Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

"Annan".

Inside the palace, Dade looked at King Liang and told him his choice.

Upon hearing what Dade said, King Liang paused for a moment before speaking.

Why Annam?

"Because Annam is relatively close to us, it is convenient for us to lead our troops there."

Moreover, Annam has been plagued by a constant stream of problems and troubles.

If we send troops to Annam, we can easily achieve a great victory.

"Establish a foothold in Annam."

Dad explained his considerations.

His thinking was simple: if they couldn't fight the Ming Dynasty here, couldn't they at least fight Annam?
Dealing with Annan shouldn't be a problem.

They pick on the weakest link. If the Ming Dynasty wants to attack them, and they can't win, then they'll naturally look for an easier target.

Abandoning this place and going to Annam would be a much safer option.

"We took Annam from here and left this place to the Ming Dynasty."

If the Ming Dynasty had taken over these places and continued southward, what should have been done?
"Aren't we just becoming the vanguard for the Ming Dynasty, doing all the work for their benefit?"

"Bazawalmi spoke up."

"Your Majesty, this...this is indeed something that needs to be considered."

But our place is already spacious enough.

Taking over Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty was not an easy task.

Even after acquiring it, it will still take many years to manage and govern it.

The Ming Dynasty already had a vast territory, so it was impossible for it to make any further moves in a short period of time.

With so many places available, he could be tied down.

He'll be busy from now on.

I won't think about it too much anymore.

Annam is quite different from the southwest; it's not land originally inhabited by the Han people.

As he said this, Dad's voice became even softer.

“Your Majesty… if you are still worried, we can choose not to attack Annam.”

We can cross Annam and travel to even more distant places.

With the troops and provisions at our disposal, we are invincible.

Conquering many places there and becoming a king and hegemon there will not be a problem.

As long as we are far away from the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to actually attack us.

I'm not afraid of a real fight.

There are so many places to eat, you could easily stuff yourself to death!
So this can be considered a good thing!
Let's make that Zhu Yuanzhang suffer a lot.

Dad spoke his mind about the matter.

In fact, this was his real plan.

As for the idea of ​​attacking Annam, it was merely a way to create more difficulty and attract the king's attention, so that he could accomplish what he wanted to achieve.

Annam is indeed too close to here.

Being too close to the Ming Dynasty was unsafe.

If they ran, how could they have only run this short distance?
Wouldn't that really make them just the vanguard of the Ming Dynasty, doing things for them?

He certainly wouldn't do something so foolish.

Moreover, these Han Chinese are best at saying things like "since ancient times".

If we trace our lineage back to the Tang Dynasty, Annam can be traced back to some extent.

When they are weak, these things will be kept quiet.

Once they become powerful and expand, they will start to consult books, taking in the records within, which are said to have existed since ancient times.

They said those things were originally their territory, and so on.

He must be wary of this move.

We must not let our guard down and fall into the trap set by the Ming people.

Under the current circumstances, it is clearly impossible to engage in a direct confrontation with the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming army was already very powerful, and now, after witnessing how they broke through the royal court in such a short time and even captured and beheaded the emperor, they were even more impressed.

This gave us a clearer understanding of the Ming people's strength.

After all, the power of the royal court far surpasses that of theirs.
Even the royal court was completely unable to resist the Ming army and was defeated in this way.

Not to mention their side.

Fighting them would only lead to certain death.

He didn't really want to die, nor did he want the King of Liang to die.

Their king treated them quite well.

Of course, if he truly had the strength to fight and a chance of winning, he would never be so cowardly; he would genuinely be willing to fight.

King Liang did not want to leave this place, so how could he possibly want to leave?
But in this situation, we really can't fight; if we do, we'll die.

It would be better to save some of our strength and move on to another place to continue our lives.

With the power they wield, they can become absolute overlords further south, unmatched by anyone.

Acquiring a large area to settle down shouldn't be difficult.

After hearing what Dad said, Zalawami glanced at Dad, said nothing more, and fell silent.

Dad lowered his head slightly, feeling as if the king had seen through him.

"Let me think about it."

After a long silence, King Liang looked at Dade and said these words, without making any decision on the spot.

Dade was not surprised by this.

Faced with such a major event, it is naturally not easy to make a corresponding decision in a short period of time.

Their place was indeed picturesque, and they had plenty of resources. Having grown accustomed to living here, they themselves didn't want to leave, let alone the king.

He can understand.

However, the king did not blame him for what he said.

It seems there's still hope...

After Dad left, he sat in the same spot for a long time.

He then got up and went up to the palace wall. Standing there, he wanted to go outside and take a look at everything.

His expression kept changing, and it was clear that he was feeling very complicated.

He stood there for a very long time, until the sun set and the stars filled the sky.

The princess came up and took a cloak and draped it over him.

"Your Highness, are you willing to leave here?"

Bazalava turned to look at the queen and asked her a question.

His voice carried a hint of heaviness.

Princess Liang shook her head: "Of course I can't bear to part with it."

This is the land of my Great Yuan, and it is also our land.

We've lived here, raised children, and spent so many years here. Who could bear to leave like this?

"Then let's not leave. Let's live here and perish together!"

"The King of Liang spoke up."

Princess Liang nodded: "I will obey Your Majesty's will."

King Liang casually put his arm around the princess and nodded.

After standing there quietly for a while, King Liang shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's leave. We can't really die here."

We must give up what we should give up, otherwise we might all lose our lives.

However, hard times are ahead.

Upon hearing this, Princess Liang's eyes flashed with joy and relief.

She said gently, "It's not bitter. As long as I'm with the King, even the bitterest days will be as sweet as honey."

"Hearing the princess say that put my mind at ease, and I have no more worries."

He nodded and said.

