The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Why the Ming Dynasty used side walls and the Great Wall to call the "Great Wall" in the eyes of later generations is actually because the so-called "Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty" at that time had a completely different image from that in the eyes of later generations.

The Great Wall that later generations saw was a wall covered with bricks, but at that time, most of the Great Wall was made of rammed earth without bricks on the outside. Only a few sections of the Great Wall such as Ji Town were built this way, which was actually a section of earth wall.

Although it is an earth wall, it is not ordinary earth. It is all rammed earth made according to the manufacturing process of city walls.

In fact, rammed earth is not what everyone thinks, where a large amount of soil is first piled up and then repeatedly pounded and compacted with a stone mill or pestle. Instead, a special mold is used to pound the soil into tightly adhered mud bricks.

The materials used for rammed earth are usually taken locally. If loess is available locally, choose loess. If it is red soil, you can also choose red soil, depending on local conditions.

After the soil is taken, some things such as coarse sand, lime blocks, and clay are added and poured into mud brick molds to make mud bricks.

Such mud bricks are very compact inside, and even blisters will take a long time to penetrate. Only time will become a weapon to destroy them. They will gradually age after being exposed to the sun, rain, and wind for several years.

The mud bricks are spliced ​​after they are formed. During the splicing process, ancient cement is used, that is, glutinous rice juice plus quicklime and other raw materials are used to make mortar to fill the joints to make the mud bricks more firmly bonded.

After the earthen walls are built, if bricks are to be laid outside, this mortar will also be used to fill the joints to increase the bonding strength between the bricks.

This kind of production can allow the city wall to stand for hundreds of years without falling down, if there is no external force to destroy it.

Most of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty was built bit by bit in this way, which can be said to be very time-consuming and labor-intensive.

In addition, baking bricks in ancient times was not simple or low-cost. It required the acquisition of soil and the purchase of a large amount of fuel, which was very expensive.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty only chose to build an earth wall from the beginning to separate the territory of the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia. The earth wall was only covered with bricks at some passes, which was not only good-looking but also conducive to the long-term protection of the city wall.

After all, a city does not only last for a short time. It is a transportation hub formed over thousands of years, so it naturally requires tighter defense.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the country was powerful and had a large number of generals and soldiers who were good at fighting. Naturally, it did not need the Great Wall to protect itself.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty was lucky enough not to take the initiative to send troops.

Only with the end of the Yongle era, the Ming Dynasty's national power began to decline and its military strength declined, did the construction of border walls begin.

During the "Gengxu Rebellion" in the 29th year of Jiajing, the Ming court paid more attention to the border walls. After that, it began to allocate money to the border gates to repair the city walls. In fact, it began to cover the original earth walls with bricks, and at the same time, it also rebuilt some damaged walls.

After all, in some places with difficult terrain, it is inevitable that there will be some shoddy projects.

Maybe it's not necessarily because the craftsmen cut corners, but because there is really no other way.

Such activities have continued until now.

In the past few years, the imperial court naturally followed closely around the capital, so Jizhen Great Wall was the first to allocate money for repairs, followed by Xuanfu, and now it is Datong's turn.

However, now Wei Guangde feels that there is no need to continue such a money-consuming project.

Ming Dynasty was already financially strapped, so it was still spending money on future projects.

Now that they have negotiated peace with the Mongols, the risk of war has been greatly reduced. Instead of allocating a large sum of money to repair the border wall, it is better to use this money to build an army of ten thousand people.

The army is alive, can move around, and can be deployed wherever there is danger.

And the city wall is here, and it is actually very easy to be conquered.

In Wei Guangde's opinion, there is really no need to build border walls. It is enough to build enemy towers in dangerous areas and station a small number of soldiers to defend and transmit beacon fire.

Since it is a dangerous area, the roads are naturally not smooth. Such a place is generally not suitable for large regiments to maneuver, and only a small number of enemy troops can come.

This level of threat is actually within controllable range.

As long as the beacon fire spreads, the Ming army in the surrounding forts can completely resist.

As for other more important passages, they actually didn't cause much trouble to the Mongols every time, but they couldn't stop the beacons from lighting up and passing on the news of their arrival.

In the final analysis, the Great Wall is of little use. Apart from the use of beacon towers, it really has no use.

People won't even consider difficult places.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde put this memorial aside. He did not intend to approve it immediately, even though it was a memorial to send money to Ma Fang.

The local government can allocate funds for the construction of these piers such as enemy towers, and the imperial court does not need to fund them.

This amount of money, plus the military salary that was originally allocated to Datong, should be enough for Datong to form an army of 10,000 people and still maintain combat effectiveness.

Wei Guangde continued to deal with other memorials. At this time, on the pier near the sea in Huai'an, looking at the sea from a distance, white sails appeared on the horizon, and they soon became one.

