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

Chapter 299 Liu Che: What exactly is Administrative Business K? I really want to experience it! [Requesting monthly votes]

Inside Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi placed the last tile on the roof, signifying the completion of all the halls and marking a new milestone for Hunyuan Palace.

Wu Zetian said with a smile:

"Shouldn't we be making a big pot of stew next? I didn't get to eat any last time at the Dragon King Temple."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi immediately decided to make up for it for Her Majesty the Empress... If it were any other food, Zhou Yi might have some difficulty, but with a large pot of stew, it would be easy to prepare and Mei Niang could have a meal in no time.

For stewed dishes, you need to use pork with a bit more fat, so that the stew will be more fragrant and the glass noodles will have a more oily and smooth texture.

While Zhou Yi was cooking, Wu Meiniang was not idle either. She washed a bunch of grapes, added a few peaches, and made juice with a juicer.

To make it taste even better, I added some shaved ice. I poured it into a glass, and surprisingly, it tasted pretty good.

She tasted it and then handed it to Zhou Yi:

"Princess, please try it. If you like it, I will make it for you every day."

Zhou Yi took a sip and said:
"It's too sweet. It's okay to have a sip or two occasionally, but if you drink it all the time, you'll probably get diabetes soon... How's Li Shimin's blood sugar lately? Is it still fluctuating?"

"Much better. The imperial physicians check me frequently, and I've even tried the low-carb, high-protein diet you mentioned. I wasn't used to it at first, but I've gotten used to it."

Wu Zetian put the juice in the refrigerator to drink with her meal later.

Today marks the completion of the God of Wealth Temple; we should have a small celebration.

While she was waiting for lunch at Hunyuan Palace, Huo Qubing, leading a group of guards, arrived in the area that is now Yiyang and found Yunwu Mountain.

However, unlike the Cloud Mist Mountain where Hunyuan Palace is located, this small mountain is barren, with neither clouds nor any decent vegetation. It was completely desolate, and it took Huo Qubing a long time to climb to the top of the mountain.

He took out his phone and snapped a few photos, intending to show them to Zhou Yi to show what Yunwu Mountain looked like in ancient times.

After taking the photos, Huo Qubing unscrewed the kettle, took a few sips of water, and said to the guards who had come up the mountain with him:
"My mentor's Yunwu Mountain is lush and verdant, shrouded in mist, and even under the scorching sun, it feels refreshing. I never imagined that this place would be so desolate, devoid of any celestial aura."

This year's newlywed groom, Wei Anguo, said:

"Only when immortals reside in a mountain can it be called an immortal mountain; without immortals, a mountain cannot become an immortal mountain."

An Guoshaoji was from Handan. His greatest contribution to history was his mission to Nanyue. Not only did he brazenly sleep with his old lover, the Queen Dowager of Nanyue, but he also conspired with her to rebel, planning to overthrow the powerful minister Lü Jia of Nanyue and defect to the Han Dynasty. After the incident was exposed, he was executed by Lü Jia with tears in his eyes.

The reason he was in tears was that Lü Jia knew that killing the Han envoy would only lead to the destruction of the Nanyue Kingdom.

Indeed, this was the case. Shortly after the deaths of An Guoshao and Zhong Jun, the war between Han and Nanyue broke out. After this war, Nanyue became Jiaozhi Commandery, one of the Han territories.

From the death of An Guo Shao Ji to Liu Che's dispatch of troops, the process was extremely fast. Historians suspect that this was a plan that Liu Che and his guards had discussed beforehand.

The envoys, Lang Wei, would go to great lengths to instigate wars, believing that as long as they could start a war, they would be remembered in history. As a result, the Han envoys became synonymous with arrogance.

For the Han envoys, An Guo Shao Ji sleeping with the Empress Dowager was just a basic task. To be honest, if he hadn't been in a relationship with the Empress Dowager of Nanyue in the past, he might not have even gotten the chance to go on the mission.

When envoys from the Han Dynasty arrived in the territory of a small country, they would basically first make the monarch of that country fall off the throne, then sleep with the harem, and throw all sorts of humiliating words at him like they were free.

If the Han envoy is not killed, he can continue to cause trouble and create chaos; if the Han envoy is killed, the Han army will arrive in an instant.

Historical records generally only briefly mention the actions of Han envoys, rarely going into detail, because once they did, it would be a history of bloodshed and suffering for the surrounding foreign tribes. Small countries in the four directions (east, west, south, and north) were all deeply ravaged by Han envoys.

Many honest and simple-minded men, once they are sent on diplomatic missions to other countries, immediately start to take the villain route... Well, at home they are Mimi, but when they go out they become Sangbiao. It can only be said that the environment of foreign lands is too bad, which has tainted these fine young men.

Even Zhang Qian once made the white-haired king of Wusun kneel to receive an imperial edict. The old man couldn't take it for long, and Zhang Qian reprimanded the king for disrespecting the Han emperor.

Huo Qubing and his men ate their dry rations with pickled vegetables on the mountain, then descended and continued their journey towards Huainan.

They didn't bring many troops this time because they didn't plan to fight head-on. If they didn't have enough manpower, they could transfer troops from Runan County.

On the way down the mountain, Huo Qubing asked An Guo Shaoji:
"If my great Han Dynasty desires the land of a small country but has no good reason to send troops, what brilliant idea do you have?"

An Guo Shao Ji immediately said:

"If we force the king there to kill me, wouldn't that give us a reason to send troops?"

A guard standing nearby asked:
How to force them?

An Guoshao was born for this line of work:
"Sleep with the king's mother, concubines, and daughters, then write a poem mocking the king for being impotent. I don't believe he can resist..."

The guard who was being questioned said speechlessly:
"You're making me want to draw my sword! How could you be so mean?"

