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

Chapter 1190 Different opinions
Hong Chengchou was stunned and asked quickly: "What happened in Yunnan? Where is the emergency report?"

The man hurriedly handed over the urgent report. Hong Chengchou took it and opened it and read it carefully. After reading it for a few times, his brows furrowed and his expression became serious.

"Go and ask the Deputy Prime Minister and several other elders to come over."

"Yes!"

After a while, Wang Jinwu, Qian Qianyi, Yang Sichang, Fan Fucui and Kong Zhenyun, who had received the news, rushed over quickly and gathered in Hong Chengchou's office.

"Chief Assistant!"

"Please take a seat, everyone." Seeing that everyone was present, Hong Chengchou asked them to sit down. After serving tea and letting everyone leave, he took out the urgent report he had just received and said, "Express news just arrived from Yunnan. Wuding Tusi Wubikui has started a rebellion. His army claims to have 50,000 soldiers. They have captured Dingyuan, Meitan, Wuding, Lufeng, Yao'an and other places, and are heading straight for Kunming..."

"What!" Qian Qianyi was shocked, his eyes widened: "This news can't be wrong, right?"

"Along with the military report came a letter of apology from the Duke of Qian. These have just arrived at the cabinet. I think the Ministry of War, the General Council and the Five Military Commanders' Office should have known about this by now." Hong Chengchou said so, and subconsciously looked at Wang Jinwu while speaking. Wang Jinwu frowned, took the urgent report from Hong Chengchou and read it carefully. After reading it for a few times, he breathed a sigh of relief, but there was a hint of anger in his expression.

After reading it, Wang Jinwu handed it to Qian Qianyi, his subordinate. Qian Qianyi and others also read it one by one. After everyone had finished reading it, they immediately started discussing the matter.

"What is this Mu Tianbo doing!" Kong Zhenyun could not help but curse, "Not long ago, His Majesty summoned Mu Tianbo to the capital. When he entered the palace to meet His Majesty, His Majesty reminded him to keep an eye on Wu Bikui. The Jinyiwei also reported that Wu Bikui's troops seemed to have unusual movements. How could Mu Tianbo not prepare for this? Wu Bikui actually launched an attack in advance and captured the prefectures and counties?"

"Yes!" Fan Fucui nodded in agreement, echoing: "As the Duke of Qian, he can't even control his chieftains. He is extremely incompetent. Now that such a big thing has happened, Mu Tianbo cannot be blamed!"

"Let's put these aside for now. The key is what to do with Wubikui. Fifty thousand troops is not a small number. Now he has taken over so many counties in one go. Yunnan is already unstable. If the rebellion cannot be quelled as soon as possible, or even if Wubikui captures Kunming, the situation will be out of control." Qian Qianyi said worriedly.

Yang Sichang shook his head, expressing his disagreement: "Kunming is not so easy to attack. Not to mention that Kunming is a city with high walls, Mu Tianbo still has soldiers in his hands. Moreover, the Duke of Qian has been in charge of Yunnan for more than 200 years, and the local chieftains in Yunnan respect his orders. In my opinion, Mu Tianbo's abandonment of the frontline counties should be a hasty military strategy to mobilize troops for counterattack. Although Wu Bikui is strong, he is just a chieftain. With the military strength of our Ming Dynasty in Yunnan, it should not be a big problem to quell the rebellion."

"Lord Yang, that's easy for you to say!" Qian Qianyi and Yang Sichang did not get along well with each other. They often clashed in the cabinet, let alone such a big event.

As soon as Yang Sichang finished speaking, Qian Qianyi said coldly, "A mere chieftain? What a big tone. Has Lord Yang forgotten what happened in Bozhou? Wu Bikui has 50,000 troops at his disposal. After raising the army, he was unstoppable. In just half a month, he successively captured Dingyuan, Meitan, Wuding, Lufeng, Yao'an and other places. If Mu Tianbo had the strength to fight, why did he retreat to Kunming? And even submit this letter of apology?"

As soon as Qian Qianyi said this, Fan Fucui and Kong Zhenyun immediately expressed their agreement. Among the three major expeditions of Wanli, the Battle of Bozhou was one of them.

