I logged into Mr. Zombie

In the stillness of the night, only the cicadas of autumn weep for summer.

The cicadas chirped incessantly.

Because of his partnership with Xin Shisi Niang, no more vixens came to bother him at night, so Tan Wenjie went to bed early, but he felt a little bored.

There was a thick stack of documents on his desk. After sorting and preliminary review, he had completely gathered a group of fanatical refugees. Although the method was a bit unorthodox, as long as he struck while the iron was hot and led them to a victory, the rest would be much simpler.

As long as we keep winning...

"huhu"

A cool breeze drifted in through the open window, gently sweeping across the candles on the table and lifting the Xuan paper on Tan Wenjie's desk.

"Hmm?" Tan Wenjie turned his head.

Sleepiness crept in.

"Yawn, time to sleep."

Tan Wenjie lay down on the bed.

When he closed his eyes, he felt his body rising up as if floating on clouds, his mind was dizzy, and he couldn't feel where his body was.

"Out-of-body experience?"

Tan Wenjie was very familiar with this feeling, especially the sticky feeling after the soul leaves the body.

A cold wind lifted up his body from both sides.

When he opened his eyes, he found a beautiful woman in a wedding dress standing in front of him.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that her face was pale and her body was like a floating duckweed, helpless and alone.

“Young Master Tan, my daughter Liancheng, I apologize for disturbing you tonight, but I have a favor to ask.”

The fox spirit didn't come; instead, a female ghost did.

"You're the Shi family's daughter, who was supposed to marry Brother Qiao." Tan Wenjie looked at her for a while before remembering, "How did you die?"

He listened to Lu Daoren's explanation of the Eight Trigrams, and learned that Qiao Sheng had cut off a piece of his chest flesh to give to Liancheng, which should have saved her life.

"Ugh."

Liancheng sighed.

"It's a long story."

"Wait a minute." Before Liancheng could begin her story, Tan Wenjie immediately called out, "Miss Liancheng, what brings you here to see me?"

Since the story is too long, there's no need to tell it; everyone's time is tight.

"Qiao Sheng cut flesh from his chest to heal my illness, but his injuries were too severe to complete the exam." Lian Cheng looked at Tan Wenjie, "Young Master, you must know how talented Qiao Sheng is. I would like to ask you to help Qiao Sheng take the exam again."

The imperial examinations allowed candidates to retake them if they didn't perform well.

He doesn't value his own life, and he should bear the consequences of whatever decisions he makes.

Having witnessed far too many love-obsessed individuals, Tan Wenjie is always amazed whenever he encounters a new breed of love-obsessed person.

These words could not be spoken directly to Liancheng. At the same time, he also removed Qiao Sheng from his initial talent recruitment plan. Women's love-struck minds could not play their full role due to the limitations of the times, but if men were love-struck, they could ruin more than just one or two people.

“Miss Shi, look at where I live.” Tan Wenjie pointed around, showing her his residence. “I haven’t even taken the imperial examination myself, so how could I possibly help Brother Qiao retake it?”

"The only person I can think of who can help Qiao Sheng is you, the only one..." Lian Cheng suddenly perked up, "That's right, I can go to Bin Niang, her father is the prefect, but... is she willing to help?"

She was once again caught in a dilemma.

Perhaps realizing he had been bothering her for too long, and that it wasn't appropriate for a lone man and woman to be alone together, Liancheng took his leave.

Tan Wenjie: "..."

Only someone as love-struck as Liancheng could come up with such a thing as asking someone's own father to act out of favoritism, especially when it comes to such a major matter as the imperial examination.

But the woman in question might not be willing to do it. There aren't that many people in the world who lack a sense of the bigger picture and are even willing to ruin their own families because of their love-struck minds.

……

“Brother Tan, I’ve really got a chance. Binniang’s father is the prefect, and he actually agreed to give me a second chance at the exam.”

A few days later, just as Tan Wenjie was training his men in formation, Qiao Sheng came to his door and told him this outrageous good news.

"Brother Tan, why are you staring at me?" Qiao Sheng asked, feeling uncomfortable that Tan Wenjie was just staring at him without saying anything.

