The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 210: The First Northern Expedition in Nearly Two Hundred Years

Maoerzhuang was the name of a fortress during the Yongle period.

During the Battle of Tumu during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, Maoerzhuang was destroyed.

Its location is roughly in the southeast corner of the Ulanqab grassland, and it is the most convenient place for Datong Town and even the entire Nine Borders to access the outside of the Great Wall.

The mountain valley here is at least twenty or thirty miles wide, so no matter how many troops there are, they can pass through here to enter and exit the border.

During the Zhengtong reign of Emperor Yingzong, the Oirat Grand Tutor Yesen led his troops into the interior from here.

Originally, this place and the large grassland to the south were taken away by the Tatar Tumed tribe, but it was recaptured by Wanli's army long ago.

Ma Gui also led the soldiers of Datong Town to build the Great Wall along this line, blocking the entrance and exit of the valley.

As soon as Wanli defeated Dai Fan, he rushed here with the imperial guards, light cavalry and the Shenwu Camp.

The reduction of the Dai vassalage took more than half a month, and it was not yet complete.

They had only confiscated all the food, gold, silver and other valuables, but had not yet finished counting the shops, houses, fields and people.

However, Wanli could no longer wait.

He still understood the principle of sending food and supplies before the troops move.

The most important thing for an army going on an expedition is food and fodder, and the place to store food is even more important.

It's already July, and he has to come here quickly to build a place to store grain. One or two million dan of grain is not a small amount. They can't just leave it on the grassland and have the Shenshu Camp chariots surround and guard it.

Moreover, this was only their first expedition to the north, and no one knew how many times they would have to march north in the future. He had to build a permanent grain storage place here.

On the morning of July 29th, around 1 a.m., when the sky was just getting light, Emperor Wanli and Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan walked out of the huge tent and prepared to go check out the construction site of the Yunzhongwei City.

At this moment, there were already bursts of commands and thunderous horse hooves outside.

The Imperial Guards and the Shenwu Camp soldiers had also rushed out, mounted their horses, and lined up to prepare for departure.

Their camp of 90,000 cavalrymen was more than ten miles in radius, and it would take at least a quarter of an hour to ride a horse from south to north through the camp.

This is nothing. There is a circle of armored vehicles with a radius of more than 20 miles outside the camp.

The 24,000 armored chariots of the Shenshu Camp were neatly arranged in a huge square formation, just like a huge steel fortress. Inside the fortress, besides their tents, there were mountains of food, row after row like a mountain range.

Five or six miles north of the square formation is the new Maoerzhuang Fort and the Great Wall blocking the mountain valley.

Wanli, along with Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, Duke Peng Qi Jiguang, Ma Gui and others, rode for nearly half an hour before passing through the huge convoy of vehicles, entering the Xinmaoerzhuang Fort, and arriving at the north gate tower.

Although it is already midsummer and the sun is about to come out, it is still very cool on the city gate tower.

The wind blowing from the valley in the north is still cool, not hot at all, just a little dry, without the abundant moisture like in the Summer Resort.

The location here is actually hundreds of miles north of the Summer Resort. Further north is the truly bitter and cold land outside the Great Wall.

Wanli raised his arm-sized telescope and scanned the area carefully. Then he asked, "General Ma, to the north is the grazing ground of the Tuman Chahar tribe, right?"

Ma Gui nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, the Tumed tribe's grazing land is northwest of Xuandewei, and this is connected to the Chahar tribe's grazing land."

Do you think I really want to destroy the Tumed tribe?
well.

You think so, and the Northern Tartars must think so too.

Wanli raised his telescope and scanned north again, then asked, "Where is their nearest grazing tribe?"

Ma Gui pointed to the valley to the north and said, "Your Majesty, there is a Jining Lake about a hundred miles to the north. The nearest grazing tribe of the Chahar tribe is still north of Jining Lake."

Haizi actually refers to a lake. This is the custom of the northern barbarians. Large lakes are called Haizi.

Wanli asked again: "How big is Jining Lake?"

We haven't measured this.

Ma Gui estimated: "Jining Lake is wide from east to west and narrow from north to south. It is about 40 to 50 miles from east to west and about 20 to 30 miles from north to south."

This is a really large lake.

Wanli thought about it again, then asked: "Have you found out where the main force of the Tuman is?" This.

Ma Gui explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the main force of the Tuman seems to have been pulled to the Khorchin grasslands northwest of Liaodong.

