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During the entire Ming Dynasty, Yunnan's administrative system was very different from that of other provinces in the interior.
In addition to establishing the Military Commandery, the Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, and the Censorate in Yunnan, and later the Governor-General, the Ming court also sent Mu Ying, the Duke of Qian, to guard Yunnan for generations starting from the Hongwu period because there were many local chieftains in the area.
The Mu family of Duke Qian not only held great military power, but also played an important role in politics and economy.
In other words, Yunnan was under the dual jurisdiction of hereditary meritorious officials and local officials in the Ming Dynasty. As a result, disputes between the two were inevitable.
The conflict between Mu Tianbo and Yunnan Governor Wu Zhaoyuan played a great negative role in Sha Dingzhou's rapid occupation of Kunming.
Sha Dingzhou suddenly rebelled and quickly captured most of Yunnan, disrupting the situation in the southwest. For the Qin State, this might be an opportunity that could be exploited.
After the cabinet ministers, the six ministries, and the generals such as Liu Meng arrived, Qin Mu asked Huang Lianshan to report the sudden change in Yunnan to the ministers, and then said: "My dear ministers, now the plan cannot keep up with the changes. Should my Great Qin send troops to the southwest quickly? Please tell me."
Cui Feng spoke first: "King Qin, this is still a godsend opportunity to seize the southwest. Once Mu Tianbo and Sha Dingzhou decide the winner, it will be difficult to take Yunnan. If we send troops now, we can take advantage of the conflict between the two and quickly seize Yunnan."
The Minister of War He Liang then said: "From Hunan to Yunnan, the army has only one way to go, from Yuanzhou in western Hunan through Sizhou Prefecture, Guiyang Prefecture, Anshun Prefecture, Pu'an Prefecture in Guizhou, and then to Qujing Prefecture in Yunnan. Then go to Kunming.
Therefore, to take Yunnan, we must first take Guizhou. Up to now, Guizhou Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Zhang Yao, Provincial Governor Zeng Yi, and Commander-in-Chief Chen Ruizheng still follow the Longwu banner and are unwilling to submit to our Great Qin. If we send troops hastily, a battle is inevitable.
Even if our army can successfully capture Guiyang, we must first sort out Guizhou. Otherwise, Liu Wenxiu, who has been entrenched in Luzhou, Sichuan to recruit troops, may take the opportunity to move south to fight for Guizhou.
The roads in Guizhou are difficult to travel, so we sent too many troops. Logistical supply is difficult. If we send too few troops, we have to deal with Liu Wenxiu in Luzhou on the one hand, and divide our troops to enter Yunnan on the other hand. It can be said that there are many difficulties. "
Cui Feng immediately retorted, "Minister He is exaggerating. Half of our soldiers are from Huguang. Many of them come from the mountainous area of western Hunan. They can cross mountains and ridges as easily as walking on flat ground. The small soldiers and generals from Guizhou are vulnerable to attack. There is no need to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige. In my opinion, just fight. If the logistics supply cannot keep up, we can get food from the enemy. When did Lord Song and his men ever carry food and grass when they marched to war?"
The Lord Song that Cui Feng was referring to was Song Xiance, but Song Xiance didn't take it seriously and continued, "Currently, Guizhou's military forces are mainly deployed in Sizhou (Cengong County) in the east and Bozhou Xuanweisi (Zunyi) in the north.
The east is to guard against our army, and the north is to guard against Liu Wenxiu. Guizhou's military strength is already weak. Apart from the two places where heavy troops are deployed, the internal military strength is extremely scarce. Once our army can quickly break through Sizhou in the east, Guiyang will definitely not last long.
If Guiyang is captured, it should not be difficult to persuade the Bozhou garrison to surrender. In such a situation, I don't believe that many people are willing to die for Zhu Ming. King Qin, I remember that He Tengjiao is from Liping Prefecture, Guizhou. When the time comes, you can send He Tengjiao back to his hometown to persuade him to surrender, which will definitely be twice the result with half the effort. "
At first glance, Song Xiance's words were correct, but what he didn't know was that He Tengjiao had never been valued by Qin Mu because Qin Mu was skeptical about his loyalty. So far, he had only been appointed as the Tongzhi of Yuezhou, a deputy position of the prefect.
Zhuge Min, the Grand Secretary of Jianji Palace, knew this very well and immediately objected, saying, "Prince Qin, when Zhu Youjian was still the Prince of Tang, he was granted a fiefdom in Nanyang. At that time, He Tengjiao was the magistrate of Nanyang and had a good relationship with Zhu Youjian.
When Zhu Yujian proclaimed himself emperor in Fujian, He Tengjiao said to others at first: "The new emperor is an old friend of Nanyang, and we are like fish and water. We are all destined to be together." Later, the King of Qin clearly opposed supporting Zhu Yujian, and He Tengjiao stopped mentioning this matter. From this point of view, it is probably inappropriate to use He Tengjiao to pacify Guizhou."
Yang Tinglin, the Minister of Personnel, immediately came out and said, "Reporting to the King of Qin, Emperor Taizong of Tang once said: A ruler should drive talented people and treat scholars with sincerity. During the Wude period, Emperor Taizong of Tang was still the King of Qin. Not long after he captured the general Yuchi Jingde of Liu Wuzhou, two generals under Jingde defected. Some people speculated that Jingde would definitely defect, so they imprisoned him in the army without asking for permission, and urged the King of Qin to kill him quickly.
