It's important to know that being an official in the Ming Dynasty meant being subject to rather strict regulations.

Previously, Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials, so he strictly controlled them and even gave them very little salary.

However, this also raises some problems, namely that officials' salaries are not enough to make ends meet, and under such strict control, they are forced to turn to corruption.

This problem was later solved by Zhu Yunwen, who provided the officials with sufficient salaries and supplies, freeing most of them from financial difficulties and enabling them to uphold the bottom line of their posts.

Furthermore, with Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunwen being incredibly powerful, most officials were diligent and dared not entertain any improper thoughts.

However, Annam was a remote and inaccessible place, and although the imperial court would investigate these officials from time to time, it was still far from the Central Plains.

In addition, the provincial governor intentionally indulged local officials, allowing them to act recklessly in their posts from time to time, and then deliberately ignored them.

Such acts of aiding and abetting wrongdoing and fostering a corrupt atmosphere gradually led these officials astray from their official careers. They slowly embarked on a path of corruption, bribery, and abusing their power for personal gain.

Once this loophole is opened, some officials will inevitably be unable to hold on. Moreover, if they commit even a minor offense and are tolerated and not properly supervised by their superiors, they will become even bolder in doing other things.

Furthermore, the provincial governor, both openly and subtly, hinted to them that since the area was far from the emperor's reach, no one would hold them accountable if he didn't intervene.

As a result, many officials have gone further and further down this dark path.

Before they knew it, the governor had led them into a trap.

So even today, whatever the provincial governor tells these officials to do, these officials really dare not disobey.

Because they had too many weaknesses about this provincial governor, just like the place called Gaoshan County that Zhu Yunwen had visited before, where the county magistrate acted recklessly and used various tricks to cause the local people to suffer unfair treatment.

He even sent someone to kill Zhu Yunwen, but when the provincial governor found out, he ignored him and did not punish him in any way.

This is clearly a continuation of their indulgence.

The more lenient they are, the more leverage they can gain over them, and when they need to be used, these people will not dare to disobey.

Even if it's a rebellion.

Because they had no choice; if they chose not to join the governor in rebellion, the governor would expose their actions.

Then these county magistrates will probably not have a good outcome for the crimes they have committed.

Moreover, even if the Annamite governor did not expose these matters, would the Ming court really not investigate them afterward?

With such strict court regulations, how could they possibly fail to detect it?

So, with the indulgence of the provincial administration, they embarked on this path of no return and had no choice but to stand on the opposite side of the imperial court.

The rebellion of the provincial governor seemed to have given them an opportunity, because if the provincial governor had not rebelled, or if the rebellion had failed, these officials who had engaged in corruption and misconduct would certainly not have had a good end.

Only if the provincial governor succeeds in his rebellion will these officials no longer be under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

In Annam, if you only obey the governor, you can truly live a carefree life.

Therefore, they will definitely support the governor's rebellion.

Zhu Yunwen understood all of this perfectly.

He ordered Li Jinglong to write the plan to the Provincial Governor in the letter, two days later.

At that time, the county magistrates who supported the cause gathered all the troops in the county government offices. In addition, Li Jinglong had 50,000 troops, so they could gather a total of 60,000 to 70,000 troops.

Sixty to seventy thousand people went to the border between Annam and the Ming Dynasty to cut off essential passages and declared the start of a real rebellion.

Everything was going smoothly in the eyes of the provincial governor.

He believed his plan was quite meticulous and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should succeed.

Moreover, once the various transportation hubs between the Ming Dynasty and Annam were successfully cut off, the already limited passageways became even more difficult to navigate.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to send troops to suppress the rebellion, it would be a very difficult task.

At least this kind of behavior, which is similar to removing a single-plank bridge, is not so easy to prevent others from crossing the single-plank bridge, and it is not easy to make others continue to build the single-plank bridge.

In the military camp, Li Jinglong had already taken off his general's uniform and was wearing a gray outfit, always by Zhu Yunwen's side.

Zhu Yunwen sat in a high chair in the military camp. He said to Li Jinglong:

"Is the Annamite governor coming to this military camp to meet you?"

Li Jinglong nodded and said:

"That's right. When the time comes, will His Highness the Crown Prince send someone to capture him?"

Zhu Yunwen shook his head slightly and said:

“Write him another letter, asking him to gather all the officials and soldiers under his command who have rebelled with him, and bring them here to join you.”

Li Jinglong looked at Zhu Yunwen with some confusion and said:

"Your Highness, if he were to combine the officials under his control and the soldiers under those officials, he would have at least ten or twenty thousand men."

Now that they've come this far, taking him down won't be so easy. Of course, while we'll ultimately succeed, there will likely be some casualties.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!