The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 41 Two Women
Tumen Khan attacked fiercely for more than ten days, but finally couldn't hold on any longer.

Until about noon that day, the Tuman army, which was supposed to be preparing for an attack, did not make any movement.

The Gubeikou front was also unusually quiet, with no more incessant shouts and sounds of weapons clashing.

At this moment, Wangjing Tower was bustling with activity. Wanli was treating the rotating generals to a sumptuous meal.

Their food was not luxurious, just ordinary chicken, duck, fish and meat. Moreover, they strictly abided by the rule of not drinking alcohol in the army, and everyone drank boiled water.

However, everyone was eating with great enthusiasm.

Wanli was very kind to his own people and never put on airs as an emperor.

Today happened to be the day when the Beijing Camp, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guards had their turn to eat, and the table was full of his confidants who had followed him for several months. He let loose and invited everyone to eat as much as they wanted.

He grabbed a chicken leg and took a few bites before asking, "Yuan Jing, I'm afraid Tumen Khan can't hold on any longer and is withdrawing his troops, right?"

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, the northern bandits usually don't bring much food and fodder with them. They originally planned to enter the pass to plunder.

"Add to that the constant barrage of rocks and logs from us, and they've suffered heavy casualties. I reckon they'll need to bandage themselves up and rest a bit before retreating."

This craftsman is really good at logistics.

Not only can they collect boulders and logs, but they can also help repair weapons and equipment, take care of the wounded, and even chop wood, fetch water, make fire, and cook. They can do it all, and the soldiers just have to fight bravely.

This is just about defending the city. If it is a siege, they can also help build siege equipment. Carpenters and blacksmiths are professionals in building siege equipment, and ordinary soldiers can't compare with them.

Upon hearing this, Wanli couldn't help but sigh, "Father-in-law, you've been a real help this time. I originally thought that artisans wouldn't be of much use on the battlefield, but now it seems they're perfect for logistics. It seems we should consider assigning some artisans to the Beijing Camp in the future."

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei humbly said, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. This is just a coincidence. If the Beijing Army hadn't just left behind 30,000 sets of equipment, I wouldn't have dared to bring the craftsmen to the battlefield and cause trouble."

Wanli continued to ponder, "It seems that there are quite a few folk doctors. If we can add a few more, it would be even more perfect."

Qi Jiguang saw this and explained in detail: "Your Majesty, in the past, when the army went out to war, they always brought military craftsmen with them. In fact, every regular soldier would even bring a spare soldier with him.

The regular soldiers only need to go into battle and kill the enemy. They don't have to worry about setting up tents, boiling water, washing clothes, cooking, raising horses, treating the wounded, repairing weapons and equipment, building siege equipment, etc.

However, the shortage of garrison troops became increasingly serious, and coupled with the lack of food and wages, fewer and fewer people followed the army to the battle, and now there is not a single one left."

Yes, wars are fought for money. Soldiers need food and wages, logistics personnel also need food and wages, there are rewards for killing enemies, pensions for casualties, and even the manufacture of weapons and equipment, etc., all of these require money.

It seems that if one wants to train hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers in the Beijing camp who are good at fighting, several million taels a year is far from enough.

He also had to find a way to make money quickly. After all, confiscating property was a one-time deal. If he wanted to maintain the strong combat effectiveness of the Beijing Camp, he couldn't rely solely on confiscating property.

I don’t know how Zhou Danquan’s glassmaking is progressing.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look towards the Summer Resort in the south.

At this time, a fast rider appeared on the mountain road in the south.

After a while, Kuaiqi arrived at the foot of Wangjing Building.

Seeing this, Li Xuancheng hurried down.

Soon, he came up with two books and a secret letter.

Wanli took it, tore open the secret letter and read it, and couldn't help but snorted coldly.

Then he picked up one of the books, opened the folded page and looked at it carefully.

The book he opened was titled "The Story of an Extraordinary Woman" and the author, Wu Zhenyuan, seemed to be a little-known scholar.

One of the stories, "The Third Lady", is about Altan Khan's third wife.

The third lady's name was Nayan Zhongjin Hatun, the daughter of the leader of the Wala tribe. She was smart and eloquent since childhood, good at reading foreign books, sly and charming, and good at riding and shooting.

It seems that the Longqing Conference started with this third lady. In the winter of the fourth year of the Longqing period, Altan Khan's grandson, Bahan Naji, suddenly led his people to surrender to Fang Fengshi, the governor of Datong. It was rumored that it was because of this third lady.

There are several versions of the rumor about this incident. One rumor says that Sanniang was originally going to marry Bahan Naji, but was snatched away by Altan Khan. Bahan Naji was so angry that he led his people to surrender to the Ming Dynasty.

