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

Chapter 242 We promise we will never be the first to deploy the Three Pure Ones! [Seeking monthly votes]

When Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang returned to Hunyuan Palace, it was already 3:30 in the afternoon.

After moving the ritual implements into the room, Zhou Yi opened the envelope and counted his earnings for the day. Ding Zhenhua had given him 30,000 yuan when he got off the bus, and another 50,000 yuan after the job was done. Adding the 30,000 yuan that Ding Zhenhua had donated yesterday, his net profit was 110,000 yuan.

Wu Zetian counted the money and sighed:
"No wonder everyone wants to become a monk; this line of work makes money really fast."

Zhou Yi waved his hand:

"Taoism is far less adept at making money. If you want to see how religions can make money, you have to look at Buddhism."

He found a picture online of a dozen monks counting money around a pile of cash and showed it to Wu Zetian:
"Many people save money and are reluctant to buy a new piece of clothing, but they are particularly enthusiastic about donating money to temples. They are easily persuaded by monks and are willing to donate their lives."

Wu Zetian felt that the Tang Dynasty's religious policies were still too lenient:

"If this is the case in modern society, then the monks of the Tang Dynasty will be even more extreme. When I return, I will request His Majesty to implement stricter laws to limit the number of religious people, land, private property, etc., and to require eminent monks to reinterpret the scriptures and remove extravagant practices such as the use of golden statues from Buddhism."

Zhou Yi thought this suggestion was good, since Buddhist temples often gild their statues, covering them with pure gold.

In times of peace, it cannot circulate, and in times of chaos, it will provide funds for rebel armies... If you want to spread your religion in China, you should only allow the use of clay statues. Any golden statues will be considered licentious shrines and need to be eradicated.

Once this momentum is established, it is believed that the national strength of the Tang Dynasty will reach a new level.

Unfortunately, Xuanzang is still in India and cannot return in the short term; otherwise, having him annotate the scriptures would be the best course of action.

After discussing this matter, Zhou Yi asked Wu Meiniang to put the money away, then took out the black notebook to see how much merit he had earned that day.

As it turned out, upon closer inspection, they discovered that their merits had actually increased dramatically once again:

[Captured the soul of a thousand-year-old dog, Merit +5]

Chen Tang used his oath to summon divine lightning to strike down Prime Minister Kuang Heng, gaining +20 merit.

Chen Tang used torture to execute the Grand Secretary Shi Xian, earning him +30 merit points.

Chen Tang used cruel torture to execute the Imperial Censor Fan Yanshou, earning him +20 merit points.

[Emperor Wu issued an edict confirming the red flag with a black dragon as the national flag of the Han Dynasty and promulgated relevant laws. Merit +20]

[The potato planting area in Emperor Wu's world exceeds one acre, and the corn planting area exceeds five acres, merit +5]

I accidentally gained ten taels of merit. At this rate, I'll soon break through the four-jin mark.

Chen Tang, having successively killed several high-ranking officials who were causing chaos in the court, had accumulated enough merit to reach four jin and six liang, thus solidifying his position as number one once again.

After returning to Chang'an, his merits increased dramatically.

Zhou Yi told Wu Meiniang what he had seen, and Her Majesty the Empress smoothed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and said:
"With Kuang Heng and Shi Xian dead, the Yuan Emperor's court should promote new officials. Xu Jia is upright but lacks courage. He is nominally the Grand Marshal, but in reality, he is just a General of Chariots and Cavalry. Let him continue to be a figurehead. In addition, Wang Feng is extremely power-hungry and should not be allowed to control the court."

Zhou Yi looked at the famous figures of Chen Tang's time and felt that the position of prime minister would most likely be filled by General Wang Shang, who was Liu Shi's uncle and had a close relationship with him.

As for the Grand Censor, one of the Three Dukes, Chen Tang will most likely support an official who is tough on foreign affairs to take the position.

