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

Chapter 322 Guo Rong Wants to Build the One Yuan Tower! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Inside the Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin carefully reviewed the Ministry of Justice's investigation results:
Recently, the brothers Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang were approached by several merchants from Yanqi. The merchants first gave them a pile of gold, claiming they wanted to make friends. Once they became acquainted, they took the opportunity to propose buying a batch of items belonging to immortals. Only then did the brothers learn that their adopted sister had actually become a servant of an immortal.

They originally intended to use Wu Zetian as a cash cow, so they could take whatever they wanted from her in the future. However, before they could even put their plans into action, she was chopped into charcoal.

After reviewing the investigation results, Li Shimin asked Zhang Liang, the Minister of Justice:
"Yanqi once complained to our dynasty about the tyrannical behavior of the Gaochang Kingdom. Now that the Gaochang Kingdom has been destroyed, what are their plans?"

Zhang Liang replied respectfully:
"Your Majesty, I arrested a Yanqi merchant who was close to the Wu brothers that day. After interrogating him overnight, I learned that the people of Yanqi had secretly allied with the Western Turks. The daughter of the King of Yanqi married the younger brother of Qulichuo, a high-ranking official of the Western Turks. Now Yanqi is sharpening its knives, preparing to cooperate with the Western Turks to counterattack our Great Tang."

Li Shimin's face darkened, revealing his domineering aura:

"Order Guo Xiaoke, the Protector-General of Anxi, to lead an army to attack Yanqi and destroy this tiny country!"

Historically, the Yanqi Kingdom was destroyed in the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era, for the same reason as Zhang Liang's investigation: it secretly allied with the Western Turks, intending to rebel against the Tang Dynasty.

Guo Xiaoke, the Protector-General of Anxi, set out with his troops on August 11th, arrived on August 20th, and destroyed Yanqi on August 22nd... It must be said that this group of generals in the early Tang Dynasty truly grasped the essence of blitzkrieg, and each one of them was more capable than the last.

Unfortunately, Guo Xiaoke, a famous general, was ambushed by the army led by the prime minister of Kucha and died for his country.

Now the Tang Dynasty's policy towards enemies has undergone a fundamental change. Li Shimin no longer pursues the empty title of Heavenly Khan. Guo Xiaoke will behead any nobles he captures from Kucha, so there is no need to worry about being ambushed.

Li Shimin stood up, put his hands behind his back, and looked at the map of the Western Regions hanging on the wall. To the west of Yanqi was Kucha. Once Guo Xiaoke had taken Yanqi, he would immediately attack Kucha.

Although these small kingdoms in the Western Regions nominally submit to the Tang Dynasty, they have been secretly colluding with the Western Turks. It is time to strike hard.

After arranging these things, Li Shimin sat down again and looked at Zhang Liang, who had followed him all the way, and asked:

"I've heard you've adopted hundreds of sons. What? Are you planning a rebellion?"

These words terrified Zhang Liang so much that he broke out in a cold sweat, his back soaked with sweat. He immediately knelt down and, before Li Shimin, stammered a solemn oath, declaring that he had only adopted a son out of appreciation for talent and that he would never have any disloyalty in this life, begging His Majesty to see the truth.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a muffled clap of thunder sounded in the sky.

Old Li has recently become quite cunning and has mastered the essence of entrapment enforcement.

He patted Zhang Liang on the shoulder and said:

"I cannot comment on your wives and concubines, but keeping a Taoist priest is a dangerous thing that can easily lead to trouble. The gods in heaven have already remembered your vow. If you have to keep your vow one day, they will not give you time to regret it."

Zhang Liang trembled all over and lay on the ground, not daring to say a word.

This guy is quite interesting. As Li Shimin's closest confidant, he ranked higher in the Lingyan Pavilion than Li Ji, Qin Qiong, Hou Junji, and Cheng Yaojin. He could have anything he wanted, but he ended up with a vast green meadow on his forehead, greener than broccoli that had been frozen for two years.

