Since the Ming Dynasty's southern expedition in the 16th year of Hongwu, the Luchuan leader Si Lunfa took advantage of the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Liang Wang to expand his territory. At that time, the Hongwu Emperor's policy towards Yunnan was to consider the overall situation first. The main contradiction in Yunnan was the territorial dispute between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and the minority of local officials who were dissatisfied with the Ming Dynasty's rule was a secondary contradiction.
Mu Ying focused on the main contradiction and concentrated on fighting the Northern Yuan Dynasty. After the whole of Yunnan was pacified, he led the army to the south to settle accounts with Luchuan Silunfa.
When the two armies fought, Si Lun found that Mu Ying's southern expeditionary army was much stronger than the previous Northern Yuan army and could not defeat it, so he proposed to surrender. According to the policy of Emperor Hongwu that appeasement was the main method and attack was the auxiliary method, Mu Ying agreed, and the Ming court established Luchuan Xuanwei Mansion, which was a hereditary autonomous system just like the Guizhou Xuanwei Mansion of Lady Shexiang and Lady Mingde.
Si Lunfa accepted the enthronement, and as soon as Mu Ying's army left, he repeated his old tricks and started a rebellion.
If peace is sought through struggle, then peace will exist; if peace is sought through compromise, then peace will die. The Ming Dynasty’s policy towards native officials in the southwest was: it was okay to grant them official titles, but it was not okay to cause division.
Mu Ying led his troops to attack Luchuan, but Si Lunfa was unable to defeat him and surrendered to ask for peace. This happened several times, just like Zhuge Liang's seven captures of Meng Huo during the Three Kingdoms period. Everyone got used to it, just like the New Year. Every year they would rebel once, otherwise it would seem something was missing.
Sirunfa was an ambitious man. He not only wanted independence, he also wanted to expand his influence towards Myanmar. Whenever there was civil unrest in Myanmar or the border was slightly relaxed, he would also launch an attack on Myanmar to fight for territory.
Because of this, Mu Chun did not take the battle report to heart. He felt that his father was a mature marshal and would be able to solve such problems himself. Thousands of troops had already come, so a battle group of five hundred elephants would not be a problem.
What's more, his mission is to protect the production and living safety of 2.5 million immigrants. He is too busy to have time to return to Beijing to see Sister Shanwei.
So Mu Chun ignored it. This year he planned to set up one hundred academies in Yunnan to promote the integration of immigrants and natives through education. In the past six years, he has personally resettled the immigrants and found that communication is more lasting than war. However, all these cost money. Mu Chun racked his brains to write a memorial to Emperor Hongwu, painting a rosy picture for the emperor and asking the court for money and people.
Since becoming the crown prince, his handwriting has improved.
But the next day, when he was revising and polishing a memorial requesting money and people, Captain Shi brought another urgent report, "Prince! Kunming is in danger!"
"Don't scare people. My father is not an ordinary person. He—" Mu Chun lazily opened the battle report, suddenly sat up straight, his eyes stern, "Gather the troops, take all the weapons you can bring, especially firearms, and send out the troops immediately."
At that time, Qian Hu thought that something terrible was going to happen, so he asked, "Did Si Lunfa get some heavenly soldiers and generals? He forced the Duke to send emergency military reports for two consecutive days."
Mu Chun said: "I don't know, but my father was injured, and it seems that the injury is not light."
Shi Qianhu was a little bit unconvinced. The Duke of Qian was a very face-conscious person and would never say in front of his eldest son that he was injured and needed his eldest son to rescue him. Given their bad father-son relationship, the Duke of Qian would not give in even if he died in battle.
Mu Chun saw through his subordinates' thoughts and said, "In his letter, he just said that Si Lunfa's elephant regiment was difficult to defeat this time and our army suffered heavy casualties, but his handwriting was weak, and he hasn't taken in any new concubines in recent years... He must have been seriously injured."
Shi Qianhu said: "It seems that the prince still cares about the Duke. He can tell the Duke's recent situation just by looking at the handwriting."
