I

  Chapter 593 590【Annan Invasion of Soil】

  Sha Dingzhou really ran away. This guy didn’t dare to go in the direction of Kunming, and went straight south along Minghu Lake (Yangzonghai), all the way to escape in a ravine.

  After he came out of the mountain, he plunged headlong into the ravine near Fuxian Lake, and ran to Mengzi, the old nest of the Sha family, in a detour.

  At this moment, the Guangxi Datong Army has reached Maitreya Prefecture and the Third Ministry of Education (Wenshan). The nearest Datong Army was less than two hundred miles away from Mengzi, but that was a straight line distance, and they had to cross mountains and ridges all the way.

  Sha Dingzhou returned to his hometown in Mengzi and asked the more than 2,000 cavalry to set off immediately with their relatives, taking away the hoarded money and food.

  Follow the commercial road in the mountains and go to Vietnam.

  Although this business road is remote, there are many caravans coming and going. Goods from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan were transported by caravans to the Sino-Vietnamese border, that is, the area around Hekou and Laojie in later generations, and they could go directly to Thang Long Mansion (Hanoi, Vietnam) along the Tao River.

  The large area west of the river mouth, from Jinping County in later generations to Laizhou City in Vietnam, all belong to the private territory of the Mu family!

  The city of Laizhou in Vietnam still belongs to the border at this time. The land of about 300 square kilometers was quietly occupied by the Mu family. It was inherited by Wu Sangui in history, and was invaded by Vietnam after Wu Sangui's demise.

  Although there is no yamen in Lao Cai, as a border commercial pier, the Zheng Zhu regime of the Northern Dynasty in Vietnam has always sent troops to station here.

  Sha Dingzhou came with more than 2,000 cavalry, counting his family members and servants, there were as many as seven or eight thousand people.

  The Vietnamese army was taken aback, and after careful inquiry, it turned out that they were here to seek refuge.

  …

  Vietnam, Thang Long Province.

  Zheng Ting is sixty-nine years old this year. He is old but not old. He took the initiative to start a war four years ago. Moreover, they have sent troops for two consecutive years, and have repeatedly fought and failed repeatedly, vowing to destroy the southern Ruan regime in Vietnam.

  During the period, they also received help from the Dutch.

  The East India Company not only shipped artillery, but also sent Dutch gunners, and even considered whether to sell matchlock guns.

  The reason why the Netherlands got involved was because the Ruan regime in the south burned churches and expelled Dutch businessmen several years ago. In today's Vietnamese market, the Northern Dynasty of Zheng Zhu was dominated by Dutch merchants, and the Southern Dynasty of Ruan Zhu was dominated by Han merchants.

   "My lord, our dynasty must not take Sha Dingzhou in, otherwise we will surely offend China." said Zheng Rongfu, a knowledgeable fan of Li Fan.

Li Gang, who knew the soldiers, retorted: "Our dynasty is in danger of mountains and rivers, and the mountains and barren mountains can block the Han army. I am not afraid that the Han army will not come. If they come, the miasma and poisonous insects will be enough. They will definitely be infected with the plague. At that time, Our army took the opportunity to fight out, so couldn't we win a big victory?"

Wu Zongru, a member of Hufan Zhifan, said: "China has a large land, rich resources and a large population. It can be defeated once, twice or even ten times, but how many times can our army win? My lord, the southern expedition failed three years ago, and the treasury is already empty. My lord And let the Ministry of Households raise food and prepare for the next southern expedition. At this critical moment, how can we provoke powerful enemies again?"

  Vietnam's official system fully imitates China.

  There are six in Ming Dynasty, and there are also six in Vietnam.

  Daming had six subjects, and Vietnam had six subjects.

  There are five temples in the Ming Dynasty, and there is one more temple in Vietnam, Shangbao Temple, which is in charge of the emperor's seal. This was temporarily added by the Zheng Lord's regime. The eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty handed the seal, and of course the officials in Vietnam handed the seal. The puppet emperor should not even try to touch the jade seal.

   Moreover, the Vietnamese master Zheng also played Zhang Juzheng's set.

  Zhang Juzheng used six subjects to seize the power of the six departments, and Master Zheng also used the six divisions to seize the power of the six departments.

