Chapter 1169 1260 Letter of Submission

Li Rusong's proposal was not recognized by Li Chengliang.

He shook his head and said lightly: "The situation in northern Myanmar is complicated now, and we need to control those chieftain tribes, which will consume a lot of troops.

I have estimated that under the current situation, I can allocate at most 40,000 to 50,000 troops to the south.

We now need to send troops in two directions, one is to go south to open up the connection with Toungoo City, and the other is to the west of Bagan City.

In this way, the troops are slightly insufficient."

If they only lead troops to Toungoo City, Li Chengliang estimates that 20,000 troops will be enough, and they are not afraid of being besieged by the remaining Burmese troops.

But they are not going to Toungoo City, but to maintain the transportation line connecting the north and the south.

At least, Yu Dayou still wants to obtain a lot of food from southern Myanmar.

Now the military rations of the Ming army entering Myanmar are all circulated in Yunnan.

Due to the terrain restrictions in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty, the logistics of the Ming army are now in short supply as the battle line lengthens.

In fact, if the battle was only fought within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, although the material consumption of the army of 100,000 would increase suddenly, the materials accumulated in Yunnan in the past two years would still be enough to meet the needs.

However, after the Ming army rushed into Myanmar, the withdrawal of civilians to transport food became the biggest obstacle to the Ming army's continued offensive.

When pursuing the Burmese king Mang Yinglong's army this time, the Ming army's vanguard had to suspend the pursuit many times due to insufficient food and grass, waiting for supplies from the rear to be delivered.

In fact, Myanmar is rich in rice and other food, but unfortunately these things are produced less in the north, and most of them are produced in southern Myanmar.

Therefore, Yu Dayou's army now has sufficient food and grass, but is limited by insufficient manpower.

Li Chengliang has relatively sufficient troops, but is limited by insufficient supplies.

Therefore, opening up the north-south transportation line and obtaining food from southern Myanmar entered Li Chengliang's mind.

Although Myanmar is finished, there are still remnants of Myanmar's army and the chieftain's miscellaneous soldiers.

Therefore, if only a small number of Ming troops are sent south, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not be surrounded by the remnants of the Burmese army.

Even if the large army cannot defeat the enemy, the small army can still easily crush them with the advantage of numbers.

Especially if the terrain continues to open up to the south, if the army is surrounded on all sides, the firearms of the Ming army may not be able to withstand the offensive of the Burmese army.

With the overall situation already decided, Li Chengliang does not want to suffer a defeat, which will only become a reason for the court to criticize him.

Now that the situation in Myanmar is improving, Li Chengliang is not sure whether there are people in Beijing who are jealous of his achievements and want to pick peaches.

So once it is decided to go south and join forces with Yu Dayou's troops, the Ming army must dispatch at least 30,000 to 40,000 troops to control all the towns along the route.

Only in this way can the food from the south be transported north continuously to solve the dilemma of insufficient food and grass for the Ming army.

"Father, has the reorganization of the Burmese army in Lujiang Prefecture been completed? I haven't seen any documents from there these days."

When Li Chengliang said that the troops were insufficient, Li Rusong immediately started to think of a way.

Don't say it, he really found the source, which is the large number of Burmese troops captured before.

Using the Burmese army to suppress the Burmese people was a method he and Li Chengliang came up with together, but at that time they considered using these people after completely occupying Burma.

After all, Burma had been destroyed, and these captives either died for their country or submitted to the Ming Dynasty.

Between life and death, they should make the right choice.

"Do you want to take these people to fight?"

Li Chengliang hesitated when he heard his son mention these people.

"They are not of my race, and their hearts must be different. If we send these people out now, they may not really surrender to my Ming Dynasty."

Li Chengliang said.

"Father, didn't we also detain a group of people separately?"

Li Rusong said at this time.

"Are you talking about the personal soldiers of the chieftains?"

Li Chengliang immediately understood what his son meant. His old Li family's personal soldiers were probably the most among all the generals of the Ming Dynasty, so he knew the situation of these personal soldiers best.

These people were the most loyal people under the chieftains. It was very difficult to get them to surrender sincerely, and it was even a big trouble.

If these people were imprisoned with their masters, they would probably continue to protect the chieftains and plot how to escape from prison and protect their masters to return to their territory.

Therefore, after accepting the surrender of the Burmese army, the Ming army immediately detained the Burmese officials and chieftains separately, and their personal soldiers were also detained separately from ordinary Burmese soldiers.

"What do you want to do?"

Li Chengliang frowned slightly and asked puzzledly.