In fact, besides retreating without a fight or fighting to the death with the Ming army, there was another viable option for him: surrendering to the Ming Dynasty.

He just didn't want to take this path.

I've been standing for too long, I don't want to kneel down.

Moreover, judging from the fate of their emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang is now incredibly powerful.

They didn't consider the consequences at all.

They didn't care about their lives or deaths.

He even said, "Those who offend the mighty Han, though far away, shall be punished."

He had previously killed Zhu Yuanzhang's envoy.

Under these circumstances, surrendering would likely only lead to a bad end.

There's a possibility that Zhu Yuanzhang might chop off his head.

That would be such a terrible injustice.
In that case, it would be better to just get away from here.

They left with their troops, weapons, and other belongings.

In that case, it can be considered a relatively good path.

It would be far safer than surrendering to the Ming Dynasty.

Even so, it's certainly not as good as living like this now.

But it was far better than surrendering to the Ming Dynasty.

Although Dad had some selfish motives, he did offer a very good solution.
It is in Dad's interest, and it is also in Dad's interest.

As long as things are done well, it's acceptable.

Besides, there's nothing to be ashamed of about making this choice.

After all, the late emperor and his entourage had already made the corresponding choices.

They abandoned Dadu and came to the grasslands to preserve their strength.

If that decision hadn't been made back then, the royal court would probably be gone by now.

The Yuan Dynasty will perish even earlier than it is now.

Since the late emperor and the others have already set an example and shown me how to choose,

In that case, there's no need for me to stay here and hold out.

There's nothing wrong with leaving at the right time.

Once this decision was made, I felt a great sense of relief, and the torment was finally over.

It was only at this moment that he truly realized that he didn't actually want to fight either.

……

The next day, Dade and Luer, the two right-hand men of the Liang King, were summoned.

King Liang told them his decision.

After learning what he was going to do, I couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

I felt incredibly fortunate; a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
Dade, in particular, was overjoyed.

This is the scenario he most hopes to see.

Fortunately, the king ultimately adopted his opinion and did not lose his temper on this matter.

This is the best and smartest choice.

As for Lu'er, who had previously said he wanted to lead troops to fight a desperate battle against the Ming Dynasty, he did not object.

I also strongly support the decision to place Zarawalmi in charge.

This shows that when Dade and he offered different opinions, it was probably not just about wanting to fight a deadly battle with the Ming Dynasty.

It is also quite possible that he and Dade each had their own version of events, and they were testing the King of Liang's attitude.

Now that the King of Liang has made his final decision, there is naturally no need to say anything more about this matter.

After making the decision, King Liang and his men acted swiftly.

The King of Liang personally summoned many ministers and generals, and said that he would live and die with them and make the Ming army shed their last drop of blood here.

Then, troops were dispatched to guard many strategic locations, such as Bailongjiang.

For a time, many people were worried about it, but many others felt their blood boiling with excitement.

That's exactly how things should be done, that's the best way!
Therefore, the entire southwest region immediately began to take action and prepare for war upon receiving the order from the King of Liang.

Various kinds of food and supplies began to be gathered and mobilized.

However, this was only the surface appearance; in reality, King Liang and his men were taking the opportunity to mobilize their elite troops and generals to gather here.

At the same time, a large amount of grain and supplies were transported in the opposite direction.

They talk a good game and promise to fight to the death, but in reality, they're just using this opportunity to escape.

They tricked some people into going to the front lines to die in their place.

This would allow them to delay the Ming army for as long as possible.

Of course, it was also because directly announcing the surrender and fleeing would have too great an impact, and morale would be greatly affected.

Moreover, many tribal leaders in the southwest would also rebel and take the opportunity to cause trouble, which would be counterproductive.

Therefore, it's better to take a roundabout approach.

Their arrangement played a significant role.

As a result, many people were deceived.

Meanwhile, the escape plan carried out by King Liang and his men was proceeding smoothly.

The implementation went very smoothly.

Even later, some people realized that something was wrong.

It was all too late; it no longer affected the overall situation.

……

A month later, King Liang, along with his queen, his left and right prime ministers, many nobles, a large number of soldiers, gold and silver treasures, and provisions, left Kunming.

Heading south.

Over there, some troops had already been mobilized and were waiting.

Their reason for deploying troops here was that they had noticed Annam was also making moves against them.

They wanted to join forces with the Ming Dynasty to get a share of the spoils.

This is disadvantageous to them.

With one last look at Kunming, the King of Liang's eyes were filled with reluctance.

In the end, he turned around and rode away on his horse.

After he left, the once bustling city of Kunming suddenly appeared desolate and chaotic.

However, no flames rose.

Some suggested that when he left, he should burn this place down to the ground and leave nothing for the Ming people.

However, after much deliberation, he ultimately did not agree to the proposal.

Because this was a place he had lived in for a long time, he was unwilling to burn it down.

On the other hand, much of the supplies that were supposed to be taken have already been taken away.

Take the important things with you; the rest can stay here.

Of course, he didn't tell anyone the deepest reason.

It's because he felt that this way he could leave room for maneuver and avoid going too far.

When Zhang Lu fled during the Three Kingdoms period, he did not set fire to the city, but burned the grain and fodder he could not take with him.

This became a reason why Cao Cao did not completely eliminate them.

He left Kunming here with the same idea.

I want to leave myself some hope, some way out.

Although this backup plan is unlikely to be used.

However, those that should be kept should still be kept.

……

Lan Yu rode his horse straight to the southwest.

I felt incredibly excited.

The troops have finally been mobilized!
I heard that the King of Liang in the southwest is oblivious to his fate. Instead of fleeing, he has raised troops and is fighting against us.

That's perfect!
This is exactly what he wanted to see!
Now is the time for him to make his mark! (End of Chapter)