In late autumn, the current runs from south to north.

The fleet that returned to Beijing was sailing on the vast sea, and no matter how many people these sons and brothers looked at, they all felt their own insignificance at this moment.

To a large extent, the blind arrogance and lack of desire to forge ahead of the Chinese people are caused by the isolation of the country.

It's just that after Zhu Youzhu came to power, everything quietly changed.

Originally used for the imperial examination, Guozijian was quietly transformed into a cradle for cultivating imperial talents, and this time it sent outstanding students from various disciplines to Luzon to open their eyes and see the vastness of the ocean.

The fleet sailed northeast from the northern part of Luzon, passing through the Taiwan Strait as it approached the Fujian region, and then heading north along the coastline of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy has a long history, and in this era, there is a lack of anchored seaports, so the fleet basically needs to spend the night in the offshore, and the relatively safe bay has become the first choice for overnight stay.

At dusk that day, the fleet anchored in a bay.

At sunset, the waves are sparkling, a few fish are jumping out of the water, and a few white seagulls are hovering on the mast of the ship, occasionally making a few crisp calls.

Wang Shouren was dressed as a student and stood on the deck with his waist straight.

Although his face was still immature, he was full of maturity that did not match his age, but his left eyelid jumped a few times inexplicably, causing him to feel a faint uneasiness in his heart.

After Zhou Gui, the grandson of Changning Bo Zhou Yu, mysteriously disappeared, he guessed that this matter would not be so simple, and even felt that it was related to Zhang Heling's case.

Under the guidance of a son-in-law, a young man was brought here to bathe in the afterglow of this sunset.

The young man was about eighteen years old, his whole face looked very delicate, his eyes were bright, his skin was fair, the whole person looked thin, and his body exuded a faint smell of Chinese medicine.

In this trip, there are not only sons and brothers who are not rich or noble, but also outstanding students from various disciplines of Guozijian.

Wang Shouren was regarded as a team leader among the traveling Guozi prisoners, and asked the young man who was brought over: "Li Yanwen, I heard that you found out that Zhang Heling's death is strange?" ”

“…… Be! Li Yanwen hesitated for a moment, then nodded seriously.

Wang Shouren suddenly came to his senses, and immediately looked up and down at this Huguang student who had a little relationship with him: "What have you discovered?" ”

"I examined Zhang Heling's body that day, and Zhang Heling was stabbed with the kitchen knife, but his lips and nails were cyanotic and his face was not in shape. Belch...... Cyanosis, which is the color of black and red, so this is in line with the characteristics of being covered to death in medical books! Li Yanwen felt Wang Shouren's anxiety and looked serious.

Wang Shouren knew that the young man in front of him was a genius in the ship medicine department, but he frowned slightly: "Why didn't you say it at that time?" ”

"I'm just a shallow learner, how dare I talk nonsense. There was an autopsy by the military doctors, and they quickly found the Aeta people, and they closed the case, and I couldn't talk about it again! Li Yanwen looked bitter and authentic.

It's not that he doesn't want to explore the truth of the matter, but he is just an ordinary student from a poor medical family, and he can be described as a humble job.

At that time, although he found out the abnormality of the corpse, Lord Qincha and the two generals had already closed the case, and they also brought the murderer to justice on the spot.

If it weren't for the fact that I couldn't help but talk about it when I was communicating with people, I would have decided to rot this discovery in my stomach.

Wang Shouren knew that the case was indeed very fast that day, and he had already brought the murderer to justice after only one trip with his troops, and said thoughtfully: "In this way, the real murderer is probably someone else!" ”

"This cannot be so decided! Although the cause of death of the corpse was that someone covered his mouth and nose and died, it cannot be ruled out that the Aeta man stabbed Zhang Heling first and then covered the person to death! Li Yanwen corrected.

Wang Shouren's logical ability is far better than ordinary people, but he shook his head lightly and denied: "If the murderer has already used a knife and wants to stab Zhang Heling to death, why bother to cover the person with his hands?" ”

Zhang Heling was ...... At that time, he shouted for help, and the Aeta man was worried about alarming the others, so he hurriedly stepped forward to cover Zhang Heling's mouth and nose, and as a result, he covered Zhang Heling's unlucky egg to death with a single blow! Zhao Kuo, the son of Wujing who helped bring Li Yanwen over, his eyes lit up slightly, and he speculated excitedly.

