The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 502 The Future Crown Prince is So Terrible

Vision?

pattern?

destiny!

Li Guozhu was a little confused when he first heard this.

The future Crown Prince nodded repeatedly at such a young age, as if he was thinking about something, and it seemed that he understood!

Isn't this too scary?
Li Guozhu did not think that the future crown prince was ferocious and scary.

He was frightened by the future Crown Prince's terrifying comprehension ability.

This future Crown Prince is so smart.

He has been struggling outside for many years, and he has traveled many times to America, which is thousands of miles away.

Even so, he still didn't quite understand what vision, pattern, and destiny were.

The future Crown Prince actually understood!
That's what a child prodigy is, right?
In fact, little Zhu Changxun was not a child prodigy.

He may be a little smart, but he is far from a child prodigy.

The reason why he could understand what Wanli said was because that was what Wanli had taught him these days.

It's like Wanli kept telling him how to make muskets and cannons, what are the advantages of muskets and cannons, and in which directions muskets and cannons will develop, etc.

Then, Wanli added that muskets and cannons would inevitably replace cold weapons and become the protagonists on the battlefield.

Most people would probably be a little confused when they heard this.

Because the average person these days is not able to see this, not to mention the average person, even the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang did not realize this.

The Ming Dynasty had a lot of muskets and cannons at the beginning of the Hongwu period. If the Hongwu Emperor had realized this and ordered people to frantically build and improve muskets and cannons, the Ming Dynasty would have been invincible long ago and would have remained invincible.

Therefore, whether you understand or not has little to do with whether you are a child prodigy. The key is the issue of vision.

Little Zhu Changxun had a broad vision, so he could roughly understand it.

He pondered for a while and even asked, "Father, if our territory really becomes so large, I'm afraid it won't work without enough ships, right?"

This little guy already has the potential to become a wise and benevolent ruler.

Wanli nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yes, we must have enough ships.

We don’t have enough ships now, especially the ocean-going giant ships. More than a thousand ships are simply not enough, and they are not enough now.

The distance is tens of thousands of miles, and it is impossible without ships. If you go by land, it will take at least several months to travel tens of thousands of miles. It will probably take a year to return if you go to America by land.

Moreover, some places are not accessible by land, so it is impossible to get there.

Therefore, ships are the most important thing in this era. We not only need to have enough ships, but also need to get rid of the limitations of relying on wind and water power to propel ships and develop ships driven by steam engines.

Your father has explained to you in detail what a steam engine is. Your grandfather is currently developing a steam engine.

Now we are facing a problem, that is, the steam engine must be made of copper. Not to mention that the small pipe connecting the steam must be made of copper so that it can be wound around, the steam piston cannot be made of hundred-fold steel. Hundred-fold steel is too hard and difficult to process. It is also very troublesome to use it to make steam pistons, and it is difficult to achieve mass production.

Therefore, if we want to mass-produce steam engines, we need a large amount of copper.

The problem is that the amount of copper produced in our Ming Dynasty is not much, not even enough to make copper coins.

In this case, we have to look overseas for places with rich copper resources.

The original Inca Empire had rich copper resources, because they once made many bronze and even pure copper utensils.

Therefore, the war between Ming and Spain is inevitable. We must seize the former Inca Empire's territory."

Steam engine?
Li Guozhu was a little confused again.

Little Zhu Changxun nodded repeatedly, seemingly understanding what was said.

Moreover, he then asked: "Father, where is the original Inca Empire?"

The Inca Empire no longer appears on the map.

Wanli pointed directly at the map and said, "The location of the Inca Empire is roughly here. It is now the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru."

Uh, so far?
Li Guozhu couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, do you mean that this time we should fight all the way to the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru in South America?"

of course.

Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "That's right. We are in urgent need of copper mines. This time we must take over the Viceroyalty of Peru. How about it? Is there any problem?"

This is a big problem! Li Guozhu thought about it carefully, then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I dare to say that the Inca Empire is thousands or even tens of thousands of miles away from the Apache Kingdom.

If we want to fight our way through, it will take at least a year, and we will have to bring most of the troops from the North American territories, which is about 1.5 million.

These 1.5 million troops plus our own troops will require at least 20 million dan of grain this year.

We have only planted about two million mu of land there now. It would be good if we can harvest more than five million dan of grain by the autumn of this year. We are short of 15 million dan of grain alone.

