Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 355 I will lead the troops there

Zhu Cilang was actually not worried about the war in Yunnan.

Firstly, the armies of the chieftains in Yunnan were basically a group of farmers who had just put down their hoes; secondly, their equipment level was inferior to that of the garrison soldiers.

With the combination of the two, let alone the current five imperial guards, even ordinary local troops are capable of quelling the Sha Dingzhou Rebellion.

But Yunnan’s problem is not the war.

Even if he could easily take care of Sha Dingzhou today, Shi Dingzhou and Shui Dingzhou would still appear in a few years or even decades.

Such a repeated cycle will not only consume national strength, but if we encounter unfilial descendants, they may even abandon this place.

By then, the efforts of countless generations will be in vain, which will be a waste of time and regret.

So after thinking it over for a while, Zhu Cilang finally decided to stop by Yunnan before heading north to Sichuan.

The war after entering Yunnan was extremely easy.

As soon as they entered Yunnan, Zhu Cilang ordered Zhang An, under the leadership of the local tyrant Zhao Yinxuan, to raid Sha Dingzhou's old nest Wangnong, while he himself rushed to Kunming with the Guangxi soldiers who had remained at the border between Guangxi and Yunnan.

There is no need to spend much time and effort on Kunming.

This place was originally a city that had been run by the Mu family for hundreds of years, and Sha Dingzhou did not leave many troops behind in order to capture Chuxiong.

After Zhu Cilang fired several rounds of cannon fire, the defenders in the city surrendered immediately. It can be said that the battle was won without bloodshed.

As for Wang Nong
According to Zhu Cilang's original idea, since Wangnong was Sha Dingzhou's lair, it would definitely take some effort to find it.

Therefore, his plan was to have the Dong people, who were accustomed to mountain warfare, surround this place first, and then launch a surprise attack after taking Kunming, where the people were unstable, with the rear guard army equipped with a large number of firearms taking charge of the main attack.

But the development of the situation was beyond Zhu Cilang's expectations.

Although Wangnong has a steep terrain, the Dong people under Zhang An also make a living in the mountains. In addition, Zhao Yinxuan’s hometown, Lin’an Prefecture, is right next to Wangnong, so the army quickly found a guide who was familiar with the terrain.

then
Facing the sudden arrival of the army, Wang Nong, who was short of troops, had no advantage at all.

When Zhu Cilang was about to send the imperial guards to help in the battle, the news of victory from Zhang An and Zhao Yinxuan also came at the same time.

Nothing good to say about it. Really nothing good to say about it.

If it weren't for the Mu family's treasury in Kunming and the Sha family's assets in Wangnong that surprised Zhu Cilang, who had just collected millions of silver, these two battles might have been a little difficult to qualify for being included in the daily records.

The rest of the story followed naturally.

After learning that Sha Dingzhou's main force was besieging Chuxiong, Zhu Cilang left the Guangxi soldiers to guard Kunming and sweep the surrounding areas, while he himself led the strongest fighting force entering Yunnan and rushed straight to the battlefield, confusing the extremely inflated Sha Dingzhou.

While the rear guard army and the Chuxiong defenders were cleaning up the battlefield, he set up a tent outside the city.

"Your Majesty, there are several chieftains outside who would like to see you."

Following a very low sound of footsteps, Mei Chun appeared in Zhu Cilang's tent.

When entering Yunnan this time, Zhu Cilang took into consideration the instability of the situation in central Sichuan and sent the imperial guards to Chongqing to provide support.

In this way, Mei Chun, who was about to return from overseas, would consciously stay by Zhu Cilang's side, and reporting all kinds of information became his job.

"Oh? Are they the ones who fled at the last minute?"

"Of course."

"Okay, let them wait for a while."

After hearing what His Majesty said, Mei Chun was ready to go out of the tent to pass on the order, but just as he was about to turn around, he heard His Majesty's voice coming over.

"What do you think of the Spanish army's combat effectiveness?"

"this."

Faced with Zhu Cilang's sudden question, Mei Chun, who had only been in Manila for a few days, immediately hesitated.

Although he had previously accompanied Shen Tingyang on a diplomatic mission to Manila, he had only come into contact with a few officers during those days and had no chance to observe up close what ordinary Spanish soldiers were like.

But now that His Majesty asked him suddenly, he had to give an answer, otherwise how could he justify it?
"Your Majesty, I have been staying in the Governor's Mansion since I landed, and I have not had the opportunity to see their military appearance. However, judging from the few generals I have seen, they are quite arrogant. So I think the Spanish should be quite strong, otherwise they would not be able to raise such generals."

After hearing what Mei Chun said, Zhu Cilang was not too disappointed.

Anyway, he was just chatting with Mei Chun at the moment to kill time and make those people wait a little longer.

