Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 459 Waiting for the Southern Army to Attack
January 11

Yangzhou
As a prosperous place for salt trade and an important node for communication between the north and the south, Yangzhou, with the convenience of the Grand Canal, not only enabled salt merchants to accumulate huge wealth, but also created prosperity and glory for the city.

Feng Menglong described the prosperous scene of Yangzhou in the sixth volume of Stories to Awaken the World: "Yangzhou was called Jiangdu during the Sui Dynasty. It was the strategic point of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and the throat of the north and south. There were numerous ships sailing back and forth, and the residents on the shore were densely packed with people doing business. It was really a prosperous place."

Although this passage tells a story about the Tang Dynasty, the prosperous scene he described was actually taken from Yangzhou in the Ming Dynasty. If the additions and subtractions made according to the changes of the times are taken into account, the prosperity and glory of this economic center of the Ming Dynasty would be even more magnificent than Feng Menglong's description.

But all this disappeared with the arrival of the Qing army.

During those ten days, the city of Yangzhou was littered with corpses and rivers of blood. The bodies of 800,000 people not only blocked the flow of the Grand Canal from north to south, but even Zhenjiang on the opposite bank had to send people to clean up the riverbank.

By this time, this prosperous city that had been passed down for thousands of years had become a military town. Apart from teams of Qing troops, there was no sign of ordinary people.

"You should also put in some effort, otherwise your morale will be drained by these chores."

Looking at the soldiers using pulleys to move the cannons onto the city wall, Zhumala couldn't help but complain to Zhang Shiyi beside her.

He was originally the Manchu Meile Ezhen of the Zhenglan Banner. This time, when Lekedehun was stationed in Lianghuai, he was transferred to the Mongolian Gushan Ezhen of the Zhengbai Banner and followed the army south.

Zhumala didn't care about this and showed no panic at all after changing camps.

After all, the fight for the throne is too high-level, and people like him have neither the qualifications nor the ability to get involved. It would be better for him to obey the arrangements of the court and take advantage of this time to save some wealth for future generations.

With this understanding, Zhumala seemed indifferent to the major changes in the power structure of the Qing court, and she did not care about the struggle in Beijing.

It was precisely because of this attitude that Zhumala, who had always been on a quest to conquer somewhere, unexpectedly became the garrison commander of Yangzhou, and Zhang Shiyi, who had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in recent years, became his actual subordinate.

"Eh, it's not that I didn't try my best. You know the situation in Yangzhou. The workers who built the fortress were transferred from other states. If I had no choice, why would I let the soldiers do this?"

In response to Zhumala's complaints, Zhang Shiyi gave a wry smile and began to explain. However, he had now leaned on Hong Chengchou, and was not as fearful as before when facing ordinary Manchus.

It can be said that he had a very eventful year.

At the beginning, he was instigated by someone to give the people sent to the island by the prince a warning, but who would have thought that the troops he sent not only failed to scare the other side, but were instead defeated by a wave of only two or three hundred people.

When things got to this point, his future was completely cut off. In addition, the situation at the time was that the Qing was strong and the Ming was weak, so he simply led more than 30 inland warships under his command to surrender to the Tatars.

At that time, Yingtian was besieged and Jiangsu and Zhejiang surrendered. Duoduo, who had not yet felt the power of the navy, also left him in Jiangbei to do some work of transporting military supplies.

Zhang Shiyi did not have many complaints about this and he usually performed his duties conscientiously.

However, this situation did not last long. After only a month or two, Duoduo fled back to Yangzhou in a panic, and his value was revealed.

To be honest, although Zhang Shiyi's status was greatly improved during that period, he was always a little confused.

Firstly, he couldn't understand how such an overwhelming situation could be reversed by just a few inland warships; secondly, he didn't know what his limited number of men and warships could do.

Later, Duoduo went north sadly, and the former commander Hong came here on orders.

After a heart-to-heart talk, Zhang Shiyi realized that he, a naval general who had never been taken seriously, had great potential in the current situation. He then cheered up and wholeheartedly assisted Hong Chengchou in setting up the Lianghuai defense line.

But how could things in the world remain the same as always?

After he had gone to great lengths to build an impregnable defense system in Lianghuai, Beijing sent several Manchu generals to take over the key points of the defense, and he was pushed to the front line of the line in Yangzhou.

