The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 603 Turning the Earth Over

Qin Liangyu and Ma Qiancheng have tied down the main force of the Jurchens.

A chase ensued amidst the dense forests of Yongle Mountain.

How formidable were the Sichuan Army's White-Spear Soldiers in mountain warfare?

Nurhaci may not have realized this yet.

Wanli, however, was very clear about it.

The Sichuan Army's White-Spear Soldiers were invincible in mountain warfare!
Yang Yinglong's Bozhou Army, She Chongming's Yongning Army, An Bangyan's Shuixi Army, and so on were all formidable mountain warfare forces, but they were no match for the Sichuan Army's White Spear Soldiers.

Historically, the Jurchens did not encounter the Sichuan Army's White-Spear Soldiers in mountain warfare; they met them on flat ground.

In the bloody battle of Hunhe, tens of thousands of elite Eight Banner troops besieged several thousand Sichuan White-Spear Soldiers but could not break through for a long time. In the end, they could only be defeated by artillery bombardment.

In other words, even if the Jurchens were to deploy their troops on flat ground, ten against one, they would still be unable to defeat the Sichuan Army's White Spear Soldiers.

This time, the Jurchens encountered the Sichuan Army's White-Spear Soldiers in the mountains and forests, and the numbers were reversed. The Sichuan Army's White-Spear Soldiers numbered 400,000, while the Jurchens had less than 40,000.

The Jurchens are now completely entangled; how can they possibly escape?
That is impossible.

It was only a matter of time before Qin Liangyu and Ma Qiancheng annihilated the Jurchens.

Wanli's mood also became extremely relaxed.

He even ordered his men to summon Xu Guangqi and Wang Xiangjin.

Early that morning, around 7:00 AM, as the sun rose, the sound of hooves suddenly filled the air in the chariot formations of the Shenshu Camp and the Shenji Camp.

Soon, tens of thousands of Imperial Guard light cavalry and tens of thousands of Imperial Guard light cavalry swarmed out from the north of the wagon formation, heading straight for the swamp dozens of miles to the north.

This swamp is no ordinary place; it probably spans over ten miles in circumference. Once people or livestock get stuck, they'll never be able to get out.

The campsites along the river were even cut off, and the riverbank had to be paved with sand and planks to make it passable.

Wanli held up his binoculars and carefully scanned the swamp, which resembled a shallow beach or a grassland flooded with water, before asking, "Zijin, have you started using the silt from this swamp to make fertilizer?"

This started a long time ago.

Wang Xiangjin nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the swamps in the far west, near the Songnen Plain, have already been dug up. The fertilizer produced there is enough to fertilize millions of acres of land."

That's far too little; it's only enough to fertilize a few million acres of land.
The Nurgan Regional Military Commission has at least several hundred million mu of land, and more than one hundred million mu have already been developed.

Does this mean that the fertilizer made from silt is not enough for the current semi-finished land?
Upon hearing this, Emperor Wanli asked curiously, "How much fertilizer should be applied to this acre of land?"

There's no certainty about that.

Wang Xiangjin explained in detail: "It depends on the fertility of the land and what you plant. Generally, if the land is fertile enough, 30 to 40 catties of fertilizer per mu is enough. If the land is not fertile enough, you need to apply 50 to 60 catties or even 70 to 80 catties of fertilizer per mu."

This means that we can currently only produce a few hundred million kilograms of fertilizer. This number seems alarming, but it's actually not that much.

Since a laborer can dig up thousands of kilograms of coal in a day, digging up thousands of kilograms of silt in the open air would definitely not be a problem.

In other words, on average, each laborer can dig at least tens of thousands of kilograms of silt per month, and hundreds of millions of kilograms is the amount that about 10,000 laborers can dig in a month.

The Nurgan Regional Military Commission has more than three million laborers, and these laborers have at least three months of off-season time.

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Why don't you hire more laborers to dredge the silt? The fertilizer you're making is far too little."

There are many reasons for this.

Wang Xiangjin explained in detail: "Your Majesty, because we haven't developed this area yet, making fertilizer is still a bit of a hassle."

We need to consider the transportation of labor, raw materials and fertilizers, build houses, equip them with various tools, and take safety into account, among other things.

