Chapter 133 The Way of Yin and Yang, Zifu Yuanzong

Chapter 133 The Way of Yin and Yang, Zifu Yuanzong

Chapter 133 The Way of Yin and Yang, Zifu Yuanzong (Subscription Request)
"Please kill Xu Qing."

Cheng Guang's words made the Prime Minister's expression change slightly, and he asked coldly: "Do you want to learn from Gongshu Zuo?"

During the Warring States Period, Gongshu Zao knew that Shang Yang was a young and talented man, but before he could recommend him to King Hui of Wei, Gongshu Zao fell seriously ill.

King Hui of Wei went to visit Gongshu Zao in person and said, "If something unexpected happens to your illness, what will happen to the country?" Gongshu Zao replied, "The middle son Gongsun Yang is young but has extraordinary talents. I hope the king will hand over all state affairs to him and let him govern."

King Hui of Wei remained silent. Just as King Hui of Wei was about to leave, Gongshu Zhu dismissed his attendants and said, "If Your Majesty does not want to appoint Gongsun Yang, then you must kill him and not let him leave the State of Wei."

King Hui of Wei did not agree. After he came out, he said to his ministers, "Isn't it sad? Gongshu Zhuo is so virtuous, but he told me to obey Gongsun Yang in state affairs. Isn't that ridiculous?"

After King Hui of Wei left, Gongshu Zhuo summoned Gongsun Yang to apologize and said, "Today the king asked for someone who could be the prime minister. I recommended you, but the king looked like he didn't agree. I should have been loyal to the king first, and then fulfilled my duty as a minister. I told the king that if he didn't appoint Gongsun Yang, he should be killed. The king agreed with my suggestion. You should leave quickly, or you will be arrested."

Gongsun Yang said, "If the King of Wei cannot listen to you and employ me, how can he listen to you and kill me?" Gongsun Yang was still unwilling to leave.

Soon after, Gongshu Zao died. At that time, Gongsun Yang learned that Qin Xiaogong was seeking talents, so after burying Gongshu Zao, he went west to Qin State and was highly valued by Qin Xiaogong. He implemented the famous Shang Yang Reform.

Although Shang Yang ultimately met with a bad end, his reforms were a rare example of successful reforms since ancient times.

Cheng Guang's imitation of the ancients' behavior clearly showed that he valued Xu Qing to a very high level.

He faced the Prime Minister's anger and said, "Does the Prime Minister think that I think too highly of Xu Qing?"

The Prime Minister said: "Although Xu Gongming is talented, he is young. How can he compare with Shang Jun?"

Since ancient times, Shang Yang has received mixed reviews, but in the eyes of reformers like the Prime Minister, Shang Yang was undoubtedly successful. Because the government continues even after the death of the leader, which can be said to be the greatest pursuit of reformers since ancient times.

As for personal life and death, honor and disgrace, they are not very important.

After all, as long as the law exists, they are still alive even though they are dead, and their political life will continue.

Cheng Guang said bluntly: "In my opinion, Yuan Fu is not as good as Xu Qing in understanding the reform."

Chen Fu was listening nearby and couldn't help but twitch his lips.

He wondered if Cheng Guang was getting senile.

Although Chen Fu believed that Xu Qing was indeed worthy of the reputation of a scholar, he still thought that Xu Qing needed a lot of training to become a true talent for the country. Today, Xu Qing's methods of doing things were too rough and too fierce.

Fortunately, the trouble only occurred in Jiangning Prefecture. If it affected Nanzhili or several provinces across the country, even the Prime Minister would not be able to save him.

When the Prime Minister heard Cheng Guang's words that belittled him, he was not angry at all. He said calmly: "How can my understanding of the reform not be as good as Xu Qing's?"

Cheng Guang said: "In this regard, Yuanfu is inferior in three aspects. First, Xu Qing grew up in a family of yamen runners. He knows more about the affairs of the county government than Yuanfu, and is not easily deceived by clerks. Since ancient times, the most difficult point of reform is to implement one's own will to the grassroots and delegate imperial power to the countryside. In Jiangning Prefecture, Xu Qing has done it.

Second, Xu Qing understood the hearts of the lower-class scholars. Papermaking and printing have been popular since the Middle Ages. Confucian classics can be accessed by ordinary scholars, thus breaking the monopoly of the gentry on Confucian classics. Xu Qing came from the lower class and won the hearts of ordinary scholars. Therefore, he did not have to rely on his family of imperial examinations to do things. With this broad foundation, he could rely on the Fushe he managed. After he came to power, he would immediately have a large number of scholars who went deep into the lower class. What they said and did could have a deeper influence on the countryside than the prime minister. In this way, the people's understanding of the reform would be deepened, and the difficulty of implementing government orders would be reduced.

