Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 1414 Deploy troops and generals
The Ming army's combat readiness forces responded extremely quickly. After Zhu Zhen issued the order to march to the southeast, it took only three days for the 20,000-strong army to be ready to go.

On July 12, the army held a swearing-in ceremony outside the South Gate of Kunming. Zhu Zhen led the Yunnan senior officials to see off the soldiers.

The 20,000 soldiers were in high spirits and morale, looking at their prince with fanaticism on their faces.

"Soldiers, you are going to attack Annan!" Zhu Zhen, who had rested for almost two months, said in an exceptionally loud voice, "Since the Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, through the Han Dynasty, the Eastern Wu Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, the Southern Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Southern Han Dynasty... it has always been our Chinese territory until the weak Song Dynasty lost it!"

"In the north, our Ming soldiers have already conquered Youyan, which was lost by the weak Song Dynasty, and restored Liaodong Daning and Nurgandusi. Goryeo has also annexed the country. And Japan, which caused the Yuan Dynasty so much trouble, has also surrendered to the Ming Dynasty!"

"In the south, we also achieved brilliant results. Not only did we take Yunnan and Guizhou into our possession, we also recovered the Yuan Dynasty's Burma-China Province and opened up a seaport for Yunnan!" He raised his voice and said:

"Looking north and south, only Annan has not yet recovered. We still cannot say with confidence: 'The Ming Dynasty is great, far surpassing the Han and Tang dynasties'! What should we do?"

"Destroy Annan and recover Jiaozhi!" Twenty thousand soldiers roared in unison.

"That's right." Zhu Zhen nodded heavily and said, "Before, it was because Annan submitted to the Ming Dynasty and the king had always been very submissive, so we could tolerate it. But now the king of Annan has been killed by treacherous ministers, and before he died, he sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty for help. We can't save him, so let's avenge him!"

"Yes!" the soldiers responded in unison again.

"Let me tell you one more thing. The Duke of Myanmar has already begun to distribute fiefs in Ava! All soldiers can enjoy fiefdoms of 200 households according to their military merits. The lowest fifth-class merits can also enjoy fiefdoms of 20 households!" Zhu Zhen finally released his ultimate move:

"The same bounty will also be applied during this expedition to Annan!"

The 'fiefdom system' he advocated is still in the trial stage, but it is enough to arouse the soldiers' fighting enthusiasm from the bottom of their hearts!

"We will win! We will win! We will win!" Listen, the thunderous response is the proof!

Amid the roar of the mountains and the sea, the soldiers marched southward with high morale and courage, moving forward courageously!

The army was led by the Yunnan commander-in-chief, Dingbian Hou Hu Quan.

Zhu Di will also participate in this battle as a vanguard officer.

Zhu Zhen personally gave his sword to Hu Quan, and adjusted the armor for his fourth brother. He said with a complicated expression: "You must return safely!"

"Yes, sir!" The two men saluted him solemnly, stood up, mounted their horses and left.

"Then I'll take my leave too." Yao Guangxiao smiled and clasped his hands together with Zhu Zhen, then mounted his horse and left.

"Wait a moment." Zhu Zhen stopped him and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "You are absolutely not allowed to talk nonsense to my fourth brother!"

"What are you talking about?" Yao Guangxiao was stunned.

"It's what you said to me." Zhu Zhen whispered, "If even one word of it reaches my ears, I will kill your entire family."

Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Your Highness, you are worrying too much. I don't want to give a white hat to every prince I see."

"..." Zhu Zhen coughed and said, "Didn't you say that Fourth Brother's appearance is beyond description?"

"No matter how expensive it is, it's not as expensive as your Highness." Yao Guangxiao suppressed his smile and said, "And after today, I will never persuade anyone to rebel again."

"Have you changed your ways?" Zhu Zhen asked.

"No, there's no need for that." Yao Guangxiao laughed and said, "I will just watch without saying a word, unless the prince begs me to..." "Dream on!" Zhu Zhen spat.

"It's good to dream. There is everything in dreams." Yao Guangxiao said as he bowed again and mounted his horse. This time Zhu Zhen did not stop him.

