Fu took it to have a look and said with a hint of a smile, "Compared to a month ago, Your Majesty has made great progress; it seems you have been studying diligently."
Zhu Ci shot him a glance, having already said that he was just not very good at this aspect, not that he was illiterate!
Fu said while handing it over to Zhu Ci, "It's just that this calligraphy still needs more practice."
With over a decade of formal education as a foundation, he lacked training in calligraphy, so he could only improve this skill through painstaking, repetitive practice.
Zhu Ci gave a noncommittal hum and said, "Take it and distribute it, Brother. If they talk nonsense again, just scold them."
Zhu Ci was actually even more prone to scolding people than Zhu Ci, but he had been very busy before.
For a long time, most people thought the Ministry of Rites was a clean and simple office, but nowadays, this office is not simple at all; he has to handle all sorts of ritual precedents within the imperial court.
After all, besides him, few among the civil and military officials in the court knew clearly.
Zhu Ci? Who would dare ask the Emperor?
Zhu Ci was instantly invigorated upon receiving the instructions. He had been enduring those two "rebels" for a long time; they shouted about legitimacy every single day, but where did they place him, the true legitimate heir?
Although Zhu Ci's scolding was satisfying, it wasn't satisfying enough; he had wanted to take up the brush himself for a long time, now he finally had the opportunity.
Zhu Ci watched his elder cousin walk away with high spirits, wondering if he had accidentally helped him unlock some skill he shouldn't have.
Unfortunately for Zhu Ci, after the manifesto written by his cousin reached the hands of Zhu Yujian and Zhu Yihai, the two of them actually ceased all hostilities and sent no further manifestos to them.
After all, when they received the manifestos, they also happened to receive news that the Emperor of Great Ming was personally leading a campaign, having already conquered the three cities of Sizhou, Linhai, Hong County, was now heading straight for Fengyang Prefecture.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: I really don't have time to mess around with you all anymore. If you keep looking for trouble, I'm really going to beat you up! *Cat paw print on an official proclamation. jpg*
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 107
By this stage, Zhu Yihai and Zhu Yujian had ceased all hostilities, not daring to provoke him any further, for they feared that if they truly angered this junior, he might abandon his standoff with the Qing Army and turn his wrath upon them instead.
Zhu Yihai goes without saying; he is the weakest of the three families. Although Zhu Yujian has Zheng Zhilong, he is not much better off.
Most of Zheng Zhilong's forces were the navy; even if it were him, he wouldn't be able to guarantee such a sweeping victory when facing the Qing Army.
Then why would he even bother cursing? Not to mention that capturing Sizhou is of immense significance; that is where the Imperial Tombs are located. If the other side brings up their ancestors, how would they dare to curse?
Moreover, if the enemy could hold off the Qing Army, they would be able to develop steadily; it was indeed not the right time to break ties with them.
Thus, only Zhu Yujian and Zhu Yihai were left, hurling insults back and forth at each other.
They stopped making trouble, but at this moment, Huaian was not particularly happy either.
Huang Chunyao wished he could write eight hundred memorials a day; he even approached Fu and said, "Brother Huaizhang, as a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, you also have the duty to remonstrate. You should try to persuade His Majesty."
Fu Huaizhang felt a rare sense of helplessness: "His Majesty has already made his decision; what use is persuasion now?"
Huang Chunyao..
He was somewhat worried; what was to be done about the young Emperor's innate rebellious nature?
He had clearly agreed before setting out to be nothing more than a mascot, leaving the task of fighting the Qing Army to Liu Zhaoji and He Gang.
As a result, after capturing Sizhou, His Majesty split his forces into three separate routes.
Liu Zhaoji headed straight northwest toward Hong County, He Gang headed north toward Wuhe, their Emperor personally led a squad leisurely toward Linhai, intending to reach Fengyang Prefecture City.
Hong County, Wuhe, Linhai were almost in a straight line from north to south, meaning that the Great Ming army was currently pushing from east to west.
