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

Chapter 150 Liu Che's Personal Charisma! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

The world of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an City.

Ever since receiving the news of Huo Qubing's victory in eliminating a hundred Xiongnu soldiers, at least one victory report arrived every day. Emperor Wu was so happy that he held a grand banquet for his officials and even played the zither and sang, overjoyed.

Besides the good news, many people also received letters from the front lines. For example, Su Jia, the Commandant of Fengche, received a letter from his father, Su Jian, who had someone deliver it to him.

The letter was very simple, containing only eight characters:
[Resigning from official post to join the army and gain military merit]

In the second year of Yuanshuo, which is 127 BC, Su Jian followed Wei Qing and made military achievements. He was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Pingling with a fief of 1,100 households. His three sons also became court officials. His eldest son, Su Jia, served as the Commandant of the Imperial Carriage, which was an official in charge of the emperor's carriages.

This official position is quite good, but it's not suitable for the Su family.

The Su family was full of honest and straightforward people. For example, Su Jia, when he was serving as the Commandant of the Imperial Carriage, once when Emperor Wu's carriage came down the steps, it hit a pillar and the carriage shaft broke, which was considered a great disrespect. The Commandant of the Imperial Carriage immediately drew his sword and committed suicide to atone for his sins, leaving Emperor Wu speechless and only able to grant him two million coins for funeral expenses.

Su Jia's younger brother, Su Xian, accompanied Liu Che to the Hou Tu Temple in Hedong to worship. When crossing the river, a eunuch fought with the prince consort for the right of way, pushing the prince consort into the river and causing him to drown. Liu Che ordered Su Xian to investigate the eunuch, but because he could not find him, Su Xian committed suicide by poison, also atoning for his sins with his death.

As for Su Jian's second son, Su Wu, he was even more famous. He lived by Lake Baikal for nineteen years without surrendering to the Xiongnu, making Li Guang's grandson, Li Ling, look like a clown in comparison.

The three sons were all stubborn and upright, and to be honest, they were much better than Li Guang's family.

Last time at the central army camp, Huo Qubing hinted to Su Jian that Su Jia's future lay in the army. Su Jian then hurriedly wrote a letter urging his son to volunteer for the army.

Wei Qing was already a military merit harvester, and now with Huo Qubing, a young man who was taken as a disciple by a god, military merits are like fallen leaves on the ground, easily swept up and a basketful is obtained.

Instead of following Liu Che in fear and trembling, Su Jia should join the army. There is plenty of room for him to make a difference in the vast world, and perhaps he can even add another marquis to the Su family.

After Liu Che's banquet ended, he rode back to his palace in his carriage. On the way, he rested his chin on his hand and asked Su Jia:
"What letter did your father write to you? Everyone else knows it was sent with an imperial edict, but he insisted on paying someone to deliver it, and it took so long to reach Chang'an."

Su Jia replied:

"It is against etiquette to have a letter delivered by a post station."

Liu Che yawned:
"Your whole family is so tense... Tell me, what is it? It's written all over your face. If I don't ask, you won't be able to sleep all night."

Su Jia didn't know how to answer. After thinking for a moment, she took out the bamboo slip that Su Jian had asked someone to bring her from her bosom and presented it to Liu Che with both hands.

Liu Che took it and was immediately overjoyed:

"This has stumped you? My Great Han has many problems, I could list a whole bunch myself, but no matter what, it will never stop our fine sons from killing the Xiongnu. Even if a prisoner in death row petitions to kill the Xiongnu, I am willing to give him a chance!"

At this point, Liu Che sat up straight and said to Su Jia:
"Starting tomorrow, you will be the Commandant of the Army. Head north to the General's tent as soon as possible. If you want to go to Huo Qubing's camp, you can tell the General... The army is a place where you have to speak up for everything you want. Don't keep it to yourself, or you'll be bullied."

Su Jia was so moved that he wanted to kneel down to express his gratitude, but found that he couldn't stop the carriage. He could only keep thanking Liu Che, who found it quite distasteful.

