Through the introduction of several people, Zhao Bing's memories of his previous life were activated. He remembered that one of the "Three Major Conquests of Wanli" in the Ming Dynasty was the conquest of the Yang family in Bozhou, but he could not remember the chieftain of the Yang family in the past.

However, Zhao Bing still remembers the Boju Rebellion in the Ming Dynasty, which was the battle with the largest number of troops invested in the Wanli period. There were eight armies and a total of 240,000 troops. This number was nearly three times that of the Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops in the Renchen War. However, this battle lasted for four years, and consumed countless money and food, which exhausted the last little accumulation in the Ming Dynasty treasury.

Zhao Bing couldn't help but feel a little vague when he thought of this. He knew that historical soldiers were good at fighting. In addition to the folk customs of "their folk customs are fierce and fighting, and their soldiers are strong, and they are dispatched in different places, and they are often enthusiastic about going there", it is also related to the chieftains forces in Sichuan and Sichuan and Guizhou areas, which are like small kingdoms, and provide the soil for the formation of these fierce soldiers. Unlike the chieftains who were directly managed by the court, the chieftains forces in Sichuan and Guizhou areas can be said to be truly deep-rooted.

Including the Yang family of Bozhou, the Xi'an family of Shui, the She family of Yongning, and other chieftains, they had become famous families in this area as early as the Song Dynasty and even earlier in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, although they became chieftains enthroned by the court during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the forces of the central court could only have nominal control over these chieftain forces in Sichuan and Guizhou areas.

In addition to being strong and deep, these chieftain forces often have very strict internal management mechanisms. Historically, they used the patriarchal system called "Zexi". The foundation of this system was related to the political and economic policies of Sichuan and Guizhou areas at that time, and their political system was similar to the feudal system in the medieval European era.

The so-called "Zexi" is actually a warehouse. In addition to obtaining land, the members of the An clan who were enfeoffed within the An clan would eventually obtain a "Zexi". Through "Zexi", clan members collect taxes on their own citizens and hand over the corresponding shares to the chieftains. In wartime, they rely on "Zexi" to establish an army, and under the command of the chieftains, they fight side by side with other clan members.

Liqi has always been a headache for dynasties in history. While the court suppressed them by force, it may implement a policy of restraining them to win over and divide them for its own use. The court's military actions against the rebels in Litian often rely on the military support of local Liqi forces, but the Liqi forces naturally will not contribute their soldiers to the court in vain.

Therefore, in addition to rewarding and pensioning the forces participating in the war, the court often rewarded the territory deprived of the rebel li tribes to the meritorious li tribes. This method will undoubtedly produce new powerful li tribes again. Therefore, the famous powerful li tribes, including the Yang family of Bozhou, have launched rebellions against the court without exception.

But in general, there are many loyal and loyal people among the Li people. When the court suffered financial difficulties and the building was about to collapse, they became rare elite soldiers. The Song Dynasty also called Li soldiers to participate in the wars against the Western Xia, Jin and Mongolia, and achieved outstanding results. But what is most known to modern people are the Guangxi wolf soldiers and Sichuan and Guizhou white-rod soldiers in the Ming Dynasty.

The saying "Guangxi wolf soldiers are powerful in the world" is well known to the world, and the so-called chieftain soldiers or wolf clay soldiers are actually another title of the lie soldiers after the Tang and Song dynasties. After the implementation of the chieftain system at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, local chieftains owned private soldiers. According to the system at that time, although these private soldiers were usually used by chieftains, they had to respond to the conscript when the central court needed them.

Of course, after the war, the court would also give a large amount of rewards to the chieftains and provide pensions to the casualties. Therefore, for the small chieftains with poor land in the area, making money for the court to fight wars has become a very important source of fiscal revenue. So in essence, these chieftain soldiers are somewhat similar to mercenaries.

In the Ming Dynasty's war to suppress the Japanese pirates, the Guangxi Langci soldiers made great contributions, but strangely, in the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the war with Annan in the early Ming Dynasty and the war to suppress the Japanese pirates, the Guangxi Langci soldiers rarely participated in the battle with the regular Japanese army in the Battle of Korea and the war with the Eight Banners of Manzhou.

On the contrary, the Baikao soldiers who became famous in the Battle of Dalinghe were under the command of Shiquan Tusi from Sichuan. This army later participated in the quelling of the Anshe Rebellion and the war with peasant uprising troops such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. Can Sichuan Tusi soldiers fight more than Guangxi Langci soldiers? Who can be considered the real "best army"?

This topic was very lively on the Internet at that time, and Zhao Bing also watched it as a melon-eating crowd. But as before, he could have rational discussions at first, but later it turned into a regional dispute and a chaotic battle. At that time, he could watch it as a lively event as a spectator, but not at the moment. This is related to the direction of the court's policy and the safety of the country.

