Chapter 39: Return to Nanjing
Now that Huai'an has been decided, in the afternoon of the same day, Zhu Cihong ordered the repatriation of all large armies, but left the nearly 30,000 Shandong troops led by Ji Feng alone. Ji Feng was single-handedly promoted by him, and he is a candidate who can be trained to become a confidant.
After Gao Hongtu, Shi Kefa, Ma Shiying and the other three pavilion elders heard the news, they came directly to Zhu Cihong.
"Your Highness, it is enough to have Beijing guards on the way back to Nanjing, why do you still want to leave the Shandong army with you, you will consume money and food on the way, and you should repatriate them together." The one who opened his mouth was Shi Kefa, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he looked like he was a lesson, as if Zhu Cihong was his student.
Zhu Cihong frowned, he didn't like it in his heart, this Shi Kefa's tone of voice would not be more restrained, such a straightforward tone, no wonder he was demoted to Yangzhou after not long in the position of secretary of the Ministry of War.
"Do the two Pavilion Elders think so too?" Zhu Cihong looked at Gao Hongtu and Ma Shiying.
Compared with Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu and Ma Shiying seem to be much more scheming, they have been calm and relaxed since they came in, they can not come out and try not to be out of the way, they have long seen that Zhu Cihong deliberately left the Shandong army behind must have his own plans, and it is very clear that those who come out may cause Zhu Cihong's displeasure. You don't have to think about it to know that Shi Kefa, who doesn't have so many fancy intestines, must have been used as guns by Gao Hongtu and Ma Shiying, and became the first bird at the moment, but Zhu Cihong didn't plan to let the two old guys stay out of the matter.
"Back to Your Highness, Shandong is located in the south of Hebei, is the Jianghuai barrier, there is no room for loss, now most of Hebei has been controlled by Li Zicheng, and the thieves under his command may attack Shandong at any time, and the Shandong army to resist the thieves is the first priority, and it cannot be left for a long time." Gao Hongtu and Ma Shiying originally wanted to stay out of the matter, but since Zhu Cihong asked, they naturally had to say something.
Zhu Cihong shook his head with a smile and said, "I think, a few pavilions are always worried, who told you that this prince is going to take all the Shandong troops to Nanjing?" For the 30,000 Shandong military princes, the prince will have their own arrangements, and a few pavilion elders will go back to rest first, and the prince will give you an answer later. ”
Hearing Zhu Cihong say this, Shi Kefa and the three of them were blocked and had nothing to say.
"In that case, the ministers will retire first." The three of them withdrew.
After the three of them left, Zhu Cihong asked people to call Ji Feng, and he felt that it was time to give Ji Feng a choice to see if Ji Feng could really be cultivated to become a trustworthy henchman.
"The last general, Ji Feng, see His Royal Highness the Prince." Ji Feng knelt down on one knee and saluted Zhu Cihong.
"No courtesy." Zhu Cihong raised his right hand and let Ji Feng get up.
"Ji Feng, I won't say much if it's superfluous, now this prince wants to give you two choices, it's good for you to be careful. First, lead the army back to Shandong, and this prince will appoint you as the commander-in-chief of Shandong. Second, go back to Nanjing with Prince Ben, and when the time comes, Prince Ben will personally form a new army of the Ming Dynasty, and you will only be the commander of one of the battalions. After Zhu Cihong finished speaking, he was silent, waiting for Ji Feng's answer.
Ji Feng's heart was shocked, and he was silent, one was the general army of a province, the official of the frontier, holding tens of thousands of troops, high and powerful, and the other was just the commander of a battalion of thousands of people, such a difference was very big, it should be difficult to choose, but Ji Feng quickly made a decision.
"The last general is willing to return to Nanjing with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to be the commander of a battalion of the new army." Ji Feng said firmly.
"Okay, hahahaha! You have such a choice because you believe that Prince Ben, Prince Ben's new army will not disappoint General Ji in the future, and General Ji's choice today will definitely change your life in the past. Zhu Cihong was overjoyed, Ji Feng is really a talent who can be cultivated into a confidant, very decisive and very discerning.
Ji Feng also smiled, although he gave up the high position of the general army of a province, but His Royal Highness the Prince's performance along the way made him firmly believe that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be a saint who has the ability to prosper the Ming Dynasty in the future, and he has no regrets about following His Royal Highness the Prince.
