The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 437: The Martial Arts Examination is held in Japan
Qi Jiguang was very busy at this time, even busier than when he was commanding the war in his vassal state, Korea.

Not only was he responsible for the training and selection of millions of new garrison soldiers, but he was also responsible for arranging work for two or three hundred thousand captured Japanese pirates.

At this moment, the captured Japanese pirates cannot be left alone to work, because the fields in the Liaohe River Basin and Dongfan were newly opened this year, and the oxen have not yet been fully equipped. The captured Japanese pirates are equivalent to their oxen.

He also had to dispatch naval speedboats to carry these captured Japanese pirates back and forth.

This year he kept running back and forth between the capital, Nanjing, Liaodong and Dongfan, and was so busy that he almost had no time to rest.

Fortunately, the grain in Dongfan had been harvested as early as October, and the grain in Liaodong had been harvested in November. Now he had almost finished his work and was just in time to return to Beijing for an audience with the emperor.

In early December, the capital was covered with heavy snow and the Beiyun River was frozen. Qi Jiguang finally returned to the capital covered in snow.

He arrived at the palace before noon that day.

Upon hearing the news, Wanli hurried to the Qianqing Palace and invited him into the imperial study. He sat him down on both sides of the tea table and ordered someone to serve fragrant tea. Then he said kindly, "Yuan Jing, you have worked hard. Come and try this new tribute tea from Bashu."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang quickly picked up a small teacup, blew on it a few times, and then drank it in one gulp.

Wanli also drank a cup, and then asked: "How is the grain production in Liaodong and Dongfan this year?"

The output is beyond imagination.

Qi Jiguang said with a delighted look, "Your Majesty, the black soil in Liaodong is truly fertile. This year is the first year of cultivation, and the yield per mu has reached over three dan. Although the output of over 50 million mu of land has not yet been calculated, I estimate that it will be at least 160 million dan.

The yield in Dongfan is a little lower, but the yield per mu is still about two and a half dan. The grain production of more than 10 million mu of land is almost 30 million dan.

This year's output has filled their granaries to the brim, and they can't even store any more. They all hope that the court will come to buy it. It doesn't matter if the price is low, one tael of silver for four or even five dan."

When Wanli heard this, he couldn't help but show a hint of joy.

The grain output of these two places is almost 200 million shi!

If all the old and young in the family are counted, the average person can't eat more than ten shi of grain a year. In other words, even if the total population of the garrison troops and farmers in the two places is tens of millions, one hundred million shi of grain a year would be enough.

The total number of people in the more than one million garrison households in Liaodong and the two to three hundred thousand farmers in Dongfan is estimated to be only five to six million. By this calculation, they can produce more than 100 million shi of grain every year.

Now we don't have to worry about the Little Ice Age disaster. Excluding the border soldiers and their families, there should be less than 10 million ordinary civilians in the northwest. It will be no problem to give each person 10 stone of grain.

Of course, the grain for the garrisons and farmers was not given to the court for free. They had to buy it from others so that they could have enough food and clothing.

Wanli nodded in satisfaction, then pondered, "For now, we can only try to purchase military rations from these two places. If we can't collect the rations, we can let them use them to raise poultry and livestock, so as to improve their food and increase their income.

Let’s deal with the food issue first. Military households and farmers are afraid of food shortages. More food is a good thing. They will feel more at ease if they store more. Moreover, as long as the food is dried and stored for three to five years, it will not go bad.

Now we should consider expanding the army. How is the training of the new recruits in the Garrison going? How many of them can be incorporated into the Navy and the Beijing Camp?"

This is not so ideal.

Qi Jiguang explained in detail: "Your Majesty, this time we are not being selected, but anyone who wants to come can come, so not many of these more than one million new garrison soldiers can be incorporated into the navy and the Beijing camp.

"I estimate that if we can pick out 600,000, it will be good. The rest will probably just have to be used to farm."

Is that so?
Wanli thought about it carefully, and then said decisively: "Let's keep these. Although they can't fight in the battlefield, they can still guard the city, transport food and grass, or take care of the Japanese pirates.

Anyway, we are not short of money or food now, so we can recruit as many soldiers as we can. The 400,000 to 500,000 soldiers can be organized into garrison battalions, just like our vassal state Korea, with twelve battalions of 40,000 soldiers each, and they can be equipped with cold weapons and food carts.

Now they can be transferred to guard the Japanese pirate prisoners. Let them train well first. There will definitely be more Japanese pirate prisoners who need them to guard in the future.

We will purchase grain from Liaodong and Dongfan at the rate of four dan for one tael of silver, and we will provide four million men and horses, giving each person one dan of grain per month, which amounts to ninety-six million dan."

Four million troops?
Qi Jiguang calculated carefully and then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, we don't seem to have four million troops. Even if we count the four or five hundred thousand troops, it would only be around three million two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand."

Wanli smiled slightly and said, "It's okay to have more food. In fact, we don't have much extra money, because in the past, military rations were purchased at an average price of one tael of silver to three stone. For three million soldiers and horses, we have to pay 24 million taels of silver for military rations.

If we buy them at the rate of four stone for one tael of silver, the military rations for four million men would only require twenty-four million taels. It's not a huge expense, so we can just consider it as a stockpile. After all, we'll need to feed the prisoners we capture."

Oh, it turns out I didn’t spend an extra ounce of silver.

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

The food has been prepared, and now we are ready to start working.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "Yuan Jing, I summoned you back to the capital this time to discuss the issue of attacking the Japanese mainland. Now that the Japanese princes have begun fighting, we must also begin preparations."

The Japanese princes finally started fighting!

