Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 132 Who is in favor and who is against

The veteran group in Jinxia is easy to understand.

It is a matter of dynasties fighting for hegemony. In the early days of their reign, the monarch recruited a group of third- and fourth-rate officials. As the monarch's power grew, these third- and fourth-rate officials were no longer worthy of their positions and were no longer suitable for their original official positions.

Throughout history, every monarch must weaken the group of meritorious officials, eliminate the old subordinates of the previous monarch, and redistribute benefits in order to prevent internal problems.

When Zhu Cixuan was in Hongsha, Yunnan, he also let his small group including Deng Shilian and Chen Ande take power and replace the core of the Yongli Dynasty.

What is special about the honored generals of Jinxia is that they were born as pirates.

It goes without saying that officials often exploit the people, engage in corruption and neglect their duties.

What's more crucial is that some people hold great power and want to continue to seize power, bully their colleagues to expand their power, and then challenge Zheng Yanping's position and become the new pirate king.

Therefore, there were conflicts and disagreements among Zheng Yanping's former subordinates, Zheng Zhilong's former subordinates, Zheng Hongkui's former subordinates, and Zheng Cai's former subordinates.

As Zheng Yanping uses civil power to control military power and Zhu Cixuan's power is on the rise, they will unite and put pressure on the resistance.

But if the prince and the king only kill the main culprit, the pirates will stab them in the back.

Nine muskets, Koxinga, Prince of Lu, and Zhang Huangyan have five crimes.

There are four guns left, and at most four of the honored generals will be punished.

Admiral Huang Ting and Xuanyi Qianzhen General Huang Zhao chose to abandon Zheng Tai when they found that Zhou Quanbin, Xiao Gongchen and others had isolated the people they led.

Of course they knew that Zheng Tai could not have embezzled so much in five or six years.

In the past ten years, the maritime trade in the southeast, the grain and military revenue collected, was only more than 10 million taels each year. How could Zheng Tai be so capable as to embezzle one-fifth of the tax revenue?

When the Zheng family supported Emperor Longwu, they only donated four million yuan.

The military generals in total probably only embezzled three or four million taels.

Huang Ting and Huang Zhao each grabbed Zheng Tai's arm, while the other held half of his body.

But now, Zheng Tai must have embezzled more than two million.

Zheng Tai still cried out in injustice, "It's a false accusation. It's a false accusation."

"In the second year of the Longwu reign, the first year of the Yongli reign, I was already fighting against the Qing. I personally killed over forty bandits and three enemy generals."

"Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Cai, over the years, I am the only one in the Zheng family who has always been by Damu's side, sharing his hardships."

Zheng Tai struggled to avoid kneeling down: "Zhu Cixuan, where have you been for the past sixteen years? And where is your father Zhu Youlang?"

"You said I embezzled over two million. Where is the silver? Even if you searched the entire Jinmen and Xiamen Islands, you wouldn't find so much."

Seeing that Zheng Tai refused to surrender, Huang Zhao kicked him on the knee to make him kneel down, and Huang Ting used both hands to remove his arms.

Huang Zhao took off his belt and blocked Zheng Tai's mouth on the spot, then he and Huang Ting took each side and pressed Zheng Tai to eat yellow soil.

Huang Zhao and the other man acted so quickly that Zheng Tai's confidants had not yet reacted.

Zheng Tai's younger brother, Zheng Mingjun, slammed the table and stood up: "Chang Shouning is still fabricating charges. Why is he accusing my brother of corruption, which is not even a fact?"

“My family has been fighting against the Qing and restoring the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years. Prince, isn’t this the heart of the generals of Han, Jin, and Xia?”

Zheng Tai's son Zheng Zunxu and several deputy generals were disarmed and restrained by other meritorious generals just as they were about to stand up to rescue people.

Following Huang Zhao's example, the generals picked up all sorts of things and stuffed them into Zheng Mingjun and Zheng Zunxu's mouths.

Who is with you now?

Your family embezzled more than two million yuan, and only gave us a small amount, which made us feel disheartened.

Zhu Cixuan sat in the main seat, calmly watching Zheng Tai and Zheng Mingjun, who were still struggling in anger.

