Chapter 77 Secret Medicine

Chapter 77 Secret Medicine

Chapter 77 Secret Medicine
After Xu Qing finished chatting with Prefect He, he said goodbye and left the government office.

On the way, he thought about the content of his previous conversation with He Zhifu. At present, He Zhifu only informed him in advance that the specific operation of this business would take some time to prepare, but it would not take too long.

As for his livelihood, it turned out to be running a brothel.

"As for profitable businesses, pornography and gambling are indeed the most stable and profitable, and they can bring long-term benefits. However, when it comes to big shots in the capital, the nature of the matter is different."

"Places of entertainment have always been an important channel for obtaining information. It seems that a certain senior official in the court wants to strengthen the monitoring of public opinion in Nanzhili."

Lao He is also very cunning. This business is indeed a good one because there are powerful figures in Shendu behind him. Even if Lao He leaves office later, Xu Qing does not have to worry about this business being dealt with by the next prefect.

As long as you can do it, it will be a long-term income.

If the new prefect does not know what's tactful, he will probably run into trouble again, and at the same time, Xu Qing's ability will be revealed.

"In fact, Magistrate He can give this 20% stake to anyone, but he gave it to me to fulfill his promise to help me revive my family business."

Of course, the money was given, but Xu Qing could not directly hold shares.

After all, he wanted to follow the right path as a scholar, and it would not be good if it got out that he directly became the owner of a brothel.

Xu Qing planned to register these shares under Xu Fu's name.

Xu Fu was a domestic slave who signed a contract to sell himself, and his household registration was under the name of Xu Qing. To put it bluntly, he was Xu Qing's private property, and everything that belonged to him was also Xu Qing's.

This was also a common tactic used by the gentry and powerful people in Southern Zhili.

Some slaves became rich and became new landlords, but in reality, they were still dependent on their masters.

It is somewhat similar to the relationship between a feudal lord and his retainers.

Besides, brothels naturally need security guards, so it's a good opportunity to give the thugs from Yihetang a business opportunity to be responsible for the security of the brothel in the future.

In this way, Xu Qing gained more eyes and ears in Jiangning Prefecture through this business, and his career became more three-dimensional.

It is easier to get things done if you use the name of the government.

If Xu Qing wanted to open a brothel himself, he would be stealing food from other people, which would inevitably lead to conflicts and enmity.

This business was nominally an official institution of the Jiaofangsi, but its meaning was naturally different.

"Now I have to rely on others' influence. When I pass the imperial examination, I will be considered as a local 'influence', and it will be easier to handle things. In addition, next year, I will help my uncle get promoted by suppressing bandits. It would be best if I could get him a captain or a lieutenant. Then I will have a battalion of soldiers under my command."

Now that Inspector Wu is helping, it won't be a problem for Xu Qing to help his uncle gain merit and get promoted.

After all, if they have connections, military officers are much easier to be promoted than civil officials when they are in the middle and lower ranks. Military officers have a relatively closed circle, but the path to promotion is mainly controlled by the Ministry of War, which is the territory of civil officials.

This is also an important measure of our dynasty to control the military with the civil.

Guarding against military generals has been a major issue in every dynasty.

Because rebellions by civil officials are rarely successful, but rebellions by military generals and nobles are common in history.

It’s nothing, he really has a knife.

Therefore, when others accuse you of rebellion, it would be best if you actually have the ability to rebel.

Even with a knife, people can die and birds can fly up to the sky, and they will live forever.

Without a knife, even if you beg on your knees, you may not be able to save your entire family.

What about the Heyin Incident, where the nobles were trampled to death in the streets? The warriors just won't listen to reason with you, they will just draw their knives.

Although others say that Li Gongwu is a glutton for wealth, Xu Qing still hopes that his uncle will become successful and has great expectations for this.

After returning to Li's house, Xu Fu was learning horse breeding knowledge from Sergeant Zhang in the front yard. It must be said that Xu Fu had the potential to be a generalist. Even if he didn't know how to do something, he would study hard.

