Chapter 182: Zhu Yijun is still a blank slate, the Ming Dynasty under the revival of spiritual energy
When Feng Bao heard Zhu Yijun say that he wanted to find the emperor, he immediately lowered his head and dared not say a word.
The Crown Prince is free to do whatever he wants. He can respond to some of the Crown Prince's words, but he must not overstep his authority on others, otherwise it would be disrespectful.
By then, even his godfather won’t be able to protect him!
Long before other people in the Imperial Household Department were allowed to practice Taoism, Lu Fang had already asked Jiajing for favor and requested Taoism techniques for several of his godsons.
After Feng Bao acquired the magic, he was arranged to go to Prince Yu's Palace. Then, his godson Yang Jinshui, who was previously in charge of silk and overseas trade at the Hangzhou Manufacturing Bureau, was also arranged to go to Prince Jing's Palace after being transferred back.
The purpose of Lu Fang doing this is naturally to bet on many aspects.
Although these eunuchs do not need to build any immortal families, after all, the emperor has his own ministers, and if the master retires, they will also follow him to cultivate in the palace.
When the new emperor ascends the throne, he will have a new companion to take charge of the affairs of the Imperial Household Department.
But that was in the past. Now everyone can practice cultivation and achieve immortality. As for eunuchs like them, even if the emperor wants to retire and become an emperor emeritus after millions of years, as long as they want to practice cultivation, they need to have their own power and gather a steady supply of resources for their cultivation.
Therefore, the elders in the cabinet were working hard to establish a family of immortal cultivators, and Lu Fang also began to make arrangements among the royal family.
If every eunuch around the royal family is related to him, then he, the ancestor, will be protected in the future.
As long as one is a human being, he or she has desires and selfishness. Jiajing naturally knew all of this, but he ignored it.
The current Ming Dynasty needs to make drastic changes and grow wildly. As for the internal problems after it becomes a dynasty of immortal cultivation, it will take at least thousands or tens of thousands of years to deal with them, so there is no rush to deal with them.
Of course, the most important thing is that even if we want to deal with it now, we have no target. The Ming Dynasty is now a new dynasty that is developing. If we want to see if it has any drawbacks, it will take a long time to settle before we can know.
Seeing that Feng Bao didn't say anything, Zhu Yijun suddenly felt that he had won, and a proud look appeared on his young face.
"Feng Daban, this is him. I want this man called Guo Shuo! Go and tell Lu Bing later! If he disagrees, I will go to the palace to find Grandpa Huang and ask Grandpa Huang to deal with him!"
"Yes, I know." Feng Bao replied in a low voice.
However, he lowered his head, with a bitter look on his face. He glanced at Zhu Yijun, who was only seven years old but very domineering and had his way, and sighed in his heart, saying:
"My prince, it's true that you are the prince of the Ming Dynasty, but you are not the only prince of the Ming Dynasty! The young prince of Prince Jing's Mansion is much more sensible than you. He would never do such a thing..."
Feng Bao's face was wrinkled like a piece of paper.
"Roar!" At this moment, a whistling sound was heard again not far away. It turned out that the mutant tiger finally couldn't bear it anymore. The group of people standing here made it feel extremely dangerous. It had to leave here, otherwise it would die.
However, it is necessary to defeat the human in front of it first, otherwise it is likely to stay here today.
Although spiritual energy did not enlighten its intelligence, as its body grew stronger, its instinct to sense danger also became sharper.
It can sense the power of this group of people!
"Ah!" The tiger roared and rushed towards the Immortal Martial Guard Guo Shuo. Guo Shuo was not afraid. He snorted coldly and practiced the "Immortal Martial Technique" at the same time, and the blood and energy in his body expanded.
"Kill!" Guo Shuo roared and rushed towards the tiger at an incredibly fast speed!
A mutant tiger weighing four thousand kilograms, about thirteen feet long and five to six feet tall opened its bloody mouth and rushed towards the young man who looked thin and weak and rushed towards him like an ant.
