Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 36
"Your Highness! You are finally back!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang was still in Wuying Hall and was happy that Zhu Gaoxu went to the almshouse, Zhu Gaoxu also saw Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan squatting at the door of their home on the alleyway home.

"Why are you here? You're here so early."

Zhu Gaoxu was a little surprised at the arrival of the two of them. He took a look at the time and realized that it was actually the same time.

"Hey, I heard that His Highness is off today, so we came here to ask for some advice on the art of war."

Yang Zhan stood up from the doorstep, patted the ashes on his buttocks, and specifically explained his purpose of coming, and they also brought the large sandbox that Zhu Gaoxu placed in the teaching field.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the sand table and nodded with a smile: "Then we will play another game today."

During the conversation, he also stepped forward to unlock the door and led the two of them into the courtyard.

Upon seeing this, Wang Xuan drove a donkey cart to the back door, and Yang Zhan also hurriedly opened the door.

Zhu Gaoxu went with him and directed Wang Xuan to drive to the hospital. He personally lifted the sand table, which shocked Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan.

"Your Highness, this thing weighs two hundred kilograms, and you are too..."

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu lift the sand table except for the bottom bracket by himself, Yang Zhan was a little stumbling when he spoke.

"Stop being so nagging and walk quickly."

Zhu Gaoxu carried more than [-] kilograms of sand table, and he still had enough energy to kick Yang Zhan, and walked to the study in the front yard with a smile and curse.

Yang Zhan grimaced as he was kicked, while Wang Xuan laughed a few times, and then headed over carrying the [-]-pound bottom bracket.

In this way, all that was left for Yang Zhan was to close the door and feed the donkeys.

By the time he came to the study after finishing his work, Zhu Gaoxu and Wang Xuan had already finished the things and started discussing the southwest.

Yang Zhan grew up in Yunnan and does not have a complete understanding of the topography of Yunnan, but he at least knows the situation in eastern and northeastern Yunnan.

Compared with him, Zhu Gaoxu, who had traveled to northwest and western Yunnan in his previous life, knew the terrain of western Yunnan better. Therefore, during the discussion between the two, except for the terrain of southern Yunnan, which they did not know much about, the rest of the terrain had been mastered by the two of them.

This information coupled with Zhu Gaoxu's memory of looking at maps in his previous life made him very clear about the importance of Yunnan to the Ming Dynasty.

After Yang Zhan came in, Zhu Gaoxu pointed at Yunnan on the sand table and began to analyze based on his memories of his previous life:
"Yunnan is particularly important to the country, especially if the Xuanweisi such as Burma and Luchuan refuse to accept discipline, the country must send troops to pacify the southwest in the future."

Zhu Gaoxu's words were based on what he knew about the rise of the Luchuan Dynasty in the future.

Although he looked down on the boss's 'God of War' Zhu Qizhen, he had to say that if it weren't for Zhu Qizhen's three successful expeditions to Luchuan, Yunnan would have been cannibalized by the Luchuan dynasty during the Zhengtong years.

"I heard my father and the commander say this about "Three Announcements and Six Welfares." When talking about military affairs, Wang Xuan seemed to talk a lot.

He pointed to the border in the southwest corner of Yunnan and said: "The commander told me that when he went to Kunming to discuss matters, King Qianning (Muying) once said that if Myanmar changes, Yunnan will change, and if Yunnan changes, the southwest will be unstable. Therefore, the guards in the Yongchang area are required to strictly defend themselves."

As soon as Wang Xuan said what he said, Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement and said to the two of them at the same time:

"Burma and other Xuanwei divisions have great potential. If a tycoon consolidates the local area, even the peripheral divisions such as Babai, Burma, and Luchuan can gather hundreds of thousands of people to threaten the Western Frontier."

"Going from Yongchang to Luchuan, they are all bounded by the Hengduan Mountains..."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, he used his fingers to turn the rocks in the southwest into "chuan", so that the two of them could better understand what the Hengduan Mountains were.

"Such terrain is very easy to separate, so we must focus on keeping an eye on it."

"If there is an opportunity in the future, the first thing to do is to eradicate the Luchuan Si clan!"

Zhu Gaoxu's words made Wang Xuan nod. He grew up in Yunnan and naturally knew how powerful the Luchuan Si family was.

However, he also raised a very practical question: "Your Highness, although Yunnan is important, the terrain and Dingkou of Yunnan are destined to make it impossible to station too many troops here."

