The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 491 Taking advantage of his illness to kill him
Nanyang is close to the Ming Dynasty but far from the European continent, and it was originally the home ground of the Ming Dynasty.

If the Ming Dynasty had been stronger, the colonial bandits would never have been able to attack.

However, the Ming Dynasty in history had already entered the end of its dynasty during this period. Natural disasters, man-made disasters, internal and external troubles, and the decline of the dynasty left it with no time to take care of other things.

Nanyang was gradually devoured by colonial bandits, and later the colonial bandits used Nanyang as a springboard to attack Middle-earth.

As a result, Middle-earth experienced hundreds of years of catastrophe and was almost beyond recovery.

It’s different now. Wanli is very powerful now. Not only will he not let the colonial bandits attack him, he also wants to fight back and deal with the colonial bandits.

The conflict between the Spanish colonists and the Ming Dynasty merchants intensified, and these guys mobilized thousands of musketeers, which meant they were definitely planning to use force.

There is no need to think about this, historical facts have proven it.

Historically, all the Ming Dynasty merchants who migrated to Luzon were slaughtered.

These guys will definitely take action, and this is an opportunity for him, an opportunity to fight back and deal with the colonial bandits.

Wanli stared at the map carefully, then asked, "How many Spanish troops are there in Luzon now?"

Li Yuansheng said without hesitation: "Originally, they only had a thousand men in Luzon. This time, they transferred over a thousand, so there are only more than two thousand. However, most of them are musketeers."

Musketeers are nothing compared to the European colonial bandits who still use matchlock rifles, and they are the kind that load ammunition from the muzzle, which is far inferior to their flintlock rifles.

However, the development of Nurgandusi is at a critical stage at this moment, and he is not yet able to spare the time to go overseas.

Luzon is actually a small matter. America is the key. Once a war breaks out in Luzon, war will have to start all over the world. He has to seize the colonies in America before Spain reacts.

This is a war that concerns the ownership of more than 30 million square kilometers of colonies. We cannot just fight randomly.

He has to devote most of his energy to strategizing.

The problem is that the Nurgandusi has just begun to be developed, and most of his energy has to be focused here.

In other words, it would be best to postpone this matter until the Nurgan Regional Administration is fully developed.

He can't just abandon this place in order to seize colonies. The development of this place is related to whether the people of Ming Dynasty can have enough food in the next few decades or even hundreds of years.

Although overseas colonies can also grow food, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

Shipping was not well developed at that time, and the manpower, material resources and time required to transport food across thousands or even tens of thousands of miles were quite astonishing.

They could barely transport food for hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops, but it was simply impossible for them to transport food for tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of civilians.

Therefore, they had to grow crops nearby, and the Nurgan Regional Administration had to be developed first.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "When do you think the Spanish will choose to take action?"

Can we just watch them do it?
Li Yuansheng said carefully: "Your Majesty, the Spaniards have some understanding of the strength of our Ming Dynasty. If you don't want them to take action, I can go and warn them.

If they still want to attack, I can send 2,000 musketeers to protect our merchants. We already have 30,000 to 40,000 merchants there, and with our 2,000 musketeers to support them, the Spanish will definitely not dare to attack."

Well, that's a pretty good trick.

However, we still have to keep a backup plan.

I just want these guys to take action first, so that I can catch them and beat them up all over the world with a clear conscience.

Wanli nodded slightly, thought about it carefully, and then asked, "Do you know Pan Hewu?"

Of course I know this person.

There is no need to hide this.

Li Yuansheng said honestly, "Yes, Your Majesty, I know Pan Hewu. I also make a living in Luzon and am quite familiar with Pan Hewu."

It's good that you know me.

Wanli asked again: "Do you know where he is now?"

Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I know that he offended the Spanish so much in Luzon that he dared not stay there, so he returned to the southeastern waters with the ship he had robbed, and helped people there to transport goods by sea, mainly using the route from Zhejiang to Guangdong and Guangxi."

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "What kind of person is he? Do you know him?"

How do you say this?

Li Yuansheng pondered for a while before carefully saying, "He's actually quite loyal and righteous. If the Spaniards hadn't caught his boatmen and beaten them to death, he wouldn't have gotten angry and attacked them."

This means that this guy is a nice person.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "He should know some Spanish, right?"

That’s for sure.

Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, his Spanish is pretty good, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get any work from Spanish people."

Well, this person could be considered for recruitment.

Wanli nodded slightly and asked, "If I recruit him into the navy, would he be willing?"

This is it.

Li Yuansheng asked carefully, "Your Majesty, if you only want to hire him, he'll probably have to think twice, because he has hundreds of boatmen to support. Without him, those boatmen will probably have a hard time finding work."

Then let’s recruit them together.

