Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Chapter 666 My Huangzhou Prefecture's territory, not an inch of it will be yielded!

After bidding farewell to the many immortals beyond the Great Wall, Chen Jie was eager to return home. He set off on his journey home with Du Xiong and a bunch of local specialties.

Du Xiong looked at Chen Jie and said, "My lord, shall we still take the land route back this time?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "No, we'll take the sea route. Minister Shen has already prepared merchant ships in Qingniwa. We can simply head south along the coast."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong said, "Alright, that will save us from traveling day and night."

Chen Jie said, "This trip to the Northeast was worthwhile. Besides these things, I also talked with Grandma Hu San Tai and the others about commercial issues in the Northeast. Grandma Hu San Tai and the others promised to have their people buy cotton cloth from our Huangzhou Prefecture. In this way, the entire Northeast market will be opened up, and our commercial territory will expand a whole circle again."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong looked at Chen Jie and said, "My lord, this is a great thing! There is war in all parts of the Central Plains right now, and our trade routes are blocked. If we can open up this trade route outside the pass, it will definitely be beneficial to us."

Chen Jie nodded slightly and said, "That's right, we must take this matter seriously. To put it bluntly, in the future struggle for the world, the higher-ups will fight for overwhelming power through martial arts, while the lower-ups will fight for economic power."

Du Xiong was taken aback and said, "Isn't the lower ranks supposed to be judged for the soldiers' excellence?"

Chen Jie shook his head and said, "The key to a soldier's excellence lies in his willingness to risk his life. How can a soldier be willing to risk his life?"

Chen Jie asked Du Xiong, who was taken aback and shook his head.

Chen Jie said, "The provisions and pay will be sufficient, the pensions and benefits will be sufficient, the weapons and equipment will be sufficient, and the rewards will be sufficient."

"With these four points, a decent army can be trained."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong thought for a moment and said, "If the soldiers are well-fed and paid, they will be motivated; if they receive adequate compensation, they will be fearless; if they are well-equipped, they will be unafraid of battle; and if they receive sufficient rewards, they will have the desire to fight. If all four of these are in place, wouldn't that make for an elite force? Wouldn't it be invincible?"

Chen Jie shook his head and said, "It's still far from enough. Although we have greatly satisfied their material needs, there are still some things we need to make them into elite warriors."

"what?"

Du Xiong asked, and Chen Jie thought for a moment before replying, "Faith, the faith of fighting, we need to let them know who they are fighting for and why they are fighting."

"As long as there is faith, the army will have a soul, that is, the so-called military spirit. Just like Yue Pengju's Yue Family Army in the Southern Song Dynasty, the saying 'It is easier to shake a mountain than to shake Yue Family Army' was enough to transform the soldiers and make their combat effectiveness soar."

Du Xiong nodded and said, "I understand."

Chen Jie said, "Alright, now's not the time to talk about this. I'm starting to miss home. Let's hurry back."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong said, "Haha, that's true. I'm also missing my family a bit."

With the help of many shamanic disciples outside the Great Wall, Chen Jiedu Xiong traveled south and soon arrived at the port called Qingniwa.

Qingniwa was originally a small fishing village in Liaodong. It was very small, with fewer than a hundred households. They usually made a living by fishing and lived a hard life. They might have been fishermen here for the rest of their lives, but unexpectedly, a turning point came.

The turning point came from the sea. Just a year ago, a fleet of ships suddenly arrived, bearing the words "Huangzhou Prefecture". Upon arrival, they began recruiting workers at the local port and wharf.

The price offered was very high; each person could earn three catties of millet a day, plus a full meal. This was a price they had never seen before, and they immediately began to sign up enthusiastically. Instantly, the port repairmen got busy.

Then people came ashore and hired women to cook for the men, paying them money. Suddenly, the women in the village had helpers too.

A year passed, and the port was finally built to a basic form. The entire fishing village also prospered. This prosperity attracted the envy of the local bandits, who sent men to rob the village on several occasions.

Furthermore, they deliberately sabotaged the port construction, which immediately angered the people on the ship. Not long after, they sent a thousand-strong force to garrison the area, and when the bandits came again, they were wiped out on the spot by this army.

This army was also very powerful. The commander of a thousand men was as brave as ten thousand men. He killed the arrogant and domineering bandit with a single stroke. Afterwards, he established a military jurisdiction in this area to maintain peace in the region.

