The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 488: Thousands of achievements
From the Grand Canal to the Liaohe River, an unprecedented migration is in full swing.

In Nurgandusi, a large canal connecting the Liaohe River Basin and the Songhua River was also prepared for excavation.

After a detailed inspection along the canal, Zeng Tongheng, the Minister of Works, chose the starting point of the canal not at the corner of the Daliao River northwest of Kaiyuan, but at the location of Qingyun Post Station west of Kaiyuan and north of Tieling.

Because this was the location of the last post station leading to Nurgandusi, the highway from Liaodong Town was built here, and land transportation is relatively convenient.

Moreover, this place is where the Liaohe River and Qinghe River converge. The water from Qinghe River can be used as the water source for the first section of the canal. In addition, by digging north from here, several tributaries of the Liaohe River can be connected to the east.

The canal was not dug all the way north. After connecting to the Dongliao River, the canal turned northeast to connect to a large lake, and then dug from that large lake all the way northwest to connect to several other lakes.

The end point of this canal is not the south bank of the Songhua River where the Beijing Army was originally stationed, but the confluence of the Nenjiang River and the Songhua River.

Because there is the largest lake in the entire Songnen Plain, Dashuipo, with abundant water.

The Song Dynasty's "Wuhu Jing Zongyao" records that the circumference of Dashuipo is more than 300 miles. The surrounding does not refer to the surrounding land, but to the length of the surrounding lakeshore. In other words, if Dashuipo is a square, its length and width are both about 80 miles. This shows how big Dashuipo is.

Wanli really didn't understand how the canal was built, so he tried his best to mobilize personnel and materials for Zeng Tongheng to ensure the smooth construction and completion of the canal.

The first day of the fifth month of the twenty-fifth year of the Wanli reign was Xinmao.

The ice and snow in Nurgandusi have completely melted, and the number of relocated garrison troops has reached more than 1.5 million. The densely packed tents from the source of the canal to the south of the Dongliao River have formed a white line, and the construction of the Songliao Grand Canal can finally begin.

Early in the morning at about noon, the sun rose, casting great light.

To the north of Qingyun Post Station, the army of the capital camp and the young and strong men of the garrison gathered.

On the newly built altar for offering sacrifices to heaven at the source of the canal, a burst of firecrackers rang out, followed by a three-animal sacrifice.

Wanli held up three incense sticks and said in a loud voice: "I wish to build the Songliao Grand Canal to benefit the people. I pray that Heaven will have mercy on the millions of people of the Ming Dynasty and bless this great undertaking for eternity. I, along with millions of soldiers and civilians, bow down in gratitude for Heaven's grace."

After saying this, he respectfully lit the incense, then knelt down with a solemn face and performed the ritual of three kowtows and nine bows.

"Crash", hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Beijing camp, millions of young and strong garrison guards, including their families who had gathered together, knelt down like waves.

The construction of the canal is indeed a great achievement that will last for thousands of years. The Grand Canal was first built in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, connected the north and the south in the Sui Dynasty, and was fully connected in the Ming Dynasty. Over the past two thousand years, countless people have benefited from it.

The Songliao Grand Canal is even more related to whether hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty can have enough food to eat during the decades or even hundreds of years of the Little Ice Age disaster. He sincerely hopes that this Grand Canal can be built smoothly.

He kowtowed three times and bowed nine times respectfully, then stood up and raised his hand, saying, "Fire the cannons, beat the drums, and start digging."

The sound of firecrackers crackled, followed by the powerful sound of drums. Millions of young and strong men in the village began to wave their hoes one after another from the side of the altar, and dug in the area framed by lime. The raised black soil continued to extend to the north, as if it extended to the horizon.

When Minister of Works Zeng Tongheng saw this scene, his blood boiled.

This is indeed a rare achievement that will last for thousands of years.

Once the Songliao Grand Canal was completed, the grain produced on this vast plain could be continuously transported to the capital, the northwest, and even the Central Plains. From then on, the Ming Dynasty no longer suffered from food shortages.

The statement that the Ming Dynasty no longer has food shortages may seem simple, but it actually concerns the life and death of hundreds of millions of people.

The natural disasters during the Jiajing period are still vivid in our memory. Once a natural disaster strikes, there will be starvation everywhere!
This has been the case throughout the dynasties, and many times the common people lacked this life-saving food.

This vast plain covers not just hundreds of millions of mu, but more than 200 million mu, and the black soil here is quite fertile, with an average yield of more than three stones per mu.

How many people can be fed by taking out such a large amount of food?

This Grand Canal will surely benefit the people for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, just like the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

His name will surely be recorded in history along with the current emperor and will be remembered forever!

However, building this grand canal was not so easy.

He calmed down his excitement, thought about it carefully, and then said carefully: "Your Majesty, from Qingyunyi to Dongliaohe, because there is a tributary of Liaohe River, food and supplies can be transported by octopus boats.

However, once we cross the Dongliao River, we will leave the Liaohe River system, and our speedboats cannot cross it. The more than 10,000 grain carts dispatched from Liaodong Town are far from enough to provide food supplies for more than one million young and strong men and women, and seven or eight million men, women, old and children.

