Chapter 7: Project Honghu

Chapter 7: Project Honghu

Chapter 7: Project Honghu
On the second day, Liu Sheng went to Baibaotang specially before going on duty.

She purchased some spiritual materials such as star iron, paulownia wood, array chips, moon jade and heavenly silk to make the analyzer.

Of course she also bought some other materials to confuse the audience.

This wave of spending cost ten spirit yuan, while Liu Sheng's monthly salary was only eight spirit yuan, and she cried out in pain.

The main reason is that the analyzer she modified cannot be seen in public, so she has to do it herself. She can only blame herself for being clumsy.

As soon as she stepped into the weaving workshop, her spiritual communication received a message from Zhang Yuanzheng, asking her to go find him.

Liu Sheng's heart skipped a beat and she nervously covered the storage bag around her waist. This probably had nothing to do with her messing with the analyzer.

The director usually works in Zhengxinzhai, located in the back hill of the weaving factory. It is surrounded by green bamboos, with the breeze blowing the leaves, and it is quiet and elegant. In front of the studio is a small pond, where a few goldfish occasionally swim leisurely, adding a bit of vitality.

Liu Sheng climbed a section of the mountain road, and his lack of exercise made him a little breathless. He patted his chest to calm his breathing, then walked slowly forward and gently knocked on the door.

The door slowly opened, and a waiter who looked quite elderly nodded to her and led her in.

"The dean is already waiting in the inner hall. Please come this way." The waiter said in a low voice, leading her lightly through a long corridor, and finally stopped in front of a half-open wooden door.

"Director, Treasurer Liu has arrived." The waiter reported respectfully to the inside.

"Let her in." Zhang Yuanzheng's voice came through the door, low and full of majesty.

Liu Sheng pursed his lips, thinking that Zhang Yuanzheng was really good at pretending.

As the waiter pushed the door open, she stepped into the inner hall.

The inner hall of Zhengxinzhai was softly lit and filled with the faint scent of sandalwood. Zhang Yuan was sitting on a black wooden carved chair in the middle, with his back against a huge painting of green mountains. He was playing with a jade ring in his hand. When he saw her come in, he put down the object in his hand, smiled and motioned for her to sit down.

"Treasurer Liu, how long have you been in the Li County Weaving Institute?"

"To answer your question, it has been two years and four months." Seeing Zhang Yuanzheng suddenly acting like a kind elder, Liu Sheng got goose bumps all over his body.

"You are really young and capable. When I was just a rookie, I didn't think about it that much. I just did whatever the boss told me to do..."

"Director, I didn't..."

When Liu Sheng heard this, she thought that he was hinting at her for not following instructions and submitting articles randomly. She quickly sat up and prepared to argue, but the director waved his hand and continued, "It's okay. I didn't say you were bad. You did a great job this time and brought honor to our Li County."

"I still remember when I was studying at the National Academy, there was a classmate from a remote mountain village who was not very old but only knew how to study. We all thought he was boring and wore shabby clothes, so we were not very willing to interact with him. But he didn't mind, he just studied silently. One day, the teacher took him to tell everyone with a happy face that an article he wrote was accepted by "Theory of Cultivation". He listened to it without any joy or sadness, thanked him and went back to his seat to study. We were all very envious, but I also knew that I didn't have the talent or the energy to study these..."

Zhang Yuanzheng shook his head, feeling very emotional.

Liu Sheng couldn't help but ask: "Where is he now?"

"Him? The current Minister of Works, Ling Fu, has come up with a bunch of things, such as spiritual messages for transmitting messages, mirages for recording images, flying cars for public transportation, analyzers for the Weaving Institute, and so many more, all from his hands." Zhang Yuanzheng seemed to have accepted the gap between himself and his classmate, and his tone was indifferent.

Liu Sheng was shocked. Is this the Edison of this weird era?
"When I first saw you, I saw his shadow in you, but unfortunately..." Zhang Yuanzheng was not exaggerating. According to Liu Sheng's character that could sit still and study, if he could practice to become a god, even if his realm was not very high, he could at least rise slowly. Who knows, he could be like Minister Ling in a few decades.

Liu Sheng could only remain silent.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. We have seen how much you have done. I also know that you have worked hard, but I really have no one else to use... I don't expect you to understand my difficulties. I just hope that our Li County Weaving Institute can improve its ranking this time, and we can find a few more people to share your work..." Director Zhang was just thinking why he should say this to a little girl, so he stopped talking.

"In short, plus your outstanding achievement this time, our Li County Weaving Institute will give you a good reward, and put you on the red list and give you the annual outstanding performance." Zhang Yuanzheng saw that Liu Sheng's face showed a rare little girl's excitement, and smiled slightly, and couldn't help teasing her to gasp, "plus ten spiritual yuan as a reward."

"Thank you Zhang Yuanzheng, I wish you a successful career, a promotion, and prosperity!" Liu Sheng almost jumped up.

I just lost ten spiritual essences, and then I gained ten spiritual essences again. Life is full of ups and downs.

"It's true that the Yangtze River's waves behind push the waves ahead. Old waves like me will be beaten to death on the beach." Zhang Yuanzheng laughed. Liu Sheng quickly said some polite words like "I'm ashamed of myself and I'm not as good as Zhang Yuanzheng."