Wanli said without hesitation: "His men are all boatmen, and the navy just needs boat operators, so I can recruit his men as well.

However, he certainly hasn't passed the military examinations to become a general, as he's been sailing around for so long. At best, I'll give him the rank of captain, commanding two thousand naval officers and men. "Captain is not bad; a captain is, after all, just a commoner."

The key is that he has two thousand men under his command and still has the opportunity to achieve success.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuansheng nodded repeatedly and said, "That should be no problem. He probably also wants to join the navy and make great achievements."

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Okay, next time you come back, bring Pan Hewu to see me."

This guy has his chance.

Li Yuansheng bowed repeatedly and said, "I obey your order."

Wanli nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "Guozhu has learned about the situation in Spain. They are now facing internal and external troubles and are in a state of panic.

Their province, the Netherlands, was in the process of rebelling against them, and other European countries were jealous of the interests they had seized overseas and were preparing to join forces to deal with them.

Their nobles were extremely extravagant and spent most of their money on pleasure, without developing their military force at all. If this continued, their position as the overlord of the sea would certainly be lost.

The saying goes, "Strike while the sick is ill."

This is an opportunity for us, an opportunity to replace them as the overlord of the sea.

Therefore, we must either not solve the Luzon issue, or we must solve it once and for all and drive the Spaniards out of Southeast Asia completely.

However, I don't have time to take care of overseas affairs now. Once the war breaks out in Luzon, it will definitely break out all over the world. This must be done with careful deployment.

You can first send two thousand troops to Luzon to protect the merchants there, and delay it for a while until the development of Nurgandusi is almost complete."

Now merchants in Luzon don’t have to worry.

As long as Your Majesty agrees to send troops, I can keep them safe.

Li Yuansheng quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Well, send people to protect those merchants quickly. Don't let the Spanish really kill them all. If that happens, I will have to take action even if I am not prepared."

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

When the emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, saw this guy leave, he couldn't help but ask, "Father, do you mean to let the Spanish take action, or not?"

I have only arranged half of this, so of course you don’t understand.

Wanli patiently explained: "You know what it means to have a legitimate reason, right?

Colonial bandits can do whatever they want without any reason, but we cannot do that.

This may seem harmless, but it actually poses a huge risk.

As the saying goes, those who are in the right will have many supporters, while those who are in the wrong will have few. Many of the sayings left by our ancestors are wise sayings.

They are unreasonable and will be attacked by everyone one day.

If we don't fight them, someone else will.

Therefore, we still need to talk about this principle. We must understand the truth, which is what is called enlightenment.

They attacked first, we fought back, so we are right.

However, we can let them take action first, but we can't let them succeed. We still have to protect the merchants in Luzon."

Uh, why is this getting more confusing the more I listen?

Upon hearing this, the emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, rubbed his forehead and said, "Father, we have sent people to protect the merchants in Luzon. The Spanish are obviously no match for us. How could they possibly take action?"

Don't be impatient, I haven't finished speaking yet.

Wanli continued to explain: "This is why I summoned Pan Hewu to come to the audience.

Li Yuansheng's troops were only on the surface, and the Spaniards could see it. As long as Li Yuansheng's troops were there, the Spaniards would definitely not dare to take action.

I actually just want to use Li Yuansheng's troops to buy time.

After Pan Hewu comes, I will ask him to take two thousand elite naval forces and secret guards and disguise himself as merchants to Luzon and hide there.

In this way, as long as we are prepared, we can let Li Yuansheng find any excuse to withdraw the two thousand troops stationed there.

By then, the Spanish will surely be unable to resist taking action, and Pan Hewu will be able to lead the hidden elite navy to counterattack without any problems."

Oh, it turns out there are both light and dark forces.

The emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, nodded slowly and said, "I understand."

Qi Jiguang saw that the two of them had finished their conversation, so he asked carefully, "Your Majesty, how are we going to deal with the Jiannu this year?"

We can’t mobilize a large army to encircle and suppress the enemy until the Grand Canal is built.

Wanli pondered and said, "Let's wait until the Grand Canal is built. Without the Grand Canal to transport food and supplies, we simply cannot mobilize too many troops.

The mountainous area of ​​the Donghai Jurchens is extremely large. Even if all 400,000 Sichuan troops were mobilized to encircle and suppress the tribe, they might not be able to defeat Nurhaci.

Now it is a bit difficult for us to transport food and supplies to the more than 200,000 troops over there. We will definitely not be able to encircle and suppress the Jiannu this year.

How about this? You order the 120,000 soldiers of the Shenwu and Shenji camps to stay and set up camp on the west bank of the Asuri River. Let the 100,000 troops of Qiancheng retreat to Zhendong Fort to garrison there first."

(End of this chapter)