Chapter 69 Alchemy

Chapter 69 Alchemy

Chapter 69 Alchemy
Once Wu Xun got on the boat, he naturally chose the best seat.

The clerk could not stop them, so he went to consult with others for a while, and then came to report to Inspector Wu: "Sir, we have discussed it, and your matter is urgent. We will sail to the ferry port in Tianjing City and stop there. After we take you there, we will go back to unload the cargo."

"Will this delay your business too much?" asked Inspector Wu.

The clerk hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency is concerned about the country and the people. How can our little matter compare to yours?"

Wu Xun stroked his beard and said, "He is a reasonable man. Let's do it this way."

The clerk breathed a sigh of relief, said goodbye quickly and told the helmsman to prepare to set sail.

Wu Xunan stood by the railing, looking at the east stream, and said to Xu Qing beside him: "What is Gongming still thinking about?"

Xu Qing: "Master, something is wrong."

"what happened?"

Xu Qing whispered, "This boat is loaded with salt."

Xu Qing was a suspicious person after all, so after getting on the boat, he took the opportunity to move his soul out of the shell. His soul now could stay out of the shell for a while even in the daytime without being exposed to the sun, but it was not as leisurely and free as when traveling at night.

Besides, the cabin was dark, just like night.

Xu Qing first eavesdropped on the conversation between the clerk and the people inside, and then checked the cargo, only to find out that this was an official ship smuggling salt.

Because King Lin did not mention the smuggling of salt to Xu Qing, Xu Qing did not connect it with King Lin's trip to the island where he was paid to rob the salt.

Besides, King Lin didn’t intend to smuggle salt in the first place.

Xu Qing selectively presented the information he had obtained to Magistrate Wu, saying only that he had discovered it through observing clues.

Whether this is true or not, of course, Wu Xun needs to judge for himself.

"If this ship is carrying smuggled salt, then the amount would not be a small amount. I'm afraid it would be tens of thousands of taels of silver." Inspector Wu was shocked.

Xu Qing: "Master, don't forget that their salt permits are real. If you sell them on the black market, they are worth at least 30,000 taels of silver."

Wu Xun said: "With the salt permit, even private salt can be sold as official salt."

Xu Qing nodded.

In theory, salt permits can only be used to sell official salt, but with salt permits, private salt can be sold as official salt, and the cost is reduced sharply.

"Gongming, what do you think about this matter?" Wu Xun was undecided about foreign affairs and had become accustomed to relying on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing: "Master, I remember you said, if it is beneficial to the country, I will do it regardless of life or death, and I will not avoid it because of misfortune or fortune."

Upon hearing this, Inspector Wu pondered for a while.

He was assassinated, and it can be said that it was a revenge by the religious bandits, which is a private matter. In fact, the rules of the officialdom are like this, no matter how big a private matter is, it is still a private matter. If someone dies, it can be a big deal.

But you are not dead.

Therefore, we should obey the overall situation and there is no need to tear each other apart.

It would not sound good if it got out, as if the political struggles in my Dayu Dynasty were as unscrupulous as the gang fights, and assassinations were carried out at every turn.

Isn't this just making a fool of oneself and making officials panic?

But official business is different; the bigger the fuss, the better.

Even a corrupt official hopes to have a reputation for being fair and honest.

The key to Inspector Wu's ability to secure his position as Inspector Censor is to have a fair mind.

Other things can be fooled, but how can national affairs be fooled?

After Inspector Wu figured it out, he immediately knew that this was an opportunity to improve his political achievements and reputation. No matter who was behind him, behind him was the king and father, the Emperor, the Son of Heaven!

Wu Xunan slammed the railing and said, "Gongming, you are right. How can I fail to live up to your grace? I will take care of this matter."

He was the Inspector General of Nanzhili. In theory, he could supervise any affairs in Nanzhili and had a certain degree of law enforcement power, as long as he submitted a memorial afterwards.

Of course, if it is an official appointed by the imperial court, he cannot execute first and report later, but he can supervise and impeach.

Generally speaking, the imperial court trusts the inspectors and censors. Even if the inspectors are wrong, as long as it is not a big problem, they will still help and stand up for them.

Because the Inspector-General represents the authority of the imperial court.

This is also where the inspectors can intimidate people.

Xu Qing said, "Master, I have calculated that there are no more than 30 people on the boat. We can handle it with our strength. Then we can let the people from the River Patrol Office take over and find out where they are smuggling and delivering goods. We can work together with the River Patrol Office to enforce the law, and then this matter can be concluded."

