Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 252: People are the Most Important

Lu Zheng pushed the herbs in front of Yun Xiao and said with a smile, "Take them. I came here to exchange some experiences with the Taoist priest."

"Huh? What?"

Yun Xiao was not polite at all and put away the herbs.

Lu Zheng took out two pills and said, "I've been busy these days and made some pills. Can you take a look at their quality?"

Yun Xiao's eyes lit up. He took the two pills and examined them, questioning suspiciously, "Did you make these? How long have you been learning alchemy? How could you possibly make pills like this?"

The two pills in front of him were of different qualities, but neither was bad. An ordinary alchemist wouldn't be able to make them without ten or eight years of experience in alchemy.

Lu Zheng explained in a low voice: "I was lucky. When I received the Holy Gift, I suddenly had an epiphany, and then I learned how to make pills."

Yun Xiao couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this: "Is there such a good thing?"

He had never heard that the saint's bestowal of literary energy could have such an effect, but thinking about the saint's extraordinary means, it seemed that it was not difficult to achieve this.

"Hey, you're really good, kid! Even in this situation, you're still communicating with me. Are you here to show off?" Yun Xiao curled his lips.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Although I have learned low-level alchemy techniques, I am still not very proficient. The success rate and quality of the pills are unstable, so I have changed some of the alchemy processes. These two pills were not made in the same way. The one with better quality was made using a new method."

Yun Xiao raised his eyebrows and asked, "Have you discovered a method of alchemy?"

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "I think so."

Yun Xiao was already an expert in alchemy and immediately became interested. "Tell me about it?"

Lu Zhengdao said, "The alchemy equipment I use is different, and the process is a bit complicated, so I may not be able to explain it clearly at the moment."

"Hmm?" Yun Xiao was even more curious. "It's okay. I have plenty of time! I won't listen for nothing. I'll give you a classic later. How about that?"

Lu Zhengdao said, "Forget the classics. I might need to ask the Taoist priest for a little help later."

Yun Xiao smiled and said, "I knew you wouldn't come here for no reason. Let's talk about it first!"

Lu Zheng took out a hot pancake and handed it to Yun Xiao, "Master, try it."

Yun Xiao took the pancake, tasted it, and said vaguely, "It's just an ordinary pancake, but it's made very delicately and has stuffing... Did you buy it?"

"I made it myself." Lu Zheng smiled slightly. "I call it mooncake. It's almost Mid-Autumn Festival, so I wanted to make some mooncakes and give them to the people passing through the city. It would also help to create a festive atmosphere."

Yun Xiao was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but ask, "That's it? What do you want me to do? Help you make mooncakes?"

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "The Taoist priest is good at refining pills, so making ordinary dough cakes like this is easy for him. He is also very advanced in Taoism and knows the method of turning beans into soldiers. He can definitely make a lot of mooncakes at once."

Lu Zheng paused and continued, "There are quite a few people in Hongzhou City, and Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. We need too many mooncakes. I don't have many acquaintances, so I can only ask the Taoist priest for help."

Yun Xiao stared at Lu Zheng, speechless for a moment.

Lu Zheng whispered, "No matter how small the matter is, it is important for the people. I want to reassure the people and share the joy of the festival with everyone. Taoist Priest, please do good deeds and accumulate virtue."

Now that things have come to this, Yun Xiao has no reason to refuse.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Having you is such a blessing for the people of Hongzhou."

Lu Zheng smiled calmly and shook his head, saying, "My abilities are limited, how can I benefit the people of an entire state?"

He doesn't think he has the power to benefit so many people, he just does what he can.

Yun Xiao said, "Alright, enough talk. I'll do you a small favor like this! Let me make you the mooncakes first. How do I make them?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Dao Dayi, it's not convenient here, let's move to another place."

Yun Xiao stood up and said leisurely, "I'm just a cultivator. I don't have any great principles. I can't compare to you, who cares about the people. But if you do this, won't it affect your own cultivation?"

People who practice spiritual cultivation emphasize keeping their mind pure and desires few.

Even Confucian and Taoist scholars mostly focus on studying knowledge to improve their literary spirit, rather than doing good deeds and accumulating virtue as the basis of their practice.

Yun Xiao felt that Lu Zheng focused most of his energy on this kind of thing, which affected his cultivation.

Lu Zheng said as he walked, "A sage once said, 'The people are most important, and the country comes second.' My own cultivation isn't the most important thing to me. Besides, it doesn't affect me in any way. It's also part of my cultivation: cultivating the body, cultivating the mind, and then cultivating the Tao."

"Hey, young man, you're quite insightful." Yun Xiao said quietly, his hands behind his back. "If a cultivator doesn't cultivate his body and mind well, it's hard for him to achieve great things."

The two of them walked briskly and soon arrived at Zhang Bo's residence.

Zhang Bo was happy to see Lu Zheng return.

When he saw Yun Xiao again, he greeted him. The two had met before, so they were acquaintances.

Lu Zheng explained his purpose to Zhang Bo and asked Zhang Bo to bring some people to help.

When Zhang Bo learned about this, he immediately ordered his servants to go and buy some more ingredients.

