Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 330 Welcoming the Emperor
Daishan's attitude seemed very ambiguous, but who could attend such a meeting if not a thousand-year-old fox? Who could not know what he was planning?
Well, Jirgalang might really not know.

At least when he was forced to give up his position as regent, he acted as if he had not expected it at all.

The Qing Dynasty was a dynasty founded by talented generals, but its internal relationships were quite complicated.

Old Daishan, the young emperor and his mother, Dorgon, and Hauge.

Among these four families, the young emperor and his mother are the weakest, but the most transcendent.

According to Bumbutai's plan, she would use Dorgon to suppress Hauge, and then use herself to hold Dorgon back. When the young emperor outlasted those old guys, they and their mother would also be able to get out of this.

Her plan was naturally appropriate, but she overlooked the old Daishan who was hiding in the dark.

This old Daishan seemed to be an important force in maintaining stability within the Qing court, and Huihui always appeared as a peacemaker.

But he always helps others to weaken whoever is stronger and never gives up any opportunity. But no one knows what actions he will take when his family becomes the strongest.

As for Hauge and Jirgalang, there is no need to say much, they are just two reckless men.

If Huang Taiji had not given his most powerful army to Hauge, it is unlikely that the two of them would have been able to hold out for so many years with their political abilities.

The only one left is Dorgon.

According to later generations, he was seduced by Bumbutai and willing to raise someone else's son because he had no children. However, if you can see clearly his series of actions, you will scoff at such statements.

After entering the Pass, he began to build up his own power with the help of his two brothers. At the same time, he spared no effort to suppress Hauge and Jirgalang.

In the time and space without Zhu Cilang, the armies under Duoduo and Ajige expanded to an extremely terrifying level due to their great victory in the southern expedition.

After gaining absolute advantage, Dorgon found an inexplicable reason and directly used the tactic of capturing the leader first to capture Hauge, thus breaking up the force that posed the greatest threat to him in one fell swoop.

At this point, Daishan's faction alone was no longer able to check and balance Dorgon.

Not only did he have the honorific title of "The Emperor's Father and Regent", but "the ceremonial guards, music, and guards he used were all imitating the Supreme Emperor" and "for all government affairs, he no longer had to humbly ask for instructions. Without the emperor's order, he issued all decrees as if they were imperial edicts, just like the emperor."

First build up your own power, then suppress the opposition faction, and then create momentum after you become the dominant force.

Obviously, this is a common tactic used by those who usurp the throne in all dynasties.

As for the fact that Dorgon had no children, it was useless for him to usurp the throne.

But he just didn't have a son, not that he was infertile.

Think about it carefully, if he had no children, would Bumbutai and her son still be so obedient?

Among these four parties, except for the reckless man Hauge, the rest included all parties.

If Dorgon, who had fought for half his life, had not fallen off his horse and died at the age of 39, given the extremely complicated relationships within the Manchus, it is hard to say what the final outcome would have been.

Closer to home.

The high-level meeting within the Qing court ended successfully after some bargaining, and all parties got what they wanted.

Dorgon gave up the title of regent but kept the two white flags; Jirgalang lost a useless regent but brought Dorgon back to the position of an ordinary prince.

Of the remaining two families, one ended the monopoly of one family in the court, and the other weakened his brothers and nephews.

Overall, it can be said that everyone is happy.

As for how to deal with the threat from Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Cilang was unaware of the internal power struggle within the Qing court.

However, based on his assessment of the situation, the Qing court would not take any major action for the time being, so after dealing with matters in Nanchang, he turned around and headed south.

Originally, he wanted to go further north and wait for He Tengjiao to recapture Wuchang before heading south.

But when Song Kuiguang and others were busy cleaning up the traces of fighting in Nanchang City, a letter sent from Guangzhou forced him to rush south.

Zheng Damu sent troops from Fuzhou in mid-March. When he arrived at the coast of Guangdong, he did not immediately engage in battle with the Dutch.

Instead, he launched an attack on the Dutch only after contacting Gu Yuanjing who had retreated to Zhaoqing and Hao Yaoqi who had come to reinforce him.

In this battle, he first blocked the river in the lower reaches of the Pearl River with a large number of small boats, and then ordered Gu Yuanjing to bring down hundreds of fireboats from upstream.

As a result, the warships and armed merchant ships that posed the greatest threat to the Ming army were reduced to ashes in the raging fire. The Tatars and pirates, who had completely lost their support, were surrounded and annihilated by Hao Yaoqi in the city of Guangzhou.

