Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 601 Epilogue: Republic of Ming
"boom!"

In February of the 397th year of the Ming Dynasty, as Li Yue proclaimed himself emperor, news spread that the Ming army was heading south.

The powerful people did not want war. They supported and followed Li Yue to the south not for his idea of ​​becoming emperor for his family, but to use the overseas lands to negotiate with Li Meng after they split off from the country, so as to ensure that their current status would not be shaken.

Now Li Yue is foolishly establishing his own country and even working on "History of Ming Dynasty" and "General History of Ming Dynasty".

If they don't raise the flag, they will be buried with Li Yue.

On the ninth day of February, eighteen fleets including the Atlantic, West Sea, South Atlantic, North Atlantic, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, South China Sea, and South Pacific sent telegrams to declare rebellion.

On the 11th, Zhu Shijin, Prince of Guangze County in Yingzhou, sent a telegram to the world, launching an attack on Nanzhou in response to the call for the king to come to power.

The so-called "Great Yan" was once again caught in a pincer attack from the north and the south when Li Yue had not even completely put down the Nanyang rebellion.

In March, the main force of the Ming army moved south along the Indochina Peninsula to the Malacca Peninsula.

With the loss of his naval power, Li Yue was left with only more than 70,000 elite soldiers led by more than 2,000 soldiers from the Li family.

In April, "History of Ming Dynasty" and "General History of Ming Dynasty" were hastily completed in less than five months.

Because the time was too short, a lot of unofficial history was included.

On the tenth day of May, Hu Su led an army of 200,000 to the Malacca Peninsula, and on the fifteenth day of May, with the help of the northern navy, he began to cross the sea to fight.

On the 17th, Palembang and seven other prefectures successively sent telegrams of surrender, and Sumatra Island was recovered.

During the remaining time, some of the Nanyang troops controlled by the powerful surrendered one after another, and Li Yue only had the Java Islands to garrison.

On the first day of June, before Hu Su launched his offensive, Li Yue's general Wu Fu led more than a thousand elite soldiers to rise up. Li Yue was killed in the rebellion in the former Kingdom of Java, and his son Li Ling disappeared.

On the second day of June, Wu Fu sent a telegram of surrender. Zheng Lingyao, Li Yue's other sons, and a large number of powerful people were handed over to Hu Su as political donations. Hu Su ordered the execution of Zheng Lingyao and others.

At this point, the Li Zheng Rebellion, which had plagued the Ming Dynasty for more than 50 years, was quelled.

Although it is called the "Li Zheng Rebellion", it was actually a struggle for interests among twelve large noble families such as Li and Zheng, and fifty-four small noble families.

On July 16, with the recovery of Nanzhou, about 60% of the territory during the reign of Emperor Shenzong was recovered.

On the first day of August, Hu Su went north to meet Li Meng.

"They fell, but the situation has not changed. Instead, it has become worse..."

Inside the Daming Palace, the building was now deserted. Apart from the staff who did daily maintenance, the entire palace complex only had a few dignitaries who came for a stroll.

Among them was Li Meng, who had a conversation with Hu Su.

Both of them are already in their forties, but it is far from the time for them to enjoy themselves.

Hu Su, who had just returned from the south, frowned as he listened to what Li Meng said.

"If the royal family members had joined forces from the beginning, even if Li Zheng was in power, this turmoil would not have lasted for so many years."

"In the final analysis, they are all waiting and watching, and they all want to take the opportunity to expand their own power."

"Before the war, the people's thoughts were very different. After more than a decade of war, they are looking forward to stability."

“Once the people are greedy for stability, change becomes increasingly impossible.”

"If we hadn't raised our army in time, the King of Liang would have probably invaded Beijing and proclaimed himself emperor."

"When they negotiate peace now, they demand that the Prince of Liang be admitted to the cabinet as the chief minister or second in command, and that the Prince of Yong be in charge of the Western Army, and the Prince of Liang be in charge of the Eastern Army."

Li Meng talked a lot, but he did not lose his fighting spirit.

Hu Su looked at him and said after a moment's silence, "We cannot agree to the request of the Western Liang King. If we agree, we will hand over the army."

