prosperous age

Chapter 1169 Chapter 1260 Voting Certificate

Li Rusong's proposal was not approved by Li Chengliang.

He shook his head and said calmly: "The situation in northern Myanmar is complicated now, and we need to control those Tusi tribes, which will consume a lot of troops.

I have estimated that, given the current situation, I can at most mobilize 40,000 to 50,000 troops to move south.

We now need to send troops in two directions. One is to the south to open up the connection with Toungoo City, and the other is to the west to Pagan City.

By this calculation, the military strength is slightly insufficient. "

If he only led his troops to attack Toungoo City, Li Chengliang estimated that 20,000 troops would be enough, and he would not be afraid of being besieged by the remaining Burmese troops.

But they were not going to Toungoo City, but to maintain the transportation line connecting the north and the south.

At the very least, Yu Dayou still wanted to obtain a large amount of food from southern Myanmar.

Now the Ming army's food supplies for entering Burma all depend on circulation in Yunnan.

Due to the terrain restrictions in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty, the logistics of the Ming army are now having some supply problems as the battle line gets longer.

In fact, if the war was only fought within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, although the material consumption of the army of 100,000 would increase suddenly, the materials accumulated in Yunnan in the past two years would still be sufficient to meet the needs.

However, after the Ming army invaded Myanmar, the biggest obstacle to the Ming army's continued offensive was to mobilize civilians to transport food.

During this pursuit of the Burmese King Mang Yinglong's troops, the Ming army's vanguard had to pause the pursuit many times due to lack of food and fodder, waiting for supplies to be delivered from the rear.

In fact, Myanmar is rich in rice and other grains, but unfortunately these things are produced less in the north, and most of them are produced in southern Myanmar.

Therefore, Yu Dayou's army now has sufficient food and grass, but is limited by insufficient manpower.

Li Chengliang had relatively sufficient troops, but was limited by insufficient supplies.

Therefore, the idea of ​​opening up the north-south transportation line and obtaining food from southern Myanmar came into Li Chengliang's mind.

Although Myanmar has been destroyed, the remnants of the Burmese army are still there, as are the chieftains' miscellaneous soldiers.

Therefore, if only a small number of Ming troops were sent south, there would be no guarantee that they would not be surrounded by the remnants of the Burmese army.

Even if a large force cannot defeat an enemy, a small force can still easily crush them with its numerical advantage.

Especially as the terrain became wider as they moved further south, if they were besieged on all sides, the Ming army's firearms might not be able to withstand the Burmese army's offensive.

With the outcome already decided, Li Chengliang did not want to suffer another defeat, as that would only become a reason for the court to attack him.

Now that the situation in Myanmar is improving, Li Chengliang is not sure whether there are people in Beijing who are jealous of his achievements and want to reap the benefits.

Therefore, once the decision was made to go south and join forces with Yu Dayou's troops, the Ming army would have to dispatch at least 30,000 to 40,000 troops to control all the towns along the route.

Only in this way can grain from the south be transported north continuously, solving the Ming army's food shortage problem.

"Father, has the reorganization of the Burmese army in Lujiang Prefecture been completed? I haven't seen any documents from there these days."

When Li Chengliang said that they had insufficient troops, Li Rusong immediately started thinking of a solution.

What's more, he actually found the source, which was the large number of Burmese troops who had been captured before.

Using the Burmese army to suppress the Burmese people was an idea he and Li Chengliang came up with, but at that time they were considering using these people after completely occupying Burma.

After all, Myanmar had been destroyed, and these captives had to either die for their country or submit to the Ming Dynasty.

Between life and death, they should make the right choice.

"You want to take these people into battle?"

When Li Chengliang heard his son mention these people, he was a little hesitant.

"Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. If we send these people out now, they may not really surrender to our Ming Dynasty."

Li Chengliang spoke.

"Father, don't we have a group of people detained in solitary confinement?"

Li Rusong spoke at this time.

"You mean the personal soldiers of the chieftains?"

Li Chengliang immediately understood what his son meant. His Li family probably had the most personal soldiers among all the generals in the Ming Dynasty, so he knew the situation of these personal soldiers best.

These people are the most loyal people under the chieftains. It is very difficult to get them to surrender sincerely, and it may even be a big trouble.

If these people were imprisoned with their masters, they would probably continue to protect the chieftains and plot how to escape from prison and protect their masters to escape and return to their territory.

Therefore, after accepting the surrender of the Burmese army, the Ming army immediately detained the Burmese officials and chieftains separately, and their personal guards were also detained separately from ordinary Burmese soldiers.

"what do you want to do?"

Li Chengliang frowned slightly at this time and asked in confusion.

