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

Chapter 289 No-Prize Quiz: Which Temple Will Zhuge Liang Emerge From? [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Inside Hunyuan Palace, everyone sat around the dining room, enjoying lunch together.

A whole lamb was braised, and potatoes and green peppers were added just before it was done. It filled two large bowls, a generous and delicious dish that was spicy and appetizing. Everyone couldn't stop eating it.

Xi Shi steamed a pot of rice, and worried that it wouldn't be enough, she also heated up half a basket of steamed buns.

Zhao Xu was sweating profusely from the spiciness and exclaimed in admiration:

"Chili peppers are truly a treasure. Next year, our Great Song Dynasty must plant more of them and try to make chili sauce to increase the variety of pickled vegetables in winter."

Chen Tang asked:

"Your son is due soon, isn't he?"

Zhao Xu nodded:

"Just in the last few days, all the nutritional supplements Master gave me have been given to Consort Liu. Her people are taking care of her day and night, and everyone in the harem has sworn an oath to the token to prevent any accidents from happening."

Now is not the time to be happy. We must wait until the statue of Houtu Niangniang is brought to the palace before we can be completely at ease.

After finishing his own story, Zhao Xu started talking about Li Longji's martial arts demonstration at Mount Li:
"History records say that this military exercise was unprecedented and will never be repeated. In the five thousand years of Chinese history, he is the only emperor who used two hundred thousand soldiers to conduct the exercise... If only this ambition could have been maintained until the end, the emperors of the late Tang Dynasty would not have become puppets of the eunuch group, and perhaps the hellish Five Dynasties period would not have happened."

Grandma Gongsun revealed a secret to everyone:

"When I first learned that the token could summon divine thunder, Sister Meiniang gave me a secret order: if Li Longji showed any signs of being ambitious again, I should kill all his right-hand men. As long as he has no one to rely on, my grandson will be filled with ambition again."

Everyone: ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

So you just openly revealed Her Majesty the Queen's secret order to you?
Li Bai explained:
"Now His Majesty is working hard to govern the country. The military reform alone has already offended a large number of powerful clans, and even the imperial family is complaining. He no longer has the possibility of enjoying himself, so the secret order naturally does not need to be carried out."

Li Longji is now determined to stick with Hunyuan Palace, having burned his bridges. In the past, he was lazy and would hand over memorials to Gao Lishi for review, but now he insists on doing everything himself and will never shirk his responsibilities to others.

Gao Lishi was also quite sensible, so he drove away all his godsons and completely abandoned his original idea of ​​adopting a son to inherit the family business.

His next step will be to resign from his position as Duke, in accordance with the rules set by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin:
Eunuchs were not permitted to be promoted to the third rank or granted the title of Duke.

From a historical perspective, Gao Lishi's loyalty was commendable, but he set a bad precedent by granting titles to eunuchs. Later, he even established his own government office, which inspired other eunuchs to follow suit. Their power grew greater and greater, and the emperor was treated like a plaything in their hands.

For example, Emperor Xianzong of Tang was murdered by the eunuch Chen Hongzhi and died at the age of 43; Emperor Jingzong of Tang was killed by the eunuchs Liu Keming and Su Zuoming at the age of 18; Emperor Wenzong of Tang was placed under house arrest by eunuchs after the Ganlu Incident and died in depression at the age of 30...

In the late Tang Dynasty, eunuchs wielded immense power, killing officials of the Six Ministries at will and replacing prime ministers and ministers of state at will. Ultimately, this was the result of Li Longji's unscrupulous appointment of Gao Lishi to a high position.

Since Gao Lishi was able to be granted the title of Duke and establish his own government office, the eunuchs behind him naturally had to follow suit... In one's life, who doesn't want their power to grow greater and greater?
Chen Tang shoveled a mouthful of rice soaked in chili oil broth and said:

"The history of the late Tang Dynasty is truly unbearable to look at; it was repeatedly beaten by foreign tribes... Although the late Han Dynasty also had many problems, foreign tribes never had a chance to cause any trouble."