"In the first year of the Hongguang reign of Emperor Chang Shouning, he led his entire family in Songjiang to rise up against the Qing Dynasty, playing cozy with the pseudo-Qing court to buy time for Jinmen and Xiamen."

"How could he be a spy from the Eastern Tartars? Why was he imprisoned in Yizhou on trumped-up charges?"

Zhu Cixuan waved to the meritorious generals, signaling them to hand over the muskets filled with gunpowder and bullets.

Zhu Cixuan picked up Zheng Tai's bird gun and aimed at Zheng Tai.

Seeing this, Huang Zhao escorted the pale-faced Zheng Tai to the prince's desk.

Zhu Cixuan stood up and left the main seat, and pointed the bird gun at Zheng Tai's forehead. The cold iron object touched his skin, and the latter's eyes were suddenly filled with fear, and sweat poured down.

"But you're right. For more than a decade of resistance against the Qing, the primary culprits are the Emperor and the Crown Prince, the rulers of the world."

Zhu Cixuan retracted his bird gun and looked at the shocked and confused officials of Jinxia.

"I have spoken of the crimes of Prince Yanping and the faults of Prince Lu, Zhang Huangyan."

"But the land remains tainted with blood and the nation remains in dire straits. Isn't this the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

Compared to the shock of the officials in Jinxia, ​​Bai Wenxuan, Ma Bao and others were all shocked.

The emperor is going to be whipped by the prince again.

Zhu Cixuan swung his bird gun across the eight muskets on the table: "A son should not speak of his father's faults, and a minister should not speak of his king's sins."

Zheng Yanping and Zhang Huangyan spoke almost at the same time.

"Your Highness, the Emperor has nothing to criticize. It's just that we made a mistake and failed the country and the people."

"Your Highness, His Majesty was simply deceived by treacherous ministers."

Zhu Cixuan, who had long been unfilial and disloyal, ignored the advice of Zheng and Zhang and continued to speak to the ministers:

"The whole world has been lost. Is the ruler of the world without sin or fault?"

"If it weren't for my father abandoning eastern Guangdong, causing the people to become divided, the Tang King of Guangzhou to usurp power, and the two emperors to coexist and fight within a 200-li radius, allowing the Qing army to advance straight into the region, would eastern Guangdong have fallen?"

"If the world had been restored to order and the southeast had not been abandoned, why would it have been so difficult to recover Guangdong and the two corners of the southwest and southeast be plagued by internal strife?"

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty abandoned his country and went on a hunting expedition south. Can a simple edict of apology be forgiven and comfort the world?"

Zhu Cixuan met the ministers' suspicious gazes and tapped his head lightly with his bird gun: "I think nine is a good number today."

"It's because I asked Guan Yu for instructions, and he gave me nine sacred divination sticks."

Zheng Yanping had many missionaries who had lived in China for a long time, and they all looked hesitantly at Constantine of the East, who was favored by God.

Some of the ministers from Kinmen and Xiamen looked at Koxinga hesitantly.

The incense of Guan Gong was introduced to Fujian from the Tang and Song dynasties, and the belief has been passed down for nearly a thousand years.

The Guandi Temple on Dongshan Island was built in the 20th year of Hongwu.

Before Zheng Yanping went on the eastern expedition to Yizhou, he went there to burn incense and draw lots.

Only half a year had passed, so of course they would suspect that the Crown Prince and Guo Xing were having an affair.

On the southeast coast, the most powerful god is of course the God of the Sea.

It’s just that Mazu herself was in Zhu Cixuan’s harem, so Zhu Cixuan mentioned Guandi.

Zhu Cixuan picked up an oil lamp on the table and said, "The Ming Dynasty's three hundred years of foundation have come to this point. Of course, both the emperor and his subjects are guilty."

"My father is still in Hongsha. I bear the brunt of his three sins as his son and his subject."

"Not allowed, Your Highness."

Everyone at the banquet was horrified and stood up to grab the lit bird guns.

However, two or three seconds is not enough time.

When the tinderbox burned to the fire door, many people had already closed their eyes in pain.

But the gunshots they expected did not come.

The ministers immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the musket malfunctioned, so the leader of the revival did not die here in a ridiculous way.

Only Zheng Tai, who was kneeling on the ground, had his eyes wide open in disbelief.

