prosperous age

Upon hearing that Wei Guangde was considering Yan Qing as a candidate for Minister of Personnel, Zhang Ke was slightly taken aback and asked, "Isn't he doing well in the Ministry of Justice? Besides, he doesn't seem to have much connection with Zhang Siwei."

"He only served as the local official in Shanxi for a short period, and Zhang Siwei already thinks he'll be his right-hand man?"

"Yes, perhaps Yan Qing had some connection with the Zhang family during his tenure in Shanxi, but it was not usually revealed."

Wei Guangde chuckled.

"Then you still intend to appoint him as Minister of Personnel?"

Zhang Ke asked somewhat nervously.

“If we don’t let him do it, then who will? His Majesty already brought this up again in the Qianqing Palace a few days ago. The position of Minister of Personnel is vacant, and this is not a long-term solution.”

That meant, in fact, that we in the cabinet were being urged to make a decision and submit it to the emperor as soon as possible.

Wei Guangde had a wry smile on his face at this point. Sometimes, if you want to drag things out, you have to consider the thoughts of the person at the very top.

Now Wei Guangde couldn't be happier than reading articles about the Wanli Emperor, who supposedly didn't care about anything and was considered a good emperor.

Unfortunately, that's not the case. The current Wanli Emperor is in the midst of a period of diligent governance, but he is sometimes a bit careless and impatient in his actions.

"Actually, appointing him to the Ministry of Personnel might not be a bad thing."

However, a moment later, Wei Guangde said with a serious face, "I had someone inquire beforehand. Zhiqing's health is actually not good, and he is from Yunnan and is not used to life in the north."

According to my information, his current condition won't last much longer, which is why I plan to use him.

Is he unwell?

Zhang Ke was taken aback, thinking to himself that he had never heard Wei Shiliang mention this before.

After all, Wei Shiliang was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice at that time, and his deputy should have known about it.

"That's right, we got the information from the imperial physician who treated him."

Wei Guangde's casual remark startled Zhang Ke.

He hadn't expected Wei Guangde to extend his connections to government offices like the Imperial Medical Academy, but he quickly came to terms with it.

He thought of something: Wei Guangde, a storyteller, had sponsored a former imperial physician to publish a book.

After the book was published, medical clinics and pharmacies everywhere regarded it as a divine book and bought it to study its contents. It is said that the book had a great influence in the medical field at that time.

Indeed, this is true. Although doctors are not considered intellectuals, people from all walks of life have abandoned them.

Moreover, most people who study medicine are actually quite knowledgeable, but their focus of study differs from that of scholars. They delve into medical techniques rather than the eight-legged essay, yet when they sit together, they can often cite classical texts and engage in conversations with scholars.

In fact, we are all cultured people.

Since he considers himself a cultured person, he naturally has the idea of ​​writing books and establishing theories.

If Wei Guangde could fund Li Shizhen's publication, he could naturally help them as well.

Because of this relationship, Wei Guangde now has a good relationship with the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy. Many of the physicians are privately compiling their medical cases and prescriptions that they find useful, and they also plan to write books to make a name for themselves in history.

"Does he know it himself?"

Zhang Ke knew, of course, that Wei Guangde wouldn't speak recklessly; if he said that, he must have a source. He was just curious and asked.

Since he was unwell, why didn't Yan Qing cherish his life and take good care of his health instead of getting involved in the power struggle between Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei? This was clearly unwise.

If you put yourself in Yan Qing's shoes, you would decisively resign from your official post and go home to recuperate at this time.

If I recover well and feel okay, I can then seek a comeback.

In fact, the resignation and reinstatement of officials in the Ming Dynasty were sometimes as easy as playing a game.

"Okay, let's leave it at that for now. I'll let you know once I've made a decision."

The most urgent task now is for the Ministry of War to review the entire Eastern Expedition again, especially the issue of maritime transport.

With tens of thousands of troops stranded overseas, if maritime transport cannot meet their supply needs, the consequences would be unimaginable should the war become more intense.

The saying "consider defeat before victory" means that you must take all the factors into account.

The first shipment of provisions by sea must ensure that Jeju Island and Tsushima Island have enough provisions to feed the army for two months.

As for the transportation of the remaining grain and fodder, that was not so urgent.

If all else fails, they can also use civilian ships to increase sea transport and send all the grain and supplies over.

"All naval warships must be inspected again before the eastern expedition. Repairs and repairs should be made where necessary. I will discuss this with Jiang Zhi to ensure sufficient craftsmen and materials are allocated."

Wei Guangde spoke up.

"Okay, I'll go back and have the Department of Civil Affairs recalculate it to make sure everything is correct."

Zhang Ke immediately replied.

"And then there are Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, who are both veterans. They should carefully review the preparations for the expedition to see if there are any oversights."

Wei Guangde spoke up.

The Ministry of War is skilled at large-scale calculations, but the details of troop deployment are somewhat vague, and Wei Guangde is worried that there may be oversights.

