Chapter 39 1. Divide the troops to take the King of Liang and pacify Yunnan

By December of the first year of Wu (1367), Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expeditionary Army had pacified Shandong, and the Southern Expeditionary Army went straight to Fujian after surrendering Fang Guozhen.Zhu Yuanzhang and all civil and military forces combined the comparison of the forces of the enemy and ourselves, and agreed that the unification of the country is just around the corner.On the fourth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor under the support of all the officials.In August of the first year of Hongwu (1368), Xu Da and Chang Yuchun's Northern Expedition army invaded Dadu, and the Yuan Dynasty fell.

After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, some forces still existed in the border areas, southwest and northeast. For Zhu Yuanzhang, the most urgent task was to recuperate, unify the north and the south, and establish a unified Ming Dynasty.He knew that if these remaining forces were not eliminated, the Ming Dynasty would not be peaceful. One morning after the court, Prime Minister Li Shanchang had an audience with Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.After the ceremony, Li Shanchang asked, "Why does your majesty seem so preoccupied these days?" Zhu Yuanzhang got up from the dragon chair, came to Li Shanchang and said: "Since the day we sat on this dragon chair, the war between the North and the South has been going smoothly, and the great cause of reunification is already in sight. But there are two things that are always on our minds. We can't let it go."

Li Shan said: "Is the emperor referring to King Liang of Yunnan and Naha Chu of the northeast?" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Exactly. Since Emperor Shun of the previous dynasty went north, there are still two forces in the mainland, King Liang of Yunnan and Naha of Northeast China. They continue to use the title of the previous dynasty and obey the emperor of the previous dynasty. Since ancient times , both the southwest and the north are difficult to conquer. The southwest has inconvenient transportation, and there is a danger of natural moats, which are easy to defend and difficult to take; the northern parts are highly mobile, and the disaster is also the greatest. Thinking about the undecided north of the Song Dynasty, it was not a good day How can we let it go!"

Li Shanchang was secretly happy when he heard this, and said seriously: "Your Majesty, I am here today for this matter. The people have suffered a lot from the many years of war, and I think that at the beginning of the founding of the country, we should pay attention to rest and recuperation. As for King Liang and Naha, we should take a long-term plan. .” Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while and said, "Well, it makes sense. What's your opinion on this matter?" Li Shan said: "I think Liang Wang and Naha are the two, and Liang Wang should be taken first." In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had already planned in his heart. Now that everything is waiting to be done, war is still needed, but it is no longer the way to fight in troubled times. He believes that in the long run, he should take the king of Liang first.First, the King of Liang was located in Yunnan, and Yunnan and Mongolia were far away and easily isolated.The second is to take down Yunnan and stabilize the rear, which is more conducive to a thorough attack on Naha Chu and the remnants of northern Mongolia.

Li Shanchang went on to say: "After the Northern Expedition is successful, we can then seek Yunnan. We can first take Xia, isolate Yunnan, and enter Yunnan from Sichuan." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in approval. In the current situation, this is the best way. Although it will take a long time, for the newly established dynasty, the war can only be partial.Although he wanted to see a unified and stable Ming Dynasty more urgently than anyone else. In the first month of the fourth year of Hongwu (1371), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Tang He and Fu Youde to attack Xia from land and water, and Xia broke in October.All the ministries in Guizhou fell upon hearing the wind, and the barriers on the east and north sides of Yunnan were completely lost. The king of Liang in Yunnan became the king of isolation as predicted.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the time was ripe to attack King Liang, so he invited the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs to discuss sending troops. Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Since the founding of the country, the north has been basically pacified, and most of the south has been leveled. We are going to send troops to Yunnan immediately, and take Yunnan in one fell swoop. What do you think?" As soon as this remark came out, all the generals applauded and were eager to try.For them, although fighting is full of dangers, fighting can prove their abilities better, and everyone knows that King Liang has become a shackle at this time.However, the civil servants mostly bowed their heads and remained silent.

