An Alun rushed back to Muoge Mountain City with Hao Chonghui, and at the same time when he reported the military situation on the Western Front of Shuixi, the Nanjing Military Department also brought a large number of military salaries, ammunition, grain and grass and other heavy materials, and rushed to Guiyang after a difficult trek.

Wu Zhiwang set off from Nanjing in the first month of the month with grain, grass and equipment, and the main thing to go along the way was to take the waterway, and they were all going against the current, first from the Yangtze River waterway upstream, to Yueyang into Dongting Lake, and then westward, from the Yuanjiang River estuary on Dongting Lake to continue to go westward, and finally arrived at Kaili on the Qingshui River in the upper reaches of the Yuanjiang River.

On this way, although it has always been taken by water to go upstream, the speed of travel is very slow, but after all, the water transportation is smooth, and every day is closer to Guizhou and Guiyang than the previous day.

It wasn't until Wu Zhiwang and his subordinates Chen Zizhuang, a member of the Nanjing Military Department, arrived in Duyun Mansion, Guizhou, and went ashore from Kaili in Duyun Mansion that they realized how valuable the waterway they had always disliked before.

From the east of Guizhou Duyun Prefecture to the west of Kaili, it is really a mountain range, peaks and peaks overlap peaks, the points are not clear, the number is innumerable, it may be a bit exaggerated to say that it is "the land is not three feet flat", but it is said that it is "the land is not three miles flat", that must be said lightly.

The group arrived in Kaili in early March, and with the full support of Chen Xishao, the prefect of Duyun, they collected a large number of mules, horses, wheelbarrows and young men on the spot, transported grain and grass, and marched all the way over the mountains and mountains to Guiyang.

Chen Xishao, the prefect of Duyun in Guizhou, a jinshi in the 39th year of Wanli, a native of Nanhai, Guangdong, was the uncle of Chen Zizhuang, a member of the Nanjing Military Department who followed Wu Zhiwang to Guiyang this time.

If it weren't for this relationship, Wu Zhiwang and his party would have been delayed for a longer time in the Kaili area in the north of Duyun Mansion.

In this way, after arriving in Kaili, after nearly a month of arduous trekking, on the last day of March, Wu Zhiwang and his party finally arrived outside Guiyang City.

Of course, there was no such thing as this replenishment of food, grain and grass in the original history, because the household department of Nanjing at that time had no money or grain to supply Zhu Xieyuan's Guiyang front.

Zhu Xieyuan mobilized the Sichuan soldiers, the Yunnan soldiers, and the Huguang Tusi soldiers to attack on all sides, but there was no way.

The army gathered and attacked with superior forces, smashing the nest of the Shuixian clan in one fell swoop, which sounded very refreshing and heroic.

However, after the army was assembled, the amount of food and salary needed was something that Zhu Xieyuan could not bear.

At that time, Wang Sanshan personally led an army of 60,000 people, and his momentum was like a rainbow, so that An Bangyan lost his armor and fled in embarrassment, but what was the result?

In the end, due to poor roads and running out of food, the army retreated, and the 60,000 troops entered the west of the water, and none of the ten who were pushed out alive survived.

At that time, Zhu Xieyuan was serving as governor of Sichuan, and of course he remembered such a painful lesson.

Historically, after Zhu Xieyuan returned to Guizhou, he ordered the Yunnan soldiers to be in the west, the Sichuan soldiers to be in the north, the Shizhu Baojing Tusi to be in Zunyi, and the Guangxi wolf soldiers to be in Anshun and other places to "collect the millet of 200 miles around the west of the water".

It's just such a simple sentence in the history books, and how cruel it will be to execute it in reality, it is difficult for future generations to imagine.

Zhu Xieyuan did this at that time because of two considerations: one was that the officers and soldiers lacked food, and without the supplement of food and salaries, the officers and soldiers could not fight.

The second, the strong wall cleared the wilderness, cut off the grain of Shuixi, and through economic destruction and blockade, the army of the Shuixi clan had no food supply.

If there is a third consideration, then it is to boost the morale of the officers and soldiers by letting the officers and soldiers from all walks of life plunder.

It's just that two or three months after the implementation of such an order, around the territory of the Shuixian clan, that is, the junction of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, around the territory of the Shuixian clan, a no-man's land with a depth of 200 miles was forcibly created.

A large number of tamed, or innocent, Yi and Miao tribes around Shuixi also suffered from the pond fish and were slaughtered because of this order.

The officers and soldiers who were transferred to Shuixi were replenished, the morale of the army was cohesive, and the morale was greatly boosted, while the Shuixi clan became increasingly difficult and finally came to the end of the day.

In this life, Zhu Xieyuan's food and salary are quite complete, especially after decisively leveling the Tusi jurisdiction of the Song clan in Shuidong, the large amount of wealth and grain accumulated by the Song clan in Shuidong has become the food and salary that Zhu Xieyuan, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou and the governor of Guizhou, can allocate and pay, and the Guizhou soldiers under Xu Chengming's command and the wolf soldiers of Guangxi Mo's and Wei's Tusi are also full of money.

Therefore, up to now, Zhu Xieyuan has not ordered the official army to collect the millet of 200 miles around Shuixi.

And with the arrival of the Nanjing Military Department's squire Lang Wuzhiwang, the grain, grass and equipment in front of the Guiyang Army will be more sufficient.

