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

Chapter 208 Chen Tang: I'm really angry right now!

Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou returned to Chang'an from the Western Regions, not alone, but each with a hundred followers. The Kangju prince and the Wusun prince were also escorted by the army.

Each attendant carried three horses. To make travel easier, their armor and weapons were kept with their luggage and not worn. After all, once they passed Yumen Pass, they would be in Han Chinese territory, and parading around in full armor would easily cause panic among the people.

But unexpectedly, in Wuwei County, deep in the heart of the Han Dynasty, the two witnessed Han officials fawning over the Qiang people.

The Qiang people, who have always been weaklings among the foreign tribes surrounding the Han Dynasty, have no right to call themselves honored guests.

When Emperor Wu of Han was locked in a fierce battle with the Xiongnu, the Western Qiang rebelled. Liu Che did not use Wei Qing or Huo Qubing, but only sent Li Xi, Wei Qing's follower. Li Xi easily defeated the Qiang people. During Emperor Wu's reign, the Qiang people remained as obedient as well-behaved children and dared not cause any trouble.

The Qiang people rebelled several times afterward, but each time their rebellions were forcefully suppressed.

Such a person was actually treated as an honored guest by the Prefect of Wuwei, who even sprinkled water on the streets, making it seem like he was welcoming an imperial envoy... Unfortunately, Tom Cruise ran into him, and even the most distinguished guest would only turn into a string of cold, hard military achievements.

Both men's attendants were seasoned veterans who, upon receiving the order, dismounted without hesitation, first removing and properly donning the armor from the back of their packhorses, then cleaning their weapons such as swords and boar spears, before straddling another warhorse and assuming a charging stance.

Without their armor, Chen Tang and his group looked disheveled and looked like merchants from out of town.

But once the armor was on, the overwhelming aura of brutality emanating from it was so palpable that the constable nearly collapsed to the ground in fright.
"Who...who are you people?"

Chen Tang grinned and slowly drew the goose-feather saber that Zhou Yi had given him from his waist:

"Chen Tang, Deputy Commandant of the Western Regions!"

Upon hearing this name, the constable fell heavily to the ground. He had heard a few days ago that a demon king named Chen had come from the Western Regions and could summon divine lightning to turn people into dust.

Unexpectedly, the person in front of him was the legendary Demon King Chen. He no longer cared about maintaining order, got up from the ground, and ran towards the city crying and shouting, covering his head as he ran, afraid of being struck by lightning.

Gan Yanshou flipped through the edict granting passage and said:

"The Prefect of Wuwei just took office this spring. He is a student of Kuang Heng. I originally wanted to send Kuang Heng's son, but it is said that he can't endure hardship and is unwilling to leave the capital... He talks about classical Chinese all day long and always wants to educate the people. But when he actually has the opportunity, these scholars fail him. These pedantic scholars are really disgusting."

Upon hearing that the Prefect of Wuwei was actually Kuang Heng's student, Chen Tang sneered:
"At most, his position as prefect will only allow him to serve until we enter the capital."

After arriving in Chang'an, I can use the name of the immortals to petition the governor of Wuwei and request His Majesty to build a Taoist temple for the Immortal Yiyuan... Yiyuan Hall, Yiyuan Platform, Yiyuan Temple, and Yiyuan Palace are all built. The names are getting fewer and fewer, so I have to hurry.

Soon, billowing dust appeared in the distance, indicating that a large number of cavalry were approaching.

Gan Yanshou picked up the binoculars and observed carefully:
"About four or five hundred cavalrymen, poorly equipped and with absolutely no discipline... Prince, are you really planning to fire a cannon?"

Chen Tang said:

"I'm furious right now. Either I kill a bunch of Qiang people, or I kill the local governor's entire family. Old Gan, you choose one for me."

Gan Yanshou didn't waste any more words and picked up the horse spear that Zhou Yi had given him.

The Qiang people came to make an alliance today, and everyone was dressed like a groom. They had no idea that there was an elite cavalry force sharpening its swords at the city gate.

They coveted the fertile fields and large population of the Han lands, the fine silks and satins, and the beautiful young women.

Before they even reached Guzang, they started shouting and clamoring to snatch a few back to have a bunch of children, who would then grow up and continue to snatch young Han women.

They were dreaming and rushed eagerly toward the city gate, where colorful flags were waving.

However, before they could pinpoint their target, a fully armored cavalry suddenly attacked from the side of the city gate... Although Chen Tang did not provide his followers with infantry armor or bright armor, they had taken many pieces of armor from corpses during their western expedition against Zhizhi Chanyu, so their personal protection was very thorough.

Now, facing a group of unsuspecting Qiang people, they were like a pack of tigers attacking a flock of sheep, their wild boar spears flying up and down, constantly reaping the lives of the Qiang people.

These Qiang people, who were dreaming of plundering grain and women, only woke up from their dream when their companions were stabbed to death one by one. While cursing the Wuwei governor for being despicable, they turned their horses around and prepared to escape.

Unfortunately, Chen Tang's warhorses were all "borrowed" from Dayuan, and they were well-rested and ready to fight. They charged forward and arrived at the front in no time.

The Qiang people had traveled dozens of miles and were exhausted. They were looking forward to resting properly in Guzang, but they never expected that what awaited them was not the beautiful legs of young women, but wild boar spears made of high manganese steel.

Two hundred fully armored cavalrymen chased and slaughtered five hundred defeated soldiers, leaving the civilians at the city gate dumbfounded.

We agreed to welcome our distinguished Qiang guests, so this is how we're going to welcome them, right?
That's great! I hope we can welcome this every month from now on. We wouldn't mind the effort!
During the chase, Chen Tang took the lead, constantly reaping the heads of the Qiang people. He pursued them for more than ten miles before randomly selecting a Qiang person dressed in fine clothes to keep alive, intending to try out his newly devised method of torture.

