The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 155: Fighting for the Battlefield

Just after the New Year of the 12th year of Wanli, the entire Ming Dynasty was in an uproar.

The awards and honors listed in the latest issue of the official gazette are truly unprecedented, and they make one jealous.

When the unprecedented reward was announced, many people almost went crazy.

The civil servant was almost mad with anger.

The young emperor actually bestowed so many titles at once, which meant that the military generals could step on them.

Those above the Earl are all super first-grade, Viscount is equivalent to the first-grade, and Baron is equivalent to the second-grade.

Now that there are so many officers with titles, they can no longer act condescendingly and bossily in front of others.

Moreover, the military generals also became rich and powerful. Not only did they have fiefs of tens of thousands of acres, but they also had at least hundreds of personal guards, and up to five thousand!

If they continue to bully those meritorious generals for no reason, being beaten would be the least of their punishment.

Now, there are even more civil servants who want to kill the little emperor.

Tunwei was almost crazy with joy.

Because Wanli specifically asked Li Tingji to print more than 300,000 copies, and distributed 100 copies to the 16 Dusi, 5 Xing Dusi, 2 Liaison, 493 Wei Suo, 2,593 Qianhu Suo, 315 Shouyu Qianhu Suo, and all the chieftains!

Moreover, the brown paper bag of the official report not only included the standards for rewards, but also his imperial edict, recruiting elite garrison troops from all over the country to supplement the Beijing camp and border troops in preparation for the expedition against the northern barbarians!

At this moment, all the guards were scrambling to go to the battlefield.

Even many chieftains submitted memorials, wanting to lead their troops to fight against the northern barbarians!

This unprecedented huge reward is really exciting.

However, an award is not just a word or a report, it has to be given in a real way.

All these have to be handed over to the general of the border town to implement.

Just after the New Year, Wanli sent an urgent decree over 800 miles, ordering the generals of the nine border towns to enter the capital in three batches, with an interval of five days between each batch.

The first batch is Liaodong Town, Jizhou Town and Xuanfu Town.

On the 21st day of the first lunar month, Li Chengliang, the general of Liaodong Town, Dong Yiyuan, the general of Jizhou Town, and Dong Yikui, the general of Xuanfu Town, gathered in the capital.

Around noon that day, Wanli specially called Qi Jiguang to accompany him and hosted a banquet for them in the imperial kitchen of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Dong Yiyuan and Dong Yikui were old acquaintances, but this was the first time he met Li Chengliang.

Li Chengliang was actually two years older than Qi Jiguang, and he seemed to be exactly sixty today.

However, this guy had a full beard, bright eyes, and looked very fierce. He didn't look like a sixty-year-old man at all.

This guy is indeed a rare and powerful general, but unfortunately he is a bit arrogant and extravagant.

Wanli invited the generals to sit down, and secretly looked at them for a while before raising his glass and saying, "I toast to you all for your hard work and great contributions."

Qi Jiguang, Dong Yiyuan and Dong Yikui all said they were unworthy of the award, but Li Chengliang seemed to accept it calmly.

This guy is really arrogant and needs to be taught a lesson.

Wanli calmly invited the generals to eat a few bites of food, then asked, "Where would you like to grant yourselves and your meritorious officers fiefdoms?"

They had quite a lot of fiefs. Li Chengliang and Dong Yikui were both marquises, and their fiefs alone were two hundred thousand acres. They also had quite a few viscounts and barons under them, so it would probably take more than one million acres of land in total.

Li Chengliang said without hesitation, "Your Majesty, I would like to establish my fiefdom near Ningyuan City. Is that possible?"

You want to swallow up all the land near Ningyuan, right?
Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Yes, will you provide the cattle, sheep, horses, captives and slaves you need as rewards for your meritorious officers and soldiers?"

I robbed five tribes, so there were naturally enough cattle, sheep, horses, captives and slaves to share.

Li Chengliang said with some greed, "Your Majesty, I have enough cattle, sheep, and captive slaves to share, but I don't have enough horses."

Do you want to recruit more cavalry?

Wanli said calmly, "How much difference is there in the horses?"

Li Chengliang did not answer but asked, "Your Majesty, do you have any war horses?"

You really want to recruit more cavalry.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Almost all the war horses have been ridden away by the northern barbarians. The captured ones are not enough for the Beijing camp. There are only old horses, mares and foals."

No?
Li Chengliang said helplessly, "Your Majesty, do you have 5,000 mares and ponies each?"

Okay, here you go.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "I do have this. I'll have someone send it to you after the spring."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengliang bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty." Okay, I'll give you a lesson later.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Yiyuan, Yikui, what about you?"

