Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

The candle swayed slightly, as if responding to someone's happy mood.

Zhu Youtang quickly suppressed his enthusiasm, but he knew that he would also face many difficulties next.

Although it is now confirmed that the Luzon gold mine is a fact, and as many as five have been found, it is not easy to build a driving road after nearly half a month of travel.

If it were within Shuntian Prefecture, there would be all kinds of supplies here, plus there were countless people working as slave laborers, so it would be effortless to build a road.

Unfortunately, this road is on Luzon Island, far away from the mainland.

All supplies and people needed to be transported across the sea, which not only required cutting down trees in the mountain forests, but also digging up hills and even building several bridges.

This huge investment in manpower and material resources is actually very costly.

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but have a wry smile on his face when he thought of all these expenses.

It is true to find the Luzon gold mine now, but if you want to get the gold mine and get a steady stream of gold, the initial investment also makes people feel a headache.

Since he came to the throne, although he has managed to get a lot of money to improve his finances, because he wants to lead China to the top of the world, it seems like he has dug big holes, so he has to fill them with money everywhere.

The money for regulating the Yellow River, developing the state and building the Zhiyuan treasure ship has not been completely solved. Now it is necessary to prepare for silver mining, which undoubtedly makes the Ming Dynasty's finances even worse.

"According to the voyage, those young masters should be able to return to the capital in half a month!" Zhu Youtang put down the secret fold in his hand and looked towards the south.

Liu Jin, who had been standing by to wait on him, was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then quickly agreed: "Shilang Chen's memorial has been delivered to the capital. It is said that the students from the Imperial College should be able to return to the capital in about half a month."

Zhu Youtang finally felt at ease when he thought that he had finally made some arrangements.

The reason why he went to such great lengths to arrange for outstanding students from the Imperial College and a group of relatives to go there was not only to open their horizons, but more importantly, to let them witness the gold mine with their own eyes.

Although the Luzon gold mine is already in front of him, he still does not intend to increase taxes on the people and squeeze all the copper coins out of the people's hands. This is not the prosperity he pursues.

It’s just that various taxes have almost reached their limits, and a tax on the rich has even been levied at the beginning of this year, so the best way is to introduce private capital.

Zhu Youtang knew that there was no precedent for national debt in the past dynasties. After all, this was a feudal era. Who would ignore the safety of the principal for a little interest?

It is difficult for wealthy households to lend money to the court now, but this is already the best way at present, and it is also one of the important ways for China to embark on a unified foreign policy path.

Zhu Youtang's biggest hope now is the support of public opinion from the young masters. As for whether this thing can be accomplished, it depends on the reaction of the powerful people in the capital and whether these people are willing to play with him as the emperor. .

Although the benefits cannot be compared with loan sharking, for a nation, financial soundness can further promote national unity.

Zhu Youtang knew that some things had to be resigned to fate, and he immediately drafted under the lamp: "Chen Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, went to Luzon as an envoy to explore the gold mines, and he was appointed governor of Guangdong and Guangdong and governor of Guangdong to assist in the mining of Luzon!"

Now that gold mining has been finalized, corresponding materials are needed to support Luzon, and transporting materials from Guangdong is undoubtedly the fastest and lowest cost.

Although Chen Zheng has been promoted to the position of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry, in the political ecological model he reshaped, the transition from Shilang to Shangshu requires a local governor.

He now arranges for Chen Zheng to serve as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, not only to clear the way for Chen Zheng to serve as the six ministers in the future, but also to protect Luzon's mining industry.

The candle flame made an inaudible sound, and when a candlestick was burned out, a new one was replaced.

Niu Mengmeng had been standing under the lamp to look after the candles, but as if his eyelids were slowly opening, he left with a palace maid named Ping'er.

Zhu Youtang was not too concerned about the changes around him. He drank a bowl of sweet chicken soup for midnight snack, but he kept reading the information from various places.

Tonight's information was mostly neutral, and there was nothing that deserved too much attention.

Zhu Youtang was relieved that Mongolia was in the north. Due to his secret operations, Mongolia led by Manduhai could be said to have too much to take care of itself.

Although Manduhai has the righteousness of the Golden Family, its own productivity is too weak and it is difficult to blatantly loot the borders of the Ming Dynasty. However, it is most afraid of a protracted war.

Incidentally, although the Ming Dynasty sold supplies to Manduhai according to its original historical trajectory, it also secretly provided help to other Mongolian forces and even sold them bows and crossbows.