Chen Jie and Du Xiong traveled together and soon arrived at Qingniwa, the first hill in Liaodong. They saw that the area had developed very well, and the villages near the port had increased from one to two.

The population has increased significantly, and the surrounding land has been reclaimed into farmland. Chen Jie saw a large, contiguous area, which should be a military settlement.

About two or three miles between the two villages, a separate area was set up to establish a military camp, where the sounds of training could be heard.

Looking further into the distance, Chen Jie saw the first port in Liaodong that he had planned. To build a port, the natural conditions must be excellent, and the port in front of him had excellent natural conditions.

This is a large bay with peninsulas extending into the sea on both sides, forming a natural harbor. The water in the bay is deep, and it doesn't freeze in winter. With such a natural ice-free harbor, where else would you build a port if not here?

At this time, a huge dike extending hundreds of meters into the sea was built in the harbor, using wood as the main construction material and supplemented by excellent building materials such as cement.

This allows ships to dock here and makes unloading easier.

Chen Jie was quite satisfied with what he saw. After all, when he was planning, he had only put forward an idea, but he did not expect the construction to be completed so quickly.

The reason for building the port here was a memorial submitted by Shen Wansan of the Ministry of Commerce. He mentioned that the area outside the Great Wall was vast, and although the people were scattered, there were still a considerable number of them. It was a very good market for cotton cloth. However, to sell cotton cloth outside the Great Wall, it was necessary to travel by land. There were too many bandits and robbers on the land route, making it quite difficult to transport the cloth.

However, they were reluctant to abandon such a good market for cotton fabric, so they hoped Chen Jie could see if there was any way to resolve the matter.

This matter was placed on Chen Jie's administrative desk. After looking at it, Chen Jie directly proposed an idea: to build a port.

The instruction was passed down and immediately discussed by subordinates. The plan was approved, but unfortunately the address was never finalized. In the end, the matter was passed back to Chen Jie.

When Chen Jie saw that the location was difficult to choose, he immediately thought of a good place. In his previous life, this place was called Dalian, which was the first ice-free port in the Far East.

During the late Ming Dynasty, Mao Wenlong, who was stationed on Pi Island, built a port here. During the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang built an even larger port here, Dalian Bay Port. Isn't such an excellent port exactly what he needed?
So Chen Jie directly ordered the ships to set sail and head to this place to build a port. However, this place is still a barren land with only a small village of a hundred households, Qingniwa.

However, Chen Jie had already given the order and drawn a construction circle on the map, so construction began in full swing.

Looking at the area now, Chen Jie was filled with emotion. It's all about human effort; this barren land has been transformed into something beautiful.

Thinking this, they saw a troop of cavalry approaching from not far away. As they got closer, the troop sized up Chen Jie, and the leader of the squad stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting, asking, "Where are you from?" Du Xiong glanced at the squad leader and said, "Didn't you receive orders? The prefect has arrived, why aren't you welcoming him?"

"Master of the Palace!"

Upon hearing those two words, the squad leader immediately jumped off his horse and knelt on one knee, saying, "Shi Lei, squad leader of the White Tiger Guard, greets the Lord."

Upon hearing the squad leader's words, Chen Jie said, "Get up. I think the task of building Qingniwa should be assigned to Chen Qi. Where is he? Tell him to come see me."

"Yes, Lord, the centurion has set sail."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie asked, "They've set sail? Where have they gone?"

The squad leader said, "Our camp received orders from our superiors to rebuild Pi Island, so we sent troops to occupy it. Unexpectedly, a group of Japanese pirates were entrenched on Pi Island. They refused to hand it over and even claimed that it was their territory in Japan."

"The commander scolded the enemy for their wishful thinking, saying that Pi Island has always been the land of the Han people, how could it possibly belong to the Japanese?"

"So a fight broke out. Later, we drove these Japanese away, but they came back to counterattack many times, each time bringing some powerful figures. This time, the garrison on Pi Island came to ask for help again, which is why the centurion was unable to greet the prefect. Please forgive him, prefect."

Chen Jie nodded slightly upon hearing this and said, "Yes, what's wrong with apologizing for this? Chen Qi did a good job. Pi Island is ours, it always has been. Not only Pi Island, but sooner or later Japan will also be ours."

As Chen explained, he then asked Shi Lei, the captain of the twentieth squad, "Shi Lei, are there any ships left in the port?"