That year, a war was triggered by the rebellion of Yang Yinglong, the chieftain of Bozhou. The war lasted for four years. In order to suppress the rebellion, almost half of the Ming army went south to quell the rebellion, and it cost countless dollars to win the war.

This Yang Yinglong was a chieftain, and now Wu Bikui is also a chieftain. What's more important is that Yunnan is farther away from Guizhou. In addition, the situation in Yunnan is more complicated than that in Guizhou, and the imperial court's control over Yunnan is not as strong as that over Guizhou. If Wu Bikui is as troublesome as Yang Yinglong, Kunming may not be able to be saved, and even the entire Yunnan may be out of the control of the imperial court.

Yang Sichang said that the situation was not that serious yet. Although Mu Tianbo admitted his mistakes in his letter of apology, he also informed the court that he was mobilizing all the tribes. He retreated to Kunming because the reinforcements from all the tribes, including other chieftains, had not arrived yet. With Mu Tianbo's ability, the situation would definitely change as soon as the reinforcements arrived.

Mu Tianbo is the Duke of Qian. The Duke of Qian has been ruling Yunnan for more than 200 years. Even if he was caught off guard by Wu Bikui, as long as Kunming is in hand, he can mobilize the army calmly. It should not be a problem to suppress Wu Bikui's rebellion. It is too early to worry about whether Wu Bikui will become the second Yang Yinglong. Judging from the time when the urgent report was sent, Mu Tianbo's army should have been mobilized, and Yunnan may have started a counterattack.

"Lord Yang is too optimistic. What if things don't develop as you expect?" Qian Qianyi expressed his objection. Seeing that Yang Sichang still insisted on his opinion, Qian Qianyi turned his eyes and his gaze fell on Wang Jinwu.

"Second Minister, we are all civil officials. You are the only one in the cabinet who knows more about military affairs. In your opinion, how will the Yunnan incident change?"

When Qian Qianyi asked this question, everyone's eyes lit up. Yes! They almost forgot about Wang Jinwu, the deputy assistant. Since the emperor adjusted the cabinet structure and used military generals and nobles to occupy a seat in the cabinet, the cabinet is no longer full of civil officials. And this rule is determined from this. No matter how the cabinet changes in the future, nobles and generals must occupy a seat in the cabinet. This is not only for the emperor's consideration of the balance between civil and military affairs, but also to put a military person in the cabinet so that when encountering military issues, they can make more comprehensive judgments and decisions.

Wang Jinwu is currently the number one in the military of the Ming Dynasty, especially Wang Jinwu's outstanding military exploits. Although he is a noble, he also relied on his own ability to fight for his position. Especially in the previous Liaodong battle, Wang Jinwu, as the commander-in-chief, commanded with confidence and solved the Jiannu problem that had troubled the Ming Dynasty for thirty years. Not only did he recover Liaodong, but he also completely destroyed the Jiannu who occupied Liaodong. This achievement was so great that it can be said that there was no difference from the achievement of destroying the country. It was also because of this that Wang Jinwu not only ranked second in the cabinet, but also became a Duke of the State from Ningshan Hou, and his title was inherited from generation to generation. Although the chief assistant Hong Chengchou and the cabinet elder Yang Sichang also led troops to fight, they only coordinated and judged the overall situation when they led the troops. The specific war still had to rely on the generals below to implement. But Wang Jinwu is different. He is not only a general, but also a commander. He has rich experience in battle formations, and his judgment in military affairs is also admired by everyone.

"Wu Bikui is nothing to be afraid of!" Since Qian Qianyi asked Wang Jinwu, Wang Jinwu had to answer. After thinking about it, he said this.

As soon as these words were spoken, Yang Sichang showed joy, Qian Qianyi's face stiffened slightly, while Fan Fucui and Kong Zhenyun looked puzzled, not understanding why Wang Jinwu made such a judgment.

Just when Qian Qianyi couldn't help but ask more questions, Prime Minister Hong Chengchou spoke.

"Why did the Deputy Adviser make such a judgment? Can you explain it in detail?"

Wang Jinwu nodded and said immediately: "There were actually early signs of Wu Bikui's rebellion. The Jinyiwei noticed his unusual movements in advance. In addition, due to the incident of Pu Mingsheng a few years ago, the relationship between Wu Bikui and Mu Tianbo could no longer be reconciled, so his rebellion was not surprising."

