The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 299: Stealing chicken but losing rice
This time, the three major wealthy families in Puzhou really lost more than they gained.

They originally wanted to force Yang Yinglong to rebel in order to consume the strength of the Beijing Camp.

Who knew that Wanli saw through their conspiracy and directly asked Yang Yinglong to cooperate in the show.

This time, Yang Yinglong not only did not rebel, but instead became a capable general under Wanli.

The Shuixi Xuanwei Division and the Yongning Xuanfu Division were both wiped out by the Bozhou Army and the White Spear Soldiers.

Wanli gained six prefectures, one state and nearly 100,000 capable and battle-hardened soldiers for nothing.

This is nothing. The key point is that after the Shuixi Xuanwei Division and the Yongning Xuanfu Division were destroyed, there was no powerful chieftain force in the southwest.

Wanli wanted to reform all the chieftains and establish the Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan chieftains. Who would dare to disobey his order?
If Wanli were to completely pacify the southwest this time, the three major families in Puzhou would have no cards to play and could only hope that the northern barbarians would turn the tables.

The question is, can the Northern Tartars still turn the tables?
At this moment, Wanli had no time to care about the northern barbarians. This time he really wanted to completely pacify the southwest.

The Shuixi Xuanwei Division and the Yongning Xuanfu Division were both destroyed. Who else would dare to disobey the order?
The effect of this tactic of killing the chicken to scare the monkey was immediate. Soon, the chieftains of nearby areas such as Shuidong Xuanwei Division, Youyang Xuanfu Division, Huaide Chieftain Division, Yangyi Chieftain Division, Zhongpu Chieftain Division, and Longli Chieftain Division came with their men to accept reorganization, as if they were afraid that they would be wiped out if they were too late.

The strength of these chieftains was not as strong as that of Shuixi Xuanwei Division and Yongning Xuanfu Division. The largest of them had only tens of thousands of troops, and the smallest had only a few thousand troops.

Their strength is not strong, but there are many chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

These are just the chieftains near Bozhou, and there are more than ten of them. There are dozens or even hundreds of chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan combined.

Of course, he couldn't reorganize all the troops brought by these chieftains into the Bozhou Army or the White Spear Soldiers. He didn't need so many elite mountain warfare troops at the moment, and he didn't have so much food and money. It was enough to leave behind 100,000 elite troops.

As for how to arrange the remaining people, this needs to be discussed further.

Chongqing Prefecture was already experiencing a heat wave in July, but Bozhou was not so bad, as it was still cool at night, but a little hot during the day.

It is even cooler in Hailongtun because the flat top of Longya is over a thousand meters high, and the temperature there is five or six degrees lower than that below. In addition, the pavilions and towers built by the Yang family are all well ventilated, so it is not hot at all up there.

Wanli was used to living here and didn't want to move for the time being, so he recruited Qin Liangyu, Yang Yinglong, Yongnianbo Wang Wei and others.

Early in the morning at about noon, he called everyone to the lobby where the map was placed to discuss the matter.

What they want to discuss is actually mainly how to make money.

The annual cost of food and rations for these 100,000 strong mountain warfare troops is more than 3 million taels. If we really go to war with Japan, we will have to expand the mountain warfare troops, and we don't know how much the military merit rewards will be.

Since they had taken over such a large territory, they naturally had to create as much profit as possible. At the very least, they had to ensure that the 100,000 mountain warfare troops and the garrison troops of the Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan Commandery could have enough food and clothing.

The problem is, it seems like there's nothing valuable here except the trees.

Moreover, felling trees is a one-time deal. No matter how many forests there are here, it will take more than a few years to cut them down. Even if they are planted while cutting trees, it will take dozens or even hundreds of years before they can continue cutting trees.

How to do it?

Wanli stared at the map in deep thought for a while, and suddenly an idea struck him: "Is it possible to grow tea here?"

Tea trees are also trees.

Upon hearing this, Yang Yinglong nodded repeatedly and said, "Most of the mountains and forests here are suitable for growing tea. According to the ancient records of our Yang family, during the Song Dynasty, the tea production in Bashu alone accounted for more than half of the entire Song Dynasty. Our Yang family was also engaged in the tea business at that time.

However, during the Ming Dynasty, the tea business was taken over by the government, and we were no longer able to participate. As a result, many tea mountains in Bozhou were abandoned, and the tea production in Bashu seemed to have dropped by half.

Uh, well, how should I put it.

I won’t say more about these, it’s a good thing that this place is suitable for growing tea.

The two commodities with the largest sales volume in Ming Dynasty's overseas trade were porcelain and tea.

At this moment, the Longjiangzhou Treasure Shipyard has begun to mass-produce 1,000-ton Fuzhou ships, and 2,000-ton Fuzhou ships are also about to be built. The Ming Dynasty navy will soon be developed, and in another year or two, it should not be a problem to defeat the pirates and Japanese pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

By then he could conduct a strict investigation and gradually seize control of overseas trade.

Now is the right time to plant tea.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then pointed to the map and said decisively: "Starting from Chongqing Prefecture, we must develop the tributaries on the south bank of the Yangtze River, as long as they can accommodate 400-ton octopus boats.

