Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1188 Wu Bikui Rebellion

"Good! That's great!" After listening to Tang Jiabin's report, Sha Dingzhou was very happy and kept patting the armrest of the recliner with his right hand.

"If this is accomplished, you will have made a great contribution!"

"Sir, this is what I should do. There's no point in talking about merit or not." Tang Jiabin said with a modest smile.

"Hahaha, merit is merit, I'm not a stingy person." Sha Dingzhou laughed and looked at Tang Jiabin: "When this is done, you will be my prime minister, how about it?"

"I thank the king for his grace. Long live the king!" Tang Jiabin hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to Sha Dingzhou, prostrating himself and shouting "Long live the king". Seeing this, Sha Dingzhou became even happier. He laughed loudly and seemed to have seen the moment when he put on the yellow robe and ascended the throne.

He raised his hand to let Tang Jiabin stand up. Sha Dingzhou was still grinning from ear to ear. At this time, Tang Jiabin reminded Sha Dingzhou that the matter had not been done yet and it was not time to celebrate yet.

"Yes, yes, you are right!" Sha Dingzhou nodded with satisfaction and immediately asked Tang Jiabin what they should do now.

"Your Majesty, I think we should continue to wait and see what happens, relax on the outside but tighten our belts on the inside, and be prepared to respond at any time."

"That's it?"

"That's it!"

"Then there's no need to do anything else? No need to stir up trouble on both sides? Or make other preparations?" Sha Dingzhou asked hesitantly.

Tang Jiabin shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, too much is as bad as too little. Now it is impossible for both sides to coexist. Continuing to stir up trouble will only backfire and easily arouse suspicion from the other side. It is better to be quiet than to move. Waiting and watching is the most appropriate way. Your Majesty just needs to prepare secretly, and when the time comes, everything will fall into place naturally."

After thinking about it carefully, Sha Dingzhou felt that what Tang Jiabin said made sense. Mu Tianbo came back from the capital a few days ago. As soon as he came back, he summoned the governor, provincial governor, general and others of Yunnan to discuss in Kunming. At the same time, he began to mobilize the troops from various parts of Yunnan, which clearly showed signs of sending troops.

Wu Bikui was also not idle. As early as more than a year ago, Wu Bikui had been extremely wary of Mu Tianbo and the local government. Not only did he recruit soldiers privately, he also trained his army day and night to be on high alert. He also sent envoys to Myanmar secretly and spent a lot of money to get some support from Myanmar.

In addition to Tang Jiabin's planning and Sha Ding's appropriate instigation, the rift between the two sides became increasingly larger. If this continued, a war between the two sides would be absolutely inevitable. The key lay in whether Mu Tianbo would send troops first, or Wu Bigui would rebel first. No matter who took the first step, the war was bound to be fought.

Nodding, Sha Dingzhou decided to listen to Tang Jiabin's advice and wait and see what happens for the time being, but he was also a little worried. That is, if the two sides started fighting, what would he do if he didn't have a legitimate opportunity to send troops? If so, sending troops without authorization would not only leak the news in advance, but also make Mu Tianbo take precautions.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I believe that no matter whether the Duke of Qian takes action first or Wu Bikui rebels first, Mu Tianbo will definitely transfer Your Majesty to quell the rebellion."

"Why is this?" Sha Dingzhou asked puzzledly.

Tang Jiabin smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't forget what Mu Tianbo arranged before. As early as half a year ago, the Duke of Qian's Mansion sent an order for Your Majesty to cooperate with the chieftains of Shiping, Long Zaitian, Li'e, Wang Yangzu, Ningzhou, Lu Yongming, and Jingdong, Diao Xun, etc. Isn't it to prevent Wu Bikui?"

"Moreover, with the methods that the Duke of Qian has always used, they will certainly mobilize the chieftains to send troops against Wu Bikui. The strength of the king's subordinates is not weak, and they are considered the strongest among all the chieftains. In addition, the late king was deeply trusted by the Duke of Qian, and the king has always been respectful to the Duke of Qian since he succeeded to the throne. Mu Tianbo trusts the king very much. I can't think of a reason why Mu Tianbo would not use the king under this circumstance. Therefore, I conclude that within a few days, the Duke of Qian will issue an order to order the king to send troops. In this way, won't the king's opportunity come?"

Hearing this, Sha Dingzhou's eyes became brighter and brighter. What Tang Jiabin said was absolutely right. Mu Tianbo would definitely use him, no matter his status and strength among the chieftains or his closeness to the Duke of Qian compared to other chieftains. As long as the order came, Sha Dingzhou would have a legitimate reason to send troops. At that time, he would lead the troops to help Mu Tianbo suppress the rebellion and deal with Wu Bikui. When the war started, he would choose an appropriate time and stab Mu Tianbo in the back. When Mu Tianbo was caught off guard, he would take advantage of the conflict between the snipe and the clam, and the big thing would be done.

By that time, Sha Dingzhou would be able to take advantage of the situation to capture Kunming, establish his own regime, and then unite with the forces in Myanmar to wear the yellow robe and ascend the throne. Once the major event is settled, even if the Ming court received the news and decided to launch an attack after discussion, it would take at least one or two years.

Moreover, in Sha Dingzhou's opinion, without the Qianguo Mansion and the Ming army in Yunnan, it would not be easy for the Ming court to take over Yunnan. You must know that the road from Ming to Yunnan is steep, and Yunnan is mountainous and jungle-filled, with miasma everywhere, which is extremely difficult for northerners to adapt to. As a local chieftain, Sha Dingzhou has the advantage of geographical location, and it is unlikely that he can attack with the military force in his hands, but it is not a big problem to just defend it.