Tsk! Mu Chun twisted his lips and said with disdain, "He is lucky and will not die. I am just worried that the commander will be injured. The enemy is so powerful. If they can't hold on, 2.5 million immigrants in the rear will die under the feet of the elephant's meat pillar. Wouldn't my six years of hard work be wasted? I was hoping to earn money for my wife with this credit."
Mu Ying and Mu Chun, father and son, are mortal enemies, but they should put aside their differences and fight side by side when necessary. They should first resolve the main contradictions, and then it will not be too late to fight each other behind closed doors.
Six years ago, Mu Chun made a promise to Hu Shanwei that he would not let down his country or his lover. Mu Chun is not Wang Ning, and he must make a choice between his career and his lover.
He is Muchun, he doesn’t make choices, he wants them all.
From fighting the first battle of his life at the age of seventeen in Jiangxi against bandits, to participating in the Northern Expedition at the age of eighteen, to now settling two and a half million immigrants, he has to win every major event.
Mu Chun set off with his elite troops, with carriages loaded with Portuguese cannons, matchlock guns newly developed by the Nanjing Gunpowder Factory for the Shenji Camp, and other equipment. There are many elephants in Yunnan, especially war elephants specially used for combat. Their skin is thick and their flesh is like a natural armor. Cold weapons cannot cause great danger to war elephants unless they are shot in the eyes.
Firearms are the most effective against war elephants.
Mu Chun traveled day and night to the southwest front to support his father. At this time, Si Lunfa's elephant regiment had already captured three cities. Mu Ying retreated again and again and set up camp in Hedong.
The southwest is warm, and it is still snowing in Yanzhou in early spring. Flowers are already blooming here, but in the war, the fragrance of flowers cannot cover up the smell of blood. Across the wide river, you can hear the roar of war elephants on the other side, like ancient beasts.
Woo-oh!
The Ming army was repeatedly defeated by the elephants' legs and tusks. Hearing the continuous cries of the elephants, they became panic-stricken and their morale was low.
When Mu Chun walked into the military camp, he heard some wounded soldiers talking: "Elephants can swim, and they can carry four or five soldiers on their backs. They are just like small warships. General Mu has issued an order to keep an eye on the enemy camp on the other side of the river. The enemy may cross the river and attack at any time."
"How can we defend? More than half of us are dead or wounded, and we are exhausted. They have 500 elephants crossing the river, which can probably block the water. What can we do to stop them? An elephant can crush a living person into a pulp with one foot."
Mu Chun felt upset when he heard this. When Captain Shi was about to scold the two wounded soldiers, he stopped him and said, "What they said is just a lie.
In fact, the purpose of fighting a war is to win, not to die in vain. In the current situation, strict defense is the worst option. My father is really old. "
It was rare for Captain Shi to say something for Mu Ying. "There is no other way. This river is a natural barrier after all. If we continue to retreat, Kunming City will be behind us. The elephant's big legs can kick the city gate open with one kick."
Woo-oh!
The elephant group that was drinking water with their long trunks on the other side of the river roared in response, and even deliberately sucked up water and sprayed it on each other with their nostrils, like waterfalls.
Mu Chun stopped and looked at the rare spectacle of elephant trunks spraying water into the sky. "Interesting."
The Ming army only felt fear, how can it be funny! You have not seen the fear of the Elephant Regiment!
The brave ones simply pulled out the cotton from their military coats and used it to plug their ears, not wanting to hear the death roar of the elephants.
Just as he stuffed the cotton ball in, Mu Chun pulled it out. "The enemy deliberately let the elephants scream to suppress our morale, just like when Xiang Yu was surrounded by the Han army, Liu Bang ordered his soldiers to sing Chu songs, but the Chu songs were replaced by the roar of elephants. Don't fall for it. Get up. I'm going to teach you to sing a song to fight back. You can't just fight for your dignity."
The commander of the time hurriedly said, "Sir, you must not do that! The war is coming, how can you sing those... decadent songs?"
At that time, Qianhu thought that Mu Chun was going to return to his old business and started using Wuzhong erotic songs to boost morale.
Mu Chun waved his hands. "How is that possible? I was just a small captain before, managing bandits and playboys like you, so of course I had to sing those vulgar songs, otherwise you wouldn't listen. Now I am the prince of Qianguo, managing 2.5 million immigrants, so of course I have to be more solemn."