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang couldn't help but excitedly asked, "Your Majesty, when are we going to attack Japan? How many troops are you planning to mobilize this time?"

This is not urgent.

Wanli said calmly: "The Japanese pirates have just started the war, we don't need to rush, let them consume it on their own first.

We don't need to send too many troops for this first battle. Just let Liang Yu lead 200,000 Sichuan troops and 120,000 Korean troops."

what?
The Ming Dynasty now has more than three million troops, and you send out 200,000!
Do we need help from the vassal state of Korea? Qi Jiguang said with some confusion: "Your Majesty, I dare to say that the Japanese pirates have been preparing for a long time. I don't know how many defensive facilities they have built. Moreover, they have mobilized all the able-bodied men, and the number of their men is estimated to be over a million.

If we send such a small number of troops to attack, it will be difficult to capture Kyushu Island. Even if we capture it, we may not be able to hold it. If we invade the Japanese mainland, the Japanese pirates will definitely launch a crazy counterattack."

It seems that the secret of Mori Terumoto was kept very well. If I hadn't told you, you, the commander-in-chief of the army, wouldn't have known about it.

Wanli explained: "Yuan Jing, have you forgotten that we still have the traitor Mori Terumoto?

I have already instructed him to take advantage of the chaos in Japan to send troops to capture Southern Kyushu. Now Kobayakawa Takakage has already led his troops to attack Southern Kyushu.

They are considered a local force in Japan and are used to fighting. It is common for them to surrender when they cannot win. The five countries in southern Kyushu will definitely not fight to the death.

Moreover, most of the Shimazu clan's troops and most of the able-bodied men were captured by us, and I deliberately did not release them. Now the five countries in southern Kyushu cannot even gather 30,000 troops, so it should not be difficult for Kobayakawa Takakage to conquer them.

If we charge forward, Kobayakawa Takakage will pretend to be defeated and flee back to Honshu Island with his army. Then we can capture Kyushu Island without having to sacrifice a single soldier."

Oh, it turns out that Mori Terumoto is so cooperative.

Is that okay?

Qi Jiguang nodded slowly, thought about it carefully, and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I dare to ask, what should we do if the Japanese pirates launch a fierce counterattack?
"Mōri Terumoto seems to have only over 100,000 troops, and most of them are improvised conscripts. Even if we add our troops and those of our vassal state, Korea, there are only over 400,000 in total. If the Japanese pirates launch a frenzied counterattack, coupled with the cooperation of local civilians, we might still be unable to hold our ground."

I didn't say that I would send a total of 200,000 troops to attack the Japanese mainland.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "The reason why we only sent Liangyu with his 200,000 men and 120,000 men from Korea was to paralyze the Japanese pirates and make them think that we couldn't spare too many men and that we didn't intend to attack the Japanese mainland with all our strength.

Although Mori Terumoto secretly defected to us, he could only tell this to his trusted generals. He certainly would not tell it to ordinary soldiers or even captured young men.

By then, the ordinary infantrymen and captured men who have fled to Honshu Island will surely spread the news that we have only sent more than 300,000 troops, and that will be enough.

We are not really sending only 200,000 troops. Once Liangyu takes over Kitakyushu, you should ask her to clear out all the Japanese pirates and civilians around Nagoya and even the entire Karatsu domain, and blockade the nearby waters.

Then we continued to send troops over. We would send as many troops as you thought was needed. Anyway, the Japanese pirates could not find out what the situation was around Nagoya, so they would not know no matter how many troops we sent over.

In this way, if the Japanese pirates launch a frenzied counterattack, they will be sent as food. The more they come, the better."

It turns out to be a paralysis tactic. You really have a lot of unexpected tricks.

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "This plan is brilliant. It seems I have been worrying too much. Your Majesty, what will happen after we take over Northern Kyushu?"

It’s hard to say.

Wanli said slowly: "It depends on how exhausted the various Japanese princes are. If they are almost exhausted, we will let Maori Terumoto lead the army to open the way and kill all the way to take over the entire Honshu Island."

This guy Mori Terumoto really played a big role.

This guy is no longer comparable to an army of 100,000, but an army of one million!

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I understand."

Just understand.

Wanli asked again: "Do you think there are any other problems?"

What could be wrong with this?

Qi Jiguang thought about it carefully, and suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, I am so busy, Your Majesty, our Renchen Military Examination and Palace Examination have not yet been held. It has been delayed for more than two years, and next year will be the year of the examination again."

I indeed forgot this. What should I do now that it is freezing and snowy?
Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Are the 5,000 military candidates from the Renchen year still in the vassal state of Korea?"

Qi Jiguang sighed slightly and said, "Yes, Li Sun-sin actually wanted them to stay there to train the twelve battalions of soldiers from the vassal states. Now it will be very troublesome for them to come back."

Then don't come back.

Wanli said decisively, "Then let's hold the two military examinations, the joint examination and the palace examination, together. The military candidates of the Imjin examination should not return. In March of next year, I will order the military candidates of the Yimi examination to gather in the capital. After they gather, they will be taken to the vassal state of Korea. Similarly, Yi Sun-sin will assign ten subordinates to each of them.

Next year we will be attacking the Japanese mainland, and we will need 120,000 troops from our vassal state of Korea to cooperate. We will then hold the military examination in Japan."

The military examination will be held in Japan!

That's a great idea.

Qi Jiguang repeatedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Now there is no problem.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said with concern: "Yuan Jing, you haven't been home for almost a year. Since you have nothing to do during this period, I will give you a New Year's holiday in advance. Go back and reunite with your family and have a good New Year."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang was deeply moved and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

(End of this chapter)