In fact, Zhang Shiyi was extremely confident in his masterpiece and did not think that the Ming army had the ability to capture Yangzhou.

No matter what, this blatant act of taking advantage of others was really hurtful. Even though Hong Chengchou had talked to him several times, Zhang Shiyi no longer had the same spirit as before.

Zhumala knew very well what her partner was thinking.
"I know you are angry."

"Oh my god! How can you say that? Shiyi is really wronged!"

Zhang Shiyi's expression was both surprised and puzzled, as if this sentence made him look like Dou E. However, Zhumala could get to Gushan Ezhen's position with ordinary family affairs, so how could she be someone who only knew how to fight in battle? After the words fell, he waited quietly for a while before speaking calmly.

"I led my people to join the Aisin-Gioro clan during the reign of Taizu. Over the years, I have fought in more than a hundred battles, large and small. If it were someone else, I would be granted the title of a duke or marquis."

Zhang Shiyi's expression didn't change much when he heard the words, but the surprise in his eyes became real.

"Why? Isn't it because I am a Jurchen born under the rule of Yehe?"

After saying this, Zhumala stopped talking, and Zhang Shiyi also understood what she meant.

Unfair things are everywhere. Since you cannot resist, just pretend that they never happened. Don't let these things affect your present, so as to avoid struggling to the point of not only not getting what you deserve, but losing everything you have.

He understood all these principles, but the Tartars were too extreme, so he didn't even think about covering it up.
Hey~~~~~!

With a long sigh in his heart, Zhang Shiyi was unable to say anything in the end. After a while, Zhumala's voice sounded again, but this time he had changed the topic elsewhere. It was unknown whether he had noticed the subtle changes in the other party's heart or had other ideas.

"I heard that the southerners have been behaving strangely in the past two months. I'm afraid it won't be long before war breaks out again."

"Ezhen, I know what you mean. Tomorrow I will send people to the surrounding towns to find strong men and make sure to prepare the city defense before the southern army attacks."

"It's good that you know this. No matter what happened before, our lives are now tied to Yangzhou City. If the Southern Army really attacks, I don't ask you to cause much damage. As long as you can hold the city firmly, it will be a great achievement."

Zhumala was relieved by Zhang Shiyi's change of mentality, and he immediately spoke to comfort her.

However, the implication of his words was somewhat distrustful of Yangzhou's defense system. Before he finished speaking, Zhang Shiyi's voice came over.

"Erzhen, you really underestimate me," Zhang Shiyi said, and then he turned around. He pointed in the direction of Yingtian and said, "The waterways leading to the Yangtze River are all blocked by fortresses. Coupled with the artillery shipped from the north, the Southern Army cannot fly to Yangzhou even if they equip their warships with wings!" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhumala's face became embarrassed. Obviously, she had not expected that Zhang Shiyi, who was listless a moment ago, would be so excited.

But excitement is excitement, which is a thousand times better than passive resistance. Afterwards, he asked the other party about the surrounding defense as if he had come to Yangzhou for the first time. Only after he was satisfied did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Hey, Hong Chengchou probably insisted on having us come to Yangzhou because of this.

As they talked, Zhumala came up with this guess, and then her mind turned and she was more certain of Hong Chengchou's idea.

According to the earlier arrangement, all military affairs in Lianghuai should be handed over to Hong Chengchou, and Lekedehun's troops stationed in Lianghuai would only serve as military supervisors.

But later, for some unknown reason, the nobles in Beijing suddenly changed their minds. Although Hong Chengchou's position did not change much, their Eight Banners troops were divided into various towns to garrison, and the status of the Han army changed again.

Zhumala knew that this change in strategy was definitely not a whim, but a matter of one's own accord. As a general under Lekedehun, he had no right to manage high-level affairs. Even though some people in Huai'an City were somewhat unsettled at that time, he just waited patiently for the military order from above.

Needless to say, what happened next was that at Hong Chengchou's insistence, he, a Jurchen living under the rule of Yehe, was sent to Yangzhou. But it was only then that he realized the real intention of Hong Chengchou's arrangement.

In essence, the Eight Banners generals were inherently arrogant when facing these surrendered generals, and Zhang Shiyi, on the other hand, became passive and lazy because of the arrangements made by his superiors.

