Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Last time, Feng Sheng wasn’t so enthusiastic!

Of course, Xu Huizu was not a rookie either, so he naturally knew the reason for Feng Sheng's change of attitude. First, everyone now had the same goal, and second, Feng Sheng knew the interests of his brother-in-law Ouyang Lun!
Only when you are strong can you get the attention of others.

Entering the commander's tent, Feng Sheng sat in the first seat, while Xu Huizu sat closest to Feng Sheng. Other generals sat down in order. In this way, Xu Huizu's status as deputy general was completely recognized!
If it were any other time, even if Feng Sheng didn't say anything, the generals below would have objections. After all, Xu Huizu was too young and would be somewhat unconvinced.

But Xu Huizu does not represent just himself, behind him are Ouyang Lun and Xu Da. Xu Da is okay, but what is more important is the son-in-law Ouyang Lun. Now everyone knows that these millions of people were brought by Ouyang Lun, and as long as Ouyang Lun gives an order, millions of people will act according to his orders.

In comparison, the 150,000 troops to suppress the rebellion are really too few, and only the generals on the scene know that these millions of people are indeed genuine militiamen, and their combat effectiveness is not weak!
Strength determines status.

Even if they disliked Xu Huizu, they would automatically smile when they thought of Ouyang Lun and the millions of people behind Xu Huizu.

Feng Sheng was also very enthusiastic in introducing his generals to Xu Huizu.

"My dear nephew Huizu, your father Xu Da is the god of war of our Ming Dynasty, and your brother-in-law Ouyang Lun is the chief minister of our Ming Dynasty. You are naturally quite capable. Now you are the deputy general of the army that is suppressing the rebellion. Do you have any ideas on how to proceed?"

Feng Sheng's attitude was very gentle. He was even worried that Xu Huizu didn't quite understand the situation on the scene, so he continued to explain: "Now with these millions of civilian militias, our current strength is extremely strong. I, Feng Sheng, have never fought such a rich war!"

"But the strength of this rebel army should not be underestimated. The most annoying thing is the terrain here. I got lost when I led everyone here. If it weren't for the help of the people, we might not have arrived yet!"

"The terrain is such that it is impossible for all of us to deploy our full strength, but time has already dragged on for so long, and I'm worried that something bad might happen if we're too late!"

“It’s hard to make up your mind at the moment.”

After listening to Feng Sheng's words, Xu Huizu thought for a moment and then said, "Before leaving, my brother-in-law and I had discussed this. My brother-in-law said that this is the territory of the Ming Dynasty after all, and even if we are suppressing the rebellion, we can't be too bloody. Of course, we can't be merciful to those who are determined to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, especially the local people who were coerced or even deceived by the rebels!"

"Once the war starts, they will be the ones who suffer the most!"

"My nephew means that the frontal offensive is advancing, but the war of public opinion is more important. After all, no matter how powerful the enemy is, they are afraid of being divided from within!"

Public opinion war?!

Hearing these three words, Feng Sheng and his generals were a little confused.

"Nephew, can you tell me in detail about the war of public opinion?" Feng Sheng asked curiously.

"Of course." Xu Huizu nodded, and then said: "In fact, there are millions of people who will spontaneously support the battlefield. This is part of the public opinion war!"

"My brother-in-law said that the core of the public opinion war is not deception, but sincerity, truth, and sincerity! The people are entitled to know the truth of the matter. I will do this with the most sincere actions, and exchange sincerity for sincerity!"

"If we make more friends and fewer enemies, we will win the battle!"

Hearing this, the general in the tent was still confused, but Feng Sheng's eyes lit up.

"My dear nephew, how should this be implemented specifically? How do we conduct a war of public opinion? According to current intelligence, the rebels are extremely wary of our army. It is very difficult for spies in the army to get in, let alone spread rumors." Feng Sheng said helplessly.

"Uncle Feng, the military spies are too obvious, and we don't spread rumors!" Xu Huizu shook his head. "My nephew means that we have to make good use of these millions of people. Many of them live in Yunnan Province. Even if the rebels blockade the province, they still need daily necessities. They can't stop civilian exchanges at all, and they can't stop it."

