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

Chapter 267 Purifying the Cemetery? We'll need Zhong Kui! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Inside the main tent, Guo Rong and several senior officials were discussing the feasibility of the equal distribution of land.

Last year, he ordered the implementation of the equal-field system around Kaifeng, distributing land to the people to ensure that every farmer had land. This move not only allowed the capital region to recover but also uncovered tens of thousands of hectares of hidden fertile land.

In a small area, the capital region, tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land were hidden. Looking across the country, the amount of fertile land that had been embezzled was countless.

Guo Rong planned to try to implement the policy of equal land distribution, gradually promoting it throughout the country to benefit all people.

However, this is very difficult. The regional military governors are all like local emperors. If their interests are touched rashly, it will inevitably provoke a strong backlash.

The Five Dynasties period was the most inhumane period in Chinese history. In just fifty or sixty years, dozens of emperors emerged like an assembly line.

Those military leaders had developed a tradition of readily enthroneing new emperors without a second thought, often dismembering the emperor at the slightest disagreement and then installing a new one.

Emperors come and go, but soldiers remain constant; military leaders have become figures you can neither provoke nor offend.

Chancellor Wang Pu advised:
"The equal distribution of land is a matter of national importance and could easily shake the foundation of the nation. Your Majesty should not act rashly, otherwise the Imperial Guards will be unstable and our Great Zhou will surely be thrown into turmoil."

When surrounded by enemies, it is not appropriate to implement a policy of equal land distribution. It is better to wait until the country is under our control before implementing such a policy, which can both win the hearts of the people and reduce the influence of military leaders.

Guo Rong has a fiery temper. In the past, he would never have listened to advice. But now, he plans to list out all the problems facing the Great Zhou Dynasty and bring them to the Hunyuan Palace for discussion in five days.

The entire Hunyuan Palace is full of talented people, so discussing some government policies should not be a problem.

Especially Zhao Guangyi's descendant, he seems shrewd, maybe he has already solved this problem... The Zhao family stole my throne, it's not too much to copy their homework now, right?
Thinking of this, he said to Wang Pu:
"List out all the problems that urgently need to be solved, and I will take them to the gods for advice."

"The minister obeys the order!"

After finishing this story, it was already dark outside. Guo Rong asked curiously:

"How was dinner today? Why hasn't it been delivered yet?"

Just then, Zhao Kuangyin and Han Tong led a squad of armored guards in and suddenly rushed in, strengthening the defenses of the main tent. All sentries were double-guarded, and a curfew was declared for the entire camp.

Guo Rong emerged from his tent and asked the crowd:
"Zhao Qing, Han Qing, what happened?"

Zhao Kuangyin said:
"Just now, several people in the imperial kitchen suddenly went berserk, tearing and biting around, and even overturning the prepared imperial food. The food was pecked by chickens, and they died quickly. We suspect that someone poisoned them... We don't know how those people became insane, and we can't get any answers from them. I'm afraid this matter can't be thoroughly investigated."

Upon hearing this, Guo Rong suddenly recalled historical records about his serious illness... If he wasn't mistaken, he must have eaten the imperial meal before hastily returning to the capital, and then passed away.
Thinking of this, he took out a brass token and said:

"It must be divine intervention that saved my life. Who are those insane people?"

Han Tong replied:
"They are all old men who joined the uprising years ago, and they seem to be very resistant to the Northern Expedition... Your Majesty, are there really gods in this world?"

Before Guo Rong could answer, Wang Pu, who had remained silent, pointed to the starry sky above:
"Tonight, the Purple Star shines exceptionally bright. With divine protection, Your Majesty will surely achieve a resounding victory and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun for China!"

Everyone looked up and found that the Purple Star Emperor was indeed very bright.

Guo Rong remembered that he had paid homage to the Great Emperor Ziwei of the Central Heaven, so he quickly bowed respectfully to express his gratitude for the Great Emperor Ziwei's protection.

Then he patted Han Tong on the shoulder and encouraged him:
"The Immortal Master has many treasures, including not only telescopes, but also night vision goggles that can see the enemy's situation at night, drones that can fly high in the sky for reconnaissance, and walkie-talkies that allow people to communicate over distances of tens of miles... I will bring you more next time. I hope that Minister Han will make more military achievements. The Immortal Master thinks highly of you and says that you are a loyal and brave man!"

During the Chenqiao Mutiny, all the civil and military officials in Kaifeng bowed their heads and submitted. Only Han Tong, upon hearing the news, immediately tried to organize troops to resist Zhao Kuangyin's entry into the city, but was killed along with his entire family by Wang Yansheng.

When Guo Rong heard this at Hunyuan Palace, he was deeply moved. Although after five generations, everyone was wary of the army as if it were fire, in critical moments, one still needed reliable military generals.

None of the civil officials he promoted resisted Zhao Kuangyin; they didn't even pretend to.

Fortunately, the literati maintained this "tradition." When the Jin army marched south, the civil officials of the Song Dynasty took the same measures. Just as the Zhao family had treated Guo Rong, their descendants would suffer the same retribution.

At the same time, inside Hunyuan Palace, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and sat in the courtyard watching a popular science film about modern industry.

After watching, everyone was so shocked that they were speechless. Trains, ironclad ships, steam engines... these national treasures that could change the times were in short supply in every part of the world.

Chen Tang asked:

"Master, could you buy a steam locomotive for us to study under the guise of running a scenic area?"

