Chapter 1052 1143 Southwest and Southeast

Chapter 1052 1143 Southwest and Southeast

"Do you want to comply with the imperial decree? Has he gone to Kunming before?"

Li Chengliang asked lightly.

His question shocked both Mu Changzuo and Luo Rufang.

Of course they knew about this. Wang Ning sent a document asking Xinan Sanxuan and Liuwei to go to Kunming to explain the situation in Myanmar. However, after the document was sent out, no one came.

Meng Yangxuan comforted the envoy Si Ge, and naturally he did not go to Kunming.

What was Li Chengliang's purpose in talking about this matter at this time?

Mu Changzuo and Luo Rufang looked at each other, and finally looked at Li Chengliang.

"If he didn't come, he wouldn't be a peaceful master."

Soon, Li Chengliang commented on Si Ge.

Since he was not a peaceful master, he was naturally on the blacklist of the chieftains he wanted to eliminate.

Think about it, maybe he paid tribute to Wang Ning or Mu Changzuo, what does that have to do with him.

All forces that may affect Myanmar's long-term peace and stability are targets to be eliminated.

"How long can Meng Yang hold on?"

Li Chengliang still used a calm tone, and then asked again, completely unconcerned about the life and death of Meng Yang and Sige.

However, his question really stumped Mu Changzuo.

Mu Changzuo was hesitant. He was not sure how long Meng Yang, who was prepared, could withstand the Burmese army's attack.

He looked at Luo Rufang. At this time, Deputy Luo also frowned slightly, obviously thinking.

"Can't you be sure? Is it possible in three months?"

When Li Chengliang saw the two people's appearance, he simply said a time himself.

"Captain Li, I'm afraid three months will be a bit difficult."

Mu Changzuo spoke this time, "The Burmese army has been attacking Meng Yang for a month, and Meng Yang has been struggling to hold on, so he sent two waves of messengers to ask for help within three days.

In my opinion, I'm afraid it will only last a month at most. After that, I probably won't be able to bear it anymore.

According to the news from Meng Yang, this time Burmese King Mang Yinglong should have gathered all the troops that can be mobilized in Burma. "

"What?"

Li Chengliang was shocked when he heard what Mu Changzuo said.

He turned to look at Deputy Ambassador Luo aside, and saw that after listening to Mu Changzuo's words, he just nodded slightly, knowing that these words were not false.

"Haha. This Mang Yinglong is so bold. He actually gathered all the troops in Myanmar to deal with Meng Yang. How many people do they have?"

Li Chengliang was already convinced at this time that after the Burmese army captured Mengyang, the next step would be to seize the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, there should be no need to mobilize so many troops.

"Also, has anyone been sent over to confirm this news?"

Li Chengliang asked repeatedly, but before Mu Changzuo could react, Luo Rufang said: "After hearing the news, we sent scouts to infiltrate and investigate the Burmese army's military situation, but we haven't received any reward yet.

As for how many soldiers and horses Myanmar can mobilize, according to previous news, it should be more than 200,000, with a scale of hundreds of war elephants. "

"Ruzhen, please immediately write a letter to your brother Rubai and ask his military commander to come as soon as possible."

Li Chengliang heard that the scale of the Burmese army was so huge, it exceeded his expectations.

Yes, not to mention that Li Chengliang stayed in Guizhou for so long, didn't he ask about Myanmar's military situation?

In fact, in this era, officials of the Ming Dynasty looked down upon the small neighboring countries.

How many soldiers and horses can a small country on the border have?

Ten thousand or twenty thousand?

Or can we use the whole country's troops to raise 100,000 people?

This was what Li Chengliang thought before. He did not realize that the populations of these countries in Southeast Asia were still large.

The one who knows the situation most clearly is probably Wei Guangde.

He has an intelligence network of businessmen who provide him with some information.

Although it is not accurate enough, some data can still be determined roughly.

For example, the current Japanese state is in the so-called "Warring States Period" in their history.

The view on later generations' Internet is that a large-scale armed fight broke out among more than 60 villages.

But in the battles between these more than 60 villages, the highest number of troops mobilized reached 600,000.

It was just such a small island. It can be seen that the population of the Japanese country at that time was actually far more than one million. If they desperately recruited young people, they might not be able to raise an army of one million.

The number of more than 600,000 is still a number slowly compiled by Ming merchants doing business with those big names.

In the direction of Myanmar, the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants could not reach that far, so naturally they could not provide information to Wei Guangde.

Only the local businessmen in Yunnan know the truth about Myanmar.

Even if they wanted to get in touch with Mr. Wei Ge, there was nothing they could do, and the news would naturally not reach his ears.

In Wei Guangde's view, the difficulty the Ming Dynasty had in dealing with Burma may have something to do with the complex local terrain. He never thought that the Ming army, or later the Qing army, would always be outnumbered in battles with the Burmese army.