"Those personal soldiers are restless, and it is also a trouble to continue staying in the camp.

It is better to let those Burmese soldiers who are willing to surrender take them as a token of surrender, and we promise them benefits and let them kill those people.

In this way, they have no way to retreat.

If they still have other intentions, those chieftains will not let them go."

Li Rusong said.

This move is not to be said to be cruel. Letting the Burmese army kill these personal soldiers almost completely eliminates the possibility of their rebellion.

Many of the personal soldiers were relatives of Burmese officials and chieftains, and many were loyal servants who had followed them for several generations, so they dared to keep them by their side.

If they knew that these people were killed by the surrendered Burmese army, they would definitely take revenge.

In order to avoid revenge, the only way for these Burmese soldiers was to rely on the Ming army and go all the way.

"Use them to control 20,000 to 30,000 people first. Father will give me another 10,000 troops. Then I will be done when I go south."

Li Rusong said disdainfully.

His attitude is because he has roughly seen through the reality of the remaining Burmese troops, and they are all guys with insufficient combat power.

If you meet a capable general, you can still be considered a fighting force, but how many such people are there?

This northern expedition planned by the Burmese King transferred all the most capable and skilled troops and generals in Burma to the northern front. Now these people are either dead or captured. Looking at Burma, there should be very few people who can support the crisis. .

Of course, Myanmar has a large population, and they are still capable of raising an army of hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, but such an army can no longer be regarded as an army. It is probably more appropriate to say it is a group of farmers.

It is estimated that the composition of this kind of army will not be half, but at most 30%, and the rest will be considered old, weak, sick and disabled.

On the contrary, it is inevitable that the area controlled by Yu Dayou's tribe not only has a large population, but also lacks troops, which is the most dangerous.

If at this time there is a Burmese general who can convince the crowd to jump out to support the crisis, Yu Dayou's side will be in danger.

This was one of the reasons why Li Chengliang was eager to go south, fearing another setback in Myanmar's occupation.

Li Chengliang's worries were also Yu Dayou's worries, so he was eager to send people north to contact Li Chengliang's troops to go south to strengthen the Ming army in the south.

"Father, time waits for no one. I heard that many remaining Burmese nobles are now running to Bagan City. I am worried that they will establish a new king after knowing that the Burmese king has fallen into our hands.

If that man is extremely brave and chooses to go south to fight for southern Myanmar instead of fighting with us, Yu Dayou may bear heavy losses, but his father will be in danger in the capital.

Just being a soldier with self-respect and not rescuing his colleagues in time can cause my father to be dismissed from office. "

What Li Rusong said was a bit alarmist, but if it really develops into that situation, the good situation is lost, and there are people in the capital coveting the position of Burma's general, there is no telling what will happen.

Those who can do these things are firstly civil servants and secondly nobles.

Their backstage has interests from both sides. If either side is interested, they will try their best to lobby Wei Guangde.

Once Wei Guangde is persuaded to nod, the Li family will really be doomed.

Li Chengliang quickly weighed it up. The last time he killed prisoners, he just got a piece of paper from the court, which seemed to be nothing.

That general has never been scolded?

If you win a battle, you will naturally be praised, if you lose a battle, you will be scolded.

On the border, nothing goes as planned.

Even though Qi Jiguang had guarded Ji well at the beginning, he encountered several sneak attacks by the Tuman tribe and lost a few soldiers and horses, but he was still ordered by the imperial court.

"This should be done more secretly. Ask the second and third sons to go there in person, and you shouldn't go."

Li Chengliang had high hopes for his eldest son, Li Rusong, and naturally he did not want this kind of thing to happen to him and become an excuse for criticism from officials in the future.

Let the other sons go. As long as the eldest son can stay stable in the court and remain standing, then his brothers will naturally be fine.

"Let the second and third brothers do it? Father."

Li Rusong still wanted to speak, but was interrupted by Li Chengliang waving his hand.

"Stop talking about these things. Remember, you are not allowed to touch them in the future.

If you want to do it, let your brothers take you to do it.

Don't feel like you owe them anything. As long as you can hold on in court, they will be fine.

Among the several children, I value you the most, and everything I have from now on will be yours.

I am already a father in my fifties, and I don’t know how many more years I can ride on the battlefield. From now on, these things will be yours.

Remember, don’t let others have a reason to criticize you.

As long as we generals can win every battle, there is nothing else to say.

But you can't do it now. Because you lack qualifications and military exploits, those people in the court can easily capture you.

But if the father is like this, they have to weigh it carefully.

So you can't make mistakes now that will be remembered by others and affect your future future.

