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

Chapter 1213 Another Idea
Despite his best efforts, Tang Jiabin could not persuade Sha Dingzhou and had to return empty-handed.

He staggered back to his mansion, and as soon as he entered, his wife, Madam Wan, showed him the treasure she had just acquired, looking delighted.

"Look, isn't it beautiful? This one, and this one, are all rare items." Madam Wan was beaming with joy, a beautifully crafted and valuable gold hairpin adorning her hair, and a treasure box filled with gold and silver jewels in her hand.

"Where did it come from?" Tang Jiabin asked, glancing at the crowd.

"Where else could it be? Of course, it was sent by someone else." Madam Wan laughed. "Now that you are the Princess Consort, and you are the Prime Minister of the King, many people have come to the mansion to deliver things these days. Master, you are really busy with official duties, how could you forget about this?"

Tang Jiabin frowned slightly. He knew that someone had sent him gifts. After all, Sha Dingzhou's power had greatly increased after the Kunming Incident, and he seemed to have the ambition to control Yunnan. Under such circumstances, there must have been many local officials and chieftains who were eager to pledge allegiance to Sha Dingzhou and take sides in order to protect themselves. These people not only sent gifts to Sha Dingzhou, but also to his confidants. Tang Jiabin was not only a confidant of Sha Dingzhou, but also his prime minister and brother-in-law, so he was naturally the number one person to curry favor with.

Previously, Tang Jiabin didn't care much about these things. He would accept them as gifts, and besides, these things were free gifts. So, Wan Shi usually accepted the gifts on his behalf. Tang Jiabin didn't usually interfere, since he had too many things to do. He was busy coordinating civil and military affairs in Shading Prefecture and also helping Shading Prefecture with its strategies.

Normally, when Wan came to show off, Tang Jiabin would just smile and nod, or chat with Wan about the topic for a few minutes. But today, Tang Jiabin was in a different mood. Having just returned from Sha Dingzhou, he was disheartened and had a different idea on his mind for the second time.

The first time was right after the Kunming Incident, when Mu Tianbo fled Kunming.

At that time, Tang Jiabin advised Sha Dingzhou not to loot Kunming, but to quickly order the stabilization of Kunming and send troops in two directions to pursue Mu Tianbo, and to capture or kill Mu Tianbo no matter what.

At that time, Sha Dingzhou was complacent and did not heed Tang Jiabin's advice. Moreover, Sha Dingzhou felt that it would be a slap in the face to announce the plunder of Kunming City and then stop it, and it would be difficult to explain to his subordinates. In addition, with the opposition of other subordinates, Sha Dingzhou did not listen to Tang Jiabin's advice and act immediately. He only did it slowly a day later, thus missing the best opportunity and allowing Mu Tianbo to escape.

Tang Jiabin was so angry he vomited blood. A golden opportunity was right in front of him, but Sha Dingzhou missed it. If Mu Tianbo had been captured or killed back then, Yunnan would have fallen into Sha Dingzhou's hands long ago, and there wouldn't be any trouble like this now.
Unfortunately, once the opportunity is missed, it is gone. Helpless, Tang Jiabin had no other choice but to shake his head and sigh, pick himself up and continue to assist Sha Dingzhou, hoping that Sha Dingzhou could learn from his mistakes and wake up. At least the advantage was still in his hands. As long as Sha Dingzhou took Chuxiong and continued to advance westward, Mu Tianbo would still not be able to stop Sha Dingzhou's army.

But who would have thought that things would turn out differently from what Tang Jiabin had anticipated? He never expected that Sha Dingzhou's attack on Chuxiong would end so abruptly. He could have taken Chuxiong in one fell swoop, but he retreated easily after losing only a few thousand men, letting go of this great opportunity.

This left Tang Jiabin speechless, and the series of events that followed only deepened his despair. Tang Jiabin couldn't comprehend the decision Sha Dingzhou made today. He couldn't understand why Sha Dingzhou would choose this path. There were clearly better ways to deal with the situation, but Sha Dingzhou chose what he considered the worst possible way. In Tang Jiabin's view, Sha Dingzhou's current response was the worst possible strategy, completely surrendering the initiative. If the situation continued to deteriorate, the advantages they currently held would vanish, and the situation would spiral out of control in an unpredictable direction.

"How many treasures have you acquired these days?" Tang Jiabin reached into the treasure chest, picked up a piece of beautiful jade, and casually asked Wan Shi.

"There's plenty, including a lot of jewelry and gold and silver," Mrs. Wan said happily, showing off.

"Come, take me to see it," Tang Jiabin said with a smile as he stood up. Wan Shi didn't think much of it and led him to the "treasure room." Upon arriving, they entered and found dozens of large chests piled up in a treasure room the size of a study. Wan Shi opened one of the chests and told Tang Jiabin that most of it contained silver, with some gold, totaling over 200,000 taels of silver and over 30,000 taels of gold. Besides this, Tang Shi walked to a corner and pointed to two large chests placed separately, saying they were full of precious jewels, worth even more than the 200,000 taels of silver. After opening the chests, the wealth inside was dazzling under the light.

Looking at all this wealth, Tang Jiabin couldn't help but hold his breath. He never imagined that he would have such a huge sum of money in just a few months. You have to understand that he was just a scholar who failed the imperial examinations. He had not been able to advance further for many years and had no other way to make a living except studying. After his parents died, he was almost left destitute. In the end, he gritted his teeth and sold all the remaining property, which gave him the travel expenses to travel all over the world to Yunnan.

