The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 203: Doctors and Craftsmen Go to the Battlefield

The vassalage issue is very serious.

The vassalage problem in Shanxi is particularly serious.

Among them, the problems of Daifan and Jinfan were the most serious.

Lin Run's memorial illustrates the seriousness of the problem.

In the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, the royal family members of the Shanxi vassal kings needed 3.12 million dan of rice as salary, and the royal family members of the Henan vassal kings needed 1.92 million dan of rice as salary.

Judging from this number, it seems that there are twice as many vassal kings in Shanxi as in Henan.

In fact, this is not the case. There are three vassal kings in Shanxi, namely King of Jin, King of Dai and King of Shen.

Henan, however, had six vassal kings, including King Zhou, King Zheng, King Tang, King Yi, King Hui and King Chong.

Why are there only three vassal kings in Shanxi, but the vassal rice allowance is nearly twice that of the six vassal kings in Henan?

This is the biggest problem of the Dai and Jin vassal states.

The population of the royal family of Daifan and Jinfan exceeded 5,000!

In other words, the royal family members of these two fiefdoms alone totaled more than 10,000, while the royal family members of Shen fiefdom were only more than 1,000. More than 90% of the more than 3 million shi of royal rice in Shanxi were distributed to these two fiefdoms.

Moreover, they also annexed a lot of land. Dai Fan alone annexed more than 10 million acres of land.

This is simply a huge borer.

The annual rice salary required by the royal family of the vassal state is more than one million dan. If the land annexed by the vassal state can pay the land tax, it will be more than one million dan a year. How much land tax income does the Ming Dynasty court receive in a year?
If there were no Daifan, the land tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty court would be more than 7 million shi, instead of 4 or 5 million shi.

By this calculation, the royal family of Daifan alone swallowed up the equivalent of half of the imperial court's land tax revenue!

Dai Fan is seeking death.

Wanli didn't know how long he had been looking through the information about the royal family and vassal states, when Luo Sigong finally came quickly.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli picked up the memorial that Shen Shixing had submitted to his death and solemnly declared, "Send someone to Shanxi to thoroughly investigate whether the Princes of Jin, Dai, and Shen really accepted so much donated land. Especially the Prince of Dai's mansion, how did they acquire the over 10 million mu of land?"

This takes time. Even if Shanxi is close, it will not be found out in a day or two.

Wanli did not sit idly by. At about noon the next morning, he summoned Duke Peng Qi Jiguang, Earl Yongnian Wang Wei, Li Shizhen and his son, the Wan brothers, Peng Zungu, Huang Chengxuan and others to the lobby of the original county government office to discuss the matter.

This time, what was placed on the round table in the middle of the lobby was not a map but drawings of chariots and food carts.

As for why they didn't put up a map, only he and Qi Jiguang knew the answer. Their combat objectives this time were top secret and must not be leaked. Once leaked, all their efforts would most likely be wasted.

Everyone was a little confused when looking at the drawings on the table.

What are they discussing? Is there something wrong with the tanks and food carts and they need to be improved?
The question is, there is no need to invite Li Shizhen and his son and the Wan brothers to discuss this, right?
They come from a medical family and know nothing about this.

Wanli looked at the puzzled expressions of the crowd and explained carefully: "Our expedition this time is a long journey and will take a long time. In a war, casualties and damage to weapons and equipment are inevitable.

If we send the seriously injured soldiers back for treatment, they will most likely die on the way. The damaged weapons and equipment will be even more difficult to transport back for repair, especially the tanks and food carts. If they are too rotten to be moved, they will have to be abandoned on the battlefield.

This would be very disadvantageous for our protracted war, so I would like to bring some doctors and artisans with me on this expedition."

Oh, so we need to bring doctors and craftsmen with us when we go to war.

This is not surprising. During the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, the army brought special military craftsmen with them when they went to war.

When everyone heard this, they all nodded in sudden realization.

Wanli then asked, "Yuan Jing, estimate how many casualties there will be in this war, and try to calculate the maximum number possible."

This one.

Qi Jiguang pondered and said, "Your Majesty, I will calculate based on an enemy force of ten thousand people.

The strength of the Beijing Camp is now acceptable. If they defeat an enemy force of 10,000 people with similar numbers of troops, there will probably be no casualties, and the number of injured soldiers should not exceed 100.