These all require the oversight of veteran generals like Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou.

"Have the Guangxi wolf soldiers that were previously mentioned as being transferred arrived in Songjiang Prefecture?"

As the deadline approached, Wei Guangde wondered if the reinforcements he had requested for the last time were already in place.

"We haven't received any official notification yet, but based on the time they set sail from Guangxi, even if they haven't reached Zhejiang yet, they should be in Fujian by now."

"It's only a few days' journey; news from Songjiang Prefecture will definitely arrive within ten days."

Zhang Ke said.

"Yes, traveling by sea is indeed better. At least after this journey, we don't have to worry about them traveling by sea. They seem to have gotten used to it."

"As long as they practice quickly recovering their fighting strength after disembarking from ships, this army can be considered trained."

Wei Guangde nodded and said.

He didn't plan to equip the Guangxi wolf soldiers with firearms, as there wasn't enough time, and they were skilled in close combat. In fact, transferring them was to make up for the Ming army's weakness in close combat.

The Ming army, which was not composed of American and Italian troops, was mostly composed of Qi Jiguang's troops, and they were all skilled in using the Mandarin Duck Formation.

In fact, the Ming army garrisons also had a variety of formations, large and small. Qi Jiguang's Mandarin Duck Formation was a variation of the ten-man formation, and the weapons were significantly adjusted.

The method could not be promoted in various garrisons. Even though Wei Guangde and officials from the Ministry of War felt it was suitable, it could not be widely implemented in the army.

The original Ming army's ten-man squads were equipped with shields, spears, and muskets; Qi Jiguang's design was simply more ingenious.

Of course, the increase in the types of weapons also increases this part of the expenditure, making it difficult to promote.

After all, with the current production capacity, manufacturing and distributing a large number of different weapons would be a considerable expense.

Everyone knew that the future belonged to firearms, so Wei Guangde naturally didn't bother with such things.

Ultimately, Qi Jiguang could re-equip his Zhejiang battalion, but he couldn't meet the needs of all the garrisons and outposts across the country.

Zhang Ke took his leave, and Wei Guangde continued to handle government affairs in the cabinet. Two days passed quietly, and the Imperial Observatory had also calculated the time. Emperor Wanli did not summon the cabinet ministers for this matter, but simply wrote a note to Wei Guangde and had Liu Ruoyu deliver it.

Clearly, the Wanli Emperor was aware of the power and influence of the eunuchs around him.

Liu Ruoyu was Chen Ju's godson, and Chen Ju had a good relationship with Wei Guangde, so it was safer to have Liu Ruoyu deliver the private note to Wei Guangde.

If it was a note he gave to Zhang Siwei, then it wouldn't be appropriate for Liu Ruoyu to deliver it; it would be better for Zhang Jing to do it.

Wei Guangde estimated the time; there was still a little over a month left, enough time for the Ministry of War to issue orders to the north and south.

Without delay, he immediately wrote a note to the Ministry of War and asked Lu Bu to send someone to deliver it to the Ministry of War.

"The 18th day of the tenth month at the hour of Si (9-11 AM) is an extremely auspicious

Although the time was a little later than expected, it was still within Wei Guangde's acceptable range.

Upon receiving Wei Guangde's note, the Ministry of War immediately dispatched confidential documents to Tianjin, Dengzhou, and Songjiang Prefecture, setting the departure date and instructing all departments to prepare accordingly, awaiting the official imperial decree.

Shortly afterward, Wei Guangde summoned Liu Shouyou, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Inside the duty room, the two secretly investigated for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

That very night, rumors spread like wildfire in teahouses and taverns throughout the capital that the Ministry of War was planning to settle accounts with the Japanese pirates of that year.

Most people in the Ming Dynasty would actually scoff at such news if they heard it in the morning.

They had all heard of the rampant piracy of the Japanese pirates in the southeast, and after hearing so much about it, they felt a certain amount of fear.

Although news of Japanese pirates has almost disappeared nowadays, that is the result of more than a decade of hard work by government troops to eradicate them.

It's already so difficult to fight the Japanese pirates, yet the imperial court wants to mobilize a large army to conquer Japan? That's wishful thinking. That's the Japanese pirates' stronghold; it's full of them.

Even a small number of Japanese pirates were difficult to defeat, so what chance did they have against a large group of them?

However, this rumor is like a persistent leech, unlike ordinary rumors that disappear after a while. Instead, it is continuous and shows a tendency to grow.

Only a few perceptive people could sense that someone was intentionally spreading this rumor and constantly adding fuel to the fire, which is why the rumor has been spreading for so long.

From the initial intention of the imperial court to retaliate, to the rumors that the Japanese pirates came to China under orders from their own country, and that the Japanese king was said to call himself the emperor, to the fact that the small country of Japan actually had a million-strong army.
Today, the rumors have become even more blatant: the Ministry of War of the Imperial Court has learned that Japan is showing signs of launching another invasion of the Ming Dynasty by Japanese pirates, and has therefore mobilized a large army in Shandong and Southern Zhili to prepare for action.

