The rebel in Annan was Hu Jimao.

Due to the limitation of distance transmission, it was actually a month later when Daming received the news.

In other words, Annan has been under Hu Jima's control for more than a month.

This was something Zhu Ying had never thought might happen.

After all, in Annan were his eldest disciple Liu Sheng and the highly respected scholar Zhao Yuanhong.

The fact that Zhao Yuanhong was able to serve as a vanguard and be responsible for coordinating Annan affairs shows that in Zhu Ying's mind, he is a truly independent talent.

This is indeed the case.

Many of the arrangements in the Western Regions back then were completed by Zhao Yuanhong. Although he looked gentle on the outside, he actually had a ruthless heart. In Zhu Ying's heart, Zhao Yuanhong was once a figure like Yao Guangxiao.

Needless to say, Liu Sheng was the garrison commander of the Western Regions base during Zhu Ying's Chamber of Commerce period. Zhu Ying could travel around because he relied on Liu Sheng to be in charge.

But now they were both secretly captured by Hu Jima.

It sounds like something is not right.

It’s not that he underestimated Hu Jima, but Zhu Ying was very clear about the arrangements in many aspects and had already surpassed this generation.

Moreover, there are still 50,000 elite Ming troops in Annan. In addition, Chen Muyue’s power had greatly increased when he returned to Annan to visit his relatives. How could they be overturned?

Is there a traitor?

Or are we too careless?

There is no way to know what exactly happened. Now it is not a matter of sending people to investigate, but how to deal with Annan, which has rebelled against the Ming Dynasty.

Who gave him the courage to rebel at this time?

A major war is obviously inevitable.

The next day, the incident broke out in the imperial court.

The civil and military officials in the capital never took a small country like Annan seriously.

"How dare the small country of Annan dare to offend the Ming Dynasty? They really don't know what's good for them."

"I suggest that we immediately send a large army to recapture Annan today, so that they will understand that the majesty of heaven cannot be violated."

A civil official immediately stepped forward to express his opinion.

Then more ministers stood up and seconded the motion.

Anyone who has a little common sense knows that the current strength of the Ming Dynasty is already in an absolutely strong state.

Not to mention the overseas Japanese country, even the current grassland overlord Northern Yuan Dynasty is completely submissive.

Looking around the world, there is no threat at all.

The ministers from the Ministry of Revenue were all in favor.

In the past, when there was a possibility of war, the Ministry of Revenue would mostly be the voice of opposition. It was not because they were afraid of anything, but because the Ministry of Revenue, which was in charge of money, was well aware of the loss that a war would cause to the national treasury.

But there is no need to worry now. There is so much money in the national treasury that we don’t know how to spend it.

Last year’s annual revenue hasn’t even been used up, but this year’s annual revenue has already arrived.

Attacking a small country like Annan is not a burden at all for the national treasury.

At this moment in the court, there was a chorus of voices condemning Annan.

We are not fools.

Whether it is Your Majesty or His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they are both extremely powerful kings.

There is absolutely no need to be eccentric.

Not to mention the current Ming Dynasty.

Even Zhu Ying before, or Zhu Di who pacified the rebellion in history, had ever been afraid of Annan.

Zhu Yuanzhang once thought of not conquering Annan, but that was simply because he felt that there was no point in conquering it.

If anything offends the Ming Dynasty, we will naturally have to fight.

"Pass on my decree, order the Yunnan Provincial Government to prepare an army of 100,000 and send it to the Guangxi Provincial Government at the Annan border."

"Order the Guangxi Provincial Administration Office to prepare troops for the twelve prefectures under its jurisdiction and immediately prepare an army of 200,000 men."

"Appoint Jingning Hou Ye Sheng as the General of the Southern Expedition, commanding the army, and Puding Hou Chen Huan as the Deputy General of the Expedition."

"Gather the troops in three months and take Annan."

What is the biggest difference between the Hongwu period and the Yongle period?

It's not that there are too many soldiers, but too many generals.

At this time in the Ming Dynasty, outstanding generals were as numerous as crucian carp crossing the river and as brilliant as stars.

After experiencing the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, each of them has accumulated extremely rich war experience.