"some."

Shi Lei replied, and Chen Jie said, "Very good, immediately gather the sailors to prepare for departure, I also want to see Pi Island."

Upon hearing this, Shi Lei was taken aback, and then said, "Well, Lord, the centurion has prepared fine wine and food in the camp for you to rest. Leave the fighting to us."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Bring along some good wine and food. After we drive away the Japanese pirates, we can drink and celebrate together."

Chen Jie then said to Du Xiong, "Leave all these things here and have them transport them back for us. Shi Lei, take me to Pi Island right now."

"Yes, sir! Your subordinate obeys."

Shi Lei hesitated for a moment, comparing the command of the centurion with the command of the prefect, and finally decisively chose the command of the prefect. What command could possibly be stronger than the command of the prefect?
Upon receiving the order, Shi Lei immediately led Chen Jie and Du Xiong to the port, where there were spare ships. After meeting the captain of the ship, Chen Jie immediately gave the order to proceed to Pi Island.

Upon receiving the order, the captain dared not disobey and immediately summoned the sailors to head directly to Pi Island.

The journey by sea goes without saying.

At this moment, Pi Island was filled with the deafening sounds of battle cries. Chen Qi listened to the reports from the front lines, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Report..."

A soldier rushed over and knelt down in front of Chen Qi, saying, "Commander, something bad has happened! The enemy ships are too powerful, the brothers can't hold them off, they're about to land!"

Hearing this, Chen Qi frowned and said, "These Japanese pirates are also in a hurry. Tell the brothers to prepare themselves mentally. If they can't hold out, they'll have no choice but to fight the enemy hand-to-hand."

"Don't worry, Commander, the brothers are ready."

Chen Qi said, "Alright, since that's the case, then let's fight these Japanese pirates to the bitter end together!"

At a command, Chen Qi, carrying a knife, charged straight to the front line. At this moment, on the coastline of Pi Island, a dozen or so warships were seen coming from the opposite side, all of them filled with Japanese pirates.

Chen Qi arrived at the coastline and angrily said to them, "You bunch of river pirates, you dare to come back?"

The leader sneered after hearing Chen Qi's words: "Chen Qi, I've said it before, this is my territory. You've taken my territory, and you must return it."

"I'm returning it to you! I was heartbroken when you got away last time. This time, let me tell you, don't beg for mercy. I'll make sure you never return. You dare to lay a finger on my Han territory? You're courting death!"

"No return? Oh ho, you're the one who's courting death! You think I'll be the same as the last two times? Let me tell you, this time, I'm different. This time, I've brought our Koga ninja lord from Japan. If you don't submit, you'll die!"

Chen Qi frowned slightly upon hearing this, "Koga ninja."

Just then, after the man finished speaking, a person appeared on the ship. He was dressed in samurai clothes, wooden clogs, and had a long sword hanging at his waist.

At this moment, he walked out with his arms crossed, looked at Chen Qi and said, "Chinese man, surrender now and you can save your life, otherwise you will surely die today."

Chen Qi's expression changed, and he looked coldly at the Koga ninja who had appeared. The man looked at Chen Qi and said, "I already know your strength. You are just a martial artist at the Wolf Smoke Realm. My strength has reached the level of a Jonin. By the way, by using your Chinese martial arts realm training method, I have already become a martial artist at the Rainbow Realm."

"You, a mere Wolf Smoke Realm cultivator, want to fight me, a Rainbow Realm cultivator? Aren't you tired of living? If you surrender now, I might spare your life. If you don't surrender, then you won't live today."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi calmly replied, "Even if you are at the Long Rainbow Realm or the Melting God Realm, I will not back down an inch. This is Chinese territory, and I will not give up an inch to you Japanese slaves."

"You bastard, you bastard, die!"

call out!
At that moment, the Koga ninja jumped off the ship, drew his long sword from his waist, and slashed at Chen Qi with a powerful downward motion.

Seeing this, Chen Qi also drew his steel knife and raised it to block.

The next moment, a loud clang was heard as the samurai sword and Chen Qi's steel blade clashed, sparks flying everywhere.

Kaka...

The two swords clashed, and Chen Qi's hands were ripped open by the impact. He gritted his teeth, while the Koga ninja said with a mocking expression, "Chinese, is that all the strength you've got?"

(End of this chapter)