Third, Xu Qing can get to the heart of things when he does things. Although he made a big fuss about his actions this time, he was very clear that land surveying was not the goal of the Yuanfu. Those who seek the best will get the middle. Those who seek the middle will get the worst. If things get bigger, it will be good for him. If things get smaller, the pressure will be on him. "

The Prime Minister said calmly, "I don't agree with the third point. If I hadn't taken the pressure off for him, would he still be so relaxed?"

Cheng Guang sighed: "May I ask Yuan Fu, can you not bear the pressure for him?"

The Prime Minister smiled when he heard this: "Mr. Cheng's words are indeed reasonable."

Chen Fu, standing nearby, couldn't figure out what the Prime Minister was thinking.

How come Cheng Guang's words were so unpleasant, but the Prime Minister was actually quite happy?

Seeing this, Cheng Guang cupped his hands and said, "It seems that Guang is just making a fool of himself. Yuan Fu knows these things better than I do."

Prime Minister: "Mr. Cheng actually has something to say. Xu Qing is a man of both civil and military talents, and he is not even sixteen years old yet. A government official cannot raise such a person. He either has a secret inheritance that is shocking to the world, or he is the reincarnation of a ghost immortal, born with wisdom. If he stays in the local area, he will become powerful and develop into a dragon. It is better to let him enter the capital and assimilate with our generation."

Cheng Guang bowed again.

That's exactly what he meant.

Xu Qing's entry into the capital city certainly allowed him to get close to the power of the world, but it was also like a phoenix entering a golden cage, where he could gain talents but not be harmed by them.

If left alone in their native places, such people would be like dragons entering the sea, finding their place in the world.

Moreover, if we have such people and train them, there is hope that we can continue to reform in the future.

It should be noted that reforms are always easy at first and become difficult later on. The further you go, the deeper the waters you touch. Unless you are a person as powerful as a dragon, you will never be able to continue the reforms and save the world.

In Cheng Guang's opinion, even if the Prime Minister's reforms were successful, it would only be a facade to make the Dayu Dynasty look bright and glorious. The ills of the late dynasty could not be eliminated by the current policies.

As for how to do it?

Cheng Guang himself doesn't know.

But he knew that only those with extraordinary talent would have a chance of doing it.

He had read Xu Qing's answers to the Four Books in the provincial examination. He was upright and had the demeanor of ancient sages. Moreover, he was not yet sixteen years old. This kind of person was probably born with knowledge. It was probably impossible to cultivate such a demeanor just by receiving secret inheritance.

The Prime Minister said: "There is no need to discuss this matter any further. I have my own plan."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Guang said no more.

However, Chen Fu had some ideas in his mind.

His ambition is not as pure as Cheng Guang's, nor does he have the unfathomable wisdom of the Prime Minister. He is a gentleman who hides his abilities and waits for the right time to act.

...

...

The tug-of-war in the court over "measuring the land and implementing the One Whip Law" continued. Liang Ge Lao first arrived in Jinyang Prefecture and prepared to take the sea route.

Because Jinyang Prefecture and Jiangning Prefecture both have seaports, they can be reached directly by sea. In addition, the Prime Minister repeatedly reminded that this time they should go directly to Jiangning Prefecture to interrogate the local gentry and not cause any more trouble.

In fact, the fundamental reason was that Lord Liang knew very well that if they took the canal and the official road, too much news would leak out along the way and trouble would come one after another.

Take the sea route and everything will be fine.

He left the capital to avoid trouble, not to cause trouble for himself.

As the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he was able to work outside the capital and was naturally given high standards and treatment.

The current prefect of Jinyang Prefecture, Lord Wu, is Xu Qing’s old mentor.

At this moment, he had received news from his fellow townsman, Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Personnel, and came to greet him.

Seeing Lord Liang's ceremonial guard, they came to greet him with local officials and gentry of all ranks.

Lord Liang knew clearly that if he was going to sail out to sea from Jinyang Prefecture, he would inevitably have to pass by Magistrate Wu and his people, so he did not try to avoid them deliberately.

What's more, Magistrate Wu was not only Xu Qing's instructor for the county examination, but also a man of Minister Zhang, the Junior Prime Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

If Minister Zhang moves up from this position, he will at least be promoted to the level of Minister of Rites or Minister of Revenue, or he can directly enter the cabinet.