Wang Shouren glanced at Zhao Kuo, but he didn't expect this straw bag to have such wisdom.

"According to the investigation after the incident, no one heard Zhang Heling's voice shouting for help that night, and judging from the position where he was stabbed, the knife happened to stab the lungs, so Zhang Heling couldn't speak at that time!" Li Yanwen shook his head lightly, and denied it in combination with the knowledge of medical books.

Wang Shouren saw that Zhao Kuo's assumption was overturned, and he immediately became even more convinced that the real culprit was someone else: "In this way, I am afraid that there is someone else who killed Zhang Heling!" ”

As he said this, he couldn't help but glance at the cabin behind him, but he found that this cabin was so eerie.

"If everything is true, when the murderer wants to cover Zhang Heling to death, Zhang Heling will definitely fight to survive, and it is likely that he will reach out and scratch the murderer's face or hand at that time!" Li Yanwen is also a hot-blooded young man with justice in his heart, so he spoke his judgment.

Zhao Kuo's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said energetically: "Let's look for it carefully, and we must find out the real murderer!" ”

Wang Shouren knew that this was the only clue at present, and he silently accepted this plan.

Although no one else has been killed since the mysterious disappearance of Zhou Gui, the grandson of Changning Bo Zhou Yu, he has always felt that this is the calm before the storm, and even the next target is himself.

"It's a tree branch, don't you have it on you?"

"I hate it, it's inconvenient here, let's get off the boat and find an inn to play again!"

"The wound on the master's face was indeed caught, but can you manage it?"

……

Wang Shouren and others secretly investigated according to the clues, and although they had a different kind of affair for a time, they still targeted the most arrogant Zhang Lun.

With this key discovery, Zhang Cang, an extremely arrogant son-in-law, became the focus of attention, but Wang Shouren wanted to get both the stolen goods from others.

In the end, the basis for their belief that the murderer was scratched was only a conjecture of theirs, but it could not constitute substantial evidence.

The topography of the coast is very complex, and even some of the offshore areas are full of reefs.

Another day, at dusk, the fleet circled the deep sea area.

The sky is full of red clouds, and the sunset is like blood.

Due to the voyage, this time they chose to anchor in the leeward of an uninhabited island for the night, but they did not know that a danger had quietly come.

Yes......

Just as night fell, an exclamation suddenly rang out.

Everyone followed the sound, but it turned out that it was pitch black around the hull, and Wang Shouren faintly realized that the third victim had appeared. But he shouted a few times into the sea, but there was no response.

At this time, the wind was already blowing on the sea, and the originally calm sea seemed to suddenly boil, indicating that a storm was coming at any time.

"One less!"

"Who's missing?"

"Zhang Lun!"

……

After the personnel were counted, they quickly identified the missing person as Zhang Lun of the British Mansion.

When this name was spoken, it made Wang Shouren feel a thorough chill, and he suddenly felt as if he was being targeted by a hungry wolf hiding in the dark.

If it weren't for Zhang Lun, then the real murderer would be more city than he guessed, and the next one would probably be himself with the status of leader in the group.

At the same time, the sky outside was already thundering and lightning, and the breath of death had enveloped everyone in the cabin, and even the entire ship was in danger of capsizing.

It is also in October, the southeast sea is turbulent, and the night sky of the capital is bright.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

It's as brightly lit as day.

Dozens of palace maids and eunuchs were busy like hard-working workers, working hard to serve the emperor who stayed in the East Warm Pavilion.

The lights are shining brightly and sandalwood is rising.

Dressed in a dragon robe, Zhu Youjiao, as usual, came here after taking a bath, and would read information from all over the country every night. The beard has grown, and he is slowly transforming into an emperor with the temperament of a leader.

Zhu Youzhu carefully flipped through the information, and was able to accurately know the latest major events as if he were peeking into his own territory through the perspective of God.

Although he has been in power for more than three years, the empire has not been very peaceful, and the recent dispute between Cao Yun and the Yellow River has caused headaches for both of them.

Caoyun was an important transportation line for the empire to fill the grain in the north, and it was also related to the emperor's largest grain reserve strategy, but now it has a contradiction with the governance of the Yellow River.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal itself has no water source, and the water of the canal comes from the surrounding water systems, mainly the Qiantang River water system, the Yangtze River water system, the Huaihai water system, the Yellow River water system and the Haihe River water system.

