In Kunshan County Government, Mr. Zhao has been unable to eat or drink for a while, worried that his son might make some mistakes. Although everyone regards Zhao Hao as an omnipotent man, in Zhao Shouzheng's eyes, he is still just a child...

Hearing the news that the inspection of the three counties in Huzhou was completed as scheduled, Mr. Zhao heaved a sigh of relief. He had planned to invite He, Bai, and Xiong to play a few rounds of mahjong, but Mr. Wu reminded him that the Imperial Censor of Education was coming to the county today and would test the county students tomorrow, so he had to go out to greet him according to the rules.

"Since this spring, I have been beaten with a stick in the court all day long, and I haven't had the chance to touch a few cards. Although it's all 'pa pa pa', the former makes people uncomfortable, while the latter makes people happy." Mr. Zhao had no choice but to suppress his urge to play cards, and looked at Wu Chengen with resentment and said:

"Every time I see prisoners crying for their parents after being beaten, I can't help but cry with them. At the end of the day, my eyes are red from crying."

"Don't look at me like that, Mr. Dong." The writer said with a wry smile, "It was your son who forbade me to help, so that Mr. Dong could become a qualified county magistrate as soon as possible."

"What you said, does that mean I am unqualified?" Master Zhao blew his beard and glared.

Xu Wei, who was sitting cross-legged on the kang, flipping through the newly published "Internal Reference" of Jiangnan Group, suddenly said in a low voice: "Mulberry leaves in October..."

"Uh, why are you bringing up that?" Mr. Zhao's old face turned red and he walked away in embarrassment.

This is an old story from last year. At that time, Mr. Zhao, who had built the levee, was a bit arrogant because he was the best county magistrate in the world. He decided to do it himself and lead the villagers to get rich and get rid of the title of beggar Kunshan!

After thinking hard for a long time, one night, when the painter and writer were asleep, Zhao Shouzheng suddenly knocked on the door. Wu Cheng'en was frightened, thinking something big had happened, and quickly pulled up his trousers and opened the door.

But Mr. Zhao Er did not look panicked. Instead, he said excitedly, "I have thought of a way to improve it. I see that the common people have to farm and raise silkworms in April, and they are too busy to handle it. Why don't we post a notice and let them farm in April and raise silkworms in October when they are not busy. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"

"..." Wu Chengen was stunned for a long time. He had always thought that Dong Weng was a wise man pretending to be stupid. That night he realized that he was not pretending to be stupid. He really didn't understand anything...

"Sir, please speak up. What do you think of my idea?" Mr. Zhao was still asking in a naive manner.

"Speaking of this method, in principle, it's roughly the same, roughly the same... there's nothing wrong with it." Wu Chengen wiped his sweat and said, "There's just one problem. Where can I find mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms in October?"

"Uh..." Zhao Shouzheng wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

It's not surprising. As a minister, it's normal for him to be lazy and ignorant. In fact, the officials of the Ming Dynasty were generally nerds who were oblivious to the world outside and only focused on reading the books of sages. After entering the officialdom, they would not seriously learn farming and gardening, so it's not surprising that they made such a joke.

However, Mr. Zhao Er also knew his shame and then showed his courage. After that day, he changed into casual clothes and went to the countryside whenever he had time. He inspected the fields and humbly asked the old farmers for advice on farming and learned about the sufferings of the people. Now he no longer makes such jokes...

This made the old couple's boring old age life less fun.

~~

In the signing room.

After Zhao Shouzheng left, the painter suddenly sighed and said quietly, "It's terrible."

"What's so scary?" The writer was stunned.

"Can't you see?" Xu Wei shook the newspaper in his hand. The red headline "Operation Spring Thunder Concluded Successfully" was particularly eye-catching.

"I can't tell." Wu Cheng'en had read the newspaper a long time ago.

"So I'm saying, you have to improve your vision. If your vision is too small, how can you write a great article?" Xu Wei rolled his eyes, sat up and said, "For those who don't know the inside story, Jiangnan Group's battle against silkworm disease may not seem like a big deal. Isn't it just dealing with a few silkworms and a few moths? But for someone like you who has watched the whole process, don't you find it amazing?"

"It is truly amazing." Wu Cheng'en nodded honestly, "It has been less than a month since the initial discovery of the spread of the silkworm disease. They were able to quickly mobilize so many forces to fight the epidemic. Moreover, there was no forced collection or harassment of the people. Even the people outside Jiahu didn't know much about what happened in these six counties."

As he said this, he exclaimed: "It really shows the uniqueness of Jiangnan Group."

"Not only is it unique, it's like a scorpion shitting!" Xu Wei raised his voice and said, "I can tell you responsibly that in the past month, what the Jiangnan Group has done is something that no government in the Ming Dynasty can do. Not even the imperial court in Beijing can do it!"

"So exaggerated?" Wu Cheng'en couldn't help but be surprised and said, "You couldn't do it when you were in Hu Zongxian's office?" It is generally recognized that one of the main reasons for Hu Zongxian's success in resisting the Japanese pirates was that his powerful staff helped him to plan and coordinate. Thus, the endless productivity of the Jiangnan region was transformed into a powerful military force, which created elite armies such as the Qi Family Army and the Yu Family Army that were armed to the teeth.

"If Hu Meilin had the Jiangnan Group, why would it have taken eight years to fight the Japanese pirates?" Xu Wei shook his head and said, "It would have taken at most three years to defeat the Japanese pirates."

"So exaggerated?" The writer was dumbfounded. However, fighting against the Japanese pirates was Xu Wei's life's work, and he would never belittle himself just to flatter Zhao Hao.

