Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 362 Ballistics is also a principle, marksmanship is also a technique, and the Milky Way is also a river.

"Our Shen family has never been able to understand the profound truth that 'without ruthless methods, one should not act with the heart of a bodhisattva.' Every time we do good deeds, the price we pay is extremely painful."

Wang Cheng then heard from his master a story about how, in his youthful arrogance, he had tried to subdue demons to save the Baba Nyonya people of Southeast Asia, but ultimately, he made a miscalculation and was defeated by the demons himself.
"Children born from intermarriages between the survivors of the treasure ship fleet more than a hundred years ago, overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia over the years, and local indigenous people of the Austronesian Islands are called Baba Nyonya. Boys are called Baba and girls are called Nyonya."

One of Luang Phor Seng's disciples, Luang Phi Seng, was attacked by a great evil spirit at sea and was seriously injured. He ended up at our Shan Hai Hui's Malacca Guan Chang, where he was saved by an elderly Peranakan woman.

This family was kind-hearted. They used their stored grain and meager savings to buy medicine and cared for him until he recovered.

This man unexpectedly discovered that the old woman who saved him was destined for greatness [the official star is in a prosperous phase].

This configuration is ineffective for oneself, but it can greatly benefit one's descendants, bringing them great success. However, it only takes effect if one is buried in an auspicious location after death.

So he pretended to become the old woman's godmother, then secretly killed her entire family, and used the "living grave" evil method circulating in Southeast Asia to bury them alive in a feng shui treasure land.

They seized the destiny that should have brought great wealth and prosperity to this family's descendants.

I stumbled upon this incident by chance, and ended up fighting with that monk, Luang Phor Seng. He immediately summoned his master, Luang Phor Seng, for help.

Shen Yuting recalled the most painful events of his life, shaking his head and smiling bitterly:

"At that time, I had only recently broken through to the upper three ranks, while the Sangharaja Luang Phor had already enjoyed the offerings of the entire Siamese nation, cultivated for many years, and possessed profound Taoist cultivation at the peak of the third rank."

He also possessed a powerful talisman specifically designed for magical duels.

Fortunately, we were fighting each other from afar, and the [Treasure Basin] used its own power to help me block it; otherwise, I wouldn't have survived.

Afterwards, in order to avoid his enemies and prevent the already troubled Shanhai Association from suffering disaster, he lived in Dazhao for many years.

I wonder what level that monk Luang Phor has reached now, and whether he has discerned my identity.

Even his treacherous disciple, Long Biseng, who repaid kindness with enmity and successfully stole a great fortune, is hard to say exactly how far he has grown.

Moreover, we know that the elixir of immortality has the side effect of addiction, but this side effect is nothing to some old monsters whose lifespan is about to end.

Although Luang Phor Seng is the Buddha King of Siam, he is already quite old, and it's hard to guarantee he won't interfere deep within the Spice Islands.

Shen Yueye was also learning this secret for the first time, and she was furious upon hearing it:
"How dare you repay kindness with enmity! You're a beast!"

"People are cheap when they leave their homeland. Why is it that once they leave China, all sorts of people can bully us expatriates?"

On the surface, Wang Cheng agreed to his master's request to temporarily avoid their sharp edge, but in his heart, he secretly wrote down those two names in his notebooks.

Before they could finish speaking, they had already reached the dock.

In addition to more than a hundred main warships of 400 and 500 tons, there are also ten fifth-class sailing warships recently delivered by the East China Sea Kingdom.

In addition, there was a large private fleet flying the flags of the Donghai Trading Company and the United Fruit Company.

The latter is only slightly smaller in scale than the former.

Some of them were elite Tanka people from the Donghai Kingdom who, after shedding their military uniforms, transformed into the fleets of the Sihai Trading Company and the United Fruit Company.

There were also people from the hands of merchants and pirates such as Xu Weixue, Peng Laosheng, Zheng Shiniang, and Lin Daoqian, who were also major shareholders of United Fruit Products.

The two fleets together consist of more than two hundred warships, over twenty thousand battle-hardened elite troops, and the Tiangong Treasure Ship [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship], which Wang Cheng secretly disguised as the flagship [Five Peaks Flag]!
Upon seeing this fleet, Wang Cheng instantly straightened his back again:
"Rare goods are worth hoarding. When facing someone of a higher level, you can't see too much detailed information, but seeing their real name is no problem at all."

Even the ruler of the state couldn't see through my disguise. As long as the people of Dazhao who know me well in the fleet don't tell anyone, who would know about the relationship between Wang Fugui and Shen Yuting?
If we were to encounter that pair of monks, Luang Phor and his disciple, on the battlefield, I would make sure they, these wicked monks, experience the "magical arts" of my family, even without Old Wu's intervention.

As the saying goes: ballistics is also a path, marksmanship is also a law, and when combined with the triple barrage of the Heavenly Official's Dharma Realm's 'Milky Way is also a river,' even ghosts and gods in the world will die!
These firearms I've collected may not grant immortality, but they can certainly prevent it!

