The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 401 Attacking Wang Jing
The capital of the vassal state of Korea had not yet been taken, but Qi Jiguang actually ran back to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

It was still about 5 p.m. that afternoon, and as it was getting dark, he quietly boarded a navy speedboat and entered the imperial city, arriving at the Grand Council Hall.

Wanli had been waiting in the hall for a long time.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Qi Jiguang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, in the vassal state of Korea, only the Ukita Hideie clan of the Eighth Japanese pirate army entrenched in the capital has not surrendered.

I ordered people to roughly count the number of captured Japanese pirates. Now the number has exceeded 400,000. Even if these 400,000 Japanese pirates are not fed enough, they will consume more than 200,000 stones of grain a month.

Your Majesty, are we really going to force them all to work in the coal mines?

If we let them dig coal, we must make sure they are well fed. These 400,000-plus prisoners will consume at least 5 million dan of grain a year. Mobilizing that grain will be a huge problem for us."

Yes, five million dan of grain is no joke. The Ming Dynasty court in the past could not collect so much land tax in a year.

The loss of these five million dan of grain during transportation is enormous. After all, the soldiers who transport the grain also need to eat and receive grain. If we calculate based on the previous rule that it takes at least two dan of grain to transport one dan of grain, then the loss of transporting five million dan of grain will be ten million dan!
They waste 10 million shi of grain every year to mobilize 5 million shi of grain to feed the captured Japanese pirates?
This is a joke. There are still common people in the Ming Dynasty who cannot get enough to eat.

He said that all the captured Japanese pirates were sent to dig coal, but he was just saying it casually at the time.

More than 400,000 Japanese pirates went to dig coal mines, not to mention whether there were so many coal mines for them to dig.

The key point is that they can’t sell all the coal they dig out.

One Japanese pirate can dig at least 1,000 kilograms of coal a day. Four hundred thousand Japanese pirates can dig 400 million kilograms of coal a day, which means 120 trillion kilograms of coal a month!
Can Ming Dynasty sell so much coal now?
This is probably unlikely. What's more, many civilians in the Ming Dynasty make a living by mining coal, and he can't let the Japanese pirates take away their livelihoods.

Wanli carefully examined the map and then asked, "The Liaohe River basin is mostly flat, right? The black soil there seems to be very fertile, right?"

Does this mean that the Japanese pirates are allowed to open up wasteland and cultivate the land?
Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, the terrain over there is all plain, from Gaizhouwei to Haizhouwei, then to Dingliaozhongwei, Shenyangzhongwei, and even Tielingwei and Kaiyuanwei.

I estimate that if all the plains along the Liao River were reclaimed and cultivated, at least 50 million mu of land could be created."

With so much land, why didn’t people cultivate it before?
Is the land over there not suitable for growing crops?

This is just a joke. In later generations, it became a famous granary.

The reason why the land there is barren now is mainly due to climate reasons.

It’s too cold there in the winter. A stove alone is not enough. A warm bed is also needed.

The original Ming Dynasty court would not consider these things. There was no stove, so people had to chop wood to heat their own kang!

This is a bit embarrassing. How much firewood does it take to heat the warm kangs there in the winter? If the garrison troops go there to open up wasteland and farm, they will probably be exhausted just by chopping firewood. What's more, if there is no sturdy and cold-resistant house, a warm kang alone is not enough.

In short, the manpower and material resources invested in reclaiming wasteland and cultivating land there were too great, and the original Ming Dynasty court did not have the spare money or time.

Therefore, most of the military farms of the Liaodong garrisons were concentrated in the Liaoxi Corridor, where the winter was not too cold.

Otherwise, if we calculate based on 50 million mu, with each household having 50 mu of garrison, it would be enough to support one million households of garrisons.

There are only a little over 100,000 garrison households in Liaodong now.

If the Japanese pirates were allowed to go to the Liaohe River Basin to open up wasteland and cultivate land, the more than 400,000 Japanese pirate captives would not be enough, and it would not be enough to bring all their families over.

