Liu Zhaoji and Shi Kefa had also brought pressure upon him; if left to guard this place alone, he would find it exhausting.
“Nonsense.” Jirgalang stood up and said, “What kind of damn drug did Jala E Zhen give you that you've completely disregarded the big picture?”
If it weren't for the fact that Alna had already been disfigured and that face was extremely terrifying, he would have suspected that Dodo and Alna had some kind of unspeakable relationship.
No, he must investigate what secrets this person is hiding.
But before he could investigate, the people below reported that Prince of Yu's men had snatched the suspect away.
Jirgalang was stunned, watching Dodo's expression shift from agitation and anger to calmness; only then did he realize that Dodo had come specifically to pick a fight with him.
It was all to delay him, then have someone take Alna away.
Dodo was a Prince after all; even though he insisted on taking the person away from the death cell, no one dared to truly defy him, even Jirgalang's subordinates did not dare to openly clash with him.
Jirgalang immediately said, "Are you mad? Men, arrest Alna at once!"
Dodo smiled at him, said nothing, turned to leave.
Jirgalang immediately followed him and said, "This Prince has already reported to the Regent. Now that you are taking him away, have you thought about how you will explain this to the Regent?"
Dodo said with an air of indifference, "I will write a letter to my brother to explain the matter; there is no need for the Prince of Zheng to worry about this."
Jirgalang was extremely adamant about capturing the person and bringing him back, yet even when he went to Dodo's residence, he did not see a trace of Alna.
At this time, Alna had already boarded a boat and left Xuzhou. He watched the Xuzhou port recede into the distance, his expression somber.
"Don't just stand here. If you fall in, we'll have to rescue you," a sailor nearby said bluntly.
Alna glanced at them, said nothing, turned back to the cabin.
In his estimation, even a trip to Woshan shouldn't have been this pathetic.
Although Dodo had sent him away, every person he had arranged was monitoring him, making him unable to help but wonder if these people would kill him once the treasure was found.
No, he had to find a way.
After all, there was no Zheng Family Treasure in Japan either.
After drifting at sea for some time, the ship finally made landfall on Japanese territory.
The group went through a great deal of difficulty to locate the Tanagawa residence. Upon seeing Tanagawa Shichizaemon, Alna immediately prostrated himself on the ground and wept, saying in broken Japanese, "Mr. Tanagawa, your parents have been murdered."
..
By the time Alna arrived in Japan, Dorgon had also received three letters. Two of them had arrived via official channels, one being Jirgalang accusing Dodo of letting human traffickers escape, the other being Dodo accusing Jirgalang of attempting to execute a meritorious officer without any evidence.
The last one was a secret letter Dodo wrote to Dorgon, explaining why he had let Alna escape.
After Dorgon finished reading them, he threw the two letters aside in a rage and said, "Two fools!"
To think they are still fighting amongst themselves at a time like this! Alna spoke of some treasure, but it was nothing more than baseless talk. Now that Zheng Zhilong is dead, there is no way to prove anything, yet Dodo actually believed him!
However, compared to Dorgon, Dorgon was even more dissatisfied with Jirgalang.
Dorgon and Jirgalang had no friction between them; it was Jirgalang who had targeted Dorgon from the very beginning after arriving in Xuzhou.
And Dorgon was well aware of the reason why he was targeting Dodo; it was simply because he felt that despite his merits, he had failed to become the Imperial Uncle and Regent.
This time he made a grand spectacle of it; he only wanted to investigate what had actually happened.
As a result, due to a personal grudge, Jirgalang had someone arrested despite having absolutely no evidence and even though Alna had never even left the camp.
This was simply an attempt to take advantage of the opportunity to attack Dodo for his lax discipline.
Jirgalang cannot be allowed to remain in Xuzhou any longer.
Dorgon pondered for a long while before ordering, "Order Jirgalang to go to Zijing Pass to garrison, have Haoge rush to reinforce Xuzhou."
Although Haoge was not particularly bright, he was quite capable in battle. Most importantly, he was of a lower generation as Dodo's nephew, so there was no conflict between him and Dodo, making their relationship much more harmonious.
As for Jirgalang, Dorgon was in no mood to deal with him right now.
Jirgalang was stunned upon receiving the transfer order.
Zijing Pass? Zijing Pass isn't on the front lines. Looking at Li Zicheng's line of attack, he wouldn't pass through Zijing Pass either.
How is this any different from sending him straight into retirement?
How could he earn any military merit if he didn't go to the front lines? Wouldn't he be constantly suppressed by others?
We are both Regents, so what right do you have to give me orders?
Jirgalang had originally intended to submit a memorial to the Central Government, but after picking up his brush, he lost that sharp edge.
Even if he wrote a memorial, what of it? The Emperor is young, everything is decided by Dorgon; even the Empress Dowager cannot contend with Dorgon.
Although Dorgon is currently leading troops on a campaign, everyone from the top to the bottom of the imperial court is his man. This memorial.. in the end, it will still fall into Dorgon's hands. What is he struggling for?
Especially since this transfer order had been sealed, meaning the imperial court had already approved it, no one thought anything was wrong.
Jirgalang was quite disheartened as he prepared to lead his men away; as he departed, Dodo even made a special effort to see him off.
However, Dodo came with the superiority of a victor, when parting ways with Jirgalang, he said hypocritically, "I wish the Prince of Zheng a safe journey. I heard the winds are strong at Zijing Pass; you must take great care of yourself."
Jirgalang said expressionlessly, "Jiangnan is damp and cold; it is the Prince of Yu who must take care."
