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

Chapter 313 Gao Lishi Recommends Talented Individuals! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Ban Chao wiped away his tears, glanced at the words "Han nationality" on his ID card a few more times, and a sense of relief and comfort appeared on his face.

The Han Dynasty has fallen, but the symbol of the Han Dynasty has been passed down through generations on the land of China in another form, becoming the name and totem of a people.

After relaxing, Ban Chao continued eating.

He ate six steamed buns, more than twenty slices of braised pork, and a whole plate of stir-fried sweet potato leaves in one go. He also drank a whole bottle of sweet rice wine.

After putting down his chopsticks, Ban Chao awkwardly cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"I apologize for my rude behavior, sir and fairy pomegranate."

Gongsun Da Niang shook her head:

“We have no right to make fun of you. You are a great hero of China. By the way, in a few years you will send Gan Ying as an envoy to Daqin. This time you must make sure to tell him clearly that he must go to the other side of the sea and see if he is deceived by the Parthians.”

Historically, Gan Ying set off from Kucha, crossed the Pamir Mountains and headed west. A year later, he arrived in Parthia and planned to cross the sea to Daqin, which is the Roman Empire in history.

However, Parthia was at war with Rome at the time, and the Parthian emperor was worried that communication between the Han and Rome would be detrimental to Parthia. He used the excuse that the wind direction was not right and that he could not cross the sea by boat until March of the following year.

Gan Ying couldn't wait that long, and eager to return home, she believed this reason and took her leave.

During this time, he also met a Macedonian merchant named Metz, and the two had a conversation. After returning to Rome, Metz reported the matter to the Roman emperor. Rome subsequently sent three missions to visit the Han Dynasty, but all of them were blocked by the Parthians.

Finally, more than sixty years later, in the ninth year of the Yanxi era of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in 166 AD, the Roman Emperor António sent an envoy by ship to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to pay homage to Emperor Huan of Han. He also presented ivory and other gifts, hoping to bypass the Persians and conduct silk trade.

Unfortunately, at this time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was in turmoil, the Party Prohibitions broke out, the court was in turmoil, the Western Regions rebelled again, and even the entire Hexi Corridor was controlled by the Xianbei people.

Unable to trade with Rome, the Han Dynasty regretfully sent its envoy away.

Not long after, Rome also encountered the westward migration of the Huns, and the vast empire disintegrated. The next time the two sides came into contact was a thousand years later during the time of Marco Polo.

Ban Chao asked in confusion:
"Is that so? Gan Ying is calm and reserved, and adept at reasoning with foreign tribes, better than Tian Lü. If I were to send him as an envoy to Qin in the future, it would be for this reason..."

Tian Lü was another subordinate of Ban Chao. He once single-handedly stormed Shule and captured the disobedient King of Shule in front of the entire court. He took him out of the city and escorted him to Ban Chao, where he was deposed according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, expelled from the kingdom of Shule, and Zhong was established as the new King of Shule.

To be fair, Ban Chao's habit of readily exiling kings once again proves a profound truth:

Weak nations have no diplomacy.

The Book of Changes asks:

What's the situation on your end right now?

"Last year, King Zhong of Shule was misled by King Shache and rebelled. I beheaded him in accordance with the laws of the Han Dynasty. Now that spring is here, I plan to mobilize the troops of the southern kingdoms to launch a preemptive attack on Shache and eliminate this hegemon of the Western Regions."

The public generally perceives diplomats as those who skillfully maneuver and use all their abilities to maintain peace between conflicting countries. But Ban Chao was different; his method of maintaining peace was to stop killing with killing.

Yes, if we kill all the troublemakers, no one will dare to cause trouble. What a simple truth it is.

The Book of Changes says:

"I'll give you some modern items to help you better govern the Western Regions. Also, could you write down the names of your thirty-six subordinates? I want to display them in the Wu Cheng King's Hall so that future generations will remember them."

Ban Chao led thirty-six men to the Western Regions. Apart from Gan Ying, Tian Lü, and military commander Xu Gan, the names of the others have been lost to the annals of history.

Zhou Yi believed that each of them was a great hero who stood tall and upright, and deserved to be worshipped.

Lady Gongsun remembered the stone tablets carved by Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou, and suggested:
"Let's just carve a monument there and bring it back; that would be more meaningful as a memento."

Ban Chao hesitated for a moment:

"We've only done some insignificant things for the country, do we really deserve to receive offerings?"

Zhou Yi said with certainty:

“It’s worth it, no one is more worth it than you… Come, I’ll take you to see the gods of China, bestow blessings upon you, and also give you a token that can summon divine thunder, so that you can better manage the Western Regions.”

After saying this, he led Ban Chao to start paying homage from the Sanqing Hall, telling him the origins of these immortals as they bowed... Ban Chao didn't really know many of the immortals in the Hunyuan Palace, because in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, there was no worship of immortals, and Zhang Daoling had not yet founded Taoism at that time.

When Ban Chao arrived at the Hall of King Wu Cheng, he heard that the golden statue used by the Xiongnu for sacrificial rites was buried below, and he also planned to bury some things from the Western Regions there... His original motivation for going to the Western Regions was to unite the various kingdoms of the Western Regions to fight against the Northern Xiongnu. However, his mission grew bigger and bigger, and he became a mainstay of the Western Regions.

After Dou Xian led his men to break the spine of the Northern Xiongnu, they gradually migrated to West Asia. With the Xiongnu gone, Ban Chao was preparing to withdraw his troops when various countries rebelled. He had no choice but to stay in the Western Regions and changed the kings of these countries one after another. Some of the small countries' names were even lost to the annals of history.