I, your humble servant, would like to ask Your Majesty to mobilize more grain carts to ensure the supply of grain and fodder north of the Dongliao River."

This was actually the main reason why he wanted to build the Grand Canal first.

Because there was no Grand Canal to transport food and supplies, not to mention farming, even houses for the winter could not be built.

The houses here need to be equipped with boilers, and materials such as bricks and wood need to be prepared somewhere else and brought over. It would definitely be too late to prepare them here.

If so much material had to be transported entirely by horse-drawn carriages, even if all the carriages in the Ming Dynasty were mobilized, they would not be enough.

Now, more than one million young and strong men, and seven or eight million men, women, old and children, only need to transport some food and basic living supplies. Ten thousand carriages are not enough. There must be enough carriages to ensure the food and basic living supplies of seven or eight million men, women, old and children.

Wanli said without hesitation, "The 20,000 chariots of the Shenshu Camp can actually be used as food carts. I will allocate them all to you. Is that enough?"

This is still not enough.

Zeng Tongheng said stubbornly, "Your Majesty, the 20,000 chariots of the Shenshu Camp plus the 10,000 grain carts mobilized by Liaodong Town only make 30,000. 30,000 carts can only guarantee the food supply for the more than 3 million men, women, and children within a hundred miles north of the Dongliao River. That's still more than half the supply."

This means that at least 40,000 carriages are needed, right?

Now the navy's clippers have to transport supplies, so they definitely can't pull so many carriages here.

It seems that the only way to allocate food is from the nearby border towns. According to the standard configuration of border troops, 50,000 border troops will have 10,000 food carts, and 100,000 border troops will have 20,000 food carts.

They have been building grain carts for the border towns over the years, and the grain carts for each border town are almost fully equipped. At least the grain carts for several border towns near the capital are definitely fully equipped.

Wanli thought carefully, then decisively said, "General Shan, quickly send a fast cavalryman eight hundred miles to convey my oral order. Order Liaodong Town to transfer the remaining 10,000 grain carts. Order Jizhou Town, Xuanfu Town, and Datong Town to each send 10,000 grain carts. The speed must be rapid."

Shan Sinan quickly bowed and said, "I will obey your order."

After saying this, he hurried away and arranged for a fast rider to convey the order.

Seeing this, Wanli asked again, "Yuye, is there anything else you need?"

Zeng Tongheng thought about it carefully, then bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I can't think of anything else I need right now. I will go to each section of the river to inspect and supervise. This year, I will definitely complete the construction of the Songliao Grand Canal."

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, I will give you a thousand Jinyiwei light cavalry to accompany you as guards. Be careful."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Zeng Tongheng quickly bowed and took his leave.

When the Emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, saw the Minister of Works leave, he could not help but remind him, "Father, how are we going to solve the problem of these three million garrison troops getting through the winter?

The tents they use now are just thicker pieces of cloth, and they can't keep out the severe cold here. They're going to dig a canal this year, so who's going to build these warm houses?"

You are a bit thoughtful, kid.

I have naturally made arrangements for this.

Wanli asked directly, "Yuan De, when will the Liaodong Town garrison troops be finished?"

Zhang Yuande quickly explained, "Your Majesty, Liaodong Town originally started spring plowing at the end of April and sowing and transplanting rice seedlings at the beginning of May.

I have already started the work half a month ahead of schedule. They are now planting and transplanting rice seedlings, and they will probably be finished by mid-May."

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, that's about right. By the time the navy's express ships have finished transporting the garrison troops, it will be almost mid-May. By then, I will order them to transport the craftsmen and materials for building the garrison residences."

At this time, there was a sudden burst of sparse horse hoof sounds and incessant sheep bleating from the south bank of the Liao River.

The emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, looked back and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Wow, there are so many sheep! Where did all these sheep come from?"

Of course, I ordered someone to come here.

Wanli smiled slightly and said, "They came from the Xingdusi in Beijing. Today is a good day for the start of work, so naturally we have to give everyone a bowl of whole mutton soup to celebrate."

Whole lamb soup!
Upon hearing this, the Emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, couldn't help but say with bright eyes, "Father, I want to eat three bowls, no, four bowls."

You kid, you only know how to eat.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently instructed: "Xu'er, from now on, this place will be handed over to you to manage. Don't just think about eating for yourself, you have to think more about how to ensure that the people under your rule have enough food and clothing."

I know this.

The emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand. I will teach them how to raise pigs. Then they will not only have more meat than they can eat, but they can also make money by selling smoked meat. By the way, father, when will pig feed be mass-produced?"

You really do think about the problem.

Wanli nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "We don't have many large fishing boats now, and the fish we supply to Japan and here are not enough, and we can't produce fish meal in large quantities.

We haven't produced any grain yet, so we can't rush it. We'll have to wait until we start trial planting grain next year before we can try out the best formula for pig feed based on the production situation. We can only start raising pigs after we start producing a lot of grain the year after."

(End of this chapter)