Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 142 Wujiang Water God
Lu Zheng looked at the Wu Kingdom's tower ship anchored on the river, but did not choose to get close to it for fear of alerting the enemy.

He took a deep breath and quickly sank into the river. He swam around the Hongjiang River again.

After confirming that the divine aura had indeed headed towards the Wu Kingdom's tower ship, Lu Zheng quietly went up to the river bank.

Regarding matters concerning other countries and gods, this is no longer an ordinary matter involving demons and ghosts.

Taking advantage of the dim night, Lu Zheng returned to the county town and went straight to the county magistrate's residence.

When he arrived at the back door, Lu Zheng knocked gently.

A middle-aged doorman got up in a daze, opened the small wooden window on the door, and looked at Lu Zheng outside.

"Who is it?" the doorman yawned.

Lu Zheng, with a serious expression, took out an ID card and said, "Lu Zheng from Kaiyang County, I have an important matter to report to the County Magistrate!"

The concierge, unaware of Lu Zheng's identity, simply glanced at the ID badge and yawned, saying, "It's late at night, and the county magistrate is still asleep. Sir, please come back during the day... Judging from the sky, it should be dawn in two hours. Why don't you go back and rest before coming back?"

In the past, there were many scholars who wanted to visit the county magistrate, and the gatekeeper was already used to it.

He was just a scholar, so the gatekeeper didn't dare to disturb the county magistrate's rest.

After saying this, the doorman raised his hand and wanted to close the wooden window.

Lu Zheng said coldly, "This is a matter of great importance to the country. If you delay even a moment, even your family members will be in danger. Report immediately!"

When the doorman heard Lu Zheng's words, he was shocked and his mind became much clearer.

The other party came over in the dark and spoke so seriously, I'm afraid something really big must have happened.

"This..." The doorman hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your name is Lu Zheng, right? Wait a moment."

The doorman turned around and hurried to report, feeling uneasy.

He was not qualified to see the county magistrate directly, so he went to find the housekeeper in the mansion and told him about the matter.

The housekeeper had just heard the county magistrate praising Lu Zheng tonight, and upon learning of this, he immediately ran to inform the county magistrate.

The county magistrate woke up from his sleep and heard that Lu Zhengda had an urgent matter at night. He didn't even have time to tidy up his appearance and went straight out, putting on his coat as he walked.

Beside him, several servants were holding lamps and following hurriedly, fearing that the county magistrate would not be able to see the road clearly and fall.

"Where is Mr. Lu?" the county magistrate asked hurriedly.

"At the back door..." someone whispered.

The county magistrate glared and said, "Why don't you invite him in? Go to the study and prepare some tea!"

"Yes!"

A servant hurried away.

When the county magistrate tidied himself up and came to the study.

Lu Zheng was also brought outside the study.

At this time, the lights inside and outside the room were bright.

The county magistrate looked at Lu Zheng, his eyes suddenly fixed, and he stepped forward and asked with concern: "Hey, where have you been? Why do you look like this? Could it be those Wu people..."

Lu Zheng had swum a short distance in Hongjiang before, and his clothes were not yet dry. Now he looked a little disheveled.

So much so that the county magistrate thought that the Wu people could not afford to lose and dared to attack Lu Zheng here.

Lu Zheng said, "No. County Magistrate, please let them leave. I have something important to tell you."

Seeing Lu Zheng's serious look, the county magistrate quickly waved everyone away and pulled Lu Zheng into the study.

"What happened?" the county magistrate couldn't help but ask.

Lu Zheng quickly told what happened to him tonight.

"This is happening!"

The county magistrate was horrified to learn that a god of unknown origin was absorbing the people's wishes and seemed to be colluding with the Wu people.

For a moment, the county magistrate thought of many things and imagined the worst possible outcome.

Those Wu people wanted to use the power of gods to control the water of Hongjiang River.

In the previous dynasty, there was a water god of Hongjiang, who controlled the hundreds of miles of Hongjiang River.

At the beginning of the founding of the An Kingdom, the Hongjiang water god refused to obey orders and arbitrarily controlled the river water, causing it to overflow and submerging many people's farmland, affecting the ruling status of the An Kingdom. He was eventually killed by a joint force of people.

From then on, this section of the river within Anguo was no longer controlled by the river god.

Even though there was a river god worshipped by the Chu State upstream, that river god never crossed the border and acted recklessly.

Unexpectedly, now it seems that the Wu State downstream is causing trouble.

Lu Zheng looked at the county magistrate and whispered, "What do you think about this matter, sir?"

The county magistrate's face was as gloomy as water. He said coldly, "The Wu Kingdom has its people. Why do they have to come to our An Kingdom to steal the people's willpower? Their motives are sinister. They must be targeting Hongjiang!"

"In the past, during festivals, there were many merchant ships from Wu coming here. Ships from other countries entering the country were strictly searched. I never thought..."

“I don’t know how many years they have been doing this!”

The more the county magistrate thought about it, the more frightened he became, and his headache doubled. "It's a pity that there are no Confucian scholars in the county now, let alone other Taoist masters. I can't go and get solid evidence!"

The county magistrate felt that with the manpower strength of their county, even if he personally sent troops to surround the Wu Kingdom's warships, he probably wouldn't be able to find out anything. Instead, it would alert the enemy and cause disputes between the two countries.