In his early years, Ye Sheng, Marquis of Jingning, attacked Shu and conquered the Western Barbarians. Later, he commanded the troops in Dingbian and Yao'an in Yunnan, set up military camps and cultivated land, and governed Bijie Wei.

Chang Yuchun was the strongest vanguard general in the Ming Dynasty. Under Chang Yuchun, Chen Huan, Marquis Puding, was also very famous.

For example, when the city of Nanjing was attacked, Chen Huan, Marquis of Puding, was the first to climb the city wall.

Chen Huan, Marquis of Puding, was particularly adept at sieges and mountain warfare.

He possessed courage, wisdom, and martial arts. In the process of pacifying Yunnan with Fu Youde and Lan Yu, no matter how dangerous the city was, with him around, no city could be conquered.

If you really want to count the outstanding generals in the Ming Dynasty today, there are really too many of them, especially in the field of war, you can just pick one with your eyes closed.

If it weren't for the fact that all the people involved in the Lan Yu case were killed in history, Zhu Di would never have been able to reach the city of Nanjing.

I'm afraid he would be defeated and captured before he even left Peking.

The appointment of generals this time was not made by Zhu Ying, but was made by Zhu Yuanzhang at random.

After all, pacifying Annan is not a big deal.

Another three months later it will be October.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang had never been to Annan and did not know what tropical rainforest climate was, he knew that the Annan region was hot all year round and the winter was a good time to fight.

It happened that at that time, the farmland in Guangxi had been harvested, and the soldiers could concentrate on fighting.

…

"Annan is not a problem. With the soldiers we have now, we can conquer it all in about half a year."

"What we are thinking about now is what to do after we take over Annan."

"What do you think, grandson?"

In the Huagai Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang said to Zhu Ying.

Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang is now more concerned.

Although not much attention was paid to Annan, some past intelligence showed that Annan was not as barren as he had imagined, but rather a relatively fertile land.

Now that this has happened, of course I have to make some plans.

Zhu Ying replied: "Annan's rebellion was a little too hasty, and there was no news before the incident. It is obvious that they did not have enough time to prepare."

"If my grandson is not mistaken, it is very likely that Chen Muyue's return to Annan to visit her relatives put too much pressure on them, making them feel that if they don't rebel at this time, they will have no chance in the future."

"The current situation is not very good for our Ming Dynasty. It is easy to pacify Annan, but it is not so easy to take Annan back."

Historically, the reason why Zhu Di was able to take over Annan was because all the descendants of the Annan royal family had died, and there was no way to choose a new king.

Therefore, the ministers left over from Annan all wanted to join the Ming Dynasty family and gain some benefits.

It’s a pity that the indigenous people were not appeased in the end, probably because the Ming Dynasty did not pay enough attention to it, which led to Annan’s rebellion and separation again.

But it’s different now, the Annan royal family is still there.

Under normal circumstances, even if Annan was pacified, in the end it would have to be returned to the hands of the Annan royal family.

If we want to take it by force, it is actually not impossible.

But the same problem exists here, that is, the Ming Dynasty's ability to directly govern it is weak. Although the Annan royal family seems to have been sidelined, in fact, the vast majority of the Annan people are still loyal.

It is easy to occupy temporarily, but it is more complicated to integrate completely.

This is also why Zhu Ying sent 50,000 elite troops to garrison in Annan, and then went to teach Annan some of Liu Sheng and Li Xiucai's former disciples.

Incorporating such things is a subtle process, and only in this way can the benefits be maximized.

Forceful occupation will only lead to endless uprisings, which will consume a lot of Ming Dynasty's national strength.

Although Zhu Ying did not directly answer the old man's words, Zhu Yuanzhang also understood his meaning.

"Then let's wait until the situation is pacified and hand it over to King Annan again."

"But then we can do what Japan did and let more people and merchants from the Ming Dynasty come over to support us and get some benefits."

"The food and fodder consumed by our 300,000-man army must be borne by the King of Annan."

If it were in the past, Zhu Yuanzhang would not have said this. Instead, in order to demonstrate the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, he would have directly borne the military expenses instead of asking Annan to bear it.

It has to be said that during the time after Zhu Ying entered the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly affected in all aspects.

Especially when it comes to money, the changes are particularly obvious.

Da Sun fights wars here and there, and always gets benefits from all aspects. It's unacceptable that when he arranges a war himself, not only does he not get any benefits, but he also loses some.

