Chapter 1456: Tu Hai, You're in Luck!

Zhu Hexing, the Ming Crown Prince, and his consort Ding Yuying, escorted by several hundred black-armored cavalrymen, appeared within the sight of Tu Hai and the others.

The battle-hardened Tu Hai felt a chill run through him the moment he saw the Crown Prince and the woman beside him beneath the twelve dragon banners. For both the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were clad from head to toe in black plate armor. Their attire was no different from that of the Imperial Guard cavalry escorting them — at least from a distance it looked identical. Were it not for the twelve dragon banners marking them out, Tu Hai would never have known which one was the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince in black robes and black armor, guarded by black-armored cavalry — this was full battle dress! Not the ceremonial armor worn when reviewing the three armies, but the armor one wore only when actually taking the field.

Although black did appear among Ming imperial garments — the mianfu ceremonial robe and the yanbianfu leisure robe were of dark xuan color — the mianfu was grand ceremonial dress, not entirely black, and worn perhaps once a year at most. The yanbianfu was merely casual wear for relaxing at home, much like an under-robe. When Ming emperors appeared before the public, they basically still wore red and yellow attire.

And the ceremonial regalia of the Emperor, the Crown Prince, Princes, and Commandery Princes was likewise very bright and colorful — it could never be a mass of unrelieved black.

In fact, within the Ming army's land forces, only the Imperial Guard, famed for night fighting, and the Black Cavalry — the black-muzzled mule soldiers — wore black battle dress.

And when the Emperor, Crown Prince, Princes, and Commandery Princes took the field, their battle dress, according to the rules laid down by Zhu Cilang, had to match the color of the troops around them. If one dressed differently from everyone else, and especially grandly at that, one would easily draw cannon fire and sniper shots — and might well end up dead, or departed.

Now the Ming Crown Prince, wearing battle dress for the field, appearing with two or three thousand fully equipped, fully armed black-armored elite troops, made only one thing clear — the Crown Prince truly intended to attack Mulan River City and the Majia clan, if they dared resist!

Two or three thousand Imperial Guard officers and men, raised from the Boy Scouts, drawn up in several perfectly ordered marching columns, came galloping forward — the sight was truly awe-inspiring.

Tu Hai, Nuomin, and Yaliqi all knew that cavalry capable of forced marching in such formation could, once deployed on a battlefield, advance like a wall and unleash an overwhelming assault. Moreover, the Ming Imperial Guard cavalry all rode folded-ear horses and Arabian horses, whose short-distance sprinting power was astonishing.

If the Majia clan's cavalry encountered them in open country, they would likely face disaster!

If they could not win in the field, defending a city was even less worth considering. The only thing they could hope for was to slip into the deep forest and wage Mobile Corps Commander war.

But life in the deep forest was harsh!

Tu Hai still wanted to retire to Shenyang or even Tianjin.

Just as Tu Hai was thinking of his great mansion in Tianjin, Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying, escorted by several dozen especially tall black-armored cavalrymen, galloped up to within a dozen or so paces of Tu Hai before coming to a clattering halt. Because they stopped so abruptly, many of the warhorses reared up on their hind legs, stood for a moment, then came down hard, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Before the dust had even settled, Zhu Hexing's loud laughter rang out: "Tu Hai, you are in luck! Not only have you escaped a great calamity, but We also have wealth and glory for you, Tu Hai. Come forward at once!"

Escaped a great calamity — cold sweat broke out on Tu Hai's forehead. What he had escaped was nothing less than the extermination of his entire family!

Startled awake by Zhu Hexing's words, Tu Hai hurried forward several steps, then prostrated himself: "Your subject Ma Tu Hai humbly wishes His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ten thousand fortunes and golden peace!"

Seeing Tu Hai kowtow and pay obeisance to Zhu Hexing, Nuomin, Yaliqi, and the several hundred able-bodied men following behind Tu Hai all knelt together and performed the grand salute to Zhu Hexing as well.

Zhu Hexing laughed heartily, dismounted, then walked to a spot five or six paces from Tu Hai and stood still, merely raising his hand with a smile to gesture for the kneeling crowd to rise. The young Crown Prince seemed in excellent spirits, his face wreathed in smiles. Ding Yuying also dismounted and, with several dozen armored soldiers, gathered around Zhu Hexing.

Behind them, the two or three thousand black-armored cavalrymen did not dismount, but spread out in a single line, forming five battalion-level square formations.

Tu Hai climbed to his feet and stood respectfully before Zhu Hexing's horse, hands hanging at his sides, shoulders lowered, waiting for the Crown Prince to speak. Nuomin and Yaliqi likewise stood behind their father.

