Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 232 Hengshan (please subscribe for monthly pass)
Shenglong City, the main hall of Baoguang Palace.

In the 30th year of Hongwu, the Chen Dynasty moved the capital from Thang Long City to Thanh Hoa, but later Li Taizu Li Li made Thang Long the capital, so Thang Long was also called Tokyo, while Thanh Hoa was called Xijing.

The current emperor of Hou Li, Li Sicheng, is the grandson of Li Li. He has been in power for nearly 30 years and has been working hard to promote various reforms.

Following the left and right ministers of the Chen Dynasty, the central official system retains six departments and six departments, and the local government has changed from five departments to thirteen departments, with the post of guarding the Jinglue envoy.

Unlike the Ming Dynasty, which emphasized martial arts and despised literature, Houli's military generals had always had a high status, and the local defense ministers for example were from military generals.

During Li Sicheng's reign, he conquered Champa in the south and swallowed the barbarians in the west. Although he suffered a loss in the battle with Laos, the large and small forces in the Indochina Peninsula have bowed their heads and become the overlord of the Indochina Peninsula.

Even in the face of the powerful Ming Dynasty, he dared to send troops to continuously harass the southwestern border, and even planned to plot against Guangxi of the Ming Dynasty a long time ago.

On the first day of this month, the Ming Dynasty suddenly declared war, and there was a slight ripple in the life of the emperor, which was originally calm, causing Li Sicheng to worry for several days.

Although he has not witnessed the prosperity of Ming Dynasty with his own eyes, it has always been recognized as the most powerful country.

After worrying for a few days, Li Sicheng gradually settled down. The Ming Dynasty was just a paper tiger after all.Daming Guang clamored to go to war, but he didn't send a single soldier for a long time.

Judging from the latest feedback, the Emperor Ming was worried about "corrosion in the southwest", so he had already chosen to stop the war.

Since today is an important festival, almost all important officials were present this time, and all the personnel sat on the east and west sides, imitating Zhou etiquette and sitting cross-legged in front of the short table.

"This time the Ming Dynasty did not raise troops for a long time, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty must be afraid of our Li Dynasty army!"

"Back then, Daming was beaten to the knees and begged for peace by the Taizu. Now our Li Dynasty is strong and strong, but their Daming is not as good as it is every year!"

"Not to mention that the Ming emperor was kidnapped by a small tribe in the north earlier, this year their emperor was worried about the tribal chief's invasion, and was forced to agree to marry the daughter of a tribal chief!"

……

The two prime ministers and the five generals were all present. Facing the unmoved Ming army, all of them might have been nervous earlier, but now they couldn't help becoming arrogant.

The important officials of the Li Dynasty studied Chinese characters and kept in touch with the Ming Dynasty, so they were "very clear" about some actions of the Ming court.

The thing is so weird, it is clear that Zhu Tang Nayi Kexi is the northern concubine to check and balance Manduhai, but when it comes to them, it becomes "the emperor of Ming Dynasty was forced to marry a tribal wife", which is even regarded as a joke by them.

Maybe they don't know it themselves, it is precisely because of the prejudice in their hearts that they can't see the whole picture of things at all.Just like the argument of a certain TV expert in later generations that tea eggs are treasures, it has been widely recognized in the local area.

Just like that, the civil servants and generals present were full of a strong sense of superiority, but they looked down on the Ming Dynasty that suddenly declared war on them.

Ruan Lie, the prime minister of the left, clearly realized that even if the Ming Dynasty was corrupt, it would be a colossus, so he did not lose his vigilance and made arrangements: "We must guard the border between Guangdong and Guangxi, and use the terrain advantage to prevent them from going south!"

"As long as Daming comes from Guangdong, the general will make them come and go!" Li Shouyu was in charge of the defense of the Guangdong border, looking confident.

Zheng Gonglu noticed that Li Shouyu was looking at him provocatively, but he expressed his opinion very calmly: "Guangxi and Yunnan have already deployed heavy troops, and we will definitely be able to beat the Ming army back!"

After getting along for so many years, he also sees the corruption of the Daming Frontier Army.

Although the number of troops on my side is at a disadvantage, I believe that with the elite soldiers and strong generals of the Li Dynasty, even if the Ming army cannot be completely wiped out, the Ming army can retreat to the border of the Ming Dynasty.

The corners of Zuo Xiangguo Ruan Lie's mouth twitched slightly, and a bitter look appeared on his face.

Originally, he wanted their generals to be more vigilant, but he didn't want the two generals in front of them to not listen to his warning at all, and they were still so arrogant.