If we were to annihilate tens of thousands of enemy troops, we would likely lose dozens or even hundreds of soldiers, and potentially thousands more would be injured."

He was quite cautious about this. If he didn't reveal the exact number of enemies, others wouldn't know who their target was. Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Let's assume there are 100,000 enemy troops. Based on the maximum number, there will be tens of thousands of injured soldiers. Doctor Li, Doctor Wan, how many doctors do you think it will take to treat and care for so many injured soldiers?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shizhen and his son and the Wan brothers looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.

Who knows this?

Finally, it was the most experienced Li Shizhen who spoke up, "Your Majesty, that depends on how many soldiers are seriously injured and how many are lightly injured."

Upon hearing this, Wanli looked at Qi Jiguang decisively.

Qi Jiguang said without hesitation: "The number of soldiers seriously injured is generally no more than 10%."

Then this is relatively simple.

Li Shizhen estimated: "Wounds on the battlefield are generally external. If we bring enough medicine, then one doctor can easily treat dozens or even hundreds of lightly wounded soldiers. As for seriously injured soldiers, one doctor should have no problem taking care of four or five seriously injured soldiers.

If there are around 10,000 wounded soldiers, I think bringing 200 doctors should be enough."

Let’s call it two hundred.

Wanli nodded slowly and said, "Well, this time we will bring two hundred doctors and two hundred craftsmen, including one hundred carpenters and one hundred blacksmiths. Now let's discuss what kind of carriages the doctors and craftsmen should use. Father-in-law, please tell us what kind of carriages the craftsmen should use first."

This one.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei pondered, "The craftsmen's carriages are easy to come by. We can just use a grain cart and put a few boxes for tools and materials inside."

Wanli nodded slightly upon hearing this and said, "Okay, let's convert the artisans' carriages from grain carts. Build a bed on each side, a cabinet underneath for tool boxes, and a bed in the middle for people to lie down on. In this way, including the carriage driver, one carriage can carry four artisans. Fifty carriages will be enough for two hundred artisans."

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli glanced at the people participating in the discussion and said decisively, "Danyang, you brothers will be responsible for taking care of these craftsmen."

Peng Zungu quickly bowed and said, "I obey your command."

Wanli asked again, "Doctor Li, Doctor Wan, what do you think the doctor's carriage should look like?"

This one.

Li Shizhen asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, are we also going to carry the seriously injured soldiers around with us?"

Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "Of course. This time we are going to conquer the Northern Tartars. We can't send the injured soldiers back, nor can we stay where we are. We can only follow the main force everywhere."

Li Shizhen was rather troubled when he heard this: "Your Majesty, it seems this carriage can only carry two seriously injured soldiers. Even if two hundred doctors each drove a carriage, they could only carry four hundred seriously injured soldiers."

This problem is actually easy to solve.

Wanli pondered, "We can make the beds in the doctors' carriages double-decker, so people can lie down on the top and bottom, and in the middle as well. Two hundred carriages can easily carry a thousand seriously injured soldiers."

Can this work?
Li Shizhen frowned and thought, "Your Majesty, seriously injured soldiers must be carried. It would be difficult to cram five seriously injured soldiers into this carriage. Also, the carriage is bumpy, and if a seriously injured soldier rolls off the upper bunk and hits the one below, it could be fatal."

These things actually all exist in later generations.

Wanli said without hesitation: "It's easy to lift it up. We can make a stretcher specifically for carrying injured soldiers. It's just two wooden sticks seven or eight feet long with thick cloth sewn in the middle. When the thick cloth is unfolded, it can be roughly the same width as the bed on the carriage.

Thick cloth strips were tied at both ends of the wooden stick, the kind that could be hung on the shoulders of the person carrying it. In this way, two people could carry the seriously injured soldier and run, and it would be very convenient to lift him up and down.

As for the problem of injured soldiers rolling off the bed, we can simply fasten a few strips of cloth on both sides of the bed. When we need to run with them, we can simply tie them to the bed and they won't fall off."

This is really thoughtful.

Upon hearing this, Li Shizhen could not help but nod repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This will be fine."

Once you have no problem, start doing it.

Wanli nodded slightly, and then said decisively: "Doctor Wan, you brothers should send one of you to lead these doctors."

In addition, two hundred selected young and strong doctors and craftsmen also have to practice.

How to drive a carriage, how to treat injured soldiers, how to repair weapons and equipment, etc. all need to be practiced.

(End of this chapter)