The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 625 The New Sea Overlord

In mid-October, Luzon was still very hot.

However, it doesn't rain every day.

After Wanli Emperor finished the provincial and imperial examinations for military officers, he began to focus on the development of Luzon.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., the sky was clear and cloudless, and the temperature was not too high, making it perfect weather for going out.

The fertilizer-making workshop that Song Yingxing oversaw the construction of was ready to begin producing fertilizer.

Wanli then took Zhu Changxun and Song Yingxing onto the flying shuttle and headed straight for the mouth of the river next to Manila.

At this time, several huge mud pits had already been dug out on the riverbank opposite Manila Fortress, and hundreds of thousands of garrison soldiers were still digging there.

The workshops built here are different from those in Nurgan Commandery.

The workshops in Nurgan Commandery all consisted of a sludge dredging machine, a mixer, and a crusher.

The workshops here are filled with rows and rows of machines, and large sheds are constantly being built inside.

That large pavilion must have been several tens of feet in diameter, and it looked much bigger than the Weiyuan warship.

By now, a row of large canopies has been built, and over 100,000 garrison soldiers are still building them.

Upon seeing this magnificent scene, Xiao Zhu and Chang Xun couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Chang Geng, what a grand gesture!"

This isn't because I'm extravagant.

Song Yingxing humbly replied, "Your Highness, I am not capable of such a grand gesture."

"These were all His Majesty's doing. The people who built this workshop were all appointed by His Majesty, and the building materials were also ordered to be brought here by His Majesty."

By this time, the shuttle boat they were on had already docked at a pier outside a mud pit.

Soon, Shan Sinan led two teams of more than sixty Jinwu Guards to guard the area around the dock.

Upon seeing this, Wanli immediately signaled Li Xuancheng to pick up little Zhu Changxun and step onto the dock together.

He walked closer to the mud pit and took a look, and they couldn't help but nod slightly.

The pond seemed to have been newly built; there wasn't a speck of silt yet, and he could see everything inside clearly.

The construction level of the Ming Dynasty is now exceptionally high; you can see it even in a simple mud pond.

This mud pit is really well built. It looks just like the bottom of a ship, with high sides and a low middle. There is also a trough about ten feet wide in the middle that leads directly to the machine that is dredging silt on the other side.

Moreover, the mud pit and its surroundings were covered with thick bluestone slabs, all of which were laid out neatly and orderly, making it very pleasing to the eye.

As he was watching, a flying shuttle with a huge tail pulled up and docked at the pier next to the mudflat.

Immediately afterwards, a long wooden trough overturned on the flying shuttle boat. As soon as the wooden door at the end of the trough opened, the silt flowed into the mud pit like water.

Before long, the shuttle boat finished emptying the silt, retrieved the wooden trough, left the dock, and sailed downstream towards the bay.

Wanli looked at the muddy pond, which was not yet full of silt, and couldn't help but ask, "Chang Geng, how much silt can this pond hold?"

How do you say this?

Song Yingxing thought for a moment, then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, we haven't weighed this yet."

Now we're putting twenty boatloads of silt into each pond and then starting to irrigate and soak it.

If we consider the carrying capacity of the shuttle boats, each boat should weigh over 50,000 jin (approximately 25,000 kg), and twenty boats combined would weigh over a million jin (approximately 500,000 kg).

This mud pond needs to be irrigated and soaked for at least three days. In other words, three mud ponds need to be used in rotation to ensure that about one million catties of fertilizer are produced every day.

Even if only half of the plains of Luzon Island were developed into arable land, it would still amount to at least 100 million mu (approximately 6.7 million hectares). Assuming an application of 50 jin (approximately 25 kg) of fertilizer per mu per season, and two crops per year, that would require over 10 billion jin (approximately 50 million kg) of fertilizer.

If we calculate based on a daily output of about one million catties, it would take ten thousand days to produce that much fertilizer.

It is obvious that the fertilizer production is not enough, far from enough.

With only a little over 300 days in a year, the output would need to be increased at least thirty times to barely meet demand.

This is only under the condition of planting only two crops a year. If three crops are planted in rotation, then even more fertilizer will be needed.

After careful consideration, Wanli decisively said, "We need to dig at least one hundred of these mud pits. After we finish digging this bay, we'll go to the bay in the north where Dagupan is located and dig another one hundred of those."

what?
Digging this mud pit wasn't difficult, because digging a depth of about two zhang, a width of five zhang, and a length of ten zhang was enough. Compared to digging a canal, it was infinitely simpler.