The county magistrate hurried to the desk and prepared to write some letters.

"This matter must be reported. We previously sent someone to challenge the Wu scholar to a Confucian classics competition, but he refused, saying he wanted to return to Wu. I'm afraid they'll be back today. We can only notify the downstream prefectures and counties to make some arrangements." "But it's difficult to catch them at this speed. We have to be careful of these Wu people from now on... They're truly despicable and hateful!"

The county magistrate was writing furiously and cursing at the same time.

In just a moment, some urgent documents were written out and turned into flying swallows, flying away quickly.

After writing these letters, the county magistrate felt a little more at ease.

He looked at Lu Zheng standing next to him, and shook Lu Zheng's hand excitedly, "Thanks to Mr. Lu! Otherwise, if those Wu people really succeeded, the consequences would be unimaginable..."

The county magistrate knew very well that if the Wu people really caused any trouble, all the counties and prefectures along the river might suffer.

However, if it is reported now, it will definitely attract the attention of the court.

By then, those people from Wu will not be able to come to Anguo easily to steal the wishes of the people.

"It's my job." Lu Zheng said calmly with a smile.

If a god steals the wishes of the people at will, is that what a righteous god would do?
How is such a god different from a demon that harms people?

If Lu Zheng hadn't known the situation on the Wu Kingdom's ship, he would have wanted to go on board to capture the god who stole the power of wishes.

The county magistrate continued, "You must have been exhausted on the journey. Come on, change your clothes! I'll have someone prepare some hot water for you..."

……

Hongjiang, the Wu State's tower ship.

Yang Heng walked lightly to a guest room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

A majestic male voice came from a distance.

Yang Heng pushed the door open and walked in, then closed it casually. He saw a man with golden light all over his body sitting on the bed and resting.

Yang Heng smiled and said, "Did Jiang Shen gain anything from this trip?"

The man in front of him was a god enshrined by their Wu Kingdom, the Wujiang Water God.

The thousand-mile river from Hongjiang River that flows into the State of Wu until it reaches the sea is called Wujiang River and is controlled by the Wujiang Water God.

But the one in front of him is not the real Wujiang Water God.

The Wujiang Water God has a high level of realm and is also tainted with the luck of the Wu State. Once he enters An State, he will easily be noticed by the bigwigs of An State.

What came here was a wisp of his divine consciousness.

Every year, a few wisps of the Wujiang Water God's divine consciousness sneak into Anguo and steal some of the people's wishes.

Jiang Shen sat cross-legged, slowly refining the absorbed willpower, and said, "It's a little less than in previous years, but it's better than nothing. Lord Yang won a great victory in the competition with those An people, right?"

When Yang Heng heard this, a hint of unnaturalness flashed in his eyes.

Seeing this, Jiang Shen asked with great interest, "Master Yang lost?"

Yang Heng smiled helplessly and whispered, "Anguo has produced an extraordinary student..."

Yang Heng calmly told the story of what happened on the Qixi Festival.

Jiang Shen frowned slightly when he heard this and muttered, "Is there anyone in the world who has reached such a terrifying level in mathematics?"

He had lived for so long that he had naturally met many people. He had also met several of the great writers of mathematics in the State of Wu, and had even discussed some interesting mathematical problems with them.

However, there are people who can answer the questions that those people have worked so hard on off the top of their heads.

Such talent is unheard of and unseen.

"If Yang hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it!"

Yang Heng gave a bitter smile, and recalled Lu Zheng's previous confident and arrogant words, still feeling quite shocked.

Jiang Shen said calmly, "You may be a novice in mathematics, but this boy is also cultivating the righteous spirit... He is a rare talent!"

It is understandable that one has an amazing talent for mathematics, as such talents are rare, but it is ultimately a minor path and does not contribute much to the advancement of the realm of Confucianism or Taoism.

But if one can also cultivate a righteous spirit at the same time, then he or she is a truly promising student of Confucianism and Taoism.

With time, it is not impossible to cultivate him into a scholar of the fifth level of Confucianism and Taoism.

Yang Heng said, "I've already sent someone to give him a gift tomorrow morning to make peace with him. Whether the matter succeeds or not, it will be considered a connection. I can also send someone to test his attitude."

"You did well!" Jiang Shen nodded slightly. "He is a scholar of heaven and earth, not a person who was appointed or promoted by the Anguo court. With such talent, he is indeed worth winning over."

In the nine kingdoms of the world, there are Confucian and Taoist scholars from other countries in the imperial courts of each country.

Whether or not you can attract talents from other countries depends on various means.

Not to mention a student who has not entered the official career, even a high-ranking official in the court of another country can dig it up as long as the hoe is in the right place.

Jiang Shen said, "In that case, stay a little longer during the day. After delivering the gifts, go back and meet me along the way."

These Jiang gods who came to Anguo to steal the people's wishes also need someone to assist them.

Otherwise, if I were to fly back and forth over these thousands of miles, the consumption would be considerable for a wisp of spiritual consciousness that is far away from my original body. All the willpower I absorbed would have to be spent on the journey, which is almost a waste of time.

"it is good."

Yang Heng nodded slightly, "God Jiang, please take a good rest. We will definitely set off on time tomorrow and won't waste any time."

(End of this chapter)