This request caught everyone's attention. "What a great idea! Let's do some research later and make a one-to-one replica, right?"
The Book of Changes says:

"Not yet. Your worlds are still a long way from the Industrial Revolution. Even the Song Dynasty couldn't produce railway rails, let alone the precision parts on them."

However, just because it's not possible now doesn't mean it won't be possible in the future. We should collect relevant information. If someone in the ancient world could even manually create a rudimentary steam engine, that would be a huge leap forward. The next morning, everyone washed their faces and brushed their teeth, and each person changed into their Taoist robes.

Zhou Yi led everyone to move the ritual implements they would be using to the main entrance. He also specially rolled up an eight-foot-long painting of Zhong Kui, put it in a bag, and planned to hang it in the venue to purify the entire Xishan Cemetery with Zhong Kui.

Zhong Kui is one of the four judges of the underworld. He is also revered by Taoism as the "Emperor of the Holy Thunder, Exorcising Demons, Protecting the Home, and Bestowing Blessings". He is one of the Three Demon-Subduing Emperors, along with the Great Emperor Guan Sheng and the Heavenly Venerable Zhenwu Emperor.

In addition, he also has titles such as God of All Responses, Door God, Five Poisons Slayer, God of Wealth, etc. In Chinese mythology, once a deity has the title of "God of All Responses," it means that the deity is very popular and can be asked for help in almost anything.

Now, in order to thoroughly purify Xishan Cemetery, Zhou Yi will also invite the Celestial Master Zhong Kui to come and oversee the area. If any unclean things are found in the cemetery, Old Zhong can come and judge the case on the spot.

With the ritual implements prepared, a twelve-seat Hongqi Guoyue limousine slowly drove up the mountain.

There are a lot of people today, and with Zhou Yi, there are exactly ten people. Although Hunyuan Palace has two cars, only Zhou Yi knows how to drive, and there isn't enough room for so many people in the car.

Upon learning of this situation, Uncle Ming immediately chartered a limousine to provide transportation.

The car stopped at the main gate, the driver opened the trunk, and everyone hurriedly put the ritual implements inside. Then the gate of Hunyuan Palace was locked, and everyone boarded the minibus-sized limousine in turn.

Huo Qubing sat by the door as soon as he got into the carriage, taking charge of the safety inside.

Chen Tang sat behind the driver's seat, supporting Champion Marquis; Xin Qiji went to the back seat to survey the entire situation, while Gongsun Da Niang sat by the window, holding the Dragon-Slaying Sword in her arms, exuding an aura of a formidable young lady.

When Zhou Yi locked the door and came up, he noticed everyone's expressions and said with a smile:

"Relax, this isn't a war, there's no need to be so tense."

The driver said it jokingly:

"The Taoist priests here all have such a strong aura, they're quite different from other Taoist priests."

Zhou Yi said with a smile:

"They are used to practicing asceticism and haven't developed the habit of greeting pilgrims with a smile."

The car slowly descended the mountain. Wu Meiniang sat beside Zhou Yi and asked softly:
Is this a domestically produced car?

"Yes, in the past, limousines were for everyday use. Now that domestic cars are available, people everywhere are starting to buy them... And let me tell you, these seats are really comfortable. I'll upgrade my driver's license sometime and get one too."

Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, the car headed towards Yiyang City. While passing through a town, Zhou Yi had the driver stop in front of a long-established spicy soup shop and led everyone out for breakfast.

While eating, Xi Shi carefully bit into her bun, afraid of getting oil stains on her Taoist robe.

When Zhao Xu came down the mountain for the first time, he looked around and never imagined that people in the modern world were so energetic, riding electric bikes at breakneck speed.

After breakfast, everyone continued their journey, and an hour later, they finally arrived at Xishan Cemetery.

As soon as Huo Qubing got off the carriage, he raised his phone and took a picture of the entire mountain:

"Such an imposing place is actually the burial place of ordinary people. It's much more majestic than an imperial mausoleum. I want to take a picture and show it to my uncle."

Zhao Xu was also taking pictures, but not of the distant graves, but of the concrete road beneath his feet.

Everywhere you look is concrete. The entrance to this mausoleum looks like it's made entirely of concrete... Once the Song Dynasty can produce cement, they can build all sorts of public works projects at will.

The venue for the ritual ceremony was ready. Zhou Yi began to set out the ritual implements and arrange the positions of everyone. Finally, the most important part of the ceremony was to hang the Zhong Kui painting.

The Zhong Kui painting I'm bringing today is made of canvas, eight feet tall, and needs to be hung high up.

Zhou Yi looked around, lowered the apricot-yellow flag from the nearby flagpole, hung the painting of Zhong Kui on it, and then slowly raised it back up.

This apricot-yellow flag must have been hung by Director Cao. It has no magical power. Zhou Yi threw it into the trash can on the spot and said that he would ask them to get a new apricot-yellow flag next time.

Of course, this is actually a bit redundant, because the places that Zhong Kui has swept away will not produce any evil spirits for the next few decades, so whether or not the apricot-yellow flag is hung has little impact.

With everything prepared, Zhou Yi stood in front of the altar and first recited the Three Purifications Mantra. Then came the most important step in this ritual – inviting Zhong Kui!

Hanging a painting of Master Zhong alone won't work. If you want Master Zhong to do the work, you have to perform a ritual to invite him over. As long as he descends to the mortal realm and attaches himself to the painting, the wandering ghosts and spirits in the vicinity will be extremely lucky.

Yes, it's like hitting the jackpot in the physical sense!
(End of this chapter)