"You two can rest assured, as long as you write a letter, I will definitely lead my troops to help you! It's just that we have agreed that I will share half of the credit!" Li Nong picked out his earwax with his thumb, and put forward the conditions carelessly.

Although Li Sicheng has been corrupted by the extravagant life of the palace, his ambition has not changed: "Regardless of whether the Ming army is going to be a shrinking turtle or not, you have to cheer up now!"

After a pause, he suddenly clapped his hands.

A court lady came out of it, and it turned out to be a sandalwood box.

The moment the sandalwood box was opened, all the civil servants and generals present stared straight at the eyes, only to see there was a pearl the size of a pigeon egg, which looked so beautiful.

goo...

Zuo Xiangguo Ruan Lie and others swallowed and spit, but they did not expect that Nanzhu King, who has always been regarded as a treasure by Li Sicheng, would show it here.

Li Sicheng saw everyone's greedy reactions in his eyes, and promptly made a promise: "Li Guangdu was executed by the Ming Emperor Ling Chi, this matter is not my face, it is also the face of thousands of people of our Li Dynasty. If you Whoever can take the Zhennan Pass when the Ming army is defeated, this Nanzhu King will give it to him, and seal the Zhennan General as the commander-in-chief!"

Although more than half a year had passed, Li Guangdu was his confidant general and an important member of the Li clan. In the end, when he was ordered to go to Ming Dynasty as an envoy, he was executed by Emperor Ming Lingchi.

Daming was already weakened, but now they took the initiative to invade. If they take the opportunity to take Zhennan Pass, they can annex the whole of Guangxi in one fell swoop.

That's why, no matter for his own face, to give an explanation to his clan, or for profit, he has reason to take this opportunity to fight back against the invading Daming.

This……

Zheng Gonglu and other generals looked at each other, faintly feeling the emperor's wishful thinking.

Repelling the army of the Ming Dynasty this time was not the ultimate goal. Their majesty revealed a greater ambition, but wanted to take the opportunity to seize Zhennan Pass, so as to open the door to invade the Ming Dynasty.

Although it is unrealistic to annex the huge Ming Dynasty, taking the opportunity to seize Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places can be regarded as expanding the territory of the Li Dynasty again.

Since Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places are easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as they successfully seize the territory, they can take advantage of the terrain to fight against the Ming Dynasty, so as to truly be on an equal footing with the Ming Dynasty.

"Hehe... My cousin can't die in vain, the general of Nanzhu Wang is bound to win!" Li Shouyu was attracted by Nanzhu Wang and his official position, and immediately expressed his opinion.

Xu Nong also coveted this jewel and the official position, but this time he was sitting in the rear, and if nothing happened before he knew it, I'm afraid such a good thing would not be his turn.

"As long as you take down Zhennan Pass, everyone will be rewarded!" Li Sicheng already knew the mentality of the soldiers under him, and immediately made a promise.

As soon as these words came out, Li Nong and others applauded.

Li Ming, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, yearned for the culture and system of Ming Dynasty, so he had a deeper understanding of Ming Dynasty. Seeing that their majesty wanted to start a full-scale war with Ming Dynasty, he couldn't help reminding him with the matter of Zhancheng: "Your Majesty, there I don’t know what’s going on with the war? It’s not suitable for our Li Dynasty to fight on two fronts!”

In fact, the Li Dynasty also discovered a major event recently. When they were driven to the southernmost city of Champa, when they gathered troops to go north, the king of Champa, Gulai, suddenly led his troops to "rebel".

"Hehe... Li Shangshu didn't mention it, I almost forgot! Just now I received the good news from Li Renxiao, the king of Champa, who led his troops in Gulai suffered heavy casualties, and has retreated. They are simply a bunch of clowns!" The corner of Li Sicheng's mouth With a slight rise, he proudly announced the good news.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" Zheng Gonglu and other generals were not surprised by the result, but they still congratulated.

For them, even the destruction of Champa is not worth celebrating now, and now only the Ming Dynasty is worthy of being their opponent.

Shenglong City is located in a fertile plain, on the right bank of the Red River and at the confluence of the Red River and the Dun River, not far from Tokyo Bay, so it can be said to be rich in products.

Now that the food and wine are on the table, everyone looks forward to taking the opportunity to enter Zhennan Pass to expand the territory of the Li Dynasty, which makes the atmosphere of this reception very harmonious.

Just as the monarchs and ministers of the Li Dynasty were looking forward to counterattacking Ming Dynasty, small sea boats came quietly from the lake and landed from a white shoal.

In the east of the Indochina Peninsula, there is a north-south Changshan mountain range, which is very close to the coastline, which makes the terrain here relatively narrow, and the middle section is blocked by an east-west horizontal mountain.

