The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 627 Overseas New Year Festivals
Emperor Wanli made a trip to Malacca but ended up returning to Luzon.

He only stayed for a little over ten days on this trip.

Actually, he was just going to arrange the defenses of the new city guard.

As for going to Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island...

They cannot leave from there yet.

Because Li Zhizao never went to Penglai Island or Fangzhang Island from Malacca.

Moreover, they can't just let it go like this.

There are still 100,000 border cavalrymen on Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island, and they must transport enough food to these soldiers.

This is where the problem arises.

The 100,000 border cavalrymen need at least one million shi of grain a year, and even if their more than a thousand flying shuttles are fully loaded, they cannot carry that much grain.

Moreover, given the long distance and the need to carry a considerable amount of fresh water and coal, it was simply impossible for them to travel with a full load of grain.

In other words, they either have to take another thousand centipede ships with them, or wait for the next batch of Weiyuan warships and shuttle ships to be built before they go.

If a thousand centipede ships were brought along, the entire fleet's speed would be reduced by more than half.

Because the centipede boat can only travel five or six hundred miles a day at most, and Luzon is more than ten thousand miles away from Fangzhang Island, it would take at least one or two months to make a round trip.

Moreover, centipede ships require soldiers to row manually, with two groups of soldiers taking turns rowing, so each centipede ship needs to be equipped with at least forty naval soldiers.

These thousand centipede ships represent 40,000 naval soldiers. These 40,000 naval soldiers also need to consume food, and he also needs to bring along 50,000 Shenji Battalion soldiers and their accompanying guards.

Add to that the soldiers who operate the Weiyuan warships and flying shuttles, and that brings the total to over 100,000.

These 100,000 soldiers will consume at least 200,000 shi of grain over two months, not to mention fresh water, meat, fruits and vegetables, and who knows how much they will need to bring.

In other words, if you take centipede ships on such a long sea voyage, the cost of transporting them would probably account for most of the cargo. A thousand centipede ships would probably not be enough, and even two thousand might be a stretch.

It would be different if we waited until the next batch of Weiyuan warships and shuttle ships were built before going there.

The Weiyuan warship and the flying shuttle could sail at high speed day and night on the boundless sea, covering more than a thousand miles a day without any problem. A round trip of more than ten thousand miles would only take about twenty days.

Moreover, the Weiyuan warships and shuttle ships do not require many soldiers to operate, so they can carry much less food, fresh water, meat, fruits and vegetables.

After much deliberation, Emperor Wanli ordered the flying shuttle to quickly convey his decree to Southern Zhili, instructing Peng Zungu and Wang Zheng to expedite the delivery of the next batch of Weiyuan warships and flying shuttles.

It didn't matter that the Weiyuan warship wasn't equipped with cannons; their main purpose was simply to transport food to Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island.

There were no colonial pirate ships along the way, so there was no need to worry about safety at all.

Moreover, without artillery, there was no need to carry so many soldiers to operate the cannons, the ships were also much lighter overall, and more food could be transported, which was perfect.

Wow, Wang Zheng and his men really did deliver a new batch of Weiyuan warships and airships very quickly.

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Bingxu day, is the Little New Year in the north.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., Wanli was having porridge with Zhu Changxun and Song Yingxing, pondering how to celebrate the Lunar New Year, when Zhang Weixian, the heir of the Duke of Yingguo, who was in charge of the outer perimeter security, suddenly strode up, cupped his hands and bowed, and said, "Reporting, Your Majesty, the newly built Weiyuan warship and the flying shuttle have arrived."

what?
So fast?
When Wanli heard this, he was stunned.

At this moment, their Weiyuan warships are still facing the direction of Manila City, because they need to check the construction progress of Manila City every day.

Therefore, he couldn't see the ships coming from behind at all.

This is also a problem; it seems that the Weiyuan warship will need to have observation windows in all directions from now on.

He was pondering how to improve the Weiyuan warship when Wang Zheng and Peng Zungu suddenly strode up from below.

After the emperor and his minister exchanged greetings, he couldn't help but ask, "Danyang, what brings you here?"

Peng Zungu quickly explained, "Your Majesty, the New Year is almost here, and the Longjiangzhou Shipyard and Xinzhou Shipyard haven't had a holiday for a long time."

