Xie Ming

Chapter 314: Jinan Provincial Government, Four Town Councils
June 10th, good morning!
After Xiao Lang led the troops and escorted the prince to the Jinan Provincial Government Office, the prince took a short rest because he was tired from the long journey.

The beginning of the Si hour (around 9 am).

Zhu Cilang woke up and met Lin Zengzhi again after more than a month.

Afterwards, the two sides talked and Xiao Lang and Zhi Zhong also joined them.

After some discussion, the Crown Prince, Xiao and Qiu finally understood that the reason why Lin Renxian was appointed first and why Old Lin was sent here immediately was also a deliberate arrangement by the three old ministers who followed him out of the capital!
Ni Yuanlu and Li Shichun were detained in Nanjing to provide military supplies for the troops heading north.

And Lin Zengzhi is here with the army this time, so he has two responsibilities!
Firstly, according to the original plan, the prince will go south to Yingtian, and on the way, he will definitely come to Jinan Prefecture first!
Lin Zengzhi wanted to be a marquis here because he was afraid that others might not know the details and might not be considerate enough to His Highness, and he was afraid that this might cause some unnecessary changes!

Secondly, this time when marching north, he also has the responsibility of supervising the army!

However, what the military supervisor did was somewhat unsatisfactory.

Except for Huang Degong's Chuzhou troops, the other three towns did not enter their respective defense areas as planned. Lin Zengzhi was a weak and literary man, and was not familiar with the officials and soldiers in the southern border.

Come to think of it, it's difficult to achieve anything, and it's normal. In short, it didn't play any big role, that's right!

The time was 10:15 am.

Huang Degong was sent out to discuss matters at the gate of the yamen of the remaining three towns in the city, and they were able to get the matter done.

Just a moment more!
Liu Zeqing of Yangzhou, Liu Liangzuo of Xuzhou, and Gao Jie of Fengyang, all from the three towns, arrived one after another.

Knowing that each of them was dragging their feet in marching and had not assembled in the defense zones as planned, the three generals showed great fear and trepidation during their audience.
How could the other three have expected that the prince could be so fast and come straight to Jinan Prefecture at the border of Shandong without any prior contact!

As a result, they all felt that this matter was not very good. After everyone greeted each other respectfully, no one dared to speak first, lest they bring bad luck!

Zhu Cilang, who was sitting in the main seat in the hall, snorted coldly when he saw Sanzhen like this.

He saw that all the generals in the hall were sitting at attention in deathly silence, which was very awkward, so he coughed lightly and started a conversation first.

"Ahem, the four towns in Jiangbei are all here!"

"This time, in order to join me in Yingtian in the south, you all have gone on a long expedition and headed north to serve the king. You have all worked so hard!"

Crown Prince Zhu Cilang spoke in a bland tone, and at this moment, there was always a strong sense of irony in his words.

Huang, Gao and the two Lius from the four towns heard it and each had their own thoughts!
Except for Huang Degong who was acting relatively well at the moment, the other three had complicated expressions, looked frightened and embarrassed, and dared not say a word!

Zhu Cilang paused for a moment and drank his tea, then looked at the expressions and attitudes of the four people. He suddenly raised his eyebrows and decided to start with Huang Degong. Then his eyes turned to the Chuzhou General Town!
"Haha, Mr. Huang, I just fell down and didn't have time to ask you!"

"I'm new to Jinan Prefecture, why do I see such a mess everywhere?!"

"At the beginning, I personally wrote a handwritten order, ordering you to go north and station in Jinan. What is the current situation of this city?!" He asked knowingly and put pressure on him step by step!

"Your Chuzhou unit is the leader of the four towns. You can tell us first!"

"Whatever the difficulty, don't worry about it."

"Work together!"

"Now that I have arrived in Jinan Prefecture and called all the leaders of the four towns here, let's close the door and have a good discussion!" Zhu Cilang paused at this point to observe the situation.

Seeing that the four generals in the hall were still nodding their heads without saying anything, he had no choice but to change the topic and continue the conversation with a smile.

"Haha! What's going on?!"

"Why are you all so restrained?!"

"I want to say that you two are from the southern border and the northern border, and you have been together for many years!"

"No, haha! Then I will be an outsider, and you will be strangers to me, right? Ah? Haha." The prince was smiling but hiding a knife, and it was obvious that he was trying to pick a fight! Hearing this, the four towns were terrified and could not sit still.

"Ah, I dare not!"

"I dare not! I dare not!" Then they all laughed and tried to make excuses.

In fact, with such soft and hard pressure, the situation in the meeting hall today is completely in the hands of the prince!
For a moment, the four towns were all trapped in the words and were in control!

"hehe."

"In order to resist the northern invasion, Emperor Chengzu moved the entire imperial court north to Beijing!"

"The king dies for the country, and the emperor guards the country's gates!"

“But if this really falls forward, then I, Zhu Cilang, am also an authentic southerner with my ancestral home in the south! Ah?! Haha.” Zhu Cilang said again, pulling and tugging, and glanced at Huang Degong for the second time!
The implication was obvious. I thought to myself, if you, Huang Degong, don't respond, you will be deliberately trying to embarrass me. You will be the most ignorant person!
"Hahaha, yes! Yes!"

"Your Highness, you are joking!" Huang Degong felt miserable, but he was helpless and could only smile miserably and try to smooth things over.

"This, our Jiangbei Four Towns, although in recent years, are still stationed in the Huaibei area!"

"But no matter where we are, we will always be part of the Ming Dynasty team!"

"This is the same for all people, regardless of north or south!" Huang Yan used a set of words in a high-sounding manner.

When the prince heard this, he calmly took the tea and drank it again, without showing any emotion.

He only heard the words "Ming Dynasty troops" and did not forget to affirm and agree.

"Well, good! That's a good point!"

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and asked Huang Degong to continue.

"Well, as for that, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince just asked about the things happening in Jinan Prefecture!"

"kindness"

"Hi!"

"I am an old official, a rough man, and I don't understand those roundabout official terms."

"Your Highness, since you asked, I will tell you the truth!"

"We in the four towns have all read your handwritten instructions!"

"At the beginning of this march, everyone wanted to follow the planned plan!"

"But, uh, wait until the combined forces march north, especially after reaching Jinan!"

"As the battle lines in the south are getting farther and farther apart, there are some problems with the delivery of food and fodder to the troops!"

"It's been said since ancient times that food and fodder must be sent before troops move, right?!"

"This time we are marching north, our four towns have dispatched troops and horses, the total number has reached tens of thousands!"

"So, this guy eats the horse's chews!"

"It's very difficult to maintain it!"

"At times like this, the military supplies in the rear are..., haha!" Huang Degong seems to be honest and straightforward, but he didn't tell the truth in this mess!
They intentionally helped the other three towns to cover up the incident. This was not out of comradeship, but an act they had no choice but to do!
After all, just after the crown prince had spoken a few words, the first person threw out the rhetoric of "the head of the four towns", completely throwing himself to the sky!
Just based on this inappropriate and insignificant sentence, Huang Degong is now at the center of controversy among the four towns!

What do the other three towns think? He can tell with a single stroke that they must be unhappy and regard him as a thorn in their side!
(End of this chapter)