The war reparations from Japan also allowed Zhu Yuanzhang to see a new direction.

This means that war will most likely no longer be a burden for the Ming Dynasty, but rather a way to double the cost of spending on others.

…

Annan Palace, Prison.

The prison environment here is pretty good, and it can be seen that it had undergone simple cleaning and improvements before.

But the smell is not so easy to dissipate.

It's a tropical climate, and in this unventilated environment, it's more likely to stink.

However, Liu Sheng and others had no good choice.

"Mr. Liu, you are a military supervisor at least. We have 50,000 elite soldiers. How did we let people get to this point?"

"I was teaching there peacefully, but I was arrested for no apparent reason. I didn't even know the situation."

"Is there no possibility of discovering it in advance? This is even worse than when we were in the Western Regions."

"The Western Regions were not so good back then, and they have not fallen into the situation of prisoners today."

In the adjacent cell, Li Xiucai kept complaining.

Even in this dark and damp dungeon, Li Xiucai was still wearing a green robe, with a bit of scholarly temperament.

But there is still no improvement in his nagging habit.

Opposite his cell was Liu Sheng.

Faced with Li Xiucai's complaints, Liu Sheng just sighed and didn't say much.

In terms of official position, Liu Sheng was in charge of all Ming people in the entire Annan region and was considered the highest commander of the Ming Dynasty in Annan.

No matter what, he, as the supreme commander, was betrayed and implicated, which was a huge dereliction of duty.

On the contrary, when it comes to life, there is nothing to worry about, and he doesn't care that much.

What he cared more about was that he failed to handle Zhu Ying's affairs well.

"This matter is not the fault of Liu Jianjun. I also have an unshirkable responsibility."

A voice came from the next cell. It was Zhao Yuanhong, who was secretly responsible for Annan intelligence.

Zhao Yuanhong frowned slightly at this moment, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Obviously wondering what went wrong.

Liu Xiucai looked at Zhao Yuanhong, hesitated slightly, and did not speak again.

As the only few scholars in the Western Regions of the former Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce, they were relatively familiar with each other.

When Zhu Ying recruited them, the first arrangement he made for them was teaching.

Zhao Yuanhong is the most outstanding among them. His talents in all aspects are incomparable to Li Xiucai, and he is also the leader among the scholars.

Not long after he started working, Zhu Ying valued him because of his extraordinary talent and asked him to be in charge of other matters. Finally, he was assigned to Annan.

When facing Zhao Yuanhong, Li Xiucai was obviously much more polite.

Even though Liu Sheng was nominally the commander-in-chief, Li Xiucai still had his own bad temper, but he did not dare to vent it on Zhao Yuanhong.

"This matter is extremely strange. This old fellow Hu Jima must have had this idea when Yue Fei came here."

"When Yue Fei came over, our minds were all on her, so we paid less attention to Hu Jima. This old man must have taken advantage of this time to make secret arrangements."

Hearing Zhao Yuanhong talking, Liu Sheng also said a few words.

Because until now, no one knows the specific details.

After being arrested, even the jailers kept silent about everything except two meals a day. With no channels to obtain intelligence, they could only rely on guesswork.

"There is a traitor among us."

Zhao Yuanhong said in a deep voice.

When Li Xiucai heard this, he immediately looked at Liu Sheng, then thought it was impossible. After all, Liu Sheng was the supreme commander, so there was no possibility of treason. Finally, he was stunned and shouted, "Don't talk nonsense, I am not a traitor."

Liu Sheng said angrily, "Just shut up, you're not even qualified to be a traitor."

"If it were you, we would still be in this prison."

Zhao Yuanhong ignored Li Xiucai and analyzed on his own: "This person must be very familiar to us, and he should also be very familiar with the situation in Annan."

"This person did not come from the Ming Dynasty with Liu Jianjun. He must have followed me here a few years ago."

"That's the only way he could have colluded with Hu Jima."

"This person is very ambitious. As a subordinate of the boss, he colluded with Hu Jima. He must want to gain more, or he is dissatisfied with his current situation and has complaints."

"It's easy to find people. There are only two or three possible people."

"Without his help, it would have been impossible for Hu Jima to attack us all at once."

"It is because of him that Hu Jima has the confidence."