Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 225 The Plans for the Jingnan Campaign: Imitating Han Officials

Jiayuguan, Tiance Palace.

Zhu Jinzhen sat in the highest seat, with a map of the Ming Dynasty in front of him, and standing on both sides were high-ranking generals and officers under the command of Prince Su, including Changsun Wangqing, Li Chengen, and Yang Qingyi.

"Xue Zhi".

"The end will be here."

Xue Zhi stepped forward from the crowd and bowed.

"In this campaign to quell the rebellion, I require you to lead the Cangyun forces and completely control the troops on all four sides."

"Qin Yiyan and Song Senxue have blocked the troops of four important border towns: Datong, Xuanfu, Yansui, and Shanxi, and trapped them in Yinchuan. Your mission is to lead the Cangyun Army to take them all down and control the border defenses along the way."

"After that..."

Zhu Jinzhen pointed to the Hetao region on the map of the Ming Dynasty: "From Hetao, we will sweep across the northern lands, and send a portion of our troops to follow me north to the capital to control the Wanquan Commandery. We will also send people from Daning to continue north to pacify Liaodong."

"The other part of the group..."

"Forget about love."

"Your subordinate is here," Changsun Wangqing replied with a bow.

"I entrust you with the 100,000 most elite Xuanjia cavalry of Cangyun, as well as the Vanguard Battalion, the Breaking Camp, and the Women's Guard Battalion. I want you to lead your army south first, capture Taiyuan, start from Henan, control Huguang and Jiangzhe, and then control the entire Jiangnan region."

"We must not allow the Ming Dynasty to be thrown into turmoil."

"At the same time, we must guard against small overseas countries such as Goguryeo and Japan taking the opportunity to harass the coast."

"The last general takes orders."

Changsun Wangqing clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

Zhu Jinzhen nodded and looked at Li Chengen, who was standing to the side with expectant eyes: "Chengen."

"The end will be here."

"Tian Ce will dispatch 30,000 Tian Ce soldiers to advance from Lingzang, control Ganduo Commandery, and push forward as far as they can. I will notify Qu Xian and the Hami Guards to cooperate."

Li Chengen clasped his hands in a fist and replied, "This humble general obeys."

"In addition, Xu Changhai was appointed as the General Who Conquers the South, leading 30,000 Tian Ce troops to accompany the Left and Right Guards of Ganzhou southward. After cooperating in controlling the Sichuan Provincial Military Command, they will pass through Yunnan, take control of Yunnan, and bring Annam, which was abandoned by the Xuande Emperor, back into the territory of our Great Ming."

"Yes, Your subordinate will certainly not fail in your mission." Xu Changhai excitedly accepted the order.

While others may have only contributed to the pacification of the country, he was instrumental in expanding its territory!

Annam is just a tiny, insignificant place.

Even if there were only 5,000 Tian Ce soldiers, let alone 50,000, Xu Changhai was 100% confident that he could completely defeat them.

"Don't be happy too early."

Zhu Jinzhen understood Xu Changhai's excitement and said with a smile, "The recapture of Annam must be swift. It won't be long before I head north from Shaanxi, and your time won't be much longer either."

"I want to see Annam reintegrated into the territory of my Great Ming Dynasty before my coronation ceremony."

"Is it possible?"

Xu Changhai suddenly shouted, "Yes!"

With 50,000 Tian Ce troops, Xu Changhai was absolutely confident that he could conquer not only little Annam, but also Burma and Siam together.

Strength is the only truth.

Strength is the greatest fundamental guarantee of peace.

The Tian Ce Mansion represents the strongest truth of the world to all nations, both at home and abroad.

Before the Heavenly Strategy Iron Cavalry, composed of tens of thousands of Vajra Realm experts, who could withstand them?
Once this thought arose, Xu Changhai could no longer restrain himself.

"For Your Highness's coronation ceremony, how can a mere Annam be sufficient as a gift? Burma, Siam, or even..." Xu Changhai's eyes flashed, filled with a terrifying glint.

Zhu Jinzhen paid no attention to Xu Changhai's subsequent reaction, and continued to issue orders, ordering the most elite iron cavalry of Cangyun to follow him north, and the Tiance Prefecture and the Twelve Guards of Shaanxi to sweep across the Ming Dynasty according to the original plan.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, it established thirteen Great Fortress Kings to govern the various garrisons in southern Mongolia, relying on the natural defenses of mountains and rivers.