Tan Wenjie circled around Qiao Sheng in all directions.

"What is it about you that makes Binniang's family willing to risk having their property confiscated and being beheaded for favoritism in order to help you?"

“Brother Tan, it is Master Shi who appreciates my talent, not because of personal favoritism.”

Tan Wenjie said indifferently, "It's up to you to believe it."

Qiao Sheng was somewhat uncertain: "Could it really be a beheading?"

"The imperial examination system was corrupt, don't you think?"

Qiao Sheng, who had already taken the exam once, took it again. This cannot be called favoritism; it is blatant cheating.

"Perhaps His Majesty will make an exception for me because of my talent." Qiao Sheng changed the subject, pointing to the troops training in the distance and asking, "Brother Tan, what are you doing?"

He didn't understand why Tan Wenjie had given up writing to go into business, but he had also heard that Tan Wenjie was very successful in business, making a lot of money in a short period of time and helping many displaced and poor people.

"rebellion."

"Oh." Qiao Sheng nodded, then suddenly realized what he meant. "What! Brother Tan, you, you, you, you should think twice!"

The group of people looked emaciated and only held strange iron pipes in their hands; they had no knives, spears, clubs, armor, or bows and crossbows.

It's for sending someone to their death, isn't it?

"I'm leaving today," Tan Wenjie said, patting Qiao Sheng on the shoulder. "It'll be hard to see you again, so take good care of yourself."

"Brother Tan..."

How could such a motley crew possibly succeed?

Qiao Sheng tried to comfort himself by saying that it was all a joke by Tan Wenjie, but his intuition told him that it was all true.

……

When the muzzles of firearms from the Industrial Revolution began to spew flames, the truth of war lay only within their range.

No one knows how wars were fought in the past, but from today onward, a gun barrel will be raised and the trigger pulled, and it will be over in a short while.

In just one day, the notorious bandits of Wangshan were completely wiped out.

Tan Wenjie quickly gathered the population, shouting the slogan of "fighting against local bullies and distributing land," and built an arsenal at the first opportunity.

The vixen was his core technique.

One day, two days, three days...

Team cohesion doesn't appear out of thin air, but as long as there's a good direction for development and a record of absolute victory, the team will generate unprecedented cohesion and become increasingly united.

Even Tan Wenjie no longer needs to give speeches and mobilize people every day like he did at the beginning.

More and more people came to seek refuge, and of course, there were also opportunists among them.

Even with the most comprehensive knowledge of the industrial age, Tan Wenjie still had to expend a great deal of effort to process it.

……

Feng Sheng, who hadn't seen Xin Shisi Niang for a long time, walked down the street, hoping that the beautiful woman would suddenly appear at the next corner, smile at him, and then throw herself into his arms.

When our feet got tired from walking, we sat down at a nearby teahouse to rest and have some tea.

Unexpectedly, the people at the next table were having a very exciting conversation.

"I heard that the king wants to kill all the richest people in the world and distribute the land to us poor people."

"Really? The imperial court can win?"

"You only know one side of the story. Do you even know who he is?"

"who?"

Feng Sheng also became somewhat interested and craned his neck to eavesdrop.

"It is said that he was a scholar who, upon seeing the disaster victims, took out all his money to help them. Unexpectedly, the number of disaster victims increased, so he said that studying could not save the people in front of him, so he might as well give up studying and go into business. However, he was exploited by the local tyrants while doing business."

"Those rich people deserve to die!"

Although the story is vague, as long as you criticize rich people, everyone can unite in hatred.

"Yes, he couldn't stand the exploitation either. He happened to meet an old immortal in the mountains and was taught the Heavenly Thunder Divine Weapon by the old immortal." The man gestured, "The Heavenly Thunder Divine Weapon can strike with thunder in broad daylight and take a person's head from a hundred paces away."

Everyone: "Hiss—!"

"Truly divine intervention."

"It's not over yet. Guess what? A fisherman caught a strange fish with a belly as big as a ball from the water. He found a letter inside the fish tally that read 'King Tan Wenjie' and 'By the Mandate of Heaven.' This means that he has come by the mandate of Heaven and is destined to be the emperor."

"Pfft." Feng Sheng, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but chuckle.

