Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 416 Old Zhu: Whoever advocates for reformation, I'll chop them down! [Seeking monthly votes]

Lunch had just finished at Hunyuan Palace when Zhou Yi said:
"Yan'er and Rui'er, come with me to school this afternoon to register. We'll pay the tuition first and get familiar with the school. We'll start classes on Sunday afternoon with our luggage."

This was arranged by Xu Wenhai. It seems the class even prepared a welcome party for the two girls; the arrangements were very thorough.

Hearing about going to class, Zhao Yan was filled with anticipation mixed with trepidation, reluctant to leave Zhou Yi, while Zhao Rui looked mournful.
"Master, why don't we go in the morning? That way we can have lunch at school and try the food there."

Zhou Yi pinched her chubby little face and said:
"The food at private schools is pretty good. If you don't like it, you can just order stir-fries. Anyway, our family doesn't need your living expenses."

Wu Zetian echoed:

"Put 10,000 yuan on each of Yan'er's and Rui'er's meal cards first. When they officially go to school, they can bring some food... Those who come from Hunyuan Palace are all delicate little princesses, and they can't be wronged."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Rui immediately fawned over Wu Meiniang like a cunning little minister, calling her "sister" this and "sister" that.

After Xi Shi finished tidying up the kitchen, Zhou Yi started the car and prepared to leave.

Wu Meiniang stayed at Hunyuan Palace to guard the house, while Xi Shi, along with two maids, got into a carriage and went with Zhou Yi to the New Era Boarding School in the suburbs of Xiuchuan County.

The school is located at the foot of Mopan Mountain on the outskirts of the county. It has a nice environment, covers an area of ​​more than 100 acres, has beautiful scenery, fresh air, and complete facilities in all aspects.

When they arrived at the school gate, Xu Wenhai and his wife Zou Yumei were already waiting for them.

Zhou Yi parked the car in the parking space at the entrance, led the three beautiful women (one adult and two children) over, and greeted Xu Wenhai and Teacher Zou.

Zou Yumei was immediately captivated by Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui upon seeing them:
"What adorable little girls, just like they stepped out of a New Year's painting. Your classmates will definitely welcome you two sisters."

Upon entering the campus, Xu Wenhai led the group on a tour, where they saw various modern teaching facilities and a dazzling array of sports equipment. The school also has many interest groups, such as model airplane groups, handicraft groups, Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) groups, tennis groups, and so on, enriching students' extracurricular activities.

As for the food that Zhao Rui was most concerned about, there are four canteens in the whole school, and each canteen has several windows. You can buy almost all the mainstream food here.

During the visit to the cafeteria, Zhou Yi got two meal cards, each topped up with 10,000 yuan, so that his two precious children wouldn't suffer any injustice.

Less than five minutes after getting her meal card, Zhao Rui secretly went to the pastry window and bought two cream cakes. After just one bite, she felt a deep connection between herself and the school.

"Master Zhou, what do you think of our school?"

Xu Wenhai was worried that Zhou Yi wouldn't like this place, so he didn't feel at ease until he had topped up his meal card.

The Book of Changes says:

"That's good. I'll pay Yan'er and Rui'er's tuition first. Their household registration should be processed around New Year's Day. Will that affect their school enrollment?"

Xu Wenhai readily agreed:

"It won't affect anything. Once the household registration is processed, we can just register the household registration number."

Upon arriving at the admissions office, Zhou Yi paid the fees and quickly completed the enrollment procedures.

Next, the group went to see the dormitory. It was a four-person room with bunk beds. The room was fully equipped with bathroom facilities, heating, and air conditioning. Zhou Yi felt like he had to go back to school.

As Zhou Yi left the school, he stood at the gate and looked back. The school's layout was quite good, but the millstone mountain behind it looked menacing, which affected the school's feng shui.

"What are you looking at, Immortal Master?"

When Xi Shi saw Zhou Yi staring at the mountain behind him, she thought he was in danger and immediately took out the token she had been carrying in her pocket.

Zhou Yi held the beautiful woman's hand and made her put the token away:
"Don't be nervous, it's just a little strange... Let's go, while we still have time, let's go to the shopping mall in the county town and buy you some clothes."

The two precious children from Hunyuan Palace are coming to school, and they can't do without new clothes.

However, just to be on the safe side, before leaving, Zhou Yi still took a picture of Mopan Mountain with his phone, intending to study it carefully when he got back, in order to avoid any unexpected problems.

The group didn't return until evening, having filled the entire trunk with all sorts of food, drinks, and clothes.

Back at Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi saw Ban Chao sitting on the threshold of Sanqing Hall, watching videos on a tablet computer. His relaxed expression suggested that he had just won a great victory.

Upon seeing Zhou Yi, Ban Chao put down his tablet computer, stood up, and said:

"Reporting to the Immortal Master, we have just captured Yancheng, a key town in Kucha. The King of Kucha sent an envoy to surrender, but I killed the envoy and refused their surrender."

The Book of Changes praised it, saying:
“Well done. These small countries in the Western Regions have been fickle and should not be let off lightly.”

When the Xiongnu controlled the Western Regions, they exploited these small countries like blood bags, plundering almost all of their taxes and grain. The lives of these small countries were extremely miserable.

Now that the Han Dynasty has driven out the Xiongnu and stopped collecting taxes from them, these small countries are getting too cocky and thinking they're all that again. Frankly, these small countries are a bunch of spineless bastards; they need to be taught a lesson.

