I'm really not doing business

Chapter 717: vs. , the advantage is not mine
"General Qi, how long do you think this battle will last?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously about Qi Jiguang's prediction of the direction of the war.

Qi Jiguang exhaled and said, "If it is a war in Korea, it will end in about three to five years. If we want to attack the Japanese mainland, this war will take more than 20 years."

Wars to annihilate a country are often so protracted. Qi Jiguang cannot deceive the emperor into making a wrong decision. The Ming Dynasty must be prepared for a long-term war. The end of military action does not mean the end of the war.

The Ming Dynasty and Altan Khan fought for a full twenty-five years, and then fought for another three years starting from the sixth year of the Wanli reign.

"What if we have to use it against plague? Marshal Qi knows that the Ming Dynasty has the cowpox method to prevent and treat smallpox." Zhu Yijun said calmly.

As soon as these words came out, Feng Bao looked towards the position of Zhongshu Sheren with a lightning gaze, and then he breathed a sigh of relief. Zhongshu Sheren had diarrhea today, and when Qi Jiguang came in, Zhongshu Sheren went to the toilet. Zhongshu Sheren did not want to get too involved in military and national affairs, so when the time comes, he only needs to complete it in Wanli's daily notes and try his best to exaggerate the majesty's wisdom and bravery.

Knowing more is often not a good thing.

Qi Jiguang and Li Rusong looked at the Emperor with somewhat dull eyes. The two battle-hardened generals didn't know how to answer for a moment.

In the eyes of the two generals, His Majesty is kind and very good to the soldiers. Although His Majesty has killed countless people, most of the time, these people deserved to die, and there have never been any innocent souls killed by His Majesty.

They never thought that one day such cruel words would be spoken by His Majesty the Emperor.

Guns, germs, steel and silver, these four things ran through the so-called Age of Discovery.

"I have heard that when the Mongols were conquering, when they encountered a city with high walls and could not be conquered for a long time, they would throw people with plague and their belongings into the city to cause plague, and then they could conquer any city. I have also heard that the red-haired barbarians in Peru and Mexico specifically sold blankets that smallpox patients had slept on to the natives to cause plague and reduce the strength of the rebels."

"General Qi, if others can do it, the Ming Dynasty can do it too." Zhu Yijun gave his own reasons.

Bacteria and viruses can also be used as weapons, especially smallpox. The Ming Dynasty was actively promoting vaccination with cowpox, and wealthy merchants from all over the country were even willing to pay money to promote the benefits of the cowpox method in order to please the emperor.

When the Indians died, they were wrapped in blankets sold by the colonists. They had just died and had no idea that the blankets that made them feel warm were the relics of smallpox patients. The remaining viruses infected the ethnic group and consumed their vitality. In the New World, smallpox spread everywhere through wind, rain, droplets, rivers, rats, and vultures, causing deaths, destroying cities and countries, and ultimately disintegrating civilization.

The Ming Dynasty would not be retaliated against by the smallpox weapon. Firstly, it had an immune wall against cowpox, and secondly, it had a physical wall. All the foreigners who came to the Ming Dynasty lived in the Wanguo City and were not allowed to move freely. Zhu Yijun had no need to worry about the boomerang of smallpox.

"I think it is inappropriate. The barbarians can do it, but the Ming Dynasty cannot." Qi Jiguang said very frankly: "Your Majesty, weapons are ominous tools, not the only tools of gentlemen. They should be used only when necessary. The barbarians are barbarians because they fear power and do not cherish virtue. The Ming Dynasty is the Ming Dynasty because it uses virtue to bring peace to the world."

Qi Jiguang, who had been killing people all his life, was now advising people to be kind and forgive.

Your Majesty is too violent.

"According to the research of the Institute of Extermination, smallpox can resist dryness and low temperatures, and can survive on scabs, dust, and bedding for up to one and a half years. During this period, it can still infect others." Zhu Yijun took out the research report of the Institute of Extermination. This was originally submitted by Pang Xian to the emperor to make him pay attention to its harm, but now Zhu Yijun was demonstrating its possibility as a weapon.

Pang Xian, who studied and wrote the theory of cowpox and devoted his life to the prevention and treatment of smallpox, might have become the biggest killer during the Wanli period. Because of Pang Xian's research, the Ming emperor could use this weapon unscrupulously to eliminate anyone who refused to submit and completely wipe them off the map.

