Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 248: Inspirational? Already prepared?
"Wang Zamao! After not seeing you for so many years, why did you run away the moment you saw your Grandpa Hu?!"

Following a loud shout, Wang Deren, who had already seen the reinforcements, immediately turned his head and looked behind him.

He had been following Wang Ti's military order to attract the attention of the defenders in the north of the city, but who would have thought that he would be ambushed by a large group of cavalry after only a cup of tea or two.

To attract the attention of the defenders, you have to pretend to be attacking the city. To pretend to be attacking the city, you have to spread out the formation along the city wall.

In this case, how could ordinary infantrymen without the support of dense formations withstand the impact of a large group of cavalry?
Wang Deren was an experienced general who had been fighting for half his life. Although he was in the lead, he still took the opportunity to observe carefully.

Two words: familiar.

Apart from the fact that their armor and equipment were different from those of the other cavalrymen, both the tactics used by their generals and the coordination between the soldiers had a strong Chuangjun style.

If Wang Deren had not seen any familiar faces among these soldiers, he would have thought that this was a conspiracy against him.

“Hu Hu Mao Zhen?!”

"It's your Grandpa Hu. What's wrong? We haven't seen each other for several years. Don't you recognize me?"

"Why aren't you?"

Faced with this sudden figure, Wang Deren was so shocked that he stood there in a daze.

Before Gao Jie rebelled, Hu Maozhen was already a general leading an army of his own.

At that time, let alone Wang Deren, even the dead Bai Wang was just an unknown person. If it weren't for the coincidence that allowed the two of them to have some contact, Hu Maozhen probably wouldn't have been able to call him "Wang Zamao" with his identity.

But these were all old stories, how could they make Wang Deren feel the slightest bit upset? The reason why he was stunned was that he thought of the rumors.

Is it
Thinking of this, Wang Deren couldn't help but look at the troops coming to support him. When he saw that they had formed a dense square formation, he turned his horse's head and made a happy expression.

"It's Chief Hu. I haven't seen you for many years, but I miss you so much."

"Oh, I miss you so much, why don't you come back to the camp with me and have a few drinks."

Wang Deren heard this but did not retaliate. He just sneered and changed the topic to what he was interested in.

"After this busy period, I will definitely drink and chat with the leader. However, I heard that the leader is in Prince Yu's army, but I don't know why he came to Jiangxi again?"

"Haha, you don't know that General Gao was murdered by a traitor, and we had no choice but to surrender to the Tartars. But later, when we saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was a great leader, we naturally gave up the dark and surrendered to the light one after another."

That sounds nice, but I'm afraid he has been forced into a desperate situation.

After listening to Hu Maozhen's bragging, Wang Deren was filled with complaints in his heart, but at the same time he also got the information he needed from his words.

"We can't learn how Chief Hu surrendered to the Ming, betrayed the Ming, and surrendered again," Wang Deren said after getting the information he wanted. "Well, since we each serve our own masters, let's meet in battle."

After saying this, Wang Deren rode away. Although Hu Maozhen felt depressed by the ridicule, the Qing army's support troops were already ready for battle. He could only spat in hatred and prepared to turn around and leave.

However, this charge took him a long time. Just when he was about to turn his horse, he heard the sound of galloping horses behind him, and then soldiers came up to him.

"Report to the commander! The battle is over, Your Highness. Yunnan Army's Hu Yiqing killed the enemy general Wang Tizhong in battle."

"The formation killed the king's body?!"

"Yes."

"Has it been tested?"

"I have."

After hearing the soldier's last sentence, Hu Maozhen was delighted at first, and then he began to ponder it secretly.

"Come on, go outside the Tartar camp and shout: Wang Tizhong is dead. We will remember Wang Deren's kindness."

This is probably the legendary subjective initiative.

He was able to come up with such a plan because, firstly, he understood the Ganzhou Qing army, which came from the same origin as him, and secondly, he was inspired by Zhu Cilang.

However, this sentence, which might very well cause internal strife among the Qing army and even cost Wang Deren his life, was spoken completely spontaneously and voluntarily.

After making these arrangements, Hu Maozhen had no intention of sitting here to watch the show. He left the finishing work to the general beside him and went straight to the south of the city.

In this battle, the Qing army was completely unprepared for the cavalry attack, so its suddenness was almost comparable to a night attack.

