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

Chapter 378 Slaying Huhanye! [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Xue Ne took the "Declaration of Naturalization" and read it through. The magistrate of Long County then organized all the Tibetans who were preparing to join the army and gathered them together to take an oath.

Cen Xun and the others surrounded Li Bai, eagerly anticipating the legendary scene of divine thunder descending.

Of course, it would be even better if no divine lightning struck, indicating that these Tibetans had genuinely submitted and were not Tibetan spies disguised as infiltrating the Tang Dynasty.

After these people lined up, the military captain held up a small megaphone and read a sentence from the "Declaration of Naturalization," then had the Tibetans present repeat it.

After the oath was recited, only five or six bolts of divine lightning fell from the sky, far fewer than expected.

Even so, it still terrified the Tibetans present. Upon hearing that it was the power of a deity, they all knelt down and begged for mercy, crying out to the gods to spare their lives.

Li Bai, holding a small megaphone, said:
"Han people do not believe in gods. From today onwards, you are subjects of the Great Tang Dynasty, protected by the gods of China. The more Tibetans you kill, the happier the gods of China will be, and the more blessings and good fortune they will bestow upon you... As for the gods on the plateau, to say they are just dogs on the roadside is to give these evil spirits too much credit!"

Deities not officially recognized by the Chinese government are all considered wicked and evil spirits. This has been the principle since ancient times. Although Li Bai is young, he is, after all, the chief disciple of Hunyuan Palace. He must make this clear to prevent these newly assimilated people from equating Chinese deities with the gods of the plateau.

After he made the announcement, Xue Ne ordered that all Tibetans who volunteered to join the army be registered and incorporated into the army, and that they be trained and marched forward.

Wang Zhihuan asked:
"How are the gods of the plateau different from the immortals of our Chinese civilization?"

Hu Ziyang studied this point very thoroughly:

"The gods of other races, whether Turkic or Tibetan, all worship the most primitive form of nature worship. They think fire is good, so they worship a fire god; they think water is important, so they worship a water god; they think mountains are high, so they worship a mountain god... Their concept of gods is vague, without any system or standardization."

Cen Xun asked:

"And what about our China?"

Yuan Danqiu said with a smile:

"Our Chinese civilization has already passed through the stage of nature worship in ancient times, and has also combined the sages with the gods, giving the gods the identity and concept of humans... The information brought by Taibai says that in the whole world, only our Chinese ancestors can support thousands of divine positions, and other ethnic groups do not have this condition."

Generations of outstanding individuals not only forged the soul of China, but also enriched the structure of divine organizations such as the Heavenly Court and the Underworld. Even at the grassroots level, there were divisions such as Mountain God, Earth God, City God, and River God.

There's no way to accommodate everyone; there are just too many outstanding individuals.

Talking about this, Wang Zhihuan wanted another sip, and he said to Cen Xun, who was in charge of the drinks:

"Another bottle, please! We can't be in such high spirits without some wine!"

Cen Xun spread his palms out and made a five:

"I'll give you five more kills, that's not too much to ask, is it?"

"Five is too few, give me ten more. When we talk about the gods of our Chinese civilization, it has to be perfect!"

Meanwhile, inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi thought the braised mutton he had for lunch was quite good, so he made braised mutton for dinner as well... The sheep that Chen Tang brought yesterday was cooked, and there was still a lot of meat left, so he used the mutton soup to braise it.

Just as dinner was ready, Xi Shi returned from the Spring and Autumn Period, bringing good news:

"The old master agreed to go to Yunwu Mountain to live in seclusion and open a school. He also specifically emphasized that when Sun Tzu arrives, Sun Tzu will be in charge of teaching military strategy, Wu Zixu will be in charge of training the disciples of Confucius, and Fan Li and Wen Zhong will be in charge of teaching internal affairs, so that everyone can become a well-rounded person who is both literate and martial."

The place where Xi Shi chose to live in seclusion was not only where her parents lived, but also where a host of famous figures from the Spring and Autumn Period, such as Sun Wu, Wu Zixu, Fan Li, and Wen Zhong, lived.

When these people come together, even a mediocre person can be nurtured into a pillar of society.

As she spoke, Xi Shi took out a piece of paper, which was densely covered with bronze inscriptions from the Spring and Autumn Period, making Zhou Yi's head spin:

"what is this?"

"The things that Confucius planned to do before he died included unifying the written language, standardizing weights and measures, unifying the language, and unifying the consensus on territorial expansion. Each of these was a major undertaking, and it felt like he might not have enough time to accomplish them."

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Yi said:
“It’s alright, I can extend his life… Lord Li Wei is seventy-five and can still lead troops into Liaodong to fight battles. This old master is only sixty-four this year, the perfect age to ride a ghost fire and roam around.”

Wu Zetian placed the mutton from her bowl into Zhou Yi's bowl and asked about Yunwu Mountain:

"Master, if Confucius really establishes a school on Cloud Mist Mountain to cultivate talents, will it have any impact on our area?"

This question really stumped Zhou Yi:
"I'm not sure either. Let's observe first. If it can affect this area, such as making the spiritual energy on the mountain more abundant, then let other worlds develop as well. Anyway, this mountain is small, so it's just a side project."

After the meal, Zhou Yi drank the Pu'er tea brewed by Wu Meiniang, looked at the plan written in bronze script by the old master, Xi Shi sat beside him translating, and the Zhao sisters, Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui, helped him massage his back from behind... He finally got to enjoy the treatment of a landlord today.

The chubby girl asked with a grin:
"Immortal Master, how's the force? Should I use a little more?"