They still need some beef, mutton, and other things to eat, and there's no telling how much baggage we'll need to carry. The ships I have are far from enough, and even three trips a year wouldn't be enough."

As the saying goes, food and supplies must be sent before troops move out. This is basic common sense.

This means that millions of troops are marching thousands of miles away, and it is definitely not possible without considering the issue of food and grass.

It seems that we can't rush into this battle.

Wanli nodded slightly, and then taught: "Xun'er, you see, generals who have really fought in wars will consider the issue of food and supplies before the battle begins.

You must pay attention to this in the future. You must consider the issue of food and supplies before the battle begins. Before the troops move, food and supplies must be fully prepared. If there is a problem with food and supplies during the battle, the more troops you have, the faster you will collapse."

Little Zhu Changxun nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I've got this in mind. We don't have enough ships to transport food and supplies this time. What should we do?"

Yes, Not Bad.

This means he has listened and is considering the issue.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pondered: "When this battle will start is decided by us. We will definitely not fight this year, and it won't be a big problem if we prepare for another year next year.

Guozhu, how much farmland can be cultivated in North America? I am referring to our territory on the west coast."

There are quite a few of these.

Li Guozhu pointed at the map and explained in detail: "Your Majesty, although there are not many plains in our territory in North America, there are still many basins, especially in the north.

However, this area has been frozen for too long, so it is not necessarily suitable for growing crops. Only vegetables can be grown. The place that is truly suitable for growing crops is the place with the gold mountain you mentioned.

There happens to be a large basin in this area. We roughly measured it this year. The width of this basin is more than 100 miles and the length is more than 1,000 miles. I estimate that at least 40 to 50 million acres of land can be opened up.

Our main naval port is now built here, and the more than two million mu of land opened up by the Japanese is also near the main naval port."

Very good, as long as we have land, there will be no problem.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said decisively: "This year, you can only take the young and strong people of the Wo Nu over there, and keep the people of the Jurchen tribe in Dongfan for now. After all, there is a lot of grain produced there, so it will be no problem to support that small number of people.

This time you must take along all the sheep and horses that you promised, as well as the food needed before the autumn harvest. For the rest, take along the young and strong Japanese slaves, as many as you can.

After you bring these young and strong Japanese slaves over, don't rush to ask them to open up wasteland and farm. Let them build houses first, as many as they can.

This is the last trip of the year when you will bring the young and strong Japanese soldiers over. After that, you will have them dig fields and canals and prepare for farming. At least 20 million acres of land will be cultivated there next year.

This way, we will not only have enough food for the war, but we can also use the food to ask the North American vassal states to do a lot of things. As for what to do, we will decide when the time comes."

Twenty million acres of land!
Upon hearing this, Li Guozhu said cautiously, "Your Majesty, the young men of the Japanese slaves are too thin and small to be able to farm. It would be difficult for a young man to farm 20 mu of land without an ox.

If we want to open up 20 million mu of land there, we will have to recruit 1 million young and strong Japanese slaves. I am afraid that more than half of the young and strong Japanese slaves in Japan will be recruited by us. If that happens, I am afraid that Japan will not be able to cultivate the land."

This problem is not big.

Wanli pondered, "The dukes and nobles in Japan have all been rewarded with a lot of cattle, sheep, and horses. Their cattle can be used to help the Japanese slaves in Japan to plow the land.

Anyway, there is not much land in Japan, so it should not be a problem if they take all the cattle to help. If we take away most of the young and strong Japanese slaves from Japan, it can also reduce the burden on the other side, and it will be more difficult for the Japanese slaves to rebel.

Next year, you should first ask the vassal state over there to send out 200,000 troops to help us watch over those Japanese slaves. When the grain harvest comes in the autumn of next year, you can bring another 200,000 garrison soldiers from Japan to replace the troops of the vassal state.

In the future, we will leave half of the young and strong Japanese slaves there, bring their families over in batches, and then gradually equip them with oxen to develop the entire basin.

This way we'll have enough food, and we can continue to bring people over to gradually develop the forests and mineral deposits there."

Upon hearing this, Li Guozhu nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Upon hearing this, little Zhu Changxun looked thoughtful.

The reason why Wanli spoke in such detail was that most of it was actually for him to hear.

His expression made it seem as if he was really thinking about the issues of development in North America.

This future crown prince is really a bit scary.

His ability to comprehend is really terrifying.

Or perhaps, Wanli's teaching method was so powerful that it broadened my horizons and made me see the world in a completely different way.

(End of this chapter)