However, since the siege formation of the Qing army was too spread out, although Hu Maozhen was like a wolf among a flock of sheep, the casualties he caused were not too great. According to his judgment, by the time the Qing army was about to retreat into the camp, there were probably less than two thousand of them.

However, his intention was not purely to kill.

After all, the cavalry he brought this time were only a thousand or so. Even if the Tartars in Ganzhou were lining up for him to kill, he would still have to sharpen his knives a few times.

Under such circumstances, the purpose of this plan could only be to crush the enemy's morale and buy time for the integration of the Ming army in Ganzhou.

The final result was obvious. Not only was the morale of the Qing army greatly weakened, but even Wang Tizhong died in the battle, coupled with Hu Maozhen's parting words.

Even though the Qing army had 30,000 to 40,000 troops, they would not be able to launch an effective attack in a short period of time.

But what should I do next?

After about a cup of tea, Hu Maozhen finally met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the south of Ganzhou City.

Except for Cao Zhijian who ran away before the battle started, all the people in Ganzhou City who were qualified to meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had arrived.

"Come, come, come," Zhu Cilang waved to Hu Maozhen warmly when he saw him coming. He did not allow him to report the battle situation in the north of the city. Zhu Cilang said to everyone, "This is General Hu who made this plan."

After the words fell, everyone saluted, and Zhu Cilang waited until the salute was over before he said: "In today's battle, not only did the two Generals Hu make great contributions, but all the generals also made great efforts, but..."

As soon as the first half of the sentence came out, everyone felt that it was time to reward people for their contributions. Not only did Erhu straighten his back, but even Zhang An and others showed expectant expressions.

But who would have thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would add a "but" at the end, and even drag out the tone for a long time.

In this way, the focus of the conversation fell on the turning point, and everyone's expressions became somewhat unnatural.

"But before we can reward them, we must first clarify the guilt."

"Your Highness!" As soon as Zhu Cilang said this, Prince Yongning stood up and said, "Although the generals made mistakes, if there had not been this misunderstanding, our army would not have won such a great victory. It would be better."

"There is no such thing as offsetting merits and demerits in this palace."

"temple"

"Is Prince Yongning going to disobey military orders?"

"I don't dare."

When Prince Yongning heard the Crown Prince ask this question with a sullen face, he felt unwilling in his heart, but after weighing the matter over, he finally did not dare to be a good guy anymore.

To be honest, there was no selfish motive in his words. Everything was just to unite the various tribes so that they could compete with the Qing army.

But how can the method of governing an army only focus on rewards without mentioning punishment?
In the original history, although all the tribes in Jiangxi obeyed the orders of the Longwu small court, they all had some intention of doing their own thing in the confrontation with the Qing army.

On the one hand, Longwu lacked sufficient control over the local area due to its own lack of strength, but it is undeniable that the fact that it only focused on rewards and not punishments out of fear of the consequences was also one of the factors that led to its gradual loss of control over the local area.

At this point, some people may say that you have hundreds of thousands of troops in Jiangnan, so you can naturally talk without any worries.

However, it is impossible to deploy hundreds of thousands of troops to Jiangxi at this stage, and naturally they cannot pose an effective deterrent to the generals in Ganzhou.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Cilang's power was only comparable to that of other generals, so he needed to use a war to demonstrate the strength of his troops to establish his dominant position in Ganzhou. Otherwise, given Zhu Cilang's character of fighting ten against one and never five against one, how could he have agreed to Hu Maozhen's risky plan when he first arrived in Ganzhou?
"Does anyone have anything else to say?"

After the words fell, everyone present was silent.

"Zhang An!"

"exist!"

"Is it true that you and Cao Zhijian had an internal conflict when facing a powerful enemy?"

“It’s true, but.”

Facing the aggressive Crown Prince, even Zhang An, a seemingly reckless man, did not dare to lie to him. He just felt that today's matter was not his responsibility, so he wanted to explain a few more words after agreeing.

But who would have thought that just as he opened his mouth, he saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince raised his hand, and then looked at Hu Maozhen on the side. In this situation, he could only swallow the rest of his words in anger.

"General Hu, what is the punishment for this crime?"

"Your Highness."

"explain."

"Ten military sticks are enough."

"about."

"exist!"

"Execution!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers came forward to drag the man away. Although the generals wanted to plead for mercy, when they saw the Crown Prince's gloomy face, they swallowed their words and could only watch Zhang An being subdued by the guards.

"Hu Shaoyu!"

