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

Chapter 372 The First Time Calling Someone "Wife"! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Putting aside his calculations, Zhou Yi recalled the few times he had felt dazed before, as if Li Mingda was praying to him.

I really hope this girl can come to Hunyuan Palace and experience the local life firsthand, so she won't be repeatedly manipulated by some bad woman, making Hunyuan Palace even more miserable than a refugee camp.

Speaking of bad women, Zhou Yi suddenly realized that the Empress had been gone for a long time and hadn't returned yet. Could something have happened to her?

Just as he was about to go to the main hall to greet her, he saw a beautiful woman, as radiant as a peony in full bloom, gracefully walking out of the main hall.

The two women locked eyes. Wu Meiniang, lifting the hem of her Taoist robe, quickly approached and said softly:

“I taught them how to use the walkie-talkie and had the person in charge of Hengzhou swear an oath before the token, which caused some delay… I’m sorry to have worried you, Immortal Master.”

Zhou Yi held her hand and said:
"If you don't come soon, I'll have to ask Buddha for a wife. What do you want to eat tonight? I'll cook for you."

When Wu Meiniang heard Zhou Yi utter the word "wife" for the first time, she was overjoyed. Eating and such were unimportant; all she wanted now was to kiss the handsome young Taoist priest in front of her until she cried.

Unfortunately, the construction site was quite busy today, and Zhou Yi quickly went to work. Wu Meiniang couldn't help, so she simply went back to her room, opened her notebook, and wrote down today's date:

"The first time the immortal calls you 'wife,' you must remember this day, for all eternity, and never forget it!"

After taking notes, she sat in the room and laughed foolishly for a long time, completely like a little woman obsessed with love.

As evening fell, the workers gradually left. Xi Shi finished her work early, went to the kitchen to cook rice, and soaked a few sausages in hot water, preparing to make sausage rice.

At this moment, Zhao Wei drove up the mountain and brought more than twenty yellow catfish:
"We caught all of these this afternoon. Xiao Yi, why don't you eat some and have a taste?"

Zhou Yi thanked him, carried the food to the kitchen, first slaughtered and cleaned each of them, then washed off the slime from the skin with salt, and stewed them in a casserole with blanched tofu.

Soon, the aroma of fresh fish wafted out. After Zhou Yi seasoned it, he carefully scooped out a piece with a spoon, picked up a tender slice of fish, and fed it to Xi Shi.
"This meat is very tender, how about you try it?"

After Xi Shi ate it, she nodded in praise:

"The taste is indeed excellent... Immortal Master, I plan to visit the Spring and Autumn World tomorrow. Is there anything you would like to bring back to the Old Master?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said:
"Take a black iron token with him. If reasoning with him doesn't work, you can try divine means... He's clearly full of martial virtue, but he insists on reasoning with me. I'm not good with words, so I can only help him with some mystical methods."

Give him the Black Iron Token before he arrives, and upgrade it to the Steel Token when Master Lao arrives.

However, when the old master arrives, it seems that the Qing Dynasty Confucius is determined to have him give an impromptu critique, to let him see the deeds of the descendants of Confucius, and to cure all kinds of stubborn low blood pressure.

At dinner time, Guo Rong arrived, bringing a large pile of armor and weapons:

“I was worried that coming during the day would disturb the workers here, so I chose to come at night.”

He washed his hands, ladled out a small bowl of braised rice, sat down, and while eating, reported on the changes in the world after the Zhou Dynasty:

"Yelü Jing's younger brother, Yelü Yansage, had been demoted to Yunnei Prefecture for plotting a rebellion. Upon learning that Datong had severed ties with the Liao Dynasty's Zhongjing, he rushed to Xijing Datong, ascended the throne, and proclaimed himself emperor, calling himself the Western Liao. Liu Jun of the Northern Han was demoted to a king and became a vassal of the Western Liao."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi immediately chuckled:
"After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, Yelü Dashi fled to the Western Regions to rebuild the Liao Dynasty, historically known as the Western Liao. Unexpectedly, Yelü Jing's younger brother took up the name of the state in advance... If the Western Liao was destined to emerge, then the emergence of this regime is equivalent to exhausting the Yelü family's fortune in advance. We can consider destroying them."

