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

Chapter 283 Xin Qiji Uses Righteous Qi! [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Wei Qing returned to the camp, opened his laptop, and used handwriting input to record the process of receiving the surrendered Xiongnu people. He saved the record as a document on a USB drive and had it sent to Chang'an by fast horse.

While he was using electronic mail, near Baideng Mountain, several hundred miles east of the Dingxiang North Grassland, Su Jian and Sima Qian led three thousand cavalrymen for a brief rest before continuing their journey.

They first needed to reach Dai County, then pretend to be lost and head south, using this method to approach the State of Zhao.

Sima Qian unscrewed the kettle, took a sip of the purified river water, and muttered to himself:

"I thought I had gotten rid of Li Guang, who often gets lost, but now I have to pretend to be lost again. What do you think, my lord?"

Su Jian grinned:
"It's alright, at least I won't be demoted to a commoner for getting lost and missing my deadline. But you, you and the Li family are old friends. Before the expedition, I heard that your father wanted you to marry into the Li family. Does Zichang have this idea?"

Historically, Sima Qian married Li Ling's sister and Li Guang's granddaughter. Now it seems that this opportunity for a marriage between relatives has been lost.

Sima Qian said:
"I have decided that upon returning to Chang'an this time, I will marry a commoner's daughter, stay away from wealthy and powerful families, avoid marriage alliances and climbing the social ladder, and honestly do what His Majesty has arranged for me."

This guy recently secretly read the Records of the Grand Historian and the more he read, the more he felt that Liu Che was a man of great talent and ambition. For the sake of the Han Dynasty, this emperor of all ages exploited every social class equally.

The powerful, the imperial relatives, the aristocratic families, the imperial clan, the powerful clans, the meritorious groups... these were all classes that gave emperors a headache, and Liu Che dealt with them time and time again.

During Emperor Wu's reign, no one could remain aloof from the world; everyone was fuel for the Han Dynasty's progress.

He may have seemed like a tyrant, but he laid the foundation for China's territory for more than two thousand years. In fact, all the dynasties that followed were just maneuvering within the territory defined by Liu Che.

Su Jian asked:

"What if His Majesty bestows a marriage upon us?"

“I will resolutely refuse. I am not a court jester and have no need to pander to His Majesty in this regard.”

An arranged marriage would have political motives; the fate of one would be the same as the fate of the other. It would be better to marry a commoner's daughter. If she had a brother-in-law or something similar, he could be introduced to the military to serve the country.

If I were to get incredibly lucky and be granted a noble title, wouldn't that bring glory to my family?

Su Jian looked around with his binoculars, then pointed to some dark, barren areas in the distance and asked:

"Is that coal?"

"Yes, the book says it can be used as fuel. Unfortunately, we've been at war lately, and our Great Han has no time to develop these things. Once we have the time, the Marquis of Champion will definitely bring back many novel technologies from the Immortal Master to help the people solve their food and clothing problems."

The two walked and chatted, never mentioning the State of Zhao since leaving the camp. When setting their destination, they never mentioned this place either, only saying that they were on the orders of the General to inspect the border defenses in Youzhou.

Once they reach Youzhou, they will head south until they reach the State of Zhao, at which point they will issue an order to the entire army to arrest Liu Pengzu and his family, who are colluding with the Xiongnu.

As for Jiang Chong, it was done incidentally, and didn't even meet the standards for proper recording. He was able to complete Liu Che and Huo Qubing's military orders without anyone noticing.

At the same time, inside the Hunyuan Palace, Li Qingzhao sat in the Houtu Hall, intently looking at nautical data on her laptop, intending to download some and share it with the Song Dynasty's navy.

As for the vitamin deficiency that can easily occur from staying on a ship for a long time, that's actually easy to solve; just sprout some bean sprouts on the ship.

In addition, Zhou Yi will also purchase some water storage and purification equipment to ensure that the online army drinks clean and safe water.

"Master, is it possible for the Song Dynasty to use steamships?"

While researching, Li Qingzhao came across an introduction to steamships and was immediately captivated.

The Book of Changes says:

"It's possible, but unnecessary. The energy efficiency of a steamship is inversely proportional to its size. The larger the ship, the more cost-effective it is, and the smaller the ship, the more unprofitable it is. You can't build ironclad ships. Those wooden ships of a few hundred tons probably can't even hold the coal and fresh water needed for a steam engine. Forget it. With that effort, you might as well build a steam forging machine first."

Steam equipment is widely used, mainly in industry, such as textiles and metallurgy, which all require steam equipment.

On the contrary, in terms of transportation, apart from trains and large cruise ships, the scope of use of steam equipment was very narrow. A batch of steam freight cars were produced before and after World War I, but their weight of up to seven tons and range of 40 kilometers meant that such cars were on the verge of being phased out as soon as they were introduced.

Zhou Yi sat next to Li Qingzhao, opened a wholesale website, and had her select some Yiwu small commodities that could have sold for high prices in ancient times. She then bought a large quantity of them wholesale.

The Song Dynasty navy is about to set off for Japan; it would be a huge loss if they didn't make a killing.

A five-cent trinket can be exchanged for a ton of sulfur ore, right?

