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Chapter 945: The Mu Family of the Duke of Qian

The merchants all thought so, and the high-ranking officials of the Kingdom of Toungoo were certainly not stupid, and they had to and could only withdraw troops from the north to support them. As a result, the Yunnan border was obviously much quieter, which was fully confirmed in Yuan Keli's two monthly reports.

The border was calm, and Yuan Keli was very happy. He had been waiting for this moment. As long as no external forces took the opportunity to intervene, there was nothing to worry about in the work of changing the land system to the people. Let's do it with great force!
The chieftains are unwilling, it's up to you whether you want them or not. Those who listen to advice can be appeased by being given a position like village chief, and those who don't listen can be directly visited by the army. Whoever keeps his word will have his whole family arrested. There is only one crime, if you disobey the order, three clans will be implicated!
What to do when the terrain is dangerous and the roads are difficult to travel? Yuan Keli did not have any clever ideas, but just followed the emperor's example and used the same method to deal with the Mongols.

He used Dongchuan Prefecture, Yuanmou County, Hequ Prefecture, Hexi County, Jianshui Prefecture, and Mengzi County as bases, and dispatched the 32nd Guard of the Annan Military Commission to station troops there. He himself commanded from Kunming, while continuing to build roads and clearing out the Tusi and Tuguan villages along the way.

Whenever they encountered a transportation hub, they would immediately build a military fort to cut off communications between the various chieftains and to guard the post road from Annan to Jianchang, as well as the farms near the post road.

As a result, if the local ethnic groups wanted to obtain production tools and living materials, they had to accept the inspection of the military forts along the way. Anyone who followed the Ming Dynasty law and registered at the prefecture and county government to receive an identity card could pass through. Otherwise, they would be stopped. Those who disobeyed orders and spoke rudely were arrested and forced to do hard labor; those who dared to attack the military fort would be killed without mercy!

According to Yuan Keli's idea, the road would be completed in about a year, and then this post road that runs through the entire Yunnan province would be used as the central axis, with multiple branches radiating in the east and west directions. While the road was being built, military forts would be built and farms would be set up to accommodate immigrants from the inland, Liaodong, Inner Mongolia, the Yarkand Khanate and other places.

In about three years, the entire Yunnan and part of Guizhou could be divided into dozens or hundreds of grids by roads, just like a Go board, and the military forts at the intersections of the roads could be used to control the nearby chieftains.

If a problem occurs in one place, the surrounding four or five military forts can quickly provide assistance, and local governments can also have a strong enough backing, without having to rely solely on words to implement policies. At the same time, the military forts can also ensure the safety and smoothness of roads in sections, providing the necessary conditions for more immigrants and merchants to go deep into the hinterland.

Govern a region well, reduce or close the number of military forts accordingly, and then transfer personnel to areas in need. As long as it can remain unchanged for ten or eight years, so that all ethnic groups and immigrants have time to get familiar with the new policy, the assimilation work will enter a stable stage.

In ten years, Yuan Keli may not see any results, and he has also violated a taboo in the officialdom. Officials are always reluctant to make plans for too long, and they prefer to play short and quick games, and strive to see results while in office, otherwise they would rather not do it.

The main reason is that the successor officials are afraid of being held responsible. Who knows what will happen in a few years? What if the policy changes? No one is willing to do something that has only disadvantages and no benefits.

Yuan Keli not only succeeded, but also received praise and strong support from the emperor. He was promoted to Grand Tutor and had the power to dismiss and appoint all officials in the four southwestern provinces, and he could execute them first and report later. Except that he could not arbitrarily dispatch troops, he was basically the local emperor of the four southwestern provinces.

As the saying goes, everything that goes up must come down. Just when Yuan Keli was enjoying great success, a piece of bad news suddenly reached the capital.

In early November, Yuan Keli was assassinated at the door of the Kunming branch of Sun Moon Bank. He was hit by two arrows and blood splattered on the spot. Fortunately, he was wearing leather armor to protect himself, and the arrows did not penetrate much into his flesh and did not hit his vital parts, so his life was saved.