"Your Majesty, I think it is totally unnecessary. The situation is not yet so bad." Qi Jiguang was still very persistent. He always believed that His Majesty the Emperor should follow the right path and should not take such crooked paths.

The emperor cannot do evil. This issue has been repeatedly demonstrated as early as the pre-Qin period. "Shangshu Hongfan" says: The emperor is the parent of the people and the king of the world. He must not do evil and must follow the king's way.

If the emperor takes the initiative to do evil, how can he be a role model for the world if he is looked up to by millions of people? The blame for the loss of morality in the world is borne by your Majesty, and the price of the loss of morality in the world is borne by the people.

Destroying the Japanese is of course important, but if the Ming Dynasty loses its moral integrity as a result, the gains will outweigh the losses. Qi Jiguang disagreed with this matter. He felt that His Majesty should not do it.

Zhu Yijun did not argue with Qi Jiguang, but smiled warmly and said: "Admittedly, the situation is not so bad that we need to activate this weapon. If the situation is bad, I will find a way to weaken the strength of Japan at any cost."

Zhu Yijun had only one view on war: to win by any means necessary. If the Ming army really lost, the Japanese pirates would have no chance of winning either.

"I obey your order." Qi Jiguang bowed his head again and accepted the order.

After leaving Tonghe Palace, Qi Jiguang and Li Rusong walked for a long time. When they reached a secluded place, Li Rusong suddenly asked, "General Qi, have you convinced His Majesty?"

Li Rusong felt something was wrong. His Majesty agreed too easily. Did His Majesty really listen to Qi Jiguang's advice?

"Yes, Your Majesty accepted my advice and agreed with it. You will not use such means when the situation is not particularly critical." Qi Jiguang said with a smile: "Don't think too much. Your Majesty is a wise ruler. We should think about how to win. Otherwise, if we lose, Your Majesty will have to use ominous weapons."

"Winning a battle is easy!" Li Rusong laughed and said, "Killing the Japanese pirates is much easier than fighting against each other in the court!"

Li Rusong believed Qi Jiguang's words very much, put aside his worries, and actively prepared for the expedition.

Qi Jiguang actually knew very well that he did not really persuade the emperor, nor did he intend to persuade the emperor to be benevolent and forgiving. That was not his responsibility. When he tried to persuade the emperor from the very beginning, he was actually persuading the emperor that there was no need to use such despicable means himself, nor was there any need to leave room for others to use them.

Your Majesty, you must maintain your image as a holy monarch and stop saying such cruel words in the future.

All you need to do is write the method in the history of foreign countries and loudly denounce the barbaric behavior of the red-haired foreigners. Then the merchants in the Ming Dynasty who have low moral advantages, are profit-driven and have no moral burden will know about it and do it themselves.

The book on overseas foreign countries was a best-seller in the Ming Dynasty, and almost every merchant family had a copy.

It was obvious that His Majesty understood Qi Jiguang's advice. Zhu Yijun was very good at this kind of Confucian method of loudly opposing it on the surface but promoting it secretly.

Just as Li Rusong said, the Japanese were really blessed to have met His Majesty the Emperor.

The famine finally forced the daimyo of Japan to sit down and discuss the future of Japan. In order to physically consume the samurai class and end the Warring States era, the daimyo finally agreed to attack Korea. The high wall that the Ming Dynasty used to blockade Japan opened a door at the Yamatai naval port on Tsushima Island. The Ming army chose to withdraw, making way for Oda Nobunaga to attack Korea.

Korea originally thought that it could rest easy with the Ming Dynasty as its father. The Japanese, a group of dwarfs with an average height of four feet, would never be able to take over the Yamatai naval port. But with the withdrawal of Yamatai troops, Korea became completely panicked and hurriedly ran to the Ming Dynasty to ask for help.

The Ming Emperor was actively preparing to go to Korea to fight, and the Ming army, equipped with countless firearms, was ready to march to Liaodong in three months.

Everything was happening in an orderly manner. The Ming Dynasty and Japan had their own goals, while the Korean envoys Yi Houbai and Yi Sun-sin were sweating profusely with anxiety.

"You have completely forgotten about serving your great neighbors! Now that we have come to the Ming Dynasty, there is not a single minister who can have a say. We have no idea about the decisions and movements of the Ming court, nor do we know what your majesty thinks. The most urgent task now is to seek the help of the Ming Emperor. Instead of thinking about what to do, you are drinking here!" Li Shunchen snatched the wine pot from Li Houbai and said sternly.