The Yellow River under the control of the Ministry of Industry needs to change the estuary, but this move will inevitably change the river course, which will naturally affect the water volume of the canal, and even lead to the depletion of the river in Shandong.

Everything is a trigger that affects the whole body! Once Shandong's canal is not navigable, the grain will naturally not be able to go north, and a large number of goods will be stranded in Nanzhili and other places, which will inevitably cause a lot of economic losses.

Even if the imperial court has not yet come up with a plan, the price of rice in the capital has skyrocketed.

Zhu Youzhu knew that the Yellow River had to be managed, but the loss of the canal shutdown was too great, and he had to worry about this dilemma.

After their own investigation, neither the river nor the Cao Yun exaggerated, and the river yamen changed the direction of the Yellow River in order to control the river, and the Cao Yun Yamen opposed it because it wanted to ensure the smooth flow of the canal.

After some consideration, he decided to throw the issue to the Supreme Council, and the ministers came up with a workable plan.

"Your Majesty, it's time to turn over the cards tonight!" An elderly eunuch stepped forward with a tray containing wooden signs, looking respectful.

Zhu Youzhu sighed lightly, he was not happy that he had so many beautiful concubines, not that he was tired of these beautiful women, but no matter how hard he worked, he had no return.

Whether it is the reserved queen or the vixen Fan Jinling, no matter how many postures they try, or even a few different locations, their stomachs still haven't moved.

To this day, he still didn't understand what the problem was, and if he didn't know a little bit of history, he would have even begun to doubt his body.

Zhu Youzhang's fingers crossed the rows of signs, in fact, with his observation and memory, he already roughly knew the corresponding brands, and at this moment, it seemed that pictures of beauties passed through his mind.

"That's her!"

Zhu Youzhu suddenly thought of a scene of boiling beast blood, and thought of the woman who once made him want to stop, and immediately turned over a sign.

After the eunuch saw the sign, he recorded it by the palace maid who was in charge of keeping the record next to him, and in order to prove that they had no fraud, he turned over the rest of the signs.

Zhu Youzhu likes to be quiet, and told them to send a bowl of chicken soup for supper, so he waved his hand gently.

Niu Mengmeng brought tea, gently placed it on the table, and then stepped aside to wait for orders.

She has been with Zhu Youzhu for more than three years, and she has witnessed Zhu Youzhang's gradual transformation into an emperor who is not angry and mighty, and she herself has changed from an ugly duckling to a white swan.

While sipping tea, Zhu Youzhu continued to slowly read the information sent from all over the country.

When he saw that it was the latest military situation on the Jianzhou side, his brows couldn't help frowning.

In the war to recover Jianzhou last year, the Ming Dynasty swept through the entire Jianzhou with a devastating posture, crippled the Jianzhou Jurchen Department, and thus incorporated the entire Jianzhou back to the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that Jianzhou borders the Haixi Jurchens and the Savage Jurchens, and both the Haixi Jurchens and the Savage Jurchens are accustomed to looting, and now they frequently harass the people who moved to Jianzhou.

Zhu Youzhu knew that this matter must be properly handled, not only to appease the emotions of the people who moved to Jianzhou, but also to be a strategic goal related to the northeast granary of the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, the best thing to do was to send troops to fight, but the Haixi Jurchens and the savage Jurchens were only small groups to attack, and they also made gains on their own side, so they would not make a big move.

However, things are all a process from small to large, and the savage Jurchen not only robbed the people of Jianzhou this time, but also killed people and set fires.

Zhu Youzhu knew that he could not tolerate it at this time, and immediately gave instructions: "Give the Haixi Jurchens generously, Chen Bing in the west, and prepare for the war against the savage Jurchens!" ”

Although the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty cannot support a two-front battle, it is not impossible to squeeze some silver to fight the savage Jurchen.

After developing the strategy for the Northeast, he became more aware of the importance of health finance to an empire.

"Huh...... It's finally time to start mining! ”

Zhu Youzhu originally thought that the Guangdong side was asking for money again, but he turned over the secret report from Chen Zheng, the left waiter of the Ministry of Industry, and a long-lost smile appeared on his face.

Although gold did not increase productivity, with enough gold in hand, the Ming could lay a new monetary system, and thus slowly hold the seigniorage of the entire world.