Instead of killing him, the king released Jingde and summoned him to his bedroom, comforted him with kind words, and gave him gold and treasures before leaving. Jingde was moved by the king's sincere treatment and vowed to repay him with his life. As a result, he made great military achievements for the Tang Dynasty.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, King Zhuang of Chu gave a banquet to his ministers. When the wine was in high spirits, the candles were suddenly blown out by the wind. Someone took the opportunity to pull the clothes of King Zhuang's concubine, who then broke the man's hatband and told King Zhuang that if the lamps were turned on, the molester could be found.
King Zhuang did not agree to let the drunk and rude man be humiliated for such a small matter, so he ordered everyone to say, "If you drink with me today, you will not enjoy yourself if you do not pull off your hatband." So all the officials pulled off their hatbands, lit candles, and drank to their heart's content.
Three years later, Jin and Chu went to war. There was a minister in the Chu army who always charged in front and fought bravely for five rounds. He led the way in repelling the enemy and won the victory. King Zhuang was surprised and asked him, "I am a person of low moral character and I have never treated you specially. Why did you not hesitate to risk your life for me?" The man replied, "I am the one whose hatband was pulled off because of drunkenness that night."
Now my king has the world in his heart and the ambition to pacify the four seas. He should be open to all rivers and trust his people. He should make his counselors loyal to the court and his generals fight outside the court, and serve the court with all their heart and strength. Since my king has appointed He Tengjiao as the co-governor of Yuezhou, he should not doubt and reject him. Now it seems that He Tengjiao is indeed the best candidate to pacify Guizhou. My king should give him a higher title to comfort him and make him loyal and serve my king wholeheartedly. "
Since Yang Tinglin entered the court, he rarely gave such a long speech citing classics, but today he was eloquent. Knowing that Qin Mu was unwilling to use He Tengjiao, he still spoke frankly to persuade him. Qin Mu was quite moved and said immediately: "What Yang Shangshu said is very true. I will promote He Tengjiao to the position of Grand Secretary of the Zhanshi Palace and Guizhou Recruiting Envoy, responsible for recruiting officials and civilians in Guizhou."
"My king is wise." Yang Tinglin bowed and stepped back.
After hearing this, the ministers looked at each other and no longer objected.
Gu Jun'en then came out and said, "King Qin, Mu Tianbo now relies on the support of Shiping Tusi Long Zaitian and Ningzhou Tusi Lu Yongming, in addition to Jincang Bingbei Dao Yang Weizhi.
Long Zaitian had led his elite troops to join the righteous army. In the 11th year of Chongzhen, when Zhang Xianzhong was surrendered in Gucheng, Hubei, he established a close relationship with Long Zaitian who was transferred from Yunnan. Zhang Xianzhong worshipped Long Zaitian as his adoptive father and received many horses and guns from Long Zaitian.
The generals of the Dashi Army, including Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi, were old acquaintances of Long Zaitian and they had a very close relationship.
Now that Yunnan has changed, and Sun Kewang is entrenched in southern Sichuan, there is no guarantee that Long Zaitian will not contact Sun Kewang to enter Yunnan and attack Sha Dingzhou from both north and south. If that happens, I am afraid Yunnan will fall into the hands of Sun Kewang, so we must be on guard. "
Gu Junen's sudden disclosure of such a secret was really unexpected.
Such past events would be difficult to find out even if the night was not clear. Fortunately, Li Zicheng's army and Zhang Xianzhong's army had a close relationship at that time, so Gu Junen had the opportunity to learn such secrets.
Some of the ministers present were against sending troops to Guizhou and Yunnan immediately. After Gu Jun'en's words, everyone felt that the situation was urgent and could not be delayed any longer.
Sima An said hurriedly: "King of Qin, in such a hurry, it may be too late to dispatch a large army. The troops are too few, and it is difficult for our army to control them all. I think you can send someone to lobby Sha Dingzhou. Since he sent people to Fujian to ask for a title, it means that he knows that he is weak and wants to trick Longwu into conferring a title to justify his name, so that he can convince people.
We will send someone to persuade him. If he is willing to accept the title, we can use his power to pacify Yunnan first, and then make arrangements in the future."
"That's great." Qin Mu nodded to Sima An, then told Huang Lianshan who was standing by the door, "Huang Lianshan, I'll leave this matter to you, Ye Bu Shou. Go quickly."
“Yes.”
Qin Mu then said to Cui Feng, "I will grant you the seal of the General of the Southern Expedition. You will select 10,000 elite troops today, together with 62,300 horses from Hengzhou, to conquer Yunnan and Guizhou."
"Your Majesty, I accept your order."
Qin Mu then said to Liu Boquan, the Minister of Revenue, "The three armies have not yet moved, but food and grass must go first. Minister Liu, the Ministry of Revenue must raise food and grass for the army as soon as possible. It is best to mobilize it from Huguang and transport it to Yuanzhou first."
"Your Majesty, I obey your order."
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ps: I am very tired of writing, so I won’t say anything more. Please support me.
.(To be continued..)
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