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

Chapter 210 Wei Qing and Huo Qubing both loved watching horse hoof repair! [Seeking monthly votes]

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi closed the notebook, pressed his hand on the Bagua mirror embedded in the cover, and soon a refreshing feeling flowed into his body through his arm, as if a cool breeze was blowing on a hot summer day.

At the same time, a string of incantations appeared in his mind. He went outside, silently recited the Wind-Guiding Incantation, and then released it in conjunction with the Jade Purity Technique.

Soon, a gust of wind blew in their face, about level two or three, almost blowing the clothes that Wu Zetian had hung out to dry onto the ground.

Zhou Yi went back to his room and checked. He found that he had lost one coin of merit, which was roughly the same as the cost of the Ninth-Rank Lightning Strike Technique.

However, the lightning strike would only last once, but the wind blew for two or three hours without stopping.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Wu Meiniang stood in the courtyard and asked in confusion:
"Master, what's going on with this wind? It keeps blowing and it's dried the clothes I just washed."

The Book of Changes says:

"After dinner, I tried out the new wind-generating technique I learned, but it just wouldn't stop blowing. I should have installed a few wind turbines in the yard. The wind-generating technique works better when combined with a generator."

I remember seeing those miniature wind generators online. I'll buy one tomorrow and try it out. If it works, I'll install two in Li Shimin's Taiji Palace. These things can generate electricity day and night, unlike solar energy which has many limitations.

Even on windless days, you can stick a "gentle breeze charm" on the generator... Add a touch of mystical power to science, and electricity will be generated continuously.

Wu Zetian said regretfully:

"It's a pity the wind is too weak. If it were stronger, it could be used on the battlefield."

Zhou Yi believed that if the Lightning Strike Technique could be upgraded, the Wind-Drawing Technique should be no problem either:

"Don't worry, it will evolve into a super hurricane in the future. Then we can make a lot of good deeds abroad."

It's a pity we don't know how many types of the Heaven and Earth Power series of spells there are. If it includes all natural disasters, then we'd have to visit each of the countries that have had conflicts with China.

This country gets hit by a tiny, massive meteorite, that country experiences a minor magnitude 9 earthquake, and every now and then there's a thunderstorm capable of destroying all electrical appliances...

Whether it's a good deed or not doesn't matter; the main thing is to bring some warmth to foreigners.

Some public intellectuals always praise foreigners for their strong hands-on skills, saying they can crush Chinese people even without modern technology... Well, now they have the opportunity to prove their hands-on skills.

Yes, you're welcome. I'm just someone who stands up for justice and is always ready to help others!

The next day, Zhou Yi woke up to find that the wind had stopped, but it must have stopped in the middle of the night, because the yard was a mess, and even the vegetables in the garden were all bent over.

After breakfast, having nothing to do, he took stock of his merits and found that two of them didn't match up. He flipped to Zhao Xu's page and saw that this guy's token had actually killed two people.

Tsk tsk, I hope Comrade Zhezong doesn't get addicted to this, otherwise he won't be able to make up for the lost merit.

He closed the notebook, drove down the mountain, picked up the newly arrived five-colored soil from the courier station, and then placed it in front of the statue of the Earth Goddess Houtu for worship.

Like the God of Fortune, Houtu Niangniang also needs to be worshipped with five-colored soil.

The soil was first placed in Hunyuan Palace for worship. When the statue arrived, it was transported directly to Fang Hongyan's place, arranged, and then sprinkled around the statue according to the directions.

On the other side, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty.

After resting for half a day, Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou, unable to tolerate the Wuwei Prefect, decided to leave early and rest for a few more days in Cangsong County ahead.

The two men were accompanied by three horses each, and with the addition of the several hundred Qiang dwarf horses seized yesterday, the entire procession was enormous, even larger than that of horse traders.

The Qiang ethnic minority's dwarf horse is not the kind of small horse commonly found in parks, but rather a relatively small horse that is sturdy and well-suited for walking in mountainous terrain.

The shoulder height of Ferghana horses is generally over 1.8 meters, while the shoulder height of Qiang horses is generally only 1.4 meters.

Chen Tang didn't think much of this horse and planned to take it to Hunyuan Palace as a gift to Xin Qiji and Zhao Xu... Small horses are suitable for mountainous areas, and both the Yimeng Mountain base area and the Western Xia front line are mountainous areas, suitable for these small horses to roam freely.

With everything ready, just as Chen Tang was about to lead everyone away, the Prefect of Wuwei arrived in a carriage.

"Commander Gan and Colonel Chen, before you leave, could you please return these spoils of war to the Prefect's Office? The imperial court has regulations that spoils of war from bandit suppression belong to the Prefect's Office."

These shameless words nearly made everyone vomit blood.

You secretly colluded with the Qiang people and even promised them a princess. Now that you've killed the Qiang, you have the audacity to ask for spoils of war... You're completely uninterested in anything related to people.

Gan Yanshou stepped back two paces. This was not a suitable situation for a member of the Imperial Guard to step forward; it would be more appropriate to let Chen Tang, a scholar, handle the persuasion.

After all, they were both scholars!

Chen Tang didn't stand on ceremony. He immediately spurred his horse forward, tapped the gold-threaded tassel on the roof of the prefect's carriage with his whip, and asked with a smile:

"So, the people we killed yesterday were a group of bandits?"