At this moment, everyone was staring intently at this visually stunning scene, wondering who would win and who would lose.
Although the outcome had already been decided in everyone's mind, after all, Guo Shuo's cultivation of immortal martial arts had already reached the third level of the acquired realm, and he was only one step away from breaking through to the innate realm.
This beast looked huge, three times the size of an ordinary tiger. However, if they really fought, it would not be a match for a warrior at the third level of the acquired realm.
However, at this moment, even though everyone knew the result, they couldn't help but feel nervous and expectant when they saw this shocking scene.
This time, in order to satisfy the playful nature of Prince Zhu Yijun, Prince Yu's concubine Li specifically asked Feng Bao to consult the eunuch Lu Fang, and then found the Xianwu Division, to ask them to take the prince along when hunting mutant beasts. Lu Yi was afraid that Zhu Yijun would get hurt, so he could only arrange Guo Shuo into the hunting team.
Otherwise, a powerful Immortal Guard like Guo Shuo would not personally take action against a mere mutated spirit beast.
Although this mutant tiger looks very ferocious, in the eyes of the Immortal Guards, compared with other spirit beasts they have encountered, it is not the strongest and can be dealt with by those at the first or second level of acquired skills.
"Boom!" There were no fancy moves, only a simple and powerful punch that hit the tiger's head hard. The loud bang was accompanied by the beast's painful howl.
"Boom!" The tiger was knocked to the ground again, stirring up a cloud of dust. However, Guo Shuo would not give it a second chance to stand up. He rushed into the billowing dust.
"Come and die!" Guo Shuo shouted while stepping hard on the spine of the tiger that was still struggling to get up. There was a crisp "crack" sound and the tiger's body instantly fell limp.
"Roar, roar, roar..." After the smoke and dust cleared, only the tiger was left crawling on the ground, whimpering softly.
"Good!" Looking at Guo Shuo standing on the tiger, Zhu Yijun immediately cheered loudly, his little hands turned red from clapping, and his young face turned red with excitement.
"Feng Daban, hurry up, give me the reward!" As Zhu Yijun spoke, he actually jumped down from the sedan chair. Feng Bao was so scared that he subconsciously opened his arms to catch him. However, Zhu Yijun ignored him after landing and ran directly towards Guo Shuo. The others quickly followed.
Zhu Yijun had been nourished by spiritual objects by Prince Yu since he was one month old, and his body had been taken care of with medicinal baths prepared by Lu Fang. At the age of three, he began to read and write, and at the same time, he started practicing with Prince Yu.
Now he is seven years old. Although he has not yet broken through the first level of Qi training, he has opened up all the acupoints in the body and started to practice Qi training. Although he has not yet broken through, running and jumping are no problem at all.
The height of the sedan chair is such that it cannot hurt him.
"Your name is Guo Shuo?" Zhu Yijun stood in front of Guo Shuo and raised his hand to press him. Guo Shuo understood and took a step forward, half-knelt on the ground, clasped his hands together, and said:
"I am Guo Shuo, a captain of the Xianwu Guard, and I am here to see the Crown Prince!"
"Hmph," Zhu Yijun looked at the young man kneeling in front of him, but with his hands behind his back, he snorted in a childish but dignified voice: "From now on, call him His Royal Highness, don't call him the wrong name, understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Guo Shuo said without hesitation.
Looking at Zhu Yijun's appearance, Feng Bao, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but reveal a hint of approval in his eyes.
Although the prince was a bit playful on weekdays, at the age of seven, his words and actions were quite in line with the royal demeanor.
He knew how to use his power to overpower others at such a young age. This intelligence gave him some confidence in this young master.
Although Prince Jing is the same age as his Royal Highness the Crown Prince and is also extremely intelligent and sensible, he is too mature and steady at such a young age. He is always kind to others but lacks the domineering power. How can he convince others?
"You will stay with me from now on," Zhu Yijun said like a little adult, stepping forward and patting Guo Shuo on the shoulder, "I will explain the matter to Grandpa Huang about Lu Bing."