Seeing the mixed reactions of civil and military officials, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Shanchang, what do you think about this?" Li Shanchang paused for a moment, thought about it and said: "Your Majesty, I think this matter is a bit too hasty. Although King Liang has been isolated, the relations between the southwestern parts are complicated, and they are easy to defend and difficult to attack due to natural dangers. All the ministries surrendered, and the minister thought that he could first try to recruit the king of Liang." Zhu Yuanzhang thought that it might not be so easy for King Liang to surrender, but people's hearts are unpredictable, and he would inevitably admit defeat under such circumstances, so he asked: "Liu Bowen, tell me."

Liu Bowen said: "Your Majesty, I think Li Xiangguo's words are justified. I think there are three strategies for taking Yunnan: the best strategy is to surrender. Because after the end of Xia, all the forces in Guizhou have surrendered. Whether the surrender is successful or not is a worthwhile decision." The way to try; the middle strategy is to recruit surrender first, and then send troops to take it. On the one hand, our act of surrender will disintegrate the various ministries in Yunnan and cause internal divisions. On the other hand, Yunnan has become an isolated place. As time goes by, its strength It will gradually weaken." After Liu Bowen finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and the civil and military officials, and paused for a while.

Zhu Yuanzhang already understood what Liu Bowen meant, and he was a little dissatisfied, so he asked, "Then the next thing to do is to send troops immediately?" Liu Bowen said: "Exactly, I think this strategy is the most inadvisable. As soon as Xia was destroyed, all the ministries in Guizhou surrendered, but the ministries in Yunnan did not move at all. I thought that the king of Liang was going to fight stubbornly. Presumably, the king of Liang had already made a good defense arrangement. , and is in a state of battle, with strong combat power, once the war starts, both sides will suffer heavy losses. Second, even if the King of Liang is barely destroyed, how should the various ministries be settled? Fearing that the people will not accept it, it is necessary to first recruit and give them a little mental preparation. So the minister I thought that, as Li Xiangguo said, he should be recruited to surrender first."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang understood that surrendering first is the most reasonable way, but he felt a little unhappy.During the war years, he needed literary talents like Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen as his staff, but now is the time to consolidate his power. Although their words are reasonable, there is actually a struggle hidden in the truth, and Zhu Yuanzhang is not worried that their power is too strong .It is too early to worry about these things at this time, and the current foreign war is still the common goal of everyone.Zhu Yuanzhang did not respond to the suggestions of these two people, but let it go.In fact, he already had a plan in mind.

