Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 14 Mei Niang: The brick is so light! [Requesting monthly votes]

After finishing his meditation, Zhou Yi rolled up his sleeves and began preparing the lamb offal for breakfast.

Wu Zetian opened the refrigerator, took out a bag of white flour flatbreads, and arranged them one by one in the electric griddle to heat them, following the instructions of the I Ching.

These white flour flatbreads were bought in town yesterday. They were cheap and go very well with mutton offal soup and mutton soup. Zhou Yi bought a lot of them.

Beside the peach tree, Chen Tang finished slaughtering the sheep and began cutting up the mutton.

Hearing that Wu Zetian went to town yesterday, he also clamored to go down the mountain to take a look around and experience modern society.

Zhou Yi felt that Tom Cruise's armor and sword were real, and that walking around on the street recklessly could easily lead to trouble, so he said:

“I’m buying a few Taoist robes these next couple of days. Next time you come, you can change into them and stroll around town. The statue of the God of Wealth will arrive the day after tomorrow, and I’ll be able to earn some more income.”

After the ordered statue of Zhao Gongming, the God of Wealth, arrives, it needs to be placed in the God of Wealth Temple for nine days of worship.

The step of placing it in the God of Wealth Temple needs to be done by Sun Chenglin, because this is to bring wealth to him, not to Zhouyi, so it cannot be done by him.

When Sun Chenglin comes, he will pay all the costs for the statue of the God of Wealth, which will alleviate Zhouyi's financial deficit problem.

Wu Zetian covered her mouth and laughed:
"I used to think that when Taoists referred to themselves as 'poor Taoists,' it was just a humble way of referring to themselves. I never imagined that you were truly poor... You have no money to spare, yet you have the Tang and Han dynasties in your heart. You are truly a role model for us all!"

Zhouyi: "..."

I'm investing in you, not because I'm joking.

After cleaning the sheep's internal organs, Zhou Yi went to the kitchen, first blanching them, then stewing them, keeping himself extremely busy.

Chen Tang washed his hands, took a piece of flatbread, chewed a couple of bites, and began to talk about Gan Yanshou:

"Commander Gan has already had a heart-to-heart talk with me. He will stand by me through thick and thin from now on. I just don't know if the court will blame me for falsely conveying the imperial edict."

They did everything they could: they handed over the spoils of war and added the names of court officials to the battle reports.

If that still doesn't work, Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang, these two unfortunate brothers, don't know how to deal with it.

Zhou Yi said while chopping cilantro:
"There's a strategy in the Thirty-Six Stratagems called 'Shifting the Blame Eastward.' If you've shared the spoils of your achievements and the court officials still won't let it go, then expose Kuang Heng's theft of farmland... The position of Prime Minister is far more tempting than your military exploits. At that time, they'll definitely be in complete chaos."

These words made Wu Meiniang's eyes light up:
"Kuang Heng's land grabbing can indeed be put to good use. As the prime minister, he forcibly seized more than 40,000 mu of land from the people. When his subordinates reported it, he deliberately suppressed it, making him a laughing stock."

Chen Tang secretly noted it down, intending to use it as a backup plan.

Before long, the mutton offal soup was ready, and the three of them sat in the courtyard and enjoyed it immensely.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Zhou Yi planned to take Chen Tang to sort out the bricks. Upon hearing this, Wu Meiniang followed along.

"Meiniang, these bricks are extraordinary, each weighing over a hundred pounds. You'd better not get involved."

After Zhou Yi finished speaking, he laboriously lifted a brick and walked about twenty meters before becoming so tired that he could no longer move.

Chen Tang felt it was a bit of an exaggeration:

"Such a small brick shouldn't be this heavy."

After saying that, he bent down, held the brick in both hands, lifted it up, and immediately grinned:

"It does have some weight, but 100 jin is an exaggeration. I estimate it to be at most 60 or 70 jin. It has weight, but it's not as heavy as you might imagine."

Seeing this, Zhou Yi didn't know what to say.

Does the weight of a brick vary from person to person?

Just as he was about to ask Chen Tang how he felt, he witnessed an astonishing scene—Wu Meiniang, who had been eager to try, actually lifted a brick with ease.

That's exactly how he picked up a very ordinary brick.

Three people, three different weights—this was quite a blow to Zhou Yi.

People are not worried about scarcity but about inequality. Why can two historical visitors easily lift bricks, while I, the host, have to grit my teeth and use all my strength?

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Yi thought of a possibility—merit.

Chen Tang's merit amounted to more than two jin, while his own merit was only three qian, thus creating two different weights.

As for Wu Zetian, her page still doesn't have a merit section, so it's impossible to judge her based on her merits.

Having found the reason, Zhou Yi also had a goal to strive for: to find a way to accumulate more merit. When his merit reached a hundred catties, he might be able to kick these bricks like shuttlecocks.

