Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 357 The Zhu family is happy

"I hereby grant the title of Duke of Guizhou, General Mu Chun, to control the five capital divisions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Huguang, and Sichuan Xingdu Division. I will send troops today to conquer the unfaithful chieftains of Guizhou!"

"Your Majesty, please accept the order and thank me..."

In mid-April, as the eunuchs came from Nanjing to publicize the imperial edict, Mu Chun from the Duke of Guizhou in Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan, received the edict respectfully and accepted the edict to express his gratitude.

"Duke Qian, His Highness's intention is very clear. Deal with the chieftains in Guizhou as soon as possible, so that the court can save energy to deal with the chieftains in Guangxi and Yunnan."

"For this razing, the imperial court has stockpiled 500,000 dan of grain in each of Chongqing, Wumeng, Guilin, and Changde, totaling 2 million dan, and purchased 200,000 guan of new money each, totaling 800,000 guan."

"His Highness said that all the money and food will be used for razing, and the return to the land will be completed as soon as possible. The remaining money and food will be used to reward the armies."

"How you spend it depends on you..."

The eunuch who delivered the order blatantly hinted at Mu Chun. Although Mu Chun hated it, he had to let Mu Sheng bring up a box the size of a human head.

The eunuch who delivered the order took it and opened it greedily, only to see that it was filled with silver. At a glance, it was estimated that it was no less than five hundred taels.

"Haha, then I would like to congratulate the Guizhou stallion in advance on his success..."

During Zhuge Liang's battle to pacify Nanzhong, the leader of the An family's Luo family helped Zhuge Liang defeat the powerful Nanzhong forces, and was therefore canonized as King of Luodian by Zhuge Liang.

"Please ask the Marquis of Zhenyuan (Gu Cheng) to go to Changde on the pretext of pinging Dongman, and mobilize the soldiers and horses of the Huguang Dusi to station troops in Chenzhou, and wait for my general to send out troops."

Until the fall of Mongolia in the Southern Song Dynasty, Bozhou was not captured, so the Yuan Dynasty mainly focused on appeasing Bozhou.

Mu Chun left the tough bones to himself, which made Mu Sheng hesitate a little and couldn't help but said: "If this happens, our soldiers may..."

"Yes!"

"My father-in-law has auspicious words."

The Anjia of Shuixi is the oldest chieftain family in Guizhou, which can be traced directly back to the Three Kingdoms period.

Shortly after he left, Xichang also sent information about Guizhou to the Duke of Guizhou.

In terms of strength and character alone, the Tian family and the Yang family are the biggest thorns in the entire Guizhou territory this time. Especially the Yang family, which has built a lot of fortifications and made the Bozhou operation impregnable, is even more troublesome.

His widow was called Mrs. Shexiang, but she died on the 29th of Hongwu. Now the head of the Shuixi An family is her son An.

Mu Chun first made arrangements for the Sichuan Dusi, and Mu Sheng on the side saw this and quickly asked someone to write it down.

The Han, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties were all wiped out, but their group of chieftain families were still standing. The ranking of the four major chieftain families of An, Tian, ​​Yang, and Song was also based on the length of their reign.

The two of them greeted each other politely, and soon the eunuch who delivered the order left.

"Order Yang Wen to lead the Six Guards of Sichuan Dusi to deploy defenses on both sides of the Yangtze River to prevent the chieftain's army from crossing the Yangtze River. At the same time, he is ordered not to pursue."

However, he is a person who acts sincerely on weekdays, and coupled with the teachings of his mother, Mrs. Shexiang, he has always been more aware of the overall situation.

At that time, Aicui, the Shuixi Xuanwei envoy, was the Zhengxuanwei Secretary of Guizhou. He changed his Han surname to An. He was called the "Shuixi An clan" in history and officially became the chieftain king of Guizhou.

During the period of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Tian Zongxian of the Tian family was awarded the title of governor of central Guizhou. His family made sufficient political capital during the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, so it developed the most and occupied the most fertile and vast land.

"Jingmao, have you forgotten how much Emperor Taizu Gao loved you back then?"

The history of the Yang family in Bozhou began at the end of the Tang Dynasty. Although the minority people have become chieftains, they still claim to be from the Hongnong Yang family, and it has been passed down for 531 years.

"Yang, I will personally lead the Yunnan Dusi and Sichuan Dusi troops to garrison troops in Chongqing and serve as the main attack."

