Chapter 152 Wrong Reason
Over the past few decades, because of its own strength!
Zhu Chengwu never expressed his curiosity about Tong Yinzhong, the immortal.

Even though his life goal is immortality, Zhu Chengwu really wants to study the secret of Tong Yinzhong as an immortal.

Because Zhu Chengwu was well aware of the gap in strength between the two sides.

Until the contradictions between Zhu Chengwu and the King of Ming and the Crown Prince became more and more prominent.

Knowing that as two of the top forces in the Ming Dynasty, the Zhu court must have connections and tacit understanding with Wudang and Shaolin, Zhu Chengwu thought of Tong Yinzhong again because he knew that the Fu'an Marquisate and the Zhao family alone would never be able to compete with the combined forces of the Zhu court and Wudang and Shaolin.

As an immortal who has lived for more than 500 years, even though Tong Yinzhong was injured by the Tong family's spiritual treasure "Spirit Mirror", his strength has not improved at all in more than 500 years.

However, Tong Yinzhong's immortal nature and more than 500 years of experience are enough to make him a great help and surprise weapon for Zhu Chengwu.

With Zhu Chengwu's secret instructions and the support of intelligence from the previous life, it took nearly a year for the spies from Fu'an Marquis' Mansion to finally discover Tong Yinzhong, who was searching everywhere for and hunting down the descendants of the Long family.

Because he was injured by the "Spirit Mirror", Tong Yinzhong's strength has not improved at all in the past five hundred years, and his old injuries relapse from time to time. He only has the fighting power of a master.

After some "friendly negotiations", Zhu Chengwu and Tong Yinzhong reached an agreement.

Zhu Chengwu provided Tong Yinzhong with a secret technique that was enough to allow Tong Yinzhong to unleash the ultimate master-level combat power. Tong Yinzhong used all his strength to help Zhu Chengwu, and then Zhu Chengwu told Tong Yinzhong the whereabouts of the descendants of the Long family whom he had been searching for.

This transaction is not equal, but who makes Zhu Chengwu need Tong Yinzhong more?

This is truly a buyer’s market!

Tong Yinzhong came to Xuzhou City to find Zhu Chengwu because he had already given his all to Zhu Chengwu once, and now it was time for Zhu Chengwu to tell him the whereabouts of the descendants of the Long family.

He couldn't wait any longer and searched for Long Bo's descendants and killed them all!
As for why he was so anxious, he only came to Zhu Chengwu now, and it would be faster than Cui Shuyun and others returning to Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

This was because Tong Yinzhong was seriously injured in the battle with Li Xunhuan, Shen Tianjun and Wu Gensheng.

Even though Tong Yinzhong is an immortal, he still has a secret technique that can unleash the ultimate master-level combat power...

But it is not easy to fight against three masters alone, even for a truly top master.

What's more, Tong Yinzhong still had a 500-year-old injury caused by the "Spiritual Mirror".

It is important to meet Zhu Chengwu and ask Zhu Chengwu to tell the whereabouts of the descendants of the Long family, but it is equally important for Tong Yinzhong to retain the ability to protect himself.

After all, from his perspective, Zhu Chengwu was too mysterious.

Tong Yinzhong had to recover some of his fighting power first in order to guard against Zhu Chengwu.

That's why it was delayed for a while.

From Tong Yinzhong's perspective, Zhu Chengwu not only knew his undead identity, but also knew that he had been hunting down the Long family. He even knew the whereabouts of the descendants of the Long family, which he didn't know. He could also use the secret technique of using his undead essence to increase his combat power...

All these things forced Tong Yinzhong to be somewhat wary of Zhu Chengwu.

However, Tong Yinzhong felt that Zhu Chengwu was too mysterious and had to be on guard against him.

The same is true for Zhu Chengwu!
Undying…

This is something that countless great men throughout history have pursued but have never been able to obtain!
Even the Emperor of Qin, Emperor Wu of Han, Bodhidharma and Samantabhadra...had to die under the power of time.

But this ordinary member of the Tong clan - Tong Yinzhong did it.

Zhu Chengwu couldn't help but wonder whether there was a "person" at a higher level and higher dimension behind Tong Yinzhong.