In addition, what made Zhu Xieyuan and the civil officials and military generals on the front line of Guiyang even more excited was that at noon on April 15, the holy decree sent by Emperor Chongzhen to Guiyang in February finally came to Guiyang City with the team from Jingshi.

Wang Yinghua, a scholar in the cabinet, replaced Wang Yingxiong, who refused to cooperate and constrained Zhu Xieyuan in many ways, and assumed the post of Guizhou Governor Imperial History.

Wang Yinghua came with him, as well as the 1,000 elites of Tiance Guard, one of the guards armed to the teeth by Emperor Chongzhen's side.

The 1,000 Tiance Guards led by Liu Zhaoji were equipped with standard iron helmets and iron armor, Chongzhen-style flintlock muskets and grenades.

Although the vast majority of them have not yet been on the battlefield, they are all young and strong men selected from the Jingwei military households, and they have been practicing according to the law of the new army for a long time, which may be inferior to the strong army in the border towns, but compared with the ordinary inland official army, it is not far behind.

In addition, this group of emperor's personal soldiers, with bright armor, sharp muskets, strict orders, and consistent movements, although the number of people is not large, it also surprised Zhu Xieyuan, who is accustomed to seeing wind and rain.

What made Zhu Xieyuan's heart even happier than the emperor sending Tiance Wei to help him in the war was the unparalleled trust of His Majesty the current emperor.

On the morning of 18 April, the clouds cleared, the sun was bright, and Zhu Xieyuan, who was well-armed and full of ambition, summoned the civil and military generals of the Guiyang front line to discuss the matter among the governors of Guiyang City.

Zhu Xieyuan first asked the trusted inspector Wang Yinghua, who came from Beijing from afar, to read out the will of Emperor Chongzhen to the civil and military generals on the front line in Guiyang, and then said:

"Today, the headquarters has summoned you to come to the war, so what is going on, I think you must know it in your hearts!

"Since the apocalypse, the two thieves of Xuan Chongming and An Bangyan have been in turmoil one after another, and it has been more than eight years so far!

"In the past eight years, the imperial court has worked hard and paid, lost soldiers and lost generals, and the cost is not calculated, and the two thieves of luxury have not been ambushed!

"As the so-called lord worries about the humiliation of the ministers, the lord humiliates the ministers to death, and the two thieves of luxury are not eliminated for a day, which is the shame of my courtiers for a day, and the rebellion in Shuixi is uncertain for a day, which is the humiliation of my courtiers for a day!"

Zhu Xieyuan, who was sitting on the main seat of the Xingyuan Hall, said these words in a loud voice, and a pair of round eyes under his thick eyebrows looked around at the circle of civil and military generals sitting in the hall, and then continued:

"The rebellion of luxury has not been settled for eight years, and I don't know what your generation thinks. However, I, Zhu Xieyuan, as a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, am deeply ashamed every time I think of this!

"Since last year, His Majesty has not used Zhu as old, but also entrusted me with the military power of the five provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, Huguang, and Guangzhou, and entrusted me with the heavy responsibility of pacifying the rebellion of luxury.

"Your Majesty's letter is important to me, and the military money and food of the five southwestern provinces are entrusted to me, which is unprecedented! The rebellion of luxury is uneven for a day, even if I am Zhu Xieyuan's shame for a day! ”

After saying this, Zhu Xieyuan looked over one by one again, and when he saw that everyone was solemn and sitting upright, he said again: "Zhu Xieyuan is willing to work with you to do your shame, are you willing to help me?!" ”

The words were not loud, but they reached the ears of everyone in the hall.

As soon as the words fell, the generals sitting on Zhu Xieyuan's right hand side in the hall, Xu Chengming, the chief military officer of Guizhou, Huang Yunqing, the commander of the capital, Wang Guozhen, the deputy general, Liu Yangkun, the guerrilla Fang Guoan, the generals of the Guangxi Tusi wolf soldiers, Mo Kejian and Wei Ang, and Qin Liangyu, the female general of the Shizhu Tusi Chief, and Peng Chaozhu, the leader of the Baojing Tusi who came from Zunyi the day before, all left their seats, knelt on one knee, clenched their fists, and said loudly: "Dare not serve your life!" ”

Liu Zhaoji, who had been accustomed to seeing big scenes with the emperor for a long time, saw all the generals in the hall leave their seats and knelt on the ground, and immediately took two steps forward from behind Zhu Xieyuan, walked to the hall, learned from the generals, knelt on one knee, hugged his fists and said: "Dare not serve your life!" ”

The military generals in the hall all knelt on one knee, and the civil officials present, Wu Zhiwang, the squire of the Nanjing Military Department, Chen Zizhuang, the foreign officer, Shao Jiechun, the political envoy of Guizhou, Shi Yongan, the envoy of the procuratorate, Zheng Chaodong, the prefect of Guiyang, Li Xianpin, and Chen Xishao, the prefect of Duyun, who came from afar to assist in the transfer of grain and grass, also got up and said: "Dare not serve your life!" ”

Wu Zhiwang, a squire of the Nanjing Military Department who came from afar, said: "There is a way, the food of the king, the matter of loyalty to the king, as the courtier of His Majesty today, it is the duty of my courtiers to serve loyally."

"Those who lose this duty, even if they make the civil ministers like governors and military ministers like the commander-in-chief, the ministers can also ask Shang Fang to cut them down to report to Your Majesty, and the privileges of the ministers of this ministry are also needless to say!" [.]