My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 411 I've never fought such a smooth battle before.
By mid-July, the weather in Guangxi was already extremely hot.

Zhu Shikun finally completed the clearing of the last mountainous area and returned to the Annamite army camp.

"Report! Reconnaissance Captain Zhu Shikun reports to the Commander!"

Zhu Shikun was quickly granted permission to enter the camp of Commander Chen Lin.

Commander Chen Lin was a serious middle-aged general, but his eyes were full of admiration when he looked at Zhu Shikun.

Who wouldn't like a subordinate like that!
He's good at fighting and has a sharp mind; he can handle any task assigned to him well and even bring unexpected surprises.

Chen Lin has been fighting for decades, and he has never led such good soldiers before!

In conclusion, Chen Lin concluded that this was all thanks to the Military Supervisor.

At first, he also felt that these martial arts students were too bookish and had never participated in actual combat; many of them were still "spoiled brats."

Therefore, Chen Lin initially planned to use two thousand wolf soldiers as the main force to quell the rebellion of the three chieftains.

However, after Zhu Shikun, the reconnaissance commander, entered Guangxi, he quickly sent back a large amount of valuable intelligence, which revealed the troop deployment of the three chieftains in their rebellion.

Zhu Shikun also discovered the secret action plans of the three chieftains and learned of their plan to launch a strong attack on the provincial capital.

Under these circumstances, Chen Lin naturally had to change his battle plan.

Then his officers, who were from military academies, proposed a plan to land at Fangchenggang and launch a surprise attack from the rear.

If it's just one suggestion, Chen Lin probably won't adopt it.

There is no shortage of plans on the battlefield; military operations are not just a matter of theoretical discussion.

However, this plan, which combined logistics along the way, marching plans, and contingency plans for encountering the enemy, broke down the entire operation into very specific steps. Chen Lin, a battle-hardened commander, immediately recognized its feasibility.

Since the plan was feasible, Chen Lin followed it and landed at Fangchenggang by ship, launching a flanking attack and cutting off the retreat of the three chieftains' armies.

Zhao Quan, the false chieftain of Baima who led the rebellion, was defeated and wanted to flee into the deep mountains to hide. At this time, the scout sent detailed intelligence.

Chen Lin pressed his advantage and utterly crushed the remnants of the three chieftains!
Zhao Quan's head was cut off by his men and presented to Chen Lin's command tent.

At this point, Zhu Shikun, the head of the reconnaissance brigade, proposed that Chen Lin leave Zhao Quan's head in the army, using it as a deterrent to carry out a deterrent operation against the Tusi tribes in the western mountainous areas of Guangxi under the pretext of pursuing and eliminating the remnants of the three Tusi.

Chen Lin agreed to Zhu Shikun's plan. Zhu Shikun went deep into the mountains, and sure enough, the remaining chieftain tribes were terrified. Some chieftain tribes that had long disobeyed orders also sent envoys to Guilin, the capital of Guangxi Province, to reaffirm their submission to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Shikun then demanded that these tribes present maps and their tribal household registration and land registers. Those who were unable to produce these should request the court to dispatch officials to help them.

When Zhu Shikun returned to the Annam army this time, he brought back envoys from more than fifty tribes of varying sizes. They were all to follow the army to Guilin to pay their respects to the newly appointed Guangxi Provincial Governor.

Chen Lin said warmly to Zhu Shikun:
"Zhu Qizheng, your military achievements have been sent to the capital. The court's promotion and reward should be coming soon."

Zhu Shikun quickly expressed his gratitude to Chen Lin:

"Thank you for your high regard, Commander!"

Chen Lin was even more satisfied. He had originally thought that Zhu Shikun, as the son of a noble family and the head of the military academy, who had made great contributions at a young age, would be arrogant and conceited.

He was originally thinking about how to control the other person's temper.

Despite making such a great contribution, Zhu Shikun was not arrogant at all.

Chen Lin made great contributions in the fight against Japanese pirates in the southeast. He was criticized by the commander-in-chief Qi Jiguang. Chen Lin was not convinced at the time, but soon suffered a great defeat due to his rash attack. If it weren't for Qi Jiguang's protection, Chen Lin would have been punished and executed.

After that, Chen Lin's personality became more stable, and Qi Jiguang believed that he had the talent to be a regional commander.

Chen Lin put himself in Zhu Shikun's shoes, assuming that Zhu Shikun was the same as him, but he didn't expect the other party to be so composed and not lose his composure because of his meritorious service, which made Chen Lin even more satisfied.

Chen Lin sighed and said:

"After I'm too old to fight, I'll definitely go to the Military Academy to find an instructor position. I really don't know how you Military Academy students are taught."

The performance of the martial arts student was so outstanding that Chen Lin felt he hadn't played a significant role as commander.

Specific operational plans were all completed by the military supervisors and staff officers in the barracks.

