Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 452 Before and After the Wedding
Since the term "Lianghuai" came into being, the large area north of the Yangtze River and south of the Huai River has been related to the survival of the southern regime. Once control over this area is lost, the Yangtze River, which is known as a natural barrier but is full of leaks, will become a decoration, and the enemies in the north will be able to march straight in.

This situation lasted for more than a thousand years, and the importance of Lianghuai was verified time and time again. However, when time and space developed to Zhu Cilang, the situation seemed to be going against the will of Tiangang.

Since the combination of artillery and warships, the Central Plains dynasties mostly placed them at the bow and stern of the ship. It was not until the Chongzhen period, after several battles with Westerners, that warships gradually began to be equipped with artillery on both sides.

In the original history, this kind of war tool did not work in the hands of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and Shen Tingyang's half-life's hard work was not even appreciated by the court.

But many major events may change in just a thought of a key person.

When Zhu Cilang arrived, this war tool that had the ability to strike targets on the opposite shore immediately became the main means of fighting the enemy. Duoduo's army even reached a point where it could hardly move forward in the densely networked waterways of Jiangnan.

At this point, the importance of Lianghuai was seriously weakened for the first time in more than a thousand years. The Ming Dynasty, which had not yet controlled Lianghuai, was as stable as a rock, but the Qing court, which occupied Lianghuai, was sitting on pins and needles.

So when Wang Fuping reported to Zhu Cilang the news that a large number of Qing army reinforcements had arrived in Huai'an, he simply summoned Hou Chengzu who was stationed in Wuhu and Anqing and did not take any other action.

"I will go back now. If the Tartar makes any move, I will make sure he dies in the river!"

After explaining the current situation, Zhu Cilang felt a little embarrassed and asked Hou Chengzu to go back. However, when the other party expressed that he wanted to leave immediately, he waved his hand.

"Don't worry, get a good night's sleep tonight, it won't be too late to leave tomorrow. The navy is here, and I'm only asking you to go back for safety."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration!"

Hou Chengzu was also a man of good sense. He would not stay in the palace for long at this time. When he saw that Zhu Cilang had nothing else to do, he bowed and left, and the groom returned to Rouyi Palace.

According to common sense, the queen's bedroom should be Kunning Palace, but Empress Dowager Zou was still alive after all, and asking her to move out would seem like destroying the bridge after crossing it, so the residence of Queen Xu Shaoyue was decided to be in Rouyi Palace.

A moment later, Zhu Cilang appeared in the Rouyi Palace. The palace maids and eunuchs bowed to welcome him. He glanced at the side room with a closed door and signaled everyone to leave the hall before walking inside.

At this time, the wedding wine had already been consumed and all the procedures had been completed. If Wang Fuping had not come to disturb them, the Emperor and the Empress might have already washed up and gone to bed.

But such things always require a gradual process. The process set by our ancestors was originally meant to bring the newlyweds closer together and not let the wedding night pass in vain.

Now the whole process has been completed, but the last step could not proceed as usual. As soon as Zhu Cilang entered, the atmosphere became slightly awkward.

"I'm probably the only one running outside today."

Zhu Cilang closed the door as he spoke, and then he took two steps towards the wedding bed. Xu Shaoyue seemed to have just realized, "Your Majesty is in charge of the Ming Dynasty, so you are different from ordinary people."

His original intention was just to express his slight apology to Xu Shaoyue, but who would have thought that the other party would actually say such a thing, as if there was an old pedant sitting on the marriage bed.

He was somewhat helpless about this, but girls are already nervous in such situations, not to mention that there was such a complications in the middle, so it was understandable that Xu Shaoyue was a little restrained.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Cilang tried to ease the situation. He then sat down on the side of the marriage bed. After Xu Shaoyue sat down, he told her what Wang Fuping had reported.

From his point of view, there was no way the Tartars would invade the south before forming a qualified navy. Such an action was probably just a stress response to his refusal to discuss it.

But he forgot one thing. After all, Xu Shaoyue was not an official of the imperial court. When he heard that the Tartars were sending reinforcements to Huai'an, he immediately became nervous.

"Your Majesty, are the Tartars trying to take advantage of your wedding?"

"No, they don't have the guts."

Seeing Xu Shaoyue's face flushed with nervousness, Zhu Cilang interrupted her with a chuckle. However, his words were obviously not very convincing. Although the girl stopped talking, she could not hide the worry in her eyes.

