Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

The next day.

The customs office, the training ground.

With a single, diagonal slash, Lu Chen snapped seven or eight bundled wooden stakes, each as thick as an arm, in two.

Just as the upper part of the broken section was falling downwards, the long sword slashed upwards, splitting the wooden stakes in two again in mid-air.

it is good!

The four flag bearers on the side cheered together.

Lu Chen sheathed the Broken Mountain Blade and casually placed it aside.

This giant "battle axe," which is nearly 1.3 meters long and weighs 27 kilograms, has now been completely renovated.

The original simple knife fittings were removed and replaced with an exquisitely carved purple-gold hilt and blade. The 40-centimeter-long Miao-style handle was also covered with sharkskin.

The scabbard is also exquisitely crafted and inlaid with gemstones.

After obtaining the sword, Lu Chen focused his martial arts training on swordsmanship.

Although Lu Chen didn't know the swordsmanship that "Ghost Fear" had learned from the Miao village, his subordinates, the sons of Jinyiwei military officers, knew several sword techniques.

Aside from not being able to develop the external internal energy, its combat ability is no worse than that of the Broken Mountain Saber Technique.

This Broken Mountain Blade is a two-handed long-handled Miao sword. Although Lu Chen can use it with one hand with the aid of his telekinesis, it looks very awkward.

Moreover, the knife was so heavy that Lu Chen had several of his best swordsmen try it out, and none of them could wield it with one hand.

He could barely manage a few moves with his hands, but it was very strenuous, and his movements were noticeably distorted, making him vulnerable in actual combat.

Lu Chen felt that although he couldn't hide the fact that he was using this super-heavy longsword from his subordinates, he also couldn't let them think that his arm strength was too outrageous.

Therefore, I have been practicing two-handed knife techniques with it for the past two months, and I still use an ordinary embroidered spring knife to practice one-handed knife techniques.

Lu Chen also discovered another wonderful use for this knife when combined with his mental power: it could actually train arm strength.

During practice, Lu Chen appropriately reduced his mental lifting, maintaining his arm strength at the critical point where he could just control the sword.

As arm strength is depleted, and mental power is gradually increased, all the muscles used in practicing swordsmanship are fully trained.

In terms of nutrition, Lu Chen, who lived a life of luxury in Linqing, naturally had no shortage of nutrients.

After two months, Lu Chen clearly felt that his body's physical abilities had improved significantly. When he used his mental power to sense himself, he could even see that the muscle fibers were gradually becoming thicker and firmer.

Not only that, but my body's reaction speed is also much faster than before I came to Linqing.

This is an effect that can only be achieved through genuine martial arts training.

Lu Chen estimated that in the eyes of those martial arts practitioners, he was no longer an ordinary person with no martial arts foundation.

"Lord General Banner."

Just as Lu Chen sat down and took a few sips of tea, Gao Ruopu rushed over to report.

"I kindly invited those antique shop owners to have tea and asked them politely, but these guys actually tried to evade the question, making all sorts of excuses and refusing to say where they got their Western glassware from."

Since that's the case, I took them to visit the Jinyiwei prison, and sure enough, they knelt down faster than the next one.

They're such spineless cowards, refusing to listen to reason and only learning their lesson when faced with certain death.

"Oh, where did you get these Western glass artifacts from?"

Lu Chen picked up a cup of tea and handed it to Gao Ruopu.

"There are seven antique shops in Linqing City that sell Western glassware, and they have three different sources of goods."

Gao Ruopu took the teacup and drank a big gulp.

"One of them sourced its goods from Guangzhou and was the only one that went through the Maritime Trade Office. In addition, due to the long distance and high freight costs, it sold for the highest price."

Two other companies sourced their goods from private ports in the Zhangzhou and Quanzhou areas of Fujian.

The remaining four suppliers all sourced their goods from the Ningbo area, with two of them purchasing them from the wealthy Xie family in Yuyao County.

