Chapter 211: Opening up the Purple Mansion
Chapter 211: Opening up the Purple Mansion
Xu Qing comprehended Zifu Yuanzong neither hurriedly nor slowly.
Moreover, this is Wenyuan Pavilion, so it is very convenient for Xu Qing to look up the origins of some Taoist terms in Zifu Yuanzong.
He suddenly understood why Lord Fang was able to attain enlightenment inadvertently while compiling the Taoist Canon. In addition to his personal talent, Wenyuan Pavilion was indeed a naturally suitable place for enlightenment.
In fact, in the history of past and present lives, there have been several great enlightened people who started out in libraries.
The more he comprehended the Zifu Yuanzong, the deeper his understanding of his own practice of Quanzhen Dao became.
Whether it is the Golden Light Mantra, Xuantian Visualization Method, Xuantian Wonderful Sound Marrow Cleansing Method, Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound, or the Innate Finger, Tiangang Wuji Gong, etc., many methods of cultivation, under the summary of Zifu Yuanzong, have a tendency to converge and integrate.
When he was enjoying himself in Wenyuan Pavilion, he suddenly met someone who made him feel a little embarrassed.
Shen Mo.
He was his teacher during the provincial examination.
After Xu Qing arrived in Beijing, he naturally went to pay a visit, but was turned away. However, he accepted his gift.
"Master, are you here in Wenyuan Pavilion looking for books?" Xu Qing was a respectable man. After recognizing Shen Mo, he stepped forward to greet him.
Speaking of which, this was the first time the master and disciple met.
As for Shen Mo's appearance, Xu Qing had inquired about it in advance, so he would recognize him. Moreover, when Shen Mo entered Wenyuan Pavilion, he had a conversation with the young eunuch on duty outside.
Shen Mo is Prince Yu's teacher and is actually quite prestigious in the palace.
"No, I came to see you."
"Find me?"
"I wrote a memorial attacking your resettlement of disaster victims with evil intentions. Because the memorial contained serious mistakes and omissions, Your Majesty ordered me to come and apologize to you."
"I feel ashamed to accept this." Xu Qing first bowed, then continued: "Even if there are some falsehoods in the memorial submitted by my teacher, his heart is for the good of the court. I have nothing to fear from my own shadow. Perhaps my teacher was deceived by someone, so he misunderstood..."
Xu Qing knew what was going on. Shen Mo was a person who would never offend Xu Qing. It was not his intention to write a memorial attacking Xu Qing.
In addition, Shen Mo's talent was not enough to write a memorial with serious errors and omissions, so he deliberately wrote a memorial with errors and omissions.
This is a common tactic used by officials in the Dayu Dynasty.
If his superiors force him to do something he doesn't want to do, he has no choice but to carry out the order, but he can't guarantee what problems will arise during the execution.
Anyway, just tell me whether the thing has been done or not.
The old emperor is even more interesting. It was obviously the people behind Shen Mo who forced Shen Mo to attack Xu Qing, but he still wanted to punish Shen Mo severely.
How can a teacher apologize to a student?
In addition, if Xu Qing accepted it, he would be ungrateful.
Who are you acting for?
"The king's orders cannot be disobeyed." Shen Mo bowed solemnly to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing dodged quickly.
The old emperor only asked Shen Mo to apologize, but did not say that Xu Qing must accept the apology.
Next, Shen Mo’s words are the real highlight.
"After discussion in the inner court, I will now take over the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works. From now on, all your affairs involving strange and cunning skills will be managed by me." Shen Mo's words were indeed very important.
"Where is the young minister?" Xu Qing keenly realized that something big must have happened today.
Shen Mo: "The old man of Yuanfu's family is seriously ill, and he can't go back to fulfill his filial duty, so he asked his eldest grandson to go back first and serve the old man instead of himself. Therefore, this position is vacant. It is the intention of Yuanfu and Your Majesty that I take over as the Minister of Works."
Xu Qing: "Master, did you just get the news that the old master is seriously ill?"