There is definitely no problem in reclaiming wasteland and farming there now. They have plenty of coal stoves, and the Japanese pirates can dig the coal themselves. There is also enough coal to heat the kang.

The problem is that the number of Japanese pirate captives is not enough, and there are also great hidden dangers in allowing Japanese pirate captives to open up wasteland and cultivate land in the hinterland of Liaodong.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "First, let Liangyu lead the Sichuan Army soldiers to take the Japanese pirate captives by boat in batches to the Liaohe River basin to open up wasteland and build houses and courtyards.

These houses and courtyards must be built according to the best garrison standards. I will dispatch 50,000 craftsmen to guide the captured Japanese pirates in their construction, and I will also have people constantly bringing in red bricks and lumber. In short, this year we will reclaim 50 million mu of wasteland in the Liaohe River basin, and we will need enough houses to accommodate one million garrison households."

what?
Qi Jiguang was puzzled when he heard this and asked, "Your Majesty, do you mean to mobilize the garrison troops to cultivate those lands?"

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Yes, that is the heartland of Liaodong. We can't let the Japanese pirates farm there. Besides, after we take over Japan, people will be needed to farm there. If all these laborers stay in Ming Dynasty, who will farm the land there?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang was shocked and asked, "Your Majesty, are you saying that we should release these captives back to Japan?"

Wanli nodded slowly and said, "Of course. The Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette. If we say we'll let them go, we'll let them go. Send the secret guards who understand Japanese to tell the captured Japanese pirates to be obedient and work hard. As long as they behave themselves and finish the battle, we'll let them go back to Japan."

Oh, you're lying to them again.

After the war, Japan belonged to the Ming Dynasty. There was actually not much difference between returning to Japan and staying in the Ming Dynasty, except that they could go back and reunite with their families.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

These captives cannot simply be sent back to Japan. Even if they capture Japan and send them back, it will still be a huge hidden danger.

Wanli pondered and said, "We still have to arrange for the old scholar to teach them how to read and write. Then they will have to take the test. Only those who pass the test can go back."

What does this mean?
Qi Jiguang was stunned when he heard this.

He was a little confused.

This is rather complicated to explain, and the effect of doing this will only gradually become apparent later.

Wanli didn't want to bother explaining, so he simply asked, "What are you going to do with the Ukita Hideie clan of the Japanese pirates' Eighth Corps?"

Qi Jiguang frowned slightly upon hearing this and said, "This fellow probably thinks that the walls of the vassal state of Korea are high and there is plenty of food inside, so he still wants to resist stubbornly.

"I feel we can't drag this on any longer. If all else fails, I'll mobilize the Beijing troops to attack from all sides. They're just over 10,000 Japanese pirates, and they wouldn't be able to withstand 10,000 bombs."

Wanli nodded slightly upon hearing this and said, "Well, if all else fails, let's just attack head-on. There's no point in dragging it out like this. We have plenty of bombs, just keep throwing them. We'll take Wangjing this month."

Qi Jiguang quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

Next we need to consider the issue of peace talks.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Where are the captured daimyo and Japanese pirate generals?"

Qi Jiguang explained in detail: "They are all following Mori Terumoto in the vassal state of Korea to persuade them to surrender. Except for Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Kuroda Nagamasa and other diehards, we have not imprisoned or shackled the other daimyo and generals. We still provide them with good food and drink every day."

Yes, Not Bad.

These guys were also the key to their conquest of Japan.

Wanli nodded slightly, and then gave detailed instructions: "First, ask them to persuade them to surrender. After a few days, let them see how we take over Wangjing. After the vassal state of Korea's Wangjing is taken, the Beijing Camp can be temporarily withdrawn.

You should have the soldiers of the Beijing camp bring back Mori Terumoto, Kobayakawa Takakage, and others, along with Ukita Hideie and others, to the capital."

What does this mean?
Qi Jiguang thought about it, then asked carefully: "Do we also want to bring back those diehard guys like Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Kuroda Nagamasa, etc.?"

Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "Yes, bring them all back. I will teach them well."

what?
You also personally taught the Japanese pirates!

(End of this chapter)