My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Previously, in order to deal with Li Zicheng's impending entry into Sichuan, the imperial court made a series of strategic deployments, mobilizing troops from the surrounding provinces, including Guizhou.

However, the military deployment and situation in Guizhou during the late Ming Dynasty were extremely complex, influenced by the complex ethnic composition, the power of the Tusi (local chieftains), and the decline of the Ming Dynasty, resulting in an overall weak situation.

During the Ming Dynasty, the garrison system was implemented in Guizhou. Theoretically, each garrison should have a staff of 5,600 people.

The main guard posts in Guizhou included: Guizhou Guard, Guizhou Front Guard, Weiqing Guard, Pingba Guard, Puding Guard, Wusa Guard, Tonggu Guard, and Wukai Guard.

Logically speaking, the current troop strength in Guizhou should be around 50,000.

However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the garrison system had severely declined, and the actual number of troops was far from sufficient.

Zhu Cilang naturally understood this principle, which is why he previously estimated that the actual troop strength in Guizhou was far less than that, at most less than 20,000.

In addition to the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, there were also private armies of the Tusi (local chieftains) in Guizhou.

These chieftain soldiers had very distinct characteristics. They were brave and skilled in battle, and had unique advantages in mountain warfare, but they were also prone to defection.

Just like the She-An Rebellion that occurred during the Tianqi era, when She Chongming of Yongning in Sichuan and An Bangyan of Shuixi in Guizhou joined forces to rebel against the Ming Dynasty and once besieged Guiyang, resulting in the tragedy of the "Siege of Guiyang".

During that brutal war, Guiyang was completely besieged, and the city was short of supplies, resulting in countless deaths.

Getting back to the main point, the memorial submitted by Lin Zhaoding, the General of Guizhou, concerned matters concerning the troops and soldiers of Guizhou.

In his letter, he expressed his helplessness, saying that due to the corruption of the garrison system, Guizhou now has less than 15,000 active troops!

Moreover, of this limited force, fewer than ten thousand are capable of fighting.

In addition, the Tusi (chieftain) forces in Guizhou are complex and intertwined, and it is necessary to guard against their rebellion at all times. Therefore, he was able to mobilize less than 5,000 troops this time!
However, the imperial court had initially assigned Guizhou a quota of 20,000 troops, requiring Guizhou to send 20,000 soldiers to support Sichuan.

Faced with such a huge gap, Guizhou simply could not muster that many troops.

Lin Zhaoding racked his brains and finally came up with a solution: to borrow troops from the chieftain.

Of course, this isn't a free loan; money has to be paid for it.

However, the imperial court had already transported a batch of grain and silver to Guizhou, so money should not be a problem.

However, Lin Zhaoding expressed his deep concern that although the soldiers of these chieftains were extremely brave, they were utterly disloyal.

They are like a herd of untamed wild horses, difficult to control. If these chieftain soldiers cause any trouble during battle, such as defecting or disobeying orders, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Lin Zhaoding was undecided about whether or not to use these chieftains' private troops, so he wrote a memorial to the court to ask how to resolve the matter.

To be honest, Zhu Cilang was quite surprised after reading the memorial.

He originally thought that the Guizhou General Commander had at least 20,000 troops under his command, after all, Guizhou is a large province and should have certain military reserves.

However, the Guizhou general told him that Guizhou only had 15,000 troops, and less than 10,000 of them were capable of fighting!
Moreover, Zhu Cilang estimated that the number of 10,000 people might be an exaggeration.

In the officialdom of that time, it was common for officials to falsely report troop strength and embezzle military funds.

I'm afraid Guizhou might only have five or six thousand truly capable fighters.

However, upon further reflection, Zhu Cilang felt that this seemed to make sense.

After all, the situation in various places was turbulent at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and Guizhou was located in a remote area with complex ethnic issues, so it was understandable that there was a shortage of troops.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang closed the memorial in his hand and threw it aside. He then couldn't help but sigh softly, feeling a mix of emotions.

He was ashamed to admit that a province with a population of several million could only send five thousand soldiers.

Suddenly, Zhu Cilang's expression froze, his tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Because he suddenly realized that this memorial provided him with the best excuse to go to Sichuan and fight Li Zicheng.
Moreover, in that very instant, Zhu Cilang had already figured out how to resolve the matter.