After all, this world has the "Spiritual Mirror", and Zhu Chengwu also has the "Jade Book" in his mind...

If he has too much contact with Tong Yinzhong and attracts the attention of the unknown "big boss" behind Tong Yinzhong, it will be a disaster rather than a blessing for Zhu Chengwu!
But Tong Yinzhong was someone Zhu Chengwu had to contact.

One is to obtain this extraordinary weapon with supreme master-level combat power and gain the upper hand in the struggle with the Ming King and the Crown Prince.

The second is the undead!
Even with the "Jade Book" in mind, without any reference, Zhu Chengwu had little confidence that he could successfully deduce a martial art that would surpass the peak of current martial arts and allow people to achieve immortality.

Tong Yinzhong's immortal qualities are very important to Zhu Chengwu and are what Zhu Chengwu urgently needs.

Therefore, Tong Yinzhong is both a trouble and an opportunity for Zhu Chengwu!
"I just don't know if exposing the traces of the descendants of the Long family like this will cause Long Bo to lose the chance to be born!"

After lamenting the trouble, Zhu Chengwu began to think about the butterfly effect that might be caused by his exposure of the secluded place of the descendants of the Long family.

Long Bo, or Tong Bo, is the perfect protagonist in a popular TV series in Zhu's previous life. He is powerful, brave, resourceful, loyal, and affectionate...

It would be a real pity if Long Bo could not be born because Zhu Chengwu exposed the secluded place of Long's descendants in advance.

It was not because of the regret that Zhu Chengwu lost the intelligence advantage brought by his past life memory, but because of the regret of losing a perfect "male protagonist" which led to the loss of the luster of the Ming Dynasty.

As a reborn person with the "Jade Book" in his brain and as the youngest and strongest master in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Chengwu already has the vision and confidence to hope that the Ming Dynasty will flourish.

However, although it is regrettable, if Zhu Chengwu could turn back time, he would still do the same thing.

Because doing so is the most beneficial for Zhu Chengwu.

After all, Zhu Chengwu is just an ordinary person who only cares about his own business and doesn't care about other people's problems.

“However, the guard force of Fu’an Marquis’ Mansion needs to be strengthened!
I am about to go into seclusion to recuperate, and I cannot allow anyone else to enter the Marquis Fu'an Mansion as if it were an empty place!

Once they disturb me, it will delay my healing progress or cause my Qi to get out of hand, making my injuries worse, which is not a good thing!

It seems that I still have to wait!
I have to wait until the Fu'an Marquisate's large army led by Gao Yao and Zhao Xinghan returns, then I can devote myself wholeheartedly to seclusion and healing!

Even if I start healing now, for safety's sake I have to devote some energy to paying attention to the outside world.

This healing efficiency is too low!
I don’t take it!

Gao Yao and Zhao Xinghan are walking too slowly!!!"

As his thoughts wandered, Zhu Chengwu thought of strengthening the defense of Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

Then he thought of the slow return speed of the Fu'an Marquisate's large army led by Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao.

This made Zhu Chengwu dissatisfied with Gao Yao and Zhao Xinghan.

With Zhu Chengwu returning to the Fu'an Marquis Mansion, although the large army led by Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao had not yet returned to Xuzhou City, the Fu'an Marquis Mansion in Xuzhou City had become the core of Fu'an Marquis's troops.

Some intelligence and news also began to flow into Fu'an Marquis Mansion through various channels and into Zhu Chengwu's hands.

Through this information, Zhu Chengwu knew that Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao's return journey was not fast.

Every time they arrived at a town or a pass, they would stay for a long time and communicate a lot.

If not for this, the large army of Marquis Fu'an would have returned to Xuzhou City long ago.

After all, there was no obstruction or fighting along the way back this time.

……

Just three days after Cui Shuyun and Zhu Xiumin set out for the capital, Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao finally returned with a large army from the Fu'an Marquisate.

Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao, who also looked calm on the surface but were completely different in their hearts, joined Fu'an Marquis' Mansion and came before Zhu Chengwu.

Zhao Xinghan could not hide his excitement, but Gao Yao was worried.

