Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 81 Jinxiu Toast
Mo Guangshu returned from his mission to Jinxiu Tusi and brought back a letter.

After Dan Chu finished reading it, his face was gloomy. He threw the letter aside and said, "This Tian Qi is quite arrogant!"

Tian Qi was the chieftain of Jinxiu. In his letter, he rejected Danchu's request and explicitly opposed the establishment of a patrol inspection office in Jinxiu.

Mo Guangshu felt that he had failed in his mission, so he quickly said, "Please calm down, Governor. It's all my fault for not doing my job well."

After all, he was Mo Yufen's father, and he had done a lot for Danchu. Danchu was still very polite to him, saying, "Young uncle, don't blame yourself. The Tian family has been chieftains for generations, and they look down on everyone. If you don't show him some power, he won't give in."

Therefore, Danchu summoned all the generals, as well as two counselors, Yu Houji and Fang Yizhi, to discuss the matter of conquest.

Danchu said: "Our army is in urgent need of ironware, and Jinxiu is rich in iron and copper mines, so we must use them for military use. I plan to set up a patrol inspection office in Jinxiu to control the Jinxiu iron mines. The chieftain of Jinxiu is arrogant and refuses to agree. What do you think?"

The commander of the first battalion, Wei Guosong, was the most senior among the three infantry battalion commanders. He said without hesitation: "The commander-in-chief of Yong'an Town should control the chieftain of Jinxiu. The Tian family is disloyal, so we should send troops to fight them."

Mo Guangshu said: "Jinxiu Tusi is located in Panwang Valley of Dayao Mountain. The surrounding mountains are high and the forests are dense, and the roads are rugged and difficult to travel. The Tian family has been entrenched for a long time, so it is inconvenient to attack by force, so we have to use wits to take it."

Although the second battalion commander Kuang Shi had never been a captain, his ability had been recognized by the generals, who said: "The chieftains have been inherited from generation to generation and will not surrender easily. We must defeat them in order to enhance the military's prestige."

The third battalion commander, Chen Wu, was originally Jiao Lian's personal soldier. When Danchu was the captain of the old third team, Chen Wu was the team leader and served as Danchu's deputy. He also agreed to use force and asked, "How many routes are there from Yong'an to Jinxiu? How long is the distance?"

Although the Mo family was not a chieftain, they had been operating in Yong'an for more than 700 years. Mo Guangshu was very familiar with the situation around Yong'an and replied:
"There are two main routes. One is to cross Dayao Mountain, which is mostly mountain trails and is about a hundred miles long. The other route goes north through Xiuren, bypassing the northern part of Dayao Mountain and is about two hundred miles long. When a large group marches, they usually bypass Xiuren to Jinxiu."

After brainstorming, the answer gradually became clear. Yu Houji said, "General, why not select a group of elite soldiers, cross Dayao Mountain, take a shortcut and go straight to Jinxiu Tusi's stronghold, which will be enough to achieve a surprise victory."

Danchu nodded and thought it was feasible. It seemed that in the future, when there were major events, all the generals should be gathered together to discuss and promote military democracy.

Fang Yizhi expressed a different opinion and asked, "The Marshal set up the Inspection Office in Jinxiu. Is it to change the natives into officials? Or to obtain iron ore?"

It was not an easy task to change the natives into commoners. During the Ming Dynasty, the native chieftains were very powerful, and some of the big native chieftains had jurisdiction over many counties and prefectures, and some even covered hundreds of miles.

In order to implement the policy of converting chieftains into officials, the Ming court waged brutal wars in the southwest. Major wars included the Battle of Luchuan during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, the Battle of Datongxia during the Chenghua and Zhengde periods, the Battle of Bozhou during the reign of Emperor Wanli, and the Battle of She'an during the reigns of Emperor Tianqi and Emperor Chongzhen, which basically destroyed the chieftains.

Later generations often attributed the credit for the reform of the chieftain system to the Qing Dynasty, but the Qing Dynasty actually took advantage of the Ming Dynasty's reform and used peaceful means to take advantage of the internal conflicts of the chieftains, and the progress was extremely slow. Until the demise of the Qing Dynasty, there were still chieftains of all sizes in the southwest.

Danchu was also unsure about the transformation of the natives into officials in Jinxiu. After a moment of silence, he said, "This time I am sending troops to Jinxiu to seize the iron mines, not to transform the natives into officials."

He suddenly realized an extremely important problem: to do something, you must first figure out what the goal is, and then you can work around the goal. To fight a war, you must first figure out who the enemy is and what the goal is, and then you can deploy your troops.

