Longli Caochang is located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It not only has the remoteness and openness of the northern grasslands, but also can see the mountains in the distance.
Sitting by the small river full of Gesang flowers, smelling the unique fragrance of the autumn grassland, drinking wine and barbecue while talking, Zhu Zhen eliminated the fatigue along the way.
"Try my craftsmanship." Zhu Zhen used a knife to cut the roasted lamb leg into strips, then tied a strip, dipped it in salt and pepper and handed it to Mu Ying.
Mu Ying quickly took it with both hands, took a bite and couldn't help but praise: "This tastes really amazing."
"Haha, I, like no other, am very good at barbecue." Zhu Zhen tasted a piece proudly, but then his face became a little ugly, and it took him a long time to swallow it.
"Damn it, the meat is too hard... No wonder Brother Wenying only talked about the taste and not the texture." He smiled bitterly and took a sip of wine.
"The meat of this wild goat is hard, and it has nothing to do with His Highness's craftsmanship." Mu Ying ate it with gusto: "If you can eat such a fragrant barbecue while marching and fighting, it is a divine delicacy."
"Brother Wenying is so good at comforting people." Zhu Zhen laughed a few times and then asked, "Where are the troops?"
"Zhenyuan." Mu Ying said in a deep voice: "The gathering is almost complete now."
"Did you move so fast?" Zhu Zhen was surprised.
Zhenyuan Prefecture is known as "the key to Dian Chu and the gateway to eastern Guizhou". It is said that if you want to connect to Yunnan and Guizhou, you must first occupy Zhenyuan. After the army reaches Zhenyuan, the next step is to enter Guizhou.
It has only been a month since the old thief issued the order to send out troops. An army of more than 100,000 people was able to quickly gather in place from all directions. It is simply ridiculously powerful.
"August was originally the day when local troops came to Beijing for autumn and winter exercises. Guard troops from various places were all assembled in Nanjing. After the emperor gave the order, they boarded the ship and traveled from the Yangtze River to the Xiangjiang River and then to the Yuanjiang River, and finally disembarked in Yuanzhou.
Heading to Zhenyuan." Mu Ying explained: "It is naturally much faster than a simple land march, and the consumption of the soldiers is also small."
"It seems that... my father has indeed planned to march from Sichuan and Guizhou for a long time." Zhu Zhen said, stroking the stubble on his chin.
"..." Mu Ying chose to ignore his words, nodded and said: "The emperor has indeed made plans for a long time. The food, grass, weapons, boats and ships are all ready, and preparations have been started at least at the beginning of the year."
"That's not what he said in his letter." Lao Liu said angrily: "He blamed me for being meddlesome, which made him have to kill Zhu Liangzu. As a result, the army could only hastily change the direction of attack."
"Oh haha..." Mu Ying just laughed and refused to comment. "But the emperor did not lie to His Highness. We are indeed in big trouble now..."
As he spoke, he pointed to Guizhou City in the distance and introduced: "Guizhou Xuanwei envoy Aicui, and fellow acquaintance Song Qin... They are also the leaders of the two chieftains in the west and east of the water... They were appointed by the female manager of Puding Road.
Shi'er was poisoned to death, and now the city of Guizhou is in chaos, and no one can care about opening a road for us to provide food."
"Without the help of local people, it would be very dangerous for the army to rush into Wumeng Mountain." Mu Ying sighed: "It will take a month to walk this 800-mile mountain road. How many people can make it out by then is a question."
He recalled the experience of chasing King Ning He into the Kunlun Mountains that year. More than 70% of the attrition was caused during the arduous march. King Ning He also fell seriously ill and died on the way to the main camp.
Although Wumeng Mountain is not as cold as Kunlun Mountain, there are miasma poisonous insects, which are no less dangerous than the latter. If the army wants to pass through the eight hundred miles of Wumeng safely, it especially needs the full assistance of the local chieftain.
"Yes." Zhu Zhen nodded understandingly. "Otherwise, my father would not have let me come from Guangzhou to express my condolences to these two local officials."
"What's the situation in Guizhou City now?" he asked again.
"It's a mess." Mu Ying said with a bitter smile: "According to their custom, the funeral should be cremated after three days of mourning. The two local officials have been dead for more than ten days, and the coffins are still placed in the mourning hall."
"Why, you can't bear to leave them?" Zhu Zhen asked.
"No," Mu Ying shook her head and said: "According to their custom, the cremation of the previous chieftain must be presided over by the next chieftain. The two left in a hurry, neither of them designated heirs, and their sons were in infants, so they could not give them to them.
They are in charge."
"So we have to elect the next chieftain first before they can be buried?" Lao Liu asked.
"Yes." Mu Ying nodded and said: "Your Highness may not know much about the power of the Shuidong and Shuixi chieftains, especially the Shuixi chieftain, who has inherited sixty-six generations of monarchs and covers an area of 4,000 miles.
, there are tens of thousands of tribes. It is the tribe with the earliest establishment, the longest hereditary, the largest area, and the greatest influence in the entire Guizhou region. It is called the Luodian Ghost Kingdom."
"Good guy." Zhu Zhen couldn't help but smile and said, "We've already established the country."
"Yes, something that has been passed down for sixty or seventy generations has become famous." Mu Ying nodded and smiled: "The chieftain leader calls himself 'Ju Mu' internally, and his wife calls her 'Naiye'. The whole territory is divided into thirteen streams.
, managed by Ju Mu and his clan members respectively. The clan members who manage Zexi are called "Mukui". There are forty-eight tribes under Zexi, also known as the forty-eight heads. They are all tribes of the common people. The leader of each head is called "Mu".
Zhuo', under which there are one hundred and twenty 'curs for clothes', and below which there are one thousand two hundred 'night residences', just like the feudal states of the Han Dynasty. However, Ju Mu set up official villages in each stream to farm.
They are official households, and lower-level officials are granted land and have the intention to monitor the local area, so the chieftain chief still has great power."
"Oh, you really have a way." Zhu Zhen was really surprised.
This system that combines enfeoffment and centralization really has something to offer. It seems that it can be used as a reference in the future when the brothers become overseas vassals.
"For thousands of years, they have watched our dynasties change, and it is normal for them to conclude something." Mu Ying said solemnly: "The general said this to remind His Highness not to underestimate these barbarians. They have been inherited for such a long time and are complicated.
I'm afraid the level is no less than that of us Han people."
"Do they have writing?" Zhu Zhen nodded and asked an unexpected question.
"No." Mu Ying shook her head and said, "But most of the top chieftains know Chinese characters and can speak Chinese."
"Then their thinking will not be too different from ours." Zhu Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and said: "There should be a way to communicate. Otherwise, Aicui and Song Qin would not be the first to surrender to the Ming Dynasty."
"Why did Your Highness say this?" Mu Ying asked humbly.
"Everyone has different ideas, but in the final analysis, these ideas are generated by their own nation and history. The carrier of national history is words. As long as we use our words, our thoughts will inevitably be influenced and dominated by us and become our civilization.
It’s an accessory. So I’m afraid that the kind that has its own words will be impossible to communicate with.”
"..." Mu Ying was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then the more she thought about it, the more she realized it made sense: "It's true that the situation in the northwest is exactly what His Highness said. It seems that after conquering a land, the first thing to do is to destroy it.
words, burn their books..."
"That's right, otherwise even if we occupy it for decades, we will spit it out sooner or later." Zhu Zhen nodded and smiled. As expected of Brother Wenying who integrated Yunnan into the Ming Dynasty, he has a strong understanding in this regard.