"I am here."

"Is it true that your unit was involved in the internal strife?"

"Your Highness! My uncle was here to stop the Hunan soldiers and the Dong tribe, and he had no intention of participating!"

When Hu Yiqing heard the Crown Prince's question, he immediately knelt on the ground before Hu Shaoyu could reply.

"true?"

"Your Highness, I have received news that the Cao and Zhang factions had an internal conflict, and Hu Shaoyu wanted to stop it, but was dragged into it."

"What should we say?"

"Your Highness, there is no relevant provision in military law."

Hearing Hu Maozhen's answer, the three generals of Yunnan immediately breathed a sigh of relief. However, before they could even breathe out their last, the Crown Prince said, "Then let's use the Five Army Sticks."

"temple"

Hu Yiqing wanted to explain himself, but Zhao Yinxuan poked him gently before he could open his mouth. At this moment, the voice of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came again.

"Do you think that the five military sticks were unjustly beaten?"

"The general will not dare."

"Humph! From the way you look, I know that you say you don't dare, but you are unwilling to obey in your heart. Let me ask you, why didn't you retreat after Prince Yongning and Mr. Wan arrived?"

"Your Highness, I want to retreat, but the three armies are entangled together and I cannot retreat."

"do you understand?"

Ok?
After Hu Shaoyu explained, he heard His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ask this question directly.

Not to mention him, even King Yongning, who was standing beside him with a sullen face, couldn't help but look puzzled in this situation.

"The general understands."

Just when everyone thought that the Crown Prince's question was really pointless, Zhao Yinxuan, who was kneeling beside Hu Shaoyu, was the first to bow down.

"Tell them about it."

"Yes, we should have led our troops to deter the enemy from far away after we learned the news, hoping not to let the disaster spread. These five military sticks must have been caused by improper handling."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the generals showed expressions of sudden enlightenment. Zhu Cilang then asked Hu Shaoyu another question, and when he got a positive answer, he ordered his men to drag him away.

When things got to this point, all the generals felt that no one should be punished anymore.

But who would have thought that when they were all gradually relaxing, they heard His Royal Highness the Crown Prince say, "Wan Yuanji."

"The minister is here."

"Are you guilty?"

"I am aware of my guilt."

"Well, although it is not your job to lead the army, you should take the responsibility since you have done it," Zhu Cilang paused for a moment, and after glancing at everyone's face, he continued, "Well, Wan Yuanji will serve as the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department and will be at your service in the army."

"I accept the decree."

"Your Highness! No! If it weren't for Lord Wan's hard work in Ganzhou, how could the remaining troops of ours be saved~!"

"Your Highness! Lord Wan may have failed to supervise properly, but his crime is not serious enough to warrant dismissal from office!"

"Your Highness! I am willing to use my military achievements to take the blame for Lord Wan's crime!"

As soon as he finished talking about how to deal with Wan Yuanji, a group of people knelt down in front of him.

Zhu Cilang knew that everyone was using this opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with him, but to everyone's surprise, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince just looked at him coldly without saying a word.

After a while, the cries of appeal gradually died down. When the generals realized that this seemed like an attempt to "force the emperor to abdicate," they heard His Royal Highness the Crown Prince say, "Bring them up here."

At this time, everyone seemed to be silent, and even Hu Yiqing and Zhao Yinxuan did not dare to glance at Hu Shaoyu who was about to be hit by the military stick.

"I know you think I'm too harsh."

After the voice fell, everyone said they dared not, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed not to notice it and just waited until the voice faded away before continuing.

"I have seen Zhang An fight against the enemy cavalry, and I know how brave Hu Shaoyu was to send troops to encircle him. But I also know that internal strife is common in the army, and it is not uncommon for them to attack friendly forces in the face of battle."

After hearing this, smarter ones like Zhao Yinxuan had already realized that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, while more reckless ones like Hu Yiqing could not help but agree with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's words in their hearts.

Even though someone like Prince Yongning, who had suffered greatly from the internal strife, still felt that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should not deal with it at this time, he had to admit that it was the right thing to do to prepare for a rainy day.

Everyone knelt on the ground. Zhu Cilang could not see the expressions on their faces, but he spoke from his heart and had been prepared. After a pause, he continued:

"For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, my father can awaken people with his blood, and I can also die on the battlefield, but if you can't work together, what's the point of my father and I dying a thousand times?!"

(End of this chapter)