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

Chapter 329 The First Group Photo at Hunyuan Palace! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

The Hunyuan Palace has a lot of supplies today: over 1,500 warhorses, 127 sets of Tang Dynasty military equipment, 300 Northern Song Dynasty flat-headed broadswords and 100 horse-slaying swords, as well as a complete set of the "Huainanzi" bamboo slips...

As Zhou Yi was taking stock, various colored fabrics appeared at the entrance of the Wenxuan King's Hall, and then his eldest disciple, Li Bai, walked out of the hall:

“Master, this is a piece of cloth donated by Li Chengqi and his brothers to Marquis Dingyuan. They hope that the old general can develop and grow stronger in the Western Regions and fight bravely against the enemy.”

When Huo Qubing went on his last expedition, everyone sent him supplies. Now that Ban Chao has arrived, there are once again scenes of multiple countries offering assistance.

Ban Chao was very touched, but still politely declined the cloth.

"Give us weapons, that will suffice. As for cloth and the like, the foreign tribes can provide them; there's no need to waste our local Chinese resources."

After some compromise, the cloth was eventually given to Xin Qiji, who was in the early stages of establishing the base, so that he could make clothes for the children in the base and distribute them to increase the cohesion of the refugees.

Xin Qiji was learning how to install a wind turbine when he unexpectedly received supplies, which made him very happy.

"Once the base is on track, I plan to leave and loot a few of the Jin Kingdom's granaries."

When others rebel, they hide far away and choose to develop their strength in a lowly manner. But Xin Qiji, a man of great courage, did the opposite and set his sights on the granaries of the Jin Dynasty.

Now that we have the Leaf of the Earth, carrying massive amounts of supplies is no longer a problem. So let's take advantage of the off-season to do some side jobs and earn some extra money.

After Li Bai arrived, all the worshippers at Hunyuan Palace were present.

Zhou Yi then spoke of conducting experiments with people:
"You can bring all kinds of supplies and living creatures. Next, I plan to let you try bringing people to Hunyuan Palace. Meiniang wants to bring Li Mingda from the Zhenguan world, Chen Tang wants to bring the Zhao Feiyan sisters, Xi Shi wants to bring Confucius, and Huo Qubing plans to bring Emperor Wu of Han..."

Almost every world has people who want to come to Hunyuan Palace, but whether it's feasible or not still needs to be tested first.

Chen Tang said:

"I will be returning to Chang'an soon, and I will use the Zhao Feiyan sisters as test subjects. I will bring them to Hunyuan Palace to try it out... I was the first to bring a living creature back then, and now I will bring people first, to continue the good luck."

Wu Zetian originally wanted to use Li Mingda for experiments, but the little girl was full of immortality, so it was better not to let her take the risk.

As for the Zhao Feiyan sisters... once these two women come to Hunyuan Palace, it will be like a fish leaping over the dragon gate. It is only right that they take some risks. After all, if they succeed, they will no longer have to live with hunger, infamy, and power struggles, nor will they be forced to commit suicide and end their lives prematurely.

The modern world where Hunyuan Palace is located is the celestial realm to them.

Furthermore, the Zhao Feiyan sisters are destined to have entanglements with Liu Ao. Rather than keeping them in Chang'an and risking their lives, it would be better to bring them to Hunyuan Palace to start a new life.

Chen Tang returned to Chang'an not only to ask Liu Shi for instructions on how to strike a decisive blow against the foreign tribes, but also to establish a county along the Yellow River. This was a matter he could not overstep and required Liu Shi's approval.

However, the county name needs to be personally inscribed by Zhou Yi, because opening up new territories is also considered a meritorious act, and inscribing the county name can earn one a share of the merit.

Zhou Yi had no talent for naming things, so he simply took a map of the Tang Dynasty's territory and found maps of Yuanzhou, Huizhou, and Lingzhou, asking Chen Tang to determine their locations and names.

During the Tang Dynasty, a system of prefectures and counties was implemented. Each prefecture contained several counties and was usually not very large, much like a modern prefecture-level city.

