The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 487: Unprecedented Migration

Wanli issued an order to start the migration.

The two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty were suddenly flooded with people, and countless people gathered near the rivers and lakes.

The navy's centipede boats and even the octagonal boats of the Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan Customs were spread all over the major river systems along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

This is an unprecedented migration.

The number of garrison households recruited by the Five Military Commanderies was actually not just three million, but more than 3.3 million households. Including men, women, young and old, there were a total of more than 15 million people.

This is equivalent to emptying the entire Japan!
Although the population of the Ming Dynasty was much larger than that of Japan, the total population registered in the "Yellow Book of Taxes and Services" was only 50 to 60 million.

If calculated based on the population registered in the "Yellow Book of Taxes and Services", Wanli was equivalent to relocating nearly 30% of the population of the Ming Dynasty.

There has never been such a large-scale migration in all dynasties.

Even when natural disasters and man-made calamities were at their worst in the Central Plains, even when the land was barren and starving people were everywhere, there had never been such a large-scale migration.

Because no emperor had such great courage, no emperor had so many fast ships to transport people, and no emperor had such financial resources to support so many people.

These more than 15 million people cannot just go to the Nurgan Regional Administration to open up wasteland and cultivate the land.

They first need to have a place to live, and it must be a house with heating, otherwise, these people will not be able to survive the severe cold in winter.

Also, the weather here is very different from that in the south of the Yangtze River and even the Central Plains. We have to try to know which crops can be grown here.

More importantly, in order to facilitate the transportation of food, they had to build a large canal.

This will take two years, and it will take another half year for the crops to be grown in the third year.

In other words, in order to complete this unprecedented large-scale migration, it would take at least two and a half years to support these more than 15 million people!

Which emperor in history could come up with so much money and food to support so many people for two and a half years?
These more than 15 million people must consume at least 150 million dan of grain a year.

Wanli also saw that the Liaodong Military Region’s garrison had a bumper harvest and had no problem selling so much grain in a year. Moreover, the Liaodong Military Region was close, making it convenient to transport grain, so he dared to carry out such a migration.

In fact, food is only one aspect.

With so many people coming here, we have to prepare a lot of things.

For example, where to live.

Before the Tunwei House was built, these people had no place to live. Moreover, even in spring, summer and autumn, the temperature at night was relatively low. It was definitely not possible to use the sky as a blanket or the ground as a bed.
There is also the issue of food.

People cannot eat rice alone, they will not be able to eat it at all, and if they don’t eat some meat, they will not have the energy to work.

There are also pots, pans, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, building materials, etc. There is no way to know how many things need to be prepared.

Wanli had naturally prepared for all these.

Wanshengtang has its own cloth shop, and the cloth it produces is in the millions. It is no problem to use the cloth they produce to make more than three million simple tents.

As for the problem of rain protection, they produce their own oil, so it is not a big problem to cover the outside of the tent with some cardboard soaked in butter to prevent rain.

The problem of vegetables is easy to solve. The Liaodong Dusi Tuanwei grows a lot of vegetables. They don’t raise many pigs, so they can only use them to feed chickens. You can get a boatload of vegetables by paying a little money.

As for meat, fish can be caught using the newly built large fishing boats. As for mutton and other things, they seized a lot from the Tatars last year. It is no problem to have some mutton soup for these people every now and then to satisfy their hunger.

There are also pots, pans, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and building materials. Wanshengtang and major border towns all produce them, so just bring them over.

At the Nurgan Regional Military Commission and the northern wharf of the Liaohe River, the relocated garrison troops had not yet arrived, but the garrison officers of all levels dispatched by the Liaodong Regional Military Commission had already arrived.

Wanli also moved his troops here with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Imperial Guards, the Three Shenwu Battalions, and the Four Shenshu Battalions.

The north bank of the Liao River was a veritable sea of ​​tents. The Liaodong Regional Command alone mobilized over 200,000 garrison officers of all levels, and with their families included, that number would be over a million.

The navy's clippers had already begun transporting food and supplies here, and all kinds of supplies had already piled up like mountains near the dock. At a glance, they looked like mountains.

