Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 45: I Want to Go North

To the west of Fengyang City, on the edge of the reed marsh at the junction of Tushan and Huaihe River, hundreds of cavalrymen were moving back and forth, and a large group of infantry were camping and guarding the periphery. The scene was grand.

Zhu Cilang was taking his generals hunting for fun. Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo and others brought their trusted servants to the battlefield to perform, riding horses and shooting arrows, using all kinds of martial arts.

With their help, Zhu Cilang displayed his prowess. In less than a day, he achieved an excellent record of shooting thirty-six wild ducks. There was even one time when he shot down two wild ducks with one arrow.

Of course, this pales in comparison to the achievements of the Qing emperors, such as Huang Taiji, who shot down two gazelles with a single arrow and whose bravery nearly surpassed Guo Jing, the "rabbit terminator" Kangxi, and Zhu Cilang. Especially the latter, who claimed to have shot down 318 rabbits in a single day and proclaimed himself the greatest emperor of all time.

During this hunting activity, Gao Jie and Huang Degong secretly competed with each other again. Both of them had hundreds of elite cavalry under their command, and neither of them was willing to be outdone.

Although Liu Zeqing's strength is not too weak, he is still far behind the other two. Although he also wants to perform well, he is completely overshadowed by Gao Jie and Huang Degong.

As for Liu Liangzuo, although the servants under his command also had horses, their combat effectiveness was similar to that of Wang Hui's cavalry in the governor's camp. They always followed behind Huang Degong to avoid being exposed.

You know, among the four towns in northern Jiangbei, the army under Liu Liangzuo was the only one that was defeated by the people, which was a horrible sight.

How could his little trick be hidden from Zhu Cilang? He had already asked Chen Fu to find someone to keep an eye on him. After this hunt, he had a more accurate judgment of the strength of the four generals.

In Zhu Cilang's subsequent military expansion plan, in addition to the Palace Army and the Nanjing Beijing Camp, Zuo Liangyu of Huguang, Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo of Jiangbei would all be expanded to a certain extent. On this condition, they would be required to complete the separation of "soldiers and civilians" as required and eliminate the old and weak as the basis for the reorganization of the army.

However, Zhu Cilang had to carefully consider the amount of food, wages and troops for each department. On the one hand, he had to ensure that each department could organize enough combat-ready soldiers. On the other hand, he had to use the food, wages and troops to regain control of these troops.

In addition to Gao Jie, who ranked first in the merit of following the emperor, he also wanted to support Huang Degong, a loyal and brave general. Zuo Liangyu had a large number of generals and soldiers with rich combat experience under his command. With a little reorganization, they could show good combat effectiveness, which he also had to take into account.

This hunt is Zhu Cilang's action to get a general understanding of the four generals in Jiangbei. On this basis, he will determine the apparent allocation of troops, and through the verification of the effectiveness of stage training, he will reward and punish them in order to achieve his planned troop allocation goals.

In this way, Zhu Cilang's military reorganization plan will receive sufficient support at the beginning, and Gao Jie and Huang Degong, who are stronger, will also be able to snatch some troops from Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo through subsequent rewards.

This competitive relationship will, to a certain extent, make it easier for Zhu Cilang to control these armies, allowing them to complete the reorganization of the army according to his own plan, and ultimately change the current situation of these four armies where the soldiers are controlled by the generals.

Of course, if Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo perform too poorly, they will be transferred away from Jiangbei and then gradually sidelined. Zhu Cilang has always been very suspicious of their loyalty.

In the evening, when Zhu Cilang led his team back to Fengyang City, he unexpectedly met Ma Shiying, who was riding alone on the road, covered in mud and in a miserable state.

After asking, I found out that Ma Shiying had received instructions from Li Banghua and was really worried about his safety. He couldn't bear to see the officials in Nanjing dragging their feet and wasting time along the way, so he went ahead and rushed to Fengyang.

When he was about five or six miles away from Zhu Cilang, he was too tired from traveling all night and accidentally fell to the ground. He eventually rolled into the mud beside the river, which led to his current state.

Zhu Cilang looked at the loyal and moving Governor of Fengyang and roughly guessed the whole story, but he did not point it out or show any disgust. Instead, he personally wiped the mud off Ma Shiying's body.

Then, he realized that Ma Shiying was really cruel. He even injured his arm, but not only did he not say it out loud just now, he even endured it and said it was not a big deal.