"Yes!" Guo Shuo said respectfully, "As long as it is the emperor's order, the Immortal Guards will obey it until death!"
As a centurion of the Ming Dynasty's Xianwu Division, he was told to obey the emperor's orders from the first day he was selected into the Xianwu Guard.
And what he said to the prince was very clear: as long as there was an order from the emperor, he would absolutely obey.
"Feng Daban," Zhu Yijun, who was very young, was extremely intelligent because he had never lacked spiritual energy since childhood, but he was only a seven-year-old child after all. Naturally, he could not hear the hidden meaning in it. He just thought that Guo Shuo obeyed him and decided to follow him in the future. A satisfied expression suddenly appeared on his little face, and he said:
"Take this big tiger back to the palace and have it cooked in the kitchen. I want to nourish my mother."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will be ready." After saying that, Feng Bao winked at a few eunuchs beside him. After the eunuchs understood, they hurried forward and lifted Da Hu up.
"Feng Daban, school will start in the Immortal Palace next month. Who else will be there besides me?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously while sitting on a sedan chair carried by others on the path in the forest.
After hearing this, Feng Bao thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "There is no news from the Imperial Household Department yet." He paused for a moment, and then said, "But I think the descendants of the elders in the cabinet will definitely enter the Immortal Palace, and then the Prince of Jing..."
"Cousin?" After hearing Zhu Yijin's name, a smile appeared on Zhu Yijin's young face, and he immediately lay on the guardrail of the carriage excitedly, "That's great, I can play with my cousin again. It has been several months since I last saw my cousin."
"Prince..." Feng Bao opened his mouth as he looked at Zhu Yijun, who was lying on the guardrail with a slightly expectant look on his face. Then he looked around and hesitated when he looked at Guo Shuo and other Xianwu guards.
"Guo Shuo," Zhu Yijun was young, but he was a child of the royal family after all. Feng Bao could naturally see his hesitation, and immediately said to Guo Shuo who came closer, "You go ahead and scout the way."
"Yes!" Guo Shuo didn't waste any words. He made a gesture and immediately led the twelve black-clad immortal warriors to gallop away into the distance. In a short while, they disappeared at the end of the road.
These Immortal Martial Guards were responsible for clearing out the spirit beasts in this area, and the eunuchs around Zhu Yijun were also practicing Immortal Martial Arts, so there was no need to worry about safety issues.
"Your Highness, in the future, you must not get too close to Prince Jing. If possible, you must be on guard against him." Feng Bao said earnestly after Guo Shuo and others left.
"Why?" Zhu Yijun raised his eyes and looked at Feng Bao.
Although Zhu Yijun was only seven years old and smart, he would sometimes imitate the words and deeds of adults to handle some things. Relying on his status, he knew that he could get whatever he wanted.
For example, just now, he wanted Guo Shuo to be his bodyguard, so he said so and did so. And because of his identity, and because he brought up the emperor's grandfather, he succeeded!
But he is just a child after all, and he is still a blank slate when it comes to the more delicate human speculations and struggles such as the struggle for imperial power.
Therefore, he did not understand Feng Bao’s suggestion just now.
I obviously have a good relationship with my cousin, so why should I be on guard against him and not get too close to him?
"Because His Royal Highness Prince Yu and His Royal Highness Prince Jing are enemies!" Everyone here is his confidant, so Feng Bao simply made it clear.
Seeing Zhu Yijun's intelligence, he felt that it was necessary to teach the young prince some things in advance.
Ever since he was sent by his godfather to Prince Yu's Mansion to take care of Crown Prince Zhu Yijun, he knew in his heart that his future honor and achievements, and even whether he could go far on the path of cultivating immortals, all depended on Prince Yu's lineage and whether they could eventually become the heir to the empire.
Now that His Majesty the Master has embarked on the road to eternal life, a change in the throne is unlikely to happen in the short term.
But the position of crown prince is still vacant!