After Huang Chunyao and the others submitted their memorials, Zhu Ci immediately stated that he would remain in Fengyang Prefecture City, sent Liu Zhaoji and He Gang to attempt an attack on Xuzhou.
Regarding this, everyone in the imperial court expressed their disbelief.
The Emperor's credibility is completely bankrupt!
Please come back quickly!
Returning is out of the question; Zhu Ci still needs to go to Fengyang Prefecture.
Sizhou is where the ancestral tombs are located, while Fengyang Prefecture is where the imperial tombs are located.
Even if Zhu Ci did not care, there were always those who did.
When he led his men to capture Sizhou and went to pay respects at the ancestral tombs, the people in Huaian became extremely excited; if Fengyang were to be taken, the boost to morale would certainly be extraordinary.
However, if he wants to take Fengyang, he must first deal with Liu Liangzuo and Hu Maozhen.
Although Liu Liangzuo himself was not a good man, he possessed some military capability, most importantly, the number of troops under his command was greater than those held by Zhu Ci.
As for Hu Maozhen, he was originally one of Shi Kefa's subordinates, stationed outside Yangzhou City at the time. When the Qing Army arrived, he surrendered immediately, showing no intention of resisting at all.
After his surrender, he was directly appointed as the Fengyang General, while Liu Liangzuo was instead the one assigned to assist in the defense; it was unknown whether Dodo also felt that someone like Liu Liangzuo was untrustworthy.
"Your Majesty, do we need to recruit them?" Zhao Jia asked, looking at Zhu Ci.
“Surrender? Surrender to whom?” Zhu Ci didn't even lift his eyelids. “Surrender to Liu Liangzuo or to Hu Maozhen? Do you think they will surrender?”
After saying that, Zhu Ci thought about it and felt that if it were Liu Liangzuo, he might actually surrender, but it was hard to say for Hu Maozhen.
He was already infamous, now he might even wish that the Emperor of Great Ming would die right here, just to prove that his previous choices had been correct.
Because Hu Maozhen was here, Zhu Ci had no intention of letting Shi Kefa come from the very beginning.
Shi Kefa was a strange man; he didn't show any weakness when facing enemies, but he became a completely different person once he was facing his own subordinates. If Shi Kefa were truly allowed to come, it was even possible that he might actually end up surrendering to Hu Maozhen.
Zhu Ci asked, "What's the situation with Li Cheng? And what about Chang Ping?"
“Captain Chang has already taken Shangdian to the north, but there is still no news from Captain Li.”
Zhu Ci lowered his eyes and looked at the map, saying, "Something is wrong. Under normal circumstances, at this very moment, Li Cheng should have either captured Dingyuan or retreated. I did not order him to hold a stalemate with the Dingyuan garrison. Send someone to scout again!"
However, there was no news from the scouts that had been sent out.
Zhu Ci immediately said, "Zhao Jia, you stay here to conduct a feint against Fengyang, I will lead troops to Dingyuan."
"Ah? This.. Your Majesty, let your servant go instead." Zhao Jia was startled.
Zhu Ci glanced at him and said, "There is no news from Li Cheng, the scouts sent out have also gone silent. Clearly, a large number of Tartar troops are lying in ambush at Dingyuan. The fact that they haven't come to Linhai means they must intend to head straight for Xuyi or Sizhou to cut off my retreat. What use would it be if you went?"
Zhao Jia could not help but urge, "Your Majesty, let us wait a little longer; perhaps the battle at Dingyuan is simply intense?"
While Zhao Jia was giving his advice, a scout returned wounded, bringing with him an arrow.
After Zhu Ci took the arrow, his expression darkened involuntarily: "Alna!"
A series of Manchu characters were carved on this arrow. Zhu Ci did not recognize them, but the Manchu characters carved on the arrow he had taken when he was struck by an arrow back then were exactly the same as these.
Zhu Ci tossed the arrow aside and said with a cold sneer, "Perfect, I'll settle my new and old grudges all at once."
