Chapter 138: Jianghu Temple
Chapter 138: Jianghu Temple (Subscription Request)
Xu Qing moved qi and blood, practiced the Qigong, and after refining a ginseng beard of the Five-bend Spiritual Ginseng, some of the vital energy he had consumed was replenished.
He looked at the bronze mirror in his body, and the column for life span remained unchanged.
Xu Qing was not surprised at all. His life span had no direct relationship with his physical condition. Unless his health was extremely bad, he would not live for many years.
His current observation is that his lifespan can be extended through the Holy Qi, but the more time passes, the more Holy Qi needs to be consumed, and the shorter the extended lifespan becomes.
At the same time, the bronze mirror's judgment of his identity as "the demon from outside the realm" remained unchanged.
Xu Qing is now suspicious.
If the world is compared to a person's body, then his identity is equivalent to a virus that invades from the outside world, causing the world itself to reject him.
The greater his influence and the stronger his strength, the more intense the rejection will be. This is also the reason why the effect of the holy virtue aura is getting weaker and weaker.
On the other hand, if his influence becomes smaller and his strength becomes weaker, even if the rejection reaction weakens, he will still be eliminated by the world's instinctive reaction.
Of course, this is just a guess.
Another guess is that the root problem lies in his body itself.
If this is the reason, to solve the problem from the root, he has to cultivate to become a "ghost immortal", reincarnate, or take over another body.
Because the realm of possession is just a simple invasion and control, the original body still cannot be abandoned, and the body controlled by the possession cannot continue to practice.
The incarnation of Mingwang, the leader of the Ru Luo Sect, is the "Raincoat Man", who was trained to become a great master at the level of practicing internal organs, and then controlled by possessing a body.
Like the Golden Centipede Dharma King, using his soul to invade his own bloodline descendants may have other advantages, but it can never achieve the effect of possessing another body or being reborn or reincarnated.
No matter which guess it is, strength is essential to solve the problem.
One force can defeat ten skills; one force can break all methods!
Xu Qing then told Su Lianqing to take good care of his injuries for the next few days.
As he was speaking, he heard the rapid sound of horse hooves and wind chimes, which soon came out of the yard.
Su Lianqing said solemnly, "Sir, our people are here."
She is the intelligence chief under Xu Qing.
The sound of wind chimes signals urgent news.
Xu Qing nodded.
Su Lianqing was still very cautious and went out to receive the secret signal before letting the person in. However, she did not let the person into the house. She only asked questions in the yard, and then ordered the messenger to go out and continue to inquire about the news, and then took the secret letter to Xu Qing.
Even without using his spiritual perception, Xu Qing was able to see and hear sharply with his physical body when he was within a range of dozens of feet. He could see and hear everything, and no movement could be hidden from him.
Of course, he remembered clearly the previous conversation between Su Lianqing and the messenger.
Su Lianqing also knew this, so she didn't say anything more and directly handed over the secret letter.
Xu Qing picked it up and took a look at it, then frowned slightly based on what he had just heard.
"Dozens of Japanese pirates came ashore and started burning, killing and looting in several coastal prefectures as if they were in an empty land. Haha..." Xu Qing knew that things were not that simple. It seemed that the Japanese pirates had come ashore and were burning, killing and looting, but in fact, there was a fundamental problem in the court's control over the troops in the prefectures and garrisons.
This was also the reason why the gentry, powerful people, nobles, and military officers of the garrisons directly expressed their dissatisfaction with the imperial court's land survey.
"Is this something done by Duke Wei and his men?" Su Lianqing asked.
Xu Qing shook his head: "The first bird to stick its head out gets shot. Duke Wei is very shrewd and will not stick his head out at this juncture. But this makes things even more troublesome."
Judging from the content of the secret letter, this incident was more like an accidental incident that caused a chain reaction.
"No, it may not be a coincidence." Xu Qing thought of the "Raincoat Man", the incarnation of Mingwang, the leader of Luojiao, who appeared outside Yingtian Prefecture.