Li Houbai sat on the ground under a big tree in Siyi Pavilion with his hair completely loose. After arriving in Daming, he drank all day long and did not go out at all, not even asking for help. Li Shunchen was so angry that he came to teach him a lesson.

"What else can you do? Once the Ming Dynasty closes the door, we don't even have a place to kowtow! If I could reveal a little bit of information, I would be willing to kowtow to pieces! Now, there is no place to kowtow!" Li Houbai lay back on the ground, staring blankly at the towering trees in the Siyi Pavilion and said, "Before, when I came to the Ming Dynasty, I stayed in the Huitong Pavilion, which means that the Ming Dynasty treats us as its own people."

"Now, we live in the Siyi Pavilion."

The Siyi Hall and Huitong Hall were very close to each other, but a small wall made a world of difference between them. The Ming Dynasty had already seen the true face of Korea.

Li Shunchen was stunned for a long time, then sat down with Li Houbai, grabbed the wine pot, took a big gulp, and said with gritted teeth: "Serve the neighbors with great power, serve the neighbors with great power, this is the ancestral teaching! Since Altan Khan invaded, all the officials in the court looked down on the Ming Dynasty and said some weird things. Now that the Ming Dynasty has recovered, the Japanese pirates are coming, and the Ming Dynasty is unwilling to help."

"Your Majesty must have heard these strange words!"

Lee Sun-sin could not understand the wind in the Joseon court. The ancestral laws made it clear that the most important thing was to be friendly with the Ming Dynasty. If there was a bite of food from the Ming Dynasty, there would be a sip of soup from the Ming Dynasty. This was how they had been doing for so many years. As a result, the news of Altan Khan's invasion of the capital reached Joseon. The literati in Joseon's Sungkyunkwan were all delighted and mocked the Ming Dynasty for its slack military preparedness, as if Joseon would not do that.

Now, the Japanese pirates are here.

"The Ming court has always known about those things, but just didn't care." Li Houbai lay on the ground, watching the leaves of the sycamore tree fall, and said mockingly, "It wasn't after Altan Khan invaded. Before that, all those vile rumors about Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty were made up by the Ming envoys. Rumors like Emperor Wuzong liked prostitutes and raped women wherever he went. They tried their best to portray Emperor Wuzong as a wicked, unceremonious, bullying men and women, and warmongering."

"It seems that by mocking the Ming Dynasty, one can gain a morbid sense of pride."

"Does Daming really not know anything about this?"

The Ming Dynasty knew this very well. Even officials from the Honglu Temple admonished Korean envoys more than once not to talk nonsense.

The more they admonished, the more the Korean literati seemed to have found a sore spot. The more they wanted to talk, the more they wanted to make up stories. They made up stories about Emperor Mujong, Emperor Sejong, and now they were starting to make up stories about Your Majesty.

How ridiculous could a person be who could personally lead the charge in Yingzhou and repel the little prince, who dared not invade again? However, the envoys sent by Korea to the Ming Dynasty made up all the rumors, and these rumors flowed into the Ming Dynasty. After secondary processing, the Ming Wuzong appeared even more ridiculous.

"Originally, these were just some verbal fights that could have been resolved by talking it out. But the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty asked the King to come to the court to apologize, but the King wanted to form an offensive and defensive alliance instead. He really has lost his mind." Li Houbai tilted his head, looked at Li Sun-sin and said, "Tell me, what should I do? What can I do?"

"The elementary school is not humble, weak but not afraid of strong, rude and insults the neighbor, greedy and clumsy, but also perish."

"Forget it, let's drink." Li Shunchen sighed, took another big gulp, and then handed the wine jug over. He originally wanted to persuade Li Houbai to cheer up and think of a solution, but now Li Shunchen also became desperate and started drinking with Li Houbai.

Just as Li Houbai said, now there is not even a place to kowtow. All four points have been met. This is because the Ming Dynasty was constrained by the laws established by its ancestors and Korea was a country that would not be conquered, so it did not dwell on it in depth. Otherwise, those who invaded Korea first would not have gotten the chance to invade the Japanese pirates.

