Chapter 707: Submit a Memorial, Be That Calculating

"Kuroda Yoshitaka, tell me, how long will this battle last?" Oda Nobunaga looked to the west and muttered to himself. It seemed to be asking Kuroda Yoshitaka, but in fact, he was asking himself.

Kuroda Yoshitaka thought for a long, long time, and finally shook his head: "Ten years, twenty years—I don't know. We can decide the start of the war, but we cannot decide the end of the war."

Wars of national extermination are often this protracted. Kuroda Yoshitaka could not deceive the Emperor into making wrong decisions. The Great Ming had to be prepared for a long-term war. The end of military operations does not represent the end of the war.

The Great Ming and Altan Khan fought for a full twenty-five years, and starting from the 6th year of Wanli, they fought for another three years.

"What if we use the plague? Kuroda Yoshitaka knows that the Great Ming has the cowpox method to prevent smallpox." Zhu Yijun said quite calmly.

The position of the Secretariat was only then relieved. The Secretariat had diarrhea today. When Qi Jiguang entered the door, the Secretariat went to the restroom. For major state affairs, the Secretariat didn't want to get too involved. When the time came, he only needed to complete the Wanli Daily Life Record and desperately praise His Majesty's brilliance and martial prowess.

Knowing too much is often not a good thing.

Qi Jiguang and Li Rusong looked at His Majesty the Emperor with somewhat dull eyes. The two fierce generals who had been on the battlefield for a long time didn't know how to answer for a while.

In the eyes of the two generals, His Majesty was benevolent and truly very, very good to the soldiers. Although His Majesty the Emperor had killed countless people, most of the time, those people deserved to die, and there were never any unjust souls under His Majesty's hands.

They had never thought that one day, such cruel words could come out of His Majesty the Emperor's mouth.

Guns and cannons, bacteria, steel, and silver—these four things run through the so-called Age of Discovery.

"I have heard that when the Mongols were conquering, encountering high walls and large cities that could not be taken for a long time, they would throw people with plague and their belongings into the city, triggering a plague. No matter what kind of city it was, it could be broken. I have also heard that the red-haired barbarians in Peru and Mexico specifically sold blankets that smallpox patients had lain on to the natives, triggering a plague and reducing the combined strength of the resistance."

"Qi Shuai, others can do it, and the Great Ming can also do it." Zhu Yijun gave his own reasons.

Bacteria and viruses can also become weapons, especially smallpox. The Great Ming was actively promoting the inoculation of the cowpox method, and local wealthy merchants, in order to please His Majesty the Emperor, were even willing to spend silver to promote the benefits of the cowpox method.

When the Indians died, they were wrapped in blankets sold by the colonists. They, who had just died, did not know that the blankets that made them feel warm were the relics of smallpox patients, remaining with viruses, infecting their tribes, consuming their living strength. Smallpox in the New World, through wind, rain, droplets, rivers, rats, and vultures, spread everywhere, causing deaths, destroying cities and countries, and finally disintegrating civilizations.

The Great Ming would not be backlashed by smallpox weapons. Firstly, it had the immunity wall of cowpox, and secondly, it had a physical wall. All barbarians coming to the Great Ming lived in the "Ten Thousand Nations City" and were not allowed to move freely. Zhu Yijun did not need to worry about the boomerang of smallpox at all.

"Your servant thinks it is inappropriate. Barbarians can do it, but the Great Ming truly cannot." Qi Jiguang said very frankly: "Your Majesty, weapons are inauspicious, not the tools of a gentleman. They should only be used when there is no other choice. Barbarians are barbarians because they fear power but do not cherish virtue. The Great Ming is the Great Ming because it uses virtue to pacify the world."

Qi Jiguang, who had spent his whole life killing people, was urging the path of benevolence and forgiveness.

His Majesty was truly too violent.

"According to the research of the Jieku Institute, smallpox can resist dryness and low temperatures. In scabs, dust, and clothing, it can survive for up to a year and a half. A year and a half, it can still infect others." Zhu Yijun took out the research report of the Jieku Institute. This was originally Pang Xian's memorial to the Emperor, asking the Emperor to attach importance to its harm, but now it was being used by Zhu Yijun to demonstrate the possibility of using it as a weapon.

