First Meritorious Minister

Soon, under the astonished gazes of the Ming Dynasty crowd, Xia Fei had his men fire the anti-aircraft guns into the sky.

Before long, dark clouds gathered, and a torrential downpour instantly poured down.

"To think that future generations can actually control the rain. How is this any different from immortals?" Hu Weiyong and the others were all stunned on the spot.

Inside a temporarily erected canopy, Qin Ning had already left, returning to the future, while Xia Fei stayed with Zhu Yuanzhang and the others to take shelter from the rain, setting up a hot pot.

"What strong liquor!"

Xia Fei opened a few bottles of Maotai. As soon as they smelled the aroma, Lan Yu and the rest instantly recognized it as absolutely premium wine.

Sure enough, after downing a small cup, everyone felt a burning sensation in their throats, as if they were drinking knives. They had never tasted such strong liquor in their entire lives.

"Refreshing! This is the kind of liquor a real man should drink!"

Xu Da said, "Compared to this liquor, what is the difference between what we used to drink and well water?"

"That shouldn't be the case, right?"

Xia Fei was curious. "I remember that distilled liquor already existed during the Ming Dynasty, and the alcohol content could reach around fifty percent."

"Indeed."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not deny it and nodded. "But brewing liquor consumes too much grain. Because of this, distilled liquor is extremely rare in our Ming Dynasty, and very few people have actually tasted it."

"Speaking of grain, that is indeed a problem."

Xia Fei nodded. "However, now that you have sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes, brewing as much liquor as you want in the future shouldn't be an issue. Later, I'll have someone send over some rice seeds as well."

"Mr. Xia, we also have rice in the Ming Dynasty. Why go through the trouble of having future generations specially send it over?" Li Shanchang spoke up.

"It's not the same."

Xia Fei shook his head. "The rice of our future generations was bred by the Sage of Agriculture. The yield per mu can reach nearly two thousand catties."

"What?"

Hearing this, everyone was astonished. Hu Weiyong exclaimed, "Rice can actually yield two thousand catties per mu?!"

"Sir, with so many miraculous crops in the future, does famine no longer exist among the common people?"

Zhu Biao, who had also just arrived, was drinking and eating hot pot with the crowd and couldn't help but ask.

"Yes."

Xia Fei nodded seriously. "Nowadays, the price of our rice is less than four yuan per catty. Calculated according to commodity prices, a catty of salt in your Ming Dynasty is two hundred yuan. That means the money for one catty of salt in the Ming Dynasty could buy fifty catties of rice in our future."

"Even for an ordinary commoner with a monthly income of three thousand yuan, a daily wage of one hundred yuan can buy nearly thirty catties of rice. The price of meat is also less than ten yuan per catty. Famine? It ceased to exist long ago."

"Those who complain all day about high prices are mostly people who only know how to order takeout and have never even set foot in a vegetable market. Their concept of basic needs is no longer just filling their stomachs, but various high-consumption forms of eating, drinking, and entertainment. Living and eating like that, how could it not be expensive?"

"But that only means consumption is high, not that basic commodity prices are high. The so-called high consumption is reflected in the massive profits of various middlemen. Take takeout, for example. For something that costs a few yuan or ten yuan to make, the merchant sells it for fifteen, the platform takes a cut, and the price reaches twenty."

"But if you're a bit more diligent and cook a meal yourself, it wouldn't cost nearly that much, right?"

"Of course, I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth, ahem, so I'm not really qualified to say this."

Hearing this, a curious expression appeared on everyone's faces. "Oh? From what you're saying, Mr. Xia's family must be quite wealthy?"

"It was decent at first, but after meeting Young Master Qin... now my family's assets should exceed five hundred billion."

"Billion?"

Obviously, the numerical unit of a hundred million or billion was not commonly used in this way in the early Ming Dynasty, so everyone naturally could not comprehend it.

"That is five thousand ten-thousands of ten-thousands," Xia Fei explained.

"Pfft!"

As soon as he said this, everyone couldn't help but spit out the liquor in their mouths. Xu Da couldn't help but say, "Five thousand ten-thousands of ten-thousands... If placed in our Ming Dynasty, wouldn't that make your wealth rival the nation's?"