Mu Chun spoke, and Mu Sheng recorded that not only that, Mu Chun also asked someone to bring a map and circled the pass cities that needed to be defended.

Although he was unwilling to accept the return of his native land, he was also unwilling to raise troops and follow other chieftains to cause rebellion.

Mu Chun knew An very well, because the horse farm under him was a tribute to water horses all year round, and this also meant that he had a certain number of mountain cavalry.

After doing all this, Muchun began to make arrangements for the Yang family in Bozhou based on the intelligence.

As the saying goes, a court that lasts for a hundred years, a chieftain that lasts for a thousand years...

During the reign of Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, Ah Zha, the leader of Luodian Kingdom, was attached to the territory and was granted the title of Shuixi pacification envoy. It enjoyed decades of peaceful development.

Although he has siege guns in his hands, the roads in Guizhou are rugged, so it is still difficult to deal with the Yang family in a short time.

Mu Chun didn't like to question, and Mu Sheng also knew that he had said something wrong, and quickly lowered his head: "I made a slip of the tongue, I hope you can forgive me."

Once the other chieftains showed signs of decline or were suppressed, An'an would definitely accept the offer to return to his native land, so Muchun didn't take him seriously.

Although the Tian family was split into the Sinan Tian family and the Sizhou Tian family by Ming Yuzhen and Zhu Yuanzhang, he still had millions of people and tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. He was the chieftain that Mu Chun paid most attention to.

In terms of time, the history of the Tian family in Sizhou can be traced back to the Sui Dynasty.

"What are our soldiers?" Muchun frowned, very dissatisfied with what his brother said.

The four great chieftains of An, Tian, ​​Yang and Song have ruled in Guizhou for much longer than the dynasties that enshrined them.

Aicui is not well-known, but if you mention his wife, I'm afraid many people are familiar with her.

Excluding the sixty-five families that had changed their land and returned home, that means there were one hundred and sixty families that needed to be cleaned up by Mu Chun.

Mu Chun, who had just returned from leading troops in Babaidadian, looked at the information carefully. The statistical number of Guizhou chieftain Xiyin families was 225, including 60 civilian native officials who had accepted the reform. Five.

Until the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the Shuixi Chieftain and the Shuidong Chieftain jointly submitted to the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang established the Guizhou Xuanwei Division in the land of the two chieftains.

This sentence may sound exaggerated, but it is a fact of reality.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, King Luodian captured Juzhou (Guiyang), and Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict to make him the hereditary governor of Juzhou.

After arranging the defense line in northwest Guizhou, Mu Chunyou began to continue the arrangement based on the information.

The Yang family in Bozhou was full of talented people. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, under the guard of chieftain Yang Jie and his son Yang Wen, the Mongolian army invaded Bozhou several times but failed, and was defeated in Bozhou many times.

"It won't happen next time." Mu Chun was disturbed by Mu Sheng's words and had to spend time reviewing the battlefield again.

The remaining chieftain of the Song family among the four major chieftains in Guizhou has ruled the Shuidong area of ​​Guizhou for a long time since the Tang Dynasty. He was also one of the first Han immigrants to move into Guizhou from the Central Plains.

The Song family attaches great importance to literature and education. The current head of the family, Song Bin, likes to read and be close to scholars. He hates those uneducated chieftains who only know how to wield swords and sticks, including the Yang family of Bozhou.

The Song family and the An family had a close relationship. During the Yuan Dynasty, they joined forces to raise troops to revolt, but they were suppressed by the Yang family of Bozhou.

The Song family and the Yang family are both Han people, but the Song family has always despised the Yang family for being an obedient citizen in the Yuan Dynasty, and hated the Yang family for obstructing their uprising.

In this situation, it was obvious who Muchun wanted to deal with first.

"The Song family and the An family will not help the Yang family. The Tian family is now seriously fighting among themselves. You can ignore them for the time being."

"At that time, He Fu will lead the troops to surround the southwest of Guizhou, Cao Guogong will lead the troops to surround the southeast, Yang Wen and Gu Cheng will each lead the troops to surround the northwest and northeast, and Qu Neng and I will lead the troops from Chongqing and go straight to Bozhou."

"When the Tian family reacts, I have already captured Yang Sheng in Bozhou. By then, we will advance in three directions. Cao Guogong Li Jinglong and Zhenyuan Marquis Gu Cheng will cooperate with me in a three-party encirclement and suppression. The Tian family will be defeated in an instant."