The silt in this swamp is difficult to dig; hoes, rakes, and shovels are all unsuitable, and digging it is very strenuous.

Moreover, digging will cause water to accumulate, and dredging the silt from the water is even more troublesome. We are also considering whether to make a batch of foot-operated waterwheels to drain the water while digging.

Oh, so many questions.

This fertilizer is extremely important, and we must produce as much as possible. Fertilizing can increase production. Even if it only increases the yield by half a shi of grain per mu, that's incredible. With a billion mu of land, it can increase the yield by 500 million shi every year!

It seems that with Wang Xiangjin's abilities and power, it's impossible for him to produce enough fertilizer.

This kid is good at growing fruits and vegetables and even developing fertilizers, but he's not good at mass-producing fertilizers.

After thinking it over carefully, Wanli decisively said, "Chang Geng, you don't have anything to do anyway, so why don't you help Zi Jin out?"

Look at what equipment is needed to make fertilizer, and replace it all with steam engines. This will save manpower and increase production capacity quickly.

For example, with dredging silt, you can modify a foot-operated waterwheel to be powered by a steam engine, and then change the water bucket into a digging bucket.

This way, there's no fear of water accumulation; the excavator bucket can still dig even when submerged in water, and the efficiency is much higher than manual digging. One of these machines, equipped with ten 100-pound buckets, can complete one rotation, equivalent to a person digging for a whole day.

Oh dear, coming here means you can also develop new machines.

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing's eyes lit up with excitement.

This new machine seems very simple; he even made a foot-operated waterwheel himself.

He thought about it carefully, then asked, "Your Majesty, what does the excavator bucket look like?"

This is the key. Once the bucket for dredging silt is made, the machine is basically finished. Everything else is very simple, and he can do it all.

Upon hearing this, Wanli raised his hand and gestured, saying, "The bucket must be cast from refined steel, and its structure is similar to that of a water bucket, but it must have several spikes in the front, and the side connecting the spikes must be cast in an arc shape."

In this way, by simply setting a cam when the bucket rotates down, the bucket can be filled with silt after rotating half a circle.

Oh, I got it.

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I understand. I will go back and draw up the plans, and have the Summer Palace cast and process them. At the same time, I will send the boiler and steam engine over."

This machine isn't difficult to make; we should be able to build it very soon.

You really are a genius.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Zijin, see what other machines you need. Any machine that can be driven by a waterwheel can be driven by a steam engine. You can ask Chang Geng to modify them for you."

That would be great!
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiangjin immediately pulled Song Yingxing aside to discuss it.

Seeing this, Zhu Changxun stared longingly at Yongle Mountain across the river and said, "Father, when can we go watch Sister Liangyu fight the Jurchens?" Prince Bei, Zhu Changxu, also nodded and said, "Yes, Father, I have never seen a battle before. I really want to go and see it."

Well, it seems we won't be able to see any actual combat scenarios this time.

We're not Sichuan Army soldiers; once we're in the mountains, we can't run at all.

Wanli thought for a moment, then patiently explained: "The key to this battle is actually to surround the perimeter. We just need to surround the Jurchens so that they have nowhere to escape."

As for the battles in the mountains, 400,000 Sichuan soldiers could easily handle 30,000 to 40,000 Jurchens, so there wasn't much to see there.

The problem is that if we want to see it, we have to go into the mountains, which is too troublesome and too dangerous.

Let's wait for the battle reports from the periphery this time. You'll have plenty of opportunities to see the fighting later."

There's nothing to watch?

Upon hearing this, both Zhu Changxun and Zhu Changxu, the Prince of the North, couldn't help but look disappointed.

Seeing this, Wanli simply changed the subject, saying, "Actually, developing machines, dredging silt, and making fertilizer are quite interesting to watch."

This place is right by the river, making water transport very convenient. We can have a dock built on the riverbank here, and then send shuttle boats to bring over materials so we can build a fertilizer workshop right here.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changxun, the young prince, and Zhu Changxu, the Prince of the North, indeed became interested.

With Emperor Wanli overseeing the construction here, the docks and workshops were built incredibly quickly.