The soldiers at the Seaside Guard Station noticed something unusual and immediately sounded the alarm gong.

In recent years, there have been no Japanese pirates in Huai'an Prefecture, or the coastal prefectures and counties north of Fujian.

In the Ming Dynasty, when the sea ban was implemented, there should not be a large number of white sails on the sea.

However, when Qianhu, who was guarding Qianhu Station, led his people up to the watchtower and saw a large group of ships approaching the dock below in the distance, he just observed for a moment and immediately asked the sentry to stop beating the gong.

"Go gather the troops and wait until it is confirmed that it is the Nanyang Navy before lifting the alarm."

Qianhu turned around and gave instructions to a Baihu.

Immediately, he arranged for his soldiers to ride to Huai'an Mansion and the Governor's Yamen of Water Transport to report the matter.

The news that the Nanyang Navy was coming to Huai'an had already reached here from the Governor's Office of Water Transport, so these thousands of households could not sit still until they saw a large number of sea ships.

After all, a similar situation happened just last year.

Who would have thought that Ming Dynasty would actually reorganize a huge naval fleet in the south.

But today, Qianhu and his men stood on the observation deck, looking dumbfounded at the approaching fleet in the distance.

"Isn't this ship a little extra?"

Qianhu said with some disbelief.

Last year there were only about twenty ships, but when he entered the warships that appeared in front of him, there were probably no less than a hundred ships, and they were all big and lucky ships.

But the more this happened, the more he felt that these warships should be the warships of the southern navy.

If the Japanese pirates had so many warships, they would have robbed all of Zhejiang.

There are so many ships that cannot carry thousands of people.

Although they have never seen it with their own eyes, these thousands of households have heard that Wang Zhi had tens of thousands of troops when he fought against the Japanese pirates.

Even after Wang Zhi's death, tens of thousands of people were exterminated by the imperial court, but many were still active on the sea and are still threatening the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

I remember that last month, a small group of Japanese pirates were found along the coast of Guangdong, and they even attacked the imperial guard station along the coast.

"Sir, it should be our ship, otherwise it would never be so arrogant about docking.

It should be the navy that the water transport yamen said was transporting grain to the north. "

A member of the family next to him came over and said flatteringly, "I was scared when I saw so many boats before, but it was wise of me to stop beating the gong directly, hehe."

"Yeah, it scared me just now. There are so many ships, my dear. No wonder I rarely hear news about Japanese pirates now."

The people following Qianhu were all close to him. When he heard their praise, Qianhu just smiled, with a calm look on his face.

If he hadn't known that a warship from the south was coming, would he have thought that he could still stand here and watch, and he would have run away to Huai'an City wrapped in soft clothes, taking his concubine with him.

When the fleet approached the dock, it finally stopped. A small boat was lowered by the big ship, and several navy soldiers on it rowed towards the shore.

Seeing this scene, Master Qianhu who was guarding this place finally moved.

"Let's go down and see if it's the Nanyang Navy's fleet."

I didn't see the customs defenses they carried. To be honest, although I was very sure that this was the imperial navy, I didn't dare to let their fleet pass.

You know, behind them is the mouth of the Yellow River, and you can go upstream to Qingjiang Pushi Wharf.

The stone wharf was later called the Royal Wharf because during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, when emperors patrolled the canal south, dragon boats would dock here, hence the name.

This section of the river was originally the estuary of the Huaihe River. During the Hongzhi period, after the Yellow River usurped the Huaihe River and entered the sea, it was invaded by the Yellow River and became the estuary of the Yellow River.

It happened that the boat arrived at Huai'an through the canal, entered the Yellow River section in Huai'an and went upstream to Xuzhou, and then continued to enter the Grand Canal and travel towards Shandong to reach its destination.

Therefore, there is a guard station at the entrance of the sea to monitor the nearby sea. If an unknown fleet is found, it will naturally be stopped for inspection.

Because Huai'an Prefecture is not far away. With the help of the canal, Huai'an Prefecture has already become a prosperous place in the north of the Yangtze River.

If something goes wrong in Huai'an Mansion, it will shock the world.

During the Jiajing period, Japanese pirates visited Huai'an Prefecture many times. However, because of the tall city walls of Huai'an, the Japanese pirates could only plunder the countryside, but they did not dare to attack the city with its tall walls.

This also caused most of the wealthy households along the river to move into Huai'an Prefecture in a hurry to avoid Japanese pirates.

At the mouth of the river, several artillery pieces were ready and aimed at the fleet ahead, although they would not cause much damage.

On the dock on the shore, officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had already begun to form formation.

The boat quickly rowed to the shore, and the navy personnel came ashore with customs defense to report the itinerary to the Ming army.

Just when the Nanyang Navy fleet arrived in Huai'an, the news was finally sent to the Governor's Office of Water Transport.

