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

Chapter 413 First Use of the Leaf of Earth! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

At ten o'clock in the morning, Wang Qiang came out of the Hall of Salvation from Suffering and went to the Hall of Three Pure Ones, where she handed a letter to Chen Tang:
"The court has already sent a group of officials to the Hetao region to garrison two days ago. This is the list. General Wei said that if General Zigong feels that the manpower is still insufficient, he will send more officials."

To bring the Hetao region, which had been gradually encroached upon by the Xiongnu, back under the rule of the Han Dynasty, not only were strong officials needed, but most importantly, some people had to be relocated there to increase the Han population.

Chen Tang opened the list, glanced at it, and said with a smile:

"Old Gan is really up to no good. He sent young people who are all from pedantic backgrounds... When these young people come to the borderlands and see the fertile land being ravaged by the Hun's iron hooves, won't they immediately become radicals?"

Those who have never been to the border will only ever talk big and talk without understanding the hardships. Only by personally going deep into the border and seeing the miserable state of the Han people under the iron hooves of foreign invaders will they understand the importance of being tough on foreign powers.

Gan Yanshou sent his disciples and followers of pedantic scholars to the northern frontier in order to eradicate them and eliminate their influence.

Zhao Xu suggested:
"We can establish a training mechanism where all young officials of the Han Dynasty must first spend a year training at the border before they can be given important positions. Only by experiencing the hardships of the people in advance can they make real changes."

Zhao Xu had this idea long ago, but the geographical environment of the Song Dynasty determined that even the border areas were in prosperous places, and they could not experience the vastness of the territory during the Han and Tang Dynasties.

The vast desert with its lone plume of smoke rising straight, the long river with its setting sun, and the boundless sea with its hundred-foot-high ice barriers—none of these can be seen within the territory of the Song Dynasty; they can only be imagined.

Chen Tang said:

"Don't worry, it will happen. Everything will gradually get back on track."

Then, Wang Qiang took out a letter and handed it over:

"The Grand Master has some doubts and hopes that the Immortal Master can answer them."

Wu Meiniang took the envelope, opened it, and pulled out a neatly folded piece of silk cloth covered with densely packed clerical script characters. She glanced at it briefly, her eyes filled with doubt:

"Master, Liu Xiang wants to know if stones can be turned into gold... Why has he suddenly started researching this?"

Zhou Yi, having recently finished reading Liu Xiang's biography, smiled and said:

"This is a deep-seated problem for him; it must have been hidden in his heart for many years."

Liu Xiang's family had been the Grand Master of the Liu Clan for generations. For example, his grandfather Liu Piqiang, his father Liu De, and his nephew Liu Qingji were all Grand Masters of the Han Dynasty.

During his tenure as the head of the Imperial Clan Court, Liu De organized the case files of Liu An, the Prince of Huainan, who was plotting a rebellion, and also took some of Liu An's writings home for his collection.

At around twenty years old, Liu Xiang became an advisor and accidentally came across information about Liu An, the King of Huainan. He discovered that Liu An possessed the ability to turn stone into gold, and was overjoyed.

He copied down the prescription and presented it to Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, as if it were a treasure. Liu Xun was worried about the finances, and when he heard about this miraculous technique, he told Liu Xiang to quickly make gold.

Despite investing considerable resources, the project ultimately failed, leading to Liu Xiang's imprisonment and death sentence.

Liu Xiang's elder brother, Liu Anmin, had just inherited Liu De's title of Marquis of Yangcheng. In order to save his younger brother's life, he was willing to give half of his fief to the court in exchange for Liu Xiang's survival.

After being released, Liu Xiang realized that he had been deceived by Liu An because he had not studied enough, so he began to study diligently and eventually became a great Confucian scholar.

Last time, Wang Qiang brought the carving knife back, and Yang Xiong and Liu Xin both used it. The thorn in Liu Xiang's heart started to stir again... Rivers can change course, dirt roads can be replaced with bricks and stones, and turning stones into gold doesn't seem impossible.

So he wanted to ask if the "golden technique" he found in Liu An's pile of documents back then was really true.

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and then wrote a reply to Liu Xiang:

"There is indeed a magic that can turn stones into gold, but it is by no means as simple as described in Liu An's book. This is something that immortals need to pay attention to, and mortals should not think about it for the time being."

Well, although I don't know if turning stone into gold is true or not, let's give him hope first, and then show him that this thing is very difficult and that we shouldn't keep thinking about it.

I'll give Liu Xiang a set of physics books later so he can study hard.

As for the chemistry book, I won't give it to him yet. What if this guy is still obsessed with getting his hands on gold and ends up blowing himself up? Let's save our breath and prioritize safety.

To demonstrate the Hunyuan Palace's uniqueness, Wu Meiniang typed the reply on a computer using standard clerical script and incorporating all Chinese punctuation marks, thus instructing Liu Xiang on the method of punctuation and sentence breaks.

Soon, the printer started working with a whirring sound. Chen Tang, Zhao Xu, and Wang Qiang curiously gathered around to watch, marveling at how amazing modern technology was.

At noon, while everyone was eating braised pork belly noodles at the Sanqing Hall, Huo Qubing returned. He had already reached the Yellow River and was preparing to cross it before coming back to ride his motorcycle.

Zhou Yi said to him:

"I bought you a new motorcycle, which is more suitable for riding on muddy terrain. It's already full of gas, so you can take it over and try it out."

Upon hearing this, Huo Qubing hurriedly left with a small bowl of braised noodles, intending to eat it while crossing the river and try to reach Chang'an before dark. After lunch, Wang Qiang returned to the world of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty with the Book of Changes and Chen Tang's letter. Gan Yanshou and Liu Xiang had been waiting for news in the Eastern Palace. Hearing that the Western and Northern Commandant of the Hetao region was being escorted back to the capital, the two planned to write to Liu Shi to dispatch a military general specifically responsible for the safety of the Hetao region.

