Volume 2 Southern Continent Volume 2 Southern Continent Chapter 67 Hot Blood (10)

  The one who just spoke was naturally Empress Zhang.

  Afterwards, Empress Zhang was honest and thick-skinned. In the palace, managing some internal affairs was already a big deal for her, let alone such major national events. To be honest, even Empress Zhang herself, who usually thought of herself as clever and capable, couldn't help but feel extremely nervous at this time. It wasn't until then that she realized how important the Crown Prince was to these people!

  As they watched the officials retreat one by one outside the screen, Empress Zhou finally looked at Zhang Huanghou and said sorrowfully: "If it were the Emperor and the Crown Prince..."

  "Don't worry!" Empress Zhang said resolutely: "The Crown Prince will definitely arrive!"

  "What's wrong?"

  "Hey, you're a clever son, you won't get yourself into danger!" Empress Zhang didn't dare to explain that she had already hinted that she had made a promise to the crown prince to abandon his parents and escape when they were in trouble. In the future, when they arrived in Nanjing, with her status as empress, she could explain the situation to the crown prince and ensure his safety. Therefore, the crown prince would definitely understand the situation and take action accordingly. But with Chongzhen's indecisive nature, it was likely that he would get trapped in the city.

  She used to be very fond of her younger brother, but seventeen years was enough. Occasionally, while rushing along the road, she would think that if the crown prince really abandoned his father and king, it would be quite wise and beneficial to the great cause, but this kind of thought... This kind of idea would occasionally appear, but Empress Zhang was very wise and would immediately discard such foolish thoughts.

  The emperor was not present, but the thirteen-year-old Ding Wang, who had followed him all the way, looked pale and listless. At this time, he was waiting eagerly for the two empress dowagers to order him to rest. The plump little boy had nothing despicable about him, but he really had nothing to be praised for either, making it impossible for people to take any interest in this prince.

  Even if it was Zhou Hou who was the birth mother of King Ding, she didn't consider this son as a talent to revive the great Ming dynasty. All her hopes were still placed on Zhu Cizhao!

  At this moment, two middle-aged women who were dressed up also clasped their palms together and silently prayed: "May the ancestors of our clan protect us, the crown prince is the foundation of my great Ming's revival, his safety is above that of others, may he arrive safely in Tianjin as soon as possible!"

  ……

  ……

  When the two queens were silently praying, Feng Yuan also returned to his own governor's mansion. In the large flower hall where he usually worked and met people, it was also full of people. When they saw him coming in, some attendants hurriedly stood up, while many others sat still without moving, only slightly nodding their heads as a courtesy.

  Among them, the first was Feng Yuanbao. This former Minister of War was as stubborn as ginger and became even more so with age. Before Feng Yuanbao had even sat down, he fired off: "What kind of thing is this? It was agreed that the Crown Prince would escort the two Empresses Dowager ahead of time, and if the Emperor insisted on being obstinate, we would only follow the Crown Prince to Nanjing... What's going on now? Suddenly a Prince Ding has appeared!"

  "The students heard that the prince was virtuous and brave, but the king... had never heard of it."

  "If there is a great change in the capital, then Wang will also be the emperor's eldest son. From a legal perspective, there should be no doubt."

  "Alas, a child of just over ten years old, the crown prince is still tolerable, but the emperor..."

  Everyone was talking, but Feng Yuanxiao felt annoyed and got up to change his clothes. However, someone was already waiting inside, it was the gentleman from the wine tower earlier. Seeing him arrive, he stepped forward, bowed, and then directly told him what the merchants had said.

  "Hum, they have quite a nerve!"

  One misfortune after another, do businessmen also dare to cheat and bully? Feng Yuan's face revealed a murderous aura, he had already decided to kill someone to establish his authority, and thoroughly intimidate the lawless merchants in the city.

  "The students should be careful," the scholar hastily said, seeing Feng Yuan's expression. "Detaining ships must have sailors to navigate and experienced old hands to take charge. Even if Master kills a few people, he can't eliminate all of them. If things get out of hand on both sides, it may not be beneficial for the greater cause."

  This is indeed true, Feng Yuan had already swallowed the words back down his throat. However, after thinking it over and not feeling resigned to it, he coldly laughed and said: "Let's talk about this again when we get to Nanjing!"

  "I beg your honor to instruct me on how to respond to these maritime merchants."

  In fact, in Nanjing, the merchants were even more powerful and colluded with the officials. What could a small circuit intendant do? Hearing that Feng Yuanbao had no real solution, the scholar-officials became even more aggressive.

  "There will be news within two days. We must set sail within three days!"

  "Good, then the student responds accordingly."

  Feng Yuanfei's tone was not pleasant, but his words were straightforward. All the details had been discussed and settled beforehand. Within two or three days, if the Emperor and the Crown Prince couldn't reach Tianjin, it would be a disaster, but even so, they had to set sail southward.

  Fortunately, there are still two queens and a king left, and in the midst of things being impossible, there is still a glimmer of hope.

  With this thought, Feng Yuan's pale face finally regained a hint of color. However, thinking of his son also being in the capital made him anxious about the situation. His eldest son was capable and handled matters with precision, loyal to the emperor and filial to his father, truly earning his favor. At this moment, he could only clench his fist in frustration and curse, "That scoundrel! Who knows what he's doing? Until now, there hasn't been any definite news sent over!"

  ……

  ……

  Zhu Ciyan led Chongzhen out, and then joined forces with Li Banghua, Wang Jiayan and others. They were accompanied by dozens of officials who had rushed to join them upon hearing the news, as well as their family members, guards, attendants, the original city defense soldiers, and over 400 people brought by Zhu Ciyan himself. The group numbered nearly two thousand people in total. After two hours of frantic rushing, they did not dare to rest for a moment. Although they had prepared thoroughly beforehand and were familiar with the roads and bridges, and there were relay stations along the way where they could change horses and store food and other supplies, even so, after running for over 50 miles, both men and horses were exhausted and unable to proceed further.