When Lee Sun-sin arrived at the Ming Dynasty, he had actually figured it out. The Ming emperor's southern tour, Li Chengliang's escort, and Wang Rulong's entry into Liaodong were all fishing tactics. The bullshit offensive and defensive alliance would inevitably draw the emperor's wrath if they attacked rashly. Chen Xuehui, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, sent a secretary to meet Lee Hou-baek and Lee Sun-sin and asked them to go to the Honglu Temple to discuss the Japanese pirates' attack on Korea. As a result, they saw two drunkards.

The steward had no choice but to report the truth, which made Chen Xuehui very angry.

This was a matter of life and death for Korea, and the Ming Dynasty was busy as hell. The emperor was in court, the Beijing camp was making preparations, and even old man Li Chengliang was planning to return to Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty's huge war machine was moving at a rapid pace, but the Korean envoys were drinking!
The next morning, after Lee Hou-baek and Lee Sun-sin sobered up, took a bath and changed their clothes, they were called to the Honglu Temple by the clerk of the Ministry of Rites.

"It was you, Korea, who were invaded by the Japanese pirates! Not the Ming Dynasty! I asked you to come to discuss matters yesterday, but you two were drunk! This is ridiculous!" Chen Xuehui was extremely angry and shouted, "If you don't want to save Korea, go back! Don't be an eyesore here!"

Chen Xuehui was a traditional Confucian scholar. He was so furious and lost all his composure because he was completely irritated.

"Oda Nobunaga sent the lord of Tsushima Island, So Yoshitomo, to urge the King of Korea to go to Japan to pay tribute to the king as a sign of submission, otherwise he will be punished. This is an excuse to declare war." Chen Xuehui handed a report to Li Shunchen. He also realized that Li Houbai had completely lost his spirit. Only Li Shunchen still had some attitude.

"Sanluo" means that the King of Korea would go to Kyoto to pay homage to the Emperor of Japan. This kind of audience was a sign of complete submission, and the king would never leave. If he did not go, Japan would attack.

"Minister Chen, please allow me to report! My king will never go to Luoyang. This is not going to Luoyang, it is clearly going to die."

"Besides, the Japanese pirates are not going to attack Korea, they are clearly going to attack Ming!" Li Shunchen finally met the ministers in the court. He immediately took out a memorial and presented it to him respectfully, saying, "This is not what I said, it was said by Oda Nobunaga!"

"Japan is using Korea as a transit point to attack Ming. Its evil intentions are obvious. I hope Minister Chen will understand."

No matter what, we must invite the Ming soldiers to fight in Korea. Korea alone cannot resist! Yi Sun-sin's military strength against Korea, a group of Hwarang with fancy moves, is no match for the Japanese pirates.

Chen Xuehui opened the memorial and read it for a long time before asking, "Is there any physical evidence?"

After Oda Nobunaga took up his sword and went to Kyoto, he told all his retainers about his great ambitions: "to sweep across the Ming country and unite the three countries into one."

Uniting the Three Kingdoms into one was Oda Nobunaga's consistent slogan for conquering the world. Unifying Japan was not the end, and annexing Korea was not the end. Only by sweeping across the Ming Dynasty and uniting the Three Kingdoms could one be considered to have conquered the world.

After the Ming Dynasty defeated the Japanese pirates in Ryukyu and Nagasaki, and successively defeated the Japanese pirates in Kyushu Island, and established the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office and the Nagasaki Xingdusi, this slogan was finally put to rest and no one mentioned it again.

"Here is the evidence of the correspondence between the envoys!" Yi Sun-sin was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately bowed his head and said, "The three characters Tangguozhi in the letters can serve as proof. The Japanese called Ming Dynasty Tangguo, and Tangguozhi means entering Tang. I have a lot of written and material evidence, so please ask Minister Chen to report it to Your Majesty."

Lee Sun-sin had no intention of deceiving the Ming Dynasty. There had been exchanges of envoys between Korea and Japan as early as the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. The envoys went to Japan and saw it with their own eyes, and they also left written evidence. There were only three words "Tang Guo Zhi" in the letter, but in many places in the letters, there were mentions of using Korea as a passage to attack the Ming Dynasty.

"Enter the Tang Dynasty?" When Chen Xuehui heard this term for the first time, he was extremely surprised. He asked in confusion, "What does it mean?"

