The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 223 Daning Guard

Daningwei was the most important town outside the Great Wall during the Hongwu Dynasty. It was 450 li south of Yongping Prefecture, 480 li southwest of Xifengkou, and 3,450 li from Wei to Nanjing.

During the reign of Ning Wang Zhu Quan, the Daningwei City was also the largest city outside the Great Wall. There were nearly 100,000 soldiers and civilians in the city, and more than 600,000 shi of grain were stored all year round. Several northern expeditions during the Hongwu Dynasty were launched from Daningwei.

Such an important town was abandoned just like that!

Daningwei is the headquarters of the Beijing Xingdusi. Abandoning Daningwei means giving up the Beijing Xingdusi's territory within a radius of thousands of miles, and the capital will lose its protective shield to the north.

The abolition of the Da Ning Guard during the Yongle Dynasty caused countless people to sigh in regret.

Some people who dare not use their names have lamented that since Da Ning was abandoned, Tianshou Mountain has become a neighbor to foreign lands, and Xuanfu and Liaodong have been cut off from our left and right arms. The northern barbarians have become our gates, which is a fatal threat to the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that the disaster caused by the Northern Tartars originated from the abandonment of Da Ning Wei.

Therefore, if we want to completely eliminate the threat from the Northern Tartars, we must first recover the former territory of the Beiping Xingdusi and rebuild the Da Ning Guard.

Now that Wanli has recovered the former territory of the Beijing Xingdusi, the Daning Guard can also be rebuilt.

The vast grasslands of the Beijing Xingdusi and the Yanshan River Valley were already filled with the galloping figures of the Ming cavalry. On the road leading to Daningwei, the flow of people and countless livestock formed a long queue of hundreds of miles.

In early October, he finally brought more than 100,000 soldiers from the Beijing Camp and the Imperial Guard, escorting hundreds of thousands of prisoners and millions of cattle, sheep and horses to the Laoha River Valley where the Daning Guard was located.

The Laoha River Valley is a typical pocket-shaped valley. Its northern entrance is only about ten miles wide, while the valley to the south is a mountain basin with a radius of more than one hundred miles.

Daning Weicheng is located at the intersection of the mountain passages connecting Liaodong Town, Jizhou Town and Xuanfu Town. If Daning Weicheng is defended, the three major border towns can be connected here.

Moreover, with the presence of Daning Wei City, the north of Jizhou Town and the west of Liaodong Town can be protected, and the east of Xuanfu Town also has a barrier. The importance of its location can be imagined.

It’s a pity that such an important place has been abandoned for over a hundred years.

That afternoon, as the sun was setting, Emperor Wanli, escorted by tens of thousands of imperial guards and cavalry, came to the ruins of Daning City and could not help but sigh.

It seems that only the original Ning Wang Mansion of the Daningwei City can still be seen with some outline. The rest of the city is just a mess of broken walls and ruins, and its original appearance cannot be seen at all.

Ning Wang Zhu Quan was one of the nine kings of the frontier. The area of ​​his palace was extremely large. Looking at the outline of the outer wall, the width of each side was no less than two miles.

In other words, the Ning Prince's Mansion alone covers an area of ​​more than one thousand to two thousand acres, and the Daning City Wall is probably over ten miles in radius.

Wanli glanced around and was stunned.

There are actually three towers a few miles northeast of Prince Ning's Mansion. The tallest one is probably more than 20 zhang high, another one is about 10 zhang high, and only a section of the other one is left, but it is still several zhang high.

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why are there three towers there?"

Who would build such a tall tower outside the Great Wall?

Peng Zungu explained, "Your Majesty, the Daningwei City is actually a reconstruction of the Liaozhong Capital, and those three towers were built during the Liao Dynasty."

Is this still the Zhongjing City of the Liao Dynasty?

How big is the capital city?

He had never heard of this.

Wanli couldn't help but wonder, "How big is the capital of Liaozhong?"

Peng Zungu explained in detail: "The capital of Liaozhong is divided into the Imperial City, the Inner City, and the Outer City. The Imperial City is roughly two miles square, the Inner City is about four miles long and three miles wide, and the Outer City is about eight and a half miles long from east to west and seven miles wide from north to south."

So big!
Wanli asked again, "Is the Ning Palace the original Liaozhongjing Imperial City?"

Unexpectedly, Peng Zungu shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, Your Majesty, the Ning Palace was built to the south of the Daning City. The Ning Palace and the Daning City only share a section of the southern city wall. The rest is newly built."

Isn’t Prince Ning’s Mansion still inside the Daningwei City?

What does Prince Ning think?

Wanli thought about it carefully and roughly understood it.

Because food needs to be stored in Daningwei City, and troops need to be stationed during the Northern Expedition. If the Ning Wang Mansion is located in the middle of Daningwei City, it will be inconvenient to store food and troops.

This made things convenient for him.

Originally, he was thinking about where to live with his whole family when he came to fight the Northern Tartars under the pretext of escaping the summer heat. After all, it was not a good idea to live directly in the Acropolis. At least 60,000 troops had to be stationed here, and a lot of food and grass had to be stored. It was probably not enough space to build a palace in the Acropolis, and it was not convenient either.

Now, Prince Ning’s Mansion is not inside the Daningwei City, which is just right for building a temporary palace.

