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

Chapter 269 Frequent Victories, the Way of the King and the Way of the Hegemon

The border city of the Mongol Yuan dynasty fell, and the border was in dire straits.

Even with an urgent request for help, delivered by a falcon at its fastest speed, it would still take a whole day to bring the message back to Dadu.

However, is it useful?
The only remaining option for the Mongol border city was to hide and lie low. The Mongol soldiers, who were hoping to retake the border, looked at the dozens of carrier pigeons and falcons that were sending out distress signals, but they did not have much hope.

"Could it be that the great cause of our Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which swept across the grasslands, conquered many countries, and unified the world under generations of powerful rulers, is about to come to an end?" A Mongol Yuan soldier looked up at the sky and wept.

Without exception, they were all traumatized by the Dragon Riders.

An army composed of thousands of Vajra Realm experts swept across the battlefield, invincible in every way.

Their ability to conquer cities and plunder strongholds was unstoppable.

A disheveled general, his face covered in blood, leaned against a cellar in a civilian's house, weeping and burying his face in his hands: "The price of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians who defended the city, united as one and fighting one after another, was almost the total annihilation of the entire army!"

"They didn't inflict any casualties on that cavalry force. Even if His Majesty sends out a large army, will it really make a difference?"

"Meng Yuan, it's over."

"The grasslands...are finished!"

The survivors were filled with despair.

The gap is so large that it leaves one with nothing but despair.

The dragon riders rampaged across the land, unstoppable in their path. They were all of invincible physiques, and even when swords and arrows struck them, they could only barely withstand a few blows, only being pushed back a step or two by the force of gravity.

Although they numbered eight thousand, they inflicted a greater psychological trauma on them than an army of eight hundred thousand.

However, the Mongol soldiers and civilians who were still clinging to some unrealistic hope were unaware that while they were desperately trying to break out and seek help from Dadu (Beijing),...

A momentous change was also taking place in Dadu, the capital of the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

They simply had no time to care about them.

But that's a story for another time.

……

The Ming Dynasty, Yan'an Prefecture.

After several days of rest and reorganization, the Ming Dynasty's troops on all four sides—Datong, Yansui, Shanxi, Xuanfu, and Ningxia Guard—were all disrupted and reorganized by the Tian Ce and Cang Yun armies, and the unrest was quelled.

Thus, the biggest trouble Zhu Jinzhenjing had ever encountered was completely resolved.

The troops of the five major border armies in the nine important border towns are missing.

Even if the princes of various regions of the Ming Dynasty responded to the emperor's call and raised troops to defend the emperor, it would not have any impact on Zhu Jinzhen's reconstruction. Not to mention being enemies with Tian Ce and Cang Yun, it was just an army of 400,000 men composed of the five major border armies.

That would be enough to wipe out all the disloyal subjects of the entire Ming Dynasty.

In reality, Zhu Jinzhen's Cangyun Army, which was tasked with suppressing the rebellion, was led by Xue Zhi. Song Senxue selected the most elite troops from the five border armies as auxiliary forces, with two terrestrial celestial beings as leaders, dozens of terrestrial immortals, and hundreds of celestial grandmasters, forming an army composed entirely of those at the Vajra Realm or above.

This was something the garrison troops in various parts of the Ming Dynasty could not even imagine.

When Zhu Jinzhen led his army north under the pretext of pacifying the rebellion, news of victories came frequently. Every day, the number of times the Shaanxi garrisons led by Yang Qingyi had captured cities in Sichuan and Guizhou increased from five cities on the first day to the final day when Xu Changhai and his troops divided into seventeen routes, launched lightning attacks, and captured thirty cities in a single day, organized by battalion.

Zhu Jinzhen's army, which was personally leading the campaign to quell the rebellion, had not even reached Datong Prefecture yet.

Xu Changhai has led the Tian Ce Army to capture sixteen cities in Yunnan and is now at the gates of Yunnan Prefecture!

"Your Highness, a great victory!"

