Chapter 26 Determination
Although the order was strange, Master Feixuan had been acting crazy frequently in the past few days, and his subordinates had already gotten used to it. Li Zaifang still kowtowed and accepted the order, not daring to say more. Zhenjun stood up and paced a few steps, then suddenly spoke:
"The various strange and bizarre stories about gods and demons in this book are quite interesting... How did this person surnamed Wu write it?"
Seeing that His Majesty seemed quite interested in Wu Chengen's novel, Li Zaifang did not dare to talk about the local gossip anymore and quickly replied:
"No one is wiser than the Emperor. According to the servants of the Wu family, the origin of this book is indeed extraordinary. Wu Cheng'en happened to have a dream during the day. In the dream, an old man with a white beard took him to travel all over the world and read many rare books. The old man ordered him to write a book to record some of them and pass them on to future generations."
Naturally, these kinds of divine revelations and nonsense taught in dreams are mostly just gimmicks created by booksellers to sell books; the templates are consistent and the routines are similar, and you can memorize them by heart after reading two novels about gods and demons. Considering the current development of Jiangnan’s publishing industry, if we really count them one by one, even if all the gods in the world were to work overtime every day, they would still not be able to cope with so many divine books.
Even the common people in the countryside cannot hide such words, let alone the shrewd and sharp Master Feixuan? Li Zaifang made such a response on purpose, just wanting to make Master Feixuan laugh with this absurd fairy story so as to facilitate his detailed explanation.
But unexpectedly, after this simple reply, Master Feixuan's expression suddenly changed!
After a moment of silence, Zhenjun slowly took a long breath of cold air and tightly grasped the Journey to the West in his long sleeves:
"Did the Wu family's servant really say that?"
Hearing that something was not right with Wansui's voice, Li Zaifang did not dare to say a word:
"How dare this servant deceive the emperor!"
There was a longer silence, and then Master Fei Xuan spoke again, but his tone was vaguely hazy and dazed:
"... Got it, all of you go down."
·
When the hall was empty, Master Fei Xuan could no longer hold back. He pressed the "Journey to the West" tightly against his chest, rolled up his long sleeves, and flew over the huge hall like a big moth. He pounced in front of the tablets enshrining the Three Pure Ones of Heaven and Earth and all his ancestors, pushed down the golden mountain and the jade pillar, and prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowed three times!
The immortal sent a letter and traveled around the world in a dream! What kind of dream experience is this, the protagonist template? No wonder the Heavenly Book specifically mentions "Journey to the West". This is clearly a guide prepared for the True Lord!
Oh my God! Ancestors! My Lord, I’m finally going to succeed!
After kneeling three times and kowtowed nine times meticulously, the Taoist priest took out the extremely precious and mysterious divine book bestowed by heaven from his arms and placed it respectfully on the incense table.
To be honest, after practicing for several decades, I finally got a glimpse of the secret techniques of gods and demons, and the teachings of immortals from the heavenly book. The ecstasy I felt at that moment was indescribable. If he had not had to maintain some reserve in front of his servants, the True Lord would have jumped to the sky and ordered the Jinyiwei, the Dongchang, the Imperial City Division and even all the secret agents in the palace to go out in full force to investigate the ancestors of Wu Chengen and everyone within a radius of 500 miles!
But at the critical moment, it was the decades of self-cultivation and energy-nourishing skills that came into play. A surge of true energy flowed through his heart, and at this critical moment, he was able to forcibly suppress the ecstasy that was surging like a raging fire. Now that the ecstasy has subsided, reason has once again taken over the high ground. Zhenjun quickly realized that he must not act rashly against Wu Chengen, let alone rudely interfere with the creation of "Journey to the West" - if this thing was really created with the guidance of immortals, and had the attention of the exiled immortal of the heavenly book, then if he acted rashly, would he disrupt the strategy above?
Everything else would be fine, but what if this "Journey to the West" involves some major event of the immortals, and is related to the crucial KPI of the fairy world? Then how will Feixuan Zhenjun, Wanshou Emperor, and Qingmiao Emperor get along with their future colleagues when they ascend to heaven in the future?
We should still pay attention to unity among colleagues! Zhenjun is magnanimous, reasonable, and very human. Of course, he cannot hinder the work of his future colleagues for the sake of his own convenience.
...Therefore, rough and direct methods are absolutely not advisable. Before the Imperial City Bureau secretly found out more information, Zhenjun's only and largest source of information was this book "Journey to the West".
So, what is hidden in this book?
Master Fei Xuan washed his hands with clean water, carefully opened the catalog, and read it word by word from the beginning.
