Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 101 Liaodong Talent Adds One More
"What kind of miracle doctor?"

Lou Shide spoke like a machine gun and Li Ming was unable to react for a moment.

"You need to find the miracle doctor who knew long ago that heated realgar wine is poisonous!"

Lou Shide could not hide his excitement.

Li Ming raised his eyebrows, feeling pleasantly surprised, but also somewhat suspicious:
"It's only been a few days and you found it, so fast?"

There are millions of people living in Chang'an, not to mention the people coming in and out every day.

How could these dozens of kids locate the target so quickly?

"Yes!" Lou Shide nodded affirmatively:
"One of our children once made a living in a Taoist temple in the city.

"There is a strange Taoist priest there who killed rats with realgar wine. So we think he might be the kind of person you are looking for, Mr. Ming."

Taoist priest... Yes, when it comes to fiddling with chemical reagents, who can compare with a Taoist priest?

In ancient times, medicine and witchcraft were inseparable, and it was not surprising that monks who could help people to be reincarnated were also good at some life tricks that could help them to be reincarnated physically.

"Okay, take me to see him!" Li Ming couldn't wait.

Although his mother Yang asked him to go to Liaodong as soon as possible to familiarize himself with his fiefdom and let his people get to know him.

However, because Li Shimin has always been unwilling to give up the power to appoint officials in Liaodong, he cannot rush over now, otherwise it would be tantamount to tacitly agreeing to this arrangement.

The two of them kept arguing with each other.

Since he had nothing to do anyway, Li Ming stayed in Chang'an and continued to track down the possible mastermind behind the Jiucheng Palace incident.

As it turns out, the Liaodong Intelligence Bureau is still very powerful.

These clever kids from the lower classes have perfectly adapted to the role of "Chaoyang Aunties".

Li Ming followed the children all the way to a Taoist temple.

The Taoist temple is located in a remote area and there are not many people living there.

The gate was tattered and ajar, and the plaque had long disappeared, so it was impossible to tell where it was.

"Is there anyone here?" Li Ming asked.

Lou Shide nodded and said:

“I went in and confirmed myself that there was someone inside.

“The abbot here is named Yuan, and he seems to be the only one in the entire Taoist temple.

"Master Yuan is easy to talk to, and he often takes in homeless people, but his temper may be a bit weird."

Li Ming looked through the crack in the door at the dilapidated building inside and agreed with Lou Shide's information.

Who would live in such a hellish place unless they are seriously ill?

"go in."

The children filed in.

It was called a "Taoist temple", but it was actually a small room with only one entrance. The corridor had collapsed, and the doors of the east and west wing rooms were missing. Firewood, axes and other daily necessities were piled up in a mess inside.

The courtyard was desolate and bleak, with weeds growing everywhere and a rusty incense burner.

The main hall is only one story high and is also in a dilapidated state, with weeds growing between the tiles on the roof.

The only advantage is that because it is open to the east, south, west and north, the main hall has good lighting. Li Ming saw the image of Heavenly Master hanging on the wall and the sloppy old Taoist sitting cross-legged under the image at a glance.

I guess that person is the famous Taoist Priest Yuan.

"Mr. Ming, be careful when talking to him. Don't let him lead you into trouble." Lou Shide reminded in a low voice.

Li Ming nodded, swallowed nervously, and walked towards the "hermit master".

A group of children suddenly came to the Taoist temple. The Taoist priest didn't even raise his head and didn't react until Li Ming approached him, as if he was deaf.

Li Ming's reaction was huge.

As soon as he approached Taoist Yuan, he immediately smelled a sour odor and almost vomited.

This old slob, how long has it been since he last took a shower...

He suppressed his nausea and held his breath as he looked in front of the old Taoist priest.

There are two pictures, each with four groups of patterns composed of hollow circles, solid circles and straight lines, like several strings of Gobang, arranged in the four directions of east, south, west and north in the way of mahjong.

Taoist Yuan just stared at the two pictures without moving.

"Ahem." Lou Shide cleared his throat:
"Master Yuan, we are here to ask you for advice again."

The strange Taoist priest seemed to have finally realized the presence of the visitor. He raised his head and uttered three words incoherently:

"Yuan Tiangang."

After saying that, he continued to study the two Gobang-like diagrams.

What does he mean by this? Is he going to introduce himself? Li Ming was puzzled and said, "Is he going to tell you my name?"
"Master Yuan, my name is Li Ming, and I want to ask you something."

Not surprisingly, Yuan Tiangang ignored Li Ming's words.

It is obvious that you won't get any answers to such a weirdo by asking him directly.

You have to start with what he studies.