When he heard that the Nanyang Navy had arrived, Wang Zongmu immediately stood up and headed to Huai'an Pier with the documents from the Ministry of War to Yu Dayou that had been handed over from the capital along with the official documents.

When getting on the sedan chair, Wang Zongmu did not forget to inform the water transport commander, asking him to gather the water transport soldiers who had gone ashore to rest as soon as possible, and be ready to follow the Nanyang Navy to the sea and go north at any time.

By the time Wang Zongmu arrived at the stone dock, the Ming Navy fleet had also appeared in the distance.

The wharf here occupies a huge area, but it can't accommodate all the warships. It can only be changed.

After a Dafu boat docked on the pier, the pedals were put on, and Yu Dayou got off the boat wearing a red official robe embroidered with lions.

Military generals of the Ming Dynasty generally chose to wear official uniforms unless they were going on an expedition.

Yu Dayou and Wang Zongmu met. Although they met for the first time, the peacock patch on Wang Zongmu's chest clearly showed his identity.

In Huai'an Prefecture, this is the only one who is qualified to pierce the peacock's skin.

The civil servant next to him has Yun Yan as his breast tattoo, so he is naturally the magistrate of Huai'an Prefecture.

After greeting each other for a while, Wang Zongmu pulled Yu Dayou aside, took out an official document from his sleeve and handed it to Yu Dayou.

"General Yu, this is an official document sent by the Ministry of War a few days ago. I will forward it to you."

After Wang Zongmu handed the document to Yu Dayou, he stood quietly and waited for him to watch.

Although Yu Dayou felt strange, he quickly opened the Ministry of War documents and read them quickly.

"Your Majesty the Governor."

Yu Dayou stretched out his hands and cupped his fists and said, "I don't know how you arranged it."

"I have prepared 500,000 shi of grain, of which 350,000 shi will be loaded on the ship, and the remaining 150,000 shi will be carried by the general's fleet.

After arriving in Tianjin, they unloaded 200,000 shi of grain and transferred the remaining 300,000 shi of grain to accompany the general to pick up the soldiers and horses of Jizhen before heading to Gaizhou. "

Wang Zongmu expressed his plan, "I just don't know if the general's fleet can carry the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Ji Town?"

"How much grain can the canal ship carry if it is fully loaded?"

After Yu Dayou calculated silently in his heart, he still asked.

He knew that the troops and horses formed by Qi Jiguang in Ji Zhen were equipped with a large number of heavy vehicles such as tanks and artillery. He had not seen the Ji Zhen army compiled and trained by Qi Jiguang, and he was not sure whether it could be equipped with so many men, horses and equipment.

Therefore, the idea can only be found in Huai'an.

Here, there are a large number of water ships for water transportation.

Although these boats are not suitable for sea transportation, although this time it is sea transportation, the really dangerous place is actually the section from Huai'an Prefecture to Shandong.

After bypassing Shandong, we enter the Bohai Sea, which is actually no different from an inland river than a sea.

Zhili Bay is already calm compared to the outside world, and the water here is shallow, so the risk of sailing is not high.

As for Tianjin to Gaizhou, it is actually traveling within the Bohai Sea, so it is still safe.

What he was not sure about was whether the men, horses and equipment could be transported away at once.

If he had known that he would transport troops and horses, he would have brought along the small and medium-sized Zhejiang and Guangzhou ships.

Loading things is very simple. As long as the center of gravity of the ship is determined and the center of gravity of the ship is not unstable, there will be no serious problems when going to sea.

But you have to pretend to be a man and have to travel by sea for two days, so you have to consider more things.

Things like eating, drinking, and diarrhea need to be taken into consideration, otherwise nothing big will happen on the ship and you will be in trouble.

The imperial court's deployment of troops to Liaodong was obviously not an ordinary deployment of troops.

I didn't see that he was taking Qi Jiguang on a business trip to Liaodong. Qi Jiguang was the chief military officer of Ji Town.

"Master Wang, but the imperial court started a war with the Jurchens in Liaodong?"

Yu Dayou looked around and saw that no one was around, so he couldn't help but whisper inquiringly.

"I do not know either."

Wang Zongmu shook his head gently.

He and Yu Dayou are now under the wing of Wei Guangde, the second minister of the cabinet. Naturally, they are considered comrades, and there is nothing to guard against.

“However, if you are dealing with the northern barbarians, it seems that you don’t need to take a boat across the sea to Gaizhou, you can just leave the Great Wall at Ji Town and go north.

It is also possible to leave Shanhaiguan via Guangning and enter the grasslands of western Liaoning. "

Wang Zongmu said that the route for the Ming army in Guan Nei to enter western Liaoning was much better than taking a boat to Gaizhou and then taking the land route.

Although it was not confirmed, Yu Dayou still nodded in agreement.

In fact, a useless conversation had convinced them all that the imperial court was taking action against the Liaodong Jurchens. (End of chapter)