The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 388: A slap in the face to Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Qi Jiguang and Li Sun-sin returned to Beijing.

They took advantage of the nightfall and quietly came to the Grand Council Hall in the palace where maps were specially displayed.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli asked, "Yuan Jing, have you arranged for anyone to secretly monitor the pirates' naval fleet?"

Of course there is.

Qi Jiguang pointed to the map and explained in detail: "Your Majesty, in the southwest waters of Jeolla Province, I have ordered people to set up camouflaged tents on all uninhabited islands close to the shipping lanes, and take turns to use telescopes to continuously observe the situation on the shipping lanes.

We have now clearly discovered the approximate time and number of warships of the Japanese pirate fleets that transport food and supplies between Chungcheong Province, Gyeonggi Province, and Pyeongan Province and pass through the southwestern waters of Jeolla Province every month.

I am also planning to send the navy fleet of our vassal state, Korea, to conduct an investigation near Busan Port. Your Majesty, what do you think?
Anyway, the Korean navy, a vassal state, has less than a hundred warships, so even if the Japanese pirates discovered them, they probably wouldn't be scared."

This is not urgent.

Wanli slowly shook his head and said, "Your idea is fine, but you can't go now.

Anyway, the vassal state of Shuntian Prefecture is only about a hundred or two hundred miles away from Busan, and it only takes one day to go back and forth. It will still be in time for us to go there when we are ready to launch a counterattack.

The key now is to lure Toyotomi Hideyoshi to send reinforcements. Have you noticed a significant increase in the number of fleets transporting food and supplies to Chungcheong Province after all this investigation?

Qi Jiguang slowly shook his head and said, "No, there are about 200 ships every month, and it has been like this for the past few months."

No?

Upon hearing this, Wanli frowned slightly and said, "If not, it means Toyotomi Hideyoshi is still hesitating. This guy is probably trying to find a way to withdraw his troops.

If this guy wants to continue fighting, then it won't be two hundred ships. The Japanese warships are only about eight hundred stones when fully loaded. If they want to run fast, they can't be fully loaded.

In other words, two hundred warships can only transport about 100,000 stones of food or supplies, and the four Japanese pirate legions in Gongju consume about 100,000 stones of food per month.

This proves that they were only transporting food and fodder, and not any baggage at all."

Toyotomi Hideyoshi still wants to withdraw his troops?
Qi Jiguang was puzzled and said, "Your Majesty, what else can he think of? The battle has come to this point, he absolutely cannot lose. If he loses, he will be finished. Tokugawa Ieyasu will definitely take the opportunity to replace him."

Is there nothing he can do?
Wanli slowly shook his head and said, "Actually, he still has a way. If I were him, I would send people to secretly investigate Tokugawa Ieyasu, or even secretly frame him.

In short, no matter what, as long as he could find out that Tokugawa Ieyasu had rebellious intentions, he could put all the negative influences on Tokugawa Ieyasu, saying that all this was spread by Tokugawa Ieyasu and that Tokugawa Ieyasu wanted to take the opportunity to replace him.

In this way, his withdrawal of troops would be justified. There was a fire in his backyard and people were even going to raid his house. Who would dare to say anything if he withdrew his troops?
If I were him, after withdrawing my troops, I would take the opportunity to kill a few daimyos who are pro-Tokugawa Ieyasu to establish my authority, and then force Tokugawa Ieyasu to agree to send troops to attack the vassal state of Korea.

If Tokugawa Ieyasu still refuses to send troops, it will prove that this guy is plotting to replace him, and the situation in Japan will be reversed in his favor.

This move is too clever!

Fortunately, you are not Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

When Qi Jiguang heard this, he was stunned.

He was stunned for a long time before he said carefully: "Your Majesty, what should we do?
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was able to rise from poverty, which proves that this guy still has some brains. If he racked his brains, he would have come up with this trick in nine out of ten cases.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Yes, he will figure it out sooner or later. Therefore, we must launch a counterattack and give Toyotomi Hideyoshi a slap in the face. Stun him and leave him no time to think. He will have to quickly send reinforcements."

Launch a counterattack?

Lee Sun-sin endured it for a long time, but finally couldn't help but excitedly said, "Your Majesty, do you mean we launch a counterattack to recapture Gongju and even the royal capital, and give Toyotomi Hideyoshi a good slap in the face?"

what are you thinking?

This cannot be blamed on Lee Sun-sin. There was nothing wrong in his desire to liberate his homeland.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "I have told you before that you cannot take back your royal capital now.

If you take back the royal capital, it will be a great help to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Believe it or not, if you fight all the way north and capture Gwangju, Toyotomi Hideyoshi will definitely order the troops to surrender and let you take back the royal capital.

"If this happens, your king and his courtiers will surely return. Once they do, your men will likely be utterly routed. If the Westerners can't kill you, how can they not kill the others?"

Alas, these traitors.

