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

Chapter 1193 Escape in embarrassment

kill! Kill!
Suddenly, bursts of shouts and cries of killing rang out one after another, countless torches shone in the dark night, and countless people headed towards the direction of the Duke of Qian's Mansion.

Mu Tianbo woke up from his sleep with a start. Before he could react, the captain of Mu Tianbo's personal guards rushed in, shouting that Sha Dingzhou had rebelled.

"What!" Mu Tianbo widened his eyes. He could never have imagined that such a thing would happen.

"Sha Dingzhou! How dare you do this?"

Mu Tianbo never thought that Sha Dingzhou would rebel. In his opinion, he was still good to Sha Dingzhou. Even though the court reminded Mu Tianbo to pay attention to Sha Dingzhou, Mu Tianbo felt that Sha Dingzhou was loyal to both the court and himself, and Sha Dingzhou had been very well-behaved under Mu Tianbo's command over the years, and he did not see anything wrong with it.

As for Sha Dingzhou annexing Pu Mingsheng's territory and people, this was also a normal operation. After Pu Mingsheng died, Sha Dingzhou married his widow, and the two tribes merged. Sha Dingzhou's strength was indeed much stronger, but Sha Dingzhou was not as arrogant as Wu Bikui, and he still had some rules. But Mu Tianbo did not completely trust Sha Dingzhou, not to mention that the Qianguo Mansion had been able to stay in Yunnan for more than 200 years, relying not only on the army and prestige in hand, but more on the means of balancing between the local chieftains.

Mu Tianbo would eventually have to take action against Sha Dingzhou, but when and how to do it was worth discussing. The Duke of Qian would never allow a chieftain in Yunnan to become too powerful, and it was necessary to strike down or even find reasons to deal with a chieftain who was too powerful every once in a while, but Mu Tianbo had never thought of taking action against Sha Dingzhou immediately. The key was Wu Bikui, who had just been dealt with.

Wu Bikui's rebellion was suppressed by Mu Tianbo's mobilization of troops. Now Wu Bikui is dead and the rebellion has been quelled.

In suppressing this rebellion, Sha Dingzhou made great contributions. As a reinforcement to cooperate with him in attacking Wubikui's Tusi army, Sha Dingzhou did a lot of work. It was also for this reason that Mu Tianbo was relieved about Sha Dingzhou. In his opinion, if Sha Dingzhou had doubts, how could he be so willing to lead troops to help him quell the rebellion?
More importantly, Mu Tianbo thought that if Sha Dingzhou really had ulterior motives, then the best time for him to act would be to send troops when Wu Bikui rebelled, and the two sides would cooperate to rebel. If Sha Dingzhou did so, it would not be so easy for him to calmly deal with Wu Bikui, but Sha Dingzhou did not do so, and even helped him to quell the rebellion. Now that Wu Bikui had been dealt with and the dust had settled, why did Sha Dingzhou suddenly rebel?

"Bring me my armor!" For a moment, Mu Tianbo's mind was a little confused. Although he didn't understand why Sha Dingzhou suddenly rebelled, he still reacted subconsciously. He stood up and said to the captain of the personal guard.

"Master! It's too late!"

"Too late?"

"The city is full of Sha Dingzhou's troops, and they are charging towards us. General Liu is leading his men to stop them, but there are too many of them and we may not be able to stop them for long. My Lord, please run! Before the rebels block the city gates, we will escort you out through the west gate first..."

"Leave? What are you going to do?" Mu Tianbo was furious. "I am the Duke of Qian, the general of the Ming Dynasty, how can I flee without a fight? Bring me my armor! Follow me to kill the enemy! I will kill Sha Dingzhou in battle today and twist off his head!"

"Sir!" The prince captain said anxiously, "Sir, you must not do this! You are the pillar of our Ming Dynasty, the hereditary Duke of Qian who guards Yunnan. How can you take such a risk! If anything happens to you, the century-old foundation of the Duke of Qian's mansion will be ruined."

