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

Chapter 269: It's bad! Wang Yue ran away with his army!
After entering Jianshui Prefecture, Wang Yue saw tens of thousands of natives and Han people rebuilding their houses that were burned down by war.

Occasionally there were cries of people who had lost their loved ones, but overall it was relatively peaceful.

When the local natives saw Wang Yue's army of 100,000, they were all terrified. They stood there at a loss, staring blankly at them as they passed by.

Some of the timid ones even crawled back into the house and dared not come out.

Wang Yue's army was so powerful that it could not be hidden at all. Someone immediately reported the news to the current Duke of Qian, Mu Cong.

After Mu Cong led 3,000 soldiers to Jianshui Prefecture, it took him only two days to repel the invading soldiers from Annan.

Afterwards, he received news that the imperial court was sending 100,000 troops to take over the counties of Annan.

So he did not return to Prince Mu's Palace, but took three thousand soldiers to garrison in Jianshui Prefecture, waiting for the arrival of Wang Yue and others.

When Mu Cong heard the news that the army had arrived in Jianshui Prefecture, he immediately got up with his men and went to greet them in person.

Soon, Mu Cong and others arrived in front of the army.

After revealing his identity to the scouts accompanying the army, Mu Cong successfully arrived at the central army camp and met Wang Yue.

"General Wang, please don't blame me for not coming to meet you."

Mu Cong clasped his fists towards Wang Yue and behaved very politely.

After knowing Mu Cong's identity, Wang Yue was surprised and took two quick steps to Mu Cong and bowed in return.

"My Lord, why did you come out of the city to greet me in person? That's really too polite of you."

Wang Yue's title was Earl of Weining, and his official positions were Governor-General of the Southwest and Shogun.

Mu Cong's title was Duke of Qian and his official position was Commander-in-Chief of Yunnan.

In terms of official positions, the governor-general and the commander-in-chief are both of the second rank.

However, unlike the general who is only in charge of the military affairs of one province, the governor-general is in charge of several provinces and, in addition to military affairs, also handles government affairs and the economy.

Moreover, the governor is usually a temporary position, while the general is a permanent position.

In terms of title, the Duke of Qian is two levels higher than the Earl of Weining, and the title is hereditary and will forever govern southern Yunnan.

Therefore, Wang Yue must be polite in front of Mu Cong.

But Wang Yue was an imperial envoy sent by the court, with 100,000 troops under his command. From a practical point of view, Mu Cong had to be polite to Wang Yue.

"It doesn't matter. The reconstruction of Jianshuizhou is almost finished, and I have nothing else to do, so I came out to meet you."

"The mountains are high and the waters are long, the journey is rugged and difficult, the soldiers have worked hard all the way, I have already ordered people to prepare wine and food in the barracks."

"Come on, General Wang, let's go into the city first and talk while we walk."

"Okay, please, Your Excellency the Duke."

"General Wang, please."

After some humble remarks, the army marched towards Jianshui City again.

Along the way, Mu Cong told Wang Yue what had happened since Annan invaded and built the pool.

Through Mu Cong's description, Wang Yue had a general understanding of the current situation.

Annan has withdrawn its troops, and the local natives and Han people have also repaired their homes.

Both inside and outside the border, things returned to their previous tranquility, as if nothing had happened.

In general, neither the King of Annan nor the local officials of the Ming Dynasty took this border conflict seriously.

There are two reasons. The first is that since Annan broke away from the control of the Ming Dynasty and became independent, border conflicts of this scale have been common in the past few decades.

When the Annan army first rushed into the Ming Dynasty, it was very powerful and had a large number of troops.

As a result, after only a few days of fighting, they stopped and withdrew their troops voluntarily.

It was a typical case of much ado about nothing, and the damage to the Ming Dynasty was extremely limited.

For the sake of their own political achievements, the local officials were unwilling to exaggerate the military situation. They just wrote a memorial to report the military situation and left it at that, without thinking much about getting back at their wits’ end.

The second and most important reason is that Annan is really not a place for people to live.

The geological conditions of Dianzhou and northern Annan are similar, with high mountains, deep forests, countless snakes, insects, rats, ants, swamps and miasma.

But the problem is that the Ming Dynasty court and local government offices would both pay for road construction and maintenance.

The Annan court didn't care about that. The roads were all mountain roads trampled out by the local people themselves. Some places were only wide enough for one person to pass, and it was extremely difficult for horses to pass.

The roads in Dianzhou were already difficult to travel on, and there were almost no roads when we reached Annan.

In many places, the soldiers had to dismount and move, and the advantages of the cavalry were completely gone.

In addition, Annan has tall trees and deep forests, making it very easy to lose your way. If you rashly enter it, you may easily fall into an ambush by locals who are familiar with the local environment and lose your life in vain.

The local soldiers in Jianshui Prefecture were unwilling to enter Annan easily, let alone the foreign soldiers who came from far away and were not used to the local climate and water.

Just recently, when Annan was retreating, the deputy captain of the local thousand-household unit led more than 300 Tatars who had been banished here to pursue the enemy.

As a result, they only advanced a few dozen miles before the locals took advantage of the terrain and beat them back.

Of the more than 300 Tatar soldiers, only more than 60 escaped in the end. Such a high casualty rate is shocking.

The implicit meaning of Mu Cong's words was actually to give Wang Yue a reminder.