Seeing this, Xu Qing did not ask too many questions, but returned to the yard and continued to draw the bow and practice the Bull Demon Fist.

After pulling the bow and slowly returning it several times, Xu Qing clearly felt that there was still room for improvement in his Bull Demon Fist, but his body obviously could not keep up.

"My body now is like a piece of steel. After being drawn into a bow, it has been repeatedly tempered and its quality has become higher, but the quantity is here. No matter how high the quality is, the overall growth is slow."

“We’re still short of medicine.”

Xu Qing knew that one of the major problems was the lack of secret medicine for practicing the Bull Demon's Great Strength Fist. Another major problem was that his bones determined the upper limit of his practice of the Bull Demon's Great Strength Fist.

But the problem of root bones is not unsolvable.

Because he is young and still in the developmental stage, his physical constitution can be improved through the practice of Silver Ring Sperm-Securing Pills, Eight Diagrams Wandering Body Palm, and Crane Shape Technique. However, for now, the effects of these three on his physical constitution have been much smaller.

"I still have a long period of development. Even if the progress in this area is getting slower and slower, I will be able to improve my bones to a relatively high level in the future. But it is definitely not enough to become a one in a million martial arts genius." Xu Qing understood that his current bone training was limited to the training of the spine. Although this is a relatively important bone part and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is one of the foundations of martial arts, the physical talent of martial arts is all-round.

He also needs more powerful bone training methods.

"It is said in the martial arts world that Bull Demons train their strength, while Tiger Demons train their bones. King Lin was born with amazing bones, so with the Bull Demon Power Fist, he trained his kung fu to a level that was hard to beat in Jiangning Prefecture, far better than the martial arts master who taught him kung fu back then. But I am different. Without the bone training method, I am afraid that my future achievements may not be comparable to King Lin's."

In addition to the bone training method, there is of course another way, which is to learn from Eunuch Zhao.

After eunuchs are castrated, their bone development will be prolonged, but the disadvantage is that they are prone to osteoporosis. Of course, eunuch Zhao obviously solved this problem through other means.

But the problem is, Xu Qing is not crazy.

Even if he was given the Sunflower Manual to practice, he would not want to castrate himself.

Now Xu Qing seems to have good kung fu skills and is considered a leader among his peers, but all this is largely due to his own cheats, which have enabled him to make amazing progress in learning.

His problem now is his ceiling.

Just because he can score 100 points on a test paper doesn’t mean he can answer questions beyond that 100 points.

It's two different things.

Even with the secret elixir of the Bull Demon's Power Fist, Xu Qing was limited by his physical constitution and it was difficult for him to develop to the same power as King Lin.

If you only have strength but no bones to support you, you may end up hurting yourself if you punch with all your strength.

"No matter what, let's take advantage of this bandit suppression to see if we can get the secret medicine of the Bull Demon's Power Fist from King Lin." Xu Qing is now using the tonic he researched and the Silver Ring Sperm-Securing Pills, which are quite effective.

However, the tonic effect of Yinhuan Gujing Pills is mainly reflected in the Bagua Youshen Palm.

The help for the Bull Demon's Great Fist is incidental.

In the final analysis, all martial arts and secret medicines are matched together. They are the result of years of experience, and it is not something that a young person like you can figure out by casual research.

In fact, Xu Qing also had his own concerns about the Tiger Demon's bone training.

So he set his sights on Jinguang Temple.

The bronze mirror evaluated his martial arts level as "bone training", which means that Xu Qing's bone training has no problem learning, but he lacks methods and secret medicines.

Therefore, Xu Qing could easily complete the practice of Bagua Youshen Palm regarding the spine.

Of course, the cry of the crane also plays an important role in this.

Exercising your bones and tendons can both increase your upper limit.

People who practice martial arts often talk about strengthening their muscles and bones, and this is what they mean.

After practicing the Bull Demon's Power Fist for a while, Xu Qing began to visualize the Yaksha King, and finally started to recite scriptures silently to calm his mind.

Because the Yaksha King himself is a gathering of evil thoughts, some evil thoughts will arise when he is visualizing, but they will not grow as fast as those that result from killing people.