"Before Mu Tianbo came to Beijing, His Majesty had reminded Mu Tianbo to pay attention to Wu Bikui. Mu Tianbo is not a fool, and he had anticipated Wu Bikui's unusual behavior. And as far as I know, Mu Tianbo has long wanted to deal with Wu Bikui..."

At this point, Qian Qianyi couldn't help but speak, but was interrupted by Hong Chengchou, who waved his hand and signaled Wang Jinwu to continue.

Wang Jinwu said: "In my opinion, it is a problem that Mu Tianbo did not attack Wu Bikui immediately after returning to Yunnan. If it was me who had already taken action, how could Wu Bikui have arranged calmly and taken the initiative? And the current situation is that Wu Bikui took action first and caught Mu Tianbo off guard. Therefore, Mu Tianbo cannot escape the responsibility of being too careless or too arrogant."

"But even so, Wu Bikui's rebellion will not be successful, and he will not become the second Yang Yinglong."

"Why is that? Now Wu Bikui has an army of 50,000 under his command. Our military is at its peak, and we have captured so many counties and cities in just half a month..." Qian Qianyi could no longer bear it and asked.

Wang Jinwu smiled and explained to Qian Qianyi: "Mr. Qian, don't worry. I have my reasons for saying so."

"First, let's talk about Wu Bikui himself. He was originally the chieftain of Yuanmou, but later he was convicted and lost his position. Later, he was reinstated for his meritorious service, but he was transferred to the chieftain of Wuding. This is quite different from Yang Yinglong. In addition, he does not have a deep foundation in Wuding. Even if he has been operating for these years, his territory and number of people are limited. How can he be compared with Yang Yinglong?"

After thinking about it, everyone nodded slightly. Wang Jinwu's comparison was correct. Yang Yinglong was no ordinary person. He was the hereditary chieftain of Bozhou. The Yang family had been in Bozhou since the Tang Dynasty. He served as the envoy of Bozhou. The Yang family had deep roots in Bozhou and had been operating for 29 generations. Moreover, the territory of Bozhou was much larger than that of Wuding. Yang Yinglong's strength was not comparable to Wu Bikui.

"When Yang Yinglong started his army, the population of Bozhou alone reached 2 million, and he mobilized 200,000 soldiers, including 30,000 cavalry. How could such a powerful force be compared to Wu Bikui? Therefore, Wu Bikui will definitely not become the second Yang Yinglong, so you don't have to worry too much."

"But Deputy Prime Minister, don't forget that Wu Bikui also has an army of 50,000!" Kong Zhenyun reminded.

Wang Jinwu smiled and shook his head: "Where did he get 50,000 troops? In my opinion, Wu Bikui can only gather 20,000 troops at best after selling everything he has. As for 50,000, it is simply impossible. At best, it is just a big banner."

"If so, then why...?"

"Lord Kong wants to ask why Wu Bikui was able to successively capture prefectures and counties in such a short period of time and force his troops to Kunming, right?" Wang Jinwu asked.

Seeing Kong Zhenyun nod, Wang Jinwu said easily: "What Lord Yang said just now is correct. I think this should be Mu Tianbo's deliberate act. Wu Bikui's sudden rebellion caught Mu Tianbo off guard. He does not have enough troops. If he sends troops to fight, he will not be able to stop Wu Bikui's main force. If Mu Tianbo is defeated on the front line, then the entire Yunnan situation will collapse. In this case, it is the only choice for Mu Tianbo to show weakness and give up some prefectures and counties on the front line, so that Wu Bikui can send troops to occupy them, withdraw his troops, guard Kunming, buy time, and mobilize other troops to reinforce. "

"Mu Tianbo is doing this now. Moreover, Wu Bikui has captured counties one after another since he started his army. Although his morale has been greatly boosted, he also needs to send troops to garrison in the counties he has occupied. In this way, Wu Bikui's forces are dispersed, and there are not many troops left to attack Kunming. When Mu Tianbo's reinforcements arrive, it will be time to counterattack. In my opinion, Wu Bikui's defeat is just around the corner!"

(End of this chapter)