Zhu Hexing said with a smile: "Tu Hai, We have heard you have a daughter of sixteen or seventeen?"

What? Asking about my daughter the moment we meet? Is he looking to take a consort? At this thought Tu Hai stole a glance at Ding Yuying, who stood beside Zhu Hexing, and thought to himself: I've heard the current Crown Prince is somewhat afraid of his wife.

"Yes, yes — Guo'er, come quickly and let the Crown Prince have a look." Tu Hai hastily called his daughter to his side.

His daughter's Manchu name was Yaliqi, meaning "sweet fruit," and her Chinese name was simply Guo'er — Ma Guo'er.

When Ma Guo'er was called to her father's side, her heart pounded wildly — she had already stolen a look at the Crown Prince. Tall and broad, on horseback he was like a mountain, on the ground like a tower. He looked every bit a baturu — truly a fine man!

Zhu Hexing glanced at Ma Guo'er, but his brow furrowed slightly. She was passable-looking, yet seemed a bit cunning. He turned to Ding Yuying and said: "Yuying, do you think she and Old Nine are well matched?"

The "Old Nine" he meant was of course not Zhu Ci'en, the Prince of Luoshan Commandery, whom Li Yue'e had abducted to be her husband, but rather Zhu Hegong, the son born of Zhu Cilang and Ajige. He was eighteen this year, and had reached the age for discussing marriage.

"Of course they are well matched!" Ding Yuying paused, then said to Tu Hai: "Tu Hai, the Crown Prince wishes to arrange a fine match for your daughter — to make her the Princess Consort of His Highness the Prince of Jin. Are you satisfied?"

"Satisfied, satisfied!" Tu Hai was overjoyed. "Your subject Ma Tu Hai thanks His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for his grace!"

The Prince of Jin, Zhu Hegong, held the remote title of Protector-General of Andong, and his mother Ajige was none other than Hong Taiji's fourteenth princess. With such status, such bloodline, Tu Hai from any angle would have to call him "master." That his daughter Ma Guo'er could become Zhu Hegong's Princess Consort — not a secondary consort! — was absolutely marrying above her station.

So Tu Hai had indeed struck marvelous luck!

And his good fortune was, of course, not without reason. He was Majia Tu Hai! Anyone with the slightest knowledge of early Qing history would know what sort of figure that was.

Zhu Cilang had always thought highly of this Tu Hai — otherwise Jin Dong'e would never have written him letters. And for Zhu Hexing's expedition to Heilongjiang and Andong to win both fame and fortune, the help of Tu Hai, that supremely capable local power broker, was indispensable.

Between the White Mountains and the Black Waters lay boundless forests and snowy plains. Without the help of local power brokers, even with the "twenty-four seeded kings" Zhu Hexing had brought along, it would be very difficult to bring all the mountain strongholds and manors under his banner in a short time. Still less could he drive them to fight against Oboi and Yolo. Without large numbers of local power brokers and guides, to tangle with the enemy in the forests and snowy plains for long would mean sinking into the quagmire of a protracted war.

So this Tu Hai was a trump card Zhu Cilang had prepared for his son.

And this trump card could serve two purposes: it could assist Zhu Hexing in winning fame and fortune in Heilongjiang and Andong, and it could also assist Zhu Hegong in garrisoning Andong.

In Zhu Cilang's plan, the feudal system of Heilongjiang and Andong still required two "Protector-General"-level chief leaders.

Because a feudal system must have ranks and layers — one level pressing down on the next, one layer contracting to the next — only then could it endure for the long term.

As for this northeastern corner, the twenty-four limited-edition seeded kings personally sired by Chongzhen were merely one level in the feudal system. Below them, apart from the household retainers who had come with their principal and secondary wives' families, there were also more than three hundred members of the old Zhu clan — they too were seed stock, though not the special-supply, limited-edition kind, but rather the low-spec and mass-market versions.

As for above the twenty-four seeded kings, there were two special-supply Prince Protector-Generals personally sired by Zhu Cilang!

The Prince of Jin, Zhu Hegong, was one of them, and had long since been designated for the post of Protector-General of Andong.

As for the other, Zhu Cilang favored the imperial thirteenth son, Zhu Hezheng, born of Jin Dong'e — only Zhu Hezheng was still young, and had not yet reached the age to be posted to a region.

So Zhu Cilang had sent the Crown Prince Zhu Hexing to take up post in Heilongjiang. The Crown Prince needed to establish some foundation in Heilongjiang and Andong, lest the two frontier-guarding princes grow restless in the future.

(End of Chapter)