The appearance of Emperor Chongzhen crushed the rebel camp as if it was the last straw.
I saw some rebel soldiers immediately put down their weapons and knelt down to surrender; some rebel soldiers surrounded their chieftains, big and small, and used knives and guns. There were even some unlucky chieftains who were killed. He was caught on the spot and was being sent to the imperial cavalry.
The emergence of this situation made the officers and soldiers on the top of Kunming City stunned: How much prestige does the emperor have, that as soon as he arrives, the rebels abandon the secret and turn to the bright side?
Seeing that there were still many chieftains leading the troops who were also in turmoil and trying to escape, Qin Liangyu was the first to react and immediately issued a military order: "Quick, get out of the city to meet the emperor and intercept the rebels who want to escape!"
At this time, she directly issued this military order without asking Wu Zhaoyuan, the governor of Yunnan, and Mu Tianbo, the Duke of Guizhou. When her son Ma Xianglin heard this, he replied without hesitation: "Yes!"
Then, he immediately summoned the White Guard Army and quickly left the city to meet the emperor.
Long Zaitian didn't say anything when he saw it, and left in a hurry, leading his men out of the city.
Wang Yangzu, on the other hand, left in a hurry after a little hesitation. At this time, compared with Kunming City, the emperor was of course the most important. What's more, now it seems that Kunming City will basically be fine.
Seeing this, Wu Zhaoyuan felt a little unhappy, but he didn't dare to show it. I'm afraid that the emperor will be dissatisfied with him if he finds out.
Mu Tianbo had a wry smile on his face. He looked at Qin Liangyu and then at the backs of Long Zaitian and Wang Yangzu who were already at the top of the city. He couldn't help but feel a little self-deprecating in his heart: He always thought that the Duke of Guizhou had guarded Yunnan for generations, and Qin Liangyu was just that. , Long Zaitian and Wang Yangzu are chieftains of Yunnan. In their minds, the Duke of Guizhou should exist like a Tu emperor, right?
I never expected that once the real emperor arrives, this earthly emperor will not be worth any weight at all! I don't know if the dead father would have been so arrogant and unscrupulous if he knew about this situation, and even went to patrol the house with soldiers. Thanks to my grandma's decisiveness, otherwise, the Duke of Guizhou's mansion would have been gone long ago.
While he was thinking about it, the officers and soldiers in Kunming City had already swarmed out of the city. Although they were smaller in number than the rebels outside the city, their morale had reached its highest level since the war. Instead, he took the initiative to rush towards the rebels outside the city, surrounded them and blocked their way.
Seeing the officers and soldiers in Kunming City coming to block the road, the rebels who wanted to escape became even more panicked. Some quickly chose other directions to run; others wanted to rush over; however, the rebels at this time had no morale and were not in a fighting state at all. Many soldiers who were hesitating were even blocked when they saw the way forward. To resist, it means either laying down arms and surrendering, or defecting in the face of battle, abandoning the dark side and turning to the bright side.
At this time, there was no decent fighting outside the city of Kunming. There were rebel soldiers everywhere who had surrendered or abandoned the secrets and turned to the bright side, and the imperial officers and soldiers were everywhere monitoring them. The whole situation is completely one-sided.
Until this time, on the top of Kunming City, Qin Liangyu laughed, then clasped his fists and said to Wu Zhaoyuan and Mu Tianbo: "Master Zhongcheng, Duke, it's time for us to welcome the emperor!"
Although it was a bit chaotic, the situation was controllable. Before Wu Zhaoyuan, the civil servant, could answer, Mu Tianbo said first, "Yes, yes, yes, it's time to greet the emperor. Go quickly, go quickly!"
After saying that, he turned around first and ran down the city at almost a running speed.
This scene made Wu Zhaoyuan very surprised. When he was the governor of Yunnan, he had many interactions with the Duke of Guizhou. It was obvious that Mu Tianbo was not interested in him representing the imperial court. Now this attitude has suddenly changed. Could it be that he was frightened by the emperor's dragon power?
Thinking like this, he immediately followed up quickly to ensure that he could not lag behind others to greet the emperor. He still had this awareness.
Wu Zhaoyuan was right. After Mu Tianbo saw the real emperor's domineering spirit with his own eyes, because of his petty thoughts and contempt for the court in the past, he paid more attention to the emperor's side and was eager to please him in order to keep him. Good influence.
Not long after, after passing through the chaotic "battlefield", Wu Zhaoyuan and Mu Tianbo lined up at the front. Although Qin Liangyu was a body behind them, Bilong Zaitian, Wang Yangzu, and Ma Xianglin stood in front and saluted Emperor Chongzhen in unison. .
"Your Majesty, no courtesy!" Emperor Chongzhen, surrounded by the royal guards, said to them with a smile, "Stick to Kunming, you all have worked hard!"
Listening to the fact that the emperor seemed to be very talkative and encouraged him as soon as he opened his mouth, everyone felt warm in their hearts and immediately became humble before raising their heads to look at the emperor.