Seeing this, he regretted being too talkative. He could have just said a few words and changed the topic to something lighter. But if he couldn't dispel Xu Shaoyue's doubts, his wedding night would probably be affected.

"It's okay. Even though the Tartars sent reinforcements here, it won't have any impact on the overall situation. If we really want to capture them, we just need to send the navy to attack along the river. The rest of the places will be trapped even if there is no waterway."

After she finished speaking, the worry in Xu Shaoyue's eyes was obviously much less, but she was still the daughter of a general, so she discovered the loopholes in a moment.

After all, Lianghuai was too important in the eyes of the southern regime. Even the weak Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty held it firmly in their hands and dared not slack off for a moment.

If the situation is really as favorable as Zhu Cilang said, why not take it back earlier, so as to avoid exposing Nanjing Yingtian directly to the enemy's attack?

Facing the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Shaoyue's questions were naturally tactful, but Zhu Cilang knew that many people had not noticed this change. After hearing the vague words, he understood the other party's doubts.

"Are you asking why we didn't take back Lianghuai?"

"Ah."

After hearing the words, Zhu Cilang glanced at the candle that was almost half burned.

Although he didn't think there was anything wrong with Xu Shaoyue asking these questions, he couldn't help but complain a few words in his heart as he watched time pass.

Forget it. If I don't explain it clearly, this girl probably won't be at peace.

With this in mind, Zhu Cilang secretly organized his words, and after a breath or two, he explained the underlying reasons in detail.

Since he started his rebellion, his only principle was to kill or injure the Eight Banners headquarters.

After several battles, the situation was just as he expected. Duoduo killed Nikan along the way, and Ajige's entire army was wiped out.

But he could see clearly that those two battles were won with the advantage of the navy, and the Ming army was far from invincible. If they really reached the plains, the mobility advantage of the Tatar cavalry would be fully effective, and it would not be so easy to annihilate the Eight Banners headquarters on a large scale at that time.

Later events also verified his view. Even if the Qing army, which had the advantage of mobility, was defeated, it would not be completely wiped out like Ajige. Zhu Cilang also made up his mind to use Lianghuai to attract reinforcements from the Qing army, and then kill a large number of Eight Banners headquarters here.

At this point, Xu Shaoyue roughly understood Zhu Cilang's thoughts, and the worry in his eyes disappeared.

"I see. The Tartar reinforcements are likely to follow in Ajige's footsteps."

With a chuckle and a few words, Zhu Cilang's attention was completely attracted by Xu Shaoyue.

When she found her husband staring at her blankly, a blush immediately appeared on Xu Shaoyue's face. The girl's delicate appearance made his heart flutter. "You've been tired for a few days. Go to bed early."

"Ah."
-
The Qing army's mobilization ultimately failed to disrupt Zhu Cilang's wedding night. After a night of love, the two of them paid their respects to the empress dowager and offered sacrifices to their ancestors according to ritual. After all the internal procedures were completed, they had a formal wedding banquet.

There wasn't much to say about the banquet. It was basically just the court officials congratulating His Majesty on his wedding in various ways. If we had to pick out something to talk about, it would probably be that the nobles paid money to buy peace.

Zhu Cilang was not completely unaware of this. After all, with the local tyrant Wang Fuping around, the collusion among the nobles had long been under the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

However, when Zhu Guobi expressed the nobles' desire to serve the court, His Majesty's reaction far exceeded everyone's expectations.

According to the nobles' original intention, the money invested in the factory was simply wasted, and no one dared to hope for any financial return from this action.

But who would have thought that His Majesty was such a soft-hearted person. After accepting the nobles' surrender, he actually allowed them to purchase shares in the Haimao Group.

You know, although the Haimao Group has only been open for more than half a year, the ships carrying goods to Southeast Asia have brought back huge profits.

To this day, even if His Majesty has clearly stipulated that the shares of the Haimao Group cannot be bought and sold, everyone knows that the value of the original 200 shares has already far exceeded the selling price of 5,000 taels.

Faced with such a situation, all the nobles were naturally grateful, but Zhu Guobi was filled with regret.

Zhu Cilang's sentimentality and nostalgia were once again verified through this incident. As one of the earliest loyal ministers, he lost the emperor's trust in vain because of his impure thoughts time and time again.

