Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 159: Reconstructing Annan County!

In the 15th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang changed Lin'an Road into Lin'an Prefecture, moved the prefectural seat to Jianshui Prefecture, and established the Lin'an Guard Command Headquarters. He expanded the land and rebuilt the brick city, so it was also called Jianshui City.

Ever since Emperor Xuanzong listened to Yang Shiqi's advice, abolished the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration, enthroned Le Loi as the King of Annan, and recognized Annan as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, Jianshui Prefecture has been the border town between the Ming Dynasty and Annan.

However, since its independence, Annan has never been peaceful. Starting from the second year of Chenghua, it has repeatedly clashed with the military and civilians of the Ming Dynasty on the border.

After that, in the fifth, sixth, eighth, fourteenth, and nineteenth years of Chenghua, there were records of Annan invading the lands of the people of Dianzhou and Guizhou.

It is worth mentioning that in the 16th year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi once suggested to the late emperor to send troops to attack Annan, and petitioned to be the vanguard general and personally lead the troops to conquer Annan.

However, he was jointly stopped by the then Minister of War Yu Zijun, Zhejiang Right Councillor Lu Rong and War Doctor Liu Daxia.

At this moment, Annan once again mobilized more than 10,000 Annan troops to cross the border and attack and harass the Ming border villages on the grounds that the Ming army and people were looting the Annan people.

The first to be hit was Jianshui Prefecture.

Dianzhou.

Lin'an Mansion.

Jianshui Prefecture.

The flames illuminated the night sky, and thousands of dark-skinned Annan people armed with weapons attacked the city of Jianshuizhou.

The Ming people in Jianshui Prefecture were extremely frightened and abandoned their land and ran towards Jianshui City with their families.

"Help! Help!"

"Murder! The Annamites are killing people!"

"Save me! The Annanites are attacking! Save me!"

"..."

The border between Annan and the Ming Dynasty does not have a tall and long Great Wall like the one in the north to protect the people of the Ming Dynasty.

As long as the Annan people crossed the border, they could slaughter the people of the Ming Dynasty without hindrance. The people of the Ming Dynasty had no ability to fight back and could only flee far away.

Just when the people of the Ming Dynasty were in despair, the commander of Lin'an Guard led the officers and soldiers of Lin'an Guard and rushed over to fight with these Annan people.

However, what is surprising is that there are quite a few Tatars among the officers and soldiers of Lin'an Garrison.

"Everyone, quickly retreat to Jianshui City. We will stop these Annan people!"

With the support of officers and soldiers from Lin'an Garrison, the casualties of the people in Jianshui Prefecture were greatly reduced, and they finally had time to escape.

At the same time, after learning about this situation, the prefect of Lin'an did not dare to hesitate and quickly wrote a letter to the governor of Dianzhou.

In addition, the prefect of Lin'an also wrote a letter, but it was not sent to the court, but to Prince Mu's palace.

The Prince Mu's Mansion should not be called the Prince Mu's Mansion. Its official name is the Ming Dynasty Qiangong Mansion.

The lineage of the Duke of Qian, whose ancestor is Mu Ying, the adopted son of Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the 16th year of Hongwu, Mu Ying was ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang to guard Dianzhou for ten years. After his death, he was posthumously named King of Qianning by Zhu Youtang.

Mu Ying's descendants inherited the title of Duke of Qian from generation to generation. Although they were dukes, their rank was lower than that of a prince, so the locals were accustomed to calling the Duke of Qian's Mansion the Prince Mu's Mansion.

The lineage of the Duke of Qian has guarded Dianzhou for generations, protected the Chishe community, and served as the Ming's frontier. They were also the only meritorious officials in the Ming Dynasty who continued to hold actual territorial power.

In other words, the Duke of Qian has military power.

Moreover, the contemporary Duke of Qian, Mu Cong, was also the commander-in-chief of Yunnan. In the 19th year of Chenghua, he led his troops to quell the Qiaodian Rebellion.

Afterwards, he successively put down tribal uprisings in Malong, Lijiang, Jianchuan, Shunning and Luoxiong, captured the rebels in Qiaodian and Nanwo, and was awarded the title of Prince Taifu by the previous emperor for his merits.

After receiving the letter from the prefect of Lin'an, Mu Cong immediately raised an army of 3,000 people and quickly rushed to Jianshui Prefecture to fight against the Annan people.

But this time, it was not just Dianzhou that was attacked by the Annan people.

Guizhou.

Pingxiang Prefecture.

Pingxiang Prefecture is also located on the border between Ming Dynasty and Annan. It is a native prefecture directly under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Guizhou and is known as the Southern Ming Dynasty.

A large number of Annan people armed with weapons invaded Pingxiang Prefecture and massacred the indigenous minorities of Pingxiang Prefecture.

The vast majority of the people in Pingxiang Prefecture are Zhuang natives, governed by local chieftains. They are also real and undisputed citizens of the Ming Dynasty!

“Ahhh! Murder! Murder!”

"Master Tusi! Please save us! There are so many Annan people!"

"Help! Hurry up and ask for help from the Ming Dynasty court!"

"..."

Pingxiang Prefecture was invaded by Annan, and countless Zhuang natives were killed and injured!
The Zhuang chieftain was furious and immediately sent people to Guilin Prefecture to ask for help from the Ming Dynasty's Guizhou Governor.

When the Guilin governor learned of this, he did not dare to delay and immediately contacted the Guizhou Commandery, asking them to send troops quickly to fight the Annan people.

He then immediately wrote a letter to the Ming court to report Annan's invasion of the Ming Dynasty.

Two fast horses galloped out from Yunnan Prefecture and Guilin Prefecture respectively, and rushed to the capital along the post road.

They all carried the same letter, reporting the war report of Annan's invasion of Ming Dynasty!