"Once the Yang and Tian families are defeated, An of the An family will definitely surrender intentionally. Once the An family surrenders, Song Bin of the Song family will be unable to survive alone."

Muchun looked at the map and solved the four chieftains happily.

If this kind of words were said to others, Mu Sheng would definitely feel that he was bragging, but if he said it to his eldest brother, he felt that it was appropriate.

After all, to my eldest brother, the so-called four major toasts in Guizhou are just a bunch of stinky fish and rotten shrimps.

As long as the support from the imperial court is strong enough, it won't take long to pacify Guizhou.

"It is easy to conquer Guizhou, but how to govern it is the problem..."

Mu Chun touched his short beard and pondered, but Mu Sheng said: "This is not something we should take care of, right?"

"Whether it is under our control or not, it is always the duty of a minister to make suggestions to the court." After saying this, Mu Chun raised his head and looked at Mu Sheng:

"You will send my arrangements to the governors of various places, so that the troops and horses of the governors of various places can start to gather, and the chief envoys of each place can recruit civilian husbands."

"I am the leader of the troops everywhere. Without my general order, no one is allowed to take a step."

At this moment, Mu Chun was quite like King Mu Ying of Qianning. After Mu Sheng nodded in agreement, Mu Chun also said: "I will personally write a handwritten copy to Duke Cao Guo, so you don't have to run away."

"Yes..." Mu Sheng agreed, and Mu Chun also stood up and walked to the study.

He had just returned from the battle in 800 Dadian, and he was still very tired.

When he thought about launching troops against the Guizhou chieftains in a few months, he just wanted to have a good rest.

Watching him leave, Mu Sheng's eyes revealed admiration, but more importantly, jealousy.

It's just jealousy. As long as Mu Chun is still here, he will still be the second child of the Mu family. Only with Mu Chun here, the Mu family can sit firmly in Yunnan.

Although Mu Sheng was not as good as Mu Chun in leading troops in battles, his political sense was not low.

"Is there any movement over at Prince Han's Mansion?"

Mu Sheng flexed his aching wrist and turned to ask the guards of the Duke of Guizhou's mansion who had just watched everything.

The guard bowed after hearing this: "The Han Dynasty has not done much in the palace. The Han Dynasty has rarely left the palace in the three years since he came to Kunming. Even if he occasionally leaves the palace, he only goes to the nearest temples and Taoist temples to offer incense."

"He knows how to hide his clumsiness." After hearing Zhu Gaochi's behavior, Mu Sheng did not think that Zhu Gaochi was a nerd who only knew how to read in the eyes of the world.

After all, with a younger brother like Zhu Gaoxu, if the eldest brother has no brains, he will probably end up no better than Li Jiancheng.

He is alive and well now, not only because of Zhu Di's protection and Zhu Gaoxu's contempt, but also because of his own ability.

"Keep watching. If the imperial court wants to attack Yunnan in the future, it will definitely start from the Han Palace."

Mu Sheng gave an order, and the palace guards nodded and retreated.

After he left, Mu Sheng also got up to deal with the news about Guizhou's return to its native land.

In the next few days, there were soldiers and horses coming and going throughout Kunming City. Soldiers and horses from all over western and southern Yunnan gathered here and then went to Wumeng Mansion and Qujing Mansion. Naturally, such a situation cannot be hidden from the eyes of the Han Palace.

"What about others?"

"Princess, Your Highness is reading a book..."

"Whether you are really reading or pretending to be reading, I will find out when I go in and take a look!"

When the noise came, the door to the side hall of the palace in front of the Han Dynasty was pushed open, and what came into view were four or five dancers standing aside with their heads lowered, and a big black fat man hurriedly wiping his mouth.

"Are you hiding and eating again?!"

Mrs. Zhang walked up angrily, but Zhu Gaochi waved his hands after hearing this: "I haven't started yet!"

"We haven't started yet. First, wipe the oil from your mouth and put the food on the table away!"

The stealing that Zhang mentioned was obviously not what Zhu Gaochi understood. When he heard that it was food, Zhu Gaochi spread his hands and said, "I'm hungry. I can't help it."

At this moment, he is much darker than his fair appearance in Nanjing, but his body is much healthier.

"Have I missed three meals for you?" Mrs. Zhang looked at the messy table and said heartbrokenly:

"If you continue to eat, I think I will be a widow in a few years."

"Hey, hey, don't dare to talk nonsense." When Zhu Gaochi heard this, he immediately wiped his hands and stepped forward to hug Mrs. Zhang's shoulders.