The war has come to this point, and all that remains is to wait for Zhu Cilang to arrive and decide how to punish the Dutch based on the current situation.

However, due to the long time spent on the Jiangxi battlefield, the Ming army fell behind.

Even though the Dutch Governor-General of TW, Caron, was quite hesitant, he appeared on the coast of Guangdong with two Galleon-class warships and more than 20 armed merchant ships at the urging of the Batavia Council.

In this situation, Zhu Cilang could just head south quickly, so how could he have the time to go to Wuchang?

"Have the bodies of the fallen soldiers been found?"

This was the first sentence he said after seeing the group of officials. After he finished speaking, Zheng Damu, Hao Yaoqi, Gu Yuanjing and Qu Shisi all remained silent.

"There's none?"

Seeing everyone's expressions, Zhu Cilang's heart sank.

He knew that during the Battle of Guangzhou, the defenders, led by Xu Wenjue, had inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. In addition, Song Yingsheng risked his life to burn all the food stores in the city. Both the Tartars and the pirates must have been furious.

But he never expected that the enemy would not even spare the corpse.

"Chen Wan is dead!"

Just as the drums and music used to welcome the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty stopped quietly because of his expression, Gu Yuanjing, who was responsible for defending the territory, knelt straight on the ground.

"If I were not worried about the situation in Guangdong deteriorating, I would have died with Guangzhou. Today, Your Majesty has come in person, and my worries have been relieved. Please allow me to die to comfort the fallen soldiers."

As the voice reached his ears, Zhu Cilang's gaze turned to Gu Yuanjing.

When I first met him, this senior official of the Ming Dynasty was still fat, but when I saw him today, Gu Yuanjing was not only much thinner, but his face also looked quite haggard. It was obvious that the loss of Guangzhou and the death of Xu Wenjue brought him great psychological pressure.

Looking at this slightly thin figure, Zhu Cilang felt mixed emotions.

Xu Wenjue accompanied him through the battle that night, and he even wanted to train this young Qing army general into a trusted general who could command a region on his own.

Whether from an emotional or interest perspective, his death was an extremely heavy blow to Zhu Cilang.

But in this era, who would pay attention to the enemies coming from the sea?

How could Zhu Cilang vent his anger on others because of this?
"It's not your fault. I was careless."

Feeling the grip of the arm, Gu Yuanjing unexpectedly raised his head and made eye contact with Zhu Cilang.

Before welcoming His Majesty today, he had not only explained everything to his family, but also prepared a coffin. You know, losing land is a serious crime, even if Guangzhou has been recovered, he cannot escape the blame as the governor of Guangdong.

not to mention.
Xu Wenjue also died in this battle.

Based on this, Gu Yuanjing thought that he could not escape death, and his only wish was not to involve his family.

But who would have thought
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, your subject."

"Get up."

Facing Gu Yuanjing who couldn't speak a complete sentence, Zhu Cilang used some strength in his hands. After helping Gu Yuanjing up from the ground, he continued: "The Dutch launched a war without declaration, causing heavy losses to our Guangzhou soldiers and civilians. This is a blood feud, and you must remember it in your hearts!"

"We will definitely keep this in mind!"

"Order the eunuchs to record the battle of Guangzhou in detail in the diary, so that our children and grandchildren will know that there are also powerful enemies on the sea."

"According to the order."

As soon as the words fell, the ministers thought that they could welcome His Majesty into the city. However, who would have thought that after they responded, His Majesty would continue to ask: "Damu, have you captured any enemy soldiers since you recaptured Guangzhou?"

"Reporting to your majesty, we have captured more than 2,300 pirates, more than 240 Tartars, and more than 470 red-haired people."

"Slice them all."

Clang!

I don't know whether he couldn't hold the instrument in his hand, or was frightened by the murderous words. After the voice spread, the sound of instruments falling to the ground was heard from the musicians not far away.

"Your Majesty, spare your life! Your Majesty, spare your life!"

"It's okay, get up."

Seeing that His Majesty did not pursue the matter, the musician stood up tremblingly, but the civil and military officials were still in shock, and it took a long time for them to recover.

These were not just one or two, nor were they ten or eight. Altogether, there were more than three thousand enemy soldiers captured this time.

If they were all beheaded, the ministers would not have such a reaction, but Your Majesty is talking about guillotining! The guillotining of Ling Chi!

"Your Majesty, if all three thousand were to be skinned, it would be detrimental to your wisdom."