The other two were purchased directly from people in Dinghaiwei and Guanhaiwei.

"The Xie family of Yuyao?"

Lu Chen frowned.

"I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."

"The Xie family of Yuyao produced Xie Qian, a high-ranking official. It's not surprising that you've heard of him, sir."

Gao Ruopu quickly replied,

"Although Grand Secretary Xie has passed away, his reputation remains. His brother Xie Di and his son Xie Pi are both officials in the court, and he has many students and old friends."

The Xie family of Yuyao held absolute power in the Ningbo area, and local officials dared not offend them.

In the second year of the Jiajing reign, two different groups of Japanese tribute envoys clashed in Ningbo, resulting in armed conflict. The imperial court then ordered the abolition of the Fujian and Zhejiang Maritime Trade Offices.

In the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, the imperial court abolished the position of the Zhejiang Provincial Maritime Trade Commissioner, and the Ningbo Maritime Trade Office was completely closed.

Before today, I thought that the only place where we could import Western goods was the Guangzhou Maritime Trade Office.

Unexpectedly, after the Maritime Trade Offices in Fujian and Zhejiang were closed, maritime trade in these two places did not stop; it was simply taken over privately by the local authorities.

These guys not only continued doing business, but they didn't even have to pay customs duties.

Especially in the Ningbo area, maritime trade flourished. Not only powerful families like the Xie family of Yuyao, which had produced a prime minister, but even the imperial guards openly participated in maritime trade.

The Xie family of Yuyao!

Lu Chen finally remembered why he had an impression of the Xie family of Yuyao.

The spark that ignited the Battle of Shuangyu!

The Xie family of Yuyao was the "land-based protector" and "general agent for the sale of stolen goods" of Shuangyu Port, the first large-scale maritime merchant stronghold in the Ming Dynasty.

From the time when Jin Zilao, the first leader of Shuangyu Port, opened the port, he cooperated with the maritime merchant group of Shuangyu to sell goods from Europe, Arabia, India, Southeast Asia, Japan and other places to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty.

The honeymoon period between the two lasted until the 25th year of the Jiajing reign.

By the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign, the Xie family of Yuyao, perhaps accustomed to their domineering ways or perhaps due to a change in leadership, had lost their minds.

They dared to default on payments to the Hai Shang Group, with whom they had enjoyed a pleasant working relationship for many years, blatantly refusing to pay and threatening to report them to the authorities!

Is this Hai Shang Group someone to be trifled with?

Before modern times, so-called maritime merchants often had another identity: pirates!

If we can make money together and achieve a win-win situation, then I'll do business with you.

Since you dare to play tricks, don't blame the other party for flipping the table!

In June of the 26th year of the Jiajing reign, the Shuangyu maritime merchant group launched a night raid on the Xie family manor, killing and burning people, and looting the entire Xie family estate.

Local officials reported it as an invasion by Japanese pirates, which immediately alarmed the imperial court, and the Jiajing Emperor issued an order to suppress the pirates.

In April of the 27th year of the Jiajing reign, Zhu Wan, the governor of Zhejiang, led his troops to capture Shuangyu Port. Xu Dong and Li Guangtou, the actual leaders of the port and its maritime merchants, were captured.

Many buildings in Shuangyu Harbor, including the Tianfei Palace, churches, and the city hall, were burned down.

In order to completely destroy this maritime trading hub, Zhu Wan ordered the filling of the north-south waterway of Shuangyu Port with a large amount of wood and stone, thus rendering it completely incapable of functioning as a port.

This seemingly resounding victory had enormous consequences.

Having lost stable trading posts, a significant portion of the remaining maritime merchants who escaped from Shuangyu transformed from primarily trading merchants into pirates focused on plunder.

The "Jiajing Great Wokou" (Japanese pirates) that lasted for twenty years and caused immense suffering to the entire coastal region of the Ming Dynasty was thus unveiled.