Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

The old man lowered his voice and leaned closer mysteriously.

"Rumor has it that the two imperial envoys sent from the capital this time are reincarnations of upright and just officials. Especially that official surnamed Li, whose eyes can see right through people's hearts."

"Yesterday in court, a few words were enough to frighten the patriarch of the Lin family so much that he wet his pants and donated all his property. The people of Quanzhou are now secretly setting up longevity tablets for these two gentlemen!"

Li Changqing chuckled to himself upon hearing this.

Erect a longevity tablet?

This immortal being has no need for anyone to erect a memorial tablet for him.

However, hearing the discussions of the common people, he felt a rare sense of comfort.

After finishing his breakfast and tossing down a few copper coins, Li Changqing continued to stroll around the city.

Inside the ancient Kaiyuan Temple, the melodious sound of the Sanglian Dharma Realm bell resonates.

He looked at the devout men and women kneeling and worshipping before the Buddha, and at the mottled marks left by the erosion of time on the East and West Pagodas.

A profound sense of weight and vicissitude welled up in my heart.

During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the city of Citong was once extremely prosperous.

The largest port in the East, as described by Marco Polo, was once a goldmine for countless foreign merchants.

Unfortunately, it gradually declined due to war and maritime bans.

Now, he has personally pushed that door open again.

"Time in this world is fleeting, like a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall. A person's life is as short as a blade of grass in autumn. These mortals fight tooth and nail for a few taels of silver or a few words of fame."

In the end, all that remains is a handful of dust.

Li Changqing stood beneath the twin towers, his hands behind his back.

"Only the surging sea and the unchanging stars can witness the rise and fall of dynasties."

After strolling around for half a day, Li Changqing finally walked back to the Maritime Trade Office at a leisurely pace.

Upon entering, one sees Song Yin directing his clerks to move boxes of account books into the storeroom.

"Lord Li, where have you been? I have important matters to discuss with you."

When Song Yin saw Li Changqing return, he quickly went to greet him.

"I just wandered around and got a feel for the local conditions."

Li Changqing smiled and shook his folding fan.

"What brings you in such a hurry, Lord Song?"

Song Yin invited Li Changqing into the inner hall, dismissed his attendants, and lowered his voice with a solemn expression.

"Lord Li, Admiral Liu of the Navy came by last night. He brought a secret report intercepted in Southeast Asia."

Song Yin took out a letter sealed with sealing wax from his sleeve and handed it to Li Changqing.

"The red-haired barbarians in Southeast Asia are unwilling to let our Great Ming control maritime trade. They have assembled a large combined fleet in Malacca, consisting of over a hundred deckboats."

"They claimed they would head north to block our trade routes, and even threatened to bombard our Ming Dynasty's coastal prefectures and counties."

Li Changqing took the letter, glanced at it casually, and his expression remained completely unchanged.

"A bunch of uncivilized barbarians, yet they dare to covet the celestial empire's maritime borders."

He casually tossed the letter onto the table, walked to the screen with a huge nautical chart hanging on it, and his gaze fell on the location marked Malacca.

"Lord Song, how do you intend to report this matter to the court?"

Song Yin frowned deeply and pondered for a moment before speaking.

"This matter is of great importance. I intend to immediately submit a memorial to His Majesty, requesting the Ministry of Revenue to urgently allocate five million taels of silver from the treasury to expedite the manufacture of new cannons. At the same time, I would order the main force of the Tianjin naval force to sail south in full force to construct a defensive line in the South China Sea, so that we can wait in ambush and repel the foreign fleet."

This calm and experienced defensive counter-attack strategy is indeed characteristic of Song Yin, the Minister of Revenue.

We must proceed steadily and surely, and never be greedy for quick success or make rash advances.

However, Li Changqing shook his head.

He turned around and looked at Song Yin. A chillingly sharp killing intent suddenly shot out from his eyes, which had weathered a century of storms.

"Lord Song, defense is always the worst strategy."

Li Changqing stretched out his slender fingers and drew a line on the nautical chart, pointing directly from Quanzhou to Malacca.

"The Ming Dynasty's navy is a sharp sword used to expand its territory, not a shield used to defend its homeland."

He walked to the desk, placed his hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and spoke with an air of domineering arrogance.

"Since they want to fight, then we'll fight. But not on our doorstep."

"Send word to Admiral Liu: the navy does not need to construct any defenses. Have them take sufficient gunpowder and ammunition and set sail south immediately."

"Don't wait for the red-haired barbarians' fleet to head north; let's go straight to their stronghold!"

Song Yin gasped in shock, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Lord Li! To launch a surprise attack from thousands of miles away? Such a deep and isolated force risks annihilation if supplies run out or if they encounter a storm at sea!"

"If those officials in the court knew, they would surely impeach us on the grounds of excessive military spending!"

"War-worshipping and militarism?"

Li Changqing let out a short, cold laugh.

"Lord Song, what our Great Ming Dynasty has in abundance right now is silver and cannons. Since those barbarians don't know the rules, let's teach them a lesson with cannon fire, showing them who the true masters are on this vast sea!"

"As for those officials in the court who speak out against wrongdoing..."

Li Changqing straightened up, dusted off the sleeves of his green robe, and his expression returned to its usual relaxed and languid state.

"I will write a memorial and send it to the capital by express courier. I will take the blame. If the Emperor blames me, I will take full responsibility for my actions."

"You, Lord Song, just focus on keeping your accounts in order and ensuring sufficient provisions for the front lines."

Song Yin looked at the young Hanlin compiler in front of him.

At that moment, he seemed to see that Grand Tutor, who was once wielding immense power and wearing a purple robe and jade belt, standing outside Fengtian Gate, pointing his finger at the officials and cursing the corrupt scholars.

This kind of spirit—daring to bear the infamy of the world and disregard life and death for the sake of the Ming Dynasty's hegemony.

It's so similar, so incredibly similar.

Pei Yuan, the extraordinary man who held sway over the Ming Dynasty's officialdom for decades, the important minister whom even the emperor completely trusted.

Song Yin took a deep breath, clasped his hands together, and bowed deeply to Li Changqing.

"Lord Li is truly virtuous. I will immediately go and procure provisions and funds. The entire coastal defense of the Ming Dynasty depends on you, sir!"

Half a month later.

The main force of the Ming Dynasty navy, with its sails hoisted, sailed out of Quanzhou Port in a grand and majestic manner.

The massive fleet blotted out the sky, like a giant steel dragon, and sailed towards the distant south amidst the rousing sound of war drums.

Li Changqing stood at the highest point of the Maritime Trade Office, gazing at the departing sails, raised a cup of warm wine, and offered a toast from afar.

"Go! Let these barbarians of the four seas hear the roar of cannons from the ancient East."

He drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

The scenery along the path to immortality is becoming more and more magnificent.

And he was enthusiastically writing the most arduous chapter of this Age of Exploration.