Pang Xian, who researched and wrote the "Cowpox Theory" and devoted his life to smallpox prevention, might become the greatest killer of the Wanli era. Because of Pang Xian's research, the Great Ming Emperor could unscrupulously use this weapon to eliminate anyone who refused to submit, completely wiping them off the map.

"Your Majesty, your servant thinks it is completely unnecessary. The situation has not yet reached such a degree." Qi Jiguang was still very persistent. He always believed that His Majesty the Emperor should follow the Great Way and should not take such crooked paths.

The Emperor cannot do evil. This problem had been repeatedly demonstrated as early as the pre-Qin period. The "Minister Hongfan" says: "The Son of Heaven is the parent of the people, acting as the King of the world. Do not do evil, follow the King's path."

If the Emperor actively does evil, as an existence looked up to by hundreds of millions, such petty behavior, how can he be a model for the world? The sin of the world losing the Way is borne by His Majesty, and the price of the world losing the Way is borne by the common people.

Exterminating Japan is of course important, but if the Great Ming loses the Way because of this, it would be a loss that outweighs the gain. Qi Jiguang did not agree with this matter. He felt that it should not be done by His Majesty.

Zhu Yijun did not argue with Qi Jiguang, but revealed a warm smile and said: "Indeed, the situation has not yet reached the point where such weapons need to be activated. If the situation is bad, I will find a way to weaken Japan's strength at any cost."

Zhu Yijun had one view on war: win by any means necessary. If the Great Ming army truly lost, the Japanese pirates shouldn't think about winning either.

"Your servant obeys the edict." Qi Jiguang bowed his head and accepted the order again.

After leaving Tonghe Palace, Qi Jiguang and Li Rusong walked for a long time. In a quiet place, Li Rusong suddenly asked: "Qi Shuai, did you persuade His Majesty?"

Li Rusong felt something was wrong. His Majesty agreed too smoothly. Did His Majesty truly listen to Qi Jiguang's remonstrance?

"Yes, His Majesty accepted my good words and recognized my remonstrance. When the situation is not particularly critical, he will not use such means." Qi Jiguang smiled and said: "Don't think so much. His Majesty is a wise and holy monarch. We should think about how to win. Otherwise, if we lose, His Majesty will have to use inauspicious weapons."

"Winning a battle is simple!" Li Rusong laughed loudly: "Killing Japanese pirates is much simpler than the deceit in the court!"

Li Rusong believed Qi Jiguang's words very much and put down the worry in his heart, actively preparing for the expedition.

Qi Jiguang actually knew very well that he hadn't really persuaded His Majesty, and he didn't intend to persuade His Majesty to follow the path of benevolence and forgiveness. That was not his duty. He urged His Majesty from the beginning, actually to urge His Majesty that such dirty means did not need to be done by himself, and there was no need to leave handles for others.

His Majesty needed to maintain the persona of a Holy Monarch. Such cruel words should not be spoken in the future.

He only needed to write the method in the "Records of Foreign Nations," loudly denounce the barbarian behavior of the red-haired barbarians, and the Great Ming's low-moral-advantage, profit-seeking, and burden-free merchants would know and be able to do it themselves.

The "Records of Foreign Nations" was a bestseller in the Great Ming, and almost every merchant family had a copy.

Clearly, His Majesty understood Qi Jiguang's remonstrance. He was very good at loudly opposing and secretly promoting such "base Confucian" means.

Just as Li Rusong said, the Japanese people were truly enjoying a great blessing by encountering His Majesty the Emperor.

The grain shortage finally made the Japanese daimyo willing to sit down and discuss the future of Japan. In order to physically consume the samurai class and end the era of the daimyo, the daimyo finally agreed to attack Korea. The high wall built by the Great Ming to blockade Japan opened a door—the Yamatai military port on Tsushima Island. The Great Ming army chose to withdraw, clearing the way for Oda Nobunaga to attack Korea.

Korea originally felt that with the Great Ming "parent nation" there, they could sleep peacefully. A group of dwarves with an average height of four feet could never take down the Yamatai military port. But with the withdrawal from Yamatai, Korea was completely panicked and rushed to the Great Ming to ask for help.

And the Great Ming Emperor was actively preparing for the expedition to Korea. The Great Ming army, equipped with countless firearms, was ready to set off for Liaodong in three months.