"Well, I only found out about it during the inner court discussion."
"The information is quite tight." Xu Qing himself had not received any relevant information, but he smelled something unusual.
He had previously suggested to the Prime Minister that the old man should be provided for in his old age, but not long after that, news came out that the old man was seriously ill. Most people would definitely think that it was the Prime Minister's political enemies who took action.
However, Xu Qing felt that the matter might not be simple.
Shen Mo said calmly, "I'm not very good at practical work, so if you have any ideas about your matters, just let me know. As long as there are no serious problems, I won't hinder you. I may not be able to sit in the position of Minister of Industry for long."
In terms of Shen Mo's qualifications, his position as the Minister of Works was purely a temporary transition and could not be considered a promotion. Unless he became the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue or even the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, it would be considered a promotion for him.
Xu Qing thought for a moment and said, "I will never cause any trouble to my teacher."
Shen Mo: "I heard someone say that you said that people are not free to do what they want in the world. Sometimes, the cause of trouble is not necessarily you. Naturally, I can't say that you are to blame. You do your job well, I do mine well, and if there is any problem, just face it."
The way he spoke now had a tone that sounded like he was letting everything take its course.
Xu Qing felt that Shen Mo was having a difficult time describing the feeling right now. Perhaps the death of his adoptive father had really dealt him a big blow.
Come to think of it, if his uncle and aunt passed away, he would definitely be very sad. Moreover, Shen Mo's adoptive father raised him as his own son, taught him to read, and did not expect anything in return.
Even before he died, he was probably worried about his adopted son's career and did not ask anyone to call Shen Mo back.
After all, after Shen Mo returned to his ancestral home, he no longer had any relationship with his adoptive father's family according to etiquette and law.
But for Shen Mo now, perhaps his career is not as important as going back to see his adoptive father, or even as important as the rest of his life.
Because in Shen Mo's heart, he wouldn't be where he is today without his adoptive father.
Xu Qing then saw Shen Mo off with courtesy.
Since he wants to do these tricks, the position of Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Industry is of course very important. Now it is Shen Mo who is on the stage. Although the support is not as strong as that of the young cabinet minister, Shen Mo's character will definitely not give him instructions.
Not interfering with the technical and business personnel below is already a top-notch leader. What else could Xu Qing ask for?
Moreover, due to Shen Mo's special status, no one can touch him unless he wants to be transferred.
After all, he is the teacher of the "crown prince". When Prince Yu comes to power, it will be natural for him to become the prime minister, let alone enter the cabinet.
Even if Prince Yu doesn't like this teacher, he still has to reward him.
Otherwise, how would others view Prince Yu?
Mean and ungrateful?
You don't even reward your teacher, so do we, the people who sent you up, have no intention of giving back to you?
Moreover, Shen Mo, as Prince Yu's teacher, wrote a letter to attack his own disciple Xu Qing, which caused some rift between him and Xu Qing, but it actually had an indescribable benefit.
The old emperor made this arrangement, which shows that his bottom line for Xu Qing is, if you help me make money, I will help you settle the matter. By the way, he also hit Prince Yu, the crown prince.
Among all things in the world, only what I give you is yours; if I don’t give it to you, you cannot even think about it.
King!
So Xu Qing has nothing to be proud of.
Once he became an emperor, he was no longer a human being, so don’t expect any true love from him. The old emperor could protect him without hesitation, or abandon him without hesitation.
Xu Qing's current ecological niche is nothing more than the position of Heshen during Qianlong's reign. And it is Heshen in the early period.
Appreciating a wise, knowing those out.
Xu Qing still has one thing to clarify.
At night, he left Wenyuan Pavilion as usual and returned to Feng Mansion to rest.
In the study, Xu Qing first talked about Shen Mo's matter. At that time, Lao Feng was also present in the court. Even if Xu Qing didn't come to ask, he would have held a small meeting with Xu Qing to discuss it.
