Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 310 Wenhua Palace
Wenhua Hall

This is the office of the three ministers. During normal times, apart from the six ministers who occasionally come to report on official business, it is rare to see anyone else in the hall.

But now is not an ordinary time after all. The Qing army is attacking in full force, and Your Majesty is leading the army in person. Up to this point, the news known to the court officials is only from a few days ago.

Under such circumstances, those in the court who were qualified to come to the Wenhua Palace found an excuse to come, and after arriving, they just quietly found a place to stay.

As a result, the number of people in the hall increased day by day, and the atmosphere in the hall became more and more depressing.

"Zhu Bu Tang, what exactly is His Majesty's plan? Don't you know anything about the Ministry of War?"

Zhu Dadian was just staring at the empty table in a daze like the other ministers, but who would have thought that Liu Zongzhou, who was sitting on the other side, would break the silence in the hall without any warning.

If it had been earlier, based on his temper he would have definitely retorted neither softly nor harshly, but when he looked up, he saw that the leader of the literati, who usually paid the most attention to his appearance, not only had bloodshot eyes, but also a strand of hair was loose.

Seeing this, he calmed down and the words on his lips changed accordingly.

"The Ministry of War does not know what your majesty is planning, but according to reports from a few days ago, the Central, Left, and Right Armies of the Imperial Guard have joined forces with Zhang Pengyi's navy. I think your majesty is going to open up the Yangtze River waterway."

"That's in the Tongcheng area."

"Ah."

This was something that everyone already knew. Although Zhu Datian didn't know why Liu Zongzhou brought it up again, he still responded in a sullen tone after the words fell.

"It's so careless."

After listening to Zhu Datian's words, Liu Zongzhou sighed softly.

He did not say who was careless, but all the ministers present knew it in their hearts.

This battle was divided into four small battlefields: one was Guangzhou; the second was Ganzhou; the third was Fuzhou; and the fourth was the Yangtze River.

On the surface, these places each have their own functions, and they are all closely linked, but in terms of determining the direction of the war, opening up the Yangtze River waterway is the most critical.

This is not difficult to understand. Both Fuzhou and Ganzhou are located in the Poyang Lake Plain. As long as the Yangtze River waterway can be opened up, the navy can radiate to these two battlefields through the Poyang Lake water system.

It was foreseeable that the Ming army would defeat the Qing army with the power of its navy. It would not be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to deal with the Qing-Dutch coalition forces in Guangzhou with its hands free.

Thinking in this way, Zhu Cilang's joining forces with Zhang Pengyi had grasped the key point of the war, and Liu Zongzhou's words seemed somewhat unreasonable.

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How could the layers of blockades on the waterways be so easy to break through?
Needless to say, it took Zhang Pengyi more than ten days to reach Tongcheng after he sent troops from Wuhu, and after that he could not move an inch due to layers of blockades.

Under such circumstances, even if Your Majesty pulled all the five armies of the imperial guard over, what effect would it have? Could it be that the swords of the land camp were sharper than those of the navy?

"According to your majesty's military strategy, you should have a plan in mind. We will wait in Yingtian for a while, and there will be news of victory."

"What the Censor said is very true, but there has been no news in the past few days, which does make me a little anxious."

Faced with Xu Yu's rebuttal which was not a rebuttal, Liu Zongzhou could not say much except to agree. However, in his heart, it was not appropriate for the emperor to lead the army in person so rashly, so after he finished speaking, he turned to the three cabinet ministers.

"Forgive me for being blunt, but Your Majesty is still young and there are always things you don't think carefully about when you act. As ministers, the three of you should not be too lenient when it comes to giving advice."

Make trouble!

As soon as Liu Zongzhou finished speaking, these two words appeared in everyone's mind at the same time.

Regardless of whether his words were spoken out of public interest or selfish motives, the logic behind them resonated with the court officials.

After all, ever since Taizu said, "The Ming Dynasty and the people share the world," the struggle between the emperor and his ministers was destined to affect all aspects.

Even though Zhu Cilang had gained the upper hand in the struggle with the civil officials for various reasons earlier, as long as there was the slightest mistake, someone would inevitably jump out to attack the cabinet's firewall.

"When the Tartars came south last time, we did nothing. If it weren't for your Majesty stepping forward, we would have retreated to Annan. Your Majesty will make the final decision on military strategy, so it's better for us to not interfere."

Faced with Liu Zongzhou's sudden attack, the three cabinet ministers naturally had to respond.

What surprised everyone was that after he finished speaking, both Qian Qianyi and Ma Shiying remained silent.

On the contrary, Yuan Jixian, who was usually a transparent person, responded neither harshly nor softly.

"What Yuan Gelao said is very true. Your Majesty beat Na Duoduo into a pulp. Of course, we are far inferior to him. However, even the wisest man can make mistakes. If we, as ministers, cannot find out the loopholes and make up for the shortcomings of Your Majesty, it will be too easy for us to take the court's salary and the people's support."

