Late at night, the whole city of Fu Shun was shrouded in darkness.
The ancients followed the rule of 'work at sunrise and rest at sunset'. Limited by the lack of lighting, people went to bed very early. Other than a few lazy soldiers on the streets, there was only the night watchman walking back and forth. Everything was very quiet.
Gu Yuanwei and Yang Jian were nowhere to be found, and Zhou Qingfeng was too lazy to care. He changed his bedroom into a study, lit candles, and worked until late at night every day. This made Wang Kunpeng, who was used to going to bed early, very uncomfortable, and he yawned repeatedly.
"Nanny Zhang, go and get a midnight snack." Zhou Qingfeng pushed open the window of the study and shouted.
Wang Kunpeng was suddenly full of energy and asked happily, "What are we eating tonight?"
After getting along for a few days, Wang Kunpeng understood that the young master in front of him was a person who knew how to enjoy life. The young master woke up at six in the morning, had breakfast at seven, lunch at night, and supper at night. Ever since Wang Kunpeng knew that he could eat without paying, he came early every day. For the sake of supper, he would even stay next to Zhou Qingfeng.
One had to know that the diet of the common people these days was extremely poor. The staple food was millet, and it was impossible to eat rice and wheat flour. Even oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar were luxuries. For example, when the army went to war to drink hot soup, it was boiled with vinegar cloth. What was vinegar cloth? It was a cloth soaked in vinegar, and if it was luxurious, a little salt could be added. When it was necessary, it could be used to cook soup with rice. This was a delicious meal.
Who would be willing to be a soldier to fight if they ate this stuff every day? In ancient times, the army often robbed the common people. The main reason was that the treatment was too poor. The soldiers did not have enough to eat and had no sense of honor. They were no different from bandits, or even worse than bandits.
Naturally, Zhou Qingfeng did not eat such poor food. He called for a servant to prepare supper, and in a short while, the meat porridge was sent over. Wang Kunpeng held the hot meat porridge and was overjoyed. He blew on it twice and drank half a bowl. After drinking, he came to persuade Zhou Qingfeng again, "Young Master, in order to run a family and establish a career, you must be diligent and thrifty. It's too extravagant to eat meat for three meals a day. "
"Don't eat it if you have the guts." Zhou Qingfeng was flipping through the book in his hand and casually retorted to Wang Kunpeng.
Wang Kunpeng smiled awkwardly and could only shut his mouth.
Speaking of Wang Kunpeng, Zhou Qingfeng was very satisfied with him. He discovered that after Zhou Qingfeng had collected information about the geography and culture of Fushun, he had actually taken out a few books and offered them to him. Only now did Zhou Qingfeng understand why this kid couldn't pass the Tong Sheng exam. It was because he had nothing better to do, so he did what Zhou Qingfeng wanted to do.
Wang Kunpeng had actually dabbled in Fushun, the border, the slave chieftains, trade, military affairs, and the people's feelings. It was just that he didn't grasp the details well enough. For example, his map drawing was rather bad. Overall, it was already commendable. What Zhou Qingfeng needed to do now was to read it in detail and copy it into simplified Chinese, expanding it, and making it more detailed.
Wang Kunpeng's road to the imperial examinations was naturally difficult with all his interest in compiling books. However, with the books written by Wang Kunpeng, Zhou Qingfeng had a general understanding of Fushun and its surroundings in a short period of time.
Now that he thought about it, he only gave him three taels of silver a month, which was about 1,500 yuan. This salary was considered a great bargain for Zhou Qingfeng. However, Wang Kunpeng felt that he had taken advantage of Zhou Qingfeng because he could eat and drink to his heart's content every day.
"Brother Wang, what do you think of Female Zhenrens?"
"A bunch of barbarians."
"What about the Jianzhou Female Zhenrens?"
"Relatively strong barbarians."
"What about the leader of the Jianzhou Female Zhenrens, Nurhachi?"
"Nurhachi?" Wang Kunpeng was stunned. After thinking for a while, he answered, "This person is the other Wang Gao."