"We'll sing military songs. You all know some of them. If you all sing together, the sound will definitely be louder than those elephants."
Mu Chun jumped onto the high platform, cleared his throat, and sang: "Wearing iron armor and carrying a long sword, I will fight with you. The road is long. We are united in the same enemy, and we will live and die together. I will fight with you, and my heart will not be lazy. I will step on Yanran and chase my thoughts. I will fight with you, and my song will be fearless."
In fact, the original lyrics were "Tread on Yanran and chase the Hu people", but Mu Chun deliberately changed it to the rebel leader Si Lunfa.
The lyrics are simple and the melody is majestic and beautiful. One person follows it, a hundred people, a thousand people follow it, and tens of thousands of people sing along.
Seeing the morale growing and the military songs suppressing the undisciplined elephant herd on the other side, Mu Chun quietly went down from the high platform and went to the commander-in-chief's tent.
A man was walking towards them, his steps were as fast as the wind. Mu Chun quickly stepped aside and called out, "Dad, I'm here."
The man stopped in front of him and said, "Brother, you got the wrong person. I am Mu Sheng."
When Mu Chun looked up, he saw his second brother Mu Sheng, who looked exactly like his father. He had the same face, body and untidy beard. No wonder he made a mistake. They were not father and son, but twins.
Mu Chun was thick-skinned and didn't take it seriously. He asked, "Where's Dad? Is he resting in bed?"
Mu Sheng was stunned. "Dad never sleeps during the day. I am at the front line, and he went to the rear to explore the terrain to see where is suitable to trap the elephants. We can't defeat Si Lunfa head-on. We have to take advantage of the terrain. Brother, when the military song sounded outside, I guessed that it was you. You are not bound by any rules in your military operations. Father often said that you are a natural born general who has learned without a teacher."
In front of his elder brother, Mu Sheng did not finish his words, and his father said, "Your elder brother just has a weird temper. If you don't work on it, he will never become a great man."
Seeing his younger brother Mu Sheng's reaction, Mu Chun was even more puzzled. Didn't his second brother know that his father was injured? Or was it because I was dazzled and read the handwriting wrongly, and my father was not injured
My second brother has been an honest man since he was young and he should not lie.
Mu Chun said, "I'm going to find my father."
Where are you going, Dad
Mu Ying, the Duke of Qian, rode his horse to a basin surrounded by mountains. This place used to be a large primeval forest. Nanjing needed a large number of towering ancient trees to fill the lake and build the imperial palace, and ordinary people could not do such hard work, so the Ming Dynasty sent prisoners to the southwest to cut down trees. Over time, all the trees here were cut down, and because the land here was fertile and there was water, it was transformed into fields and orchards, and a prison was built on the spot to facilitate the management of prisoners.
Mu Ying looked at the sentry posts built in the mountains to guard prisoners, as well as the various traps and barriers, and drew a circle on the map. This kind of place is suitable for luring the enemy deep into the area and then surrounding them with rolling stones, rolling logs or fire attacks. The mountain roads in the basin are steep, and heavy monsters like war elephants are not at an advantage.
A voice interrupted Mu Ying's train of thought, "So now the question is, what can be used to lure the enemy into this trap?"
Hearing this lazy and cynical tone, Mu Ying knew it was his eldest son Mu Chun. Without even turning his head, he said, "If you had come one day later, Kunming would have fallen."
Mu Chun retorted, "If I remember correctly, it should be my father and my second brother who are guarding Kunming City."
What does Kunming have to do with me? I am an immigrant, not a city defender!
Seeing that the father and son were about to quarrel again, Shi Qianhu hurriedly acted as a peacemaker and said, "My Lord, as soon as the prince received your letter, he gathered his men and rushed here that day. However, because the Portuguese cannons and guns were too heavy, the mule and horse carts moved slowly, so they were a little late."
Mu Chun looked at his biological father. He hadn't seen him for more than a year and he looked much older. His hair was white and his face had many wrinkles, especially between his eyebrows and the bags under his eyes. He used to have two majestic bags under his eyes, but now they had shrunk and turned into empty bags under his eyes.
Mu Chun thought: The hero is getting old, no wonder Dad hasn’t had a new love in several years.
