The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 480: Warmongering in These Days

Miyun Palace, in the study.

Wanli, the second son Zhu Changxu, and the deputy commander of the navy Li Guozhu all stood beside the desk and stared at the map on the table.

There are not one but two maps on the table.

One of them is the latest map of North America brought back by Li Guozhu.

The other is a constantly evolving world map.

Now the Ming Dynasty’s business has grown quite large.

In the north, the Tatars' territory was basically taken over, and the vast area from the Western Regions to the north of the Hetao, then to the Liaohe River Basin and then to the Songnen Plain was all the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

To the east, the series of islands from Japan to America, including a 400-mile area along the west coast of North America, were all part of the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The current territory of the Ming Dynasty is even catching up with the maritime overlord Spain.

Moreover, they will then have to take over the entire Nurgan Regional Command, as well as Mobei and the Siberian Khanate, so that the northern border of the Ming Dynasty will be completely safe.

With such a large territory, more than three million troops seem to be not enough.

Now they have only stockpiled heavy troops in the Nurgandusi line in the north and in Japan in the east. There are only 200,000 to 300,000 border troops left in the west, and there are no troops in the south.

There is also America. At present, there are only 80,000 soldiers from the Shenjiying Camp guarding an area of ​​at least one million square kilometers along the North American coast, and the navy soldiers have to operate the ships back and forth.

North America must also be developed quickly, otherwise, why would we take over such a large piece of land?

By the way, some of this land was exchanged for sheep and horses, but Li Guozhu didn’t bring any sheep or horses with him last time.

How much of this vast territory was exchanged for sheep and horses?

Wanli carefully examined the map and then asked, "How many sheep and horses will you give them in exchange for the land on the west coast of North America?"

This is not much.

Li Guozhu pointed at the map and explained in detail, "Your Majesty, the west coast of North America is actually mostly mountainous. There aren't many people from the Indian territories here. We only need to give them a little over 100,000 sheep and over 10,000 war horses."

Such a small number of sheep and horses is nothing to them.

This time, the amount of sheep and horses they seized from the Tatars alone was more than ten times more.

This piece of land is almost like something I found.

If calculated by mu, millions of square kilometers would be more than 100 million mu or even 200 million mu. The farmland in the Ming Dynasty cost at least 20 taels of silver per mu.

In other words, if you really want to use money to buy such a large piece of land, it would cost at least 300 to 400 million taels of silver.

Now they just need to give them more than 100,000 sheep and more than 10,000 war horses. If the cost price of these sheep and horses is calculated, it is less than one million taels. Such a large piece of land is almost like it was picked up.

There are really a lot of places that can be picked up for free right now.

That’s how the Age of Exploration worked. If you discovered something, it’s yours!

This is the logic of the European colonial bandits. Even if there were indigenous tribes or indigenous countries on this land, as long as they could defeat them, not only would the land be theirs, but the local indigenous people would also become their slaves!

Of course, the Ming Dynasty had no need to do such a thing, nor would it do such a thing.

In fact, there are still many places where no one is around right now, so you can go and pick up things for free.

For example, that area of ​​Australia is now unowned land. As long as we send people there to pick it up, it will belong to the Ming Dynasty.

The problem is that if you send people there, they can't just walk or ride on horseback, they have to be pulled there by ship.

Including sheep and horses used to exchange for land with Indian territories, they also had to be transported over by ships.

There are also people from the Haixi Jurchen tribe and people from Mori Terumoto, and they all need to be transported by ships.

And they can't just pull these guys over and leave them alone.

They have to send someone to keep an eye on these guys.

How many people can be carried in one trip by the few ships under Assistant Li Guo's command?
Also, they couldn't owe the Indian territories the horses and sheep they promised them.

This concerns the Ming Dynasty's credibility in front of its Indian vassal states, so this trip must be made.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Guozhu, how many ships did you bring back this time?"

Li Guozhu said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, this time I will bring back two hundred 2,000-ton Fuchuan warships. I borrowed the fast boats from General Deng to transport these."

what?
Wanli couldn't help but ask, "You didn't bring back a centipede ship?"

It’s not that I don’t want to bring this.

Li Guozhu explained carefully: "Your Majesty, it is not safe for a small boat to sail out to sea.

The journey from Japan to North America was relatively easy, with a series of islands along the way, offering shelter from strong winds and waves. The journey from North America to the South Pacific was much more difficult, with virtually no islands along the tens of thousands of miles. Furthermore, the constant rowing of the sailors was very physically demanding, and this drain on their energy and food was also significant. The food we brought wasn't even enough for them to use up on the return trip.

