Chapter 396: A Person is a Person, I am Myself

The main text of "I Really Don't Want to Neglect My Proper Job," Chapter 407: A Person is a Person, I am Myself. "The wisdom of a distinguished guest is as brilliant as the stars in the sky, but this time, I am afraid the distinguished guest will lose." Solon did not doubt Antonio's choice in the slightest.

If Antonio were smart, he should not see Solon. As the secretary and envoy of Philip II, what good words could Solon possibly say?

Solon was convinced that Antonio would hand over Xu Fan. By handing him over, the things he would gain were simply too many.

During Xu Fan's friendly visit and exchange, Antonio had gained the recognition of Falanxi and England.

Now, having gained the recognition of the Holy See and Spain as well, Antonio would be the king in substance.

"I think I will definitely win this time." Xu Fan leaned back in his grand armchair, looking at Solon and saying with great certainty: "His Highness is very prone to anger, and he is also prone to making embarrassing decisions under impulse. During wartime, he even likes to charge to the front. All his actions dictate his ceiling; he is merely a ship captain and cannot be a good king."

"But Solon, do not forget that His Highness has gained the approval of the majority of the commoners."

"When His Highness crossed the ocean to reach the Great Ming, in order to seek the favor and holy grace of the Emperor, the gifts he sent to the Emperor were a pile of crops. In the East, this is called 'catering to someone's preferences.' His Highness Antonio has never forgotten his own position."

"My father's painful lessons tell me that in this life, one seems to have many choices, but in reality, it is destined that there is only one path to walk down."

Every choice at every crossroads in life carries sunk costs. These sunk costs constitute a huge inertia, carrying people rolling forward.

Xu Jie seemed to have countless paths of survival in the Great Ming, but Xu Jie could only walk one path to the end and then die on it. He seemed to have many retreats, but behind him was a bottomless abyss.

Everyone is the same, including the supreme Emperor.

Xu Jie could certainly choose to offer his allegiance to the Emperor. Back then, he could become a Grand Secretary through *qingci* (literary compositions for the Emperor), and today Xu Jie could still fawningly please the monarch to prolong his life. But after Xu Jie offered his allegiance, those powerful and wealthy families would absolutely not let Xu Jie go. His former help would only turn into enemies.

From the moment Antonio accepted the Emperor's investment, no matter how many doubts he had, the result was already destined.

"Fine, let us wait and see. It is only seven days at most." Solon accepted this wager. Even if he lost, he would not keep his promise; he would still unwaveringly dig at the foundations and continue to alienate the relationship between Xu Fan and Antonio.

It is better to believe that my wife is loyal than to believe in a promise. This is an old proverb from the West.

Seven days was not very long. Xu Fan was very busy; he met with lords from various places, including lords from the colonies. These lords expressed sincere welcome to Antonio ascending the throne and also hoped that Antonio could improve relations with the Great Ming. The Great Ming and the Goa Viceroyalty were physically tearing each other apart in the Strait of Malacca; the relationship between Portugal and the Great Ming had already entered a historical freezing point.

Seven days passed, and Antonio did not give Solon any answer.

Antonio chose to escape. He did not know what choice was correct, and since this matter involved Xu Fan himself, Antonio found it difficult to consult his advisors. After some weighing, Antonio chose to avoid the topic, held a grand banquet in the palace, and indulged in wine and women all day long.

With such a complex choice, he could not think it through, so it was better to enjoy himself and communicate about life with those noblewomen.

Xu Fan really could not stand this mistress culture of the West. Following the start of the Renaissance two hundred years ago, the morals and customs on the land of the West were released under the extremely suppressed religious culture, and the near-promiscuous mistress culture really left Xu Fan, a traditional scholar-official educated in Eastern conservative culture, at a loss.

It is normal for concubines to be shared and played with; Xu Fan is not an old stubborn man, nor is he a moralist. But for legitimate wives to also be shared and played with, it really exceeded the degree that Xu Fan could accept.

"Although it is said that 'the ocean is vast because it accepts all rivers,' I really cannot accept it. At this banquet, the mistresses of those nobles—their attire, jewelry, and even their pomp—all had to overshadow all other women, including the legitimate wives. Competing in beauty and splendor, it is really chaotic to the point of... dazzling." Xu Fan had some smell of wine on him. Having returned to the Chinese Hall, he complained to Solon.