"My Lord~"

"My Lord~"

Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao bowed in unison.

"Tell me! Why are you so slow in returning? Didn't you receive the message?"

Seeing Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao, Zhu Chengwu raised his eyelids slightly.

"It's just as I expected! He's being held accountable! I said it shouldn't have happened..." Gao Yao said to himself when he saw Zhu Chengwu's expression.

Gao Yao, thinking "as expected", did not rush to answer Zhu Chengwu's question, but turned his gaze to Zhao Xinghan on the side.

After all, all the delays along the way were due to Zhao Xinghan.

Zhao Xinghan also said that he would explain everything to Zhu Chengwu.

"My Lord, when we fought from Xuzhou City to Yantai Pass, there were too many surrendered soldiers under our command!

Although they all joined us voluntarily because they admired your reputation, Lord Marquis.

But this time we returned the same way, we still had to consider their emotions and give them time to go home and visit their families. And my lord, because of the personal soldiers' action of letting these surrendered soldiers go home to visit their families, many young and strong people in various towns along the way volunteered to join our Fu'an Marquis Mansion's team.

I have carefully checked the physical fitness of these soldiers.

If we could add some potential soldiers to Xuzhou Prefecture.

My Lord, I am confident that I can train two guards that are absolutely elite and comparable to the Zhao Family Tiger Fang Guards and the Thousand Mile Wolf Cavalry!
Then, we..."

Zhao Xinghan was talking with saliva flying all over the place.

It was obvious that Zhao Xinghan was drooling over the Zhao family's two absolutely elite guards, and he had long dreamed of leading such an absolutely elite force in person.

Zhu Chengwu could understand the desire of Zhao Xinghan, a son of a military family, to lead the absolute elite.

What’s more, Zhao Xinghan’s future in martial arts has been cut off, and he has no hope of becoming a master.

But this cannot be a reason for Zhao Xinghan to disobey his orders.

If a big force wants to develop well and focus its efforts, it is best to keep only one voice.

"General Zhao, tell me! How many soldiers do we have now, and what is their composition?"

Zhu Chengwu interrupted Zhao Xinghan, who was unable to hide his excitement, and asked.

Although Zhu Chengwu intended to teach Zhao Xinghan a profound lesson and let Zhao Xinghan understand that his orders could not be ignored.

But Zhu Chengwu still needed to understand the military assets of the Fu'an Marquis' Mansion first.

In this regard, Zhao Xinghan is obviously better at and more knowledgeable than Gao Yao.

"My Lord! When we first set out from Xuzhou City, we mobilized a total of about 25,000 regular soldiers from the Five Guards, in addition to an auxiliary force of almost the same size.

After that, they fought all the way. Although the Marquis and many warriors attacked, they still suffered heavy losses.

Fortunately, along the way, we screened and recruited surrendered soldiers, and when we arrived at Yantai Pass, we had almost 50,000 regular combat soldiers, of which about 20,000 were the old soldiers we brought with us when we set out from Xuzhou City.

In addition, the number of auxiliary troops also increased to about 40,000.

After a fierce battle at Yantai Pass and the Yantai defenders, when we retreated, we still had about 46,000 regular soldiers and 40,000 auxiliary soldiers under our command.

Afterwards, because they released the surrendered soldiers to go home to visit their families, they persuaded many local young and strong people to join us.

My Lord, we now have more than 60,000 regular soldiers and more than 65,000 auxiliary soldiers under our command.

With this scale, we can be called an army of 200,000!"

As Zhao Xinghan spoke, he became excited again.

It was the first time that Zhao Xinghan commanded such a large army.

You have to know that in this era, everyone has the habit of exaggeration.

For example, the Fu'an Marquis Mansion now has more than 60,000 regular combat troops and more than 65,000 auxiliary troops.

It was announced to the outside world that the army of 200,000 was well-behaved.

Once you encounter some commanders who like to exaggerate and like to create psychological pressure on the enemy by bragging, it is not difficult to call for an army of 300,000, 400,000 or 500,000 for the same scale.

You should know that in the entire Ming Dynasty, the number of soldiers announced to the public was only 1.5 million.

