The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 684 A Land Gifted by Heaven
North America East Capital Division, Xuanfu Bay.

The name of this place was decided after it was determined that Xuanfu Town would be relocated here.

Emperor Wanli never came here.

He has never been here in this life or the next.

He didn't know what this harbor would be called in later generations.

This harbor is truly vast. According to the map, it stretches over 600 li (approximately 300 kilometers) from north to south, and its width ranges from a dozen to a hundred li (approximately 50 to 60 kilometers).

If we consider the area, it's at least five or six thousand square kilometers!
In other words, this one harbor alone could easily accommodate hundreds of thousands of ships.

The Eastern Capital of North America is truly a wonderful place.

On the flagship of the navy, Wanli looked through his binoculars at the huge entrance to the harbor and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Not only does this place have natural harbors, but the area within 400 li of the coast is also mostly plains, and there are many rivers on these plains, with one or two hundred li between them.

To be honest, this kind of terrain is really rare. The rivers here are like natural canals, making irrigation incredibly convenient.

The soldiers here are also quite diligent. Now the coastline is full of cultivated fields. The rice paddies and wheat fields are lush and green, and the crops are growing very well.

It was exactly noon, which should have been lunchtime, but the city's docks at the entrance to the harbor were surrounded by square formations, with not a trace of cooking smoke in sight.

The soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion and Shenji Battalion stationed here are already lined up in formation.

Generals such as Deng Zilong, Li Guozhu, Wang Rulong, and Li Rusong were already waiting on the main pier, which was covered with red carpet.

This is the capital of the Eastern Commandery of North America and the main port of the navy. The generals here received the message from the flying dragon ship and originally wanted to go to the southernmost part of the Eastern Commandery of North America, or even the canals in the middle of America, to welcome the emperor.

Emperor Wanli, however, ordered the flying dragon boat to convey his decree, instructing them not to make a great fuss to welcome them.

Unexpectedly, these guys still put on such a grand show.

As the flagship docked at the pier and the cabin door was lowered, Wanli Emperor stepped out. At that moment, a group of generals bowed and shouted, "Welcome, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

The soldiers around the city and the docks also shouted in unison, "Welcome, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

Well, not bad.

It feels really good.

All under heaven belongs to the king, and all within the four seas are the king's subjects.

This is very important, especially overseas, and especially on the frontier tens of thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty. Soldiers should remember that this is the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Wanli hurriedly stepped forward, raising his hands in a gesture of respect, and said, "No need for formalities, no need for formalities, everyone has worked hard."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Deng Zilong and his generals performed the proper etiquette before cautiously asking, "Your Majesty, it's almost lunchtime. May I ask, would you like to dine at the General's residence in the city or on the boat?"

You know it's mealtime, yet you still have tens of thousands of soldiers lined up neatly here waiting.

Emperor Wanli smiled and shook his head, then instructed, "Tell the soldiers to go eat quickly."

I won't go into the city yet. Let the soldiers of Xuanfu Town and their families disembark first. They've probably been cooped up on the ship for too long.

Kemai ordered the ships to dock, and Yikui instructed all soldiers and their families to disembark and set up camp first.

Oh, the soldiers and their families from Xuanfu Town have been crammed onto the ship for dozens of days. They must all want to get off the ship and get some fresh air. They even had their soldiers surround the dock completely!
Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong immediately ordered his men to relay the message, instructing the soldiers who had been arrayed to welcome him to disperse.

Yu Zigao and Dong Yikui also hurriedly sent people to order the naval ships to dock and allow the soldiers and their families of Xuanfu Town to disembark and set up camp.

Seeing the soldiers and their families from Xuanfu Town surging joyfully towards the dock, Emperor Wanli raised his hand and said, "I have ordered a large table to be prepared on the ship. Let's go and eat together, and chat as we eat."

Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong quickly led a group of generals to follow.

Wanli led everyone up to the second floor of the flagship, invited them to sit down, toasted everyone again, and served them some food before smiling and asking, "Yunqing, have we seen any signs of colonial bandits this year?"

This is really strange.

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, we haven't seen any trace of the colonial bandits since the end of last year. Could it be that they are afraid to attack because they see that we have built so many fortified cities?"

Or perhaps they knew His Majesty would lead a large army to their aid, so they dared not come.

You guessed wrong.

Emperor Wanli smiled and shook his head, saying, "They went to attack Portugal's colonies in Africa and South America."

Perhaps after some investigation, they discovered that this place was much more difficult to conquer than the Portuguese colonies, so they chose Portugal, the easier target.

