Chapter 1567: Chapter 1567

The streets of Kunming had finally regained a measure of bustle. The military-household dependents who had followed Mu Tianbo and Ma Wanchun in migrating from Sichuan and Guizhou, along with the Sichuan commoners who had entered Yunnan to make a living, had all settled in and begun their new lives.

The houses that had been scorched when Li Jicheng's Shun army withdrew had, after two or three months of repairs, mostly become serviceable again. Most of the shops along the streets had been rented out, and all manner of businesses had opened up.

Because not all of those who had followed Zhu Hexing, Mu Tianbo, Ma Wanchun, and the others into Yunnan were "997" New Army men — there were also plenty of feudal military households dragging along their families and needing to make a living. These men had marched into Sichuan with their dependents, and a portion had already been allotted land in the six prefectures of Kunming, Wuding, Qujing, Xundian, Chuxiong, and Weijiang, and were now leaving Kunming in batches to settle down in their new homes. But the majority had not yet received their land allotments and were gathered inside Kunming city and in several large estates near the city.

And whether they were military households who had already received land or those still awaiting allotment, both possessed considerable purchasing power. The former had already received their resettlement allowances and had to do their major shopping in Kunming before heading off to settle; the latter drew full monthly pay and rations, enough to keep their accompanying dependents living quite comfortably.

Driven by these two sources of purchasing power, the Sichuan merchants who had followed south from Chongqing and Chengdu were all reaping handsome profits. On Kunming's busiest main street, well-dressed military-household dependents with swords and sabers at their belts jostled shoulder to shoulder. Among them were many women pedestrians also carrying blades, one hand resting on hilt or scabbard, dashing and spirited... The scene truly felt familiar!

It had to be said that although the Shun dynasty's twenty-odd years of rule over Sichuan and Yunnan had ended in failure, it had profoundly changed the character of the people of those two provinces, producing a generation of martial, valor-loving Sichuanese and Yunnanese.

Seven or eight years after the Great Ming recovered Sichuan, the generation of Sichuanese righteous militiamen who had risen up against the roving bandits and welcomed the imperial army had now become the very sort of people they had once hated most — garrison military households!

Only they were not the Shun's garrison troops, but the Great Ming's military households!

But as long as they were feudal military households, whether Shun or Ming, they were bound to want to ride on the backs of the working people and lord it over them! And these feudal soldiers who sat astride the necks of the working people were in turn bound to be troubled by the "surplus males problem" from having too many children.

And the "surplus males problem" could both destroy the economic foundation of the military households and serve as the expansionary drive of the military-household system — if there were no "surplus males," who would willingly leave home and hearth to conquer the realm when they were already living comfortably as lords?

Of course, if external expansion failed, or if the gains from expansion could not cover the costs of the military households' campaigns, that would be another matter entirely...

And this Great Ming campaign to pacify Yunnan was, rather than being about unifying the realm under the Ming, more about finding an outlet for the military households and surplus males of the two Sichuan military commands. The two Sichuan military commands had themselves been an expedient measure; once Yunnan was recovered, the two commands would be merged into Sichuan Province. Therefore the Great Ming could not, like the Shun, allow the military households to expand savagely and encroach upon civilian land and civilian households.

Moreover, the foundation of the Great Ming Empire was different from that of the Shun Empire. The Great Ming walked the path of capitalism, while the Shun was a feudal military state where all benefits flowed from a single source. Therefore the Great Ming could not, like the Shun, vigorously suppress commerce in the two Sichuan military commands and strictly control the movement of people — the Great Ming of today encouraged population mobility! If no one moved, who would go seize colonies? Who would serve as cheap labor? Without colonial resources and markets, and without cheap labor, how could the Great Ming become an imperialist power in the future?

Being an imperialist power was of course not good, but if not an imperialist power, then what — a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country?

Therefore the Sichuan military households under Ming rule were ultimately unsustainable, even less so than the garrison troops under the Shun... The only way to make them last a while longer was to launch wars! Which is to say... go plunder!

As long as there were enough places to plunder, this military system tied to land was actually quite useful!

