The Great Seminary

Chapter 305 Good things come in pairs
These words, a combination of rebuttal and attack, left the dashing young man who brought the news speechless, and he could only slink away in disgrace.

It seems that this advisor under Zhang Jiuqing, the "true unicorn" of the Ming Song Dynasty court, is eloquent but lacks quick wit.

No sooner had he left than Ding Chengqi, the outwardly clumsy but inwardly talented subordinate of Zhang Gui, the top courtesan in Zhihai Town, followed him into the backyard of the Longhu Military Government.

After bowing with his hands clasped, he said with a look of melancholy:

"Young Master, Pingyang Town is called a town, but its size is comparable to that of a county town called 'Zhongxian'."

They also had their own docks and shipyards, making it a very large family business.

If your strategy of playing hard to get back ends up snapping the string, it won't be as effective.

Zhang Gui smiled faintly and said:

"You have to be willing to give up something to gain something."

Zhang Liuduo led tens of thousands of people and the Baohui (a secret society) away by sea, causing quite a stir.

Did anyone inform or remind me? No.

This shows that the people of Pingyang Town are not on my side.

No matter how eloquently they spoke or how perfectly they acted on the surface, deep down they didn't respect me; they respected Zhang Jiuqing instead.

So now, go and work hard to stabilize the situation, and you'll get the title of 'head of the family';

If they are ruined, they will become pure innocent victims, destined to be used as wedding gowns for others.

It would be better to just feed it to the dogs.

Do you think I'm short of a few measly coins?

Upon hearing this, Ding Chengqi dared not say another word and obediently lowered his head.

But after Zhang Gui gave him a dressing down, his expression softened.

Instead, he called Ding Chengqi to sit down opposite him, ate fruit and drank iced tea, and praised him for his effective management of Zhihai Town.

Finally, he said earnestly:

"To achieve success, one must never be indecisive or hesitant in doing things."

Since we have already decided to prioritize developing our maritime industry, we must stick to it.

As for Pingyang Town, it can be considered as fruit on a tree.

If it ripens slowly and falls into our arms, we'll happily accept it.

But if it's overripe and rotten on the tree, we shouldn't get involved.

Ding Chengqi was not so foolish as to be unable to see through the situation.

Rather, it was because they had never seen much of the world that they were located in the core area of ​​Shangjun's 'Siyang'.

Pingyang Town, with its four inner wards, eight middle wards, sixteen outer wards, and twenty-seven miscellaneous wards, and capable of housing over 40,000 people, was so alluring that it made people lose their sense of normalcy.

Now, having been subtly and gently reminded by Zhang Guilian, he immediately nodded in understanding.

"I was blinded by greed, it was greed that made me lose my mind."

If it weren't for your composure throughout, Your Highness, we would have almost fallen into someone else's trap.

I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed.

Zhang Gui laughed heartily, said no more, and waved for Ding Chengqi to leave...

Then, they mysteriously teleported to Dragon Island.

Without hesitation, he appointed an army of 50,000 stone-rank corpse warriors and, gritting his teeth, occupied Fresh Velvet Island.

And immediately renamed it Huanglong Island.

The previous eight provinces, including Gyeonggi, Gyeongsang, and Jeolla, were all abolished and replaced with four provinces: Dongbang, Seobang, and Bukbang.

Administrative units below the provincial level, because they needed to use the ruins of Hanli and Qianji people to renovate the new city, could only follow the old regional divisions, but all of them were renamed.

Zhang Guibing then split into three groups.

On True Dragon Island, the tiny metal flying craftsman with the skills of "Heavenly Creation, Heavenly Gang, Unparalleled" builds cities, casts objects, and constructs the giant cloud whale Kunpeng warship.

On Huanglong Island, the True Dragon Kingdom's court spent five years cultivating countless artisans despite having the "Ingenious Creations of Nature" to build ports, roads, and restore old cities. Meanwhile, in the northern border region of the Ming and Song dynasties, Zhang Gui led a relentless migration of stone corpse warriors over several years.