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Zhang Liang's status also rose accordingly, but he did something very morally reprehensible—he abandoned his first wife and married a young and beautiful woman named Li.

But this Li was no good. She was shrewish and domineering, and openly had an affair. Zhang Liang not only dared not say anything, but also adopted his wife's lover as his son and provided him with good food and drink at home.

I'm really curious about what strange things happened to this guy when he was young. He was a perfectly good duke, but he turned into a minotaur.

After Zhang Liang left, Li Shimin strolled to the Yiyuan Hall, took out a small crispy cone from the refrigerator, and then recounted the investigation results in detail.

After listening, Wu Meiniang thanked him, took the backpack, and began packing her luggage, preparing to go to Hunyuan Palace early the next morning.

Li Shimin sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, his expression somewhat hesitant.
"There has been no news of Ke'er since he went south. Can the Immortal Master divine this?"

Wu Zetian said:
"The Immortal Master possesses a magical artifact called the Eight Trigrams Abacus, which allows one to know the affairs of the world. Upon returning this time, I will ask the Immortal Master to use the abacus for calculation and deduction, but it will require a certain amount of merit."

Upon hearing the word "merit," Li Shimin was somewhat bewildered:

"If it's calligraphy or paintings, I can provide those; but how should the merit be awarded?"

Seeing that Li had taken the bait, Wu Meiniang earnestly began to explain the source of her merits:
"Expanding territory, taming foreign tribes, eliminating barbarian states, improving the living standards of the people, promoting education, building water conservancy and roads... all these things that benefit the country and the people can increase one's merits."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately understood:

"I have already sent people north. At that time, under the pretext of relocation, we will bring the people of DTZ to build roads. In addition, Guo Xiaoke will send troops to attack and conquer Yanqi. I will specify in the military order that the troops will be sent to destroy the country in the name of the Immortal Master Yiyuan. Is this acceptable?"

Wu Zetian nodded:
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Shimin took a bite of the small crispy cone:
"Don't be so polite. If you need me to do anything, just give the order. I also hope that Meiniang can try to get as many benefits as possible from the Immortal Master's side, even if it's just for Sizi's sake."

"it is good!"

Meanwhile, at the Lushan County Lifting Equipment Factory, the consecration ceremony finally ended, but they still need to come back tomorrow and the day after to perform rituals for three consecutive days in order to give the statue divine power.

Xi Shi felt she learned a lot from Zhou Yi, especially during the consecration ceremony, when she suddenly felt that there were gods watching silently from above the clouds.

On the way back, she shared her feelings, which surprised Zhou Yi:
“I’ve never felt this way in all the rituals I’ve performed. You’re really born to do this. Next time there are smaller rituals, you can do them and get some practice.”

Xi Shi really wanted to try, but she was afraid of messing it up: "What if I fail?"

Zhou Yi drove onto the old street in Lushan County:
"I'll do it again. You're so beautiful, even the gods won't hold it against you."

Suddenly complimented on her beauty, the stunningly beautiful woman blushed, feeling somewhat shy.

Zhou Yi got off the bus and bought some donkey meat and donkey intestines, then sped back to Yunwu Mountain, ready to let the talented woman and the beautiful woman taste the authentic old-style donkey meat soup.

In the Later Zhou Dynasty, Youzhou became Guo Rong's frontline base. His soldiers gained confidence and were now gnawing away at the surrounding counties, gradually driving the Khitans back to the old forests beyond the Great Wall.

After stabilizing the situation in Zhuozhou, Wang Pu rushed to Youzhou to join Guo Rong. The Han people along the way cheered, celebrating their return to the Central Plains in their own way.

Inside the Youzhou Palace, Wang Pu asked Guo Rong for advice:

"Your Majesty, how many worlds have gathered at the Immortal Master's place now?"