In short, they agreed to the plan of Lin Zhaoding, the general of Guizhou, allowing him to lead 5,000 Guizhou soldiers to support Sichuan, as well as 20,000 private soldiers of local chieftains to participate in the war.

There are two purposes for doing this.

One purpose was to demonstrate the power of the Ming army to these local chieftains' private soldiers, so that they could go back and tell their chieftains and consider what to do next.

As for the second point, it's a good opportunity to change the situation in Guizhou.

It is important to know that the Ming Dynasty always adopted a strategy of checks and balances towards ethnic minorities such as Tusi. Simply put, it would support one Tusi and then suppress another.

Then, when another chieftain rises to power, the chieftain is supported, thus preventing any single chieftain from becoming too powerful.

This method has indeed been effective, and it has been used for over two hundred years!
However, there is a prerequisite for the implementation of this method: the imperial court must have the strength, otherwise what can it provide support for?
Moreover, the chieftains were not fools. Over the past two hundred years, they had figured out the court's tactics, so sometimes they were just putting on an act. In private, the chieftains were united as if they were brothers.

On the surface, they obeyed the court's orders and fought among themselves, but in reality, they secretly colluded to oppose the court's rule.

Therefore, if we want to deal with these chieftains, we have to find another way!

The solution is simple: after the war is over, reward the chieftains' private soldiers who participated in the war!

In addition to rewarding them with a certain amount of silver, they were also given official positions, making them officials of the Ming Dynasty!
Of course, once they become officials in the Ming Dynasty, they can no longer go back to being the private soldiers of the chieftains; they can only choose one of these two options!
Moreover, according to the information Zhu Cilang learned, the relationship between the Tusi (chieftain) and their private soldiers was essentially just a tool-like connection under the feudal ruling system.

Although this relationship appears stable on the surface, it is actually extremely fragile, entirely dependent on the establishment of the chieftain's authority and the balance of the distribution of benefits.

Once this balance is broken, the seemingly solid relationship between the chieftains and their private soldiers will quickly crack, or even deteriorate completely until it falls apart!
Based on this understanding, Zhu Cilang came up with his previous idea.

After all, these chieftains' private soldiers were much easier to win over than the chieftains themselves.

As long as the imperial court can provide them with tangible benefits, there is no need to worry about them not turning their loyalty to the court.

Of course, simply offering benefits is far from enough. The key is to first let them truly witness the current strength of the Ming army, so that they will feel a sense of awe from the bottom of their hearts and understand that if they continue to be enemies with the Ming army, it will be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock, leading to certain death.

Only in this way can they be made to sincerely submit to the court and serve its purposes.

In addition, Zhu Cilang also planned to grant these private soldiers hereditary military officer positions.

This means that once they accept the court's offer, their descendants can enjoy this honor and wealth for a long time, without having to worry about gains and losses as they did when they were under the control of the chieftain.

Moreover, possessing such hereditary official positions would grant them a certain social status in Guizhou, even comparable to their former masters! Wherever they went, they would be respected and admired.

With such generous conditions, isn't it a thousand times better than them continuing to be the chieftain's private soldiers?

Meanwhile, Li Banghua, sitting opposite Zhu Cilang, was already drinking the ginger tea that Ma Bao had brought him.

The rich aroma of ginger filled the air, making people feel warm.

Li Banghua gently picked up the teacup, brought it to his lips, blew on it lightly, and then took a sip.

The warm ginger tea flowed down his throat, gradually warming his initially cold body.

Zhu Cilang was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Ma Bao coming in to deliver ginger tea.

While drinking ginger tea, Li Banghua kept glancing at Zhu Cilang. Seeing Zhu Cilang's thoughtful expression, he knew that the Crown Prince might have come up with some new plan, so he didn't dare to disturb him.

Suddenly, Zhu Cilang seemed to finally come to his senses, and then he slowly raised his head and looked at Li Banghua, who was drinking ginger tea.

"Minister Li, what's your opinion on this matter?"

Zhu Cilang did not reveal his plan directly, but instead inquired about Li Banghua first.

Upon hearing this, Li Banghua quickly put down his ginger tea and then respectfully said:
"Your Highness, I just discussed this matter with several officials from the Ministry of War, and we ultimately believe that it is best not to mobilize the chieftain's private troops this time."

"After all, the chieftain's private army is really hard to control. If they suddenly cause trouble during the battle, things will be difficult to handle."

Like other officials in the court, Li Banghua did not trust the chieftains and their private armies. After all, they were not of his kind, and their hearts were bound to be different!

