Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 532 The Crown Prince

Zhao Yongping’s temporary festival hall in Hetuala City.

At this time, there was no civilian in the city except the army. All the people in the city had been moved to Fushun by Zhao Yongping.

Zhao Yongping stood in the festival hall, his eyes fixed on the topographic map on the wall, which marked the locations and information of mountains, rivers, and various tribes.

This map was produced by Zhao Yongping after he spent a lot of effort and made countless Qing soldiers who surrendered and the tribes they took refuge in correspondence with each other.

Even so, this topographic map looks very simple, but Zhao Yongping is very satisfied with it. After all, a simple map is better than being completely in the dark.

Zhao Yongping had never fought in the mountains, but some of his subordinates were very familiar with it, namely Hao Yongzhong and Li Laiheng.

In response, Zhao Yongping asked the two how to deal with Bolo who was hiding in the mountains.

Li Laiheng pondered for a moment and said slowly: "If Bolo retreats into the mountains and forests and wants to survive for a long time, he must get the support of the local people. In this vast mountain, Bolo can only get the support of the tribes in the mountains. First, he can get food and supplies, and second, he can also get some soldiers and news."

Zhao Yongping nodded and said, "Yes, Bolo retreated into the mountains and forests, and there is no large-scale planting in the mountains. It is difficult for the Qing army to survive by fishing and hunting. Therefore, these tribes are the key. As long as we control these tribes, even if we don't fight, the Qing army will not be able to hold on."

Hao Yongzhong touched his head and said, "What the Marshal said is very good, but those tribes are all in the deep mountains and old forests. They usually don't come out. How can we ask them to help us fight Bolo?"

Zhao Yongping felt a headache when he heard this. In this vast mountain, even if 50,000 or 100,000 people were put in, they might not be able to find Bolo.

Zhao Yongping pondered for a moment and proposed a countermeasure: "As the saying goes, only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you fight a hundred battles without danger. First, send people to contact the various tribes to show them the benevolence of our dynasty. Then, we can trade with those tribes. Ironware, food, cloth, as long as they want, everything can be exchanged."

Li Laiheng nodded and said, "You can give it a try."

Hao Yongzhong also suggested at this time: "General, in my opinion, we still have to rely on ourselves in the end. We can send spies into the mountains to map the terrain and collect intelligence. As the pioneers of the army, it is best to recruit some local guides who are proficient in the mountains and forests."

This vast mountain range covers an area of hundreds of miles, and the Qian army has no idea how many Jurchen tribes there are. Moreover, these fishing and hunting tribes in the mountains and forests have tough people, and almost every adult man and woman can use tools. If they push all these tribes to the Qing army, the cost of completely wiping them out will be enormous.

Fighting in the mountains is different from fighting on the plains. In the mountains and forests, you can be ambushed if you are not careful. Even if it is a cold gun or cold arrow, it will cause great pain to the Qian army.

Just when Zhao Yongping was getting frustrated because Bolo had hidden in the mountains and the Qian army could not find him, Meng Jun, who was far away in the capital, was also extremely troubled.

During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the world. Perhaps because of his tragic experiences in his childhood, he attached great importance to his family. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang put all his thoughts into his sons, and all his sons were made kings, with real titles.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use his sons as a barrier to protect the capital, but he did not expect that the Jingnan Campaign would break out in just two generations. It was not only a rebellion by the vassal kings, but more importantly the Ming Dynasty's vassal king policy, which was also one of the reasons for the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

As the saying goes, the lessons of the past are not far away. The lessons of the Ming Dynasty are right in front of us. How could Meng Jun not see them? Therefore, Meng Jun would never follow the old path of the Ming Dynasty and actually confer titles on the kings.

Meng Jun now has the eldest princess Meng Hui, the crown prince Meng Chengzhao, the third son Meng Chengjin, the fourth son Meng Chengxi, the fifth daughter, Princess Anping Meng Wan, the sixth daughter, Princess Yongning Meng Xian, and the seventh son Meng Chengzhang, a total of three daughters and four sons.

Among these sons, only the second son Meng Chengzhao was made the crown prince. Several daughters were named princesses, but the sons were still called princes and were not made kings.

Meng Jun was not anxious about this, but the old lady was. So not long after Meng Jun returned to Beijing, the old lady called Meng Jun over and asked, "The emperor just conferred titles on his meritorious officials, why didn't he confer the title of king on his own son?"

Meng Jun explained: "The system of feudal princes in the former Ming Dynasty was extremely disastrous!"

Zhou picked up her cane and knocked hard on the floor tiles, saying angrily, "Even the saints said that relatives should protect each other, and the emperor was very kind to his meritorious officials, so why is he so harsh on his descendants? If you said that you would wait a few years until your grandson grows up before conferring the title, then I, an old lady, would definitely not say anything. But from what I hear from you, you really don't plan to confer the title of king on your son?"

Meng Jun was speechless, because he knew that in the feudal monarchy, if an emperor was very harsh to his own son, this would not make the people of the world praise him. Instead, they would think that the emperor was a cruel person, because how could a person who did not even love his own son be benevolent to the world?

Meng Jun could only evade the question by saying that he had no such idea, and he also fooled the old lady by saying that the princes were still young.

In the past few years, Meng Jun has been fighting in many battles and traveling around, and rarely stays at home. Therefore, he does not have much communication with his children, so that the children are more afraid of Meng Jun than close to him.

After realizing this problem, Meng Jun took his children and wife out of the city for outings several times to build relationships. After a few times, Meng Jun quickly became much closer to his children.

However, not long after this incident, an imperial censor in the court wrote a memorial: "In the past, when the sage kings traveled, they avoided extravagance and advocated frugality, and were concerned about the suffering of the people and the difficulties of people's livelihood. Wherever your majesty's dragon carriage goes, there are thousands of entourages, and the noise of carriages and horses is blocked. The roads are blocked, and the common people can't avoid it. Merchants have to close their businesses and the villagers are panicked. Moreover, the guards are strict and there are alerts along the way, which disturbs the people. It is not only inconvenient, but also adds trouble. Moreover, your majesty is a role model for all people. Every move is related to the state system. I sincerely hope that your majesty can think of the people of the world!"

Meng Jun was very angry about this. He was the emperor already, so what was wrong with taking his family out of the city for an outing? His going out of the city had already reduced the number of guards. As for the saying that the villagers were panicked and the people were disturbed, it was completely an exaggeration and nonsense.

Meng Jun actually had a pretty good temper, at least compared to Zhu Yuanzhang, it was much better. But Meng Jun was still very angry at this censor who stood on the moral high ground and criticized him vigorously, so he issued an imperial edict to demote this man to Hainan.

A few days after this incident, Yang En submitted a memorial requesting to select a teacher for the prince.

Yang Enyan said: "The crown prince is the foundation of the country. Since ancient times, all emperors have regarded the education of the crown prince as the foundation of the country. Now the prince is four years old and is smart and wise. If he can be taught by a famous teacher, he will definitely be a wise ruler in the future!"