Fang Yizhi continued, "Although the Tian family is a small chieftain, they have been entrenched in Jinxiu for a long time, are familiar with the terrain, and are supported by the local Yao people. If the commander-in-chief sets up a patrol inspection office in Jinxiu, the Tian family will think that it means changing the chieftains to officials, and they will definitely resist desperately.

"If you just want to seize Jinxiu's iron mine, things will be much easier. You can swear an alliance with the Tian family and let him continue to serve as chieftain. Our town can appoint a mine supervisor to monitor the affairs of Jinxiu's iron and copper mines. Then send craftsmen to improve iron smelting technology and share the profits with the Tian family. In this way, we can avoid mobilizing a large army and it will be a long-term plan."

This is a mature and prudent strategy, which Danchu deeply appreciates: "Good, Brother Mizhi is thoughtful and thoughtful, which is really enlightening."

In a turbulent time, even the emperor was helpless. As the general, Danchu could not do whatever he wanted. So, Danchu decided to send Mo Guangshu to Jinxiu again to talk about the mine supervision. At the same time, he sent a large army to negotiate with the Tian family.

On the morning of February 1, Danchu personally led the standard battalion, took the mountain trail, and headed straight for the Tusi stronghold to put pressure on the Tian family. The cavalry of the infantry battalion was more like mounted infantry than cavalry, and this time they were also assigned to the standard battalion to strengthen their momentum.

All the soldiers were on horseback, and although they were walking on a mountain road, their speed was still quite fast. They approached Jinxiu at noon on the second day.

The chieftain was not on guard and did not expect that the Yong'an Army would take a shortcut and arrive in Jinxiu so quickly.

Upon hearing the news, Tusi Tian Qi hurriedly gathered his troops and prepared for resistance. In a rage, he summoned Mo Guangshu for questioning.

Mo Guangshu said: "I, Yong'an Town, have no intention of making an enemy of Qianhu when we march this time. We only want to set up a mine supervisor in Jinxiu to help Qianhu improve iron smelting technology and increase steel production. This is a good thing, Qianhu, don't be suspicious."

The chieftains of the Ming Dynasty were divided into two types: military and civil. The military chieftains included the envoys of peace, the envoys of comfort, and even the garrison commanders and thousand-householder commanders, while the civil chieftains included the local prefects and local governors.

According to the degree of sinicization, Tusi can be divided into raw and cooked Tusi. Tian Qi, Tusi of Jinxiu, is a cooked Tusi with the rank of Qianhu.

He was in doubt and said, "Mo Guangshu, I respect you as a great family in Yong'an and treat you with great courtesy. If you dare to collude with Cen Danchu and plot against my Jinxiu chieftain, I will kill you first!"

With the enemy at hand, there was no benefit in killing the envoy. Tian Qi detained Mo Guangshu and continued to mobilize the Tusi soldiers.

Soon, the scouts came to report that they had found out that the number of Yong'an troops was not large, only about five hundred men.

The left and right offered a suggestion: "I heard that the Yong'an Army has 2,000 to 3,000 troops. This time they must be the vanguards who are exploring the way, and the main force will follow. It is better to send troops to attack quickly, break the enemy's vanguard, and the enemy will lose their courage. The main force will block the mountain stream path, and they will be in chaos without fighting."

Mo thought it made sense and asked, "How many Tusi soldiers are there now?"

"About 1,100."

Most chieftains were located in remote mountainous areas with limited financial resources and few standing troops. When war broke out, they often recruited soldiers temporarily.

Tian Qi only had 300 regular soldiers under his command. When he heard that there were already 1,100 troops, he immediately became bolder and said, "We can wait for them to tire themselves out. Two of us can defeat one of them. We are sure to win. Listen to my order, line up outside the camp and prepare to fight."

Scouts ran back and forth, constantly delivering messages.

Danchu quickly grasped the situation of the chieftain and ordered them to form a long snake formation. The long snake formation was not a horizontal formation, but a slightly curved one, which was convenient for mutual support.

Close to the Tusi stronghold, the terrain gradually becomes flat, and the farmland and houses are similar to those in Yong'an Prefecture. This is the civilized aboriginal, with a high degree of sinicization, and the food customs and culture are approaching those of the Han people.

The Yong'an Army shrank its formation, with the cavalry, musketry, artillery, and infantry battalion cavalry from left to right. The personal guards and the training team were in the rear, serving as the reserve.

He was not in a hurry to launch an attack, but instead ordered his soldiers to dismount and eat to replenish their energy. At the same time, he sent envoys to lobby the chieftain.

(End of this chapter)