"I just eat occasionally. Look, I have lost more than ten pounds since I came to Yunnan. The doctor in the palace also said that I am fine. Look at you, why are you so anxious..."

"Nonsense, it's not like they are widowed after you die!"

Mrs. Zhang said angrily, and Zhu Gaochi also lost her temper due to the rebuke, so he persuaded Mrs. Zhang in a good voice, which finally made her calm down.

"By the way, where is Zhanji?"

Zhu Gaochi looked around, but he was a little curious because he didn't see his precious son.

"How dare you say that!" As soon as she heard about Zhu Zhanji, Zhang's temper got the better of her and she scolded Zhu Gaochi:

"I asked you to take him out less, but you don't believe me. Now he learned this bad habit from nowhere. He fights with crickets every day in Kunming City. Tell me about you..."

Zhu Gaochi didn't even hear a word of Zhang's scolding. It went in one ear and out the other, as if someone was singing an opera next to him.

After Zhang finally finished cursing, light footsteps could be heard outside the hall.

"Dad, Mom! I'm back!"

As the sound rang out, a fat little black man who looked about eight or nine years old and was no taller than an adult's waist appeared in the front bedroom.

Although his skin was dark and he looked simple and honest, something unknown always shone in his bright eyes.

He was wearing a blue round-neck robe. The collar of the robe was clean and neat, but the cuffs were full of dust.

He was holding a bamboo cricket cage in his hand and looked very protective of it.

"Son, where have you been?"

As soon as she saw Zhu Zhanji, Mrs. Zhang immediately abandoned Zhu Gaochi, walked over quickly and knelt down, squeezing Zhu Zhanji's dark and fat face with her fair hands.

"I'm going to fight crickets. Anyway, I've finished my studies. Is fighting crickets okay?"

Zhu Zhanji showed off his precious cricket. After looking at it, Mrs. Zhang turned her head and glared at Zhu Gaochi. Zhu Gaochi could only hum and pretend that nothing happened.

After a moment, he came to his senses and felt that Mrs. Zhang could not come to him in such a hurry because of this matter, so he asked:

"Is this why you came to me in such a hurry?"

"What do you mean this is all about this?" Mrs. Zhang took Zhu Zhanji's hand and stood up. At the same time, she looked at Zhu Gaochi and said, "You don't know about the mobilization of troops and horses in Kunming City?"

"I know, the matter of pacifying Guizhou Xuanwei Division has nothing to do with us." Zhu Gaochi casually sat on the chair, put his hands in his sleeves, and sat firmly on the Diaoyutai.

"What if the imperial court recruits the kings and asks you to lead the guards to fight?" Mrs. Zhang expressed her worries, but Zhu Gaochi was happy.

"Do you think my second brother can let me go to the battlefield?" Zhu Gaochi said cheerfully:

"If the situation in Guizhou is this serious, can the second brother allow dad to go to the north?"

"If the situation in Guizhou is really serious, I'm afraid it will be my father who is the director of Nanjing City now, and the second son will personally lead troops to the southwest to quell the rebellion."

He spoke cheerfully, but Mrs. Zhang said: "My second brother has never fought in the south..."

"Just because you haven't been beaten doesn't mean you can't fight." Zhu Gaochi curled his lips, seeming a bit envious.

"In recent years, the second son has been on the expedition to clear up Japanese invaders, and to look at mountains and mines. He also defeated Wu Liangha in Modong, commanded Wang Xuan and others to expand territory in the southwest, and commanded Yang Zhan to sail to the West..."

"Now don't say he can fight in the southwest. I wouldn't be surprised if you said the second child can have children."

"Shut your mouth." Listening to Zhu Gaochi's unbridled teasing of Zhu Gaoxu, Mrs. Zhang was frightened, but Zhu Gaochi said cheerfully:

"The second child is not so petty. If he was really petty, would I be able to survive until now?"

He could see clearly that those words made Mr. Zhang very helpless.

"I heard that the third child has gone to Beijing to visit his mother. Are you not going?"

Mrs. Zhang still hopes that Zhu Gaochi will increase his presence in Nanjing, especially to have a better relationship with his eldest nephew Zhu Zhanhe, so as to prevent Zhu Zhanhe from feeling uncomfortable with them in the future.

"I can't go now even if I want to." Zhu Gaochi couldn't laugh or cry:

"Guizhou is about to start a war. Hundreds of thousands of troops from the southwest have been mobilized. Now I have no other way back to Nanjing except through Annan in the south."

