Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 226 The Empress Dowager, wealth can move mountains! (Seeking votes)

at the same time.

On a narrow stretch of river where the upper reaches of the Chikugo River meet the Kose River, Wang Cheng and Shen Yueye were eating on a large blue stone by the river.

While eating, he kept a close watch on the Otomo family's every move through the [Yin-Yang Harmony] system.

When they saw the incredibly lavish spread of seaweed, pickled radish, miso soup, and ochazuke (rice with tea) at their banquet, the two of them almost choked on their food.

"Cough cough."

Wang Cheng placed a greasy, fatty chicken leg from his lacquerware lunchbox into his fox-like senior sister's lunchbox, and casually asked her a question with a smile:
"Senior sister, there are actually two completely different versions of the legend of the fox spirit in Shenzhou and Yingzhou."

Foxes in China love to eat chicken, but foxes in Yingzhou love to eat fried tofu. Do you know why?

Although Shen Yueye was still a girl, she was no longer an illiterate child. Upon hearing "The foxes of China love to eat chicken," her face instinctively turned red.

Her gaze shifted downwards, and she instinctively glanced at Wang Cheng before realizing that her junior brother hadn't been flirting with her this time, but was instead having a serious conversation. She couldn't help but lightly spit on him:
"How could I know that?"

Wang Cheng affectionately wiped the grease from the little fox's mouth and smiled:

"That's because Yingzhou is too poor; the fox spirits simply can't afford chicken."

Many people have no idea how poor Yingzhou was during the Warring States period.

Until the Black Ships incident, the Japanese could not buy red meat in the market and had to go to the pharmacy to buy it, because meat was considered a tonic.

The lavish send-off meal for the samurai of each domain before going into battle mainly consisted of radish, kelp, dried scallops, miso soup, and rice. Those with slightly worse conditions, even the daimyo, only had a bowl of ochazuke (rice with tea).

Even many daimyo are loyal fans of ochazuke (rice with tea), believing it to be the most delicious food in the world.

The Hojo brothers, the fourth-generation successors of the Hojo family, were even known as the "tea-soaked rice brothers".

Tokugawa Ieyasu, who ended the Warring States period in history, once said that he would die happy if he could eat eggplant three times a day, and called it "the food of a man who will dominate the world".

Then he actually ate so much fried eggplant that he ate until he was stuffed, which became quite a story.

If even the high-ranking samurai class, who were at the top of the social pyramid during the Warring States period, could only eat at this level, one can only imagine what commoners and lower-ranking samurai could eat.

"If this were in the Great Zhao Dynasty, let alone the feudal lords and princes, even a county magistrate wouldn't eat this junk."

Even if we don't talk about boiled pearls or braised red shrimp, we should at least have some pickled vegetables and tofu, right?

That was during years of famine, when most people couldn't get enough to eat.

So if the fox spirits went to Yingzhou and made up a story to get the people to make offerings, saying that the Inari god, whose true form is a fox, loves to eat chicken, they probably wouldn't receive offerings more than a few times a year. Wouldn't that starve the god and the shrine to death?

Wang Cheng then highlighted two other dishes to Shen Yueye, their names exuding an air of luxury. Taking advantage of her relaxed guard, he suddenly asked:
"Senior sister, after you heard that Princess Jiashan came, did you and Sister Axiao secretly talk about something behind my back these past two days?"

He noticed that his two older sisters' attitudes were somewhat ambiguous during this period. Originally, Ah Xiao's human form, the "Pearl Diver," was also planning to meet up with them when the next shipment came to Yingzhou, but she suddenly canceled the trip.

Taking advantage of this trip, he finally found an opportunity to ask the questions that had been bothering him.

Shen Yueye instinctively shrank back, blinking her innocent, emerald-green fox eyes:
No, it's all your imagination.

But Wang Cheng had already used [Listening to Thunder] to hear the sudden change in his senior sister's obsession and inner thoughts, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow:
"Half for each person? So that no third party has a chance to interfere?"