Everything was happening in an orderly manner. The Great Ming and Japan had their own purposes, while the Korean envoys Li Hubai and Li Shunchen were sweating profusely.

"The 'Serving the Great and Neighboring' ancestral teachings have been forgotten! Now that we have come to the Great Ming, there is not a single official who can speak to us. We don't know the Great Ming court's decisions or movements. We don't know His Majesty's thoughts. The top priority now is to seek the Great Ming Emperor's help. You don't think about how to do it, but you are drinking here!" Li Shunchen snatched the wine pot from Li Hubai and said sternly.

Li Hubai was sitting under a big tree in the Four Barbarians Hall, his hair completely disheveled, sitting on the ground. Since arriving at the Great Ming, he had been drinking heavily all day, not going out to move around at all, not even seeking help everywhere. Li Shunchen couldn't stand it, so he came over to teach him a lesson.

"Otherwise, what? Do you have any way? The Great Ming closed the door, and we don't even have a place to kowtow! If they could reveal even a little bit of news, I would be willing to kowtow until my head breaks! Now it is, there is no place to kowtow!" Li Hubai lay back, lying directly on the ground, his eyes looking hollowly at the towering tree in the Four Barbarians Hall: "Before, when I came to the Great Ming, I stayed in the Huotong Hall. This represents that the Great Ming treated us as their own people."

"Now, we are staying in the Four Barbarians Hall."

The Four Barbarians Hall and the Huotong Hall were very close, but that small courtyard wall was a world of difference. The Great Ming had already seen through Korea's true colors.

Li Shunchen was stunned for a long, long time, sat down with Li Hubai, grabbed the wine pot, took a fierce gulp, gritted his teeth and said: "Serving the Great and Neighboring, Serving the Great and Neighboring, this is the ancestral teaching! Since Altan Khan invaded, the literati in the court have looked down on the Great Ming, saying strange things. Now it's good, the Great Ming has recovered, and the Japanese pirates are here, but the Great Ming is not willing to help."

"These strange things, His Majesty must have heard them!"

Li Shunchen didn't understand the public opinion in the Korean court. The ancestral teachings were very clear: the biggest thing was to be on good terms with the Great Ming. If the Great Ming had a mouthful to eat, Korea would have a mouthful of soup. It had been like this for so many years. As a result, when the news of Altan Khan invading the capital reached Korea, the literati in the Korean Seonggyungwan were all jubilant, mocking the Great Ming's military preparedness, as if Korea wouldn't be the same.

Now it's good, the Japanese pirates are here.

"Those words, the Great Ming court has always known, just didn't care." Li Hubai lay on the ground, watching the sycamore leaves fall, full of mockery: "It's not just after Altan Khan invaded. Before that, the rumors about the Great Ming Emperor Wuzong were all fabricated by the envoys sent to the Great Ming—rumors like 'Emperor Wuzong liked prostitutes, and every time he arrived at a place, he would rape women.' They tried their best to mold Emperor Wuzong into a lawless, impolite, bullying, and militaristic person."

"It seems that mocking the Great Ming can bring a kind of pathological pride."

"Does the Great Ming really not know at all?"

The Great Ming knew very well, and even the officials of the Court of State Ceremonial reprimanded the Korean envoys more than once not to talk nonsense.

The more they were reprimanded, the more the Korean literati seemed to have grabbed a sore spot, and the more they wanted to say, the more they wanted to fabricate. They fabricated Emperor Wuzong, fabricated Emperor Shizong, and now they started to fabricate His Majesty.

An Emperor who could personally lead troops to charge in Yingzhou and repel the Little Prince, so that the Little Prince never dared to invade again—how absurd could such a person be? But the envoys sent to the Great Ming fabricated it with all their might. These rumors flowed into the Great Ming and, after secondary processing, made Emperor Wuzong seem even more absurd.

"Originally, these were all just verbal battles, and it would be fine if they were explained. As a result, the Great Ming Emperor wanted the King to enter the capital to plead guilty, but the King wanted to engage in some offensive and defensive alliance. He truly lost his mind." Li Hubai tilted his head, looked at Li Shunchen and said: "Tell me, what should I do? What way can I have!"

"A small country that does not act humbly, a weak force that does not fear the strong, being rude and insulting a large neighbor, being greedy and stubborn in diplomacy—this can perish."

