Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 28 The advantage is mine
After Bie Daiyun knelt down to pay his respects, he caught a glimpse of the blood in the tent.

"Your Majesty, has everything been dealt with in Pathein County?"

Mang Bai nodded.

"We just need to wait for the letter from Arakan. I think Pathein County can get 20,000 to 30,000 slaves."

Mang Bai also understood that the Hongsha Army could not defeat the Ming Kingdom.

If quality doesn’t work, we win by quantity.

Bie Daiyun took out a letter from his robe.

"The Crown Prince of Ming has sent a letter, saying that he wants to temporarily suspend the war."

Mang Bai waved his hand and refused to take the letter, snorting coldly.

"I don't believe a single word Zhu Cixuan says. Tell me, Dai Yun, what did Zhu Cixuan ask for?"

Bie Daiyun withdrew his hand and said seriously.

"The crown prince of Ming said that as long as the king recognizes the Marquis of Pagan as the King of Toungoo, he will recognize the king as the King of Pegu."

"The two countries used the Sittang River as their boundary, and each took half of the counties of Shalin and Yangmiding."

"Xia Hongsha pays tribute to the Ming Dynasty, paying 50 million kilograms of rice annually. The crown prince of the Ming Dynasty then..."

Bie Daiyun looked up at Mang Bai.

"Then let go of King Long's last son."

"Otherwise, we will raise an army of 100,000 and march south to completely occupy Xiahongsha."

Upon hearing this, Mang Bai was not angry but burst into laughter.

"Zhu Cixuan has a shitty army of 100,000."

Although the Ming army occupied the capital of Ava and counties such as Pagan.

But the Hongsha people who fled south could not be stopped.

In particular, Zhu Cixuan set up an education team, forcing many princes and nobles who had already surrendered to flee and join him again.

Therefore, Mangbai has no shortage of intelligence information from the north.

He knew clearly that when the Ming Dynasty fell, half of the so-called 30,000 troops who fled China were the families of soldiers and generals.

At most, there are only 20,000 Han troops.

"Zhu Cixuan is as cunning as a devil. He asked the monastery to collect grain for him to prepare supplies for a 100,000-man army. He is trying to intimidate us again."

"I've been scared by him before, and you, Daiyun, have also been scared by what he said about Zheng Yanping."

"Third time is enough. Do you think I'm a fool? You're trying to blackmail me like this."

Bie Daiyun nodded in agreement.

They also knew that there was a mutiny in Ava City that night, and the Crown Prince of Ming was lucky enough to have the last laugh. The reason for this was that they mistook the carriages and horses of the Marquis of Pagan for the Ming army.

Otherwise, with the military advantage, how could the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty easily capture the city of Ava?

"But, Your Majesty."

"The crown prince of Ming Dynasty freed the slaves and distributed land to Ahmudan, making the monasteries prosperous again. We have to be on guard against him being able to rely on the monks to mobilize tens of thousands of troops again."

Mang Bai let out a long sigh and cursed angrily.

"My uncle is getting old and confused. He wants to be the fake king of Ming Dynasty."

"My father had earlier granted him the fiefdom of Pagan because he was honest. I never imagined that it would be this Mon bastard who would destroy our Toungoo."

Mang Bai knew in his heart that he was venting his emotions recklessly.

The Marquis of Pagan probably had no choice.

Even without him, Zhu Cixuan could still support Pingdali's youngest son and the former crown prince.

However, this practice of dividing land, freeing slaves, and digging up the roots of the Toungoo royal family had already made the princes and nobles eager to skin him alive.

The chieftain of the family of Lady Mengnai, the mother of the Marquis of Pagan, and hundreds of other people were also used to vent anger.

This is also the reason why Mang Bai was anxious and wanted to send troops even though he knew that the Hongsha army could not defeat the Ming army.

Once those decrees are finalized, the interest groups centered around the pseudo-king, with monks at their core, will be able to firmly establish their control over Shanghongsha.

Now, not only are there fewer and fewer monks fleeing to Xiahongsha.

