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

Chapter 291 Her Majesty the Empress's waist is so slender! [Seeking monthly votes]

The strategy of dividing and winning over has always been a classic tactic passed down from our ancestors. It was widely used during the Han Dynasty and can be considered a rather old-fashioned strategy.

But to the uncivilized Khitans, this was a classic, sophisticated strategy.

Zhao Kuangyin immediately made preparations to let Xiao Siwen experience what it felt like to be hated by his own people. He thought that he would come to the Later Zhou camp with his family to surrender without being invited.

Guo Rong asked:

Are there many members of the Yelü royal family in Youzhou City?

Zhao Kuangyin nodded:
"There are quite a few. Although the capital of the Liao Kingdom is Dading, it is too cold there. Every winter, the nobles of the Liao Kingdom would come to Youzhou to spend the winter. They called Youzhou City Nanjing."

The capital of the Liao Dynasty, Dading Prefecture, was located more than 100 kilometers south of Chifeng and west of Ningcheng County. The winter temperature there was more than ten degrees lower than that of Youzhou, and it was no exaggeration to say that it was a bitterly cold place.

Although the Liao nobles preferred to stay in Youzhou, the location of the capital city of Dading remained unchanged until after the Treaty of Chanyuan. Only then did the Liao nobles settle in Youzhou year-round, studying the Four Books and Five Classics and enjoying exquisite goods from the Song Dynasty. They quickly fell from being the hegemon of the fishing and hunting fields to becoming a roadside dwarf.

Now, this process of corruption has been simplified. Their cavalrymen will become easy prey as soon as they leave the city, saving them the trouble of the corruption process itself.

Guo Rong then asked:

Do you know where Yelü Jing is?

Zhao Kuangyin asked many people, but their answers were all vague:
"It is said that he went into the mountains to hunt from Tanzhou, but no one can say for sure where exactly, because Yelü Jing would stay in the mountains for two or three months each time he went in, and sometimes he would go directly to Dading. His whereabouts were unpredictable and no one knew him."

Good heavens, an emperor just disappeared for several months?
Guo Rong now understood why Yelü Jing had been assassinated while hunting. He had been in the mountains with a group of guards for several months, and coupled with his unpredictable temper and frequent physical punishment and beatings of his subordinates, how could he have lived to a ripe old age?
If this guy had just listened to the story of Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms period, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

Coincidentally, shortly after Yelü Jing's assassination, Xiao Siwen supported Yelü Xian's ascension to the throne and was appointed Privy Councilor and Prime Minister of the Northern Court for his role in this. While accompanying Yelü Xian on a hunting trip in the mountains, Xiao Siwen was killed by Yelü Xian's uncles, Xiao Haizhi and Xiao Haili, in a manner remarkably similar to Yelü Jing's death.

If the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were said to be easily dissolved in water, then the nobles of the Liao Dynasty were said to be easily killed in the mountains.

Guo Rong originally intended to go into the mountains to hunt down Yelü Jing, but upon hearing that the guy had nowhere to be found, he decided against it. The entire Yanshan mountain range was so vast that even if the tens of thousands of people from the Great Zhou were thrown in, they wouldn't make a ripple.

Let's keep Sleepy Emperor to slowly bleed the Liao Kingdom dry; this will help us achieve unification.

Yelü Jing of the Liao Dynasty and Wanyan Liang of the Jin Dynasty were both given a glimmer of hope by Heaven for the unification of China, but unfortunately they failed to seize both opportunities.

Guo Rong suddenly fell ill despite the favorable situation and soon passed away.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, although Wanyan Liang presented gifts very well and was nicknamed Zhao Liang, the one who came to power in the Southern Song Dynasty was Wanyan Gou, who also chose to betray the nation and was willing to change his surname.

All I can say is that the excellent matchmaking system brought two pig-like opponents together.

Soon, a strange scene unfolded in the prisoner-of-war camp in Liangxiang: a junior officer, holding a small megaphone, shouted in Khitan, "..."