The assailant was caught on the spot and was found to be a member of the Shayuan Tusi clan, who was under the jurisdiction of the Annan Chieftainship. The territory of this Tusi was near the post road from Mengzi to Annan. He never cooperated in the construction of roads and farms, and led his clansmen to clash with craftsmen and immigrants many times.

The sixth-rank official of the Annan Governorate not only ignored the actions of the chieftains under his jurisdiction, but also perfunctorily dealt with the officials of the Governor's Office who came to inquire about it, and even closed the door on the pretext of illness, failing to fulfill his duty of restraint. "Why are you all silent, my dear ministers?"

When faced with such a big event, the emperor naturally had to hold a meeting in the Yangxin Palace. When more than a dozen military ministers learned that Yuan Keli had been assassinated, they were very excited, but after reading the report from Yunnan, their emotions became more and more stable, and no one spoke for a long time.

"Your Majesty, the crime of assassinating an imperial official in the street is punishable by death! Tusi Sha Yuan should be arrested immediately and brought back to Beijing for detailed interrogation. If he knows about the incident and does not report it, he will be guilty of the same crime." Under the emperor's gaze, Dali Temple Minister Gao Panlong stood up and expressed his opinion on how to deal with the matter.

"One chieftain and one tribesman in exchange for one of my first-rank ministers, this deal is a good deal. In this case, even if I send everyone present to Yunnan, I'm afraid there won't be enough for them to kill. At most, I'll have to give up a dozen chieftains and dozens of tribesmen, and the plan to change the chieftains into officials will be abandoned halfway."

The emperor was obviously not satisfied with this answer, thinking that the punishment was too lenient. His words implied another meaning, warning everyone present not to turn a blind eye to the matter. If this act was not dealt with severely, no one would be able to hold office in a down-to-earth manner in the future, and anyone could easily find someone to exchange their life for another.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the head of the Annan Provincial Government has not been strict in disciplining his subjects and cannot escape blame. He should also be brought to the capital and handed over to the three judicial departments for trial and conviction."

Seeing that the method proposed by the Dali Temple Minister was unacceptable to the emperor, the Minister of Punishment Yang Lian stood up and expressed his opinion. The content was exactly the same as Gao Panlong's, except that an additional chief official was included, which was also reasonable.

"This is inappropriate! Annan Chieftain Mu Qitong is the adopted son of Qian Guogong Mu Rui. The Mu family has guarded Yunnan for generations and has close ties with local native officials and chieftains of various ethnic groups. The policy of changing the native officials to the local officials still requires his full cooperation. It is not appropriate to act rashly. Your Majesty, please think twice!"

When they heard that the head of the Annan Governorate was going to be brought back to the capital to be questioned, many ministers who had just been bowing their heads in thought immediately took action. After looking at each other, the Minister of Agriculture Wang Xiangjin stood up and spoke, firmly rejecting Yang Lian's suggestion and explaining the whole story.

"Oh, it's the Mu family... No wonder you all are silent, it turns out that you are worried that I will act rashly and accidentally offend the Duke of Qian, making it more difficult to implement the policy of converting natives into officials.

I appreciate your kindness. But you seem to have forgotten something more important: the laws of the Ming Dynasty! In the Ming Dynasty, except for me who is exempted, anyone who breaks the law will be punished the same as a commoner.

Since it is clearly written in the law, it is difficult to discuss it. Merits are merits and faults are faults. Merits should be rewarded and faults should be punished. Merits and faults cannot be offset, nor can merits be used to atone for sins.

The Mu family has guarded Yunnan for generations for the Ming Dynasty, and they deserve a reward for their meritorious service. The title of Duke of Qian has been hereditary for hundreds of years, and the reward is sufficient. Now that the Mu family has made a mistake, it is only natural to arrest them and bring them to Beijing for trial. If Mu Rui still considers himself a minister of the Ming Dynasty, he should abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty. "

(End of this chapter)