  At that time, there was no straight road from Tianjin to Beijing. The official roads had been out of repair for years, or rather, in the early days of a feudal dynasty, they would repair the postal roads and build relay stations for convenient travel.

  In the middle period, there will still be national power to repair and manage, but in the late period, there is simply no national power or mind to take care of such things.

  At the end of the Ming dynasty, officials governing local areas were just a bunch of extortionists and oppressors, ignoring everything else. In these few years, even the rivers and canals in Jiangnan have not been repaired, resulting in annual floods, which is simply a huge joke.

  As for the Yellow River, it has been decades since any repairs were made. The officials embezzled all the limited repair funds, so there was no money to make repairs.

  The Yellow River is like this, let alone Tianjin, which has no thriving sea transportation and is an insignificant prefectural capital.

  Along the way, there were several rivers, and it was even more difficult to travel. Fortunately, we had prepared in advance and repaired some critical places as much as possible... Of course, this silver was taken out of the prince's own pocket.

  They seized a moment of time, crossed two rivers, destroyed bridges, and set fire to several temples along the way. They also threw dead chickens and pigs into wells... However, the effect will not be great.

  After all, the poor condition of the official road and the rivers made it difficult for the large army to march, but for the light cavalry pursuing troops, these were only small difficulties that could be overcome, at most hindering their progress by half a day's time, and in half a day's work, they would cancel out all previous efforts.

  Now at least two moments of rest are needed before continuing on the road, and some bean feed must be given to the horses, and people also need to eat and drink water. This time is a necessary delay.

  Advance one more day, and it is possible to meet the Tianjin side's large team of responders, and then enter the city of Tianjin.

  Even so, it's still not safe. If the cavalry charges forward recklessly and attacks Tianjin or sets fire to the ships in the harbor... that would be disastrous.

  This worry also made everyone's thoughts as heavy as a stone. At this time, the horses were led by the soldiers to a small river in front of them to wash and drink water. Although they were escaping for their lives, they were united in their efforts, with high morale, and had a bit of a heroic appearance. However, the people who were really in charge of this troop all had furrowed brows and looked worried.

  "Your Highness, I request to stay behind and cover the retreat." At the emergency military meeting convened by Zhu Ciyan, Wei Yue spoke first: "There are still 260 cavalrymen under my command, and after reuniting with the troops of the King's son-in-law, the Marquis of Xin Hui, and others, as well as the cavalry brought by Wang Fu, the Vice Minister of War, and Feng Gongzi's Tianjin pacification cavalry, there are nearly 600 cavalrymen in total. If these troops are entrusted to me to cover the retreat, even if we all die in battle, I can guarantee that we will be able to hold out for four hours."

  He said, the crowd on one side was silently calculating, five or six hundred cavalry against two or three thousand enemies. A head-on battle would be unexpected and there might still be a chance of winning. However, observing the enemy commander, Luo Hu, he was not very old but acted cautiously and meticulously. It would be difficult to launch a surprise attack or even just a quick strike back. Moreover, Luo Hu's troops were also highly elite, making it hard to win with fewer numbers. Even if their own cavalry was extremely skilled and wore heavy armor, wielding powerful weapons... wanting to emerge victorious was simply a fool's dream.

  But entanglement and wrangling can drag on indefinitely, wasting an entire day. If one disregards casualties, time can be dragged out even more.

  After this calculation, the emperor and the crown prince's party will probably be able to arrive safely in Tianjin.

  "Alright," Zongwu also knew that this was not the time to be sentimental. The troops could be rebuilt, but if these people fell into enemy hands, everything would be lost and there would be no need to discuss anything further. He nodded slightly and said: "I won't leave a single person by my side, all three bureaus of men and all cavalry will stay behind, under your command... Wei Yue, you must remember, if possible, drag it out, and even if you can't hold on, try to bring as many people out as possible... These people are all my favorites, each one personally trained by me, and I'm really heartbroken."

  "Yes, Your Highness, rest assured!"

  Wei Yue's thoughts were different from Zhu Ciyan's. In his opinion, as long as he had the financial resources and the crown prince had the emperor's trust, it would be easy to gather a few thousand men in Jiangnan within a few months. The current three hundred or so people didn't matter even if they were all killed.

  He didn't say much more, stood up, hastily bowed and was about to leave.

  But just as he was about to leave, Wang Jiayan rushed over and stopped him: "Where are you going?"

  "The crown prince's order is for me to lead all the cavalry and leave a small rearguard. I will now go gather men and horses, and prepare the troops."

  "It's not necessary!" Wang Jia Yan shook his head and said, "We've already discussed it, there's a ferry here, the surrounding area has very few households, everywhere is dense with thorny forests, it's a good terrain to use, leaving behind several dozen large carts, forming a cart array, resisting the pursuing cavalry right here is the best option."

  He said, Wei Yue also looked around, and indeed, as Wang Jia Yan said, the terrain here can be considered "dangerous" in military terms. Seizing the geographical advantage, waiting for the enemy to come, is not a bad plan.

  But he still hesitated: "The enemy is all cavalry, our army also has a lot of cavalry, to defend against the enemy in a stalemate seems not to be a good method?"

  "Otherwise." Wang Jia Yan stroked his mustache and smiled, answering: "The cavalry will naturally escort the Emperor and the Crown Prince first, with light equipment, and follow up afterwards. The infantry will all stay behind to block and counterattack the enemy!"