The existing population of Yunnan is more than 2.4 million, less than half of the Han people, although the Tibetans were forcibly relocated back to Tibet Province by the Ming court, but in the land of Yunnan, there are still Dai, Emao (now Achang), Mongolian, Bafan (now Buyi), Baoman (now Brown), Guthorn (now Wa), Naxi, Hui, Susu, Zhuang, Hani, Bai, Yi and other dozens of ethnic groups.

In areas where non-Han people are concentrated, they are all managed by the local Tusi, and the local people not only do not naturalize as Han Chinese, but also affect the habits of the Han people living here, and there is a great tendency to naturalize Han people.

The administrative areas of each Tusi are basically independent kingdoms, the Ming Dynasty has no garrison, can not levy taxes, and the magistrates are concurrently served by the hereditary Tusi, who hold the military, administrative, and financial powers, but nominally the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty has no benefits.

In the event of a war, the Ming Dynasty also has to bear military and economic responsibilities, in case of invasion by foreign enemies, these Tusi are likely to rebel in order to protect their own interests, and even break away from the Ming Dynasty and become independent.

During the Chengzu period, there was a Cheli Propaganda Division, Burma Propaganda Division, Mubang Propaganda Division, Eight Hundred Dadian Propaganda Division, Mengyang Propaganda Division, and Laos Propaganda Division in southern Yunnan, but before the Burma War, only the Cheli Propaganda Division was still under the jurisdiction of Yunnan, and the remaining five Xuanwei Divisions belonged to Donghu, Ayutthaya and Laos.

The people are their serfs, they have no freedom, they cannot move normally, they must be attached to the land divided by the Tusi.

Now the largest toast in Yunnan is the blade collar of the Xuanwei Division in the car.

In the southern part of Yunnan Province, the blade collar is in the Dai language, which means "king", and you can imagine the power of the blade collar, the prestige in the local area and the contempt for the Ming regime.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Taizu ordered Xiping Marquis Muying to guard Yunnan, with the purpose of conquering the remnants of Mengyuan and strengthening the management of various local Tusi.

But before Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne, Mu Wangfu was already crumbling, and he couldn't suppress the local Tusi at all, and even Mu Wangfu was attacked by the local Tusi.

After the return of Myanmar to the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan was no longer a border province, which provided an opportunity for the Ming Dynasty to revoke the Tusi system.

Before Li Tengfang went to Burma, he said to Zhu Youzhen's words ∴dǐng∴diǎn∴ Xiao∴, .∞.≮os_(); , still circling in his mind: the Shan people in Myanmar and the Dai people in Yunnan are of the same origin, and since the Shan people have been naturalized in Myanmar, it is now an excellent opportunity to naturalize the Dai people.

Zhu Youzhen remembered Mu Qiyuan.

At that time, Mu Ying was posthumously named the king of Qianning by Taizu, and the descendants of the Mu family Yongzhen Yunnan, then Mu Qiyuan had the heavy responsibility of naturalizing Yunnan aliens, and Mu Qiyuan is now the commander of the 19th Army of the Ming New Army, and has the capital to naturalize Yunnan by force.

Naturalized Yunnan, Zhu Youzhen decided to take a two-pronged approach.

The first is to use Mu Qiyuan's army. After the end of the Burma War, there was no war in the south for the time being, and the army happened to be involved in the naturalization of foreign races.

Chen Zizhuang's 17th Army was stationed in Laos Province, and Lin Chengxiang's 20th Army was stationed in the entire territory of Burma Province, so Mu Qiyuan's 19th Army could withdraw from Burma to Yunnan and join Zhang Hongmo's 21st Army in Yunnan to carry out naturalization operations in Yunnan Province.

If the local Tusi could not follow the trend and accept the naturalization strategy of the imperial court, they would be resolutely eliminated, and the Ming Dynasty would never allow the existence of separatist forces.

The second is to build roads. Yunnan is a plateau terrain, with many mountains and rivers in the territory, and traffic is blocked, which hinders normal communication between the common people and restricts the naturalization strategy of the imperial court.

In the battle between Muwangfu and the local Tusi, once the Tusi was defeated, he would lead the whole clan to retreat into the mountains, so that the Ming army could get empty villages, and if the Ming army was tired and retreated, they would chase them out of the mountains, so that the Ming army suffered a lot.

If a large number of cement avenues can be built in Yunnan, so that the people in the mountains can come to the outside of the mountains and see the richness and convenience outside the mountains, Zhu Youzhen will not believe it, and these serfs will follow their toast with iron heart.

As long as Yunnan's backward traffic situation is fundamentally improved, the Han people in Yunnan will live a relatively prosperous life, and the day of alien naturalization will not be far away.

Zhu Youzhen spread out the topographic map of Yunnan Province and stared silently for a long time.

The first is a thoroughfare that runs through the east and west, with Kunming and Dali as the center, to the west, avoiding the Hengduan Mountains in the north and the Wuliang Mountains in the south, passing through Tengyue into Ava, the capital of Myanmar Province, and eastward, crossing Nanning in Guangxi Province, and connecting to Guangzhou from the northern part of the Yunkai Mountains.

Then there was a longitudinal avenue, and Zhu Youzhen remembered the Chengdu-Kunming Railway.

Now the cement road from Chengdu to Fengxiang in Shaanxi Province is about to be completed, and once this cement road is extended to Kunming, the traffic of the entire Yunnan will undergo earth-shaking changes.

However, Zhu Youzhen vaguely remembers that the Chengdu-Kunming Railway will try to pass through residential areas because it wants to avoid the mountains and mountains, and it seems that after starting from Chengdu, it will not lead directly to Kunming, but Dali or Chuxiong, if it is the best in Dali, then there will be two centers in Yunnan: Kunming, the economic center, and Dali, the transportation and economic center.