Guo Rong calculated and said:
"About eight or nine. Some of the pilgrims are from the same world. For example, Li Bai and Gongsun Da Niang both belong to the Kaiyuan world of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji built the Yiyuan Temple there, and Gongsun Da Niang and Li Bai were the heads of the temple."

Upon hearing the name "Monism," Wang Pu astutely grasped the core of the problem:
"Are there temples of immortals in other worlds as well?"

Guo Rong nodded:

"The Martial Emperor World has a One Yuan Platform, the Yuan Emperor World needs to build a One Yuan Pavilion, the Zhenguan World has a One Yuan Hall, the Kaiyuan World has a One Yuan Temple, and there is another world with a One Yuan Palace... all of them are for worshipping immortals."

Wang Puyi slapped his thigh:
“Since they are all repairing, we should also repair, otherwise we would be disrespectful to the gods.”

His words really reminded Guo Rong:

"It definitely needs fixing, but what should we name it?"

Kaifeng city is cramped and not very large. The inner city has undergone more than a hundred years of construction, making every inch of land extremely valuable and impossible to build large courtyards.

Outside the city, it's all flat land, not even a small hill, let alone a mountain, so forget about Yiyuan Peak or anything like that.

These numerous restrictions greatly troubled Guo Rong, but Wang Pu had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea:

“In the past, when Laozi went west out of Hangu Pass, Yin Xi saw purple clouds coming from the east, so he built a pavilion out of grass and named it Ziyun Pavilion… Your Majesty, how about we build a Yiyuan Pavilion? It will be nine stories high and become the tallest building in Bianliang. This way we can avoid the drawbacks of cramped courtyards and at the same time allow the people to pay homage from afar.”

This suggestion caught Guo Rong's eye:
"A one-yuan building...that's a good suggestion, but wouldn't it be a waste of money and resources?"

Wang Pu said:

"This is a place to worship the gods. Wealthy merchants will donate money voluntarily, so there is no need to use the national treasury. As for the construction, Your Majesty can ask the immortals for some blueprints, or ask experts from other worlds for their advice."

As long as you claim the title of Kaifeng's tallest building, it's equivalent to making an appearance at Hunyuan Palace.

Guo Rong immediately wrote this down in his notebook, intending to bring it out for everyone to discuss at the gathering. If Zhao Ji was not busy, he would ask him to make a design drawing.

And so, the form of the temple was set in the Later Zhou Dynasty, but when it would be completed was still unknown... A nine-story building is not so easy to construct.

Just as Guo Rong was about to fleece Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji was holding his son Zhao Mao and chatting with Zhao Xu.

The two brothers agreed that once the I Ching determined a suitable location for building the capital, they would invest the money earned by the Liao Kingdom and begin preliminary preparations.

For example, they had to make bricks, stockpile building materials, and relocate nearby villages, providing compensation to the people with fertile land.

The subsequent construction work will most likely fall to the Tangut or Khitan people. The presence of local residents would affect management, so it would be more prudent to relocate them.

Zhao Xu inquired about the gun manufacturing:

"Have they started researching those seamless steel pipes yet?"

Zhao Ji shook his head:

"No, we didn't dare touch the few thin steel pipes the immortal bestowed upon us. We did manage to tinker with the barrel of the 60mm mortar, but we don't have any shells yet, and we haven't made the mercury fulminate that will detonate it."

Zhao Xu asked:

"Are there any difficulties? Do you need the Immortal's help to purchase equipment?"

Emperor Huizong carefully handed Zhao Mao to the wet nurse and said to Zhao Xu:

"The production of mercuric fulminate produces toxic gas, so we need to buy several gas masks. In addition, mercuric fulminate gas also poses a risk of explosion, and the book says that anti-static equipment is needed. Please ask the Immortal Master to think of a solution... Once these two difficulties are resolved, mercuric fulminate will be available soon..."

(End of this chapter)