Solon shook his head and said: "Actually, this is nothing. You will get used to it. How long has it been? That captain gentleman also has rumors of an affair with the Duchess. But they are only rumors. Portugal and Spain belong to Catholic countries and will not publicly acknowledge the existence of mistresses, unlike romantic Falanxi and wealthy England."

"The King of Falanxi, Francis the Big-Nosed, had a mistress named Françoise de Foix. This mistress was titled the Chief Mistress, and her husband, Count Jean of Chateaubriant, felt no shame at all that his wife had become the King's titled mistress; in fact, he considered it an honor."

"This Count Jean de Chateaubriant, because his wife was the King's mistress, obtained the position of Governor of Brittany and gained rich benefits. Later, many nobles in Falanxi tried every possible way to make their wives become the King's mistresses, even making it a capital for showing off."

"Just like what the distinguished guest saw at the banquet."

Solon was a priest; his faith was extremely firm, and he was very dissatisfied with this atmosphere. Many noblewomen's children—they themselves could not figure out who the father was. He said that romantic Falanxi was a mockery.

Solon and Philip II had discussed this issue. Solon believed it was caused by incomplete moral construction after a large amount of wealth poured in, but the tyrant Philip did not think so. He felt that this terrible culture would continue forever; the money-worshipping culture brought by the influx of a large amount of wealth only catalyzed the prevalence of this phenomenon.

"If the distinguished guest cannot adapt to this culture, you can choose to ignore it. In their eyes, the distinguished guest is not much different from a fanatic. They can understand your self-restraint in morals." Solon provided Xu Fan with a solution: create a persona of a fanatic. Then, strictly adhering to etiquette would be logical.

As a Minister of State, Xu Fan had to participate in such banquets; it was unavoidable. But for some things he could not accept, he could choose to create a persona to solve them.

In these seven days, Solon had studied the requirements of Great Ming's Confucian etiquette for personal cultivation, and there were some similarities with the requirements of the doctrine. This creature called a fanatic, especially a fanatic in a high position, had long since gone extinct in the West.

"It seems I have won." Xu Fan mentioned the previous wager.

"Antonio is a coward! He is escaping!" Solon rubbed his brow with slight pain. This Antonio was actually escaping.

"That is also me winning, even though your promise is worthless." Xu Fan was full of smiles.

"Distinguished guest, my monarch has some questions. The feudal system of the West has reached its end; this is a reality placed before us. But why has it reached its end?" Solon spoke of his own confusion.

The feudal system of the West was completely different from the Great Ming, but what was the reason why the feudalism of the West reached a dead end? Philip had not figured out the root cause, and Philip's think tank had not figured it out either.

"This question is not complex. If you understand the Great Ming, you only need six characters to answer: 'Abolish the well-field system, open up the paths.'" Xu Fan had long thought about this question.

"I do not know what that is." Solon rubbed his hands. Even though he had studied many Great Ming classics, those characters that were like heavenly books—without translation from Great Ming people—were really hard to understand what they meant.

This was not because Solon was stupid. In fact, classical Chinese was the same for many Great Ming people; it was hard to understand, especially articles without punctuation.

Xu Fan sat up straight and said: "I will explain these six characters more simply and clearly. The appearance and large-scale application of iron tools brought about a rapid increase in arable land, and at the same time, it greatly improved agricultural production and yield. Six hundred years ago, intensive cultivation gradually appeared on the land of the Great Ming, and production efficiency was further improved."

"The increase in the number of fields and the rise in yield inevitably brought about an increase in population, and the increase in population inevitably brought about the gathering of population. Just like the West now, after a large amount of wealth poured in, the population multiplied rapidly, and many cities with hundreds of thousands of people gathered appeared. But the corresponding management did not develop along with the population size, eventually leading to every city stinking to the heavens."

Solon was like parting the clouds to see the sun. Many doubts that had troubled him for a long time found answers in these few simple sentences. He said somewhat helplessly: "You did not solve my confusion. Of course, it may be that I am too stupid."

Xu Fan felt that he had already explained it very clearly, but Solon still did not understand. He had no choice but to continue: "The increase in the degree of population gathering, whether within the gathering place or the communication cost between gathering places, will rise in a straight line. You use your local dialect, I use my local dialect; when we open our mouths to speak, we cannot communicate."