The highest-ranking official here is Zheng Damu. Now that Gu Yuanjing has been acquitted of his crimes, he is the only one qualified to give advice.

On the surface, he was worried that skinning so many people would affect the wisdom of the Ming Emperor, but in his heart he was also worried that this action would anger the Dutch.

You know, although this battle was won, just like the previous Battle of Liaoluo Bay, this was not a direct victory over the enemy, but rather involved some trickery.

If the Dutch launched a large-scale attack, Zheng's armed merchant ships would be no match for them.

"My wisdom has never been gained by appeasing the enemy," Zhu Cilang said. He glanced at Zheng Damu and saw that he seemed to have something to say. He asked tentatively, "Are you afraid of angering the Dutch?"

After he finished speaking, Zheng Damu bowed to the ground again, and after he stood up, he said with difficulty: "Your Majesty, the Dutch not only have a fleet stationed in Taiwan, but also a large number of warships in Java and other places. If they invade the coast like the Japanese pirates did in the past."

Zheng Damu did not finish his words, obviously because he was afraid of losing face for the Ming Emperor in front of so many people.

But to his surprise, Zhu Cilang did not show any displeasure after hearing these words. Instead, he changed the subject with a strange expression.

"Didn't Shen Tingyang contact you?"

"got engaged."

"Don't you know that he has also built more than ten new warships?"

"I know."

"and you.?"

Having said this, Zheng Damu finally confirmed his guess.

The situation he was most worried about finally happened.

Your Majesty, who has won great victory after victory with his inland fleet, seems to have mistaken the sea for an inland river and the Dutch for Tartars.

Now he even regarded the "battleship" he had just built as a magic weapon to defeat the enemy.

Zheng Damu knew very well that naval warfare required soldiers to be extremely familiar with the warships, and that what mattered most was not the size of the warships, but the number of cannons they carried.

Can.
Alas~~~!

With a sigh in his heart, Zheng Damu finally decided to tell the truth even at the risk of angering His Majesty. However, while he was just considering his words, His Majesty spoke first.

"Are you worried that I have lost my bearings after beating the landlubbers a few times in the inland river?"

"I dare not! I dare not have such a rebellious thought! But..."

"Just what? Just that the sea is not as good as the inland rivers?"

"Your Majesty knows?"

After hearing what Zhu Cilang said, Zheng Damu was shocked again, but when he thought he would get an explanation, he heard His Majesty change the subject.

"Let's talk about whether our Ming warships can confront the Dutch head-on, but as the commander of the navy, you have to know one thing.
These ethnic groups that live by the sea are different from our Ming Dynasty and the Tartars.
Their minds are all focused on making money, and all their actions are based on this.”

Zheng Damu seemed a little puzzled by Zhu Cilang's statement, but Zheng Hongkui, who was kneeling a little further away, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Although he devoted himself to officialdom in the second half of his life, he spent his youth on the Zheng family fleet.

With this experience, he naturally knew that His Majesty's description of the Dutch was extremely appropriate, but at the same time he couldn't help but think in his heart.

"Could it be that a real dragon has indeed descended into the world?
His political tactics were extremely skillful, and he overwhelmed all the court officials; his military tactics were very strong, and he defeated the Tartars and made them suffer heavy casualties.
If it were only these two things, it would be fine, but now it seems that he is also very familiar with things at sea.
Is there nothing in this world that he doesn't understand?

If we meet a king like this, I am afraid it will be difficult for my Zheng family to rise again."

Zhu Cilang naturally had no idea what Zheng Hongkui was thinking.

After seeing Zheng Damu's slightly puzzled expression, he continued, "If we understand what the enemy values, we can hit him where he is weak. The Tartars value the Manchus, so I specifically targeted Duoduo's weakness in Jiangnan. Now the Dutch value making money, so I will show my strength to make sure they can't make a single cent."

Zheng Damu is a smart man after all. Even though he is somewhat cautious in his actions, Zhu Cilang has already said this, how could he not understand the meaning of these words?
just
"Your Majesty, please forgive my ignorance. Although I understand your meaning, the Dutch Governor TW has brought his fleet to cruise along the coast of Guangdong. It is extremely difficult to drive him away with our armed merchant ships."

Zheng Damu was still a little young after all, and he actually said such words in public.

But Zhu Cilang had already made up his mind, and after he finished speaking, he said calmly: "It depends on our Shen Bu Tang and General Mei."

(End of this chapter)