The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 342: The Strangeness of Korea
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the regent of Japan, sent a letter requesting permission to pass through the country, so that the vassal state of Korea could keep it secret from the Ming Dynasty.

Because Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not send the book to the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty sent a letter of inquiry, and its vassal state, Korea, dared not pretend not to see it.

This cannot be faked, Daming knows that they are not blind.

It wasn’t long before they responded with a letter.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, Wanli had just arrived at the imperial study and was about to review the memorials when the chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Li, came in holding a stack of memorials.

After the emperor and his subjects exchanged greetings, Shen Li bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the vassal state of Korea has replied."

When Wanli opened the reply letter from the vassal state of Korea, he couldn't help but frowned slightly.

These guys actually said that what the Ryukyu Crown Prince said was pure fabrication, and they even requested to send an envoy to refute the accusation!

It's fine if you say they're talking nonsense, but what do you mean by requesting that an envoy be sent to the Ming Dynasty to refute the accusation?
This reply is quite strange.

He frowned and thought for a while, and finally figured it out.

Now the vassal state of Korea is ruled by a traitor who is pro-Japanese pirates. These guys want to send people to see if the Ming Dynasty has made any preparations!
If they found that the Ming Dynasty was well prepared, it would probably make Toyotomi Hideyoshi more careful.

Historically, the Ming Dynasty did not make any preparations.

Therefore, in order to make Toyotomi Hideyoshi feel at ease to send troops to attack the vassal state of Korea, he had to pretend to be unprepared.

Wanli thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Quickly summon Yuan Jing to come and see the emperor."

Soon, Qi Jiguang walked in quickly.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli handed over the memorial from the vassal state of Korea.

Qi Jiguang bent down to take it and looked at it, and couldn't help but frowned slightly.

What does it mean to be a vassal state of Korea?
The Japanese pirates in Japan are gathering their troops to prepare for war, and these guys actually responded like this!
Are you talking nonsense without opening your eyes?

He frowned and pondered for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, the vassal state of Korea wouldn't really want to serve as a guide for the Japanese pirates to attack the Ming Dynasty, would it?"

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "This should only be the idea of ​​those traitors in the court who are in contact with the Japanese. They should not be so serious as to guide the Japanese pirates to attack the Ming Dynasty.

What I want you to see is actually the latter sentence. Their officials who are in contact with Japan want to send envoys to inquire about the situation in Ming Dynasty. They want to see whether we have made any preparations.

We have to make them think we are unprepared, so that Toyotomi Hideyoshi will feel at ease and boldly launch his troops."

Why are there traitors everywhere?

The Ming Dynasty had it, and its vassal state Korea also had it!

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded solemnly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. They must be here to inquire about our situation."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Zhonghua, what route do envoys from the vassal state of Korea usually take to come to the capital?"

Shen Li explained carefully: "Your Majesty, this depends on our arrangements.

If we arrange a ship to pick them up, they will cross the Liaohai Road from the sea south of Liaodong Town, and then go to Beijing via the Haihe River, Beiyun River and Tonghui River.

If we don't arrange a ship to pick them up, they will take a ferry to Zhenjiang Fort, and then travel overland from Zhenjiang Fort to Jinzhouwei, Gaizhouwei, Guangningwei, Ningyuanwei, and Shanhaiguan to Beijing."

If I send a boat to pick you up, it will show that I take this matter very seriously.

No, I can't send a boat to pick you up. I have to pretend that I don't care about this.

Wanli heard this, thought about it carefully, and then said decisively: "Then let them go by land.

Yuan Jing, you take the navy's express boat to Liaodong Town, and order the border troops of Zhenjiang Fort, Jinzhou Wei, Gaizhou Wei, Guangning Wei, Ningyuan Wei, and Shanhaiguan to move to the mountains north of Zhenjiang Fort, and take all the grain carts and other things there, leaving a thousand soldiers to guard each city.

You should manage it well over there. First, order your men to guard all the passes leading to the mountains north of Zhenjiang Fort. Then find a larger valley inside, build a city fortress, and prepare to store food and supplies.

Also, all naval warships along the coastline must stay away from the coastline to avoid being seen by their spies."

Qi Jiguang quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

It would take a long time to travel by land from the vassal state of Korea to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Wanli hadn't even waited for the envoys from his vassal state, Korea, when Yu Zigao and Li Yuansheng rushed back from Southeast Asia. In June, during the height of the heatwave in the capital, Wanli still didn't take his entire family to the Mountain Resort.

There was no way. The war between Ming Dynasty and Japan was approaching and he couldn't leave at all.

All he could do was order people to bring more ice to cool down.