Although the Lotus Sect has now been conquered by Xu Qing and reorganized into the Red Flower Society.
But in fact, the Lotus Sect that Xu Qing conquered was already in great decline. The current Red Flower Society was far inferior to the Lotus Sect in the past.
The Luo Sect has more than one branch of the Lotus Sect.
What's more, the roots of the Lotus Sect are in Lingnan, and there are obviously other secret branches of the Lotus Sect in Southern Zhili. Maybe they have already colluded with many gentry and nobles in Southern Zhili.
In the southeast, the contradiction between people and land is acute, and it is also a natural breeding ground for the development of cults.
Such things have happened many times in history.
Even when the Yellow Turbans were at their peak, they colluded with the eunuchs around the emperor.
In his previous life, during the Tianli Sect Rebellion in the Qing Dynasty, even members of the royal family were directly involved and helped the rioting believers to attack the palace.
After all, interests are the most important thing.
During the early Qing Dynasty, there were still people from the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty who raised the banner of anti-Qing and restoration of Ming Dynasty and wanted to support the Ming Dynasty.
Xu Qing thought for a while and said, "After something like this happened, the Inspectorate will definitely send someone to look for me. I'll go back first."
"Well, I will send you off, sir."
Xu Qing nodded slightly, moved, and disappeared from Su Lianqing's sight.
...
...
Xu Qing returned to his own residence in Tianjing City, picked up his pen, and leaned on his horse to write a thousand words, drafting a memorial.
Not long after he finished writing, someone from the Censorate came to look for him.
Xu Qing followed him, walked through the hall, and came to the study room in the backyard of Feng Xun'an.
"Gongming, this is the urgent military information that just arrived today." Feng Xun frowned.
After Xu Qing read it, he found that it was roughly the same as the intelligence he had obtained, except that the content was more detailed. However, building an intelligence system is a costly and laborious task.
The fact that Su Lianqing was able to help him set up the structure showed that she was very capable.
This is a long and hidden battle that requires steady and cautious progress.
He slowly said, "No matter what, with this military intelligence sent up, the dispute in the court regarding the 'land survey' will be completely settled."
Feng Xunan sighed: "With this chaos, the power of reform will be much weaker."
Xu Qing nodded.
This is why he decisively dealt with the gentry in Jiangning Prefecture after receiving the letter from the Prime Minister. He knew very well that if he delayed for too long, unexpected changes might happen, such as this incident, and in that case, the situation would be very unfavorable to him.
We had already cut the Gordian knot and determined the nature of the matter.
Even if the central government tolerated the "land survey", it would not make any compromise on the matter of Jiangning Prefecture. After all, "face" must be saved.
In addition, if the case of Jiangning Prefecture were overturned, the authority of the Prime Minister and the Emperor would also be severely hit.
Feng Xunan naturally understood this truth. He glanced at Xu Qing and said, "Gongming, I thought you were too hasty before, but now it seems that you are a master at what you do. If you were slow in handling the affairs of Jiangning Prefecture, you would be stuck in a quagmire and unable to move forward or backward."
He paused for a moment, and asked, "Did you foresee the current changes? That's why you are so anxious?"
Xu Qing: "No, I was just lucky."
Inspector Feng said meaningfully: "You have always been lucky in doing things."
Xu Qing smiled and said, "Sir, you can't hope that I will have bad luck."
Feng Xun said: "You are a cunning boy. I don't know if Qing'er is following you for good or bad."
Xu Qing smiled and said, "So you have to take good care of me. After all, you don't want Ah Wu to have a bad life with me, right?"
Feng Xun's face darkened, "I'm not even forty yet, how can I be old?"
Ordinary people are grandfathers at the age of 40, but the literati are in their prime at the age of 40. The quality of life of those who are not employed is much higher than that of ordinary cattle and horses, so as long as they pay attention to health preservation, they can generally live much longer than ordinary people and have a richer life.
