Queen Mother has a good memory. Zhu Bu Tang is recruiting soldiers in Jinhua on the orders of the Crown Prince. Therefore, I would like to ask for an imperial decree to order the reinforcements from eastern and southern Zhejiang to be deployed directly along the Qiantang River."

feasible.

When Ma Shiying was halfway through his words, Old Lady Zou became somewhat moved, and after he said the last sentence, "We will make another arrangement after we reunite with His Highness," she already had a clear inclination.

Why?

When the prince left, he led tens of thousands of troops. Even if there were some losses under the double-sided attack of the Tartars, he should be able to bring back thirty or twenty thousand troops. With this fighting force as a support, coupled with the troops brought from Zhejiang, even if the governors and governors-general in various places really had other thoughts, they would have to obey the orders of the court.

It has to be said that when it comes to planning things, Ma Shiying and other "treacherous flatterers" are indeed much better than the Donglin faction.

In the original history, he misjudged the degree of obedience of the Zheng family to the court and led Zhu Youjian into this trap.

Of course, at that time, the governors and governors-general in various places had a tendency to disobey the orders of the imperial court, but no matter which hand they were in, they would not become pure puppets like Fujian.

If one thinks more darkly, the reason why Donglin chose the Zheng family might be because the Zheng family was not a civil servant and theoretically had no ability to compete with them for control of the government.

However, they did not expect that after a fight, the Zheng family, realizing that they had made a loss, simply overturned the table and stopped playing. It is hard to tell how to comment on this.

"What the elder said is that he is mature and steady, and he is truly the pillar of the country."

"The elder is very thoughtful and considerate, but..."

The more Empress Dowager Zou thought about it, the more she felt that Ma Shiying's plan was feasible. After praising him, she was willing to agree to it on the spot. However, after Zhu Guobi praised her, he just said "but" and kept it in suspense.

"Your Excellency, please speak directly if you have anything to say."

"Empress Dowager, what the elder said is indeed well thought out, but what would Your Highness think?"

What could he think?
The situation had improved slightly, but it got out of control again because of his greed for merit and recklessness. The future government affairs must be discussed with many parties and will never be decided by his single word as before.

In this case, what does it matter what he thinks?
Although I thought so in my heart, I couldn't say it out loud.

After a brief thought, Ma Shiying said, "The situation is like this, there is no other way. If Your Highness blames me in the future, I will bear the responsibility alone."

"Your words are too serious. The Crown Prince is not someone who doesn't know the seriousness of the matter. How could he blame you for your hard work in planning during this difficult time?"

"Empress Dowager. Old Minister"

Ma Shiying seemed moved by Empress Dowager Zou's understanding, and he choked up when he spoke. If Zhu Guobi was not also a thousand-year-old fox, one would have thought that Lord Ma was truly the pillar of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Excellency misunderstood. I didn't mean what would happen to His Highness when he arrived in Jinhua, but whether His Highness would go to Jinhua."

Ok?
Where else would he go if not to Jinhua?

As soon as these words were spoken, not only did Ma Shiying immediately put away his miserable expression, but even the old lady looked at him with confusion.

According to their thinking, compared with the local forces, whether it is the Crown Prince, the Queen Mother or Ma Shiying, they are all weak, and only by uniting can they suppress them.

What's more, given their identities, they are natural allies when facing provincial governors. Would the prince really be so stupid as to give up cooperation with them and be willing to become a puppet of local forces?
"His Highness's character is far stronger than that of the late emperor. If Hangzhou is lost, he will probably not survive."

Just a liar.

The Empress Dowager and Ma Shiying obviously scoffed at Zhu Guobi's explanation.

In their opinion, the former emperor was forced to die for his country because he was betrayed by the officials in Beijing. Although the prince's situation was similar, he was far from being at the end of his rope and had nowhere else to go. How could he really commit suicide? Zhu Guobi could roughly guess what they were thinking, and he was even surprised when he made such a guess.

However, after considering what the prince had done in recent days, he had to admit that this incident was very likely to happen. Adding to his own plans, he rushed to the Queen Mother.

"Girl Yue, what does Duke Wei think of His Royal Highness? Tell us so that the Queen Mother and the Lord can hear it."

"This"

"But you can say it, the Queen Mother won't blame you."

Seeing that the conversation was thrown to her, Xu Shaoyue was obviously a little flustered, but she was the eldest daughter of a top noble family after all, and she immediately calmed down after Zhu Guobi's persuasion.

At this point, she had probably understood the intentions of several people, the only difference being the difference in opinion on when to withdraw.

As his father was a direct subordinate of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Xu Shaoyue naturally hoped that Hangzhou could hold out until the Crown Prince returned triumphantly.

But looking at the current situation, it is obvious that Duke Baoguo is a little exhausted and that is why he threw the conversation to her.

Therefore, if her answer could not convince the two, then Fang Guoan and his men would probably be the only ones left to guard the city.

Thinking of this, Xu Shaoyue, who had calmed down, suddenly felt as if he was carrying a heavy burden, and his words were somewhat sarcastic.

