Chapter 1015: Dongfang Bubai's Challenge
Although on the surface the Ming Dynasty had begun to honor Princess Shouning's son as the new emperor, undercurrents were still surging in private.

Among them, the Donglin Party was the one that constantly stirred up trouble.

However, as the surveillance power of the Jinyiwei increased, the Donglin Party's gatherings gradually became quiet and secretive.

At the same time, many descendants of Emperor Xianzong emerged and began to collude with the Donglin Party.

When the Jinyiwei produced evidence of collusion among these people, Su Mingzhe disliked that these people's actions were too small and decided to throw a bomb and blow them up!
The new emperor's reign was named Taichang.

February, the first year of Taichang.

Princess Shouning, who was behind the government, became pregnant again.

All the officials in the court requested the emperor's order to let Su Mingzhe, the Duke of Zhenguo, serve as regent in place of the princess.

Su Mingzhe was also unable to refuse the kind offer, so after declining three times, he began to take over the government.

March.

Su Mingzhe presided over the court meeting for the first time.

Dozens of ministers jointly proposed to lift the maritime ban.

Su Mingzhe agreed immediately.

The reason why all parties can come together is because they share a common interest.

The benefits brought to the Donglin Party by the maritime ban accounted for a large proportion of the Donglin Party’s interests.

Now, Su Mingzhe suddenly announced the lifting of the maritime ban, which naturally aroused wild opposition from the Donglin Party.

However, when the Eunuch Party and the Black Stone Party heard the news that Su Mingzhe was going to lift the maritime ban, they immediately began to flatter him.

All along, those who have been able to benefit from the maritime ban have been the interest groups of the Donglin Party.

The Eunuch Party and the Black Stone Party can only eat bland food.

Now that Su Mingzhe wants to break the Donglin Party’s monopoly, the Eunuch Party and the Blackstone Party naturally agree with it.

And so, in the dispute.

Su Mingzhe sent people to Tianjin to build port terminals, shipyards, etc.

And then... there was no new action.

After all, without powerful sea vessels, the so-called lifting of the sea ban would be a joke.

We just need to wait for the docks and shipyards to be built, and the warships loaded with cannons to go to sea, so as to gain the right to speak on the ocean.

No matter how reluctant the Donglin Party was, they had to give up the benefits of the maritime ban.

August of the first year of Taichang.

When Su Mingzhe returned to Beijing after an outing with several concubines, he unexpectedly saw a strange but familiar face - Jiang Asheng.

"I didn't expect that Jiang Asheng would only show up after seven or eight years. I guess it won't be too long before Zeng Jing shows up."

Su Mingzhe recalled the scene in the movie where Zeng Jing, under the guidance of Grandma Cai, went on blind dates with many people, and he couldn't help but reveal a bit of joy.

I don’t know if she would still remember me if I went on a blind date with her.

After all, the two of them only met once on the road, and later took shelter from the rain together in the manor.

When Su Mingzhe thought about the expression Zeng Jing might show if she recognized his identity, he actually became impatient.

However, while waiting for Zeng Jing to appear, Su Mingzhe ordered people to go to Cangzhou and bring back Ye Zhanqing, the butcher's daughter.

Ye Zhanqing, the daughter of a butcher.

In the movie, the wife finds out on the wedding night that her husband is a loser, and in a rage, she kills his entire family.

This is the plot in the movie.

But now, because of Ye Zhanqing's aggressive personality and the fact that she carries a butcher knife every day, she has earned the nickname "female demon" and no one dares to marry her.

Of course, there are many men who are willing to marry her.

Unfortunately, Ye Zhanqing looked down upon these men.

After all, Ye Zhanqing thought she was as beautiful as a fairy and wanted to be an official's wife.

A team of Jinyiwei was dispatched and quickly brought Ye Zhanqing back from Cangzhou.

As soon as Ye Zhanqing entered the palace, she was fascinated by the magnificent Forbidden City. Su Mingzhe was also very fond of her and made her his concubine for half a month.

