Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 352 Princess Guangde
The imperial court lived in Zhaoqing and relied on the Red Army for supplies. Emperor Yongli had no ambitions and was content to be a peaceful emperor in Zhaoqing and maintain a wealthy life. In order to win over Cen Danchu, Emperor Yongli and Empress Dowager Ma carefully selected a woman from the royal family and married her to Danchu as a concubine.

Of course, it is wrong to call her a concubine. Cen Dan was first given the title of King of Nanyue, which means a county prince, and his wives and concubines were given other titles.

In order to limit the reproduction of the royal family, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the wife of a prince was called "prince's wife", had a crown and clothes, was granted a gold-plated silver book, and was designated as a royal relative. A prince could have no more than four concubines, none of whom had crowns and clothes, were not included in the book, and had to be respectfully called "Madam Ru".

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, rituals and music were in disarray, and Danchu had many wives and concubines, not just four. His first wife, Qu Xuanhui, was the daughter of Qu Shisi, and was also Danchu's partner in adversity. The two had a deep relationship. If you count the other eight concubines, this daughter of the royal family is the tenth concubine.

Although Zhu Shulu, the second wife, was born in a remote vassal state, she was still a member of the royal family. With her around, Danchu originally did not want to accept the kindness of the emperor and empress, after all, his body could not bear too many wives and concubines.

Wang Huacheng, the Right Councillor, was in charge of this matter. Upon hearing the news, he advised against it, saying, "Your Majesty, you should know that this was the Queen Mother's idea, and the Emperor also worked hard to make it happen. The woman he chose is from the Gui clan."

Danchu smiled and said, "It was Empress Ma's idea that our vassal married Madam Zhu. Although Madam Zhu is a distant relative, she is still a royal family member after all. If we welcome another royal family member, wouldn't Madam Zhu be embarrassed?"

"No, no," Wang Huacheng disagreed, saying, "Empress Ma is smart and thoughtful. She arranged for her to marry a member of the royal family of the king, and gave her the title of Princess Guangde, named Zhu Yuying, the legitimate daughter of Emperor Lizong."

"Li Zong?" Dan Chu asked, as he was not familiar with the details of Gui Clan.

"Li Zong was the old Gui Wang, who was named Gui Duan Wang after his death. After the current emperor ascended the throne, he posthumously named Gui Duan Wang as Li Zong. Li Zong had three daughters. The eldest daughter, Princess Anhua, is already married, the second daughter died young, and the third daughter is Princess Guangde, who has not yet married."

Wang Huacheng said solemnly: "Princess Guangde is the legitimate daughter of Emperor Lizong, and the biological sister of Emperor Yongli. In the whole world, Princess Guangde is the most pure-blooded member of the royal family waiting to be married."

It turns out that Emperor Yongli's father, Zhu Changying, was the seventh son of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty. He was granted the title of King of Gui and was enfeoffed in Hengzhou in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign. He was the first King of Gui.

After the Manchus entered the Shanhai Pass, they slaughtered many members of the Ming royal family. The descendants of Emperor Shenzong became the closest members of the Ming royal family. Emperor Shenzong had eight sons. Except Emperor Guangzong, the others were either captured and killed by the Manchus, such as Prince Fu, Prince Lu, and Prince Hui, or captured and killed by the peasant army, such as Prince Rui, or died young. Prince Gui became the Ming royal family with the purest bloodline, and Zhu Yuying also became the Ming princess with the purest bloodline.

Imperial family members are common, but princesses are rare. If he could marry Zhu Yuying, the significance is self-evident.

Wang Huacheng went a step further and asked, "Have you ever known the details of the Gui clan?"

"I have heard a little bit about it. Please tell me in detail, sir."

It turned out that in the seventh year of Tianqi, the old Gui Wang Zhu Changying left Beijing to become a vassal in Hengzhou, and was the first generation of Gui Wang. Zhu Changying had five sons. The eldest and second sons died young, the third son Zhu Youlu, the fourth son Zhu Youlang, and the fifth son Zhu Youzhen.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youxun was named King of Anren, Zhu Youlang was named King of Yongming, and Zhu Youzhen was named King of Yongxing.

In the 16th year of Chongzhen, the Dashi Army crossed the Yangtze River and attacked Hunan, with the Guiwang Mansion in Hengzhou bearing the brunt of the attack. Zhang Xianzhong led the generals Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi to attack Hengzhou City fiercely.