"Forget it, let's drink." Li Shunchen sighed, took another fierce gulp, and then handed the wine pot over. He originally wanted to persuade Li Hubai to cheer up and think of a way, but now Li Shunchen also fell into despair and started drinking with Li Hubai.

Just as Li Hubai said, now there is not even a place to kowtow. The four things were all occupied. That is to say, the Great Ming was hindered by ancestral laws, and Korea was a "non-conquerable nation," so it didn't go into deep investigation. Otherwise, the Japanese pirates wouldn't be the ones to enter Korea first.

Li Shunchen arrived at the Great Ming and actually figured out a bit. The Great Ming Emperor's Southern Inspection, Li Chengliang's escort, and Wang Rulong's entry into Liaodong—this series of actions were all fishing. That bullshit offensive and defensive alliance, once rashly attacked, would inevitably lead to the Emperor's thunderous anger.

The Vice Minister of Rites, Chen Xuehui, dispatched a clerk to see Li Hubai and Li Shunchen, asking them to discuss the Japanese pirates attacking Korea at the Court of State Ceremonial, but he saw two drunks.

The clerk had no choice but to report truthfully, which made Chen Xuehui fly into a rage.

This was a matter of Korea's survival. The Great Ming was busy, the Emperor was in court discussion, the Capital Battalion was preparing, and even the old man Li Chengliang planned to return to Liaodong. The Great Ming's huge war machine was turning rapidly, and as a result, the Korean envoys were drinking!

The next morning, Li Hubai and Li Shunchen woke up from their drunkenness, bathed and changed clothes, and were called to the Court of State Ceremonial by the clerk of the Ministry of Rites.

"It is your Korea being invaded by Japanese pirates! Not the Great Ming! I called you here yesterday to discuss matters, and you two were dead drunk! It's simply absurd!" Chen Xuehui was furious and said sternly: "If you don't want to save Korea, then get out! Don't be an eyesore here!"

Chen Xuehui was a traditional Confucian scholar. Being so furious and losing his decorum was completely because he was angered.

"Oda Nobunaga sent the Tsushima Island Lord So Yoshitoshi to urge the King of Korea to enter the Kyoto to pay homage, to show submission, otherwise he would be punished. This is just an excuse for war." Chen Xuehui handed a report to Li Shunchen. He also saw that Li Hubai had completely lost his spirit, and this Li Shunchen still had some backbone.

"Paying homage" meant going to Kyoto to see the Japanese Emperor. This kind of visit was a sign of complete submission—the kind where you go and don't return. If you don't go, Japan will attack.

"Chen Vice Minister, please listen! My King will absolutely not go to pay homage. Where is this paying homage? It is clearly going to die."

"And, where are the Japanese pirates attacking our Korea? They are clearly attacking the Great Ming!" Li Shunchen took out a memorial and presented it very respectfully: "This is not what I said, it is what Oda Nobunaga said!"

"The Japanese pirates are attacking Korea to pave the way to attack the Great Ming. Their wolfish ambition is revealed. I hope Chen Vice Minister will see clearly."

No matter what, he had to ask the Great Ming's Heavenly Army to enter Korea to fight. He couldn't rely on Korea at all! Li Shunchen knew the Korean military strength very well. A group of flowery-fisted, embroidered-legged "Hwarang" were no match for the Japanese pirates at all.

Chen Xuehui opened the memorial and looked at it for a long time before saying: "Is there any physical evidence?"

After Oda Nobunaga took his sword to Kyoto, he told all his retainers about his grand ambition: "Sweep across the Ming country, unite the three countries into one."

"Unite the three countries into one" was Oda Nobunaga's slogan for "ruling the world" from beginning to end. Unifying Japan was not the end, and annexing Korea was not the end. Only by sweeping across the Great Ming and uniting the three countries into one could it be called "ruling the world."

After the Great Ming defeated the Japanese pirates in Ryukyu and Nagasaki and established the Nagasaki Governor's Office and the Nagasaki Branch Regional Military Commission, this slogan was finally silenced, and no one talked about it anymore.

"The 'Tang country' in the national letter can serve as proof. Japan calls the Great Ming the 'Tang country.' 'Tang country' means entering Tang. I have many written proofs and physical evidence. Please ask Chen Vice Minister to report to His Majesty." Li Shunchen did not mean to deceive the Great Ming. Communication between Korea and Japan had existed since the early Ming Dynasty. The communication envoys went to Japan, saw it with their own eyes, and left written evidence. In the letters exchanged, there were many places that mentioned borrowing the way through Korea to attack the Great Ming.

