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

Chapter 1204 Disappointment
A side hall of the Qianqing Palace in the capital.

Zhu Shenzui was looking at a piece of intelligence that had just been sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, which was information about the war in Yunnan.

The Sha Dingzhou rebellion has been going on for several months. Zhu Shenzhu has been extremely concerned about the changes in the situation in Yunnan. The Jinyiwei, including the Five Military Commandery and the Ministry of War, have also been sending the latest intelligence to the Qianqing Palace.

But in fact, the latest information is always lagging. Due to the limitations of conditions, it is impossible to obtain first-hand information thousands of miles away in this era. What's more, the capital is more than a thousand miles away from Yunnan.

Even though the Jinyiwei's intelligence channels were more complete and its transmission method was faster than the military's 800-mile express delivery, it still took several days for the news to be delivered from Yunnan to Zhu Shenzhui.

Concentrating on the information in his hand, Zhu Shenzhui stood up and walked a few steps to the wall not far away. Hanging on the wall was a map of Yunnan with marks on various places. Zhu Shenzhui looked at it for a long time, then turned around and instructed Lu Jiude: "Go, invite the first and second assistants to come to the Qianqing Palace."

Lu Jiude responded and quickly retreated. About half an hour later, Hong Chengchou and Wang Jinwu arrived.

"His Majesty!"

"Please take a seat." Zhu Shenzhu waved his hand to let them sit down. Hong Chengchou and Wang Jinwu bowed and then took their seats. After they sat down, Zhu Shenzhu asked whether the cabinet had received the latest intelligence from Yunnan and what they thought of the current situation in Yunnan.

Hong Chengchou was the chief minister, so of course he was the one who should answer this question. In fact, the cabinet also received the same information when the emperor received it. When Zhu Shenzhui came to invite them, Hong Chengchou, Wang Jinwu and others were holding a small meeting. As soon as Lu Jiude arrived, Hong Chengchou understood that it was most likely about the Yunnan issue.

"Your Majesty, we have received news from Yunnan. In my opinion, the rebellion in Shadingzhou, Yunnan should be quelled soon. I think Your Majesty does not need to worry too much."

"Oh, tell me in detail." Zhu Shenzhui asked.

Hong Chengchou said: "After Sha Dingzhou's rebellion, the situation in Yunnan had deteriorated, but since the battle of Chuxiong, the situation has begun to stabilize. To be honest, I was really worried about the safety of Chuxiong at the beginning, fearing that Sha Dingzhou would take advantage of the situation to capture Chuxiong. Once Chuxiong was lost, the door to western Yunnan would be opened by Sha Dingzhou, and the situation would be out of control."

At this point, Hong Chengchou smiled and stroked his beard, saying, "I didn't expect Yang Weizhi to do so well. He was able to defend Chuxiong with only 5,000 soldiers, and sent Sha Dingzhou's army back empty-handed. After this battle, the situation in Yunnan stabilized. Sha Dingzhou failed to take Chuxiong, and his momentum was contained. It will not be so easy for him to occupy the entire Yunnan region again."

"What the Prime Minister said is right." Wang Jinwu agreed, "As the Art of War says, the first attack is powerful, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted. Sha Dingzhou rebelled as a chieftain. If he could have captured the Duke of Qian in Kunming as soon as possible, and then swept through western Yunnan, he might have had a chance of success. But the Duke of Qian escaped from Kunming, and then went to Wuding first, then to Chuxiong, and now retreated to Dali and Yongchang. As a result, Sha Dingzhou lost the initiative."

"That's not all. If Sha Dingzhou had marched west to take Chuxiong, he might have had a chance. But he ran into Yang Weizhi in Chuxiong. He attacked Chuxiong for more than half a month but ended up returning empty-handed with heavy casualties. As a result, Sha Dingzhou's edge has been blunted and he will no longer have the momentum he had at the beginning. Moreover, after the battle of Chuxiong, the attitudes of the chieftains in various parts of Yunnan will certainly change. In addition, the armies of Sichuan and Guizhou are currently making good progress. The Duke of Qian is stationed in the rear in western Yunnan and the General of the Southern Expedition is dispatching troops to quell the rebellion. In my opinion, I think it's only a matter of time before Sha Dingzhou is defeated."

Zhu Shenzui nodded slightly. Hong Chengchou and Wang Jinwu's words touched his heart. He actually thought the same way.

To be honest, Zhu Shenzhui had been paying close attention to the incident in Yunnan. After all, Yunnan was different from other places. The imperial court's control over Yunnan had never been strong, as local forces were too powerful. In addition, Yunnan was too far away from the capital. The imperial court wanted to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion, but it was not convenient to mobilize the elite troops from the nine frontiers or the new army from the central government.

First of all, there is the problem of the road. If troops are transferred from the nine borders, it will take at least more than a month to gather the troops, which is still fast. In addition, while gathering the troops, it is also necessary to prepare the logistics and supplies, which also takes time. Even if the most capable new army of the central government is called, these preparations are inevitable. After all the preparations are completed, it will take time to rush to Yunnan. It will take at least half a year for these troops to rush to the battlefield from thousands of miles away. After such a long time, I am afraid that the daylily will be cold when the troops arrive in Yunnan. Secondly, it is because of the climate in Yunnan. Unlike the Central Plains and the North, Yunnan is located in the southwest. Compared with other provinces, the climate is very different. There are many mountainous jungles. In many places, the original forests cannot be passed at all. There are also many places with miasma. It is inevitable that the army will enter Yunnan to fight. In addition, the soldiers of the nine borders are all northerners. It is difficult for them to adapt to the bad climate in Yunnan, even the new army.