“Drive carefully, stop crying like a woman… Tomorrow, take your younger brother Su Wu with you as well. Let him see more of the world while he’s young. Who knows, I might send him as an envoy to the Xiongnu in the future.”

After saying that, Liu Che, feeling the effects of the alcohol, lay back and fell fast asleep. Su Jia wiped away her tears and stood guard diligently until the very end.

Meanwhile, on the northern grasslands of Dingxiang, Zhao Ponu and his men finished cleaning up the battlefield. Huo Qubing held the golden crown of the Xiongnu prince in his hands, along with a scroll of a personally written tribute poem, and the gift for his master was ready.

He said to Zhang Qian and Zhao Ponu:

"I'm going to see my master. If there's nothing else, I'll return tomorrow afternoon. You all rest here and deploy your defenses according to the training conditions. If we encounter the enemy, we will retreat to the due south direction as planned."

In recent days, they have not only trained the cavalry in battle formations and formations, but also formulated deployment plans, strategies for dealing with the enemy, and so on.

Depending on the number of enemies, there are different response procedures.

Huo Qubing had never studied these things, but when it came to cavalry management, he could always make similar arrangements. This talent made his colleagues Zhang Qian and Zhao Ponu extremely envious, not to mention Sima Qian, who became a complete fan of Huo Qubing.

Upon hearing that Huo Qubing was going to the abode of immortals, Sima Qian asked:

"Huo Biaoyao, could you bring some more of that delicious food we had in Yanmen last time?"

Huo Qubing said:
"That time someone treated us to a meal at a restaurant, and these are the leftovers. I'll see what I have tomorrow and bring you guys whatever I can find. Just don't mind."

After saying that, he took a step and disappeared from the spot.

Upon arriving at Hunyuan Palace, Huo Qubing bowed to the statue of the Longevity Emperor, then left the Changshen Hall and, facing the setting sun, entered the small courtyard where Zhou Yi lived.
"Master, Sister, Qubing is here!"

Zhou Yi was making pancakes in the kitchen when he saw his apprentice arrive, so he added a ladle of flour to the bowl.
"You've been quite busy these past few days, haven't you? Were the battle losses significant?"

Huo Qubing arrived at the kitchen door and said with a smile:

"Not much. The auxiliary troops have become an important source of the main force... Master, last time we went back we captured a Xiongnu prince. This is his headdress. This bamboo slip is a tribute poem written by your disciple. We will present it to Hunyuan Palace together."

Zhou Yi examined the design of the golden crown; it resembled the crowns worn by Hun chieftains online, but was more exquisite and beautiful. He said:
"Put it in my room... A batch of wild boar spearheads will arrive tomorrow. You can take them back, attach the handles, and give them to the soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Huo Qubing was overjoyed:

"Master is truly a master strategist. Before I even mentioned this matter, you had already made all the preparations."

Wu Zetian took a bottle of beverage from the refrigerator for Huo Qubing:
"We bought a total of 10,000 wild boar spearheads. We'll give you 5,000, 4,000 for the Great Tang Zhenguan World, and 1,000 for the Great Tang Kaiyuan World."

The iron smelting technology of the Han Dynasty is not yet advanced, so we should provide as much support as possible.

Chen Tang's side is on a long journey and doesn't need weapons for the time being, while Li Qingzhao hasn't even made contact with Zhao Xu yet. If she rashly brings weapons back, she might be accused of treason.

As for the Kaiyuan world, Li Longji hadn't yet sorted out Chang'an, so he didn't need too many weapons; giving a thousand spearheads as a token gesture would suffice.

During dinner, Huo Qubing told Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang about the battles of the past few days, and also mentioned Sima Qian joining the cavalry special forces, which left Zhou Yi speechless with amazement.
"I never expected Sima Qian to have such a courageous side. Youth is indeed very malleable. This time, he will no longer subtly criticize you in the Records of the Grand Historian."

