The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 213 Dragon City
The sun in Beijing is scorching in July.

There is still a cool breeze outside the Great Wall.

Especially at the mountain pass on the east side of Daqing Mountain, the wind was so strong that it made the tents rustle.

After Wanli discovered that Tumen Khan did not dare to confront the main force of the Beijing Camp, he did not hesitate to pull the Shenshu Camp here.

At this moment, the valley which was more than ten miles wide was blocked by the chariots of the Shenshu Camp, like an iron barrel.

There was no way. They had too many chariots. A road more than ten miles wide was about a thousand feet. At most two thousand chariots could block the road tightly. Twenty-four thousand chariots could form twelve rows.

However, Wanli did not arrange the chariots of the Shenshu Camp in twelve rows horizontally, because that would make it inconvenient for their cavalry to move in and out.

He ordered the Shenshu Camp to set up two rows at the northern mountain pass, with the Shenji Camp's artillery carts in the middle. Further south, there were phalanxes one after another, each containing the tents of 10,000 cavalrymen.

There were nine such phalanxes, and they were arranged according to the terrain. They were extremely irregular, and the Northern Tartar cavalry would probably get lost if they rushed into the valley.

They hadn't even spent a single soldier in this northern expedition, but they had actually captured millions of acres of fertile grassland. This was really a bit unexpected.

When Yongnianbo Wang Wei followed the Shenjiying grain cart over, he couldn't help but be shocked.

When brothers Du Song and Du Tong came over pulling the grain cart, they couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

Originally, the grassland near Jining Lake was their biggest concern. They were afraid that Tumen Khan would suddenly go crazy and lead his army to charge over.

If Tumen Khan's army really rushed over, Pianguan Town might not be able to withstand it, because Pianguan Town only has more than 10,000 troops stationed in the fortress and city walls here, while Tumen Khan has more than 100,000 troops.

If Pianguan Town could not hold out and Tumen Khan's cavalry rushed into the flat Qiantao Plain, it would be troublesome because they had millions of cattle, sheep and horses there.

Now, they finally don’t have to worry about Tumen Khan’s army coming over here.

The grasslands near Jining Haizi were occupied by the Jingying Camp, and the mountain passes east of Daqing Mountain were blocked by the Shenshuying Camp's chariots, so Tumen Khan's army could not get through at all.

At about 5 p.m. that afternoon, as the sun was setting, the three groups of people gathered at the southern foot of the Daqing Mountains.

The grain carts they brought totaled more than 30,000, and the valley east of Daqing Mountain could not hold them all.

The grain carts could only be lined up on the south side of the valley and the grain had to be delivered in one by one.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei and brothers Du Song and Du Tong rode their horses together to a chariot formation several miles in radius in the valley.

This is where the Holy Chariot is located. The outer area is filled with the camps of the Imperial Guards, and in the middle are more than ten huge tents.

Not only was a bonfire lit in the open space among the tents, but a huge awning was also set up.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli led them into the pavilion and said cordially, "While the sun is still setting, come and discuss this matter quickly."

The map had already been laid out on the large table in the middle of the pergola, and Qi Jiguang, Ma Gui and others had been standing there waiting.

After a few pleasantries, Wanli raised his hand and said, "The main reason I called everyone here this time is to discuss establishing the Daqingshan defense line."

There was actually a newly drawn map placed on top of this huge map of the Nine Borders. In the center of the map was the Daqing Mountain, and cities, fortresses, beacon towers and the Great Wall were marked on it.

Wanli pointed to the map and explained in detail: "The west side of the Daqingshan defense line is the mountain pass between Yinshan and Daqingshan, which is under the responsibility of Yansui Town. The defense line of Yansui Town has been built, so I won't talk about this side.

The Daqing Mountain in the middle is guarded by Pianguan Town. There are not many valleys that can be crossed through the Daqing Mountain, only five in total. The Northern Tartars may not necessarily infiltrate these five valleys, but fortresses must be built in the valleys to guard them.

In addition, a beacon tower should be built every ten miles or so on the hilltop south of Daqing Mountain as a warning to prevent the northern barbarians from crossing Daqing Mountain to kill us.

General Du, let's finish building these five fortresses this year and these twenty-odd beacon towers next year. Is that a problem?"

The fortress can only house a few thousand border troops for garrison, so it doesn't need to be too large.

Du Song nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, no problem."

Wanli pointed to the map and said, "We are going to build a fortress in this valley. The name of the fortress is Longchengwei. Although the flying general of Longcheng is gone, we cannot let the Hu horses cross the Yinshan and Daqingshan mountains.