These wall foundations are all ready-made. If the bricks and stones are exposed outside, they may weather away over hundreds of years. If the foundation is buried in the soil, the stones will probably remain stones for thousands of years.

Wanli pondered the matter for a moment, then decisively said, "Danyang, tomorrow morning you will take the 20,000 craftsmen who are working on the city walls to clean up the foundations of the city walls. Don't worry about Prince Ning's Mansion for now. Start building the Daning City walls first this year."

Peng Zungu quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

Wanli then instructed, "General Hu, tomorrow morning you will take your men and 4,000 grain carts to Xinchengwei to collect materials and grain. The exact amount will depend on the construction progress of Daningwei City. In short, we must collect the materials needed every day and the rest will be used for grain."

Hu Shouren quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

Wanli then ordered, "Bangping, Shengwu, take your cavalry and keep a close watch on the captives. Order them to graze within the designated area and not leave without permission. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy." Qin Bangping and Liu Jing hurriedly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

After Wanli had arranged all this, he raised his hand and beckoned his brother-in-law Wang Dong to the side, saying kindly, "Xiaodong, are your sister and my little princess okay?"

Wang Dong nodded repeatedly and said, "They are fine. With Doctor Wan's family taking care of them, both mother and child are doing fine."

That's good.

Queen Wang actually gave birth in September. At that time, he was on his way to conquer the Beijing Xingdusi and had no way to go back.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Did Doctor Wan say when the mother and daughter can return to the palace?"

Wang Dong said without hesitation: "Doctor Wan Shen said that there will be no problem by the end of this month."

That’s perfect. I’ll accompany the mother and daughter back to the palace then.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Xiaodong, can you build a greenhouse?"

This one.

Wang Dong explained carefully: "Your Majesty, there is actually no fixed style for a greenhouse.

I have also seen the greenhouses built by the herdsmen of the Northern Lu. They use existing trees to build a crossbeam, and then fill one side with branches and dead leaves. They rely on the accumulated snow in winter to seal and keep warm. I guess that kind of greenhouse will be so cold that it will freeze in winter.

I have also seen the greenhouses built by our border troops. They are made of earth and wood, usually with wooden pillars and beams, and branches are nailed on them. The sides and the top are nailed like a railing, and then covered with soil mixed with dead grass.

That style is better, but it would probably be quite cold inside in winter."

Cattle, sheep and horses are the main source of wealth for the soldiers, so we cannot be careless.

Wanli nodded slightly after hearing this and said, "Well, that's fine. Let's go to the nearby valley to take a look tomorrow."

Wang Dong is indeed quite experienced. He also knows that the greenhouse is best built in an east-west valley to protect it from the north wind in winter.

Moreover, it is best to have a river near the greenhouse so that it is convenient to get water. It is not easy to boil ice and snow into water in the cold winter.

The next morning at about noon, he brought Wanli and his party to a valley with a small river.

There are many such valleys in the Laoha River Valley because the Laoha River has many small tributaries running east-west.

There are even greenhouses built by the herdsmen of Doyan Sanwei on both sides of the valley.

It was really crude. They just tied a log between the branches of two adjacent big trees as a beam, and then randomly cut some branches and placed them between the beam and the hillside. There were not even any dead leaves on it. It looked as shabby as it could be.

Moreover, these greenhouses are located at different distances from the river bank. Some are built on the flat ground beside the river bank, while others are built on the hillside, making a mess.

Wanli took a quick look and then asked, "Why are all their greenhouses so small? Wouldn't every family have to build several greenhouses? Couldn't they build bigger ones?"

Don't build this one too big.

Wang Dong explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the greenhouse cannot be built too large, because greenhouses do not have foundations, and load-bearing walls cannot be built. Without load-bearing walls, they cannot withstand heavy pressure.

The larger the greenhouse, the more snow will accumulate on top. Too much snow may even cause the greenhouse to collapse, so a typical greenhouse can only accommodate 20 to 30 cattle and horses, and 50 sheep at most.

This does make sense. A shed without load-bearing walls cannot withstand pressure.

The problem is, if the greenhouses cannot be built too large, wouldn’t they have to build 100,000 greenhouses!

Wanli looked at the trees on the hillside and then asked, "Sawing wood seems to be a waste of time, right?"

Wang Dong nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, sawing wood boards is not only a waste of time, but also a waste of energy."

Then don’t saw it.

Wanli pondered and said, "Then you can order the craftsmen to cut down some trees on the hillside. Use the trunks as pillars and beams, the larger branches as walls, and the smaller branches as the roof. After nailing them together, nail a layer of thick tent cloth on the outside, and cover the inside with clay.

Also, each greenhouse should have a coal stove installed, and the clay surface should be smeared with lime powder. Once it is built, the herders can live in it together in the winter. This way, both humans and animals will not feel cold, and it will be easier to take care of the cattle, sheep, and horses."

This is simple.

Wang Dong looked at the trees on the hillside, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Your Majesty, how many greenhouses like this should we build?"

Wanli said without hesitation: "Let's build 100,000 this year, is there any problem?"

One hundred thousand?

This number looks scary.

However, he also brought a lot of craftsmen with him.

He brought 20,000 carpenters with him. It would be no problem for each person to build five such simple greenhouses, or for two people to build ten together.

Wang Dong thought about it carefully again, then nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem."

(End of this chapter)