The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 664 The Power of the Ming Dynasty
On the 12th day of the 11th month, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), just as dawn was breaking, the palace was already bustling with activity.

Inside the imperial city, commands resounded, and the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Bodyguards had already assembled into ranks, pulling their warhorses onto the ships.

Wanli's expedition was indeed somewhat hasty.

He had only just finished the grand wedding of Zhu Changluo, the Eastern King, and Zhu Changxu, the Northern King, two days ago, and now he was about to lead a large army to conquer the South Seas.

To be honest, we can't even prepare enough supplies in this short time!

The Shenwu Fourth Battalion had 400,000 men, the Shenji Second Battalion had 100,000 men, the Sichuan Army had 200,000 men, and when you add the naval soldiers, the Imperial Guards, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the total number is over a million.

With so many troops going to conquer the Burmese Pacification Commission, it would take at least several months to completely wipe out the Toungoo Dynasty.

In other words, they would need to prepare several million shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain alone.

Even if we used flying shuttles to haul so much grain, it would take tens of thousands of flying shuttles to go together.

Moreover, this is just grain. The army can't just eat rice; they also need plenty of meat, fruits, and vegetables, plus fresh water, which is more than grain.

At this moment, he could only muster five thousand flying shuttles.

In other words, even if they went to Liaodong, the nearest region, to haul these things, they could only manage to supply enough for one or two months at most.

An army marches on its stomach, and his hasty departure without adequate supplies seems to violate a major military taboo.

So why was he in such a hurry to go to war?
He wasn't just in a hurry to rescue the Mubang Pacification Commissioner's Office.

The Mubang Pacification Commissioner's Office couldn't hold out for even a month or two.

The main reason he was in such a hurry to set off was the weather, or rather, the timing.

He knows firsthand how hot it is in Southeast Asia.

November is when the South Seas begin to cool down.

Going there at this time is perfectly timed.

More importantly, the capital city begins to freeze over in November.

Under normal circumstances, the ice would begin to freeze at the end of November.

The problem is, this is not a normal time.

The Little Ice Age has already begun, and it's possible that Beijing will freeze over as early as mid-November.

This time cannot be wasted.

If we wait a few days and a cold wave suddenly blows in and freezes the river, then we can forget about going on this expedition this year.

Or, to put it another way, if they wanted to go on an expedition, they would have to travel by land, marching thousands of miles through the freezing cold to reach Xuzhou and board a ship.

Therefore, he had to set off immediately.

After hastily boarding the flying shuttle with Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, Little Zhu Changxun, Little Prince Nan Zhu Changzhi, and others, he ordered the naval officers and soldiers to set sail.

At this time, the capital region and the inner sea of ​​the Ming Dynasty were filled with speeding shuttle ships, and the soldiers of the Beijing garrison and the Sichuan army were all converging on the mouth of the Haihe River.

Meanwhile, over a thousand Weiyuan warships were already docked at the harbor wharf at the mouth of the Haihe River.

Now their transport capacity has finally come up; they have a thousand Weiyuan warships dedicated to transporting people and goods.

If these Weiyuan warships were used solely for transporting people, they could carry at least two million people!

This is also why he plans to relocate the border town overseas for development.

Their current transport capacity is sufficient to transport the entire population of any border town overseas in one trip. Add in cattle, sheep, and horses, and it would only require two trips.

This time, the Burmese Pacification Commissioner's Office ran right into trouble, as their transport capacity arrived at the perfect moment.

Originally, Emperor Wanli had planned to detour through Southeast Asia to deal with the Burmese Pacification Commission, but he was busy with other matters and did not pay attention to the Burmese Pacification Commission.

This time, the Burmese Pacification Commissioner's Office actually went so far as to attack the Mubang Pacification Commissioner's Office, so Wanli naturally wanted to take the opportunity to deal with them.

Around noon, the flying shuttle ships gradually gathered, and Wanli boarded the familiar flagship.

Yu Zigao, Qin Yiming, Qin Liangyu, Li Zhizao, and others had been waiting up there for a long time.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli invited everyone to sit down and then asked, "Kemai, how much grain and fodder have been delivered?"

Yu Zigao hurriedly and carefully explained, "Your Majesty, time is short, and this humble general can only lead the fleet to Liaodong Town to collect grain and fodder once."

In the past few days, the able-bodied men of the Liaodong Garrison have been working day and night to haul grain and fodder to various ports and wharves, but only about two million shi of grain have been brought in, and the fodder is only enough for the warhorses for one month.

We also didn't receive much meat, fruits, or vegetables; it was barely enough to feed the soldiers for a month.

