The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 256: Another expedition to the Northern Tartars
Wanli was going to Shaanxi Xingdusi to take a look at his inner and outer clothes.

However, he did not say that he was going to refine oil.

He directly issued an order, ordering the nine important border towns to gather troops and prepare to conquer the Tumed tribe!

He even ordered the Ministry of War to urgently summon Li Chengliang, the general of Liaodong Town, Dong Yiyuan, the general of Jizhou Town, and Dong Yikui, the general of Xuanfu Town, to discuss the matter of sending troops.

He seems to be talking nonsense.

The Tumed tribe is distributed in the north of Datong Town, Pianguan Town, Yansui Town, Guyuan Town, Ningxia Town and Gansu Town.

He did not summon the generals of the six towns to discuss the matter, but instead summoned the generals of Liaodong Town, Jizhou Town and Xuanfu Town, which were not related at all, to discuss the matter. What does that mean?
The people of the three major families in Puzhou believed that he wanted to make a feint to the east and attack in the west, and to launch a surprise attack on other tribes under the pretext of conquering the Tumed tribe.

The northern barbarians were frightened and felt insecure, not knowing who he was going to attack.

Who is he going to hit?
Li Chengliang, Dong Yiyuan and Dong Yikui also wanted to know this question.

At the end of May, Li Chengliang, the Liaodong general who was the farthest away from the capital, finally arrived at the Mountain Resort.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, he summoned three generals, including Qi Jiguang, Yu Zigao, and Huang Chengxuan, to the lobby of the former county government office.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli solemnly asked, "Yuan Jing, has the rotation of defense between the Beijing Camp and Jizhou Garrison been completed?"

Qi Jiguang explained in detail, "Your Majesty, the 100,000 troops of Jizhou Town have been relocated to the Xingdusi in Beijing. We have also taken over the defense area, military farms, and grasslands of Jizhou Town. However, the city fortress in Jizhou Town seems to be still under construction and has not been completed."

Wanli nodded slightly upon hearing this, and then asked, "Yiyuan, when do you estimate the city fortress at the Beijing Xingdusi will be completed?"

This one.

Dong Yiyuan explained in detail: "Your Majesty, our one hundred thousand households have almost completed the construction of the city walls, but it will probably take another two or three months to build the houses and streets inside.

There are also those meritorious soldiers who have been granted titles. It is easier for them to be barons. They can just garrison in the city of our Qianhu Suo directly.

Viscounts and even earls are no match for this. They have too many personal guards, so they have to build their own city fortresses. I estimate that they will be almost finished by the end of this year."

Isn’t it enough that the Beijing Xingdusi has built a hundred city fortresses? Do they need to build more?
This is indeed not enough.

According to the previous standards, a border town would have to build at least three or four hundred cities and fortresses.

The area of ​​the Beijing Xingdusi is equivalent to that of three or four border towns, so it is normal to build a thousand cities and fortresses.

Wanli was too lazy to ask about them one by one.

Anyway, the more cities and fortresses there are, the better. The Northern Tartar cavalry is afraid of too many cities and fortresses.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "General Li, how are the repairs to Liaodong Town's defenses progressing?"

Don't ask me to defend all the time. I want to gain military merit.

Li Chengliang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the repairs are almost complete."

Wanli asked again: "Can you withstand Tumen Khan's all-out attack on Liaodong Town?"

I definitely can’t stand that.

How many people do I have under my command?
Dong Yiyuan has over 100,000 troops under his command, yet you only give me food and wages for 25,000 troops.

Li Chengliang said with hope, "Your Majesty, I have too few men under my command. I cannot withstand an all-out attack by Tumen Khan. How about Liaodong Town also recruit 100,000 men? That way, I can not only withstand the attack, but also defeat Tumen Khan outside the Great Wall."

You just want to steal military merit.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "I simply cannot afford the food and wages for a hundred thousand troops. This year I will give you food and wages for fifty thousand troops. Recruit more infantry and train them in rotation. You must defend Liaodong."

The most dangerous place now is actually Liaodong Town.

Liaodong Town was sandwiched between Tumen Khan and Jiannu.

Tumen Khan had an army of more than 100,000 men, and it was still unknown how powerful the Jiannu had become now. The Nurgandusi was too far away, and the Haixi Jurchens were five or six thousand miles away from the capital.

Before the Gengxu Incident during the Jiajing period, Datong Town was the worst hit. After the Gengxu Incident, Liaodong Town was the worst hit, and the situation became worse as time went on.

In history, the more than four million soldiers and civilians in Liaodong Town were eventually beaten down to less than one million.

Of course, he couldn't let history repeat itself, so even though he disliked Li Chengliang, a general who was proud of his achievements, he had to strengthen the defense of Liaodong Town.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengliang was delighted and said, "Your Majesty, with the food and money for 50,000 troops, I can definitely train the 60,000 infantrymen in Liaodong Town. With 60,000 infantrymen guarding Liaodong Town, there will be no problem. Can I lead 20,000 cavalrymen to surprise attack Tumen Khan?"