"Why have you built so many fortified cities? I also see that houses and courtyards have been built near all my subjects, plus the land along the riverbank. The soldiers must be exhausted!"

Deng Zilong shook his head, then explained carefully, "No, no, didn't His Majesty give me over eight million taels of gold and silver last year, ordering me to hire able-bodied men here to work? I hired over a million able-bodied men from vassal states to work for nearly half a year."

Those lands were cleared by the able-bodied men from the nearby vassal states. They had already prepared the land, and the soldiers only needed to sow the seeds.

The bricks and clay used to build those cities and houses were all dug by the able-bodied men of the nearby vassal states, and the mud bricks were also made by the able-bodied men of the nearby vassal states. Even the foundations were dug by them. The soldiers only needed to fire the bricks and then lay them in place.

Good heavens, so you hired over a million young and strong men from your vassal states to work for almost half a year!

No, then the food supply is almost exhausted.

Now we are in big trouble!

They brought five or six hundred thousand able-bodied men and women from Xuanfu Town this time, plus one hundred thousand soldiers from the Shenji Battalion. What will they eat for the next few months?
Even if we send a fleet back now, it's too late. It would take at least three months for the Weiyuan warship and the shuttle to make a round trip!
Upon hearing this, Wanli asked anxiously, "You've hired so many able-bodied men from your vassal states to work for almost half a year. How much grain is left here?"

Uh, Your Majesty, what's the rush?
Seeing this, Deng Zilong cautiously said, "Your Majesty, there are still more than six million shi of grain left here."

what?
Upon hearing this, Wanli asked in surprise, "You're asking the able-bodied men from your vassal states to work but not feeding them?"

They basically don't eat.

Deng Zilong nodded, then explained in detail: "Your Majesty, the able-bodied men in these vassal states don't eat rice and noodles as their staple food. They like to eat meat, especially beef and fish."

After such a long period of time, we are quite familiar with their living habits. Seeing that they like to eat meat, I came up with some ideas.

Since there are many bison here, I simply ordered the soldiers of the Shenshu Camp and the Shenji Camp to push chariots to hunt the bison.

We used their method to drive the bison herd into the valley on the cliff, letting them jump off and die.

However, their tribe only dares to hunt a few dozen bison at most each time. We have chariots for protection and firearms to drive them away, so hunting thousands or even tens of thousands of bison at once is no problem.

The bison here weigh over a thousand pounds each. Hunting ten thousand would weigh tens of millions of pounds, enough to feed a million able-bodied men for several days.

We also have fishing boats, so providing them with several kilograms of grilled fish every day is no problem. Therefore, they haven't consumed much of our food.

Oh, the vassal states here are all composed of nomadic tribes, and they are all used to eating meat.

Moreover, there are large herds of bison on land and an almost inexhaustible supply of fish in the sea.

so far so good.

Wanli nodded slowly, then asked, "Coal mining and transportation are very convenient here, right?"

Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "There are open-pit coal mines along several rivers here. I can just order the centipede boats to go and haul the coal over. It won't take much effort to row downstream with the coal."

This place is truly blessed.

Natural harbors are everywhere, and they are all incredibly large.

The area around the coast is all plains and dotted with rivers.

There are herds of bison on the grasslands and fish in the sea, which can be hunted at will.

Coal mines were even more exaggerated, stretching for thousands of miles and hundreds of miles in width!

This is simply a gift from heaven!

No wonder that after the European colonial powers occupied this area, they gradually became the world's dominant powers.

It couldn't be easier for this place to develop.

Fortunately, this area is now part of the Ming Dynasty.

This blessed land must not be allowed to be seized by European colonial bandits again.

He needs to quickly bring people over to develop the area, and even the garrison troops need to be brought over; the defense line here needs to be established as soon as possible.

However, the remaining elderly, women, children, cattle, sheep, and horses in Xuanfu Town still need to be transported once more, and those in Pianguan Town need to be transported twice more.

Moreover, the garrison soldiers also have to connect the railway in the northwest this year, and they can't pull it over there.

They simply don't have enough manpower, so how can they develop such a huge area as quickly as possible?

Oh, and he brought a lot of money with him.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Yunqing, the people of these vassal states really like our gold, silver, and copper coins, right?"

Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, many of them are playing with them, and some are using them to buy things. Every time Wanshengtang's fleet brings goods over, they are all snapped up by them."

Then continue to conscript able-bodied men from the vassal states here to work.

(End of this chapter)