Chapter 536

"Lam, no need for pleasantries!" Zhang Taixuan raised his cup. "Since you've called me brother, that makes us family."

He clinked cups with her, then drained it in one go.

After that, Xiao Sang and Youli also crowded forward, excitedly clinking cups with him.

Although the few of them were all drinking fruit juice, their bold manner was as if they were drinking fine wine, drawing sidelong glances from the adults below the stage.

"These little ones have such nerve at such a young age — even bolder than elder sister." Xiao Qing sighed inwardly, then glanced at Bai Suzhen, only to meet Bai Suzhen's gaze head-on, and could only awkwardly shift her eyes aside.

While Zhang Taixuan was entertaining his guests here, over there Zhu Yuanzhang had already begun conferring with Zhu Youjian.

"How are you planning to clean up that mess on your end?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Zhu Youjian said confidently, "With my current strength, mere Jurchens and rebels are nothing worth mentioning."

"I'm asking about the governance afterward." Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless. "With your martial prowess, conquering the realm is naturally easy, but after you've conquered it?"

"Rebels…" Zhu Youjian paused, and his gaze involuntarily sharpened.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly: "Remember your identity — you are the Emperor, not a bandit. If you kill every rebel, the nation will be emptied. Moreover, when those rebels rose up, was there no cause of yours in it?"

Zhu Youjian fell silent at once.

"The Old Ancestor's instruction is correct."

The moment he recalled the number of rebels, Zhu Youjian knew Zhu Yuanzhang was right.

Besides, when all was said and done, these rebels had been driven to it by local tyrants and harsh weather — they were not irredeemably evil people.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "How about this — when the time comes, I'll have the Fourth and the Eldest go over and lend you a hand. The Fourth will handle military training and warfare, the Eldest will handle disciplining the local gentry. Don't worry, this Old Zhu of yours isn't about to fight you for territory — once it's done, I'll have them come back."

"Many thanks, Old Ancestor." Zhu Youjian was overjoyed.

(aida) As for governing the realm, he was positively headaching over it!

This business truly exhausted the brain!

Added to the fact that he had never studied the Way of the Emperor at all, the realm in his eyes was simply a tangled mess.

"Father, before we go, why not borrow another Cloud-Riding Rain-Spreading Token from the Dao Lord — it would also resolve the drought problem in his world's side." Zhu Biao suggested. "If the weather problem isn't solved, the grain problem will always be a sharp sword hanging over Great Ming's head. Only when the common folk have full bellies can Great Ming truly be settled. Martial force is merely an aid."

"Good!" Old Zhu nodded in satisfaction. "The fact that you can think of this point means my teaching over the years hasn't been wasted. When people have full bellies, who goes and rebels?"

"I'll go speak with the Dao Lord about this matter shortly."

"No need to wait." Just then, a resonant voice rang out. "You may borrow one token right now."

At a thought from Zhang Taixuan, a Cloud-Riding Rain-Spreading Token landed in his hand.

Immortal light rose, and this token became all the more mysterious.

"What this token now summons is no ordinary rain, but spiritual rain — it can ripen grain at the fastest speed. For the late Ming, it can be called a sharp weapon; I hope you all will use it well."

Saying so, he waved a hand, and the token landed in Zhu Biao's hands.

Zhu Biao cupped his fists: "The Dao Lord is benevolent. Zhu Biao will surely not fail the Dao Lord's hopes, and will rescue the myriad common folk from flood and fire."

Zhang Taixuan laughed heartily: "Well said. Li Shimin, you need not envy them either — this token shall be lent to you as well for now."

"The eighteen rebel kings of late Sui have all turned to dust; these matters you have already gone through once, and how many common folk perished, I expect you know clearly. I hope that with this token in hand, you can pacify the realm as soon as possible and let the people live and work in peace."

Li Shimin's eyes reddened at once. Thinking again of the generals and soldiers who had campaigned with him, he stepped forward and half-knelt, accepting the token: "Many thanks, Dao Lord. Li Shimin swears here — I will absolutely end the turmoil at the fastest speed and restore peace to the realm."

"Good."

Ying Zheng looked toward Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang in the field and said: "If the two of you need it, I can also dispatch fifty thousand troops to each of you respectively. Only after the matter is accomplished, well — I want ten million tons of hundred-refined fine steel."

"The First Emperor is generous!"

Hearing this, Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang were overjoyed.

Ten million tons of steel — for a purely ancient world, that was truly an astronomical figure one dare not imagine.

Even for Huaxia, it was only upon entering the new millennium that annual steel production reached the one-billion-ton level.

However, neither Great Ming nor the Sword of Blood and Jade world was an ordinary world.

As the monarchs stepped into the Land Immortal realm, the Five Elements realm, and the Divine Ability realm, ten million tons of steel could only be said to be nothing worth mentioning.

If they could step into the starry sky, it would be even less than a trifle.

Ying Zheng's move was simply lending them fifty thousand Land Immortal-level soldiers for free.