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

Chapter 249 Boiling water pushes open the kettle lid, does anything come to mind? [Seeking monthly votes]

Yan Zhenqing's cenotaph is located in a small village called Tangquan, right next to Yanshi.

It is called a cenotaph because there is no historical record to prove that this tomb is related to Yan Zhenqing. Both the New Book of Tang and the Old Book of Tang clearly record that after Yan Zhenqing died, his body was escorted to the capital by his son and buried in Fengqiyuan, Chang'an.

However, Lu Chunru, the magistrate of Yanshi County in the Ming Dynasty, thought that this was Yan Zhenqing's tomb. He not only renovated it but also erected a stele to commemorate him. From then on, the tomb was visited by worshippers. Therefore, this is a cenotaph with commemorative significance.

Whether it's the real tomb or a cenotaph, as long as people come to offer incense in remembrance, Yan Lugong will receive offerings... just consider it as setting up an office in Mangshan.

Zhou Yi opened the trunk, took out the prepared ritual implements, and led Wu Meiniang and Li Qingzhao into the cemetery.

The Yan Zhenqing Primary School is right next to the cemetery. From the perspective of educating people, whether the tomb is real or fake is no longer important. If Yan Lugong were alive, he would definitely like this arrangement.

What elderly person wouldn't love to be surrounded by the joyful laughter and clear reading voices of children?

Walk straight ahead from the passage on the south side of the primary school, then go up the steps, and you will see three tombstones: one modern, one from the Ming Dynasty, and one from the Qing Dynasty.

Zhou Yi unfolded the folding table, laid out a silk cloth, and began to arrange the ritual implements.

Wu Meiniang glanced at the inscriptions on the several steles and said with slight disappointment:

"Yan Zhenqing was clearly a master calligrapher, so why wasn't his style used for the inscription?"

Li Qingzhao echoed:

"Yes, Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy is magnificent and grand, much more beautiful than these characters."

After arranging the ritual implements and offerings, Zhou Yi sighed:
"Speaking of which, I have quite a connection with Yan Zhenqing. When I was practicing calligraphy, my grandfather showed me the works of Liu Gongquan and Yan Zhenqing and asked me to choose one. I immediately chose the Yan style, which emphasizes more spirit and character."

The characteristics of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy style are the same as his personality: majestic and vigorous, grand and imposing. Knowing that the road ahead was bleak, he resolutely went to the rebel army to read the imperial edict, and even with a knife to his throat, he remained calm and composed. If the officials of the Song Dynasty had even a tenth of his backbone, the Northern Song Dynasty would not have perished.

With everything prepared, Zhou Yi, following procedure and with the help of Wu Zetian's imperial destiny, bestowed upon Yan Zhenqing the title of Mountain God of Mangshan.

"From this day forward, the entire 300-mile Mangshan Mountain is under your jurisdiction. You shall guide the souls of the dead, dispel demonic energy, suppress monsters, and annihilate the souls of the dead. Any soul in Mangshan that does not obey may be killed!"

Just as the imperial decree was completed, a muffled clap of thunder sounded in the sky, followed by a gentle breeze that blew away all the talismans that Zhou Yi had burned.

After doing all this, Li Qingzhao suddenly noticed that the greenery around the tombstone seemed to be even more lush:

"Huh, what's going on? Has Yan Lugong appeared to us?"

Zhou Yi believes this is possible:
"It's not out of the question. Let's quickly pack up our magical artifacts and take advantage of the time to go and check out the dragon vein of Mangshan."

After the three finished packing up the ritual implements, they had just left the cemetery when they encountered several tourists who had driven there. They were muttering to themselves as they walked:
"Is this Yan Zhenqing's tomb? They don't even charge an entrance fee, it doesn't look real at all."

Despite their grumbling, they still went inside for a visit.

As he left, Zhou Yi said:

"From today onwards, the incense here will gradually become more abundant. I hope that Yan Lugong can take responsibility and manage Mangshan well."

Li Qingzhao unscrewed the bottle of mineral water and took a sip:
"The ceremony seems so simple, is that all?"

As Zhou Yi turned the head, he said:
"Yan Zhenqing was originally a deity. Now he is just being sent down to the mortal world to serve as a part-time mountain god, so the ceremony is relatively simple. Besides, this is a tomb, so there is no need for consecration, which reduces many steps."

Next, Zhou Yi didn't take the highway, but slowly drove towards Luoyang along the provincial road.

The key point of the dragon vein in Mangshan is near Phoenix Mountain Forest Park. He plans to go and take a look, and also test the yin energy in the forest park. If there is too much, he will try to purify it.

On the other side, in the Kaiyuan world of the Tang Dynasty.

As Granny Gongsun was boiling water with a solar cooker, she saw a young monk in a patchwork robe walk in and asked curiously:

"Who are you looking for?"

The monk bowed respectfully.
"This humble monk and his companions, in the name of Buddha, have come to apologize to Immortal Master Yiyuan... May I ask, are you the legendary Pomegranate Fairy?"

Granny Gongsun never expected that the bald boy who came would be one of those who put on airs:
"Did Buddha send you?"

"Yes, he appeared to me in a dream yesterday. I have already met with His Majesty and have come to Yiyuan Temple today to apologize."

Gongsun Da Niang didn't make things difficult for him. She picked up the chalk and wrote a system of two quadratic equations in two variables on the small blackboard where Princess Taiping was giving her lessons:
"If you solve this problem, I will forgive you on behalf of the Immortal Master."

Upon seeing this system of equations, Yi Xing's eyes lit up. He immediately went to the blackboard, pointed to [x] and [y], and asked:
"Do these two represent unknowns? To use this method to solve the problem is truly ingenious... Fairy, please wait a moment, this humble monk will make a fool of himself!"

