“System, do you have any suggestions for what I should do next?”
“Ding, that depends on what you, Host, want to achieve. How far do you want to go?”
“Following the course of history, the minorities eventually unified China, but I’ve seen many people online say that they actually just picked it up for free. It was mainly because the Han people at that time were not united, and in fact, many of them helped the minorities conquer the land.”
“Ding, Host, your thought is actually not wrong. This minority group indeed gained the world due to favorable timing, geographical advantages, and human cooperation. After they entered the passes, many battles were actually Han people fighting their own kind. Just like when the Mongolia conquered the world, how could the Mongolia have had so many people? People from various ethnic groups served as their thugs. If the Host chooses the second prompt, you could actually just find a remote place or go overseas to live out your life in peace.”
“System, I completely understand your intention. You should know that this body has already crossed the threshold of thirty years old. Even if I am fortunate enough to live to seventy or eighty, at most, only forty or fifty years remain. With my extraordinary martial arts, if I were to go to those overseas countries, I would surely enjoy wealth and honor and live out my life peacefully. However, I deeply know Tianbao’s truest desire deep down. He always yearns to establish great achievements and accomplish a grand undertaking on this vast land of China. He would never easily move overseas. But, looking ahead to the next few decades, how could the Central Plains have a moment of peace? If I were to truly make a decision now, abandoning everything to rush overseas to live a life of decadence, I’m afraid the final score I could obtain would only be a mere five or six points. In that case, it’s better to go all out and make a big gamble! Either firmly protect the Han Dynasty’s eternal stability and then ascend to the position of a great general; or, with one push, ascend to the throne and rule the world. If, in the end, we unfortunately encounter defeat, it wouldn’t be too late to plan an escape overseas. In my opinion, acting in this way will surely yield a much higher score compared to hastily fleeing overseas right now!”
“Since the Host has made a decision, let’s proceed with your plan first. What do you intend to do next?”
“System, you also know that I am just an ordinary person, even if I now possess Tianbao’s martial arts. That won’t change anything. Do you have anything that can help me? For example, a beginner’s gift package, weapons, food, and so on?”
“Ding, Host, we are currently poor, we have nothing. The previous gift packages were all scammed away by the previous Hosts, and I still owe a lot of debt to headquarters.”
“How can you Systems also be in debt? What should we do now?”
“Ding, since the Host changed the plot of Tianbao being killed by Junbao, you have gained one thousand points.”
“What can points be used for?”
Points can be used to open the mall and buy things.
“Then open it!”
“Ding, the points have already been automatically repaid?”
Repaid what?
It’s the loan I took from headquarters before, this is the interest.
How much is left?
Two hundred fifty.
You are the two hundred fifty!
No, there are 250 points left.
How much did you borrow in total?
One hundred thousand points.
How is your interest calculated? Is it daily?
How is that possible? We charge seven point five per ten thousand. Borrowing one hundred thousand means seven hundred fifty each time. It generates when you Transmigration to a world. If you don't Transmigration, no matter how long it takes, there will be no interest.
“That’s good. I thought there was daily interest; in that case, it would be better to just lie flat. What now? What can two hundred fifty do?”
It can be used to top up phone credit.
“Top up what phone credit?”
It’s for direct communication between us Systems, but it requires paying for calls. My service was disconnected before, and I couldn't find my brothers.
Is your main System surnamed Ma? You’re so good at business. See if you can contact any of your brothers to help me now.
Okay, I'm topping up now. One world's call credit happens to be two hundred fifty.
I think your main System treats you Systems as two hundred fifty.
Haha, found him, System 666. He’s closest to our spacetime. He brought a modern doctor to Transmigration after Zhu Youxiao fell into the water, starting the Martial God Era of the Great Ming Dynasty. It’s already the fourteenth year of Tianqi there, which is the seventh year of Chongzhen. The domestic situation is basically settled; they’ve even reached America and Europa. They don’t lack food or weapons. We can collaborate with them.
But what can we give them from our side? It’s the fifteenth year of Chongzhen here. Everything I have, he has, and what I don’t have, he also has.
I’ve already told them about my situation here. That Zhu Youxiao also Transmigrationed from a later era, and he also hopes I can save millions of common people. As for the Zhu Dynasty, save it if you can; if not, then don’t let the wild boar hide sit on the throne, lest China fall into decline centuries later.
As for the things we need, they can provide them to us. According to their current market price, their side has already developed, and prices are cheap. As for the problem of not having money, both Systems can act as guarantors.
“System, how many supplies can you guarantee?”
“Uh, uh, uh…
Host, my brother has only given me an allowance of one thousand taels for now.”
“Are you saying you used to guarantee and mortgage for Hosts all the time, and ended up in a lot of debt?”
“Host, how did you know?”
Chen Xi smiled helplessly. There was nothing he could do; the System's brother was also doing it for his own good, knowing that his System was always being tricked before. They didn't know him, so he had even less credit with other Systems. The one thousand taels given was probably out of brotherly affection for the System.
How much food and how many weapons can this one thousand taels from the System buy from him?
Host, if it’s just to buy food for a thousand people to eat for half a year, their current yield is seven to eight hundred catties per mu, and they’ve also planted sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes.
In terms of weapons, they now produce shell casing rifles, but regular troops still use flintlock muskets. A flintlock musket costs one tael of silver, and a rifle costs three taels of silver. Rifles can only be acquired in small quantities, as they don't have many.
This is indeed not expensive. It is said that matchlock guns here cost several taels of silver each, and flintlock guns cost dozens of taels of silver each. Rifles have never even been heard of, and it would take hundreds of years to produce them.
As for cold weapons, with the development of their industry and improved metallurgy, prices are also very cheap.
Over the past year, he had continuously honed his martial arts, and at the same time, he had learned a lot of jungle skills by hunting with the village hunters. Now, he just needed to find a way to recruit subordinates.
In these chaotic times, the best way to raise an army is not with money, but with food. For the past ten years or so, with natural disasters and man-made calamities, as long as there is food, people will give their lives.
“Hmm? What’s that sound?”
Being a newcomer and having many secrets of his own, Tianbao initially did not live with the villagers. Instead, he built a bamboo house on the edge of the village, next to the forest. This place was over a li away from the village.
“Ding, Host, there is currently an enemy squad plundering the village. There are fifteen of them.”
Tianbao immediately put on his armor. He knew this group was coming to seize the summer grain. If the fifteen opponents weren’t wearing armor, he might actually suffer a loss. Moments later, Tianbao, fully armored, grabbed his waist saber and rode his warhorse, charging towards the village.