I have no choice but to let them fish over there. There are quite a lot of fish over there. This way they can not only reduce food consumption, but also ensure that the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion are well fed. "

Transportation is indeed a big problem for such a long distance. Whether it is people, horses, food, sheep, etc., they all have to be pulled over by boat.

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "How many people can a 2,000-ton Fuchuan warship pull? How many horses and sheep can it pull?"

Li Guozhu pondered, "A 2,000-ton Fuchuan warship can carry about 500 people, including the necessary food and fresh water.

Sheep can pull more because they eat less grass and can huddle together to rest. A 2,000-ton Fuchuan warship should have no problem pulling a thousand sheep.

As for war horses, they consume too much fodder. A Fuchuan warship with a 2,000-ton load can only pull 200 war horses at most."

This means that to transport more than 100,000 sheep, more than 100 Fujian warships with a capacity of 2,000 tons would be needed, and to transport more than 10,000 war horses, dozens of more would be needed.

Your two hundred Fuchuan warships are already filled with sheep and horses, and there is not even enough food to replenish the navy and Shenjiying soldiers over there.

This definitely won't work.

In recent years, he has been scheming against Japan and Nurgandusi, and has not given much thought to the issue of maritime hegemony.

Now that Japan has been taken over, and the Nurgan Regional Command is almost there, there is no major threat from the west and south for the time being. It is time for him to consider the issue of maritime hegemony.

The main rival in the current maritime hegemony seems to be the maritime hegemon Spain.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Guozhu, have you ever inquired about Spain's strength in the Americas?"

Of course I have asked about this.

Li Guozhu nodded repeatedly and said, "I have asked the Portuguese about this.

Spain was actually having a hard time at that time, because overseas Britain and the Netherlands were competing with them for territory and even robbing their treasure ships, while inland France wanted to unite with other European countries to deal with them. They were in a desperate situation.

Now their domestic military strength is a little insufficient, and the overseas military strength is even less. It seems that in the entire Americas, only the Viceroyalty of New Spain is stronger, but it has only 10,000 to 20,000 troops, and other viceroyalties have only a few thousand troops.

As for their ships, they are mainly between the east coast of America and the European continent, with very few on the west coast of America."

Spain really took so many colonies for nothing.

If they had used the resources they had seized from the colonies to frantically develop their military power, they would have been invincible long ago.

Unfortunately, they didn't.

Most of the resources they robbed were used for extravagance and luxury, rather than for military expansion.

As a result, the country was on the verge of collapse. Not only was its position as the maritime hegemon no longer maintained, but problems were also brewing on the European mainland.

This is the lesson.

Wanli nodded slightly, and then taught carefully: "Xu'er, look at Spain's overseas colonies.

Their current colonies are even larger than the current territory of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, they don't care about the lives of the indigenous people in the colonies. They just madly plunder the resources of the colonies.

Such a large colony plundered resources crazily, and their resources could be said to be inexhaustible.

For example, in the Americas alone, they could steal 50 to 60 million taels of gold and silver every year.

For example, they didn't even know how much timber was available in their colonies, so they didn't have to buy timber for shipbuilding.

As for copper mines, iron mines, and coal mines, there is no need to even mention them. They don’t even have to mine them themselves. They just need to take the enslaved indigenous people in the colonies to mine them.

As for food, that goes without saying. With such a large territory, they could easily force the enslaved natives to cultivate at least hundreds of millions of acres. Their native population seems to be about the same as that of Japan, just over 10 million. They can't even eat all the food they grow.

If they use these resources to develop their military power, they can at least mobilize an army of millions, and can easily build tens of thousands of ocean-going ships. Their former territory, the Netherlands, now has tens of thousands of ocean-going ships.

In other words, as long as they use the looted resources to engage in aggressive warfare, they will be absolutely invincible.

Unfortunately, they didn't, and most of the resources they robbed were used for extravagance.

The result is the current situation. European countries such as Britain and France are coming to catch them and beat them up, and even their former territory, the Netherlands, is competing with them for the position of maritime hegemony.

So, you must remember, no matter how rich you are, don't indulge in extravagance. If you indulge in extravagance, you will lose everything."

He didn’t say anything about what happened next, because the Northern King Zhu Changxu could only become a vassal king and could not become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, what follows is the key point.

These days, we must use all resources to engage in militarism!
This is what the Netherlands is like. It’s a tiny place with a population of a few million, but if it engages in aggressive military expansion, it can become the overlord of the sea!

The Ming Dynasty cannot learn from Spain and indulge in extravagance and lust. The Ming Dynasty must be like the Netherlands and use all its resources to engage in militarism!
He must teach this to his successor, the emperor's legitimate son Zhu Changxun.

(End of this chapter)