prosperous age

"call."

The capital of the Ming Dynasty, the Forbidden City, the cabinet office.

Wei Guangde picked up the ballot and intended to stick it on the memorial he had just finished reading, then casually put it aside.

This time, he didn't pick up another memorial; instead, he reached for the teacup beside him, picked it up, and took a sip.

"It's a bit chilly."

Wei Guangde muttered something to himself, put down his teacup, and was about to call Lu Bu in to change the tea when he suddenly felt his body sway slightly.

"Earthquake."

A thought flashed through Wei Guangde's mind, but he didn't move. Instead, he looked up at the roof.

Ming Dynasty architecture was primarily brick and wood structure, so its earthquake resistance was definitely excellent.

However, although the roof was fine, visible dust was still falling down in clumps.

After all, the roof beams are made of wood, but they are covered with tiles, which are difficult to clean.

"Master, master, come out quickly, the ground is shaking again."

Just then, Lu Bu rushed in and shouted at Wei Guangde.

"I know, it shouldn't be a big deal."

Wei Guangde spoke, but then walked around the desk and followed Lu Bu out of the room.

Recently, earthquakes have been quite frequent around Beijing, which, by modern standards, are estimated to be minor earthquakes of magnitude four or five.

By now, quite a few people were already standing in the Cabinet courtyard. Everyone felt the earthquake and came out.

Before Wei Guangde came out, the scribes and registrars were whispering among themselves, but when they saw him come out, they all decisively separated and stopped talking.

Wei Guangde was not surprised by this. Recently, earthquakes had been quite frequent in Beijing, so rumors were naturally spreading.

Most rumors say this is a warning from heaven, and that an eastward expedition against Japan is not advisable.

However, when Emperor Wanli issued the decree to launch an eastern expedition to punish Japan, most officials, out of consideration for public opinion, did not publicly express their support, but few actually opposed it.

Because several dissenting officials were flogged and then banished from the capital to serve as local officials.

As for the location, it's in the Northwest, on the edge of the desert, where people eat sand.

Wanting to be allocated a share of the prosperous Jiangnan region? That's wishful thinking.

Because of Emperor Wanli's decisive action at the time, this trend did not take hold.

No one was willing to defy public opinion and the emperor by openly opposing the Eastern Expedition.

Moreover, the army had already completed its assembly and set off after the order was issued.

Even if you object, it will be too late.

"You, all of you, come here."

Wei Guangde looked at the eunuchs in the courtyard who were responsible for cleaning and sweeping the inner chambers, and beckoned them over.

Several eunuchs quickly approached Wei Guangde, bowed slightly, and listened to his orders.

"Go to the Qianqing Palace, Ciqing Palace, and Cining Palace and ask about the situation of His Majesty and the Empress Dowager."

While you're at it, check if there's any damage to other parts of the palace, and report back to me as soon as you're done.

Wei Guangde instructed the eunuchs to check the impact of the earthquake in various parts of the palace. It would be inconvenient for other people to do so.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Upon receiving Wei Guangde's order, the eunuchs hurriedly agreed and quickly walked out.

"Your Excellency, the Grand Secretary."

Watching the person leave, Wei Guangde was about to go back inside. He wasn't sure if there had been a major earthquake in the capital during the Wanli era, but he felt there wouldn't have been.

After all, historically, these two years were actually spent purging Zhang Juzheng, and there was no mention of any major earthquake.

If so, there would certainly be a reason for dealing with Zhang Juzheng.

This is what the ancients called the interaction between Heaven and humanity.

There are now opinions about the Eastern Expedition, and there is much discussion in private. This is actually related to the frequent earthquakes in the past two weeks.

The person who called him earlier was naturally the Second Assistant Minister Zhang Siwei. He came from the next courtyard, so he naturally took a little longer.

"Ziwei, is something the matter?"

Wei Guangde stopped and said with a smile.

"Your Excellency, let's talk inside."

Zhang Siwei seemed very concerned about being overheard outside, and whispered to Wei Guangde as he approached him.

"Okay, please come in."

Wei Guangde gestured "please" and then ordered Lu Bu to serve tea.

Inside the duty room, Zhang Siwei glanced at the door before whispering, "Has the Grand Secretary heard about the rumors circulating outside lately?"

"Rumor has it, you mentioned the earthquake?"

Wei Guangde nodded slightly and said.

"Indeed, everyone outside says this is a warning from heaven, and that we should not have launched this expedition against Japan."

Zhang Siwei spoke up.

"So what? The army has already been mobilized. Although there haven't been any battle reports yet, judging by the time, the war has already begun."

As for the so-called interaction between Heaven and Man, that should be revealed after His Majesty's decree is issued.

It's been so long, and it only moved a few days later, although it has been moving more frequently these past few days.

By the way, this is something I was just thinking of discussing with you.

You've moved three times in the last five days, haven't you?

Wei Guangde spoke up.

