Mu Tianbo did not send anyone to follow Wang Guoxing to investigate his whereabouts.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to, but that he doesn’t dare.
Once discovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guards and reported to Chongzhen, the title of Duke of Qian, which had been passed down for more than two hundred years, would most likely be stripped of its title.
The Mu family is indeed loyal, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have temper.
The arrogant attitude of the Jinyiwei made him feel a little resistant.
While Wang Guoxing went to Chuxiong, Mu Tianbo found Yu Xipeng, the steward of the Duke of Qian's Mansion.
The butler here is not a butler in the traditional sense.
Traditionally, housekeepers were only responsible for handling affairs within the mansion and did not serve in the court.
Yu Xipeng was different, he held an official position.
According to the available information, his position was Assistant Commander of Yunnan Military Commandery (doubtful, anyone who knows can leave a message).
Responsible for helping Mu Tianbo deal with the relationship between the various chieftains.
Yu Xipeng was called a traitor in "Continued Ming Chronicles". Because he owed Mu Tianbo tens of thousands of taels of silver and was unable to repay it, he took the opportunity of contacting Sha Dingzhou to deliberately reveal the wealth of Mu Palace to him.
He also implicitly told him that these riches originally belonged to their local tribe and were robbed by Prince Mu's palace through heavy taxes and levies.
If the fundamental cause of the Shapu Rebellion was the Ming court's policy of changing the native chieftains into officials, then the direct cause was that Yu Xipeng deliberately showed off his wealth, causing the local chieftains to become restless.
In fact, Yu Xipeng had no chance of getting promoted.
Mu Tianbo was only ten years old when he inherited the title and knew nothing.
It was all thanks to the butler at the time, Ruan Chenglin, who helped take care of everything inside and outside.
Ruan Chenglin was smart, capable, honest and impartial, and was best at handling the relationships between the various chieftains.
During the more than ten years that he helped to handle the situation, the various chieftains in Yunnan lived in peace and the whole of Yunnan was peaceful.
Unfortunately...Yu Xipeng deliberately framed him in order to compete for power with Ruan Chenglin.
Mu Tianbo felt that he had grown up and become more independent, and he no longer needed Ruan Chenglin as before.
So he ordered him to be executed.
After Ruan Chenglin's death, Yu Xipeng became the steward of Prince Mu's Palace and held some real power.
Yu Xipeng bowed deeply when he saw Mu Tianbo: "Duke Mu is looking for me?"
"Yes," Mu Tianbo nodded and handed him the news sent by Jinyiwei: "Verify whether this information is true or false."
Yu Xipeng was shocked after reading the news, but he replied calmly, "I will check it out right away."
After leaving Prince Mu's Mansion, Yu Xipeng sent two groups of people.
One group disguised themselves and went to Yuanmou to investigate Wu Bigui, while another group took Yu Xipeng's secret letter to see Sha Dingzhou.
Six days later, the first wave of people returned to Yunnan Prefecture.
"Your Excellency Duke Mu, the news is all true. Wu Bikui does have the intention of rebellion!" Yu Xipeng said to Mu Tianbo.
"What?" Mu Tianbo was shocked after hearing this: "How dare he rebel?"
"Now that things have come to this, Duke Mu should stop worrying about why he rebelled. The most urgent task is to mobilize troops to prepare to deal with the rebellion." Yu Xipeng looked loyal.
"Indeed," Mu Tianbo nodded solemnly, then sat in a chair to think about countermeasures.
Soon, he came up with an idea: "Spread the news immediately and say that Li Chuang's army is heading out of Hanzhong in three directions, preparing to attack Chengdu from Jinniu Road, Bazhong from Micang Road, and Fuling from Lizhi Road."
"Immediately mobilize the chieftains of Shiping, Long Zaitian, Ningzhou, Lu Yongming, Jingdong, Diao Xun, Li'e, Wang Yangzu, Mengzi, Sha Dingzhou and others to gather their troops and prepare to rush to Sichuan to help."
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Mu Tianbo decided to use false information to confuse the enemy.
"Wait a moment," Yu Xipeng was about to accept the order and leave when Mu Tianbo stopped him, "Sha Dingzhou is the strongest. Tell him to gather his troops and wait for news."
Yu Xipeng stood there in a daze for a moment, "Duke Mu, will this hurt Sha Dingzhou's feelings?"
Mu Tianbo didn't say anything.
He did this because he remembered something.
The Imperial Guards once told him that Sha Dingzhou had the intention of rebellion.
Although there is no evidence, we still have to be on guard.
Recruiting chieftains to send troops was a very troublesome matter.
Food and fodder are secondary. The main thing is not to favor one over the other.
The local chieftains in Yunnan were very willing to send troops to help the Ming court. First, they would get many benefits after suppressing the rebellion, including but not limited to the population, money, food, and territory of the targets of the expedition.
Second, you will get military merit!
Although the chieftain position was hereditary, there were also strict assessment standards.
If they failed to meet the court's hereditary standards, the court would delay or even stop their descendants from inheriting official positions.
Under this background, the chieftains would be happy to send troops to help the Ming court fight.
It was precisely for this reason that Mu Tianbo was unable to stop Sha Dingzhou from sending troops.
After all, not allowing him to send troops would be tantamount to ostracizing him, which would make Sha Dingzhou become disloyal.
"Tell him not to think too much. I have a great use for his troops." Mu Tianbo turned and said to Yu Xipeng.
Yu Xipeng didn't dare to ask more questions. He bowed and left quickly.
Time passes day by day between sunrise and sunset.
On October 28th, Yuanmou chieftain Wubikui quietly assembled all his troops.
The army was divided into three routes.
They headed north along the Longchuan River and attacked Li Dazhi's troops stationed on the banks of the Jinsha River.
The second route of troops attacked Dayao County west of Yuanmou.
The last route goes south along the Longchuan River, blocking all important water and land routes leading to Chuxiong.
As long as the news does not get out, Li Dazhi will not receive any reinforcements.
Before dawn, Wu Bikui's troops had all assembled.
He personally led 3,000 soldiers and horses down the river on a grain-carrying ship without food and fodder, and headed towards the Jinsha River.
The boat is very fast.
They set out in the morning and arrived at the Jinsha River before noon.
The place where the Ming army was stationed was called Dukou Township, and they set up camps next to the ferry.
When the scout saw the flag of the grain ship, he shouted, "The grain is coming! Our grain is coming!"
"The food and fodder have finally arrived. If they don't come sooner, we'll starve!" Under the command of the generals, the soldiers walked out of the camp one after another, ready to help carry the food and fodder.
The grain ship lowered its sails when it was still some distance away from the ferry and moved slowly forward relying on the power of the river water.
Hundreds of ships densely appeared on the river.
The moment the first ship docked, the soldiers on board lifted the tarpaulin one after another.
There were five or six small artillery pieces placed under the tarpaulin.
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