An Guo Shao Ji opened his arms wide and said with a proud expression:

"Because I have a powerful motherland behind me, the more tragically I die, the stronger His Majesty will be in avenging me... The entire royal family of this small country will be buried with me, which is a good thing!"

At the same time, inside the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an.

Liu Che and Liu Ju sat side by side on the threshold, each holding a box of ice cream. They ate it with wooden spoons while keeping an eye on the wind turbine in the yard.

Wei Zifu walked over and noticed that the father and son were suddenly so quiet. She asked in surprise:

"Is there a problem with the wind turbine? Why are you staring at it so intently?" Liu Che scooped up a piece of ice cream and fed it to Wei Zifu, a smug look on his face.

“I asked Ju’er to count how many times he could spin in a minute, and he got confused. I tried it myself and I got a little confused too. Zifu, you should sit down and count as well. Even though the speed isn’t fast, you just get distracted and doze off as soon as you start counting.”

Empress Wei Zifu sat down next to her husband and asked about Huo Qubing's military campaign:

"If the princes impeach Qubing, what should be done?"

Liu Che scooped a piece of ice cream from Liu Ju's hand and put it in his mouth:

"I don't believe they would dare to unite against me, considering them as accomplices of Liu An."

Empress Wei Zifu was not so optimistic:

"What if they dare to oppose you?"

"Then let's keep killing. Since I ascended the throne, I have never expected brotherly love and respect. They are unrighteous, so I will be unrighteous too... Anyway, once Ju'er comes of age, I will go to the Immortal Master's place. Zifu, are you going?"

Wei Zifu shook her head:
"I can't bear to part with Ju'er, so I'd better not go."

Upon hearing this, Liu Che straightened his back:
"Really? Then if I go to the Immortal Master's place, I'll be chasing after all sorts of women. The other day I saw a term called 'Administrative Business K,' but I don't know what it is yet. I'm planning to try it out..."

As the emperor was rambling on about his plans, Wei Zifu, resting her head on his shoulder, softly asked:
"Your Majesty, will we always be this happy?"

The records of the "Witchcraft Affair" flashed through Liu Che's mind, and he nodded, saying:
"Yes, I swear on the head of the Xiongnu Chanyu, Juer will be a virtuous ruler in the future, and you will be a virtuous empress dowager."

After learning about the entire history, Liu Che realized that if he had left earlier, the entire Han Dynasty would have operated more smoothly, and none of these ridiculous and messy things would have happened.

Just as the family of three was enjoying a warm moment, an urgent dispatch arrived from the north of Dingxiang.

Liu Che handed the unfinished ice cream to Wei Zifu, then took the bamboo tube sealed with wax, strode into the study, opened the tube, took out the USB flash drive, skillfully plugged it into his laptop, opened the document, and began to read it carefully.

As he watched, a smile gradually appeared on his cold face, and then he threw his head back and laughed loudly:
"Well done, Wei Qing! You've even come up with a [naturalization oath]! Not bad, not bad. From now on, all foreign tribes who pledge allegiance to the Han Dynasty will have to undergo the test of this oath!"

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi finished lunch and flipped through the black notebook. He thought Guo Rong would contribute more merits, but unexpectedly, the Western Han Emperor Yuan World contributed five taels of merits in one go.

No wonder everyone loves chaotic times; it's a time when good deeds are everywhere!

Gan Yanshou summoned eight divine lightning bolts, killing eight court officials. After deducting the losses from the protective divine lightning, he still made a net profit of five taels of silver. This deal was simply too good to pass up.

Then, Zhou Yi saw another note:
[Emperor Wu of Han decides to implement a nationwide oath-taking system for citizenship, merit +30]

Wow, so many?

Zhou Yi initially felt that the merits were becoming increasingly generous, but then he thought again that there might also be a thank-you fee from the Thunder Department. After all, this system could bring countless achievements to the Thunder Department, making them very wealthy.

"Why is the immortal so happy?"

Wu Meiniang walked in carrying a cup of hot tea. Seeing Zhou Yi's smiling face, she became somewhat curious.

Zhou Yi waved the black notebook in front of her:

"My merit has exceeded five jin."

At this point, he realized he hadn't yet strengthened Wu Meiniang's physique, and asked with a smile:

"I don't need to worry about your lifespan, but do you want me to strengthen your physique?"

Wu Zetian gently shook her head:
"I do not take any risks and have no need to strengthen my physique. You should keep the merit for self-defense."

She was already inconsistent with the delicate and pampered persona, and with the further enhancement of her body, she would be even less able to act like a little girl in front of Zhou Yi... Her Majesty the Empress did not want to lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of a small matter.

Zhou Yi didn't think much of it and nodded, saying:
"Okay, just let me know when you need to strengthen your body, and I'll help you."

The next day, Li Qingzhao arrived at Hunyuan Palace early on her pink electric scooter. As soon as she arrived, she plugged in her beloved little pink vehicle and then asked Zhou Yi, who was cooking porridge:

"Master, can I buy seamless steel pipes here?"

Zhou Yi glanced at her:
"What? Planning to make guns?"

Li Qingzhao shook her head:
"No, no, no, we are preparing to build cannons. Zhao Ji asked me to ask you if we can buy some seamless steel pipes that can be used to make cannons. The technology of the Song Dynasty is too poor to cast suitable cannon barrels."

Zhou Yi shook his head:

"This is probably hard to buy. You can try it if you don't believe me."

Li Qingzhao was truly unconvinced. She turned on her phone, connected to Wi-Fi, and diligently searched for seamless steel pipes on a shopping platform. Thousands of related products then appeared:
"Good heavens, so many? Buy, buy, buy! Let's build those cannons as soon as possible and send them to the Western Xia people to bring them warmth!"

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(End of this chapter)