Ban Chao's decision to change the kingdoms into counties was correct. There could be no fence-sitters on the borders of the Han Dynasty. These small kingdoms had to be completely subdued to prevent them from affecting the normal passage of the Silk Road in the future.

Ban Chao asked:

"Our direct forces are too few now. Can I recruit a group of Western Region people who are loyal to the Han Dynasty into the army?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Sure, but they have to swear an oath on the token. Next, Zhao Xu and Guo Rong will send over some military equipment, and you'll get a share of it then."

It's still unclear how much spoils Zhu De's side has captured. If possible, we should get some Ming-style armor and weapons to strengthen Ban Chao's opponents.

Of course, it would be even better if there were crossbows. Regardless of the Qin and Han dynasties or the Tang and Song dynasties, crossbows were the most powerful weapons in China. Qin's ability to unify the six kingdoms was also inseparable from the Qin crossbows.

Now, with the weapons and equipment provided by future generations, the Han Dynasty's fighting power will be even stronger.

Ban Chao came today wanting some modern-day armor and weapons, and upon hearing that it could be arranged, he immediately bowed in gratitude.

"Thank you, Immortal Master. With the support of Hunyuan Palace, I believe that Yili City will surely be established within five years and become a bridgehead for the Western Regions to control Central Asia."

Building a large city is not difficult; the difficulty lies in exerting control over the entire region east of the Mediterranean. Once relations are established with the Romans, Yili will become an important hub on the Silk Road.

Zhou Yi inquired about the situation in Luoyang:

"Have your letters arrived in Luoyang yet?"

Ban Chao said:

"Judging by the journey, the first memorial should have reached Guanzhong by now and will arrive in Luoyang soon. It will be at least three months before we receive a reply."

From a communications perspective, the territory of the Han Dynasty was simply too vast.

However, once the radio station is set up, this distance will be insignificant. If things go well, a communication station can even be established on the other side of the Mediterranean, and signals can be transmitted all the way to Luoyang via relay stations, allowing court officials to keep abreast of the situation in Rome.

In the evening, Zhou Yi made pan-fried buns and cooked several dishes. Ban Chao ate and drank his fill and planned to come back in eight days, so that he could meet the old master and Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty and meet the newcomers of Hunyuan Palace.

While Marquis Dingyuan was eager to meet his new bride, Zhu Yuanzhang, a newly minted pilgrim of Hunyuan Palace, was preparing gifts in the imperial palace in Yingtian Prefecture.
"They all arrived earlier than me, and their dynasties were earlier than mine. They are all my predecessors. I can't go empty-handed this time... Since the Hongwu Sword has been offered to the Immortal Master, then each of the other pilgrims should take a goose-feather saber."

During the Ming Dynasty, the goose-feather knife became a treasured weapon for professional soldiers and palace guards. Its slender blade and broad back gave it considerable killing power and armor-piercing ability, whether on horseback or on foot.

Empress Ma offered suggestions from the side:
"Don't give them all knives. Aren't there still women with the immortal? Take some embroidery and silk with them so that our elders know that the traditional Chinese culture of men farming and women weaving has not been lost in our Great Ming Dynasty."

As the couple prepared gifts as if visiting relatives, an imperial eunuch arrived with an urgent military dispatch, leading several court officials including Li Shanchang and Song Lian to deliver the message:

"Your Majesty, military intelligence has arrived from Songjiang Prefecture. Japanese pirates have once again been raiding the coast, numbering at least a thousand. We request the court to dispatch troops to quell the pirates."

At this time, the main force of the Ming Dynasty was in the north seizing territory, and the garrison system had not yet been established. Old Zhu thought for a moment and said:
"Let them organize local militia to temporarily resist. Within a year, the Ming navy will surely set foot on Japanese soil, destroy the Japanese pirates' lair, and make Japan a part of the Ming territory."

The eunuch then asked:

"If we capture the Japanese pirates, what should we do?"

Old Zhu immediately revealed his iron-fisted side:
"Cut off their heads, hang their corpses on the beach as a warning, kill as many Japanese pirates as you capture, leave no prisoners!"

Song Lian opened his mouth, then bowed and said:
"Your Majesty's murderous intent is not conducive to practicing benevolence and righteousness."

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered:
"Confucius listed Japan as a racial enemy. What are your intentions in advocating benevolence and righteousness towards Japan? Do you want to go against the teachings of Confucius?"

Song Lian fell silent. In the past two days, whenever Confucianism was mentioned, Zhu Yuanzhang would directly bring up Confucius and casually execute two stubborn and ignorant Confucian scholars who advocated the reformation of foreign tribes.

The civil officials in the court were utterly devastated, yet they couldn't refute it. After all, they had witnessed the lightning strike, which meant that the gods had been watching all along... Since the gods of China are believed to have divine power, they had to behave well and not contradict them.

Li Shanchang suggested:

"There are many Mongol cavalrymen in the prisoner-of-war camp. We can organize them to resist the Japanese pirates and redeem themselves through meritorious service."

Old Zhu refused again:
"I have other uses for these people. Li Shanchang, notify the prefects and garrisons in various regions to draw up road plans for their respective jurisdictions within a month and submit them to the court in the form of blueprints. There must be no mistakes!"

I've heard that other worlds are using alien races to build roads, so let's see if the roads built by alien races are more comfortable to travel on...

(End of this chapter)