Li Ming then turned his gaze to the two pictures that Yuan Tiangang had been staring at.

These circles and straight lines are obviously not drawn randomly, but follow certain rules.

As a junior civil servant who has passed the civil service exam, Li Ming is somewhat confident in his graphic reasoning.

After looking at them for a while, he figured out the meaning of the two pictures:
"Converting the number of these dots into numbers, the picture becomes a nine-square grid, and the sum of the three numbers in each horizontal row, vertical row, and diagonal angle is equal to fifteen."

What is Master Ming talking about... The friends are all confused.

Then, they saw something strange at the same time—

Yuan Tiangang, who was obsessed with the two pictures and didn't care about anything else, was shocked as if he was struck by lightning.

Then, Taoist Yuan raised his head and stared at Li Ming, his eyes full of surprise.

"You... can also glimpse the secret of the River Map and Luo Shu?"

Taoist Yuan took the initiative to talk to Li Ming. There was no longer any sense of alienation as before, and his tone was full of warmth and surprise.

The friends didn’t know what happened, but they knew that Master Ming had touched the heart of Yuan Laodao’s heart.

As expected, you are Master Ming.

"The River Map? The Luoshu? Just these two maps?"

Li Ming was also stunned for a moment, thinking that he had traveled to a primitive world.

Are these two ordinary chess pieces pictures common in various fantasy novels?

There is a feeling of disillusionment...

"What do you mean by 'these two pictures'?" Yuan Tiangang's face immediately turned from sunny to cloudy and he became unhappy.

Li Ming immediately changed his words:

"It is rumored that the Hetu and Luoshu came from the Yellow River. I am extremely surprised that the famous Hetu and Luoshu are in the hands of Taoist Yuan."

Yuan Tiangang's expression immediately brightened up again:

“Haha, you all know that ‘the River Map and the Luo Book’. It can be seen that you have done some research on the River Map and the Luo Book.

“But what you know is not comprehensive. This thing is not as weird as you say. Anyone can draw it. It is not surprising that it appears in my hands.

"However, this thing is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Although anyone can draw it, not everyone can understand the secrets behind it..."

Although Old Yuan looked sloppy, his eyes were sparkling with excitement, as if he was full of strength, and he kept talking.

Looking at him, Li Ming seemed to be back in high school.

When the science and engineering guys in the next door science class checked the answers to the last big math question, their bodies would glow with a similar light.

If left alone, this science and engineering guy would talk for at least an hour when he encountered a topic that interested him... "Master Yuan, I have a small matter to ask you."

Li Ming took advantage of Yuan Tiangang's good mood and decisively interrupted the chanting, and asked:

"My family sells alcohol. Recently, there have been rats at home. I want to kill them with arsenic, but I'm afraid the cat will accidentally eat it. Does the Taoist have any good recipes?"

Yuan Tiangang's face immediately turned gloomy.

However, as an eccentric old man who studies academic subjects all day long, it was a rare opportunity for him to meet a fellow enthusiast who understood his research direction today, so he had to be patient and help the other person solve his doubts.

"It's just poisoning rats, how difficult is that? Doesn't your family sell alcohol?

"If you heat up realgar wine, it will turn into arsenic. Wine has a strong smell and cats won't drink it."

Li Ming's heartbeat suddenly quickened. He endured the tingling scalp and touched his head pretending to be confused:
"Oh~ Isn't this the method described in the Chang'an Express?"

"What's the Chang'an Express? Even dogs don't read it." Yuan Tiangang shook his head proudly.

Well, this is a typical reaction from readers of Changan Express.

As if feeling that his academic ability was being questioned, Yuan Dao added:
"That was the newspaper's way of stealing from me! I knew how to use realgar wine many years ago!"

Lou Shide nodded slightly, indicating that what the old Taoist said was true.

Li Ming crossed his arms, with a questioning look on his face:

"Really? I don't believe it.

"If it wasn't through the newspaper, how did Taoist Yuan know about this method?"

Being provoked like this, Yuan Tiangang was furious:
"I figured it out myself! There was no such thing as a 'newspaper' at that time!"

“Did you figure it out on your own?” Li Ming raised his eyebrows, his interest growing.

The source and destination of intelligence are the two key nodes of the "beginning and the end".

If Yuan Tiangang also heard the information about realgar wine from others, then any part of it could have been revealed to Ashina Jieshelu.

In this case, it would be very complicated to investigate.

But if Yuan Tiangang himself is the first-hand source of intelligence, then there is no need to check his upstream.

All you have to do is check who he has provided this "little life hack" to.

It is still a huge project, but the workload can be reduced by at least half.