The Prefect of Wuwei nodded:

“Indeed, therefore…” Before he could finish speaking, Chen Tang reached out and ripped the tassels off the carriage:
"In such a harsh and cold place, you actually decorate your carriage with gold thread. You're incredibly corrupt! How much of the people's hard-earned money must have gone into this? I'm going to take this back to Chang'an and let all the officials see how corrupt the Prime Minister's student is... Also, as the governor, you actually allowed bandits to escape to the outskirts of the capital without taking any defensive measures. Instead, you ordered countless people to line up outside the city. This is quite suspicious of colluding with the enemy!"

The governor of Wuwei was originally full of pride, thinking that he could take away the spoils of war with just a few words, but he did not expect that Chen Tang would turn the tables on him with just a few words.

Impeachments for extravagance are relatively easy to dismiss, but allowing bandits to roam freely outside the capital city is a grave offense.

Prefect, prefect, what kind of prefect are you if you can't even defend your own territory?

Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou were both high-ranking officials with a salary of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain). Gan Yanshou was also given the additional title of Cavalry Commandant, which was half a rank higher than the Prefect of Wuwei.

Now, the Prefect of Wuwei is speechless in his eloquence and has no advantage in terms of official rank.

Moreover, both sides were well aware that the Qiang people were not bandits at all, but foreign tribes that the Han Dynasty could not tolerate. If this matter were to be exposed, the governor of Wuwei would never be able to hold office again for the rest of his life.

Chen Tang asked:

"Do you still want the spoils?"

The prefect of Wuwei remained silent, got into his carriage, and left without saying a single polite word.

Gan Yanshou took a one-liter bottle of iced tea from his mount's saddlebag, unscrewed it, and took two sips of the cool boiled water he had filled up that morning.
"Why didn't you explain the Qiang people to him?"

Chen Tang pointed to the prince of the Laoqiang tribe who was being escorted behind him and laughed:
“It would be more appropriate to let the prince speak when we get to Chang’an. If we speak now, the prefect will probably try to make amends in advance. So we can just send him away. He will make his own decision when we get to Chang’an.”

After leaving Guzang, Gan Yanshou asked again:

"What does he want the horses for? To sell them for money?"

Chen Tang shook his head:

"If that's the case, it's still considered good. I think he'll most likely send those horses back to the Laoqiang tribe and then say a bunch of apologies... Spineless people will always keep lowering their standards. Fortunately, we Han people don't have many spineless people. If this were the Song Dynasty, I would definitely be so angry that I would vomit blood."

Gan Yanshou was immediately delighted:
"If you were in the Song Dynasty, you wouldn't even be able to become a ninth-rank official. But it's a wealthy place, so you can borrow money freely, which is a good thing."

On the other side, in the world of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, on the northern grasslands of Dingxiang.

The main army began to retreat towards the Yunzhong, Dingxiang, and Yanmen areas. Li Ju, Gongsun He, Gongsun Ao, Su Jian, and others led their respective troops and began to retreat along the route drawn by Wei Qing.

The central army camp has not yet moved, because the cavalry units are repairing horseshoes in large quantities.

All the horseshoes ordered by Zhou Yi were transported over by Huo Qubing. The cavalry are now busy repairing horseshoes and nailing horseshoes. If a horse's hoof is injured and oozing pus, it will need to be washed, bandaged, and treated with anti-inflammatory medicine.

Huo Qubing moved a stool and sat outside the stable, watching the shovel cleanly and efficiently cut off the edge of the horse's hoof, and inexplicably felt a sense of relief.

"This thing is so comfortable to look at, I could look at it all day long."

Wei Qing walked by with his hands behind his back and lightly kicked his nephew:
"The army is busy setting off now, there's no time for you to watch the show here... Go, go to the rear camp and check the supplies, and while you're at it, head to the Daqingshan area to see when the supplies there can be transported back to Dingxiang."

Huo Qubing agreed and got up to walk towards the rear camp. As soon as he left, Wei Qing sat down with a thud, also captivated by the scene of repairing horseshoes.

Just as they were engrossed in watching, the ordnance officer led several soldiers in a hurry, wearing Han-style lamellar armor modified from infantry armor.

"General, this was modified by Infantryman Jia. Please take a look."

Wei Qing turned his head and saw that compared with the lamellar armor of the Han Dynasty, the newly modified armor plates were more uniform and dense, with better coverage, and at the same time, the weight was reduced, making it lighter and faster.

"Take a few steps and see."

The soldiers in armor immediately started jogging, the clatter of their armor plates more melodious than any music.

After reading it, Wei Qing said to the captain in charge of ordnance:
"Put this armor on the straw man, and have the soldiers fire arrows from forty paces away, once in each direction, and then readjust the armor plates according to where the arrows hit."

"Here!"

After the captain left, Wei Qing wanted to continue watching the repair of horse hooves, but then felt that he couldn't waste such a good time, so he had to return to his tent with his hands behind his back, intending to summarize the large-scale troop command experience that his nephew had mentioned.

He opened his notebook and muttered to himself:

"I don't seek to be remembered for eternity. I would be content if I could help future military commanders avoid some of the pitfalls!"

As Fan Li began writing his military treatise, in the capital city of Yue during the Spring and Autumn period, in the royal palace of Kuaiji, the prime minister in his early forties and Wen Zhong, a senior official of Yue, were intently examining Xi Shi's bicycle.

The two of them, like country bumpkins, kept touching the tires and the chain, finding it all increasingly fascinating.

Not far away, Xi Shi was cooking noodles in a stainless steel pot propped up by a few stones. She planned to treat Fan Li and Wen Zhong to a bowl of noodles before leaving the Yue Kingdom to embark on her mountain biking and off-road adventure...

(End of this chapter)