The person who was ordered to return to court and state the military situation of Dali was Yuhou Li Shoujie, the capital of the southwest camp. It had been some years since he was released from Beijing by Emperor Liu, and he stayed there for several years. Under Wang Quanbin, he also caught up with the southern expedition and made some contributions in the Eastern Route Army.
The clothes were not as good as new, and the people were not as good as before. Emperor Liu felt a little happy when he saw the people around him returning with their achievements. He was specially given wine to drink and asked to sit down and report.
Li Shoujie is also in his thirties. He is no longer as young as before, but he is more composed than before. Unlike his father, Marquis Chenyang, this man is, as his name suggests, a respectful and disciplined person.
"...Wang Dushuai led the army southward, approaching Shanshan. Passing by the wind, the army successfully arrived at Shanshanfu City after breaking through several enemy obstacles. This place is an important town in the middle of Dali, and its monarchs and ministers A mob of more than 30,000 people was assembled, intending to hold the city and resist.
The city wall of Shanshan is not as strong as the city of Yangjumei, and the terrain is dangerous. Our army is confident that it will overcome it. However, in compliance with the imperial court's policy of recruiting, the king's commander-in-chief sent an envoy to surrender, but he refused.
In order to reduce casualties during the siege, our army spent twenty days to surround Shanshan, cut off transportation, block enemy support (although Dali had no reinforcements at that time), cut off news, turn it into an isolated city, and supply military supplies. Build heavy weapons.
After everything was ready, our army launched a ten-day attack on Shanshan City starting from October 25th. Under our army's powerful offensive, the Shanshan defenders suffered heavy casualties, the city walls were crumbling, and the morale of the defenders in the city was declining day by day. Our army's casualties were limited to less than 2,000 people.
There were no reinforcements from outside, lack of military supplies internally, the soldiers were in confusion, and their morale was low. At the end of the road, they sent surrendering officials to persuade them to surrender. Forced by the embarrassing situation both internally and externally, the monarchs and ministers of Dali finally decided to surrender!
In addition, Dali King Duan Sicong's condition worsened after the siege, and he died in the city on November 3. His son Duan Sushun succeeded to the throne in a hurry, so he chose to surrender..."
After listening to Li Shoujie's report, the smile on Emperor Liu's face became even stronger and he said, "Wang Quanbin is becoming more sophisticated in using troops!"
From the description, it can be seen that in the Battle of Shanshan, the Han army made progress fairly smoothly. Although it took a long time, it was not difficult and the casualties were controlled.
This is completely different from the previous battle. At the beginning of the war, Wang Quanbin pursued speed and efficiency, and did not hesitate to take risks. He went deep into the barren land, crossed the Jedi, and forcibly attacked the city of Yangjume. At that time, in the process of destroying the city, they did not hesitate to pay any price, regardless of casualties. The offensive was as fierce as the autumn wind sweeping through the fallen leaves, full of momentum.
As a result, the city of Yangjumei was destroyed, and more than half of the Western Route Army suffered casualties. When the battle against Shanshan City became clear and victory was established, Wang Quanbin changed his previous tough style and turned to seeking stability, fighting steadily, caring about casualties, and using both political and military offensives to successfully win the battle at a small cost. Shanshan took prisoners of Dali's monarchs and ministers, and also wiped out the last resistance force in Dali.
"Now that Shanshan City has been conquered, there will no longer be any resistance to Wang Shi's power in Dali! We can take over the southwest in one fell swoop, and it will be just around the corner!" Emperor Liu nodded.
Li Shoujie cupped his hands and said, "After the surrender of Dali's monarchs, Wang Dushuai has dispatched soldiers to occupy the southern part of Dali. Together with the troops on the west route of Guangnan, they will attack the remnants of the traitors and strive to seize all the old land of Dali within this year and start in Kaifeng." On the Lantern Festival in the seventh year of Bao's reign, I would like to convey the good news to Your Majesty and the imperial court again to celebrate the festival!"
"Okay!" Emperor Liu couldn't be more satisfied with this. He looked at Li Shoujie and continued to ask, "Where is Sushun?"
"Your Majesty, Duan Sushun, his royal family, and ministers are temporarily detained in Shanshan, waiting for the imperial court to issue an imperial edict. The king is willing to escort them back to the court after Dali is completely pacified, and present them as prisoners in the palace!" Li Shoujie replied.
"The war in Dali has been decided. It will fulfill my wish and reduce the burden on the imperial court!" Emperor Liu said.
Even though it has been less than half a year since the troops were launched in the southern expedition to Dali, the price paid by the court in this half year is really not small.
The total number of combat troops, auxiliary soldiers, and civilians who entered Dali did not exceed 100,000, but behind them, the total number of personnel providing logistical support for this war totaled nearly 200,000, of whom only opened roads and built roads. At most, one hundred thousand people were invested.
