Yang Cha traveled to Guangxi relatively quickly. He first traveled by land to Hubei, then took a boat south, took the Xiangjiang River and the Lingqu Canal, and successfully arrived at Guizhou, the capital of Guangxi South Road, which is Guilin in later generations.
Di Qing set out later, after all, he had to lead an army of 10,000, and not cavalry, but infantry.
Add to that all sorts of firearms, cannons, small steel cannons, gunpowder supplies and other miscellaneous things, and the baggage train alone was loaded with thousands of horse-drawn carriages, so naturally the process was slow.
On the day of his departure, Zhao Zhen, Zhao Jun and Fan Zhongyan summoned Di Qing, firstly to encourage him, and secondly to give him instructions, telling him how to destroy the Li Dynasty and how to govern it after destroying it.
In early March, almost when Yang Cha had just arrived in southern Guangxi and began to prepare for war, Di Qing had already led the firearms battalion and was ready to set off today.
In Chongzheng Hall, flowers are blooming in March.
The warm sunlight from outside shines in and shines on people, giving people a lazy and comfortable feeling. The air seems to be filled with a refreshing, comfortable and gentle feeling.
Several people were sitting in Chongzheng Hall.
This was not Di Qing's first time here, so he was not so restrained. He stood in the center of the hall and bowed to Zhao Zhen above him and Zhao Jun and Fan Zhongyan on his left and right.
"No need to be polite, Mr. Di."
Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "You are one of my personal guards and have made many military achievements. This not only pleases me but also brings honor to me."
Di Qing quickly said, "Your Majesty, I am too kind. As a soldier of the Song Dynasty, I will do my utmost and fight till my death."
"good."
Zhao Zhen nodded in satisfaction, and after struggling for a few more words, he finally said, "Your troops are ready and about to go to war. I called you here today, not only for routine instructions, but also for something more important."
"Your Majesty, please explain clearly."
Di Qing said.
Zhao Zhen said, "Let the chancellor tell you."
Di Qing turned his head and looked at Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun said in a deep voice: "It won't be difficult to eliminate Li Yue during this expedition. You just need to remember the following points."
Di Qing bowed and waited for Zhao Jun's instructions.
Zhao Jun said, "First, only take the main roads, not the small roads. The southwest is mountainous and densely forested, making it very easy to set up ambushes. Small roads make it difficult to deploy artillery, and once you're ambushed, it's difficult to fight."
"yes."
Di Qing responded.
"Second, local water must be boiled before drinking, not raw water, to prevent disease."
"yes."
"Third, in spring and summer, mosquitoes become more numerous, so you must pay attention to preventing mosquito bites. Bring mosquito repellent herbs to the barracks, burn them in your tent every day when you set up camp to repel mosquitoes."
"yes."
"Fourth, your mission is to eliminate the Ly Dynasty's effective forces and strike their main force. As for the harassment from their tribes, ignore them and don't let them lead you by the nose. Let them harass you, but if they don't fight head-on, you should march directly into Thang Long!"
"yes."
"fifth."
Zhao Jun listed more than ten points of attention in one breath, which seemed like the bald man was remotely controlling him.
However, he did not directly interfere with Di Qing's tactical play, but only told him some solutions to problems and their strategic goals. The specific combat methods and on-site arrangements were still handled by Di Qing himself.
After finishing these precautions, Zhao Jun finally said: "Han minister."
"Zhiyuan."
Di Qing listened carefully.
"If these matters are taken care of, it will not be difficult to destroy the Li Dynasty."
"I trust the prefect."
"Eradication is not difficult, but how to control it is difficult."
"Please inform the court."
"It's simple. After you destroy the Li Dynasty, you can adopt the strategy of divide and rule."
"Divide and conquer?"
"good."
Zhao Jun nodded. "The purpose of your trip is to completely destroy the royal family of the Li Dynasty and dismantle their social structure into a tribal system. You will then support the smaller ethnic minorities in the region to rise to power and suppress their larger counterparts."
"But I heard that the situation there is similar to that of the Song Dynasty. There are only local Annan people, and very few others."
Di Qing scratched his head.
Since he wanted to attack Vietnam, he naturally had to know something about that place, so he consulted a lot of information during this period.
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Even if there are very few, we can still support them. Even if they are the local Annan people, we can divide and rule them. For example, those who live by the sea can be given a new name. Those who live in the mountains can also be given a new name. In any case, let them believe that they are different from other Annan people."
Don't underestimate Vietnam's small size. With the power of the Song Dynasty, it would be easy to annex it. But in fact, Vietnam is easy to fight and difficult to govern, and it is almost impossible for the Central Plains dynasty to annex it.
In fact, it is not just Vietnam. During the Tang and Song dynasties, even Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, which many people think are traditional Chinese regions, were difficult for the ancients to govern.
This situation was not improved until the Southern Song Dynasty moved south and developed Lingnan on a large scale. It was not until the Ming and Qing dynasties that the southern coastal provinces were well governed.
The reason is that Vietnam is too remote, poor and chaotic.
Considering this issue from an economic perspective, a rebellion in one place is not terrible, and the court only needs to send troops to suppress it.
But if this place is always in rebellion, the central government will need to send heavy troops to garrison it. Moreover, this place is poor and very far away from the central government, so the cost of sending troops is extremely high.
So it is normal for the Central Plains dynasty to give up the money-losing places that are not in the core ruling areas.
The second is that Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country, and their ethnic composition is very similar to that of the Han people, with the main ethnic group, the Kinh people, accounting for the vast majority of the population.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