"My Lord, the situation in the city is critical right now. General Liu has only 500 men under his command, and even with the guards in the palace, there are only 800 men. The rebellion in Shadingzhou may have been premeditated. There are so many rebels now, and our troops are not enough to defeat the enemy, let alone suppress them. My Lord, please leave first and make plans after leaving Kunming. As long as you are here and the Qianguo Mansion is here, nothing serious will happen in Yunnan. When you gather troops and reorganize outside, you will be able to lead your troops to recapture Kunming and destroy the rebels. My Lord! Little impatience will ruin big plans. As long as you have green mountains, you will never worry about having no firewood to burn!"

"Master! Let's go!"

"Master, please leave! It will be too late if you leave now!"

Not only the captain of the personal guard advised him so, but also several other confidants who rushed over also urged him so urgently. At this time, Mu Tianbo, who had calmed down, was completely sober. Hearing the sound of fighting coming from afar getting closer and closer, his face turned pale and his expression was extremely conflicted.

Although Mu Tianbo's ability is not as good as his grandfather's, he is not a mediocre person. He has been in charge of Yunnan for decades and has been well-trained. He is not unfamiliar with war. He knows that since Sha Dingzhou started a rebellion, it must have been planned long ago. When he thinks about the fact that Sha Dingzhou stayed in Kunming temporarily on the grounds of illness until other chieftains, including the Ming army transferred from other places, left one after another, his intention is obvious. Now Sha Dingzhou caught him off guard and secretly brought his army to the city in advance. Now the strength of both sides is at a disadvantage compared to him. The captain of the personal guard is right. The mansion of the Duke of Qian is short of troops. The Duke of Qian can only mobilize his own 800 family servants, and 500 of them have already fought with the rebels, leaving only 300 people around him.

Once General Liu is unable to stop the rebels, it won't be long before the Duke of Qian's Mansion is surrounded by the rebels. By then, no matter how capable Mu Tianbo is, he will not be able to escape.

Mu Tianbo was not afraid of death, but he knew that if he died like this, the Qianguo Mansion, which had lasted for more than two hundred years, would be completely finished. In addition, with the fall of Kunming and the chaos in Yunnan, the title of the Duke of Qian came to an end, and the Mu family became history. This was a result that Mu Tianbo could not accept in any way.

The best option now was to run away first. Just as his personal guard captain said, if you keep the green mountains, you will never worry about firewood. As long as he ran away, he would have a chance to come back. Even if Sha Dingzhou took Kunming, what would happen? With Mu Tianbo and the Duke of Qian's Mansion, he could order the various Yunnan tribes to mobilize their troops and counterattack Kunming. Then he would definitely kill Sha Dingzhou!
"Let's go!" In the end, Mu Tianbo calmed down and decided to evacuate. He personally led 300 servants in the mansion to protect his family members and the elderly and the weak and broke through the west gate.

At this time, the five hundred servants who were resisting the rebels had suffered heavy casualties. Although Mu Tianbo's servants were not bad in combat and were the elite in the army, the problem was that Sha Dingzhou suddenly rebelled and attacked the unprepared, and Mu Tianbo's servants were hastily engaged and were not prepared at all.

These retainers were armed with melee weapons such as swords and spears, and their armor was incomplete, and they lacked powerful long-range weapons such as bows and muskets. On the other hand, Sha Dingzhou not only had more people than the Qianguo Mansion, but also had much better equipment.

After only resisting for a quarter of an hour, half of the five hundred servants of the Duke of Qian's Mansion were killed or wounded. The generals leading the army still fought to the death, but they could no longer stop the enemy's surging attack. At this time, another army of Sha Dingzhou also bypassed from the right, broke through the defense of Mu Tianbo's servants, and rushed straight to the Duke of Qian's Mansion. Fortunately, Mu Tianbo had led the remaining servants to kill from the back, and took advantage of the enemy's complete encirclement before they were completely surrounded. But even so, when Mu Tianbo ran away from the west of the city with his men, there were less than two hundred of his three hundred servants left, and even several of his family members who followed him to break out were lost.