"The Great Travel activities of the entire West—those noble students traveling everywhere to study—almost everyone's Latin is extremely fluent."

"Driven by the primitive desire to reduce communication costs and transaction costs, it is inevitable that 'standardizing the tracks, standardizing the writing' will appear. With the large increase and gathering of population, everyone's consensus is gradually converging. And the biggest problem with the enfeoffment system is that in the institutional framework, it is blocking this convergence of consensus."

"Do you understand?"

Solon closed his eyes in pain, shook his head, and said: "I am very sorry, wise man. I failed to understand. The words of the distinguished guest were already very simple and easy for people to understand, but I still did not thoroughly understand."

Xu Fan scratched his head. Solon became more and more embarrassed. In the Chinese Hall of the Portuguese Palace, it was too quiet.

"I think, if you want to figure out this question, you need to start from the beginning. Then, let us figure out one thing, and that is the question of 'a person is a person'." Xu Fan put forward a very pertinent suggestion. This suggestion made Solon even more confused.

Xu Fan asked with great certainty: "Right, it is just this question. Let me ask you, in the relationship between humans and gods, should we advocate humans first or advocate gods first?"

"That is naturally gods." As a priest with firm faith, Solon answered this question without hesitation, and then suddenly realized where the problem lay.

In the doctrine, everything is the grace of God, and social development is also the mercy of God.

But in Xu Fan's answer, the development of the human world was obviously defined as the credit of humans themselves. Such an extremely bold statement—Xu Fan, being in Lisbon, would be sent to the stake.

*The Analects of Confucius, Shu Er*: The Master did not talk about strange phenomena, physical force, disorder, and spiritual beings.

*The Analects of Confucius, Xian Jin*: Ji Lu asked about serving the spirits of the dead. The Master said: "While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?"

*The Analects of Confucius, Yong Ye*: To give one's self earnestly to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom.

This is the attitude of Confucianism towards gods: do not talk about them, do not discuss them. On the question of whether to prioritize ancestors or spirits/gods, the Master said: prioritize serving humans first; satisfy humans first, then satisfy spirits/gods. The essential meaning of serving the people is to respect spirits/gods, but keep away from them. This is wisdom.

This is not the viewpoint of one Confucian family, but the common viewpoint of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

For example, *Zhuangzi, Qi Wu Lun* says: "Beyond the six directions, the sage keeps them in mind but does not discuss them." That is, things beyond heaven and earth, human sages know but do not talk about them. For example, *Mozi, Tian Zhi* says: "I have the will of Heaven, just like a wheelwright has a compass and a carpenter has a square. The wheelwright and carpenter hold their compass and square to measure the squareness and roundness of the world." Mohism defines spirits/gods as the will of Heaven, and the will of Heaven is like the compass in the hands of the person making the hub and the ruler in the hands of the carpenter; it is a tool.

Prioritize humans, then spirits/gods; respect spirits/gods but keep away from them.

The common understanding of the Hundred Schools of Thought in the pre-Qin period was not to make theoretical investigations into the question of gods. Human affairs are decided by humans; people's choices and development are controlled in the hands of humans, not in the so-called mercy of gods.

"A person is a person." Xu Fan stated a self-evident fact. He asked with a smile: "If the decision of the monarch in the human world conflicts with the doctrine, what will Philip II do? Follow the doctrine, or follow his own heart?"

"Naturally, follow the doctrine." Solon was stunned for a moment and said in a low voice.

Xu Fan stretched and said: "It is not like that on our side. On our side, it is: 'Control the mandate of Heaven and use it.'"

"If you want to understand in detail, you can look at the *Four Books Direct Explanation* translated by Ruyashil, even if it is very difficult to understand."

Xu Fan played a trick here. The *Four Books Direct Explanation* is for enlightenment; that is for children to read. It is like Zhang Juzheng lecturing on the *Four Books Direct Explanation* at the imperial lecture, which everyone can see. But the true art of the emperor is actually the *Xunzi*. *Xunzi* is the learning of emperors and the theory of morality. Zhang Juzheng also lectured on *Xunzi* secretly.

Because of the phrase "base Confucian," *Xunzi* was expelled from the Confucian canon, so lecturing on *Xunzi* cannot be done publicly.