If His Royal Highness Prince Yu can become the Crown Prince, then the Crown Prince will be the Grandson of the Ming Dynasty, and Prince Yu's lineage will obtain more spiritual resources.
Their trusted servants will also get more.
If one prospers, all prosper; if one suffers, all suffer. Therefore, for their own sake, they must let Prince Yu's lineage overwhelm Prince Jing's lineage in all aspects.
"Father and fourth uncle are enemies?" Zhu Yijun widened his eyes.
"My lord, you are still young and don't understand some things. I will tell you the pros and cons of it now..." Then, Feng Bao recounted the struggle between Prince Yu and Prince Jing in the simplest and most popular words.
After listening to this, Zhu Yijun, who was sitting on the carriage, frowned and remained silent. After a while, he suddenly slapped the armrest, pointed at Feng Bao with his little hand, and shouted in a childish voice:
"Bold Feng Bao, do you admit your guilt?"
Feng Bao trembled when he was suddenly scolded by Zhu Yijun, but he immediately knelt on the ground obediently.
"You dare to discuss the affairs of the royal family privately, and you also try to sow discord between my father and my fourth uncle, and you also ask me to be on guard against my cousin." After saying so much in one breath, the young prince Zhu Yijun was a little tongue-tied, but he still said majestically: "Aren't you afraid that I will ask the emperor to chop you off?"
"Please calm down, my lord. I know my crime!" Hearing the young lord Zhu Yijun's rebuke, Feng Bao immediately raised her head tremblingly and said, "But, my sincerity is all for the sake of my lord!"
"The struggle for power has always been cruel. Since I was assigned to the prince's side, I have been sharing the honor and disgrace with the master and servant."
"In this world, besides the prince and the princess, I am the person the prince trusts the most. Even if, even if..." Feng Bao said, tears streaming down his face, "If you ask me to take a knife and cut my throat right now, I will have no complaints!"
"I just hope that the prince will be well. I hope that the prince can become the crown prince of our Ming Dynasty. May your immortal path be forever prosperous, prince!" After saying that, Feng Bao knocked his head heavily to the ground.
Looking at his friend who was kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down his face to show his loyalty, Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "Really?"
"You are not trying to sow discord on purpose and lie to me? Don't lie to me, I can tell the difference!"
"I have absolutely no second thoughts towards the prince, and heaven can bear witness to this. If I do have any other thoughts, let me be struck by lightning and suffer eternal damnation!" Feng Bao raised his hand and swore to the sky.
"Then get up," Zhu Yijun waved his hand, leaning back on the carriage in a sullen manner, "But I don't believe that my cousin will hurt me. I don't want to play anymore, let's go back!"
After saying this, without paying any attention to Feng Bao, the eunuchs carrying the sedan chair began to move forward again.
Feng Bao stood up and stood under the moon, watching the imperial chariot going away. He looked up at the bright moon in the night sky and sighed, "My prince, please don't be so ignorant anymore!"
"The Immortal Mansion is about to open for school. The children in the academy will be the real backbone of the future of our Ming Dynasty!"
"Behind more than 90% of the children stands a top family of the future Ming Dynasty. You must learn how to divide factions, win over people's hearts, and consolidate your position as soon as possible..."
As Feng Bao spoke, he recalled the earnest words that Prince Yu's concubine Li said to him before he came out today. "The princess cannot bear children. Yijun is the eldest son and will be the heir of the palace. He must shoulder the responsibilities that he should bear! Feng Daban must know that when one prospers, all prosper and when one suffers..."
Thinking of this, Feng Bao shook his head and followed.
The reason why he dared to say these words was naturally because someone secretly instructed him to teach the prince.
Originally, how to teach the prince should have been Zhang Juzheng's job, but considering Zhang Juzheng's current relationship with Prince Yu, Concubine Li did not trust Zhang Juzheng, so the responsibility of teaching the prince naturally fell on Feng Bao alone.
