prosperous age

Chapter 1064 Checking for omissions and filling gaps

"I've heard about the glamorous world of the Ming Dynasty. Jiangnan is said to be neither too hot nor too cold."

"I think you want to see the beauties in Jiangnan. I heard that the beauties there are not only beautiful, but also fair-skinned, unlike the ones here who are pale and pale."

"Yes, after we take Kunming, we have to go to Jiangnan for a tour."

"Haha. I think you want to try and see if you can take it."

Perhaps they were all drunk, and the Ming Dynasty, which had once made them silent, seemed to have become a country that they could manipulate at will.

In fact, we cannot blame these chieftains for despising the Ming Dynasty, just look at what Yunnan officials have done over the years.

As long as you pay, no matter how big the problem is, it can be suppressed.

The chieftains were annexing each other, and even if they were reported to the governor of Yunnan, as long as they sent a large sum of treasure, nothing would happen to them, and they would be wiped out completely.

Although these chieftains achieved their wishes, they began to look down on the Ming Dynasty over time.

It's just an empty shell, all talk and no action.

Although the Ming army had once been to Myanmar, that was two hundred years ago after all.

Judging from the current state of the Ming officials, no matter how big the empire is, it cannot withstand the turmoil and would have declined long ago.

And what about them?

Although wars have been frequent in recent years, the soldiers under his command are all veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time, but their combat experience is not comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty's soldiers.

Not to mention that the centurions of the Ming Dynasty were killed, but in the end, nothing was done about it.

Seeing the chieftains under his command shouting, Mang Yinglong was happy and did not interrupt, but just listened quietly.

This is what human hearts are all about. In the face of victory, there is nothing to worry about.

In fact, what Mang Yinglong feared most at the beginning was that these people were afraid of the Ming Dynasty and were unwilling to follow him to make a big move.

Now they don't need him to motivate them. Just take them to conquer Mengyang and divide the money. They will dare to say anything and follow him.

He has plenty of money in his palace.

Over the years, he has conquered countless chieftains and kings' palaces and accumulated a lot of wealth.

Unconsciously, Mang Yinglong has realized the essence of fighting to support fighting.

Don't be afraid of spending money. As long as you fight a war against foreign enemies, you will have everything.

Just give some gold and silver to the soldiers, and they will be very happy.

The generals would simply allocate a piece of land for them to be chieftains.

The next time conscription starts, they will run faster than anyone else.

Because not only he, but his subordinates also benefited from it.

As long as his territory continues to expand, his strength will become stronger.

He not only had to take action against the Ming Dynasty in the east, but also against the Mughal Empire in the north, both of which had vast tracts of land and huge populations.

However, he also knew that these two countries were too big, and it would be difficult to solve them all at once, so they had to be nibbled away slowly.

This time, all the Ming Dynasty needs is a piece of land in Yunnan.

Then we should head north and deal with the several small countries there first, and then we can directly come into contact with the Mughal Empire.

"Your Majesty, the morale of the army is high now. When will we send troops to Ming?"

Finally, someone in the noisy crowd below noticed the Burmese king who had started to become active but suddenly became quiet, so he asked him loudly while holding a glass of wine.

Mang Yinglong withdrew his thoughts and looked at his men.

At this time, the toasts who were talking happily before stopped talking and looked at him.

"Are you in such a hurry to go to Daming?"

Mang Yinglong spoke.

"My king, our current situation, as the Ming people say, is to seize the opportunity to win and then great things can be accomplished. Don't you agree?"

"Correct."

"That's right. Kunming is a good idea. After we conquer it, we can go there to escape the heat when it gets hot. I heard it's cool there."

“I've been there once before, it was good.”

Mang Yinglong saw that the people below became excited again after hearing what he said, so he stood up and waved his hands, and the people below instantly quieted down.

Seeing such a scene, Mang Yinglong was very pleased.

Others may not know that everyone sitting here is an unruly person.

In the past hundred years of turmoil in Myanmar, the honest people have long been taken advantage of.

But now, with just one move from me, they all became obedient.

  What does this mean?

It's not just submission, they all submit to him.

In his joy, Mang Yinglong said loudly: "I heard that the Ming Dynasty has begun to impose martial law on the border. It seems that they are prepared. Aren't you afraid?"

"Come on, my king, given the nature of those Ming officials, we are still afraid of them, hehe."

"Ha ha."

The speaker was Gengma Tusi Han Qian, and his words caused laughter from the other Tusi.

These chieftains are experienced in dealing with Ming officials, and they can just give them some silver and fool them.

As for the imperial court mentioned by those officials, they have never had any contact with it and do not want to have any contact with it.

