Zhu Yunwen is now more and more proficient in the handling of the government, and at the same time can gradually understand the roots of the various systems of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty through the imperial examination selected talents are very good, there is no problem in intelligence, the policy is also relatively reasonable, the main lack is the disregard for technology, in addition, due to the unreasonable content of the examination, let the smartest group of people into the sea of books of the Four Books and Five Classics can not get out, they think that the world of Confucius is perfect, but they do not find that the world is slowly changing. For example, nomads such as the Yuan Dynasty can enter the Central Plains, such as the emergence of a new threat at sea, they stubbornly believe that it is the Confucian scholars of the previous dynasty who did not adhere to the concept of sages that led to the Mongols entering the Central Plains, and in addition, they chose to be indifferent to the threat from the sea, and now Zhu Yunwen can't judge whether they are powerless or really think so. The subsequent blows of the Chinese nation were once the Manchus hunting in the mountains and forests, and the other was the Japanese from the sea, which cannot but make people wonder if there was something wrong with the Ming Dynasty or Huaxia.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen began to focus more on the agricultural college, the engineering college, the martial arts and the army, he formulated a detailed reward and punishment system, encouraged craftsmen to innovate, for the martial arts and the army, let Fu Youde and others strengthen exploration, strengthen the training of the army, and at the same time let the things researched by the engineering college let the martial arts and the guards actually test.

Hongze Lake is located in the lower reaches of the Huai River, originally a group of shallow small lakes, called Fuling Lake in ancient times, called Popu Lake after the two Han Dynasty, called Hongzepu Lake in Sui, and was originally named Hongze Lake in Tang Dynasty. During the Jianyan period of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River went south to seize the Huai River into the sea, and the Huai River lost its inlet channel, and stored water in Xuyi, and the original small lake became Hongze Lake. Xuyi on the shore of Hongze Lake is a sacred place for the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was born and raised here, this place is also the actual burial place of Zhu Yuanzhang's father Zhu Chuyi, as well as the tomb of his great ancestor, great-grandfather and grandfather, Hongwu began to build the ancestral tomb of the Ming Dynasty here in the eighteenth year, and now it has been almost ten years, and it has not been completed.

Walk southeast along the lake from the ancestral tomb, about twenty or thirty miles, at the entrance of the Huai River water flowing into Hongze Lake, there is a small mountain, which is the famous Taoist mountain Laozi Mountain, it is said that after Lao Tzu became an immortal, he cultivated the Tao and alchemy here to cure the fishermen's diseases, so the fishermen called this place Laozi Mountain. Laozi Mountain is located in the north-south traffic water and land artery, business is prosperous, the north and south businessmen gather, the boats that enter and exit the Huai River are here to rest and replenish, the mast stands in the daytime, the sail is like white clouds, the lights are ten thousand lights at night, it is reflected in the water, it is like the Milky Way falling into the lake, it is beautiful and charming.

It's already October, and the wind from Hongze Lake is a little cool on people, but the merchants who come and go from the south to the north are still happy to do it. There is an inconspicuous flower boat in the lake, the warblers on the boat are singing and dancing, there are bursts of silk and bamboo sounds, listening to the fishermen around the fishing are itching, and they have the heart to listen closely, but the bodyguards on the boat are fierce and vicious, and the bluffing people are scolding in their hearts, I don't know which rich man came here to blow the wind, I don't know if he is holding the singing beauty in his free time.

But what everyone thinks is different, the main cabin is a different scenery, there is an old man with a white beard sitting on the main seat, behind him stands a handsome descendant and a woman holding a guzheng, sitting on the guest seat is a middle-aged man in his forties, behind him stands a white-faced scholar wearing a white coat and a scarf, there are two men sitting on the side, the tall man and the short man muttered something in a low voice from time to time, the two people are about thirty years old, dark complexion, at first glance it is begging for life on the water, the tall man has a fierce face, The short man is different, with a black mole at the corner of his mouth, which seems to be kind-faced, but his smile has a creepy feeling.

The old man's name on the main seat is Lin Guodong, who is the head altar master of the Jiangbei White Lotus Sect, and behind him is his son Lin He and his righteous daughter Liu Qingyin, and on the opposite guest seat is Peng Qiandu, the chief altar master of the Jiangnan White Lotus Sect, and behind him is his son Peng Ziyun. Sitting on the side is Zhang Shicheng, the leader of Fang Guozhen's remaining department, Zhang Suhuan, and the other is Yamamoto Kikujiro, a Japanese ronin.