  After listening to Wu Zongru, a householder, Zheng Ting tended to make good friends with China and refused Shadingzhou to lead troops to join him. After all, there is still a ruler Ruan in the south whose regime has not been destroyed. He has failed to send troops to the south twice in a row. It is really inappropriate to provoke a strong enemy when the treasury is empty.

   Li Gang cupped his hands and said: "My lord, if we make friends with China, should we return Mujiaxunzhuang?"

  Mu Family Xunzhuang is the private territory of the Mu family. Some were granted by the imperial court, and most of them are occupied by the Mu family themselves.

   Mu Tianbo was driven around by Sha Dingzhou, so naturally he couldn't care about his honor. There is no government office there, and it is all managed by the Mu family's slaves. The slaves brought their tenants to Vietnam and took the opportunity to embezzle the Mu family's land, and Vietnam was happy to have an extra piece of land to pay taxes.

   This old guy, Zheng Yi, has a strong desire to expand. How can he be willing to spit out the territory he has swallowed in his mouth?

  Wu Zongru saw him contemplating, and quickly remonstrated: "My lord, don't betray the kingdom of heaven because of a little land. Otherwise, there may be disaster!"

   Zheng Yi raised his hand to signal silence, he had to think about this matter.

   That piece of land is really not small, after all, the Zheng family only controls half of Vietnam. Moreover, some of the northern territories of Vietnam in later generations are still in the hands of the Nanzhang Kingdom (Laos).

After being silent for a full quarter of an hour, Zheng Bing said: "The two thousand cavalry in Sha Dingzhou are indeed an important force, and they will be useful in fighting against the Ruan puppet dynasty in the future. The newly attached land in the north is the territory of our dynasty. , naturally cannot give up lightly..."

Having said this, Zheng Bing changed the subject: "However, China really cannot be offended. The Ministry of Rites ordered envoys to be sent immediately to Nanjing to present land and proclaim their ministers with the letter of credence and a map. That Emperor Zhao of Nanjing, if he asks for Sha Dingzhou , then we’ll send it when the time comes. Emperor Zhao wants Mu’s Xun Zhuang, so we’ll give him back some at that time.”

  This old guy made a good plan, first accept Sha Dingzhou, and let Sha Dingzhou lead the troops to fight against the Ruan family.

  When the use was over, the Chinese emperor asked, and then trapped and killed Sha Dingzhou, and sent the head of Sha Dingzhou to Nanjing. By the way, he swallowed all the tribes and goods of Sha Dingzhou!

  The private territory of the Mu family can be relied on as long as it can, and it will be returned if it cannot be denied, and only part of it will be returned tentatively. If Emperor Zhao reacted strongly, it would not be too late to return all the territory.

   "Master Shengming!"

  The officials immediately shouted that they were very satisfied with this approach.

  The frontier soldiers received the order and took Shadingzhou across the river. When he came to Vietnam, Sha Dingzhou felt that he had escaped from the sky, but he did not dare to take it lightly. He was always on guard against the vicious intentions of the Vietnamese.

  But they said that the Vietnamese people are also suffering. The country has been divided for hundreds of years and has been in a state of war.

  More than 20 years ago, civil strife broke out in Zheng's family, and he beat himself up first. Then, the Zheng family fought against Mo Chao again until the year when Chongzhen succeeded to the throne. More than ten years ago, the Zheng family took the initiative to fight the Ruan family, and after the defeat, they ceased their troops. Four or three years ago, the Zheng family, who had saved up enough money and food, sent troops to attack the Ruan family again.

  This is still in the north, and the Ruan family in the south has been fighting and expanding its territory southward.

  The people of Vietnam are heavily taxed, and many people starve to death. From the continuous outbreak of uprisings, they have become numb.

   Let Chinese businessmen go to Vietnam to buy grain?

  Sorry, the Vietnamese don’t even have enough to eat. There are gentry merchants who are willing to sell some at a high price, but they are controlled by the northern and southern courts. Lord Zheng and Lord Ruan both need food to fight the war, and they do not allow too much domestic food to flow out.

  …

  Shadingzhou was defeated and fled, and there were only small chieftains left in Yunnan.

   A plate of loose sand cannot overturn the sky, and three regular divisions of the Datong Army are enough to level the Yunnan chieftain several times.

  After Ding Jiasheng occupied Mengzi, he fought all the way to Diansi in Xichu (southeast of Honghe Prefecture), and a slave of the Mu family came to see him.

