If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

South China Sea islands.

Zhou Wu, along with several guards and Zhu Zhiyong, is currently exploring the wilderness.

Zhu Zhiyong usually lives a life of ease in the capital, never having experienced hardship, but now he is gritting his teeth and persevering.

"Old Zhu, are you tired?"

"Nonsense!"

"This is nothing. How about I send someone to escort you back to the capital?"

"No return."

Exhausted, Zhu Zhiyong's eyes regained their determination when he heard about returning to the capital.

Zhou Wu didn't say anything. Although he had already figured out what kind of work to assign Zhu Zhiyong, he still wanted to test him.

The two had a good relationship, but Zhou Wu wasn't sure if Zhu Zhiyong was just throwing a tantrum or if he was really determined to make something of himself, which led to this exploration trip.

"Brother, what are we doing wandering around in this desolate wilderness?"

Although Zhu Zhiyong's stance was firm, he kept grumbling.

"The South China Sea islands are deserted. We need to get a general idea of ​​the situation on the entire island and see what resources we can utilize."

What resources could there be in this desolate wilderness?

"Old Zhu, you don't understand. The wilderness is a treasure trove. Sometimes, the most inconspicuous things can be the biggest treasures. Who can guarantee that there aren't abundant mineral or forest resources here?"

"Oh."

"Furthermore, we need to explore and understand whether there are any dangers on the entire island, so that we can be well-informed and prepare for defense and cleanup work in advance."

"understood."

In fact, Zhou Wu did not do all of this work himself. The island is so big that it is impossible for Zhou Wu to complete it by himself. Therefore, since landing on the island, many exploration teams have been sent out to cover the entire island. While exploring, they also need to record the island's materials and coordinates to facilitate subsequent development.

Zhu Zhiyong complained non-stop from the first day, but he still followed the exploration team and ran through the wilderness for three days. Although he was still complaining, he kept gritting his teeth and persevering.

. . . . . . . .

"Yuanliang, please sit down and have a cup of tea."

"Thank you, sir."

Zhou Wu specially invited Deng Yuanliang over, mainly because he saw that Deng Yuanliang had too many things to do recently. He had to be in charge of maritime trade, fiefdom funds, and the construction of South China Sea City, which made Zhou Wu feel a little sorry for him.

"I've noticed you've been quite busy lately. Are you working hard? Are you managing?"

"Thank you for your concern, sir. Working for the fiefdom is not hard work at all."

"Yuanliang, I want to discuss something with you."

"Sir, please speak."

"Now that you are in charge of the South China Sea, I want you to focus more on managing the funds in your fiefdom and the construction of South China Sea City. As for the maritime trade, both the routes and the connections have basically stabilized, and I plan to arrange for someone else to take over."

Deng Yuanliang didn't expect Zhou Wu to bring this up suddenly. However, he had been unable to attend to maritime trade matters recently because he was on the South China Sea island. Now that Zhou Wu had mentioned it, it was indeed a problem.

"Old Zhu, this is Deng Yuanliang, the person in charge of the South China Sea. Yuanliang is also in charge of the finances and maritime trade of my fiefdom."

Seeing that Deng Yuanliang agreed with his opinion, Zhou Wu quickly called Zhu Zhiyong in.

“Yuanliang, this is my good friend, Zhu Zhiyong. His father is Zhu Keduo, the Prefect of Jingzhao in the capital.”

"Greetings, Lord Deng."

Zhu Zhiyong was quite sensible. Although his father was a high-ranking official in Beijing, much higher than Deng Yuanliang, the head of the South China Sea region, he was still his father, not himself, and he still had to show proper etiquette.

“Your friend is my friend too. Let’s not be so formal. We’re about the same age, so just call me by my name.”

"That won't do. You're an official, and I'm just a commoner."

"Old Zhu, it's alright. Yuanliang is one of our own. We're brothers and friends in private."

Both of them were people Zhou Wu had confided in, so there was really no need to be so formal. Since Zhou Wu had already said so, Zhu Zhiyong tacitly agreed.

"Old Zhu, I'm considering entrusting the maritime trade to you. I wonder if you'd be willing?"

"Maritime trade?"

It is clear that Zhu Zhiyong does not know much about maritime trade.

"You know what business is, right? Maritime trade is doing business with other countries across the sea."

"Doing business across the sea and with other international partners? On a very large scale?"

“Each transaction required a fleet of ships, and each transaction involved hundreds of thousands of strings of cash.”

Maritime trade was originally Deng Yuanliang's business, so he knew the transaction volume best.

"Hundreds of thousands of strings of cash?"

Zhu Zhiyong's monthly allowance was at most ten strings of cash, but now that he was put in charge of a business worth hundreds of thousands of strings of cash, he was immediately frightened.

"What, are you scared?"

Seeing Zhu Zhiyong standing there dumbfounded, Zhou Wu decided to provoke him. After spending the last few days with him, he realized that Zhu Zhiyong was definitely not going to return to the capital, so this was his only way out.

"Scared? Then let's do it."

Zhu Zhiyong seemed to have thought of something, and his fear immediately dissipated.

“I hope you’re not just paying lip service. This matter concerns the future and economic lifeline of the entire South China Sea. Because you are my brother, I’m entrusting this matter to you. I hope you can do a good job.”

"Don't worry, brother, I will definitely not let you down."

"That's good. During this time, you should study hard with Yuanliang."

"Alright, Brother Yuanliang, please give me your guidance."

. . . . . .

Since being assigned to Deng Yuanliang, Zhu Zhiyong no longer follows Zhou Wu and now spends his days learning alongside Deng Yuanliang.

Surprisingly, Zhu Zhiyong's learning ability was highly recognized by Deng Yuanliang, which surprised Zhou Wu. He never expected that Zhu Zhiyong, who did nothing but loaf around in the capital, would have a talent for doing business.

Just as Zhou Wu returned from Deng Yuanliang and Zhu Zhiyong's place, a servant delivered a letter to him.

"Sir, a letter from the capital."

"Oh."

Zhou Wu initially thought it was a letter from the Crown Prince, but upon opening it, he found something amiss with the contents. The signature was actually Zhu Keduo, the Prefect of Jingzhao, Zhu Zhiyong's father.

After reading the letter, Zhou Wu realized that Zhu Zhiyong had left a letter at home and then quietly ran away from home.

Zhu Keduo also discovered from the clues that Zhu Zhiyong might have come to Zhou Wu's territory in Qingyang County, so he wrote a letter to Zhou Wu to inquire about the results.

However, the letter did not mention why Zhu Zhiyong ran away from home. Since it was a family matter, Zhou Wu did not ask too much. He quickly wrote a reply and had it sent out immediately. He remembered that there was an elderly person in the family and did not want the elderly person to worry.

Capital.

"Hmph, that bastard really did run off to Zhou Wu's place."

Upon receiving Zhou Wu's reply, Zhu Keduo confirmed that his son had indeed gone to Qingyang County and angrily exclaimed.

"What, sir? Yong'er is really in Qingyang County?"