At this moment, the company fleet commanders, led by Senior Brother Zhang Quan and Chef Zhang Sanshu, had already landed ashore and were waiting for them.

Wu Cheng'en, on the other hand, kept his secret as a trump card known only to a few.

Zhang Quan was accompanied by the wealthy woman he was clinging to, Zheng Shiniang, a fourth-rank Gu Master from the Red Flag Gang, who was also a thief from the Tanka family.

She wore a gorgeous ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) made of silk, with a very low bodice that boldly revealed a large expanse of her fair and voluptuous skin. She was adorned with many gorgeous silver ornaments that shone brightly and were extremely dazzling.

Beyond her natural charm and radiant beauty, she also possesses an extra touch of gentle maternal instinct.

After not seeing her for many days, her lower abdomen is now slightly protruding, indicating that she is pregnant.

Wang Cheng glanced at the rare finds and discovered that they were actually a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. He couldn't help but admire his senior brother's incredible luck.
"Boss, your script is completely wrong."

A seasoned simp ends up with everything? With a little maneuvering, she won't have to worry about being kicked out by her ex-husband's 'eldest princess' in the future.

How do you expect others who are kept by rich women to feel?
Unfortunately, I heard that my third senior brother, Zheng Qian, was forced by his family to marry one wife and two concubines, and he wouldn't be allowed to leave any bloodline, so he had to miss this rare gathering of the Golden Toad lineage.

Shen Yuting's spiritual ability, "Listening to Thunder," naturally detected the movements in Zheng Shiniang's womb immediately.

"Kwon-jai, you're a good kid!"

After sincerely congratulating his chief disciple, he didn't forget to share his years of experience in managing marriage with him:
"Your status will be different from now on, so you should always be accommodating to pregnant women and avoid upsetting Shi Niang, lest it harm the fetus."

However, because his whole family kept it from him, they had no idea that Zhang Quan's profession was this, and that he was much more sophisticated than him.

Listening to Shen Yuting's childish talk, which was barely even a tickle, Zhang Quan put his hands behind his back, looked up at a 45-degree angle, and sighed with the air of someone who had been there all along:

“Master, what you’ve taught me is all useless stuff.”

Shen Yuting wasn't angry; he simply addressed this yet another rebellious disciple with a stern expression:
"I won't allow you to say that about yourself."

This caused Zheng Shiniang, her master's wife behind her, and Shen Yueye to giggle.

At this moment, upon seeing Wang Cheng arrive, the court officials and generals, led by Yu Zigao, a fifth-rank "Tiger General," and Li Jingjiang, the "General of the Warships" who had previously cooperated with Wang Cheng on a mission to Yingzhou, also came forward to greet him.

They clasped their hands in a fist salute and bowed to him in unison.
"Greetings, Envoy Wang, the Chief Envoy of Xuanwei!"

Wang Cheng raised his hand in a gesture of support:

"Everyone, please stand up."

He stepped forward and stood on the dock, took out the imperial edict bestowed upon him by Emperor Shaozhi from the money box, and read it aloud to the public as an imperial envoy:
"The Emperor, by the Will of Heaven, decrees:

I, having inherited the Mandate of Heaven, govern the Chinese and the barbarians with tireless diligence, day and night, with a lasting vision for the future.

In the past, Emperor Chengzu dispatched the eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean seven times, spreading the nation's power across the vast ocean and promoting its virtues in distant lands. Now, having heard that there are miraculous medicines and celestial mushrooms in the South Seas, he specially appoints Wang Fugui as Imperial Commissioner-General and Chief Envoy to oversee all matters related to the eight voyages to the Western Ocean.”

His voice, amplified by the surging winds and thunder, resounded throughout the entire harbor, ensuring that everyone in both large fleets could hear it clearly. The core message can be summarized as follows:

"The emperor appointed Wang Fugui as Imperial Envoy and Commander-in-Chief, granting him the same authority as the Grand Eunuch Sanbao."

Granting the right to expand overseas, allowing for discretionary actions, the establishment of new Pacification Commissions and official factories, with the aim of securing the elixirs of Southeast Asia for the Emperor.

When the crew members were selected to join this eighth voyage to the Western Ocean, everyone already knew this.

However, based on their past experience serving in the Twenty-Four Guards, most of the ordinary soldiers and junior officers of the Zhanzhou Army judged that even if they risked their lives to serve the emperor, they would not be able to gain any benefit from it.

After all, even heroes like Yu Long and Yu Zhifu have had their merits and rewards stolen more than once, let alone them.
The imperial court's credibility has long been bankrupt.

The benefits belong to the superior, but the life is one's own. Isn't the choice obvious?
Although they dared not disobey the emperor's order, it was hard to say how enthusiastic they were about this trip.

Just when they thought that Wang Fugui, the imperial envoy, was just going through the motions and that they were playing along, they realized that Wang Fugui was merely going through the motions.

