fifth form

Chapter 3082 The Master's Father Becomes a High-Ranking Official

"It's one thing for you to move houses, but why did you despise Aqiao and kick her out of the house!"

"Ah Qiao just wanted to have a child for the Zhang family to gain status, and she acted a little dissolutely. We don't have any other problem with her!"

“That’s right. It’s inconvenient for her to come here with Jia’er now, and it’s also inconvenient for us to go to Chang’an!”

"You've hardly ever met Yi Shuo, so why would a court physician like her take a liking to you?"

"Old Dr. Zheng is a good doctor. His daughter Yi Shuo must be good. Why don't you bring Yi Shuo here to see your parents!"

……

Even the most outstanding children get nagged by their parents, and Zhang Xuezhou is no exception.

Zhang Zhonghe and Rong Shi had limited abilities; they couldn't teach Zhang Xuezhou like Zhang Weimeng did, nor could they provide strong financial support like Song Fengying did. But the fact that they could raise him in Zhangjiazhuang was already quite remarkable.

Moreover, the people of Zhangjiazhuang live in the mountains of northern China, and their physical fitness far exceeds that of their peers.

Even Zhang Xuezhou, who was last in Zhangjiazhuang, was very strong, and his physical qualities far surpassed those of Rong Tianding, who was the same age.

This physical condition allowed Zhang Xuezhou to overcome the hardships of his early life in the martial arts world. If it weren't for Zhang Zhong's rough upbringing and the care of the Rong family, Zhang Xuezhou would have died before he even started his career.

He respected his parents greatly and listened to their advice. He constantly agreed with Zhang Zhong and You Rongshi, and the family was very harmonious.

"It's one thing for fortune tellers to deceive people by surveying feng shui, but do we, at our age, still need to take medicine and cultivate ourselves?"

“Feng shui requires practice, but it can’t be done without real skill. Our village doesn’t have many young and qualified people. My cousin and I have decided that our two families will demonstrate it first, and if the situation allows, we will promote it more widely!”

It's normal for young people to cultivate themselves, but it's rare for older people to reach a certain level of spiritual attainment. This is no different from sending people in their sixties or seventies to university.

Rong Shi and Zhang Chong were initially resistant to cultivation, but they couldn't resist Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding's persistent persuasion, and finally had to agree. They accepted the elixir and "Zhongni Qiguan Shuo" and also agreed to go to Chang'an to listen to Confucian lectures, thus promoting their cultivation.

It doesn't matter how far one's cultivation level can reach, nor does it matter whether one has the strength, and it's even less important to cultivate feng shui techniques that are used to fool people. What matters is whether one's cultivation can qualify one to take the longevity elixir.

If Zhang Chong and Rong Shi are physically weak and can only lie in bed and prolong their lives, this situation is not suitable for prolonging their lives. No matter how much longer they live, they will only suffer in bed.

If they are in good health, Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding hope their parents will live long lives.

The two shared similar views: Zhang Xuezhou would not rashly force his parents to extend their lives, nor would Rong Tianding insist on extending their parents' lives; they would only extend their lives if their health was guaranteed.

The practice of incorporating the operation of the longevity elixir into feng shui techniques does not seem abrupt, nor does it easily arouse suspicion, and it also avoids investigation.

It must be said that Zhang Xuezhou and others' cautious and meticulous nature means that they do things in a way that is neither ostentatious nor sensational.

Events such as his wedding, his appointment as an official, and his acquisition of real power to control Maoling were almost treated lightly. Events that some people would love to celebrate for seven days and seven nights were only exciting for three minutes in his hands, and soon returned to normalcy.

It was precisely because of this temperament that Zhang Xuezhou and others rarely lost their composure when encountering numerous rare treasures, elixirs, and extraordinary encounters, always remaining calm and composed.

Even though there were over a hundred longevity pills in his small Qiankun bag, Zhang Xuezhou didn't think it was anything special.

“Cousin, the Maoling area is all loess. You can get water by digging a well there. You don’t seem to know anything about construction. How are you going to build a mausoleum for His Majesty?”

Some private matters were roughly arranged, and Rong Tianding couldn't help but be curious about how Zhang Xuezhou planned to select a burial site and build the mausoleum.

Let alone the feng shui techniques used to deceive people in locating burial sites, even if a site is successfully located, constructing the mausoleum would be a difficult task.

