Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 265 Lu, the Patriarch of the Streetlights: I've got it!
Wang Cheng and Lu Yunchen, with grim faces, repeatedly interrogated the You family nephews, confirming that they could no longer extract any valuable information.

All that is known is that there are several large book worlds inside the Guishan Bookstore, where members can hold specific copybooks and leave their bodies to gather. They usually address each other by code names and act in extreme secrecy.

The two also found a book on the desk that was considered the pioneer of erotic novels in the Zhao Dynasty, "The Story of Empress Wu Zetian and Ruyi Jun".

On the surface, it's about Wu Zetian and her male lovers, but in reality, he not only writes about it, but also lets people experience it firsthand!

That dreamlike experience...tsk tsk, the difference between "the rich feasting on meat and wine while the poor freeze to death on the streets" is not even a fraction of its true flavor.

Unfortunately, once You Zhen "accidentally fell into the water," the book would soon be unilaterally cut off from online sources, preventing them from having the opportunity to infiltrate and follow the clues.

"I am merely the final contact person and executor of the mission; I am not the one who has the ability to get involved with the Japanese pirates of Chechidan."

The selection criteria for the Nine-Rank System of Officials did not distinguish between the upright and the corrupt; any official in the court could be a member of the Guishan Academy.

[Tendouji] Whether Amakusa Shiro has any other inside help is unknown.

After You Zhen finished speaking, Wang Cheng placed a talisman on his head and knocked him unconscious.

"Old Lu, this matter is indeed quite tricky. What do you think we should do to explain this to the emperor?"

Wang Cheng weighed the recording bead in his hand, which was supposed to be evidence. The bead, which was about the weight of an egg, now felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

If the truth is reported, it is difficult to predict how the naturally suspicious Emperor Shaozhi will react.

The wind howls and the grass and trees seem like soldiers; everyone looks like a traitor. Who can stand this?

Wang Cheng himself didn't seem to care.

He didn't own a single inch of land within the Great Zhao Kingdom, so he wasn't a landowner or gentry; his official position was merely a fifth-rank military officer, so he wasn't a powerful figure either; and for the time being, he wasn't eligible for the selection process under the "Nine-Rank Official System."

In the end, he only had the nine islands of the Donghai Kingdom, which covered an area of ​​36,000 square kilometers, or about 54 million mu, equivalent to 225 times the wealth of Xu Grand Secretary.

The key is Lu Yunchen and the Lu family behind him. They have been in charge of the White Scale Guard for decades and have accumulated a wealth of treasures and land deeds that are as numerous as cartloads. They are undoubtedly one of the most sought-after powerful families in the Great Zhao Dynasty.

Although he was a thorn in the side of the upright scholars, he was fully qualified to be selected by the Nine-Rank System, and the conditions were even too favorable.

How should we explain this?

Lu Yunchen did not answer Wang Cheng's question immediately. Instead, he suddenly looked at him with a serious expression and his gaze was intense as he said:

"Brother Fugui, I understand now!"

Wang Cheng was a little confused. Did this guy also want to learn from the sage Wang Yangming and attain enlightenment in Longchang?

However, having been well-influenced by Uncle Dong, he still politely took the initiative to act as the straight man, saying:
"What have you realized?"

Lu Yunchen's face was glowing as he recited a passage from "The Influence of Sea Power" regarding the necessity of opening up the seas:

"In the early days of the empire, the landed gentry class was once a progressive force on the land of China."

They established their nation through agriculture and warfare, bestowed titles upon those who had rendered meritorious service, and selected officials through the imperial examination system. They seized power from the aristocratic families who had blocked all avenues for advancement and relied solely on bloodline inheritance, thus breaking down class barriers.

Unfortunately, the dragon slayers ultimately became the dragons themselves, and their actions after ascending to power were no better than those of the thousand-year-old families who had inherited their power for generations.