There was naturally nothing wrong with Yuan Jixian's words, but since Liu Zongzhou had the courage to stand up, he was naturally prepared for the reactions of the cabinet ministers.

In addition, he had studied the classics for many years, and his eloquence was far superior to others. Just this sentence made Yuan Jixian open his mouth and didn't know how to respond. "It's not that I and the other ministers are embarrassed, but the Ming Dynasty is in the midst of internal and external troubles. If all the ministers only know how to protect themselves, and no one dares to give advice, then how can your Majesty keep the half of the country that you fought for with blood? How can we, the court officials, greet our ancestors in the underworld?"

Seeing that Yuan Jixian was speechless, Liu Zongzhou stood up and walked to the center of the hall. After he made an impassioned speech, all the ministers could not help but look thoughtful.

It is undeniable that these words are indeed well-founded, but everyone present has been in the officialdom for half their lives, so how could they not know where Liu Zongzhou is aiming?
In the final analysis, the imperial power during the Jingwu period was too great. Not only did it defeat the local forces without any chance of fighting back, but even the officials in the court were suppressed to the point of suffocation.

Under such circumstances, how could Liu Zongzhou, as the leader of the Donglin Zhejiang faction, sit idly by and watch the imperial power grow stronger day by day without taking any action?

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"Urgent news! Urgent news from eight hundred miles away!"

Just when the atmosphere in the hall became a little weird because of his words, a burst of shouting suddenly came in.

When Qian Qianyi and Ma Shiying walked out quickly to greet them, the other ministers followed closely behind them. Apparently, these few short words did not throw the ministers present into disarray.

"Lord! Urgent news! Urgent news from Tongcheng!"

Zhou Quan, who rushed into the Wenhua Hall in a hurry, almost bumped into Qian Qianyi, but at this time everyone's mind was focused on the content of the urgent report, and no one cared about this obviously rude behavior.

"How's the battle going?"

"This slave doesn't know."

Qian Qianyi finally reacted after hearing Zhou Quan's slightly aggrieved words.

Only the emperor and cabinet ministers have the right to open the urgent report from eight hundred miles away. Although Zhou Quan is the emperor's close attendant, he does not have this power, otherwise he would have shouted out what is in his heart.

It only took a moment for Qian Qianyi's mind to turn, and although his hands were shaking a little, he still took the wax-sealed letter from Zhou Quan.

"intact."

He read the letter according to the regulations, and said to Zhou Quan that the handover was completed. When everyone around him was anxious, Qian Qianyi finally broke the sealing wax and took out the letter.

At this time, the hearts of all the ministers present were in their throats. People like Zhu Datian, who knew the importance of the Yangtze River, had beads of sweat on their foreheads.

No matter how anxious the others were, Qian Qianyi seemed unable to understand the words. After a long while, he spoke in a trembling voice.

"Great victory! Your Majesty has successively conquered Anqing and Tongcheng, and is now leading his troops straight to Jiujiang."

Break through continuously?

Head straight in?

As soon as the words fell, everyone present showed an expression of disbelief on their faces.

The more optimistic among them believed that with the ability of Your Majesty, Tongcheng should have been captured. The pessimistic ones even felt that the Qing army had set up layers of defenses on the Yangtze River, and it would be difficult for the Ming army to break through even with the advantage of the navy.

Who would have thought that after all these days there was no news from the front, yet now two cities were captured in a row.

Upon hearing such unexpected news, how could Qian Qianyi not examine it carefully, and how could everyone accept it easily?

"Lord, what's wrong with your Majesty?"

"Your Majesty saw that Tongcheng's defenses were perfect, so he led his elite troops to break Anqing with a trick. Afterwards, the garrison commander was captured, and Your Majesty used his seal to falsely convey military orders, and Tongcheng was easily broken."

Qian Qianyi had told all the details, and the ministers present had to believe it no matter how pessimistic they were.

But this process was really unbelievable. Even though they had believed it, the huge Wenhua Hall was still dead silent.

Is this a victory?

The defense line that the veteran naval commander led hundreds of ships and boats but couldn't break through is so vulnerable in front of Your Majesty?
"According to your majesty's military strategy, let alone us, I'm afraid Chang Xu would be no more than this."

Yuan Jixian finally read the urgent report with Qian Qianyi. Even though he was also shocked by the news, it did not prevent him from saying this with a little excitement after he recovered.

As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of the ministers present immediately swept over Liu Zongzhou intentionally or unintentionally, but he not only seemed to be unaware of it, but also after a slight hesitation, he continued what Yuan Jixian said.

"Your Majesty is right. Your Majesty's victory is truly a blessing from heaven. I am truly fortunate to serve this wise ruler!"

I didn't describe the thoughts of the other two ministers in this paragraph, so I don't know if many people can understand it. In addition, Liu Zongzhou's rebellion was somewhat rash, but from a historical perspective, his political struggle level was generally like this.

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(End of this chapter)