I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 230: The Election and Conflict with the Portuguese

While everything in the Celestial Empire was developing in an orderly manner.

Minister of Rites Chen Zirong will meet with Wu Chang, the head of the cabinet.

"After the election?"

"Your Majesty, now that the affairs of state are settled, the palace is without a master."
Your Majesty, matters concerning the harem, though not of paramount importance to the state, are nonetheless related to the imperial bloodline and the future of the nation.

The selection of imperial concubines is not only related to the emperor's personal happiness, but also the cornerstone of national stability and prosperity.

Therefore, I earnestly request Your Majesty to carefully consider and select a virtuous, intelligent, and clever woman as Empress, and then as concubines in the harem, so as to stabilize the royal family and bring blessings to all people.

This is what all subjects of the land yearn for.

"Okay!"

Wang Chao frowned slightly, then nodded in agreement.

"However, now that the world is at peace, we shouldn't make a big fuss and waste resources on unnecessary things."

Given the current status of the dynasty, it's impossible for them to talk about free love anymore.

He didn't have much resistance to being elected.

Even in later generations, aren't there still matchmakers to introduce people?

Upon closer examination, it seems that there isn't much difference in essence.

Of course, the emperor's choice of empress was not only based on personal choice but also on political considerations.

Even political marriages are the primary objective.

However, dynasties don't need to consider these things.

After the dynasty agreed, the news of His Majesty's selection of an empress and concubines immediately spread throughout the land.

Although the dynasty repeatedly emphasized that it should not be carried out in a grand manner, as it would be wasteful of manpower and resources.

However, the spontaneous actions of people in various places were unstoppable.

Whether out of respect for the dynasty or for various other considerations, they all hoped that the dynasty would marry an empress, enrich the harem, and produce offspring.

At that time, most people believed that only when a dynasty had descendants could the foundation of the state be truly stable.

Looking at the overwhelming purple aura, Wang Chao was speechless.

After his election, he surprisingly became the popular choice.

In the end, despite repeated careful selection, thousands of young women were still chosen to enter the palace. Among them were daughters of ministers and women selected from the common people.

These people are just waiting for the dynasty to choose them.

It would be impossible for the dynasty to remain completely unmoved by this.

Although he embarked on the path to immortality and transcendence, it does not mean that he has no desires.

To be honest, even when establishing this country, aside from genuinely wanting to do something for the people and the nation, the primary motivation was still for himself, to accelerate his own spiritual cultivation.

You could say that he is now just a normal human being who has mastered extraordinary supernatural powers, except that he has a slightly stronger will and temperament.

In my previous life, I had a few relationships, but they all ended without a trace, and the people I dated were all ordinary people.

Top-tier beauties are not something an ordinary person like him can even dream of.

Now, however, he is surrounded by thousands of beautiful women selected from across the country, waiting for him to choose from. Naturally, he is very excited.

However, he quickly suppressed his thoughts.

When choosing an empress, the considerations should not be based on her beauty, but rather on her other talents and management abilities.

After all, anyone selected to enter the palace must be beautiful.

Ultimately, the dynasty chose Ji Nanyue, the daughter of the Ji family and Ji Mingyuan's younger sister, as its empress.

For no other reason than that she possessed management skills that other women did not have.

This may be because she was born into a business family and was exposed to the business environment from a young age.

Although some old scholars had reservations about her background.

However, they could not influence the dynasty's thoughts.

The choice of empress was thus finalized, and the wedding ceremony was to be held on the 19th day of the fifth month of the first year of the Heavenly Dynasty in the 4334th year of the Yellow Emperor's calendar.

The emperor's wedding was not only a major event in the emperor's personal life, but also an important moment in the country's political life, symbolizing the continuation of the royal bloodline and the stability of the country, so it could not be decided hastily.

While the whole country was busily preparing for the emperor's wedding, a sizable conflict broke out in the southeastern coastal region.

Because the Celestial Empire had only been established for a little over two months, and Guangdong and Guangxi had been under its jurisdiction for less than a month.

Coupled with a severe shortage of manpower, the control over the coastal areas was naturally weakened considerably.

It was evident that this ancient Eastern country seemed to have lost much of its power due to the transition between old and new dynasties.

