The entire second year of Shenwu passed quickly amidst the chaos of the local government and the court.
At the end of that year, Lu Yuan received another piece of good news.
That was his queen, pregnant again.
Yes, after giving birth to the first child and raising her for a year, thanks to Lu Yuan's unremitting efforts, Lan Cai'er was born again.
I am going to be a father again.
Although this news is not as happy as the joy when Lu He was born, it is still news worth making people happy.
And since his queen is pregnant, as the king, Lu Yuan naturally cannot help but devote some energy to it, and he has even less thoughts about external expansion.
So at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, he spent time dealing with the two reforms and accompanying Lan Cai'er to raise the baby.
This busy and leisurely day lasted until the beginning of March in the third year of Shenwu.
The third year of Shenwu was destined to be a year of great harvest for Chu State.
In this year, the previous immigration project that started in the ninth year of Hongdao has been completed for three years. The 410,000 households and more than two million immigrants who settled in various parts of Dachu began to pay taxes.
After more than three years of cultivation, the three counties and seventeen prefectures of Dachu, under the governance of the local ministers in the court, became increasingly prosperous and prosperous.
According to what Sun Siwen said before.
From this year onwards, Dachu was able to break even.
Even if there is one more navy now, hundreds of thousands or millions of taels of silver will be spent every year.
However, relying on the military expenditure reform carried out previously for war soldiers and local soldiers, there is still 1.2 million taels of silver left every year, which can be used as military expenditures for the navy, and it can barely cope with it.
Not to mention, there are five million taels of silver assistance from Su and Nanhai.
However, Lu Yuan planned to use these five million taels of silver as military expenses.
If you want to conquer the Great Changhe Kingdom, you will need to use at least one hundred thousand troops, and the annual military expenditure will be at least three million taels of silver. Without this kind of aid, the Chu Kingdom really cannot bear this horrific expense.
Therefore, he had already discussed this money with the two prime ministers. It was military expenditure and could not be used for other purposes.
Sun Siwen and Cui Changqing also agreed.
Both of them even said that the imperial court would also find ways to save as much money as possible for military use.
What can Lu Yuan say about this?
He could only be moved by the two prime ministers' support for him on one side, and then on the other side he was gearing up more and more to prepare for the crusade against the Great Chowa Kingdom.
However, this matter cannot be rushed for the time being.
First of all, Lu Yuan was not sure that he could pacify the Great Changhe Kingdom by himself and leading an army of 100,000 people.
After all, there are two innate masters and an army of more than 200,000 on the opposite side.
It's not that easy to defeat the opponent.
Secondly, Lu Yuan is still worried about the country.
He left with an army of 100,000 men, and Chu's defense force was suddenly half empty.
In this case, not only is it easy to cause chaos internally, but it is also easy to attract the covetousness of enemy countries externally.
It would be fun if someone took advantage of the emptiness in his country and thought that he was invading the country of Ojowa and came out of the blue to kill him.
Don't believe it.
What if Lu Yuan was really dragged into Da Changhe Country and couldn't get away.
Believe it or not, Ning and Zhou, who have long hated him to the core, will immediately send hundreds of thousands of troops to attack with the whole country?
This is absolutely possible.
Anyway, if you change the place and put Lu Yuan in the position of those two countries, you will definitely be moved when you see a guy who has robbed your own territory suddenly showing such a big weakness.
The human heart cannot stand the test.
Taking this into consideration, Lu Yuan did not dare to send troops even though the military expenditure was sufficient at this time.
The time is still not ripe right now.
He wants to wait.
The first is to wait for Dacho and the country to continue the confrontation and consume them, constantly weakening their own strength.
The second is to wait for the strength on our side to be further enhanced, and at the same time, the external environment can become better.
And this opportunity came soon.
In August of that year, Lan Cai'er had just given birth to her second son, and the palace was filled with joy.
Lu Yuan received a letter from Jiangbei.
Changle Palace.
Lu Yuan flipped through the letter in his hand. The more he flipped through it, the more joy and excitement he felt in his heart.
"Xiao Qing is about to break through Xiantian."
He held the letter and looked at Zhou Qing's greetings, congratulating his teacher on having another son. Then he described some of his recent insights during practice.