Wang Cheng raised an eyebrow, realizing that he had figured something out, and continued the story with some surprise:
“In an era when land was the only means of production, productivity could only be linked to land. Since the relations of production have remained unchanged throughout history, the landed gentry will always exist.”

In such circumstances, even the most promising landowners will gradually become greedy, ruthless, and shameless, losing their ambition, ceasing to work diligently, and unwilling to contribute to the country.

They will lose interest in the cause of the nation and the suffering of the people, in improving production tools, in technological progress, and in exploring the world.

Because apart from land, nothing else can reliably generate wealth.

They only care about accumulating wealth, exploiting and plundering; they are insatiably greedy.

They are obsessed with hoarding land, real estate, grain, calligraphy and paintings, and porcelain; they seize more men and women; and they treat the poor at the bottom of society like livestock to be slaughtered at will!

As if he had seen a like-minded "comrade," Lu Yunchen gripped Wang Cheng's hand tightly and said excitedly:

"Good brother, what Prince Jinghai said is so well said, I didn't expect you to be able to recite it."

I've really figured it out!

A dynasty is essentially a process of: the means of production being distributed evenly – the means of production being rapidly concentrated – the means of production being highly concentrated – the social system collapsing – the means of production being redistributed.
This cycle repeats itself endlessly; this is the truth behind the so-called 300-year 'historical cycle'!

The reason it is three hundred years is because the limit of this social system bound to the land is three hundred years, and the rhythm of land accumulation and dispersal is the rhythm of social rise and fall.

Getting back to the main point, to completely solve the problem of the "Nine-Rank System," we must replace the unambitious landed gentry with another group that controls other means of production and maintains vitality through full competition.

Only in this way can the problem of Guishan Bookstore be fundamentally and thoroughly solved!
So it turns out Prince Jinghai had already thought of this. He truly is my guiding light. This book is always refreshing; it's practically a heaven-ranked cultivation technique that can save the Great Zhao Dynasty!

Wang Cheng's eyes widened in surprise, as if he had spotted a rough gem, and he inwardly exclaimed in admiration:

'You're a real genius! I didn't even tell my senior sister and Sister Axiao these things, and you figured it out all by yourself?'
The only drawback of this Heavenly Rank cultivation technique is that it will eliminate both your Emperor and the Guishan Academy.

Old Lu, you look just like a staunch capitalist fighter! The granddaddy of hanging streetlights!

Holding his hand, I almost blurted out: 'You're good at math, can you help me calculate how much money is needed to keep someone in a state where they neither starve nor become rich, but can only work hard?'

The god-jealous Lu Yunchen was clearly unaware that his little brother was his guiding light, and at this moment he was so excited that he could hardly contain himself.

"I can see that Prince Jinghai has subtly revealed in the book that he has already found a solution and a way out for the oppression of the Tanka people and coastal residents."

It just so happens that His Majesty has already ordered the construction of the "Nine-Bend Turbid River Ship" and intends for me to be the captain.

If I have the chance, I must go to the Eastern Sea Kingdom to personally consult the Prince.

"The bow of the Nine-Bend Turbid River ship?"

Wang Cheng narrowed his eyes; he was unaware of this news.

The fact that the ruler of the state would entrust the national treasure, the One-Eyed Stone Man, which had once stolen the Zhu family's destiny, to someone else, even though times have changed since the founding of the nation, shows how much trust the ruler places in the Lu family.

Lu Wenfu, the grandfather of the old Lu, was the wet nurse brother of Emperor Shaozhi. He held the official positions of Grand Tutor and Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Grand Preceptor and Grand Preceptor of the Crown Prince, and Grand Protector and Grand Protector of the Crown Prince, and was granted the title of Earl of Zhongcheng.

This was the only official in the Great Zhao Dynasty to hold the titles of "Three Dukes and Three Sovereigns" all at once.

When he was specially ordered to attend court, he was ranked last among the second-rank officials and was given a seat, breaking the ancestral rule that White Scale Guard officials could only stand on the west side.

