Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 341 Brothers for life!
Sha Dingzhou was very proud.

Very proud indeed.

He first took the opportunity to pacify other chieftains to lead his troops to Dali, and then took advantage of Mu Tianbo's unpreparedness to destroy the center of Yunnan in one fell swoop.

After Mu Tianbo escaped, he coerced the officials in Yunnan to appease the people in the name of their respective government offices and trick the Guangxi reinforcements away, until he finally submitted a memorial to the court and tried to force Zhu Cilang to accept it with a fait accompli.

It must be said that he has the right to be proud.

This series of operations hit the vital points of the Duke of Qian's Mansion. If it weren't for the timely response of Shiping Tusi Long Zaitian and Ningzhou Tusi Lu, Mu Tianbo might have died directly in Dali, and the Ming Dynasty's control over Yunnan would have collapsed.

In the original history, Mu Tianbo retreated again and again in the face of Sha Dingzhou's attack and failed to organize an effective counterattack at all.

It was not until they retreated to Yongchang Prefecture near Myanmar that they were able to stabilize their position with the help of the strong city.

It's just bad luck.

Just when Sha Dingzhou was making every effort to subdue the various chieftains in Yunnan, the remnants of the Dashi Army, which had retreated to Yunnan due to the death of Zhang Xianzhong, finally completed negotiations with the Yongli regime.

Under the absolute advantage, Sha Dingzhou could not escape defeat, and Yunnan changed hands again and became the base for the remnants of the Dashi Army.

However, Zhang Xianzhong was still fighting with the Qing army at this time, and people like Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo had not retreated south.

Under such circumstances, Sha Dingzhou's power was at its peak, and it was natural for him to be proud.

"Everyone, tell our men to be more active. Once we capture Chuxiong, I will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Watching the groups of soldiers passing by, Sha Dingzhou felt full of energy and even his slightly depressed mood due to escaping from Mu Tianbo became much better.

With the decline of the Ming Dynasty, the power of the Mu family in Yunnan also declined slightly, but if it was ignored, it would always be a trouble for his overall plan.

But then again, although the purpose of this expedition was to hunt down Mu Tianbo, Sha Dingzhou had other ideas in his mind.

Judging from the current situation, Mu Tianbo has become a lost dog, and Qu Shisi from Guangxi has been deceived by him.

As long as he waited for the imperial court's appointment to arrive, he would be the new Duke of Qian. It seemed completely unnecessary to chase after a dying man.

But the human heart is not enough for a snake to swallow an elephant.

In his opinion, the world was in chaos at this time, and it was the time for many heroes to rise up.

Although the Ming court won a great victory in Jiangnan, the Qing court's counterattack had already arrived.

Under such circumstances, the two big men are bound to have a big battle. If he doesn't take this opportunity to expand his power, how can he be worthy of this God-given opportunity?
As for the method.
"Master Sha is really generous! I, the Gengma Xuanfu Division, will accept this reward!"

"How can the people from your Gengma Xuanfu Division be as brave as me, Meng Lian? Let's wait and see who can enter Chuxiong first!"

"Nonsense! Why can you, Meng Lian, compare with me, Geng Ma?!"

"Whether it's justified or not, I'll tell you in detail after we conquer Chuxiong!"

Sha Dingzhou originally wanted to use rewards to motivate the morale of the local soldiers, but who would have thought that these two guys who usually didn't get along well would actually start quarreling without any scruples.

He was naturally a little impatient about this, but then again, if all these leaders below were united as one, how could he, Sha Dingzhou, live in peace?

"Okay, stop arguing. We chieftains always speak with our fists. Why do you two quarrel as soon as you meet?"

After the words fell, the two said a few more words and then closed their mouths.

Seeing that the other chieftains were all watching the fun, Sha Dingzhou added another sentence.

"But it's rare that you guys are so brave and eager to take the lead. How about this, I have seized a lot of treasures from Dali, so I will simply raise the reward. Whoever can catch Mu Tianbo will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold!"

A thousand taels of gold!

If it were someone else, such a reward might just be an imaginary number, but for Sha Dingzhou, who had just had a feast at the Duke of Qian's Mansion, ten thousand taels was really ten thousand taels.

Faced with such a reward, not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even the chieftains were quite tempted. When everyone was preparing to make arrangements, a soldier came running quickly from the front of the team.

"Head! Forward."

"Snapped!"

The soldier had just uttered a few words when he was interrupted by a fierce whip. When he looked at Sha Dingzhou with horror on his face, he seemed to have thought of something in an instant, and then he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Master, please spare me! Master, please spare me!"

"You forgetful bastard, what happened in front?"

Seeing that his leader had no intention of pursuing the matter, the soldier felt that he had escaped death. He did not dare to delay any longer, so he kowtowed vigorously and began to speak at a very fast pace.

"Sir, the vanguard has arrived at the city of Chuxiong, but the people on the city wall said that Mu Tianbo has already fled westward, so we should not waste time here."

"Ran?"

"That's what the city said."

"Who is guarding the city?" "It is said to be Yang Weizhi, the military governor of Jincang."

