In this way, Zhu Yunwen led his army all the way to the southwest region, and arrived at his destination in about seven days.

Upon arriving at the destination, Zhu Yunwen first led his army to the opposite side of Yanhe City.

Yanhe is a wide river, and the city on the opposite bank is named Yanhe City because of it. Yanhe can be considered a border, with the Huguang region to the east and the southwest region to the south.

That is, the place where the four chieftains were based.

Crossing this dividing line means entering the sphere of influence of the Tusi families.

In other words, this area along the river was basically a major battlefield where the two armies fought.

Along this side of the river, on the border of the Huguang region, there is a place called Sanjiang County.

Zhu Yunwen led his army to garrison outside the county seat of Sanjiang County.

He personally took up residence in the Sanjiang County government office to prepare for the battle.

Sitting in the main hall of the Sanjiang County government office, Zhu Yunwen looked at Lan Yu and Feng Sheng below and said:

"Following the previous plan, Feng Sheng, you will lead one force from the northwest to encircle Bozhou. Lan Yu will lead another force from the southwest to surround the territories of Shuidong and other chieftains."

One contingent of troops will remain with me to guard the outskirts of Sanjiang County. Thus, the army will be divided into three routes, forming a pincer movement.

"If your two groups choose to confront those chieftains head-on, then engage them in battle. If they refuse to fight, drive them to the outskirts of the riverside city, gather them together, and then launch a unified siege."

Zhu Yunwen's strategy has been issued, and Lan Yu and Feng Sheng both nodded in agreement.

Indeed, at present, the safest and most correct approach is to divide the forces into three groups, with one group guarding the main checkpoints and the other two groups flanking from both sides.

The real danger is acting impulsively and directly leading troops to attack the southwest region. This would be a direct incursion into the territory of the chieftain families in the southwest, and we would certainly suffer losses.

After all, that's someone else's territory; rushing in recklessly is definitely not a wise choice.

Moreover, if they concentrate their forces in one place to charge in, the numerous chieftains are very likely to disperse their forces and wage guerrilla warfare against Zhu Yunwen.

In this kind of terrain with many mountains and shallow waters, where you are unfamiliar with the enemy but they are extremely familiar with it, fighting guerrilla warfare against them would be very passive and disadvantageous.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen's decision was extremely wise.

Lan Yu smiled happily. In any case, this grand-nephew had shown some talent in military affairs.

In this way, Zhu Yunwen would be an all-around genius no matter what.

Feng Sheng was secretly astonished. He found it hard to imagine how powerful a man like Zhu Yunwen, who was capable in every aspect, would be when he ascended the throne.

So, Lan Yu and Feng Sheng each accepted their orders and led their assigned troops, one heading northwest and the other southwest, advancing swiftly.

Zhu Yunwen was stationed at the border between the Tusi (local chieftain) and Huguang (Hubei and Hunan provinces).

Meanwhile, in the southwest region, the four major chieftains and numerous chieftains in southern Guizhou had just gathered to discuss the problems they would face next.

Among the many chieftains, the Yang clan of Bozhou had the strongest military power, and therefore held the most influence in such battles.

Of course, the Yang family had the greatest ambitions, and other chieftains might not have dared to provoke or participate in this war.

However, it was because of the Tusi (chieftain) of the Yang clan of Bozhou who stirred up trouble and set things up that the other three major Tusi in the surrounding area and many Tusi in the Qiannan region decided to oppose the imperial court.

Therefore, the Yang family of Bozhou played a leading role in this rebellion.

The head of the Yang family of Bozhou sat in the hall, looking down at the families of the three major chieftain families of Shuidong, Shuixi, and Sizhou, as well as some other minor chieftain families in the Qiannan region, and said with great confidence:

"I have received news that the imperial court has sent a greenhorn with an army of 200,000 to suppress us."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall revealed disdainful smiles.

The head of the Shui Xi'an clan, the most powerful family, who was seated on the lower left, slowly spoke:

"I wonder who this greenhorn that Chief Yang is talking about is?"

Yang Yinglong frowned and looked at the chieftain of the Shui'an clan, who was a woman, or more precisely, a married woman.

She was probably in her thirties. Although she was a bit older, she was still very beautiful and looked like a woman in her late twenties.

Moreover, this woman was not only beautiful and had a good figure, but she was also wearing clothing unique to ethnic minorities in the southwest region, which added to her mysterious beauty.

This woman was the head of the Shui'an clan and also the Xuanwei Envoy appointed by the imperial court to the Guizhou Xuanwei Division.

She is also the historically famous Lady Shexiang.

Speaking of Lady Shexiang, her role in the political governance of some areas in the southwest region is worth mentioning.

Under the leadership of Lady Shexiang, the Shui'an clan has grown increasingly powerful over the years.

Furthermore, their relationship with the imperial court was relatively good. The reason they were also dragged onto this rebellious ship was entirely because other chieftain families reached an agreement.

As a chieftain of the same southwestern region, if he did not join them, he would be branded as someone who betrays his own people.

This is absolutely unacceptable in the Southwest region, a place that is very xenophobic yet internally very united.

Therefore, although Lady Shexiang felt helpless, she was also morally coerced.

However, it cannot be denied that Lady Shexiang has a certain degree of influence.

After all, apart from military capabilities, the Shui'an clan was the most powerful and prestigious in the entire southwest region.

This is why the Yang family of Bozhou, on their path of rebellion, was determined to bring the Shui'an family, to which Lady Shexiang belonged, into the same boat.

Of course, although she was helplessly tied to them, Lady Shexiang was not actually of one mind with them.

The reason is simple: Lady Shexiang never really thought about rebelling, and she also felt that any rebellion would definitely be suppressed by the court.

She didn't want to lead the entire Shui Xi'an family into a fire pit.

Therefore, Lady Shexiang deliberately asked the Yang family chieftain who this so-called greenhorn sent by the imperial court was.

Lady Shexiang knew that the imperial court would not actually send a useless person.

Moreover, it is definitely not normal for the Yang family head to gloss over it so casually.

Faced with Madam Shexiang's direct question, the Yang family head could not refuse, so he slowly and calmly uttered three words:

"Zhu Yuntong!"

Upon hearing this, the smiles on everyone's faces in the hall froze instantly, and the atmosphere became incredibly silent.