The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 439: Will Kyushu Island be given to us?
In early February, the ice and snow in the capital had not yet melted and the temperature was still very low.

However, the streets and alleys near the Imperial Examination Hall in the east of the city were extremely bustling.

This year is another imperial examination year, and the students taking the exam gathered early.

This is just for those who took the liberal arts examination.

Wanli also issued an inexplicable decree, ordering all the military candidates who would take part in the military examination this year to arrive in the capital before March.

At this moment, the whole capital city became more lively. The common people were all talking about the topics of the Imperial Examination and the Palace Examination, as if the entire Ming Dynasty was paying attention to the Imperial Examination and the Palace Examination.

In fact, Wanli didn't care about the civil service examinations and the palace examinations at all. He just took a look at the list of tribute scholars when it came out and selected the top scorer. The rest of the time he was discussing with Qi Jiguang how to destroy Japan.

In March, the palace examination ended, spring came, flowers bloomed, the ice and snow in the north gradually melted, and the entire Ming Dynasty seemed to be still unusually peaceful.

At this time, the navy's speedboats had actually quietly gathered in Liaodong, and the 5,000 military examination candidates who participated in the military examination this year were also taken to the vassal state of Korea.

The Ming Dynasty seemed to have no signs of going to war, but Japan was already in chaos.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was frantically conscripting young men. Since he couldn't conquer Musashi Province, he left 20,000 to 30,000 troops there to guard it and stopped the frantic attack.

Immediately afterwards, he gathered another 100,000 troops and entered Shinano Province to support the Sanada clan, apparently intending to invade Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory from Ueno Province.

Tokugawa Ieyasu ignored all the consequences. He attacked Anpo Province in the south, cooperated with Gamo Ujisato to attack Hitachi Province in the east, and joined forces with Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to beat Uesugi Kagekatsu in the north.

The entire eastern part of Honshu was filled with smoke of war, and it seemed that the fighting was even more fierce than when Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan.

At this time, in the southern part of Kyushu Island, Kobayakawa Takakage was also making great progress.

After the Shimazu clan's 20,000 to 30,000 troops were dispersed to the five countries in southern Kyushu, they became sparsely populated. Each country had only 4,000 to 5,000 troops, and the garrisons in most cities were less than 1,000.

At this moment, no one in Japan knew that the Mori clan had defected to the Ming Dynasty.

Kobayakawa Takakage was a famous general in Japan, and his subordinate Tachibana Muneshige was the most famous unparalleled Western warrior in the whole of Kyushu.

It would be impossible for the southern Kyushu countries to fight to the death with their combination. Most local forces were just watching, and some even sided with Kobayakawa Takakage.

The Warring States Period in Japan has lasted for so many years, and the flags on every city wall have been changed countless times. These guys will not fight to the death for the Shimazu clan.

The Shimazu clan itself could not gather many troops, and the local forces were sitting on the fence and watching, so they could not withstand the attack of Kobayakawa Takakage at all.

Although the five countries in Southern Kyushu were not as exaggerated as their vassal state North Korea, where their main cities were taken over in just ten or twenty days and fell within a month, they did not hold out for long.

Kobayakawa Takakage could basically conquer a country in two months.

In the first month of the year, he had already conquered Higo and Bungo. In March, before the palace examination in the Ming Dynasty was over, he had already conquered Hyuga.

In May, when the south wind had just started to blow and the Ming Navy's Fuchuan warships had just gathered in Liaodong, he had already captured Osumi Province.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty seemed to be still calm, as if it had no idea that the various princes in Japan were fighting each other.

In fact, Wanli and Qi Jiguang have been paying close attention to the war reports from Japan.

Early in the morning at about noon, Wanli came to the Grand Council Hall after finishing dealing with memorials.

Qi Jiguang had already been pondering the battle report delivered yesterday.

After the emperor and his subjects exchanged greetings, he solemnly said, "Your Majesty, Kobayakawa Takakage has already taken over Osumi Province. At this rate, he will probably be able to take over the entire Kyushu Island by July.

