Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 333 True or False Prince?

Nanjing.

After King Fu crossed the river, he first went to Xiaolingwei to visit the grave of Zhu Yuanzhang and his wife, and then came back to offer sacrifices to the Taimiao.

The next step is to supervise the country.

Then began to block civil and military officials.

Although Nanjing has the same six institutions as in Beijing, they are generally a miniature version. For example, sometimes there is only one minister, and sometimes even the minister can be vacant. Now that Zhu Yousong is in charge of the country in Nanjing, a complete set of institutions is It must be erected, and there will be more official vacancies to be added.

Zhu Yousong was not as terrifying as the Donglin Party thought. He was a vassal with no fighting spirit. He did not retaliate against Donglin who opposed him. Instead, he adopted the practice of the Ming Dynasty and let the courtiers push the cabinet.

Originally, Jiangnan was the stronghold of the Donglin Party, and a considerable proportion of the officials in Nanjing were members of the Donglin Party. Therefore, the Donglin Party not only did not lose power, but instead gained a considerable advantage in being promoted.

Shi Kefa, Minister of the Ministry of War, was appointed as a Bachelor of the Dongge University, and concurrently served as the Minister of Rites to work in the cabinet; Zhan Shifu Zhan Shi Jiang Riguang was promoted to be the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites, and also served as a scholar of the Dongge University; Handle affairs; Zhang Shenyan is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and Liu Zongzhou is the Imperial Envoy of the Inspectorate.

The cabinet is almost dominated by the Donglin Party.

It's just that Shi Kefa's hesitation in making a policy made King Fu very uncomfortable. He added his title of minister of the Ministry of War to Ma Shiying, and at the same time added Ma Shiying a bachelor of Dongge, but he was not allowed to join the cabinet. Sitting in Fengyang, continue to command the army.

It's just that Donglin won a complete victory, but Qian Qianyi, the party leader of Donglin, was very anxious. He still wanted to be hired, so he began to operate intensively.

But who knew that within a few days of Fu Wang's supervision of the country, news came from Jiangbei in May, Yang Chao came back and brought back the prince!
Suddenly the officialdom was shaken, is this prince real?

Fu Wang immediately fidgeted and asked Lu Jiude to go to Huai'an to verify the news.

The Donglin Party became active again, and there was an endless stream of boats from Jiangnan to Jiangbei.

At this time in Huai'an, the Huangfeng Mansion seemed to be the core figure, playing a pivotal role in the government.

This feeling gave him great psychological satisfaction, and he suddenly felt that this was what he wanted. As for whether he could be a servant, it was not worth mentioning at all.

After communicating with Lu Mo in detail that day, Lu Mo went north with the answer.

Huangfeng Mansion immediately became active in Huai'an.

First, he told Lu Zhenfei, the magistrate of Huai'an, that the crown prince was going south under the escort of Yang Chao.

Lu Zhenfei was shocked immediately, and hurriedly asked whether it was true or not. Huang Fengfu swore that it was true, even if it was false, since Yang Chao wanted to do it, he had to say it was true, not to mention that after communicating with Lu Mo in detail, Huang Fengfu It is also believed that Yang Chao has indeed created a miracle again, and really rescued the prince from the city of Beijing.

Huang Fengfu told Lu Zhenfei that Yang Chao had the emperor's secret decree before his death, and he would know it when he saw it.

Lu Zhenfei immediately reported the news to Nanjing, but he didn't say clearly that the news was true, he just told Nanjing that Yang Chao sent someone to send the news, saying that there was a secret order.

After Lu Zhenfei, Huai'an immediately exploded. Officials from all walks of life visited Huangfeng's mansion one after another, and praised Huangfeng's mansion as their guest of honor.

Huang Feng's mansion kept telling stories to people from all walks of life, telling him about the situation he asked from Lu Mo.

Yang Chao sent elite soldiers to escort Wang Chengen into Beijing, but encountered the city of Beijing being broken instead. As a result, these dozens of elite soldiers were ordered to escort the prince south, accompanied by three princes, Zhu Cijiong, king of mourning, Zhu Cizhao, king of eternal mourning, and Zhu Cihuan, king of mourning. There is Zhu Yu, the Princess of Changping, and Yang Chao is still holding a secret decree.

The credibility of this news is very high. In addition, there has been no news about the prince or princess. The latest news from Beijing is only that the queen and the concubines hanged themselves, the emperor Chongzhen committed suicide, and Wang Chengen committed suicide. There is no news about the prince.

Coupled with Huang Fengfu's eloquent and eloquent story, many people believed it.

But this story is really bizarre, and many people are still undecided. After all, King Fu in Nanjing is already in charge of the country, and there are four townships to support him. It developed into a situation where the generals of the four towns faced Yang Chao. It was hard to say who would win and who would lose.

Only two people expressed their attitudes in an instant. One was Wang Xiao. He had been staying in Huai'an to operate the salt transportation business.

The other is Du Shouchang, the largest salt merchant in Huai'an.

It has to be said that Du Shouchang is a character who can develop the Du family into the status of the number one salt merchant in Huai'an. This person is very capable. The last time he misunderstood Yang Chao, it only shows that he is not clever enough to grasp the court. It shows that the political ability is not good, but the vision is still beyond ordinary people.

It's normal for Wang Xiao to support Yang Chao. After these years, Yang Chao and the Wang family have basically become an alliance. His support is duty-bound.Du Shouchang made people look a little different. As the largest wealthy businessman in Huai'an, the Du family shouldn't be so aggressive in doing things, but he took the lead in expressing his opinion. We have to talk about his courage.