Of course, as a dynasty, the data of the Ming Dynasty are almost all real numbers, and they are all combat soldiers.

“Also, Lord Marquis, after my concentrated testing, among the more than 60,000 soldiers under our command, almost 7,000 people meet the physical potential of being absolutely elite.

Just recruit more and train them diligently...

In a few years, we will have two absolutely elite guards!"

Speaking of this, Zhao Xinghan became excited again.

Commanding the absolute elite is Zhao Xinghan’s dream.

Zhao Xinghan didn't expect that this dream would come true so soon.

"Okay, General Zhao! Have you ever thought about how to protect and work the local people since you have taken so many young and strong soldiers with you?
How should the families of these soldiers be accommodated?
Should we bring them to Xuzhou City or leave them alone?

If we don't take care of it, can the loyalty of these soldiers be guaranteed?
If they were to come to Xuzhou, would Xuzhou be able to accommodate so many outsiders? How would they solve the problems of accommodation, food, and jobs?
And with the sudden increase of more than 100,000 soldiers, can our Fu'an Marquis Mansion afford the financial burden?

Among these more than 100,000 soldiers, how many spies from other forces are there?"

Zhu Chengwu interrupted the excited Zhao Xinghan again.

He threw out countless questions, pouring a bucket of cold water on the excited Zhao Xinghan.

"My Lord, these are not things that a military officer like me should consider, right?

Besides, the towns along the way are not your fiefdoms, so why should we care about their local guarding and labor?"

Zhu Chengwu's continuous questions caught Zhao Xinghan off guard and unprepared, and he was stunned on the spot.

In the end, Zhao Xinghan had no choice but to answer this way.

Although when the Fu'an Marquis Mansion was first established and was short of staff, Zhao Xinghan also served in many positions in the Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

But at that time, Zhao Xinghan only held management positions and was not responsible for specific business.

Later, as the Fu'an Marquisate grew and became stronger, Zhao Xinghan resigned from all his concurrent positions one by one.

He devoted himself to managing his guards and practicing martial arts.

Zhao Xinghan really couldn't answer Zhu Chengwu's series of questions on the spot as he lacked a comprehensive understanding of the current Fu'an Marquisate.

“General Zhao, as a military commander, you don’t have to consider this.

But as the Marquis of Fu'an, I have to consider many things.

Moreover, although the towns along the way do not belong to my fiefdom now, they may not be under my jurisdiction in the future!
Do we really want to destroy it now and then spend a lot of effort to rebuild it later?"

Zhu Chengwu asked Zhao Xinghan in return.

Zhu Chengwu's question left Zhao Xinghan at a loss for words.

Does Zhao Xinghan want to say that we can ignore those places for now?
Didn't he know what the purpose of the Fu'an Marquis faction's gathering together was?
Throne!

Once he becomes the king, the entire Ming Dynasty will be Zhu Chengwu's territory.

Moreover, he has recruited so many young and strong soldiers from those places. Once he publicly expresses his disregard for those places...

In this world, geographical and clan concepts are very important.

That would definitely undermine the morale of the soldiers under his command!

This caused some soldiers to be dissatisfied with Zhao Xinghan.

Zhao Xinghan had to consider these!

After all, those young and strong soldiers are now Zhao Xinghan's soldiers, and are the basic base for Zhao Xinghan to build an absolutely elite force.

“Also, General Zhao!
I asked you to return as quickly as possible, and you shouldn't question my decision!
You took the initiative to disrupt my deployment! "

It was not until then that Zhu Chengwu revealed the fundamental reason why he kept asking questions to Zhao Xinghan.

Everything I just said was not the real reason why Zhu Chengwu was angry, it was just an excuse and a prelude.

The real reason is that Zhao Xinghan disobeyed orders!

"It is so!" Gao Yao, who finally heard these words, lowered his head even more submissively.

He knew that Zhao Xinghan's stubbornness and self-assertion along the way were not desirable.

Unfortunately, although Gao Yao was highly valued by Zhu Chengwu, he was only an eunuch after all. His prestige in the army was far inferior to that of Zhao Xinghan, and he was simply unable to change Zhao Xinghan's insistence.

(End of this chapter)