The next day, the naval officers and soldiers brought in materials and began constructing the dock.

A few days later, able-bodied men from the Liaodong Military Command came with materials to build houses.

In less than half a month, the shuttle ship brought over all the materials, including steam engines, boilers, and cast buckets, crushers, and mixers.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei even sent over a hundred skilled old craftsmen.

In early June, a fertilizer manufacturing workshop was miraculously completed.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., Wanli, along with the enthusiastic young Zhu Changxun and the Northern Prince Zhu Changxu, arrived at the newly built workshop.

In fact, this workshop is similar to the fertilizer workshop in the Baihe River Valley back then.

The crusher and mixer were readily available; they simply changed the power source from a waterwheel to a steam engine.

The only difference in this workshop was the addition of a sludge dredging machine.

That thing was like a giant pedal waterwheel, more than ten feet tall, with a row of buckets that stretched out for several feet, making it look incredibly spectacular.

Upon seeing Wanli's entourage arrive, Song Yingxing was quite excited. After exchanging pleasantries, he directed the craftsmen to begin work.

The huge machine slowly turned, and each bucket slowly went deeper into the silt, emerging full of mud.

The bucket slowly rises with the chain, and after reaching the top, it suddenly tilts downwards, dumping the sludge into the mixer below.

Seeing this, Wang Xiangjin also directed the craftsmen to push the fish bone powder, wood ash, bean dregs, and other materials that had been prepared beforehand onto the earthen slope next to the mixer and dump them in.

Immediately afterwards, the mixer started running again.

Ignoring the splashing mud, Wang Xiangjin stood on the platform next to the mixer, keeping a close eye on it. Once it was almost full, he immediately ordered the craftsmen to bring a horse-drawn cart with a wooden trough and open the side panel next to the mixer.

With a whoosh, thousands of pounds of sticky fertilizer were poured into the carriage.

The mixer closed its side panel and continued, while the craftsman drove the horse-drawn cart to a nearby compacted ground, opened the side panel of the wooden trough, and let the sticky fertilizer flow onto the ground.

Then another horse-drawn carriage continued to pick up the water, pulling it across the river and onto the ground.

The scene was truly spectacular, but those who couldn't understand it would probably think the people who saw it were seriously mentally ill.

Are they just bored? They actually gathered so many people, built such a huge machine, and are just messing around!

After looking at it for a while, Xiao Zhu Changxun asked, somewhat puzzled, "Father, is this mud we've worked so hard to make really useful?"

of course.

Wanli nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "Don't underestimate this fertilizer now that it's just mud. Once it's dried and crushed into powder, it can be spread on the farmland and turn into grain."

Even in barren fields, if you spread 70 or 80 catties of this fertilizer, you can increase the yield by at least half a shi, which is 70 or 80 catties of grain.

What may seem like a simple compromise is actually a means to an end, but it's actually producing grain. With the same land, the same crops, and the same planting time, applying this fertilizer will increase yields; one pound of fertilizer can increase grain production by at least one pound.

Is it so magical?

Xiao Zhu Changxun was still a little confused when he heard this.

He simply couldn't understand how this mud could be turned into food.

At this point, Wanli discovered a problem.

He beckoned Song Yingxing over and pointed to the dredging machine, asking, "Chang Geng, this machine seems to be stuck here and won't move, right?"

The problem is, there's only so much silt in front. Once you've cleared it all, won't you have to go through a lot of trouble moving the machine again?

We have considered this issue.

Song Yingxing explained in detail: "Your Majesty, we have already ordered people to set up wooden planks and explore the area around this swamp."

The silt here is the deepest, about three zhang deep. We'll dig a deep pit in this silt, and the silt from other places will naturally flow over slowly.

We can just dig during the day and stop at night. By the next day, the area will definitely be filled with silt again.

I estimate that once we dig until the surrounding silt stops flowing over, this swamp will probably turn into a pit two or three zhang deep.

Then we'll bring in river water, and this place will become a huge pond.

You really are a genius.

All of these have been taken into account.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Very good, this machine is quite good. Do you see any areas that need improvement? If not, then let the Emperor's father-in-law start mass production."

(End of this chapter)