Since ancient times, a kind person should not command an army, and a good person should not hold an official position.

To a certain extent, both civil servants and military generals must be ruthless when necessary.

Otherwise no one will listen to their commands.

Wen Anzhi is an old hand, and as a civil official he does have a compassionate side.

but...

He was also a governor with a large army.

The court asked him to quell the rebellion, not to exercise benevolent governance.

There's no need to show mercy to the enemy now!

After listening to Li Dingguo's opinion on killing the prisoners, Wen Anzhi quietly strangled the pity in his heart.

He raised his head, his eyes showing a hint of brutality: "Kill them! The battle of Qujing is a battle to establish authority! This governor wants to tell the people of central Yunnan through this matter that only surrender can save their lives, and resistance will only lead to death!"

The next morning, the Ming army beheaded all the captives in front of the people in the city.

The news soon spread to Yunnan Province.

A businessman said while drinking in the tavern: "The 30,000 elite Ming troops used 600 artillery pieces to bombard Qujing City for two days and one night, destroying all the battlements on the city wall! Then they sent armored troops to climb the city, but the defenders were defeated and surrendered."

"But the Ming army did not let them go, but executed all the captives."

"Why kill the prisoners? Wouldn't it be better to keep them and let them serve in the army?" asked a merchant who was eating nearby.

"The Ming army said that if you resist you will die. If you want to live you must surrender!"

“Too domineering!”

"You call this bullying? If you had six hundred cannons, you'd be more bullying than them!"

Through word of mouth among merchants, the performance of the Ming army in the Battle of Qujing spread throughout Yunnan.

The news first reached Yunnan Prefecture, more than 200 miles away.

"Sir, something terrible has happened!" Inside Prince Mu's mansion in Yunnan City, Sha Dingzhou's scouts crawled into the yard.

Wan Shi in the room hurriedly stood up and broke free from Sha Dingzhou's embrace. While buttoning her clothes, she said softly, "Don't touch me in broad daylight in the future."

Sha Dingzhou glared and said, "What? I can't touch my own wife?"

"Yes, but there are too many people during the day..."

"What's wrong with daytime?" Sha Dingzhou said unhappily, "The last time you went to persuade Yunnan Governor Wu Zhaoyuan and Grand Secretary Wang Xigun, it was during the day."

After hearing the word "shuifu", Wan's face turned red and then white.

She pointed at Sha Dingzhou's nose and cursed, "I've sacrificed so much for you, and you still have the nerve to criticize me?"

When Sha Dingzhou wanted to continue his rage and confrontation, he was interrupted by the voice of a scout outside the door: "Sir, urgent news."

"Read!" Sha Dingzhou snorted coldly.

"The Ming court appointed Wen Anzhi as the governor-general and Li Dingguo as the general, leading 30,000 troops from Guizhou to Yunnan. Pu'an Prefecture surrendered without a fight, and Qujing..."

"What happened in Qujing?" Sha Dingzhou stood up anxiously after hearing that something happened in Qujing.

Qujing is the gateway to Yunnan. Once it is lost, the entire Yunnan gateway will be wide open.

"The Ming army first used hundreds of artillery pieces to bombard the walls of Qujing for a whole day, until the battlements were blown apart."

"The next day, the Ming army sent heavily armored soldiers to attack the city. The defenders had no protection from the battlements on the city walls and suffered heavy casualties. They were forced to abandon the city and flee."

"We were ambushed by Ming cavalry while fleeing and suffered heavy losses."

Sha Dingzhou stared and asked, "How many escaped?"

"There are only a few hundred people."

Sha Dingzhou suddenly felt cold all over and fell on the bed without saying a word.

In fact, he had heard some news before the Ming army entered Yunnan. In order to stop the Ming army, he specially deployed 5,000 elite troops in Qujing.

It was not that he underestimated the Ming army, but that there were too few available troops nearby.

The Yunnan Prefecture City needs troops to be stationed there, and since Mu Tianbo has fled to Yongchang Prefecture, it is also necessary to send main forces to besiege it.

"This is too weird!" Sha Dingzhou still couldn't believe it: "My 5,000 defenders were wiped out in just two days?"

The scout corrected him very seriously: "Sir, it's not two days, it's one and a half days."

"Get out! Is there any difference between two days and one and a half days?" Sha Dingzhou roared to the outside.

When the scout turned around and was about to leave, he suddenly heard Sha Dingzhou muttering to himself: "Those are my five thousand elite soldiers. Is the Ming army so strong?"

He hesitated for a moment and shouted into the room, "Sir, there is a rumor going around outside."

"What?"

"My Lord, times have changed!"

"Times have changed?" Sha Dingzhou touched the back of his head with a confused look on his face: "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. This sentence comes from the official report of the 17th year of Chongzhen."

"Who wrote that issue of the newspaper?"

"Empress Zhou of the Ming Dynasty."

"Queen Zhou? Woman..." Sha Dingzhou had long heard that Queen Zhou was extremely beautiful, but he did not expect that the articles she wrote would be so profound.

He looked back at the charming Wan and suddenly felt bored.

A woman like this is not even worthy of carrying shoes for Queen Zhou.

But he could not abandon Wanshi because she held real power in the tribe of her ex-husband Pu Mingsheng.

Without Wan's help, he would never have dared to rebel.

"Messenger!" Sha Dingzhou retracted his gaze and shouted with his eyes closed.

"I will be here in the end."

"The Ming army has captured Qujing, the gateway to Yunnan. All nearby troops are being transferred back to Yunnan City, preparing to engage in direct battle with the Ming army."

"Yes, sir."

The news of the Ming army's victory in its first battle in Yunnan quickly spread throughout Yunnan.

Lijiang Prefecture in the north.

"Have you heard? The imperial court's 50,000-strong army used thousands of artillery pieces to destroy the city of Qujing. All the rebels were executed, and not a single one survived."

"The imperial court has finally sent reinforcements. If they don't come, Lijiang Prefecture will be lost!"

To the west is Yongchang Prefecture.

"The imperial court sent Governor Wen Anzhi and General Li Dingguo with 80,000 troops and more than a thousand artillery pieces to blow up Qujing City, killing all the defenders!"

"Great, great! The rebels' death has come!"

To the south is Menggen Yuyi Prefecture.

"Wen Anzhi and Li Dingguo led 100,000 elite Ming troops into Yunnan. They used thousands of artillery pieces to raze Qujing to the ground! Not to mention the defenders, even many civilians in the city were killed."

“This is too horrible!”

"The more terrifying thing is yet to come. According to people from other prefectures, if you surrender you may not live, but if you don't surrender you will definitely die!"