Hahahaha!" Dodo laughed loudly. "There is no need for the Prince of Zheng to worry. This Prince has become somewhat accustomed to this place, besides, this Prince will be leading troops to attack Xiaoxian next, so I fear I won't feel much of the damp cold. However, the Prince of Zheng should be careful of the wind and sand; then again, the Prince of Zheng can simply stay indoors to avoid it, so it shouldn't be an issue.
Was this a mockery of him sitting on the sidelines without earning any military merit?
Jirgalang was fuming with rage, yet unable to say anything, so he could only turn and board the carriage.
To make matters worse, Dodo shouted from behind, "The Prince of Zheng is in the prime of his life, why is he sitting in a carriage? If you don't ride a horse now, be careful that you don't lose the chance in the future."
Jirgalang sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, beginning to contemplate how he should proceed in the future; with Dorgon's faction dominating the court, he could only retreat.
Just retreating.. will that truly be enough to save his life?
Jirgalang, carrying his doubts, had just arrived at Zijing Pass when an unexpected group arrived to visit him.
You say they claim to be a merchant caravan under the Marquis of Huating?
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Fine, going over there is also quite good; we'll deal with them together in the future. Meow presses its paw print on the location of the Island Country on the map. jpg
After coming back from watching the match, how did I not realize that the timing in these three chapters is all wrong!
Next update tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM
Chapter 221
Hmm?" Zhu Ci's hand holding the pen paused for a moment. He looked up and asked Fu, "What do you mean.. the Prince of Zheng is interested in cooperating with us?
Zhu Ci had recently received news that Dorgon had sent Haoge to Xuzhou and transferred Jirgalang away.
However, Jirgalang was not sent to the front lines to pressure Li Zicheng, but was instead transferred to Zijing Pass.
At first, no one could understand why Dorgon would act this way.
Only Zhu Ci knew that it must have been because Jirgalang had lost the struggle for power against Dorgon, forcing him to retreat.
In history, it seems Jirgalang retreated even more thoroughly; he hardly participated in political affairs during Dorgon's reign, which is why he managed to save his life.
However, after Dorgon died, he jumped out to begin the purge.
Of course, this had little to do with the original story; this was the history in Zhu Ci's memory. It was only because the Qing Dynasty was so close, combined with the various speculations and uncertainties that flew everywhere during the early years of its founding, the abundance of gossip found online, that he knew a little more.
Having already received the news, Zhu Ci had no intention of paying any more attention to Jirgalang, but now Fu was telling him that Jirgalang was willing to cooperate with them?
After seeing Fu nod, he simply put down his pen and said, "What's the situation?"
The matter was not particularly complex; it was simply that Jirgalang had lost his power, since the caravan under Fu's command happened to be passing through that area, they decided to pay Jirgalang a visit.
Well, this caravan leader was promoted by Fu, is primarily responsible for trade with Russia.
Zhu Ci listened in a daze, looking at Fu with a face full of wonder. "All your subordinates are extraordinary people."
It was just a merchant caravan, yet they actually dared to go and seek a partnership with Jirgalang.
Fu laughed and said, "Is this not a form of business in itself?"
Isn't the primary business of a merchant caravan to negotiate deals?
Zhu Ci nodded and said, "But I have no intention of cooperating with Jirgalang."
Who would want to cooperate with the Tartars? When they were massacring cities back then, they had no intention of cooperating with the Han people either.
The Han officials surrendered, the commoners were slaughtered by them as well.
Of course, those Han officials never cared about the common people in the first place, so there is no need to mention that.
Perhaps it was because modern history had been etched into his genes; in any case, Zhu Ci would have a visceral reaction whenever he heard the words "massacre of a city."
Zhu Ci's tone and expression were calm when he said this, yet Fu could detect the hatred hidden deep within.
Fu himself was a person of indifferent emotions; although he also felt that the Tartars' massacre of the city was no better than that of pigs or dogs, he knew that throughout history, when Han people fought each other for hegemony, they had also committed no shortage of massacres.
Not to mention the distant past, didn't Zuo Liangyu massacre a city as well?
He did not have such intense emotions, but he also did not think Zhu Ci was making a big deal out of nothing.
He advised, "Cooperation is only intended to mean fewer soldiers die. Jirgalang is not surrendering to Great Ming; cooperation is merely a temporary measure."
Zhu Ci remained silent after hearing this.
Fu continued to persuade, "Our army and the Tartars have been at a stalemate for a long time, which is not a good sign. I had even considered previously that if the Tartars were willing to negotiate peace, we should agree to their terms."
Zhu Ci frowned immediately upon hearing this.
Wu Xia and Jiang Xueyan stood obediently to the side, not even daring to breathe loudly. They occasionally stole glances at Fu, hoping the Grand Secretary would stop talking; had they not seen that His Majesty was already somewhat angry?
Zhu Ci rarely showed his emotions on his face, but after being by his side for a long time, Wu Xia and Jiang Xueyan could certainly sense when the Emperor was in a good mood and when he was angry.
If the Emperor's face clearly showed displeasure, then someone was going to have a bad day.
However, Grand Secretary Fu acted as if he had not received their message, continuing, "Your Majesty, suspending hostilities is beneficial to our side. A portion of the new rice seeds has already been planted, while the rest are still being cultivated. The climate in the south is somewhat better than in the north, not to mention we also have maritime trade routes in our hands."
Unless one side is blessed by heaven with exceptional generals like Wei and Huo, the struggle between two nations ultimately comes down to logistics, to grain and fodder, to wealth.
No matter how one analyzes it, Great Ming holds the advantage.
Of course, this advantage was also built on the fact that they possessed grain seeds with higher yields and greater cold resistance; otherwise, even if the Tartars requested peace talks, Fu would not agree.