"Entering Tang?" Chen Xuehui was surprised when he heard this word for the first time. He asked in confusion: "What does it mean?"

It was not that Chen Xuehui was uneducated and couldn't understand the meaning of "Entering Tang," but that he dared not believe that the Japanese pirates were so bold and reckless. The Great Ming hadn't even planned to exterminate Japan, yet Japan was planning to exterminate the Ming!

This matter in the world—does it not talk about reason anymore!

"Oda Nobunaga has a retainer named Hashiba Hideyoshi, who said in a letter to his wife, Nene: 'In my lifetime, I will surely add the Tang land to my territory.' Annexing the Great Ming into Japan's territory is 'Entering Tang'." Li Shunchen immediately explained the meaning of the two words "Entering Tang."

"Entering Tang" had a clear explanation. It was clearly explained by Oda Nobunaga's retainer, Hashiba Hideyoshi, who later became Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The Japanese pirates' ambition for the Central Plains had existed since ancient times.

"The Japanese pirates invading Korea is not just about attacking Korea, but about attacking the Great Ming!" Li Shunchen tried his best to pull the Great Ming onto the chariot, and it was open and aboveboard. He continued: "I once secretly heard in Korea that Oda Nobunaga's sister, Oichi, is in the Great Ming. Just ask, and you will know!"

"I will naturally ask." Chen Xuehui nodded.

The Great Ming naturally knew some of Japan's wolfish ambitions, but they never expected Japan to be so greedy, wanting to swallow the Great Ming. It simply opened Chen Xuehui's eyes.

"This time, the Japanese pirates gathered a force of 306,000 people, of which the army is 158,000. Does attacking Korea need so many people? They are clearly aiming at the Great Ming." Li Shunchen looked left and right and said in a low voice.

"How do I not know?" Li Hubai asked in surprise. Li Shunchen actually knew the number of Japanese pirates so clearly!

Li Shunchen said straight to the point: "There is contact between me and Mōri Terumoto. The Mōri family alone sent out 30,000 samurai. Moreover, Oda Nobunaga promised that for every soldier in the expedition, he would give two people's worth of salary rice, and their wives' food would be given separately. The wives of the servants employed in the military formation would also be given food. This is staking everything on a single throw."

"In other words, for this expedition, every Japanese pirate can receive two salaries, and their wives are also given salaries. Even the servants' wives are given grain. This is staking everything."

"Where did Oda Nobunaga get so much grain? It's nothing more than burning, killing, and looting once they enter Korea!"

Chen Xuehui looked at Li Shunchen and carefully sized him up: "Korea rarely has a clear-headed person who can explain the situation so clearly. Take my visiting card, go to the Xishan City Camp, and meet Qi Shuai and General Li to inform them of everything you know."

Chen Xuehui wrote a visiting card, allowing Li Shunchen to have a way to see the Great Ming generals and participate in the formulation of the combat plan.

As for whether the information provided by Li Shunchen had value, it had to be seen by Qi Shuai. He, Chen Xuehui, didn't know much about military affairs, so it was better to let Qi Shuai judge.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Li Rusong did not argue before His Majesty, nor was there any need to; he would not rashly advance. In the past, when he was in Liaodong, Li Rusong had developed the habit of having to risk his life in battle, because back then, if one didn't fight with one's life, one would lose. Now, however, there was absolutely no such concern; winning by fighting steadily and surely was a blessing for the Great Ming soldiers.

"Your Majesty, why not transfer the Marquis of Ningyuan, Li Chengliang, back to Liaodong?" Qi Jiguang leaned forward and said, "Even if there is a major rout, the Marquis of Ningyuan can absolutely block the enemy forces in Liaodong."

"Paying respects to His Majesty, may His Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years." Li Shunchen knelt as soon as he entered. The small eunuch in front of the door had already told him that His Majesty had summoned him.

"Exempt from the ritual, the information you provided is very useful." Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "I heard that you are frustrated in Korea, your martial arts degree was taken away, and you joined the army as a commoner. Is there such a thing?"