"Of course!" Yuan Tiangang straightened his back with some pride:
"That winter, I was traveling in Bazhou to seek enlightenment. I was sleeping in a collapsed cellar and was extremely thirsty.

"Suddenly, the heaven showed its power and gave me a jar of realgar wine."

It was just buying other people's out-of-season realgar wine for free... Li Ming did not expose it in person.

"It was a snowy night, so I started a fire to warm up the wine." Yuan Tiangang narrated:

"I didn't expect that the way of heaven would show itself..."

Your divine power manifests itself too often... Li Ming couldn't help but complain: "And then?"

Yuan Tiangang looked up at the sky, as if thanking the heavens:
"Then, probably because of the sudden change from hot to cold, the wine jar broke into pieces.

"Wine was spilled all over the floor, and the mouse licked it and died instantly."

Died instantly, just two short words, still make Yuan Tiangang feel frightened to this day.

"That's how I learned that realgar wine is poisonous when heated."

Li Ming listened very attentively.

"There is such a thing..."

It was truly a miracle of God, otherwise, Old Yuan would probably not have survived that cold night.

"Has Taoist Yuan told anyone else about this?"

Yuan Tiangang snorted disdainfully:
"Am I a talkative person?
"If you and I... my little benefactor were not on good terms, I would not have told you this."

This kind of science and engineering guy, at first glance, is not the type who likes to chat about family matters with others.

Li Ming folded his arms again and continued to provoke:

"Since you haven't shared it with anyone, how can you conclude that the information in the newspaper about the poisonous effect of heated realgar wine was plagiarized from you?"

"This..." Yuan Tiangang was choked and glanced to the side unnaturally:
"Who knows? Maybe it was spread by a homeless kid who had slept in this broken-down Taoist temple?"

After obtaining this much information, Li Ming basically ruled out the possibility that "the source of the information about Ashina Jiesheru was Yuan Tiangang."

The gap in social levels is too big, and there is almost no overlap in the people the two can come into contact with.

There must be someone else who provided Ashina Jieshe with the method of killing people with realgar wine.

After finding nothing, Li Ming was about to get up and say goodbye:
"Then Master Yuan..."

"Hey wait."

Yuan Tiangang grabbed his sleeve:

“It’s hard to find someone who’s meant to be with you, so why rush to leave?
"I see that you are quite knowledgeable about Taoism, so I would like to share some with you."

It seems like we met too late.

Li Ming's mouth twitched as he inexplicably became a genius cultivator who was "quite proficient in Taoism".

After asking Lao Yuan for information for such a long time, he still couldn't be ruthless.

I could only sit back obediently and chat with the old Taoist priest.

"Hahaha, really? Yes, yes, yes, I'd like to hear the details..."

While stroking Yuan Tiangang's hair, he reached back and grabbed Lou Shide and his friends who were about to run away.

"Come, let's listen to the Taoist priest's lecture together."

He smiled kindly at his men who had provided false information.

"Hey...hey, Master Ming..." Lou Shide was sweating profusely and made a smile that was uglier than crying.

The children sat around the smelly Taoist priest and listened for a long time.

Yuan Tiangang's eyes lit up and he spoke eloquently:

"You see, although the River Map comes from the Great River, it corresponds to the cause and effect in the sky. With the North Star as the origin, it runs through the four phases of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise, and the twenty-eight constellations...

"The Luoshu is also a book of veins, representing the east, south, west, north, yin and yang, and the five elements. It is the origin of the Zhouyi Bagua...

"In addition to the fact that the sum of the horizontal, vertical and diagonal numbers is 15, these numbers have many peculiar features. For example, the sum of the two numbers from left to right is the third number..."

Yawn... The little friends were all staggering and yawning after listening to the speech, but they didn't dare to fall asleep.

Just like the student in the last row who is dozing off in math class.

Li Ming was also shaking his legs impatiently.

But as he listened, he heard the highlight -

This old Taoist priest Yuan Tiangang is very clear about his Taoism.

But math is good!

Putting aside the mixed Taoist terms and myths and legends, Yuan Tiangang's deduction of the River Map and Luoshu is actually mathematical reasoning.

It contains a variety of problem-solving skills such as algebraic operations and rule summarization.

Li Ming, who has gone through nine years of compulsory education and the civil service exam, is no stranger to this.

Mathematics, mathematical talents...

His little brain started working quickly.

Although the clues of the Jiucheng Palace incident were lost, he felt that the trip was worthwhile.

In line with the principle of a thief never leaves empty-handed, Li Ming looked at Yuan Tiangang with gradually more eager eyes.

(End of this chapter)