In theory, the River Inspection Office can crack down on smuggling and has the corresponding law enforcement power. With the endorsement of Inspector Wu, there is no legal problem.

I have to say, our Inspector Li is going to win again without any effort.

My good nephew, once you stuff such a great achievement into your mouth, it’s hard to spit it out.

Inspector Li is also an old subordinate of Inspector Wu, so he is naturally at ease in using him.

He also wanted to promote Li Xunjian. After all, he was still weak in Nanzhili. If he didn't appoint people based on personal connections, could he appoint people based on personal connections?
Led by Xu Qing and Fa Yue, together with the monks, all the people on the boat were captured in less than quarter of an hour.

After all, they were just ordinary government troops from the Five Cities Army of Tianjing City.

The combat effectiveness is really average.

After Xu Qing and his men were done, they naturally brought the Jiangning Prefecture soldiers with them to help guard the place. Xu Qing then sent a familiar soldier to inform his uncle. The river inspection office was not far away, and within half an incense stick of time, Inspector Li brought his men over.

Then they counted the cargo on the ship and pulled open the tarpaulin, revealing baskets of white coarse salt.

Inspector Li knew that someone was smuggling salt. Official ships like these had passes from the Tianjing City Military Department, so they usually did not dare to stop and inspect them.

After seeing the ship full of contraband salt, Inspector Li was still dazzled.

The huge profits from salt and iron are the foundation of the country.

This is why some people are willing to take risks.

There is no other reason, the profit is too great.

...

...

"Uncle, you just stay here with me, and someone else will take care of the rest." Xu Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief after Inspector Li arrived.

In fact, from last night until now, his mind has been tense, and from time to time he seemed to be in a state of absolute concentration in battle.

Even the energy of a young man could not hold on any longer.

He now urgently needs deep sleep to restore his mental and physical strength.

But because of the previous situation, Xu Qing didn't dare to fall asleep.

After all, he still didn't feel confident enough with people like Fa Yue.

In this world, he only believed that Mr. and Mrs. Li Gongyu would not harm him.

It's so cold at high places.

The higher you climb, the harder it is to tell whether the people around you are sincere or not.

Of course, Xu Qing's mental reaction was somewhat exaggerated. After all, there was no change in the black energy in his luck, which showed that nothing life-threatening would happen in the short term.

But the existence of this black gas made Xu Qing feel uneasy.

In fact, this is also a manifestation of post-war trauma. After all, a lot of people were killed last night, even Xu Qing would instinctively have some psychological stress reactions.

With Inspector Li by his side, Xu Qing fell into a deep sleep, but he did not feel as sound as before.

In a trance, he had a nightmare.

I saw a fire, and then a group of human faces ran out. Each one had a hideous look, like evil spirits collecting debts.

They all bit Xu Qing.

"Bronze mirror!"

Xu Qing subconsciously summoned the bronze mirror, but found himself inside the bronze mirror.

"These evil ghosts are actually the manifestation of my thoughts." Xu Qing suddenly realized.

annoying!

Xu Qing was quite annoyed by his own evil thoughts, but he could do nothing about it.

He made a loud cry, forcing himself to wake up, and touched his forehead, sweating a lot. Inspector Li beside him saw Xu Qing wake up and asked hurriedly, "Brother Qing, did you have a nightmare?"

Xu Qing nodded, "It's okay."

He didn't get a good rest, but his strength did recover.

Then Xu Qing fell into deep thought.

Inspector Li knew that Xu Qing had a habit of thinking about things suddenly, so he did not disturb him and stayed with his nephew. He felt sorry for his nephew, who had to bear so much at such a young age.

But there are too many things in this world that are beyond our control.

He could only try his best and not hold Xu Qing back.

"Normal people will also be troubled if they kill too many people. If they are determined or born evil, it's not a big deal. They can even make themselves look evil and scare ordinary people. I'm not afraid that these evil thoughts will affect my mind, but because my soul is strong and too sensitive, I can't ignore it."

Xu Qing realized that the reason why some ancient books recorded that people who cultivated immortals were often unwilling to kill was that there seemed to be related troubles in it. "Alas, I still lack the method to cultivate my soul. There are many pitfalls that I don't know until I step into them." Xu Qing was lucky that he didn't join the army to break the formation and kill the enemy, otherwise he would be disturbed by these evil thoughts and would be very annoyed.

As for the last battle at Zhao's house, he just killed a believer, which was indeed not obvious.

The large-scale killing occurred last night, and the disadvantages of excessive killing became apparent all of a sudden.