"My father has been to western Yunnan, where the roads are rugged. Transporting one stone of rice from Kunming to Yongchang can only reach three buckets. It is even more difficult to transport one stone of rice from Yongchang to Sanxuan and Liuwei."

"Unless it's profitable, otherwise..." Wang Xuan said it euphemistically. In fact, even a Han child like him who grew up in Yunnan doesn't think western Yunnan is livable.

His words reminded Zhu Gaoxu that this era is after all an agricultural society.

It is impossible for an agricultural-based dynasty to invest most of its resources in a province with no output. Unless Yunnan can reflect its economic value to the Ming Dynasty in addition to military affairs, even Zhu Yuanzhang will not put too much effort into it. In western Yunnan.

You must know that the Luchuan Si family has grown powerful since the Yuan Dynasty, and has now annexed Tusi districts such as Mengding, Wandian, Mengyang, and Mangshi.

Nowadays, almost all the Dai chieftain areas in western and southwestern Yunnan have been annexed by it, except for the chieftain areas such as Cheche, Yuanjiang, and Jingdong.

In the 18th year of Hongwu's reign, his leader Silunfa had more than [-] soldiers and horses under his command. He also implemented a military merit system similar to that of the Qin and Han Dynasties in the territory and owned more than [-] war elephants.

It was precisely because of this strength that he dared to lead a crowd to attack Jingdong, defeat Feng Sheng's nephew Feng Cheng, and kill Qianhu Wang Sheng.

If Mu Ying, who was guarding Yunnan, had not invented the three-stage strike and used firearms to continuously defeat Silunfa, then I am afraid that western Yunnan would have been cannibalized by it.

But what is very embarrassing is that Mu Ying died of illness two years ago, and there is no general in the entire southwest who can control the law of thinking.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Yuanzhang had to let the powerful generals Qu Neng and He Fu be stationed in the southwest to prepare for emergencies.

Zhu Gaoxu recalled based on his own memory. If he remembered correctly, the next leader of Luchuan was Si Xingfa.

This person is not capable, so the best time for the Ming Dynasty to destroy Luchuan is when Si Lunfa dies and Si Xingfa succeeds to the throne.

At this time in history, the Ming Dynasty was in the midst of the Jingnan War, and the entire Central Plains was turned into a pot of porridge.

By the time the Ming Dynasty recovered its vitality, six or seven years had passed and Luchuan had already weakened.

Zhu Di, who came to the throne, did not destroy Luchuan, which was declining in the hands of Yi Xingfa, but destroyed Annan and moved towards the strategic goal of "controlling Nanyang", the spice base.

Zhu Gaoxu cannot say that there is something wrong with his father's vision, because this is no problem from Zhu Di's era and perspective.

Luchuan was able to rise and become stronger again, mainly because of his great nephew Zhu Zhanji who turned himself into a barbecue.

If Zhu Zhanji had focused a little bit on the southwest, he would not have left a big hole like the Luchuan Dynasty in Zhu Qizhen.

Compared with the emperors of later generations, Zhu Yuanzhang may be the emperor who cares most about the southwest.

Zhu Yuanzhang has always been very concerned about Luchuan, who has the Silun Law, and is thinking of ways to weaken Luchuan's influence in the Indochina Peninsula.

How to dismantle Luchuan is a great gift from Zhu Gaoxu to Lao Zhu.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't believe that with the blessing of these great gifts, Lao Zhu could not let him go back to the north.

After catching Lao Zhu's appetite, Zhu Gaoxu knew how to deal with Luchuan in advance.

He touched his chin and looked at the terrain of Yunnan, recalling the memories of his previous life in his mind, and transformed the place names into the place names of this era.

Dali Prefecture, Heqing Prefecture, Lijiang Prefecture, Yongchang Prefecture, Shunning Prefecture, Jingdong Prefecture, Beisheng Prefecture and other places, as well as Awa Mountain, have huge silver mine reserves.

Regarding the economic difficulties that Lao Zhu is currently facing, if news of the silver mines here spreads, then the Ming Dynasty will not give up on western Yunnan.

Not only was Lao Zhu unwilling to give up, but even the group of scholar-bureaucrats above the temple were unwilling to do so. On the contrary, they would continue to immigrate and station troops.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu took a piece of paper from his desk and circled several key silver mines introduced by the tour guide when he traveled to Dali and Lijiang in his previous life.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu drew the silver mine points.

He looked at the map in his hand with a smile on his face, and a confident smile appeared on his face:

"Lao Zhu, Lao Zhu, I don't believe you won't be moved when you see this map..."

(End of this chapter)