Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 325: The Sinner Meets His Majesty
January 3

Ji'an
Although this city has changed hands several times since the Qing army entered Jiangxi, no major battles have occurred in detail.

In terms of topography, Ji'an is built on mountains and rivers. Even though its city defense is not as good as that of the big cities in the world, it can still be considered a place that is difficult to attack but easy to defend.

The reason why it failed to cause any trouble to the Ming and Qing armies is that we have to look beyond the tactical level.

Well, actually there is nothing too profound in this.

To put it bluntly, this city does have the conditions to be defended, but it is surrounded by either large cities or narrow passes. By the time the enemy soldiers get here, the real war will have been over. Even if someone can hold out here for a while, it will be of no use to the overall situation.

Therefore, after every major war, the defeated would quickly retreat to the next strategic pass, while the victor would easily capture the city.

But nothing is absolute.
After the failure of the strategic gamble, Shang Kexi, who automatically became the supreme commander of the Qing army in Jiangxi, had to face a dilemma.

If he chose to retreat directly, the empty Hubei and Jiangxi would inevitably be destroyed under the attack of the Ming navy; but if he wanted to buy some time for the rear, he would have to hold on in Ji'an for a few days.

On the surface, this choice is not difficult to make.

After all, compared with the chaos in Hubei and Jiangxi, losing a game in Ji'an is really nothing.

just
"General, you have to persuade the prince. Ji'an is not a place that can be defended. Don't let the city be lost in the end, and even these 20,000 troops will be lost."

"Yes, Marshal, if we retreat to Wuchang, we can always rely on the strong city to hold out and wait for reinforcements, but if we all die in Ji'an, what use will all those guys behind us be?"

"Marshal, if Shang Kexi wants to be a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, then let him be. We don't have that kind of affection for the Manchus."

Although Wang Deren was annoyed by the chattering of the generals in the tent, he did not lose his temper for various reasons.

But who would have thought that the more silent he was, the more outrageous the generals' words became. In the end, they even seemed to be rebelling. Even though Wang Deren felt that he lacked prestige, he had to speak out and rebuke them.

"Shut up! How can you say that?!"

After he finished speaking, the generals beside him stopped talking, but they still looked expectantly at their former comrades, and it was obvious that they did not give up what they wanted because of this scolding.

Wang Deren could roughly guess this. After all, not long ago, he, like these generals, served under Wang Tizhong. Although he was now the commander-in-chief, he could not make final decisions on all matters.

"Marshal, it's okay. We are all family here, so we can say what's on our mind without letting it get out."

"Yes, this is all about our own discussion. Whoever wants to spread it is not our brother!"

"Don't worry, Marshal. We are keeping our mouths shut."

Seeing that Wang Deren seemed a little nervous, several generals began to make jokes again.

But who would have thought that their noise would make the already irritable Wang Deren even more impatient, and then he accidentally made everyone present speechless.

"Have you all forgotten how Commander Bai died?"

When Bai Wang was still alive, he trusted Wang Ti Zhong. But after Li Zicheng's death, Wang Ti Zhong took advantage of the chaos in the army and killed Bai Wang when he was at a loss.

Now these words seem to imply that the generals need to be on guard, but if you think about it for a second longer, you can see that Wang Deren is wary of them.

This was inevitable. At the beginning, they were all ordinary people. Although they were a little dissatisfied with Wang Ti Zhong killing Bai Wang, no one really jumped out in the end.

Returning to the roots, Bai Wang is certainly quite prestigious, but how can it be compared with his own life?

Everyone seemed to have their own ideas at this moment. Who knew if Wang Deren revealed some of his thoughts, would he be reported to Shang Kexi?
After finding it pointless to talk to Wang Deren, several generals left the military tent in embarrassment.

Although he did not trust these people, there was nothing wrong with their words.

After thinking for a while, Wang Deren went straight to Shang Kexi.

At this time, Shang Kexi was actually not much different from him, and his situation was even worse.

After all, Wang Deren still had a lot of his own troops, so no matter who was in front of him, they would have to be a little more restrained.

Shang Kexi had no other power except one or two thousand personal soldiers.

Even though the Han generals were still as respectful to him as before because of their status, the attitude of the Manchus was terrible.