Shen Yueye then realized that she had been tricked and had forgotten the special skill of the [Chaofeng Lang], especially when listening to matters related to herself, she was particularly good at eavesdropping on the "heart voice of all things".

He gave an awkward laugh.

"It is indeed half for each person, with no third party involved."

Look, your two identities won't be exposed anytime soon. Prince Jinghai needs to develop, and Wang Fugui, the Water Official, also needs to advance. They can't stay unmarried forever, can they?
Ah Xiao said that since she was a local deity, it was impossible for her to travel thousands of miles to Yingzhou.

She completely gave me this place, and she won't come back in person, while Moon Harbor belongs to her.”

Wang Cheng then realized that, given the Dragon Girl's personality, she indeed wouldn't care about the difference between the Prince of Jinghai and ordinary Tanka people.

Whether she was the wife of a water official or an ordinary merchant in Yuegang made little difference to her.

This may be due to the different views of immortal beings on the right of bloodline inheritance.

Even if she were to return to more than 130 years ago, the fifth-generation progenitor of the Wang family and the fourth-generation ancestor of the Paleolog family would only be called "Little Wang" and "Little Paleolog" when they came before her.

Dynasties rise and fall, and the world changes, but their immortal species remains unchanged. Naturally, they don't care about many important events that are significant to ordinary people.

A-Xiao's only obsession is with family and kinship. She hopes that Wang Cheng can be promoted to a living ghost so that he can stay with her forever after he dies.

Now that the two sisters have discussed it, it's practically a matter of handing over the position of Princess Consort of Prince Jinghai to Shen Yueye.

But the condition is that she becomes the boss.

The two sisters, one focused on spiritual cultivation and the other on worldly matters, made this distribution method quite fair and just.

Most importantly, by assigning positions to the two of them, Wang Cheng wouldn't be caught in a dilemma, unsure of who to give the position of Empress Dowager to.

Wang Cheng took his senior's hand and gently kissed the back of it:
"With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for? You two are my wings!"

Just then, a shout came from behind:
"Young Master, the dam will be completed soon."

Wang Cheng pulled Shen Yueye to her feet. Taking advantage of the mountain terrain and the wind and rain, Lord Longwei personally set up a "Mist-Locked Golden Pool Formation," with clouds and mist swirling over the river, sealing off any outside exploration of this section of the river.

A team of elite soldiers from the Five Peaks Banner led a group of Japanese auxiliary troops from the Outer Five Banners to build a dam here. The former were responsible for supervision, while the latter were responsible for the work.

Furthermore, a large number of beavers under Bai Shuilang's command are also helping to build the dam.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, the last ten baskets of soil, bury the explosives."

In the Donghai Kingdom's system, officials from the Inner Five Banners held core power, while officials from the Outer Five Banners handled grassroots affairs.

Within their sphere of influence, Japanese soldiers from the Outer Five Banners currently make up more than half of the bureaucratic system, and using Japanese soldiers to control Japanese soldiers has proven extremely effective.

Most of these people from the Outer Five Banners were not beneficiaries in the past, and even the few who were beneficiaries were not high-ranking officials who could lord it over everyone.

It wasn't until they sought refuge with the Wufeng Banner, an outsider, that they were able to turn the tables and become the masters of their own destiny.

The Japanese of the Outer Five Banners had a very simple mindset.

"You bullied me before Master Tang came, and you still bully me after Master Tang came. Then what the hell was Master Tang's trip for?"

Serving the Donghai Kingdom like a slave is all so they can swagger and bully other Japanese, and even former bigwigs!

Furthermore, Wang Cheng promised: "From now on, the nine provinces will implement a centralized prefecture and county system, and there will be no more daimyo or powerful clans."

Officials appointed by the central government to new territories will be selected first from the outstanding members of the Outer Five Banners, regardless of their social status; everyone will have a chance.