Instead, monks from counties such as Pegu and Toungoo began to contact the Ming Dynasty and the false king.

It won’t take even one or two years.

When the autumn rice is harvested in February next year, the common people who do not have to pay grain or taxes will spontaneously support the Ming Dynasty and join the army to resist Xia Hongsha.

Originally, he wanted to hold on to Xiahongsha, build strong defenses and clear the fields, and rely on the climate to slowly wear down the Han people.

Now we had to prepare for the Northern Expedition.

Mang Bai gritted his teeth and said, "Don't even mention the autumn planting season. Can Zhu Cixuan recruit soldiers without caring about food?"

"He could at most recruit 20,000 troops from there, and they were all lower-ranking Ahmedans, not real soldiers."

"Combined with the Ming army and the Luchuan chieftain's 20,000 troops, there are only 40,000 troops at most."

"As for Siam sending troops..."

Seeing Mang Bai looking at him, Bie Daiyun responded.

"The King of Siam has dispatched a little over 10,000 elephants and cavalry. I, with 20,000 troops at Pegu, will not allow the Siamese to cross Matuba."

Mangbai nodded. "The Marquis of Pimu and I have an army of 100,000 men. The princes who fled south brought us 30,000 Ahmedans. We also recruited 20,000 from Toungoo Pimu and 30,000 from the Mon people of Pegu Daguang."

"Add the 20,000 slave troops from Pathein, and defend Pegu except you."

"There are a total of 180,000 troops."

"One hundred and eighty thousand versus forty thousand. The advantage is mine."

This really hollowed out the entire Kingdom of Toungoo.

Because the Ming Dynasty divided the land, all the nobles of the Hongsha tribe united together.

Not to mention the remote location in Xiahongsha.

They raised their butcher knives against the chieftains of the Mon and Rakhine ethnic groups, plundered everything they had, and recruited soldiers.

Even if they could recapture Upper Hongshaawa this time, the Toungoo Kingdom would decline from then on, and even split again like the Pagan Dynasty.

"Even if Zhu Cixuan is invincible and can hold off ten thousand troops, it's still 180,000 to 50,000."

Mang Bai showed his black teeth, wishing he could eat Zhu Cixuan, who had harmed him, alive.

He certainly understood that among the so-called 180,000 troops, not many could fight.

Some weapons are even pitchforks and sickles.

One Ming soldier can defeat ten, and 20,000 of them can defeat 200,000 of the Hongsha Kingdom.

But in Xiahongsha, there is still abundant rain in November and December, and the climate is hot and humid, and the Ming Dynasty can only get one-fifth of the rain.

Including Zhu Cixuan himself.

It's also 130,000 versus 180,000.

Not to mention that he also spent all the savings of the Toungoo royal family for a hundred years, recruited two thousand troops from Europeans, and bought dozens of cannons and thousands of muskets.

Mang Bai hated Zhu Cixuan very much.

He risked everything to make up for the humiliation he suffered that night in Ava.

Even if the country is destroyed, I will not regret it.

Bie Daiyun waited until the king calmed down a little before speaking again.

"Your Majesty, the envoy from the Qing Dynasty's Gulunnan Army has arrived. This time, I came here to bring him, in addition to the letter from the Ming Dynasty."

Mang Bai hesitated: "Is he really Dai Qing's envoy?"

He and Zhu Cixuan had an agreement at the beginning.

It’s not that I didn’t trust Zhu Cixuan.

It was just a precautionary measure, fearing that Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan would retreat and then advance again.

The introduction of Dai Qing Gu Lun is purely to stabilize the triangular relationship.

However, after he sent the letter, he launched a mutiny and was tricked by Zhu Cixuan. He fled south to Hongsha and no news of him was heard from him since then.

Bie Daiyun said: "It shouldn't be the evil plot of the Crown Prince of Ming."

"Although they don't have Dai Qing's braid, they have a token from your envoy, Your Majesty, and they also brought a letter from Prince Dai Qing."