However, Zhu Cilang needed such people right now. He needed loyal ministers like Shi Kefa, who had high moral standards and could not tolerate corruption. He also needed treacherous loyal ministers like Ma Shiying, who had flexible bottom lines and could adapt to the situation. In the Ming Dynasty court, if Zhu Cilang wanted to implement his will, he had to place a few smart people in the cabinet. They didn't need to do anything practical, just fully support his decisions at critical moments.

On the second day, the officials from Nanjing finally arrived in Fengyang. Zhu Cilang immediately asked Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, to assist the Jinyiwei led by Zhou Shixian in hosting the meeting.

The first to enter the city to pay homage to the emperor were high-ranking officials and nobles from various departments in Nanjing. They followed the Jinyiwei, who were dressed in Feiyu uniforms and had embroidered spring swords on their waists, and soon saw the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang, who was sitting in a high seat, dressed in military uniform and looking majestic.

High-ranking officials from various departments in Nanjing, led by Shi Kefa, including Minister of Revenue Gao Hongtu, Left Censor-in-Chief Liu Zongzhou, Right Censor-in-Chief Zhang Shenyan, and Vice Minister of War Lu Daqi, had all arrived. Li Banghua was eventually left in Nanjing because of his serious injuries.

The nobles were led by Xu Hongji, Duke of Wei, Zhao Zhilong, Earl of Xincheng, Liu Kongzhao, Earl of Chengyi and others. Their ancestors were all founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty, and their merits were passed down from generation to generation. Now they all hold vacant positions in the Nanjing Capital Camp, occupying almost all the important positions. They are mainly responsible for the weakness of the Nanjing Capital Camp.

Since the Battle of Tumu, the power of the Ming Dynasty's noble group has plummeted. Although they still hold positions in the Beijing camp, they are no longer high and mighty in the eyes of those civil servants and scholars, and some are even looked down upon.

Therefore, these nobles had a natural liking for Zhu Cilang, especially when they saw him in military uniform.

After all, everyone now knows that the Ming Dynasty has a crown prince who inherits the legacy of Emperor Chengzu. In this case, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must be inclined to the military faction.

Zhu Cilang naturally accepted the enthusiasm shown by these nobles. He still needed these people to check and balance the civil servants in Nanjing. Moreover, when the time came to reorganize the Nanjing Beijing Camp, he would also need someone to cooperate.

However, he was also very clear that most of these nobles were shameless guys. In the original history, most of them took the lead in leaving the city and surrendered to the Qing army led by Duoduo. They could be called a "hodgepodge of traitors."

If it were not for the need to check and balance the civil officials, change the humble status of the military generals, and maintain the balance of the court, he would not have met these people except for a few who still had some ability and backbone.

Once he achieves his goal, Zhu Cilang will not be polite to them at all.

All of these nobles knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly, as if whoever cried the loudest was the most loyal. To demonstrate their utter loyalty, they all said that if they had known His Royal Highness was here, they would have led the way to greet him.

Zhu Cilang looked at them and found them ridiculous. Were these people also pretending and showing their ugly side when they surrendered to the executioner Duoduo?

However, no matter how ridiculous it was, Zhu Cilang's goal had now been achieved. Just by looking at the tear marks on these people's faces, their nervous expressions, their frightened faces, and the sweat constantly flowing from their foreheads and temples, he knew that his majesty had been established!
On the contrary, although the civil servants who came to the court to pay homage were not top-notch in ability, most of them were men of integrity. After the fall of Nanjing, they still insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty, and eventually most of them died in the process of resisting the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Cilang offered a few symbolic words of comfort, asked some basic questions about the civil service departments, offices and prefectures in Nanjing City, and then began his real plan of "lifting the roof first if you want to open the window".

He looked around at the ministers and nobles in front of him, sighed deeply, then calmed down a little, and said with a look of relief:

“The reason why I want to meet you in Zhongdu instead of Nandu is because before my father died for his country, he asked me to go to Nandu and find loyal ministers and generals. Then I must lead an expedition to the north to restore our country and wipe out the rebellious Eastern Tartars.

Today, seeing you all, this fearful heart of mine finally calms down. You are all loyal and brave ministers, and you will certainly not let the emperor down. Will you support me in launching an immediate northern expedition?"

　Something happened, so I'm a little late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)