Zhao Bing thought that the two armies were stronger and weak, but in fact, the battle of Hunhe in the late Ming Dynasty could be used as a verification. According to the records of the "Ming History Chronicles" compiled by Gu Yingtai in the Qing Dynasty: "The generals fought bravely and defeated the Bai Mai soldiers (two white flags in Manzhou), and defeated the Huang Mai soldiers (two yellow flags in Manzhou), and killed two or three thousand people who fell off the horse." In the "Ming Shilu", it was recorded: "Zhang Heming, Minister of War, said that the bloody battle of Hunhe killed thousands of slaves, all of which were the power of the local soldiers of the two departments of Shiquan Youyang."

It can be seen from this that in the Battle of Hunhe, the combat effectiveness of the chieftain soldiers from Sichuan and Guizhou was stronger than that of many front-line troops of the Ming Dynasty at that time. In comparison, although the wolf-civilian soldiers in Guangxi were much inferior in terms of combat effectiveness or number of troops compared with the chieftain soldiers of Sichuan and Guizhou, most of the chieftains in Guangxi were under the control of the Ming court, so they were more able to use the Ming court with confidence.

Zhao Bing thought that perhaps the wolf soldiers were more loyal, which was why the wolf soldiers in Guangxi became famous, but they had always been wary of the Sichuan-Guizhou chieftain soldiers. Because the Sichuan-Guizhou chieftains are truly deep-rooted. For example, the Yang family in Bozhou has been 500 years and has survived to death. They have existed even longer than those dynasties, so they do not want to give them the opportunity to grow stronger by participating in the war.

However, the Yang family in Bozhou was able to survive several dynasties. In addition to being located in the border and avoiding the war of changing dynasties, they mainly "know the current affairs" and immediately change their families when they see things. The political and military status in the southwest made the new dynasty unwilling to spend a lot of energy and property to change, but they need to maintain stability. They can only use these chieftains to maintain order and have to accept their "rejection".

In people's impression, Li people live in remote and remote areas, but not all of them. After hundreds of years of operation by the Yang family, Bozhou has become very prosperous. The local area not only produces wood and black lead, but also produces tea and rice. These things are very needed by the economically developed Jiangnan region. If there is demand, there will be business opportunities. Bozhou people pack these things on a boat, and follow the Chishui River to enter the Yangtze River. If you go down the river, you can go to Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanjing. The transportation costs are low but the profits are quite high.

In addition, Bozhou is also the only way for Sichuan salt to enter Guizhou. At least in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, Bozhou's economy was close to Jiangnan, and "the residents were rich and the atmosphere of Jiangnan". With soldiers, money and territory, these chieftains had the capital to separatist the southwest, and they also developed a rebellious folk custom, thinking that they had the capital to negotiate with the court...

"Your Majesty, I think that the Yang family in Bozhou is now facing the court and refuses to accept the strategy of changing land and returning to the land, and should be conquered. Otherwise, the local officials in Sichuan and Guizhou areas, and even Guangxi will follow suit, and it will be even more difficult to implement this strategy in Yunnan!" Wen Tianxiang saw the emperor being in a daze and reminded him.

"Change the land and return to the current is an important national policy for our dynasty to stabilize the southwest and even the northwest, and to subdue the Li District. It cannot allow chaos in one place and give up the overall situation." Zhao Bing took back his mind and sat upright, "But our dynasty has just ended the war with the Mongolian Yuan, and the army was gathered in the Lianghuai area. It still needs to be prevented from breaking the contract by the Mongolian Yuan, and it is difficult to move south in large numbers. However, the local military strength is insufficient, and it is difficult to fight against the Yang family of Bozhou by their ability alone. It may be difficult to send troops to attack in the short term."

"Well, what Your Majesty said is that most of our imperial guards are arranged in the north. In the Jiangnan region, except for the 10th Army deployed in Huguang, there are only the imperial guards in the capital. In addition to pursuing Huguang, the 10th Army still undertakes the task of supporting the war in Yunnan. Now the battle is not enough." Jiang Qing nodded and said.

"Our dynasty has expanded its troops several times since Qiongzhou, and now it has only more than 300,000 cavalry and infantry, but its territory is more than a hundred times that of Qiong. Although the war in Jiangnan has subsided, the garrison forces are relatively small. Jiangnan is also facing the invasion of Annan and Myanmar and the rebellions of various li. It is difficult to deal with wars. I think it can expand the troops of several armies to strengthen the military strength of Jiangnan." Deng Guangjian suggested.

"I think the suggestion of Deng Xiang is considered. The strategy of implementing elite troops in our dynasty was due to insufficient finance and population. At present, our dynasty has nearly 4 million households and tens of millions of people. The financial situation has improved greatly in recent years, and it is still possible to support tens of thousands of military forces." Wen Tianxiang replied.

"It is impossible to form a new army, but it will take some time. The matter of Bozhou is imminent. Action must be taken to curb its momentum of expansion by taking advantage of the Sichuan turmoil, and avoid further deterioration of the situation and will be out of control in the future!" Lu Xiufu said.

"Well, mobilizing troops is not a matter of one day or one night. Bozhou has high mountains and dense forests and complex terrain, so it is not easy to fight quickly. It is still necessary to plan carefully. You cannot consume all your national strength in a corner and drag it into a protracted war. This will lead to financial exhaustion, national strength decline, and people's livelihood crisis. That will be more than worth the loss!" Zhao Bing pondered for a moment...
Chapter completed!