The Devil's Tribulation

Chapter 494 Zhao Quan’s Idea

Zhongjialou, Yancheng, Da Zhou.

When Huang Bing heard that the person sitting next to him was actually a formation master, he quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Huang greets Master Zhong."

Any formation master has a very high status in any force. Huang Bing never expected that the Zhong family actually had its own formation master. It seems that his previous assessment of the Zhong family was still too low.

Zhong Siqin quickly stood up and responded, "Mr. Huang is too polite. I have just entered the ranks of a third-grade formation master, so I dare not call myself a master."

It is really a story to explain how a formation master with the cultivation level of a spirit being suddenly appeared in the Zhong family.

Originally, Zhong Siqin was just an elder of a branch of the Zhong family, and his cultivation was only at the seventh or eighth level of the Nascent Soul. After the Zhong family became prosperous, they needed to find some talented children of the Zhong family to learn skills such as refining equipment, formations, and alchemy. It happened that Zhong Siqin liked to specialize in formations, so he also signed up.

The Zhong family sent a group of people to the Taixu Sect to learn formations from Master Wu, and Zhong Siqin also shamelessly followed to learn.

Why do you say it is shameless? Because those who were sent were all Zhong and Li family members under 100 years old, with foundation building and golden elixir cultivation. Zhong Siqin was an elder in the Nascent Soul Realm, and he was already over 500 years old, but he also went to study.

As a result, after only studying for a few years, he jumped from an apprentice of formation to the ranks of formation masters. Even Master Wu said that he had a solid foundation and high talent, and was a good material for learning formations.

Zhong Siqin is now a talent that the Zhong family focuses on training, and they are generous with all resources, so Zhong Siqin was able to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm so quickly.

Qian'er chuckled and said, "Elder Siqin can set up a four-door four-elephant formation to help you trap your opponent. I will also lend you a top-grade spiritual treasure. Do you have the confidence to stop the invading enemy?"

Huang Bing said excitedly: "If that's the case, as long as the invading enemies are not at the Great Perfection of Spiritualization, I have the confidence to keep them!"

Huang Bing, who used to be somewhat arrogant, is now completely impressed by the Zhong family's wealth. Not only do they have formation masters, but they can also produce magical treasures at will.

Huang Bing is a casual cultivator who is over 3,000 years old. Not to mention magic weapons, he only has one low-grade spiritual treasure to use. It's not that he has no money to buy one, but that he is reluctant to buy one.

The crystal beads were not enough for cultivation, so where would he get the extra crystal beads to buy these things? And for him who was in the late stage of transformation, the lower-grade spiritual treasures were not enough, and the upper-grade spiritual treasures were too expensive.

Qian'er nodded slightly to Qing'er. Qing'er flipped her hand and a white bracelet appeared on her hand. She said, "This treasure is called 'Xuan Yu Sui'. You will know its wonderful use after you refine it."

Huang Bing carefully took the magic treasure, and felt a chill all over his body. He quickly used his magic power and said to himself, "Good treasure~"

Seeing that everything had been arranged, Qian'er gave the final order: "Mr. Huang, I want to kill them all. If one escapes, not only will the Shattering Void Pill be gone, but there will also be corresponding punishments. Do you understand?"

Huang Bing bowed his hands vigorously and assured, "Please rest assured, Patriarch. Although I am not talented, I have the help of formations and high-grade spiritual treasures, so killing a few Divine Transformation cultivators is no problem!"

The imperial study in the imperial city of Great Zhou.

It is already Chou time, and the Great Zhou Emperor Zhou Zhixiong has been busy until late almost every day in recent days.

Zhou Zhixiong had been reading a memorial for half an hour without saying a word. The chief eunuch Zhao Quan wanted to remind the emperor that it was late at night and he should go to bed early, but he was afraid of interrupting the emperor's thoughts.

This is a memorial from the Minister of Revenue. It simply tells the emperor that the national treasury is empty. If the war continues, sorry, not a single cent can be taken out of the treasury.