Moreover, Du Shouchang also invested in Fu Wang before. When Fu Wang was in Huai'an, he lived in the Wanxiu Garden of the Du family. Du Shouchang also promised his own sister to Fu Wang. He said that once he ascended the throne, Du Hongying, Du Shouchang's younger sister, would be made queen.

It can be said that Du Shouchang had formed an alliance with King Fu before, but now that he heard that the real prince was still alive, he immediately changed his face. The flexibility of the businessman and the courage of the wealthy businessman were undoubtedly revealed.

The Huangfeng Mansion also accepted the contribution of these two people, and the request to them was that the more food and ships, the better, and send them all to Linqing!

Why did they go to Linqing? Huang Fengfu told them that Yang Chao was determined to prevent Li Zicheng from going south in Linqing, so food and tank boats were needed there.

Wang Xiao immediately stopped the salt business in Huai'an, and sent all the ships back one by one, loaded with grain, and sent them to Linqing, Shandong.

Du Shouchang fully assisted, mobilized various resources of his own, and dispatched grain and ships from various places to the north.

But is Yang Chao really planning to stop Li Zicheng in Linqing?

of course not.

The purpose of Yang Chao staying in Linqing was to give Jiangnan time to react, let them digest the news that the prince is still alive, and let them think about who to support first, if they go south rashly, they really need to use force.

In addition, Yang Chao felt that his strength was not enough to deter the warlords of the four towns, so he planned to expand his troops in Linqing.

Linqing relies on the canal, as a big city on the canal that can be tied with Yangzhou, Hangzhou and Suzhou, but the Gyeonggi and Shandong areas were attacked by Li Zicheng, and a large number of refugees fled to Linqing.

Yang Chao intends to recruit a group of northern refugees to expand his strength, not too many, [-] troops are enough.

Then he stayed in Linqing to wait and see, and only went to Huai'an when he knew that Huangfeng's mansion had settled Huai'an's power.

"My lord recruited a thousand scholars."

In Linqing City, in the garden of a landlord's house, Lu Mo rushed to report that he had found a thousand scholars outside Linqing City.

"Is there any talent?"

Yang Chao asked casually while feeding the goldfish by the pond.

Lu Mo's excitement was half extinguished immediately, and he shook his head.

Yang Chao didn't care, scholars were spoiled. There were no less than 30 Shandong and Gyeonggi refugees in and outside Linqing City. Even with a literacy rate of [-]%, there were still [-] scholars. What's more, among these refugees The literacy rate must be higher. After all, those who are able to flee with their families are usually above the middle level.

But most scholars are unwilling to serve in the army. They would rather watch their families struggle with hunger than put down their bodies and join the army.

Yang Chao couldn't help but think of the refugees in Xinjiangkou. The refugees there were also very poor. They fled from Huguang and Jiujiang to suffer from hunger and cold.

How many people make a living by doing part-time jobs on the wharf. Yang Chao saw with his own eyes that many scholars let their old parents and sisters do heavy work and get stoned, but they stood with their hands behind their backs, holding a book Po Shu was wandering on the pier, but he refused to work, but he lamented his situation a few times.

This is the literati cultivated by the Chinese tradition. They have no responsibility or courage. They can watch their families suffer and are unwilling to make changes. He is a patriotic literati.

After Yang Chao’s siege of the city was completed, most of the refugees couldn’t even do day-to-day work for a living. At this time, Yang Chao began to recruit civilian husbands. Among them, there were only a few hundred scholars who were willing to be civilian husbands. Most of the others would rather live in shacks with their families Here, let the family members go out to beg for food to feed them, and refuse to work.

Compared with the refugees in Nanjing, the refugees in Linqing have already made Yang Chao very satisfied. At least one thousand scholars are willing to serve as soldiers.

This is directly serving as a soldier, not the most civilian husband.

"Well, one more day of recruiting, if we can't recruit scholars, we will start recruiting soldiers. These scholars have to work hard for you, and let them familiarize themselves with the military procedures, and let them do the paperwork for recruiting soldiers. If you are too busy, let them Hu Quan will help you."

Yang Chao said slowly.

There are not many scholars around him this time, only a few dozen, and most of them are dispatched in Huai'an.

In the past, the copywriting work was done by Yang Chao, Hu Quan, and Lu Mo. Later, the Huangfeng Mansion came and replaced Yang Chao. After recruiting enough scholars, Hu Quan and Lu Mo were also released. , it is also necessary for them to make a guest appearance in an emergency.

Lu Mo responded: "The bid can handle it!"

He vowed, full of passion, because he saw hope.

"Master Yang, the villain has found a few famous prostitutes to accompany him, and Master Yang must give you face tonight!"

As soon as Lu Mo left, a fat guy walked over.

Yang Chao also greeted him with a smile on his face, he had to give him face, because this is his home.

The owner's surname is Wang, and his first name is Youquan. He runs a money bank and pawn shop in Linqing. His family is wealthy and he built a garden next to Daning Temple.

Yang Chao's army was stationed in Daning Temple, so Wang's Garden was chosen as the temporary residence of the princes.

Yang Chao said with a smile: "Master Wang, His Royal Highness has been exhausted all the way, you should give His Highness a break first."

Wang Youquan smiled even wider, the pimples on his face were glistening, and he suddenly and quietly took Yang Chao's hand.

After pulling out his hand, he left behind a thick stack of banknotes, and said with a smile, "It's a great honor, and I still rely on Lord Yang to invite His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

(End of this chapter)