"What strange things have happened in the Ministry of War recently?" Xu Qing's thinking was different. Shen Mo's matter was obviously related to the Ministry of Industry, but he had a hunch that it was closely related to the Ministry of War.
Because the current major event of the court is the establishment of the Grand Council.
Only by grasping the key to the problem can we find the root cause of the problem.
Feng Xifeng then told him everything that he found strange.
Xu Qing closed his eyes and thought, then suddenly asked, "Sir, are you saying that the official document from Yunzhou is five days later than usual and has not been delivered yet?"
"Yes, the Ministry of War has already approved the request."
Xu Qing: "Yunzhou is one of the nine important border towns, and military intelligence exchanges are close. Suddenly there was no news for five days, which is actually very unusual."
Feng Xifeng: "Yes, I also raised my opinion to the Ministry of War, but they didn't seem to respond."
Xu Qing: "The Six Departments are not the Six Ministries after all, so there are still too few information channels. However, it would be best for you to write a memorial directly to report the importance of this matter to His Majesty."
"Now?"
"The Six Censors are supposed to fill in the gaps for Your Majesty. You submit memorials to govern your country according to your position. You should even imagine the worst possible outcome and make suggestions. I don't know much about military affairs, so you should just use your strengths." Xu Qing immediately understood that the Prime Minister was indeed ruthless.
It seems that something big happened in Yunzhou, and the Prime Minister had already made plans, intending to use this opportunity to reorganize Yunzhou's army and take advantage of this incident to set up the Military Affairs Council.
The affairs of the Yunzhou army may be related to the Ministry of Works.
Because many military supplies and equipment need to go through the Ministry of Industry.
At this time, the young minister of the Ministry of Industry went back to serve the old master, just in time to avoid this storm. And Shen Mo took over, even if there was a thunderbolt, because he had just taken office and had a special status, he could withstand this matter. If he used this to hold the predecessor accountable, it would be digging up old scores.
If this precedent is set, haha, how many officials in the country can withstand the revisiting of past accounts?
No wonder Shen Mo emphasized that he was not in charge of practical matters. He probably knew in his heart that there were mines buried in the Ministry of Industry's affairs, and he had laid the groundwork in advance.
After Xu Qing and Feng Xifeng discussed the matter, they did nothing at night and had a good sleep. The next day, he returned to Wenyuan Pavilion in high spirits and continued to comprehend Zifu Yuanzong.
After analyzing the situation last night, and the influence of Shen Mo's state of mind, Xu Qing felt as if a layer of dust had been wiped off his heart. He no longer cared about the affairs of the court and entered a state of lawlessness and freedom from thoughts.
He had a vague premonition that the opening of the Purple Palace would be imminent.
So he slept soundly last night.
Seven days passed, and Xu Qing never stepped out of Wenyuan Pavilion again. He worked day and night to absorb the cultural nutrients of Wenyuan Pavilion to replenish himself.
The young eunuchs guarding the Wenyuan Pavilion were all influenced by Xu Qing and developed a sincere respect for this famous Jie Yuanlang from Southern Zhili.
He was on duty in Wenyuan Pavilion, and was actually no different from the eunuchs in the cold palace, with no way for him to advance.
In fact, the civil officials who were qualified to enter Wenyuan Pavilion to read books were all of high status. But these civil officials had long been tired of reading.
Therefore, Wenyuan Pavilion, as a place where the essence of world culture is concentrated, is usually deserted.
Xu Qing has been coming here every day recently, and has not even left Wenyuan Pavilion in recent days.
The young eunuch was worried that Xu Qing would damage his body by neglecting sleep and eating, so he offered to bring him food. Unexpectedly, Xu Qing refused to eat anything and only asked for some water. He thanked him for his kindness and told him that this was a form of fasting practice.
The young eunuch was confused, but Mr. Jie Yuan definitely knew more than him.
Naturally, he didn't dare to disturb them and just watched from afar.
Gradually, he heard Jie Yuanlang's breathing, which was very strange.
Unconsciously, I also started to imitate Li Yuanlang's breathing.