Feng Bao was not sure whether Prince Yu had instructed this or not, but he thought that Prince Yu should have acquiesced, otherwise, even if Li was his biological mother, she would not dare to instruct him to do things so blatantly.
……
Moonlight as water.
The capital city under curfew seemed very quiet, but behind the scenes, all kinds of strange phenomena were happening.
Somewhere in Daxing County, in the backyard of a farmer's house.
"Boss, why don't you report it to the police?"
The middle-aged woman held an oil lamp, hunched over and followed the middle-aged man, peeking into the chicken coop with some fear.
"Shh!" The middle-aged man held the sickle in both hands and turned back to signal the woman to be quiet, "Keep your voice down! Don't alarm that thing!" After that, he lowered his voice and said, "Silly woman, why are you reporting to the police?"
"This is a lucky animal. A chicken in the neighboring farm turned into a phoenix." As he spoke, the nervousness on the middle-aged man's face disappeared. Instead, he raised his hand and said to his wife, "Do you know how much the rich businessman in the city paid for it? Fifty taels!"
Fifty taels of silver! After hearing the price, the woman's face lit up, and the worry in her heart was immediately dispelled.
"Some time ago," the middle-aged man continued, "the big yellow dog of Zhang the butcher grew bigger every day. In just over ten days, it was almost as big as a cow. He reported it to the authorities, but they seized the dog without giving it a penny. Secretly, the auspicious animal was sold like crazy!"
"But boss, there seems to be a fox in our house. It's a wild beast and it has eaten all our chickens. I'm afraid it might be dangerous if I take action later..." Although the woman was tempted by the money, she was still very scared.
"Don't worry," the middle-aged man said with a confident smile, "I drugged those chickens today. Since they are quiet now, I guess they have been knocked down. Hold on to the rope!"
"I'll go in first. If it's really knocked down, I'll tie it up. I'll go find those wealthy men tomorrow and sell it for a good price!" The middle-aged man said with excitement on his face, "A fox with three tails! That's the nine-tailed fox from Journey to the West!"
"Boss, doesn't a nine-tailed fox have nine tails?" the woman asked dazedly.
"Shut up, silly woman!" The middle-aged man rolled his eyes and said greedily, "Chickens and dogs can grow up, so can't our three-tailed fox grow into a nine-tailed fox?"
"Okay, stop talking nonsense, I'll go in first!" The middle-aged man interrupted his wife impatiently, took the oil lamp from the woman, picked up the sickle, pushed open the door of the chicken coop and walked in.
In the dim chicken coop, you can hear a pin drop so quietly.
The earthen walls on all four sides were covered with splattered blood, and the ground was littered with bloody chicken feathers, along with scattered pieces of meat, intestines, and bones with tendons attached.
"What a beast!" Looking at the scattered chicken on the ground, the man said in his heart, "You killed so many of my chickens, I must get them back from you in one go!"
The dim oil lamp illuminated the area less than half a foot around him. He looked left and right and came to the deepest part of the chicken coop.
"Clack, cluck, chirp..." footsteps were heard, and suddenly a weak cry was heard from the end of the chicken coop.
"Didn't knock him down?!" Hearing the voice, the man's heart suddenly tightened. He subconsciously clenched the sickle in his hand, turned around and was about to escape, but the next moment he stopped suddenly.
Recalling that the cry seemed a little abnormal and very weak, the middle-aged man suddenly showed a look of joy on his face. He quickly turned around and went to the back of the chicken coop.
He pulled the fence aside, walked closer and raised the oil lamp to shine inside.
Sure enough, there were chicken feathers and minced meat scattered all over the small corner. However, at this time, the man's eyes were on the white-haired fox as big as a mule lying on the ground in the corner.
"Ga...ga..." The fox, which was originally lying on the ground weakly with half-closed eyes, raised its head with difficulty and opened its eyes. It looked towards the man, struggled to stand up, but finally fell down weakly again.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man grinned.
"I'm rich!" The man said without caring about anything else. He quickly walked forward and squatted down. Looking at the fox in front of him with shiny and pure white fur without a single strand of other colors, he swallowed his saliva with excitement.