"Don't worry, this prince will not let you go to Nanjing alone, after you return to the barracks, immediately select two people from the army, to be able to endure hardships, in the future this prince will arrange for them to train with the new army, this prince can first reveal one or two to you, the training of the new army will be very difficult in the future, you must be mentally prepared." Zhu Cihong said.
"The last general will obey the order, and the selection of the last general will not disappoint His Highness."
After transferring Ji Feng, Zhu Cihong re-appointed a staff general as the deputy commander-in-chief of Shandong, and let him be responsible for bringing the remaining 20,000 troops back to Shandong, waiting for the future Shandong commander-in-chief who would be trusted by the imperial court.
The next day, Zhu Cihong and Empress Zhou were invited to set off south to Nanjing in a special luxurious car brought by Ma Shiying and others from Nanjing.
Another day later, on the fifteenth day of the fourth lunar month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Zhu Cihong and Empress Zhou finally came to Nanjing City under the escort of 40,000 Beijing battalion troops. As the second capital of the Ming Dynasty, the initial Longxing place of the Ming Dynasty, the scale of Nanjing City is only slightly larger than Beijing City, but the prosperity is greatly beyond Beijing City, most of the wealth of the Ming Dynasty is in the south of the Yangtze River, you can imagine how prosperous the city of Nanjing that leads the entire Jiangnan is.
"Look, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived, and there is also the Queen Mother." A sharp-eyed person saw the golden dragon and phoenix car driving in the distance, and said excitedly.
The black army escorted Zhu Cihong and Empress Zhou's Luan car slowly drove into the city gate of Nanjing.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, long live long live long live!"
"Queen Mother, Chitose Chitose Chitose!"
The people spontaneously and excitedly knelt on the ground and shouted loudly. Although Zhu Cihong has not officially ascended the throne as the emperor, the people have already decided in their hearts that Zhu Cihong, the rightful prince, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty are the future emperors, and the Ming Dynasty is orthodox.
Unlike the northern region north of Jianghuai that suffers from natural disasters and wars all the year round, which causes the northern people to lose confidence in the Ming Dynasty, the Jiangnan region can be described as smooth and rainy, with sufficient rain and stable people.
Originally, because the capital was broken by Li Zicheng, the news of Emperor Chongzhen's martyrdom spread to Jiangnan, and the people seemed to have lost their backbone, and they were panicked all day long, afraid that the thieves would hit Jiangnan in the near future, but since Zhu Cihong gathered 260,000 troops to suppress Liu Liangzuo's rebellion, the people cheered and realized that the Ming Dynasty was not really in a state of decline, and the Ming Dynasty still had the crown prince and hundreds of thousands of troops.
On a teahouse not far from the city gate, Zhu Yousong, the king of fortune, saw this scene, and his expression was extremely gloomy, and he smashed a wine glass in his hand, and the sharp fragments pierced the skin, leaving blood.
"Lord Wang, take care of your body." King Fu's personal attendant worried.
"The general trend has gone, the throne is not the king's after all, hateful!" King Fu roared like a beast, extremely dissatisfied, but he didn't have any way, while Zhu Cihong was still there, Zhu Cihong, the crown prince, was orthodox, and no one would support him.
In this room, there are not only King Fu and his attendants, but also two naked ** women on the bed, who are in a coma, covered with purple and blue, and they don't know whether they are dead or alive. Looking at the appearance of King Fu at the moment, you can know that King Fu was drunk here last night, and found two more women to vent the evil anger in his heart.
"Let's go, leave this Nanjing City, this king doesn't want to stay here and be ridiculed by Zhu Cihong." King Fu turned and left.
The winner is the king and the loser is the coward, he Zhu Yousong will not give up easily, he will wait for the opportunity silently, one day he will wait for the opportunity to make a comeback, the throne should have been his fortune king, and there will be a day when he will get it.
Zhu Cihong and Empress Zhou were welcomed into the Nanjing Imperial Palace. The layout here is similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing, but it looks a little old and in disrepair, after all, it was established by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang to the present.
The enthronement had already been prepared, and the date of Zhu Cihong's accession to the throne was set three days later, on April 18 of the 17th year of Chongzhen.
Although Zhu Cihong has not officially ascended the throne, at the request of hundreds of officials, Zhu Cihong still lived in the Qianqing Palace in advance, and Queen Zhou lived directly in the Cining Palace where the Queen Mother lived.
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