Xu Qing uses reading to nourish his mind and calm his evil thoughts, which can actually benefit his soul.

These are the results of long-term efforts.

Moreover, persisting in doing one thing is itself a tempering of the soul.

Review and recite the scriptures silently. The words and sentences in them themselves contain great wisdom.

When Xu Qing read history in the past, he was somewhat skeptical of the profound meanings of the history. But now that he has experienced it personally, he has a different perspective.

The books left by saints may seem short and concise, but they are actually summaries of the principles of the universe.

If one could comprehend these wisdoms, it would be of great benefit to Xu Qing's soul.

Xu Qing also heard a very inspiring story from Su Lianqing.

It is rumored that Elder Fang himself did not have any Taoist inheritance, but from the experience of compiling the Taoist Canon, he naturally developed a spiritual cultivation that is rare in the world.

It is said that after this news was discovered by the Luo Sect, the previous leader of the Luo Sect almost went insane on the spot. Even though he calmed down later, he died of depression because of this.

The root cause is that the faith is shattered.

Our sect's thousands of years of accumulated Taoist skills are no match for others' self-realization and cheating. Who can stand this?

Fortunately, Lord Fang did not enter the legendary realm of ghost immortals, otherwise it would only take one person to break into the Luo Sect headquarters.

"Ghost Immortals? That is the lifelong pursuit of those who practice Taoism. It only exists in legends. Anyway, I have never heard of anyone in the world setting foot in the realm of Ghost Immortals."

"Or rather, there are no immortals in this world."

“The word ‘ghost’ is used in the word ‘ghost’ in the word ‘ghost’, so it doesn’t make it a real fairy. If you want to be a fairy, be a real fairy. Adding the word ‘ghost’ makes it sound like a fake.” Xu Qing is still ambitious. If he wants to climb, he has to climb to the top.

Xu Qing's distracting thoughts gradually subsided, and in his mind, the sound of cranes' cries emerged naturally like breathing, blending perfectly with the breathing of the old phoenix tree.

The faint moonlight draped over Xu Qing's body, like a moon-white Taoist robe, creating ripples.

At the same time, Xu Qing's own yang energy also merged into the body of the old Wutong tree.

The core of the Eight Trigrams Body Movement Palm is the yin and yang, which is reflected in the exchange of qi between the person and the tree. In the soul, the Yaksha King visualized in this exchange of qi becomes humble and submissive.

Xu Qing was completely absorbed in the moment, not noticing anything, and instead adapted to the change of Qi.

And in the moonlit night of cold winter, the old phoenix tree becomes more vibrant, as if there is a sense of the transformation of heaven and man, and the growth of all things hidden in it.

...

...

The next morning, Xu Qing woke up early, feeling refreshed.

"The effect of cultivating the soul at home is much better than cultivating outside, and the soul is more peaceful and free." After comparison, Xu Qing discovered the wonderfulness of cultivating at home. He vaguely felt that it was related to the old sycamore tree.

In any case, this is his blessed place for cultivation.

Xu Qing will not move for the time being.

Morning exercise as usual, and breakfast prepared by my aunt.

His breakfast is extremely rich, with seasonal vegetables such as winter bamboo shoots, which taste delicious.

As long as there are good ingredients, everyone can be a gourmet.

It is even more appropriate to use it on my aunt.

"Qing'er, I have picked a few maids for you. Please take some time to take a look at them." While Xu Qing was enjoying breakfast, Zhou mentioned the matter of the maids to Xu Qing.

"Just take care of it, Auntie." Xu Qing responded casually.

Zhou: "Okay."

She took great pains to pick out a few decent-looking girls for Qing'er, thinking that Qing'er could use this to get all the attention he wanted. But she never expected that the kid really didn't care at all.

Old Li, on the other hand, was very concerned about selecting a maid because Zhou said she would buy him a concubine.

Zhou has already chosen one for Lao Li. She has a good figure and looks like she can have children. As for her appearance, it all looks the same when the lights are turned off.

