The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 113 What to do with the prisoners
As night falls, the sky becomes dotted with stars.

On both sides of the Yanghe River, the bonfires lit up like stars.

The mushroom-like tents almost covered the narrow basin in the mountains.

The Ming army soldiers were as densely packed as an ant colony, gathering in piles around the campfire, chatting and laughing, and even singing, looking very happy.

Xuanfu Town, as one of the nine important border towns, has not been so lively for a long time.

There are more than 100,000 people and horses gathered here now, and there are also captives, including the elderly, children, women and children, who number more than 100,000. There are also cattle, sheep and horses, which number is more than 200,000.

This half month or so was also the happiest time for the Ming army officers and soldiers in over a hundred years.

Since the Battle of Tumu, the northern barbarians have always invaded the border and plundered at will. The Ming army has never gone out of the border to rob even a small tribe of the northern barbarians.

This time, they robbed more than ten people from the small tribes and destroyed several people from the large tribes.

It feels so good to release more than a hundred years of humiliation, cowardice, resentment, anger and other negative emotions in one day.

The young Emperor Wanli was also in a large tent with a radius of more than ten feet on the north bank of the Yang River.

These tents were the king's tent, the Khan's tent, or the chief's tent that were captured by the Ming army soldiers. In short, they were the tents of the Tatar tribal leaders, and each one was terrifyingly large.

The grassland in the middle of the tent was also very large, several dozen feet in radius, which was several acres in terms of mu.

All around, the Jinyiwei and the imperial guards were lined up in circles, and in the middle were Wanli, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan and a group of generals leading the troops.

They are enjoying a rare whole lamb banquet.

The mutton is skewered into arm-long skewers with branches and roasted over the fire. Simply sprinkle some cumin and salt and the meat filling will overflow, which is extremely delicious.

There were two stoves next to the campfire, with two large pots, one for fish and mutton soup, and the other for mutton offal soup.

Fish and mutton soup is made by stewing river fish with lamb chops, adding a little salt and wild onions. The word "fresh" means fish on the left and lamb on the right, so you can imagine how delicious this soup is.

Mutton offal soup is made by stewing sheep intestines, sheep liver, sheep head, sheep legs, etc. with various spices and salt. The taste is also very fresh and fragrant.

Wanli held a large skewer of barbecued meat in one hand and a bowl of fresh soup in the other, eating with great relish, his mouth full of oil.

This is another celebration party, and we can drink.

He happily drank a bowl of fresh soup, ate a few large pieces of barbecue, raised his glass to toast, and ate a few more large pieces of barbecue. Then he burped and said contentedly, "This is really a great meal. I wish the soldiers could have this whole lamb banquet every day."

Well, this is probably a bit difficult.

Qi Jiguang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, these sheep don't grow big. A ram can only grow to a little over 100 to 200 kilograms at most, and the edible mutton and offal combined is less than 100 kilograms. We've slaughtered nearly 10,000 rams for this whole lamb banquet, and with over 100,000 sheep, we can't hold many whole lamb banquets."

This time, nearly ten thousand rams were killed!

Upon hearing this, Wanli was surprised and said, "Will eating so much that the flock we stole stop reproducing?"

Qi Jiguang shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, no, rams are originally raised for food. As long as there are enough ewes, the flock can continue to reproduce. As for the rams, we only need to keep a group of strong ones for breeding."

Upon hearing this, Wanli couldn't help but rejoice and said, "That's good. I also want to raise more sheep. Sheep are valuable from head to toe. Mutton and mutton offal can be used to feed the soldiers. The sheepskin can be used to make soft armor, and the wool can be used to weave cloth. Raising tens of millions of sheep would make us a fortune."

Why do you, as an emperor, always think about getting rich?
Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, do you still need to make money?"

That's not the case.

Wanli nodded repeatedly and said, "Of course I need to make money. The food and wages for the Beijing and border troops, military awards, weapons and equipment, food and supplies, etc., are easily worth millions of taels.

We fought this battle with great pleasure, but the cost was terrifying. The border troops and Beijing camp soldiers from Jizhou Town, Xuanfu Town, and Datong Town alone totaled more than 200,000, and their food and wages for a month were 400,000 to 500,000 taels.