But when he was about to ask something else, Mei Chun seemed to have thought of something, and after formulating his words, he continued, "Your Majesty, we met a few remnants of the rebel army in Manila. They must know the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army."

"Oh? Is there anything else?"

Seeing that his Majesty knew nothing about this matter, Mei Chun was not too surprised.

After all, on the day the fleet returned to Guangzhou, Zhu Cilang and the civilians left first with artillery and other equipment, moving slowly, while the rear guards stayed in Guangzhou for a few days before catching up.

Although they did talk during this process, Zhu Cilang and Shen Tingyang mostly focused on speculating on the movements of the Dutch during that half day, while Mei Chun, after reuniting with Zhu Cilang, mostly talked about how the war in Yunnan should proceed.

Under such circumstances, such a trivial matter as encountering the remnants of the rebel army would not become the main topic.

".Later, we couldn't wait any longer, so we left behind a few armed merchant ships to take them out of Manila."

"They have rebelled even on foreign territory. They are more capable than Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong."

After saying this with a smile, Zhu Cilang began to think again.

Shen Tingyang seemed to have mentioned this at the time, but at that time all his attention was on the reactions of the Spaniards and the Dutch, and he did not delve into these details.

But now that I think about it, having these hundreds of local tyrants would be a pleasant surprise.

After all, once he has dealt with all the problems inside, he will always have to reach out to the sea.

With the help of people who are quite familiar with the East Malay Archipelago, even if the Ming Dynasty does not go to war with Spain, it can still build its own city in East Malaysia under the name of lease.

Anyway, the Dutch are now pretending to be dead, so the initiative in Southeast Asia is in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

After I have taken care of my family affairs, if the Spaniards still don't know how to advance or retreat, then it's no wonder that Ming Dynasty asked the Spaniards: Why can you rent Macau to me, but I can't rent East Malaysia to you.

"Your Majesty, those toasts"

Mei Chunzhong is also an honest person. Even though Zhu Cilang obviously intended to ignore those fence-sitters, he still asked this question.

However, after hearing his words, Zhu Cilang did not blame him. After all, he had already known this guy's temper through Xu Yinjue, and he knew that he was not good at tactful thinking.

So after a light laugh, he ordered the chieftains to come in and pay their respects. "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live long, long, long, long."

Less than half an incense stick of time passed, and five or six chieftains arrived outside Zhu Cilang's tent. They then knelt down and kowtowed to him, and Zhu Cilang nodded slightly after they finished their ceremony.

"Your Majesty has ordered that all chieftains stand up and come into the tent to see the emperor."

Seeing Zhu Cilang's action, Mei Chunzhong's energetic voice rang out, and then several chieftains thanked the emperor again, and after performing the grand ceremony, they timidly entered the tent.

Meng Delai regrets it now, very much.

He knew very well that although the Ming Emperor did not leave his men outside the tent for too long, this action clearly showed the Ming Emperor's dissatisfaction.

He had the opportunity to avoid this attitude.

Previously, Yang Weizhi had come to the village to ask for help. Relying on the friendship and huge sums of money that he had received when suppressing the rebellion, he brought his troops to help.

But when he arrived in Chuxiong, he learned that Mu Tianbo had been driven to Yongchang on the border by Sha Dingzhou, and the Ming Dynasty's reinforcements had not yet arrived.

At that time, he regretted his decision. If he had not been worried that Yang Weizhi would do something irrational in desperation, he would have led his troops back to the village long ago.

The subsequent wars gradually calmed the regret in his heart.

After all, Yang Weizhi had fought in the north. Not only was he a man of many ideas, he was also very good at military strategies.

Under his management, the small city of Chuxiong managed to keep Sha Dingzhou's army out of the city and prevent them from advancing an inch, so he could stay safely in the city for the time being.

But such days did not last long. When those war elephants appeared on the battlefield, Meng Delai knew that the city could not be defended.

As a chieftain family that had been passed down for hundreds of years, he had no intention of dying for the Ming Dynasty.

When the war elephants attacked the city, Yang Weizhi went to make arrangements, and he directly led his troops and several other chieftains out of the city.

But man proposes, God disposes.

The Ming army's reinforcements arrived just after they escaped from the city.

Not only did they arrive in time, but they also defeated Sha Dingzhou's troops in a single encounter, not to mention the cavalry that followed in pursuit. If it weren't for the terrain, it is possible that not even the chieftains who had defected to the Sha family would have escaped unscathed.

It’s bitter~~~~~.

Looking at the young emperor sitting in the tent, Meng Delai's various thoughts could only turn into a sigh.

At this moment, he really wanted to take a closer look at the emperor's expression, but apart from the courage to take a sneak peek when he entered the tent, he didn't even dare to raise his head again.

