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

In the eyes of these businessmen, as long as there is enough profit, they would dare to wade through mountains of knives and seas of fire, even over the corpses of their employees.

In just half a month, the amount of silver and spirit stones absorbed by the Tongling Money Shop has already piled up into a mountain.

Driven by this mountain of silver, the massive ocean-going war machine of the Ming Dynasty operated with ever-increasing ferocity.

At the street corner, in front of a wonton stall with a tattered awning.

Li Changqing sat at a somewhat greasy square table.

He was holding a wooden spoon in his hand, slowly sipping the steaming shepherd's purse wontons from his bowl.

A few drops of sesame oil, a pinch of bright green scallions, and the rich flavor of bone broth melt on the tongue.

As he ate, he watched with great interest the almost frenzied queue of people across the street waiting to subscribe.

"Shopkeeper, add another half spoonful of aged vinegar."

The stall owner, an old man over fifty, came over carrying a vinegar pot, poured some dark, aged vinegar into Li Changqing's bowl, and sighed.

"Sir, look at those gentlemen over there. They're sending cartloads of silver in without even blinking."

What kind of magical place is that New World that would make them so reckless?

Li Changqing stirred the soup in the bowl with a wooden spoon and chuckled softly.

"It's not that the place is so magical, it's that people's hearts are too deep. If you put all the money in the world in a cellar, it's just a pile of dead things."

If they could exchange it for a better future, for a secure position and a prosperous life, or even for longevity, they would be willing to give it up no matter how much more they wanted.

The old man seemed to understand but not quite, and shook his head.

"We ordinary folks dare not dream of such unrealistic good things. We'll be content as long as we can sell a few bowls of wontons peacefully in this capital and practice the 'Elementary Breathing Exercises' to avoid getting sick a few times."

Upon hearing this, a gentle light flashed in Li Changqing's deep and distant eyes.

The Ming Dynasty needed both those ruthless and adventurous individuals who were willing to expand the territory for profit and take risks.

And it also includes ordinary people who live their lives steadily, tending their small plots of land.

One movement and one stillness, one greed and one indulgence—this is the most stable foundation of the mortal world.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

After finishing the last bite of wonton, he took out a few copper coins from his sleeve and placed them on the table.

He stood up and straightened the hem of his blue robe.

"Sir, your wontons have thin wrappers and generous fillings, and the broth is also very well made. If I have time, I will definitely come to patronize you often in the future."

The old man accepted the coins, smiling and nodding repeatedly.

"Take care, sir! Next time you come, I'll add two more big ones for you!"

Li Changqing unfurled his weathered Xiangfei bamboo folding fan, put his hands behind his back, and strolled leisurely into the bustling crowd.

As he watched the city buzz with excitement over the new continent, a gentle breeze stirred up the long-dormant leisurely mood within him.

Zhu Youzhen, residing in the Forbidden City, had already laid out the chessboard for the entire world.

Wang Shouren, the Minister of War, has already mustered his troops in Tianjin and is about to set sail.

This grand picture has been unfolded.

If he, as a Grand Tutor, were to remain confined to his small courtyard carving wood, he would be failing to live up to the grandeur of this era.

"Very well. We've been drinking the same tea in the capital for years. It's time to change things up and try the simple food of the New World. That would be quite an elegant thing to do."

He did not return to the quiet courtyard house, but instead headed east along Chang'an Avenue.

He did not use the supernatural ability of shrinking the earth to an inch, nor did he ride any escape light.

He walked out of the towering city gate of Shuntian Prefecture like an ordinary wandering scholar, stepping on the bluestone slabs and facing the autumn wind.

……

half a month later.

Tianjinwei was the home port of the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going navy.

The sea breeze howled, and the turbid waves surged into the sky.

On the azure sea, a massive fleet, powerful enough to make any barbarian tribe flee in terror, was anchored.

Leading the way were three newly launched "Wavebreaker" class behemoths. Their hulls were over thirty zhang long, resembling three steel fortresses on the sea.

The ship's hull was covered with thick, spirit-patterned black iron, which gleamed with a cold, indestructible dark light under the sunlight.

At the bow, the three-zhang-long thunder and fire rune cannon stood proudly, its muzzle pointing straight to the sky.

Behind these three main battleships were hundreds of smaller, armed treasure ships and troop transport ships that had also undergone basic array pattern modifications.

The Ming Dynasty's sun, moon, and dragon banners fluttered in the wind atop each mainmast.

On the dock, 50,000 expeditionary soldiers, carefully selected from the Beijing garrison, were already lined up.

These soldiers were all elites who had practiced the "Initial Chapter of the Great Ming Body Tempering and Breathing Techniques".

They carried muskets and swords engraved with tiny runes, their military bearing impeccable and their aura menacing.

Wang Shouren, the Minister of War and the commander-in-chief of this expedition, stood on the high platform, wearing a blue brocade armor.

His wise and resolute eyes swept over the young and eager faces below.

Wang Shouren never shouted those clichéd slogans, nor did he make any vague promises of immortality.

He knew that these soldiers were standing here because they wanted real military achievements and land.

"Soldiers!"

Wang Shouren's voice, carried by his true energy, clearly resounded throughout the entire dock.

"Beyond that vast ocean lies newly discovered territory for the imperial court. There, ferocious beasts roam, miasma lingers, and perilous situations threatening one's very life!"

"But there, too, lie the spirit stone mines you've always dreamed of, and the hundred acres of fertile land promised by the imperial court! The swords in your hands are not for fighting your own brothers, but for venturing into the new continent to reclaim wasteland and slay ferocious beasts!"

Wang Shouren drew his sword from his waist and pointed it straight east.

"Slay a ferocious beast, and you'll be rewarded with ten taels of silver! Seize a spiritual vein, and you'll be granted an advanced cultivation technique! This voyage will not be based on background, but solely on military merit! The territory of the Ming Dynasty will be measured by the swords and spears in your hands!"

"May the Ming Dynasty be victorious! May its territory be expanded!"

Fifty thousand soldiers roared in unison, their voices sweeping across the entire port of Tianjin like a tsunami, startling the seagulls on the sea surface into flight.

Beside Wang Shouren, Shen You, a student of the Imperial Academy, wore a moon-white long robe and held several scrolls of battle formation diagrams tightly in his hands.

As the formation repair officer accompanying the fleet, he will follow the fleet to witness firsthand how the runes engraved on the warships withstand the test of raging winds and waves in that unknown sea.

As the thunderous war drums sounded, the heavy iron anchor was slowly pulled up by the large winch.

Three Wavebreaker-class behemoths were the first to raise their enormous sails.

On the fine steel mast, which was forged with spirit stone powder, the wind-gathering array suddenly lit up with a faint light.

No human rowing is needed, and there is no need for a tailwind.

The wind spirit energy on the sea surface was forcibly gathered by the formation, transforming into a powerful thrust that propelled the massive steel behemoth slowly out of the harbor.

Hundreds of warships followed closely behind, like a dark cloud that blotted out the sun, sailing majestically towards the deep sea in the far east.

And behind the Ming Dynasty's royal naval fleet.

Several miles away on the sea, a large and disorganized civilian fleet was still visible in the distance.

These boats varied in size, ranging from luxurious Fujian-style boats built by wealthy merchants from the Jiangnan region to ordinary sand boats cobbled together by fishermen along the coast.

The ship was laden with rice, flour, cooking oil, shovels, pickaxes, and thousands of ordinary people, impoverished merchants, and even restless wandering knights-errant, all harboring dreams of striking it rich.