If I fail to overcome the tribulation, I can only return to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince.

Chapter 339 Silver and the Yellow River

A bloody battle was a difficult breakout for the four of Lu Jianxing.

Although the three brothers have now greatly improved their martial arts, and combined with Ding's refined Qi cultivation, the four of them can't defeat them with hundreds of Japanese soldiers if they join forces, but the shogunate itself has the support of spiritual forces, such as monks from Mount Koya and Mount Hiei. Although their cultivation levels are not very high, the four of them cannot win quickly.

Especially the Mao God, although he was just a being who seemed to be stronger than Ding Xiu, he suppressed the four of them so hard that they were unable to fight back.

If this Mao God hadn't only been guarding the "big boss" of the shogunate and not taken the initiative, Lu Jianxing and others might not have been able to escape.

So in the end, after the four of them killed nearly a hundred Japanese soldiers, they finally saw that there was nothing they could do and they left with their injuries.

However, although the four finally escaped from the town controlled by the shogunate, the four had no intention of giving up.

"The Mao God was enshrined by the family of a big shot in the shogunate. It is said that he is the ancestor of their family. He has always guarded the city. When someone attacks the city or someone in his family is in danger, he will show up to save him." The most injured person The young Shen Lian inquired about the information from outside and returned to the hiding place of the four of them. He told the two brothers about the information he had obtained: "But it is said that the generally dangerous Mao God will not appear, and it is just like what we encountered before. Just like that, they only protect the safety of the family's heirs, regardless of anything else.

In addition, the Mao God seems to have limited strength and cannot leave the city where he is enshrined. According to the information I found, the children of this family are no different from ordinary people after leaving the city and can be shot to death with a bow and arrow. . "

Having said this, Shen Lian took a sip of water and then added: "It is said that this is how the big shot in the shogunate we wanted to arrest was shot to death on the battlefield."

After hearing the news brought back by Shen Lian, Lu Jianxing showed a relieved smile on his face, and he breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "This is really good news. If this is the case, we only need to lure him out of the city!"

"I'm afraid the four of us alone can't kill him. Don't forget the three bald donkeys next to him last time. None of them were easy to deal with." Ding Xiu on the side was wrapped in bandages. Although his words were a little weak, he still said A very crucial fact was struck.

In the previous battle, he had the highest level of cultivation, so he was naturally responsible for resisting the strongest Mao God, so he suffered the most serious injuries.

However, for Ding Xiu, an injury of this degree could not kill him. After all, he was just a hairy god who was only slightly stronger than him. In addition, Ding Xiu himself had rich experience in fighting in the world, and most of the injuries he suffered were just flesh wounds.

Not only did these injuries not kill him, they actually brought out his ferocity.

From the perspective of a desperado like Ding Xiu, if he doesn't make a profit, he just loses, not to mention being so seriously injured!
If he couldn't achieve his goal this time, wouldn't his injuries be in vain?

It's not just Ding Xiu who has this idea. Lu Jianxing, Jin Yichuan and Shen Lian all have the same idea.

They are all dignified imperial guards of the Ming Dynasty. Usually these three words can make people tremble with fear. But now they came to a small country like Japan, but they were beaten back in despair. Isn't this a loss of face? , All the lining has been thrown away?
If you just go back like this, how can you reply to the prince?Just say that they were greedy for success and rushed forward, but ended up kicking the iron plate. They failed to get the job done and lost the adults?

At that time, let alone the A-level training resources promised by the prince, I am afraid that I will not even be able to get a B-level, and I will have to work as a C-level.

So the four of them didn't think about just going back, but were ready to recover from their injuries before doing another job.

Therefore, when Ding Xiu mentioned those bald donkeys, Lu Jianxing, as the eldest brother and a hundred households, took the lead and said: "Although those three bald donkeys are not weak, they are not so strong that we cannot deal with them. When the time comes, Ding Xiu, you A pair of two will entangle two first, and the three of us brothers will join forces to kill one first, and the rest will be easy to deal with."

This is not a clever strategy, it is just a wise application of Tian Ji's horse racing in the past, but it is simple and practical.

Ding Xiu had no objection to this and just said to Lu Jianxing: "Let's do it! But I need to recover from my injuries first. Can any of you get me some strong wine? This Japanese rice wine is really too weak and has no taste at all. nothing."