"Your Majesty, there are not many of us Manchus. A group of us died in Jiangnan last time, and another group died in Ganzhou this time. Are you planning to bury us here as well so that the old master can seize the throne as soon as possible?"

"you!"

As the general approached Shang Kexi's tent, Wang Deren heard a strange voice coming from inside. Without thinking, he immediately stopped outside the tent.

"Eler! How dare you speak to the prince like that!"

"Am I wrong? You were transferred from Lianghuai. Haven't you heard that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty highly praised Mao Wenlong, and even Kong Youde resigned from the war due to illness out of gratitude?"

Wang Deren had not been with the Qing army for long, but he knew that the owner of the voice was extraordinary. When he heard the conversation in the tent, he could no longer bear it, so he decided to leave immediately.

"Who's outside the tent?!"

He didn't know whether it was because his footsteps were a little loud or because he revealed his figure in a hurry, but just as he turned around, he heard a scolding from inside the tent.

"I saw that the prince and several generals were discussing something, so I thought about coming back later. I didn't expect..."

Awkward, really embarrassing.

At this time, Wang Deren wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, but he was also a little scared.

When he saw that everyone in the tent focused their attention on him, his face immediately turned red.

"sneaking."

"Erle!"

To stop the ridicule of Wang Deren, the older Manchu in the tent nodded slightly to Shang Kexi and turned away taking Naerle with him.

Although there were only two of them in the tent at this time, Wang Deren did not feel any less awkward.

This is the most embarrassing situation.

Seeing my boss's embarrassment and having to be alone with him, it really doesn't make sense to stay or leave.

"I have been trusted by the late emperor and have always valued the Qing dynasty more than my own life. But who knew that I would be framed like this in the end? Really."

Shang Kexi tried it twice, but in the end nothing came of it.

Having experienced countless setbacks and storms, this kind of emotional fluctuation only lingered in his body for a moment before being suppressed by him.

"Is something wrong?"

“Ah, no.”

Wang Deren originally wanted to say no, but as soon as he said it, he felt something was wrong. It was obviously not a good time to speak in this situation, so he froze in place again.

"If you have something to say, just tell me. It's okay."

"Your Majesty, I do have something to say." "Yes."

After responding faintly, Shang Kexi sat down on the chair beside him. He then sorted out his thoughts before looking up again.

Things had come to this point, and Wang Deren had no room for maneuver.

Anyway, he had already thought about how to express it before he arrived, and then he poured out everything about the previous situation of the generals in his tent.

"Where's you?"

"what?"

"what are you thinking?"

Shang Kexi is naturally a rare honest person at his level, but when it comes down to it, how could a truly honest person climb to such a position?
So when Wang Deren was halfway through his words, he had already guessed what the other party was thinking, but for some reason, he still asked this question again.

"Of course I will listen to Your Majesty, but what everyone said is not without reason, so I came to ask Your Majesty for advice."

"I know you are unwilling to defend Ji'an, but this defeat was too sudden. If we just withdraw..."

Originally, Shang Kexi was quite confident that he could hold out in Ji'an for a few days, but after he retreated, not only did the Manchu generals come to look for him again and again, but even the Han generals also made various indirect attacks on him.

Even now, although he still felt that he should stay in Ji'an for a while longer, his words revealed some hesitation.

"On May 3rd, we will hold out for another three days and then go to Nanchang. When this battle is over, I will ask the court for your merit."

"I would like to thank His Majesty for his cultivation!"

Regardless of whether he was sincere or not, Shang Kexi had already said so much, and Wang Deren naturally had no room for argument.

Afterwards he said goodbye and left, leaving Shang Kexi alone in the military tent, sitting in a chair in a daze.

This is the weakness of a defeated army.

After suffering a major defeat, not only will the morale of the army drop to a low point, but even the generals will become tired of fighting for various reasons.

If they are not fully repaired, it will be extremely difficult to let them fight against the enemy who defeated them.

He had anticipated this situation, but he never thought it would be so serious.

According to his original idea, there were more than 3,000 Manchus who retreated to Ji'an, and even if the Han army caused trouble, they would be able to suppress it.

But who knew that before the Han people could make any trouble, the Manchus would jump up first, really.
As his mind was turning, Shang Kexi couldn't help but smile bitterly. When he inadvertently glanced at the city wall in the distance, he was stunned. It seemed that he could see the Ming army stationed outside through the city wall.