The Ming army fought desperately. The old Gui Wang Zhu Changying and Anren Wang Zhu Youzhen were seriously ill. All the affairs of the palace were decided by Yongming Wang Zhu Youlang. At this time, Zhu Youlang had exposed his cowardice. He believed the eunuch's panic report and ordered the palace family to evacuate Hengzhou.

When the defenders heard that the Guiwang Palace had already retreated, they had no choice but to abandon the city. Without the city as a cover, how could the Ming army be a match for the powerful Dashi Army? Under the city of Yongzhou, the Dashi Army caught up with the Ming army and wiped out the palace guards. Zhu Changying and Zhu Youlang fled to Guangxi, while Zhu Youlang was captured and detained by the Dashi Army in Yongzhou.

In Yongzhou City, Zhang Xianzhong decided to lead the main force westward to Sichuan, leaving the right-wing general Li Dingguo to defend Hunan.

Yang Guowei was the General of the Expedition to the Barbarians at the time and sent Jiao Lian, the Central Army, to sneak into Yongzhou to rescue Zhu Youlang. However, he was discovered by the Dashi Army when he was leaving the city. Just as Jiao Lian and Li Dingguo were fighting to a standstill, Ma Jixiang, the commander of the Jinyiwei, led his troops to attack and defeated the Dashi Army and rescued Zhu Youlang.

At that time, Zhu Youlang was frightened and sick, and was too frightened to walk. Jiao Lian carried him on his back and fled Yongzhou, where he joined forces with Ma Jixiang and fled to Wuzhou, Guangxi overnight.

Cen Danchu's father was a soldier of Jiao Lian and died in the battle of Yongzhou. Yongxing Prince Zhu Youzhen also died in the chaos and his body was not found.

When the old Gui Wang Zhu Changying learned that Zhu Youlang had survived, he burst into tears of joy. The following year, Zhu Changying died of illness. Before his death, he asked his son to revive the Ming Dynasty and was posthumously named Duan Wang. Anren Wang Zhu Youxun succeeded to the throne of Gui Wang and was conferred the title by Emperor Longwu. He also died suddenly soon after and was posthumously named Gong Wang.

The only one left in the line of the Gui King was Zhu Youlang. Zhu Youlang's title was Yongming King, and according to the rules, he should inherit the title of Gui King. To inherit the title of Gui King, one must have an imperial edict. At that time, the Longwu Emperor was in power, and before Zhu Youlang's envoys arrived in Fujian, the Longwu Emperor had already died in Tingzhou.

Zhu Youlang had the purest bloodline and was said to look very similar to Emperor Wanli. Therefore, he was supported by Qu Shisi and became the regent in Zhaoqing, Guangdong. Later, he was crowned emperor and named the country Yongli. Therefore, to be precise, Zhu Youlang was not the Prince of Gui before he was crowned emperor, but the Prince of Yongming.

……

Wang Huacheng explained in great detail, digging up the details of the Gui clan. Many puzzles were solved.

Why did the Yongli Emperor and his ministers hate the Dashi Army so much? It was a national hatred, a family hatred, and a blood feud!

Why did Emperor Yongli trust Ma Jixiang so much? After all, he had saved his life!

Thinking of his relative Li Dingguo, Danchu burst out laughing and said, "I didn't know that it was my relative Li Dingguo who arrested the emperor."

Given this grudge, Emperor Yongli and his ministers would not have had a favorable impression of Li Dingguo. Thinking of Li Dingguo's deeds in history, Cen Danchu further strengthened his judgment: Li Dingguo was good at leading troops in battles, but he had no talent for governing a country.

Historically, after Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang fell out, they abolished the military farming system and formed factions to attack dissidents. The morale of the Dashi Army was low, the officials had no intention of governing, and the defenses of Yunnan and Guizhou were in name only, so the Qing army easily took them.

Li Dingguo was not up to the task, Liu Wenxiu had lost his military power, and Sun Kewang was arrogant and domineering. The Dashi Army seemed powerful, but in fact it was just a facade. In recent years, Sun Kewang relied on farming to control the violent troops, but it was like a pile of sand to build a tower, which would fall down if pushed.

"Good." Danchu made up his mind and said, "I will marry Princess Guangde to comfort the emperor and empress and comfort the people."

Before the Spring Festival, Cen Danchu married Princess Guangde Zhu Yuying in Guangzhou. It was not nice for a princess to marry as a concubine. Emperor Yongli conferred the title of Princess Qu as the Princess of Nanyue and Zhu Yuying as the Second Concubine of the King of Nanyue, which was a little more respectable.

(End of this chapter)