If someone else had come, the only navy general might have been killed in half long ago. How could he resist when the Southern Army marched north?
Thinking of this, Zhumala couldn't help but feel some admiration for Hong Chengchou, and then she started chatting with him casually.

“I heard that the Yellow River didn’t flow through here before?”

"Well, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River flowed into the sea from Shandong. Later, the Jin people..." Zhang Shiyi paused for a moment, and when he saw that Zhumala did not react, he continued, "The Jin people moved southward, and Zhao Gou could not escape. The governor of Tokyo dug up the Yellow River embankment to protect himself, and that's when the Yellow River took over the Huai River."

After telling this story, Zhang Shiyi couldn't help feeling a little scared.

Although Zhumala was usually very easy to talk to and was no more polite to him than the ordinary Manchus, no matter what, she was still a genuine Gushan Ezhen of the Qing Dynasty. If the words "Jingkang Shame" came out of her mouth, who knew what twists and turns would arise.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shiyi stopped talking, and Zhumala seemed to be thinking about something. Then the two generals stationed in Yangzhou watched the soldiers hanging cannons on the city wall until a military order from Huai'an was delivered to Zhumala.

"The general asked me to go back."

"Oh? But are there any new changes?"

"I didn't say it."

"Oh."

After a conversation, Zhumala rode out of Yangzhou. Then the group traveled day and night. After a day and night, they finally crossed the Yellow River and arrived at the Qing army camp outside Huai'an City.

There was no need to say much about the report, and the greetings and greetings after entering the camp were also reasonable. After these routine procedures were completed, Lekedehun finally got to the point.

"I summoned you here for no other reason than the war in Lianghuai."

Lekedehun's words did not cause any ripples in Zhumala's mood.

In the final analysis, not only has the Southern Dynasty shown signs of large-scale mobilization of troops in the past two months, but food and supplies are also being transported to Yingtian.

With such actions, if they said that they were not planning to send troops to Lianghuai, I am afraid only ordinary people would believe it.

Zhumala pretended to listen attentively, but Lekedehun remained silent. After a few breaths, the general of Pingnan appointed by the Qing court said hesitantly: "We need to rely on Zhang Shiyi a lot for the affairs of Yangzhou."

"I understand that Yangzhou is surrounded by a network of waterways. Although our Eight Banners warriors are not afraid of the southerners, they are always somewhat restricted in this kind of terrain."

"Well, I understand. The Southern Dynasty navy is quite sharp. Even with all the arrangements, it is not a place for our army to show its power."

After hearing the words, Zhumala was about to agree to a few more words, but when he looked up, he saw that the general seemed to have something else to say, so he swallowed the words back and waited for the other party to calm down.

Time passed by little by little, but Lekedehun's expression was still conflicted.

Seeing the other party's behavior, Zhumala's face remained the same as before, but she couldn't help but speculate in her heart.

According to the arrangements he knew, the task assigned by the imperial court to the troops in Lianghuai was to block the Southern Army in the Yangtze River.

To this end, Hong Chengchou and others not only built a large number of docks around the rivers, but also built a number of inland warships in the Hongze Lake behind them.

At this point, everything that needed to be arranged had been arranged, and everything that needed to be prepared had been prepared. All that was left was to wait for the Southern Army to attack.

But Lekedehun reacted like this at this time. Could there be other variables?
Thinking of this, Zhumala showed some doubts on her face, and at this time Lekedehun seemed to have figured something out. He waved at him and whispered.

Along the way, Zhumala not only experienced more than a hundred battles of various sizes, but also saw a lot of worldly affairs. However, even though he had seen through the changes in the world, his mood had long been calm. When those words as soft as a mosquito's voice reached his ears, he could not help but be startled and widened his eyes.

"General!"

"Don't be surprised. This is something that the princes have decided after weighing their pros and cons. As the generals, you and I just need to execute it."

"But."

"No buts, your mission has been explained, and all that remains is to follow orders."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lekedehun stared closely at the changes on Zhumala's face, as if the other party would be punished by military law if she disobeyed.

It's just that Zhumala has survived for so many years and has developed his own set of survival skills. His previous behavior was more or less out of instinct. Now that he has understood the current situation, he will not resist his superior.

"Slave takes orders!"

(End of this chapter)