According to Zhou Qing, over the years, he has followed his teacher's instructions and used the fairy energy in the jade pieces to cleanse his internal energy every day and night.
After many years, I am now full of energy, and I feel that my soul has grown to the limit of my body, enough to transform into the true meaning of martial arts.
As for the internal force, it gradually took on the form of aura that turned from virtual to real, and the aura of his own inner force gradually took on the appearance of an external form.
The changes in various conditions of the whole person, as described to the teacher, are about to break through the various needs of the innate stage.
Therefore, this disciple wrote to ask if he should try to break through Xiantian?
The disciple has no experience and hopes the teacher can give guidance.
Above, everything in Discernibility.
After Lu Yuan read it, he was filled with surprises and confusion.
Since there is another innate in our country who can be trusted absolutely, the country's foundation and strength are further gratified.
There is also the feeling of relief and loneliness that the child you have raised for more than ten years has finally grown up and will unknowingly surpass his innate ability and catch up with his own footsteps.
Yes.
After careful calculation, from the 24th year of Longqing, when the master and the apprentice escaped from Dayu County together, it has been seventeen years since the current Shenwu 3rd year.
For seventeen years, he and Zhou Qing were called master and apprentice, but they were actually father and son.
The most critical period of Zhou Qing's transition from boyhood to youth was taught by Lu Yuan.
It can be said that he is really like an old father, watching his apprentice grow up.
The friendship between the two is so deep that no one can match it except Sun Siwen.
Even Lan Cai'er, who now gave birth to two children for him, or the eldest son Lu He, and the newly named second son Lu Hao, can't compare.
Human feelings are so unreasonable.
Even if you are my blood, flesh and blood, and my wife in the same bed, anything that can’t be compared to me is simply incomparable.
Sun Siwen and Zhou Qing followed Lu Yuan from humble beginnings to prosperity, from trough to glory.
Meet in poverty and strive to become rich.
Without the help of these two people, Lu Yuan would not be able to dominate three counties and be the king of one place. I'm afraid I'm still hiding in some small town or in a mountain ravine, worrying about how to break through to the top.
The fate of the world is connected with the friendship between the three of them.
It is precisely because of this that after receiving Zhou Qing's letter, Lu Yuan immediately put down his state affairs and Lan Cai'er, who had just given birth.
The next day, he packed his bags and traveled alone and under the stars at night, quietly rushing to Xiangyang County.
Breaking through the innate thing, although as long as all the requirements are met, everything will fall into place and there won't be much risk.
But there is no big risk, there will still be risks after all.
Moreover, there is a high probability of failure when breaking through Xiantian. Without an experienced person watching over him, Lu Yuan is really worried.
It was related to the path of his disciples and the future of Chu State. It was best for him to watch it in person.
…
After nearly ten days on the road, we finally arrived at Xiangyang City in mid-August.
When he arrived in the city, Lu Yuan was not in a hurry to see Zhou Qing. Instead, he took a good look around the city and finally nodded with satisfaction.
Xiangyang is worthy of being a famous capital in the world and the head of a county.
As a large city close to the Han River, and supported by the Jianghan Plain that flows out of the Yangtze River and the Han River, the entire Xiangyang County is extremely wealthy.
Even though Xiangyang County is now divided into three parts, the most important part, that is, most of the Jianghan Plain is controlled by the Ningguo court.
However, relying on the support of the remaining three western prefectures and Xiangyang Prefecture, as well as Xiangyang County's convenient location on the north-south waterway, the place still maintained great prosperity.
That's it.
The city is crowded with people, people from all over the world gather in the shops and shops in this city, which is very bustling and lively.
"According to the latest statistics from the imperial court, Xiangyang Prefecture, the capital of Xiangyang County, has 80,000 households and 400,000 people. But judging from the flow of people in the city, this number of households is still small."
Lu Yuan sat in the restaurant, looking out the window at the endless flow of people on the street, and sighed in his heart.
He didn't know whether the extra people were business travelers from all over the world, or whether the local officials had concealed the information.
But considering that his two disciples, Zhou Qing and Zhang You, were both in Xiangyang, with them watching, no local officials would dare to deceive him.
Then this is probably the former.
There are too many business travelers from all over the world who come to Xiangyang to do business, which is why there seem to be more registered residences here than normal.
