Xie Sanbin was under immense pressure.
The Crown Prince had raised an army to "purge the imperial court" and protect the throne. Xie now faced the dual challenge of mobilizing troops and finding a suitable commander to suppress the rebellion. Raising the troops was easy, but finding a leader was not. The person he chose had to be someone who could neither win a decisive victory nor suffer a crushing defeat. The difficulty of this task was akin to pacifying Liaodong.
After much deliberation, Xie Sanbin thought of Prince Ding, Zhu Cijiong. As the son of Emperor Chongzhen and the younger brother of the Crown Prince, Zhu Cijiong’s involvement kept the conflict within the family. Regardless of whether the Crown Prince lived or died, it remained a private matter for the Emperor. Even if blame were to be assigned, it would fall on Zhu Cijiong, sparing others from being the scapegoats.
Chapter 1256