During the Tang Dynasty, there were already several counties at the bend of the Yellow River. For example, near the Shimen Cableway on the Silk Road, which is now Shimen Township, there was a Wulan County in the Tang Dynasty, which was specifically responsible for the crossing and transit of merchants across the river.

The area of ​​Jingyuan County in modern society was the location of Huizhou in the Tang Dynasty, and it also had a ferry crossing that allowed merchants to cross the Yellow River, a natural barrier.

As for Yuanzhou in the Tang Dynasty, it is the modern city of GY. Xiaoguan in the Tang Dynasty was located north of Guyuan, in a narrow valley of the Qingshui River. Nearby, there was a mountain pass leading to Huizhou, where a pass was also built, called Shimen Pass.

Zhou Yi felt that for the time being, the development should be carried out according to the territorial division of the Tang Dynasty. Although there was no fertile land in the broad sense in this area, both the Yellow River valley and the Qingshui River valley were very fertile land suitable for planting.

After studying the map for a long time, Chen Tang finally decided to establish Wulan County at Shimen Ferry and Jingyuan County at Zhanyin Ferry. Xiaoguan and Shimen Pass were adjusted according to the layout of the Tang Dynasty, and the seat of Anding Prefecture was moved to Gaoping County, where Guyuan is located.

During the Han Dynasty, the capitals of the northwestern prefectures all tried their best to move closer to Guanzhong. For example, Anding Prefecture, which was bordered by the Yellow River to the north, had its capital in Linjing County, which was just a stone's throw from Guanzhong. Hanyang Prefecture was also bordered by the Yellow River to the north, but its capital was in Ji County, Tianshui. Even the governor's office of Liangzhou was located in Long County, the western gateway to Guanzhong.

During the late Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo served as the governor of Liangzhou and even placed his administrative center in Chencang... He hadn't even left Guanzhong, so how could he possibly govern Liangzhou?
Chen Tang planned to give Liu Shi some serious advice, suggesting that the administrative centers of each prefecture be further standardized, and that they should not always focus on being close to Guanzhong, but also develop their own unique characteristics.

Zhou Yi wrote the selected place names and pass names on Xuan paper with a brush, and Chen Tang would take them back to show Liu Shi.

Emperor Yuan of Han was too easily swayed, so decisions had to be made directly. Otherwise, if the matter were brought up for discussion in the court, the officials would not be able to reach a clear conclusion for at least a month.

At noon, Zhou Yi roasted two lamb chops and two lamb legs in an electric oven, while Xi Shi made braised lamb with glutinous rice chili paste. In addition, Zhou Yi made lamb with dipping sauce and hand-pulled lamb, so the two lambs were prepared in four different ways.

Besides mutton, Zhou Yi also bought two sea bass from town and steamed them, which completely captivated the talented woman. She was amazed that the fish tasted so delicious from such a simple steaming process.
"It's a pity that my master isn't here, otherwise he would definitely have written a poem praising the immortal's culinary skills."

Gongsun Da Niang nudged her:
"Why aren't you writing?" Li Zhaozhao desperately tried to justify herself:

"The poems I write are all critical in nature and are not suitable for our own people."

Chen Tang opened a bottle of Dukang beer and filled the cups for all the adults present. Seeing Li Bai staring at him expectantly, he placed the kvass in front of the children.

"I'll let you drink it when you're an adult. When you write a poem then, don't forget to add my name. I'm looking forward to being remembered for eternity with you."

Ban Chao didn't know much about Li Bai:
"General Zigong's famous saying, 'Though they are far away, they will be punished,' has already made him famous for all time. Why is he being so humble now?"

As Chen Tang poured the wine, he introduced Li Bai:
"This young man is no ordinary person. He is known as the pinnacle of Chinese literature and is called the Poet Immortal. Whoever he mentions in his poems will be remembered in history. He has more prestige than an ordinary emperor."

Upon hearing this, Ban Chao immediately raised his wine cup and clinked it against Li Bai's:
"Having spent many years in the Western Regions, I have gained some knowledge. If you, young friend Li, are willing, we can discuss literary creation together."

Well, he was just treating Li Bai like a kid, and now they've become close friends despite their age difference. Marquis Dingyuan truly lives up to his literary background; he's managed to build a close relationship with Li Bai in just a few words.

