The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 104: Great Victory in the Southwest
At the beginning of the new year of the twelfth year of the Wanli reign, there was no sign of the rebellion of Haibai in the northwest being quelled, but an unexpected surprise came from the southwest.

Just after the New Year, good news from the southwest was urgently transmitted to the capital over a distance of 800 miles.

At the end of last year, Deng Zilong defeated the Burmese army in Panzhihua, south of Yaoguan, beheaded Gengma chieftain Han Qian and Wandianzhou chieftain Jing Zongzhen, and captured Jing Zhenzong's brother Zongcai!
This is not over yet.

Then came the good news.

At the beginning of the first month, Liu Jing defeated the Burmese army in Longchuan, and the Donghu commander and prime minister Yue Feng surrendered!

Mubanghanfeng, Mengyangsiyi and others killed the Donghu envoys and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Mengmixhun also sent his brother to surrender and offered an elephant and the seal issued by the Burmese king.

In the middle of the first month, Liu Jing advanced to Weiying and gathered the chieftains of Sanxuan and Liuwei to build an altar and swear: the Liuwei will be expanded, the Sanxuan will be restored, all the barbarians will be submissive, ask for tribute from afar, wash their armor and go to Jinsha, hide their swords and think of hiding places, neither let them go nor capture them, and the southerners will submit.

At this point, the Three Xuans and Six Weis surrendered again.

This is not over yet.

In early February, Liu Jing gathered the armies of the three Xuan and six Wei chieftains, swore an oath of blood alliance, formed alliances, and jointly attacked. He marched into Ava, the Donghu, and fought all the way to the city of Ava. The Ava Burmese commander Mang Zhuo was so frightened that he surrendered directly!
This Liu Jing’s strike was really powerful.

He actually only has a few thousand border troops under his command!
The King of Donghu had assembled an army of more than 200,000 to attack, but he was defeated by him with only a few thousand troops and the coalition of chieftains, and they surrendered in a panic!

This guy is actually still asking for permission to lead the army deep into Donghu and completely put down the Donghu rebellion.

After receiving the urgent news from eight hundred miles away, Wanli immediately issued an order, ordering Deng Zilong and Liu Jing to quickly escort the meritorious soldiers to the capital to hand over the prisoners and receive rewards.

He couldn't let Liu Jing lead his troops in again. After all, the chieftains of the Three Xuans and Six Weis were not regular border troops. Once they suffered a defeat, they might disintegrate or even rebel against the Donghu again.

By then, there would only be a few thousand border troops left on the enemy's territory facing the siege of hundreds of thousands or even two or three hundred thousand Burmese troops. That would be very dangerous.

Historically, the war between the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli period and the Donghu Dynasty was not recorded in the three major or four major campaigns, which proves that the intensity of the Southwest War was not great, or that the Donghu Dynasty did not pose a great threat to the Ming Dynasty.

The Donghu Dynasty never invaded the Ming Dynasty, which proved that the Donghu Dynasty was no match. The Ming Dynasty could easily gather 20,000 to 300,000 troops to stop their 200,000 to 300,000 troops.

Of course, it may also be that there are too many mountains on the southwestern border of the Ming Dynasty, and the Donghu Dynasty is not as familiar with the terrain as the southwestern border troops, so the army cannot attack.

However, it would be a different story if they went deep into the heart of the Donghu. That was their territory. If they rushed in, the Ming border troops would be unfamiliar with the place. With the situation reversed, how could a few thousand southwestern border troops possibly destroy the huge Donghu?
He couldn't let Liu Jing lead his army to take this risk. Otherwise, not only would this rare and powerful general be killed, but a chain reaction might also occur.

There are only so many border troops in the southwest. Losing a few thousand would be a serious blow. The areas that could have been defended may not be able to be defended anymore.

In short, now is not the time to use military force against the Donghu Dynasty.

As for what to do with the Donghu Dynasty in the future, he directly issued an order to appoint the surrendered general Mang Zhuo as the envoy of the Myanmar Xuanwei Office, letting him fight among himself first.

The affairs of the Three Xuans and Six Weis in the Southwest were complicated, and he had no time to deal with them.

Deng Zilong and Liu Jing, two rare and powerful generals, could not stay there and waste time with those chieftains. He was still waiting for these two powerful generals to command the Shenwu Camp.

In March, spring is warm and flowers are blooming.

Early in the morning at about 5 a.m. that day, tens of thousands of Jinyiwei soldiers gathered in front of the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace in the capital.

After the rows of Jinyiwei soldiers lined up neatly along the city walls, moat and square, the civil and military officials also lined up in two large groups in the square in front of the Meridian Gate according to their morning court shifts.

Immediately afterwards, Wanli appeared on the gate tower of the Meridian Gate and slowly sat on the dragon throne amid cheers.

He prepared a grand ceremony of presenting prisoners at the Meridian Gate for Deng Zilong and Liu Jing.

It was the hour of Chen, the sun was rising, and Shao music was playing. Deng Zilong and Liu Jing, with the meritorious soldiers of the southwestern border army, escorted the Prime Minister of Donghu Yue Feng and his son Xiang Wu, the chieftain of Wandian Prefecture Jing Zongcai and others, and slowly stepped into the middle of the Jinyiwei team on the east side of the Meridian Gate. A sense of iron and blood could not help but hit them.