After Lu Wenfu's death, the emperor was extremely grieved and personally wrote an edict to posthumously grant him the title of Earl and the posthumous name "Wuhui". The scale of the sacrificial offerings was comparable to that of imperial relatives, making him even closer than a blood brother.

This was not only because they were childhood friends and close confidants, but also because the emperor needed a force completely loyal to him and independent of the civil service system to monitor and balance the court.

In short, everyone in the entire Great Zhao Dynasty could say that Emperor Shaozhi was cruel and ungrateful, even his empress who was burned alive could be said to be cruel, but the Lu family was the only one who could not be said to be cruel.

Sure enough, he then heard the answer to the initial question from Lu Yunchen:

"I will truthfully report to His Majesty the matters concerning the Guishan Academy and the Nine-Rank Official System, and I will also advise the opening of the sea to break the maritime trade monopoly of the gentry and powerful families."

Brother Fugui, before you grow to the point where you are chosen by this law, you will only gain more of His Majesty's trust. It will take at least ten years for you to be considered a member of the 'Royal Family'.

As for me... hehe, that's not a problem either. *cough cough cough*

After saying that, he coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Wang Cheng glanced at his rare and valuable item again:
[Envied by the gods and spirits, half his life is lost, his days are numbered, and he is destined to have no descendants.]

"It's really not a big problem. This eldest grandson of the Lu family won't even have a son. What benefit could he possibly gain from joining the Guishan Book Society's camp?"
In the eyes of the ruler, these were the chosen royalists.

However, if we add to the knowledge he has just grasped, and with my further guidance, I think he will at least become a Duke Protector of the Nation in the future!

the next day.

As usual, You Zhende walked out of the mansion under the protection of his nephew, boarded a carriage, and braved the wind and rain to personally inspect the Minjiang River embankment.

When they reached a dangerous section of the river, they insisted on driving the carriage onto the embankment, ignoring the advice of the river workers and the water officers stationed there.

Then, in full view of everyone, for some unknown reason, the old horse pulling the cart suddenly became frightened and plunged into the turbulent river, carrying the two people and many terrifying river floaters.

It disappeared without a trace once the wave rolled over it.

After a long while, only that one horse managed to break free of its harness and escape to the riverbank.

Clearly, not everyone is like the legendary drifting king Wang Baobao, who could cross the Zhuohe River with his warhorse, wife, and children using only a single piece of driftwood, and who could not be stopped by the countless rioting drifters and the ghost coffins of the Zhuohe River.

The people on the shore were shouting and yelling to save the person, but none of them dared to go into the water under these circumstances.

On a nearby hillside, Wang Cheng and Lu Yunchen watched from afar as the You family uncle and nephew, possessed and controlled by the evil spirit, completed their final performance, and nodded to each other:

"I think the governor might be a little dead."

"Okay, that's a wrap."

No one knows better than the [King Jinghai, the Imperial Inspector] how to drown people.

Only after a group of evil spirits retrieved the clay figurines of the two men and hauled them onto the boat, turning them into accompanying evil spirits, did they finally feel relieved and turn to leave.

at the same time.

Woo woo woo.
As the main body of the typhoon gradually made landfall on the coast, the wind and rain not only did not subside, but instead became increasingly intense.

The rain poured down, the sun and moon were obscured, and thick, dark clouds pressed down layer upon layer, giving a personal demonstration of what it means to have dark clouds pressing down on a city, threatening to crush it.

The violently churning, pitch-black sea transformed into an abyss, sweeping away anything that dared to defy the might of Heaven.

Just as You Zhende had confessed, it was near dusk.

Suddenly, clouds gathered in the sky outside the city of Minzhou, vaguely outlining a huge, extremely handsome human face that looked down at the world with a bloodthirsty smile.

Countless people in the city looked up at the sky and gasped in shock.
"It's Amakusa Shirou, the Heavenly Child!"

(End of this chapter)