Chapter 139: The Enhancement of the National Fortune of Chenghua!

【National fortune of the Chenghua era has increased. Current reward: 'One round-trip to an unknown dynasty.'】

Zhu Youjian, who was currently moving silver bricks, blinked.

A round-trip to an unknown dynasty?
I suppose the Kangxi Dynasty counts as a dynasty too...
If someone were to track this down along the space-time continuum, there wouldn't even be a place to cry.

"I'd better stash this away first. Pandoras box is not something to be opened casually. At the very least, I should check the Jiajing Dynasty first to see if I can farm any immortal cultivation techniques."

Zhu Youjian shrank his neck. You never know with these things; what if it summons a mythological Three Kingdoms and some foot soldier comes up and splits you in half? Who could possibly survive that?
One wrong move, and all sixteen reigns of the Great Ming would be ruined by his own hands!

"It seems the Chenghua era, much like the Chongzhen era, provides space-time-related rewards. The only difference is that the Chongzhen era's national fortune enhancement steadily opens up space-time realms, while the Chenghua era's unknown dynasty reward is likely either a massive jackpot or a massive disaster..."

Zhu Youjian muttered to himself, "I just wonder which stage of the Chenghua era's national fortune enhancement will allow unlimited round trips to unknown dynasties."

Huh?
A subtle change stirred in his heart. Within the miniature world, the sixteen dragon thrones began to emit a gentle radiance as the realm's power grew.

Sensing closely, Zhu Youjian was astonished to discover that with his authorization, people from the various dynasties could enter the miniature world through their respective dragon thrones.

"Hey, hey, hey, Ancestor, are you there? Ancestor, are you there?"
"Who's that! Great-grandson?"

Old Zhu Di turned his head abruptly, frowning. He felt as though he had just heard his great-grandson's voice.
Only, the voice lacked its usual solemnity and carried a hint of wretched sneakiness.

"Ahem! It's me."
Zhu Youjian said with a straight face, "Ancestor, try picturing the Yongle dragon throne in your mind."

Hearing this, Old Zhu Di kicked a wailing landlord away and ordered, "Prince Zhao, subject him to severe torture."
"You got it, Father."

Zhu Gao燧 immediately nodded, turned around, and fiercely whipped the plump landlord with the back of his saber, shouting sternly, "You still have a stiff upper lip, do you? Today, His Lordship will see just how long that mouth of yours stays stubborn!"

"Wuwuwu, Gr-Great Prince, at least ask a question first!" Lord Landlord wept tears of snot, rolling on the ground in agony.

Ask what?
Father only told him to subject the man to severe torture!

Zhu Gao燧 paused, his expression suddenly turning furious, "Audacious!"
"You still dare to be stubborn in front of me! Have you lost your mind?"

In the main room,
Old Zhu Di had already closed his eyes in meditation.

Whoosh!
Inside the miniature world.

Old Zhu Di, sitting upon the Yongle dragon throne, looked around in a daze and asked in bewilderment, "Great-grandson, what business do you have dragging me in here?"

Zhu Youjian smiled and said, "I didn't drag you in. You walked in all by yourself."
"Me?"

Old Zhu Di pointed at himself in astonishment. A strange, mystical sensation lingered in his heart. He closed his eyes once more, only to find himself back in the landlord's estate.
Then, picturing the shape of the Yongle dragon throne in his mind and moving his thought,
he instantly reappeared within the miniature world.

"I've learned immortal arts too!?" Old Zhu Di asked, his heart surging with excitement.
Zhu Youjian smiled and nodded, "Ancestor can even move silver directly into the miniature world by yourself."

"Good, good, good!" Beaming from ear to ear, Old Zhu Di vanished back out of the miniature world.

Not long after,
Crate after crate of silver appeared in the corner of the miniature world. Their numbers were so vast that in the blink of an eye, there were over three hundred crates. At a thousand taels per crate, that amounted to three to four hundred thousand taels of silver!

Whoosh!
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly appeared inside the miniature world. He clenched his fists in disbelief, muttering,
"Did, did I succeed?"

No way!
Grand Progenitor, how on earth did you get in here?
Zhu Youjian was completely bewildered. How could there be someone who learned without a teacher?

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed to the heavens, "Great-grandson, every single day and night, I've been practicing immortal arts in secret. Today, I've finally mastered it!"
"This..."