The south of Hengshan was originally occupied by the Le Dynasty, but after so many years of encroachment by the Le Dynasty, the large southern area including Hengshan has been reduced to the Le Dynasty's territory, and the Le Dynasty even established the Guangnan Office here.

Although Hengshan's military strategic status has declined, it is an important fortress connecting the north and the south, so the Hengshan Pass has been preserved to this day.

At the end of September, the Indochina Peninsula was still hot, and the soldiers of the Li Dynasty stationed in the pass seemed to have nothing to do.

Although the Ming Dynasty declared war in the north, and the remnants of Zhancheng tried to make a comeback in the south, the wars on both sides could not reach them, and even many soldiers felt that they had nothing to do with them.

"Be careful, all of you, Li Chao is now facing a two-front battle!"

"Our Hengshan pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Who would come to us?"

"The world is unpredictable! Let's be more cautious now, there will be no harm in the end!"

……

Although the soldiers in the pass were obviously relaxed, their leader Zheng Chun was not confused by the peaceful environment, but kept urging everyone.

In fact, at this time, this pass has already been targeted.

The commander of the Shendian Guard sent Kang Cheng'en to land in a small boat, quickly determined the location of the Hengshan pass with the guidance of the map, and quietly led his troops to the outside of the pass.

Since the pass is condescending and there are many rocks around it, it is impossible to sneak up to the pass here, so we can only hide in the small woods below and observe secretly.

Surrounded by mountains, there is only one trail leading to the Hengshan pass, which is simply a natural danger.

"Master Commander, this pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We only have 800 people now. I'm afraid we have to think about it in the long run!"

"Master Commander, I've already tortured and interrogated them clearly. There are about 250 people who can fight, and the leader is Zheng Chun. It is said that I am very cautious this time!"

"Master Commander, there is a grain escort team of dozens of people coming towards us less than one mile away from us to the south. What should we do now?"

……

Ming Dynasty is an ancient civilization after all, no matter how corrupt the army is, it still has a set of mature combat deployments.When they dived here from the sea, they had already sent scouts to investigate the surrounding situation.

The scouts captured two low-level soldiers who came out of the pass to cut firewood to collect information. When the scouts were conducting reconnaissance in the south, they found a small team of dozens of people coming from the south with rations.

In fact, not only did Ming need to allocate food and grass, but since Daming might come to invade at any time, there were military rations from Guangnan that needed to be transported to the capital one after another.

puff!puff!puff!
Li Chao's grain transportation team had no idea that the danger was approaching. Just as they entered the grove, countless arrows suddenly flew from both sides.

Almost in the blink of an eye, most of the food transport team had been wiped out, and the other food escorts immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.Several grain guards wanted to flee to Hengshan pass, but they were cut off directly.

puff!puff!puff!
This time, the Shendian Guards were all elite soldiers and strong generals. When they raised their knives, the heads of these grain guards were already on the ground.

Kang Chengen was familiar with military books since he was a child, and he encouraged morale: "Last time our pearl fishing boat was burned many times. We have failed His Majesty in this matter. It is His Majesty's benevolence that His Majesty did not pursue! Now you all change into their clothes and follow the fire. This commander has sneaked into the Hengshan pass, and other personnel will respond at any time, it is time for us to show our loyalty to His Majesty!"

The officers and men present knew that His Majesty is indeed a rare Mingjun, and they responded immediately.

Kang Cheng'en decided to take the lead, and took off the clothes of a grain guard from the Li Dynasty and changed them on.

Although they have an advantage in numbers, Hengshan Pass is more dangerous than imagined.If you use a strong attack method, even if you can win it in the end, you will need to pay a very heavy price.

Now he decided to follow the example of Wang Hua, the number one scholar, by wearing the clothes of the Li army's grain soldiers and disguised as "one of his own" to sneak into the Hengshan Pass.

The Hengshan pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The road here is rugged, and the city wall above is guarded by soldiers.

"Who are you?"

"Why don't you say it, send food, and move quickly!"

"Yes!"

Kang Chengen and others pushed the grain carts to the pass, but they didn't know how to explain it to the leader of the pass, but they had already let them go.

As the city gate of the pass slowly opened, the disguised Shendian guard silently exchanged glances, and things seemed to be going much smoother than they thought.

At this time, Zheng Chun came suddenly from the street behind the gate of the pass, but noticed the face of the grain guard, and immediately stopped drinking: "Wait a minute."

"Are you deaf? Tell you to stop!" The leader of the gatekeeper saw that the food transport soldiers did not stop, and immediately stepped forward angrily and kicked Qianhu Yang Yong, who was walking in the front, to the ground.

(End of this chapter)