Before noon that day, the first batch of migrating garrison troops had already arrived. Thousands of centipede-shaped ships from the navy truly sped towards them, their oars swaying like a giant centipede. Each ship was filled with fifty or sixty men, women, and children, totaling fifty to sixty thousand people.

These garrison troops are different from those in Liaodong. They are not garrison troops in the true sense.

They were originally just civilians with little or no land. It was naturally impossible to expect them to immediately become organized and disciplined like real garrison troops.

That guy, dense black spots swarmed down from the ship, and the long dock area suddenly became as crowded as a vegetable market.

Men, women, young and old were all overjoyed, with excitement on their faces.

It wasn’t easy. After nearly ten days of sailing, we finally arrived.

They didn't know how many rivers, lakes and seas they passed along the way, and they didn't know whether the navy's express ship was heading south or north. They only knew that the two sides of this river were indeed full of uncultivated wasteland.

Moreover, the tents near the dock were so endless that you could not see the end of them, and the mountains of supplies were also so endless that you could not see the end of them.

This proves that every household really needs 50 acres of land, and the Emperor will not only distribute land to them but also distribute supplies to them.

Wanli was actually on the slope next to the dock at this moment, but he and the second son Zhu Changxu were both wearing the military uniforms of the Beijing Camp. There were more than 200,000 soldiers from the Beijing Camp nearby, and the common people naturally would not have thought that the person standing on the slope would be the current emperor.

He raised the telescope and scanned the area, then said solemnly to the side: "Yuan De, it's up to you."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuande immediately bowed and took his leave, then galloped down his horse and came to the mountain of supplies next to the dock.

Soon, the garrison officers drove teams of grain carts mobilized from Liaodong Town to the large black spot.

Then, hundreds of centurions took out the roster and began to call out names. The general flags and small flags under their command quickly walked into the crowd and led over those who raised their hands to respond. They lined up on both sides of the carriage and put the heavy objects and children carried by these people on the grain cart.

Before long, these 50,000 to 60,000 people were divided into hundreds of teams, following the convoy slowly towards the canal area designated in the north, and the black spots near the dock were cleared.

Seeing this, Wanli couldn't help but nodded slightly.

Seeing this, the emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, could not help but exclaim in surprise, "How did they divide it so quickly?"

Do you think these garrison troops were recruited randomly?

Wanli patiently taught him, "Xu'er, you must remember that you must plan everything carefully before you act, and you can't act rashly.

This large-scale migration of garrison troops has been prepared for nearly half a year. I have long ago ordered the Five Armies Commandery to assign all the garrison troops to the garrison garrisons, thousand-household garrisons, and hundred-household garrisons.

Yuande also appointed all the commanders, thousand households, hundred households, general flags and small flags, and distributed food and supplies.

The navy officers and soldiers did not just recruit randomly. This time they recruited 11,200 garrison households from ten thousand-household garrisons belonging to two garrisons.

Moreover, the navy's speedboats do not dock randomly. Each dock is occupied by a garrison of a hundred households, and those docks are also marked in advance.

All the centurions have to do is bring their allocated food and supplies and go forward according to the signs to be called."

It turns out that the preparations were so thorough.

Upon hearing this, the emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, could not help but nod repeatedly and said, "I understand, Father. You are truly amazing."

Upon hearing this, Minister of Works Zeng Tongheng couldn't help but reveal a hint of admiration.

The current emperor is truly different, very different.

No emperor in all dynasties has been so powerful. He could arrange the migration of tens of millions of people so meticulously. Who could do that?

While they were talking, thousands of navy centipede ships arrived at the dock that had just been cleared, and another 50,000 to 60,000 men, women, old and young happily flocked to the dock!

When Wanli said that he could recruit three million young and strong people to the Minister of Works Zeng Tongheng within a month, he was certainly not bragging.

These garrison troops had already gathered along the canal according to the location of their respective garrisons.

The octopus boats of the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Xingdusi had already started pulling them in batches to the docks along the Liaohe River.

He arranged ten teams of centipede ships for the navy. These ten teams of centipede ships were transporting people to the Liaohe North Wharf day and night. They could bring in 500,000 to 600,000 people a day, which means more than 15 million people a month!
(End of this chapter)