Antonio was drunk and slept in the garden with the Duchess. After Xu Fan learned of this news, he had people blockade the garden to prevent rumors unfavorable to the King from spreading. Antonio was indeed not suitable to be a King; he did not even have the courage to choose. He was neither willing to give up Xu Fan nor willing to thoroughly offend the tyrant and the Holy See. Antonio chose to escape.

Sword Saint Marcus and Xu Fan handed over the matters regarding the great sailing ship heading to the Great Ming.

On the great sailing ships heading to the Great Ming, there were seven in total, all of which were five-masted ocean-crossing ships. The tyrant Philip II squeezed the colonies again, intending to repay the Emperor's debt.

The goods carried on the ships departing from the West mainly included: salt, cloth, rum, firearms, and gunpowder. The tyrant Philip II possessed the world's largest saltpeter mine in Chile, more saltpeter mines than the Mughal Empire.

These goods would be exchanged in the New World for gold, silver, copper, brown sugar, saltpeter, mercury amalgam, and the most important cargo—slaves.

The slaves would be sold on Mindanao and Luzon in exchange for grain and other goods from the Wanli Sea Pond, which would be sent to the Great Ming, where they would obtain the needed silk, tea, porcelain, etc.

A portion of the firearms and gunpowder would be traded in the City of Freedom. Besides exchanging for cheap black barbarians, it was to exchange for more valuable women from the West—red-haired barbarians and golden-haired barbarians. The destination of these women was not the New World, but the Songjiang Prefecture of the Great Ming.

Every transaction would increase the value of the goods several times over. A large amount of gold, silver, copper, saltpeter, and grain poured into the Great Ming, while silk, porcelain, and tea poured into the New World and the West. Behind the prosperity of the Great Sailing trade were the slaves who died at the bottom of the ship's hold.

The great sailing ship trade had already been going on for eight years. Neither Antonio nor Philip could give up the rich benefits brought by this route. Even though they were in a state of hostility and facing each other with weapons at this time, both sides reached a consensus on cooperation regarding the great sailing ship trade.

Cooperation in struggle, struggle in cooperation—this conforms to the first theorem of the theory of contradictions: contradictions are universally present, and all things are never completely opposed to each other.

The Great Ming Luzon Viceroyalty welcomed a huge happy event. The Viceroy, Marquis of Sishui, Guoxing Zhengmao, did not know what method he used to persuade those old stubborn people with outdated ideas to marry the princess back to Luzon, instead of leaving his second son in the Great Ming to be the Imperial Son-in-Law.

This made everyone in Luzon dance with joy. The carnival lasted for three days and still did not end. The wine shops selling wine had to put up signs saying they were closed for business because they really had no goods left. In three days, they sold half a year's sales volume.

This joy was based on a basic fact: in the next few decades, the political landscape of Luzon would be very stable. This stability was a norm for the Great Ming, but it was a long-lost luck for Luzon.

This meant that in the next few decades, Luzon could receive the protection of the Great Ming Navy and not have to worry about Japanese pirates, pirates, red-haired barbarians, and desperate outlaws; Luzon could engage in trade with the Great Ming, and a stable business environment meant smooth trade, so there was no need to worry about local development; Luzon could receive continuous talent output from the Great Ming. Compared to the local monsters and demons in Luzon, the *juren* (successful candidates in the provincial examinations) from the interior were clearly high-end talents.

In some places, peace and stability are very common, common to the point of being as common as them obtaining rice, flour, oil, and grain.

In some places, peace and stability are very rare, rare to the point of being as rare as them obtaining rice, flour, oil, and grain.

Peace and stability are never the mercy of gods, and they certainly do not come out of thin air.

Besides this major event in Luzon, the biggest thing was the exploration of the Thousand Island Country, the Yuanxu Archipelago, which was unfolding in full swing. The first to go were not the Navy, nor the star-gazing ships, but the fleets of the wealthy families from the Southern Yamen. Their retainers conquered one local stockaded village after another, circling off one piece of land after another. Countless intelligence gathered in Manila, Luzon, and then sent to the Great Ming.

The Great Ming Emperor promised that for every sufficient number of fields opened up overseas, there would be rewards of titles. And the Yuanxu Archipelago was the Promised Land bestowed by the Emperor to the wealthy families. Stimulated by such rewards for opening up, the development speed of the Yuanxu Archipelago completely exceeded everyone's expectations.