As for choosing for Qing Ge'er, we must definitely choose the best ones, so as not to spoil the young man's appetite and make him lose interest in that aspect in the future.

She really worries about this family.

Not long after the meal, Master Fa Yue came to visit.

Zhou was now no longer fascinated by Master Fa Yue. She had a new hobby, which was to follow the noble ladies in the city to watch operas. After only going a few times, she became fascinated by it.

Inspector Li urged her to go to the inspection office several times, but Zhou was too lazy to go. She thought it was better to go in the city. It was wet and cold in the inspection office in winter.

And even if I went there, I wouldn't be able to have children.

Xu Qing naturally didn't know about his aunt's new hobby, but it wouldn't matter even if he knew. Anyway, the family was well off now, and listening to opera was a good thing.

Life in ancient times was indeed very boring, and everyone was extremely excited about any entertainment activities.

Besides, it is a good thing for women to have a pastime, otherwise they will be restless at home all day long.

There is a saying that goes, "If you don't do useless things, how can you spend your limited life?"

Living your life always thinking about what you do to make it meaningful is really boring.

Xu Qing had no choice, otherwise he would have liked to relax.

...

...

In the study, Xu Qing and Fa Yue met.

Fa Yue put her hands together and said, "Xu Sanyuan, I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning. Please forgive me."

Xu Qing: "Master, you don't have to be polite to me. Don't call me Xu Sanyuan or anything like that. Just call me Gongming."

Everyone calls him that, so Xu Qing is no different. Besides, when people make friends, calling each other by their given names is a sign of intimacy.

What's more, without Yue's guidance, he couldn't figure out the purpose of the visualization diagram.

Fa Yue: "Then I will not exchange pleasantries with Brother Gong Mingxian. This time I am here for what you said last time. Please give me some detailed instructions. On behalf of the whole temple, I will be grateful."

Xu Qing smiled: "In fact, it is better to start with the incense money. Master, you only need to do this..."

He expressed his idea, that is, the incense money collected by Jinguang Temple can be taken back intact by the pilgrims with the token of gratitude if something happens to their families in the future. If they can overcome the difficulties in the future, they can just pay the money back. If they cannot, Jinguang Temple will not take back the money.

Fa Yue seemed a little confused. Can the incense money be refunded?

So what do they do with the incense?
Xu Qing patiently explained: "It's impossible for everyone to come and withdraw money. Besides, this way, the temple will have a lot of money, which can be used for other businesses. Even if you do nothing, you can still make money by lending it out. After all, the money from incense offerings in your temple is getting smaller and smaller."

Fa Yue: "But why do they believe that our temple will refund the incense money, and that more people will come to burn incense?"

Xu Qing: "I will guarantee your temple in the name of Fushe. If your temple does not back down in the future, we are all scholars in Fushe. For the sake of our reputation, we can't just ignore it. In addition, part of your temple's incense money will be used for a special event of our Fushe."

"What special event?"

"We, the Fushe Society, intend to improve the eight-part essay writing level of the scholars in this county and provide free assistance to those scholars from poor families. Their donations are also a contribution to the imperial examination cause in this county."

Xu Qing paused, and added: "As long as they see that students who receive subsidies from the Fushe Society are more likely to pass the exam, they will naturally become more positive about this matter."

Fa Yue gradually understood that Xu Qing was using his own reputation as collateral and the Jinguang Temple as a tool to make money.

In this way, Xu Qing's reputation can be directly monetized.

And Xu Qing can really handle it.

Not to mention, Xu Qing's own level of eight-part essay writing is second to none in the county, and behind Xu Qing are Prefect He and Supervisor Zhou, which are equivalent to the two most important channels for the Tongsheng Examination, the prefectural examination and the academy examination, and Xu Qing has connections with both.

If Xu Qing can get the new county magistrate on his side, it can be said that Xu Qing will be able to provide one-stop service in the next few years.

"Xu Sanyuan certainly can't make all the students sponsored by the Fushe pass the exam, but if he wants someone to fail, that's easy."

When the time comes, we can take a look at the local yellow book and it will be clear which family has not given gifts...or money for incense.