He had carefully taken care of that bird gun and even tested it twice before going to the banquet.

It is impossible for the matchlock trigger projectile to break.

The gunpowder happened to get damp at this moment?

Zhu Cixuan kicked his father-in-law Zheng Yanping away, and smashed a jade scepter at Hu Yiqing who was approaching. He sternly shouted at the nearby generals: "Get out." "Are you going to disobey me?"

"Or you still don't believe that destiny is with me!"

Bai Wenxuan and Ma Bao looked struggling, and while they were hesitating, Zhu Cixuan had already lit and fired the second musket.

Wang Zhongxiao and others closed their eyes again, not daring to look at the prince's miserable appearance.

Is the prince seriously ill and has given up on himself?

However, they were awakened by bursts of exclamations, and saw that the prince had already lit the third musket.

The honored generals stood up one after another and stared at Crown Prince Yongli in amazement.

Those three muskets were their personal weapons, and they loaded the gunpowder and bullets themselves.

They were the least likely to believe that the musket would malfunction.

Zhu Cixuan raised his musket to the sky and re-lit the three muskets.

Three gunshots.

Earth-shattering.

Everyone in the yard stared at the musket on the prince's desk, unable to recover for a moment.

Zheng Yanping, who got up from the ground and pounced on the prince again, stood there in a daze, looking at this incredible scene. His right hand, which wanted to snatch the musket from the prince's hand, stopped in the air, like a clay sculpture, not knowing whether to move forward or backward.

Zhu Cixuan had already picked up the fourth musket: "Guoxing, since Guan Yu has protected me, he should also protect you."

"If destiny is with me, then nature is also with you."

Zheng Yanping saw the prince aiming at him and subconsciously closed his eyes.

There was a snapping sound right in front of him, and Zheng Yanping was stunned with his eyes open, unable to understand what was happening before his eyes. His lips moved, and he was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

Zhu Cixuan quickly lit three muskets and continued firing into the sky.

[Hongmen Feast: When you hold a banquet, no one will get hurt at the banquet.]

The civil and military officials at the banquet were also unable to understand why the muskets could be fired but suddenly failed when aimed at the prince and the emperor.

Malfunction? What are those six gunshots at the end?
Two of the bullets hit the roof pillars, and the bullet holes in the green tiles were what?
Everyone watched in shock as the Crown Prince punished Prince Lu and Zhang Huangyan again.

By the seventh shot, the ministers had gone from being bewildered and panicked to being fanatical.

Zhang Huangyan stood up, put his head against the gun, and pulled the trigger. The eighth shot also failed. Then he imitated the prince and shot towards the sky, demonstrating that the musket had no obstacles.

The hundreds of people at the banquet all blushed and looked at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with extreme piety and respect.

Zheng Tai's eyes were empty and he had already received the ninth punishment while he was in a daze.

Walcon and the missionaries trembled as they watched the bullet from the ninth musket hit the table.

"Miracle, miracle."

Nan Huairen's right hand was shaking as he recorded.

The Messiah, armed with a musket, endured the fires of purgatory to atone for the sins of the minister.

When the ninth bullet misfires, the gates of judgment will open for the most sinful.

Zhu Cixuan turned around and looked at the excited and enthusiastic civil and military officials: "It seems that Emperor Guan has already granted me and the Guoxing people the permission to continue the resistance against the Qing with you and restore the country."

"I ask Heaven to lend me another five hundred years."

"It seems that God has given me, the Ming emperor and his ministers, five hundred lives, so that we can drive out the Tartars and restore China."

Zhu Cixuan looked at Zheng Tai, who was paralyzed.

"Zheng Tai, you have seven sins, but you have only been punished for one. Do you want to plead guilty, or continue to let Guan Shengdijun judge you?"

Huang Zhao had already loosened Zheng Tai's restraints.

But Zheng Tai did not stand up, and knelt on the ground weakly.

He knelt before the prince.

Zheng Tai wanted the prince to continue and the miracle to continue.

But Emperor Guan Yu only gave the prince nine sacred divination sticks. Even if he had two or three fire guns and the Emperor's blessing, the other four or five shots might not be possible.

Your Highness, you have borrowed so many lives from heaven, can you please give me some?