According to Xu Qing's previous life, this was the peak of perfection when he reached the half-step state of being a pavilion elder.

Such a person, even the Prime Minister has to give him some respect on weekdays.

Lord Liang knew the other person's background, so he didn't take it too seriously.

After all, although the Ministry of Rites is noble, it actually has little power and not much benefits. Of course, if he can endure the seniority, he will have no problem getting a deputy assistant.

If the Prime Minister's reform fails, a person like him who is good at getting along with everyone might be needed to balance the court and serve as the Prime Minister.

This is also the reason why Lord Liang is unwilling to participate in court struggles.

As long as he retires smoothly, I don't think he will be posthumously named "Wenzheng" after his death, but there is always a chance that he will be named "Wenzhong".

After a welcoming party and some wine.

Lord Wu whispered, "Your Excellency, when you go to Jiangzuo, you must know the local customs and habits of Jiangzuo. I have prepared two Jiangzuo local customs for you to entertain you and help you understand the customs of Jiangzuo."

The corner of Lord Liang's mouth twitched. He was from Nanzhili, how could he not understand?

But Xiao Wu also had good intentions.

Moreover, it has been a long time since I left my hometown, and now I am indeed not familiar with Jiangzuo.

Lord Liang did not refuse. While taking a break, he saw two lovely ladies, twins at that. They were top-quality skinny horses from Huainan. One was named Nong Ying and the other was named Nong Yue.

He took off all his clothes early and warmed the bed for Lord Liang.

After serving him, he used his body to warm the feet and hands of Lord Liang.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

Elder Liang couldn't help but sigh, and then he had a good sleep.

On the second day, Magistrate Wu came in person to see him off, saying that he was sending two boxes of local specialties to Elder Liang, and also asked Elder Liang to give a letter to his disciples.

When they got on the ship, Liang Ge Lao first looked at the local specialties, which were indeed all yellow, white, emerald and green local products.

Then he privately opened the letter that Magistrate Wu asked him to bring, and took a look at it, but found that it was blank.

After seeing this, Elder Liang couldn't help but smile, "What a wonderful person."

What we actually want in sending the letter is Mr. Liang’s attitude; the content of the letter is not important.

It's even for the good of Lord Liang.

If Lord Liang wanted to ask Xu Qing to do something for him, he could just write the message on a blank piece of letter paper. Anyway, it had the personal seal of Magistrate Wu on it, which was enough to serve as a token of trust.

Liang Ge Lao was very satisfied with the reception and praised Magistrate Wu to his attendants, saying, "Mr. Wu from Jinyang Prefecture can at least become an assistant minister of one of the six ministries in the future."

He felt that such praise was not sincere enough, and continued: "If there is an opportunity, the ministers of the Shangshu Pavilion may also be able to do it."

There are people who have become ministers of the Shangshu cabinet among the top three Jinshi of this dynasty. A hundred years ago, there was a child prodigy who passed the imperial examination at the age of sixteen.

Therefore, unless Xu Qing takes part in the imperial examination next year, the record of the youngest Jinshi in this dynasty will not be broken.

...

...

Lord Liang was ordered to leave the capital, and the news quickly spread to Yingtian Prefecture.

At this time, Xu Qing had asked the Governor Li Wendi to act as a matchmaker and proposed marriage. The next step was to prepare for the wedding. He stayed in Yingtian Prefecture for the time being and did not go back.

After Li Wendi acted as a matchmaker, he resigned and returned to Beijing.

Obviously he knew that there had been a lot of commotion in Nanzhili recently, so he took the opportunity to withdraw.

After Xu Qing came into contact with Li Wending, he found that Li Wending's martial arts were unfathomable, at least at the level of internal training, or even higher.

It was really a good place to practice in the government. After he made careful inquiries, he finally found out Li Wendi's true background. It was said that he was the successor of the Wudang Longmen Sect.

The origin of the Longmen Sect is the Quanzhen Taoism Longmen Sect, and its founder is Changchun Zhenren.

In fact, the Zhengang Sect is also a branch of the Quanzhen Taoism. If the Tiangang Wuji Gong practiced by Gu Wuji had not been imperfect, he might not have been defeated by the old monk Yankong that day.

In terms of heritage, during its heyday, Quanzhen Taoism was known as the orthodox Xuanmen and the largest sect in the world.

Not to mention the founder, Master Chongyang, but also his seven disciples, all of whom were capable of their own tasks. Master Changchun was even a guest of honor in both Jin and Mongolia.

