Sun Chuanting pointed to a place and said, "Here."

There's a place called Dafang on the map, and it's clearly marked next to it: it's the territory of An Bangyan, the local governor of the Shuixi Yi ethnic group.

Yuan Keli's gaze followed Sun Chuanting's pointing and fell on Dafang.

Nodding gently, Yuan Keli asked with a smile, "Is there anything wrong?"

Sun Chuanting sighed and said, "If we withdraw troops from Guizhou and head straight for Sichuan, the first place we should attack is Zunyi. It has been occupied by She Chongming's men. Only by taking Zunyi can we open the route into Sichuan."

"But once we enter Sichuan, the entire Guizhou province will be empty. She Chongming is here, and Guiyang is here. If he takes advantage of this opportunity to rebel, and if the surrounding chieftains respond, the rebels can successively divide their forces and capture Anshun, Pingba, Zhanyi, Longli, Weng'an (all in Guizhou Province today), Pianqiao (now Shibing County, Guizhou Province), Yuanzhou (now Zhijiang County, Hunan Province), Pu'an (now Pan County, Guizhou Province), Annan (now Qinglong, Guizhou Province), and other places, cutting off the government army's aid routes and the road between Yunnan and Guizhou."

"Under such circumstances, the entirety of Guizhou and Sichuan would be cut off, leaving Guizhou isolated and helpless. The entire province would fall into their hands. This is a huge problem, and it's a very precarious situation."

After hearing this, Yuan Keli nodded again.

Li Biao stepped forward and said, "An Bangyan came to the governor's office a few days ago and said that he and She Chongming had a feud and were willing to help the court send troops to quell the rebellion."

After hearing this, Sun Chuanting glanced at Li Biao and said, "Then it can be confirmed that he has rebellious intentions."

Li Biao was stunned after hearing this.

How can we conclude that An Bangyan is going to rebel?

Is this too hasty?

Li Biao really wanted to refute or even scold the young man, but the young man was brought by Yuan Keli, so he couldn't do so.

So Li Biao looked at Yuan Keli, hoping that Lord Dutang would give him an explanation.

Although Li Biao respected him, he was still the governor, so he had to give him some respect. So Yuan Keli stepped forward and said, "This is Sun Chuanting, the Minister of War. He has come to the southwest on His Majesty's orders."

Although Yuan Keli was being polite, Li Biao could also hear it. These official jargons were easy to understand. Although the other party's official title was the Minister of War, he had no actual official position. To put it bluntly, he was just a person who came to gild his reputation.

As for the later mention of receiving His Majesty's imperial decree, it's even clearer that this person was sent by His Majesty. On the one hand, it's for gilding, but on the other hand, it's even simpler: he's the military supervisor. No wonder the Lord Dutang was so polite.

Li Biao then said, "So it's Lord Sun. Why did Lord Sun say that An Bangyan would rebel? Perhaps An Bangyan came to the Governor's Office to show his loyalty to his country."

Sun Chuanting thought for a moment, then turned to look at Yuan Keli. Seeing Yuan Keli nod, Sun Chuanting said, "An Bangyan is a local chieftain. The possibility of him being loyal to his country is very low. Of course, it is not impossible. This is just a small doubt."

"As for the suspicious part, if An Bangyan is truly devoted to serving his country, then that's fine. Why would anyone say there's a rift between him and She Chongming?"

"To rely on personal grudges as evidence of trust shows that he is undoubtedly a mean person; to rely on personal grudges as evidence of trust also shows that he has something to hide. Otherwise, why would he do that?"

"Because he thought that saying so would gain the Master's trust. The Master did not agree, which shows that the Master also has doubts in his heart."

After hearing this, Li Biao nodded and said, "Although the imperial court was able to suppress the southwest, An Bangyan has expanded rapidly in recent years. His sphere of influence has expanded from the 'Zhijin' area to Nawei (official village), Babu (Babu), Nuodong (Pudingpingshang), Boheng (in the Ximudi Machuan Village), Degui (in the Ximudi Middle Village), and other places. An Bangyan also moved from Zhijin Pass to Nawei to live, and was known as 'Nawei Official Village' and 'An Family House'. Zhijin was handed over to An Bangyan's son An Wugong for management. At this point, this branch of the An clan chieftains has added two more characters to its name, and is now called 'Xiongshu An'."

"I've petitioned the court several times for military pay and additional troops, but I've never received a reply." Li Biao glanced at Sun Chuanting and said, "Lord Sun was able to judge An Bangyan's ulterior motives through my words, which shows his foresight. But he wouldn't do that at this time, would he? We still have some troops in Guizhou."

"Quite the contrary." Sun Chuanting shook his head and said bluntly, "Since this man has always been ambitious, there is no need for him to come here and say that he is willing to fight She Chongming. He should just wait quietly for the court and She Chongming to decide the outcome."

"If She Chongming was aggressively attacking Sichuan and the court sent reinforcements from Guizhou, then he could have just taken advantage of the situation to start a rebellion. Why did he come to the governor's office? And why did he say he was willing to quell the rebellion?"

"Because he doesn't want to wait anymore, and he can't wait any longer." Sun Chuanting said firmly, "He is ambitious and courageous. He doesn't want to wait until the court and She Chongming decide the outcome, because he feels that She Chongming cannot withstand the court. At the same time, he doesn't want She Chongming to become too powerful. He wants to take Guizhou himself."

"If you allow him to send reinforcements into Sichuan, he will definitely bring his troops to Guiyang. Once his troops arrive in Guiyang, he will seize the opportunity to attack, kill you and seize Guiyang."

"In this way, the entire Guizhou province will fall into his hands. He can then attack or defend. Whether he cooperates with She Chongming to fight against the imperial court or expand his own power, it's all possible."

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