Imperial tombs are not like ordinary people's tombs, which are simply dug into a pit. Imperial tombs are actually built underground to resemble the palaces and halls of the imperial palaces. This kind of construction is extremely complex.

Just thinking about everything he saw in Yangling, Rong Tianding felt that building a mausoleum was extremely complicated and could not be accomplished simply.

"I know a little bit about construction!"

Having obtained various layout and construction plans related to the imperial mausoleum at Dongshan, Zhang Xuezhou felt that building the mausoleum based on these plans wouldn't be too difficult. However, if the terrain presented problems, it would be a major challenge.

Of course, he was not unaware of the underground water seepage in areas such as Maoling. The Shanglin Garden secret area had been flooded before, so the groundwater resources here are indeed very abundant.

Xu Yuan's direction in agriculture is excellent, but Zhang Xuezhou faces some difficulties in building the mausoleum.

“If we can’t build underground, then we’ll build above ground,” Zhang Xuezhou said.

“Building on the ground…isn’t that building a house?” Rong Tianding asked doubtfully.

“Once it’s built on the ground, we can fill it with soil and bury it, and that will become a mausoleum,” Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Cousin, you're a true architectural genius!"

Rong Tianding exclaimed in surprise and admiration.

Everyone else was digging underground, but Zhang Xuezhou was piling things up on the ground.

Different choices will bring different difficulties.

Rong Tianding had previously been worried about Zhang Xuezhou building the mausoleum, feeling that Zhang Xuezhou might be subject to criticism and fault-finding. But now, thinking about it, he felt that Zhang Xuezhou was perfectly capable of doing the job.

As long as the foundation is solid, Zhang Xuezhou can still be a hands-off manager in the future.

"Let's check out the terrain in a bit," Zhang Xuezhou said with a smile. "If the terrain is suitable for building an array, we can build a large mausoleum. There will be a lot of profit to be made from it, and we can easily gather enough materials for one or two sets of arrays. If the terrain is not good, we'll just have to make do!"

"Are you going to set up an array?" Rong Tianding asked curiously.

“The Shanglin Garden can be used to create formations, and I feel that we have the basic conditions to do so here,” Zhang Xuezhou nodded. “Both the Liang King’s Tomb and the Qin Mausoleum used the Mountain and River Formation. I can try to imitate it and make it into a complete artifact. There will be many benefits to doing so!”

The Yin-Yang School has inherited array formation techniques, but Zhang Xuezhou has had little practice in recent years. Even Zhou Bugui, who has accumulated a lifetime of knowledge, can only set up a small array in the Taoist temple.

It's not that they don't want to learn and practice, but rather that formations depend not only on the terrain but also on one's wealth.

If alchemy yields a return, then array formations are an investment with no output.

If we cannot kill some powerful cultivators and then strip them of their divine weapons, the array we create will only be a decoration.

Protecting the tomb is an important place to deploy formations, and this is a good opportunity to set up formations.

Of course, the biggest reason he did this was simply because he could profit from it.

"We can use some scraps or draw upon the power of some formations. You must know that no matter how much a person cultivates, they can't defeat the might of mountains and rivers. High-level formations can completely bridge the gap in cultivation and magic!"

Is it okay to be so greedy?

"The little bit of stuff we're taking isn't going against the people's interests. Ordinary people don't need formations or anything like that. Besides, as Master Yan said, if you can't get rich as an official, what's the point of being one!"

“That makes sense. Speaking of which, Zhufu Yan recently became a high-ranking official. I’ve seen him swaggering around the Imperial City area several times, holding his head high and completely ignoring me!”

"Did Master Yan become a high-ranking official?"

Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed in surprise, suddenly recalling that someone had mentioned that the new emperor had initially fought with the empress dowager, and that his fighting skills were swift and fierce, with few able to match them. His swordsmanship in the subsequent attacks was also extremely fast.

Only those who have tasted the sweetness will relentlessly pursue it. The new emperor had enjoyed the benefits in this regard, so it's no wonder that he was so determined to consume the Spirit Silk Jade Lotus Root.

If we were to trace the origin of this matter, it would most likely have originated with Master Yan.

The key figure connecting the new emperor and Zhu Fu Yan was Huo Qubing.

Just as the new emperor learned about the Ling Si Yu Ou from Huo Qubing, he also clearly discovered the practical application of the Zhu Fu Yan Zhan Yi Shi Ba Da from Huo Qubing.