In terms of military strength, China has never had an advantage.

Of course, it is also related to the military systems of the two countries.

After the Ming Dynasty, professional soldiers began to appear in China, that is, those military households who specialized in fighting wars. Instead of the previous dynasty, which directly recruited farmers, they were simply trained and then put into the battlefield.

Therefore, in foreign wars after the Ming Dynasty, China's military strength gave people the impression that there was a huge gap between it and the previous dynasty, and it always gave the impression that China's military strength was insufficient.

Although there are many Myanmar troops, most of them are farmers who have just put down their hoes.

China can generally win such a battle at the natural battle level, but it will be difficult to achieve its strategic goals.

Now that he knows that Myanmar's military strength exceeds 200,000, it is difficult for Li Chengliang not to pay attention to it.

It’s hard to catch two hundred thousand pigs, let alone people.

In addition, the main enemies in Liaodong are the Tuman and Jurchens, and it is similar to the whole people being soldiers.

Their combat power impressed Li Chengliang deeply, and naturally Li Chengliang made him overestimate the Burmese army's combat power.

"How many soldiers and horses are here now? If Yunnan continues to mobilize, how many reinforcements can be sent?"

Li Chengliang looked at Mu Changzuo and asked seriously.

"Captain Li, now Yongchang Mansion has assembled an army of 30,000 people, this reinforcement is needed"

Mu Changzuo was a little hesitant, and when he was still thinking about how to answer, Li Chengliang raised his hand, and Li Rusong behind him wisely handed the document from the capital into his hand.

"Mr. Mu, Deputy Ambassador Luo, this is an order from the imperial court. Please take a look at it first."

Previously, Li Chengliang only conducted inquiries to understand the border situation above the Yunnan General Military Officer as the Left Governor of the Right Army Governor's Mansion.

Now, he directly issued an order to directly take over the military power here.

Only after the two of them saw the appointment from the imperial court did they suddenly realize.

The previous speculations became reality, and the Ming Dynasty really wanted to kill Burma.

It is rare for generals to be given more power than civilian officials.

Even if Ma Fang is favored, he still has to listen to the orders of Governor Xuanda and Governor Ji Liao.

Of course, there is no governor in Yunnan, but there is a governor, who seems to be able to command.

The two of them did not dare to continue to think about the profound meaning of the appointment by the court. Anyway, all the troubles could be handed over to the person in front of them. When the time comes, Li Chengliang would naturally bear the main responsibility.

"Okay, you two should know my identity. Now I'm curious, where did Burma's 200,000-strong army come from?"

Li Chengliang was still surprised by the numbers they said.

"Captain Li, the Burmese army under the Burmese king should only have tens of thousands of people, but the surrounding chieftains have soldiers. A few thousand here and ten thousand there, so they can be scraped together.

According to my estimation, if the Burmese king really mobilized 200,000 people to participate in the war this time, he would probably have summoned local soldiers from Awa, Dongwu, Mengmi, Manmo and other places. 200,000 people can still be scraped together. "

Luo Rufang said.

"In Longchuan and other places, you are unwilling to lead troops to set up defenses. Is it because you suspect that the chieftains have collusion with the Burmese king?"

Li Chengliang continued to ask.

Luo Rufang did not answer this time, but just lowered her head.

Then Mu Changzuo said: "Director Li is from Kunming. I think Governor Wang also mentioned Yun Na's situation to you. Not to mention outside the territory, even the chieftains in the province often obey the government documents and violate them.

If there weren't a large army stationed there, there might have been chaos.

At present, Yunnan's official army can still guard various traffic arteries. If a chieftain rebels, they can also deploy troops and horses to put down the rebellion.

But it is really difficult to resist the invasion of the Burmese king's 200,000 troops.

Fortunately, the governor had already gathered reinforcements from Sichuan, Guizhou and other places to enter Yunnan, so there should be no serious problems this time. "

"That's all the credit of the wise kings and princes of the imperial court. I was only ordered to come to the southwest to train the troops and horses of the guard station. I didn't expect to encounter such a thing, so I don't dare to be greedy for credit."

Li Chengliang said modestly at this moment.

The imperial court will never admit that it had plans to send troops to Myanmar before the uprising in Myanmar.

When Li Chengliang came to patrol the southwest border, he only saw that the soldiers and horses in the southwest were weak, so he planned to gather troops for training.

Although officials in the southwest are somewhat aware of the strangeness, no one will say it without opening their eyes.

At this moment, a servant from the Duke's palace appeared outside the door. He made a hidden gesture towards Mr. Mu. Mu Changzuo immediately smiled and said: "Captain Li, I have ordered my servants to prepare wine and food to welcome the governor. Dust off.

Mr. Luo, let’s toast Governor Li together. "

"That's how it should be."

Luo Rufang also said with a smile.

When he went out to greet Li Chengliang in the front yard, Mu Changzuo had already ordered his servants to prepare a sumptuous banquet to entertain Li Chengliang and his party.

