Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 56 The Southwest's Predicament Still Depends on Liang Yu (Part 2)

The southwest of the Ming Dynasty had been in constant turmoil since the Wanli era.

In March of the first year of the Wanli reign, the Jiusi Duzhang barbarians rebelled. The Ming Dynasty dispatched General Liu Xian with an army of 150,000 to suppress the rebellion, which lasted for more than half a year.

In the 24th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Yang Yinglong rebelled in Bozhou. The Ming Dynasty mobilized 240,000 troops and fought for more than four years before finally suppressing the rebellion.

In September of the first year of the Tianqi reign, She Chongming of Yongning rebelled, and An Bangyan of Shuixi followed suit. The Ming Dynasty mobilized more than 300,000 troops from five southwestern provinces and fought for nearly nine years before finally suppressing the rebellion.

It was still the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, not even nine years later, and the She'an Rebellion in the southwest had not yet been quelled.

The sudden urgent report from Zhu Kuiyuan, the governor-general of five provinces, really startled Zhu Jue.

Is something serious going to happen in the southwest?
He was genuinely worried about the Southwest.

This is all because Feng Quan drastically altered the History of Ming, and many major events did not appear in the official historical records.

For example, in February of the third year of the Tianqi reign, Guiyang was besieged. Due to the intense factional struggles in the court, no reinforcements were sent to relieve the siege. As a result, Guiyang was besieged for nearly a year, and of the more than 100,000 households and more than 400,000 soldiers and civilians in the city, only more than 20,000 people remained!
If he hadn't consulted the memorials from the Tianqi era, he wouldn't have known that such a major event had occurred in the southwest.

Zhu Kuiyuan has been away from the southwest for almost two years!
Will something major happen in the southwest in the next two years?
Zhu Jue quickly took the urgent report and opened it to read it carefully.

Fortunately, nothing major happened in the southwest.

The Governor-General of Five Provinces, Zhu Kuiyuan, had just arrived at the Guizhu military camp.

Zhu Kuiyuan's report was about the current situation in the southwest.

At this moment, An Bangyan and She Chongming are still entrenched in Shuixi and show no signs of launching an attack.

However, there was no grain stored in Yunnan and Guizhou. If he wanted to gather troops to launch an attack, he had to order the garrison to quickly clear wasteland and store grain.

Furthermore, Zhu Kuiyuan analyzed the predicament of the southwest based on his own experience.

The reason why rebellions were constant in the southwest was that the roads there were difficult to traverse. Not to mention transporting grain and supplies, the imperial court could not send too many troops to the southwest to quell the rebellions. Moreover, the imperial army was not adapted to fighting in the mountainous terrain of the southwest. In the towering mountains of the southwest, the fighting strength of the imperial army was even inferior to that of the local chieftains.

In this situation, the imperial court had no choice but to summon the local chieftains of the southwest to quell their rebellion.

To recruit the chieftains' troops, one had to provide them with money, food, and weapons, which was tantamount to cultivating the chieftains of the southwest.

From the Wanli reign onwards, the rebellious chieftains were all chieftains whom the imperial court had been actively cultivating.

For example, Yang Yinglong of Bozhou was the one who led the most troops when he pacified the Jiusidu Zhangman. The imperial court equipped and trained a total of 50,000 men for him.

For example, the She clan of Yongning and the Xi'an clan of Shuixi were the ones who contributed the most troops during the suppression of Yang Yinglong's rebellion in Bozhou. The imperial court equipped and trained over 100,000 men for them!

This is the root cause of the predicament in the southwest. If hundreds of thousands of troops are mobilized again to quell the She'an Rebellion, then the local chieftains will become too powerful. Once they become too powerful, they will become unruly, and if the court punishes them harshly, it may lead to a rebellion.

Zhu Kuiyuan's analysis of the predicament in Southwest China is quite insightful.

This was all because the largest number of troops sent to quell the She'an Rebellion were from the Sha and Pu clans in southern Yunnan. Moreover, the Sha and Pu clans later launched the massive Shapu Rebellion, which was never quelled until the fall of the Ming Dynasty!
After reading the memorial, Zhu Jue's face became solemn.

Although he was unaware of the severity of the subsequent Shapu Rebellion, he was certain that Zhu Kuiyuan was absolutely right.

The roads to the southwest are notoriously difficult to travel.