They were all trained systematically. Although they lacked practical experience, each of their combat plans was very detailed. Chen Lin only needed to offer some suggestions for improvement, and these military supervisors would soon be able to come up with improved plans.

The specific combat missions were all completed by these grassroots squad leaders. They were all as brave as Zhu Shikun in combat and resolutely carried out military orders. Chen Lin felt that he had never fought a war so easily in his life.

The battle was fought easily, and the paperwork that Chen Lin found most troublesome was also handled very well by these military students.

They even wrote their own combat summaries. It turned out that these were all requirements of Su Ze, the Dean of the Military Academy. These students had not yet graduated in theory; they were only interning at the Beijing Garrison. These combat summaries were also meant to determine their graduation grades.

Zhu Shikun didn't feel anything special when he was praising himself.

However, when Zhu Shikun heard Chen Lin praise the Military Supervisor, a proud smile appeared on his face.

Having experienced the battlefield, Zhu Shikun cherished his time at the Military Academy even more, and the friendships among his fellow students at the academy became even purer.

Zhu Shikun vaguely felt that his elder brothers might have chosen the wrong path.

Simply relying on being close to the emperor and serving as a military advisor to him is not enough to bring nobles back to the historical stage.

Only undeniable military achievements can allow the Wuxun Group to rise again.

But where do military merits come from?
This problem has been troubling Zhu Shikun for some time now.

With the Northwest at peace, the Jurchens of Liaodong also suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Li Chengliang.

It wasn't until he reached the southwest that Zhu Shikun discovered that there were plenty of military merits to be earned here!

Chen Lin continued:

"The new Provincial Administration Commissioner of Guangxi is about to take office, and this time the court has also appointed him as the Commander-in-Chief."

"Zhu Qizheng, you're more knowledgeable about these things than I am. What is the court's intention in doing this?"

Zhu Shikun immediately said:
"The provincial governor, who also serves as the military commander, is essentially the governor-general of a province."

"So it seems the imperial court is not planning to let our Annamese army return to the capital anytime soon."

Chen Lin quickly understood what Zhu Shikun meant.

The fact that Tu Zemin, the newly appointed provincial governor, was appointed to oversee military affairs suggests that the court intends to continue its military operations in the southwest, or at least to exert military pressure there.

Chen Lin rubbed his hands and said:

"Indeed, although the rebellion of the three chieftains was quelled, the rebellion of the three chieftains involved far more than just the chieftains in Guangxi. Many chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan were also involved with the three chieftains."

"In recent years, there have been numerous rebellions by the indigenous people of the southwest, resulting in many attacks and killings of Han officials, civilians, and other civilians. Previous administrations have all been lenient towards these cases; it seems it's time to take decisive action!" Chen Lin continued.
"I've heard that the newly appointed Provincial Governor, Lord Tu, is also a good friend of your Dean of Education, Su. You'll come with me to the provincial capital this time to meet Lord Tu and give me a proper account of the war situation in the southwest."

Zhu Shikun understood that Chen Lin was flattering him, giving him a chance to show off by having him talk about the battle situation in front of Tu Zemin, who was in charge of military affairs in Guangxi.

On his first time leading troops into battle, Zhu Shikun was extremely grateful to have such a superior. He gave Chen Lin a military salute and said:

"Thank you for your guidance, Commander!"
-
However, Chen Lin did not expect that when he returned to Guilin, the provincial capital, he would find that he had come to nothing.

It turns out that Tu Zemin, the Guangxi Provincial Governor, stopped traveling after arriving in Fangcheng by fast boat!

Upon arriving in Fangcheng, Tu Zemin announced the imperial decree to open a port and build a seaport in Fangcheng.

Immediately afterwards, Tu Zemin, under the pretext of supervising the opening of Fangchenggang Port, stayed in Fangchenggang and refused to leave.

This really worried the Guangxi Provincial Administration Office in Guilin.

Tu Zemin was acting on imperial orders; as the provincial governor, he had no problem overseeing the opening of Fangcheng as a treaty port.

However, the situation was more difficult for other Guangxi officials in Guilin.

They cannot leave the provincial capital without permission, but many official duties must be handled by Tu Zemin, the provincial governor.

These officials eventually appealed to Chen Lin, hoping he could go to Fangcheng to meet Tu Zemin and ask the provincial governor to go to the provincial capital as soon as possible.

Chen Lin had no choice but to take the meritorious officers of the Annamese army with him to Fangcheng.

Of course, even more impatient than the officials in the provincial capital were the chieftains' envoys brought by Zhu Shikun.

Most of them were chieftains (minor leaders) in the Tusi tribe, or confidants of the Tusi, and a small number were simply the Tusi himself.

Staying away from one's own chieftain tribe for an extended period is extremely dangerous. The power dynamics among these tribes are highly unstable, and if one is not in the tribe for a long time, one's influence will quickly diminish, and eventually, one will have nothing left.

So they begged Chen Lin to take them to Fangcheng as well.
-
Fangcheng.