But after the death of Changchun Zhenren, Quanzhen Taoism quickly declined.

In fact, there were signs before.

Because the Seven Quanzhen disciples separated early on, each with his own Taoist lineage.

The power of Dachan Temple lies in its long tradition and the fact that there has never been any major split, so the unique skills have been preserved intact.

He has always been a leading figure in the martial arts world, and has deliberately lowered his status in the religious world.

After all, religious struggles were too cruel and fierce, and they also aroused the imperial court's fear.

The Quanzhen Taoism went too deep into this aspect, and ended up making a big mistake.

During this period of time, Xu Qing penetrated the third hidden vein of the Seven Stars of the Azure Dragon, the "Di Vein", which represents the front feet of the Azure Dragon and symbolizes stability and strength.

There are thirteen star official acupoints in total.

After Xu Qing understood it, he clearly felt that his Xuantian visualization method had been further improved and his spiritual power had been enhanced.

However, the further you progress, the harder it becomes to improve your spirit and martial arts.

Xu Qing can still continue to make progress now, as he is in the golden period of his physical development.

In fact, this is similar to the effect of a ghost fairy reincarnating and successfully solving the mystery in the womb.

Powerful ghost immortals from the previous dynasty were reincarnated, and some even became martial saints in their teens.

But because of this, he gave up the cultivation of the spirit and soul, and directly achieved complete unity of spirit and body.

As for Xu Qing, he can't even reach the threshold of martial arts master, let alone the martial arts saint which is above the martial arts master.

He practiced all the way and summarized that there are about five major levels in martial arts practice.

Exercise the tendons, skin, bones, internal organs, and cleanse the marrow.

Above the marrow cleansing, one becomes the Martial Saint.

It's a legend in the martial arts world.

The three levels of tendon training, skin training, and bone training are not independent. It is just that tendon training is easier than skin training, and skin training is easier than bone training.

When it comes to training bones, the skills of training tendons and skin must be very high.

But those who are gifted are born with strong muscles and bones, and are very powerful even without deliberate training. If they practice some hard qigong, their muscles, bones and skin will naturally be far superior to those of ordinary warriors.

Therefore, martial arts really requires the most talent.

Only after training the internal organs, can warriors with poor innate roots gradually catch up with those gifted warriors at the same level.

But the difference is that after working hard, you finally get 80 points, while others go from 80 points to 90 or 95 points.

"In any case, only after going through the internal organs and marrow cleansing can one be truly reborn. I haven't yet cultivated the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound to the upper level, so there's no way I can talk about marrow cleansing."

Xu Qing knew very well that an ordinary warrior who could understand the essence of "bone training" could already be called an outstanding warrior.

But at this level, the gap is often huge.

A strong man like Lin Tianwang, even if he has not practiced dirty tricks, can fight with ordinary dirty tricks fighters.

A weak person may not even be able to defeat a talented warrior who trains muscles and skin.

Training the internal organs is the true starting point for martial arts to become extraordinary and holy.

Only at this stage can one be said to have mastered the art of martial arts.

"To survive in this world of suffering, one must have both spirit and martial arts. Although I have relied on the old phoenix tree to enter the realm of 'harmony between yin and yang', and can temporarily practice both spirit and martial arts at the level of training the internal organs and revealing the form, my progress in martial arts is not as good as that of a martial artist at the same level who has achieved unity of spirit and body. In the final analysis, my 'harmony between yin and yang' was achieved by accident and is too crude."

After Xu Qing obtained the portrait of Master Chongyang of Quanzhen Taoism, he took advantage of his free time in Yingtian Prefecture to study the context of Quanzhen Taoism in detail.

Among them, the Southern Founder of Quanzhen Dao, Ziyang Zhenren, had a book called "Zifu Yuanzong", which contained profound insights into the principles of yin and yang. Unfortunately, this method has long been lost.

But according to Xu Qing's calculation, this "Purple Mansion Yuanzong" may have been obtained by Xuantian Taoist in the end. The problem is that Xu Qing did not find this thing in the cave in Qixia Mountain.

"Perhaps Taoist Xuantian has other secrets." Xu Qing thought to himself.

He had no time to care about his cultivation now, but went to the Inspectorate's Office to meet his father-in-law.

"I just received news that the court has ordered the Minister of Rites Liang Gelao to go out of the capital to investigate the matter between you and the gentry in Jiangning Prefecture this time."

“It seems to be of high standard.”