He rode off to catch up with the main force, and the wind carried his loud laughter:

"This is really like 'planting flowers with care but they don't bloom, but planting willows by accident grows into a shade'!"

Zhu Zhen looked at Yao Guangxiao's back with a serious expression. After a long while, he actually smiled.

~~
As orders were issued from the banks of Dianchi Lake, the war machine built by Zhu Zhen rumbled into action!

While the 20,000 expeditionary troops were heading south, messengers were rushing to Guangxi along the Yunnan-Guangxi Road, traveling 800 miles at an accelerated pace.

The Yunnan-Guangxi Ancient Road, which used to be rugged and intermittent, has been repaired into a smooth and flat post road, and a post station has been set up according to the standard of one post station every 60 miles! Otherwise, no matter how urgent the messenger is, he can't travel more than 800 miles a day...

Just two days later, the messenger arrived at Qinzhou Port, 1,500 miles away from Kunming, and delivered Zhu Zhen's order to the Maritime Customs Office.

Of course, there would be no Maritime Fleet stationed in an inner bay port like Qinzhou Maritime Customs. So the Maritime Customs officials immediately released a carrier pigeon to forward the king's order to the Sanya Fleet on Qiongzhou Island!

In fact, in recent years, the Shibo Fleet has been less and less seen near the mainland. On the one hand, with the disappearance of Japanese pirates and Fujian and Guangdong pirates, the Shibo Fleet's focus has shifted to Southeast Asia.

On the other hand, there was also the consideration of avoiding irritating the court.

Because the Sanya Fleet in Yazhou alone already had ten three-decker gunboats of 4,000 tons, twenty double-decker gunboats of 2,000 tons, and hundreds of warships of various types below 2,000 tons. When they were dispatched at the same time, the masts were like a forest and the sails covered the sky, which was hard not to be terrified.

The Shibosi has two such fleets, one in Japan and one in Nanyang. The former is weaker, while the latter is even stronger than the Sanya Fleet.

In the evening of that day, the carrier pigeons arrived at Sanya Bay in Yazhou.

The letter was soon delivered to Yu Tongyuan, the supreme commander of the Shibo Fleet, Duke of Haiguo and General Zhenhai.

After confirming the signature, code and seal, Yu Tongyuan immediately translated the contents of the letter:

'Instruct the Sanya Fleet to immediately dispatch appropriate forces to Annan, and go up the Red River estuary to reach Thang Long before the 21st, and join forces with Hu Quan, the Marquis of Dingbian, and be at his disposal!'

When Yu Tongyuan saw the order, he slammed the table excitedly and shouted, "Beat the drums and start the court. I want to mobilize the troops!"

~~
At the same time, Hu Quan also led 20,000 expeditionary forces and arrived at Yuanjiang Prefecture, Yuanyang Prefecture.

Yuanjiang Prefecture is named after Yuanjiang, which is the upper stream of the Red River. This river originates between Dali and Menghua in Yunnan, flows through the entire southwest of Yunnan, flows into Annan through Thang Long and flows into the South China Sea. Because it connects Bashu internally and Jiaozhi externally, it has been called "Shu Annan Road" since the Qin and Han Dynasties.

This waterway is also the most convenient outlet for Kunming to the sea, and its value to Yunnan is far higher than that of Pegu. Materials from all over Yunnan can be transported to the sea via this golden waterway.

So in just a few years, this place has been built into an important shipping hub in Yunnan.

But today, on the Yuanjiang River, all ships, whether commercial, civilian or official, cancelled all their original plans and headed to the Yuanjiang Wharf to pick up the expeditionary force!
Zhu Zhen’s mobilization order to them was very simple - how could the lower reaches of such an important Red River waterway be allowed to be controlled by others?

More than 2,000 large and small boats were attracted at once. The boatmen brought their own dry food and carried 20,000 troops for free, as well as 30,000 garrison troops who were serving as guest laborers, and all their equipment and supplies. They sailed downstream from the Yuanjiang Wharf and headed straight for Thang Long City, a thousand miles away!
(End of this chapter)