The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 633 Weapons

On the 21st day of the fifth month of the 26th year of Jiajing, at night.

Da Shuo refers to the Forbidden City.

cabinet.

Zhu Zai slowly poured himself a cup of tea, brought it to his nose to savor the aroma, shook his head, and then took a small sip. He squinted his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh.

"what--"

He smacked his lips.

"Li's lazy days..."

"Tsk tsk, it's not without its merits..."

He squinted at the stack of memorials on the table, less than half a foot high, all of which had already been reviewed and approved by other cabinet officials, and most of the actions had been handled appropriately. He only needed to glance at them briefly before marking them with a red pen and assigning them to the Six Ministries for execution.

Recalling the chaotic situation three years ago, Zhu Zai nodded in satisfaction.

"Conquering the world isn't that difficult, is it?"

Of course, this was just the old man joking around.

Three years is not enough time to turn the world upside down.

At present, only the capital city has roughly rebuilt a team that can operate smoothly. Local affairs are still in constant turmoil, the martial arts world is still in turmoil, Japanese pirates are still appearing sporadically, and newly emerging evil martial arts sects are impossible to eradicate completely...

However, the tide has already turned.

A large number of officials who had been vetted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard were promoted and quickly filled vacancies. After three years of honing their skills, they began to mature. Wudang, Shaolin, the Beggars' Sect, and the Canal Gang had completely sided with the imperial court, and a new order in the martial arts world was gradually being established.

Within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, promising individuals with the potential to cultivate into celestial beings have begun to emerge, and the cultivation methods for improving aptitude created by Li Miao have also begun to be implemented. Large amounts of wealth have been confiscated from the homes of corrupt officials, powerful families, and eunuchs, allowing Zhu Zai to confidently reduce taxes for the people.

Wang Hai is overseeing the reconstruction of Nanjing, while An Ziyang is leading a team to sweep through the county by county from north to south, killing people, distributing land, and giving money. Zheng Yi, on the other hand, is leading Gao Anyu from south to north, eliminating the powerful figures who acted out of fear one by one.

Of course, due to the spread of the Xuanlan technique, the martial world has not been peaceful in the past three years. Among them, there have been many demonic giants whose strength surpasses that of ordinary worshippers. The largest event was when three evil celestial beings who had mastered Xuanlan jointly established a huge mountain gate called "Three Immortals Mountain". For a time, evil cultists and outlaws who were chased to the point of having nowhere to go gathered in the city.

A month later, the Canal Gang and the Beggar Gang sent invitations to all the sects in the world.

The invitation contained only three words: "Moon Appreciation Banquet".

The location is Sanxian Mountain.

Unaware of what was happening, the martial arts practitioners arrived at the foot of the Three Immortals Mountain on time, only to find that on the collapsed mountain gate, an ordinary iron sword had strung the heads of the "Three Immortals" together. Below the heads, Mei Qinghe sat cross-legged on the ground, and the disciples of the Five Mountains Sword Sect were carrying the corpses down from the mountain and piling them up.

In front of the pile of corpses were hundreds of wine glasses that had already been filled.

Three days later, the wine in the cup was gone.

A month later, You Zi'ang re-hung the wooden plaque for the Moon Appreciation Banquet above the gates of all the major sects.

Of course, there are also cunning and scheming evil beings who are secretly accumulating power while remaining out of the public eye... In that case, there are three possible outcomes.

Or, you'll get your head smashed by the Shaolin abbot with a human face on his chest.

Or, you'll get your head smashed by the rambling, unsteady Wudang deity.

Or... get your head smashed by some Jinyiwei commander who's been wandering around for three years.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zai sighed.

"I wonder when Da Li will return... why has he been gone for so long..."

"Is it difficult to handle things on the Japanese side?"

Li Miao has been at sea for over three months, and there has been no news of him yet.

Zhu Zai knew that if there was one person in the world who needed no one to worry about, it would be Li Miao... but these past few days he had been inexplicably restless.

He wouldn't worry if it was just ordinary restlessness.

After all, he is old, and occasional heart palpitations are not uncommon.

But he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

Zhu Zai raised his eyes and looked to his right.

Standing in front of the window to his right was a figure dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe. After noticing his gaze, the figure turned around, his brows furrowed on his thin face.

Zhu Zai's heart sank.

"still?"

"Ah."

"The Emperor replied. Although the two were not exactly on the same wavelength, they shared the same way of thinking. Therefore, they only needed a very brief exchange to understand each other's meaning."

The emperor was also uneasy.

Moreover, the extent of this was far greater than that of Zhu Zai.

The emperor has reached the state of unification of the four paths, and his accumulation of sexual cultivation is far deeper than anyone else's.

His unease was no coincidence.

This is very likely an instinctive premonition... a very bad omen.

"Let's go back."

Zhu Zai sighed deeply.

"Tomorrow, I will send someone to Japan to investigate."

The emperor did not move, but quietly watched Zhu Zai.

Zhu Zai sighed again.

"Mei Qinghe is fine now, I will have her take You Ziang with her."

"We will receive the news within ten days of departing from Tianjin Port."

The emperor remained silent.

As a being who had unified the four paths, although he couldn't explain the reason for his unease, he was more certain than Zhu Zai that this was no coincidence; something bad must have happened. If he weren't restricted from leaving the capital as emperor, he would have already personally sailed to Japan to find Li Miao.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Zhu Zai was defeated.

"I'll send them off right now."

He snapped his fingers, and a carrier pigeon flew in from outside the window. He wrote a note, put it in the mailbox, and then went to the bedside to release the pigeon.

Given the speed of carrier pigeons and Mei Qinghe's efficiency, she would be able to leave the city and head to Tianjin Port in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The emperor nodded, then vanished from the window in a flash.

Zhu Zai slowly sat down and raised his hand to rub his temples.

Before he could even finish his sigh, there was a knock on the door.

Tuk-tuk-tuk.

Before he could answer, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Tang Lanzhou strode in.

"Lord Zhu!"

His face was pale. Although his body had been treated with Gu magic and true qi, it had only prolonged his life for a few more years. In addition, he had been handling official business almost day and night for the past three years, which made his health worse and worse. It seemed that even if nothing went wrong, he would die of exhaustion in less than five years.

Zhu Zai stood up and gestured with his hand.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Mr. Tang. Have some tea to calm yourself down first, don't—"

Tang Lanzhou and his students are now a crucial link in the operation of the court, so although Tang Lanzhou seems extremely anxious, Zhu Zai still wants to calm him down first and ask him questions slowly.

But Tang Lanzhou flung his hand away and slammed a piece of paper into Zhu Zai's hand.

"Mr. Zhu, big event!"

"Altan Khan, the leader of the Tumed tribe, has led his army to invade the border!"

Zhu Zai was taken aback for a moment, and then he was taken aback again.

Mongolia invading the border?

That's not a big deal.
The Mongols have a history of incursions into our borders, causing considerable casualties each time. However, these incidents are precedents, and the border troops know how to handle them. Tang Lanzhou is a veteran official of two dynasties, and he has experienced this hundreds of times... Why is there any need for such panic?
But when he looked down at the piece of paper that Tang Lanzhou had slapped at him, his eyes widened in shock.

He glanced at it again, seemingly in disbelief.

Then, he slowly read aloud the contents of the paper.

"Datong, Shanhaiguan, Juyongguan..."

"Trapped...?"

(End of this chapter)