The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 501: The Pattern Determines Destiny
August is the hottest time of the year in Beijing. The asphalt on the road is softened by the heat.

The summer resort is better. The breeze from the mountains can bring some coolness, and the evaporation of water vapor from the river can also reduce the temperature.

In order to train the young Zhu Changxun, Wanli did not let the little guy stay in the palace full of ice troughs all the time.

At about 4 p.m. that day, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, he brought little Zhu Changxun to the Baihe River Valley where herbs were grown.

He just wanted the little guy to experience what heat is while broadening his horizons.

The medicinal fields in the Baihe Valley are no longer the small ones they were at the beginning. The terraces they have opened are more than a hundred miles long. The herbs produced every year are worth millions of taels. If calculated based on the selling price of the finished medicines, it is worth at least tens of millions of taels.

Now, Wanshengtang Pharmacy's medicines have long been exported overseas, and they have almost occupied the medicine markets in Southeast Asia, the West, and even Europe.

The reason why this pharmaceutical business is so profitable can be said to be the result of Wanli's strong support.

When he saw the familiar medicinal field and recalled the development of Wanshengtang Pharmacy, he couldn't help feeling a little proud.

It can be said that it is all his credit that the pharmaceutical business has grown from nothing to such a big one.

This business is huge. The larger the population, the more money they make. The key is that they have also seized overseas markets. If this business continues to develop like this, who knows how much profit will be in the future.

Seeing the endless terraced fields, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, don't we have plenty of farmland now? Why are we going to all this trouble to dig terraces on the hillside?"

Do you think herbs can grow anywhere?
Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently explained: "Xun'er, herbs are different from crops.

Crops basically like sunshine. As long as the fields are opened on fertile plains, irrigated with sufficient water and enough fertilizer, they will thrive.

Different herbs are different. Some herbs prefer shade, some herbs prefer sun, some herbs need more watering, and some herbs cannot be watered too much. There are also climate, soil, terrain, etc. It can be said that the growing environment of each herb is different.

The kind of plains you mentioned can only grow a few herbs, but the terraces in the mountains can grow a wide variety of herbs, which is why we went to the trouble of creating so many terraces."

Oh, so herbs are different from crops.

Upon hearing this, little Zhu Changxun nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said, "Father, why don't we dismount and take a look? I haven't even seen what herbs look like."

He can now ride the horse and walk alone, so it's no problem for him to ride slowly.

However, he was not even half the height of the horse, so he needed someone to carry him on and off the horse.

Wanli nodded slightly, signaling his uncle Li Xuancheng to dismount quickly and pick up the little guy. He then ordered someone to take out the "Compendium of Materia Medica" from the horse's backpack, and then led a group of people to the terraced fields on the hillside.

This herb can be said to be a specialty of the Ming Dynasty, and the medicine made from it can not only make a lot of money but also greatly increase the life expectancy of ordinary people.

It turns out that the average life expectancy of the people in the Ming Dynasty was only about 40 years old. The lack of medical care and medicine can be said to be the main reason. A minor illness could be fatal.

It is different now. Medicines for common diseases are available everywhere and are very cheap. Ordinary people can afford them. As a result, fewer people die prematurely from illness, and the average life expectancy has naturally increased.

The drug has not been promoted for long yet, so it is impossible to calculate how much the average life expectancy has increased.

Wanli estimated that unless the people of the Ming Dynasty suffered from a serious illness, it should not be a problem for them to live to around sixty years old.

This means that each person has an average of twenty more years of time, and people in their forties and fifties are in the prime of life. As long as they are not sick, ordinary people will definitely have no problem working until they are fifty. This means that the Ming Dynasty has increased its labor force by more than 20%.

He was teaching little Zhu Changxun the benefits of promoting medicine when suddenly a horse galloped down the valley road.

The attire and dark complexion made it clear that it was Li Guozhu.

Seeing this, Wanli couldn't help but said excitedly: "Guozhu is finally back. Let's go to the school."

He had indeed been waiting for Li Guozhu for a long time, because he had a lot of things in America to explain to Li Guozhu, and the things in America were also of great help to Zhu Changxun in broadening his horizons.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he took Zhu Changxun and Li Guozhu and rode back to the Miyun Palace and arrived at the lobby of the original county government office.

Now this place has been converted into a school, which is where he teaches little Zhu Changxun.

When Li Guozhu saw the layout inside, he was stunned.

He remembered that it wasn't like this inside.

Why are there small steps on both sides of this table?
Wanli put the little Zhu Changxun in his arms on the steps and asked, "Guozhu, did you bring back the latest map of America?"

This is a natural thing to bring.

Upon hearing this, Li Guozhu hurriedly took out a folded map from his arms and bent over to spread it out on the long table.

There were small steps on both sides of the long table, which made it a bit inconvenient for them. However, little Zhu Changxun was able to look at the map on the steps, and he could even walk around and lie down to take a closer look at every part of the map.

Wanli bent down to look at the map, then asked, "Have the vassal states in North America been divided up now?"

Judging from the map, this doesn't seem to be resolved yet, as there is still a blank strip on the east coast of North America.