Seeing everyone turn to look at him, he quickly waved his hand.

"I just remembered something happy."

Stared at by a group of people, Feng Sheng shrank back and dared not make any more noise. In his heart, he despised these people for their ignorance. They didn't even know the story of the book hidden in the belly of a fish, let alone the idea of ​​controlling heavenly thunder. It was simply nonsense.

"I've heard about it too."

Another person joined the discussion, but because they didn't dare to call him by his name, they referred to him as "that person".

"I heard that he was the rice god descended to earth. The chaos of war had ruined the fertile fields, and he came down to earth in anger."

"Yes, yes, I've heard of it too. It's said that he has a haystack dragon under his command that stretches for dozens of miles, spews thunder and fire, and can knock down city walls with a slight shake."

They became more and more excited as they spoke, as if they had witnessed it with their own eyes.

Unable to bear listening any longer, Feng Sheng stood up. He loathed such pointless legends. After returning home, Feng Sheng knelt in the ancestral hall once again, recounting his longing for Xin Shisi Niang.

"boom!"

Suddenly, thunder roared outside, followed by a violent earthquake.

Feng Sheng's face changed drastically. He rushed outside and saw smoke rising from the city wall, and people shouting in the street, "The bandit king is coming! The bandit king is coming!"

……

Tan Wenjie is stationed at the front lines.

His marching speed was extremely fast; it would be abnormal if it took him several years to conquer an entire country with his firearms.

Gather manpower, quickly train them, then kill a few wealthy tycoons to accumulate wealth, and then build a batch of guns and cannons. A few thousand men are enough for him to overthrow the emperor's rule and take his place.

Let them talk about hundreds of thousands of soldiers and modern weapons.

During this period, Tan Wenjie's team has grown to nearly 10,000 people.

Because iron was so precious that it was almost entirely used to make guns and cannons, Tan Wenjie's men all wore only cloth clothes and no iron armor. Besides, wearing heavy clothes would not be conducive to marching.

In terms of defense, some people used wooden planks to make shields, while others used straw bundles, watered them, and covered them with mud to make trenches and fortifications.

When the procession stretches out, it resembles a dragon swaying its tail.

Some people call him the Grass Dragon King or the Strawberry Thief King, mostly mocked by scholars and literati.

Tan Wenjie didn't care at all; in fact, he was quite happy to have the title, as it would allow him to command a large following.

"General, we have already sent men to send out a message, but the county gates are now tightly shut. Should we launch a full-scale attack?"

The one who came to report was Wangshan's second-in-command, a scholar who had become an outlaw, but immediately switched sides after witnessing Tan Wenjie's ruthless methods.

Before this, the second-in-command had never imagined that attacking the city would be so easy.

The thick iron cannon was pulled out, loaded with shells, and ignited. Thunder roared from the sky, and the mere city wall crumbled like paper at the slightest touch.

There was no need for siege or besiege; as soon as the artillery fire stopped, breaches were torn in the city walls, and their sieges never lasted more than half a day.

After the city fell, his soldiers charged in with guns, and no matter who the enemy was, they could only die on the spot.

Because of his overwhelming combat style, he gradually became less inclined to think and preferred to simply open fire and crush the enemy.

He has grasped the truth.

“We are here to eliminate the powerful and divide the land, not to kill people.” Tan Wenjie shook his head. “Try to minimize casualties. Send someone to the city wall to shout that they should surrender and open the city gates before sunset.”

The second boss: "..."

If they don't open the door, we'll definitely have to launch a full-scale attack.

"Yes." He accepted the order and withdrew.

Tan Wenjie closed his eyes, listening to the sporadic gunshots outside. He knew that his men were deliberately displaying their marksmanship, enough to make the soldiers in the city hesitate to attack.

Not opening the city gates means certain death.

With cannons and sniper rifles, who can stop them?

A fragrant breeze wafted into the tent.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that it was Xin Shisi Niang again.

As a fox spirit who truly possesses "great love," Xin Shisi Niang was the first to understand Tan Wenjie's thoughts. What truly caused chaos and misery in the world was the imperial court and those officials who held positions without doing their jobs.