The facts since then are just as analyzed by Liu Bowen. Zhu Yuanzhang has sent envoys to recruit the King of Liang many times, but all the envoys were killed by the King of Liang. In the fourteenth year of Hongwu (1381), Zhu Yuanzhang decided to use force.Send three generals, Fu Youde, Mu Ying and Lan Yu, to attack Yunnan in two ways.After the swearing-in meeting, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned three generals and said to them: "This expedition is different from the past. Now the king of Liang is not as powerful as before. What you are facing this time is not only a war, but more importantly, the hearts of the people of all ethnic groups in Yunnan." .We hope that you can not only fight the war well, but also handle these matters properly, so as to benefit the long-term stability of the rear.” The three generals said in unison: "Please rest assured, the emperor, I will understand." Zhu Yuanzhang said: "It's good to understand, it's good to understand. You are all veterans who have followed us for many years. Don't worry, go." In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was really not sure how much they understood.These military generals are no more careful than those civil servants. Years of wars have made them better at destruction than construction.The First World War in Yunnan was related to the long-term stability of the Southwest. If the killing and punishment were too heavy or the problem was not handled properly, it might cause conflicts among various ministries and cause future troubles.Therefore, when sending troops to Yunnan this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was also very careful in selecting generals.The battle against King Liang must not only be won, but also a big and quick victory, which must fully reflect the strength of the new dynasty, make those hesitant tribes feel the power of heaven, and make them willingly bow their heads honestly.This requires a brave general on the battlefield, and Lan Yu is the best candidate; there are many dangerous roads and complex terrain in the southwest mountains, so it is necessary to choose a man who is experienced in using troops and calm in chaos, and Fu Youde is the most suitable; Mu Ying is more experienced and reliable in the pacification work of the later ministries.The three men are divided into two groups, and I believe that within half a year, Yunnan will definitely be able to win.To be an emperor also let go of this burden. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately sent troops into Yunnan from the east and north.One route took Puding (now Anshun, Guizhou) from Hu Guangxi, and pointed directly at Kunming; the other route went south from Sichuan to attack Wusa (now Zhenxiong, Yunnan, and Weining, Guizhou).In just over three months, the Eastern Route Army played triumphant songs all the way to Kunming, and Liang Wangping Zhang Dalima was defeated and committed suicide.The Eastern Route Army then marched northward to join forces with the Northern Route Army to capture Usa and completely wiped out the main force of the local Yuan army.As expected, this was a battle of great victory and quick victory. The various ministries in the southwest that had been hesitant to wait and see all surrendered one after another. Zhu Yuanzhang was very pleased to hear the news.From planning to attack Yunnan to taking it now, he has gone through too many twists and turns and consumed too much energy.Now there are finally preliminary results, but this is just the beginning.There is still a long way to go, what should we do next?It was very late at night, and Empress Ma in the room had already fallen asleep, but Zhu Yuanzhang was still pacing up and down without any sleepiness.Suddenly the emperor sighed and woke up the queen.Everyone envies the emperor, but how many people know the suffering of the emperor?With great power comes great responsibility.Since ascending the throne, the emperor has obviously aged a lot. The queen saw it in her eyes and felt pain in her heart: "Chongba, what's on your mind, let me tell you." Although Zhu Yuanzhang changed his name long ago, Ma Xiuying still used to call him Chongba, and he was willing to use this to remember the past. "We have a preliminary idea about Yunnan, and I want to tell you first. Yunnan is located in the border area, and it is prone to chaos. I decided to leave all the 300,000 troops in this expedition in Yunnan. Marrying a wife and having children in Yunnan, and opening up wasteland for production will definitely help the stability of Yunnan and the development of the frontier." Zhu Yuanzhang seemed a little excited about his idea, and he said it with a smile on his face and confidence in his mind. "It's a good idea, but you have to pay attention to two points. One is that these soldiers cannot be forced, and the other is that there must be suitable people to control them, lest they cause trouble." The queen understood that 300,000 soldiers is not a small number However, once there is chaos, it will only affect the common people. "Don't worry about that. We have already decided on the candidate. He is our godson Mu Ying. This time, he has contributed the most to taking Yunnan, and he has experience in appeasing various tribes. We think he is the most suitable." Zhu Yuanzhang thought This godson is quite proud of himself. After hearing this, the queen immediately said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is not fair to Muying, right? He has made great contributions, so he should return to the court and be granted the title. How can you leave him there?" "Hehehe, we knew you would speak for him. This is for his own good. Muying's personality is not suitable for being an official in the court. The greater his contribution, the greater the danger after returning to the court. This is to protect him. In addition , he is indeed the best candidate to stay in Yunnan, at least his loyalty is more than others, otherwise, if another King Liang is cultivated in that remote area, won’t his skills be completely useless? Let’s settle this matter first.” Zhu Yuanzhang frowned Stretched out, he was happy with himself at the thought.He also decided that he couldn't always consult Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen about many things. Then Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial decree, ordering Mu Ying to pacify all the ministries and guard Yunnan with the army.As expected, Mu Ying lived up to her mission, divided up the troops to quell the various ministries, taught them various agricultural knowledge, reclaimed fields, developed trade, and managed Yunnan in an orderly manner.Since then, the southwestern frontier has been stable for a long time.The stability of the southwestern border relieved Zhu Yuanzhang from a worry and enabled him to concentrate on the problems in the north.