Guo Rong downed a glass of wine, put his arm around Zhao Xu's shoulder, and said:

"Brother, I've been too busy lately and haven't had time to bring you anything. I only brought you five hundred warhorses. I'll bring you more next time I come... By the way, Marquis Champion, you've also recently confiscated quite a few weapons from the Khitans. If you're interested, I'll bring them along as well."

The quality of cold weapons during the Five Dynasties period was close to that of the Northern Song Dynasty and even surpassed that of the standard weapons of the Tang Dynasty. If these weapons were taken to the Han Dynasty, each one would be considered a divine weapon.

Huo Qubing accepted all offers of help and thanked Guo Rong.

Zhao Xu assured Chen Tang that all the weapons captured on the Western Xia battlefield would be brought to support the Yuan Emperor's world. As for the plan to exchange weapons for horses with Huo Qubing, it would continue once Huo Qubing returned to Chang'an.

Exchanging goods and services is beneficial to both sides.

As for Xin Qiji's side, the focus right now is on recruiting people. Weapons and equipment are not needed for the time being. When we start conquering cities and territories next year, we will need the full support of all worlds.

After the meal, at Li Qingzhao's suggestion, everyone stood on the steps in front of the Hunyuan Palace gate and took a group photo.

The four beauties stood in the first row with Zhou Yi, Chen Tang and the others stood in the second row, and Li Bai, the senior disciple, stood in front of Zhou Yi because he hadn't grown tall enough yet.

After everyone was in position, Aunt Gongsun said "cheese," and then used her phone's voice-activated photo-taking function to take several photos in a row.

The abbot of Hunyuan Palace, along with eleven worshippers, took their first family photo together.

After the photos were taken, Granny Gongsun said:
"I wonder what a spectacular sight it will be when all forty-nine pilgrims have gathered. I can't wait!"

Zhou Yi printed out the photos, laminated them one by one, and gave them to everyone present. Xi Shi looked at them from left to right, and said with some anticipation:
"I wonder if this photo could be used to turn the tide in the ancient world if we encountered danger."

Zhou Yi gave a wry smile upon hearing this:
"How insecure are you? You want to use everything as a magic weapon. Just one token is enough to solve all your problems."

After the gathering ended, Ban Chao was the first to suggest going back.
"I have important matters to attend to and cannot stay any longer. I will take my leave now and return in five days to enjoy drinks and conversation with you all!"

Guo Rong, preoccupied with sending someone to threaten Yelü Jing, didn't linger. He took some pasture seeds and left, quite nonchalantly.

Chen Tang planned to return to Chang'an ahead of schedule, only taking the group photo with him... Although the Book of Changes said not to treat this thing as a magic artifact, Brother Tang felt that even if this photo could not protect its owner, it could still bring wealth and good fortune, and there was absolutely no harm in displaying it at home.

People brought some supplies and took some supplies away.

Xin Qiji brought the most equipment, several sets of 30-kilowatt wind turbines, which were huge in size. Once installed, they could be used to operate various electrical machinery.

After everyone left, Zhou Yi used the Earth Leaf given to him by Houtu Niangniang to focus everyone's teleportation range onto Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu led all the horses and instantly left Hunyuan Palace, returning to the Northern Song Dynasty world... That's how convenient and fast the teleportation of large quantities of supplies is.

In the evening, only Wu Meiniang and Xi Shi remained in Hunyuan Palace to keep Zhou Yi company. The three of them summarized their recent plans to avoid any omissions.

Meanwhile, in the world of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, Su Jian and Sima Qian, after a long journey, entered Ji Province from the western part of You Province, and then followed the line of Zhongshan, Zhengding, Luancheng, and Xiangguo, finally arriving outside Handan, the capital of the Zhao State.

At this time, the city gates of Handan were already closed, and the garrison commander and his troops were on high alert. Liu Pengzu and his son were extremely anxious, fearing that the imperial court was coming to exterminate their clan.

Outside the city, Sima Qian used a telescope to observe the movements on the city walls, then consulted Su Jian:
"Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back. General, are you prepared?"

Su Jian nodded calmly:
"Knock on the door, we'll take action tonight!"

(End of this chapter)