"Are there any members of the Xiao clan of the Khitan Bali family?"

Soon, several Khitans surnamed Xiao stepped forward, looking ready to die.

To everyone's surprise, the junior officer immediately greeted them with a fawning smile and led them to the luxurious single room next door. He was so enthusiastic that he even chatted with them in Chinese while doing so, as if to prevent them from being overheard.

The prisoners of the Yelü family were indignant and loudly questioned why they couldn't have a single room.

The junior officer said:

"The general said that a distinguished guest surnamed Xiao, with whom we have long-standing acquaintance, will soon be coming to join us, and therefore we should treat the Xiao clan members well, since we will be serving as ministers in the same court. However, he did not tell you that we should treat you well. Keep yourselves squatting down, or I'll cut your tongue out if you speak again!"

His two faces infuriated the Yelü family. A group of them squatted on the ground, using their unthinking brains to analyze the situation seriously.

A distinguished guest surnamed Xiao? We've known each other for a long time? We're even courtiers in the same palace?
Is someone surnamed Xiao seeking refuge with the Great Zhou?

The person surnamed Xiao who is currently in the eye of the storm is naturally Xiao Siwen, who is stationed in Youzhou... Oh no, that treacherous Xiao Siwen is going to betray his master for personal gain!
The Khitan prisoners were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, eager to leak the information so that their people could capture Xiao Siwen and prevent him from actually leading Youzhou to surrender to the enemy.

Now they finally understand why Xiao Siwen kept emphasizing avoiding their sharp edge and holding the city—he wanted our Liao warriors to cripple themselves!
No wonder that bastard made excuses when I ordered him to go south last year. He must have already colluded with the people of the Great Zhou back then. He refused to go south to provide support when we lost three states recently. It must have been a scheme to coordinate an attack from within and without!

The more they thought about it, the more they felt it made sense, and they even filled in the gaps in the logic in their minds... It was clear from them that the Han people's proficient reasoning ability was somewhat difficult for the foreigners.

This flawed scheme could be easily seen through by any Han Chinese county magistrate, but the Khitan nobles were easily fooled. In less than two hours, Xiao Siwen's family had been expelled from the Liao register.

After listening to his subordinate's report, Zhao Kuangyin smiled and said:

"Let them stay out of prison one more night. Tomorrow, find a pretext to change their cells and take them to the edge of the camp. Give them a chance to escape. Let two or three go. Too many will cause trouble."

Meanwhile, inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi looked at the various marine equipment that were arriving one after another and felt that something was still missing. So he ordered some solar cookers so that the crew could have hot water to drink.

Wu Zetian held the modern sextant, looking at it from left to right, and asked in confusion:
"Immortal Master, how is this used?" Zhou Yi shook his head:

"I don't know either. I'll download some materials later and let the people in the Song Dynasty study them."

During the Northern Song Dynasty, China already had the prototype of the sextant, which could freely travel on the sea and even accurately locate the ships of the Jin Dynasty and sign an alliance with them.

Comparatively speaking, the maritime navigation technology during the Tang Dynasty was quite rudimentary. Whether the ships sent by the Tang Dynasty to Japan could reach their destination depended on luck. Even the journeys of envoys were not guaranteed. There is a historical record of a Tang Dynasty deputy envoy who lost his way and ended up on a cannibal island, but was eventually rescued by an envoy from Silla.

Zhou Yi said to Wu Meiniang:

"Take a few sets back and let Li Shimin train the navy. The Tang Dynasty has a vast territory, and we should also carve our names and occupy all the islands. In addition, we should also transport the bird droppings from the islands in the South China Sea back to use as fertilizer, so that they won't be stolen by the Japanese again."

Since ancient times, migratory birds have stopped to drink and rest when passing through the islands of the South China Sea. Over time, they have left behind a layer of bird droppings tens of meters thick on the islands.