"We can arrange for the people to form a caravan and enter the city controlled by the rebels. We won't gather intelligence or spread rumors. We will simply tell the local people the truth. Once the local people understand that they have been deceived and used by the rebels, they will make their own decisions!"

"If we launch a massive attack at this time, the local people should make peace with us, and the rebellion can be put down overnight."

As Xu Huizu said this, Feng Sheng fell into deep thought.

He had experienced the complex terrain of Yunnan Province before. Not to mention millions of civilians, even 150,000 troops to suppress the rebellion would find it difficult to deploy on the same battlefield.

If they were ambushed by the rebels and rescue was not timely, it would easily cause heavy casualties. Even if they won in the end, it would be a pyrrhic victory. In addition, he had lost his way with the army before. After returning to Beijing, it would be good enough if he was not punished, let alone any credit.

The suggestion put forward by Xu Huizu gave Feng Sheng a new idea, that is, to start from multiple aspects and attack from both inside and outside. In this way, the role of millions of people can be brought into play and the risk can be reduced.

After thinking about this, Feng Sheng had already made up his mind to adopt Xu Huizu's suggestion.

"My dear nephew Huizu, this is a good idea!"

"I really didn't expect that my nephew is so outstanding. Let's discuss the specific actions next!"

"It's been a while since I arrived with my army. If I don't do something quickly, I'm afraid the Emperor and His Majesty will think that I, Feng Sheng, am just eating for free and doing nothing!"

Feng Sheng said with a smile.

After some discussion, Feng Sheng and his generals changed their impression of Xu Huizu!
Because of Ouyang Lun, Feng Sheng also asked Xu Huizu to be responsible for coordinating millions of civilian militiamen, and also asked Xu Huizu to be responsible for infiltrating the rebel territory.

Xu Huizu did not refuse and took on all these responsibilities. Xu Huizu knew very well that this was a rare opportunity for him. As the Ming Dynasty continued to grow stronger, battles like this would become less and less frequent. If he could seize this battle, he would become a top figure of the new generation of the Ming Dynasty! !
Of course, in order to win the war of public opinion, Xu Huizu did not dare to slack off at all. He immediately went to the militia camp and began to select candidates personally.

When they heard that the person coming was Prince Consort Ouyang's brother-in-law, the civilian militiamen were very enthusiastic and active.

"Young Master, choose me, choose me!"

"Young Master, I have relatives in the rebel city, and I would be the most suitable person to go there!"

"I, I! I have a ready-made caravan, just follow it in!"

With the enthusiastic support of the people, Xu Huizu quickly formed dozens of caravans, carrying various supplies and set off for the territory where the rebels were located.

At first, the rebels were very wary of these caravans, but when they were sure that these caravans were all ordinary people and that the supplies were food and other supplies they urgently needed, they completely dispelled their concerns. After all, no matter how stupid the imperial court was, it would not send them supplies. What was the difference between this and aiding the enemy? !

Moreover, after entering the rebel territory, these caravans did not conduct any spying activities and just did business honestly. Gradually, the rebels acquiesced in the existence of these merchants and even took the initiative to find the caravans to buy supplies.

As the caravan became more familiar with the local people, everyone started chatting while trading.

"Boss, we heard from the chieftain that the Ming Emperor is a cannibal. He eats a delicate 16-year-old girl every day. Is this true?" "Cannibalism? Of course it's not true. The Ming Emperor is a heroic emperor. He has endless delicacies to eat every day. Why would he eat a little girl?"

"We also heard that because we did not provide the Ming Emperor with little girls and exorbitant taxes, he sent a large army to wipe us out. When the city is captured, we will all be killed."

"I heard that the Ming army is full of demons, committing rape, looting and all kinds of evil!"

"Ahem, where did you hear all this news? Our emperor doesn't eat girls, and our army won't rape, plunder, or commit any atrocities. The Ming army will only defend our country! That means you and me!"

"Our chieftain! He also said that the Ming Dynasty didn't consider us as its subjects at all, and just wanted to enslave us. We handed over many sixteen-year-old girls and a lot of money, but the Ming Dynasty still wanted to wipe us out! How evil!"