He is currently in the late Western Han Dynasty. As long as the land conflict is resolved and some non-Han ethnic groups are captured to solve the labor problem, all the problems can be solved.

As for the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was a product of compromises on all fronts.

Throughout history, the presence of eunuchs, powerful ministers, or imperial relatives could cripple an entire court or even threaten its disintegration, but the Eastern Han Dynasty was an exception.

It has all three problems, yet it manages to keep running.

Like a program with a mountain of crap, it may be a bit bulky and slow, but it can still run. That's what makes the Eastern Han Dynasty so amazing.

Later, the eunuchs eliminated the imperial relatives, and the powerful ministers then eliminated the eunuchs, creating a new code – the warlords. The entire program immediately collapsed and could no longer be maintained.

When the Eastern Han Dynasty was mentioned, Xin Qiji asked:

"If Prime Minister Zhuge comes, from which hall will he emerge?"

This question has prompted everyone to think about it.

Logically, it should be the Hall of King Wu Cheng, after all, the Prime Minister is one of the Ten Sages of the Martial Temple, his status is there.

However, the Prime Minister was also a man of great literary talent. His "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops" moved countless people to tears. It would not be an exaggeration to call it the will of the greatest nanny in Chinese history. Liu Shan also treated the Prime Minister like his own father and withstood all the pressure to build a shrine for Zhuge Liang.

In other words, Liu Shan invited Zhuge Liang into the ancestral temple of the Liu family and worshipped him as his own father... In the past five thousand years, you can't find another pair of ruler and minister like the prime minister and Liu Shan.

Therefore, it wouldn't be strange for anyone to see the Prime Minister walking out of the Wenxuan King's Palace while fanning himself with a goose feather fan.

Huo Qubing said:
"The book says that Prime Minister Zhuge was later posthumously honored by the Taoist sect as the Tian Shu Star, who assisted the Jade Emperor. He may have come out of the Haotian Palace."

Upon hearing this, Granny Gongsun guessed another possibility:
"The stars in the sky are all under the jurisdiction of the Ziwei Emperor, and the Tian Shu star also has the intention of assisting the Ziwei Emperor. Perhaps the Prime Minister will come out from the Zhongtian Palace... Let's wait for the Taoist priest to return and let him make the arrangements. I'm still waiting to bring food from the Kaiyuan World to support the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition."

Zhao Xu had stated his position in advance:
"If I could really meet the Prime Minister, I would be willing to use the taxes of the entire Huainan region to support the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition. I don't care how the Three Kingdoms fight, as long as the Sima family can't seize power again." Ever since Sima Guang made the court a mess, Zhao Xu has developed a post-traumatic stress disorder regarding the surname Sima.

As long as Zhuge Liang promises to destroy the Sima clan of Wen County, he is willing to provide any supplies... The Song Dynasty may not have much else, but it has money, grain, and supplies.

The taxes levied on the twenty-one prefectures of Huainan Circuit during the Song Dynasty were enough to significantly boost the power of the Shu Han state.

At 3 p.m., after Uncle Ming drove Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang back, he rushed back to deal with the statue of the First-Rank Heavenly Official of the Shangyuan Festival, without even having time to drink a cup of tea.

When Gongsun Da Niang saw Zhou Yi, she said:
"Master, we had a small meeting at noon, and everyone unanimously hoped that you could bring Prime Minister Zhuge over. Little Xuxu has already expressed her willingness to support Huainan's tax revenue, and I also plan to ask Kaiyuan World to provide some grain. This is a rare opportunity."

The Book of Changes says:

"Don't get involved in this mess in the Kaiyuan World. Chang'an is always short of food. If you bring more food from Chang'an to support the Prime Minister, the shortage will only get bigger."

He led everyone to the Hall of King Wu Cheng, wrote Zhuge Liang's name in the guestbook, and made a special note to prevent anyone with the same name from doing so:
Zhuge Liang, courtesy name Kongming, was the Chancellor of the Shu Han dynasty.