Time flies by.

When the climate of the Yuanluan Ocean, which connects the four continents of the human race, gradually changed from being entirely dominated by the bone-chilling cold of the crow winds to being influenced by a mixture of crow winds and ape winds.

That is to say, there is only one month each year when spring truly arrives at sea.

Zhenlong Island has been completed, with its final structure consisting of 12,990 towns, 396 county towns, 36 prefectures, and three capitals.

Huanglong Island has recovered about 30-40% of its former peaceful state. Although it still needs Zhenlong Island's support for food, clothing, shelter and transportation, it has harvested the first batch of winter potatoes and planted the first batch of summer rice.

The total number of people registered in the 'National Household Register' for both islands has reached 153,379,781.

Just as Zhang Gui was planning to press on and fleece the Ming and Song dynasties one last time, the Yuanshan army finally advanced into the northern border of the Ming and Song dynasties once again.

Afterwards, Changsheng Tiemu personally appeared in Yanjing and publicly announced to the world,
"From now on, this place will be our Yuanshan people's pasture."

Next year, I will hold the grandest Naadam Festival in Yanjing.

Gather the bravest warriors and mages in the world for a duel of martial arts and magic.

Winning would bring countless gold and jewels, wondrous artifacts and elixirs of endless use, and vast lands and herds of cattle and sheep as rewards.

Once this supreme ruler of the Eastern Continent spoke, it meant that unless the regime and the country were destroyed, Yuan Shanren would never withdraw from the northern border of the Ming and Song dynasties, even if it meant his death.

Therefore, Zhang Gui never mentioned the matter of relocating people again.

The 170,000 stone soldiers were dispersed, with the lowest-ranking soldiers sent into the county to maintain order.

While enforcing strict laws and severe punishments, the 'human rights' upheld by the spirit of the rule of law are not for any one person, but for everyone.

Therefore, when someone infringes on the rights of others without cause, he is automatically transformed from a citizen into a criminal, and everyone has the right to kill him.

However, the ultimate purpose of the law is not to punish or restrain the people.

Instead, it is the spirit of protecting human rights that is repeatedly promoted and deeply rooted in people's hearts.

They painstakingly extracted the last element of the 'rule of law'—'protection'—from the system...

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival, spring breezes rippled through Siyang County, Linhai.

At the Zhihai Town Wharf.

A brand-new, multi-ton "Cloud Whale Kunpeng Ship" sailed into the berth where the "Flagship" "Fish Dragon Warship" of the Zhenwang once docked.

Zhang Gui, along with Lü Zhenduan and Ding Chengqi, emerged from the lower deck.

Zhang Gui remained calm and composed, as if nothing had happened.

However, Lü Zhenduan's legs trembled slightly, and Ding Chengqi's face turned red.

"It just flew in the sky for a while, and then it came up with the 'Happy Match-Up' move."

What a big deal.

The sage Zhuangzi, in the chapter "Free and Easy Wandering," said,

"In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, its name is Kun, its size is unknown, it is thousands of miles long, it transforms into a bird called Peng, when it flies its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky."

This massive mechanical ship is now named the 'Cloud Whale Kunpeng Ship'.

As the name suggests, it uses giant whales as materials to create ships that can imitate the 'Kunpeng's posture'.

If it can't fly, can it be called a Kunpeng?

"This item can be considered a 'national treasure,' if only we could equip ourselves with it..."

"You must have lost your mind, going to heaven and sea. Can we even afford something this expensive?"

Zhang Gui, looking at Ding Chengqi who was lost in thought, pretended to say:
"The True Dragon Man heard that Emperor Hezheng ordered the construction of this Cloud Whale Kunpeng Ship, but he has not succeeded for a long time."

They want to sell a few ships to our "current emperor".

We're like middlemen between buyers and sellers; if we can sell ten ships...

"A ship could be awarded as a reward."

(End of this chapter)