The mountains on both sides of these tributaries that were suitable for growing tea had their trees cut down and were planted with tea, and the valleys between the mountains that were suitable for growing grain were all turned into farmland.

As for the allocation of the Dusi Guards, it will be based on the area of ​​farmland and tea plantations on both sides of these tributaries. Each household in the Guards will be allocated 30 mu of farmland, and the tea plantations will be converted into the equivalent of 30 mu of farmland. By the way, how much is a pound of tea?"

He only drank tea and never bought it, so naturally he didn't know the price of tea. Yang Yinglong was also a little confused. The Yang family hadn't been in the tea business for a hundred or two hundred years.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei had bought tea before, and he explained in detail: "Your Majesty, there are two kinds of ordinary tea. One is bud tea, which is made from young buds, and the other is leaf tea, which is made from large leaves.

The price of this tea fluctuates from time to time, but generally speaking, bud tea costs about eight cents per pound, and leaf tea costs about two cents per pound.

As for tea production, the fluctuation is even greater, which is related to the variety of tea trees, the soil of the tea mountains, the weather of the year, etc.

If we calculate based on the lowest yield, one acre of tea garden can produce about 100 kilograms of bud tea and 200 kilograms of leaf tea. If we calculate based on the highest yield, one acre of tea garden can produce about 300 kilograms of bud tea and 600 kilograms of leaf tea.

Isn’t this fluctuation too big?
If calculated based on the minimum yield, one hundred kilograms of bud tea is eight taels, and two hundred kilograms of leaf tea is four taels. One acre of tea garden can generate an income of twelve taels.

Of course, this is the selling price. The sales of Ming Dynasty tea were also controlled by the imperial court, and those corrupt officials would at least take away 90% of the profits.

In other words, if corrupt officials were allowed to collect the tea, the income from each acre of tea would probably be only about one or two taels of silver.

This is almost the same as the income from growing crops. At present, one acre of land produces about two stone of grain, which is equivalent to one tael of silver based on the grain price in Nanzhili.

Wanli thought about it and said simply: "Okay, the tea plantations will be divided into 30 mu per household. As for whether to divide the fields or the tea plantations, it depends on whether the garrisons can farm or grow tea.

In short, we first developed the fields and tea mountains on both sides of these tributaries, and then set up 100-household units, 1,000-household units and guard units according to the size of the area, and then transferred guards from nearby to grow crops and tea.

"Father-in-law, you should build several water wheels in each area where the 100 households are located, and equip them with saws for sawing wood and sawing boards. This will not only allow the garrisons to draw water to irrigate the fields, but also reduce the weight of the wood, allowing the navy warships to pull more in each trip."

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

He understood, but Qin Liangyu, Ma Qiancheng and Yang Yinglong were confused.

They are not good at development, they are only good at fighting.

Seeing their bewildered expressions, Wanli smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about these things. You just need to worry about whether those chieftains come to accept the reorganization. If anyone dares not to come, you will lead your army to destroy them.

From now on, the headquarters of the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Regional Command will be established in Chongqing Prefecture. All prefectures with local chieftains west of Chongqing Prefecture, southwest of Bashu, and northwest of Yunnan-Guizhou will be incorporated into the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Regional Command. This has been agreed upon by the commander-in-chief. Yinglong, you will take charge."

Oh, what a huge territory.

Upon hearing this, Yang Yinglong couldn't help but said excitedly: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Wanli nodded slightly, then gave detailed instructions: "You must carefully select the Bozhou troops under your command, pick out 50,000 elite soldiers and hand them over to Liangyu, then select 5,000 personal guards, and let the rest serve as garrison guards to farm and grow tea."

Uh, the military power is gone.

Forget it, you can't have your cake and eat it too. It's already great to be able to manage such a large area.

Yang Yinglong quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Wanli then gave detailed instructions, "Liangyu, you must carefully select the other chieftain soldiers and gather a total of 100,000 elite soldiers to form the Sichuan Army. From now on, the Sichuan Army will be stationed in Chongqing City, between Fotu Pass, Erlang Pass, and Longdong Pass.

After you finish dealing with things here, you will have to take your men to build military camps and docks over there. Build more docks so that the navy warships can go and pick up people."

Qin Liangyu quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

The next thing will be left to Li Hualong.

This is why civil servants are indispensable to the imperial court. If these military generals were allowed to be in charge of establishing the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Regional Administration, it would definitely be a mess.

Wanli sighed inwardly, then said decisively: "Yuan Jing, send a fast horse to the nearest dock and ask the navy to send a warship to pick up Yu Ye and let him serve as the Governor of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan."

This guy was promoted from a newly-minted scholar to governor in just a few years!
Qi Jiguang quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

Upon hearing this, Yang Yinglong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something.

Seeing this, Wanli asked curiously, "Yinglong, what's wrong? Just say whatever you want to say."

Upon hearing this, Yang Yinglong said cautiously, "Your Majesty, it seems that Guizhou Governor Ye Mengxiong and I are not on good terms. If I were to lead my army to attack him, I'm afraid he would try to trip me up."

Ye Mengxiong?
I almost forgot about this shit!

Upon hearing this, Wanli decisively said, "Take your men and capture him for me."

(End of this chapter)