Li Guozhu nodded repeatedly and said, "It's been divided. There are more than fifty in total. They have also vacated the east coast area for us. However, we still have to give them over 100,000 sheep and tens of thousands of war horses in exchange."

If we leave it vacant at this time, wouldn't that be an advantage for those colonial bandits?

The area of ​​Indian territories that are now vacant is where Britain first established colonies in North America!

However, this is also good. If these guys dare to come, we can just take them down directly, because that area is already the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Wanli thought about it, then nodded slightly and said, "Well, that area will be left empty for now, and we will develop the west side first.

This time, I have prepared for you a group of craftsmen and soldiers from the Beijing camp who are specialized in exploring for minerals. You are requested to take them along with their exploration tools.

If I remember correctly, there should be a gold mine in this area. After you take them over, let them explore this area first."

Uh, who told you that? Why haven't I heard of it? Wanli's words were really a bit puzzling.

However, there is no need to explain why he became emperor.

Li Guozhu was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What is the total population of that vassal state, and how many troops can they mobilize?"

Li Guozhu said without hesitation: "Master Zhu has roughly estimated that the total population over there is more than 30 million, so it will be no problem to mobilize 2 million troops.

The Shenjiying Battalion has already organized over 1.5 million officers and soldiers, and they are currently training. However, most of them still lack weapons and equipment."

This is not a problem.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "We have already produced more than one million sets of weapons and equipment. You can bring them over this time and equip them quickly.

Also, have the officers of the Shenji Battalion lead them south and gather them all in the southern part of the Apache Kingdom. We are preparing for war, and if the fighting starts in Luzon, we will immediately take action there."

Is a war about to break out in Luzon?
Li Guozhu nodded quickly and said, "I understand."

Little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, where is Luzon?"

It's not on this map.

Upon hearing this, Wanli took down the world map next to him, spread it on the table, and introduced it in detail: "Look, this is Luzon.

Spain's colonies were mainly in the Americas, but they came to Southeast Asia to seize Luzon. To put it bluntly, they were jealous of the fat piece of meat of the Ming Dynasty.

If they had not indulged in extravagance but instead engaged in warmongering, they would have used Luzon as a springboard to attack the Ming Dynasty long ago.

However, they have begun to decline at this time, and other colonial bandits on the European continent are eyeing them covetously and may attack them at any time.

In this case, they would certainly not be able to keep their overseas colonies.

We must take advantage of their situation to destroy them and seize all their overseas colonies.

In this way, we can replace them and become the new overlord of the sea!"

Spain seems to have many overseas colonies.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun couldn't help but look at the map carefully.

He looked at it for a while, then couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "Father, Spain's overseas colonies seem to be even larger than our current territory. Let's take them all!
How many men and horses are needed to seize it, and how many men and horses are needed to defend it? Do we have that many men and horses? If we don’t have that many men and horses to defend it, what’s the point of seizing it?”

It's not easy for you to think of these things at such a young age.

However, you are wrong.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then said solemnly: "Xun'er, you need to broaden your horizons and expand your vision. We need to look at the whole world, do you understand?

Just think about it, if we don’t take over such a large territory and it is taken away by other colonial robbers from Europe, what will be the consequences?
The colonies seized by Spain were indeed larger than our current territory, which means that the resources in these territories were more than what we currently have.

In other words, once these territories are taken away by other colonial bandits on the European continent, they will have more resources than us.

Spain only knew how to indulge in luxury and luxury, but not how to engage in militarism, while many other colonial bandits in Europe were also militarists.

If they seize more resources than us, their military power may surpass ours. Then if they attack us in groups, we may not be able to defend ourselves.

We can't let that happen, you know?

You must remember that you must broaden your vision and look at the entire world, rather than just focusing on the current territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Your pattern determines your destiny, and your destiny is the future destiny of the Ming Dynasty.

"The choice of whether Ming will become the most powerful nation in the world, with no one daring to challenge it, or whether it will be overtaken by others and attacked by all is up to you, do you know?"

pattern?

destiny!

Little Zhu Changxun stared at it carefully and seemed to understand a little.

If the Ming Dynasty could swallow up the Spanish colonies, it would be truly powerful and formidable.

However, there are still problems.

He thought about it carefully and asked, "Father, can we really mobilize so many troops to defend such a large territory?"

This problem is actually easy to solve.

Wanli pointed at the map and patiently taught: "As I said before, don't just focus on the Ming Dynasty, you have to look at the whole world.

Look at our vassal state, North Korea. They can mobilize 240,000 troops in 12 battalions from such a small place. And because they rely on us to make money, these 240,000 troops are firmly under our control.

This amount of manpower is nothing. Look at North America. There are more than 50 vassal states here. They can easily mobilize more than 2 million men. We can firmly control their men by controlling their economy.

As long as you make them understand that they can eat meat by following us, and at the same time firmly control advanced muskets, artillery and warships, then there will be no problem of manpower. There are so many vassal states that can recruit more than enough men and horses."

Oh, you can also recruit troops from vassal states.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun nodded thoughtfully.

(End of this chapter)