Zheng Tai's mind was in a state of confusion: "I am willing to give all my wealth to support Your Highness in the Northern Expedition and recapture the capital."

Zhu Cixuan looked down upon the Jinxia generals and the middle-level generals in the courtyard.

"Zheng Tai is derelict in his duties. I will appoint military officer Hong Xu as the Revenue Officer, responsible for the transportation and dispatch of supplies for the Jinxia Army."

"Wang Zhongxiao is upright and selfless. I will appoint him as a military officer in Jinxia and transfer him to be a general in the southeast."

"Chen Shangchuan is the general of Qin, Lian, and Lei Prefectures. He led his troops south to eastern Guangdong and joined forces with Yang Yandi to recapture the front line of eastern Guangdong."

"Xu Fuyuan once traveled to Annan to meet with my father. I intend to appoint him as an envoy to Annan to form an alliance with the vassal states and have them provide food and fodder for my army to recapture eastern Guangdong."

"Zheng Yanping is the Governor-General of Fujian, in charge of all affairs in Jinmen and Xiamen."

"Zhang Huangyan was the Governor-General of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. When Guoxing followed me in the Northern Expedition to recapture the capital, he took charge of the affairs of Jinmen and Xiamen."

"Jinxia marched into Zhangzhou to provide cover for the Northern Expedition Army."

"Using Zheng Tai's family wealth, he raised an army in Fujian and Guangdong, gathered food and fodder from the Ryukyu Kingdom, and marched directly towards the capital."

"I will ascend the throne in the capital."

"Let the Eastern Tartars understand that the Ming Dynasty will return to China."

"Let the world know that the Ming Dynasty has not yet fallen."

Excluding the troops left behind in Jinxia, ​​there are still about 40,000 to 50,000 troops left.

The inventory in Jinxia and Zheng Tai's family wealth were sufficient to pay the salaries of the vanguard troops.

The monsoon from Siberia cannot go directly over the sea.

If he goes through Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Qi and Lu, he will be discovered by Dai Qing.

Therefore, Zhu Cixuan planned to go around Ryukyu Japan's Joseon Dynasty to avoid the north wind and strike the autumn wind at the same time.

Zhu Cixuan threw nine muskets in front of the ministers and said, "Now, I have finished what I have to say."

"Who agrees, who disagrees!"

Let Zhang Huangyan of Lu Fan lead the Zheng family army in Jinxia.

The Jinxia generals were absolutely unwilling to do so.

The prince has raised his flag in Haicheng, and the pseudo-Qing court and Geng Jimao will definitely launch a large-scale attack.

If Zhang Huangyan and Wang Zhongxiao, who had conflicts with them, put them in a dangerous place, they would be handing their lives to Lu Fan.

What's more, the north wind is approaching, and the North Sea is difficult to navigate in winter. The Northern Expedition Army may be defeated halfway by encountering a typhoon or reef.

But looking at the musket on the ground.

The generals were unable to refute.

Now it seems that even if a typhoon occurs, the prince Guoxing, who is blessed with destiny, can escape danger.

Even the typhoon will most likely help the prince move north.

Zhang Huangyan bowed his head and said loudly: "The mountains and rivers are broken, the sacred artifacts are covered in dust, the Hu sky is not sad, and the country is in great difficulty."

"Fortunately, Heaven has repented, the southeast has the aura of the Son of Heaven, and the four seas offer the talisman of the Red Emperor; I am honored to meet the Emperor with divine support, benevolent and filial, heroic and sympathetic to the Emperor Gao, and honored by the Chengzu. I respectfully obey your orders and garrison in Jinmen and Xiamen."

Zheng Yanping followed closely behind: "The spirits of the eighteen emperors are entrusted to your majesty. You will gather with the overseas nations, and there are 350 people who share the same aspirations."

"The people of the Southern Kingdom have been nurtured by your grace for three hundred years. Who could refuse to serve? I am willing to follow Your Majesty to conquer the capital and begin the imperial cause."

"Once again, I will strive for the white pig of Liaodong, destroy the false Qing Dynasty, and drink the Yellow Dragon of Saibei."

Civil and military officials all knelt down and said, "We respectfully obey your orders and assist your majesty in the Northern Expedition."

(End of this chapter)