It’s not that Chen Xuehui was uneducated and couldn’t understand the meaning of entering the Tang Dynasty, but he couldn’t believe that the Japanese pirates were so bold and daring. The Ming Dynasty hadn’t even planned to destroy the Japanese, but Japan was actually planning to destroy the Ming Dynasty?

Is there any reason in this world?!
"Oda Nobunaga had a retainer named Hashiba Hideyoshi. In a letter to his wife Kita Mansho, there was a sentence that said: 'As long as I live, I will add Tang territory to my territory. To incorporate the Ming Dynasty into the territory of Japan is to enter Tang.'" Lee Sun-sin immediately explained the meaning of the words 'enter Tang.'

There is a clear explanation for entering the Tang Dynasty. It was clearly explained by Oda Nobunaga's retainer, Hashiba Hideyoshi, who later became Toyotomi Hideyoshi, that destroying the Ming Dynasty and annexing its territory meant entering the Tang Dynasty.

The Japanese pirates have had ambitions for the Central Plains since ancient times.

"The Japanese invaded Korea not just to attack Korea, but to attack Ming!" Yi Sun-sin tried his best to drag Ming into the chariot, and he did it openly and aboveboard. He continued, "I heard in Korea that Oda Nobunaga's sister Oda Ichihisa is in Ming. You only need to ask her and you will know!"

"I will ask myself." Chen Xuehui nodded.

The Ming Dynasty certainly knew something about Japan's evil ambitions, but it never expected that Japan would be so greedy and want to annex the Ming Dynasty. This was truly an eye-opener for Chen Xuehui.

"This time, Japan has assembled more than 360,000 troops, including 158,000 in the land army. Do they need so many people to fight against Korea? They are coming for the Ming Dynasty." Li Shunchen looked around and said in a low voice.

"How come I don't know?" Li Houbai asked in surprise. Li Shunchen actually knew the number of Japanese pirates so well!
Yi Sun-sin said bluntly: "I have contacts with Mori Terumoto. The Mori family alone has dispatched 30,000 samurai. In addition, Oda Nobunaga promised to provide two people with rice for each soldier in the war, and their wives will be provided with food separately. The wives of the servants hired by the army will also be provided with food."

"That is to say, in this expedition, each Japanese pirate can receive two salaries, his wife will also receive a salary, and the wives of the soldiers in the army will also be given food. This is a desperate gamble."

"Where did Oda Nobunaga get so much food? He would have burned, killed and looted as soon as he entered Korea!"

Chen Xuehui looked at Li Shunchen, sized him up and said, "It's rare for a wise man in Korea to explain the situation so clearly. Take my visiting card and go to the Xitucheng camp to meet General Qi and General Li and tell them everything you know."

Chen Xuehui wrote a visiting card, which allowed Li Shunchen to meet the military generals of the Ming Dynasty and participate in the formulation of the battle plan.

As for whether the information provided by Li Shunchen is valuable or not, it needs to be reviewed by General Qi. Chen Xuehui doesn't know much about military affairs, so he lets General Qi make the judgment.

"Thank you, Minister Chen!" Li Shunchen was finally able to meet General Qi. Leaving Li Houbai alone to be scolded, Li Shunchen hurried to Beidaying to meet Qi Jiguang and Li Rusong.

When Qi Jiguang heard about the new situation, he immediately asked Li Shunchen to go to Wuying Tower, where His Majesty had just reviewed the troops.

"Your Majesty, long live His Majesty. Long live His Majesty." Li Shunchen knelt as soon as he entered the door. The eunuch in front of the door had already told him that the Majesty had summoned him.

"No need to be polite. The information you provided is very useful." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "I heard that you were frustrated in Korea and someone took away your status as a military candidate. You joined the army in plain clothes. Is this true?"

"Your Majesty, please understand. I am deeply troubled that such a lowly matter as mine has caused Your Majesty to worry about it." Lee Sun-sin said hastily. He had a feud with his immediate superior and was sent to death by him many times. He was even accused of crimes and deprived of his birthright. Your Majesty actually knew about these trivial matters. His Majesty was also obviously aware of the nonsense that the Korean scholar-officials were talking about.

"Sit down." Zhu Yijun motioned to Li Sun-sin to sit down. A general who can kill Japanese pirates is a good general. Anyone who can kill Japanese pirates will be favored by Zhu Yijun, even if Li Sun-sin is a Korean.

Li Shunchen explained clearly all the information he knew about Japan, especially the consensus among the Japanese people to join the Tang Dynasty.