The problem is, dredging this mud requires boats. Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, we have estimated that this mud pit will require two modified flying shuttle boats to ensure it is filled in one day."

If we dig up a hundred, then we'd need to modify two hundred flying shuttles. Your Majesty, isn't that a bit of a waste of flying shuttles?

This is nothing. Even if only 100 million mu of land here is cultivated, and each mu can only produce three shi of grain per season, two seasons would still amount to 600 million shi.

With so much grain, even 20,000 flying shuttles probably wouldn't be enough to transport it from Nurgan Commandery, so what's 200?

Upon hearing this, Wanli thought for a moment and then decisively said, "Just keep digging. We'll provide as many flying shuttles as you need."

That's good.

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

At that moment, another shuttle ship sped by.

This shuttle didn't yet have those giant tails for dredging mud.

Moreover, the ship docked right next to theirs.

Soon, a Jinwu Guard guarding the dock came over with an urgent report, bowed and said, "Reporting, Your Majesty, an urgent report from the North American Western Command."

It's been over a month, and the urgent report from the North American Western Command has finally arrived.

When Emperor Wanli received the urgent report, a look of realization appeared on his face.

Qi Jiguang reported that they had advanced more than two hundred li south and had not encountered any resistance from the Spanish.

It turned out that the Spanish didn't dare to fight them at all, which is why Qi Jiguang didn't rush to report it.

That's good too. The Spanish won't dare to fight, so they're basically just picking up territory. Why not take it if it's free?

After reading the urgent report, he simply ordered someone to reply that Luzon had been captured and that the advance in the Americas should continue, and then he left it at that.

Qi Jiguang's abilities were no joke; the battles in the Americas could be left to this great Ming war god, and he didn't need to worry about them at all.

Immediately afterwards, urgent reports from the North American Western Commandery kept coming in.

Qi Jiguang and his men did not encounter any resistance from the Spanish.

With the help of naval ships to transport provisions and supplies, their advance was quite fast, covering about fifty or sixty li per day.

This was not because Qi Jiguang was eager for quick success; the key was that they wanted to fight all the way to the Viceroyalty of Peru in South America.

That place is more than 10,000 miles away from the Western Capital of North America. Even if they advance fifty or sixty miles a day, it will still take more than two hundred days to get there!
This was even with the Spanish not putting up any resistance.

Will the Spanish continue to offer no resistance?
Not long after, Qi Jiguang's urgent report mentioned that the Spanish had sent envoys to strongly protest their invasion and demand that they immediately stop.

This protest was naturally ineffective.

Emperor Wanli replied directly, "Ignore them and continue the process!"
Qi Jiguang led his army for more than a month, advancing all the way from the Western Capital of North America to the capital of the new Spanish Viceroyalty, whereupon the Spanish finally began to resist.

However, the Spanish surrendered after less than three days of resistance.

There was no way around it; they had too many men, it was terrifying.

They had a force of over two million, nearly three million men.

The total number of men in the Viceroyalty of New Spain was less than 20,000.

Moreover, they had the artillery of the Shenji Battalion bombarding from behind, and the armored chariots of the Shenshu Battalion holding the line in front. The Spanish were driven to despair by their bombardment.

Their cannonballs could send debris flying from city walls and fortresses, but the Spanish cannonballs couldn't even damage the armored chariots of the Shenshu Camp.

Surrounded by more than a hundred times their number of troops, the Spanish were like an iron barrel. Their artillery was of little use. What could the Spanish do if they didn't surrender?
The Viceroyalty of New Spain was still the most powerful viceroyalty of Spain in the Americas. These guys were so frightened that they surrendered, and afterwards, no one dared to stop their more than two million troops.

Next, Qi Jiguang led his army on a frantic southward advance, covering fifty or sixty li every day.

The territory of the Ming Dynasty continued to expand southward, and it seemed only a matter of time before they took over Spain's colonies in the Americas.

In the South China Sea, the Spanish Luzon colony had already been taken over by the Ming Dynasty.

With this shift in power, the territory of the Ming Dynasty has begun to surpass the area of ​​Spanish colonies worldwide.

Thus, a new maritime hegemon was born.

This new maritime hegemon is not the historical Netherlands, but the present-day Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)