"This is still under the control of the shogunate. It's a bit difficult to get strong liquor. I'll try my best to find a way! You can rest assured and recover first. After you recover from the injury, we can talk about other things." Lu Jianxing nodded to Ding Xiu. This is what he currently has. The strongest combat power naturally needs to be well captured.

Moreover, Ding Xiu’s request is not excessive. They are currently short of doctors and medicines. Although everyone is highly skilled in cultivation, as long as they cultivate well, the wounds on their bodies will heal over time. However, in this kind of hiding environment, it is inevitable that the wounds will suppurate. If you have a sore, washing the wound with strong alcohol can also control the injury.

Therefore, Lu Jianxing still told Shen Lian to find a way to get some strong liquor back.

He is the least injured among the four people now. In addition, he has also learned a little Japanese language these days and is not easily exposed when he goes out, so everything depends on him.

Shen Lian naturally agreed to this, but he also asked Lu Jianxing: "Brother, do you want to ask for help? If there are a few more experts who can practice Qi into the body, we can even forcefully attack the city!" "

At first, the four of them felt that with their skills, they could escape unscathed even if they failed to make this trip. If they brought a large group of people, their whereabouts would be easily exposed, so Lu Jianxing did not bring his Jin Yiwei, but left them all behind. On Kyushu Island.

However, now that the situation has become like this, they now need to strengthen their own strength.

Apart from anything else, if there were two more masters who had mastered Qi Qi, they would be able to rush directly into the city and kill the "big boss" of the shogunate.

Lu Jianxing thought about it, and finally shook his head to Shen Lian and said: "We are now in the sphere of influence controlled by the shogunate. It is already difficult to send the news back, let alone if you send the news back, who will come to ask for help? Woolen cloth?

If the higher-ups find out about this, they will definitely share the credit. The other hundreds of households are not familiar with me, and no one is willing to help me with this.

As for the people under our command, they are just a burden, so we should just handle the matter and think about how to lure people out of the city first. "

Hearing what Lu Jianxing said, Shen Lian didn't say anything more, just nodded and went to rest.

Shen Lian looked at Ding Xiu and Jin Yichuan, who was also seriously injured, lying beside him. The stars in his eyes flickered and he didn't know what he was thinking.

----------------

At this time on Kyushu Island, Zhu Zhanchun and his mother were playing with two little babies that were already one month old.After Zhu Zhanchuan and Meng Qinglin had their hair and marrow cleansed, these two little guys are now smart, smart and full of aura. Even in the world of immortality, they are the first-class talents and beautiful jade. They are the kind of people in the sky. The kind where practitioners fly over and turn around and fly back to recruit disciples when they see it.

Especially these two little guys still have half of the true dragon blood in their bodies, but it has not yet been manifested and does not have any magic, but it is enough to make the two little guys behave very extraordinary.

Because of this, Ms. Zhang regarded these two children as precious treasures. Apart from playing with the two children every day, she almost didn't care about anything. Even when Zhu Zhanqun came to pay her respects, he acted like a child. He looked impatient.

It seems that he feels that his son is far less cute than his two sweet-smelling and soft little grandchildren.

So much so that Mrs. Zhang later simply proposed to raise the two children herself, and even the mother of the two children was unlikely to get her children back.

Zhu Zhanjun had no objection to his mother's desire to raise the two children herself, but said that it was best for the children to stay with their respective mothers, so as to prevent the children from not being close to their mothers when they grow up.

After all, these two children are both concubines, and their biological mothers Lan Qier and Li Yue are concubines. In some ways, the children are their only support in the future.

Although for Zhu Zhanchun, he could completely watch Lan Qier and Li Yue die without treating them badly, but some things were still unnecessary.

Mrs. Zhang is naturally aware of this. Although she is obsessed with teasing her two grandchildren these days, she doesn't really miss things.

With her knowledge, she naturally understood Zhu Zhanchun's purpose of doing this, so she cooperated and let Lan Qier and Li Yue take care of the children by themselves, but still asked them to bring the children to her during the day.

Zhang did this in the hope of spending more time with her two grandchildren. As the Crown Princess of the Ming Dynasty, she could not stay in Zhu Zhanqun's fiefdom for a long time. She could only stay until Zhu Zhanqun returned to Beijing next year. .

Nowadays, all the vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty have been operating according to the attendance transfer system designed by Zhu Zhankun. In addition to the vassal princes entering the capital, it has become a routine for the vassal kings to visit the capital every two years. Most of the vassal kings entering the capital this year Everyone has already set off.