The Book of Changes says:

Even if you beat my shoulder so hard today, I still have to write the essay. When I was your age, my essays were already being read as model essays by the whole class.

Zhao Rui simply didn't believe it:

"If you're so capable, write a 300-word essay on 'The Most Unforgettable Thing You Ever Did,' and I'll believe you if you can."

Zhou Yi flicked the girl's head:
"You want to trick the proctor into answering the questions for you, right? Go write them down, and write down the pinyin for the words you don't know." Zhao Yan asked obediently.
"Master, I've finished my essay. May I continue to have you work on it?"

"No need. Go read a book for a while. After Rui'er finishes her composition, you two can watch cartoons together. I need to study the ancient script with your Xi Shi sister, so I can't get distracted."

After getting rid of those two femme fatales, Zhou Yi, with Xi Shi's help, finally managed to read through the plan.

The old master was very methodical in his work. He listed out his short-term, medium-term, long-term, and even life goals, hoping that the Book of Changes could offer some guidance.

Zhou Yi felt he was not qualified to instruct the old master. Based on the experience of later generations, he adjusted the order of some plans and refined the cultural goals.

During his lifetime, Confucius spared no effort in promoting the progress of civilization.

For example, he vehemently opposed the practice of human sacrifice prevalent in the Shang Dynasty. Upon hearing that Duke Mu of Qin was using terracotta figurines instead of living people in Guanzhong to perform the ritual of human sacrifice, he was immediately enraged and uttered that famous saying:

"Will the one who started this practice have no descendants?"

He believed that the entire ritual of human sacrifice should be abolished so that even if a few people with low moral standards emerged in later generations, they would not act recklessly. However, if this ritual were to continue, the terracotta figurines might come back to life, causing civilization to regress by leaps and bounds.

The construction of the new house continued early the next morning.

However, the world of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty presented a completely different picture.

Gan Yanshou led his men eastward from Chang'an, traveling all night until they reached Xiagui County on the north bank of the Wei River. When the drone flew over the courtyard of the post station, it discovered that there were more than 400 grassland horses inside.

Despite the decline of the Han Dynasty at the end of its reign, the administration of horses was never neglected, and the horses of the Han Dynasty were significantly different in size from those of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands.

Upon seeing the grassland horses, Gan Yanshou knew he had come to the right place.

He used a walkie-talkie to call over the surrounding troops, first surrounding the entire post station, and then using drones to scout the surrounding area for dozens of miles to confirm that there were no signs of foreign activity before sending his men to break in.

The entire battle was exceptionally easy. Huhanye kept fantasizing that the upright Gan Yanshou could put in a good word for him with Liu Shi, and even planned to give him a few fine horses as a token of his gratitude.

Unexpectedly, the upright person he thought he knew was actually a staunch Han nationalist.

When Huhanye was dragged out of his bed by two Han soldiers, the Xiongnu Chanyu shouted loudly:

"I have come to see His Majesty. What do you want? Let me tell you, I have a very close relationship with General Gan Yanshou of the Imperial Guard. If you dare to be disrespectful to me again, can you bear the wrath of General Gan Yanshou?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Gan immediately burst into laughter:

"You know me? How come I don't know you?"

These words left Huhanye completely dumbfounded:
"You are the current General of the Imperial Guard? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Gan Yanshou said loudly:
"Yesterday, an envoy from the Southern Xiongnu assassinated His Highness the Crown Prince, claiming that he was acting on your orders. His Majesty has ordered us to execute you on the spot... Huhanye, go and see your brother, Zhizhi Chanyu!"

He didn't give Huhanye a chance to argue, and with one stroke, he beheaded this king of the grasslands:

“When Zigong led his troops to attack the territory of the Southern Xiongnu, I killed Huhanye at home. It can be considered as responding to each other from afar.”

Huhanye beheaded all his men, then dragged the bodies on horses to a nearby pit to bury them, completing the autopsy, encoffining, and burial rites in one go.

When the list was being tallied, Gan Yanshou discovered that Huhanye's eldest son, Diaotao Mogao, who was also the historical successor to Wang Zhaojun, Fuzhulei Ruodi Chanyu, was also in this group, but he could no longer distinguish which one it was.

The soldiers had been running all night and couldn't care less about these details; they just wanted to finish the killing and get some sleep.

The military advisor, holding a scroll of bamboo slips, approached Gan Yanshou:

"Reporting to the General, according to the post station records, a total of 287 Southern Xiongnu people arrived, and the number of corpses is also 287. Should we proceed to Pubanjin to verify the number of people who crossed the river?"

Gan Yanshou nodded:
"This place isn't too far from Pubanjin. Let's make a trip there to verify it. I'll report back to the capital and give you credit."

Killing Huhanye and his son would cause the Southern Xiongnu to split again, which would be an absolutely first-class achievement.

At the same time, inside the kitchen of the East Palace in Chang'an.

Wang Qiang, who was eating breakfast, suddenly froze and said to Liu Ao and Xu Meiren:
"Just now, it felt like a string in my heart snapped, and I suddenly felt so relieved, I don't know why."

Liu Ao suggested:
"When you're unsure about something, just pray to the Immortal Master. Maybe you'll get his attention... There's an Immortal Master Yiyuan's shrine next door. Why don't you go and pray to him, sister? It's never a bad thing to be polite."

Wang Qiang thought about it and decided to give it a try.

She put down her chopsticks and, led by Liu Ao and Xu Meiren, went to the next room. She bowed gracefully to the Tai Chi diagram on the offering table, and then disappeared from the spot.

Liu Ao and Consort Xu were startled, but after the initial shock came a huge surprise:

"Great! Sister has gone to Hunyuan Palace!"

(End of this chapter)