The three parties seemed to have quarreled just now, and they were silent and did not speak, and after a long while, Zhang Su also spoke: "The two are in charge, I think that this assassination should still be made, because it was only almost successful, although our side lost the best soldier Wen Tianzhi, but I think Ziyun Xian's nephew's idea is still very successful, and Zhu Yunwen almost lost his life." ”

Lin Guodong slapped the table with a "snap" and said, "What should be?" What is the use of killing Joo Yoon-wen? As long as Zhu Yuanzhang lives, there is no meaning. Recently, the Jinyi guards in various places have frantically arrested the sect members, and we have suffered heavy losses, the branch altars in Linyi, Jinan, Kaifeng and other places have been breached, and our Jiangbei Bailian has lost a large number of manpower, so I think this action itself is wrong. And," he looked back at his daughter-in-law: "My daughter-in-law Qingyin also narrowly escaped life, her father once saved my life, and asked me to take care of his daughter before he died, why didn't you inform her before you acted?" ”

Peng Qiandu was a big fat man with a smile on his face, he rubbed his hands and said: "Brother Lin, this operation dog is really not well thought out, I have already reprimanded him, we have also lost a lot, Elder Mo was almost caught by the eagle's claws, fortunately the retreat was timely, but unfortunately Elder Zhao Gezhuang Zhao did not have time to withdraw, we had already informed him, but he held the possibility of just in case, he did not withdraw, it was not easy for him to get the position of the camp Qing Servant Shilang, so I am even more sad to say." But this time I didn't have time to inform Miss Qingyin, there was also a reason, Miss Qingyin's boat was on the river, the situation was urgent, and there was not so much time to go up, so I had to retreat urgently, and I also looked at Brother Lin Haihan. I came over this time and brought a gift on purpose, Ziyun," he looked back at his son: "Hurry up and give it to Miss Qingyin, it will be counted as an apology for the last incident." ”

"Yes, father." Peng Ziyun picked up a black box, walked around the table, walked to Liu Qingyin, lowered his head to open the box, and held it in his hand: "Miss Qingyin, please look, this is a mirror, which has just become popular in Beijing recently, and my father spent 10,000 taels of silver to buy it, and I hope the girl will accept it with a smile." ”

Liu Qingyin didn't want to accept it, but when he saw the mirror with gold edges, he couldn't say anything to refuse, so he couldn't help but look at Lin Guodong, and said with some embarrassment: "Dad, you see?" ”

Lin Guodong took it and looked at it, his hand trembled, and the mirror fell to the ground, Lin He next to him hurriedly helped catch it, picked it up and took a look, only to understand why his sister-in-law wanted this thing, and wanted to return it, but he was afraid that his sister-in-law would be angry, so after thinking about it, he still put the mirror on the table.

Lin Guodong hesitated for a moment, and said: "Lord Peng Tan really broke the bill this time, he chose such a precious object, Lin accepted it on behalf of his daughter, forget about it this time, but you can't be so reckless next time, you must be very sure." ”

"Certainly, definitely, Brother Lin is an old man, and I hope for more guidance."

Zhang Su next to him also applauded: "Very good, the two altar masters are well aware of the righteousness, so it will be the best solution, I hope that in the future, the three of us can also cooperate sincerely, and strive for the next opportunity to kill Zhu Yuanzhang, then the Ming Dynasty will inevitably collapse, and it will be a situation of competing for the deer, and then we can all dominate one side and achieve a career." ”

The meeting between the three parties was mainly for the assassination of the emperor's grandson last time, the assassination was planned by Peng Ziyun, the son of Peng Qiandu, the head of the White Lotus Sect in Jiangnan, and used Zhang Su's henchman Wen Tianzhi, who was also installed in Hangzhou Wei, Wen Tian's real name is Zhang Xiang, Zhang Shicheng's grandson, and he hated Zhu Yuanzhang deeply, so he lurked in Hangzhou Weizhong under a pseudonym, and was selected into martial arts because of his bravery. From the day Zhang Xiang was selected into the martial arts, Peng Ziyun began to plan this matter, and in the end, it fell short, Zhu Yunwen was only seriously injured, but he did not die, and he also involved Elder Mo who was placed in the Bai family, Elder Zhao Gezhuang in the camp Qing official Shilang, and Liu Qingyin, who disguised himself as a courtesan on the Qinhuai River to deliver news for the White Lotus Sect in the north and south. After Zhu Yuanzhang's strict order, the White Lotus Sect suffered heavy losses in various places, so Lin Guodong of the White Lotus Sect in Jiangbei was furious and refused to come to participate in the meeting.

Zhang Su also thought for a while and said, "What do you think of Zhu Yunwen?" ”

Peng Qiandu hesitated for a moment and said: "Zhu Yunwen became the prince because of the leakage, so we don't know much about him, but he seems to be a little different from what we knew before, since he became the emperor's grandson, he founded martial arts, the army, and an engineering college and an agricultural college, although I don't know what he wants to do, but I feel that his plan is not small." ”

Lin Guodong said: "We Jiangbei don't know much about Zhu Yunwen, I feel that it has no impact on the government, Zhu Yuanzhang has killed so many people, and I haven't seen him come out to fart." ”

Zhang Su also hesitated for a moment and said: "I have a feeling that this Zhu Yunwen may be more difficult to deal with than Zhu Yuanzhang." ”

"Haha, how is that possible? Can he be more brutal than Zhu Yuanzhang? Kill more people? Lin Guodong laughed.