"Who is Wang Gao?"
"The former commander-in-chief of the Right Guard of Jianzhou. His Manchu name was Sitara Agu, the leader of the Jianzhou Female Zhenrens and Nurhachi's grandfather. Decades ago, this person launched a sneak attack on Fushun, looted and killed the soldiers and people, and even invaded Liaoshen, causing a huge disaster. Later, he was captured by the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, Li Chengliang, and sent to the capital as a prisoner of war.
After this person died, his son Atai rebelled again. Nurhachi's grandfather and father were mistakenly killed by the Ming Army during the rebellion. That was when Nurhachi started his family. It was said that he only had 13 sets of armor and a little more than 50 soldiers. Now that more than 30 years had passed, the Jianzhou Female Zhenrens had 60,000 strong soldiers and nearly 500,000 soldiers. They were the strongest force among the Female Zhenren tribes in the north.
For hundreds of years, the Female Zhenrens had been fighting and killing each other. But now, except for the Yehe tribe in the north, no one could compete with Nurhachi. Given time, he might take over all the Female Zhenren tribes. Nurhachi is really ambitious. "
Speaking of Nurhachi, Wang Kunpeng's expression was inexplicably complicated. "Our Liaodong is bitter and cold, unlike the gentleness and gentleness of the south. People living in Liaodong are used to being straightforward, and the heroes we respect are all famous warriors on the battlefield. But now I have searched everywhere in Liaodong, and I can't find a hero like Li Chengliang who dares to fight and fight. There are weak and incompetent people everywhere, but that Nurhachi … "
"Is Li Chengliang very powerful?" Zhou Qingfeng expressed his doubt.
"Of course." Wang Kunpeng said loudly, "When Count Ningyuan was alive, his power shook Liaodong. Which slave chieftain in the north dared to act rashly? Even the nobles of Korea had to be respectful to him. But now the officialdom is corrupt, eunuchs run amok, and the common people have no way to live. I'm worried that when Nurhachi is powerful, no one can control him, and the poor will suffer. "
"Is Nurhachi very powerful?" Zhou Qingfeng asked again.
Wang Kunpeng could only smile bitterly and said, "Let's not talk about Nurhachi's ability to lead troops to war. In the early years, he only had a few dozen subordinates, but he dared to attack the enemy's stronghold. The most surprising thing about this slave chieftain is that he is quite resourceful, which is rare in the Female Zhenren tribes.
In the early years, the imperial court conferred him the title of 'Dragon Tiger General' and helped him subdue the old subordinates of his grandfather's generation. After that, he called himself 'Smart Baylor', also known as the 'Ruler of the Jianzhou Guards of the Jurchen Country', and then called himself the 'King of the Jianzhou and other places'. Later, he simply called himself 'Kundulun Khan'.
The ancients said, 'Only the tool and the name can't be fake', but the imperial court completely handed over the power of the north. Step by step, this guy subdued the hearts of the people, and his prestige in the Female Zhenren tribes is very high.
The Female Zhenren tribes live by fishing and hunting, their people are unreasonable, fierce and barbaric, and extremely difficult to control. But they just listen to Nurhachi's orders, and do whatever the Khan says.
In comparison, how can our Daming officials have such high prestige? Even the You Ji of the Fu Shun Qianhu Institute can't control his subordinates, and the fleeing soldiers would rather be Nurhachi's slave than stay. Because being a slave is better than being a soldier. "
Wang Kunpeng was the late Ming version of the nationalistic youth, whenever he talked about the difference in power between the enemy and himself, he was full of complaints. One moment, he talked about the incomparably powerful Female Zhenren tribes in the north, and the next moment, he scolded the Ming officials for being corrupt and incompetent. But when Zhou Qingfeng mentioned 'if the Female Zhenren attack Daming', he said nonchalantly, "Nurhachi must be crazy to dare to attack my Daming."
"Brother Wang, you keep saying that the Female Zhenren of Jianzhou are powerful, why aren't you afraid of him attacking?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.