Li Sun-sin sighed inwardly, then bowed and said, "I am sorry for speaking too much. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

Wanli waved his hand slightly, then pointed at the map and said, "This time you must still attack Gyeongsang Province, towards Busan. Attack them and they will rescue them. You will raid and recapture Geochang, then pretend to mobilize troops, food, and supplies to prepare for an attack on Miryang. This slap in the face will be enough for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to bear."

Li Shunchen carefully examined the map and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that things are different now. There are more than 100,000 Japanese pirates in Gyeongsang Province. If we fail to capture Geochang in one fell swoop, we will be in trouble.

Moreover, even if we captured Geochang, we would still face the siege of more than 100,000 Japanese pirates. We might not even be able to defend Geochang City, so how could we attack Miryang?
This is also one of the reasons why I think it is better to attack Gwangju, because the Japanese pirates in Chungcheong Province are basically concentrated in Gongju. As long as we annihilate the Japanese pirates in Gongju, it should be no problem to defend Gongju City. "

You are deducing this based on your strength.

I deduced this based on the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "If I let you fight, you will naturally be able to capture Juchang in one fell swoop.

This time you organized the two thousand military candidates in the east and their twenty thousand men to launch a surprise attack. I prepared twenty thousand iron shields and a large number of sky bombs and kerosene canisters for them.

Juchang City is just a small city with only a few thousand soldiers stationed in it. It would be enough for the two thousand martial arts candidates to shoot a few arrows each. They don't even need to prepare siege equipment, they can just use human ladders to break through the city wall.

As for defending the city, with iron shields, sky bombs and kerosene cans, it was useless even if the Japanese pirates had a siege of more than 100,000 troops. Their iron cannons had no power beyond a hundred steps, and sky bombs plus kerosene cans were the nemesis of siege equipment.

This has already been proven in Yizhou City. The Japanese pirates could not have stormed the city walls with their wooden siege equipment. "

Oh, there are so many good things.

Upon hearing this, Li Sun-sin nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand, Your Majesty. What about us? Do we need to do anything?"

This is definitely necessary.

Wanli then gave detailed instructions: “After they capture Juchang by surprise, you must quickly organize two battalions to dig a trench between Juchang and the valley to the west. Dig as hard as you can, and make it at least twenty miles wide.

You must also guard this area of ​​the trench so that they won't be surrounded by the Japanese pirates when they retreat."

The west side of Juchang City is very close to the valley, it seems less than two miles away, and even if the trenches there are dug, it is only a few miles wide!
Li Shunchen thought for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, there is not much flat land to the west of Geochang City, and there are mountains over there.

If we were to dig a trench twenty miles in radius, we would be able to cover all the valleys over there. So, should we dig some trenches on the hillside over there as well?"

Of course I dug it.

Wanli said without hesitation: "Dig, dig hard, you must ensure that the two thousand military candidates and twenty thousand soldiers guarding Juchang City can retreat safely back to the mountains."

Upon hearing this, Li Sunchen bowed repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli nodded slightly, took out a map of Japan and placed it on top, then pointed at the map and explained in detail: "Yuan Jing, you see, Japan is generally slanted, spanning a large area from north to south.

Therefore, the time of their spring plowing was very different. Yuan Sheng said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had an excuse for not sending reinforcements, which was that he did not want to affect the spring plowing.

At this time, only Kyushu and Shikoku Islands can carry out spring plowing and sowing. It is estimated that the western part of Honshu Island will have to wait until April, and the eastern part of Honshu Island will have to wait until May.

This time we gave Toyotomi Hideyoshi a slap in the face, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi could only draw young and strong men from Kyushu and Shikoku. He already had a lot of troops recruited from these two places, and if he drew more young and strong men, he probably would have no ability to resist.

I want to take it step by step and gradually erode Japan. In the first step, it will be enough if we can take Kyushu Island. It doesn't matter whether we can take Shikoku Island or not.

Therefore, this time, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi has mobilized the young and strong men from Kyushu and Shikoku, we can start. You must prepare well when you return."

Are you going to take action so soon?

There is hope for national restoration!

Upon hearing this, Li Shunchen's face was filled with excitement.

Qi Jiguang stared at the map with a serious face and said, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that as the saying goes, the first push will weaken the second and the third will be exhausted. Why should we slowly nibble away at it?
Also, after the young and strong men in Kyushu and Shikoku have been withdrawn, they won't be of much significance to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Their core is still in Honshu. Shouldn't we seize the opportunity to attack them?"

This will take time to explain.

Wanli thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "General Li, please go to the Wanshou Palace and rest first. I still need to talk to Yuan Jing."

Does this mean it’s none of my business or I can’t listen anymore?

Upon hearing this, Li Shunchen hurriedly bowed and took his leave.

Wanli explained his strategy of cannibalization to Qi Jiguang in detail.

(End of this chapter)