These messages have increasingly transformed from what were once considered jokes and rumors into something resembling the truth.

Thus, under deliberate guidance, the news that the imperial court was going to war with Japan naturally spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital.

The main reason for this gradual guidance was the Ming people's preconceived notion of the brutal Japanese pirates. They might have expressed disdain, but deep down they were still afraid.

If news of an invasion of Japan were to spread rashly, it would inevitably cause anxiety among the people.

Wei Guangde actually discovered this problem while drinking with the nobles. Although these people were all very tough-talking, when Wei Guangde jokingly said that he would give them tens of thousands of troops to conquer Japan, they immediately fell silent and dared not utter a word.

Later, through private conversations with Duke Dingguo, Xu Wenbi, I learned that although the nobles had not been on the battlefield to suppress the Japanese pirates, they still had connections with the southern garrisons.

These letters made the military officers in the capital aware of the Japanese pirates' brutality, so they naturally dared not volunteer for the mission.

Think about the Jiajing era, why didn't so many nobles go to the southeast to suppress the Japanese pirates? It was because they were afraid and dared not go.

Therefore, the only option was to draw commanders from local garrisons to go to the southeast to suppress the Japanese pirates.

If even nobles reacted this way, one can only imagine the reaction of the majority of ordinary people.

They learned about the Japanese pirates from various rumors, and inevitably felt fear.

Upon returning home that evening, after dinner, Wei Guangde summoned Zhang Ji to his study to inquire about the situation in detail.

He needed to listen carefully to the public's reaction.

"The outside world is no longer as panicked as it was at the beginning, but many people still believe that if Japan were to launch a full-scale invasion, the imperial court would likely only have a chance of victory if it deployed its elite border troops to meet the enemy."

Wei Guangde listened quietly. There were plenty of capable strategists like him in the marketplace, and he had already considered that the only way to fight the Japanese pirates was to mobilize the border troops.

"And what about the officials in the court? What are they talking about in private?"

Wei Guangde asked with a smile.

"Most of them thought the news was false, believing that the imperial court might be planning to retaliate against the Japanese pirates and thus intend to launch a campaign, but the news might have been distorted somehow."

Zhang Ji said cautiously.

After all, he knew the truth, but the officials in the capital seemed to have noticed something as well, though they were only discussing it among their colleagues and hadn't told anyone else.

"Hehe, there's no fool who can pass the imperial examination."

Wei Guangde just smiled.

They might not have thought of it at first, but when they talked to their colleagues, they inevitably came up with some unexpected information.

For example, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue transferred large quantities of grain and fodder to Shandong and Songjiang Prefecture, which cannot be explained by the Ministry of Revenue's far-fetched reasons.

Furthermore, the rumors circulating in the capital about Japan, once connected, inevitably reveal something fishy.

However, only those in official circles knew the news; the general public mainly heard rumors about the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"And what about their attitude?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"Many officials in the south were filled with righteous indignation and hoped that the court would send troops to punish Japan. In particular, the news that the Japanese king had proclaimed himself emperor made some officials in the north feel that it was necessary to punish them, otherwise the surrounding foreign countries would follow suit and the majesty of our Heavenly Dynasty would be lost."

Zhang Ji said, "There are fewer officials who still oppose it now, mainly because after the rumors about the Emperor, they basically dare not express their opinions publicly."

"Ah."

Wei Guangde nodded. The main force of the army mobilized this time was actually the elite border troops. Even the main force of the Southern Army consisted of the South China Sea Navy and Zhejiang Battalion, which had experience in warfare.

Among these people, a few had participated in the anti-Japanese war back then, and most of them, although they did not participate personally, had been taught by word of mouth and were said to be very well trained, only lacking the baptism of war.

"Where is the North Korean delegation? Did they say anything inappropriate?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

A North Korean delegation arrived in Beijing regarding Jeju Island.

Previously, the Ministry of War bypassed the Ministry of Rites and directly issued an order to the King of Joseon, ordering them to withdraw several hundred soldiers from Jeju Island. The East Sea Fleet dispatched two centurions to be stationed there and recruited locals to build docks, warehouses, and barracks.

The East China Sea Fleet's patrol fleet has arrived in Busan under the pretext of patrolling, but its real purpose is to target Tsushima Island and look for an opportunity to annihilate the Japanese navy.

If not, then the target is Sado Island.

After all, finding fighter jets is a matter of luck.

If war breaks out, the Japanese navy will likely retreat to the Seto Inland Sea, which would be troublesome for the South China Sea navy.

Therefore, the North Korean delegation in Beijing could probably guess what was going on.

"I need to speak with the Ministry of Rites tomorrow and ask them to keep an eye on the Korean delegation."

Wei Guangde made up his mind and muttered to himself. (End of Chapter)