Mu Ying had been fighting for many years and guarding Yunnan. He not only had to manage the border, but also the military and political power, including diplomacy, and had to fight with his eldest son. He was exhausted and had shown signs of old age. Mu Ying was 48 years old this year. His 62-year-old godfather, Emperor Hongwu, had taken good care of himself. He had three sons in six years and kept having new favorites. He aged slower. When the godfather and godson stood together, others thought they were brothers.
Seeing how old he had become, Mu Chun took back all his harsh words and remained silent.
With a great battle imminent, Mu Ying did not want to fall out with his eldest son, so he asked, "If it were you, how would you plan to lure the enemy here?"
Mu Chun said: "Father captured Meng Huo five times... No, it was Si Lunfa who was captured five times. He captured him five times and released him five times, just like a monkey show. Si Lunfa must hate you the most. If I were him, I would not kill him... If you are an opponent, you must capture him alive and humiliate him thoroughly, so as to avenge the shame of capturing him five times."
"So, my son's suggestion is to have your second brother pretend to be you - he looks too much like you. Mu Sheng pretends to be injured and flees with the central army. Meng Huo drives the elephant team to chase after them. Mu Sheng leads the pursuers to the basin, and you can close the door and attack the elephants, using rolling logs and rocks, and add fire. No matter how ferocious the elephant is, it is still flesh and blood. Even if its skin and flesh are as rough as a shield, it is still afraid of fire."
Mu Ying said: "But this will put your second brother in danger."
Mu Chun said, "Then let me change it, but I don't look like you and I'm taller. Even if I disguise myself properly, it will be easy for Si Lunfa to see through me."
Mu Ying frowned, "What if Si Lunfa sees through our plan and doesn't fall for it? Si Lunfa's family has been here for a hundred years, so they must be more familiar with the terrain here than we are. He should know that this is a basin."
Muchun looked at the rows of prisons in the basin and asked Shi Qianhu: "How many prisoners are held here?"
Shi Qianhu said: "There are about two to three thousand people, all of them are extremely vicious and serious criminals."
"Even a mosquito leg is still meat." Mu Chun said, "Come with me down the mountain to the prison to recruit soldiers. As long as you are willing to join the death squad and fight the rebels, I will pardon your crime and let you serve under me. You will receive no less salary and reward."
Shi Qianhu was born a bandit from Jiangxi Province, and he was the most suitable for this job.
Mu Ying shouted, "What are you going to do?"
Mu Chun said: "Tonight I am going to attack the camp at night. The enemy is strong and thinks we only have the remaining strength to defend. We take advantage of their unpreparedness and cross the river to attack the camp at night to prevent fire from burning. It is dark and the elephants cannot see the enemy clearly. They only know to avoid the fire and run around."
Mu Ying said: "The war elephants are well-trained. After a brief panic, they will follow the trainer's horn to gather. At that time, they will cross the river on the elephants' backs and head straight to Kunming."
Mu Chun chuckled, but the smile disappeared in an instant. "Then let them have a taste of the Ming Dynasty's three-stage matchlock gun shooting. War elephants are huge, and they can be hit by any shot..."
Mu Chun led the newly formed death squad of serious criminals from the prison to cross the river from a distance. In the middle of the night, there was suddenly a fire on the other side of the river, and the sounds of shouting, horns, and elephants roared mixed together.
The night attack was successful. The flames connected together and the other side of the river suddenly became a sea of fire. The sound of the horn in the trainer's hand dominated and the elephants began to force their way across the river.
They were waiting for this moment. When the elephants reached the middle of the river, Mu Ying and Mu Sheng, father and son, began to command the □□ Battalion to launch a three-stage attack using the new matchlock rifles brought by Mu Chun.
Firearms in the early Ming Dynasty were crude. After firing a gun, the gun and marbles had to be reloaded and sealed with barrel bars before the second shot could be fired.
For this reason, most of the □□ battalions in the early Ming Dynasty used a three-stage shooting method. One team fired, the second team raised their guns and lit the fuses, and the third team loaded bullets. After the first team finished shooting, it immediately pushed to the third row, the second team fired forward, and the third team prepared to shoot, and this cycle continued indefinitely to achieve the effect of continuous shooting.
