The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 589: Both internal and external troubles must be eradicated
How did the Ming Dynasty fall in history?
There are many reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

There are natural disasters, man-made disasters, internal and external troubles.

At this time, Wanli was gradually clearing out the hidden dangers that would lead to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Natural disasters are easy to deal with. As long as there is enough food for disaster relief, there will be no problem.

Man-made disasters are more troublesome.

Within the Ming Dynasty, the three major powerful families of Donglin, Zhejiang Party, and Puzhou, corrupt officials, and princes and royal families can be said to be man-made disasters.

And the Jiannu were the biggest external hidden danger to the Ming Dynasty, or it could be said to be a man-made disaster.

Now he has almost dealt with the Zhejiang Party and corrupt officials. As for the Donglin and the princes and royal families, it is not easy to deal with them because the three major families of Puzhou are hiding in the middle.

At this time, he turned his attention to the Jiannu.

He directly ordered people to convey the imperial edict to the Liaodong and Nurgan regional commanderies, summoning Qi Jiguang, Yu Zigao, Li Zhizao and others to return to Beijing.

The trip back and forth took more than half a month.

In the blink of an eye, it was already early August.

The capital city was unusually hot at this time. After noon, people could not stand in the sun for a long time, as their skin would be sunburned if they stood for too long.

Wanli did not go out. Every afternoon he taught Song Yingxing how to develop a steam loom in a side hall of Ciqing Palace, and also let Zhu Changxun learn more about the application of steam engines.

This steam loom is much more complicated than ordinary machine tools or even steam spinning machines.

They have been thinking about it together for a long time but haven't developed it yet.

At about 3 p.m. that day, the three of them arrived at the side hall where various machines were placed and started tinkering with the loom.

Wanli even specially recruited several craftsmen who were good at using simple steam machinery to process various parts.

Whatever parts they thought of, the craftsmen would immediately make them out of copper or wood.

The reason why this loom is more complicated than the steam spinning machine is that it has too many separate actions, such as the warp thread feeding, the weft thread shuttling horizontally, the warp threads crossing each other, the weft threads colliding, the cloth coming out in rolls, etc.

Originally, these actions required the use of hands and feet. It would take a person several days to weave a piece of cloth. Now, all the actions have to be completed using a steam engine, which is extremely troublesome.

Moreover, the output of steam engines was very low at that time, and they could not use too many steam engines to replace human labor to complete the weaving process.

They also had to connect all the movements to a steam engine, which made things even more complicated.

The three were tinkering around the loom when Shan Sinan suddenly rushed in and said with a bow, "Your Majesty, Duke Peng and General Yu have arrived."

Upon hearing this, Wanli immediately picked up the cloth beside him and wiped his hands, then said, "Xun'er, let's go and take a look with father.

Chang Geng, continue to ponder this. General Shan, have someone take Yuan Jing and the others to the Grand Council Hall."

After saying that, he picked up little Zhu Changxun and walked towards the Grand Council Hall.

Soon, everyone gathered in the Grand Council Hall.

The latest world map had already been spread out on the large table in the middle.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he pointed to the map and asked, "Yuan Jing, how is the investigation going on Yongle Mountain? Are there any casualties among the newly minted military scholars?"

Qi Jiguang quickly raised his hand and pointed at the map, saying, "Our investigation went relatively smoothly.

From the end of April to July, we have almost explored the southern half of Yongle Mountain. There will definitely be no problems after the exploration this year.

The Jiannu probably thought that General Qin's 50,000 troops were going into the mountains to annihilate them, so they kept hiding everywhere and never fought against General Qin's troops at all.

The newly-minted military scholars suffered few casualties, but they also did not gain much.

The Jiannu were too sly, so they could only use their telescopes to sneak up on the Jiannu stone forts and shoot some of them inside.

If we can complete the exploration of the terrain of Yongle Mountain this year, we can encircle and suppress the Jiannu next year.

The key now is that most of the navy’s ships will have to transport personnel and supplies to seize Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island in the southern part of the South China Sea in the next two years.

This cannot be delayed. He has to exile all the princes and royal family members to Fangzhang Island in order to completely solve the problem of land annexation within the Ming Dynasty.

