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

Chapter 411 Thank you Wanyan Laotie for the military rations! [Seeking monthly votes]

In the granary courtyard in the southeast corner of Bianliang City, Wang Youzhi, carrying a broom, stared blankly at an empty space, unable to believe that such a stack of grain had simply vanished into thin air.

Early this morning, the two changed into laborers' clothes, mingled with the working crowd, and went inside the granary to work.

Ever since Wanyan Liang designated Kaifeng as Nanjing, the entire city of Kaifeng began a large-scale renovation. In particular, Liang Chong, a eunuch of the Jin Dynasty, used his eloquence to supervise the renovation work in Nanjing, and he collected a large amount of manpower and resources. The cost of rebuilding the palace was several times higher than that of demolishing and rebuilding it.

Liang Chong was a eunuch in the Northern Song Dynasty. After the Jingkang Incident, he was captured and taken to the Jin Dynasty. He first served as a slave in the household of the Jin general Da Bian, and later accompanied Da Bian's daughter as part of her dowry to Wanyan Liang's household.

Wanyan Liang's actions, such as promoting Sinicization, composing poems, taking the lead in learning Chinese characters, moving the capital to Youzhou, and repairing Kaifeng, were largely influenced by Liang Chong.

The decision to establish Kaifeng as Nanjing is also related to Liang Chong's persistent descriptions of Bianliang City in those days.

For Wanyan, a country bumpkin who had never seen anything good in his life, the prosperity and wealth of Bianliang City was beyond his imagination... If the weak Song Dynasty could have such a good capital, then my Jin Dynasty must have one too.

Wanyan Liang originally intended to move the capital to Kaifeng in one fell swoop, but the officials in the court opposed it. In addition, Kaifeng was in a state of disrepair and could not serve as the capital. So Wanyan Liang settled for second best and moved the capital to Youzhou.

However, his intention to establish the capital in Kaifeng remained unchanged. Under the pretext of attacking the Song Dynasty from the south, he moved all departments below the Ministry of Personnel and the Privy Council to Kaifeng in preparation for the next step of moving the capital.

Liang Chong, who boasted of having witnessed the prosperity of Bianliang, was appointed as the repairman. However, his mind was not on repairs at all, but rather on using the repairs as a pretext to amass wealth.

The palace was repaired and demolished repeatedly; the tiles were laid out, removed, and then re-laid. Wanyan Liang was eagerly awaiting the completion of the project in Youzhou, but it was still not finished on his end. Instead, he submitted a petition requesting more building materials, otherwise the palace could not be restored to its original state.

Thanks to Liang Chong's antics in Kaifeng, Xin Qiji's grain-borrowing efforts were able to proceed smoothly... This eunuch did not understand the principles of grain storage and thought that small stacks for fire and moisture protection were not impressive enough, so he ordered all the granaries in Kaifeng to be built as large stacks like small mountains, which would look more imposing.

This made things convenient for Xin Qiji; he reached out and touched a stack of grains, then vanished on the spot, leaving not a single grain behind.

At this moment, the patrolling Jin general rode up on horseback. Wang Youzhi quickly grabbed a broom and ran to the other side, shouting for help as he ran, intending to attract the patrolling troops away so that Xin Qiji would not be surrounded as soon as he arrived.

This was a plan devised by the two: Wang Youzhi was responsible for shouting and attracting fire, while Xin Qiji continued to steal grain.

Soon, Xin Qiji arrived with the leaves of Emperor Gouchen. Finding no guards around, he jogged to another stack of grain, touched the top of the stack, and disappeared again along with the grain.

Inside Hunyuan Palace, the appearance of the second stack of grain completely occupied the small square in front of the Sanqing Hall. Zhou Yi estimated that the diameter of the two stacks was at least thirty meters and the height was more than ten meters, making them appear taller than the main hall.

Huo Qubing was dumbfounded:

"Master, how many tons of grain are there?"