Seeing the tragic scene in front of him, Mu Tianbo was filled with grief and anger. He had never thought that he would be forced to such a point by Sha Dingzhou. You know, a few hours ago, he was still the Duke of Qian who controlled Yunnan and was stationed in Kunming! But now, not only Kunming was lost, but even his own Duke of Qian's Mansion fell into the hands of Sha Dingzhou. There were only these few people left around him. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shed tears.

Looking back in the direction of Kunming City, Mu Tianbo vowed to avenge himself. He then fled in a panic with the remnants of his troops and his family. In order to avoid being pursued by Sha Dingzhou, Mu Tianbo deliberately went west first, then went north and headed straight to Wuding.

Wuding was originally the territory of Wubikui. Now that Wubikui is dead, Wuding has been recovered. Mu Tianbo has an army in the Wuding area, which is mainly used to wipe out the remnants of Wubikui and stabilize the Wuding area.

Mu Tianbo had thought carefully before escaping from Kunming. Now the best place to go is to go to Wuding and join the army there. As long as he can control the army in Wuding, Mu Tianbo will have the ability to protect himself. Then he can mobilize the army in the name of Duke of Qian to counterattack Kunming. Only in this way will he have the opportunity to take revenge.

Just after Mu Tianbo escaped from Kunming, the group first fled westwards towards Chuxiong along a small path, and then went around to the north. At this time, Sha Dingzhou's troops in Kunming City had completely eliminated the stubborn resistance of the retainers of the Duke of Qian's Mansion, and attacked the Duke of Qian's Mansion.

After capturing the Mansion of the Duke of Qian, the morale of Sha Dingzhou's army was greatly boosted and they cheered. More importantly, the Mu family had ruled Yunnan for more than two hundred years. Over the years, the Duke of Qian had been passed down for more than a dozen generations. How could this be compared to an ordinary family?
The entire Qianguo Mansion not only covers a large area, but also has extremely luxurious pavilions and towers. As for the gold, silver, jewelry and other valuables in the mansion, there are even more. Mu Tianbo fled in a panic and didn't have time to take anything away. After taking over this place, all of it became Sha Dingzhou's spoils of war.

"Haha! Hahaha!" Standing at the gate of the Duke of Qian's Mansion, looking at the mansion in front of him, Sha Dingzhou laughed happily.

He was no stranger to this place. As a chieftain, he had entered the mansion many times to pay a visit to Mu Tianbo. However, compared with before, he was now about to become the master here. Looking at the grand and magnificent mansion in front of him, Sha Dingzhou was very happy.

After laughing for a while, Sha Dingzhou led his men into the mansion. At this time, the mansion of the Duke of Qian was in a mess. Sha Dingzhou's subordinates could be seen running around in the mansion everywhere. Some of them scrambled to move the property in the mansion, and some of them could not wait to attack the beautiful maids in the mansion who did not have time to escape. Exclamations, screams, laughter, and screams came one after another. The scene was a mess, and Sha Dingzhou frowned.

Sha Dingzhou was immediately furious and ordered the troops that had entered the mansion to withdraw immediately. All property of the Duke of Qian's mansion was not allowed to be moved. His personal guards would take over the place and no one else was allowed to enter the mansion without his permission.

In Sha Dingzhou's view, the Duke of Qian's Mansion was his now, and everything inside was his. How could he let these bastards take it away? Even his subordinates would not allow it. As for the outside of the mansion, he had no control over it. There were many rich people in Kunming anyway. He ate the meat and let his subordinates drink some soup. They could go to other places to plunder. As for the Duke of Qian's Mansion, they must not touch it.

(End of this chapter)