These are enough.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly and said, "It's alright. I have already ordered someone to send a decree to Luzon. General Du will prepare provisions for us. We just need to get to Luzon as soon as possible."

Oh, there are supplies in Luzon. Then there's no problem.

Yu Zigao nodded repeatedly and said, "This subordinate understands."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Yiming, are all the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison here?"

Qin Yiming nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the Shenwu Camp cavalry started boarding the ships yesterday afternoon, and the Shenji Camp soldiers, along with the grain carts, were brought over early this morning."

That's good.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly and then asked, "Liangyu, where are the Sichuan soldiers?"

Without hesitation, Qin Liangyu replied, "Your Majesty, 200,000 Sichuan soldiers arrived at the Liaonan dock yesterday and boarded the ships, and they all arrived early this morning."

That's about it.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then looked at the huge nautical chart on the table, and asked, "Zhenzhi, are the maps for the Three Proclamations and Six Pacifications ready?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhizao quickly took a handful of scrolls from a large vase next to him and placed them on the table, explaining, "Your Majesty, I have found all the maps of the Three Xuan and Six Wei regions from the Hongwu era to the present."

There's no rush to look at this; there's plenty of time on the road. As long as you're prepared, that's fine.

Wanli nodded slowly, then decisively said, "Kemai, command the fleet to set sail."

Upon hearing this, Yu Zigao immediately got up and walked to the ladder leading to the lookout tower at the bow of the ship. He said loudly, "Order the Weiyuan warship to be in the center, with the shuttle ships arranged on the left and right, forming three columns. Set off."

Upon seeing this, the little Zhu Changxun in Wanli's arms couldn't help but dance with joy, saying, "Father, Father, take me to see."

The young Prince Zhu Changzhi, who was in the arms of Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, couldn't wait to say, "Mother, Mother, quickly take me to see him."

Emperor Wanli and Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan picked up the two little ones without hesitation and walked to the bow of the boat.

Upon seeing this, the generals quickly got up and followed.

By this time, the Weiyuan warships had all been upgraded, with a lookout tower protruding from the bow of each ship, making it incredibly convenient to relay orders.

The flag bearer on the watchtower waved the command flag, making all the ships within a radius of more than ten miles clearly visible. The outer warships then spread the order, and thousands of ships gradually formed three columns and headed southeast.

The length of the Weiyuan warship reached more than 20 zhang, and with the gap between the front and rear, it was about 50 zhang. In other words, three warships could stretch for a mile.

They now have a thousand Weiyuan warships dedicated to transportation, and another 101 Weiyuan warships equipped with armor and cannons.

If so many warships were lined up in a row, it would stretch for more than three hundred miles, almost four hundred miles!

With the centipede-shaped boats lined up on both sides, it truly resembled a giant dragon on the sea.

The might of the Ming Dynasty was already evident, and the seas along the way, whether fishing boats or merchant ships, were all amazed.

Such a massive fleet is so huge that you can't see the end of it at all. Just watching the fleet speed by would take three or four hours!

They traveled along the Liaohai Road, passing through Shandong and the waters of Southern Zhili, and in less than four days, Dongfan was already in sight.

This time they did not stop in Dongfan. The fleet went directly through the waters inside Dongfan and headed south towards Luzon Island.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, around 3 PM, they had already entered Linjiawan on the west side of Luzon Island.

Before dusk, before the sun had set, the majestic city of Yansui was already in sight.

At this time, the grain and fodder near the dock north of Yansui City had been piled up like a city wall.

There were also cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and so on, all in pairs, I don't know how many there were.

It was obvious that Du Tong had already prepared provisions for them.

Upon seeing this, Wanli couldn't help but nod slightly.

Upon seeing this, Prince Zhu Changzhi of Xiaonan couldn't help but ask, "Where are we?"

This little guy has never been to Southeast Asia before, and he's been completely bewildered by the boat ride these past few days.

Xiao Zhu Changxun, speaking with a rather mature air, said, "Xiao Zhizhi, this is Luzon Island in the South Seas. Didn't you see the words on the city gate? Luzon Island is currently the garrison of Yansui Town."

Oh, so we've arrived at Luzon Island.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changzhi, the Prince of Xiaonan, immediately raised his binoculars and scanned the direction of the city gate.

Having these two little ones as companions has made things much easier for him.

If it were just one person, they would definitely pester him with endless questions.

Now the two little ones don't need his attention anymore; the two brothers are having a great time playing together.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Wanli couldn't help but smile slightly.

(End of this chapter)