The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 669 Western Gateway
The New Year holiday had just passed, and the chieftains of Sanxuan and Liuwei had indeed brought their troops over.

After counting the number of people, Liu Ting appointed these chieftains and garrison commanders to military positions, issued them seals and robes, and then sent them back home.

As for the troops, they were all kept and reorganized, and given uniform military uniforms and tents.

At this time, the millions of troops by land and sea were still there, and the chieftains of the Three Xuan and Six Wei regions dared not say anything.

They're not stupid; anyone who dares to be the first to stick their neck out will be stabbed in the back.

They understand the principle of "killing the chicken to scare the monkey."

They'd rather be the monkeys being played with than the chickens being slaughtered.

At this point, if His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty wanted to kill them, it would be as easy as killing chickens. They could only obediently bring their men over for reorganization and then go back to become some kind of commander without troops, a thousand-household commander, or a hundred-household commander.

After a series of reorganizations, Liu Ting managed to amass an army of over 300,000 men.

By this time, more than a month had passed since the New Year, and the ice and snow along the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty had begun to melt. Emperor Wanli was preparing to relocate people to the border towns.

On the 28th day of the second month, around 5 PM, before the sun had set, General Xiao Rulan of Guyuan Town had already arrived as ordered.

Emperor Wanli immediately summoned all his civil and military officials to the flagship and began to discuss matters while looking at the map.

He thought about it carefully and then asked, "Rulan, how many military households and how many people are there in Guyuan Town? How many cattle, sheep and horses are there?"

There weren't many people in Guyuan Town to begin with.

Xiao Rulan said cautiously, "Your Majesty, Guyuan Town only has a little over 110,000 households, less than 120,000. The total population of men, women, and children is only a little over 1.3 million."

We don't have many cattle, sheep, or horses; we have over 200,000 horses, over 100,000 cattle, and over 2 million sheep.

It seems like too many courtyards have been built here.

However, it doesn't matter much. We can just bring more people over later. More is always better than less.

Wanli nodded slightly and then asked, "Have Ruxun's men begun to take over your defenses?"

Xiao Rulan nodded repeatedly and said, "Ruxun will take over the defense after the New Year. I have handed over all the defense duties to him."

That'll do.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Kemai, has the grain transfer been completed? Are the ships idle?"

Yu Zigao nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the grain has all been transported, and all the ships are now on standby on the Jinsha River."

They now have 1,200 Weiyuan warships and 5,600 shuttle ships specifically for transporting personnel and supplies. The Weiyuan warships and shuttle ships built by Longjiangzhou Shipyard and Xinzhou Shipyard at the end of last year have all been delivered here.

These 1,200 Weiyuan warships could transport at least two million people. The problem is, with the shuttle ships, they couldn't even transport all the cattle, sheep, and horses in one trip.

After careful consideration, Wanli decisively said, "You first lead 1,200 Weiyuan warships and 5,000 flying shuttles to bring over all the men, women, children, cattle, and horses from Guyuan Town."

Next month you'll be leading 1,200 Weiyuan warships to plunder sheep.

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

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Shengwu, have the newly recruited garrison soldiers here been reorganized?"

Liu Ting nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, they've all been organized and are ready to be put to work at any time."

That's perfect, I can hitch a ride.

Wanli nodded slightly, then pointed to the map and said, "You and Kemai set off together, taking 50,000 Sichuan soldiers and these garrison soldiers to the mouth of the Dajinsha River, and find a suitable place to build a garrison city with a radius of ten li."

This fortified city is called Guyuan City, and it also has a port and docks. If more are built, it should be able to accommodate at least a thousand ships at a time.

As for the construction materials, once Kemai returns from his first trip, I will have those five thousand flying shuttles transport them for you. You can lead the soldiers to dig the foundation and fire the bricks to prepare."

Liu Ting nodded repeatedly, saying, "This subordinate understands."

Wanli thought for a moment, then pointed to the map and explained in detail: "Rulan, this is already the West. Guyuan Town is our gateway to the West."

You not only have to keep these chieftains in the southeast in check, but also guard the gateway to the West for the Ming Dynasty.

I will leave you with one hundred armored and cannon-equipped warships, and I will also provide you with five hundred airships. From now on, you will control this waterway. Any European colonial bandits who dare to come here, you can beat them up.

Furthermore, you must vigorously develop this area, cultivating various grains, fruits, and vegetables. In the future, our fleet will rely on you for supplies when sailing to the Western Ocean and even venturing to Europe.”

This position is indeed quite important.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Rulan nodded solemnly and said, "This subordinate understands."

Wanli thought about it carefully for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, everyone get back to work." The generals responded in unison and rose to take their leave.