"It's him"

After a few questions and answers, Sha Dingzhou got enough information from the soldier.

But when he heard the name Yang Weizhi, he couldn't help but ponder.

Yang Weizhi was born into a poor family in the northwest. If he had not been appreciated by his superiors for his resistance when Gao Yingxiang started the rebellion, he would probably still be digging for food in the dirt now.

But this guy who came from a peasant background made many military achievements in the battles with the rebel army. Later, he even won the appreciation of Sun Chuanting for his outstanding abilities.

If it were just that, Sha Dingzhou would not have taken it so seriously.

After all, fighting in the northwest is completely different from fighting in the southwest. Even though he is dominating the world, Sha Dingzhou is confident that he can deal with him by relying on the geographical advantage.

But the key point is that after Yang Weizhi took office in Yunnan, he was not only able to maintain his earlier victories, but even defeated several rebellious chieftains.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable that Sha Dingzhou would be cautious.

"Go, I want to talk to him."

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldier fled away, but Sha Dingzhou seemed not to notice and followed him after talking to the chieftains for a while.

About an hour later, Sha Dingzhou arrived at the city of Chuxiong. He was not allowed to wait any longer, as a loud shout came from the city: "Is the person coming here Sha Dingzhou, the chieftain of Wangnong?"

Sha Dingzhou naturally felt a little disgusted with the title of Tusi, but now was not the time to worry about it. When he heard the call, he rode his horse a little forward.

"It's Sha, but I don't know why Yang Bingdao came to Chuxiong?"

"I came here to suppress Wu Bikui's rebellion, but the people begged me to stay for a few more days. I didn't expect to run into the Sassoon Futi Army today. It's a coincidence."

There was a hint of sarcasm in Yang Weizhi's words, but Sha Dingzhou's mind was racing, and he didn't care about it.

"So that Yang Bingdao knows that Mu Tianbo's perverse actions have caused chaos in Yunnan. This time, Wang Zhongcheng has submitted a petition to the court, proposing that Sha be sent to guard Yunnan. I think the court has already issued the appointment."

Sha Dingzhou did not explain why he had brought his troops here, but instead directly threw out his trump card.

He understood clearly that although Yang Weizhi was difficult to deal with, he was a member of the imperial court. As long as he brought out the imperial court's order, it would probably have some deterrent effect.

Sure enough, after he finished speaking, there was no response from the city.

Seeing this, Sha Dingzhou knew that his words had worked, and he immediately struck while the iron was hot.

"Yang Bingdao, you have been in Yunnan for so many years, and we chieftains have never treated you as an outsider. Today, I dare to ask you a question. Mu Tianbo has made life miserable for the people of Yunnan. Don't you and other court officials see it?"

On the surface, there was nothing wrong with what Sha Dingzhou said.

Ever since Mu Tianbo truly came to power, he has been constantly attacking local chieftains. Naturally, these families that have been passed down for hundreds and nearly a thousand years will not allow themselves to be slaughtered, so the turmoil has continued one after another.

To the chieftains, Mu Tianbo was clearly guilty of a grave sin.

It just exposes its essence, which is nothing more than a power struggle between the central government and local governments. Compared with other places in the Ming Dynasty, there is no difference between good and evil except that the means are more intense.

The left and right chieftains exploit the people, and the Mu Palace also exploits the people. All crows are black, so who can be better than who?

Yang Weizhi, who could not read a single word, could not explain why, but he had a scale in his heart.
"I will not be in charge of civil affairs."

Although his reply was successfully transmitted to the city, for some reason, the momentum in his words was much weaker than before.

However, after hearing this, Sha Dingzhou did not continue to argue, but changed the subject and went straight to Yang Weizhi's job.

"Okay, Yang Bingdao doesn't care about civil affairs, so I'll talk about military affairs. This time the Tartars are heading south, and troops from all over the country are heading north to support the king, but what else can we do in Yunnan except for Lin'an sending a bunch of new recruits?"

At this time, Sha Dingzhou was already excited because of the performance on the city wall. When he uttered the last word, he felt his heart surging, as if he was a pillar of support for the Ming Dynasty.

He was already certain that Yang Weizhi was also dissatisfied with the situation in Yunnan, and maybe with a little more effort he could convince him to open the city and surrender.

After about seven or eight breaths, a response came from the city, but the response was slightly different from what he expected.

"I am only a soldier. I will obey whoever the imperial court appoints to guard Yunnan. However, I have heard that Long Zaitian and Lu Yongming have some grudges with Sha Xuanfu. If you cause trouble due to personal grudges, we can only stand by and watch."

When Sha Dingzhou first heard these irrelevant words, he was a little confused, but he could be considered a local hero after all. After pondering them for a while, he tasted the meaning of them.

"Okay, with what Yang Bing said, you and I will be brothers for life. Goodbye!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sha Dingzhou urged his horse to leave.

Seeing this, the local soldiers rushed after him even though they didn't understand the situation. However, Yang Weizhi on the Chuxiong City let out a long sigh and said something to the general beside him.

"Repair the city walls as soon as possible and mobilize the surrounding troops."

(End of this chapter)