Let your brothers do all the dirty work. After your position is stable, you can just give them a hand. "

Li Chengliang really had high hopes for Li Rusong, and he could give up his other sons.

Of course, giving up doesn't mean he really doesn't care, but now he wants to give priority to accumulating credit on his eldest son so that he can successfully take over his position in the future.

In this way, it is possible for the Li family to prosper in the Ming Dynasty and become a true general.

Speaking of which, the Li family still doesn't have enough foundation after all.

It is said that the ancestors of the Li family moved to North Korea to avoid the war in the late Tang Dynasty. Grandpa Li Ying joined the Ming Dynasty during the Jiajing period and served as the commander of the Tieling Guards.

However, a few generations above Li Ying, they had actually moved from the imperial court and entered the Ming Dynasty, but their status was not obvious.

That is to say, during the Jiajing period, Li Ying was awarded the title of Commander of the Tieling Guards for his military merits, and became a member of the Ming Dynasty's martial arts.

Although the generals of the Ming Dynasty were hereditary, the Li family soon declined after Li Ying. Li Chengliang's father and other uncles could only live in a thousand households.

Even though Li Chengliang, as the eldest brother, should have inherited the position of commanding the general affairs, but when it came to him, because of his poor family, he could not raise the travel expenses to go to Beijing to inherit the official position. Even at the age of forty, he was still just an ordinary " All lives".

It wasn't until Li Chengliang completely chose the martial arts path and began to make contributions on the battlefield that he finally received funding from Fang Yushi, the inspector of Liaodong at that time, because of his bravery in fighting. They gave him travel expenses and introduced him to friends from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and then he was allowed to Successfully took up a position in the Ministry of War and became a dangerous mountain general.

This was also the beginning of Li Chengliang's fortune.

It can be seen that the Li family at this time is not considered a general at all.

But now that Li Chengliang has succeeded in destroying the country, the situation is very different.

As long as the credit can be firmly won, it is still possible to use this credit to ensure the prosperity of the Li family for generations.

If Li Rusong can successfully take over his power, there will be hope for the Li family to gradually develop into a general.

Therefore, Li Chengliang must not allow Li Rusong to be accused and criticized.

Li Rusong knew his father's painstaking efforts and was not pretentious. He just lowered his head slightly to express his acceptance.

"Someone is coming."

Li Chengliang shouted outside. After the soldiers came in, he immediately ordered: "Go and call Ruzhen and Rubai."

Not long after, the two brothers entered the house and saw their father and eldest brother there. They hurriedly greeted each other.

"Come here."

Li Chengliang called the two of them and began to give instructions in a low voice.

Li Rubai and Li Ruzhen listened to their father's instructions and had no intention of refusing.

In fact, they are not stupid. They know that this matter must be kept secret. A little leakage will not do any good to the Li family.

The reason why I asked them to do it was to save my eldest brother.

Once the incident happens, it will be difficult for Li Chengliang to escape and he will definitely have to take responsibility, but the eldest brother can stay out of it.

And the reason is that they naturally understand what their father thinks.

Well, they don’t dare to compare with their big brother.

"Father, don't worry, we will handle this matter carefully and we will never leak any information."

In fact, matters involving tens of thousands of people cannot be kept secret even if they are said to be confidential.

However, as long as everyone who knows is dragged into the water, it is possible to keep everyone silent.

"When you go, go to the backyard and carry five boxes. I think you all understand."

Li Chengliang spoke again.

Corruption was rampant in the Ming army, and Li Chengliang's commander was naturally not clean either.

In fact, the Li family was impeached many times for corruption during the Wanli Dynasty, and his relationship with Zhang Juzheng was also one of the reasons why he was repeatedly criticized.

However, Emperor Wanli didn't say anything about this, so the Li family seemed to have become the king of Liaodong in Liaodong.

With the continuous development of his officialdom, Li Chengliang became extremely noble, arrogant and extravagant. He took over the interests of all the merchants and people in Liao to his name. From then on, he made friends with officials from powerful families and the imperial court.

At this point, Emperor Wanli did not dare to underestimate Li Chengliang, so he finally dismissed Li Chengliang from his post in Liaodong and only met the emperor as Ning Yuanbo.

It was not until the 29th year of Wanli that Ma Lin, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, was impeached and convicted due to a dispute with the tax envoy Gao Huai. Li Chengliang returned to control Liaodong. At this time, the situation had changed dramatically, and the situation was vaguely beyond his control.

In fact, at this time, Li Chengliang was still powerful in Liaodong, and Nurhachi rebelled after Li Chengliang's death.