"General Li Chongwu led the left and right guards of Ganzhou, together with Commander Yang, to conquer Guizhou. Bozhou Division, Guizhou Division, and Qingyuan Prefecture are within reach, and the takeover of the entire Guizhou territory is imminent." "General Xu led the Tiance Prefecture to conquer Heqing, Dali, and Chuxiong in succession. Military strategist Zhu Jianqiu led the army alone and conquered Mengyang Division in one battle. Luchuan Pingmian Division surrendered without a fight. Mengding Division, Cheli Division, and Menggen Prefecture surrendered upon hearing the news. Mu Prefecture in Yunnan is now isolated and without support, and has little will to resist."

"General Xu sent a message that he could take over the entire Yunnan province within two days and then advance into Myanmar."

When Yan Yimei reported on the victories in the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, she was beaming with pride and smiling brightly. She was proud of the unparalleled achievement of capturing thirty cities in a single day, coupled with the reports of her invincible record.

As Zhu Jinzhen's deputy commander of the secret guards and the commander of Cangyun's female guard battalion, she naturally shared in the honor.

The civil and military officials from the three departments who came with the army from Shaanxi were so excited that they were almost incoherent. They were the ones who had quickly taken over most of the Ming Dynasty. Every one of them who heard Yan Yimei's report on the battle situation had a proud look on their face.

Shen Bing, who had already secretly regarded himself as the Minister of Rites, was even thinking about how much reward Zhu Jinzhen would give to Xu Changhai, Yang Qingyi, Li Chongwu and others after the Jingnan Rebellion succeeded, in accordance with the law.

Zhu Jinzhen smiled broadly: "You're very fast!"

"At this rate, it should take about three days to recover the entire territory of Myanmar?"

Myanmar borders Yunnan, and although it sent envoys to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty in the sixteenth year of the Hongwu reign (1380), it sent envoys again the following year, leading the Ming Dynasty to establish the Myanmar-China Pacification Commission. From the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the present day, Myanmar has always been a tributary state of the Ming Dynasty.

However, according to the intelligence Zhu Jinzhen had learned, the Ava Dynasty in Myanmar had been engaged in a protracted war with the Pagu Dynasty, which lasted for forty years. This war had depleted the country's strength, left farmland barren, and forced people to flee to Toungoo to escape famine and war.

As a result, Dongyu has become increasingly restless in recent years.

If history had proceeded as it normally would, the Ming-Burmese War would have broken out not long afterward.

Zhu Jinzhen believed that this was the best time for the Tian Ce Prefecture to enter Burma.

"Pass the order to Xu Changhai: anyone who does not submit to the king's rule shall be annihilated without mercy."

"Yes."

Yan Yimei nodded, and a secret guard immediately turned around and went out to send a message by carrier pigeon.

"Commander Li Chengen, leading 30,000 Tian Ce Iron Cavalry, has ascended from Lingzang and has now taken control of Ganduo Commandery. He is preparing to set off to recapture Wusizang Commandery."

"He sent a message to inquire and ask Your Highness, saying that Sikkim and Bhutan are not compliant with our teachings and have the intention to break away from the Ming Dynasty."

"Is Tian Ce following the path of benevolent rule or tyrannical rule?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jinzhen pondered, while Xu Yu, Ma You, Shen Bing, and the others in the hall were completely bewildered, not understanding what Yan Yimei meant by 'the way of the king and the way of the tyrant'.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Shen Bing bowed and asked, "May I ask Your Highness, what is the meaning of the terms 'the way of the king' and 'the way of the tyrant'?"

Zhu Jinzhen looked at Yan Yimei, asking her to explain.

"The so-called 'kingly way' means that if the enemy refuses to submit to your teachings, you should crush them squarely and honorably," Yan Yimei explained. Seeing the strange expressions on everyone's faces, she added, "The Chenghua Emperor's purge was roughly like that."

Chenghua Liting was another display of the might of the Ming Dynasty after the Tumu Crisis.

Everyone present was naturally quite familiar with this matter.

"So this is the way of the king!" Xu Yu and the others exclaimed, finally understanding what the way of the king was. This was indeed the righteous and majestic way of the king, crushing the enemy with absolute power.

"That's domineering?"

Zheng Tong, the prefect of Datong Prefecture, asked a question.

"True tyranny means crushing even the most cunning enemy. My words are law, and my actions are justice."

Unreasonable and self-centered.

That's also domineering.

(End of this chapter)