Zhang Yuanzheng waved his hand to stop Liu Sheng from saying more flattering words. "There is another thing. This time, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner told me that the government feels that the current system is not enough to consider talents from the people. It hopes to further recruit talents and plans to restart the Honghu Project."

Liu Sheng was shocked when he heard this. This was just as Wang Dongdong said last night.

Three hundred years ago, Emperor Xuanwen drove out the monsters, built the Great Wall, and established a weaving factory. Since then, the people of the Tang Dynasty have gradually recovered from the monster disasters and slowly recuperated.

However, Emperor Xuanwen was still worried that the world had not yet achieved true peace, and that the weird was still lurking in the dark, with unpredictable methods. People's understanding of the weird and spiritual practice was still relatively superficial and unsystematic.

It was a pity that he was seriously injured in his early years when he personally led the army to expel the strange northern border. The strange energy entered his body. Although he managed to survive by relying on his cultivation, his foundation was damaged and he passed away in his prime. Many of his grand ambitions were not realized.

After a brutal struggle, Emperor Xuanwen's second daughter, Princess Mingyuan, inherited the throne as a woman and became the first female emperor in history.

The first thing Emperor Mingyuan did after ascending the throne was to carry on the will of the previous emperor, issue an edict to call on the world, launch a grand plan, and invite talents from all over the world, aiming to gather wisdom from all sides, study the methods of cultivation, discuss strategies to resist evil, so as to achieve long-term stability in the country.

As soon as this decree was issued, people from all over the world responded, no matter they were the children of secluded families or scholars from poor backgrounds, all those who were talented, virtuous and ambitious went to Chang'an to display their skills, or explore the mysteries of spiritual practice, or study strange things and supernatural powers.

It was also from that time that the four major realms of cultivation were truly divided and established.

And through studying ancient books and absorbing folk skills, various spells and martial arts were derived, as well as the practice of spiritual energy such as talismans, formations, alchemy, and weapon refining.

The understanding of the weird has gradually deepened, and the types of weird things have been subdivided, such as human-shaped, plant-shaped, animal-shaped, object-shaped, scene-shaped, and mysterious-shaped, and according to the potential threat of the weird things, they are divided into five levels: safe, dangerous, extremely dangerous, disastrous, and unknown.

With the wisdom of everyone, the classics and documents are becoming increasingly rich.

Based on this, Emperor Mingyuan did the second thing, which was to set up many schools, reform the imperial examination system, and establish national academies.

From then on, the academy not only taught classics, but also taught the way of self-cultivation. Both men and women could receive education until the age of twelve. The academy was subsidized by the court, and the high tuition fees were waived. Only the tuition and miscellaneous fees were required, so that everyone could go to school. After the age of twelve, students could be admitted to a higher-level academy and study for another four years. If they passed the imperial examination during this period, they could also enter the National Academy for further study and serve the court.

The third thing is to reform the systems from top to bottom, further integrate the functions of the six ministries with the practice of warding off evil, and reconstruct institutions such as the Weaving Institute to adapt to the needs of the post-divine manifestation era.

After these three events, the number of practitioners increased dramatically, their overall strength improved, their ability to resist the weirdness increased, and spiritual weapons began to enter the homes of ordinary people. The Tang Dynasty thus entered a prosperous period, with peace and prosperity, and its glory shone brightly on all sides. Since everything started with the Honghu Plan, it was also praised by later generations as the "Honghu Prosperous Age".

It seems that the current emperor wants to emulate Emperor Mingyuan's actions and create a prosperous era again.

"You'd better try to become a spiritual master recently. Although the Honghu Project does not require the sixth level of initial realm cultivation like the imperial examination, it still draws a line this time and only cultivators can sign up." Zhang Yuanzheng said with a hint of regret.

Liu Sheng suddenly felt disheartened.

"After all, it's not hundreds of years ago. The requirements of this Honghu Plan are a bit higher, but the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner also said that this Honghu Plan is equivalent to setting up another way to select talents besides the imperial examination. So as long as you pass the Honghu Plan, you can enter the National Academy for further study and come out to serve the court."

"There is still time. If you can enter the initial realm before June, I will submit your name. The Censor admires you very much, and this is what he meant."

But, is there really enough time?
"Take this." Seeing Liu Sheng's lost look, Zhang Yuan took out a small token carved from emerald green jade and handed it to Liu Sheng. His tone turned encouraging: "This is what I got from my teacher when I was young. It's called the Seven Mysterious Token. I'll lend it to you for a month. It's said to be an ancient item that can assist meditation. Using it has indeed deepened my connection with the Supreme God. Although I can't guarantee that you will be able to communicate with the gods, it's still a glimmer of hope."

Liu Sheng took the token and felt the faint spiritual energy emanating from it. The gray in his heart was slightly tinged with a touch of warmth.

She didn't expect that Zhang Yuanzheng, whom she and Wang Dongdong complained about day and night, had such a side to him.

She raised her head and looked at Zhang Yuanzheng firmly, biting her lower lip: "Thank you, Yuanzheng, I will do my best."

Zhang Yuanzheng nodded, with a hint of appreciation in his eyes: "Remember, Liu Sheng, no matter what the result is, do your best and have no regrets."

Liu Sheng took a deep breath and held the token tightly in his palm.

She made up her mind to curse Zhang Yuanzheng less in the future!
(End of this chapter)