But then he put away the imperial edict, touched the ground with his toes and leaped into the air, transforming into a majestic azure dragon more than ten years long in a burst of divine light.

"Roar--!"

As the saying goes, "Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger," and with a long cry, wind and clouds gathered from all directions, and a light drizzle began to fall from the sky. The misty rain made the graceful green dragon appear even more majestic and awe-inspiring.

It looks almost identical to a real pure-blooded dragon.

If many of them hadn't witnessed Wang Cheng's amazing skill of "Transforming into a Dragon," they would have almost knelt on the deck and bowed down in worship.

What Wang Cheng said next was truly earth-shattering:

"Fellow comrades, please hear me out."

As you may have all heard, a few days ago a daring traitor from the Guishan Bookstore attempted to assassinate the emperor, but fortunately, His Majesty was saved and the traitor failed.

As far as I know, the purpose of the Guishan Academy was to usurp the emperor's power, maintain the maritime ban, close the country to the outside world, and change the imperial examination system to the Nine-Rank System.

The question is, these people were born into wealthy and noble families and enjoyed a life of luxury, so why would they risk their lives to do these things?

Because they resist all changes in this world, wanting to close their doors and ensure their families continue for generations, forever remaining powerful and superior!

Many of the lower-ranking soldiers were hearing about the ideas of the Guishan bandits for the first time, and their expressions all changed.

Most of them were at the bottom of the dynastic system, the ruled. If their upward mobility was cut off, wouldn't their descendants be forever forced to be slaves with no chance of ever rising up?
Many of the Tanka people in the company's fleet were also learning for the first time what kind of group was going to use them as cannon fodder and crush them between the mountains and the sea.

Both fleets became somewhat agitated.

"but!"

Unsurprisingly, they heard a twist from Wang Cheng.

"However, times have long since changed."

Moreover, it was completely different from the rise and fall of dynasties in China over the past thousand years. It was the Age of Exploration, the Age of Geographical Discovery, the rise of the West and the decline of the East, the coexistence of many countries, and a great change unprecedented in a thousand years!

More than a hundred years ago, the ships of the eunuch Zheng He were the most advanced in the world. When Zheng He went on his voyages to the Western Ocean, countries along the way surrendered upon hearing of his arrival, vying to become his subjects and pay tribute.

But just a century later, Western sailing warships had quietly replaced treasure ships and pushed their sphere of influence all the way to our doorstep.

If we follow the ideas of Guishan Publishing House and remain closed off from the world forever, refusing to change along with it...

When the mighty Celestial Empire finally awakens from its dream, it will likely already be surrounded by other countries' colonies.

Even the rapidly expanding powers of the French or other countries might choose to violently break down their borders and turn us, the descendants of the Divine Land, into their slaves!

They enslave our brothers, humiliate our sisters, domesticate our children, slaughter our fellow citizens, and even force our women to nurse the dogs they keep!

All of this has already happened in Southeast Asia, and to our compatriots.

If one day this happened to our own family, would you agree to it?

Wang Cheng used the [Good Dragon Pearl] in his name to spew out mirage energy, creating a scene above the entire fleet that resembled the tragic sight he had witnessed firsthand: countless corpses of the Great Zhao people being pecked at by crows.

The soldiers, who had already felt the same way, were horrified to discover that if they did not resist, they might not only be dogs of the gentry and lords for generations, but also dogs of foreigners in the future.

Their eyes turned bloodshot, and their roars echoed for miles around.

"No! No! No!"

Without Wang Cheng's guidance, they figured out the solution to the problem on their own:
"Go to sea! Go to sea! Go to sea!"

After they had vented their emotions a little, Wang Cheng added fuel to the fire:

"Now, many of us don't realize that in today's unprecedented changes, there is an unprecedented level of friendliness towards those of us who are from military households or of low social status."

It's not that it's gentle to the lower classes, but that it's equally brutal to the gentry and the wealthy!

Because in this great tide of the Age of Exploration, all the rules of the game were changing, and no one had any experience in dealing with it.

During this period, anyone who dares to resist the trend of the world will only be crushed to pieces by the waves.

Especially for the gentry and powerful families, every major change meant a reshuffling of the deck, and the second-generation successors were far less capable than the first generation.

They are destined to decline with each generation, and eventually, the scepter in their hands will fall to the ground and be picked up by the next trendsetter, starting a new cycle.

As participants in this eighth voyage to the Western Ocean, we are precisely the latest generation of trendsetters riding this wave.

Friends! Land, wealth, treasures, power, fame, and even the elixir of immortality are all in the ocean beside us, waiting for us to seize them.

Our fathers were renowned, but we built our empire from scratch!
In this momentous upheaval, why can't we be the winners?

The speech not only invoked the noble cause of national salvation but also gave every soldier at the bottom a glimpse of the opportunity for upward mobility, causing everyone's breathing to become heavy.

No one dared to shout it out loud, but everyone was screaming in their hearts:

"Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?!"

(End of this chapter)