In the future, this will be formalized through examinations, thus completely opening up upward mobility channels for ordinary people from the lower classes.

If one gains recognition, one can even be appointed to a third-rank official position in the Great Zhao Dynasty.

Abandoning the sun god worship of Yingzhou and worshipping the Three Officials and the ancestral master of the lineage will make one be regarded as one of their own. Even if one can only choose the Water Class or the Earth Class, it is already a complete leap in social class.

The key point is that some people have already succeeded.

With carrots hanging in front, they worked even harder than the Tanka people, and they wouldn't even allow the Japanese laborers under their rule to say a bad word about the Donghai Kingdom or the Da Zhao Kingdom.

There's a term called "convert fanaticism," which perfectly describes them.

Grandpa Longwei, who had been overseeing the completion of the dam, reminded Wang Cheng:
"Young Master, there will be no rain for the next five days."

If the old ship owner were still alive, he could use the water-related supernatural powers from the eight categories of supernatural powers—thunder, fighting, fire, water, wealth, plague, smallpox, and Tai Sui—to forcibly summon Dao Qi from the Milky Way to transform into a torrent.

But none of us have that ability right now.

On the other hand, if one possessed the strength of a second-rank official, there would be no need to worry about the military might of the Otomo clan; one could simply lead one's temple troops and demon soldiers in a direct assault.

Wang Cheng waved his hand:
"I have a brilliant plan. I'll bet them there will be a flood in this river!"

Yingzhou Shinto still follows a very primitive animistic model, claiming to have eight million gods, almost more than the human population.

There are not many who have reached the highest level of the three ranks of ghosts and gods, but there are countless lewd gods who claim to be gods in the middle and lower ranks.

In this environment, my authority as the [Water Balance Commandant] can be exerted at its strongest.

Wang Cheng left behind an altar covered with an oilcloth and a handwritten edict, which he handed to Shen Yueye.

The latter took it, unfolded the six-tailed fox robe of the [Heart Moon Fox], and transformed into Wang Cheng's appearance.

He patted the talisman hanging from his waist, the "Craftsman's Silver," which contained the number one money-making ability on the weapon ranking list—100,000 incense coins.

At this time, Shen Yueye had already successfully taken on the role of a seventh-rank [Star Chaser]. As long as she changed the celestial phenomena or traveled around the world, she could quickly improve her rank.

Legend has it that Zhuge Liang once served as the Star-Gazing Official, and was especially skilled at "borrowing the east wind" and "extending life with the Seven Star Lamp".

If we can use the power of celestial phenomena to help the East Sea Kingdom unify the Nine Islands, we might soon catch up with the [Bodhisattva Barbarian] rank.

Wang Cheng then looked at Dong Piao, the storyteller carrying a gourd on his back:
"Seventh Uncle, you are the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, so this is now in your hands."

The latter patted his chest and assured:
"Don't worry, with your seventh uncle here, I guarantee your little wife will be fine."

"Your seventh uncle is exceptionally talented. With the help of the 'Miscellaneous Talks on Folk Arts' you gave me, I've already made further progress. Watch me give that old rascal Otomo Yoshichi a good beating."

A squad of imperial guards carrying the royal banner automatically stood beside Shen Yueye.

His eyes were filled with heartfelt reverence.

When Mao Haifeng was executed, many of them had seen the three geniuses who were able to stand before the "Zhang Heng Examination Paper".

This princess was able to fight alongside her husband from the very beginning of their business, instead of being some pampered young lady who only knew how to reap the benefits. This was exactly what they wanted.

They raised the royal banner high and surrounded her, pretending to be a real royal procession heading to the front lines, preparing to lure the enemy.

At this moment, Wang Cheng also sensed that the combined fleet of Franco and Otomo, led by Carlo, was about to arrive at the Tsushima Strait, and would launch a pincer attack on him by land and sea with Otomo Yoshishige.

One step, and he vanished.

(End of this chapter)