However, achieving so much merit is quite difficult; it requires changing the course of history as much as possible to improve the lives of the people... It feels like playing a historical version of "SimCity".

Although Wu Meiniang carried light bricks, she had never done physical labor before, and she felt a little tired after carrying five or six bricks. Just then, an airplane flew overhead, so she ran to the pavilion, enjoyed the breeze, and watched the plane.

Chen Tang also noticed the plane overhead and asked in surprise, "What is that?"

Zhou Yi briefly introduced the history of airplane development, and then said:

"Once I receive the funds for the statue, I'll buy you several high-powered telescopes so you can scout for distant enemies from a high vantage point."

Chen Tang listened with a look of longing:

"How many wonderful things are there in this world! I wish I could move them all to Chang'an and exchange them for a house full of gold and jewels!"

The Book of Changes can only express its admiration for this great pursuit.

At noon, Wu Meiniang and Chen Tang had another meal of mutton before parting ways, agreeing to meet again in five days.

Wu Zetian will bring Chen Tang some Xuan paper that didn't exist in the Western Han Dynasty next time, and Chen Tang will also look for some books that have been lost in the Tang Dynasty.

When Wang Mang was about to usurp the Han throne, he destroyed many famous books. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo burned countless books in order to move the capital.

The subsequent chaos of the Five Barbarian Invasions and the southward migration of the elites led to the loss and destruction of a large number of books.

After seeing the two off, Zhou Yi returned to his room and opened a drawer to find a gleaming gold ingot inside, engraved with the words "Zhenguan".

"Did Wu Zetian put this during the Zhenguan era?"

He held it in his hand, and the entire gold ingot quickly dimmed, eventually looking just like the gold artifacts in a museum... another artifact.

He opened the rosewood chest and placed the gold ingot and the gold knife side by side.

We don't know what to do with these cultural relics yet, so we can only keep them for now.

When Chen Tang and Wu Meiniang come again, we'll brainstorm and come up with a good idea to find a safe place for these cultural relics.

After putting away the gold ingot, Zhou Yi opened the black notebook, turned to Wu Meiniang's page, and found that a small red dot had appeared on the progress bar for exchanging household registration.

He thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out, so he had no choice but to give up and study it again when Wu Zetian came next time.

The next afternoon, the statue was finally delivered to the Cainiao Post Station in Yunwu Town.

Zhou Yi rode his motorcycle all the way down the mountain and saw the statue of Zhao Gongming, the God of War and Wealth, in a wooden box at the Cainiao Post Station.

He tied the wooden box to his motorcycle, rode it up the mountain, unpacked it, and carefully took out the statue of the God of Wealth wrapped in yellow silk cloth.

Before the statue is consecrated, it needs to be wrapped in silk cloth. The shop recommended by Grandpa did a great job in the details, and Zhouyi was very satisfied.

He called Sun Chenglin:

"The statue of the God of Wealth has arrived. When are you coming up the mountain?"

Sun Chenglin's voice was filled with surprise:

"I happen to be in Cloud Mist Town and am about to go up the mountain. Do I need to bring any offerings for the God of Wealth?"

"Just bring a pig's head, whether it's raw or cooked doesn't matter. If you have fruit, bring a few kinds of fruit, but if you don't, it doesn't matter either. The God of Wealth doesn't care about these things."

In other places, there are many rules for setting up offerings, such as offerings of five colors, five kinds of animals, and offerings of the five elements, etc. But Hunyuan Palace emphasizes that there are no taboos. As long as you have them, that's fine. Other things are not important.

Soon, Sun Erfa's nephew, Sun Chenglin, arrived at the mountain in his BMW X5, carrying a huge braised pig's head, as well as dragon fruit, bananas, red apples, and other fruits suitable as offerings.

He was probably around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a prosperous appearance and a humble smile on his face... From a physiognomy perspective, people with this kind of appearance are very lucky in terms of wealth.

"Hello, Master Yi. I have always wanted to visit you on the mountain, but I have not been able to. I am truly sorry."

Upon meeting, Sun Chenglin handed over a thick red envelope containing 13,000 yuan in cash.

A statue of the God of Wealth, originally priced at 1,300, was sold for 13,000

In other fields, this is considered cheating and swindling to make dirty money, but in the field of metaphysics, it is quite common.

Zhou Yi accepted the money and began to explain the steps involved in worshipping the statue of the God of Wealth:
"The first step is to pay homage at the mountain gate... Hold the statue of the god in your arms, and follow me step by step. When you cross the mountain gate, remember to silently recite the 'Zhao Gongming Marshal Mantra,' which is exclusive to the God of Wealth. This will not only ensure your wealth but also protect you."

Upon hearing this, Sun Chenglin's face immediately showed the bitterness typical of a struggling student:

"It's so complicated, it feels even harder than the written test..."

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(End of this chapter)