After writing it down, everyone paid their respects to King Wu Cheng, and then went to the Wenxuan King's Hall next door to write Xie Daoyun's name in the guestbook.

That's all the I Ching can do. As for when Zhuge Liang and Xie Daoyun will arrive, that depends on the arrangements of the immortals.

As soon as he finished writing his name, Zhou Yi noticed the Confucian scholar's brush that was being offered up. Compared to before it was taken away, the tip of the brush seemed to have recovered somewhat.

He asked Xin Qiji:
"How did you manage to unleash your righteous spirit?"

Xin Qiji looked completely bewildered:
"Is that righteous energy? After the rain-making ritual, the disciple experiences an intense urge to study, as if possessed. Why is that?"

Based on the characteristics of righteous energy, Zhou Yi speculated:

"The noble spirit is cultivated through reading Confucian classics. Your experience is still shallow, and the classics you read have been altered many times, so you cannot effectively supplement it."

At this point, he instructed Xi Shi:

"Have Zigong compile a Confucian classic recently. Have you rewrite it in clerical script. Reading this classic should quickly replenish your righteous spirit. Then, when you use a Confucian pen, you won't feel so eager to read."

To be honest, all the academic underachievers should be forced to use the Confucian pen, but unfortunately, they lack the righteous spirit to unleash its power.

After discussing this matter, Zhao Xu noticed that the equipment he ordered online had not yet arrived, so he brought back some nutritional supplements for his daughter and Liu Fei.

Huo Qubing was in a hurry and didn't stay long.

Chen Tang recounted the results of the battles after leaving Xiaoguan Pass. Several groups of foreign bandits had been wiped out, but the Imperial Guards had also suffered losses. Chen Tang had not expected that the Han Dynasty's most capable central army had fallen into such a state of disarray.

He was worried that he would be surrounded and killed by the foreign tribes, so he hurriedly left with two boxes of salt... The salt from the Han people didn't taste as good as the salt from here; the snowflake salt from modern society tasted much better.

Xi Shi, preoccupied with the matter of having Zigong organize the classics, put the leftover spicy mutton from lunch into a thermos and left as well. Before leaving, she tried on the coat that Li Qingzhao had bought and said that she would bring the talented woman a gift next time she came.

Soon, only five people remained in the entire Hunyuan Palace: Li Bai, Xin Qiji, Gongsun Da Niang, Zhou Yi, and Wu Meiniang.

Xin Qiji reported the changes in the base area to Zhou Yi, who said:

"The first thing to solve is the lighting problem. Here's what I'll do: I'll buy some solar streetlights online, and you can take them and install them in the residential areas. That way, we can hold literacy classes under the lights at night."

The base area followed the "Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture" approach, ensuring everyone had the right to education, and these people would become the backbone of Xin Qiji's forces.

While Zhou Yi was planning to purchase supplies, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, after Chen Tang returned, he released drones to begin patrolling the combat situation of each group.

As planned, he divided the five thousand Imperial Guards into twenty groups, giving them three days' worth of rations, and sent them into the vast desert north of Xiaoguan to hunt for their own prey.

Chen Tang led an emergency response team to patrol the area to prevent the entire team from being wiped out.

After the drone took off, Chen Tang didn't find anything. However, when he flew the drone to the valley of the Qingshui River, he saw rows of alien tents, and his fighting spirit surged.

Damn it, these guys have actually secretly set up camp here. If we don't wipe them out, they'll definitely become a scourge of the Han Dynasty within a hundred years.

Thinking of this, Chen Tang whistled to his men:
"Let's go and bring some warmth to the alien race."

Wang Zhang asked:

"Which alien race?"

"Who cares which one it is? Once I, Chen Tang, see it, their future is sealed... Ah, no wonder the Immortal Master likes to speak in such a mysterious tone. It certainly sounds more refined than wiping out an entire family at the drop of a hat!"

(End of this chapter)