Emperor Taizu Gao declared to the world, "Our country has driven out the barbarian Yuan and unified the world. It extends from Liaodong in the east to Jiuquan in the west, covering thousands of miles. In between, there are Yuyang, Shanggu, Yunzhong, Shuo, Dai, and even Shangjun, Beidi, Lingwu, Gaolan, and Hexi. The mountains and rivers are connected, and there are garrisons and garrisons with 400,000 armored soldiers. We rely on the great natural defenses to control the barbarians. We are at the height of our prosperity."

Following changes during the Yongle and Xuande reigns, the Ming dynasty's administrative structure underwent some alterations in the early years. The first thing Zhu Jinzhen did after the Jingnan Campaign, besides controlling the capital, was to take command of the military forces of all the important towns along the nine borders and dispatch a large army to take over the military commands and garrisons in various regions.

Since ancient times, the emperor has been the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses.

If all the troops in the country were in Zhu Jinzhen's hands, even if something unexpected happened, or if someone tried to take advantage of the chaos or loot the country, it would be nothing more than a minor ailment that could be easily dealt with.

Unbeknownst to them, as the situation at Jiayuguan unfolded, the true intelligence of the two powerful armies, Cangyun and Tiance, was disseminated.

The regional princes who had been itching to make a move had long since given up and retreated into seclusion.

Let alone taking advantage of the chaos, they wouldn't even dare to jump out and frolic.

"Li Chengen and Yang Qingyi."

"The end will be here."

Zhu Jinzhen first looked at Yang Qingyi, pointing to Guizhou: "You will lead the various guards of Shaanxi to recover Longzhou Division, and together with Xu Changhai and the left and right guards of Ganzhou, take over Sichuan. Then, starting from Sinan Prefecture, gradually nibble away at Guizhou."

"Cheng'en, you led the Tian Ce army from Hanzhong into Xiangyang, then took Changsha, recovered Guangdong and Guangxi, and joined forces with Wang Qing to control the entire south."

"Yes, I will obey your orders."

Li Chengen and Yang Qingyi nodded repeatedly.

They all basically understood Zhu Jinzhen's intentions, which were similar to those of Changsun Wangqing: to inspect the military defenses of various regions before Zhu Jinzhen seized the throne and launched his rebellion, to prevent them from being used or manipulated by those with ulterior motives, thus causing unrest. They also intended to take the opportunity to suppress any unrest.

For them, it's no different from being gilded.

……

Troop deployment and pre-battle planning.

This meeting on the Jingnan Rebellion lasted until nightfall.

Time is running out for everyone.

Following Zhu Jinzhen's orders, fires were lit at midnight, preparations were completed at dawn, and the army set off at dawn; everyone was making final preparations.

After leaving the meeting, Tian Ce and the Cang Yun leadership held an emergency meeting.

Xu Changhai found Li Chengen, Changsun Wangqing, and others and told them what he was thinking.

"Is this method feasible?"

"I think the surprise prepared for Your Highness is acceptable."

"It's a pity that my territory is in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise I really wanted to destroy a few countries to add to Your Highness's festivities and celebrate."

At this moment, Zhu Jianqiu, the strategist of the Heavenly Strategy Army, said with a smile, "General Xu, your idea of ​​giving His Highness a surprise is good, but don't forget that your marching route will be monitored and reported to His Highness by secret guards at all times. Do you think you can keep it a secret?"

"Oh no! What should we do?"

"This is why I asked you to invite Commander Yan and General Yan." Zhu Jianqiu smiled and looked at Changsun Wangqing and his disciple Yan Wangqing, who were standing silently to the side.

Yan Yimei frowned: "You want the secret guards to temporarily withhold information about this?"

"No!"

Zhu Jianqiu shook his head and calmly said, "Concealing information is a major taboo. I would like to ask Commander Yan to postpone the report."

"what for?"

All eyes were on Zhu Jianqiu.

Zhu Jianqiu smiled and replied, seemingly unrelated to the question, "Everyone should have heard about Zhang Qian, the envoy of the Han Dynasty, and other envoys of the Han Dynasty, right?"

Everyone present was intelligent, and upon hearing Zhu Jianqiu's words, their eyes lit up.

Xu Changhai couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Strategist, do you mean that when I attack Annam, I should send envoys to Burma and Siam to learn from Zhang Qian and his men? Then... create a pretext to cause trouble, take advantage of the situation to send troops, and conquer them?"

When it came to talking about satisfying one's desires, Xu Changhai's eyes lit up.

Others are also racking their brains to consider the feasibility of this approach.

It wasn't that Xu Changhai was targeting Siam and Myanmar, but rather whether there were suitable opportunities to maneuver in their respective operational areas.

Some people even went so far as to recall all the questionable actions of the many famous envoys of the Han Dynasty who went down in history.

(End of this chapter)