In order to prevent the situation of pirate nests, the Great Ming Navy began regular patrols.

On the second day of the fifth month of the eighth year of Wanli, the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun came to the Wu Ying Building of the Northern Camp again and began the daily inspection of troops and horses. And Xiong Tingbi officially worshipped Qi Jiguang as his martial arts teacher, learning the use of long and short weapons, firearms, and military strategy.

"When I first opened my tendons, it was painful to the point of wanting to die. If it weren't for my stubborn mouth, the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commandant Zhu Xixiao would not have dared to open my tendons. Why is it so easy when it comes to Xiong Da?" Zhu Yijun watched Xiong Tingbi training. He had suffered the bitterness himself, but this latecomer Xiong Da, with his broad shoulders and thick waist, actually did not have to suffer this crime! It was simply unreasonable.

"Brother, talent is something you cannot envy. His arms are more than four inches wider than mine." Zhu Yijun's brother, Zhu Yiliu, stared with wide eyes, feeling indignant. Xiong Tingbi opening his tendons was as simple as eating and drinking, but he could only envy it.

Zhu Yijun's brother, Zhu Yiliu, could no longer beat Xiong Tingbi. Since becoming Qi Jiguang's personal disciple, Xiong Tingbi's martial arts value had soared at a speed that ordinary people could not understand.

The two brothers, Zhu Yijun and Zhu Yiliu, when they first squatted in horse stance, would cry for their fathers and mothers after at most a quarter of an hour, their faces turning white from pain, needing to persist and persist again. Zhu Yijun's martial arts achievements today were truly achieved by relying on perseverance. When General Qi first saw the Emperor practicing martial arts, he was shocked by the boldness of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commandant Zhu Xixiao!

Xiong Tingbi only adapted to standing in a stance for a few days before he could complete the daily half-hour training, because the Emperor gave special training funds, and he received a large amount of meat, eggs, and milk supplementation, so the speed of his physical fitness growth was also staggering.

Thirteen-year-old Xiong Tingbi, carrying nearly thirty catties of long and short weapons, firearms, and other items, could run ten *li* in two quarters of an hour.

Thirteen years old, thirty catties, two quarters of an hour, ten *li*—Zhu Yijun really could not do these numbers at this age, and Zhu Yijun's brother, Zhu Yiliu, was even worse.

Xiong Tingbi knew that the Emperor, the Grand Tutor, General Qi, and the Prince of Lu were all watching him. After the warm-up ended, he performed a set of Qi Family Saber Techniques. This was the name set by Zhu Yijun; the original name was Xinyou Saber Techniques.

Xiong Tingbi held the saber in his left hand with a reverse grip, the tip of the saber facing upward. After taking a breath, he held the saber in his right hand, stepped forward with his right foot into a bow stance, and held the saber with both hands above his head. This action was to receive a move, used against cavalry. Then it was a left upward step and saber slash. The powerful saber even made a sound of splitting the wind. After the force was exhausted, it was a "Ding" character return kill.

Crack! Crack!

The two wooden stakes representing the horse's legs and horse's head for trial cutting were broken in response. Xiong Tingbi did not stop at all, immediately doing a right upward step and saber stab. A cold light flashed, and the saber stabbed into a straw-tied human-shaped target. The blade came out from the back. Inside the human-shaped target was a wooden board three fingers thick, which was directly pierced through. Then, bursts of saber light followed. Xiong Tingbi performed four saber lifts and immediately stepped forward to pick with the saber.

Xiong Tingbi completely fulfilled the requirements of the saber techniques: using the body to urge the saber, the saber turning with the body, following every advance, and linking advances and retreats. The movements were fierce, heroic, and vigorous, like splitting bamboo.

After finishing the saber techniques, Xiong Tingbi was already sweating. It looked like performing a routine—anyone could do it—but being able to reach Xiong Tingbi's level was already very rare.

"When I heard *Jingzhong Jing* (Loyalty and Patriotism), it said that Yue Fei's son Yue Yun went to the battlefield at twelve. I didn't believe it at first, but now watching Xiong Tingbi practice, he already has the appearance of a fierce tiger, and he already has the strength of a sharp soldier." Zhu Yijun gave a very high evaluation of Xiong Tingbi's saber techniques.

"At this age, the Emperor was also a sharp soldier." Qi Jiguang said immediately. This was not flattery; it was indeed the truth.