Of course, this is not really necessary. Zhenjun is knowledgeable and gifted with a good memory. He has just read the novel carefully and has almost memorized the plot. The essence of the whole book of Journey to the West, of course, comes after the havoc in Heaven and Tang Monk's journey to the West. However, the mysterious battles of these immortals' magical powers were not the focus of the True Lord - or rather, they were not the focus of his attention yet; the True Lord was only concerned with one question:
How did the monkey named Sun in the book become an immortal?
He read the first two chapters of the book five times and knew every word by heart; he also studied in detail the passage where Monkey King pays homage to Patriarch Bodhi. "Journey to the West" contains a lot of quotes from Taoist formulas and terminology, but to Feixuan Zhenjun, a veteran who has practiced Taoism for decades, these are just repetitions and nothing special; however, certain images that are repeatedly emphasized in it have attracted Zhenjun's great attention - according to the records in the first chapter, after Monkey King decided to learn Taoism, he first took a raft and sailed across the ocean to Nanshanbuzhou to seek Dharma; after seven or eight years without any results, he managed to cross the ocean and finally found Patriarch Bodhi in Xiniuhezhou.
Why is the sea mentioned twice? Why do we have to cross the sea to find immortals?
In an instant, a light bulb went off in his head, and Zhenjun's heart was beating like a drum, as if he had suddenly been enlightened, and all the details of the past were connected together - he suddenly remembered that although the heavenly book was full of resentment and curses, and it cursed everything from top to bottom and from inside to outside, it seemed that it had never cursed the policy of resisting Japanese pirates and reopening maritime trade!
Thinking about it now, this selfish motive has long been obvious. Why is the exiled immortal so tolerant of overseas affairs? Because the road to immortality is outside the sea!
So that’s it, so that’s it, I understand!
After figuring this out in an instant, the True Lord was so excited that he was shaking all over, unable to control himself. He felt that his decades of hard work had finally paid off, as he had finally moved the immortals to come down to earth and pass on the secret of becoming an immortal to him (of course, the things like Lao Deng and the wall lamp in the heavenly book were probably just tests from the immortals, so they were really not worth worrying about). And now - now everything is ready. All he needs to achieve his immortality is a fleet sending out to sea!
Master Fei Xuan could not hold back any longer and was about to pick up a hammer and hit the bells and chimes wildly. He ordered his confidants to rush in and make arrangements to repair the ship and go out to sea to seek immortality. But he was an emperor who had sat on the throne for decades. As soon as he stood up and picked up the golden hammer, he suddenly remembered a trivial matter:
Can the imperial court’s current coastal defense support his quest for immortality?
Let alone the grand Immortal-Seeking Fleet, can even small groups of merchant ships and cargo ships move freely on the sea and travel smoothly now?
A large fleet is coming out, and there might be precious gifts for the immortals on board... You think that the Japanese pirates and pirates who plunder everywhere and travel like the wind don't exist, right?
——Obviously, given the current situation, even if the emperor really sent people to search for the traces of immortals overseas, they would probably be intercepted by pirates halfway, and the innocent barbarians would take advantage of them for nothing.
It is no wonder that Tianshu holds a grudge against Japanese pirates and never criticizes the policy of resisting them. After Master Fei Xuan figured this out, his blood boiled to the point where he couldn't control himself, and Samadhi Fire was about to burst out from all his seven orifices!
How dare you block the Taoist's path to becoming an immortal? I think you have already found your way to death!
My chance, my path to immortality! This is no longer just deceiving God, this is simply defying God!
The dragon has a reverse scale, which cannot be touched. If you do, you will die. Think about your decades of hard work and practice, and then think about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become an immortal. Taoist's expression changed several times before he finally made up his mind.
He picked up the golden hammer again and struck it hard:
"Li Zaifang!"
·
With a loud clang, the chief steward of the inner court hurried in, bowed, prostrated himself on the ground, and dared not utter a word. But when he glanced upwards, his heart was still beating fast: Why did the emperor look so anxious after just disappearing for a moment?
The True Lord said coldly, "I asked you to check the files of Emperor Taizong's expedition against Japan. Have you checked them?"
This was an unexpected statement. Li Zaifang was stunned for a moment before she answered carefully, "To answer your Majesty, there are too many files on Emperor Taizong. I have asked them to check and write a report and submit them to your Majesty for your review. If your Majesty needs them urgently, I will send more people."
Master Fei Xuan was silent for a moment, and finally snorted:
"After reading the archives, what do you think of the coastal defense during Emperor Taizong's time compared to today?"
Li Zaifang: …………
Even though the chief steward of the inner court was experienced and skilled in maneuvering, he couldn't even utter a word at this moment - How does the coastal defense during the reign of Emperor Taizong compare to that of today? Don't you know it yourself?