Half a month later, Su Mingzhe gave her some training and let her replace Wang Xi and take charge of the eunuch party.

In the blink of an eye, another half year has passed.

It is already the second year of Taichang.

Princess Shouning gave birth to another son for Su Mingzhe.

Someone from the Donglin Party requested an imperial decree, asking Su Mingzhe to return power to Princess Shouning.

Princess Shouning replied herself, saying that she had just given birth to a child and was still feeling unwell, so she was not suitable to attend court and rule the country from behind the scenes.

Su Mingzhe then continued to serve as 'regent'.

At the same time, after a year of hard work, the Ministry of Industry finally completed the construction of the Tianjin shipyard and successfully launched more than a dozen new warships.

Afterwards, the Ministry of War ordered the Tianjin Navy Division to use hundreds of small ships purchased from the south, carrying 30,000 sailors, followed by a dozen large warships, to rush towards the Iwami Silver Mine.

Just as Su Mingzhe was waiting for news from Master Hai, a letter of challenge appeared in the Prince Consort's Mansion.

When Su Mingzhe took the challenge letter from Tian Qingtong, he noticed that the woman was trembling all over.

"Master, why would Dongfang Bubai challenge you?"

In recent years, Dongfang Bubai has continued to challenge martial arts masters all over the world.

Except for Feng Qingyang of Huashan who avoided fighting and never fought with Dongfang Bubai, the other ten masters in the world had all been defeated easily by Dongfang Bubai.

Today, Dongfang Bubai, who is in charge of the Sun Moon Sect, is more powerful than Su Mingzhe, the 'Regent Duke' of the Ming Dynasty.

After the housekeeper handed over Dongfang Bubai's letter of challenge, Tian Qingtong has been worried that she might become a widow!

"Come if you want, I'm not afraid of him!"

Su Mingzhe's challenge to Dongfang Bubai had been anticipated long ago.

It can even be said that it has been long awaited.

He had heard that when Dongfang Bubai challenged the world's top masters, he also collected local beauties as his concubines.

Like Yang Shishi, the most beautiful woman in Central Plains, Xue Qianxun, the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan, Murong Ziyan, the most beautiful woman in Saibei, and so on.

It's such a waste of talent for seven beauties to serve as concubines for the eunuch!

Su Mingzhe thought that with Dongfang Bubai's pomp and circumstance, he would definitely bring his concubines with him when he came to challenge him this time.

When the time comes, I will make a bet with her and take these women over to save so many beauties from having to remain widows for him.

Soon.

The news that Dongfang Bubai challenged the Duke of Zhenguo spread from the capital to the entire Ming Dynasty.

Because the time is set on the Dragon Boat Festival, there is still more than a month left.

Countless experts in the martial arts world began to rush towards Jinling City, hoping to see the duel between the two masters.

In order to entertain various masters, Jinyiwei specially prepared twelve faction courtyards to accommodate the masters of the twelve major sects in the martial arts world.

(In addition to the normal ten sects, there are also the Beggars' Sect and the Cao Sect.)
After the twelve major sects came to Beijing, Su Mingzhe visited the Huashan Sect and Hengshan Sect respectively.

Yue Lingshan of the Huashan Sect is indeed beautiful, but she has the heart of a tomboy.

Su Mingzhe tried to use mind control on her, but found it had no effect, so he ignored her.

As for the Hengshan School, it is the school of three girls: Tian Qingtong, Zheng E, and Qin Juan.

Su Mingzhe brought the three girls to visit and gave Sanding enough face.

Master Dingyi also praised Su Mingzhe highly.

Since Su Mingzhe became regent, he has not only reduced taxes and levies and provided disaster relief, but also rectified the government and eradicated corruption and extravagance.

The three states of concentration are all monks with compassion in their hearts.

For them, as long as Su Mingzhe is truly working for the good of the people, it doesn't matter even if he comes to power illegitimately.

This is what people who achieve great things do, they don’t pay attention to small details.

(End of this chapter)