So when Tan Wenjie proposed the idea of ​​"land reform and land redistribution," Xin Shisi Niang immediately began to imagine that kind of future and believed that it was the true peace that belonged to mankind.

She didn't try to hide her identity, and Tan Wenjie didn't press her for details; all that remained was a pleasant working relationship.

fall in love?
Please don't mix irrelevant things into such serious matters as the Demon Trial/Ascension to Immortality.

The two discussed the next steps in arms manufacturing. Tan Wenjie hoped to have a complete steel plant and gradually extract the fox spirit from the core.

Otherwise, if someone realizes this and also seeks help from monsters to produce firearms, it will cause them a lot of trouble.

Tan Wenjie said, "The day that brings peace to the whole world is not far away."

He was like a lecturer painting a picture of a bright future.

"Aren't you worried about failing? After all, it's going against the will of Heaven," Xin Shisi Niang asked. "You're just a mere mortal."

"Following the natural order is mortal, going against it is immortal; it's all about reversing things in between."

Xin Shisi Niang was taken aback; it was yet another sentence that had greatly benefited her.

She said sincerely, "If you don't want to be an emperor, you might become an immortal."

Tan Wenjie smiled and said, "A deity? Maybe I was a deity in my past life."

She suddenly said, "My father is looking for me."

Tan Wenjie: "If you have any trouble, feel free to come to me."

"I will." Xin Shisi Niang vanished as smoke.

Summoned by her father, Xin Shisi Niang quickly returned to the Xin residence.

"Fourteenth Sister, the Princess has ordered us to go."

Fourteenth Sister dared not refuse and bowed her head in agreement.

The county lord is a local official in charge of managing the demons and monsters in the area.

The father and daughter arrived at the county magistrate's residence. Upon entering the hall, they saw a kind old lady and immediately bowed their heads in greeting.

"Greetings, Your Highness." X2
"Fourteenth Sister, you are devoted to the path of immortality. To become an immortal, you must undergo a tribulation of love." The Lady said bluntly, "I have a way to help you. Feng Sheng is my great-grandson, the one who lived before me. You can marry him to experience the tribulation of love."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Xin was overjoyed and immediately wanted to agree.

To be able to become related to one's superior, the Lady Jun, through marriage is a rare opportunity.

"Feng Sheng?" Xin Shisi Niang frowned slightly. "May I ask, Your Highness, is my experience of universal love not considered a tribulation of love?"

“Alas, you don’t understand. Great love and small love are different. Only by experiencing love between men and women can one truly become an immortal.” The princess explained in rare good temper, “You and he are destined to be together. This is in accordance with the will of Heaven.”

Fourteen Niang stared at the Princess, but the other party only used the excuse of becoming an immortal to brush her off, or that they had a deep connection.

"May I ask, Your Highness, is my connection with Feng Sheng due to you being his maternal aunt?"

"Hmph, absurd!" the county magistrate sneered.

“Since that young master Feng is the descendant of a county princess, he must be a handsome and talented man.” Seeing that the county princess was about to get angry, Xin’s father immediately raised his hand and pulled his daughter back, and hurriedly said, “I will accept on behalf of Fourteenth Sister.”

Arranged by her parents and a matchmaker, Fourteenth Sister had no right to refuse.

Xin Shisi Niang had no choice but to lower her head.

……

The city gates opened much earlier than scheduled.

When Tan Wenjie entered the city, prominent or wealthy gentry such as the two Shis and Wang Huacheng had already been arrested.

His scholars would write articles to criticize this group, divide their land and wealth, and use this to win people's hearts and continue to gather and expand their ranks.

As for Tan Wenjie himself, he has already settled down and is resting at the local county government office.

We will continue our journey once the wealth and talent have been absorbed.

"what?!"

Bang!
Tan Wenjie slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacup to bounce up and shatter on the ground with a "crash."

Xin Shisi Niang has returned, bringing with her some news that has her furious: the local tyrant is forcing her to marry a scholar.

It would be a waste to use such a high-quality equipment blacksmith like the fox spirit to fall in love with a scholar.

"Dare to steal my people? Men, smash that so-called 'Prince's' dilapidated temple!" (End of Chapter)