"Besides, Annan is not at peace either. I heard that hundreds of thousands of barbarians from Changshan have invaded recently, and Fu Rang is leading his troops to encircle and suppress them."

"It would be fine if the encirclement and suppression succeeds. If it fails, then I'm just meat delivered to your door, waiting to be eaten."

Zhu Gaochi kept talking, but he just didn't want to move. Mrs. Zhang also gave up on him and waved her hand: "Okay, you can see everything thoroughly. I'm disturbing your interest. I'm leaving."

After Mrs. Zhang said that, she turned around and pulled Zhu Zhanji away. When Zhu Gaochi saw them leaving, he quickly stood up and waved his hands: "Come on, come on, blow it, sing it..."

Amid his shouts, the musicians began to play and sing, while he sat back down and continued eating the plates of delicious food.

Facts have proved that Zhang's worries existed, because there were indeed many Xichang spies in the Han Dynasty.

At least their conversation was recorded word for word and sent to Nanjing City, and it was delivered to Zhu Gaoxu at the end of April.

"The boss is having a good time."

With the information sent from the West Factory in hand, Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting in the front palace having a meal, suddenly felt that the food in front of him was tasteless.

The records that Xichang gave him were too detailed, including how many music girls the boss slept with every day, how many plates of food he ate, what the recipes were, which girl he hooked up with after leaving the palace, etc...

Looking at it this way, his life is much more nourishing than Zhu Gaoxu's. Every day he only eats, drinks and plays with women.

"No matter how moist the life is, it's still not under your nose."

Guo Yan's voice sounded from the side. After taking care of Queen Xu for a long time, he finally relieved some of his burden after the arrival of Zhu Gaosui and his wife.

"How are the third child and the others doing?"

Seeing what Guo Yan said, Zhu Gaoxu also happened to ask about Zhu Gaosui.

Zhu Gaosui and the others arrived in the capital this morning, but at that time Zhu Gaoxu was organizing a court meeting. After the court meeting, he returned to the Chunhe Hall to discuss matters with the ministers.

After a busy morning, he finally sat down and had a hot meal, so he didn't see Zhu Gaosui.

"He is much more honest and well-behaved. According to my sister, since he was beaten by you and thrown into the teaching field, he has become more honest, that is..."

Guo Yan couldn't help laughing as he spoke, but Zhu Gaoxu was curious: "What did you think of that made you so happy?"

"It's just...my sister said that from time to time the third child feels a little pain in the place where you hit him..."

Guo Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't know what to say.

He had saved some strength when he hit Zhu Gaosui, otherwise he was really worried that he could kick Zhu Gaosui to death with one kick.

"Anyway, my mother is a little happier now that they are here, and she even said that if my brother and the others can come..."

As if realizing that he had said the wrong thing, Guo Yan quickly shut his mouth.

Zhu Gaoxu, on the other hand, nodded after hearing this and was not angry. Instead, he continued: "There is a war in Guizhou, and there is also a rebellion in Annan. After these things pass, let the boss and his family come to Nanjing to accompany my mother."

Now Zhu Gaojiu is not worried about the possibility of Zhu Gaochi's family threatening him, so letting Empress Xu meet Zhu Gaochi's family is the only thing Zhu Gaojiu can do for Empress Xu.

"Has mother's condition improved?" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but feel depressed when he thought that Empress Xu died of illness in the fifth year of Yongle in history, which would be the seventh year of Yongle today.

"It's much better. Although my body is getting worse, the speed is much slower than before..."

Guo Yan's voice became smaller and smaller as he spoke. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu didn't know what to say and ended the topic immediately.

"By the way, where is He'er?"

After finishing the meal, Zhu Gaoxu realized that Zhu Zhanhe had disappeared for a day.

"He has been listening to his mother telling stories in Qianqing Palace these days." Guo Yan looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a smile, which gave Zhu Gaoxu a bad premonition: "What story are you telling?"

"It just talks about His Highness's mighty deeds in Peking, and how he was dealt with by his mother and protected by his father."

Guo Yan smiled and became quiet again: "Mom also said that I don't know what methods Emperor Gao used to tame a wild child like you."

"This..." Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache in embarrassment, wondering how Lao Zhu had tamed him. It was obvious that he had eliminated his predecessor.

If you change the person, wouldn't this character change...

(End of this chapter)