You just want to steal military merit.

However, this time I want to use this ability of yours to limit the development of Tumen Khan. Wanli nodded slowly and said: "If you think there is no problem with the defense, you can find an appropriate time to attack Tumen Khan. However, if Liaodong Town is conquered by Tumen Khan again, I will not forgive you.

"I'm going to make this clear: if Liaodong Town is conquered by Tumen Khan again, I will punish you based on the number of casualties among the Liaodong Town soldiers and civilians. If the number of casualties exceeds your military merits, I will dismiss you from your post and investigate."

Hahahaha, you finally let me send troops for a surprise attack.

As for Tumen Khan's attempt to capture Liaodong Town again, that was impossible.

I have 30,000 infantrymen garrisoning here, and I can mobilize 30,000 more infantrymen as reinforcements at any time. Even if Tumen Khan mobilizes all his troops, he won't be able to capture any place.

Li Chengliang nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, Your Majesty, if Liaodong Town is captured by Tumen Khan again, I will bring my head to you."

You, don't be so careless.

Wanli reminded him, "You should also be careful with the Jianzhou Jurchens. They seem to be annexing the Haixi Jurchens. If they annex the Haixi Jurchens, the Jianzhou Jurchens will probably be as powerful as Tumen Khan. If they join forces with Tumen Khan, they will have 200,000 to 300,000 troops."

This is unlikely.

Li Chengliang shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, it's unlikely that Tumen Khan will join forces with the Jianzhou Jurchens. They are vying for control of the Nurgandusi. I suspect they will engage in a major battle sooner or later."

This is really possible.

Wanli nodded slowly and said, "Well, in short, you should be careful. If there is a war in the east, you should lead your troops to support them immediately. Don't keep staring at Tumen Khan's territory."

Li Chengliang nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli then gave detailed instructions, "Yiyuan, since the fortress of the Beijing Xingdusi will not be completed until the end of this year, you will be responsible for defense this year. You will station your cavalry in Quanningwei and guard the Lamulun River to prevent Tumen Khan from attacking the Beijing Xingdusi from the south."

Dong Yiyuan was different from Li Chengliang. He was quite obedient and never tried to take credit for military achievements.

Because he knew that the Emperor's favor was more important than military achievements.

Look, his military achievements are not as many as Li Chengliang's, but he has more men under his command than Li Chengliang. Originally, the cavalry under his command could not compare with Li Chengliang's, but now he also has 20,000 cavalry under his command.

Therefore, it is useless to compete for military merits. The Emperor's respect is more important than anything else.

He bowed without hesitation and said, "I will obey your order."

Wanli nodded slightly and instructed: "Yikui, you should also seize the opportunity to lead the cavalry to raid the Chahar tribe and distract Tumen Khan's attention."

Dong Yikui also bowed without hesitation and said, "I obey your order."

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, you guys go ahead. Be careful and be safe. Yuan Jing stays here."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengliang, Dong Yiyuan and Dong Yikui hurriedly bowed and took their leave.

Qi Jiguang saw their backs disappear at the gate, then he asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask, will we really conquer the Northern Tartars this year?"

He knew better than any of the nine generals that His Majesty did not seem to have any plans to conquer the Northern Tartars this year.

That's why he asked this question.

Wanli pointed at the map and explained in detail: "Yuan Jing, our next target is the line from Xuanfu Town to the north to the Hanhai.

If we take this area, the Tumed and Kharchin tribes will be completely cut into two parts along with the Tumen Khanate, and the Tatars will not be able to concentrate their forces to fight us.

Tumen Khan could only muster a maximum of more than 100,000 troops. Although the Tumed and Kharchin tribes had more young and strong men, they did not have enough grassland to support their war horses, and their strength might not be as strong as Tumen Khan's.

By then, the Beijing Xingdusi, Xuanfu Town and Jizhou Town will be connected as one and stuck in the middle. I will give Yikui another 100,000 troops, and the three towns will have a total of 300,000 troops.

When the time comes, we will build cities and fortresses all over this area. The Tumed, Kharchin, and Tumen Khan will have no chance of breaking through this line of defense. We can attack from the center and attack wherever we want. This way, the Tatars will have no hope of turning the tables."

Oh, so this is the target.

If the middle part can be taken, Tatar will have no hope of turning the tables.

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I dare to ask you, when will we fight?"

Wanli sighed slightly and said, "We can't fight this year. The money in the inner treasury can barely maintain the food and wages of the Beijing garrison, the border troops and the navy. We don't have enough money to issue military rewards. This year we can only raid everywhere to wear down their strength."

Wars are fought for money. Without money, we can't even pay out military rewards. Then the morale that has been so hard to build up will plummet again.

Therefore, we have to make money first. As I said before, the Ming army can only be invincible if it is fully paid. If it is not fully paid, there will be problems.

(End of this chapter)