Sure enough, the natural armor of the elephants was shattered by the bullets. Some were shot and sank, while others drifted to the east and west rivers in severe pain. The trainer's horn was no match for the rain of bullets.
There was a fire behind him and seemingly endless bullets in front of him. Elephants and swords were useless. Si Lunfa had no choice but to resort to the old tricks, stop crossing the river, save his strength, wave the white flag of surrender, and send envoys to ask for peace.
This is the sixth time.
If I do it once more, making it seven times, I might be able to summon a dragon.
The current situation is that Silunfa cannot cross the river, and the Ming army cannot attack either. Instead of wasting time like this, it is better to reconcile and withdraw their troops.
When two armies were fighting, they did not kill envoys. Mu Ying was a man of principles, so he entertained the envoys from Luchuan and decided to build a floating platform with bamboo rafts in the middle of the river. The two sides met on the platform. Si Lunfa personally took the letter of surrender, knelt down and presented it to Mu Ying, expressing his repentance. The surrender ceremony was completed.
Mu Sheng was in charge of the rear, while Mu Chun and five guards surrounded Mu Ying and took a small boat, heading towards the floating platform at the same time as Si Lunfa's boat on the opposite bank.
This was Si Lunfa's sixth surrender. He was very familiar with it. He pointed to the sky and swore to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty from now on. He presented the letter of surrender. Mu Ying was about to take it when Mu Chun said, "Wait a minute!"
Mu Chun pointed at an attendant beside Si Lunfa and said, "I saw your sleeves moving. What are you doing in there? Put your hands out!"
The attendant remained motionless.
Si Lunfa was very surprised and ordered his followers in his local dialect to stretch out their hands. However, the followers still refused and just looked at Si Lunfa with a mysterious smile.
Si Lun was furious and reached out to grab him. At this moment, Mu Ying's instinct for survival from years of battlefield experience made him alert. He hugged Mu Chun, used his body as a shield, and threw Mu Chun directly into the river.
With a deafening bang, Si Lunfa's followers were blown into pieces. It turned out that the followers were tied with explosives and became human bombs. Si Lunfa's outstretched hand was blown away on the spot, and his whole body was bloody and fleshy, as if he was roasted. He screamed and rolled from the floating platform into the river...
When Mu Ying woke up, he felt severe pain in his waist and no feeling below the waist.
A large area of his back was burned, especially the spine in the waist area, which was blown apart, exposing the bones. His spine was damaged and his lower body was paralyzed.
“Fight… Fight…” Mu Ying wanted to ask about the battle situation, but unfortunately, he was in severe pain and could not form a complete sentence.
Mu Sheng wiped away his tears, "Luchuan was in internal strife. Silunfa's subordinate Daoganmeng rebelled against his master. He was dissatisfied with Silunfa's constant surrender, so he bribed his personal guard to be a human bomb. He took advantage of the peace talks between the two armies to light the fuse under the cover of his sleeve, hoping to kill two birds with one stone, kill Silunfa and his father, and then take advantage of the faction that both sides were leaderless to launch a counterattack. Now Silunfa has been blown to death, and Luchuan is divided into two factions, one is Daoganmeng's rebels, and the other is Silunfa's son Ren Sifa. Ren Sifa swore to avenge his father and is helping his eldest brother to chase Daoganmeng."
Mu Ying said with difficulty: "Chun... Chun... tell him... to come back... immediately."
Mu Sheng was puzzled, "Our army is so powerful, why—"
"Come back... Chun!" Mu Ying insisted that his eldest son come back. Mu Sheng had listened to his father since he was a child, so he had to issue a military order to order his eldest brother to come back.
Mu Chun rushed back. Mu Ying drank the old ginseng soup to save his life. His face turned red. He said as if he had regained consciousness: "Don't chase Dao Ganmeng and don't avenge me. Keep him. In the future, you will compete with Ren Sifa for the control of Luchuan. Luchuan is busy with internal friction and will soon be unable to recover. It will not be able to rebel against the Ming Dynasty in the future. A man who wants to do great things should have a long-term vision and not be limited to personal grudges. Do you understand?"
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