"I heard that rich people want these auspicious animals. Eating their meat and draining their blood can prolong their lifespan. This nine-tailed fox..."
Speaking of the nine-tailed fox, the middle-aged man suddenly seemed to think of something and quickly came behind the fox.
He looked at the white tails gathered together, and then carefully pushed them apart. However, the next moment, the middle-aged man's pupils suddenly shrank, and he hissed, "Four, four tails!"
After blinking fiercely, the astonishment on the middle-aged man's face suddenly twisted and then turned into ecstasy.
"Mother! Mother, come quickly!" The middle-aged man suppressed his ecstasy and shouted in a controlled voice outside the chicken coop.
The woman who was guarding outside, upon hearing the call from the head of the household, immediately knew that the matter had been accomplished. She immediately showed joy on her face and quickly trotted to the innermost part of the chicken coop.
"The boss!"
"Look, it has four tails!" The man excitedly held up the huge fox tail and said to his wife excitedly, "This beast must be the nine-tailed fox in 'Journey to the West'!"
"Damn it, we're rich!"
After seeing the fourth tail grow, the woman's face suddenly lit up with joy. Then, as if she suddenly thought of something, she quickly walked up to the middle-aged man and said excitedly:
"Boss! This fox has four tails now, and it will grow another one in a few days. Why don't we not sell it in a hurry? When it grows to nine, we can raise the price!"
"Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I won't sell it!" said the middle-aged man, and then said: "Keep it first, and when it grows nine tails, I will contact those wealthy businessmen..."
The couple was happily planning, but they didn't notice that the fox lying on the ground suddenly opened its half-closed eyes and its eyeballs were rolling around.
The moonlight shone through the gaps in the windows on the earthen wall of the chicken coop, shining on the fox's head, and its sharp, ferocious fangs suddenly burst out.
"Come, where's the rope? Tie up this beast first..." said the middle-aged man, and was about to put down the tail in his hand, but at this moment, something strange happened!
"Swoosh!" The originally soft pure white tail suddenly became as cunning as a poisonous snake and directly wrapped around the man's neck.
The moment his neck was strangled, the man's eyes suddenly bulged out and he desperately grabbed his tail with both hands. The fear brought by suffocation made his face hideous. He stared at his wife with bulging eyes, his eyes were full of fear and pleading, wanting his wife to save him!
"Boss!" The woman was frightened by this scene. After she reacted, she was about to rush up to help the middle-aged man pull off the tail, but at this moment another tail attacked her.
Then, the woman was strangled by the tail and hugged tightly without any resistance.
"Roar!" A beast roared, and a stench filled its mouth hit their faces, bringing the two men who were about to suffocate and faint back to their senses. However, after seeing the fox stand up, turn its head and look at them ferociously with drooling eyes, the two men finally realized that they were the bait!
The fox was deliberately baiting them!
"No, don't..." The man opened his mouth with difficulty, trying to beg, but what greeted him was a bloody mouth.
"Bang!" The head was swallowed directly in one bite, and the bursting blood plasma and meat juice splashed out from between the fox's teeth and splashed on the woman's face, followed by a chewing sound.
"Chirp, chirp..." After the fox swallowed the man's head, it raised its head and made a strange happy sound, as if it was laughing.
Then he looked at the terrified woman and swallowed it again. After a while, the chicken coop was filled with blood mist and two headless corpses were thrown ruthlessly on the ground.
Under the moonlight, a pure white four-tailed fox jumped onto the roof of the chicken coop, looked up at the moonlight, made an eerie cry, and then jumped a few times and headed towards the distant farm.
Shortly after the fox left, three ghostly figures fell.
"There is a strong body odor here, be careful. The demon fox that we injured a few days ago is very likely here!" Lu Yi, a captain of the Immortal Martial Guard, led the team personally. While observing the surroundings, he said in a deep voice: "Be careful, kill the demon fox on the spot if you find it!"