“Those personal soldiers are restless, and it will be troublesome if they continue to stay in the camp.

It would be better to let those Burmese soldiers who are willing to surrender use them as a token of their allegiance, and we will promise them benefits and let them kill those people.

This way, they have no way out.

If they still have any other intentions, those chieftains will not let them go."

Li Rusong spoke.

This move was extremely vicious. Letting the Burmese army kill these guards would almost completely eliminate the possibility of their rebellion.

Many of the personal soldiers are relatives of the Burmese officials and chieftains, and many are loyal servants who have followed them for several generations, so they dare to keep them by their side without worry.

If they knew that these people were killed by the surrendered Burmese army, they would definitely take revenge.

In order to avoid retaliation, the only way for these Burmese troops was to rely on the Ming army and go all the way.

"Use them to control 20,000 to 30,000 people first. Then my father will give me another 10,000 soldiers and I can go south and accomplish my mission."

Li Rusong said with disdain.

The reason for his attitude was that he had roughly seen through the strengths and weaknesses of the remaining Burmese troops, and realized that they were all guys with insufficient combat power.

If we meet a capable general, we can still form a fighting force, but how many such people are there?

This time, the Burmese king planned a northern expedition and transferred the most capable and skilled troops and generals in Myanmar to the northern front. Now these people are either dead or captured. Looking around Myanmar, there should be few people who can support the crisis.

Of course, Myanmar has a large population, and they are capable of mobilize an army of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people, but such an army can no longer be considered an army. It would be more appropriate to call it a group of farmers.

It is estimated that the young and strong will not account for half of the composition of this kind of army, but at most 30%, and the rest are the old, weak, sick and disabled.

On the contrary, the area controlled by Yu Dayou's troops is the most dangerous because it not only has a large population but also has insufficient military force.

If a Burmese general who could command the support of the people stepped forward to save the situation at this time, Yu Dayou would be in danger.

This was also one of the reasons why Li Chengliang was eager to go south, fearing that Myanmar's occupation would cause further trouble.

Li Chengliang's concerns were also Yu Dayou's concerns, so he was eager to send people north to contact Li Chengliang's troops to move south and strengthen the Ming army's strength in the south.

“Father, time waits for no one. I heard that many of the remaining Burmese nobles are now fleeing to Pagan City. I’m worried that after they know that the Burmese king has fallen into our hands, they will re-establish a new king.

If that person is brave enough to not fight with us but choose to go south to fight for southern Burma, Yu Dayou may suffer heavy losses, but my father will be in danger in the capital. The mere accusation of holding his own troops and not rescuing his colleagues in time is enough to get my father dismissed from office."

Li Rusong's words were somewhat alarmist, but if the situation really developed to that point, the good situation would be completely lost. If someone in the capital coveted the position of the Burmese commander, it would be hard to say what would happen.

The people who can accomplish these things are, first, civil servants, and second, nobles.

Their backers are involved with both sides, and no matter which side is interested, they will try their best to lobby Wei Guangde.

Once Wei Guangde is persuaded to agree, the Li family will be really finished.

Li Chengliang quickly weighed the pros and cons and thought that the last time he killed the prisoners, he only got an imperial edict from the court, which didn't seem to be a big deal.

That general has never been scolded?
If you win a battle you will naturally be praised, but if you lose a battle you will be scolded.

On the border, nothing goes smoothly.

Even though Qi Jiguang defended Ji well, he was still ambushed by the Tuman tribe several times and lost a small number of soldiers and horses, but he was still reprimanded by the court.

"Let's do this secretly. Let the second and third brothers go in person. You don't have to go."

Li Chengliang had high hopes for his eldest son, Li Rusong, and naturally did not want such a thing to happen to him and become a pretext for him to be criticized by all officials in the future.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Let the other sons go. As long as the eldest son can maintain his stability in the court, nothing will happen to his brothers.

"Let the second and third brothers do it? Father."

Li Rusong wanted to speak more, but was interrupted by Li Chengliang's wave of his hand.

"Don't say any more, remember, don't touch these things in the future.

If you want to do it, let your brothers lead you to do it.

Don't feel that you owe them anything. As long as you can hold on in the court, they will be fine.

Among all my children, I value you the most. From now on, everything I have will be yours.

I am already fifty-two years old, and I don’t know how many more years I can still ride on the battlefield. All these will be yours in the future.

Remember, don't give others any reason to criticize you.

As military generals, as long as we can win every battle, there is nothing else to say.

But you are not qualified yet because you lack qualifications and military achievements. Those people in the court can easily take you down.

But if the father is like this, they have to think carefully.