At this moment, Wu Meiniang had transformed from a lovestruck young woman back into the head steward of Hunyuan Palace. She looked at Guo Rong and asked:

"What difficulties are there in destroying the Liao Kingdom?"

Guo Rong shook his head:

"There was a shortage of food originally, but after taking Youzhou, this weakness was made up. Now that the Western Liao has just been established, Zhao Kuangyin has already led Pan Mei and others to conquer cities and territories. In the northeast, we will focus on defense to prevent the Khitans from resorting to desperate measures."

The Khitans originated from the old forests of Northeast China, and it's not unacceptable for them to return now. However, if they are allowed to leave the pass and continue to pursue and attack, they might launch a desperate counterattack.

For now, we should hold back and wait until we have dealt with the Western Liao before destroying Yelü Jing.

Guo Rong said:

"I plan to destroy the Western Liao and Northern Han before the end of the year, consolidate the northern region, and then march south to attack the Southern Tang before spring, striving to unify China as soon as possible so as to avoid leaving any regrets."

Zhou Yi felt that the Southern Tang should not have much of a problem, but the Western Xia should not be allowed to grow too powerful. They should be turned into fuel for the rise of the Later Zhou.

Guo Rong ate a small bowl of braised rice, then ladled out a large bowl of stewed yellow catfish with tofu, and devoured it all in no time.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Zhou Yi brought a large three-colored tarpaulin and covered all the armor and weapons Guo Rong had brought, to prevent the workers from asking questions the next day. While helping, Guo Rong inquired about the handling of the Mongols:
How can we prevent them from becoming too powerful and influential?

Wu Zetian gave him an idea:

"The expulsion of the Tanguts and the extermination of the steppe people were historically intertwined, and now it can be considered a continuation of that intertwined relationship... As for the governance of the steppe, we can refer to the governance methods of the Qing Dynasty. Adult men must become monks. Over time, the steppe ethnic groups will decline, and we can maintain the basic number of sheep raised for the Han people."

Guo Rong understood immediately:
"I understand. After we destroy the Western Liao and Northern Zhou, we will arrange for people to start working on this matter. In the future, no matter which ethnic group appears on the grassland, we will use this method to govern them."

The Book of Changes reminds us:
"In terms of ethnic policy, we should take Zhu Yuanzhang as an example. He was able to integrate the Han people in the north and south who had been divided for hundreds of years. This is equivalent to recreating China. No matter what ethnicity, everyone should follow the etiquette of the Han people and live in the way of the Han people. They should not have their own language, script and beliefs. All history should be destroyed."

Guo Rong took out his notebook and wrote it down. As soon as he returned to Youzhou City in the Later Zhou world, he summoned Wang Pu that very night and asked him to formulate the details of these policies.

Wang Pu whispered:

"Your Majesty, there are some non-Han people in our army. If we rashly change course..."

Guo Rong waved his hand, employing a tactic commonly used by Li Shimin:

"I will not mistreat my meritorious officials. When we return to the capital in triumph, all of them will be granted the imperial surname and their ancestors will be posthumously honored as Han Chinese... Would they refuse such an honor?"

Wang Pu subconsciously shook his head. If he refused even this, it would be ungrateful and suggest he had treacherous intentions.

All the meritorious officials changed their surnames, and other ethnic minorities either obeyed the imperial edict or were dismissed or executed by the court on some pretext... As long as no meritorious official took the lead, the rest of the people were like quails, and could be dealt with however they wanted.

Wang Pu wrote it down, then hurriedly left to devise a strategy that very night.

Guo Rong washed his face with cold water and began to review the memorials sent from Kaifeng, preparing to handle state affairs.