Should we send out our troops in July, or wait until September when the north wind blows and then send all the Fuzhou warships over to start the battle?"

Wanli stared at the map on the table and then asked, "Have all the navy's Fuchuan warships arrived in Liaodong?"

Qi Jiguang estimated, "It should have arrived by now, but Deng Zilong's report may take two or three days to reach the capital." Wanli thought for a moment and asked, "How is the food preparation going?"

Qi Jiguang explained in detail, "The 5,000 centipede ships that the navy mobilized in advance have been transporting grain since March. We have now stockpiled approximately 3 million dan of grain on each of Jeju Island, Tsushima Island, and Iki Island."

This amount of food is not enough, far from enough.

From last year to this year, Kyushu Island has been fighting, and most of the able-bodied men have been drafted into battle. It is estimated that not much grain has been produced.

They also have to consider providing food rations to the millions of civilians there. Although they don't have to guarantee that they have enough to eat, they still have to provide two meals of porridge a day.

Wanli made a silent estimate and then said decisively: "Let's wait until September when the north wind starts to blow before sending out the troops.

We have to transport more food over. After all, even if we use centipede ships to transport food from Liaodong to Japan, it will take at least half a month, and Liaodong will be frozen in November and December.

We must take advantage of this time to transfer as much food as possible. By September, the food reserves on Jeju Island, Tsushima Island and Iki Island must exceed one thousand stones.

Also, don't board the Fukushū warships yet. We can't expose this right at the beginning. If the Japanese pirates see thousands of our Fukushū warships sailing over, they will definitely guess that we are going to attack the Japanese mainland with all our strength.

We have to hide first. Let's take the Fukufu ship and load the food to the harbor of Iki Island and wait there until the Japanese pirates in Karatsu Domain are cleared out.

When the time comes, we can mobilize the navy's centipede ships to pull over Liang Yu's 200,000 soldiers and the 120,000 soldiers of Korea, our vassal state."

Food is indeed of utmost importance. They have mobilized more than one million troops this time. It will be troublesome if they run out of food.

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli pondered again and said, "There is actually another advantage to sending troops in September. We can have a legitimate reason to do so.

In July, we sent people to ask Toyotomi Hideyoshi for this year's compensation of silver and grain.

This guy is fighting a fierce battle with Tokugawa Ieyasu. He may not even have enough food for his troops, so he certainly cannot afford to pay compensation.

Moreover, Mori Terumoto had already fallen out with him, and he would not be able to get even a tael of silver produced from the Iwami Silver Mine this year.

I guess he has problems paying us food and wages, so it is naturally impossible for him to compensate us with money and food.

At that time, I will say that Toyotomi Hideyoshi is dishonest and has not paid the money and food agreed upon in the peace talks. I am still keeping two or three hundred thousand prisoners for him.

We have suffered a great loss, so Kyushu Island must be ceded to us as compensation.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi would never agree to cede Kyushu Island. If he doesn't agree, we will take it ourselves."

This is a good excuse. You don't pay us any compensation, and we are still keeping so many prisoners for you. It's a huge loss.

It would be justified and legitimate for us to take Kyushu Island as compensation.

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

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "What about the captives from Kyushu Island? Where are they now?"

Qi Jiguang replied without hesitation, "The captives from Kyushu Island have just helped the Dongfan people finish their spring plowing, so I ordered the Fuchuan giant ships and the accompanying centipede ships to take the captives from Kyushu Island and the over 400,000 soldiers of the garrison who were guarding them to Liaodong."

That's just right.

Wanli nodded slightly, then gave detailed instructions: "The captives from Jiuzhou Island will be dispersed to the Liaodong Garrison to work and be kept under guard. After Liangyu and his men take Jiuzhou, you will mobilize the navy's centipede ships to bring the 400,000 garrison soldiers guarding the captives to Jiuzhou Island.

After the garrison soldiers are pulled over, they will help Liang Yu and his men guard the cities and prisoners throughout Kyushu Island. Liang Yu's men and the twelve battalions of the vassal state of Korea must be ready to cross the sea and march to Honshu Island at any time."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)