And that's another good thing.
"It seems that this year's customs and commercial taxes will be much higher again."
The more income the court has, the more troops it can support and the more things it can do.
The most important thing is that as the Chu State becomes prosperous, the more luck you can reap.
These benefits are really too great.
Something needs to be mentioned here.
From the time he started practicing Taiping Taoism in the seventh year of Hongdao, almost five years later, with the continuous expansion of Chu State and the implementation of various domestic military and political reforms, Lu Yuan's accumulated luck increased at an explosive rate every year. With.
And under this explosion, his cultivation became more and more sophisticated.
Now, he has already surpassed the previous Master Anqiu and is rapidly moving towards the realm of condensing energy.
Judging from Lu Yuan's feelings.
I should still be a little half way away from being able to condense my Qi in my own cultivation, probably another two to three years.
In two or three years, he will be able to reach the realm of the Sixth Avenue Master and become one of the strongest people in the world.
Of course, even though he had broken through the realm of condensing Qi, Lu Yuan was only a newcomer. In the first two years, he should still be unable to compare with those Taoist masters.
But it doesn't matter, the speed of improvement in Taiping Taoist cultivation is under his hard work.
This gap can only be caught up in two or three years, so it is not a big problem.
But let’s not talk about these future things at this time, let’s talk about Lu Yuan’s current cultivation level.
In his estimation, it was comparable to the second realm of Xiantian, and even among the masters of the second realm, he was considered a strong one.
At the very least, now that he was facing the former Marquis of Wu'an, Lu Yuan no longer had the slightest fear and fear, and felt that he should be stronger and sure of putting the opponent to death under his own Taoist skills.
This change, compared to when I first participated in the Northern Expedition and when I first faced Marquis Wu'an, was extremely fearful.
And all of these are the changes brought about by practicing Taiping Taoism.
It was precisely because of this strength that Lu Yuan had the ambition to annex the country after seeing the civil strife in the country.
Otherwise, if we change it to another country, we will see a large country with two counties and the same size as ourselves, and there will be civil strife. At most, I just want to think about whether I can take advantage of the opportunity and occupy a few houses.
Who would have such delusional thoughts and actually want to swallow the other person in one bite.
Are you really not afraid of overeating?
But now.
His strength has reached the second level of Xiantian, and his disciple Zhou Qing is about to break through Xiantian.
It can be said that Chu State's high-end combat power has more than doubled in an instant.
With this kind of size and strength, it is natural to do more planning and reap more benefits.
Don't dare to say anything else. Lu Yuan still has the confidence to conquer at least one county from Dachanghe Kingdom.
"At this point, we will see when Xiaoqing can break through."
Lu Yuan muttered to himself, then raised his glass and took a long drink, leaving a few pieces of silver behind before turning around and leaving the restaurant.
…
"Disciple pays homage to Master."
In the steward's house, Zhou Qing was obviously surprised when he saw his master suddenly appearing in front of him, but after he came to his senses, he saluted hurriedly.
"Get up."
Lu Yuan looked his disciple up and down, and saw that he was indeed surrounded by pure aura, and the immortal spirit penetrated his body. It was just like how he felt to outsiders, a perfect immortal seed.
With this little vision, he was sure that what his disciple said in his letter was right, that Xiao Qing had indeed reached the innate level.
After confirming this, I couldn't help but feel even more happy.
And counting the time, it has been almost five years since Lu Yuan gave the jade piece at the end of the seventh year of Hongdao to the third year of Shenwu.
After five years of accumulation, with the help of the fairy spirit, it is reasonable to reach the threshold of breakthrough innateness.
You can't say fast or slow.
I can only say that it is in line with my understanding of Zhou Qing's talent.
However, while he was very happy, Zhou Qing was a little confused by his master's sudden attack: "Master came here in a hurry, but what's the emergency?"
"There is something urgent."
Lu Yuan laughed loudly, then looked at his disciple with a smile on his face and said: "My disciple is about to break through Xiantian. As a teacher, can't I come and watch? Otherwise, if something happens to my precious disciple, then why? Master is heartbroken and regrets it too much."
After hearing this, Zhou Qing realized that Master Xingye came here for him.