Feng Xifeng spoke slowly, "When I was in the capital, I knew that Liang Gelao was a centrist who would not easily offend anyone. I'm afraid he came this time with the intention of smoothing things over. But I also got news that the Prime Minister meant that the gentry in Jiangning Prefecture were either deceiving the emperor or sincerely petitioning for a land survey. It seems that you have passed this hurdle."

He was not a core disciple of the Prime Minister, and unlike others he did not like to be called "Yuan Fu" to express respect and show his closeness to the Prime Minister.

In fact, this was also Feng Xifeng's purpose. He followed the reformists not to curry favor with the powerful, but because he wanted to get things done. There was no personal dependence on them.

The main focus is to be objective and not personal, and only recognize ideas.

If others wanted to reform the law and save the people, he would also support them.

However, if he is not given an official position, he will not be able to do his job properly.

Xu Qing: "Sir, what you mean is that the Prime Minister is holding it high, but when Elder Liang comes, maybe he will put it down gently."

Feng Xifeng: "You can make such a big thing, can you let it go easily? It seems that more depends on you."

Xu Qing: "Sir, you think highly of me, but what we do next still depends on what they do."

"What does this mean?"

Xu Qing smiled and said, "There will be guests coming to my son-in-law's house soon, so I'll go back first."

"Let's go, you don't seem to be the same person anymore."

Feng Xifeng was speechless when he saw Xu Qing calling him "Sir" one moment and "my self-proclaimed son-in-law" the next.

However, the more casual Xu Qing was, the more harmonious his relationship with the Feng family was. He was also a casual person and liked this way of getting along.

When you are an official outside, you have to pretend to be something, so at home you always have to be a "human being" and relax yourself.

Xu Qing left the Inspectorate's Office and called Su Lianqing.

"Did you record down which clerks in the government and county offices have complaints these days?"

"Everything is recorded, but I'm not sure if anyone is slandering it." Su Lianqing smiled.

Xu Qing: "Don't worry about these. These people eat our food, and once they can't feed them, they want to destroy the pot. How can it be so easy? This is a good opportunity to replace them with more caring people."

He looked stern.

It seemed that he had been too gentle to these people before, and they all thought that they could eat his food as they pleased.

Su Lianqing was quite excited.

She had long felt that the young master was not being aggressive enough, and that those cunning clerks were all fickle and could not be trusted at all.

This is a good opportunity to get a blood transfusion.

...

...

The news soon spread to Jiangning Prefecture.

The gentry in Jiangning Prefecture, led by Mr. Hu, were overwhelmed when they heard the Prime Minister's decree.

"What should I do..." Mr. Ding was at a loss for a moment.

Mr. Hu said bitterly, "It's all your fault for being weak at the time and giving Xu Gongming a handle. I'm afraid it's going to be a disaster this time."

"Why didn't anyone in the court speak for us?"

"I got the news that the Prime Minister is planning to 'survey the land of the country'. People in the court like to compromise. I'm afraid they are willing to sacrifice us in exchange for the Prime Minister's compromise."

"Why are they like this?"

A group of local gentry and powerful people were well versed in the rules of the game at court. After the lethality of Xu Qing's move became apparent, everyone understood that even if a centrist like Liang Ge Lao was sent, based on their understanding of Xu Qing, they were afraid that Xu Qing would never give up after the Prime Minister's order.

Because Xu Qing had already fallen out with them.

If it were them, would they give some leeway?

I will definitely beat him to death.

"This time everyone has to apologize and cooperate with the land survey." Mr. Hu knew the pros and cons and planned to surrender.

Land surveying is just a tax. If they are really charged with deceiving the emperor, the whole family will be finished. The power of the gentry in the world is indeed strong, but all the gentry in Jiangning Prefecture are nothing in the eyes of the court.

"Uh, you surrender so soon?" Although the other gentry were also scared, they didn't expect that you, Old Hu, would back down so quickly this time.

They also thought that only with Lao Hu's resistance could they show the value of their surrender to Xu Qing.

Forget it, it would be a good outcome if everyone surrendered.

This way, everyone suffers the loss together.

Mr. Hu had no choice but to talk things out. Who knows what these stupid teammates could do. Just bear with it for half a year.

Once Xu Gongming goes to take part in the imperial examination, they can rest assured.

It is impossible for such a person to continue to hang around in the shallow pool of Jiangning Prefecture.

"Hmph, now that you, Xu Gongming, have arrived in the capital, I don't believe you can still call the shots." Mr. Hu thought to himself that with Xu Qing's character, he would run into a wall sooner or later.

Watch him build a tall building, watch him entertain guests, and watch his building collapse.

(End of this chapter)