The Emperor was never the kind of martial arts genius fed by Heaven, and as a natural noble, he actually did not need to make things difficult for himself, but the Emperor did it, and it had been verified by the actual combat of the Xishan assassination.

"It is all because General Qi taught well." Zhu Yijun was not proud, but his eyes rolled, and he looked at Zhu Yijun's brother, Zhu Yiliu: "Prince of Lu, you go and practice with Xiong Da. Previously, when the Prince of Lu was beaten by me, he had to practice with Xiong Da, calling it consolidating practice."

"Me? Fight him?!" Zhu Yijun's brother, Zhu Yiliu, swallowed and said: "Brother, I have a stomachache!"

After Zhu Yijun's brother, Zhu Yiliu, finished speaking, he ran away in a flash. Previously, Xiong Tingbi had no professional training and relied entirely on his natural divine strength, so Zhu Yijun's brother, Zhu Yiliu, could still beat him. Now, he could still beat him, but that would require Xiong Tingbi to release the water of the Tonghui River. This would affect Xiong Tingbi's progress too much.

"Regional Commander Li, what do you think of Xiong Tingbi?" Zhu Yijun looked at Li Rusong. Ma Fang was old and had gone to the Lecture Martial Academy to retire. Now Li Rusong had changed from an Assistant Regional Commander to one of the Vice Regional Commanders, mainly responsible for the cavalry camp.

Li Rusong said immediately: "Your Majesty, why not just let him enter the military camp? In the future, he will definitely be a fierce general. Why study books and take examinations for fame? Isn't it happy to be enfeoffed as a Marquis on horseback?"

Li Rusong had always looked down on civil officials; he had always been like this. He was indeed tired of the Great Ming's atmosphere of valuing literature and devaluing martial arts, and using civil officials to control military officials.

At first, Zhu Yijun thought this was a manifestation of Li Rusong's maturity, just expressing a basic political stance through his attitude of disgust for civil officials. As a military official, having too good a relationship with civil officials easily made the Emperor wary.

But soon, Zhu Yijun discovered that Li Rusong really just looked down on base Confucians.

When Tan Lun, Ceng Shengwu, Yin Zhengmao, and Ling Yunyi came to the military camp, Li Rusong was really very polite.

"Fame still needs to be tested." Zhang Juzheng answered quite steadily. Zhang Juzheng had accepted so many disciples in his life, and none of them made him worry-free. Xiong Tingbi was his last disciple, obedient and loved to learn.

The Emperor had great perseverance, but people would always be tired. Zhang Juzheng was also very worried about the Emperor's difficulty in finishing well. If the Emperor began to slack off at forty, Xiong Tingbi would also be at the age where he could be used. This was a guarantee Zhang Juzheng left for the Emperor.

Qi Jiguang said with some worry: "Xiong Tingbi's character is still too rigid and easily offends people."

Xiong Tingbi's fighting style did not cherish his life. In order to win, he would even exchange injury for injury. This rigid character meant his future path would definitely not be smooth.

"Xiong Da! Let's go, let's go see the cavalry camp!" Zhu Yijun saw that Xiong Tingbi's practice had ended and called Xiong Tingbi to head to the cavalry camp.

The warhorses sent by the Mughal Empire were all top-grade warhorses. Now, they could provide more than ten thousand warhorses every year for the Great Ming to use. Three cavalry camps had been completed, and they had initially formed combat effectiveness.

Zhang Juzheng was busy with ten thousand things. This time, coming to the Northern Camp was entirely to inspect the results of the cavalry camp.

The establishment of the cavalry camp was the most important link in the Great Ming's martial arts revival. This historical legacy problem of the Northern Barbarians had to be solved while he was alive. If he wanted to find another window period for martial arts revival to solve the Northern Barbarians, he did not know how many years he would have to wait, and he did not know if the Great Ming could wait until that day.

Today's joke: The Prince of Lu asked the Emperor: Brother, can you beat Li Rusong? The Emperor replied: I can't beat him. The Prince of Lu asked again: Why do you win every time? The Emperor thought for a while and asked: What is east of Shandong? The Prince of Lu replied: The East Sea. The Emperor laughed: No, that is the water Li Rusong released. Seeking monthly tickets, Awoo!!!!!!!!!!!! ===== CHAPTER 397 =====