The Portuguese, who had originally only occupied a piece of land in Macau for trade, immediately had other ideas.

Yes, Haojing is the Macau of later generations.

Seeing that the Celestial Empire had been established for more than two months, yet no one had come to Macau, they immediately and brazenly occupied Macau, claiming that it was a piece of territory belonging to Portugal that they had legitimately obtained from the Ming Dynasty.

Similarly, the Dutch and Spanish in Dongfanwei and the Penghu Islands also declared Dongfanwei, the Penghu Islands, and the Ryukyu Islands to be territories belonging to their respective countries.

Dongfan is what later became Taiwan.

When Wang Chao received this news, he almost laughed out of anger.

That's truly shameless.

The Portuguese residence in Macau was actually a temporary outpost established with the consent of Ming Dynasty officials.

However, Macau still belonged to the Ming Dynasty, and those Portuguese people were required to abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty and even pay taxes.

Now they're shamelessly declaring Macau to be theirs.

As for Dongfanwei and the Penghu Islands, they were simply seized by the two countries a few years ago when the Ming Dynasty was preoccupied with other matters.

In 1624, the Dutch occupied southern Taiwan; in 1626, the Spanish occupied northern Taiwan.

Now, the Dutch have taken the opportunity to occupy the Penghu Islands, and the Spanish have occupied the Ryukyu Islands.

At the beginning, since the Celestial Empire's army had not yet reached the coastal areas, naturally no one sought an explanation from them.

However, as time went by, the unrest in various parts of the Celestial Empire gradually subsided, and more and more energy began to be focused on the frontier.

As for the coastal frontier, the dynasty would naturally not give up either.

On January 20th, the Celestial Empire's army arrived outside Macau and announced that Macau had been brought under its rule.

The Portuguese were naturally unwilling to accept this and immediately began arguing with the Chinese army, claiming that Macau was territory given to them by the Ming Dynasty.

The soldiers of the Celestial Empire naturally disregarded this and directly ordered them to leave or to conduct business in accordance with the laws of the Celestial Empire.

Looking at the dozens of Chinese soldiers opposite him, Antonio's eyes flickered. He felt he should let these Eastern soldiers see the power of firearms.

And
Feeling the magic flowing through my body, and the powerful divine magic of the archbishop of the church.

Unconsciously, he became even more confident and raised his head high.

"Soldiers, I think you should reconsider."

As he spoke, Antonio began to channel his inner magic.

"boom!"

In an instant, an orange light burst forth from his body, and a terrifying aura spread out, causing the hundreds of Portuguese behind him to involuntarily take several steps back in fear.

"Lord Antonio, you are indeed incredibly powerful."

"I think Anthony has matured a lot and is even stronger than before."

"Hehe, will those Eastern soldiers be so scared they wet their pants?"

"hehe."

"Hahaha"

Looking at Antonio and the arrogant Portuguese on the other side, Zhou Nanying and the people around her exchanged glances, all feeling somewhat puzzled. What were these people doing?
Do you really want to fight them?

"Uh, could it be that he's trying to intimidate us?"

Zhou Nanying said somewhat uncertainly.

"Well, I admit, he's stronger than an ordinary person, but he's trying to intimidate us."
"Aren't you underestimating us?" "That Annoy, I don't care what you're doing, within three days..."
You have three days to either leave Macau or, in accordance with the laws of the Celestial Empire, complete the necessary entry documents and procedures.

Seeing that Zhou Nanying and the others were unmoved by his aura, Antonio's eyes flickered, but in the end he didn't make a move. Instead, he exaggeratedly said:
"Oh no, you can't do that."

This is now Portuguese territory.

Antonio was about to say something more when Zhou Nanying waved her hand to interrupt him, holding up three fingers and coldly saying:

"Three days!"

After speaking, Zhou Nanying led her people away and began to inspect the area, clearly treating it as the territory of the Celestial Empire and showing no regard for Antonio and his group.

Seeing Zhou Nanying and the others' arrogant backs, Antonio's expression changed; he had originally intended to attack.

However, in the end, he suppressed his thoughts and quickly returned to their original residence, entering a church.

Antonio is the nominal leader here, but in reality, the more powerful Archbishop Richard Neal has more say.