This kind of thing has been going on since ancient times.
Xu Qing smiled: "Sir, you are young and strong. In this time of turmoil, it is the time for you to make achievements. Now the officials of the central government must urgently need you to make achievements and stabilize the situation in the southeast. I have a bold idea."
Feng Xunan knew that Xu Qing was a man of wisdom and resourcefulness, so he asked curiously, "Gongming, just tell us what you think. There is no need to hide anything between us."
Xu Qing: "No matter how we appease the people's livelihood afterwards, the most important thing right now is to solve the problem militarily. At this time of national crisis, you should take the lead and ask the central government to send you the 'Military Supervisor'."
Feng Xunpan was shocked. "Is it appropriate for me to take the initiative to ask for power?"
Xu Qing: "Not only that, sir, you also have to take on the responsibility of a censor. This is the memorial I wrote for you. Please take a look at it."
Feng Xun's face twitched. It turned out that you came prepared and knew about this matter long ago.
He was secretly surprised at the power under Xu Qing's command, and then took the memorial drafted by Xu Qing. After reading the content, his expression changed, "You want me to impeach all the officials and nobles in Nanzhili, including Duke Wei and Lord Li who just acted as your matchmaker?"
Xu Qing smiled and said, "This is called preemptive strike. If sir, no matter what you do, it doesn't work, do you think they will throw dirty water on you?"
Xun'an Feng immediately understood that this was a high-probability event, and the breakthrough point was Xu Qing's exploitation of the gentry.
He understood Xu Qing's deeper intention.
The affairs of Jiangning Prefecture must be protected by the Prime Minister, so if nothing happens to Xu Qing, then nothing will happen to him either.
With a bottom line, he now has to do what he wants, whether he wants power or impeaches the gentry and officials of all ranks in Nanzhili.
When someone tries to slander you, your best option is not to make excuses, but to have a knife in your hand.
Moreover, the southeast is now in turmoil. Even if the central officials want to compromise, they will never compromise to the end. They are in urgent need of trustworthy people who can help them stabilize the situation.
Xu Qing had already fallen out with the Duke of Wei and other nobles, and given what he had done, he was naturally trustworthy, so naturally, Xun'an Feng became the most suitable candidate at the moment.
The duty of the Inspector-General is to supervise civil affairs. If he is also assigned the task of military supervisor, he means he has the power to intervene in both civil and military affairs, which is similar to the powers of the governor-general and governor-general, but the title and actual power are lower.
However, there is no governor or governor-general in Southern Zhili now, so with the dispatch of the Military Inspector, Xunan Feng is basically a lower-ranking governor of Yingtian, and there is no one above him who can actually suppress him.
Moreover, this power of temporary dispatch is very easy to be deprived.
In addition, since Feng Xun'an's rank was low, it would not be too troublesome to reward him afterwards.
The key point is that Inspector Feng was not without any roots in Nanzhili, because he had a good son-in-law, Xu Qing.
Since it was Inspector Feng who was nominally in charge of the work, there was no need to worry about how to reward Xu Qing afterwards.
Therefore, Inspector Feng completely conforms to the Prime Minister and the Emperor's logic of employing people.
After Xun'an Feng figured it out, he couldn't help but sigh. Everyone wants their sons to be successful, but what about his?
Xun'an Feng felt like he was living off Xu Qing.
After all, the fact that he was able to get the position of Inspector Censor was also related to Xu Qing.
Lord Feng blushed and said, "You can just tell me what you mean. Why are you helping me draft a memorial? Don't I know how to write one?"
This is Lao Feng’s last stubbornness in front of his future son-in-law!
"My dear daughter, you should walk your own path in the future." This time, Old Feng felt that Xu Qing was controlling him. He couldn't stand up straight and felt quite sorry for his daughter.
Xu Qing hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "This is naturally the work of the master. I will definitely not tell anyone."