In fact, this problem can only manifest itself when the spirit and soul are strong.

Xu Qing's spirit was not as strong as it is now, which is why he failed to notice the incident at Zhao's house. And it should be resolved over time.

This is just like the pain in one's heart. No matter how heartbreaking it is at the time, one will instinctively forget it after a while.

"Only cultivating life without cultivating nature, this is the first problem in cultivation; only cultivating ancestral nature without cultivating the elixir, it is difficult for the soul to become a saint. The words of the predecessors are indeed thought-provoking. I am now cultivating both life and nature, but I don’t have an orthodox golden elixir method to integrate myself. I take one step at a time, and naturally I am ignorant of the obstacles I encounter on the road of cultivation, and I can only react when the time comes." Xu Qing reflected deeply, and his desire for a method of cultivation became more and more urgent.

The Bull Demon's Powerful Fist, the Eight Trigrams Wandering Palm, and the Crane Shape Technique are, after all, external methods for cultivating the physical body. They do not involve the most fundamental way of life and death, or the higher level of alchemy.

Dandao is not a specific word, but a concept.

What is Dan?
The elixir mentioned by the ancients in their practice is the golden elixir. The nature of gold is immortal, and the elixir represents perfection.

This kind of perfection is actually a more systematic integration of everything within oneself.

After thinking about it, Xu Qing was still a little annoyed, so he simply got up and went to the deck to practice boxing.

This official ship is big enough and the deck is very wide.

He performed the Bagua Youshen Palm technique and practiced the Bull Demon Power Fist.

Last night's practical experience was just the right opportunity to be integrated into my boxing skills.

Guard Wang mentioned that to deeply practice martial arts one must understand the "intention", but Guard Wang couldn't answer what the "intention" was.

Xu Qing was somewhat touched.

When he punched, he imagined himself as the Unrivaled Bull Demon, killing countless lives. It was as if the evil thoughts in his body had a channel to vent, and each punch was terrifying.

After a round of boxing, Xu Qing was not tired at all, but felt much more refreshed.

Sure enough, clear thoughts are the key to cultivating the soul.

"If I had just sat there, the evil thoughts in my body would have no channel to vent, and I would have become more and more irritable, causing internal friction and even damaging my soul." After Xu Qing finished boxing, his thoughts became clear and he felt much happier.

Moreover, the wide river and the misty distant mountains make people feel relaxed and happy.

The scenery created by heaven and earth can also heal people's minds.

Li, who was standing by, finally felt relieved when he saw Xu Qing's cheerful expression. On the other side, the interrogation of the petty official on the official ship had already yielded results, and Wu, the inspector, had ordered the helmsman brought by Li to sail to the delivery location of the smuggled salt.

Salt smuggling was also a major problem in Southern Zhili.

However, the Salt Gang can never be completely wiped out, but if we can catch some of them, it will be a real political achievement.

Wu Xun'an and even the people in the court knew that the crux of the problem of the salt gang being unable to be completely eliminated was actually the court itself, because the official salt was too expensive and of poor quality.

This is a systemic problem that cannot be reversed by human will.

Even in the eyes of the common people, the government's crackdown on private salt was a bad policy. The strong resistance from the people made it even more difficult for the government to crack down on private salt.

Inspector Wu certainly did not want to solve this problem fundamentally. Planning for eternity was a matter that the ruling cabinet had to consider.

What he essentially wants is promotion and wealth.

This crappy official has been spending all his money in office till now.

It is hard to be a top three scholar.

On the other side, Fa Yue had just finished his meditation. He was in good spirits and came to the deck to greet Xu Qing.

"Xu Sanyuan got rid of the evil spirit so quickly. He is a sincere and upright scholar. He is indeed quite powerful in this aspect." Fa Yue observed Xu Qing's expression and was secretly surprised.

"Hello, Xu Sanyuan." He was surprised and saluted to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing naturally returned the greeting and said meaningfully, "Master, you look good."

Fa Yue is experienced in human nature and knows Xu Qing's abilities well. He knows that the other party is pointing out the aftereffects of killing too many people. Fa Yue said, "When people commit murder, their minds are easily affected. Especially Xu Sanyuan is different from ordinary people, so he is more sensitive in this aspect. My method of eliminating evil spirits relies on the Buddhist teachings of this temple. If Xu Sanyuan wants to learn, he must convert to this temple before he can receive the true teachings. I am not hiding it on purpose."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "If Xu Sanyuan was troubled by this, I was planning to recite the Heart Sutra for you after I recovered my spirits to calm your mind."