They never shared the same goals as the Han people, so they never fought with all their might. They would only work hard if the court gave them enough rewards. They had absolutely no loyalty to speak of!

Their loyalty is only to money!

Therefore, Li Banghua did not want to use the chieftain's private army to participate in this war.

However, it was clear that Zhu Cilang did not think so, and then Zhu Cilang said:

"But if we don't use the chieftains' private armies, Guizhou can only send a maximum of five thousand troops. Isn't five thousand too few?"

"Moreover, although the Guizhou General Commander said that he had 15,000 men capable of fighting, you should know that this number is definitely exaggerated. The actual number is probably less than 10,000."

"In this situation, if we only mobilize the imperial court's 5,000 troops and not the local chieftains' private armies, what if those chieftains take the opportunity to cause trouble in Guizhou while we are fighting Li Zicheng?"

Upon hearing this, Li Banghua was momentarily speechless.

As the Minister of War, he was all too aware of the current strength of the imperial army.

Although the number of soldiers in the capital and Liaodong areas was sufficient after a series of reforms, in remote areas like Guizhou, where the imperial court had limited reach, the falsification of numbers was certainly a serious problem.

For their own political achievements and interests, they did not hesitate to falsify troop strength and swindle military funds and supplies from the imperial court.

However, due to poor communication, the imperial court was unable to verify the information in time and was kept in the dark by these people.

So even he himself didn't believe the Guizhou General's claim of having 15,000 men capable of fighting. According to his own estimation, he would be lucky to have half of them!
There are roughly seven or eight thousand people!
But if five thousand of these seven or eight thousand men were actually transferred to Sichuan to participate in the battle, leaving only two or three thousand to guard Guizhou, that would be too risky.

After all, the total military strength of the Tusi (chieftains) in Guizhou amounted to over 100,000!

If things go wrong even slightly, it could spiral out of control!

We can't just finish defeating Li Zicheng and then have to go to Guizhou to fight the Tusi (local chieftains), can we?
Thinking about this, Li Banghua felt a headache coming on.

On the one hand, he was worried that the chieftain's private army was unreliable and would cause trouble for the imperial army.

On the other hand, he was worried that the situation in Guizhou would get out of control and cause even greater losses to the imperial court.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally mustered the courage to speak:

"So, according to Your Highness, in addition to mobilizing 5,000 imperial troops, you also intend to mobilize the private troops of the local chieftains?"

Zhu Cilang nodded:
“That’s right, but the number needs to be increased further: five thousand imperial troops, plus twenty thousand private soldiers from the chieftains, and each chieftain must send troops.”

"In this way, the power of the local chieftains has been somewhat divided, and they can no longer cause trouble even if they want to."

"In addition, it would be best to inform them in advance that the imperial court is going to send troops to fight Li Zicheng in the Sichuan area. You can exaggerate the number of troops a little to make them fearful and not dare to act recklessly!"

Li Banghua sighed slightly. Although he felt this was inappropriate, it seemed to be the best solution given the current situation.

At worst, we can ask the Guizhou general to keep a close eye on these chieftains' private soldiers and prevent them from causing any trouble.

However, these guys are insatiable, so it seems the imperial court is going to have to spend a lot of money again.

"Cough cough."

Just as Li Banghua was deep in thought, Zhu Cilang suddenly coughed a few times, the sound of which was particularly clear in the quiet warm pavilion.

It instantly caught Li Banghua's attention.

Seeing that Li Banghua was looking at him, Zhu Cilang continued:

"By the way, I just suddenly remembered something. The troops that the court is going to mobilize this time are not only the private troops of the chieftains in Guizhou, but also the White Spear Army from Sichuan."

"Besides these, there are also Zhu Family Army, Beijing Garrison, Qin Army, and so on. With such a complex troop deployment, Minister Li, who do you think should be appointed as commander to control the overall situation?"

However, Li Banghua had no idea how to respond after hearing this.

To be honest, if only Han Chinese soldiers had participated in this battle, he could easily name more than a dozen. Those generals all had rich combat experience and outstanding command skills, and would surely have fought bravely on the battlefield and made great contributions to the court.

But
The composition of this army was far too complex. They came from different regions, had different training methods and command systems, and could not be easily commanded by a single general.

This left Li Banghua momentarily unsure who to choose as the head coach for this mission. (End of Chapter)