After all, they don't have the same ambition as Mang Yinglong.

Only those who are ambitious would think of contacting the Ming court. After all, there are some things that really need to be decided by a certain court.

But the officials of the Ming Dynasty were just like that. They couldn't do anything even if they were given money.

"My king, to deal with those people, except for Kunming, which cannot be bought with silver and jade, I guess there is nothing they dare not sell."

There were also some outspoken people who directly told the methods these chieftains used to deal with Yunnan officials in recent years, which won the support of the people around them.

"I originally wanted to let everyone take a break, but it seems like everyone can't wait any longer, haha."

Mang Yinglong spoke.

This is the truth. Although it seems easy for him to deal with the Ming Dynasty on the surface, he actually does not really underestimate the Ming Dynasty.

Contempt strategically and pay attention tactically, this is Mang Yinglong's attitude towards foreign wars.

Despising the enemy and reassuring the subordinates can stabilize the morale of the army.

If you take the enemy seriously, you naturally don't want to suffer a setback.

Isn't it because of this that the Toungoo Dynasty has been so successful in recent years?

"Don't worry, everyone. The border of the Ming Dynasty doesn't exist at all for me. We can cross it at any time.

In Yunnan, there are friends of many of us, and they are also my friends.

In fact, I already have some connections with them, and when the army is everywhere, they will join us.

Once we enter Yunnan, our troops will only grow larger and larger.

Kunming, I have reserved houses for you all, you can live here whenever you want."

Mang Yinglong only gave the chieftains a hint, that is, he had contacted the chieftains in the Ming Dynasty.

But he would not reveal who he contacted on this occasion.

However, when his army arrived, everyone knew about it.

Haven't we been preparing for this day all these years? "Let's take a few days off, then we'll go to Kunming."

Mang Yinglong spoke loudly to the people below. At this moment, he was very proud and seemed to have seen the city wall of Kunming and the beautifully built houses inside.

Those were all his, but those Han people and those Ming officials had to crawl out of his territory.

  First take Yunnan, then Guangxi, Guangdong, and then

"Dad, the third brother sent a message that Si Ge has been captured by the Burmese army."

In Baoshan City, Li Rusong came in and said.

"That's fine. Let them do it. It's better than dying in obscurity."

When Li Chengliang heard that Si Ge had fallen into the hands of the Burmese army, he just said something indifferent, and then asked: "Is there any news from Lao Er?"

"Not yet, but he should be fine.

I have learned that there is only one troublesome chieftain named Gengma in Mengding Prefecture. He is usually unruly and refuses to be controlled by the court.

As long as Rubai is more cautious, the army will not be discovered hiding in Mengding Prefecture."

Li Rusong said in a low voice.

Li Rusong only felt a headache when he was discussing the deployment of troops regarding the situation in Yunnan.

There are chieftains’ pacification offices everywhere in Qianxi, and almost all of them are chieftains’ territories.

As it happens, the current Ming officials are also extremely wary of these people.

No one knows which of these chieftains have already communicated with Myanmar privately, so we can only be on guard against them.

It is conceivable that both Li Chengliang and Li Rusong felt tremendous pressure.

Too complicated.

"Father, do you think we can make some arrangements in Dali Prefecture and Jingdong Prefecture as well?"

When Li Rusong called "Dad", it was usually casual, but when he called "Father", it often indicated that he took the matter very seriously.

"You want to withdraw from the Tusi's territory?"

Li Chengliang didn't care and asked in the same calm tone.

"Yes, fighting in this kind of environment requires too much consideration. It gives me a headache."

Li Rusong answered truthfully.

"What you said might be feasible in Liaodong. After all, that is our territory and it is easy to block the news.

But it’s not possible here, because everyone is watching us.”

Li Chengliang had actually thought about Li Rusong's considerations a long time ago.

However, if Qianxi is given up, Yunnan will have no strategic location to defend.

Without the mountains to overcome, how could we restrict the Burmese army from attacking everywhere?

Therefore, the best way is to fight the Burmese army in Qianxi.

After hearing what Li Chengliang said, Li Rusong naturally had nothing to say.

He wanted to simplify the battlefield, but the situation did not allow it, so what else could he do?

Some people may say that Yunnan is Dian and Guizhou is Qian.

But in fact, during the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan was called both "Dian" and "Qian". The diversity of this name reflects the historical background and geographical characteristics of the Yunnan region.

Specifically, Yunnan’s abbreviation “Yunnan” comes from the historical Dian Kingdom.

The reason for "Qian" is that in Zhu Yuanzhang's cognition and setting, the word "Qian" is a synonym for Yunnan.