As for the loss of military supplies, it is a huge figure. Military expenditures alone, not to mention the allocation from the Financial Secretary, the autumn taxes of the sixth year of the Sichuan-Sichuan Road Kaibao, have all been spent on it. As for the consumption of grain and fodder, nearly 400,000 dan of military grain were stored before the war, and all of them were completely consumed...
"Send someone to the political hall and call Duke Yu, Zhao Pu, and Li Ye to discuss the arrangements. It's time to come up with some specific measures to deal with the aftermath!" After thinking for a while, Emperor Liu ordered.
"yes!"
Soon, the main leaders of the Political Affairs Hall were ordered to come to discuss the aftermath of Dali. This is not a difficult problem. As early as after the city of Yangjume was defeated and a major breakthrough was achieved, the matter was conceived. Some measures were also discussed by the emperor, prince and ministers.
Therefore, when it comes to the implementation stage, there are not many disputes in the discussion and introduction. Basically, it is based on the appeasement opinions proposed by Zhao Pu two months ago and improved.
The chieftain system was implemented throughout Dali. This was the foundation. It also incorporated the local tribes, large and small, and made them submit to the most powerful weapon. Under this premise, in major cities, it is also necessary to strengthen the rule of the imperial court and directly appoint officials to govern, such as Yangjume City, Jianchang, Nongdong, Shanshan and other areas. Yangju City was renamed Tianxing Mansion.
As for the Dali royal family, they all moved inland. Huairou returned to Huairou, but according to Emperor Liu's will, it was too late to eliminate its influence, so how could he think of using his influence to appease Dali?
Dong, Gao, Yang and other upper-class nobles from Dali also moved out without leaving their families behind. This was also Emperor Liu's style of acting, and he was not merciful to the wealthy families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, let alone these wealthy people in the southwest. At the same time, only now, when the army is pressing down on the situation and can withstand the tossing, can we take action quickly and deal with it quickly without having to mess around.
At the same time, after taking Dali, the administrative divisions in the southwest region will also be changed, and the new territory will not be small at all.
Even if Emperor Liu didn't say anything, just sitting and watching Wei Renpu and Zhao Pu's performance, their opinions were relatively unified. They set up a road on the basis of the old land of Dali, separated a part of it and merged it with the Guangnan East Road, and merged it with the southern part of Sichuan and the central Guizhou area. Set up another one. It is very clear that these are the three provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan...
Naturally, the newly built road in the old area of Dali could no longer be called Dali. Emperor Liu directly named it Yunnan. With the addition of the Middle Guizhou Road, the Han Dynasty added two more roads on the basis of Annan.
The candidate proposed by Wei Renpu as the first chief executive of Yunnan was also surprising: Quan Shixiong, the prefect of Cangzhou. This is a surrendered minister of Meng Shu. After returning to the imperial court, his official career has been steadily rising, and he is in a better situation among the surrendered ministers. The speed of promotion is not too fast, but he is indeed accepted by the imperial court.
He has served in the Cangzhou Prefecture for many years. Now, being promoted to Yunnan Dao Chief Envoy is another breakthrough. This also symbolizes from the side that the Sichuan and Shu regions have been completely integrated into the Han Dynasty's ruling order. Local talents , will also be discovered and hired by the imperial court.
As for the garrison, a large number of troops will be retained in a short period of time, and then gradually reduced according to the actual situation, following the example of Annan. On Annan Road, since the pacification, the troops of the Southern Expedition have not yet been withdrawn, and the rotational garrison system will probably not be officially implemented until the seventh year of Kaibao.
Emperor Liu planned to recall Wang Quanbin, and the Yunnan military was handed over to Wang Renfan.
After the discussion, the Chui Gong Hall gradually became quiet. From the crown prince on down, no one dared to speak out to break it, just because Emperor Liu had a heavy look on his face, thinking seriously about something.
After a long time, Emperor Liu raised his head and chuckled: "Since the opening of the Baobao Year, the imperial court has fought some wars, large and small, and achieved many results. There are no formal titles or honors for meritorious personnel.
In this way, the Political Affairs Hall, the Privy Council, and the Ministry of War will make a statistics on the generals who have outstanding performance in civil affairs and martial arts over the years, list their merits, and I will award them with titles based on their merits! "
"yes!"
After Emperor Liu said these words, the faces of several ministers present were moved. Almost six years have passed, and Emperor Liu has not granted any titles, but there have been several examples of deprivation and withdrawal.
Obviously, as soon as this news comes out, there will probably be another turmoil. It is conceivable that the scale of the title conferment this time is far less than that of the treasure opening ceremony, but it is also the case that the dispute will probably be more intense.
Emperor Liu's promotion of Han Dynasty titles has become more and more effective as time goes by.