Finally, there is the issue of roads and local chieftains in Yunnan, which will also cause great confusion to the army. If the troops are dragged over thousands of miles, most of them will fall ill before the battle begins. In this way, it will not be so easy to quell the rebellion in Yunnan.

You should know that Yunnan has always been a representative word of "barbarism". Although Yunnan belonged to China very early, the Central Plains regime's rule and development of remote provinces such as Yunnan have been unsatisfactory over the past thousand years. Otherwise, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Duke of Qian would not have been allowed to sit in Yunnan to intimidate the local people. This is certainly the actual situation in Yunnan, and it is also a stopgap measure.

This is also the reason why Zhu Shenzhui, after several considerations and consultations with the cabinet, finally decided not to send the new army and the elite troops of the Nine Frontiers to reinforce Yunnan, but to transfer troops from Sichuan and Guizhou. Although the troops transferred from Sichuan and Guizhou are not many, the two combined only have about 13,000 people, but the key is that the Sichuan White Rod Army can fight. Although the Guizhou soldiers are not as strong as the White Rod Army, because Yunnan and Guizhou are close neighbors, the Guizhou soldiers are used to fighting in Yunnan. With these two reinforcements, as long as Mu Tianbo can stop Sha Dingzhou's attack, the situation in Yunnan may be saved.

Now it seems that this move was the right one, and the situation in Yunnan has basically stabilized. Especially after Sha Dingzhou failed to capture Chuxiong and had to retreat to Kunming, the White Rod Army of Sichuan and part of Guizhou also arrived in Yunnan in time, which made the situation in Yunnan turn for the better.

Just received news that the Baigan Army has captured Xuanwei in the south, and the troops of Yongping Hou of Guizhou have also captured Fuyuan. The two forces attacked Yunnan from the east and north almost simultaneously, catching Sha Dingzhou off guard. Xuanwei and Fuyuan fell into the hands of the Ming army, which was equivalent to directly opening a gap behind Sha Dingzhou, and at the same time gaining a firm foothold. This will bring about huge changes to the subsequent situation in Yunnan.

A smile appeared on Zhu Shenzhui's face. Today's news was good news. If Sichuan and Guizhou could join forces to attack Qujing and take over this place, then Sha Dingzhou would be in big trouble.

Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but think of Yang Weizhi who stopped Sha Dingzhou in Chuxiong. To be honest, he didn't know much about Yang Weizhi, and he had only met him once. That was a few years ago when Yang Weizhi was transferred to Yunnan as a deputy envoy and came to Beijing to meet the emperor. According to the appointment regulations of Ming officials, officials serving outside the capital should have met the emperor once, but this rule had changed a long time ago. Generally, officials below the fourth rank were transferred or out of the capital. The emperor rarely met with them. Even if he did, he would meet them together, just to go through the process. Only officials above the fourth rank would meet individually.

Yang Weizhi went to Yunnan to serve as the Deputy Envoy of Yunnan. This official position was only of the fifth rank and was not within the scope of the emperor's private summons. Usually, before leaving Beijing, he only had to go to a fixed area in the Forbidden City and kowtow a few times in the direction of the Qianqing Palace. This was also considered a way of farewell.

However, Yang Weizhi was recommended by Sun Chuanting to go to Yunnan, and he had worked under Sun Chuanting before. In addition, Zhu Shenzhui already had plans and intentions for Yunnan at that time, so he specially met Yang Weizhi and had a brief chat with him to encourage him.

Unexpectedly, Yang Weizhi gave him a surprise. He, a mere deputy envoy of Yunnan, not only stabilized the situation in Yunnan under such circumstances, but also repelled Sha Dingzhou. This was really unexpected. If it weren't for Yang Weizhi, once Chuxiong was captured by Sha Dingzhou, even if Mu Tianbo fled to Yongchang, he would probably be chased by Sha Dingzhou.

To be honest, Zhu Shenzhu was extremely disappointed with Mu Tianbo's response and subsequent performance in the Yunnan incident. Zhu Shenzhu had reminded Mu Tianbo long before that he should pay attention to Wu Bikui and Sha Dingzhou and stabilize the situation in Yunnan. For this reason, Zhu Shenzhu also informed the court of the plan to implement the plan of changing the natives to officials in Yunnan, and gave the other party some benefits, hoping to use these benefits and policies to win over the Duke of Qian and gradually change the situation in Yunnan.

Who would have thought that Mu Tianbo promised so well in the capital, but did not take immediate action after returning to Yunnan. I don't know if he was too careless or had other ideas, but he actually let Wu Bikui and Sha Dingzhou do whatever they wanted, thus missing a great opportunity to take the initiative.

When Wu Bikui suddenly rebelled, Mu Tianbo suddenly realized the situation and began to dispatch troops to suppress the rebellion. This response was not problematic, but in the face of the rebellion, Mu Tianbo still ignored Zhu Shenzhui's warning and did not take precautions against Sha Dingzhou. Not only did he dispatch Sha Dingzhou's troops to suppress the rebellion, but after resolving Wu Bikui's rebellion, he carelessly left Sha Dingzhou in Kunming temporarily, and even stationed his troops outside Kunming.

From this point of view, the Kunming Incident was caused by Mu Tianbo. If he had been more vigilant or taken precautions, the incident would not have happened. Even if Sha Dingzhou eventually rebelled, it would not have happened in Kunming.

As long as Kunming is in Mu Tianbo's hands, and he has enough troops, even if Sha Dingzhou launches a rebellion, it will only be one place, and it will not lead to serious consequences like it is now. If Mu Tianbo hadn't been lucky and ran fast, his head would have been chopped off by Sha Dingzhou long ago. How could he still hide in Yongchang Prefecture?

(End of this chapter)