Chapter 1066: That's the De Mausoleum
Zheng Sen listened intently to Li Daoxuan's geography lesson.
The moment the dismissal bell rang, Li Daoxuan, mid-sentence, "Every spring, the warm...", abruptly stopped, leaving the latter half unspoken, and declared, "Class dismissed!"
Zheng Sen: "The teacher actually isn't extending class?"
Li Daoxuan smiled. "Extending class is the worst. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. My lessons end the exact second the bell rings."
Having said that, he walked to the corner of the classroom, sat down cross-legged, and became utterly still.
Zheng Sen: "Huh?"
He turned to Shi Lang, a bewildered expression on his face. "Why did Mr. Li sit down in the corner and stop moving?"
Shi Lang replied, "The Heavenly Lord is projecting his consciousness elsewhere, so his avatar is just left here unattended. No one would dare disrespect his avatar, so it's perfectly safe to leave it."
Zheng Sen: "!!!"
Shi Lang pulled Zheng Sen up. "Come on, Xiaolin, let's continue our tour."
It was now the ten-minute break, and the maritime academy suddenly bustled with activity. Mostly sailors on active military duty, they streamed out of their classrooms, chatting and joking in the hallways.
The two boys walked past them, unnoticed, as the sailors continued their conversations.
"I sent my mom a bottle of seafood soy sauce, and even threw in a basket of shrimp, haha! Hope she enjoys the feast."
"Heh, my mom can't stand seafood. I sent her rice instead."
"Rice?" The first speaker looked puzzled. "You're sending *rice* home?"
"You wouldn't know, would you? Zheng's merchant fleet sold a batch of rice at our Nanhui Mouth market. They say it comes from the various countries of Nanyang, called something like Thai jasmine rice. It's really delicious, wonderfully fragrant! I got ten catties and asked some of the militia brothers to deliver it back to Bai Family Fortress for me."
Zheng Sen, hearing this, beamed slightly. "That's the rice my family supplied."
Shi Lang remarked, "Your family truly is impressive, with business reaching all the way to Nanyang."
Zheng Sen said, "I have a feeling you all here will become even more powerful in the future. Your business will probably extend directly to the Red-Haired nations."
Shi Lang chuckled. "That's the Heavenly Lord's fourth-stage objective; it's still a long way off. For now, let's focus on mastering Nanyang."
Zheng Sen said, "I'm still young, so I don't know if my opinion is right, but I think before we push into Nanyang, there's one place we absolutely must secure first."
Shi Lang said, "Let me guess. You're talking about: Yizhou Island."
Zheng Sen exclaimed, "Oh? You think so too?"
Shi Lang chuckled. "You saw it in the geography lesson just now, didn't you? Yizhou Island just sits there, directly opposite Guangdong and Fujian. If we don't take that island first, our ships heading to Nanyang will constantly be under threat from the Westerners stationed there."
Zheng Sen nodded. "That's exactly what I think. If Westerners are constantly stationed on the island, then whose strait is it? Can our ships really pass through with peace of mind every time?"
Both boys grew excited. "Come on, come on, let's go figure out how we'd fight that battle if we were to take Yizhou Island!"—
Meanwhile...
The Capital Region, Changping area.
Wang Er, Bai Mao, and Ma Shouying had just joined forces.
Not long ago, the three had split their forces, taking separate routes to rescue three different groups of common people.
Bai Mao escorted the common folk from Changzhou city to a safe location. After speaking with them, he discovered why Changzhou had fallen so easily to the Qing army: the Ming General-in-Chief, Chao Pichang, garrisoning the city, had surrendered without a fight, effectively handing over the large city of Changzhou to the Qing for free.
Fortunately, Gao Family Village came to their rescue; otherwise, the entire city's population would have been abducted to the Northeast to become slaves.
Bai Mao was so enraged by this that he trembled. When he returned and relayed the news to Wang Er and Ma Shouying, both men were grim-faced, their expressions twisting into cold sneers.
Both men shared a common past: they had been rebels. Naturally, they held no fondness for government soldiers, and upon hearing that these troops had surrendered without a fight, they certainly had no kind words to spare.
Wang Er snorted coldly. "Government troops are nothing but useless trash."
Ma Shouying: "Agreed."
Just as the two were speaking, a frontier army scout under Ma Shouying, a true veteran of reconnaissance, rushed back from the front. "Reporting! A Manchu unit has been spotted, moving northeast. Should we intercept them?"
Wang Er unfolded his map. "Northeast?"
His finger traced the northeast direction. "There are no villages or common folk out that way. What are the Manchus doing going there?"
The scout replied, "There's an imperial mausoleum in that direction."
"Huh?" Wang Er questioned. "An imperial mausoleum?"
Ma Shouying instantly realized. "It's the De Mausoleum."
Wang Er, who had never served as a government soldier, didn't understand imperial court matters as clearly as Ma Shouying. He asked curiously, "What exactly is the De Mausoleum?"
Ma Shouying explained, "It's the tomb of the Carpenter Emperor, Zhu Youxiao."
Now Wang Er understood. "The Manchus want to raid the De Mausoleum and dig up some of the old emperor's riches to take back with them."
The scout added, "The Qing forces aren't moving quickly. Our cavalry unit has plenty of time to intercept them."
A cold sneer flickered across Wang Er's lips. "The Qing soldiers aren't going there to slaughter the common folk, so why should we intercept them? Brother Ma, wouldn't you agree?"
Ma Shouying turned his head to the scout. "What did you just say? We didn't hear it."
The scout instantly understood. "Ah, I remember now! There's a small village to the northwest, with some common folk living there. They might be attacked by the Manchu forces. We should go and protect those people instead!"
Ma Shouying declared, "Full army advance! Protect the villagers!"
Wang Er burst out laughing. "Let's move!"—
The capital...
Zhu Youjian awoke in the dead of night, needing to relieve himself, and sat up in bed.
There were no imperial consorts beside him; he slept alone.
Zhu Youjian was not given to carnal pleasures, not in the slightest. Revising memorials throughout the day was utterly exhausting, leaving him with no mental or physical energy for women by nightfall.
So he often slept by himself!
He rose to relieve himself, then returned to bed, lay down, closed his eyes, and drifted back to sleep.
As he slept, he suddenly found his surroundings transformed: he was now in the bedchamber of his imperial brother, the Carpenter Emperor Zhu Youxiao.
Zhu Youjian: "Huh? What in the—?"
He lowered his gaze, only to find himself standing on Zhu Youxiao's bed, his hands hanging at his sides. The Carpenter Emperor Zhu Youxiao, gripping his hand with his last vestiges of strength, his grayish-black lips slightly parted, struggled to speak. "I... I can't... go on... The Ming dynasty's... realm and ancestral altars... I entrust to you..."
Zhu Youjian cried out in anguish, "Imperial Brother!"
Zhu Youxiao struggled to continue, "My brother... you must... you must be a Yao and Shun..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhu Youxiao's head tilted to the side, and his arm fell limply.
Zhu Youjian wept uncontrollably. "Imperial Brother! Imperial Brother! You cannot die! Without you, this foolish younger brother knows nothing! This realm, this foolish younger brother has no idea how to rule it..."
Just then, Zhu Youxiao, who had already drawn his last breath, suddenly opened his eyes and chuckled. "Don't worry, I actually didn't know how to either. I only knew carpentry. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Having said that, he tilted his head once more and slumped back down.
Zhu Youjian wore a bewildered expression. That wasn't right; his brother hadn't been so playful when he died.
Could this be a dream?
Just as the dream reached this point, he awoke.
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