This time, Wang Kunpeng said confidently, "No matter how strong Nurhachi is, he's just a slave chieftain. So what if he unifies the Female Zhenren? He can't be stronger than the millions of people in Liaodong. I'm actually looking forward to his attack, so that the court officials can reform and start anew.
My Daming is, after all, a vast territory, with sufficient soldiers and abundant resources. It's much better than those barbarians who even have to buy hoes from us. If Nurhachi dares to come, he can only win one or two battles at most. When my army gathers and famous generals go into battle, I'm sure he'll die and his clan will be exterminated, his bones turned to ashes. I've already said that he's another Wang Gao. "
After listening to Wang Kunpeng's long speech, Zhou Qingfeng looked at the candlelight in the room and was speechless for a long time. He really couldn't refute Wang Kunpeng's point of view, because in terms of strength, the Daming dynasty was indeed far superior to Wild Boar Skin. Unfortunately, the world played a big joke on Daming. Ever since Wild Boar Skin started fighting, he had never been defeated and had always suppressed the Ming Dynasty.
On the other hand, the Ming Dynasty was like a giant with feet of mud, unable to teach Wild Boar Skin a lesson until his death.
Even during the Battle of Ningyuan City, which was known as a 'great victory,' Wild Boar Skin could come and go as he pleased. His losses were pitifully small, and he even slaughtered tens of thousands of people on Juehua Island. The Ming Army couldn't do anything about it. They were blocked at their doorstep and beaten up. Just because the enemy didn't rush in and kill them all, they actually boasted about it as a 'great victory.' Zhou Qingfeng was really amazed by the shamelessness of the Ming Dynasty officials.
Now, except for Zhou Qingfeng and the other transmigrators, no one took the Jianzhou Jurchen seriously. Even Wang Kunpeng, who was a native of Liaodong, felt that Wild Boar Skin would only attack if there was something wrong with his brain. But Wild Boar Skin really did attack. Not only did he attack, but he and his son also destroyed Daming's empire.
For more than 300 years after that, the people of China were slaves who knelt on the ground and couldn't get up. Even in the New Era, many people were clearly standing, but their hearts were still kneeling. Zhou Qingfeng scratched his head. He had a thousand things to think about, but he didn't know where to start. Changing history was easier said than done. He was now just a little kid who had come to the end of the Ming Dynasty. He had no power.
Thinking of the word "power," Zhou Qingfeng's mood was finally freed from the sadness of the past and the sadness of the present. He asked Wang Kunpeng, "Brother Wang, do you know magic?"
"Magic? I don't know. " Wang Kunpeng smiled embarrassedly. "I'm so poor that I have to rely on storytelling for a living. How can I have extra money to learn magic?"
After hanging out with Gu Yuanwei and his disciples for a long time, Zhou Qingfeng was actually a little anxious when he didn't see them continue to teach him cultivation. He even wondered if his cheap master was purposely delaying this matter in order to better control him. In order not to be hung up on one tree, he naturally had to think of another way.
"What if you have money? If you have money, where can you learn from? "Zhou Qingfeng asked.
"If I have money, I naturally have to find a famous teacher. It's just that it's not easy. "Wang Kunpeng still shook his head." Students want to find a famous teacher, but the teacher also has to choose a good disciple. No cultivator will accept a person with an ordinary background like me. After all, they all accept disciples. Cultivators are more willing to accept children from official families, or at least rich families. Like me, I can only study and make a living. "
These words were not without reason. Since ancient times, prejudice against one's family had always existed. For example, in China, it was still okay. If you were in a foreign country, if you were to be judged on your bloodline, it would be even worse. The lower class would always be the lower class generation after generation, never having a chance to rise.
However, Zhou Qingfeng wasn't willing to give up. He asked again, "Is there no way to learn by yourself?"
Wang Kunpeng immediately said happily, "There is, but it's the same as not having one."
"Why?"
"The biggest problem for ordinary people is that their spiritual energy is like stagnant water. They need the help of a master. If they can overcome this difficulty, there will be many ways to cultivate. "
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