The world under Emperor Yuan is in turmoil, but there is still hope. As long as a group of nobles are eliminated, the land crisis is resolved, a strong army is built, and the mighty name of the Han Dynasty is established, all problems can be solved.

As for who to fight, it was naturally the Southern Xiongnu who occupied the counties of Shuofang, Wuyuan, and Yunzhong.

The territory that Liu Shi had painstakingly conquered was given away to the Southern Xiongnu with a wave of his hand. From then on, it became a mixed area inhabited by both Han and non-Han peoples, and was no longer purely Han territory.

Meanwhile, in the world of the Tang Dynasty during the Zhenguan era, Li Shimin looked at the memorials on his desk and then looked up at Fang Xuanling:

"Are the foreign officials in the court strongly opposed to the name change?"

Fang Xuanling said:
"There is some noise, but it is nothing to worry about; this old minister can suppress it."

Ever since Li Shimin issued the decree to change names and surnames to Han names, the Hu (non-Han) officials in the court have had many complaints. Some even openly wore their own ethnic clothing to court, hoping to offer their honest advice to His Majesty.

Unfortunately, Fang Xuanling was prepared for this tactic. He would send all such officials home and suspend them from their duties to reflect on their actions if they did not tidy up their appearance.

Some generals of different ethnic groups who had made great military achievements have been granted the surname Li, which is both an encouragement and a hope that they can set an example.

After reading the memorial, Li Shimin asked:

"Would it be difficult for all the non-Han people in Chang'an to change their names and surnames to Han names within a month?"

Fang Xuanling bowed respectfully.
"It's not difficult, except that some of the royal consorts are of non-Han ethnicity. If they don't change..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Shimin waved his hand:
"Then let's find new husbands for the princesses and noblewomen. The immortal said, 'To get rich, build roads first.' It's time to drive some of the foreign tribes out of Chang'an to build roads." Road construction was the Ministry of Works' responsibility, so Fang Xuanling didn't say much, only offering a reminder:

“If we start road construction, we will need to burn a large amount of lime first. As a result, the price of charcoal may rise again, affecting people’s livelihoods.”

Li Shimin handed a booklet titled "Coal Development" to Fang Xuanling:

"For the calcination of lime, coal is used exclusively. The Ordnance Bureau is also building new blast furnaces and using coal to smelt steel, in accordance with the precious book bestowed by the Immortal Master."

Then he added:
"The Ordnance Bureau was ordered to begin experimenting with manufacturing hydraulic stamping equipment by the river. The tutorials are all available. Now, the task is to find a way to make these technologies work for us."

The Director of Military Equipment rose and bowed to Li Shimin:
"We are all conducting research, but some aspects require electricity. I wonder if the immortal could bestow some power generation equipment upon us."

Li Shimin was also troubled by this matter:

"I'll figure out a way to handle this. You just do your own thing."

While the court was discussing state affairs here, the Wude Hall in the Kaiyuan World of the Tang Dynasty presented a completely different scene.

Li Longji solicitously placed palace pastries in front of Gongsun Da Niang and Li Bai, a smile plastered on his face:
"I have invited you two elders here today to discuss a religious matter... The eminent monks of Buddhism are all restraining their believers and disciples, but some temples are quite resistant to the imperial decrees. May I ask, if a conflict were to occur, could you two please intervene?"

Aunt Gongsun ate the snacks without any politeness and said:
"No problem. Within the religious sphere, whether it's a monk, a Taoist priest, or a fortune teller or charlatan, as long as they come out to swindle and deceive, I can summon divine lightning to strike them dead."

Those who mingle in religious circles are simply using the concept of ghosts and gods to increase their number of followers.

But no matter how mysterious and fantastical their tales of ghosts and gods were, they couldn't withstand a divine thunderbolt descending from the sky.

Especially those charlatans who claim to be reincarnations of some deity, the more they chop, the more merit they are rewarded with.

With this guarantee, Li Longji had nothing to worry about:
"In the coming days I will implement a series of religious decrees, allowing the surplus population to reclaim wasteland, build roads, dig ditches, and dredge waterways, while foreign tribes will go to mine coal and contribute to the Tang Dynasty."