Because the war in Mongolia is very stalemate, Manduhai is now fighting a protracted war of attrition, but Ming Dynasty is benefiting from it.

"Your Majesty, it's time to rest!"

Zhu Youtang stretched when he learned that it was time to go to bed.

As an emperor, the most important thing is women of all kinds of beauty, and the one waiting for him in bed tonight is Shurong Yang Zisu.

This woman's figure is one of a kind. She is thin where she should be thin and fat where she should be. She is already considered the ceiling of the obese world.

Since the vaccination at the beginning of the year, the relationship between the two parties can be said to have improved by leaps and bounds, and Zhu Youtang has also witnessed this woman's superb medical skills.

Yang Zisu was not an active woman, so she bit her lower lip gently, enjoying the pleasure this man gave her.

It's just that women are sensitive after all. When they met Zhu Youtang's eyes, she gently hugged Zhu Youtang's neck: "Your Majesty, are you worried?"

"If the foundation of the country is not established, I will never be at ease in my heart!" Zhu Youtang looked at the beauty in front of him and expressed his concerns.

In the past year, as Ma Wensheng contracted smallpox and died in prison, it seemed that the entire capital had become calm, and there was no trace of that mysterious force again.

But he knew that the mysterious force would not disappear, it would just hide himself deeper, and even the spearhead was pointing at himself.

Since he came to the throne, whether it was to rectify the salt tax, or later to clear the land or rectify the finance, or the rich tax introduced this year, he has always stood on the opposite side of the vested interests.

Although they opened up overseas trade channels and invented the shuttle loom to increase productivity, these wealthy people are probably still thinking about how to exploit their compatriots.

Zhu Youtang knew that the best thing to do now was to give birth to an heir, which would not only enhance his own security, but also ensure that his New Deal could continue.

"Your Majesty, I recently read through the doctors and got a method!" Yang Zisu already knew that Zhu Youtang had this concern, and said seriously with her beautiful eyes.

Zhu Youtang originally wanted to take action, but after hearing this, he asked seriously: "What can I do?"

"This method requires acupuncture and the Guanyuan acupoint. I'm afraid it's inappropriate!" Yang Zisu's hand explored downward and pressed Zhu Youtang's Guanyuan acupoint.

Zhu Youtang's Guanyuan point was lightly pressed, and his eyes seemed to burst into flames, but he suddenly smiled confidently and said: "Forget it, I'd better work harder, you can't take this risk! If you really kill me, , Miss Lianmei will not be the first to spare you!"

"Your Majesty, you don't trust me?" Yang Zisu pursues medical knowledge and seems unwilling to let this little guinea pig go.

Zhu Youtang suppressed it, but started his own path of revenge: "I am the emperor, and I am the only one who gives injections to women, so there is no reason to receive injections from women!"

He liked this voluptuous beauty very much, especially because he had a strong sense of womanhood. Although acupuncture is indeed the essence of China, I have been afraid of acupuncture since I was a child, and I don’t want to take risks.

In fact, according to the original historical trajectory, I still had no heirs at this time.

I have to admit that Zhang Yujiao is a very skillful person. In this era of "no queen, no queen, no queen", she has monopolized the harem for nearly four years as a childless queen.

If Zhang Yujiao's lack of assistance outside the palace was not recognized by the civil service group, it can only be said that this is the biggest tampering of history.

Zhu Youtang didn't want to delve into the history that he had changed. Faced with this beauty on the bed, he even forgot about having children.

While the Qianqing Palace was experiencing ups and downs, the southeast sea thousands of miles away was already experiencing turbulent waves.

boom!

In the stormy sea, the three-masted ship that was originally docked in the lee of the island has been blown to the sea. A wave hit the hull heavily and splashed several meters of spray.

It was originally a proud ship in the ocean, but now it looks like a paper boat stacked by primary school students. It seems that it will capsize in the ocean at any time.

"Since Zhang Lun has been killed, it cannot be his fault!"

"I have just found out clearly that the scratches on Zhang Lun's neck were caused by him being caught molesting a civilian woman in Luzon City."

"We have investigated everyone traveling with us, and there are no scratches on them. It's rare that we are going in the wrong direction!"

"No, there is definitely no problem in our direction, it's just that we must have overlooked something, or we still have people... By the way, that must be the case!"