The changes and usage of this name not only reflect the historical administrative divisions and geographical cognition, but also reflect the different understandings and names of the Yunnan region in different historical periods.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang believed this, various Ming Dynasty books referred to Yunnan as "Qian".

This can actually be seen from the fact that the Mu family, who have ruled Yunnan for generations, were granted the title of Duke of Qian.

In the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan was abbreviated as "Dian". This abbreviation originated from the historical Dian Kingdom, but it mostly appeared in local documents and was not used in the imperial court.

Li Chengliang and his family had just arrived, so they were naturally accustomed to using the names used in court documents, so the Qianxi they referred to was not the western part of Guizhou, but the western part of Yunnan.

"You should pay more attention to the news in the capital these days. It is somewhat risky to let the second and fourth brothers go to Mengding."

After learning that Myanmar had captured Mengyang, Li Chengliang could no longer sit still. Without waiting for news from the capital, he sent troops to secretly station in Mengding Prefecture.

At the same time, in order to keep it secret, Li Rubai sent troops to block the border of Mengding Prefecture, just to prevent the news that Gengma Tusi had surrendered to the enemy and betrayed the country, and the Ming army had entered Mengding Prefecture with the intention of bypassing Mubang from leaking out.

After all, with so many troops stationed there, it is actually very difficult to block the news.

Even if Li Chengliang led the troops himself, he was not sure he could keep the news secret.

During this period, as troops from the three provinces arrived one after another, Li Chengliang began to deploy troops and arrange garrisons, and all orders were conveyed by Li Rusong.

It can be said that the Ming army had completed the preliminary military preparations and was just waiting for the Burmese army to attack.

However, the reply from the capital never arrived, which became a concern for Li Chengliang.

We are currently preparing for this approach. If the capital does not agree, we will have to make adjustments.

However, Mengyang had already been breached and there was not much time left.

Now, only Li Chengliang and Luo Rufang are left in Baoshan City. Luo Rufang is the inspector of Yongchang and is now in charge of the logistics and military supplies of the Ming army. The former Yunnan general commander Mu Changzuo has been sent out to inspect the prefectures and garrisons in Yunnan.

"Dad, the second and fourth sons are very smart. I told them before I left. Nothing will happen to them."

This was all Li Rusong could say.

"I've looked through all the records in Yunnan these days. No wonder those little bastards in Myanmar are getting more and more daring. No wonder the court wants me to come here and destroy them in one fell swoop. The court's previous policies really made too many mistakes."

Li Chengliang sighed.

"Hehe, if the court hadn't made a mistake, it wouldn't have sent you here to establish a career."

Li Rusong didn't care about what his father said, but said happily.

"The main reason is that Yunnan is far away, and mobilizing a large army will inevitably have a huge impact, and the expenditure required will exceed the norm.

During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, the veteran general Wang Ji led an expedition to Luchuan, which took more than ten years. His troops were old and treasury was scarce, and he had to transfer military pay to half of the country. This lesson was the reason why the court would not easily issue military orders.

This time, Lord Wei also prepared in advance the taxes and levies for Yunnan and southwestern provinces in the next two years. Even so, he still had to mobilize money and grain from the surrounding provinces to support the move.

We had overlooked one thing before, which was whether the imperial court would urge my father to fight quickly if they provided him with money and food. "

Many things are often overlooked until the time comes.

This is also what Li Chengliang has been mainly doing recently, checking for deficiencies and filling in the gaps.

Although the war has not yet begun, money and food have already been spent like water.

The main reason is that the number of troops mobilized in the southwest this time is quite large, reaching more than 100,000.

"Here, we are so far away from home, and the terrain is complex and dangerous. I'm afraid it will be difficult to implement our familiar long-range raids to cut off the enemy's food supply and retreat routes."

Li Chengliang spoke calmly, telling his son everything he had thought of recently. At the end, he suddenly remembered something and said quickly, "You also need to select those local soldiers in Yunnan who have rich field experience and assign them to various camps.

The forests here are different from those we encountered in Liaodong, Guizhou and Guangxi.

There are more poisonous insects in this forest, so all camps must take precautions to prevent widespread acclimatization."

Yesterday I received a letter from the third brother, Li Ruzhen, complaining that the poisonous insects here are very serious and he almost lost his life after being bitten.

Fortunately, the problem was solved by finding local people who gave us some herbal remedies. Looking through previous records, there was a similar situation when Wang Ji conquered Luchuan. Nearly half of the soldiers in some military camps were unable to participate in the battle due to acclimatization.

"Ask Censor Luo to contact the caravan. We need to find a guide for Myanmar now."

At this point, Li Chengliang looked at Li Rusong and said, "Do these two things right away."