There are also rumors that Sanniang was originally going to marry the leader of a major Oirat tribe, but Altan Khan abducted her, making the Oirat tribe so angry that they wanted to attack the Tumed tribe. Altan Khan even gave him another beautiful woman who was originally going to marry Bahan Naji as compensation. In short, Bahan Naji's defection to the Ming Dynasty was closely related to Sanniang.

However, there is a big problem here.

That was when the Ming Dynasty and the Tumed tribe were at loggerheads with each other, and they were both blood-thirsty.

In the 29th year of the Jiajing reign, during the Gengxu Rebellion, Altan Khan, with the support of the traitor Qiu Luan, attacked the capital of the Ming Dynasty. He was like a deserted man in the capital, looted for several days, and returned with a full load. This was a great shame and humiliation for the Ming Dynasty.

Later, the Tumed tribe frequently invaded the border, causing more than 100,000 casualties among the Ming border troops, including more than a dozen generals, deputy generals, and lieutenant generals who were killed in battle.

With such a huge hatred, why did Hannaji suddenly come to surrender to the Ming Dynasty?

Looking for death!
The Ming Dynasty was furious at the plundering of Altan Khan, and even ignored the rule that envoys should not be killed when two countries are at war. The Ming Dynasty beheaded several envoys sent by Altan Khan.

Isn't it simply seeking death for Altan Khan's grandson to surrender to the Ming Dynasty?
Under normal circumstances, Hanaji should have surrendered to the Tatar Khan Tumen Khan or the Oirat Khan.

Grandfather and grandson quarreled so much that they ran to their mortal enemy's house in anger?
It is obviously abnormal that Hannaji came to surrender to the Ming Dynasty for no apparent reason.

It was obvious that Han Naji had discussed this with Wang Chonggu and Fang Fengshi in advance and knew that nothing would happen. Otherwise, he would have come to die.

At that time, most of the court officials suggested that Han Naji be executed. However, Gao Gong, Wang Chonggu, Yang Bo and Fang Fengshi strongly defended him, saying that this was an opportunity for consensus. As a result, the consensus discussion began.

There is a huge trick here.

There is a passage in "The Legend of the Extraordinary Woman" that proves the trick.

In the fifth year of Wanli, Wu Gongdui became the governor of Xuanda. Sanniangzi treated him with great respect and often visited him in the camp and even stayed overnight.

The Duke often drank and feasted with her, and whenever she fell into his arms, he would dance around her knees to show his affection.

Sometimes he would enter the public bedroom and take away anyone he liked.

The Duke favored her and often gave her gifts such as the Eight Treasures Crown, the Hundred Phoenix Cloud Robe, and the Red Bone Flower Brocade Skirt, so he was also the one who pleased her the most.

What's the relationship? Why is she sitting on Wu Dui's lap and dancing in front of outsiders?

There was more than one person at the banquet, as evidenced by another collection of Xu Wenchang's poems, the famous talent Xu Wei was present at the banquet.

Xu Wei also wrote a poem praising Sanniangzi.

The Han soldiers vied to see the embroidered crotches, and one hundred thousand bows were made for one girl.

He called Mulan to a duel to see whose arrow was longer.

There's something wrong with this poem.

Xu Wei was famous for his wild and unrestrained character. This poem, which seems to be about an archery competition, does not seem to be about an archery competition at all. Isn't an archery competition about who can shoot more accurately? What is the competition about who is taller?

Also, what are two crotches and what is curved?
What is Xu Wei alluding to?
The relationship between this Sanniang and Wu Dui is too abnormal.

Later, there were rumors that there were two women in the Wanli Dynasty who influenced the course of history, one was Empress Dowager Li and the other was Sanniangzi.

The rumors were full of praise for the two women.

This is a bit strange. If we say that Empress Dowager Li and Zhang Juzheng expelled Gao Gong from the court at the beginning of the Wanli period, and then Zhang Juzheng implemented reforms, which almost led to the revival of the Ming Dynasty, this is indeed worthy of praise.

However, after Zhang Juzheng's death, Empress Dowager Li immediately supported Zhang Siwei, liquidated Zhang Juzheng, abolished the reform, and supported Shen Shixing in the dispute over the national foundation, which made Emperor Wanli so angry that he did not attend court for decades. There is nothing worthy of praise about this.

The problem is that this part seems to have been deliberately concealed. The once powerful Empress Dowager Li seemed to have suddenly disappeared, and all the blame was put on Wanli.

As for this Sanniangzi, how did she influence the course of history?

Why are these two women praised so much later?
Empress Dowager Li saved Nurhaci. From this perspective, the later Qing Dynasty did indeed praise this woman.

So what did Sanniang do?

(End of this chapter)