As soon as he entered the church, Antonil felt a gentle force enveloping his body, slowly cleansing him.

Antonio couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.

As expected of a place watched over by the gods, its power is so intoxicating.

"Mr. Antonio, what was the result?"

Richard, who looked to be in his fifties but was very energetic, walked out slowly and asked in a gentle voice.

"Those damned Chinese want to expel us."

"What about their strength?"

"I can't tell, but they seem to be able to ignore my power and aura."

"Able to ignore your imposing aura?"
This means either their power has reached a level comparable to yours, or they possess some treasure, or are protected by a deity.

"Their strength is comparable to mine."
I might believe it if it were just one or two.

But if dozens of people were like that, wouldn't that be a bit impossible?

"Well, indeed!"

Archbishop Richard nodded, agreeing with Antonio's statement.

"Besides that, it could be some kind of treasure or divine protection."

"Are they soldiers, or gods of war?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't."
However, we'll know once we test it.

Tonight

While Antonio and his group were discussing countermeasures, Zhou Nanying and her group were also talking about Antonio and his group.

"Captain, are we just going to leave like this? I think we should just kick them out."

"Well, we always have to communicate with other countries, so we can't go too far. We need to give them some time to prepare."

Zhou Nanying shook her head and said with a smile.

"Oh!"

After hearing Zhou Nanying's explanation, everyone nodded thoughtfully.

That night, Antonio led over a hundred men, armed with flintlock muskets, and sneaked towards Zhou Nanying's camp.

They were spotted by patrolling soldiers as soon as they got close.

"who?"

"Do it!"

"Wow!"

In an instant, Antonio and the others quickly reloaded their ammunition.

"Hmm? Men, someone's attacking the camp!"

With a loud shout, the entire camp erupted in chaos, and Zhou Nanying and the others rushed out of their tents.

He circulated his internal energy and instantly saw the movements of Antonio and the others.

"Musket?"

"Be on guard! Form up!"

Although they didn't think that Antonio and his men's outdated muskets could cause them any harm.

However, Zhou Nanying still cautiously deployed her troops.

In an instant, a golden-red firebird rose into the air, casting a golden-red glow that enveloped everyone.

"Wow!"

"This is."

"Oh my god, what is this? A legendary mythical beast?"

"so beautiful"

Looking at the golden-red firebird ahead and the golden-red light it cast, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"No, what are you doing? Is this the time to discuss these things?"

"Get ready to fire!"

"bang bang bang"

Following Antonio's order, the remaining Portuguese soldiers, who had already reloaded their ammunition, suddenly realized what was happening and began firing at Zhou Nanying and the others.

However, the bullets fired by everyone were instantly neutralized upon contact with the golden-red light surrounding Zhou Nanying and the others, and fell to the ground.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Oh God, is this some kind of magic?"

What they were witnessing almost completely overturned their worldview.

Feeling the impact of the bullets, Zhou Nanying couldn't help but shake her head in disdain. After all, they were just some outdated firearms, far inferior to those of the Celestial Empire.

but
"An eye for an eye, fire!"

"Wow!"

"bang bang bang"

At Zhou Nanying's command, everyone raised their guns and pulled the triggers instantly.

After a series of gunshots, most of the hundred or so men that Antonio brought with him fell to the ground instantly.

"not good!"

Upon sensing this, Antonio felt a chill run down his spine and immediately mobilized his internal energy, enveloping himself in an orange glow.

"Huh? Isn't that An something-or-other from earlier in the day?"

"Hey, I knew they were up to no good."

Zhou Nanying, naturally, wouldn't let such an obvious target slip by. She immediately turned her gun and aimed it at Antonio.

In that instant, the threat of death surged through Antonio's mind.

"No, don't shoot, we're willing to leave."

However, no one paid any attention to him.

"bang bang bang"

After another burst of gunfire, the remaining dozens of Portuguese men all fell to the ground. Antonio had a bloody hole between his eyebrows, his lips opened and closed a few times, and he collapsed dead.

"Hey, you can choose to start."

However, when it ends is not up to you to decide.

As she ejected the bullet casing, Zhou Nanying's lips curled into a cold smile.

"Let's go, let's wipe out these Portuguese today."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)