Chapter 135: Emperor Hongguang's personal expedition
The navy of the small imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty actually already had a navy, but a group of boats gathered near Suqian. Due to the fierce and sharp conflicts among the internal generals, they never made a large-scale march northward.
Ma Shiying originally hoped to persuade Emperor Hongguang to take charge of the expedition in person, using this method to ensure the orthodox authority of the King Fu lineage and to boost the weak morale of the Southern Ming army.
However, given the courage and talent of Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong, it was too difficult to ask him to lead a personal expedition. After Ma Shiying, who was in charge of the government, kept calling and making various requests, Zhu Yousong finally slowly proposed to follow the example of Song Zhenzong during the Tanyuan Alliance. According to the precedent, crossing the Yangtze River to the Yangzhou Yujia Supervisor should be treated as a personal expedition.
At least it was able to get the toad emperor out of Stone City. Although it failed to facilitate Zhu Yousong's personal expedition with his army, it finally allowed the emperor to cross the Yangtze River and arrive in the north of the Yangtze River.
The dragon boat carrying Zhu Yousong across the river raised its head and raised its tail, and its whole body shone with finely carved golden scales painted with gold paint, which looked very majestic.
On the top of the three-story dragon boat, there were forest warriors in helmets and armors and eunuchs and palace officials in colorful uniforms. Countless musicians held colorful flags and horns and gave orders.
When the dragon boat sailed across the Yangtze River, the north and south banks of the river were crowded with soldiers and civilians who came to watch Emperor Hongguang's personal conquest of Yurong. The soldiers from the three towns in the north of the Yangtze River and the Zhejiang Yong regiment in the south of the Yangtze River gathered on the bank of the river. It was crowded and extremely lively. There were even women holding small children in their arms, squeezing into the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Ming Dynasty’s spectacular scene of an emperor’s personal conquest, which had not been seen for hundreds of years.
Ma Shiying had already set off first and was waiting for the arrival of the dragon boat fleet in Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River. Gao Qian, Liu Liangzuo, and Huang Degong, the three domineering marshals of the vassal town, originally showed unusual contempt for the authority of Emperor Hongguang, but this time Ma Shiying Under the strong request of Zhu Yousong, they finally reluctantly obeyed Ma Shoufu's request. The generals of the three towns came to Yangzhou, preparing to accept Zhu Yousong's review and summons.
Ma Shiying hoped to use this to strengthen the authority of the imperial court, and also hoped to give some cracks to the domineering warlords of the three towns.
Because Huang Degong had been favored by Emperor Chongzhen, he respected the authority of the imperial court. He first responded to Ma Shiying's call and led more than a thousand of his generals to Yangzhou to greet the dragon boat fleet.
After Huang Degong set an example, Gao Qian and Liu Liangzuo, two domineering speculators, lowered their rebellious heads and each led their troops to Yangzhou to greet Emperor Hongguang.
Ma Shiying led most of the civil servants of the imperial court to wait for the emperor to drive near Zhenjiang. Li Jiantai, a member of the Northern Party who was at odds with Ma Shiying on a factional basis, and Su Guansheng were among them. Li Jiantai looked at the giant ship sailing across the river, He also said with some admiration:
"My ministers have worked really hard. Being able to make the emperor personally conduct the expedition has completely wiped out the decades of decadence in the Wanli and imperial court since the Apocalypse. When I was still in the Beiting, I once persuaded the late emperor to personally conduct the expedition, but it was a pity that the late emperor was dismissed by a group of people. The rebellious ministers were confused and indulged in the strategy of uniting with the captives to quell the invaders, so that Youyan fell into the wild world. We must learn from the past."
Li Jiantai then praised Ma Shiying again, saying that he was like Kou Zhun, the famous prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Battle of Chanyuan between Song and Liao Dynasties, Kou Zhun tried his best to persuade Song Zhenzong's imperial commander to fight in person. In order to boost morale and strive for greater victory, Kou Zhun asked Song Zhenzong had to cross the Yellow River and go to the front line in person.
Kou Zhun's request to cross the river is indeed similar to Ma Shiying's request to Emperor Hongguang to cross the river today.
At this moment when the hearts of the people in the court were wavering, Li Jiantai's praise of Ma Shiying did indeed consolidate Ma Shiying's position as chief minister to a large extent and enhance the authority of the court.
Huang Mingjun, the governor of Zhejiang who supported the establishment of the Tang king with the Zheng family of Fujian, was also among the officials waiting for the Holy Emperor.
The Zhejiang Tuanyong trained by Huang Mingjun and Zhu Dadian are also another pillar of the current Nanming regime besides the three-town warlords, so Huang Mingjun's right to speak cannot be underestimated.
Huang Mingjun stroked his beard and smiled:
"Today the Holy Emperor crossed the river. This alone is not comparable to the emperors of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty. With such emperors and ministers here, our Ming Dynasty Zhongxing will never be regarded as a moon in the water or a flower in the mirror."