Even the Book of Changes couldn't figure it out:

"It must be at least several thousand tons. The Jin state has stockpiled so much grain; it seems they are determined to attack the Southern Song."

Historically, Wanyan Liang was busy with two things from the beginning of his reign: moving the capital and marching south. As a result, the Jin state had its grain stolen by Xin Qiji during its period of preparation, which may have delayed the southward march.

After Xin Qiji succeeded, he jogged over and handed the leaf of Emperor Gouchen to Zhou Yi:

“Master, I must leave Bianliang with Wang Youzhi immediately to avoid a city-wide manhunt… You can handle these grains as you see fit. Once we leave Bianliang, I’ll see if we can find some more elsewhere.”

Xin Qiji was not worried about food shortages in his base area. Firstly, the population there was small, and secondly, Zhao Xu was there to support him. He knew perfectly well how wealthy the Song Dynasty was, and he never had any concerns about food shortages.

Back in the world of the Southern Song Dynasty, Xin Qiji carried a broom and jogged along, blending into the crowd of people working. He swept up fallen leaves and debris as he approached the door.

Wang Youzhi then broke free and leaned closer, asking in a low voice:
"Tanf, are you a god?"

Xin Qiji said:
"No, my master is a deity. All the grain is stored in my master's immortal cave. Kaifeng should be in chaos these days. Ninth Brother, would you be willing to join me in achieving great things?"

Wang Youzhi's eyes lit up:
"Overthrow the Jin Tartars and welcome back the royal army?"

Xin Qiji shook his head:
"Why welcome them? We are the king's army ourselves... Master said that ever since the Song Dynasty killed Yue Fei on trumped-up charges, the Song Dynasty is no longer worth saving. We should establish our own country, truly care for the people, and fight back against any foreign invasions instead of leading the way in running away."

These outrageous words stirred Wang Youzhi's emotions:
"Alright, I'll work for you. I still have several hundred brothers, and I'll bring them all to your base... Let's make this clear first, we can't be as stifled as we are in the south."

Although Wang Youzhi had considered going south more than once, at that time the Southern Song Dynasty was engaging in cognitive warfare under the call of Zhu Xi, artificially dividing the people into four classes.

People under the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty were classified as first class; those formerly under the rule of the Northern Song Dynasty but now occupied by the Jin Dynasty were classified as second class; those from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were classified as third class; and the rest were classified as fourth class.

These four classes of people even have different names for each other.

Those who fled south from occupied territories were called "returning people"; those from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were called "returning people"; and those from other places and foreign tribes were called "returning people." With their homeland lost, they should have united all possible forces to resist foreign aggression. However, the Southern Song Dynasty did the opposite, directly dividing the people into four classes.

This is a manifestation of how corrupt scholars misled the country. After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, these corrupt scholars brought this system to the Yuan Dynasty. However, at that time, people from the south were once again classified as third-class and fourth-class citizens.

Wang Youzhi delayed heading south because he felt the title "reformed person" sounded bad... He had abandoned darkness and turned to the light, but ended up being labeled a criminal who surrendered himself. Who could accept that?

Historically, he seized the opportunity to lead tens of thousands of troops south, bringing his own capital directly into the group, making him one of the more successful reformers.

However, he has now decided to follow the immortal disciple Xin Qiji... No matter how high the official position given by the Southern Song Dynasty is, it is nothing more than a clay chicken or a tile dog compared to an immortal.

Moreover, if the Song dynasty had been any more ambitious, it wouldn't have ended up in a state of partial peace and isolation.

While the two were busy, several patrolling people finally noticed that two grain stacks were missing... It wasn't that they were blind, but they simply couldn't believe that such large grain stacks could disappear.

The Jin soldiers rushed in, and the entire granary was thrown into chaos. Xin Qiji and Wang Youzhi seized the opportunity to escape and then ran desperately towards the city gates.

When the two men infiltrated the granary, Wang Youzhi's entourage had already left Bianliang with their horses and were waiting outside the city to meet them.