That afternoon, around 5 p.m., the sun had already set. Wanli was having dinner with his concubines, princes, and princesses in Kunning Palace when Li Xuancheng suddenly poked his head in and said, "Your Majesty, Yu Zigao and Li Yuansheng are back."

The reason why Yu Zigao always brought Li Yuansheng into the palace at this time was not because he was afraid of the sun, but because he was afraid that someone would recognize Li Yuansheng.

After all, some people in the Zhejiang Party had dealt with Li Yuansheng. If it was broad daylight, Li Yuansheng might be recognized even if he was wearing a naval uniform.

After the sun sets, no one will be able to see clearly when you take a boat into the imperial city.

These two guys are here to give him money, and he is short of money now.

Upon hearing this, Wanli immediately stood up and said, "You guys eat first, I'll go take a look."

After saying this, he walked quickly towards the Qianqing Palace.

At this moment, Yu Zigao and Li Yuansheng were already waiting at the door of the imperial study.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli summoned them into the imperial study and asked solemnly, "How is it? How much gold and silver did you bring back from Southeast Asia this time?"

Li Yuansheng said carefully: "Your Majesty, the Spanish fleet carrying the next batch of gold and silver really didn't come, so I only brought back gold and silver worth more than 10 million taels.

However, the Spanish said that a fleet carrying gold and silver will definitely arrive in the second half of this year. They asked us to bring more goods, as they will purchase at least 20 million taels of goods next time."

That’s great. The Spanish alone have more than 20 million taels.

Wanli nodded excitedly, then asked, "What about Shen Weijing? Did you find anything wrong?"

Li Yuansheng said without hesitation, "They haven't discovered it yet because I asked the Spanish to write a certificate proving that their fleet transporting gold and silver will not arrive until the second half of the year. Shen Weijing has people under him who know Spanish, so they believed it immediately."

This guy is really smart.

The gold and silver that the Spaniards were talking about was not the gold and silver they used to purchase the batch of goods they sent over this time, but the gold and silver for the next batch of goods!
Wanli nodded approvingly and said, "Well, that's good. We'll just have to extort their last batch of goods when we go to Southeast Asia in the second half of the year. If that doesn't work, we can give them some of the gold and silver we collected from this trip to Japan. After all, Japan only buys three to four million taels of goods at a time."

Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand. If that doesn't work, I will ask the Japanese merchants to issue some kind of certificate to prove that they are preparing for war. Shen Weijing can understand Japanese himself, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

You guys really play this trick well.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, if we can extort the goods for the second half of the year to be sent to Southeast Asia, that will be enough. Next year, we will be able to prepare all the goods ourselves. It doesn't matter if we can't extort them."

Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

This time he spent more than 10 million taels. Because he did not kill all the cavalry of the Tumed and Kharchin tribes, he only spent more than 5 million taels of the 10 million taels in the first half of the year. In other words, he still had more than 15 million taels of money left in the second half of the year.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "Kemai, tell Yunqing to recruit 100,000 naval officers and soldiers in the second half of this year and train them well. We are preparing to go to war with Japan."

This time we are finally going to fight the Japanese pirates!
Yu Zigao nodded excitedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli pondered again, "This time, the Japanese will probably make a straight advance, all the way from the southernmost tip of Korea to the northernmost tip. Although this route is only a little over a thousand miles but less than two thousand miles, most of the place is mountainous. I estimate that they will be lucky if they can break through Korea in the first half of the year.

It will take time for us to dispatch reinforcements after receiving the news, and the tug of war with them will take at least two or three months. Therefore, the navy fleet can go to Southeast Asia again in the first half of next year and then rush back.

Kemai, when the time comes, you should take all the newly recruited naval officers and soldiers to the South China Sea and let them get familiar with ocean voyages."

Yu Zigao bowed repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli then gave detailed instructions: "Yuansheng, in the second half of this year, when you go to Nanyang, you should ask the Spanish and the Nanyang countries how much goods they need next year. In the first half of next year, you'd better take the navy ships and bring all the goods over.

As for whether they have enough money, don’t worry about it for now. The goods can be stored at the dock first. In short, you should take advantage of the fact that the navy ships can still follow you to Southeast Asia to transport more goods.

The navy warships will be deployed in the second half of next year, and by then they won't be able to help you transport goods to Southeast Asia."

Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, we actually have several shops in Nanyang and many warehouses. It will be no problem to transport the goods there for storage. I will just send more soldiers to guard there when the time comes."

Even better.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Okay, let's do the business this way first. After we defeat the Japanese pirates, we can discuss how to do the next business."

(End of this chapter)