The city of Beijing in the eighth year of Wanli is lively.

The soldiers and horses of the world were stationed in Gyeonggi, and for a time the merchants and people from all over the world participated in the grand occasion, and the treasures of the world gathered here.

But in the Forbidden City, the atmosphere was not like this, because the emperor invited the three ladies who had arrived from the Tumut Department with two hundred cavalry into the Forbidden City.

After the Wanli Emperor announced to the world last year that he was going to 'quarrel' with the Mongol Altan Khan, no one knew where the rest of the story would go.

The northern frontiers of the empire smelled of war, but until the war began, everything remained calm and normal.

There is a lake in the training ground of the Wanli Emperor in the north of the Wenhua Palace, which leads through the Jinshui River of the Forbidden City, and on the point of the lake, the Wanli Emperor and the three ladies and the little Mongolian prince stand together, watching the small boats in the lake swim and move, and the emperor who is wearing a badge robe and a dragon cuirass and slowly pacing the emperor explains seriously, and sometimes adds hand movements.

Time has passed, and the title of little short-legged child no longer applies to the seventeen-year-old Wanli Emperor, who has a heroic face and determined eyes, but sometimes shows a green smile.

"The Red Sea ship sailed past the flank of the Pablo and bombarded the enemy with its gunwales, twelve shells hit the board of the Pablo, and only the three shells that swept on the upper deck could injure the Spaniards on board."

There are more than 20 small boats on the lake, and there is no cannon sound, and on each boat, you can see a helmsman driving in the lake with the models of the warships that are booming in the world, and the stern of each small boat is emitting thick black smoke, and if you get closer, you can hear a loud noise.

The third lady couldn't see anything, compared to the boats swimming in the lake in the Forbidden City with their sails in the high-walled deep courtyard, the weapon rack and map erected on the side of the platform were more interesting to her.

It was a map where she couldn't see where she was drawing, there were large areas of light blue, and several huge fields of land were marked with strange pronunciations in countless colors and words, and although she could find a few familiar places in the middle, it was too small.

But these images were extremely clear in the young emperor's mind.

He said that this was a simulation of a naval battle that had taken place in the South China Sea a few years earlier, between the Ming and the Spaniards, and that the naval battle began with an encounter between the Ming Dynasty general Chen Mu and the Spanish treasure fleet.

"I simulated many times, and with the shape, firepower, and size of the Spanish treasure fleet, even if they added thicker hulls and faster speed in terms of parameters, the Spaniards still could not win."

"Do you know why I am so obsessed with that naval battle?"

Emperor Wanli said to himself, holding the little Mongolian prince Buta Shili to look at the map and the three ladies turned around, bowed their heads and said respectfully with a humble smile: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister doesn't know." ”

The lady who has an edict is also called a minister when she meets the emperor.

"This naval battle took place in this place." The emperor walked towards the map next to the third lady, and when he passed by the little prince, he took out a piece of rock candy wrapped in oil paper from his trouser pocket and handed it out, and then pointed to the location on the map and said: "In the same year, the Ming fleet docked in Manila and drove away Luzon Xiyi; In the two years that followed, the states of Luzon, Sulu, and Borneo competed to pay tribute, and the Eastern and Western Military Governments were established. ”

Emperor Wanli stretched out his hands on the map and pushed it to both sides vigorously: "My army stretches from the Great East Asia in the east to Atlantic Africa in the west, and you have seen this map. ”

"Minister, I see it." The third lady not only saw it, but she was also very worried, and saluted: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Tumut has never had a heart of disobedience, and our descendants and tribes are willing to guard the border for the Son of Heaven for all generations." ”

"Don't be afraid, I didn't suspect that King Shunyi was disobedient, I was angry that he didn't trust my prestige and ran to get others to recognize him as the Great Khan."

The tone in which Emperor Wanli spoke did not look very angry, which made the third lady feel a little relieved, and expressed her confusion to the emperor in a timely manner, but the emperor did not answer, but raised his hand to point out a place in the north of the New World on the map, and asked: "Do you remember that there was a man named Hulan in Tumochuan, who was the cavalry of the king of Shunyi who paid tribute to me." ”

Where could the third lady remember such a person, when the soldiers who paid tribute to the emperor collected the unlucky eggs of various tribes in the Tumut Department, she could only shake her head slightly and said: "The minister doesn't remember, what did he do?" ”

"He has made meritorious contributions to me, and he has obtained a piece of land here, and I have asked him to be a commander here, and his name is Hulanwei, and Yongzhen Situ." Wanli turned his head and raised his hand and slowly shook his index finger, and said, "Don't say that you are guarding the border for my generation, you look at this map, where do you think my northern border is?" ”

This question is too easy to answer, there is a standard answer for the third lady, and she doesn't even need to look at the map before she respectfully says: "Back to Your Majesty, the Tumut rider can gallop north to the farthest place, which is Your Majesty's border. ”

"Madame Zhongshun said very well, although it may not be my border, nor may it be the border of the Ming Dynasty, but the meaning is the same, my border depends on where my army can go."

"As you can see, there are still many blanks on this map, but the shapes of the various parts of the world have been roughly figured out."

"There are three borders in the world in my heart, the border of the Ming Dynasty, the border of me, and the border of Greater China." When Wanli said this, with a maturity that the third lady could not understand, he drew a circle around the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty on the map, and said: "This is the border of the Ming Dynasty, reaching the sea in the south and the Great Wall in the north. ”

The third lady was about to say something, but was stopped by Wanli and said: "There is no need to say that the Tumut Department is the border of the Ming Dynasty, and when I took over the empire until now, there are no officials appointed or dismissed by me in Tumochuan. ”

Wanli drew a great circle on the map again, this time not only the most powerful right-wing Mongolia in the steppe, but also the Great East Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, he said: "This is my border, during which every country and every king respects me as the Lord, I am alive, I am strong, I am the borderless empire of the four seas, if it is long enough, these places will become the borders of Greater China." ”

"If I am weak and I am dead, my prince is a big fool." The emperor's fists were clenched tightly, as if he regretted that it would be difficult for the heir of the empire in the future to have such a wise and imperial fortune: "Then my territory will be reduced to the size of the border of the Ming Dynasty, fortunately...... I can live for a long time, so Tumochuan is indeed my territory, Mrs. Zhongshun, what do you say? ”

The third lady said: "It is true that as Your Majesty said, Tumochuan is Your Majesty's territory. ”

"Since it is my territory, I want to use the Tumo River as my base and let my riders explore in all directions, what does Lady Zhongshun think?"

"Stay with me for a few years." With a smile on his face, the emperor touched Butashri's hair, drew a circle in the north of the map with his other hand, and said softly: "I will give you this in the future, the report of the Atlantic military government said that from the Ottoman merchants, a barbarian king in Moscow sent people to the east and conquered a lot of land that belonged to you." ”