"Yes, it moved yesterday and today. Come to think of it, it also moved a few days ago."

In the past two weeks, it has moved six or seven times already.

Zhang Siwei continued.

"Recently, there have been frequent earthquakes, and I am worried that there may be even larger earthquakes later. Therefore, all prefectures and counties in Zhili, Henan, and Shanxi should be notified to prepare for disaster prevention."

Everyone says that an earthquake is the earth dragon turning over, but what can the earth dragon turn over at this time? With a holy emperor in power, what waves can it make?

It's just a geological phenomenon. Similar situations have occurred in the capital city before, with continuous earthquakes that subsided after a period of time.

However, occasionally a large earthquake might follow, so the ground crew was notified to prepare for an even larger one.

Wei Guangde continued speaking in response to this.

He didn't recall any major earthquakes during the Wanli era, but natural disasters were indeed frequent throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Floods, droughts, hailstorms, snowstorms, and earthquakes are all common occurrences, occurring relatively frequently.

Of course, the largest earthquake recorded was the Shaanxi earthquake that Wei Guangde encountered when he first arrived in the capital to take the imperial examination, which was more than 30 years ago.

"How can local officials prepare for earthquakes? It's getting cold now; we can't expect people to go outside to avoid the cold."

Zhang Siwei frowned and said.

Winter arrived earlier than usual this year, with thin ice appearing on the Tongzhou Canal in October, and the ice has now spread to the Shandong section of the canal.

This year, the Grand Canal closed its gates half a month earlier than in previous years.

"Let the local authorities inform the people so that everyone can be mentally prepared."

Each prefecture and county also checked its granaries in advance, preparing some disaster relief grain as a precaution.

Wei Guangde thought for a moment and said.

With the warning, when an earthquake occurs, people know to run outside instead of standing there dumbfounded and at a loss.

These days, most houses are single-story, so people can get out quite quickly.

Unless it's a massive earthquake that releases a huge amount of energy instantly, the extent of damage is definitely different depending on whether you're prepared or not.

Inside, Wei Guangde was talking to Zhang Siwei when a figure in reeds flashed by at the door, but wisely didn't come in. "What is it? Come in and talk."

Wei Guangde saw it and immediately asked.

"master."

Lu Bu entered, bowed slightly to Zhang Siwei, and then whispered, "News just came from outside that workers were climbing the stone beams of the stone house under construction on East Chang'an Street when the earthquake struck."

"Did someone get hurt?"

Wei Guangde immediately knew what had happened: the Western-style building he had built had encountered an engineering accident.

"Three people fell, one of whom may have broken his leg."

Lu Bu hurriedly said.

"Any dead people?"

Wei Guangde pressed for an answer again.

"I haven't heard of that. I just heard that one person was seriously injured, and the other two, although they were knocked down, were caught by the rack below and were quite frightened."

The one with the shorter leg lost his grip on the shelf, fell, and broke his leg; his life is out of danger, though.

Lu Bu hurriedly said.

"It's good that no one died."

Wei Guangde felt relieved. He was injured, but he could get money for treatment. Even if he ended up lame, he could simply be given a job in one of his shops, so he wouldn't starve.

"You go down first."

Wei Guangde waved his hand, dismissing Lu Bu, before continuing his conversation with Zhang Siwei.

"Also, the craftsmen should inspect the warehouses, government offices, and barracks in each prefecture and county, and repair those that need repair."

The Ministry of Works should register and catalog government buildings separately, and rebuild older buildings as needed, while regularly sending people to inspect them.”

Wei Guangde continued to talk about the knowledge about earthquakes from later generations. People in later generations all know that earthquakes are actually caused by the friction and compression of tectonic plates, and have nothing to do with earth dragons.

Even in an era of highly advanced technology, predicting earthquakes remains a pipe dream.

If we can't predict it, then we can only take precautions.

This is something that can be done in later generations, and it can be done now.

Moreover, because of the different architecture, it is actually easier to do this now.

"Then let Ru Mo come over too, let's discuss it first, and then we'll invite Minister Jiang and the others over as well, to make the arrangements."

Zhang Siwei thought about it and realized it wasn't a big deal; it was just inspecting the government buildings.

Just as Wei Guangde was about to call Lu Bu to invite Shen Shixing, Lu Bu appeared at the door of the duty room with Zhang Ke.

Upon seeing this, Wei Guangde naturally knew that there must be news from Jeju Island.

When there are battle reports from the front, one should naturally put aside everything else and find out about the situation at the front.

"Jinqing, has there been any news of the battle in the East China Sea?"

Wei Guangde got up and walked towards the door, asking as he went.

"Several battle reports were sent to the Ministry of War. I had them copy them and then send them over."

Zhang Ke spoke up, took out several documents from his sleeve, and handed them over.

"Lord Zhang."

"Lord Zhang."

When Wei Guangde took the memorial and read it, Zhang Siwei and Zhang Ke also exchanged greetings and pleasantries.