That is to say, Zhu Zhanquan only came back from the capital last year, otherwise he would have gone to the capital.

As for the silver and gold obtained from the Japanese country this year, they will be transported back to Beijing by a fleet specially sent by the Ministry of Revenue. Not only will Zheng He's fleet escort them along the way, but there will also be a navy specially allocated by Meng Qinglin to guard the surrounding areas. The wind and rain calmed down, allowing the fleet to sail smoothly and arrive in Nanjing safely, delivering this year's silver and gold to the Ministry of Revenue.

For today's Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, the millions of taels of silver obtained from the Japanese country every year have become one of the most important incomes for the Ming Dynasty's finances, second only to the annual summer grain and autumn grain.

Especially as several vassal kings continued to recruit refugees from the Ming Dynasty to Japan to expand the mining scale of gold and silver mines, the amount of silver paid by the six vassals this year was more than the million taels of silver Zhu Zhancheng brought back last time. Out doubled.

After all, last time only three families, Zheng Fan, Zhao Fan and Ning Fan, produced less than half a year. The three kings of Liaodong were still fighting at the time and did not harvest much gold and silver.

But this year is different. Firstly, the war situation is basically stable. Zheng Fan, Zhao Fan and Ning Fan have greatly improved their silver mining output. Zhu Zhanjuan and Zhu Gaosui each have several million 10 taels of silver in their treasury. , so the two families pooled their resources together this year, and together they raised another 100 million taels of silver.

Including the 50 taels from King Ning and the 70 taels from the three kings and families in Liaodong, the Ministry of Revenue collected 220 million taels in silver this year.

When the money was delivered to Nanjing, it was just like last year. It was piled directly on the dock for counting, and then packed in open boxes and taken to the treasury of the Ming Dynasty for recording.

The only difference is that last year it was the Qingyu Guard who escorted Bai Yin, but this year it was the Han general from the palace.

And this move to bring gold and silver into the treasury still greatly improved the hearts and minds of the people of Ming Dynasty just like last year.

This is a real mountain of gold and silver, letting the common people know how wealthy the court is, and also giving the common people a lot more trust in the court.

Last year, the imperial court wanted to conquer the north, so most of the money was spent on the northern expedition. But this year, there are no major wars in the country. There are only the Japanese and the rebellious Southwest, which are all small-scale and local. During the war, the court's normal financial expenditures could be maintained.

Therefore, for the Ministry of Accounts, the more than 200 million taels of silver this year is completely extra money on the books.

Although with Xia Yuanji's character, he would like to save all this money for emergencies, so as not to run out of money when the court spends money.

But with more than 200 million taels of silver and nothing left, Xia Yuanji was no longer a pickpocket but an iron rooster, so the court was still discussing how to spend the money.

Some people suggested that part of it should be used to renovate the Yellow River. This suggestion was recognized by most people.

It's just that renovating the Yellow River is a big project. Not to mention that the imperial court currently does not have professionals in this field who can take charge of this matter, and the cost cannot be covered by 200 million taels of silver.

After all, there are basically problems along the Yellow River. The Yuan Dynasty almost went bankrupt in trying to manage the Yellow River, which triggered a series of problems that eventually led to the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty.

This lesson is not far away. Although Ming Dynasty is financially wealthy and the country is rich and powerful, it is not suitable for such large projects.

However, Zhu Zhanjun, who participated in the court meeting, made a suggestion, asking Xia Yuanji to take out 50 taels of money every year as a special fund to control the Yellow River.

"Although the imperial court cannot invest a large sum of money at once to renovate the Yellow River, it can repair a little every year and make the entire management of the Yellow River a long-term matter. In this way, the imperial court can reduce the risk of flooding of the Yellow River without investing a large amount of money and food at once. Possibility and harm." For Zhu Zhanjun, he is actually disgusted with the kind of one-time large-scale renovation, because often after such repairs are completed, it is left in ruins and ignored for decades, and when the damage is almost done, it will be replaced again. A major renovation and the cycle repeats.

As a person of later generations, he clearly knows that regulating the Yellow River is a long-term and persistent matter. Without decades of continuous investment and management, trying to manage the Yellow River well is tantamount to wishful thinking.

Naturally, some people in the court criticized Zhu Zhanchun's proposal, but after putting the two plans of a one-time renovation project and a continuous long-term project into the Qi Lun Compass for deduction, the court still approved Zhu Zhanchun's proposal. proposal.

(End of this chapter)