Early the next morning, a massive fleet consisting of 1,200 Weiyuan warships and 5,000 flying shuttles sailed downstream and sped south.

Meanwhile, Wanli led over a hundred Weiyuan warships and five hundred flying shuttles upstream, heading straight north.

The Jinsha River is actually very suitable for navigation. The Weiyuan warship and the shuttle boat sped northward for a day and a night, and the river was still three or four miles wide, and the water depth did not show any signs of getting shallower.

On the morning of the third day, around 7:00 AM, as the sun rose, Jiangtou City, the former capital of the Mengyang Pacification Commission, finally came into view.

The name Jiangtoucheng means that the mountain road built by the Ming Dynasty ends here and enters the Jinsha River basin.

In other words, the waterway of the Jinsha River was already connected to the Ming Dynasty by land.

On the flagship, Wanli looked through his binoculars at the mountain road winding from the towering mountains to the north and couldn’t help but sigh, “If a railway could be built from Jiangtou City directly to the Yunnan Provincial Administration Commission, then this place would not be considered the far west.”

if?

Does this mean we won't fix it now?
Upon hearing this, Prince Zhu Changzhi of the Southern Kingdom couldn't help but ask, "Father, then why don't we repair it?"

Wanli shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "We simply don't have time to build the railway in the south right now."

With the north initially pacified, we still need to use railways to connect the Nurgan Regional Military Commission, Liaodong Regional Military Commission, Beiping Regional Military Commission, southern Mongolia, northern Mongolia, and even Ningxia and Gansu towns into a unified whole.

Only then was the defense system of the Ming Dynasty in the northwest fully established.

Currently, the Yunnan Provincial Administration Commission has no railway connections to other places, nor is it accessible by waterway, so building this railway now would be completely meaningless.

If we are to build, we must start from the capital and build southwards, all the way to Southern Zhili, to Nanjing, and then from Nanjing to Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Yunnan and Guizhou.

In this way, all the supplies of the Ming Dynasty could travel freely east, west, north, and south by land.

If we only build a railway from Jiangtou City to the Yunnan Provincial Administration Commission, it will still be very troublesome to transport goods in from outside, and it will also be very troublesome to transport goods out from inside. Therefore, building this railway at this time would not be very meaningful.

Oh, so the land routes from Yunnan Province's provincial administration office aren't very connected to the outside world.

Upon hearing this, Prince Zhu Changzhi of the Southern Kingdom thought for a moment and then asked, "Father, how do we develop this Southeast Regional Military Commission?"

You're starting to think about things now, kid?
Not bad.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, then patiently instructed, "There are actually no enemies on land here anymore."

The Three Xuan and Six Wei have been pacified. To the west lie towering mountains and deep valleys, and there is no force that can threaten our Great Ming.

In other words, the only way for the enemy to come from here is by sea.

Therefore, the current focus here is on developing waterways and building more ports and wharves to allow naval vessels to move freely.

In this way, the gateway to the West and the South Seas are closely linked. If this place is attacked, the South Seas will receive the news quickly, making it convenient for us to provide support.

Do we need more support here?
Upon hearing this, Prince Zhu Changzhi of Xiaonan asked with some confusion, "Father, didn't you say that you would leave a hundred Weiyuan warships equipped with armor and cannons to guard this place?"

"Is there any force now that could defeat a hundred Weiyuan warships? I have never seen any other force with such massive ships."

You just haven't seen the ships of those colonial bandits.

At this point, the Netherlands alone might not be a match for the Ming Dynasty, but the European colonial powers united could still contend with the Ming Dynasty at sea.

Those colonial bandits, unable to win in a one-on-one fight, prefer to engage in gang warfare; it's not impossible that their allied forces would fight against the Ming Dynasty.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently instructed, "Zhi'er, we must not be arrogant, understand?"

You haven't seen the ships of those colonial bandits. The reason they didn't bring all their ships over is because the journey is too far, tens of thousands of miles away.

Rumor has it that the Netherlands alone has tens of thousands of ocean-going warships. Do you think these 100 Weiyuan warships can withstand tens of thousands of ocean-going warships?
Even if each of their ocean-going giant ships only carries one cannon, tens of thousands of ships would still have tens of thousands of cannons.

If tens of thousands of shells were to come crashing down at once, the armor of the Weiyuan warship would be smashed to pieces.

Moreover, their ocean-going giants are equipped with more than one cannon.

During the Jiajing reign, their ocean-going giant ships were already equipped with ten cannons. By now, they probably even have warships equipped with hundreds of cannons.

Therefore, we must not be arrogant; if we are arrogant, we will suffer greatly sooner or later.

Uh, were those colonial bandits really that powerful?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changzhi, the Prince of Xiaonan, was utterly dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)