re li able ▁and ▁cost ly , ▁especially ▁regarding ▁the ▁transport ation ▁of ▁S ich uan ese ▁soldiers ▁all ▁the ▁way ▁to ▁the ▁n ort he astern ▁front ier . ▁To ▁carry ▁out ▁all ▁of ▁X ion g ' s ▁plans , ▁Yang ▁suggested ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁not ▁ 1 . 2 ▁million ▁ta els ▁that ▁were ▁needed , ▁but ▁ 1 0 ▁million ▁ta els , ▁taken ▁straight ▁from ▁the ▁imperial ▁Ta ic ang ▁v ault . ▁The ▁W an li ▁Emperor ▁ignored ▁Yang ' s ▁suggestion ▁to ▁draw ▁funds ▁from ▁the ▁Ta ic ang ▁v ault , ▁and ▁raised ▁tax es ▁in ▁early ▁ 1 6 2 0 ▁in ▁the ▁hopes ▁of ▁increasing ▁reven ues ▁to ▁ 5 . 2 ▁million ▁ta els . ▁The ▁tax ▁increase ▁was ▁not ▁carried ▁out ▁even ly ▁across ▁the ▁emp ire . ▁Some ▁places , ▁such ▁as ▁Gu iz hou , ▁saw ▁no ▁increase ▁at ▁all , ▁while ▁others ▁took ▁on ▁most ▁of ▁the ▁bur den . ▁ ▁Rec ogn izing ▁that ▁M ing ' s ▁only ▁advantage ▁over ▁the ▁Jin ▁was ▁fire power , ▁X ion g ▁opt ed ▁not ▁to ▁take ▁an ▁ag gress ive ▁st ance , ▁and ▁simply ▁fort ified ▁and ▁re built ▁for tr ess ▁walls ▁and ▁mo ats . ▁X ion g ▁hoped ▁that ▁by ▁gradually ▁impro ving ▁def ensive ▁positions ▁in ▁L ia od ong , ▁M ing ▁could ▁reg ain ▁lost ▁ground ▁without ▁eng aging ▁the ▁Jin ▁in ▁open ▁batt les . ▁During ▁X ion g '