Originally, Altan Khan had the intention of competing with Tumen Khan for the position of leader of the Tatars, so Tumen Khan's main force often came here to intimidate.

However, after the death of Altan Khan, the Tumed tribe was driven out of Hetao by us. They were no longer able to compete for the leadership of the Tatars. Sanniangzi and Chelik also seemed to have surrendered to Tumen Khan.

Therefore, Tumen Khan pulled his main forces to the Khorchin steppe. He seemed to be trying to gain control of the Nurgandusi, as the territory there is much larger than this one."

Yes, the territory of Nurgandusi was very large, larger than the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Emperor Ren and Emperor Xuan believed the lies of the civil servants, stopped fighting and supported the people, and gradually allowed the Nurgandusi to escape from the control of the Ming Dynasty.

It was still a big problem there. The Later Jin Dynasty rose to power in Nurgandusi.

However, that place is too far away. Anle Prefecture, the northernmost part of Liaodong Town, is more than 2,000 miles away from the capital, and Terin, the capital of Nurgandusi, is more than 10,000 miles away from the capital.

He is still out of reach at the moment, so he should first retake the former site of the Beijing Xingdusi.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "Yuan Jing, mobilize the troops and horses, pull the chariots and artillery carts north, pull them to the opposite mountain pass, form a rectangular formation, and block the mountain pass."

what?
What is this going to do?
Didn’t you say you wanted to recapture the former territory of the Beijing Xingdusi?
Now that you have heard that Tumen Khan's main force is not here, do you still want to attack the Chahar tribe?
Qi Jiguang was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then he bowed and said, "Your humble servant obeys your order."

Wanli then gave another order: "General Ma, you must move the newly recruited border troops to the rear of the chariot formation and build a Great Wall to block the opposite mountain pass. This valley between the mountains will serve as our grain storage area."

That’s what it meant.

I guess you don’t know how cold it is here in winter?
Upon hearing this, Ma Gui said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that it is too cold here in winter, especially this mountain pass, which is a very windy place.

The Great Wall we built on the south side is so windy in winter that it's unbearable to stand on it. The north side is impossible to defend in winter. Even if you hide in the beacon tower, you'll probably be frozen into an ice stick."

This one is simple.

Wanli said without hesitation, "I have ordered the Summer Resort to build more coal stoves. When the time comes, all beacon towers will be equipped with coal stoves. Then, the lookout holes will be sealed with glass windows. This will ensure that it is hot enough inside to wear only light clothing."

Is the coal stove so powerful?

Upon hearing this, Ma Gui suggested, "Your Majesty, how about I send all the 50,000 newly recruited infantrymen to garrison this newly built Yunzhongwei City?

As long as there are enough coal stoves, they should be able to survive the cold winter by taking turns staying in the barracks and the beacon tower."

This place is where grain is stored and cannot be lost. The other troops in Datong Town have their own defense areas and cannot be transferred here, so he can only use these newcomers.

Wanli nodded slightly and pondered, "Well, when the time comes, I'll have Yuan Gong and the others make a batch of sheepskin coats, sheepskin boots, and sheepskin hats for the soldiers of the Yunzhong Guard. That way, they won't be afraid of the cold wind when they go out."

This way, the soldiers won’t have to suffer from the cold in winter.

Ma Gui bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Wanli raised the telescope and scanned the area, then pointed to the endless mountain ranges on both sides and said, "General Ma, we need to develop Yunzhongwei City into a bridgehead for crossing the border, so the defense here must be well done.

This year you will have the northern city wall and the barracks and granary in the middle completed. Next year you will have the Great Wall and beacon towers built on the hilltops on both sides. You must ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Upon hearing this, Ma Gui quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

They had made their decision and the sun was rising.

At Wanli's command, 80,000 soldiers from the Shenshu Camp and 20,000 soldiers from the Shenwu Camp pulled chariots and artillery carts out of Xinmaoerzhuang Fort and quickly formed a chariot formation at the entrance of the valley more than 20 miles to the north.

That thing, the steel torrent consisting of 24,000 tanks and 3,000 artillery carts was truly terrifying.

The hilltops in the north were so frightened that smoke signals were emitted.

The Chahar scouts probably thought that the Ming army was going to attack their grazing areas.

The Ming army began its northern expedition again!

This marked the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's first northern expedition in nearly two hundred years.

(End of this chapter)