Lu Zheng then demonstrated the process of making cakes in the yard.

Yun Xiao observed it once and said, "This is simple. You can learn it at a glance. How much do you want?"

Lu Zheng pondered, "I heard that there are over 300,000 people living in Hongzhou City. This should be about the same number, right?"

Yun Xiao's mouth twitched. Did they really treat him like a laborer?
Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Don't worry, Taoist priest, Qing Wan and I will help. If you are still too busy, we can ask for more help."

Yun Xiao waved his hand and said, "Never mind. I haven't exercised in a long time. I'll just treat it as some exercise."

After saying that, Yun Xiao waved his sleeves, and soybeans fell to the ground, and then grew into bean soldiers.

Then, Yun Xiao pinched his fingers and directed the bean soldiers to do their respective tasks and start making mooncakes.

At first, the actions of these bean soldiers were a bit chaotic.

But after a while it became much smoother.

Lu Zheng felt like he was watching a factory assembly line, and the production speed was even faster. Lu Zheng and Qing Wan watched for a while and then started to help.

Zhang Bo had never done such work before, so he helped out on the side and did not remain idle.

Suddenly, the whole courtyard became busy.

Time flies by.

Lu Zheng went out carrying a few storage bags.

Soon, he found a team of patrolling guards and spoke to them.

When the guards learned of Lu Zheng's purpose, they took the storage bags and sent them to the city gates.

A guard came to the west gate with a storage bag, and then stuffed the mooncakes into the hands of his colleagues guarding the city one by one.

"Uh, what is this for?"

A city guard was holding a mooncake, not knowing why.

The guard smiled and said, "Mid-Autumn Festival is here. These are the mooncakes that the two adults and Master Lu asked someone to make. They're still warm. Oh, and there are still a lot in this bag. Give them out to the people passing by..."

So, city guards carried bags and distributed mooncakes to passers-by.

These ordinary people had never seen such a scene before. Usually, the officers and soldiers never looked down at people, and they had been checking them even more strictly recently. Yet today they were given mooncakes.

Some people feel that mooncakes are unreal and they don’t even dare to eat them.

When they learned that the mooncakes were sent by Lu Zheng, many people felt grateful.

A mooncake is something that rich people don’t even look down upon.

But for these ordinary people, it has a very heavy meaning.

After all, no one has cared so much about ordinary people like them for such a long time.

At this time, in other places in Hongzhou City, patrolling guards were distributing mooncakes to passers-by and shops along the streets.

Another messenger announced, "The government will hold a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration at Wenmiao Mountain. The governor and the provincial governor will be present. There will also be various performances of arts and magic. Everyone, regardless of status, is welcome to watch. There will be free tea and cakes!"

Some passers-by became curious when they heard this.

In the past, people of status would gather together to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and such a celebration had never been held.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the entire Hongzhou City changed, and there was a faint festive atmosphere.

A maid hurried back to the governor's mansion and came to the study where An Jing was.

"Miss, I was walking down the street just now, and a guard gave me this and said..."

The maid told what happened outside.

An Jing couldn't help but look up when he heard that. He reached out to take the mooncake and saw that it had the words "Mid-Autumn Reunion" printed on it.

Looking at the words above, An Jing knew it came from Lu Zheng.

She still remembered a sentence Lu Zheng said a few days ago, which left a deep impression on her.

Most people in the world just want to have enough food and clothing, but some people still take advantage of the people and will not return the grain to the people even if it rots in the warehouse. Don’t they deserve to die?
An Jing said quietly, "A piece of bread can make the people so grateful. Tell me, is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

The maid thought about it and didn't dare to answer for a moment.

"This isn't a good thing." An Jing sighed, "If the people were happy, why would it have come to this..."

She didn't think that Lu Zheng had won the hearts of the people, but she thought that the government was doing too poorly, so that a little favor could make the people have such an attitude.

An Jing broke the cake in half and took a bite.

When the maid saw this, she wanted to say that the things from outside were not very clean, but she held it back.

In the past, my master would never eat food of unknown origin.

"Ok?"

An Jing noticed that the pancake still had Lu Zheng's scent on it, and couldn't help but say, "He really is more dedicated than anyone else."

An Jing handed the remaining mooncake to the maid, "Since it's for you, just eat it. The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, so you should share in the joy."

"Yes, miss." The maid quickly took the mooncake.

……

Lu Zheng sent out another batch of mooncakes.

When I returned to the yard, I saw Yun Xiao and Qing Wan slumped on the steps, both of them, one big and one small, looking exhausted.

Yun Xiao said with a gloomy expression: "That's enough now, I'm not this tired even when I was in seclusion refining high-level pills..."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Thank you for troubling me, Taoist Priest. Please take a break for a while."

"Anything else?" Yun Xiao raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know, but it should be enough." Lu Zhengdao said, "After the Taoist priest has rested, I will show you how to make the elixir."

Yun Xiao slowly sat up straight and said, "You can practice now. It's not me who's practicing, and it won't take much effort to watch with your eyes."

Lu Zheng nodded slightly, "Okay."

As he spoke, Lu Zheng took out some utensils of various shapes from his storage bag.

(End of this chapter)