"They were originally former ministers of the Ming Dynasty, but later defected to the Dai Qing Dynasty. Prince Dai Qing sent them here to eliminate the Ming Dynasty's ministers and isolate the Ming Emperor, making it easier for you, Your Majesty, to capture them and send them to Mengmao."

"But I didn't expect Ava City to fall into the hands of the Ming Kingdom. I had no choice but to move to Xiahongsha."

Mang Bai finally smiled and asked Bie Daiyun to bring the Dai Qing envoy.

After cleaning the tent, only a faint smell of blood remained mixed with the rich scent of spices.

Mang Bai met Ma Bao, who was wearing a Ma Gua.

After verifying and confirming the token letter and Wu Sangui's letter.

Mang Bai just looked at the plain-looking envoy from Dai Qing.

"The upper country said that it has sent troops to Mengmao to pick up the Ming emperor, but it is unknown when and how many troops will be sent."

Ma Bao said, "I saw Commander He Jinzhong organizing an army of 10,000 in western Yunnan. They will set out after I leave."

"The King of Pingxi also issued imperial edicts to the chieftains of the various Yunnan provinces of Nandian, Longchuan, and Yunnan, requesting them to send troops to help eliminate the remnants of the Southern Ming. I don't know how many troops the chieftains sent."

Mangbai said solemnly: "Your Excellency has come from Shanghongsha, so you must know that the Ming Empire has occupied Awamu State, Pagan and other counties."

"Now I am trapped in Xiahongsha, and I can't capture the Ming emperor and offer him to the upper country."

Ma Bao shook his head and then nodded.

"We naturally have to avoid the Ming forces, but we have heard about it."

"But your Majesty, don't worry. As soon as I entered Mubang and heard that the false emperor of the Ming Kingdom had settled in Ava, I sent someone back to Kunming to report the news."

"When we arrived at Toungoo County, we didn't find the king, but we received a new order from the King of Pingxi."

As Ma Bao spoke, he took out another letter and handed it to the Han interpreter beside Mang Bai.

"The Qing dynasty has pacified China, leaving only the puppet emperor Yongli and Li Dingguo, who have fled abroad."

"In order to eliminate the remaining threat once and for all, the Prince of Pingxi, after requesting troops and funds from the court, has already prepared to send troops to wipe out the remaining Ming troops."

"It's almost the end of the year, so it's difficult to mobilize the army. We have no choice but to send another 20,000 troops from western Yunnan. First, let Commander He Jinzhong go out of Hanlong Pass to assist His Majesty in eliminating the false emperor and false king."

"Of course, before the weather gets hotter and the miasma rises, the task is still unfinished. I will withdraw the Qing soldiers to western Yunnan on behalf of them."

"Wait until next September before sending troops."

Mang Bai licked his upper lips.

If Ma Bao boasted that he would send 50,000 or 100,000 troops to the Qing army to capture the Ming emperor in one fell swoop, he would still have some doubts.

Only 10,000 to 20,000 troops were sent, and the chieftains were in charge.

This is very consistent with the style of generals of major powers such as Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan.

But he can't wait until next September.

By that time, the fake throne of Pagan had already been firmly established.

The Qing Dynasty will most likely follow the example of the Ming Dynasty three hundred years ago and divide the major forces in Hongshawadi.

"Your Excellency said that Li Dingguo led 20,000 Han people to attack the northwestern counties of Hongsha. When he saw your Daiqing army arrive in Mengmao, he hurriedly sent troops to garrison Mubang."

Ma Bao nodded: "Indeed, Your Majesty must have heard that the fake king of Ming is fighting in the northwest of Hongsha."

Mang Bai had only heard about it, and few of the leaders and nobles from the northwestern counties fled to Xiahongsha.

If they did not surrender, they would flee to the neighboring Arakan Kingdom of Ahom.

Mang Bai's mouth curled up.

"So Zhu Cixuan only has 20,000 Han and barbarian troops at most."

"Now."

"It's thirty thousand versus one hundred and eighty thousand."

(End of this chapter)