Zhu Youzhen even plans to build a cement road from Dali to the northwest, which will follow the ancient tea horse road, from the Lancang River and the Jinsha River, through several mountain passes in the Hengduan Mountains, and extend to Qamdo and Yushu in Yuchang Province, and also improve the traffic situation in Yuchang Province and Tibet Province, so that Dali will become the transportation center of the entire southwest.

As for the various prefectures and counties in Yunnan Province, auxiliary roads will be slowly built in the future, Zhu Youzhen looked at the map, and now in Yunnan, because of the inconvenience of transportation, there are 26 prefectures in the province, which is comparable to the number of counties in some provinces, and once the traffic is improved and the residents are successfully naturalized, a large number of prefectures and government offices will inevitably be abolished.

Zhu Youzhen has been thinking about the affairs of Yunnan, and he has been working hard in the past few days, so that when he summoned Puti, he seemed a little tired.

"See His Majesty the Emperor!" Putty didn't understand whether Zhu Youzhen was really tired, or felt sorry for the 500,000 taels of pension that Li Tengfang had erased, and he cautiously guessed Zhu Youzhen's thoughts.

"Excuse me, give me a seat."

After Putty sat down, the little eunuch offered Putty another cup of tea, and then stepped aside.

"Entrusted by my majesty, Puti would like to thank His Majesty for his help in the most critical moment of Ayutthaya and let Ayutthaya tide over the difficulties." Putty couldn't see through Zhu Youzhen, so he first expressed his gratitude, and then slowly searched for the clues on Zhu Youzhen's face.

"The national teacher is not polite, the Ming Dynasty sent troops because the Ming Dynasty and the city agreed first." Zhu Youzhen wants to let Puti understand that only by abiding by the agreement can he become a real friend of Daming, if he relies on a few good words, he wants to get benefits from Daming, and there is no door.

Putty understands that Zhu Youzhen values the agreement between the two parties, just like Li Tengfang said, is Daming really a country that pays special attention to credibility? Ao, yes, the Ming Dynasty established the country with benevolence and faith, and "faith" naturally occupies an important position, and he is even more looking forward to the signing of the contract between Dacheng and the Ming Dynasty, "His Majesty the Emperor, my Majesty sent his subordinates to the Ming Dynasty, hoping that His Majesty the Emperor can accept Dacheng as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty." ”

"Vassal? Well," Zhu Youzhen was not shocked, but the tiredness on his face was even worse, "I believe that Dacheng is loyal to Daming, and the specific affairs will be discussed by Fang Fengnian of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the national teacher." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty," Puti naturally did not expect Zhu Youzhen to discuss specific matters with him, but Zhu Youzhen accepted Ayutthaya as a vassal state in principle, and his confidence increased greatly, so he left Zhu Youzhen and left the Qianqing Palace.

Two days later, Ming Foreign Minister Fang Fengnian made an appointment to meet Puti, because Vice Minister Huang Xiaofu had not returned from his mission to Spain, Fang Fengnian was personally in charge of signing a contract with Dacheng.

"Your Excellency, Putty is polite." Putty suppressed the anticipation in her heart and tried her best to show a calm side.

"Welcome the national teacher to Daming again, and may the friendship between Daming and Dacheng be like the river in Lancang, forever." Fang Fengnian politely said two sentences, and the two sides entered the main topic of negotiations.

Dacheng wanted to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and there was no contradiction between the two sides, but Fang Fengnian did not agree that the Ming Dynasty would provide security for Dacheng free of charge.

"Your Excellency, since Dacheng is the suzerainty of Dacheng, he has the obligation to ensure the security achieved," Putty was a little puzzled, since Dacheng could not provide security, what was the substantive significance of Dacheng as a vassal state of Daming.

"The suzerain and the vassals are only the relationship between the two countries, and it does not guarantee that the Ming Dynasty will ensure the safety of the city, and the Ming and the city can be friendly for generations, but this is a matter between the Ming and the city, and it has nothing to do with other countries and the interior of the city." Fang Fengnian did not give an inch.

"What the minister means, the lower officials don't quite understand." Putty felt that he was confused by Fang Fengnian.

"National teacher, what do you mean, Ayutthaya is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, once a foreign enemy invades, or internal turmoil occurs, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty must throw their heads, spill blood, and return the body of the horse leather, just to get Ayutthaya respected as the suzerain?" Fang Fengnian has already obtained the bottom line set by Zhu Youzhen, he would rather not want this vassal country, than let the vassal country develop a habit, as long as a few verbal checks, he can ask Daming for such and such benefits, Daming, must set a model for the vassal state.

"The minister said seriously, if the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are killed or injured in defending the city, the city will definitely compensate them financially." Putty is also thinking about the new relationship between the two countries, in the past, Ayutthaya was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but Ayutthaya was invaded by Donghu, and Dacheng did not send troops to intervene, and after the two sides had a contract guarantee, Daming sent troops to Donghu and fulfilled his responsibilities.

"Financial compensation? The lives of Ming soldiers are supreme," Fang Fengnian didn't put forward any conditions, he wanted to brainwash Putty first, "National Teacher, do you think that the soldiers of Daming are mercenaries in Dacheng?" ”

Putty thinks about it, Da Ming is much richer than Da Cheng, how can Da Ming take a fancy to Da Cheng's diǎn compensation? But he still didn't give up, "Can Daming guarantee that he will never use troops in Dacheng?" "He let it go, this is his bottom line, and it is also his biggest worry, now Donghu has been destroyed, but the 100,000 Ming army is still on the border of the big city, as long as the Ming does not use troops in the big city, the safety of the big city is still guaranteed to a certain extent.