"Your Majesty, look at this..."
"My lord, I have seen that Zuo Mengmei. She is indeed a rare beauty!"
"My lord, you are not young anymore. You are already 13 years old this year."
"Yes, a top five female, covered with gold bricks!"
In the Palace of the Prince of Chu in Jiangling County, Jingzhou Prefecture, Hou Xun, who had come all the way, and Wang Chengen, who had followed Zhu Cizhao from Li Zicheng to Wuchang, were now at the pond in the back garden of the palace, trying to persuade a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy. , a little boy wearing a yellow robe.
This little boy looks somewhat similar to Zhu Cixiang, but he is much more delicate and looks a bit like a little girl. He seemed to be losing his temper at the moment, and maybe a little confused. He was standing on a Taihu stone by the pond, looking like he was about to jump off.
This child is Zhu Cizhong's younger brother, King of Chu Zhu Cizhao!
Zhu Cixiang was the eldest son of Emperor Chongzhen. Of course, he was like an eldest brother, and he was full of care for his three younger brothers.
Zhu Cihong's third brother, Zhu Cijiong, became the third prince of Luliang Mountain under his care. Compared with his original tragic life, Zhu Cijiong now really lives a good life. After a while, the third prince of Luliang Mountain may become Dorgon's biggest problem...
And Zhu Cizhao's fate has also changed. Now he is the majestic King of Chu in the Ming Dynasty and the lord of Jingzhou. He can get married and start a business at the age of 13. His wife is still a beauty. He is also the number one warlord in the Ming Dynasty (if Zhu Cizhong is not counted as a warlord) Zuo Liang. Yu’s daughter, 18-year-old Zuo Mengmei.
But Chu Fan Zhu Cizhao didn't know what he was thinking. He was very dissatisfied with the arrangement of his good brother Zhu Cizhong!
He didn't want to be the king of Chu, nor did he want to go to Jingzhou City to attract hatred, nor did he want to marry Zuo Mengmei, who was five years older than him and had already been married before. He had to blame Li Zicheng for this matter, and he was blindly protecting some big matchmaker. Zuo Mengmei arranged for a captain from the imperial camp to be her husband.
As a result, Zuo Mengmei's husband was killed in the Battle of Shanhaiguan, leaving Zuo Mengmei as a young widow, and Zhu Cixiang was worried about her... But after Zuo Liangyu refused to marry her daughter to Zhu Cixiang, Zhu Cixiang asked Hou Cixiang to marry him. Xun came forward to protect the matchmaker and married Zuo Mengmei to Chu King Zhu Cizhao.
And the relationship between Zuo Liangyu and Hou Xun is unusual... As soon as he came forward, and it was a marriage that seemed to be very beneficial to Zuo Jiajun, Zuo Liangyu would naturally not disagree.
So today is a good day for Zhu Cizhao's child... But Zhu Cizhao is very depressed. He just wants to see his father Chongzhen now and doesn't want to get married at all. Moreover, he also heard about Zhu Cihong imprisoning his father and usurping power, and he had some misunderstandings about his good brother!
"Your Majesty, the sedan chair is about to enter the palace, you must stop being petty!" Wang Chengen looked at Emperor Chongzhen's son who didn't understand anything at all, and he was so anxious that tears almost fell down.
Zuo Mengmei, accompanied by Zuo Mengeng and Qiu Lei, arrived in Jingzhou yesterday and lived in Qiu Lei's General Military Mansion. Today she passed by in a sedan chair. Because she was a princess, the prince Zhu Cizhao had to go and pick up the bride, raise the curtain of the sedan chair and worship the heaven and the earth... There were so many things to do, there was no time to commit suicide by diving into the water.
"Wang Banban," Zhu Cizhao turned around and looked at Wang Chengen aggrievedly, with tears still in his eyes, "Do you think this is the father's will? Didn't you say that the father was held hostage by Brother Chun? He didn't Maybe there is such a decree... This is not what Father meant, is it?"
"Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen looked at Hou Xun, who had a normal expression on his face, and stamped his feet, "Just for the sake of Your Majesty, you have to marry Zuo Mengmei..."
Zhu Cizhao thought for a while and asked again: "If you marry Zuo Mengmei, will Zuo Liangyu send troops to seduce the emperor?"
How can I ask such a question... How can I still handle it if the prince finds out?
Wang Chengen was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He turned around and glanced at Hou Xun again: You are not going to expose the King of Chu to the Crown Prince, are you?
Hou Xun smiled: "Your Majesty is young."
"Yes, yes..." Wang Chengen said, "Young and ignorant!"
Hou Xun smiled and said: "Qiansui Master is wise and will not argue with the young prince."
Still have to expose it!
Wang Chengen didn't know what to say... Hou Xun was an official and important minister of Zhu Cixiang, so of course he couldn't hide it for the King of Chu.