After Li Jiantai and Huang Mingjun spoke, the ministers congratulated Ma Shiying and praised him for his important contribution in urging the emperor to cross the river.
Only Huang Degong, Gao Qian, Liu Liangzuo and other generals were lined up in a line. These generals in iron armor all had pale faces and did not say a word. Even Zheng Hongkui, the Zhenjiang general who was sent to the north of the Yangtze River by the Zheng family in Fujian, also looked hesitant.
After all, Nanming now has signs of separatist vassal towns. Among these military generals, even those who are relatively loyal to the court, such as Huang Degong and Zheng Hongkui, are very satisfied with the situation that they have single-handed control of all personnel and financial rights.
The military generals did not hope that Emperor Hongguang would really transform under Ma Shiying's urging and become a brave and resourceful ruler of the Ming Dynasty. Because in that case, when the authority of the imperial court was strengthened, the power of the separatist power in the hands of the generals in the feudal town would be slowly taken back.
Ma Shiying stood at the forefront of the civil and military ministers. Seeing the sailboats connected in a white cloud getting closer and closer under the waves of the river, Ma Shiying's hands were filled with Han River.
He had completely given up hope that Emperor Hongguang would go to Xuzhou to lead a personal expedition. He only hoped that Zhu Yousong could cross the Yangtze River and make some symbolic inspections to the north of the Yangtze River to boost the morale of the Southern Ming army. That was enough.
But even with such a small request, Ma Shiying was afraid of any unexpected situations happening again.
In Ma Shiying's worried mood, the dragon boat fleet finally sailed across the Yangtze River and arrived at the dock at the Jiujiang estuary on the north bank of Zhenjiang. The dragon flags on the big ships were fluttering. When the soldiers and civilians in the north of the Yangtze River saw the flags, they all burst into cheers and cheered enthusiastically.
There were shouts of "Long live" and "Long live".
However, Ma Shiying, Li Jiantai, Huang Mingjun and other civil servants, Huang Degong, Zheng Hongkui, Liu Zeqing, Gao Qian, Liu Liangzuo and other military commanders in the vassal town, as well as all the civil and military officials of the imperial court, waited for a long time, but they still did not wait for Zhu Yousong's emperor to disembark.
Only the Nanjing garrison eunuch Han Zanzhou and the new eunuch Bingbi Lu Jiude, who was in charge of Nanjing's operations, each disembarked with a large group of musicians and palace maids.
Ma Shiying was shocked and asked quickly: "Where is the Holy Master?"
Han Zanzhou was speechless. Only Lu Jiude said: "When the Holy Emperor arrived at Longtan, the emperor accidentally caught wind and disease, so he returned to Beijing first. Instead, Han Zanzhou, the garrison eunuch, and I crossed the river to inspect and commend the troops in the north of the Yangtze River."
The civil and military officials who had been waiting for a long time at the Jiujiangkou Pier all looked at each other in disbelief. They couldn't believe that Zhu Yousong actually regarded this state affairs as child's play. He gave up halfway and gave up halfway. He didn't even know to say anything to Ma Shiying, so that Ma Shiying was so embarrassed in front of the ministers.
The great face and prestige are all lost!
Zhu Yousong knew that if he told Ma Shiying and other ministers about his return to Nanjing halfway, they would strongly object. In the end, they would still ask him to go to Jiangbei for adventure. Zhu Yousong had been wandering for several years since Luoyang was conquered by the Chu army. It is easy to live the life of an emperor in Nanjing, so why would he be willing to take risks in Jiangbei again?
He regarded crossing the river as a dangerous journey, and in order to avoid Ma Shiying's opposition, he concealed the news of his return to Beijing. It was not until two eunuchs, Han Zanzhou and Lu Jiude, arrived in the north of the Yangtze River that Ma Shiying finally realized that he had been completely fooled by Emperor Hongguang. .
The vassals in the outer towns, who were originally worried that the imperial court would take advantage of the emperor's personal conquest to vigorously strengthen the centralization of power, now felt shocked, angry, happy and sad.
Huang Degong was shocked that the emperor and court officials regarded state affairs as child's play and went back on their word. How could there be hope for the Ming Dynasty to revive?
Liu Liangzuo was angry because he came to Yangzhou to meet Zhu Yousong because of the pressure from his generals and ministers, but in the end he was let go and was humiliated. He was really resentful.
Gao Qian was happy that Zhu Yousong had gone back on his word, Ma Shiying had lost all prestige, and the Nanjing court had ceased to exist in name only. In the future, vassal officials like him would not be constrained by the imperial court and could do whatever they wanted.
What makes Zheng Hongkui sad is that Zheng Zhilong has decided to send a fleet to transport the Southern Ming army for the Northern Expedition. The Zheng family's investment is really not small, but such a ridiculous mistake happened at the beginning of the Northern Expedition. The prospect of the Northern Expedition is really pessimistic.