Historical records consistently state that Ban Chao ruled over more than fifty kingdoms, but information on the names of these small states, their kings, and populations is completely lacking; half of them are untraceable. For example, the small power in the Western Regions at the time, the Kingdom of Kucha, supported six or seven small states around Kucha for defense in order to resist Ban Chao. The names of these small states are never mentioned in historical records; it is likely that Ban Chao simply considered them easy prey and not worth mentioning in his memorials.

After worshipping the gods, Granny Gongsun presented Ban Chao with a stainless steel token, which he treasured and kept close to his body.

Next, Zhou Yi brought him a few solar cookers. These things are easy to assemble and weigh only a few kilograms when folded up, making them very suitable for regions like the Western Regions where there is a lot of sunshine.

In addition, he was also provided with some telescopes, compasses, walkie-talkies, and solar panels.

In addition to combat equipment, Zhou Yi also prepared a box of salt, several iron pots, several bags of flour, a box of soap, and a sack of laundry detergent for Ban Chao, trying his best to let Ban Chao's men feel the care and concern of Hunyuan Palace.

After giving the items, Zhou Yi said to Ban Chao:

"Go back and stabilize the morale of the troops today. Come to Hunyuan Palace in seven days. Then you can sit down and have a good chat with Chen Tang and Huo Qubing. If everything is arranged, you can come earlier and stay for a day or two longer. I will teach you how to use some modern items."

Ban Chao was deeply moved and bowed deeply to the ground before the Book of Changes:
"Thank you for bestowing this magical artifact upon me, sir. Upon returning home, I will spread the word of your kindness... By the way, may I report this matter to His Majesty?"

Zhou Yi nodded:

"Alright, after the court replies, I will give you some more seeds. You can send someone to Luoyang to benefit the Han Dynasty."

In any case, they will not give any crop seeds to the Western Regions, because once these small countries become powerful, the only thing they will do is attack and harass the Han Dynasty.

Maintaining them in a state where they cannot conquer each other but are hostile to each other is most beneficial to the Han Dynasty.

Zhou Yi and Gongsun Da Niang escorted Ban Chao to the gate. Just as they were about to grant him free access to Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi suddenly slapped his forehead and handed Ban Chao a measuring tape.
"Measure the foot length of all your men. Next time you come, I'll buy you some shoes to make it easier for you to fight."

Ban Chao bowed again in gratitude:

"Thank you for your trouble. If there is nothing else, I will come in six days. I hope to learn more from you, sir."

The Book of Changes naturally welcomes this with open arms:
"Once you've made the arrangements over there, you can come over. If necessary, remember to use your token to kill a few alien races as a warning to others."

"Thank you for informing me, I understand."

After Ban Chao left, Gongsun Da Niang sighed:
"If only all the officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty were like Ban Chao, how wonderful that would be! Unfortunately, there were far too few capable and loyal people... Daoist Master, what do you think was the crux of the Eastern Han Dynasty's problems?"

The Book of Changes says:

"The aristocratic families always wanted to limit imperial power. They desperately wanted the emperor to disappear and leave the country to the aristocratic families to manage. As a result, if the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty wanted to do anything, he either supported the maternal relatives or the eunuchs. Otherwise, the entire court was constantly engaged in ideological struggles, and no one did anything practical. The state that best suited the aristocratic families' ideal was the period when 'the Wang and Ma families shared the world,' but that was also the weakest period in the entire history of China. It can only be said that scholars are indispensable, but empty talk will ruin the country!"

When Gongsun Da Niang heard the last sentence, her eyes lit up, and she secretly memorized it, intending to use it in the Kaiyuan World... After all, she is a celestial maid, so it's reasonable for her to leave behind some wise words of advice, right?

This girl couldn't forget the time she displayed her divine power in front of others. In the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji looked at the memorial handed to him by Cui Rizhi and was both amused and annoyed:

"Impoverished family background? Penniless? Struggling to make ends meet? At first glance, I thought it was a memorial from some commoner scholar. A direct descendant of the third branch of the Cui family of Boling, pleading poverty like this is going too far."

At this point, Li Longji put down the memorial in his hand, looked at Gao Lishi, and asked:
"How much money did Cui Rizhi, the Prefect of Jingzhao, embezzle?"

Gao Lishi replied respectfully:
"He owned millions of coins, estates all over the place, and also seized more than 6,000 hectares of fertile land in Guanzhong."

The main base of the Cui clan of Boling was in Hebei, and it was unclear how many acres of land they owned there, but they alone had 6,000 hectares in Guanzhong. This infuriated Li Longji.

"I order Chen Xuanli to arrest Cui Rizhi and imprison him, subject him to severe torture, and compile a list of all the most heinous criminals in the family. I will personally oversee the matter..."

Gao Lishi advised:
"In this way, the censors will oppose the imperial edict in court and plead for the various families."

Li Longji took out his token, his face full of anticipation:
"Perfect timing! I'll use the will of Heaven to strike the Censor dead... The Censor has the duty to oversee all officials, yet the Censor of my Great Tang is single-mindedly focused on finding fault with the Emperor. He's truly defying the will of Heaven!"

Gao Lishi wrote it down, then asked for instructions:
"Whom does His Majesty intend to appoint as Grand Censor?"

Li Longji was also somewhat troubled:

"Among all the officials, are there any who are not afraid of powerful figures and are wholeheartedly devoted to serving the people?"

After careful consideration, Gao Lishi came up with a suitable candidate:
"There really is such a person."

"Who?"

"Song Jing, the Imperial Academy Chancellor and Governor of Luoyang!"

(End of this chapter)