Zhu Youjian was thoroughly shocked. It had been so long, yet you were still obsessed with becoming an immortal?!

He thought about it and ultimately decided not to explain, saying with a bright smile, "Congratulations to the Grand Progenitor for being able to travel back and forth into the miniature world on your own. With your extraordinary talent, Grand Progenitor, you truly make your descendants pale in comparison!"

"Ah, only my great-grandson truly understands me. You've figured out all my little tricks, haven't you, you little rascal?"
Zhu Yuanzhang grinned from ear to ear, his figure flickering in and out of existence right where he stood, shuttling back and forth and having the time of his life.

Well, as long as you're happy, Old Ancestor.
Zhu Youjian shook his head with a chuckle, "Grand Progenitor, why don't you try seeing if you can store those silver bars into the miniature world as well?"

With a thought, Zhu Yuanzhang carried a hundred-jin crate of silver into the miniature world, his face full of shock, "It really works!"

After that, Zhu Youjian couldn't even move the silver if he wanted to; the Grand Progenitor hijacked all the labor.
In no time at all, the job was entirely done.
The old man simply had an endless supply of boundless energy all day long.

Zhu Yuanzhang was truly having the time of his life, which quickly attracted the attention of the two big chubby men and the two children who had been counting silver nearby.

"Great-grandfather, why are you flashing on and off?" Zhu Xiongying asked curiously.
High-spirited and radiant, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily and said, "Grandfather just learned some immortal arts. Once Grandfather figures out the deeper principles, I'll teach them to you."

Just as he spoke, Zhu Xiongying suddenly vanished from right in front of old Zhu, reappearing inside the mansion that old Zhu had been raiding.
Coincidentally, Zhu Yuanzhang flashed right back there, and the sudden appearance of his little grandson left him momentarily stunned.

"Grandfather, is it like this?"
Zhuended in contemplation, "Hmm... Let's not play anymore."

Suddenly, it didn't seem quite so fun anymore. Even his eight-year-old grandson could do it; it made him look a little bit foolish.
Still, these immortal arts were truly magical!

Old Zhu couldn't help but grin stupidly, lowering his head to shout softly,
"Alright, consider your thousand-slash self lucky. I won't kill you today; Great-grandson, go ahead and have someone start educating them."
"You got it."

Zhu Youjian acknowledged the order. Ten special forces soldiers acting as educational ambassadors immediately began a profound collision of fists and hearts with the gentry family.
It proved to be quite therapeutic.

...

For three whole days,
Old Zhu Di's faction had pushed forward two hundred miles. Over thirty local gentry estates had been thoroughly cleaned out; the silver was taken away, and all the grain was distributed to the common people.

That brute Zhu Gaozhu even used the opportunity to investigate public sentiment. Any landlord who had displeased the common people would hear the Dao in the morning and be ready to die by sunset.
If they found out about a corrupt landlord's path in the morning, by the time the sun hadn't even set, he would have their heads rolling.

As for Old Fourth Zhu, ever since he gained the ability to store plundered wealth directly into the miniature world, his progress skyrocketed threefold. He had slashed his way through half of Jiangnan Province, seizing countless gold and silver treasures.

The panicked Nanjing officials hiding in the Chunxiang Brothel denounced him bitterly, dubbing him the Great Bandit of Jiangnan, and the gentry class suffered an unprecedented blow.
Even back during the Hongwuchao's total annihilation of the gentry, it hadn't been this cruel—at least their table manners weren't that unsightly, and the local gentry hadn't been affected nearly as badly!
Unlike this bunch of thugs!

Not only would they hang your head from a lantern pole, but they would also clean out every last coin you owned, all under the high-sounding banner of robbing the rich to feed the poor.
The crucial part was that these three columns of fierce bandits and outlaws didn't even consider themselves rich to begin with!

And if that weren't enough, the worst part was that after they killed you and robbed you, they would still lecture you!
Who could possibly endure that?!

Chunxiang Brothel.
The high-ranking ministers of the Six Ministries in Nanjing were grief-stricken. While fondling the hearts of the courtesans, they cursed bitterly:
"Beasts! A bunch of absolute beasts!"
"This old man can't take it anymore!"

Minister Wang roared at the Junior Vice Minister of War, "Minister Li, where the hell are your Red-coated cannons?!"

---
(Foster fathers, please send little gifts; my heart has frozen completely!)