"My father never commented on Your Highness in front of me."

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Guobi closed his eyes: Yes, it is because of concern that one is confused, otherwise how could one place hope on a little girl. However, one has done the best one can, and even if the empress dowager really issues an imperial decree to transfer the troops away, it will have nothing to do with one's self.

"It's just that my third uncle is under General Chang's command, and he has heard a lot from the soldiers."

"Say it quickly."

Xu Shaoyue's heavy breathing caused Old Duke Zhu's emotions to fluctuate greatly. If he had not been a strong man in his early years, he would have probably recovered after just this one breath.

"The soldiers all said that His Highness was a first-rate hero, but he was a little thin."

好汉
Several of them were the top figures in the Ming Dynasty. No matter how hard they tried, they could not have imagined that the soldiers would use such words to describe His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Although they knew that this was a compliment, due to their status they were a little confused about what a hero looked like in the eyes of the soldiers, so they cast their puzzled eyes on Xu Shaoyue again.

"Probably. Probably it's related to the Tartars' night attack on Yingtian. It's said that a soldier was seriously injured and about to die at the hands of the Tartars in order to save Your Highness. Your Highness not only did not retreat, but instead chopped the Tartars several times to save the soldier, so."

A hero? This guy is just a reckless man!

He actually risked his life for an ordinary soldier?

Such a person
It is really possible that we would do something stupid because of the fall of Hangzhou.

After a while, Mrs. Zou and Lord Ma understood what "the prince is strong-willed" meant after Xu Shaoyue's explanation, and also understood the probability of Zhu Guobi's "not willing to live in disgrace".

As a result, both of them couldn't help but reconsider.

Under normal circumstances, whether Zhu Cilang was alive or dead would not have much impact on them. After all, with so many princes on their side, it would not be difficult to appoint another one.

But now all the kings have fled to the river with the Zheng family fleet, and they are just waiting for the local forces in Hangzhou to completely give up their last hope and then they will take them back to Fujian.

Under such circumstances, their only choice was Zhu Cilang. If he didn't want to go to Fujian and bow down to others, he could not go as planned before.

"Your Highness has such a personality, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Ma Shiying's tone was quite indifferent, but his trembling hands hidden in his sleeves showed that his mood was not what he said on his face.

He was now certain that Zhu Guobi had deliberately let things go when he was discussing matters last night, waiting for all the kings to fall into the hands of the Zheng family so that he could use this to force himself.

But what was he trying to force himself to do? Was he also going to defend the city like Fang Guoan?
"As ministers, how can we discuss the Crown Prince Regent in private?" Zhu Guobi laughed, and when he saw Ma Shiying's face turned pale, he no longer concealed his thoughts and directly expressed them.

"I don't expect to repel the Tartars. I just want to hold out for four days and then retreat."

"Four days? How can we hold on to this?!"

Ma Shiying made a strange sound when he spoke. It was obvious that he didn't think it was possible to defend for four days. But how could Zhu Guobi be a man who shot without a target? Then he shouted outside.

"Let General Fang come in."

Naturally, the only person in Hangzhou who could be called General Fang was Fang Guoan, but Ma Shiying came in after Zhu Guobi, but had never seen him nearby. This situation made him feel that things were somewhat out of control.

"I pay my respects to the Queen Mother, the Duke, and the Minister."

A moment later, Fang Guoan, wearing full armor, appeared outside the door. He saluted to the people in the room and was called in.

"General Fang, in your opinion, can Hangzhou be defended for four days?"

In this situation, everyone knew that Zhu Guobi had already consulted the general's opinion before he was asked, so this question was not to ask him to answer yes or no, but more to ask him to state his reasons.

"Your Majesty, although the Tartar artillery is sharp, its accuracy is very poor. Even though they fired the artillery all night, only two or three out of ten actually hit the city wall. With the six thousand troops here, as long as Li Zhongcheng can help to watch other places, I can hold out for four days!"

Fang Guoan spoke with certainty, but in everyone's opinion, four days was far from enough to wait for the prince to return.

However, I have fulfilled my duty as a subject by guarding for these four days. As long as I pass on the news that the enemy's forces are strong and Hangzhou is about to be defeated to the prince in advance, so that he can be mentally prepared, I think he will not do anything unwise.

With this in mind, Ma Shiying asked Empress Dowager Zou for the four treasures and began to write furiously at his desk.

Seeing him start to write the letter, several people also waited attentively. After a while, he handed the written letter to the others to check. After getting their approval, everyone signed and stamped the letter one by one. The letter was then handed over to the eunuch to be sent quickly to the prince.

"In that case, then do your best to defend it."

"Boom boom boom!"

At this point, the two sides reached an agreement, and the Queen Mother naturally said some concluding words.

But who knew that she had only said half of her words when she heard the sound of artillery fire outside again, and after hearing the sound, Fang Guoan widened his eyes as if he was startled by something.

I'm a little late again, please forgive me.

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(End of this chapter)