Just then, the walkie-talkie on the table suddenly rang, and Pan Mei's voice came through:

"Your Majesty, there is an urgent military situation in Lingqiu City!"

Guo Rong was startled and quickly picked up the walkie-talkie to ask:
"What happened? Have the Khitans launched a counterattack?"

We had just captured Lingqiu City in the afternoon when an urgent military situation arose that evening. If the Khitans launched a counterattack, we had to quickly send people to block the entrance to Feihu County to prevent them from advancing eastward.

He was worried when Pan Mei reported:

"After our commander-in-chief Wang Yansheng entered the city, he ate the ears of several surrendered Khitan generals, which led to their rebellion. We have just finished suppressing it..."

Guo Rong took a deep breath and couldn't help but pinch his brow... This Wang Yansheng has some mental issues. The reason he paired Pan Mei with this guy was that he hoped the gentlemanly Pan Mei could restrain him.

Now it seems that Guo Rong is more worried that Wang Yansheng will lead Pan Mei, a capable general, astray.

However, this is not the time to punish them. If the rebellion can be suppressed quickly, the losses should not be significant. After a moment's consideration, Guo Rong said into the walkie-talkie:

"I made a three-point agreement with General Wang: he cannot eat the ears of the Han people, he cannot miss the opportunity to fight, and he must clean up the mess caused by the ethnic hatred he has stirred up... General Pan, please be patient for now. After we take Yingzhou, I will allow you to lead your army south to attack the Northern Han on your own. Wang Yansheng will continue to pursue the Khitans."

The habit of eating human ears had too great an impact, so Wang Yansheng was not allowed to participate in the battle against the Northern Han. After the Western Liao was captured, he was allowed to directly lead the army to attack the Dangxiang people and bring the Helan Mountains back into the embrace of the Han people.

As long as Wang Yansheng doesn't mind getting dirty, he can eat as much as he wants without any problem. It will be a good opportunity for the self-proclaimed barbaric Tangut people to see that their so-called barbarity is nothing more than a kitten's hiss in front of Wang Yansheng.

Speaking of which, among the many generals of the Five Dynasties, those who were more monstrous than Wang Yansheng were not as capable as him, and those who were more capable than Wang Yansheng were not as monstrous as him... This guy had a unique advantage in suppressing foreign races.

After calming Pan Mei down, Guo Rong contacted Wang Yansheng to reiterate the three-point agreement, lest the guy get carried away and start showing off to the local Han people.

Wang Yansheng laughed heartily into the walkie-talkie:
"Your Majesty is unaware of the truth. Today, I deliberately provoked these Khitans to see if they were disguised as civilians in the city. I did manage to find out several hundred of them, and now we have chopped off their heads. They can no longer cause any trouble."

Stop using this excuse to freeload... Guo Rong knew this guy was just making excuses for himself, but he didn't call him out on it. He urged him to hurry west and then ended the call.

The next morning, as Guo Rong was discussing state affairs with Wang Pu, a messenger arrived from Kaifeng with an urgent message:
"Your Majesty, Lady Huarui of Shu entered the palace before New Year's Eve last year and became a concubine of King Meng Chang of Shu. It is said that she is extremely favored, and Lady Huarui's family has thus become a top noble family in Shu."

Upon hearing this, Wang Pu said:
"Now that she has entered the palace as a concubine, Lady Huarui is no longer qualified to enter Hunyuan Palace to serve the Immortal Master... Your Majesty, when you go to see the Immortal Master next time, do not make a fuss, but quietly inform Empress Wu Zetian. She is the head steward of Hunyuan Palace, and this matter needs to be known to her."

Guo Rong nodded and made a mental note of it.

In several worlds, there are beautiful women serving immortal masters. Can't my great Zhou Dynasty even muster one?
Undeterred, he decided to continue his search. Without a beautiful woman acting as an inside agent in the Hunyuan Palace, the God of Wealth felt uneasy... Everyone is striving for success, so we must work hard too!

(End of this chapter)