Even though he was fortunate enough to marry Lady Wan and become Sha Dingzhou's brother-in-law and confidant, Tang Jiabin's wealth over the years was limited, only slightly better than that of ordinary people. But unexpectedly, he has acquired such a large fortune in just a few months. This fortune is truly astonishing; a rough estimate suggests that the gold and silver jewelry before him exceeds 500,000 taels of silver—something an ordinary person couldn't obtain in several lifetimes!
If he had possessed this wealth years ago, why would he have left his hometown? With that money, he could have bought thousands or tens of thousands of acres of land back home, enough to last for generations. Now, this enormous fortune lies before him, filling Tang Jiabin with a myriad of emotions.

After walking around the room for a while, Tang Jiabin closed the box and left with Wan Shi. He didn't say anything to Wan Shi, and his expression remained the same as usual. But at this moment, a thought began to grow in Tang Jiabin's mind. That night, after Wan Shi fell asleep beside him, Tang Jiabin quietly opened his eyes, staring at the bed curtains above his head, his expression complicated as he pondered.

Tang Jiabin was utterly disappointed by Sha Dingzhou's decision during the day. In his view, assisting Sha Dingzhou was a complete mistake. Sha Dingzhou was not a wise ruler, much less someone who could accomplish great things. He had become arrogant after the Kunming Incident, not only missing several opportunities but also refusing to listen to his advice. Moreover, he was as stupid as a pig without realizing it, always hesitant and indecisive. If he continued to follow Sha Dingzhou, his fate was predictable.

Today, Tang Jiabin's evaluation of Sha Dingzhou is similar to Cao Cao's evaluation of Yuan Shao in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Cao Cao described Yuan Shao as "fierce in appearance but cowardly in reality, fond of scheming but indecisive; he hesitates to act for great things, yet risks his life for small gains—he is no hero!"

Tang Jiabin's current assessment of Sha Dingzhou is similar. He originally thought Sha Dingzhou was a wise ruler, but now he thinks he is a stupid pig, even worse than Yuan Shao of the Three Kingdoms. In the end, he concludes that Sha Dingzhou is nothing but a skeleton in a tomb.

If they continue to follow Sha Dingzhou down this path to the bitter end, their fate is predictable. Disappointed in Sha Dingzhou, Tang Jiabin is already considering leaving him. In his view, Sha Dingzhou is incapable of achieving anything great. Although he currently holds the advantage, this advantage will vanish in an instant, and once he loses control, defeat is imminent.

Tang Jiabin now faces two paths. One is to flee before Sha Dingzhou's defeat is complete and return directly to his hometown. The other is also to leave, but not to return home; instead, he must hurry to Myanmar to find Mang Bai.

The first option was to completely abandon Shading Prefecture to save himself, but this was difficult. To return to his hometown, he would have to travel from Yunnan to Guizhou or Sichuan, and then find a way back. However, the area east of Kunming was now a battlefield, and taking the official road would mean encountering Ming troops from Sichuan or Guizhou, which would easily expose his whereabouts. Furthermore, Tang Jiabin was now the prime minister of Shading Prefecture, not some nobody. Ming regulations stipulated that locals must have travel permits and identification documents to travel. Previously, Tang Jiabin had traveled from his hometown to Yunnan using his status as a student and a certificate issued by the local official school, but these were absolutely no longer valid, or he would lose his identity.

Moreover, even if he returned to his hometown, many people there would know Tang Jiabin, and if someone reported him, he would likely be arrested by the authorities. Tang Jiabin didn't want to end up like that, so after thinking it over, he rejected the idea of ​​returning home. That left him with the second option: to go to Myanmar and seek refuge with Mang Bai.

Going to Myanmar is much safer than returning home. Although western Yunnan has not yet been taken over by Shading Prefecture and Mu Tianbo is in Yongchang, Shading Prefecture is still strong and powerful. Most of the chieftains in Yunnan are still watching and waiting. In addition, there is more than one way to Myanmar than Yongchang. Tang Jiabin can go through Weiyuan Prefecture to Mengding or Menglian and then enter Myanmar.

This route is currently safe. If Tang Jiabin takes this route, there should be no problem reaching Myanmar. Moreover, he has been in charge of liaising with Myanmar, and the people he sent also took this route, so there are no issues with the route itself.

Once Tang Jiabin reaches Burma and seeks refuge with Mang Bai, he will be out of danger. Then, he can use the name of Sha Dingzhou to request Mang Bai to send troops, which might even change the situation in Yunnan and save Sha Dingzhou. In any case, although Tang Jiabin is disappointed in Sha Dingzhou, they were once ruler and subject, and also relatives. He should try to save him if possible. Besides, Wan Shi is still in Kunming; he can't just abandon her after being husband and wife.
That's right, Tang Jiabin had no intention of taking Wan Shi to Myanmar, at least not now. Because of Wan Shi's different status, he worried that if he did so, Wan Shi would reveal the news to her sister, and her sister, Da Wan Shi, was the princess consort of Sha Dingzhou. Wouldn't that let Sha Dingzhou find out? Based on his understanding of Sha Dingzhou, he knew that Sha Dingzhou would never let him leave. If that happened, Tang Jiabin wouldn't be able to escape even if he wanted to.

(End of this chapter)