——No way, no way, no one really thinks that the current coastal defense is excellent?
Who on earth gave you the confidence to make such a comparison? Your Majesty, it is not advisable to try to scam people while landing on the moon!
When the gap between reality and the other person is big enough, even flattery and licking will seem sarcastic. After thinking it over, Li Zaifang really didn't know how to explain the facts tactfully, so he just kept his mouth shut and kowtowed.
Fortunately, the Taoist priest does not seem to want to cause trouble for his confidants today. He snorted a second time:
"...If that's the case, then how much silver would it cost to tidy up the current coastal defense, buy a few comparable ships, and sort out the useless people who eat and drink for free?"
Li Zaifang's heart trembled again. He vaguely remembered that when the emperor ordered people to sort out the archives of the Taizong Dynasty, he also secretly asked several old eunuchs who knew military knowledge about the expedition to Japan and voyages to the West, but after hearing the approximate expenses, they immediately shut up and kept silent, delaying the question until now. Now the issue of money has to be brought up again, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to get around it.
He knew his master's temper too well. If he was not careful during the question and answer and touched upon Master Feixuan's unknown minefield ("My money!"), he would probably have no choice but to go back and keep vigil for Emperor Taizong.
Master Fei Xuan sat cross-legged on the table and could see the expression of his confidant clearly. Of course he knew his confidant's concerns, but he didn't take them seriously. To Zhenjun, the huge silver mine in Japan is of course very important, but it is not worth it if his current enjoyment is greatly affected for an unknown silver mine, so he is quite hesitant; but seeking immortality - seeking immortality is a matter that absolutely cannot be negotiated!
The Taoist must succeed in cultivation, and the Taoist must succeed in cultivation! Anyone who stands in my way, I will kill!
Seeing that he couldn't get away with it, Li Zaifang could only bite the bullet and reply:
"Good Pope, you know. Under the current circumstances, at least two or three million taels of silver are needed every year..."
——Mu Qi’s estimate was still too conservative. The imperial court’s military had been in disarray for a long time. How could it be replenished with just a tiny bit of money?
The amount of silver increased by two to three million taels every year, but even if the Ministry of Revenue was forced to die, it could not be allocated; after calculating the amount among the people, there was no other way, so they had to use the emperor's secret treasury. This is also the place that Li Zaifang is most frightened of!
As everyone knows, anything involving the palace's slush fund involves the emperor's weak spot. In order to uphold his reputation as a sage and benevolent ruler who is willing to accept advice, Master Feixuan would not openly turn against someone and make trouble for him, but he would definitely act in a weird way, crying poor and pitiful, and say things like "I only have eight sets of clothes for the four seasons" and "The guilt of all nations lies with me". He would tell a bunch of nonsense riddles to confuse his subordinates, and then find an opportunity to take ruthless action and drive this person to Hainan Island to feed mosquitoes!
Li Zaifang didn't want to go to Hainan Island for vacation at all, so she was shaking all over when she replied. But unexpectedly, after hearing this incredible number, Master Feixuan did not show any anger. On the contrary, he remained silent for a moment, as if he had finally made up his mind:
"… Whatever! If you don't sacrifice your capital, you won't get any chance. Go find a few of your own people who are more likely to keep their mouths shut and sort out the accounts of the coastal defense first."
·
After being defeated by Hai Gangfeng's attack, Mu Qi returned home dejectedly and sat at the table to be emo alone. When the system popped up a dialogue window, his emo mood became even more serious - Liu Li sent the Northern Expedition plan drafted by the prime minister, humbly asked them to consult it in conjunction with later historical materials, and promised to give each of them an autograph of the prime minister as a reward.
Isn’t it great to have the help of the Prime Minister? Is it a big deal that you can just act coquettishly and ask for an autograph?
...Well, it was really amazing, and it stimulated Mu Qi to break down even more.
This kind of breach of defense is not even purely jealousy, but is mixed with vague sadness and even unspeakable inferiority. Because of the development of productivity, in terms of material enjoyment and living environment alone, Mu Qi probably had the best treatment among the three, even Zhao Fei at her peak could not compare to him. But humans are not simply animals shaped by material desires. Being able to work together with like-minded comrades with outstanding moral character and talents to do something that can change the world, the happiness and satisfaction that comes from the bottom of the heart, how can it be compared with just a little eating, drinking and having fun?
Being able to live up to history, to responsibilities, and to one's original aspirations is the greatest happiness in the world. Mu Qi asked himself. I feel like I can’t do any of this right now and can only do it silently.
He sighed deeply and was about to close the window when he accidentally glanced at the system reminder:
"Fuck, why is the progress bar going up again?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