Father-in-law, Datong Town no longer has extra manpower to build the Dragon City Guard. You will be responsible for gathering craftsmen to build the Dragon City Guard.

As for what it will look like, you should have seen the structure of Yunzhongwei when you came here. We'll build two horizontal lines of wall fortresses in the shape of a Chinese character "中" (Zi-shaped character). These two lines must be completed as quickly as possible, starting with the northern one, which must be completed before September, and the southern one before October. We'll also build barracks and granaries in the middle. We'll build as much as we can before this side freezes over.

Father-in-law, recruit as many craftsmen as you think necessary. In short, the sooner the better. It would be best if the barracks and granaries in the middle can be completed this year."

Do we still need to recruit craftsmen?
Yongnian Earl Wang Wei thought about it carefully, then said cautiously, "This horizontal, central-shaped defense line is easy to build. The key is how many barracks and granaries should be built in the middle. Your Majesty, is there an accurate number for this?"

Wanli simply asked, "General Ma, how many troops do you think the Dragon City Guards can send to garrison here?"

Now there are two more Acropolises of this size. How should we allocate manpower?
Ma Gui stared at the map and thought carefully, then said solemnly: "Your Majesty, there are 10,000 cavalrymen from Datong Town stationed on the grassland south of Yunzhongwei, grazing there. This means there are 10,000 more troops there who can be reinforced at any time.

Moreover, after the Daqingshan defense line was established, Yunzhongwei became the rear, and it was unlikely that the enemy would emerge from the mountains on both sides.

Therefore, I think that 20,000 troops from the Cloud Guard will be enough to garrison there, and I can mobilize the remaining 30,000 troops from the Dragon City Guard to garrison there."

Well, 30,000 troops should be enough to guard a valley more than ten miles wide.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pondered, "Then we'll build a barracks here for 30,000 men. As for the granary, 30,000 men will consume about 180,000 dan of grain in half a year. This is like the front line, so we can't store too much grain for the time being. So let's build a granary with 300,000 dan this year."

This is not a lot. A granary of 300,000 dan is just 300,000 dan granaries. In the barracks, there are about ten people living in one building, and dozens or even hundreds of people can live in a row. It would be enough to build more than 300 rows.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei carefully estimated for a while, then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, if all of this needs to be completed this year, I think we need to recruit at least 40,000 craftsmen."

You don't want the least.

I said the sooner the better.

Wanli said without hesitation: "Then recruit 50,000 craftsmen, build quickly, and try to finish it before the snow starts."

Well, it’s not like the craftsmen can just come in as many numbers as they want.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid there aren't that many craftsmen in Shanxi yet.

The artisans don't have horses, so I saw the grain carts from the Divine Machine Camp transporting food and fodder here, so the artisans could take their carriages over. Otherwise, if they were asked to walk a thousand miles, it would probably take them a month just to get here."

How long can you walk this far on foot?

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "You can recruit craftsmen from Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces. If they are more than two or three hundred miles away from Datong Town, let them board the navy warships.

Right now, the navy warships are transporting grain and fodder from Pingyang Prefecture to Jizhou Town. I told Zilong to carry less grain at a time to leave some space for the craftsmen. You have the craftsmen gather at the docks along the Yellow River, board the navy warships to Jizhou Town, and then take the empty grain carts from Jizhou Town to Datong Town.

It would be much faster for them to come here by boat or grain cart.

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "Then there should be no problem."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Does anyone have any questions?"

Upon hearing this, Du Song couldn't help but rub his hands and said, "Your Majesty, it seems that no one is grazing on the grasslands near Ninghaizi at this time?

As you know, Pianguan Town originally had very few farmlands, let alone grasslands. Currently, the border troops stationed in Pianguan Town are all crowded along the Qingshui River, so the little land we have is simply not enough."

Are you worried that there will be no place to farm and graze?

I am preparing to expand the territory. I wonder how big the territory of the Ming Dynasty will be in the future.

Such a basin is just a piece of cake. I'll give it to you as a reward so that you will have the motivation to expand my territory.

Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "Alright, you can move all the border troops and garrisons from Pianguan Town here. You can farm or graze as you wish. With your border troops and garrisons stationed here, we can also mobilize more than 20,000 reinforcements to help defend Longcheng."

Oh, Your Majesty is really good to our border troops.

This opening will require millions of acres of land.

Upon hearing this, Du Song bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

(End of this chapter)