After regrouping his cavalry, Chen Tang, too lazy to clean up the battlefield, simply drove the short-statured Qiang warhorses back to Guzang County.

On the way, he had Lao Gan, who understood the Qiang language, act as his translator and asked the prisoners of war a few questions.

At first, the Qiang man seemed resigned to his fate, but when Chen Tang held a windproof lighter to his eyes, the resolute attitude instantly transformed into one of readily answering any questions. In terms of character education, Tom Cruise is at the forefront of the world.

This group of Qiang people came from a tribe on the western side of the Qilian Mountains, numbering about 20,000 to 30,000. A few days ago, the governor of Wuwei sent people to visit them, hoping to win over these Western Qiang people with a policy of appeasement.

After several rounds of negotiations, they decided to swear an oath in Guzang today. The governor of Wuwei also planned to ask the imperial court for permission to marry a princess to him and to allocate some fertile land to teach the Qiang people how to cultivate it.

As long as they have food and drink, they will surely stop causing trouble.

The idea was nice, but the Qiang people didn't buy into it at all. Farming was nothing compared to the comfort of outright robbery.

History has repeatedly proven that all appeasement policies implemented against foreign ethnic groups will ultimately bring calamity, or even annihilation, to the Han people.

Inside Hunyuan Palace, after Zhou Yi finished cooking a large pot of food for the workers, he realized that there was still some time before lunch, so he went back to his room and opened his black notebook.

And then, to everyone's surprise, Tom Cruise, who had been quiet for a long time, actually achieved another great result:
Chen Tang led his troops to annihilate five hundred Western Qiang nobles, earning him +15 merit points.

Chen Tang captures the prince of the Laoqiang tribe, earning +5 merit points.

Wait, isn't Tom Cruise on his way back to Chang'an? How can he kill enemies like this?

Zhou Yi flipped through Chen Tang's personal page again. His merits had increased by a full six taels, now totaling two catties, ten taels, and five qian, far ahead of the rest of the Hunyuan Palace.

The Laoqiang tribe... Zhou Yi opened his computer and searched, and found that this tribe had moved to Anding County during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and had even rebelled, almost attacking Chang'an.

It remains to be seen whether Tom Cruise's surprise attack will severely damage this tribe.

It is hoped that the Yuan Emperor's world can formulate a strategy to restrict the Qiang people, so as to prevent the Guanzhong region from being ravaged by the Qiang people again.

At noon, the workers ate their fill of the large pot of stew at Hunyuan Palace. Zhao Wei, carrying his bowl, wandered around and noticed that the area in front of Hunyuan Palace was uneven. He planned to use an excavator to level it after lunch.

He addressed Zhou Yi:

"The area outside the main gate is bigger than a football field. Haven't you ever thought about building a bed and breakfast or something to make money?"

Zhou Yi waved his hand:

"That's too much trouble, it's unnecessary."

He earned a million in less than two months after taking over Hunyuan Palace. With this earning power, why open a bed and breakfast? He should just honestly reap the rewards of good deeds.

After Wu Zetian finished eating the stew from the big pot, she started boiling water for everyone, and then went to the Three Emperors Hall to offer incense to the statue of Shennong. She was extremely busy.

Zhao Wei walked around for a moment, then sat down next to Zhou Yi with his bowl in his hand and whispered:
"Such a wonderful wife! Take advantage of the fact that there's no dowry and hurry up and get your marriage certificate at the Civil Affairs Bureau. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you miss out."

He had noticed it long ago: this incredibly beautiful female Taoist priest was inseparable from Zhou Yi, following him everywhere.

As someone who has been through it all, he felt it necessary to say something fair.

Zhou Yi said with a smile:

"These things depend on fate, so don't worry about it. After you finish eating, hurry up and help me level the ground. Even though we're not building a guesthouse, it's still very necessary to build a parking lot."

"Don't worry, with the level ground I have as the top excavator operator in Yunwu Town, there's no problem with J-20s taking off and landing directly."

Meanwhile, in the world of Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji donated the books he had collected over the years to the Imperial Academy, hoping to broaden the students' horizons. He also gave the guards of the Imperial Academy several tens of strings of cash to thank them for their righteous help the previous night.

After doing all this, he went into the Yiyuan Palace, which was under construction, and announced that everyone would receive an additional 100 coins per day for heatstroke prevention, and that all the workers would receive the same treatment.

When he was freed from the royal family, the scene inside the palace was quite different.

Holding the list of confessions made by Yang Jian, Zhao Xu strode to the Qingshou Hall, where Empress Dowager Xiang resided, and slammed it heavily on the table:
"If Mother has any objections to me, she can bring them up to my face. As the saying goes, even a tiger won't eat its cubs. I never imagined that you would send someone to poison me and take my life."

Empress Dowager Xiang was not Zhao Xu's biological mother, but because she was the empress, all of Emperor Shenzong's children had to call her Empress Dowager.

From the time Zhao Xu was made crown prince until now, Empress Dowager Xiang has been trying every means to suppress Zhao Xu's biological mother, Consort Zhu, and this poisoning incident is no exception.

Just as Empress Dowager Xiang was about to adopt the demeanor of an empress dowager and argue a few words, Zhao Xu coldly said:

"Today, my brother Zhao Ji swore in court that he would forever break away from the royal family and pursue immortality... I will announce to the world that you were so heartbroken that you coughed up blood and rode a crane to join the late emperor... No one can stop the rise of the Song Dynasty, not even you!"

(End of this chapter)