The poet Li Bai once lamented: "The road to Shu is more difficult than ascending to heaven! Even the yellow crane cannot fly across it, and monkeys and apes would struggle to climb it!" This only describes the difficulty of the road to Shu; Li Bai had not even been to Yunnan and Guizhou yet, where the roads were even more difficult.

The root of the predicament in the southwest lies in this: the mountains and rivers of Sichuan and the Hengduan Mountains make it difficult to transport grain and even send a large army there, let alone transport supplies.

Sichuan and Chongqing were a little better off, at least they were rare granaries and could transport grain out by water.

Yunnan and Guizhou were truly troublesome. Until the transportation problem was solved, the Ming Dynasty had no choice but to conscript the local chieftains' armies to quell their rebellions.

This conscription requires money, food, and weapons; otherwise, who will fight desperately to quell the rebellion for you?
The problem is that the chieftain who sends the most troops, with money, grain, and weapons provided by the imperial court, will inevitably become powerful. Once the chieftain becomes powerful, he will become an untouchable local emperor, and if the imperial court provokes him, he may rebel.

This cycle will continue, inevitably leading to constant rebellions in the southwest.

How to do?
Zhu Jue frowned and pondered for a while, then suddenly realized a problem.

That's not right. It seems that those who sent the most troops were not the ones who contributed the most effort.

Qin Liangyu was the one with the greatest military merit in suppressing Yang Yinglong's rebellion in Bozhou during the Wanli era!
Moreover, his White-Spear Soldiers were renowned for their fighting prowess and unwavering loyalty.

In the Battle of Hunhe, several thousand White-Spear Soldiers were able to fight against tens of thousands of elite Eight Banner troops, leaving the Jurchens helpless. In the end, they could only use the cannons on the walls of Shenyang to bombard the White-Spear Soldiers and finally defeat them!

Other chieftains might rebel after becoming too powerful, but the chieftain of Shizhu would never rebel after becoming too powerful.

All this is because Qin Liangyu was a famously loyal marquis, the only female hero in history to be recorded in official biographies!
Although Qin Liangyu did not die in battle, her brothers, nephews, and even daughters-in-law all died for the Ming Dynasty!
This is loyalty demonstrated with one's life.

If this person is no longer usable, then the Ming Dynasty will have no one else to use.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then solemnly said, "Ruoyu, draft an imperial edict to promote Qin Liangyu to the position of General Commander of Sichuan, grant him 600,000 shi of grain tax from Sichuan and Chongqing, and allocate 600,000 taels of silver from the imperial treasury as provisions. He is to recruit and train 50,000 troops to be at the command of Zhu Kuiyuan, the Governor-General of the Five Provinces, to quell the She'an Rebellion."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu immediately ordered someone to bring over a small table, took out a blank imperial edict, and began to write it down rapidly.

After Zhu Jue saw that he had finished writing, Wang Chengen stamped the seal on the document and said sternly, "Chengen, immediately send it to the cabinet with my oral decree. Act on it immediately and issue the document quickly. Anyone who dares to delay matters of state will be executed without mercy!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen hurriedly took the imperial edict and went to deliver the instructions.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then solemnly said, "Ruoyu, draft a secret decree to tell Zhu Kuiyuan that Qin Liangyu can be used with confidence. Zhongzhou has produced loyal ministers since ancient times, and Qin Liangyu will absolutely not rebel."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu immediately picked up his pen and began writing again.

After seeing that he had finished writing, Zhu Jue said sternly, "Zhenghua, quickly send your trusted subordinates to deliver the imperial edict to Zhu Kuiyuan. Remember, do not use the post stations. Send it by your own people, changing horses along the way but not the people, and get it to the Guizhu camp as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhenghua quickly picked up the imperial edict and went to deliver the instructions.

Qin Liangyu's fate was thus changed.

Historically, she submitted a memorial requesting permission to personally fund and supply the army of 20,000 men to fight for the court, but the treacherous officials in the court did everything they could to obstruct her.

Emperor Chongzhen never doubted her loyalty, but the treacherous officials in the court feared that she would use her military power to save the Ming Dynasty!

This time it was different. Zhu Jue directly provided money and grain, allowing Qin Liangyu to recruit and train 50,000 troops to fight for the Ming Dynasty!
If Qin Liangyu could really train 50,000 White Spear Soldiers, then there would be no need to worry about the southwest or even the northwest.

(End of this chapter)