"It's because we need to clean up the mess, otherwise two years would be enough." Xu Wei said seriously, "Those nerds who haven't read many military books think that fighting a war depends only on elite soldiers and strong generals. Wrong, very wrong. If that were the case, Emperor Chengzu would have unified Mobei long ago, and there would be no need to withdraw the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration. Emperor Taizu would not have to conquer any unconquered countries. How much more satisfying it would be to conquer the whole world?"

"I know this. If we march too far, we are bound to run out of food and fodder, and the army will be old and the soldiers will be tired." Wu Cheng'en said.

"Then why was Emperor Wu of Han able to conquer Mobei and annex Annan? Why could the Tang Dynasty reach India?" Xu Wei asked sharply.

"This..." Wu Cheng'en was suddenly speechless.

"This is the difference between strong and weak countries. Our Ming Dynasty is too weak. Even at the peak of its prosperity, it was not as good as the Han and Tang dynasties." Xu Wei said, then changed the subject: "National strength is not just about how many people, how many troops, and how much food you have. It is also about whether you have the ability to mobilize these people, allocate these materials, train and equip these troops, and ensure that they can fight in all directions!"

"Hmm..." Wu Cheng'en nodded. He felt that what Xu Wei said made sense.

"When I was in Hu Meilin's staff, my biggest feeling was that I had the power but couldn't use it. Jiangnan was the richest place in the world, with a population of tens of millions, but the Governor of Zhejiang was constantly being asked by his subordinates for food and wages, and he was exhausted from dealing with it. Everyone knows that Jiangnan is rich, but the money is in the hands of the rich, so the government is still poor. If you want to forcibly collect taxes, you will be impeached by their people. As a result, Lord Meilin and I tried our best and raised funds from all sides, but we could only barely support the two elite troops of Qi and Yu."

"Alas, the money that kid Zhao spends on maintaining the coast guard has long surpassed that of Lord Merlin, and he's also building ships like dumplings..." It was precisely because of the difficulties at the beginning that Xu Wei could clearly appreciate the strength of the Jiangnan Group.

"It's really scary..." Wu Cheng'en now completely understood what Xu Wei meant. He was a member of the Jiangnan Group's Inspection and Supervision Committee, and he knew exactly how much money the Tamra Garrison District and shipbuilding cost. But he had never thought about, or was unwilling to think about, how terrifying it would be if Zhao Hao turned the Jiangnan Group into a military presence.

In fact, the Jiangnan Group already had a military presence.

The Xishan Island Arsenal was the largest arsenal in the Ming Dynasty, and the quality of the guns and cannons it produced far exceeded that of the Ministry of Industry's Arsenal.

The Coast Guard is the strongest navy in the Ming Dynasty. Even the security team of the Security Group is probably among the best in the Ming Dynasty Army...

It’s just that the coast guard is far away overseas, the security team is too small, and their main function is to guard the house, so they don’t attract attention.

However, with the strong production and mobilization capabilities demonstrated by Jiangnan Group this time, it is entirely possible to expand these two teams in a short period of time.

Think about it, tens of thousands of well-trained workers in the factory, and hundreds of thousands of well-disciplined farm workers on the farm, if they pick up guns and receive a little training, they can go to the battlefield in a month. And their combat effectiveness is definitely stronger than 90% of the Ming army.

The writer's imagination is rich, and once he gets into it, he can't extricate himself. In his mind, he has almost reached the Chenqiao Mutiny...

"Hey, hey..." Seeing that he was about to go crazy, Xu Wei had to kick his butt to bring him back to his senses.

"Oh, ah..." Wu Cheng'en looked at Xu Wei with fear on his face and lowered his voice and said, "You said, Master, you don't really have any plans... in that regard, do you?"

"No, at least not yet." Xu Wei shook his head and said with certainty: "He was able to become so powerful in just a few years. What did he rely on? It was the support of the eldest princess and the indulgence of the emperor. Besides, our Ming Dynasty was founded in the most legitimate way. The Zhu family emperor has been on the throne for 200 years. Now that his luck has not yet run out, who would dare to have such thoughts?"

"That's good..." Wu Cheng'en breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his sweaty forehead.

"But no one can predict the future." Unexpectedly, Xu Wei panted and said, "What about a few years later? What if the court can no longer tolerate the Jiangnan Group? Being pushed step by step to that point, does Zhao kid look like someone who will just sit there and wait for death? Even rabbits bite when they are angry, and people can do anything when they are angry."

"This..." Wu Chengen's cold sweat broke out again. "What on earth is the young master thinking?"

"That's not important." But Xu Wei said faintly: "The allusion of 'wearing a yellow robe' refers to his ancestor."

"..."Wu Cheng'en understood what Xu Wei meant. As long as the Jiangnan Group continued to grow and became invincible, naturally countless people would become restless.

"Then how should you and I deal with ourselves?" he asked again.

"You and me?" Xu Wei looked at the writer strangely and said, "You are the author of 'The Monkey King Makes Trouble in Heaven', do you need to ask me?"

"Yes, it's useless for me to ask." Wu Cheng'en looked at Xu Wei's increasingly white and harmless face, and suddenly remembered that this was a person who was completely desperate for society and could not do anything even if he died. Such a person would of course only wish for chaos in the world...

He was also full of dissatisfaction and disappointment with the Ming Dynasty, otherwise he would not have written such a rebellious work as "Journey to the West".

"But what's the point of changing dynasties? It's just a new group of gods and Buddhas playing with monkeys. There will be no shortage of man-eating monsters." But he was a little bored, not afraid of making laws. Yeah, serious face.

"No, I have a feeling that the world will be very different. Whether it's good or bad, there's no going back..." Xu Wei shook his head and laughed:

"I should get closer to that annoying guy Li Zhuowu. I think the Taizhou School's path is quite compatible with science."