Wu Zhaoyuan was a Jinshi during the Wanli period and arrived in Yunnan in the eighth year of Chongzhen. In his impression, Emperor Chongzhen always had a frown on his face, and his brows never relaxed, let alone when Emperor Chongzhen smiled.
But looking at it now, Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be a completely different person. Sunny, majestic, even with a smile, no one dares to be disrespectful. This is the best state that only a true superior can have, right?
Emperor Chongzhen's changes were so drastic that Wu Zhaoyuan was in a daze. The impression of the former Emperor Chongzhen gradually became blurred.
When Mu Tianbo met the current Emperor Chongzhen, he felt deeply in his heart: If his father had met the current Emperor, he would never be so arrogant and disrespectful towards the court. No matter who it is, seeing how wise and powerful the emperor is, it would be strange for anyone to be stupid again!
Among them, Qin Liangyu was also someone who had met Emperor Chongzhen, and was very moved when he saw the great changes in Emperor Chongzhen. The once young emperor finally grew into a true emperor amidst the many disasters of the Ming Dynasty!
Long Zaitian and Wang Yangzu, like Mu Tianbo, had never met Emperor Chongzhen before. Now that they had met, they were secretly glad that they were on the side of the imperial court.
Their impressions of Emperor Chongzhen were actually fleeting. Soon they saw Qin Liangyu preface and said: "The main force of the rebels left Kunming two days ago. Didn't your Majesty meet him?"
When the others heard this, they all nodded slightly and looked at Emperor Chongzhen, as Qin Liangyu said in their hearts. After all, there are more than 200,000 rebels, not comparable to the 50,000 rebels who stayed outside Kunming. Although they are still a little puzzled, they don't know why these 50,000 rebels collapsed so quickly!
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "The main force of the rebels has been decided in one battle. Look over there..."
After hearing this, Qin Liangyu and others looked in the direction pointed by the emperor, and saw a row of Ming army soldiers' heads hanging from their spears. At the same time, they heard Emperor Chongzhen introducing them: "Those are the heads of some of the rebel chieftains. And the people who were tied up and detained over there..."
Qin Liangyu and others listened and looked again in the direction pointed by Emperor Chongzhen. Sure enough, they saw several people tied up and guarded by Ming army soldiers.
They didn't even need to look closely. At a glance, they could see that several of them were from Xiyi. They were actually no strangers to these Western barbarians. When they were bombarded by these Western barbarians before, they were itching with hatred. Unexpectedly, he was caught by the emperor now.
"...Those are the Folangji who are helping the rebels!" Emperor Chongzhen introduced them again, "And that one is Tai Taitun, the general of Dongwu's army."
Even the general of Dongwu's army was captured alive. Needless to say, the main force of the rebel army was indeed determined in one battle.
However, Kunming City probably knew in advance how many reinforcements the imperial court would bring this time, because they had to prepare food and grass. As a result, Qin Liangyu and others, who were accustomed to leading troops in war, were even more puzzled.
Qin Liangyu immediately reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "The main force of the rebel army is more than 200,000. What strategy will your Majesty use to decide the battle?"
Her words were not to doubt Emperor Chongzhen, but to sincerely seek advice from Emperor Chongzhen. This can be seen from her curious and sincere face.
Hearing what he said, several other leaders were also very curious. Laymen don't know, but they have been fighting as leaders and fighting these rebels for such a long time, so they know how difficult it is to win a decisive battle.
Also, just outside Kunming City, they saw with their own eyes that not long after a few thousand imperial cavalry approached the 50,000 rebels, the rebels collapsed. They can't imagine that it can only be attributed to the domineering spirit of the current emperor and the power of the destined emperor?
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately smiled and said: "There is actually no difficulty in this. If we fight head-on, my army will be invincible. In addition, I focus on attacking the heart. Most of the ordinary soldiers among the rebels are The serfs who rebelled against the chieftain, I will allocate the land of the rebelling chieftain to those serfs, so that they will no longer be oppressed by the chieftain from now on, and they will be tax-free for two years. Let them know that they should not follow the chieftain to rebel again, and there will be good days waiting for them in the future. They will naturally make the right choice!”
After hearing this, they directly ignored the first half of Emperor Chongzhen's sentence, saying that the imperial army was invincible, but their attention was attracted by the second half of Emperor Chongzhen's sentence.
The generosity of the rebellious chieftain was used to stir up the morale of the rebel army. The emperor's move did not cost the court anything at all, and it directly cut off the roots of the rebellious chieftain!
Feeling the power of this move, Long Zaitian and Wang Yangzu began to sweat on their foreheads. Because they found that if this trick was used on them, they had no way to guarantee that the serfs under them would not do the same thing as the rebels.
This means that the imperial court really has to use this trick. With such a major interest, as a chieftain, there is basically no room for resistance!
While they were thinking, they heard Wu Zhaoyuan being the first to speak: "Your Majesty is wise, I have lived for seventy-five years in vain. I didn't expect that there is such a way to deal with the chieftain!"