The problem was that the navy was the key to the suppression of the Jiannu. Yongle Mountain was surrounded by water on all three sides, east, west, and north. If the waterways were not blocked, the Jiannu would surely escape. These guys still made their living by fishing and hunting, and they were accustomed to traveling between the white mountains and black waters.

How to do it?

Wanli stared at the map for a while, then asked, "Zhenzhi, how long would it take for a navy ship to sail from Liaodong to Fangzhang Island, a distance of over 20,000 miles, and back?"

It’s hard to say.

Li Zhizao raised his hand and gestured on the map while explaining, "Your Majesty, the section from Liaodong to Nanyang is easy to deal with.

When the north wind blows in winter, we can get there smoothly and it only takes about half a month.

However, it’s hard to say when we get to Penglai Island. We have to wait for the southeast or southwest wind to blow there before we can go to Fangzhang Island.

Moreover, to return from Fangzhang Island, one has to wait for the northeast or northwest wind, so a round trip on this route will take at least two months, and three or four months is possible.

In other words, a round trip to Fangzhang Island by a navy ship would take three months at best, and four to five months at worst."

Four or five months is not a long time. The ice period in Nurgandusi is about five months.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slowly and said, "Okay, then you should go to Nanyang in October when Nurgandusi is about to freeze over and follow the north wind.

Next March, when the south wind blows, we'll sail straight from Nanyang to the harbor south of Shuangchengwei and arrive in April. Is that okay?"

This has been going on for about half a year, so there is naturally no problem.

Li Zhizao nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem."

Then let’s do it next year.

Wanli stared at the map and thought carefully, then said decisively: "Yuan Jing, around May next year we will mobilize troops to encircle and suppress the Jiannu.

It just so happens that the navy's 1,000 2,000-ton Fujian ships have returned, and then they will be asked to blockade the eastern Tatar Sea.

The 2,000-ton Fujian warships are equipped with more than 20 cannons. If one ship is lined up every two miles or so to block this side, there should be no problem.

In addition, we will mobilize another 8,000 naval centipede ships to enter the Heilongjiang and Asul Rivers. 3,000 ships will be deployed to block the waterways, and 5,000 ships will transport food and supplies along the Songliao Grand Canal.

On land, the chariots of the Shenshu Camp and the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp will go first and cooperate with the navy warships to blockade the west side of the Asul River.

In addition, Liaodong Town, Jizhou Town, Xuanfu Town, Datong Town, Pianguan Town, Yulin Town, Guyuan Town, and Ningxia Town each dispatched 50,000 cavalry to blockade Lake Pipa and the Shuangchengwei line.

By May of next year, we will completely blockade the perimeter of Yongle Mountain. By early June at the latest, Liang Yu will lead the Sichuan Army in a line from the south and advance northward. We will conclude the battle by October. Is that a problem?

With so many troops, there will naturally be no problem in encircling and suppressing the Jiannu.

The problem is the allocation of food and supplies.

Qi Jiguang pondered, "Your Majesty, this naval and land forces total about 1.8 to 9 million men.

There is no problem with the fodder for the war horses, as there are grasslands everywhere. The problem is food. For nearly half a year, we need to prepare at least 10 million dan of food.

There are also the daily expenses of so many soldiers. Not to mention other things, just talk about meat. In order to give them enough strength to fight, they must have meat every day. Meat alone requires at least one million kilograms a day.

The consumption of other oils, salt, sauces, vinegar, fruits, and other necessities is also enormous. We even have to keep buying and transporting firewood, as there is no firewood on the grasslands."

This means that all of these things require money, and wars are fought for money.

He hasn't even counted the money for weapons, equipment and ammunition.

This was mainly because the enemy was too small in number. The Jiannu had at most 30,000 to 40,000 troops, while they had nearly 2 million troops and could not use up all the weapons and ammunition they carried.

However, the cost of food for the soldiers alone was staggering.

For example, meat was still relatively cheap in the Ming Dynasty at that time, only about ten cents per catty. But one million catties would cost more than ten thousand taels.

This is the minimum daily consumption. In nearly half a year, it would be at least more than two million taels.

They couldn't let the soldiers eat only meat. They had to add some oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, otherwise it would taste bland. They also had to add some fruits and vegetables, otherwise they would easily get sick.

This is also the reason why they dare not start a war easily without tens of millions of taels. War is really too expensive.

(End of this chapter)