"A small country will eventually end up in a dead end on the island. Their ambition to seize the Ming Dynasty has been unable to be concealed since the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty," Li Shunchen said in conclusion.

There is no China after Yashan. This was the first rumor spread by the Japanese literati. Their purpose of saying this was consistent with calling the Ming Dynasty the Tang Dynasty, that is, they did not recognize that the Ming Dynasty was the master of the Central Plains and denied the legitimacy of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Then, Japan, which claimed to be the successor of the Tang Dynasty, could make this claim with impunity.

It's not just a declaration, Japan is now ready to put it into practice.

"Do they really have 300,000 warriors going to invade Korea?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown.

"Inside and outside Japan, every hundred households provide ten sailors and ten foot soldiers, divided into nine groups, with a total of 360,000 people. I have been in contact with Mori Terumoto, and he is urging me to work for the Japanese pirates. After much deliberation, I came to Ming Dynasty." Li Shunchen did not dare to say whether it was true or not, but this was what Mori Terumoto sent someone to tell him, with the purpose of persuading him to surrender.

To be a dog for the Japanese pirates or to be a dog for the Ming Dynasty, Lee Sun-sin felt that it was more appropriate to be a dog for the Ming Dynasty.

Three hundred thousand versus forty thousand, the advantage is not in my favor.

Zhu Yijun underestimated Japan's determination to gamble its national destiny. Japan had a total population of only 8.5 million. Excluding the elderly, the weak, women and children, the adult population was at most 700,000, which required an army of 300,000.

Take the Ming Dynasty as an example. The Ming Dynasty claimed to have two million soldiers, but in fact they were all farming. Farmers were more important than military personnel, and the number of field troops that could be deployed for combat was only 100,000.

Zhu Yijun is not a gambler, he does not understand the art of poker. The Japanese have been like this since ancient times and like poker.

"General Qi, do you want to send more troops?" Zhu Yijun felt that the Ming Dynasty was not well prepared. The 40,000 elite soldiers from the Beijing camp were besieged by 300,000 people, which might be really dangerous.

"Your Majesty, I don't think we need to increase our troops. One Han can defeat ten Japanese pirates." Qi Jiguang said with a smile, "Your Majesty, I have fought against the Japanese pirates for so many years. I know their strength. A war cannot be won by having more people."

If more people meant victory, would Altan Khan have been able to invade the capital?
When Qi Jiguang led a battalion of 3,000 infantry, one Han soldier could defeat ten Japanese. Now, after Your Majesty's tireless efforts to strengthen the army and continuously increase the number of firearms, it is possible that one Han soldier could defeat twenty or thirty Japanese.

The Ming Dynasty's firearms were not only numerous and powerful, but also well-matched, with heavy firepower and individual firepower going hand in hand. Qi Jiguang felt that the 40,000 Beijing troops were already giving enough face to the Japanese pirates. Your Majesty's 100,000 Beijing troops were planned and built with the goal of re-ploughing the Ming Dynasty, and there was also naval support.

"Your Majesty, if there are more people, the logistical pressure will be too great. The roads in Korea are not comparable to those in the Ming Dynasty. I think 40,000 is just right, neither more nor less." Qi Jiguang added his opinion. If there are more people, the logistical pressure will increase.

"Then let's do as General Qi says." Zhu Yijun nodded. If necessary, he would poison them. Zhu Yijun had no moral burden in killing the Japanese pirates.

"Is North Korea unable to provide food and fodder?" Zhu Yijun looked at Lee Sun-sin and asked the most concerning question.

The importance of food and fodder is self-evident before troops move forward. It would be too wasteful for the Ming Dynasty to transport food and fodder from its hinterland.

Li Shunchen sighed helplessly and said, "In fact, we have enough resources to provide sufficient food and fodder. Forty thousand elite soldiers and twenty thousand soldiers are not a lot, but the court at home, from the king to the ministers, are unwilling to provide this food and fodder."

As of November of the 1700th year of the Wanli reign, Korea had a population of approximately million, more than twice that of Japan. However, the King of Korea never felt that he could defeat Japan. Before the battle even began, he ran to the Ming Dynasty for help and even refused to provide food and fodder.

There are many reasons, but the bottom line is that they think they can hire heavenly soldiers even without providing food and fodder.

(End of this chapter)