Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Three years have passed since His Majesty issued the bold words to conquer the Indo-China Peninsula.
However, the war in the south has not stopped and even intensified.
When the Ming army came to Xuanwei Division in Myanmar, the situation changed.
After all, it was their base camp. At this juncture, the Toungoo Army broke out with terrifying combat effectiveness.
And the prime minister finally made the right decision - to stick to it.
It was the last cry of a dying leopard, which made even the lions tremble.
The Taungoo army was waiting for work, and successively repelled the Ming army's attack in Awa, Pyin Uwin and other cities, and their morale was high.
On the other hand, the Ming army was suffering from diseases.
The climate in Southeast Asia is different from that of the Ming Dynasty.
In the previous war, the Jisi Army, no, almost the entire Ming Army, had already suffered from acclimatization and diseases caused by mosquitoes.
Fortunately, at the beginning, the Ming army could barely hold on. When a large number of diseases finally appeared, the Toungoo army had been broken, its morale plummeted, and it became helpless, but the Ming army could still maintain its advantage.
However, by the end of August, two months after the war began, there were already tens of thousands of patients in the Ming army, and the rear camps were filled with sick and wounded.
The Jisu Army, the most powerful and fearless army, was the hardest hit area - the temperature in the grassland was lower than that in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty, and it was even more difficult for them to withstand the climate here.
The thousands of soldiers who fought in the previous decisive battle were already the strongest and the last ones who were barely able to fight. When they suffered a large number of casualties in the decisive battle, the tip of Ming's spear was completely blunted.
In the war from September to October, both sides could only fight on the border because they could no longer organize a war. The Toungoo Army was too badly beaten to organize a large-scale counterattack, so it could only seize some village and town strongholds with small teams, and Ming Ming The army relied on units with terrain experience such as the Yunnan Frontier Army to encroach in small steps.
In November, the situation of the Ming army improved, and Yang Hao immediately launched another offensive - and the situation before was restored. The situation was no longer overwhelming. Although the Ming army occupied part of the city, under the strong walls and clear fields of the Toungu army, it was also The troops were lost and generals were lost, and the attack on major cities failed to achieve the strategic objectives.
The morale of the Ming army dropped sharply, and they were helpless against the Dongxu army.
As the old saying goes, when Han Xin leads troops, the more the better, but Yang Hao, whose ability to command only tens of thousands of people, should be classified as a "general" rather than a "marshal".
The reason why he was able to achieve such a victory before was because his opponent was not strong and faced the Ming army head-on. Faced with the opponent's current tactics, he had nothing to do.
Now he has reached his limit. Hundreds of thousands of Ming troops are stationed in Mengyang and Mubang, maintaining a confrontation with the Toungoo dynasty. The occupied areas of both sides are intertwined, and small and medium-sized battles continue to break out.
Not to mention conquering the other six comforts, even the first goal was not achieved.
Zhu Changxun decided to change his commander and replaced him with Sun Chengzong, the Minister of War.
He was appointed as the censor of Youqiandu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. With this position, he patrolled Yunnan and took charge of Liuwei's military affairs.
In two months, he successfully broke through Taungoo's defense line before the next rainy season, captured him and captured him, and won another great victory.
The people praised the emperor, and Taungoo's wealth was also transported to the capital. Although he had gone through the war, he had saved a lot of money during his rest and recuperation. It was still a considerable fortune, with a total of two hundred Ten thousand.
Fight to feed war? Zhu Changxun's eyes lit up. Isn't this a way? And the praise from the people made him even more elated.
"Sun Chengzong, the governor of Yunnan, for his meritorious service in battle, was granted the title of Uncle Gaoyang and was given the World Voucher."
"Order him to rectify his military affairs, then move eastward and recover Liuwei. I admire this!"
The eunuch came to the camp of the southern army and declared the emperor's will to him.
Sun Chengzong was unwilling and said angrily:
"Tungoo has been defeated, and the war should end here. Struggle with force is not the right way to govern the world."
Zhu Changxun was angered. He jailed the Yunnan governor and replaced him with a general who obeyed his orders.
Then he pointed to his eunuch and said:
"You go to southern Xinjiang and supervise these foreign officials for me."
The eunuchs were flattered. They had not been exposed to military power for a long time. This was the first time.
He decided that he must faithfully complete His Majesty's mission.
The war machine started up again, and a steady stream of reinforcements, gold, silver, and food began to flow to the southwest again.
In order to support his ambitions, Ming Dynasty's finances were continuously invested in the southwest region, and then consumed in endless battles.
Those Xuanweisi are not so easy to mess with. Every step forward of the Ming army is made of flesh and blood.
The territory of Jiaozhi is close at hand, yet seems far away.
However, it is already the fourteenth year of Wuxing.
If converted to the original time and space, it would already be the year of Chongzhen.
The cold wave engulfed the Ming Dynasty, floods and droughts took turns in various places, and locusts formed the ocean. In the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, disasters have never been so frequent. It seemed that God was going to defeat this old man.
Victims of the disaster appeared in large numbers, and there was also the heavy corvee of sending troops, and the rebel army rose again.
The water conservancy project could no longer be carried out, so the workers threw down their farm tools and joined the uprising.
War smoke is everywhere.
In recent years, things have not been peaceful in the court either.
For the sake of the war, the emperor and his chief assistant quarreled many times, and the chief assistant even refused to return the emperor's orders several times, which made the emperor furious... With the instigation of Wang Tiqian and Ni Wenhuan, their relationship deteriorated sharply.
And the most fundamental point is,
The emperor was unwilling to admit his defeat.
It seems that as long as the war is not over, he will still be the invincible emperor.
There is still money in the treasury, the 60% water conservancy project that has been completed, and the lingering charm of governance have brought the last glimmer of life to Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, there is a locust plague in Henan. Please stop using troops and allocate the national treasury to provide disaster relief..."
"Your Majesty, thieves are swarming in Huguang. The southern troops are empty and unable to suppress them. Please call back the southern troops..."
The admonitions of the ministers resounded in the court hall.
The emperor was on the throne, waving his hands somewhat numbly, dismissing the memorials of these officials and sending them to jail, just like before.
"The last half year, give me the last half year!"
He suddenly felt a little desperate, with red eyes like a gambler.
On the same day, the chief assistant stood up.
He walked out of the capital and looked at the devastation everywhere.
Gyeonggi also suffered from a locust plague, and there were constant refugees. Fortunately, under the emperor's feet, there were finally people to help.
But what about the other provinces?
He even dared not look at the urgent document.
He no longer recognizes his disciples.
But he couldn't watch him go on like this, watch the empire he created decline.
Before heading to the palace, he walked to the temple in the center of the capital for the first time and knelt down in front of the statue.
"Ancestor, please save the world."
he whispered.
If you don’t like reading it, I’ll pass this section quickly. (ｐq)
(End of chapter)