If an ordinary martial artist tried to imitate Xu Qing's breathing, he would definitely feel uncomfortable, but the young eunuch had no idea what this meant.
He would imitate directly what he could, and if he couldn't, he would just skip it. He even thought it was just for fun.
The only bad thing is that after learning this breathing method, you will get hungry easily.
Fortunately, after he reported to the imperial kitchen that Xu Jieyuan had been reading so much in Wenyuan Pavilion that he forgot to eat and sleep, for some unknown reason, they sent meals to him every day.
There are good meat and vegetables inside.
He asked Xu Qing if he wanted to eat it, but Xu Qing still refused and asked him to eat it to avoid wasting it.
With the permission of Jie Yuanlang, the young eunuch ate the food. However, he was afraid of causing trouble, so he told the person who delivered the food from the imperial kitchen that Xu Jieyuan did not want to eat it, so he let him eat it.
They didn't mind it and said it was an order from above. Since Xu Jieyuan was there, they just sent the meal.
After hearing what Xu Jieyuan said, the young eunuch ate the meal so that they could report to their superiors. Otherwise, they would not be able to report if they took the uneaten meal back.
The young eunuch vaguely understood that this was also Xu Jieyuan's intention in asking him to eat.
He was quite delighted. He had never eaten such delicious food in his life. He felt an urge to repay Xu Jieyuan.
But he didn't dare to disturb Xu Qing, so he just watched silently from the side.
Gradually, he felt that his body was becoming stronger and stronger, and he even had an indescribable feeling of comfort. One day, he suddenly saw Xu Jieyuan clasping his arms like he was holding a baby.
He didn't understand what this meant.
I just feel that the artistic conception is profound.
Suddenly, he didn't know if he was in a trance, but he saw two vague figures appear behind Xu Jieyuan, a giant python like a dragon, and a giant turtle.
The two spiritual creatures intertwined and tangled to form a great god.
This……
For a moment, the divine power was unfathomable and the young eunuch actually fainted.
When he woke up, he saw Xu Jieyuan beside him, smiling at him: "You're awake."
The young eunuch hurriedly confessed his crime.
Xu Qing took out a few gold leaves with a smile and said, "You accidentally learned my Turtle Snake Breathing Method, so you can be considered my anonymous disciple. You can't do this path of cultivation without money. Take this money and buy some good things to replenish your body."
It is natural for eunuchs in the palace to accept money.
But it also depends on your identity.
The young eunuch did not feel that he had any status, and was very nervous about being befriended by Xu Jieyuan, so he did not dare to accept the offer.
"Take it. Maybe I'll need your help in the future." Xu Qing threw down the gold leaf and floated away.
The young eunuch recalled some rumors in the palace. Some senior eunuchs rose to prominence because of the secret support of foreign officials. Could it be that Xu Jieyuan valued him?
No matter what, this is a great favor.
He carefully picked up the gold leaves on the ground, and then kowtowed towards the place where Xu Qing left.
...
...
"The moon hides the jade rabbit and the sun hides the crow. There are tortoise and snake intertwined. Intertwined, their lives are strong, yet they can plant golden lotus in fire. Gather the five elements and use them in reverse order. When the work is done, you will become a Buddha or an immortal." Xu Qing whispered.
To be more precise, he has now opened up the Purple Palace and obtained what Taoists call the Golden Elixir, which is also the state of Jade Liquid Returning to the Elixir.
The lead, mercury, qi, blood and innate qi in the body are no longer distinguishable from each other and turn into jade liquid.
And in the Purple Palace, the spirit and soul are very solid.
"Fortunately, the Purple Palace was opened in the imperial palace." Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
He never expected that the process of opening up the Purple Mansion would be so dangerous.
At that time, when his soul was in the process of opening up the Purple Mansion, the Purple Emperor Dragon Armor and the Black Tortoise Gangsha collided with each other, like water and fire attacking each other, and it was about to produce an extremely terrible explosion in his soul.