"Your Majesty is wise. Such a trivial matter of a lowly person is not worth His Majesty's concern. Your servant is terrified." Li Shunchen hurriedly said. He and his immediate superior were at odds, and his superior had sent him to die many times, even stripping him of his status with false charges. These small things, His Majesty actually knew them all. It was obvious that the nonsense of the Korean literati was also clear to His Majesty.

"Sit, sit." Zhu Yijun signaled Li Shunchen to sit. A general who could kill Japanese pirates was a good general. In Zhu Yijun's place, he would get favor, even if Li Shunchen was Korean.

Li Shunchen explained all the intelligence he knew about Japan clearly and thoroughly, especially the "Entering Tang" wind that was a consensus in Japan.

"A tiny country, ultimately at a dead end on an island. Their ambition for the Great Ming could not be concealed since the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty." Li Shunchen summarized.

"After the cliff of Yashan, there is no China"—this was the wind blown by the Japanese literati first. Their purpose in saying this was the same as calling the Great Ming the "Tang country"—not recognizing the Great Ming as the master of this land of the Central Plains, denying the legitimacy of the Yuan and Ming. Then, Japan, which claimed to inherit the Tang, could naturally and righteously claim it.

Not only did they want to claim it, but now Japan was preparing to practice it.

"Do they really have 300,000 samurai to attack Korea?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown.

"Inside and outside Japan, for every hundred households, ten sailors and ten foot soldiers are sent out, divided into nine routes, totaling 306,000 people. I have contact with Mōri Terumoto, and he tried to persuade me to work for the Japanese pirates. I thought about it again and again and came to the Great Ming." Li Shunchen didn't dare to say whether it was true or false, but this was what Mōri Terumoto sent someone to tell him, and the purpose was to persuade him to surrender.

To be a dog for the Japanese pirates or a dog for the Great Ming? Li Shunchen felt that being a dog for the Great Ming was more appropriate.

300,000 against 40,000—the advantage is not with me.

Zhu Yijun underestimated Japan's determination to gamble on the national destiny. Japan had a total of 8.5 million people. If you take away the old, weak, women, and children, the number of adult males at most counts as 700,000. This pulled out an army of 300,000.

Taking the Great Ming as an example, the Great Ming claims to have two million soldiers, but in fact, they are all farming, and their agricultural attributes are greater than their military attributes. The field army that can be pulled out to fight outside the gate is only 100,000.

Zhu Yijun is not a gambler; he does not understand the art of "all-in." Japan has been like this since ancient times, liking to go "all-in."

"Qi Shuai, do we need to increase troops?" Zhu Yijun felt that the Great Ming's preparations were a bit insufficient. 40,000 Capital Battalion sharp soldiers, besieged by 300,000 people, were truly in danger.

"Your Majesty, your servant does not think it is necessary to increase troops. One Han can handle ten Japanese." Qi Jiguang smiled and said: "Your Majesty, your servant has fought with Japanese pirates for so many years. I know their strength. Fighting a war is not about winning just because there are many people."

If you could win just because there were many people, could Altan Khan still invade the capital?

When Qi Jiguang led 3,000 infantry, one Han could handle ten Japanese. Now, after His Majesty's tireless efforts to strengthen the army and continuously increase firearms, perhaps one Han could handle twenty or thirty Japanese. The Great Ming's firearms were not only numerous and strong, but also had a good combination of heavy firepower and individual firepower. Qi Jiguang felt that 40,000 Capital Battalion soldiers were already giving the Japanese pirates enough face. His Majesty's 100,000 Capital Battalion soldiers were all aimed at plowing the Great Ming again, not to mention the navy's support.

"Your Majesty, if there are too many people, the pressure on logistics will be too great. The roads in Korea cannot be compared with the Great Ming. Your servant thinks 40,000 is just right, not too many and not too few." Qi Jiguang added his opinion. If there were more people, the logistics pressure would come up.

"Then follow Qi Shuai's words." Zhu Yijun nodded. When necessary, he would poison them. In the matter of killing Japanese pirates, Zhu Yijun had no moral burden.

"Is the Korean side unable to provide grain?" Zhu Yijun looked at Li Shunchen and asked the most concerning question.

Troops and horses move, but grain and fodder go first. The importance of grain and fodder goes without saying. It is too costly for the Great Ming to transport grain and fodder from the hinterland.