"What's the situation over there now?"

While Wei Guangde was reading the battle report, Zhang Siwei quietly asked Zhang Ke about it, knowing that Zhang Ke must have already seen it and knew the situation.

"Everything is going relatively smoothly. Although there are some minor flaws, there won't be any major problems."

Zhang Ke laughed.

"The main reason is that the Japanese pirates noticed something unusual in Busan and predicted our plan to launch a surprise attack on Sado Island in advance."

Fortunately, Xu Qiaoan has personally led the East China Sea Fleet to Sado Island, so at worst, a sneak attack can turn into a full-scale assault.

"Our Great Ming Dynasty has the advantage of superior weaponry; we have no fear of not being able to take a small island."

Wei Guangde had quickly read through several battle reports, some from Qi Jiguang, which described their response, and others from Xu Qiaoan, who led the navy to support Sado Island. Other changes were minor.

Wang Xijue was also included in the battle report. He planned to move to Tsushima Island to better command the war against the Japanese.

Initially, the camp was planned to be built on Jeju Island, where at least it would be safe.

However, Jeju Island is located in a remote area, and Wang Xijue felt that it was too far from the battlefield, which would make it difficult to react in time. Therefore, he planned to move the main camp forward.

Wei Guangde had no objection to this.

As long as Wang Xijue understood that he was a civil official and knew nothing about warfare, he could let Qi Jiguang and the others fight without interfering. This would have been the key to winning the battle.

Based on previous intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Ming Dynasty possessed an absolute firepower advantage over Japan.

"It seems that the Embroidered Uniform Guard hasn't been sending back any intelligence lately."

After reading the battle report, Wei Guangde casually handed it to Zhang Siwei, who then suddenly mentioned it.

"The Japanese pirates have discovered the government troops' intentions and have probably already blockaded the coast. Their intelligence will not be as easy to send back as before."

Wei Guangde smiled and said.

Japan has been at war for a long time, so it naturally attaches great importance to intelligence.

Since they knew that the Ming Dynasty was going to attack them, they would definitely try to block the news.

As an island nation, the best way to block information is to control the coastal ports and fishing villages. Even if the secret police find out, as long as they cannot go to the water, the information cannot be leaked.

And that was indeed the case. At this time, the daimyo of Honshu and Shikoku in Japan had centralized control over all ships and prohibited fishermen from going to sea, in order to prevent Ming spies from infiltrating them and taking advantage of the opportunity to transmit intelligence while at sea.

The only remaining communication route for the Embroidered Uniform Guard is to risk crossing the border to deliver intelligence directly to the Ming army.

The previous route that led off the west coast of Honshu Island is now completely useless.

As for taking the Ryukyu route through Kyushu, that's simply unimaginable; it would take far too much time.

"Sado Island, everything depends on Xu Qiaoan."

Wei Guangde said something and then instructed Lu Bu to invite Shen Shixing over.

The discussions with Zhang Siwei should continue.

As for the war in the East China Sea, let Wang Xijue and Qi Jiguang think about it.

Meanwhile, on Sado Island, cannons roared as the Ming army split into two groups to attack two Japanese fortresses near the dock.

The large breech-loading cannons were not very effective at breaching the fortress, so Xu Qiaoan directly ordered Commander Sun to remove two large cannons and give them to the Lu Division, so that they could use the cannons to blast open the fortress gate.

Using artillery to breach city walls has proven effective in Myanmar, especially when heavy artillery is deployed to bombard city gates. Often, the gates can be breached in half a day, allowing the army to advance in.

Of course, there is one difference between fighting Japan and Burma: the Japanese pirates also had arquebuses, which were quite powerful, at least more lethal than the arquebuses used by the Ming army, only with a slightly shorter range.

Even so, the Ming army's attacking forces suffered dozens of casualties.

Even with the support of breech-loading cannons, the Japanese pirates' will to resist was not weak.

After all, the samurai spirit has long been prevalent in Japan, and many lower-ranking soldiers hope to gain military merit through this method, thereby rising in rank.

"One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand." Only a lucky few among them will succeed, while the majority will only end up as a pile of bones.

"There are eleven fortresses and more than twenty mines on the island. We have already occupied two of them. Once we take these two, we can then make our move on the others."

On the flagship in the harbor, Xu Qiaoan is learning about the land warfare situation.

"We are short-staffed and need more cannons. We hope that the Admiral will send a portion of the navy to accompany us to the island, as they are more skilled in operating firearms."

"Alright, I'll send another five hundred men to accompany you to the island."

Xu Qiaoan didn't hesitate either; he wanted to occupy Sado Island as soon as possible and restore production there.

As for eliminating the Kuki Navy, he has temporarily abandoned that idea.

The Ming army was not unaware of the Japanese army's movements, but unfortunately, the Kuki navy was constantly retreating north. Xu Qiaoan was worried about being used as a diversionary tactic, so he remained stationed on Sado Island. (End of Chapter)