It is too difficult to conquer Annan as a county. It cannot be done with just 100,000 soldiers. Just show your appreciation. Don't waste the 100,000 troops of the Ming Dynasty in vain because of a momentary impulse.

Wang Yue listened in silence, feeling a little heavy-hearted, because he knew in his heart that what Mu Cong said was true and was by no means alarmist.

During the Yongle reign, Emperor Taizong was able to successfully establish Jiaozhi because, firstly, the Ming Dynasty was strong at that time. Not only did it have the huge profits brought by Zheng He's voyages to the West, but it also had millions of invincible Ming troops. Secondly, the Ming navy dominated the world at that time.

During the Annan War during the Yongle period, Emperor Taizong not only sent an army of 800,000 to invade Annan from Pingxiang Prefecture.

Thousands of ships were also dispatched to attack Annan by water. Only by taking a two-pronged approach could they successfully win the Annan War.

Even if there are some inaccuracies in the records of the Ming Dynasty, the number of troops mobilized by Emperor Taizong at that time must have been much greater than Wang Yue's 100,000 troops.

And the most important point is that because the Jiangnan smuggling group wanted to monopolize the smuggling trade at sea, it launched a frenzied suppression of the Ming Dynasty’s navy.

Not only was the organization reduced again and again, but the food and salary supplies were also cut again and again. The navy was even so arrogant that it was not allowed to go out to sea for training.

These were the policies issued by Yu Qian during the Jingtai period.

And it was not restored until the Chenghua period.

After so many years of suppression of the Ming navy by the Jiangnan gentry, the Ming navy has seriously degenerated and is no longer useful.

We must first reorganize before we can regain our former glory.

The situation Wang Yue is facing now is insufficient troops, difficulty in supply, complex terrain, and no navy.

Perhaps the best option at the moment is to make some noise on the Annan border and then withdraw troops.

But Wang Yue was entrusted with an important task by His Majesty, and he would rather die in Annan than withdraw his troops.

As they were talking, everyone came to the temporary military camp built by Mu Cong in Jianshuizhou.

In Jianshui Prefecture, there is no flat land for more than three miles, and the rolling mountains are something that many northerners have never seen before.

The houses of local residents are all built on the mountains. Even the county town and military camps are built on the mountains.

When the army arrived, there was indeed wine and food prepared in the military camp. Mu Cong smiled and arranged for people to entertain the 100,000 soldiers with food and drink.

But before the feast began, Wang Yue solemnly said to the officers around him: "Pass the order down, the army is not allowed to drink alcohol, and must drink water instead."

"Anyone who drinks without permission will be punished by military law!"

The smile on Mu Cong's face froze: "The army has been on the march, and the men and horses are tired. Why don't you drink to your heart's content and have a good rest?"

"Don't worry, General Wang. I have arranged for people to be on duty in the barracks. There will be no problems."

Wang Yue smiled faintly: "Please forgive me, Duke. The troops are not allowed to drink alcohol when they go out to fight. After we successfully conquer Nan, I will let the troops drink to their heart's content until they are drunk."

Mu Cong did not insist, but smiled and said, "I admire the general's strictness in managing the army. Then we..."

"I don't drink either, so please do as you please, Duke."

"In that case, let's all drink water instead and please eat the food."

"please."

Mu Cong was only focused on eating and drinking, and did not take the initiative to mention the attack on Annan.

Such an attitude inevitably made Wang Yue look down on him.

Wang Yue asked several times, but Mu Cong always laughed it off. Seeing this, Wang Yue did not ask any more questions and just ate quietly.

For the next three days, Mu Cong only took Wang Yue to travel around Jianshui Prefecture and did not mention the matter of going on a expedition.

Wang Yue just let him do what he wanted and did not urge him. He just let his 100,000 troops have a good rest.

Three days later, Wang Yue took the initiative to suggest that they get drunk tonight.

Mu Cong laughed loudly and asked people to arrange a banquet.

Soon, it was evening, and Wang Yue took the initiative to raise his glass and drink happily with Mu Cong.

Not only did Wang Yue drink, he also asked his soldiers to take the initiative to find Mu Cong's soldiers to drink together.

At first, Mu Cong's soldiers said they had to be on duty and refused to drink no matter what.

This matter was reported to Wang Yue, who pretended to be unhappy: "The Duke persuaded us to drink, but your own soldiers did not drink."

"If you don't drink, are you giving us no face? Are you looking down on us, the Qin army sent by the imperial court?"

"Of course not, but there has to be someone guarding the military camp, right?"

Mu Cong tried to refuse at first, but later he couldn't refuse anymore and had to agree.

In this way, 100,000 people drank with 3,000 people. After a series of attacks, even the people in southern Yunnan, who could drink like the sea, became drunk.

Even Mu Cong himself was drunk.

Before passing out, Mu Cong saw Wang Yue who was also drunk, and only then did he fall asleep peacefully.

It was not until noon the next day that Mu Cong was anxiously awakened by his subordinates.

"My Lord, it's bad! Wang Yue and his army have escaped first!"

"what?!"

Mu Cong was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and ran out of the military tent.

I saw that the huge military camp was indeed empty.

Wang Yue, with an army of 100,000 and more than 200,000 logistical supply troops, a total of more than 300,000 people, disappeared from the military camp!

"Quick! Set off immediately and catch up with them!"

Mu Cong immediately gave orders, put on military uniforms, mounted his horses, and was about to lead three thousand soldiers to catch up with Wang Yue's large army.

(End of this chapter)