This time, a great battle involving hundreds of thousands of people took place on the southwestern frontier. Although the Ming border army only assembled about 30,000 troops, the three Xuan and six Wei chieftains and the Burmese army that participated in the battle totaled no less than 500,000!
Although Deng Zilong and Liu Jing only brought a few thousand troops, they killed no less than five thousand Burmese soldiers!

They killed more enemies than they had men, which shows how fierce the battle was.

This ceremony of presenting captives was the greatest affirmation of them and the greatest honor for the Ming army officers and soldiers.

They had never been treated like this in history. Not long after the Ming Dynasty won the war with the Donghu Dynasty, they were charged with all kinds of false charges and were directly dismissed from their posts and investigated!
At this moment, they came to the Meridian Gate with their captives in high spirits to accept the praise of the young emperor.

After the military officials finished presenting the achievements of the battle and the information about the prisoners, Wanli slowly stood up and said majestically, "Yue Feng, Xiang Wu, Jing Zongcai, and others, all will be dragged to the West Market execution ground and beheaded in public."

He then spoke loudly, "Comrades of the Southwestern Border Army, thank you for your hard work. This great victory has enhanced the prestige of the Ming Dynasty and quelled the rebellion of the Three Xuans and Six Weis. You will all be handsomely rewarded. Anyone who kills an enemy will receive a reward of 100 taels per head. Those who lead troops to a great victory will be promoted one to three ranks according to their military merit. Deng Zilong and Liu Jing will be promoted to deputy generals of the Beijing Camp."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

The soldiers of the Southwestern Border Army had never expected such a generous reward. In the past, they couldn't even get a military reward of fifty taels for an enemy head. Who would have known that this time they would be rewarded with one hundred taels for each enemy head!

Deng Zilong and Liu Jing were extremely excited.

Before Liu Jing participated in the Southwest War, he was only stationed at the Nanjing Small Training Ground as a garrison commander. A garrison commander was equivalent to a fifth-rank garrison officer.

Deng Zilong's rank was a little higher, but he was only a deputy commander. Although it was equivalent to the third rank, he was only a garrison officer.

There were at least 800 garrison officers of this rank in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, if not 1,000. They were nothing at all. For example, a garrison commander was also of the third rank. There were more than 200 garrisons in the Ming Dynasty, and there were hundreds of garrison commanders, both in actual positions and on a temporary basis.

Garrison officers were not considered formal generals. The status of a fifth-rank garrison officer was much lower than that of a seventh-rank county magistrate.

They didn't expect that they would be promoted from garrison officers to second-rank deputy generals of the Beijing Camp!

The deputy general of the Beijing camp has a higher status than the deputy general of the local garrison.

This is not over yet.

After the prisoner presentation ceremony, they were summoned to the imperial study.

Wanli looked at these two powerful generals who were intimidating without even getting angry, and he couldn't help but nod secretly, feeling very relieved.

Deng Zilong and Liu Jing were a little confused.

What is Your Majesty going to do?
Isn't this reward all over?
After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli asked with great interest, "Are you familiar with cavalry combat?"

This one.

Deng Zilong bowed awkwardly and said, "Your Majesty, I have never commanded cavalry in combat. The southwest barbarians mostly have elephants, and elephants are good against cavalry. Therefore, there are not many cavalry in the southwest. We mainly use firearms to deal with elephants."

You are familiar with firearms, right?
well.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly, then looked at Liu Jing again.

Liu Jing quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I once commanded tens of thousands of cavalrymen with my father, so I have some knowledge of commanding cavalry in combat."

This guy's father was the famous general Liu Xian during the Jiajing period, so it's not surprising that he had commanded cavalry.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Okay, then you will be the deputy commander of the Shenwu Left Battalion. The Shenwu Fourth Battalion is currently recruiting cavalry, so you can go there for training and selection."

what?
The deputy general of the Beijing camp is a real position, and he is in charge of commanding the cavalry!
His dream since childhood was to command thousands of troops on the battlefield.

Upon hearing this, Liu Jing couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, how many cavalrymen has the Shenwu Left Camp recruited this time?"

You are really impatient. Didn’t you know it when you went to Nanyuan Parade Ground?

This guy is a bit outspoken and easily offends others. In history, he offended Yang Hao, the governor of Liaodong, and was sent directly to die in the enemy's army by Yang Hao!

Wanli patiently explained, "Each of the four Shenwu battalions has a standard cavalry of 30,000. However, we don't have enough warhorses right now, so each of the four Shenwu battalions can only recruit 10,000 cavalry."

Thirty thousand cavalry!
When Liu Jing heard this, he couldn't help but tremble with excitement.

Does the Ming Dynasty have a deputy general commanding 30,000 cavalrymen at this moment?
Nothing.

Li Chengliang, the general of Liaodong, had the largest number of cavalry, only about 20,000.

He really didn't expect that being a deputy general of the Beijing camp would allow him to lead 30,000 cavalry in battle.

Deng Zilong was a little disappointed.

He has never commanded cavalry in battle. Does that mean he has no men and horses under his command?

(End of this chapter)