Although there is only a one-letter difference between victory and defeat, the consequences they lead to are worlds apart.

After the victory that night, Zhu Cilang ordered the troops to rest for a day before pursuing the enemy, but all the generals under his command bravely volunteered to fight and wipe out all the enemies in front of them for His Majesty.

Zhu Cilang naturally did not agree to everyone's request to fight.

On the one hand, he had been fighting one battle after another since he came south, and even though there were no tough battles, the soldiers did need to rest;
On the other hand, he also felt that it was no longer possible to annihilate the Qing army in Jiangxi, so it would be better to proceed steadily rather than rushing forward.

Therefore, after resting in Ganzhou for a day, he divided his troops into two forces, land and sea, and recovered the counties along the way one by one before arriving at the city of Ji'an yesterday.

"Your Majesty, let me lead the charge this time. With the help of the navy, we will be able to capture Ji'an within three days."

"Your Majesty, I can capture this city in two days instead of three!"

Everyone had his own melancholy. Shang Kexi was troubled by the fact that the generals in the army were afraid of the Ming and cowardly fighting, while Zhu Cilang was somewhat helpless because his ministers were competing for the task of attacking the city.

Only when he saw that Fang and Hou were about to reduce the time limit for siege to one day did he smile and wave his hand.

"Don't fight anymore. The city is not important. What's important is how to keep all the Qing troops."

Zhu Cilang was overjoyed that the Qing army held on to Ji'an.

Of course he could guess that Shang Kexi wanted to buy time to deploy troops in the rear, but He Tengjiao's troops had already begun to move. Even if they might not be able to capture Wuchang in such a short time, they would definitely cause unrest in Hubei and Jiangxi.

Under such circumstances, most of his plans would fail, and Zhu Cilang was naturally happy to stalemate with these 30,000 to 20,000 Qing troops in Ji'an.

However, despite the stalemate, these Qing troops were ultimately elite troops that Ajige had transferred from various places.

Even though their combat effectiveness would be hit by the defeat in Ganzhou, if they really wanted to keep them all, they would have to plan carefully.

But when he was about to discuss the matter in detail with his generals, a soldier came outside the tent.

"Report! There are several people outside the camp claiming to be from Nanchang, saying they have important military information to present to Your Majesty."

After the words fell, Zhu Cilang was stunned. After thinking for a while, he roughly guessed what "important military intelligence" meant.

In the original history, Li Dingguo and his two famous kings led to constant rebellions in various places.

Although he was not without a famous king this time, Ajige's importance was much greater than those two.

Under such circumstances, let alone someone coming from Nanchang, even if there was "important military intelligence" to report from a bigger city farther away, he would not be that surprised.

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"How dare they! Who are they to dare to dream of meeting His Majesty?"

Hu Maozhen was extremely indignant and was obviously quite dissatisfied with the man from Nanchang.

This is not surprising, as Zhu Cilang had only tens of thousands of men under his command at the time and only two cities in his hands.

Although he is nominally the crown prince, he has powerful enemies outside and constraints within, and his actual power is not much higher than that of a prefect.

But now.

Not only did all the areas south of the Yangtze River surrender, but even the powerful Tartars were defeated several times.

Under such circumstances, let alone a person from Nanchang, even a person from Beijing would have to go through a series of procedures before they could see the true face of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. His behavior was understandable.

"You Tartar dogs! You are really going too far!"

"Your Majesty! I will lead the way for you and wipe out the enemy in Jiangxi!"

"Your Majesty! I will serve as the vanguard of the army!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty."

Faced with the excited emotions of the generals, Zhu Cilang just waved his hand slightly to calm them down.

He naturally knew that the emperor's majesty needed to be maintained by various means, but he was obsessed with ending the war as soon as possible so that he could devote all his energy overseas.

When the person coming from Nanchang heard about it, he felt that this was a great opportunity. How could he act like an emperor at this time?

Of course, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he could not be lax about security at all. After the guards had searched the person thoroughly several times, the so-called person from Nanchang appeared outside the tent.

"Your Majesty, I am your servant Jin Shenghuan!
Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long, long live the emperor! "

(End of this chapter)