Gan Yanshou asked Liu Xiang:

"Does Zizheng have a suitable candidate?"

After pondering for a moment, Liu Xiang recommended his nephew, Liu Qingji:
“My nephew once served as the Assistant Commandant of the Imperial Guards and also as the Assistant Commandant of the Imperial Guards. He is proficient in all six arts of a gentleman. If he goes there, he will surely be able to intimidate the Xiongnu.”

Gan Yanshou laughed and said:
"Are all men named Qing Ji really good fighters? Let's go with him. But this time, we're not going to intimidate the Xiongnu. We're going to make the Hetao region a permanent part of the Han Dynasty, so that the Xiongnu will never be able to set foot there again."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiang was somewhat troubled:
"The barbarian tribes have come from the northern deserts in an endless stream. How can we defend against them? Does the general intend to build a ten-zhang-high wall at the border to eliminate the barbarians?"

Gan Yanshou was also troubled by this matter, and bowed to Wang Qiang, saying:
"I humbly request that Fairy Camellia consult the Immortal Master. If the border troubles can be resolved, the northern frontier of the Great Han will be free from worry!"

Wang Qiang said:

"At lunch, the immortal mentioned the strategy of managing the northern desert, but did not go into too much detail."

Currently, there is no possibility of a northern expedition in any of the worlds, so Zhou Yi only mentioned it casually during a meal and did not elaborate.

The key to managing the northern desert region lies in controlling the valley basin nestled between the Khangai and Altun Mountains. This location benefits from snowmelt and lush grasslands at the foot of the mountains. Although not large in area, it is an ideal place for recuperation and development, and countless nomadic tribes of the grasslands gradually rose to prominence from here.

Once they reached a certain size, they either entered the Western Regions through the numerous valleys and passages of the Altai Mountains, extorting and plundering the various kingdoms there; or they headed south, making a brief stop near Juyan Lake to occupy the Hexi Corridor; or they moved southeast to occupy the warmer areas on the southern slopes of the Yin Mountains...

Since ancient times, nomadic tribes from the grasslands have generally raided southward from these three directions. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che keenly perceived this and quickly made targeted arrangements.

For example, Zhang Qian was sent as an envoy to the Western Regions to order the various states there not to associate with the Xiongnu; the Juyan State was established to intercept the Xiongnu on their only route south, so that they would face the Han army as soon as they crossed the desert.

As for the area near Yinshan, Liu Che even relocated 100,000 soldiers and civilians to develop the Hetao region to prevent the Xiongnu from invading from the south.

This method was actually very successful, deterring the Xiongnu from coming to the southern Gobi Desert. In addition, Liu Xun's series of actions after taking the throne, such as burning grasslands and cutting off life, caused the nomadic tribes of the grasslands to completely collapse. The huge enemy country quickly fell apart and became a disorganized mess.

However, Liu Xun should not have listened to Xiao Wangzhi's advice and allowed the Xiongnu to be completely subjugated to the Yinshan area, and even used the court's taxes to support these bastards.

As a result, after the Xiongnu recovered, they once again wreaked havoc on the northern lands and gradually encroached on the Hetao region, squeezing out the living space of the Han people little by little.

The method Zhou Yi used to suppress foreign tribes was actually quite simple: occupy the valley basin of the Khangai Mountains, establish two garrisons according to the Ming Dynasty's garrison system, and assign several thousand people to each garrison to cultivate and work. This way, they could be self-sufficient and easily nip foreign tribes in the bud.

The Qing Dynasty used this approach to contain the Mongols: two self-sufficient military garrisons, plus a decree requiring every household to have someone become a monk, which caused the Mongols to quickly degenerate from an invincible steppe wolf into a small Pekingese.

Meanwhile, in the world of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, just as dusk was falling, Huo Qubing finally arrived in Chang'an and met Liu Che, who was waiting at the city gate... When he was still a hundred miles away from Chang'an, Huo Qubing contacted Liu Che using a walkie-talkie.

Entering the city gate, Liu Che put one hand on his hip and pointed to the drill ground of the Southern Camp with the other, asking:

Is this place big enough?

"Yes, that's enough!"

Afterwards, Huo Qubing pushed his mud-covered motorcycle back to Hunyuan Palace. Zhou Yi, holding the Earth Leaf bestowed by the Goddess Houtu, added everyone's teleportation area to his second disciple, Huo Qubing.

Huo Qubing took out the leaves from the Gouchen Emperor's robe and handed them to Zhou Yi. Then he arrived at the entrance of the Hall of Longevity. Just as he was about to take a step, the supplies he wanted to take with him appeared in his mind. All the cars, bricks, and tiles in the courtyard were within his selection range.

He turned to Zhou Yi and said:

"It's amazing, I feel like every plant and tree in the yard is within my thoughts."

Upon hearing this, chubby Zhao Rui quickly clutched her snacks to her chest, afraid that Huo Qubing would take them all away.

The Book of Changes says:

"Since this is the first time using the leaves of the Goddess Houtu, let's be cautious and take the two stacks of grain with us first."

Huo Qubing nodded, stepped over the threshold, and disappeared into thin air along with the two stacks of grain in the yard.

Zhou Yi was surprised; he hadn't expected the Leaf of Earth to be so useful.

At the same time, in the Later Zhou Dynasty, outside Huai Ren City in Datong Prefecture, Zhao Kuangyin was also surprised:
"This mortar is amazing! Who made it? I, Old Zhao, really need to thank him!"

(End of this chapter)