If you don't send money for incense, it means you don't want to be friends with Fushe and Xu Sanyuan.

You are not my brother, why should I take care of you?

This is also Xu Qing's way of indirectly judging the attitude of the lower and middle classes in this government towards him, Jiang Ning, the timely rain.

And after figuring out these things, Xu Qing also knew who he could win over to cooperate and grow bigger and stronger with him.

The key is that Xu Qing doesn’t have to step forward himself to push Jinguang Temple to the forefront.

Of course, Jinguang Temple had gained such a huge benefit for nothing, and it would have been hard for it not to be tied to Xu Qing.

After analysis, Fa Yue found that once this matter was accomplished, Jinguang Temple would not have to worry about money, but if it fell out with Xu Qing, Jinguang Temple would immediately lose a large amount of income.

This is essentially no different from relying on the face of Prefect He to attract customers.

Well, there are.

If you follow Xu Sanyuan's approach, you can make more money, and it is a sustainable long-term income.

Because the person being invested is Xu Qing.

Xu Qing is only fifteen years old after the Chinese New Year.

What's even more terrifying is that Xu Qing is only in his teens, but he already has such an insight into people's hearts. If you hang out with such a person, are you still afraid of having no future?
It's done!

Fa Yue agreed without hesitation.

After he returns, if the abbot does not agree, he will become the abbot.

Seeing that Fa Yue agreed, Xu Qing said, "Besides, I have another favor to ask of you."

"Brother Gongming, if you have anything to say, just tell me." Fayue now has a gangster air. Calling him donor, Xu Sanyuan, etc. seems distant and not good for the overall situation.

Xu Qing: "Xu wants to ask your temple for medicine."

Fa Yue looked embarrassed, he thought Xu Qing was talking about the secret medicine for practicing martial arts.

Fortunately, Xu Qing's next words dispelled Fa Yue's doubts.

"Medicine for conceiving a child?" Fa Yue heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Xu Qing's explanation.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Master Li's inability to have children may actually be related to his training. It is said that the Crane Form Technique is a method that can refine essence and transform it into energy. It requires secret medicine to be used in conjunction with sexual intercourse to easily give birth to children. However, our temple also has a fertility soup that can strengthen essence and energy. Master Li can solve this problem as long as he does not practice martial arts for a few months and takes the medicine."

The medicinal materials used in the fertility soup are quite expensive, so Jinguang Temple generally does not provide it to people, and instead uses other more cost-effective methods.

Of course, it also depends on the person.

They generally don't mess with people with backgrounds. They mostly use it on singing girls who marry businessmen. However, now that Jinguang Temple has landed, there is no need to take on this kind of dirty work. We have to find a way to deal with the beginning and the end to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Xu Qing was not surprised that the Crane Shape Technique had the effect of refining essence and transforming energy, because he had already noticed it when he was practicing the Crane Shape Technique.

His spirit was powerful, so he was able to refine the heat produced by the crane-shaped pile and use it to nourish his body.

This was a key to his early progress.

Later, with the advent of "Crane's Cry", the efficiency of refining essence into qi became higher.

However, the "refining essence into qi" needs the help of secret medicine to affect offspring. This made Xu Qing realize that he should find a way to find the secret medicine and further tap the potential of the Crane Shape Technique.

But this matter might also be related to the extermination of the Xu family, so when Xu Qing was weak in the early days, he subconsciously avoided it. Because at that time, he was still powerless about this matter and could only add to his distress.

"Escape is not a solution. The fact that I am now regarded as a short-lived ghost by the bronze mirror is probably related to this incident. It's time to find my uncle and ask him about the extermination of the Xu family."

Xu Qing understood that he should make some preparations now.

He has a lot of things on his hands now, and they are all complicated.

There is a sense of human struggle in the web of dust.

It's still too weak.

Otherwise, those who cause trouble will be beheaded.

He has even more motivation to become stronger!
"Bronze Mirror, continue to help me improve!"

Go forward, go forward, keep going forward!

As soon as I thought of this, my soul was shaken and there was a slight inexplicable increase.

(End of this chapter)