So you can’t make any mistakes now, which will be noted down and affect your future.

Let your brothers do all the dirty work, and when your position is secure, just lend them a hand."

Li Chengliang really had high hopes for Li Rusong and could abandon his other sons.

Of course, giving up does not mean really ignoring him. It’s just that now he wants to give priority to accumulating credit to his eldest son so that he can smoothly take over his position in the future.

In this way, their Li family will have a chance to prosper in the Ming Dynasty and become a true military family.

After all, the Li family still lacks a solid foundation.

It is said that the Li family moved to Korea as a family to escape the war at the end of the Tang Dynasty. My grandfather Li Ying surrendered to the Ming court during the Jiajing period and served as the commander of Tieling Guard.

However, a few generations above Li Ying had actually moved from the imperial court to the Ming Dynasty, but their status was not prominent.

That is to say, Li Ying was awarded the hereditary position of assistant commander of Tieling Guard due to his military merits during the Jiajing period and became a member of the Ming Dynasty's military honors.

Although military generals in the Ming Dynasty were hereditary, the Li family soon declined after Li Ying. Li Chengliang's father and other uncles only achieved the rank of a thousand households at most.

Even though Li Chengliang, as the eldest son of the eldest son, should have inherited the position of commander-in-chief, due to his poor family background, he could not even raise the money to go to Beijing to inherit the official position, so at the age of forty, he was still just an ordinary "student".

It was not until Li Chengliang completely chose the military career and began to make achievements on the battlefield that he finally won the support of Fang Yushi, the then Liaodong Circuit Inspector, because of his bravery in fighting. Fang Yushi gave him travel expenses and introduced his friends in the Censorate to him, which enabled him to successfully inherit the position in the Ministry of War and become the Lieutenant General of Xianshan.

This was also the beginning of Li Chengliang's rise to fame.

It can be seen that the Li family at this time was not considered a military family at all.

But now that Li Chengliang has achieved the feat of destroying the country, the situation is very different.

As long as the credit can be secured, it is possible to ensure the wealth of the Li family for generations with this achievement.

If Li Rusong could successfully take over his power, there would be hope for the Li family to gradually develop into a military family.

Therefore, Li Chengliang would never allow Li Rusong to be accused of something and be criticized.

Li Rusong knew his father's good intentions and did not act pretentiously. He just lowered his head slightly to show his acceptance.

"Someone is coming."

Li Chengliang shouted outside, and when his personal guards came in, he immediately ordered, "Go and call Ruzhen and Rubai."

Soon, the two brothers entered the house and saw their father and eldest brother were there, and they hurriedly greeted them.

"Come here."

Li Chengliang called two people over and began to give them instructions in a low voice.

After hearing their father's instructions, Li Rubai and Li Ruzhen had no intention of refusing.

They are actually not stupid. They know that this matter must be kept secret and any leakage will not benefit the Li family at all.

The reason why they were asked to do it was to protect the eldest brother.

Once something happens, it will be difficult for Li Chengliang to get away and he will definitely be held responsible, but his eldest brother can stay out of it.

And the reason was that they naturally understood their father's thoughts.

Well, they don’t dare to compete with the big brother.

"Don't worry, father. We will handle this matter carefully and will never leak any information."

In fact, matters involving tens of thousands of people cannot be kept confidential just by saying so.

However, the only way to make everyone keep their mouths shut is to drag everyone who knows about it into the water.

"When you go, go to the backyard and carry five boxes. I will use both kindness and force. I think you all understand."

Li Chengliang spoke again.

Corruption was rampant in the Ming army, so it was natural that Li Chengliang's troops would not be clean.

In fact, the Li family was impeached for corruption many times during the Wanli period, and his relationship with Zhang Juzheng was also one of the reasons why he was repeatedly criticized.

However, Emperor Wanli did not make any comment on this, so the Li family had become the King of Liaodong.

As his official career continued to advance, Li Chengliang became extremely arrogant and extravagant. He took all the profits of merchants and civilians in Liao into his own name. From then on, he made friends with powerful people and officials in the imperial court.

At this point, Emperor Wanli did not dare to underestimate Li Chengliang, so he finally dismissed Li Chengliang from his post in Liaodong and only allowed him to meet the emperor as the Earl of Ningyuan.

It was not until the 29th year of the Wanli reign that Ma Lin, the general of Liaodong, was impeached and convicted for a dispute with the tax collector Gao Huai. Li Chengliang was in charge of Liaodong again, but the situation had changed drastically and the situation was already beyond his control.

In fact, Li Chengliang was still very powerful in Liaodong at this time, and Nurhaci rebelled after Li Chengliang's death.