Peng Qiandu didn't laugh: "How to say it, in general, I feel that all the officials of the court think that he is a benevolent monarch, if he likes martial arts in addition to being a benevolent monarch, it will be a bit bad." ”

Lin Guodong still didn't believe it: "I don't think it's anything, his uncle Yan Wang is not a fuel-efficient lamp, if Zhu Yuanzhang dies, they will fight." ”

Peng Qiandu sneered: "King Yan dares to rebel? is purely looking for death, Zhu Yunwen has millions of soldiers, how many can Zhu Di have? There are no soldiers and no food, what will you do to fight with Zhu Yunwen? ”

The two couldn't help arguing, Zhang Su and Kikujiro next to him didn't interject, and suddenly Jujiro stretched out his hand to Liu Qingyin and said, "Miss Liu, can you show me the mirror?" ”

Liu Qingyin looked at this widow with a look of disgust, and was full of reluctance to give it to him, but considering the identity of the other party, he handed the mirror over and said, "Be careful, it is said that this thing is very brittle." ”

Kikujiro took it and took a look, he was stunned, and couldn't help but pull Zhang Su back and said: "Zhang Sang, this mirror is a good thing, if you get it to my hometown, I'm afraid it can be sold for 100,000 taels of silver, just now the master of Peng Tan said that he spent 10,000 taels, which is ten times the profit." ”

Zhang Su was also surprised, and couldn't help interrupting the two altar masters, and said: "Whether it's Zhu Yunwen or Zhu Di, it's not a good thing, it's good for a dog to eat a dog, the White Lotus Sect will grow stronger, we can also take the opportunity to make some gains, let's wait and see what happens, please don't quarrel with the two, it hurts the harmony." Zhang wanted to ask Master Peng, where did you buy this mirror? ”

Peng Qiandu scratched his head and said, "I don't know, this was bought by Ziyun." ”

Peng Ziyun stood up and said: "Uncles, Lin He's eldest brother and Qingyin girl, this mirror is from the Bai family in the capital, originally Elder Mo hid his identity in the Bai family, when Elder Mo fled, I thought that the Bai family would decline, but somehow, it was not affected too much, and in the past two months, I have sold some novel things, called glass, glass cups, strings of glass beads, and another is a mirror, which is extremely expensive." ”

"Then does this Bai family have any background?"

"According to Elder Mo, he has no background, and he is also very puzzled, he doesn't know where the Bai family got this kind of treasure from the relationship."

"How much can the Bai family sell these things each time?"

"Not much, there are only a dozen or twenty sets of each, and they are not sold out, they are all auctioned in a small circle, and then sold by these people, and my mirror was bought after a few pours of hands."

Kikujiro said with a fierce glint in his eyes: "Then we went to rob the Bai family, how about it?" ”

Peng Ziyun said: "Mr. Yamamoto, Ziyun doesn't recommend this, the Bai family's backstage is obviously not an ordinary person, so the Bai family's profit should not be much, and the goods are not in the hands of the Bai family, and the Bai family can't get the goods if they rob it." We also considered the attention of the Bai family, but we found that the Bai family was heavily guarded, and the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division had set up a card outside the Bai family, which should be dedicated to protecting the Bai family. It is easy to kill into the Bai family, but it is almost impossible to kill the Jingshi. So we are also observing, and we don't dare to act rashly. ”

Kikujiro laughed and said: "You Ming people are just timid and afraid of things, you don't dare to try such a good opportunity to make a fortune, no wonder you were suppressed by Zhu Yuanzhang like this, and you didn't dare to resist." If you don't dare to go, I'll go, don't blame me for not bringing you to get rich when the time comes. ”

Peng Ziyun was speechless, and said in his heart: Why is this Japanese man so ignorant. couldn't help but look at Zhang Suhuan, but Zhang Su was still expressionless, because Kikujiro's words scolded everyone present, so everyone was very unhappy. It's already good to be able to hold back and not refute, and everyone instinctively still looks down on the Japanese people, thinking that it doesn't matter if he touches the nails, he doesn't care if he lives or dies.

......

In the end, the White Lotus Sect in the north and south reached an understanding and promised to continue to cooperate, and the contact point would be established as soon as possible to continue to work hard for the creation of the White Lotus Prosperous World. After that, everyone retreated freely through their own channels, and everyone still had a certain degree of wariness of each other.

On the way back, Peng Qiandu said to Peng Ziyun: "Ziyun, what do you think of the Jiangbei White Lotus Sect?" ”

"Father, there are no talents in the generation of the Jiangbei White Lotus Sect, Old Man Lin is not heroic, Lin He is brave and strategic, although Liu Qingyin is both wise and brave, but she is only a woman, and she is unable to support the overall situation. And this time Old Man Lin is really angry, it is really difficult to understand, if he kills Zhu Yunwen, then the White Lotus Sect will inevitably be powerful, and in the end it will only succeed a little, so the son thinks that Old Man Lin does not have the ambitions of his early years, maybe he has lived a stable life for a long time. ”

"Well, what you said in the son is very right, my father still wants to make a career, but the foundation of the Ming Dynasty is becoming more and more stable, I don't know if my father can see the coming of the White Lotus Prosperous Era." Zizhong, you have to work hard, this time you did a good job, but next time you have to be more careful, this time you miss, and if you want to kill Zhu Yunwen again, it is almost impossible. ”