"Yes!" The two acquired second-level immortal warriors behind him drew out the long swords at their waists and headed towards the courtyard.
"Captain, the pots and stoves in the house are hot, the owner should still be here..." said the two Immortal Guards after returning.
Hearing this, Lu Yi's eyes narrowed and he looked towards the chicken coop in front of him. At this time, a smell of blood rushed in. Lu Yi's face darkened and he rushed into the chicken coop first, and the other two quickly followed.
After seeing the two headless bodies in the depths of the chicken coop, the two Immortal Warriors looked at Lu Yi, who had an unpleasant expression on his face, and said, "Including these two, there are already six civilians who have died at the hands of this demon fox!"
"Although this demon fox is not the strongest one we have encountered, it is the one that has caused the most casualties. This is mainly because foxes are cunning by nature..."
"No need to say more!" Lu Yi raised his hand and said gloomily, "This demon fox must be killed within three days!"
After saying that, he turned around and strode away!
The two Immortal Guards looked at each other and followed silently.
In the past half month, all the poultry in the capital city have been replaced by the government, and some dark drainage canals have also been checked. Therefore, there have been no incidents of spirit beasts injuring people in the city.
But the situation is different in the counties, towns and villages around the capital.
In just half a month, there were several cases of spirit beasts injuring people and rioting, and the constables in the county and town government offices were no match for them.
The large forces of the Xianwu Guard were stationed in the suburbs of the capital to prevent the mutated beasts from the mountain streams from coming down the mountain to commit crimes.
For a moment, naturally, I couldn't take care of other places.
Even after so many years, the number of Xianwu Guards has grown from one at the beginning to one guard.
The regulations of Xianwuwei were arranged according to the regulations of the imperial court's guards.
A guard is usually composed of 5,600 people, but the actual number may fluctuate depending on actual conditions.
Each guard had five thousand households, and each thousand households theoretically had a staff of 1,120 soldiers.
For the convenience of statistics, the Xianwu Guards are unified into one thousand people!
Each thousand-household unit is divided into ten "hundred-household units", each hundred-household unit is composed of ten "general flags", each general flag has two "small flags", and each small flag has ten people.
But even if the number of Xianwu Guards has reached one guard now, about five or six thousand people, and can be deployed to the prefectures and counties around the capital, it is far from enough.
It would be a luxury to evenly distribute two to each region.
Not to mention, the Xianwu Guards will have to send out a large force to protect the capital. Although there is no need to worry about the capital because the emperor and the cabinet's eunuchs are in charge, the court still has to maintain its proper dignity.
As spiritual beasts appeared and injured people in various places outside the capital, they also attracted the covetousness of many people with ulterior motives.
Combined with the "holy water" that had fallen from the sky before, as well as the recent increasingly intense legends of the Ming Dynasty's immortals and gods, some people began to spread rumors that hunting auspicious beasts, eating their meat and drinking their blood could prolong life and cure all diseases.
A mutated poultry can be sold secretly for at least fifty or sixty taels of silver, and up to several hundred taels of silver. If it is some rare and precious wild animal, the price can even be negotiated with gold.
For example, the fox demon was beaten by them and escaped from the outskirts of the capital. It was rescued by farmers in the village and then bought by a wealthy businessman for one hundred taels of gold.
The result was that the rich businessman's entire family was eaten that night.
At that time, the fox demon was just a tail. It was chased all the way, and as the tail grew longer, the price also skyrocketed.
The three tails were sold for as much as three thousand taels of gold!
And this is not the only case of something like this.
In short, the prefectures and counties surrounding the Ming Dynasty have gone completely crazy because of these spiritual beasts. Everyone wants to hunt the auspicious beasts, drink their blood and eat their meat, so as to achieve the effect of prolonging life.
Some people even worship these auspicious animals as gods.
A disturbance caused by the spiritual energy storm is slowly brewing centered around the Ming Dynasty, and the news is also radiating to the entire northern Zhili.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