"The powerful people in Jiangnan still control the navy. Only half of the Western Army and one Eastern Army obey our orders."

"As far as the situation is concerned, it's not in our favor."

"Once the Prince of Liang successfully takes over the cabinet, the army will be basically controlled by the nobles and royal family. With only one and a half military governors, I'm afraid we will..."

Hu Su didn't finish his words, but shook his head.

The Li and Zheng Rebellion lasted for fifteen years because everyone was only thinking about themselves.

If vassal kings like the Prince of Liang had raised the banner from the beginning, the Li and Zheng Rebellion would have been put down long ago.

"The people will not be able to live in peace for long. A new wave of thought has emerged. If we don't want the Li and Zheng Rebellion to continue, we must make a radical change."

"Now that the Heavenly Family has been separated from politics as much as possible, if we make further changes, we won't have to worry about the Heavenly Family's affairs..."

Hu Su looked at Li Meng, and Li Meng looked at the sun rising in the distance.

"If we want to get rid of this situation where the powerful and the wealthy are fighting for their own interests, the only way is to reform the law..."

In August of the 397th year of the Ming Dynasty, during the East-West negotiations within the Ming Dynasty, Li Meng and Hu Su were squeezed out of the cabinet.

In the spring of the following year, Li Meng published many articles on social issues.

The fifteen-year Li Zheng Rebellion not only failed to eliminate social problems, but on the contrary, it became more serious because of the local nobles and royal family members who had their own troops.
What the royal family, northern and western nobles did during Li Zheng's rebellion were no different from what the powerful people behind Li Zheng did.

A large number of middle-class people before the war went bankrupt due to exploitation by the powerful and royal families during the war. The wealth distribution problem in the Ming Dynasty reached a new high, with the number of poor people being around 840 million.

In August, Li Meng pointed out the important position of poverty in the Ming Dynasty's reform, and that leading the struggle of the poor is a path that must be taken in the new era.

In October, the peace talks between the East and the West were settled, the Prince of Liang entered the cabinet and became the chief minister, and Li Mao was forced to step down because of his reform remarks.

In the 399th year of the Ming Dynasty, Li Meng was persecuted by the new dignitaries and returned to his hometown in Huguang.

In February of the 400th year of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet controlled by Liang Wang Zhu Bohai and others behaved in the same way as the former dignitaries such as Li Zheng, and even became worse.

The large number of exorbitant taxes and levies imposed during the war were not abolished due to the end of the war. Instead, they were designated as regular taxes.

In June of the same year, the six-hour work system was established by the cabinet, and workers' protests broke out in Chongqing, Chengdu, Nanchang and other places.

In September, the cabinet announced that the national debt issued during the Yongli period was invalid. A large number of people's assets shrank, private factories went bankrupt, the unemployment rate continued to rise, and the number of poor people increased further.

In February of the 401st year of the Ming Dynasty, a demonstration broke out in Sichuan. The demonstration was suppressed, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries.

In September, Li Meng felt that the time was ripe, and on September 9th, he sent a telegram to the whole country to launch a reform. The Huguang Dusi, Sichuan Dusi, and Anxi Dusi responded one after another.

Upon hearing the news, the cabinet represented by Zhu Boqian decided to encircle and suppress the new army.

On September 24, Li Meng further distributed the land based on the "Hongxi Old System".

On October 10, troops from Henan, Jiangxi, Nanzhili, Guangdong and Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, U-Tsang, Shaanxi and other places began to encircle and suppress the new army.

On October 12, Emperor Zhu Bomu published an article agreeing with the reforms of Li Meng, Hu Su and others, and personally went to Huguang to hand over the "Hongxi Heavenly Book" that was reproduced by Emperor Shenzong during the Hongguang period to Li Meng.

After reading the heavenly book, Li Meng said, "Emperor Shiwu also supports us."

Unlike previous emperors who were reluctant to give up power and refused to listen to the advice of the Heavenly Book, Zhu Bomu followed the advice of the Heavenly Book and donated 4 million yuan from the treasury to support the reform.