Lord Feng: "..." He then carefully probed: "You didn't tell Xie Wenyuan before you came."
"Time is urgent. There's no time."
Xu Qing's reasons were very convincing, so Feng Xunan felt relieved and said, "You go see Qing'er, I will consider this matter."
"Yes." Xu Qing was afraid that if he continued talking, he would irritate his old father-in-law, so he retreated obediently.
Feng Xunjian then picked up the memorial and continued to ponder it, "This kid's writing skills are really amazing."
He couldn't help feeling a little melancholy, as he felt that not a single word in the memorial could be changed, leaving him no room to polish and compose his ideas.
Poor old Feng had no choice but to recopy the memorial in the standard official script and then destroy the original.
After all, this matter is of great importance. If people knew that it was Xu Qing who came up with the plan, it would have a bad impact.
Not long after, the doorman outside came in to report that Xie Wenyuan was here to visit.
Inspector Feng invited him into the study.
After Xie Wenyuan came in, he laughed and said, "Old Feng, you are in trouble."
Feng Xun'an said calmly, "Don't try to bluff me with your big words. I have already written the memorial. Please take a look."
Xie Wenyuan took the memorial and his expression changed after a while. "The ancients said that a good strategist has the formidable power of mountains and rivers in his mind and the deepness of a city in his heart. You have only been an official for a short time, and you have already mastered this skill?"
Inspector Feng: "Do you think I'm Li Linfu?"
Xie Wenyuan: "Li Ge Nu is indeed the prime minister who saved the country. Is this an insult to you? I originally thought that you were far inferior to Li Linfu. And now it seems that you, the father-in-law and the son-in-law, are of the same kind."
Feng Xun's mouth twitched. He had to admit that Xie Wenyuan was half right. He judged Xu Gongming more accurately than himself.
Xie Wenyuan smiled and continued, "You have a backup plan after submitting this memorial."
Feng Xun'an said calmly, "What's the backup plan you're talking about?"
"What else could it be? It's to seize power. You've finally come to your senses. As a censor, what can you do without military power?" Xie Wenyuan said arrogantly, and then said, "With me, Jinliang, I can help you find your way out of this maze. I'll definitely keep you safe."
Feng Xun's face darkened, and he asked, "You are so well-informed, could it be that your father-in-law's family is also involved in this matter?"
It turned out that Xie Wenyuan’s wife was from the Yunyang Zhu family, one of the four major families in Nanzhili. They had been engaged in business for generations and were extremely wealthy.
Xie Wenyuan: "The Zhu family is a group of people who have no strategy or decision. Unless Duke Wei and others are crazy enough to personally take action, the Zhu family will never dare to get involved. However, they have a large business and are well-informed. Through the Zhu family's connections, I quickly learned about this matter. How strange can it be?"
Feng Xunjian: "So you are born to be a rebel. The Zhu family sponsored you to travel around and study for the imperial examinations, but you turned around and helped me and Xu Gongming."
Xie Wenyuan sneered: "The Zhu family has a huge fortune, but they are unwilling to give up their wealth. They have no power, which is a recipe for disaster. I am doing these things so that I can save them in the future. Otherwise, if the Zhu family falls one day, I am afraid that nothing will be left."
Feng Xunjian: "You are so arrogant. You are still just a juren."
Xie Wenyuan's face flushed, then he took a breath and snorted coldly: "Since you have made a decision, then please ask the military supervisor for his opinion. I will personally bring it to Yanyue Hall for you and explain the pros and cons to Grandpa Tai on behalf of you and your son-in-law."
He was about to go to Beijing to take part in next year's imperial examination, and then find an opportunity to return to Jiangning Prefecture to serve as an official.
Xie Quan has now determined that he and Xu Qing can accomplish something earth-shattering.
...
...
Xu Qing entered the inner house, met Feng Wu, and told him what had happened before.