Annan took the initiative to invade Ming Dynasty!

……

Beijing.

The news that Concubine Shu is pregnant with the emperor's heir has spread throughout the capital.

Officials at all levels in the capital city presented congratulatory messages to Zhu Youtang, wishing His Majesty the birth of a royal heir.

Zhu Youtang was not stingy and rewarded all officials in the capital with ten strings of precious coins.

Even the soldiers from the three major camps in the capital and the Five City Military Division were rewarded with one string of banknotes.

For a time, the whole capital was filled with a festive atmosphere, until the two memorials from Dianzhou and Guizhou were delivered to the capital.

The news that Annan had invaded the Ming border on a large scale and killed countless Ming border residents quickly spread throughout the capital.

Zhu Youtang was furious and immediately summoned all the cabinet ministers to discuss the matter in Hongde Hall.

Forbidden City.

Hongde Hall.

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne with a gloomy face, holding in his hands the memorials submitted by two provincial governors.

The three members of the cabinet, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian all stood in front of Zhu Youtang with worried looks on their faces.

"That's unreasonable!"

"Annan is just a small province of Jiaozhi in the Ming Dynasty. Now it dares to invade the land of the Ming Dynasty and massacre the people of the Ming Dynasty!"

"It's simply lawless and it's a way to self-destruction!"

Zhu Youtang's tone was filled with anger, and murderous intent arose in his heart.

"Your Majesty, calm down. We should not act rashly on this matter. We should consider it carefully."

Liu Jian, the deputy minister of the cabinet, advised: "Annan has invaded the border more than once or twice, so it is not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Zhu Youtang looked at Liu Jian coldly, "Then tell me, how should we deal with this matter?"

"In my opinion, we only need to send the guards from Dianzhou and Guizhou to stop them."

"At the same time, send another envoy to Annan to explain the pros and cons to the Annan King Li Hao and threaten Li Hao that if he does not withdraw his troops, it will anger the court, and once the court is angry, it will send troops to attack Annan."

"After hearing this, Li Hao will withdraw his troops, and Dianzhou and Guizhou will be safe."

Zhu Youtang sneered: "Oh? If the Ming Dynasty threatens, will Annan withdraw its troops?"

"Are you fooling me?!"

Liu Jian quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this move is indeed effective!"

"In the 19th year of Chenghua, Annan began to harass the border and even captured the capital of Champa."

"Former Minister of War Ma Wensheng once sent an envoy to Annan, who advised: If the imperial court is enraged and the army marches on the border, as happened in the Yongle reign, will there be no regrets?"

"After hearing this, Annan King Li Hao was terrified and immediately withdrew his troops."

Zhu Youtang sarcastically said: "If that's the case, then why did Annan dare to attack the Ming Dynasty again in just a few years?!"

"Even if Annan continues to withdraw its troops this time, can you guarantee that Annan will never attack our Ming Dynasty again?!"

"Ah? This...this..."

Liu Jian was suddenly speechless and could not utter a word.

He was an official of the Ming Dynasty. He only hoped that there would be no large-scale wars during his term of office. Then, future generations would definitely regard him as a wise and capable official.

As for whether Annan will attack the Ming Dynasty in the future, it’s none of his business!
He had already died by that time. If Annan attacked Ming again, that would be the concern of future ministers. Why should he care so much?

The Ming Dynasty belongs to the Zhu family, not his Liu family.

Anyway, we can delay it for as long as we can. We will consider it a success until he retires and goes home.

Liu Jian hesitated and said something very irresponsible: "Annan is a barbarian land, unteachable, it's like this..."

Zhu Youtang angrily slammed the dragon table: "Am I just going to watch Annan slaughter my people again and again?!"

"Is our Ming Dynasty a place where he can fight whenever he wants and retreat whenever he wants?!"

"Since the late emperor has already sent people to warn us once, I will follow the example of Emperor Yongle and send troops to Annan to rebuild the county!"

When Zhu Youtang said this, the three cabinet ministers were all shocked.

Xie Qian knelt down on the ground, kowtowed repeatedly, and shouted "Holy Wise".

"Your Majesty is wise! The little thief Annan has repeatedly invaded our Ming Dynasty. We must send troops to Annan to show the power of the Ming Dynasty and deter the four barbarians!"

"you!"

Liu Jian looked at Xie Qian in disbelief. He never expected that at this critical moment, Xie Qian, who had always been well-behaved and obedient in the cabinet, would openly stab him in the back and sing a different tune from him.

Liu Jian felt deeply betrayed, but he was not slow to act and immediately knelt down as well.

"Your Majesty! No, Your Majesty!"

"The Ming expeditionary army has just destroyed the Chagatai Khanate and is still in the northwest. If Your Majesty wants to conquer Annan again, you will need a large number of troops."

"It's the spring planting season in all the garrisons now, and the Ming Dynasty can no longer spare enough troops to conquer Annan!"

"What's more, once the war between Annan and China begins, the southwest will be in chaos!"

The last one, Li Dongyang, looked around at his two colleagues and knelt down as well, but he didn't say a word and didn't join in their argument.

Zhu Youtang's face turned pale and he suddenly looked at Wang Zhi beside him.

"Wang Zhi, what do you think?"

As early as the 17th year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi had requested the late emperor to send troops to conquer Annan, so he was of course a pro-war faction at this time.

Wang Zhi bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, I once gave advice to the late emperor in the 17th year of Chenghua."

"This Annan must be fought!"

"Okay! Then fight!"

Liu Jian cried out, "Your Majesty! Think twice!"

"I have made up my mind, don't say anything more!"

Zhu Youtang finally made the decision: "Annan has been looking for trouble for a long time and has a rebellious heart. I will send troops to Annan today and re-establish Annan as a county!"

(End of this chapter)