On October 26, the first encirclement and suppression war broke out. Li Meng adopted the combat method of "I only go one way, no matter how many directions they come from". He left 70,000 troops to garrison in Sichuan, Li Huguang, and led 40,000 troops to defeat the 60,000 main forces of the Yunnan Regional Command, and recruited 40,000 defeated troops to surrender.

After the surrender, the main force of the Yunnan Regional Military Commission burst out with powerful combat effectiveness and helped Li Meng recover Yunnan.

On the twenty-sixth day of the winter month, the entire Yunnan province was liberated.

On the 27th, the reform policy was implemented in Yunnan and gained widespread support from the people.

On the 30th, Li Mao began to expand the army with the help of military factories in Yunnan. The people enthusiastically signed up to join the army and contribute their own strength to the reform.

On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, Hu Su resisted the offensive of the northern encirclement and suppression army, while Li Meng led his army to attack Guizhou, and the encirclement and suppression was declared a failure.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month in the fourth hundred and second year, Zhu Bohai mobilized the Eastern Army to enter Guizhou to fight against Li Mao.

Taking advantage of Guizhou's terrain, Li Meng continuously mobilized the Eastern Army in mobile warfare and concentrated his forces to eliminate the powerful troops within the Eastern Army.

On the seventh day of February, Yang Geng was defeated in Guizhou, and 40,000 elite Eastern Army soldiers were killed. The 160,000 Eastern Army soldiers who entered Guizhou announced their support for reform, and the entire Guizhou was recovered.

On the second day of March, Zhu Bohai was removed from his position as Prime Minister by the Cabinet due to repeated failures and was appointed Second Prime Minister. Second Prime Minister Wang Tong became the Prime Minister.

On the seventh day of April, Wang Tong mobilized the Western Army, the Southern Army, and the Northern Army for a second expedition, and ordered the Air Force to drop bombs at will without any scruples.

This move dissatisfied a large number of soldiers in the Air Force. Many soldiers flew their planes to the airport controlled by the new army and announced their support for the reform.

In August, the government troops launched an encirclement and suppression campaign against Li Meng and Hu Su from seven different directions. In the same month, the Anxi New Army was suppressed, and the morale of the New Army hit rock bottom. Li Meng published the "Ten Victories and Ten Defeats Theory", which boosted the morale.

In February 403, a demonstration broke out in Jiangxi. Li Meng took the opportunity to attack Jiangxi and recovered the entire territory in March.

Seeing that the financial tax source was threatened, Wang Tong urged the encirclement and suppression army to intensify the offensive and added 200,000 troops to participate in the encirclement and suppression.

At that time, the new army had a strength of 240,000, while the government army had a strength of 520,000.

In March, Li Meng led his army to attack Guangdong and Guangxi. The troops and people of Guangdong and Guangxi responded to the reform. The new army's strength grew to 320,000, and the war in the southwest was declared a failure.

In July, Wang Tong embezzled 1.6 billion taels from the bank and launched a southern expedition, causing a large number of people to go bankrupt and become homeless.

Li Meng, Hu Su and others commanded the new army's strategic defense, concentrated superior forces, and annihilated or surrendered many children of dignitaries and officers and soldiers in mobile warfare.

In June of 404, Li Meng ordered Hu Su in Jiangxi to prepare an attack on Jiangnan, and took advantage of the fact that the main force of the government army was transferred to Jiangnan to attack Shaanxi.

In July, workers' demonstrations broke out in Liaodong and Bohai. Li Meng attacked Xi'an and recovered Guanzhong. A large number of middle and grassroots officers in the Shaanxi Regional Military Commission announced their support for the reform.

In September, the new army switched from strategic defense to strategic offense.

In March 405, Li Meng organized the Central Plains Campaign, in which 180,000 new troops invaded Henan and formed a confrontation with 240,000 government troops in Henan.

In April, Wang Tong ordered the Shannan, Nanzhong, Laos, Siam, Jiaozhi and other dusi to attack the Yunnan-Guizhou area. The Central South Campaign broke out. Hu Su was stationed in Kunming, and the two sides formed a confrontation with 200,000 to 120,000 troops.

In May, after suppressing the workers' march in Northeast China, Wang Tong ordered his troops to move south to participate in the Central Plains Campaign. The strength of both sides changed to 380,000 government troops against 220,000 new troops.