This was indeed what he thought in his heart, so he said it frankly.

Xu Qing: "Master, you don't have to be so polite. I'm not a petty person. I'm just curious about these things."

Fa Yue: "Young Master, you are an open-minded person, and I know that very well."

When he spoke, he could not help but apologize to the Buddha in his heart. He had to lie occasionally. After all, there is a saying in Buddhism called convenient lying.

It is to adapt to the secular world and avoid disputes.

He couldn't say that Xu Sanyuan was narrow-minded and directly wiped out the Zhao family, his rivals in the city.

Although it was Prefect He who did this, people in the know knew that Xu Qing played a significant role in it.

Scholars these days are very cruel and ruthless.

What happened last night is enough to show what kind of person Mr. Xu is.

Xu Qing smiled slightly. They were both foxes who had practiced cultivation. Chatting was tiring. However, Xu Qing now thought highly of Fa Yue. He was definitely willing to support Fa Yue as the leader of Jinguang Temple. They had killed enemies together and could share the spoils together. This was proof of their ironclad relationship.

Xu Qing said: "I wonder what your temple does for a living? Lending money, collecting rents..."

The corner of Fayue's mouth twitched. Why be so straightforward? The Buddha doesn't care about his reputation.

He also knew that Master Xu was an expert. He said these things, and it seemed that he wanted to cooperate. In this day and age, no matter what business you do, you can't avoid the government and the local tyrants.

Master Xu is a powerful man with an official background, so even the abbot has to curry favor with him when he comes.

Fa Yue: "There are more monks these days, but fewer incense offerings. Even if some of the young masters are talking about making a living, it's just barely enough to maintain a balance between income and expenditure."

This is the truth.

Without the support from Prefect He, the number of pilgrims indeed decreased.

Xu Qing smiled: "I do have some ideas and would like to discuss them with the master."

The best way to make friends is to bind them based on interests.

Mr. Xu is sincere in making friends, he doesn't do anything fake.

Fa Yue asked with a look of curiosity: "Please tell me clearly, sir."

Xu Qing smiled and said, "To be honest, your temple's management methods are too crude. It relies too much on dignitaries and does not have its own core competitiveness."

"Core competitiveness?" This term is new, but easy to understand.

"Please tell me in detail, sir. However, I have to say in advance that this temple is not a family temple."

Many powerful and wealthy people would build ancestral temples, which were actually places for usury.

Jinguang Temple is more or less a quiet place for those who truly practice Buddhism, and we don’t want to lower our status.

Another reason is that Jinguang Temple is a small sect of Dachan Temple and has its own brand behind it. If it becomes a family temple of another kind, the headquarters will be held accountable.

Xu Qing: "The key point is to let the other party take the initiative to send the incense money, rather than putting the money in because of the power of some dignitaries. As for the specific matters, we will discuss it when we return."

Fa Yue was in a dilemma when he was halfway through talking. He wanted to go back and talk to Xu Qing in detail.

He was also helpless. The financial income of Jinguang Temple was not good. The old abbot now looked like he wanted Fayue to take the position as soon as possible. He said that he did not want to delay the progress of the young monks, but in fact he could not bear it anymore.

Fayue had no other options. He relied on selling his body, preaching Buddhism, and making friends with rich ladies every day, but that little bit of money was just a drop in the bucket.

But he couldn't refuse the abbot's position. If he didn't take it, there would always be someone who wanted to take it.

If I cannot become the abbot, my practice resources will definitely be greatly affected. These are real benefits.

While the two were chatting, the official ship finally approached the island where the delivery was to take place.

It's just a small island, so of course it's impossible to dock.

Therefore, we have to send a signal to ask the other party to send a small boat to pick up the goods.

Before that, of course, one must verify one's identity.

Soon, a small boat set out from the shore of the island and headed towards the official ship like an arrow from a bow.

The people on the small boat over there just had a confrontation with the people on the official ship.

When Xu Qing heard the other party's voice and used his soul to sense the other party's powerful energy and blood, he was shocked: "Is it him?"

The ambush had already been set up on the official ship, waiting to take action.

The men were preparing to go on deck, with a mighty and fierce momentum. The officers and soldiers of the inspection office were hesitating whether to take action.

Xu Qing quickly shouted, "Stop."

This was not only shouted at the officers and soldiers, but also at the strong man.

"Huh." The sturdy hero was naturally Lin Tianwang. He stood up and went onto the deck. Looking at the source of the sound, it was his good brother Xu Gongming.

"What's going on..." King Lin was also confused for a moment.

(End of this chapter)