As a result, because it happened in the imperial palace, the place with the most severe suppression on the soul in the world, the explosion of the attack of water and fire was forcibly suppressed.
Because the more intense the conflict between his soul and spirit, the more terrifying the suppression from the dynasty's destiny.
Under the circumstances at that time, even a master of the soul who possessed the body would have his soul crushed, but Xu Qing was in the process of opening up his purple mansion, and the power of the expanding soul and the suppression of the dynasty's luck offset each other.
It allowed him to grasp the mystery of the interaction between water and fire, and between yin and yang.
This hurdle is also what Taoists call the gate of life and death. It is the most dangerous hurdle for practitioners to cultivate qi and attain the Tao.
If I were to make an analogy, it would be similar to the novel in his previous life, where Zhang Wuji was able to master the Nine Yang Divine Art with the Qiankun Bag.
"If I hadn't helped the Prime Minister to reform the country and temporarily restore the power of the Great Yu Dynasty, the previous suppression of the dynasty's luck would definitely have been a lot worse. In that case, I wouldn't have been able to reconcile the dragon and the tiger and fill the gap."
The dragon and the tiger represent the yin and yang energies.
Kan and Li represent water and fire.
"It seems that Elder Fang also went through this stage when he realized the wonders of cultivation several decades ago. At that time, he was also compiling the Taoist Canon in the imperial palace."
Xu Qing chose to break through in the imperial palace because of the experience of Lord Fang.
He felt that since Lord Fang had attained enlightenment on the path of spiritual practice while compiling the Daoist Canon in the imperial palace, this showed that things should be viewed from both positive and negative sides.
Although the dynasty's fortune does have a side that suppresses the soul, it may also have other benefits.
He didn't understand the subtleties at that time, but after experiencing it himself, he finally understood it.
Of course, there may not be only one way to break through the mysterious gate of life and death, open up the Purple Palace, and achieve the Golden Elixir. The seekers of the Tao in previous generations should have had other ways.
No matter what, it is never a bad thing to learn from the experience of predecessors.
After the Purple Palace was opened up, Xu Qing's soul seemed to have a real home. Previously, his body was the home of his soul, but it always seemed like something was missing.
Now staying in the newly opened Purple Mansion is like being a god having his own temple and cave, and finally finding a home.
Moreover, there are five great demon gods in the Purple Mansion. Now, like the Five Jiedis, they are obediently waiting to be dispatched by Xu Qing at any time and anywhere. Once Xu Qing encounters great danger and cannot act independently, they can even manifest themselves as guardians.
In short, although he has not made a qualitative leap in strength for the time being, after opening up the Purple Mansion, he has taken a solid step towards becoming a saint.
"Master Fang reached this realm decades ago." When Xu Qing thought of this, he couldn't help but feel even more wary of the old monster. Perhaps the old man didn't even know where his own limits were now.
Moreover, Elder Fang was not a professional practitioner, and he probably thought that the checkpoint where he was staying was the so-called ghost fairy barrier.
Actually, yes and no.
It is so difficult, the Tao is the most mysterious, don’t take the elixir lightly.
If you don't meet a great person to tell you the secrets, your mouth will be dry and your tongue will be dry with empty words.
Elder Fang had no intention of attaining enlightenment before, so he kept improving. Perhaps after he paid more attention to it, he got stuck, and his power increased but he did not make another qualitative leap.
It seems intentional, and it seems unintentional. The true intention is intentional or unintentional.
Because Xu Qing had experienced a lot along the way, he had a vague idea of Elder Fang's cultivation.
After opening up the Purple Palace and cultivating to a certain limit, the next step is to achieve the status of a primordial spirit earth immortal.
As for how to take this step, Xu Qing could only guess and cross the river by feeling the stones.
In any case, his ability to protect himself is getting stronger and stronger, and in the complex and chaotic situation that follows, he will be able to move forward and backward more freely even without the help of external forces.
At this moment, an urgent report on border situation caused an uproar in the court.
(End of this chapter)