By this time, although he still held a high position because of the emperor's nostalgia, in terms of power and trust, he was not only inferior to Xu Yinjue and Xu Yu, but even Chang Guanlin was ready to compete with him.

But it was too late to say anything now. The structure of the court had basically been formed. If someone of his status wanted to intervene, the first thing he would have to face would be the beneficiaries.

Of course, if he had the ability to lead troops, he would be able to find his own position on the battlefield, but he was a person who was promoted to Duke by speculation. If he really had that ability, he would have shown it when Duoduo moved south.

At this point, all you can do is regret.

Although Zhu Cilang could not say that he knew the psychological activities of the nobles and Zhu Guobi clearly, he could guess some of them.

But he himself knew that his cold treatment of Zhu Guobi did not mean that he had lost trust in him, and his generosity towards the nobles was not out of softness.

To be honest, he had almost no good feelings towards the corrupt group of nobles, but it would be a pipe dream to eradicate them directly.

He was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, not a bandit.

The Zhu family's mess certainly brought him a lot of trouble, but at the same time it also brought him a lot of convenience.

There is no need to talk about the distant things. Just in the southwest, if there was no Ming emperor's signboard, why would Sun Shoufa and Li Dingguo defend Hanzhong to the death, and why would Fan Yiheng and others obey his orders?

If it weren't for these convenient conditions, there would be no need to wait for a head-on confrontation with Hauge. The local forces in central Sichuan, which had been fighting for several years, would have been able to send him back to his hometown just like they did with Zhang Xianzhong.

In the final analysis, it is impossible for one family to monopolize all the benefits of the world. Since he has accepted this identity, he has to bear the consequences while enjoying its benefits.

In the past, those who acted radically had already faced the consequences of being unwilling to bear the consequences. People like him would not force a group to oppose themselves like a fool.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty had to change after it had reached this point.

However, this group of nobles did not have any fundamental conflict with him, nor were they a fundamental threat to the Ming Dynasty. Instead of forcing such a force into a dead end, it would be better to proceed step by step and let the other side move closer to imperial power.

To put it bluntly, politics is about making more friends and fewer enemies. If you kill this and that because of a tiny incident, you may not even be able to escape from the Ministry of War prison.

Obviously, the final result was good. There was money for the Northern Expedition and funds for the factories. Most importantly, Your Majesty's reputation for benevolence was spread because of his acceptance of the nobles, which was truly beneficial to the stability of the imperial power.

If the nobles are willing to become wealthy in the future, he can follow them. If there are really a few outstanding ones, he can also use them with peace of mind as they are tied to himself.

Things have come to this point, which is much better than eradicating it, and this wedding banquet should probably come to a successful conclusion.

But when everyone was saying goodbye to the Emperor and Empress with joy, there were still some people with flickering eyes, as if they were hiding something on their minds.

"Uncle Wang! Uncle Wang! Please walk slower!"

As soon as the King of Chu left the palace, he heard someone calling him from behind. When he looked in the direction of the voice, he saw Zhu Youjian running towards him, panting.

Tonight, the nobles who had missed the opportunities earlier successfully approached His Majesty, and he, the oldest among the vassal kings, also had some ideas.

However, his own status was special after all, and he could not act as straightforwardly as the nobles, so he had been weighing the pros and cons since the banquet until his thoughts were interrupted by Zhu Youjian.

"Oh, King Tang, why are you so anxious?"

"It's okay, it's okay, I just want to stay away from Uncle Wang. I just saw you and wanted to talk to you a little more."

The King of Chu had lived for most of his life, so he naturally knew that one would not visit someone for no reason. However, the other party did not seem to have any direct thoughts, so he was happy to pretend to be confused. After the other party finished speaking, he laughed a few times and then slowly walked towards the carriage.

"Uncle Wang, this wedding of His Majesty is finally a big deal. If a prince is born next year, the foundation of our Ming Dynasty will be solid."

"Well, that's the truth."

"When I met your Majesty in Hangzhou last year, he seemed a little thin. After fighting in many battles over the past year, your Majesty has become stronger and stronger. I think the royal heir is inevitable."

"Well, that's correct."

After saying these two sentences, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but glance at the old King of Chu. It was obvious that the other party's attitude made him extremely uncomfortable.

If it were any other time, he might have just said goodbye, but this time what he wanted to say was extremely involved, so he could only say casually: "I wonder where the emperor's heirs will be given."

(End of this chapter)