"Foreign soldiers gather and disperse unpredictably and cannot be stationed for long. It would be better to distribute the farmland to meritorious personnel, but prohibit their sale. This way, there will be no need to recruit immigrants, Guizhou will naturally have a large population and sufficient military strength."
"To suppress the rebellion in this way, we should have 50,000 soldiers and an annual salary of over 800,000. It should take three years, and the bandits can be completely wiped out."
Fu Zonglong's policy of suppressing the rebellion was very inappropriate. Although the She'an rebels were wreaking havoc in Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, the Ming army generals did not think it would take too long.
This was also the case in history. Every time people thought they could achieve complete success by digging holes and clearing the fields, they would go too deep into Shuixi, where the terrain was complex, and they would run out of food and money, or be ambushed and fail. This wasted manpower and financial resources in vain, and success was delayed for more than ten years.
But the emperor agreed and gave his full support against all objections. He transferred the Sichuan governor Zhu Xieyuan and gave Fu Zonglong full authority to suppress the rebellion.
As long as we keep the pace steady and advance step by step, the She'an rebels will not be a concern. Shuixi is just a small place and it is difficult to support it for a long time.
In fact, this was similar to the Liaodong War. Although the Jiannu were rampant, as long as the Ming Dynasty held its ground and did not give the Jiannu the opportunity to plunder and grow, it could have worn them down.
After all, the size gap is huge, and the harsh natural environment is obvious. Even if all of Liaodong was given to the Jiannu, they would not be able to be self-sufficient. Famine and economic crisis would be enough to crush the Jianlu.
But the Ming Dynasty in history was just the opposite. It was repeatedly defeated by the Jiannu in Liaodong, but it still took the initiative to be beaten and provided food and supplies to the Jiannu.
Not only did they despise the Jiannu in words, but the Ming Dynasty leaders also didn't consider them a serious threat in their hearts. They always thought that a great victory in one battle would pacify the Liao and destroy the Jiannu.
It was this kind of deviation in thinking, or fallacy, that repeatedly killed the elite troops of the Ming army and gave the Jiannu the opportunity to become stronger and stronger.
Chongzhen had the same foolish mentality, which is why he believed the nonsense of "pacifying Liaodong in five years".
The emperor made no such mistake, nor did he set a time limit. He took a long-term view and considered deeply. He not only wanted to secure victory in the two major wars, but also to forge strong armies in the north and south, laying the foundation for his expansion plans.
It is precisely based on this principle and because of the imbalance in investment that Liaodong has been pacified, but the rebellion in the southwest is still ongoing.
Of course, the emperor's goal was achieved. After re-equipping, training, and practicing combat, the Ming army that was encircling and suppressing the rebels became stronger and stronger, and a group of young and courageous officers emerged.
Young Master Xu was one of them. After graduating from martial arts school, he traveled a long distance to the southwest and experienced dozens of battles, large and small. He entered Shuixi to harass more than a dozen times.
"The ravines and dense forests are indeed an advantage for the rebels. But judging by the current situation, they can no longer hold on."
Even so, Xu Hongyu returned from his raids, still finding the complex terrain of Shuixi quite daunting. However, after such a long blockade and siege, the rebels were nearly depleted of food and supplies, especially salt, which was in dire straits.
Xu Rubin was a military scholar and an officer who graduated from a military academy. He went to the southwest with Xu Hongyu and fought side by side for several years, forming a deep fighting friendship.
Xu Rubin agreed with Xu Hongyu's assessment and said, "No matter how complex the terrain is, we've learned a lot. Once we have sufficient food and supplies and can guarantee transportation, we'll launch attacks from all sides and slowly reduce the enemy's strength. The rebels, short of food and salt, will not dare to continue holding out and are eager to reverse the situation with a decisive battle. Now is the time to fight and annihilate them."
Xu Hongyu nodded in agreement, then said with some regret: "It's a pity that we can't quell the rebellion and destroy the bandits before the Spring Festival and present a tribute to the emperor."
"Yes!" Xu Rubin sympathized, sighing, "Liaodong has been pacified, but the She'an rebels haven't been wiped out. It's really a pity."
After a pause, Xu Rubin found another excuse and said, "But it's not our fault. The imperial court's support is biased towards Liaodong!"
"Indeed." Xu Hongyu kicked the stones away and said, "But there's nothing we can do about it. Your Majesty has used all the gold and silver to suppress the rebellion. It was not easy for the court to support two major wars. Fortunately, Liaodong has been pacified, and the She'an rebels will be eliminated soon."
At this moment, a warning signal was issued from the front, and the soldiers hid themselves quickly, at a speed that was astonishing.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the surroundings were quiet.
Suddenly, gunshots broke the tense silence, becoming more and more frequent, and there were loud explosions.
Xu Hongyu and Xu Rubin immediately split up, one led his men forward to reinforce, and the other led his troops to support the rear.
The battle broke out suddenly but not fiercely. After Xu Hongyu led his reinforcements up, he quickly dealt with this accidental enemy and quickly withdrew, moving back to his own territory.
"Have they all become weaklings?" Xu Hongyu was not surprised. The trend of us being strong and the enemy being weak remained unchanged. The lack of food and salt had seriously weakened the rebels' fighting capacity.
The Yi soldier Shamabuda was already a small flag officer and was allocated 20 mu of farmland. Together with his military pay, his family lived a comfortable life.
Hey, listening to the officer's teasing, Shamabuddha laughed twice and said, "I feel weak without salt. I also feel dizzy, lazy and confused."
Xu Hongyu glanced at Shamabuddha and patted his shoulder thoughtfully. "You don't know the effects of salt deficiency unless you experience it yourself." Clearly, Shamabuddha had experienced this before.
Shamabudda didn't understand the meaning of his commander's action. He pushed the captive and ordered him to leave quickly, saying proudly, "I bought some salt when I went home to visit my family last time. But I have two large jars of pickled vegetables at home. My wife said salt is not expensive now, so I saved some."
Xu Hongyu smiled and said, "As long as there's someone who's good at budgeting at home, life will be good. You're lucky! After your five-year military service is over and you have 20 acres of land, you can go home and live a good life."
"Go home?" Shamabuddha looked surprised and shook his head. "I'm already an officer. Can't I serve until I'm forty?"
After a pause, Shamabuddha added, "The imperial court is still recruiting Yi people as soldiers. I am a Yi person, so my words are trustworthy!"
The reform of the chieftain system was disadvantageous to the chieftains, as they could no longer be hereditary local emperors. However, it was beneficial to the common people under their jurisdiction, as they were treated like slaves.
Therefore, the emperor specifically told Fu Zonglong to recruit more ethnic minority soldiers and properly resettle the ethnic minorities who escaped from the jurisdiction of the chieftains.
In the future, when the chieftains are reformed and the system is changed, if the chieftains want to rebel, the minority soldiers will play a big role in suppressing it.
At the same time, ethnic minorities who have separated from the chieftains can live well, which will attract more ethnic minorities and have an impact on the chieftains' rule.
Think about it, if a chieftain has no one, or his subordinates are unwilling to fight for his own selfish interests, he can only accept the imperial court's orders with a pinch of his nose, and he has little power to resist no matter how hard he tries.
This policy has not yet been implemented on a large scale. The She'an Rebellion has not been quelled, and the state power has not yet reached a strong level. It is obviously unwise to force many chieftains to take risks.
But when the conditions were ripe, the emperor would remove the firewood from the land and liberate the serfs. He would give them freedom and land to cultivate, and then see how many people would still work for the chieftains.
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