"You are wrong. When Yunnan Province was recovered, our Emperor personally issued an order to exempt the people of Yunnan Province from taxes for nearly ten years, and allocated a large amount of silver every year to support the development of Yunnan. Haven't you noticed that many roads in Yunnan Province have been repaired? And has the court also arranged for you to have farming officials to guide you in farming and improve your harvest?"

"Road? Wasn't it built by our chieftain himself? As for the officials who taught us how to farm? I didn't see them! But some foreign wizards were caught and killed by the chieftain, saying that they would deceive people."

"Forehead"

Hearing that the people under the rule of the rebels knew nothing and were deceived in various ways, the people disguised as caravans were quite speechless, so the next step was a fierce wave of information output.

"Do you know what this is?"

"This is the first time I've seen such a large book, but I can't read!"

"This is called a newspaper. It contains a lot of news about the Ming Dynasty. As long as you can read, you can understand the news and know the major events that happened in this country!"

"You can actually read?!"

"I was illiterate originally, but the government has good policies and has carried out a nationwide literacy campaign. Although I can't recognize much, I have no problem reading books and newspapers now."

"The newspapers I have here are all about Yunnan Province. I can read them to you."

"In the 20th year of Hongwu, His Majesty the Emperor allocated 3 million taels of silver for the construction of road infrastructure in Yunnan. In September of the same year, the court again decided to extend the original five-year tax exemption for Yunnan Province to ten years. In the 21st year of Hongwu, the court decided to send more than 100 agricultural experts to Yunnan Province to guide agricultural planting."

"This"

The people who learned the truth were stunned, but they did not completely believe these foreign businessmen. Instead, they bought the newspapers.

As more and more people learned the truth, a wave of public opinion quietly broke out in the rebel territory.

at the same time.

The anti-rebellion army, led by Feng Sheng, officially launched an attack on the rebels.

As expected, the rebels knew that the imperial army was powerful, so they chose not to engage in a head-on confrontation with the army. Instead, they fought and retreated, luring the army into the mountains, and then used the terrain advantage to attack after the army was dispersed.

Even though Feng Sheng was prepared from the beginning, he still suffered a great loss, which made the speed of suppressing the rebellion extremely slow.

When Xu Huizu saw Feng Sheng bringing his men back to the camp, he immediately went to meet them.

"Damn, these rebels are so cunning! They're like rats in a cave!"

Feng Sheng sat down on the commander's seat, threw down his helmet, and started cursing.

"It looks like things are not going well on the front battlefield!" Xu Huizu said.

"We have indeed encountered some problems, but we are still advancing steadily. It's just that the speed is a bit slow. Also, there are too many wounded soldiers. If they are not treated in time, they will easily die. Alas." Feng Sheng sighed.

"Uncle Feng, don't worry about the wounded. Just leave it to me. This time I came to the front line with a medical team just to deal with the wounded! And a field hospital has been built in the past two days. Uncle Feng only needs to order the wounded to be sent to the hospital!"

Xu Huizu said.

"Even a clinic has been built!" Feng Sheng was extremely shocked when he heard this. It was obvious that this was also arranged by Ouyang Lun. Ouyang Lun shocked him too much.

The problem of the wounded soldiers was solved, which made Feng Sheng feel relieved. He continued to ask, "My dear nephew, how is the public opinion war going on your side?"

"Uncle Feng, I was just about to report this to you!"

"The effect is better than we imagined. The rebel leader really gained the support of the local people by deceiving them. Now our people have begun to tell them the real news. Once the local people know that their leader is deceiving and exploiting them, there will be big problems within the rebels!"

Xu Huizu spoke.

"it is good!"

"I hope there will be miraculous results. Otherwise, if we keep advancing step by step like this, I don't know when we can completely put down the rebellion!" Feng Sheng said in a deep voice.

Another month has passed.

The Ming Dynasty's anti-insurgency army and the rebels continued to fight. Overall, the anti-insurgency army had the upper hand, but the advancement effect was not obvious. The only good news was the existence of a field hospital. The casualties on the Ming Dynasty's anti-insurgency army's side were extremely low. After fighting for so long, the number of soldiers killed was only in the double digits.

However, the atmosphere within the rebel territory is quietly changing.

In a village under rebel rule.

"Master Tusi has been deceiving us all along!"

"The Ming Dynasty is not as terrible as he said!" (End of this chapter)