In the same month, 240,000 Western troops launched an attack on Guanzhong. Zhu Gaoxu's 14th generation grandson Zhu Zhongjie led an army of 60,000 to defend Longshan. The Western Army failed to capture the area after a long siege and bombarded the Guanzhong area.

On the 24th, Emperor Zhu Bomu condemned the Western Army's bombing of Guanzhong, and demonstrations broke out in 24 provinces including Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi, Anxi, Gansu, and Liaodong.

After the movement lasted for 24 days, Wang Tong ordered it to be forcibly suppressed, resulting in countless casualties among the people, which in turn led to small-scale local uprisings.

On June 15, the Central Plains Campaign officially broke out from the stalemate stage. A large number of middle and lower-level officers of the government army could no longer bear the arbitrary command and humiliation of the powerful officers, so they announced their support for reform and joined the new army.

On the seventh day of July, Li Meng won the Central Plains Campaign, recruited 120,000 government troops, and attacked Shanxi, Shandong, and Nanzhili.

On July 14, Wang Tong personally arrived at the front line and commanded the 160,000 troops of Shangzhi and more than 200,000 defeated troops from the Central Plains Campaign to form the Yellow River Defense Line.

In order to prevent Li Meng from attacking Nanzhili, Wang Tong ordered the Yellow River to be breached.

After the order was issued, a large number of middle and grassroots military officers announced their support for the reform. Wang Tong withdrew to Beijing in disgrace, and Li Mao went north to recruit the surrender of a large number of defeated troops.

In August, Li Meng recovered the entire Shandong Province and the vast area north of the Yangtze River in Southern Zhili.

Upon learning that the north and the south were blocked, a large number of government troops in the Jiangnan region surrendered, and the Jiangnan Campaign was won.

In March 406, Li Meng led an army of 600,000 to the north, and a large number of middle and grassroots military officers in the Liaodong and Bohai military governors announced their support for the reform.

Wang Tong, Zhu Bohai and others retreated to the western region, and northern Zhili was recovered.

By August, Shanxi, Liaodong, Bohai, Daning, Lingbei, Yanran and other areas were successively recovered.

The policy of reform began to be implemented in the Central Plains and achieved results.

On October 5, the navy launched attacks on Nanzhili, Jiangnan and other places, causing large numbers of civilian casualties. Emperor Zhu Bomu published an article condemning the navy.

On October 24, the North Sea Fleet announced its support for the reform, followed by middle and lower-level officers of the East China Sea and other fleets announcing their support for the reform.

If the Li Zheng Rebellion allowed the world to see the ugliness of the powerful, then the current cabinet is to make the world completely give up on authoritarianism and the power of the rich.

In April of the 407th year of the Ming Dynasty, Li Meng launched a southern expedition and commanded 600,000 new troops to successively recover Jiaozhi, Nanzhong, Laos, Siam and the entire Indochina Peninsula.

In September, with the help of the navy, Southeast Asia and Korea were recovered.

In October, a rebellion broke out in Japan, and the government troops ruthlessly suppressed the rebels.

On October 24, Li Meng published an article, collectively calling the people of the Ming Dynasty the Chinese nation and firmly opposing division.

On the seventh day of the winter month, the new army landed in Japan and the Japanese governor surrendered.

According to statistics, the population of Japan before the Li Zheng Rebellion was 62 million.

By September of the 408th year of the Ming Dynasty, the population of Japan was only over 43 million. A large number of rebels had been suppressed in the past fifty years, and Japan had become highly sinicized.

In April of the same year, the Nanyang region was recovered.

In September, Nanzhou was recovered, and Li Meng issued the "Regulations for Royal Family" policy, which stated that as long as royal family members gave up their military power, the court would pay to buy their land and adopt an equal policy towards them.

In the same month, Zhu Bomu published an article in support of the "Regulations for Royal Family".

In October, Prince Guangze Zhu Shijin and four other princes of Yingzhou accepted the regulations, and Yingzhou was recovered.

In April of the 409th year of the Ming Dynasty, after the three major campaigns in the Central Plains, Central South, and Jiangnan and the Nanyang Campaign, millions of officers and soldiers successively supported the reform. Li Meng criticized Wang Tong and others as a pseudo-regime, and the new army was renamed the Ming Army.

