Chapter 330: The Black-Hearted Crown Prince, Part 1 (Second Update, Begging for Monthly Tickets)

On the last day of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen in the Great Ming, several thousand clansmen serving as soldiers in the Xiaoling Guard managed, with great difficulty, to form a few square formations that were not quite square.

The Xiaoling Guard Commander, Feng Sizhong, was riding a horse around these square formations, occasionally cursing at them—although these clansmen were all men who could not be beaten with army rods, they were truly useless. No matter how much they drilled, they could not even form a decent square. In a little while, the Army-Governor Crown Prince would be arriving to review the troops. How could they present themselves in this state? They must not anger His Highness the Crown Prince and cause him to strip away his own rank of Guard Assistant Regional Commander.

He had originally been the chief bodyguard of Crown Prince Zhu, and only a little over a month ago had he taken up the post of Xiaoling Guard Commander with the rank of Guard Assistant Regional Commander.

Before accepting the appointment as Xiaoling Guard Commander, he had thought the Xiaoling Guard was just a matter of burning incense and kowtowing—a very leisurely post. He had originally come from the tomb guard service, so he was thoroughly familiar with this line of work. But only after taking the post did he realize that he had been tricked by that black-hearted Crown Prince, Zhu Cilang.

That's right, Zhu Cilang was black-hearted!

He still remembered what Zhu Cilang had said to him a month ago: "Sizhong, there are now many imperial clansmen drawing a subsistence ration under the tomb guards. But those clansmen selected into the Xiaoling Guard New Army are different from those freeloading clansmen—they still have hope. So you must train them well. You cannot treat them with the privileges of clansmen. Three drills a day are indispensable. Beat them when they deserve beating, curse them when they deserve cursing. On New Year's Eve, We shall come to review the troops! This is also an assessment of you!"

By the way, officials under Zhu Cilang did not have it easy. There had never been any rule that one could only rise and never fall—unless one was a great meritorious noble like Wu Xiang or Wu Sanfu, whose achievements were enough to sustain them for a lifetime. Slightly lesser officers, even those with the rank of Guard Commander, still had to undergo all sorts of assessments.

Not only were there assessments, but there were also open evaluations based on battle merit and service merit—that is, a group of superior officers or officers of equal rank would grade your performance over the past period. The grades were nine in total: upper-upper, upper-middle, upper, middle-upper, middle, middle-lower, lower-upper, lower-middle, and lower. Those graded in the lower three grades naturally had to face punishment. But this was not the most tormenting thing. The most tormenting thing was a legendary last-place elimination system! It had not yet been formally implemented throughout the entire army, but pilot programs had already begun in the four musket brigades, the two cavalry brigades, and the Xiaoling Guard New Army—any banner company rated worst in the annual evaluation would have all its officers demoted to common soldiers, and the battalion-level officers of the battalion to which that banner company belonged would be demoted to take over the worst banner company. This was falling back to before liberation overnight!

In order not to be demoted, the battalion commanders and banner company commanders of these units were under tremendous pressure and had no choice but to drill their troops with all their might.

And the Xiaoling Guard New Army commanded by Feng Sizhong certainly would not be compared with the four musket brigades and two cavalry brigades for last-place elimination. Everyone knew that this guard was dead last among all the new armies of the various divisions and guards. And there was an enormous gap between it and the second-to-last! If last-place elimination were implemented at the brigade-guard level, then Feng Sizhong would soon be demoted. But the performance of the Xiaoling Guard New Army could not be too poor either, or else Crown Prince Zhu would surely turn hostile!

Just as Feng Sizhong and his subordinate officers could not get the formations in order no matter what, the melodious sound of a bugle suddenly rang out, followed by a burst of urgent hoofbeats. Two dispatch riders galloped in, and upon entering the new city of the Xiaoling Guard, they shouted at the top of their lungs: "The Army-Governor Crown Prince, Thousand Years, has arrived!"

Crown Prince Zhu had come today in high spirits. He placed great hopes on these brothers of the same clan. In times of peace, these people were a burden to the court. But now the situation was different, because Zhu Cilang could freely deal with these several thousand burdens!

He had long planned to implement the most thorough last-place elimination system in this Xiaoling Guard New Army composed of clansmen—what could be eliminated was not only officers at all levels, but also the status of clansman itself! Any banner company ranked last in the entire guard each quarter would have all its soldiers stripped of their clansman status, and would then face the punishment of discharge or transfer away from the Xiaoling Guard.

Correspondingly, however, there was also a first-place promotion reward. The banner company ranked first in the entire guard each quarter would have all its soldiers given the opportunity for promotion—not promotion in rank, but transfer from the Xiaoling Guard New Army into the General Tax Bureau Academy for one month of tax collector training. Then they would be sent out to serve as guards for the tax bureaus and military farm garrisons—that is, as "armed tax collectors." This was a lucrative post that allowed one to share in the profits of the military farms and tax offices!

By then, their days of hardship would finally be over.

Of course, the military farm offices and tax offices would likewise implement all sorts of assessments and last-place elimination systems. If you did poorly, you would be eliminated! Who asked this generation of Great Ming clansmen to be so unlucky—first encountering the rebels, and now encountering a black-hearted Crown Prince even more ruthless than the rebel Li Zicheng?

Even with brothers of the same clan, the black-hearted Crown Prince would fully exploit their remaining value—these clansmen had basically all received some education and could barely serve as low-level civil servants. Moreover, although they were of noble blood, they were now all destitute and at the end of their rope, and now they had left their homes, with no relatives or friends to turn to. They had no choice but to follow Crown Prince Zhu.

The reason they had not been assigned before was mainly that there were not enough positions, and many low-level official posts were not ones that could be filled casually.

Being a minor official or a technical official in the yamen of Nanjing was actually not very difficult. After all, under a great tree there is good shade—right under the court's nose, what could not be endured? But being sent out to serve as a tax collector managing military farms—heh heh, those were all posts that offended people.

Without a bit of ferocity, anyone sent out would be fated to be bullied by the local strongmen. So Zhu Cilang had established the Xiaoling Guard New Army, selecting a batch of young, strong clansmen without any great abilities to be harshly trained.

Zhu Qirui, of the Min Prince line, who had grown up in Wugang Prefecture in Huguang, was only sixteen years old this year. He was of the same generation as Min Prince Zhu Qiyin, who had been beaten to death by Zhang Xianzhong's troops in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen. His parents had also vanished without a trace in that sudden disaster, while he and several brothers of the same clan had escaped the calamity. They had first drifted to Nanning, where they lived for a time on the support of clansmen of the Ning Prince line. Later, they came to Nanjing together with the younger generation of the Ning Prince line.

The Army-Governor Crown Prince had been fairly considerate toward the younger generation of the Min Prince line, selecting an old man of the "Gan" generation to inherit the princely title, which could be considered propping up the Min Prince line. He had also allowed many younger members of the Min Prince faction to enter the various yamen of the court as clerks. But Zhu Qirui had not been so lucky—he had only managed to become a common soldier in the Xiaoling Guard New Army. After entering the great camp and training bitterly for over a month, his bones were nearly falling apart, and even on New Year's Eve there was no leave.

Now at last the time had come for His Highness the Army-Governor Crown Prince to observe them. Perhaps these days of hardship were about to end.

At this thought, Zhu Qirui straightened his back, puffed out his chest and belly, and summoned up every ounce of spirit he had!

(End of Chapter)