The Three Kingdoms were fighting on three fronts, with more than ten million troops fighting on the front lines. The money was spent much faster than Zhou Zhixiong had estimated, and the war was fought with a lot of money.

Zhou Zhixiong thought to himself: "I am too anxious. If the soldiers on the front line have no money or food, how can we fight this war?"

The Great Zhou was very kind to its soldiers. When there was no war, they would receive 800 coins a month. For some special arms, the pay was much higher than that, and they would also be given some food, pickles, and bacon. This was the best treatment among the neighboring countries.

By the way, the monthly salary of soldiers of the Chu State is 500 coins, and you can tell the level of treatment at a glance.

Moreover, the military pay of the Great Zhou Dynasty would be doubled during wartime. Those who made meritorious service would receive extra rewards, and those who died in battle would receive resettlement allowances. With this calculation, how much money and food would be consumed in a month when tens of millions of troops were fighting?

Zhou Zhixiong had originally prepared two years' worth of military pay, but once the war started, who could say for sure? Now, after only one year of fighting, the money had already been spent.

Zhou Zhixiong suddenly sighed, pounded his forehead and murmured: "Where can I get the money? Zhao Quan, give me some advice." Zhao Quan knelt down hurriedly and trembled: "Your Majesty, I am a eunuch and cannot interfere in politics... I dare not..."

Zhou Zhixiong's eyes lit up. He had only asked casually, but he had never expected that there was a real solution. He hurriedly asked, "You really have an idea?" They had been master and servant for decades. How could Zhou Zhixiong not know Zhao Quan? Zhao Quan did not answer "I don't know, I can't do anything about it" but said "I dare not", which meant that Zhao Quan really had a solution.

Zhou Zhixiong pretended to be angry and said, "Just say what I told you to say. Are you afraid that I will punish you later?" Zhao Quan said hurriedly, "No, no, I am afraid of those censors and ministers. If they knew that I gave advice to Your Majesty, they would say that Your Majesty listened to slander. Yes, yes..."

"You're a tyrant, right?!" Zhou Zhixiong sneered, "There are still some people in the court who are only seeking fame and reputation. They only want to step on my head and leave their names in history. They have made no contribution to the country. They are even more hateful than those old ministers. They are extremely hateful!"

Zhou Zhixiong's chest was heaving, and he was obviously really angry. Those people usually had nothing to do, but they stared at the emperor all day long, trying to find faults with him. They would make desperate appeals whenever they had the chance, and they wished that the emperor would beat them with a stick or even chop off their heads.

After calming down, Zhou Zhixiong said slowly: "Get up, there are only you and me here, no one will know. I really need money now, tell me quickly."

Zhao Quan stood up quickly. Although there was no one else in the imperial study except Zhao Quan and the emperor, Zhao Quan still looked around and then whispered in the emperor's ear: "Your Majesty, the treasury has no silver, but those wealthy merchants have more than enough silver to spend, and they also have food~"

Zhou Zhixiong's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he said hesitantly: "They haven't done anything wrong, I..." Zhao Quan whispered: "Your Majesty, you don't know, when a business is this big, how can there not be some dirty things? As long as you let someone check it out, you will definitely find out the truth!"

Zhou Zhixiong laughed and said, "How do you know these things, you dog slave?" Zhao Quan sighed and said, "I have a cousin in my family who, relying on my work in the palace, has done a lot of tax evasion. Some businessmen even went so far as to smuggle contraband items privately."

Zhou Zhixiong said angrily, "I really have a bunch of ungrateful people! They are here to steal my women! Why didn't you tell me earlier, you little dog?" Zhao Quan knelt down and said in defense, "I only found out about this a while ago. During that time, Your Majesty was busy with the war. How dare I bother Your Majesty with these things again?"

Zhou Zhixiong has governed the country for decades, so he actually knows something about these things. He just didn't expect those people to be so excessive as to even dare to steal contraband.