The time when I sent the letter and the time when the teacher arrived were only ten days apart, and I couldn't help but feel even more moved.
"Master..."
Zhou Qing's heart felt warm and ashamed at the same time.
"Okay, you are already thirty, so don't worry about your daughter."
The disciple Lu Yuan looked at seemed to be moved to tears. He waved his hands quickly and then changed the subject: "Master, judging from your appearance, it is indeed time to break through the innate. If there is anything you don't understand in your heart, please come and talk to me." Talk about it.
In addition, to break through the innate, you need to build your own martial arts outer body. Do you have a strategy for what kind of vision to choose for the outer body? "
Seeing that business was about to happen, Zhou Qing had no choice but to accept his emotion and bury it in his heart. Then he said solemnly: "Back to master, this disciple has been here these days..."
Next, in the room, the master and the apprentice continued to question and answer questions.
Sometimes when it comes to the depth, Zhou Qing and Lu Yuan directly demonstrate on the spot and give a lively teaching.
This continued until late at night, when it finally stopped.
"That's all we'll talk about today."
Lu Yuan stopped talking, then looked at his disciple and said, "I will stay in this city for ten days. Within ten days, I will answer your questions every day, which should be enough for you to find the direction in your heart."
Zhou Qing bowed down and said, "I would like to thank Master for clarifying my doubts. I am inexplicably grateful for Master's affection for taking so much trouble for my affairs. I will not forget it in this life."
Lu Yuan stepped forward to help him up, and said happily: "Okay. You are called my disciple, but you are actually my son. A father is kind to his son, how can I not be grateful? You can practice with peace of mind, and break through your innateness as soon as possible. Only then can you It is the best reward for being a teacher."
"Yes." Zhou Qing responded: "This disciple will definitely live up to Master's expectations and will break through the innateness this time."
Lu Yuan nodded, and left without saying anything more.
From then on, he came to look for his disciples at noon every day, and then preached to them and solved their doubts until late at night, and then left.
The rest of the time is for his disciples to ponder and digest.
After ten days of this, of course, everything that could be said has been said, and Zhou Qing also gained a lot. He already understood what kind of martial arts outer body he had condensed.
Lu Yuan then left gracefully.
Before leaving, he also took away the fairy jade piece he gave to Zhou Qing.
Now his disciple's inner strength has been refined to the extreme by the jade pieces.
The growth of the soul has also reached the limit of nourishment by jade pieces.
Since his disciple does not practice immortality, but only martial arts, this jade piece has little effect on him at this time.
So Zhou Qing took the initiative to send the jade pieces back a few days ago.
Lu Yuan also had a new thought after checking the remaining fairy spirit inside the jade pendant.
"The fairy energy in the jade piece has been consumed by Brother Sun's great-grandfather, and most of it has been used up. Later, Xiaoqing and I used it, and another half was used up.
At this time, the fairy energy that was originally enough for one person to practice and condense into one qi was only enough for one and a half people to break through the innate world. "
Yes, at this time, the fairy spirit energy in the jade piece has only the last bit left.
It's only enough for one and a half people to refine their inner strength, cultivate their soul, and break through their innate abilities.
In other words, Lu Yuan can still use this jade piece to cultivate another innate.
And who this person is, he already has a candidate.
It was his eldest son Lu He.
Otherwise, Lu Yuan would not believe or trust anyone else.
Zhou Qing is one of his own, and in terms of trust level, he takes priority over his wife. It is reasonable for him to break through his innateness.
But if it were other true disciples, or people who were not even true disciples, Lu Yuan would not be so trusting.
In this troubled world, trust can be said to be extremely important.
Without trust, how can we talk about cultivating and reusing people?
Not to mention the opportunity to break through the innate.
As for allowing a child who is only two years old to achieve a breakthrough in talent?
This was certainly not an immediate breakthrough.
With the example of Lan Cai'er, Lu Yuan was confident in cultivating an innate in his early twenties.
As long as he carefully cultivates it for twenty years, then when Lu He grows up, there should be no problem in successfully breaking through the innateness.
Twenty years is not a long time anyway, and it went by in a flash.
Lu Yuan can wait, and he also has the patience to wait.
After all, he is his eldest son, so he still needs some preferential treatment.