There is also the cost of weapons and equipment, food and supplies, which is almost four or five hundred thousand taels, and there are also military merit rewards. Together with the military merit rewards for harassing the three guards of Doyan and the Kharchin tribe a few days ago, I have given out more than two million taels.

That's over three million taels a month! The imperial court can't afford it with taxes. It's good enough that they can afford the food and expenses of the troops in Liaodong, Yansui, and Guyuan. I have to find a way to earn the rest. "Oh my god, that's over three million taels a month!

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was stunned when she heard this.

Qi Jiguang cautiously reminded him, "Your Majesty, we have captured more than 100,000 old and young women and children."

Does this count too?

Wanli couldn't help but get a little nervous when he heard this and asked, "Do the elderly, children, women, and children also count as military merit? These shouldn't cost fifty taels each, right?"

These are considered military merits. Who can bear it?

Qi Jiguang shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, that is not what I meant. Capturing the elderly, children, women, and soldiers will not result in casualties, nor will it require much effort, and will not count towards military merit rewards.

What I mean is, how can we feed so many elderly, children, women and children? Even if more than 100,000 elderly, children, women and children only eat porridge every day, they will need 20,000 to 30,000 dan of grain a month.

Moreover, we have to send people to guard it. There are nearly 100,000 troops here now, so there is no problem. Once the Beijing Camp, Jinyiwei, Imperial Guards and Datong Town Cavalry withdraw, there will be more than 20,000 troops left here, which is not enough to guard so many prisoners.

There are also over 100,000 cattle and sheep and over 80,000 war horses. The grasslands in Xuanfu Town are simply not enough to support them. We must find a solution quickly."

Is this prisoner a burden?

Upon hearing this, Wanli pondered and said, "The food problem is easy to solve. I can ask General Deng to lead the navy warships to Xuzhou to get some food, and then send it to the Summer Palace in batches.

They can carry 100,000 stones in one trip, and you can just use the grain carts of the Shenjiying to transport it over.

As for forage, the war horses can be sent out in batches to graze outside the Great Wall, and the cattle can be distributed to the soldiers in the Beijing camp to pull plows and carts. We'll kill all the edible rams and smoke them into jerky. The remaining ewes and lambs should be able to be raised here, right?"

In this way, food and fodder will not be a big problem.

Qi Jiguang then asked, "Your Majesty, what shall we do with these captives, the old, the young, the women and the children?"

This is a big problem.

In fact, neither the Hongwu nor the Yongle dynasties handled the issue well.

At that time, the Northern Yuan soldiers and their families who surrendered or were captured were arranged to graze their livestock so that they could be self-sufficient.

The original Beijing Xingdusi was given to the three guards of Doyan as grazing land, and the huge territory of Nurgandusi was also used as grazing for the surrendered or even captured Northern Yuan soldiers and their families.

This is actually creating enemies for yourself.

After the nomadic people surrendered, they had food and even daily necessities, and the grazing area was large enough, so they reproduced at a terrifying rate.

During the heyday of the Three Guards of Doyan, there were as many as 80,000 soldiers under their command. Even if one out of every five soldiers was killed, that would still be a population of more than 400,000.

The Nurgandusi was a great benefit to Nurhaci, and it nurtured a force that would lead to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

This won't work. He can't follow the example of Emperor Hongwu and Emperor Yongle in dealing with prisoners.

So, who should we learn from?
History has proven that Nurhaci's method is the best!

Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then said decisively: "From now on, all the old and young women and children we capture will be rewarded to the soldiers. Whoever captures them will be rewarded."

what?
Is this called a reward?

Qi Jiguang was stunned when he heard this and said, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that this won't work. The soldiers can only feed their own families. There is no surplus food to feed the elderly, children, women and children of these captives."

If we follow the current method, it will naturally not work.

Wanli said solemnly: "The border garrison system must be changed. We must not only allow the soldiers to feed the elderly, children, women and children of the captives, but also let them live a good life with these captives. The more captives we have, the better our life will be."

(End of this chapter)