Feng Wu: "Since such a big thing has happened, you can go and do your work. You don't have to worry about our marriage first."
Xu Qing: "No, our marriage is more important than anything else, we can't say no."
Feng Wu was touched at first, then reacted and spat, "So you want to hold the wedding as usual and calm it down."
She was so moved for nothing!
Xu Qing smiled and said, "This is called the best of both worlds."
The more turbulent the times are, the more we must not lose our composure.
The calmer Xu Qing is, the less chaos there will be in Jiangning Prefecture.
Feng Wu understood this, but didn't say anything. He just chuckled and said, "In that case, you should accompany me for the next few days. I feel like I'm almost at the peak of my ability to drive creatures. Please give me some guidance."
"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."
Feng Wu smiled slightly: "Please take care of my cultivation, Master Xu. When I can manifest my form, I will repay you with a great favor."
Xu Qing was curious: "What's the benefit?"
Feng Wu: "I guarantee that Master Xu will be very satisfied with you."
"Then I'll wait." Xu Qing smiled casually, holding Feng Wu's soft hand, and the sound of tigers, leopards and thunder appeared.
Feng Wu immediately felt soft and numb all over, and his blood circulation began to flow.
She secretly thought that Xu Qing was up to no good, but she also knew that this was a rare opportunity, so she concentrated on feeling the thunder sound, circulating her qi and blood, and nourishing her soul.
Xu Qing took some free time to play the zither with Feng Wu to soothe his mind.
On the other hand, letters were secretly sent to Jiangning Prefecture. However, Xu Qing did not write to Liang Ge Lao, because he knew that if the news of the unrest in the southeast spread, Liang Ge Lao would definitely leave.
...
...
Jiangning Prefecture, Mr. Hu and others heard about the Japanese pirates' rebellion and felt very sorry. If Xu Gongming had acted later, he would have suffered a great loss this time.
Just as they were feeling a bit restless, Lord Liang, who was recuperating from his illness, suddenly appeared in Jiangning Prefecture in high spirits and summoned the gentry on the list, asking them to sign and seal their names.
The content is also very simple, that is, the previous petition was all their sincere wish, and there was no external force to force them. What was previously rumored by the outside world was absolutely untrue.
Lord Liang acted in an unusually swift and decisive manner this time.
When the gentry of Jiangning Prefecture saw that Lord Liang, a senior state official with the power to make the final decision in this case, had taken action, they dared not to waver any further and could only accept the result obediently.
However, Lord Liang did not participate in the subsequent land survey. He directly made a copy of the relevant documents and handed them over to Prefect He, and then returned to Beijing with the originals.
He knew that the situation in the southeast would soon become uneasy, and if he stayed at this time, he would only cause trouble for himself.
After all, he is now the highest-ranking official in Nanzhili. If he doesn't leave, he might be left in the southeast to clean up the mess.
He is not good at doing his job, but he is very good as an official!
This is called the way of utmost sincerity, seeing nothing and hearing nothing, sensing danger and avoiding it.
As for forcing the gentry of Jiangning to quickly conclude the case, Lord Liang was also aware of this.
The rebellion of Japanese pirates in the southeast will inevitably cause a chain reaction, which will greatly hinder the government's order to survey the land. In this way, the matter of Jiangning Prefecture can only be used as an iron case to save the face of the Prime Minister and Your Majesty.
He now quickly closed the case and returned to Beijing to give an explanation to the Prime Minister and His Majesty.
It is also conducive to the stability of the political situation.
Now the situation in the southeast is showing signs of being out of control, and all parties in the court want to end the dispute quickly and deal with the affairs of the southeast first.
Lord Liang could see clearly that the Japanese pirates' trouble at this time was probably not a premeditated plan by a few leading figures, but an inevitable outbreak after the conflict of interests had reached an extremely intense level.
If it is not handled properly, the country's situation will deteriorate uncontrollably.