After Xin Qiji and Wang Youzhi ran out, the city gates of Bianliang were closed, and officials from all departments were mobilized to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of the grain stacks.

Wang Youzhi felt extremely pleased:
"Tanf, where are we going to steal food next?"

Xin Qiji pointed his horsewhip in the direction of Shangqiu and said:
"Let's go to Guide Prefecture. I heard that the Jin Tartars have built several armories in Guide. Let's see if we can borrow some weapons... My senior brother Huo Qubing is about to launch the Hexi War. As his junior brother, I have to give him some weapons and equipment."

Upon hearing that equipment was to be sent to Huo Qubing, Wang Youzhi immediately became excited:

"Tanfu, my family owns ten thousand acres of fertile land with abundant grain. If the Marquis of Champion does not mind, we can give it to him."

Xin Qiji laughed heartily:
"Now that the Jin Da are providing us with food and weapons, we can save our own for now. When the time is right, we will overthrow the Jin Da and, as my master has instructed, establish a new nation that is compassionate, loving, self-reliant, and strong!"

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi said to Huo Qubing:
"Isn't your uncle hoping to gather provisions to attack the Hexi region? This amount of grain should be enough. Go back first and tell him where would be a good place to transport this grain."

Wei Qing is still in Pingyang County. The grain will be transferred here and then transported back to Guanzhong, which will result in considerable losses along the way.

Zhou Yi believed that with Wei Qing's knowledge, he should be able to find a reliable place.

Huo Qubing hurriedly returned to the world of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, carrying the leaves of Emperor Gouchen. He placed the various bean products he had bought on the stone table in the courtyard and said to Wei Qing, who was brushing his teeth:

"Uncle, we have food!"

Wei Qing spat out the toothpaste foam from his mouth and glanced at the bean products on the stone table:

"Is this what you mean?"

Huo Qubing took out his phone, opened the video he had recorded, and showed it to Wei Qing:
“My junior brother Xin Qiji stole two stacks of grain from the Jin Kingdom, and our master said we could have them all… This grain should be enough for the Hexi campaign.”

Huo Qubing's campaign in the Hexi Corridor was very fast. His cavalry units could travel more than 100 li a day and often make large-scale detours of thousands of li. Not to mention in ancient times, even in modern times with complete saddles and bridles, it would be difficult to do this by animal power alone.

It can only be said that Huo Qubing was truly a trump card bestowed upon Emperor Wu of Han by Heaven.

Before the video was even finished, Wei Qing made arrangements:
"Qubing, hurry to Guanzhong immediately. After arriving in Chang'an, transfer these grains to the drill ground and show them to His Majesty and the officials. Once I arrive in Chang'an, I will directly lead the expedition to Hexi... Time waits for no one. With the immortal's support, we must press on and defeat the Xiongnu as soon as possible!"

At this point, the two no longer cared about the taste of the tofu; they only wanted to quickly transport the grain to Chang'an, then lead their army to conquer the Hexi Corridor, making the Xiongnu sing that ballad ahead of time:
"Losing my Yanzhi Mountain makes my women lose their beauty; losing my Qilian Mountain makes my livestock unable to thrive."

Huo Qubing bid farewell to his father, rode out of the city, crossed the Fen River, and arrived at Hunyuan Palace. He told Zhou Yi about Wei Qing's arrangements, and then looked at the motorcycle parked in the courtyard.

Horseback riding is too slow; motorcycles are much faster.

Zhou Yi reminded him, saying:
"Be careful on the road. If you run out of gas, come back to fill up. If there are any difficult sections, you can ride the motorcycle back first and then continue on your way after you get through them."

After Huo Qubing left, Zhou Yi circled the two stacks of grain, looking them over from left to right, clicking his tongue as he remarked:

"The early outbreak of the Hexi War was all thanks to the military rations provided by my old friend Wanyan. Thank you so much!"

(End of this chapter)