We worked as fast as we could and finished all the ships. We even gave all the craftsmen a special New Year's holiday.

Seeing that everything was alright, I thought I'd come with Liangfu to spend the New Year with His Majesty.

Oh, it turns out that Longjiangzhou Shipyard and Xinzhou Shipyard are both on holiday for the Lunar New Year.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "How is it, Liangfu? Have the cannons been equipped on the two hundred newly built Weiyuan warships?" Didn't you say you would send them over as soon as possible?

Wang Zheng quickly explained, "Your Majesty, we originally planned to finish assembling the cannons for the New Year."

However, you said it didn't matter whether we equipped artillery or not, as long as we got here quickly, so we didn't equip ourselves with artillery.

It's good that it's not equipped with artillery.

Two hundred Weiyuan warships would require more than 60,000 naval officers and soldiers to operate the cannons.

At this moment, the naval soldiers are scattered all over the world, and it is impossible for them to gather so many naval soldiers here.

Without enough naval officers and soldiers to operate them, the cannons would be useless and would also take up a lot of transport weight.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wanli nodded slightly and said, "That's perfect. The Weiyuan warships, even without cannons, can carry at least two thousand shi of grain. Two hundred ships would then carry four hundred thousand shi."

With the addition of two thousand flying shuttles, they could carry at least 1.4 million shi of grain.

This time, we can bring 1.2 million shi of grain, which is enough. We can also bring some New Year's goods for the soldiers.

Unfortunately, there isn't much meat here, and we can only bring dried fish and shrimp. Our fishing boats are still sailboats, so it's inconvenient for us to bring them over.

New Year’s goods?

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng suddenly realized and said, "Your Majesty, this time I have brought you more than two hundred boatloads of New Year's goods, including many live pigs, cattle and sheep."

what?
You also brought so many New Year's goods!

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wanli exclaimed in surprise, "You've managed to prepare so many New Year's goods in such a short time!"

Most of these were not actually prepared by us.

Wang Zheng explained in detail: "Your Majesty, we actually only hurriedly purchased about ten boatloads of New Year's goods in Jinling City before rushing over."

However, when we arrived at Dongfan South Port, we encountered the centipede fleet coming from the north.

There were nearly two hundred boats carrying New Year's goods. The Empress ordered people to transport these goods from land to Xuzhou and then by sea to Dongfan Nangang.

It just so happens that those centipede-shaped boats from the north don't know how to get to Luzon yet, and they're looking for a boat to guide them. So, I simply had them load all the New Year's goods onto the shuttle boats and bring them over.

Anyway, most of our shuttle boats are empty, so once they unload their cargo, they can get back home for the New Year.

Empress Wang was truly gentle and virtuous.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Most of the New Year's goods that the Empress sent should be things that Xun'er likes to eat, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun finally realized what was happening and exclaimed excitedly, "That's right! Mother sent someone to deliver a sheep. I haven't had roasted mutton in a long time. Uncle, how about we roast one today?"

One!
Can you eat it?
Emperor Wanli shook his head slightly, then pondered, "Let's leave half of the New Year's goods for the soldiers here. My son and I can't eat that much either. We can take another hundred or so boats to the border troops on Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island."

That noon, Li Xuancheng actually roasted a whole sheep.

However, this sheep was not meant for Xiao Zhu Changxun alone.

Emperor Wanli summoned Yu Zigao, Xu Guangqi, Wang Xiangjin, Li Zhizao, and others, and ordered a large feast of delicacies to be prepared.

We all celebrated the Lunar New Year together in a lively and festive manner.

That afternoon, he ordered the garrison soldiers to load food and dried fish and shrimp onto the Weiyuan warship and the flying shuttle.

Early the next morning, around 7 a.m., he set off with a huge fleet towards Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island.

He wanted to deliver the New Year's goods to the border troops on Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island as soon as possible, so that everyone could have a lively and festive New Year.

However, Fangzhang Island is too far from Luzon Island, and they definitely won't be able to make it before the end of the year.

During the Spring Festival, they arrived at the north side of Penglai Island and spent a lively New Year with the 30,000 border troops there.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, they continued their journey, heading south of Penglai Island and Fangzhang Island.

They ended up spending the holiday at sea.

(End of this chapter)