"Profiteer!" Zhu Di muttered softly.

"How can you call me a profiteer?"

Xia Fei became unhappy. "I admit I might have been a bit of one in the past, but if you say that now, I won't accept it. Today, most of the Xia family's businesses are related to the people's livelihood, and the prices have been kept very low. We cooperate with the higher-ups and basically don't make much profit. It's just that the business has grown large, the coverage is wide, and many little drops make an ocean."

"Earning a bit of profit is only right. I can't do business at a loss, can I?"

"It's just like in your ancient times, when merchants transported grain to the borders. If they didn't make a profit, where would they get the money the next year to continue buying goods and sending grain to the border?"

By the time he reached this point, Xia Fei had already drunk almost an entire bottle of Maotai by himself.

Although he had cultivation, he couldn't withstand drinking so fiercely. A wave of intoxication immediately rushed to his head. Slapping the table, he said, "Old Zhu, I won't say anything else, but if you ever attack the Wa Country one day, remember to definitely call me. I'll provide the weapons and everything."

Hearing this, the crowd was puzzled. Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, "It's just the petty Wa Country, why attack it? Furthermore, I have already designated this country as a non-tributary state that we will not invade."

"What if I told you that in the future, this group of people will come to our Huaxia to burn, kill, and pillage, committing unforgivable crimes?"

Xia Fei had a solemn expression and spoke very seriously. "Take this Yingtian Prefecture beneath our feet, for example. Would you dare to believe..."

Subsequently, he detailed that period of history to Zhu Yuanzhang and the others.

"What?!"

"These petty Wa slaves actually dared to do such a thing!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. "Lan Yu, Lao Si!"

"I order you to immediately mobilize the army and stand by. Have the army train for a month, and you must absolutely raze them to the ground for me!"

Li Jinglong said, "Granduncle, there is also me. I am the God of War of the Ming Dynasty. How can a campaign against the Wa Country be without me, Li Jinglong?"

Xia Fei, who was standing to the side, was stunned. "You... how about you sit this one out?"

"Having Lan Yu and the Yongle Emperor go is enough."

Hearing this, Li Jinglong immediately became dissatisfied. "Why won't you let me go? I can understand Lan Yu, but if even little Zhu Di can march with the army, I, Li Jinglong, the dignified God of War of the Ming Dynasty..."

As he said this, he suddenly realized something. "Wait, what Yongle Emperor?"

"They still don't know?" Xia Fei looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang simply shook his head. "I haven't had the time to tell them about Lao Si's matter yet."

Subsequently, Xia Fei briefly explained the Jingnan Campaign, but only gave a general overview without too many detailed processes.

Upon learning that Zhu Di was actually the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, everyone was shocked.

They recalled the scene not long ago when Zhu Yuanzhang was wielding a whip, ready to lash Zhu Di. At that time, the other party had said that Zhu Di would rebel in the future. They never expected it to actually be true.

And not only did he rebel, but he even ascended to the throne!

"Zhu Di—no, bah, Uncle," Li Jinglong said with a fawning expression. "Please take me along on this expedition to subjugate the Wa Country."

Zhu Di, who was sitting off to the side, had long been trembling with fear. With his imperial father right in front of him, Mr. Xia was openly discussing his future rebellion. How could he possibly sit still?

However, Zhu Yuanzhang clearly had no intention of blaming him. After all, he had already learned of these events beforehand. Furthermore, considering the great achievements Zhu Di would accomplish after successfully ascending the throne, he was actually quite satisfied with this son of his.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked curiously, "That doesn't make sense, Mr. Xia. Previously, Mr. Qin mentioned that Jiujiang is the number one God of War of our Great Ming, yet Lao Si still managed to take the throne. What exactly happened there?"

"Could it be that even I, this so-called God of War, ultimately lost to my uncle?"

Li Jinglong frowned, "Mr. Xia, please tell us, what exactly is going on?"

"Ahem..."

Xia Fei scratched his head, "Maybe it's better if you don't ask. Let me just put it this way: you are the number one contributor to the success of the Jingnan Campaign."