Gongsun Da Niang: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
No, are you serious?
She randomly copied a problem from an Olympiad math workbook, intending to challenge her younger siblings and urge them to study harder. Unexpectedly, they were able to solve it.

Soon, he wrote down the answer in one line and praised the chalk for being easy to use, more convenient than sand, and cheaper than ink.

Grandma Gongsun was completely clueless about this kind of question, but she still gave a serious evaluation that he got it all right, praising him for his high talent in mathematics.

Yi scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "This problem isn't difficult, and using symbols to represent the unknowns greatly reduces the steps... Everyone should be able to solve this kind of problem, right?"

Gongsun Da Niang gave a dry laugh:
"Yes, yes, that's what I think too... You want to pay respects to the immortal, right? Come, come, I'll lead you inside to worship."

A group of people looked around the solar cooker and asked curiously:

"What is this?"

"A solar cooker, a device that uses the sun to heat water, we'll see about that later, let's pray to the gods first."

The group arrived at the main hall, performed a Buddhist salute to the Tai Chi diagram, and then eagerly went to the courtyard to continue their research on the solar cooker.

Before long, the water on the stove boiled, and the steam made the kettle lid flap and thump.

Lady Gongsun thought Yi Xing was quite clever and decided to give him a little pointer:

"Little monk, the boiling water is producing a lot of steam, which is lifting the kettle lid off. Have you discovered the secret behind this?"

The group also noticed this, squatted in front of the solar cooker to observe for a long time, and then looked up and said:
"According to my observation, the problem is caused by the lid of the pot not being tight."

Gongsun Da Niang: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
I'm trying to inspire you with the steam engine, why are you talking to me about whether the kettle lid is tight or not?

One of them felt his answer wasn't very good, so he observed for a while longer and then began to think about it:

"When the water hasn't boiled, the kettle lid doesn't move. But once it boils, it's as if there's a force pushing upwards from below, opening the lid... I understand now. Boiling water has a force. If we made a large kettle, wouldn't the Tang Dynasty be able to use the power of boiling water to do many things?"

This answer was... passable, I suppose. Gongsun Da Niang felt that she shouldn't force things, and she had originally wanted him to study the power of steam, but it turned out to be the power of boiling water.

Of course, that's not wrong either, since the essence of technological development is simply boiling water.

At this moment, Li Bai rode back from outside on Gongsun Da Niang's electric scooter, carrying Hu Ziyang:
"Sister Gongsun, the construction of the Yiyuan Bridge has begun. Master Ziyang and Daoist Sima plan to build the Yiyuan Charity Hall to provide convenience for the homeless."

Hu Ziyang was a wealthy man, and his apprentice Yuan Danqiu was also quite rich.

Although Sima Chengzhen didn't have much wealth, his title as the Imperial Preceptor was still very useful. In addition, Princess Yuzhen, the sister of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, was his disciple. He could build the One Yuan Charity Hall with just a few words.

Hu Ziyang noticed the group and took the initiative to bow and greet them:

"May I ask your name?"

"This humble monk and his party greet the True Man Ziyang."

Upon hearing the name Yi Xing, Li Bai began searching through the mathematics books he had brought, intending to have him study it carefully so that he could promote mathematics in the Tang Dynasty.

At the same time, in the world of Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, inside the Military Equipment Bureau.

The animal-drawn plow that Zhao Xu brought was placed on the table, and the land next to it had been thoroughly turned over. Zhao Ji was covered in sweat, never expecting that plowing could be so addictive.

The military equipment inspector stroked the steel frame of the plow and said:

"If I am not mistaken, this object is made of square steel. The joints appear to have been welded with hot materials. This technique is something our Great Song Dynasty cannot produce, nor do we have enough steel to waste."

Emperor Huizong of Song (Zhao Ji) took a brush and quickly drew a diagram of the plow's structure on the paper:
"The frame can be made of wood; all we need to do is make the plowshare... This thing can adjust the depth of the plow by moving it up and down; the secret lies in the wheel. How ingenious!"

After praising it, Zhao Ji asked the carpenters to try to imitate the frame and the steelworkers to try to imitate the plowshare.

As for the wheels, let's put them aside for now and make the plow first, then we can deal with these minor details.

Zhao Ji said:

"The book bestowed by the immortal says that assembly line operations can maximize efficiency, and it also mentions hydraulic stamping. We should be brave enough to try these."

The person in charge of the military equipment supervision said with a troubled expression:

"We'd like to try, but the funds allocated by the imperial court are limited..."

Zhao Ji waved his hand:
"I'll figure out the money; you just need to prepare the venue."

Several wealthy merchants in Tokyo were seeking his calligraphy and paintings. In the past, Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji) had been unwilling to pay attention to them, but now, for the sake of the Song Dynasty, he decided to sell a batch of his calligraphy and paintings and use the money to research weapons and military equipment.

When he left the Ordnance Bureau in high spirits, he was in the Phoenix Mountain Forest Park north of Luoyang.

Zhou Yi stood by the roadside and used his compass to measure the yin energy inside. He found it to be quite strong, and even suspected the presence of evil spirits.

He immediately decided to kill them. After parking the car, he led Wu Meiniang and Li Qingzhao around to one side of the park. They found a secluded corner and were about to perform a ritual when they suddenly discovered that the evil spirits had vanished without a trace, and even the yin energy in the forest park had diminished considerably.

Zhou Yi was somewhat incredulous. After several repeated measurements, he discovered that the Yin energy had indeed significantly decreased, and that the reduction in Yin energy was all related to the Arctic Exorcism Institute.
"Wow, is this the real value of the inspection team's presence? That's awesome!"

(End of this chapter)