Of course, he believed in the ability of the Prime Minister and the skill of His Majesty, and that they should be able to maintain dignity. However, he was afraid that wanting to revive Dayu was becoming more and more a pipe dream now.
The more sober Liang Ge Lao is, the less he wants to get involved. We must believe in the wisdom of future generations.
...
...
On the vast ocean, the loud sound of war drums sounds like the wrath of Thor.
The two sides are engaged in a naval battle.
Crossbows, catapults and all kinds of naval weapons were fired with great momentum.
On one of the ships, a flag with the word "Lin" written on it was flying.
Seems to be in control of the situation.
The pirate leader was the tallest and strongest among them.
This big man looked like a king descended from heaven, with eyes like copper bells, long hair draped over his shoulders, a full beard, and a very ferocious appearance. He held in his hand a nine-foot-long iron stick as thick as a bowl, which added to his majestic appearance.
This pirate is naturally King Lin.
"Gao Gongyuan, you are just the deputy leader of the Giant Whale Gang, and you dare to tease your grandfather. If you don't leave this shipload of wealth today, this day next year will be your death anniversary." King Lin said viciously.
These days, the leaders of the Giant Whale Gang and the Sea Sand Gang have been looking for him.
They even intended to blockade Dongdao Island to prevent him from replenishing supplies.
King Lin endured for many days and finally found an opportunity when the opponent's blockade was weak and launched an attack.
Gao Gongyuan had never expected that King Lin would be so ferocious, leading his men to charge forward with the force of thunder and lightning.
Even though King Lin only brought more than twenty people on board, he directly killed the general and seized the flag, and hung his own flag on the Giant Whale Gang's ship, which directly caused the situation on the battlefield to take a sharp turn for the worse.
Gao Gongyuan was a good fighter, but he was no match for Lin Tianwang.
This bandit leader transformed into a dragon since arriving in the East China Sea. His boxing skills have become more and more powerful, and the degree of unity of body and soul is so deep that it makes people jaw-dropping.
As powerful as the Giant Whale Gang, two of its priests who practiced internal organs have already been defeated by King Lin.
Although two of the priests are old and not true martial arts masters with the unity of body and soul, it is enough to show how powerful King Lin is.
Even as powerful as the two sea gang leaders were, they did not issue a declaration of war and directly engage in a life-and-death duel with Lin Tianwang without absolute certainty, but hoped to rely on their own strong foundation to grind Lin Tianwang to death.
Unfortunately, if Lord Liang had not occupied the Wuzhong port, they would not have found the opportunity to ambush King Lin while he was replenishing supplies, and kill or seriously injure him.
At the moment, King Lin would never dare to be so arrogant.
Moreover, as time went on, King Lin noticed their movements, forcing them to blockade East Island.
As a result, this villain actually found a gap when their main force was forced to go to the nearby coastal states to plunder, and launched a brazen counterattack.
"If Lord Lin takes this shipload of cargo, my whole family's lives will still be in danger. You might as well just kill me." Gao Gongyuan had already poured kerosene in the cabin and personally led people to guard the cabin door. Once King Lin took action, his cronies inside would immediately ignite the kerosene.
This is also the reason why King Lin did not take direct action.
King Lin knew that Gao Gongyuan was very powerful in hard Qigong, and with the help of secret techniques, he could stop him for a moment, enough time for the people inside to ignite the kerosene.
He frowned when he heard that. "I want your life. If you lose this shipload of goods and the treasures inside, it would be a waste of your hard work. Where are your family members? I will find a way to get them out for you."
Gao Gongyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Yingtianfu, Master Lin, don't think about it anymore."
Among his cargo, there was a Four-curved Spiritual Ginseng, which was extremely precious. If it fell into the hands of King Lin, it would be strange if the Giant Whale Gang leader did not kill his entire family.
It was also because King Lin was lucky that the goods had just been transferred from a merchant ship in Southeast Asia to his ship, and Gao Gongyuan had not had time to send them away.
(End of this chapter)