Alna had better pray that his protagonist's halo continues to shroud him, otherwise, he can just wait to die in Dingyuan!
Zhao Jia was truly startled to hear this name. Ever since his Emperor began resisting the Tartars, the only person who had ever caused his Emperor trouble was this Alna.
He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please reconsider. Let this minister go."
Zhu Ci waved his hand and said, "My mind is made up."
Zhao Jia said hesitantly, "But this person is truly formidable."
Zhu Ci glanced at him sideways. "So what? Is he not still a defeated foe of mine? It is not as if I have only defeated him once."
Although he had been struck by a sword at that time, Alna was also wounded back then; the only difference was that Zhu Ci had not personally dealt the blow.
There was no way; if he truly had to face him in an archery contest, Zhu Ci would turn and leave without a second thought.
He would not do something if he had no certainty of success.
It really was strange; whether it was during his school days or later when he was an undercover agent, his marksmanship had always been quite good.
Back then, he had relied on those marksmanship skills to rise from a mere henchman to a gang leader; how could he find archery so difficult after transmigrating?
He felt that once this battle was over and he returned, what he would need to practice was not calligraphy, but archery.
Although Zhao Jia still wanted to persuade him, he had been by Zhu Ci's side for a long time and knew from the Emperor's expression that he would not be able to stop him.
As Zhu Ci gave orders to his subordinates, he felt extremely refreshed; this was the reason why he wanted to transfer Liu Zhaoji and He Gang away.
If those two were here, they definitely wouldn't agree to his departure; it wouldn't be easy for him to persuade them either.
But Zhao Jia and the others had all been trained by him personally; they had learned absolute obedience back in the military camps, so they certainly wouldn't oppose him easily now.
Zhu Ci left most of the men to Zhao Jia, while he himself took a thousand personal guards and rushed toward Dingyuan.
One thousand personal guards was not many, but Alna himself was only a Jala E Zhen, he had at most one thousand five hundred men under his command.
Of the thousand personal guards brought by Zhu Ci, two hundred were rocket soldiers, he also brought one Hundred Tigers Galloping Rocket Carriage, with two hundred of each of the three types of rockets.
Even if Alna had Red-coated Cannons, he would not be afraid.
Moreover, the tide of this battle has reversed; he is the attacker, while Alna is the defender.
If he could find Li Cheng, his military strength would reach three thousand.
However, Zhu Ci did not underestimate the enemy; throughout this journey, he had continued to adhere to his previous principle of occupying villages first.
This time he did not arrange for his own people, as he had no intention of rushing to distribute land.
On this expedition, the only thing that surprised him along the way was that there were no places where the Qing Army had run rampant, the common people seemed to be living their lives reasonably well.
It was a bit bitter, but everyone was working hard to live earnestly.
Zhu Ci even helped act as a "witness" once, meaning a witness in the legendary sense, witnessing an incident where neighbors borrowed grain from one another.
Although these commoners were illiterate, they still solemnly wrote down IOUs, promising to use their family oxen as collateral if they could not repay the debt.
Zhu Ci suddenly realized that there were some things that didn't seem to require his "rescue," and he didn't need to place himself in the position of a savior. As long as he created a stable environment for these commoners, they would manage to live their lives well on their own.
Therefore, Zhu Ci relaxed completely; his policies remained unchanged, but he was no longer in such a hurry.
As it turned out, it was the local commoners who were anxious. As the army passed through, some even asked loudly from the side, "Why aren't the lands being distributed anymore?"
Zhu Ci had no choice but to stay in the area, directly had the local villagers elect a more suitable village head to distribute the land.
Anyway, there are always a few people in a village who can read a few characters, so it doesn't need to be many; they just need to know numbers and the names of each household's head.
After arranging the land distribution, Zhu Ci would leave one or two people here to supervise before continuing on his way.
He pushed forward all the way to Dingyuan, only to find that Dingyuan City was left unguarded by any officers or soldiers.