Even if the Ming Dynasty finally attacked with the whole country's strength, if it couldn't resist, he could just surrender and say that Mu Tianbo had oppressed him too much and provoked the chieftains of Yunnan to resist, and it was not him who wanted to rebel. According to the Ming Dynasty's policy of appeasing Yunnan, maybe he could just take advantage of the situation and make himself a king. In this way, he could replace the Qianguogongfu to rule Yunnan, and this option was not impossible.

I have to say that Tang Jiabin is indeed quite smart, and his judgment of the current situation in Yunnan is very accurate.

Less than ten days later, an envoy was sent from Kunming, bringing Mu Tianbo's order, requiring Sha Dingzhou to gather troops as soon as possible, join other chieftains in going to Kunming, and join forces with the Ming army to resolve the problem of Wubikui.

After receiving the news, Sha Dingzhou was overjoyed and was so happy that he immediately called Tang Jiabin to discuss the matter. At the same time, he appreciated Tang Jiabin's prediction even more and trusted him even more.

Tang Jiabin had anticipated this, and immediately spoke eloquently about his own plans. Sha Dingzhou readily followed Tang Jiabin's advice and began to prepare according to Tang Jiabin's plan, mobilizing troops to prepare for the expedition. At this time, Wu Bikui, who knew that Mu Tianbo was ready to attack him, could no longer hold back. He took advantage of the gap before Mu Tianbo officially sent out his troops and directly rebelled in advance, raising a banner to proclaim himself king, summoning people from all over Yunnan, and also issued a document listing the ten major crimes of the Qianguo Mansion in oppressing and harming the local mountain people and chieftains in the past two hundred years.

Wu Bikui's strength is not bad. In addition, he had made a lot of preparations a long time ago and had the support of Myanmar behind him. After the uprising, Wu Bikui's own military strength reached more than 12,000 elite troops. If the small chieftains and mountain strongholds who followed Wu Bikui in the rebellion and the alliance were added, the total number exceeded 17,000.

Seventeen thousand people, this is a not small army. Yunnan is different from the Central Plains. Yunnan is mountainous and has dense jungles, and the population is not as large as that of the Central Plains. It is impossible for it to gather a team of hundreds of thousands or even nearly a million like the bandits in the Central Plains.

Wu Bikui raised an army of 17,000 people, claiming to have an army of 50,000. This was a huge threat to Yunnan that could not be ignored. You should know that the total number of troops in Yunnan was not large. On paper, the Ming Dynasty had 11 guards and 6 garrisons in Yunnan, with a total of about 73,000 troops. But in reality, the Ming army only had 30,000 troops in Yunnan, not even half of the total.

This is naturally due to various reasons, such as the slackness of the guards and the lack of pay in the army. Although the Ming Dynasty has been adjusting the military system in recent years, it has gradually reorganized the troops in various places, including the guards, to solve the military problems that have puzzled the Ming Dynasty. However, due to time and other factors, the Ming Dynasty has only completed the border troops and the north, including the Zhili provinces, and the southeastern provinces, including the Central Plains, while the southwest, especially remote provinces such as Yunnan, have not had time to start. Moreover, Yunnan is different from other provinces because of the existence of the Qianguo Mansion and the policy towards Yunnan, plus the actual situation. According to the plan to reorganize the army, Yunnan must wait until all other provinces are completed before reorganizing.

Therefore, the number of troops in Yunnan court is only 30,000, and most of them are weak garrison troops and subordinates of Yunnan generals. The Duke of Qian Mu Tianbo controls only about 5,000 troops. Even so, the only ones who can really fight among these 5,000 are Mu Tianbo's 800 elite servants. This shows that the military strength of the Ming Dynasty in Yunnan is not strong.

Compared with the military strength of the Ming Dynasty in Yunnan, the combined forces of the chieftains in Yunnan numbered as many as 110,000. Every time the Duke of Qian sent troops, it was necessary to mobilize the chieftains' troops and the Ming army to cooperate in combat. This was also one of the main reasons.

Moreover, although Mu Tianbo nominally had the right to mobilize these chieftains' armies, in reality, mobilizing the chieftains' armies to help the Ming army fight also came at a price. The Qianguo Mansion needed to give some benefits in the name of the Ming court, such as salt and iron, or enthronement and rewards from the court, etc. Otherwise, these chieftains would simply obey orders without any benefits.

When the news came that Wu Bikui was the first to rebel, Mu Tianbo in Kunming was caught off guard. At this time, his army had not yet been mobilized, and even the mobilized armies of the chieftains had not had time to arrive, but the other side took action first.

For a time, Mu Tianbo only had his 5,000 troops and more than 2,000 garrison troops with extremely poor combat effectiveness. In terms of combat effectiveness, he was probably no match for Wu Bikui. To be on the safe side, Mu Tianbo could only withdraw his troops to temporarily hold Kunming, and urgently asked the chieftains of various tribes to send troops to Kunming as soon as possible to join forces.

In this way, Wubikui did not encounter fierce resistance from Mu Tianbo after he sent out his troops. As for the local Ming troops, seeing his powerful force, they scattered without waiting for the arrival of the army and fled back to Kunming in a panic. In this way, in less than half a month, Wubikui's troops successively captured Dingyuan, Meitan, Wuding, Lufeng, Yao'an and other places. For a time, they were unrivaled in momentum and Yunnan was shaken.

(End of this chapter)