And in this campaign to pacify Yunnan so far, although there had been no hard-fought battles, some land and civilian households had still been seized. So the streets of Kunming were at this moment suffused with an atmosphere of optimism.

Having discovered that the Shun was not so hard to fight after all, many military households and their dependents were itching for action, just waiting for the Crown Prince up on Wuhua Mountain to issue the order to advance south — this round, taking only Yunnan would not be satisfying enough; they had to push into Burma and plunder it thoroughly!

Occasionally cavalry detachments passed through the streets, the riders in short coats and light armor, muskets slung over their shoulders, dressed for fighting in hot climes. As the bridle bells jingled past, the military-household dependents out shopping all turned to look, casting expectant glances. Everyone knew that these black-clad lancers not only carried out battlefield reconnaissance but also doubled as courier riders, relaying messages back and forth along the Yunnan front.

Seeing them in such haste, did it mean an opportunity had arisen at the front for a major advance?

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, a military dispatch from the Seventeenth Army Division!" A staff officer from the Governor-General's office of Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan stood outside a pavilion on Wuhua Mountain, respectfully presenting the dispatch case.

At the sound of this report, the two men playing chess inside Wuhua Palace both turned their heads in unison. Li Dingguo, now in his fifties, dropped the piece in his hand into the chess jar, then reached out and took the case.

Sitting opposite him was none other than Zhu Hexing. This Crown Prince's military talent had been fully displayed in this campaign to pacify Yunnan.

One hallmark of his generalship was steadiness — slow and steady, not seeking quick victory but certain victory. Although this did not conform to the art of war's principle of "valuing victory over protracted campaigns," considering that his opponent in this war, Li Jicheng, was also a master of military operations, the approach of seeking certainty over speed was quite apt.

Besides steadiness, Zhu Hexing's generalship also emphasized thorough preparation. Military, political, economic, and even diplomatic... every aspect was fully prepared, every difficulty taken into account. Then he would steadily and methodically grind down his opponent!

Of course, this style of warfare had to be founded on ample national strength and good administration — national strength alone was useless if management was a mess. Just as in the days when Nurhaci first rose, the Great Ming under the Wanli Emperor still had considerable resources; had it been well managed, with all its strength brought to bear, advancing steadily and giving the enemy no chance for a surprise victory, the odds of winning would have been great... If the present Zhu Hexing had been there to help the old Wanli Emperor fight Nurhaci, Nurhaci would probably have been finished after two or three years of thrashing about!

And against Zhu Hexing's steady yet meticulous approach, Li Jicheng, skilled as he was at winning by surprise, was utterly helpless, reduced to watching as Zhu Hexing slowly digested the six prefectures of Kunming, Wuding, Qujing, Xundian, Chuxiong, and Weijiang... Li Jicheng had even given up Kunming in hopes of luring the enemy deep, but Zhu Hexing simply would not take the bait and was not the least bit impatient. In truth, he had no reason to be impatient — his grandfather and grandmother were both still alive and kicking, without the slightest ailment, so how could it ever fall to his father Zhu Cilang to pass away? The Yunnan war could well drag on for three or five years, and that would be just fine!

Whether or not he had been driven to desperation, Li Jicheng, who had established his court at Dali, actually sent a military envoy to Zhu Hexing's side to discuss peace.

The envoy was sent to the Great Ming Army's Seventeenth Division stationed at Chuxiong. The Seventeenth Division's commander, Cao Desheng, received Li Jicheng's envoy and read the state letter the envoy had brought. He immediately wrote a military dispatch and had it sent overnight to Crown Prince Zhu.

"Hm?" Li Dingguo, who was reading the dispatch, suddenly showed a strange expression. Zhu Hexing, sitting opposite him, saw his look and asked, "Commander, what does the dispatch say?"

"Li Jicheng is suing for peace!" Li Dingguo said.

"What's so strange about that?" Zhu Hexing asked. "The war has reached the point where they simply cannot win. Suing for peace is only natural!"

Li Dingguo shook his head. "But Li Jicheng styles himself Emperor of the Indian Shun Empire!"