Naturally, there were also people to entertain the personal soldiers brought by Li Chengliang.

Although it won’t be a table full of chicken, duck and fish, it’s definitely not bad either.

These personal soldiers who follow senior generals are not short of food on weekdays, and they are all provided with good food and drink.

Just as Li Chengliang was sitting at the head of the banquet, on his left was the Duke of Guizhou, Mu Changzuo, and on his right was the censor of the Yongchang Prefecture as his companion.

He couldn't shirk it, so he sat down because he had no other choice.

Originally, the highest-ranking person here should undoubtedly be the Duke of Guizhou. The superior Duke was not comparable to the first-class Zuo Governor like him.

But he didn't know that just before he came, Mu Changzuo and Luo Rufang were as anxious as ants on a hot pot.

Although there is still controversy over whether to focus on attacking or defending, basically everyone is nervous after learning about Myanmar's mobilization of troops.

Luo Rufang's main attack was also to send troops to Meng Yang, so that allies could join forces to fight the enemy. The battlefield was also outside the borders of the Ming Dynasty, which could buy time for the court to mobilize troops.

Now that the blame has been passed on to Li Chengliang, they are naturally grateful.

In the southeast, two centipede boats carrying the imperial decree were also heading toward Luzon at high speed.

At the same time, two centipede boats were sent to convey the message, also because they were worried about accidents happening to ships on the sea.

One ship carries the will, while the other is the escort. Even if the ship breaks down, things can be transferred to the other ship.

At this time, the boatmen shouted the trumpet, rowed hard, speeded up the boat, and headed southeast.

They have been at sea for several days, and more than half of the trip has passed.

Since the Ming army in Luzon gained a firm foothold and sent people to send back memorials, the location of Pengasilan Bay is no longer a secret.

Therefore, the goal of the Ming army warships this time is to go directly here and send the imperial edict to the city of Daimao.

At this time on Luzon Island, after a month of surveying the boundaries, Chen Lin and Wang Wanggao have completed the work of determining the boundaries with the Spaniards, and some places have been marked.

To mark, in fact, it is just a stone slab in the ground and a stone tablet on the ground as a mark.

Because the boundaries are drawn according to latitude, some of the accompanying Ming army clerks are familiar with the instruments brought by the Spaniards.

In those days, there were no electronic instruments such as total stations that could accurately measure longitude and latitude, nor were there instruments such as sextants that were widely used later. It was still a relatively old-fashioned device, the cross astronomical instrument, also known as Jacob's stick or golden rod.

It is composed of a short rod with holes at both ends, which is vertically mounted on a long straight rod with a scale. The short rod can move back and forth on the long rod, and the upper and lower holes can see the horizon and celestial bodies respectively.

In fact, the people sent to the trench mirror by Yu Dayou before also came into contact with this kind of things, but they could only get out the older measuring instrument that the Portuguese had discarded and no longer used - the nautical astrolabe.

The astrolabe is an ancient stargazing instrument, but the navigators removed the star chart on the astrolabe and changed it into a simple navigation instrument for measuring the latitude of land and the position of the ship at sea.

The nautical astrolabe consists of a rotatable pointer fixed to the center of a wooden or metal disk, and the circumference of the disk is marked with degrees.

When using it, the astrolabe is hung vertically, the zero-degree mark is flush with the horizontal plane, and the pointer is moved to point to the celestial body to be measured, so that the height of the celestial body can be measured, thereby obtaining the latitude position of the ship.

Relatively speaking, the astrolabe has the best effect on land measurement. Due to the bumps on the ship deck, the measurement error at sea is relatively large.

After all, the astrolabe itself is a stargazing instrument.

In addition, I also inquired about something called a right-angle quadrant, but it was also replaced by a cross astronomical instrument, and the trench mirror did not have a real object.

During the boundary survey, the Spaniards took out the cross astronomical instrument. Because of its good effect, Yu Dayou simply bought three sets at a high price.

One set was naturally planned to be sent back to the court by ship and handed over to the Ministry of Works for research and imitation.

The other two sets were planned to be kept in the South China Sea Navy.

With this instrument that can mark the position at sea, it is much more accurate than relying on the experience of old sailors to locate.

In the current Daimao City, the Ming army selected a thousand strong men from the summoned natives and another thousand from the Sulu soldiers to form a 2,000-man vassal army to assist the Ming army in protecting the territory.

Ten large and small warships and hundreds of soldiers were left in Luzon, all of which were handed over to Chen Lin for command.

In addition, a large blessing ship was prepared to take the harvest back to the Ming Dynasty and send King Bakr on the way, if the court allowed him to meet.

The remaining naval officers and soldiers were ready to set sail again.

Calculating the time, Yu Dayou has become anxious in the past two days.

Because this time he is sailing not only to Luzon, but also to Old Port and Myanmar.