Wu Zetian reminded her:

"Don't let Sima Qian talk about Li Guang everywhere. The greater the victory in the north of Dingxiang, the more we should learn to keep quiet and not speak ill of others."

Huo Qubing wrote it down, intending to tell Sima Qian about it when he got back.

The next morning, Sun Erfa drove a small truck and picked up the spears from the logistics station. The first batch consisted of two thousand spears, not many, but enough for Huo Qubing's men to have one each.

"The rest will be delivered in batches. The factory is very enthusiastic, constantly asking if you need anything else. They can process anything."

Can anything be processed?

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and asked:
Can horseshoes be machined?

Sun Erfa called the manufacturer, and upon hearing it was horseshoes, the other party immediately said:

"You can smash this thing out with your eyes closed, it's super easy. If you want a lot, we'll go for the wholesale price, it'll only cost a few cents each."

The steel market is currently sluggish, with persistent overcapacity. Even horseshoes, which cost only a few cents, can still generate profit.

Upon hearing that it cost only a few cents, Zhou Yi immediately ordered 50,000 of them, intending to have Huo Qubing take them to equip the troops.

The Tang Dynasty had a relatively abundant supply of iron, which could be used to make horseshoes. As for the Han Dynasty, they should focus on producing more ring-pommel swords, as these would be a devastating blow to foreign tribes.

After Sun Erfa left, the owner of the steamed bun shop in town drove over to deliver steamed buns.

Yesterday at dinner, Zhou Yi heard that Sima Qian wanted to try the local delicacies, so he made a phone call and ordered several thousand steamed buns to ensure that Huo Qubing's men could eat their fill.

As for the vegetables, Zhou Yi simply bought 200 catties of pork belly slices, more than 200 catties of hot pot meatballs, 100 catties of vermicelli, 100 catties of tofu, four or five sacks of cabbage, plus side dishes such as dried bean curd, gluten, and kelp. He used a large iron pot with a diameter of two meters to cook a large pot full of vegetables at the entrance of the Hall of Longevity.

By the time the dishes were ready, it was already 2 PM.

Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang each served themselves a bowl, while Huo Qubing took the rest, pot and all.

"You've worked hard, Immortal Master. It's a pity I don't know anything about cooking and can't be of much help."

Zhou Yi said with a smile:

"They drove out the Xiongnu and made the Han Dynasty a symbol of the nation. It's only right that I cook something for them. After you finish eating, remember to remind me to choose lances for Zhao Ponu and the others. As a general, you can't do without a suitable weapon!"

While the two were eating and chatting over a large pot of stew, a completely different scene was unfolding inside the Yiyuan Temple in Daozhengfang, part of the Kaiyuan World of the Tang Dynasty.

Princess Taiping washed away her makeup, removed her elaborate and expensive jewelry, put on a Taoist robe, tied her hair with a simple Taoist hairpin, and officially became a Taoist nun.

Lady Gongsun looked at it from left to right and thought it fit perfectly:

“Good. From now on, just stay here and don’t go out. Although my eldest grandson keeps saying we’re family, we still need to be careful.”

Princess Taiping nodded:
"Don't worry, Auntie, I'm not going anywhere."

After saying this, she knelt on the prayer mat and began to recite the "Treatise on Response and Retribution" to atone for her sins and to pray for the descendants who were beheaded that day.

In the palace, Gao Lishi placed a secret report on Li Longji's desk:
"Your Majesty, Wang Maozhong paid a hasty visit to Guo Yuanzhen, the Minister of War, early this morning, carrying lavish gifts..."

Li Longji hated nothing more than officials colluding with each other, and said coldly:

"Wang Maozhong stormed the Taoist temple yesterday and nearly injured a member of the imperial family. He is hereby dismissed from his post and never to be employed again... Oh, by the way, while eating steamed dumplings yesterday, Master Qinglian mentioned a monk named Yixing who is proficient in mathematics. Find this man and bring him here. From this day forward, the Tang Dynasty will begin to promote mathematics to lay a solid foundation for industry!"

(End of this chapter)