Ever since the Japanese discovered the existence of those bird droppings, they have relentlessly dug them up, from the end of the Yuan Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, spending hundreds of years until they finally cleaned up all the bird droppings.

In the days before chemical fertilizers, bird droppings were undoubtedly an excellent fertilizer.

Wu Zetian wrote it down, intending to inform not only the Zhenguan world but also other worlds to prevent the Japanese from stealing the artifacts again.

After taking inventory of all the items that had arrived, Zhou Yi prepared to go to the kitchen to cook:
"What do you want to eat tonight? I'll make it for you."

Wu Zetian tentatively asked:

"I've studied cooking for so long, and I'd like to cook you dinner, is that alright?"

Zhou Yi never expected such a surprise:
"Sure, no problem. Do you need any off-court coaching?"

Wu Meiniang initially wanted to say no, but then thought that the two of them working together in the kitchen would create a unique atmosphere, so she nodded in agreement.
"Then thank you very much, Immortal Master."

The two washed their hands and went into the kitchen. Wu Meiniang handed Zhou Yi an apron:
"Please help me tie this apron, Immortal Master."

Zhouyi: "..."

Is it really appropriate for an apprentice to act like an executive chef right after becoming a full-fledged chef?
He took the apron, and as soon as he opened it, Wu Meiniang leaned into his arms. Zhou Yi wrapped his arms around her waist and finally tied the apron properly.

At this moment, Zhou belatedly realized that Her Majesty the Empress's figure was almost unreal.

She usually wears loose Taoist robes, so you can't tell the difference, but when I hugged her around the waist just now, I realized that the seemingly exaggerated phrase "curvy" was actually quite true on her.

What surprised him most was her waist; it was not only slim but also quite firm, and he couldn't feel any excess fat when she tied the apron.

Those who can become emperors are indeed one in a million... Zhou felt his breathing becoming unsteady, so he quickly recited the calming mantra to calm himself down.

Wu Zetian teased the immortal a little, then didn't dare to continue. She took out a piece of pork belly from the refrigerator, obediently cut it into shreds, and prepared to make a shredded pork noodle dish suitable for beginners.

She was afraid of going too far and upsetting the immortal, so she only dared to try little by little, crossing the line bit by bit, making this man unable to leave her.

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

Ever since Chen Tang led the Imperial Guards out of Xiaoguan to suppress the bandits, Chang'an City has finally stopped being in chaos.

However, beneath this calm, some nobles and Confucian scholars who had been targeted by Chen Tang began to secretly conspire, planning to persuade Liu Shi to demote him to a commoner while Chen Tang was away.

Once the imperial edict is issued, no matter how capable Chen Tang is, he won't be able to cause any trouble.

Upon hearing about this, Wang Feng chose to go hunting outside the city, clearly not wanting to get involved, but he also wouldn't plead for Chen Tang... This old fellow has become smarter now, preparing to stand by and watch.

Liu Xiang was extremely anxious, but apart from his position as Grand Minister of the Imperial Clan, he had no real power in the court and could only worry helplessly.

As the last rays of sunlight faded in the west, Gan Yanshou, the Marquis of Zhenyuan and General of the Guards personally appointed by Liu Shi, mounted his horse, ready to finish his duty and go home.

Just as I reached the entrance of Weiyang Palace, a middle-aged Confucian scholar blocked my way:

"General Gan, may I have a word with you in private?"

Gan Yanshou recognized the man as Zhai Fangjin, a court advisor, and tightened his reins, asking:

"If Ziwei has something to say, please speak frankly."

Zhai Fangjin looked around and lowered his voice, saying:
"General Gan, Chen Tang made some outrageous remarks in a tavern a couple of days ago, and his words were very disrespectful to you. He said that your title was bestowed upon you by him. I have come to inform you of this..."

"You've come here specifically to inform me? I think you've come here specifically to die..." Gan Yanshou subconsciously wanted to pull out the black iron token from his pocket. After waiting for so many days, he could finally chop someone up!
(End of this chapter)