"Your coming to our aid at this time can be regarded as fulfilling the hundreds of years of friendship between the emperor and his subjects with the Ming Dynasty."

Although the emperor's voice was emotionless, it sounded like heavenly music to Meng Zhidao's ears.

Are you not going to pursue the matter of deserting the battlefield?

That's right. After all, in the whole of Yunnan, only a few of us are still on the side of the imperial court. The rest are either wavering or supporting Sha Dingzhou's rebellion.

Even though those who supported Sha Dingzhou had been defeated and scattered in the previous battle, the court still needed some loyal people.

If not us, then do we have to rely on those who are still waiting and watching?
Thinking of this, Meng Zhidao straightened his back slightly. However, who would have thought that the emperor's next words not only frightened him so much that he bent his back again, but also made his calves tremble slightly.

"But why was my general seriously injured, but you were unharmed?"

"Your Majesty, please understand! Your Majesty, please understand! We have also been defending with Yang Bingdao for a few days, but the traitor Sha Dingzhou got some war elephants from somewhere. We saw that the city was almost impossible to defend, so we wanted to leave some seeds for the army's counterattack!"

Following the Ming Emperor's faint words, the timid chieftains were frightened and immediately knelt on the ground.

Seeing this, Meng realized that he could no longer stand. Then one chieftain after another knelt on the ground, while voices of explanations and requests were heard from within the tent.

"How dare you make such a loud noise in front of His Majesty!"

Mei Chun's scolding followed, and the tent returned to silence again. However, when Zhu Cilang saw these chieftains who were as scared as chickens, he who was about to let the matter go asked another question.

"If that's the case, then you are still my loyal subjects, and you are not planning to surrender to Sha Dingzhou because you see his power?"

"Your Majesty, please understand! If I were really that kind of person, why would I lead all the troops to support Yang Bingdao?"

"Okay, considering your merits, I will not mind your desertion. However, there are some things I must explain to you. Ajige has already surrendered."

As soon as the words fell, there was dead silence in the tent.

Although Yunnan was not clear about the details of the war between Ming and Qing, it knew that Ajige was the prince who led the Qing army.

At this time, Your Majesty actually said that the man had surrendered. Doesn't that mean that the Qing army had at least suffered a devastating defeat?
No wonder the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had time to lead his troops into Yunnan; it turned out that the powerful enemy had been eliminated.

Fortunately
As Zhu Cilang's words reached their ears, all the chieftains felt a sense of luck, and then congratulations echoed in the big tent.

But when they were about to congratulate His Majesty, they heard a soldier outside the tent report: "Your Majesty, there is a man outside the camp who claims to be a subordinate of Chieftain Meng Lian, and he said he has important military information to report to Your Majesty."

After hearing the words "Tusi Meng Lian", Meng couldn't help but feel emotional.

Chieftain Meng Lian was Sha Dingzhou's right-hand man. Whether it was the seizure of Kunming or the pursuit of Mu Tianbo, he had fought to the death.

But now that Sha Dingzhou had just suffered a defeat, he actually sent people directly into the Ming army camp. The speed of changing camps cannot be described as fast. How could Si Meng not feel sad when he learned that he only thought of escaping when the city was about to be broken?
"What's his business?"

"Your Majesty, the person who came did not mention it. He only said that it concerns the overall situation of Yunnan and he must see Your Majesty in person."

After hearing the report from the guards, Zhu Cilang was a little hesitant. He had already made some plans for Yunnan, so he didn't care about the enemy's surrender.

But then I thought there would be no harm in listening more, so I changed my words: "Let him in."

As soon as the voice fell, the guards took the order and left. After a while, a figure appeared outside the tent. After a series of formalities, the man said, "Let your majesty know that the remnants of Sha Dingzhou have been captured by our chieftain while fleeing. However, the matter is of great importance and our chieftain dare not rashly bring them here."

Having said this, the man looked at Zhu Cilang who was sitting in the tent with a dignified look. Although he was somewhat surprised that the Ming Emperor remained calm, he continued speaking as he had expected.

"If Your Majesty can grant us the land of southern Yunnan, my chieftain will surely be able to bring Sha Dingzhou to Your Majesty's tent."

According to what the visitor and his chieftain thought, if Sha Dingzhou could be captured this time, the Ming court would not have to spend too much effort to pacify Yunnan.

Compared with this, some border areas in southern Yunnan are naturally nothing, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would definitely agree to this condition.

But to the visitor's surprise, after hearing these words, not only did the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty burst into laughter, but even the people kneeling on the ground also cast extremely complicated glances at him.

When he was a little annoyed by the laughter, the emperor wiped his eyes with his sleeves, and then said in a slightly mocking tone: "I will not bother Chief Meng Lian. If he has any difficulties, I will lead the army to go there."

(End of this chapter)