…

Although the hull of the ship continued to move with the wind and waves, Wang Shouren and the three people hiding in the cabin were not affected by the outside world and were analyzing who was the real culprit.

Originally, they had identified the biggest suspect after some investigation, but the suspect became the victim, making the case confusing again.

Zhao Kuo and Li Yanwen had already begun to doubt themselves, but when they saw that Wang Shouren seemed to have discovered something, they immediately turned to look at Wang Shouren.

Wang Shouren met the gazes of the two people and said with a mysterious look on his face: "You guys think about it carefully, who is traveling with us all the way, but we have ignored it?"

"List……"

Li Yanwen's eyes widened, and a name was about to come out.

squeak!

The door was suddenly pushed open, and a masked man appeared quietly.

Boom!

Another bright bolt of lightning flashed in the sky outside, immediately illuminating the cabin windows.

Wang Shouren seemed to have a pair of eyes behind his back. He reached out and grabbed the teapot on the table, then turned around and smashed it towards the door with great determination.

Bang!

The masked man was caught off guard and blocked with his knife, but in the end he was too late and was hit in the face by the flying teapot.

"What are you still doing? Let's go!"

Wang Shouren looked at Zhao Kuo and Li Yanwen who were in a daze, shouted immediately, and then ran away through the door.

At this moment, he finally realized that he had made a mistake and had guessed the murderer. However, now the real murderer is not going to give him a chance to speak.

The masked man was hit so hard that he had a bump on his forehead, but he couldn't care less now. He immediately endured the pain and slashed at Wang Shouren who was running away.

I don't know whether he swung the knife too slowly or Wang Shouren and the other three ran too fast. The knife hit the door frame hard, and a piece of wood fell off the door.

"what sound?"

"No matter what his voice is, as long as we are fine!"

"Sweep the snow on your own door, don't worry about the frost on other people's tiles, pray for God's blessing!"

…

Although several students next door heard the commotion, they just hoped that they were okay at the moment. They even got a Mazu statue from nowhere to worship and pray.

The waves were rolling, and the ship was like a small boat in the ocean.

"It's gone! It's gone!"

Just when many people chose to lie down in their cabins, a burst of fire suddenly shot up into the sky, and some people actually chose to set fire here deliberately.

"Haha... none of you can return to the capital, you will all die here!" A man with a scar who set on fire no longer concealed himself, and laughed arrogantly.

On the deck, the storm continued.

Wang Shouren and the other three had been forced out. As soon as they reached the deck, they were wet by the heavy rain outside, and the man in black with a knife behind them had already chased them.

The man in black's face was knocked off by the heavy rain, and his whole face looked very ferocious: "I didn't expect that you really guessed what was happening to me. You three must die!"

"I didn't expect... it's really you - Cheng Si from the Hundred Households in Jinyi!" Wang Shouren used the lightning flashing across the sky to see the face clearly, and it seemed that he had verified his guess.

During this trip, apart from the students of the Imperial College and the descendants of the imperial family, the one with the most special physical status was Chen Zheng, the left minister of the imperial envoy and the Ministry of Industry.

But out of everyone's sight, no one would have thought that the murderer would be the emperor's personal soldier. Cheng Si, the imperial guard captain, was the real murderer.

Originally, Cheng Si was supposed to be with Chen Zheng, but Chen Zheng chose to go to Guangzhou. Chen Zheng knew that his mission had been accomplished, so he sent Cheng Si from a hundred households in fine clothes to escort the students back to Beijing.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, Chen Zheng escaped, but he also pushed these students into the tiger's mouth.

Cheng Si knew that his identity had been exposed, but he could not let these three people return to Beijing alive: "None of you three can escape, you will all die here!"

"What should we do now?" Zhao Kuo had never encountered this scene before, and he was so frightened that he wet his pants.

Wang Shouren had a desperate spirit. When he found a pile of firewood scattered on the deck, he immediately grabbed a piece of firewood and said: "Cheng Si is just trying to show off his skills, let's fight him!"

Cheng Si knew that these three young men must be dealt with now, whether it was for his own future or the prosperity of the Cheng family, so he raised his knife and charged forward.

At this moment, the ship had drifted into the middle of the ocean at some unknown time. A wave lifted the ship's hull high, and then it was hit head-on by a huge wave that was two or three feet high.

In the horrified eyes of Wang Shouren and the others, the four people fell into the sea one after another. Faced with such a terrifying wave, even if a good swimmer falls, there is no possibility of survival at this time.