In August, Li Meng launched the Western Expedition, and the Ming Dynasty's million-strong army began to march westward.

In September, Zhu Bomu published a congratulatory article.

In the same month, the Ming army successively recovered Gansu, Anxi, U-Tsang, Beiting, Shannan, Hezhong and other regions, and all the people they passed through surrendered.

In the twelfth month, the common people and middle and lower-level military officers in Persia, Daqin, Xihai, and Qibei rose up in rebellion, and the puppet regime ruled by Wang Tong, Zhu Bohai and others was declared over.

In February of the 410th year of the Ming Dynasty, Li Meng served as the chief minister of the cabinet, and Hu Su served as the second chief minister, and they carried out reforms across the country.

With the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's autocracy, the people of various countries in Western Continent also saw the dawn of victory.

In the same year, the French Reform broke out and the Bourbon dynasty under the rule of Louis XVI was overthrown. However, due to the diplomatic intervention of the Ming Dynasty, Louis XVI was not sent to the guillotine in the end, but was exiled to a small island in the Mediterranean.

The following year, Prussia annexed Hungary, becoming the largest country in Western Europe, and prepared to annex all of Europe.

In March of the 412th year of the Ming Dynasty, the Xizhou War broke out. In the same year, the Ming Dynasty began to compile "Ming Shilu", "New Ming History" and "New Ming Dynasty General History".

In April of the following year, the Ming Dynasty recovered Ceylon and sent troops to Kunlun Continent to recover the entire separatist territory of Kunlun Continent.

In May of the 416th year of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty sent troops to Beizhou and recovered Beizhou and Dongzhou from north to south.

Among them, the Northern and Eastern Kingdoms surrendered, and the remnants of the Southern Kingdom were finally pacified.

In the 419th year of the Ming Dynasty, Beizhou and Dongzhou were completely recovered, and the Ming Dynasty finally returned to the territory of the Wuzong period and even exceeded it.

In June of the same year, Ming Dynasty launched the world's first artificial satellite.

In July, the Kingdom of Prussia, which had annexed the Ottoman Empire, declared war on Britain, France and Spain.

In September, Sweden, a vassal state, annexed the Ming Dynasty and established the Three Arctic Offices.

In November, Emperor Zhu Bomu and Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan started their "Ming Dynasty Tour" by driving a car.

In June of the 423rd year of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty launched a mysterious weapon in the Arctic and broadcast it live for Britain, France, Spain and other countries to watch.

In July, 800,000 Ming troops stationed on the Xizhou grassland in the north of Qi.

In August, the four countries became vassal states of the Ming Dynasty and hung up the Ming Dynasty's flag with the word "朙" on it.

From then on, the world formed a unified vassal regime.

From then on, people's livelihood technology began to develop rapidly, and there were also some people who lamented the imperial power, and the role of the emperor was revealed at this time.

Zhu Bohai and Zhu Jiancan often publish articles and use their own money to make TV series about their travels.

The emperor did not feel sad about his life, but the people who lamented the imperial power complained about them.

During the 430 years of the Ming Dynasty, technologies such as television, air conditioning, and refrigerators were put into use, and high-speed trains began to run on the Ming mainland.

In the 448th year of the Ming Dynasty, Li Meng and Hu Su died successively, both at the age of 90.

Two years later, the Ming Emperor Zhu Bomu died at the age of eighty-six. Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan ascended the throne, and the Crown Prince's grandson Zhu Jingyin became the Crown Prince.

During the 450 years of the Ming Dynasty, the world's population reached 2.5 billion, of which the number of people directly under the Ming Dynasty reached 2 billion.

In the 458th year of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu's 17th generation grandson, the 28-year-old Ming Crown Prince and astronaut Zhu Dixi landed on the moon on the Ming Dynasty's first spacecraft.

In a global live broadcast, everyone on Earth watched him take out a page from the heavenly book left by Emperor Zhu Gaoxu and read it aloud with great emotion:

"This is a small step for me, a big step for the Chinese people!"

(End of this chapter)