   "General, please take back the country!" The house slave knelt down when he saw him.

   Ding Jiasheng asked, "What's your name?"

The slave replied: "Reporting to the general, the younger one's name is Mu En, and he was originally the son of a small farmer in Mu's Xunzhuang. An evil slave killed my father, took the farm and went to Annan, and dedicated all the Xuntian of Mu's family. Give it to Fanbang Xiaoguo!"

  Things are definitely not that simple, most likely because of the uneven distribution of spoils, which led to Mu family's slaves killing each other.

  Ding Ding Jiasheng didn't bother to ask such things, he just said: "How much land was taken by An Nanguo?"

  Mu En replied: "The size of two or three counties!"

  This guy is exaggerating and causing trouble, but it is not too outrageous. 300 square kilometers is indeed enough for one or two small counties.

   Those lands, without an official name, were divided into one manor after another, and each manor was governed by the Mu family faction. Among them, there are even military settlements set up by the Ming Dynasty before, and the military households and land were all privately embezzled by the Mu family.

   Moreover, this is only a part of the Mu family's farmland, and the Mu family's land is spread all over Yunnan.

   "Two or three counties are as big as An Nanguo?" Ding Jiasheng began to talk to himself.

  If Huang Yao and Liu Xinyu were replaced, they would definitely lead troops to kill them and take the territory back from Vietnam.

  But Ding Jiasheng was born as a scholar, picked up a copy of "Datong Ji" and read it, and dared to rebel against the landlords and divide the land. His political sense is extremely keen. From the fact that Annan invaded and occupied the border of Guangxi a few years ago, and the imperial court has always ordered the soldiers to stay still, it can be seen that the emperor must be playing Annan's idea.

  Ding Jiasheng thought about it, wrote a memorial, and sent someone to Nanjing immediately.

  He intentionally kept those territories from being recovered, and resolutely refused to meet the Vietnamese army face to face. Its purpose is nothing more than to give the emperor an excuse to send troops in the future, and it can also paralyze Vietnam's Lord Zheng and his subjects, making them feel that China has no interest in those territories.

Two months later, Zhao Han received Ding Jiasheng's memorial and said to the cabinet ministers with a smile: "The commanders of each division, in terms of long-term vision, only Lu Xiangsheng, Li Dingguo, and Ding Jiasheng. It’s good at it, but it’s not so interesting to seek the country.”

  Song Yingxing said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, I have met a man with both wisdom and courage."

   "The Annan Zheng family is quite courageous," Zhao Han couldn't help feeling, "Annan is divided into two, and the Zheng family can't even beat the Ruan family. How dare he occupy China's territory?"

Pang Chunlai said: "It's just that you are blinded by profit. Just like Shadingzhou and Wanshi, there are only tens of thousands of local soldiers, and most of them were recruited in the past two years. With a little power, they dare to occupy most of Yunnan, and even dare to ask His Majesty for Yunnan. The duty of a consolation envoy."

  Zhao Han said: "Let's let him go for two years. After the chieftains in Yunnan are completely calmed down and the people of all ethnic groups are appeased, I will send troops to Annan to ask for an explanation."

  Li Banghua hesitated to speak, but did not persuade him after all.

   In Li Banghua's mind, the country has gone through more than ten years of war and natural disasters, and the next thing to do is to cultivate health and rest.

  As for the country, it can expand westward to Jiayuguan, northward to Hetao, and eastward to the border of the Great Wall of Liao Dynasty. Hami and other places outside Jiayuguan, the grasslands in the north, the territory east of the Great Wall of Liao Dynasty, and Qinghai and Tibet, all need to set up capitals and rule them.

   There is really no need to go militaristic and occupy the bitter, cold and barren land. They cannot produce much food, but instead have to subsidize maintenance costs.

  Annan, send troops to fight a battle, until he proclaims himself a minister, and take back the territory he has, and let Annan send envoys to pay tribute. The Ming Dynasty also occupied Annan, and set up the Jiaozhi Province, but it also rebelled and became independent. The Ming court did not know how much military expenditure was spent on this.

   But Zhao Han was the founding emperor, and he couldn't bring back ten cows for what he decided, so Li Banghua didn't even bother to persuade him.

  (end of this chapter)