Fortunately, if Zuo Jiajun and Nanjing don't deal with it, they will send their troops eastward! Therefore, he is not afraid that Zhu Cixi will kill the young prince with a decree.
"Wang Banban, tell me, if the lonely king marries Zuo Mengmei, Zuo Liangyu will send troops to clear the king's side?"
Zhu Cizhao probably learned bad things from King Chuang, and he was full of rebellious spirit!
Wang Chengen couldn't care so much anymore. There was no way he could let Zhu Cihong jump into the palace pond! So he stamped his feet and said, "Yes! As long as the prince marries Zuo Mengmei, Marshal Zuo will send troops to quell the king!"
At this moment, the sound of crackling firecrackers was faintly heard. It seemed that the bride-to-be team had arrived!
Zhu Cizhao will soon live happily with Sister Zuo Mengmei...
On the same day that Zhu Cizhao and Zuo Mengmei tied the knot, in the Marquis of Wuchang's mansion, the Marquis of Wuchang Zuo Liangyu, who was pale, listless, and couldn't stop coughing, was with his dog-headed military advisor Huang Shu, who was going south from Datong. , passed through Luliang Mountain, Chang'an City, Nanyang Prefecture, and Xiangjing Prefecture and arrived in Wuchang to meet Chen Yongxi, the envoy of the king.
"...Marquis, according to the investigation of the official, the rogue bandits have allocated millions of acres of land in Xiangyang and Yueyang to allocate soldiers, and their actions are exactly the same as the Tartars around Beijing. They obviously learned from the Tartars. The methods of the captives are harmful to the people, and it is no longer necessary to go without conquest for three years to deceive people's hearts. Although this will make the rogues lose their ability to confuse, it can also unite the people's hearts and turn the rogues into sitting bandits. Next, it is very likely that Xiangyang will , Falling Sun as the basis, annexing the capitals of Hubei provinces. I hope the Marquis will be more careful!"
"Hmph, another bandit who plunders people's fields!" Huang Shu said bitterly, "The Tartars are like this, the bandits are like this, they even kidnapped the holy prince... They are like wolves and tigers, they know the harm. civil!"
What? Even the prince did this? Chen Yongxi was stunned and said to himself: It seems that I made the right bet on going south this time. I have to go to Nanjing to seek refuge as soon as possible!
"Chen Jishan (Jishan is an official in the palace)," Zuo Liangyu's hoarse and slow voice sounded, "How is the situation on behalf of the king? Can it still be maintained?"
"Don't worry, Lord Marquis," Chen Yongxi said, "The king has left Datong a long time ago, moved to the territory of Zhenxiwei, and established the palace in the mountains of Luliang. Now all the heroes in Luliang respect the orders of the prince, and there are elite soldiers around the prince. 3000, enough to protect ourselves.”
"That's good," Zuo Liangyu laughed, "With King Dai and King Chu in check, the prince should not dare to usurp."
Chen Yongxi said: "The one who can contain the prince is probably the fifth prince."
"The fifth prince? Isn't he in the hands of Li Zicheng?" Huang Shu asked.
Chen Yongxi said: "When I saw Li Zicheng, I heard him say that if Chang'an is not safe, he will keep the fifth prince in the city..."
Zuo Liangyu was stunned, "Are you going to leave it to the Tartars?"
Chen Yongxi nodded: "Because the Tartars used Feihu Pass to attack Li Zicheng's retreat last time. Now he doesn't believe in our Ming Dynasty at all, so he used this threat."
Zuo Liangyu asked: "Can he save Chang'an?"
"It can't be saved." Chen Yongxi shook his head, "Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of troops crossed the Guanzhong, as if they were in an uninhabited land. This shows that Li Zicheng failed to take root in the Guanzhong... Without a foundation, how can he fight against the Tartars and Wu Sangui for a long time? A flanking attack? It will only be a matter of time before the army is defeated. So Lord Marquis must make preparations in advance!"
Zuo Liangyu's pale face wrinkled up. Li Zicheng might not seem like anything to Wu Sangui and Jiang Yu. But for Zuo Liangyu, Li Zicheng was an invincible and powerful enemy.
Because his true strength was completely destroyed by Li Zicheng in the battle of Zhuxian Town! Later, although more than ten troops were raised, they were still called 800,000. However, Zuo Liangyu was old and sick and had no energy to train his troops strictly. Therefore, although his troops were large in number, their combat effectiveness was very weak.
"In your opinion, how long can Li Zicheng last?" Zuo Liangyu asked with a frown.
"One year!" Chen Yongxi said with certainty. "Tongguan is one of the most dangerous places in the world, and it is difficult to break through it from the front. Li Zicheng let Wu Sangui enter the pass before, which was actually the biggest mistake. When Wu Sangui established a foothold in Ningxia and Gansu, he waved When the army marched eastward, it was the day Li Zicheng lost Guanzhong!"