Upon arriving in Fangcheng, Tu Zemin immediately began port construction.

Building a seaport is a very complex matter, but for Tu Zemin, who had overseen the opening of the Dengzhou-Laizhou port, Fangchenggang was at most a fishing village. He quickly assigned tasks, and the entire Fangchenggang area sprang into action like a giant construction site.

Despite the ongoing construction of wharves, lighthouses, and wharf warehouses, Tu Zemin showed no intention of going to Guilin.

Tu Zemin temporarily resided in the county government office in Fangcheng. The county magistrate, being very sensible, moved out of his own house and handed over the county government office to Tu Zemin for his work.

A light knock came from outside the window. Tu Zemin quickly opened the window, and a plump pigeon flew in.

It really can fly there!
Before leaving the capital after returning to report on his duties, Tu Zeming met with Su Ze. At that time, Su Ze said that they could still keep in touch through this fat pigeon in the future.

Tu Zemin didn't believe it at first.

Laizhou was not far from the capital, so it was not unusual for carrier pigeons to travel back and forth.

But Guangxi is thousands of miles away from the capital, how could these pigeons possibly fly there?
It actually flew there!
Tu Zemin recognized it at a glance as the pigeon that often helped him deliver documents, because he had never seen that arrogant and picky look in any other animal!

Tu Zemin even imagined the fat pigeon cursing at him.

Seeing that Tu Zemin remained motionless, the fat pigeon seemed to be in a bad mood. It pecked at the calligraphy brush on Tu Zemin's desk, and ink splattered onto the paper. Only then did Tu Zemin react and take out a cloth bag from the desk.

This is the fine rice he brought from Shandong.

Seeing that the fat pigeon still looked disgusted, Tu Zemin quickly said:
"I just arrived in Guangxi. I'll make up for it once the new rice comes in."

Upon hearing Tu Zemin's words, the fat pigeon stretched out its foot, and Tu Zemin quickly untied the letter cage.

It was indeed a letter from Su Ze.

The capital and Guangxi are so far apart, how did this fat pigeon fly all the way here?

Why is it still so fat even though it flies so far?
Seemingly understanding Tu Zemin's gaze, the fat pigeon that had been pecking at the rice suddenly sprang up to peck at Tu Zemin's desk. Tu Zemin said, "Next time, two bags of rice! One bag of new rice and one bag of long-grain rice from Guangxi!"

Hearing this, the fat pigeon finally calmed down.

Tu Zemin wiped the sweat from his forehead. For some reason, he had never been so apprehensive when he left the capital to meet with the cabinet ministers!
In his letter, Su Ze described the prevailing sentiments of the court.

Before leaving the capital, Tu Zemin submitted a memorial to the court, requesting the restoration of the Tusi (chieftain) tax collection system.

However, Emperor Longqing and his ministers, still shaken by the rebellion of the Three Tusi, shelved the memorial.

Su Ze had also tried to gauge the court's opinion, because levying taxes on the Tusi (chieftains) not only involved Guangxi, but more importantly, the Tusi in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan were powerful and the situation was even more unstable than in Guangxi. The court was afraid that these Tusi would collude, so it did not agree to levy taxes.

Tu Zemin sighed. It seemed that the plan to levy a tax on the chieftains had failed.

However, in the letter, Su Ze proposed another solution.

Since directly levying taxes on the chieftains is not feasible, why not try another method?

Su Ze's proposed method was still commercial tax.

The reason why the chieftains were so powerful was because they hid in the mountains and forests, but no one could be self-sufficient in the mountains and forests.

This necessitates trade.

The best way to bring the Tusi (chieftains) into the Ming Dynasty's economic system is to integrate their tribes into the Ming Dynasty's economic system.

The land produced by the Tusi (chieftain) also needed to be sold.

In that case, as long as taxes are levied at the time of sale, the chieftain cannot evade them.

Su Ze's proposed solution was for the Guangxi government to provide seedlings of potatoes, sugarcane, and medicinal herbs to the Tusi tribes, and for merchants to purchase them at market prices after the harvest.

In this way, these tribes will be tied to the economic war machine of the Ming Dynasty.

In this world, no power can withstand the economic offensive of the Ming Dynasty.

Tu Zemin also thought this plan was excellent. Let the Tusi tribes farm and trade with the Han people in the same way as the Han people, wouldn't that make them the same as the Han people?

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty will not lose anything. Once these chieftains and nobles of the Tusi tribes have silver dollars, they will still buy luxury goods from the Ming Dynasty.

The meat was all mushy in the pot.

This is less costly and easier to assimilate these tribes than using force to conquer them.

Those chieftain tribes that traded with the Han people for many years have long since been abolished and replaced by centrally appointed officials; now they are no different from the Han people.

Now there is only one problem left: Tu Zemin needs to persuade Guangxi to levy commercial taxes, or at least to implement the taxation as a pilot project in one prefecture, in order to promote the entire plan.

(End of this chapter)