Dong Yiyuan pondered, "Your Majesty, I would like to concentrate my fiefdom near Jizhou City. Is that possible?"

He was just an earl, and not many of his subordinates were given titles.

Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "No problem. Are there enough cattle, sheep, horses, captives and slaves for you and your meritorious officers to reward you?"

Dong Yiyuan nodded repeatedly and said, "Enough, enough."

You are not greedy or possessive.

Wanli nodded slightly, then looked at Dong Yikui.

Dong Yikui said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, I have enough cattle, sheep, horses, captives and slaves to reward my meritorious officers and soldiers. The problem is that Xuanfu Town does not have that much land.

The land in Xuanfu Town is barely enough for the border troops to garrison and cultivate, and there's no extra land to be used as a fiefdom."

Xuanfu Town is really too small.

Wanli pondered and said, "Then you should first escort the cattle, sheep, horses and captured slaves to the Qiantao Plain to raise them. There is plenty of land there and there are people to help you watch over it.

As for the fiefdom, we can only owe it for now. The soldiers of Xuanfu Town must not be granted fiefdoms in Hetao.

You guys wait a bit, this year we will expand the Beijing camp and the border troops, train them well, and at the same time raid the northern barbarians. Next year we will send a large army out of the border to the north and expand our territory."

Dong Yikui quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Li Chengliang said with a bit of pride, "Your Majesty, how about I mobilize all the border troops stationed in Liaodong and attack the Chahar tribe directly to destroy Tumen Khan? What do you think?"

Are you trying to steal the credit?
Wanli remained silent and said, "How many troops can you muster from the Liaodong border garrison?"

Li Chengliang pondered and said, "Eighty thousand troops shouldn't be a problem."

You only have so few men, even if you can defeat Tumen Khan, his soldiers will suffer heavy casualties.

This guy didn't care about the lives of his soldiers just to grab the credit.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "No, Tumen Khan has 60,000 cavalry alone, and if you include infantry, that's probably over 160,000. He can also call on the three Doyan guards and even the Kharchin tribe to send troops to support you. You only have so few men, and if you rush in rashly, you might be surrounded and annihilated by them."

Li Chengliang was rather discouraged when he heard this and said, "Your Majesty, how about I first gather 80,000 men and train them for a year, and then next year I will go with the two Generals Dong to besiege Tumen Khan?"

You think beautifully.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "No, the court can't afford so much food and wages. Jizhou Town and Xuanfu Town are both training in rotation. Last year, Jizhou Town only provided food and wages for 10,000 troops, and Xuanfu Town only provided food and wages for 15,000 troops.

This year, I can find a way to increase your salary, but not too much. Let's make it fair. Each of your three border towns will receive 25,000 soldiers and I will replenish your 50,000 border troops for garrison. You can train them in two batches."

Is this fair?

I have 20,000 cavalrymen under my command!
Jizhou Town doesn't have any cavalry yet. If they train 50,000 troops in two batches, I can train 30,000 troops in two batches!
When Li Chengliang heard this, a hint of displeasure appeared on his face.

However, he did not dare to confront Wanli in person.

Seeing this, Wanli gave detailed instructions: "First of all, you should replenish your 50,000 troops in the first half of this year, and then train them well for three months in the second half of the year.

Around October, when your border troops have harvested their crops, you will lead your cavalry to harass the three guards of Doyan. Next year, our goal will be to recapture the former territory of the Beijing Xingdusi."

Great, now there are merits to be grabbed, as well as cattle, sheep, horses, the old and the young, women and children!

You two brothers have less than 20,000 cavalrymen combined. Let's see how you can compete with me.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengliang's face immediately became full of joy and he said, "I will obey your order."

This guy!
To be honest, Li Chengliang is indeed a big problem.

If we allow this guy to be so arrogant, most of the border troops in Liaodong Town will become his private soldiers.

He allowed military generals who were granted titles and ranks to have private soldiers. This was actually for the purpose of conquering the northern barbarians and expanding the territory in the future. However, each military general could only have a few thousand private soldiers at most, and tens of thousands was definitely not enough.

Maybe, in a few years it's time to let this guy retire.

However, not yet.

This guy's military achievements are truly outstanding. It can be said that except for Qi Jiguang, his military achievements are among the best.

If we strike the most meritorious generals now, it will dampen the enthusiasm of all the garrison troops.

He had to wait until the border troops and the Beijing camp soldiers were all recruited before he could deal with this guy.

(End of this chapter)