At this moment, Gao Lishi entered, bringing a message:
"The monks have now arrived in Chang'an, but they did not stay at the post station. Instead, they stayed at a Buddhist temple, saying that they were tired from the journey and needed to rest for a few days before they could meet His Majesty."

Oh ho, you've already arrived in Chang'an, are you still going to put on airs?
Gongsun Da Niang said:

"I'll go to Hunyuan Palace early the day after tomorrow and ask Tathagata what he means in the Great Buddha Hall. The Three Pure Ones have already agreed to support me, so I must make good use of this opportunity."

Li Bai was somewhat puzzled:

"So you actually managed to communicate with the Three Pure Ones?"

Gongsun Da Niang shrugged:

“That day at the Sanqing Hall, I said that if they had eaten the offerings, they should support me, and I asked them if they had any objections. They didn’t say anything, so doesn’t that mean they agreed?”

Li Bai felt that Sister Gongsun's thought process was a bit unusual. Fortunately, she wasn't a nun, otherwise, if she saw the Bodhisattva making an "OK" sign, she would have caused a lot of trouble.
In the evening, the two rode their bicycles back to Yiyuan Temple. Princess Taiping was teaching a group of children pinyin, and Sima Chengzhen and Hu Ziyang were also among them, practicing the principle of "learning until old age".

After the lesson ended, Gongsun Da Niang said to Sima Chengzhen:
"Old man, when you're not busy, remember to issue a decree to all the Taoist temples in the world, so that they can strictly discipline their disciples and not embarrass themselves like the Buddhist sect."

Sima Chengzhen liked this title very much and immediately said:

"I will go to the Ministry of Rites first thing tomorrow morning to discuss with the Minister of Rites and try to improve this law as much as possible... By the way, Fairy Gongsun, could you please take my books with you when you return to Hunyuan Palace this time?"

Yesterday, Sima Chengzhen's disciples brought a batch of books, but this is not all of them. Other books will be transported from Wangwu Mountain, Tiantai Mountain and other places to Chang'an and presented to Hunyuan Palace.

Hu Ziyang also sent his disciples back to move the books. He was not willing to miss this rare opportunity to make his presence known in front of the gods.

At the same time, inside Hunyuan Palace, more and more frozen products were being delivered by Da Tou Yang. Zhou Yi simply used those technologically advanced and ruthlessly crafted meatballs to make a pot of spicy hot pot.

Aside from the vegetables, the ingredients in the pot were a prime example of being "non-natural and fully synthetic," but Wu Zetian ate with great pleasure, especially the stuffed fish balls, which she couldn't get enough of with the dipping sauce prepared by Zhou Yi.

While eating, Zhou Yi browsed wholesale websites and eventually bought three 3-kilowatt vertical axis micro wind turbines.

A 3,000-watt motor is relatively light, and it can be lifted up by a large number of people. However, motors of 5,000 watts or more are somewhat dangerous without a crane, so they cannot be purchased for the time being.

Three wind turbines: one in the Wudi World, one in the Zhenguan World, and one in the Kaiyuan World.

As for other worlds, we'll take it one step at a time, and buy what we need as needed. Anyway, we have enough cash on hand, so we don't need to live a frugal life.

Wu Zetian held a map of Shandong from the Jin Dynasty, looking at it from left to right, and her thoughts drifted to Xin Qiji:

"I wonder where Xin Qiji is now. His family is reclaiming wasteland in the Yimeng Mountains. Should we buy some mosquito coils and floral water to make their lives more comfortable?"

As she reminisced about Xin Qiji, this literary giant was being harassed by a minor leader of the Maitreya sect because of several homeless vagrants.
“These refugees are all members of our Maitreya Sect. If you want to take them away, you’ll have to pay at least ten taels of silver per person. Otherwise, none of you will leave here!”

(End of this chapter)