As the two were looking at the package, the delivery call came in. Zhou Yi arrived at the gate, and a SF Express van pulled up just then. After the van stopped, the deliveryman unloaded a large box.

After Zhou Yi signed for the package, he opened it and saw three layers of glazed tiles wrapped in layers and ten bottles of homemade aged vinegar.

After the deliveryman left, Zhou Yi carried the box back to Hunyuan Palace and said to Li Qingzhao:

"Let's have sour soup noodles for lunch. Try the vinegar that contains merit; it should taste different from the others."

Upon hearing that it contained merit, Li Qingzhao immediately wanted to try it.

Zhou Yi figured this wasn't wine, and that a sip wouldn't be a problem, so he poured some into a cup. Li Qingzhao picked it up, smelled it, and said with a grin:

"It has a sour and fragrant flavor; it would be absolutely delicious as a sweet vinegar."

After saying that, she picked up the bowl, took a sip, then leaned against Zhou Yi and fell asleep.

The Book of Changes: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
No, can't you drink it even when you're doing good deeds?
I thought that showing off a bottle of this stuff would at most earn me a penny of merit, but I never expected that the talented woman would be so stunned by the vinegar that it was even stronger than drinking a glass of baijiu.

He lifted Li Qingzhao by the waist and carried her to her room, turned on the air conditioner, covered her with a blanket, then went to his own room, opened his black notebook, and turned to Li Qingzhao's page. [Consuming a merit-enhancing drink, merit +0.3]

No way, it's even more powerful than the merits brought by the God of Fortune?

But thinking about it, it's normal. This is a reward for the merits of rebuilding the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum. The Yellow Emperor was the ancestor of the Chinese nation, so it's normal for him to have a lot of merits.

Just then, Qiao Yuejin called:
"Baby, I saw you signed for the package. Did you spill the vinegar?"

The Book of Changes says:

"No, no, it's perfectly intact."

Old Joe continued:

"Since it didn't spill, let me tell you how to eat it. This kind of vinegar can't be drunk directly..."

Zhou Yi suddenly pictured the image of the talented woman, drunk and jealous:
What would happen if you drank it directly?

"It will make you drunk for a long time. When we eat it ourselves, we just add a little bit to the pot when we make noodles. Don't add too much. This vinegar is very strong. Ordinary people can't handle it. Take it easy and don't try to be brave."

Zhou Yi agreed and hung up the phone.

He went next door to check on Li Qingzhao and found her sleeping soundly, which put his mind at ease. He then focused intently on the open bottle of aged vinegar...

Taking a big sip earns 0.3 merit points. If you show off a whole bottle, you can get at least one or two merit points... This is much easier than waiting to get a share of the profits.

He wanted to give it a try, but he was also worried that he would end up like the talented woman who never woke up.

To be on the safe side, he consulted a divination master and discovered that drinking vinegar would not help him fall asleep, so he decided to give it a try.

However, the aged vinegar was too sour, so to make it taste better, he added some ice to the glass and tasted it like he would red wine.

Soon, a glass of aged vinegar with ice was placed in front of me.

The vinegar is deep red, and at first glance it really does look quite similar to red wine.

Zhou Yi held the bowl in his hand, brought it to his lips, and tasted it. A sour taste filled his mouth, and surprisingly, there was a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste.

"Wait, does this thing really have to be drunk with ice?"

He took another bite and found that it did indeed have a slightly sweet aftertaste that complemented the sour and tangy flavors perfectly, as if he were drinking fruit-flavored vinegar rather than just a simple condiment.

After finishing a glass of iced aged vinegar, Zhou Yi smacked his lips, surprisingly feeling a sense of lingering satisfaction.

He refused to believe it, took the cup to the kitchen, poured some Zilin aged vinegar, and tasted it. He immediately felt an unpalatable sour taste lingering in his mouth... Cough, this is the real old aged vinegar, Old Qiao's vinegar, it tastes as good as a beverage.

He washed the glass, added ice, drank a glass of Old Joe's homemade vinegar, then opened his notebook and discovered that his merits had actually increased:

Consuming a beverage rich in merit increases merit by 3.7.

Wow, after just two cups, I've gained almost four coins of merit! This stuff is really good. No wonder Grandpa specifically noted that I should be more polite to Old Qiao.

People who can accumulate massive amounts of merit without leaving home should indeed be treated with more respect.

Too worried about the potential side effects, Zhou Yi didn't dare continue drinking. He flipped through the black notebook, wanting to see if everyone's merits had improved recently.

On the other side, in the world of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Although everything was in disarray and needed rebuilding, there was plenty of manpower. Everyone was busy turning over the soil, leveling the land, cutting seed buds, and planting about fifty acres of potatoes.

These seedlings need to be watered after planting. Just as one of Xin's uncles was about to call on the laborers to fetch water, Xin Qiji silently took out his scholar's pen:
"Before returning this time, my master bestowed upon me this divine pen, called the Scholar's Pen, which can summon wind and rain. Now that manpower is needed everywhere, leave the task of watering to me!"

After saying that, he walked to the edge of the potato field, and to everyone's disbelief, he raised the half-broken scholar's pen in his hand and wrote the character "rain" in the air.

As soon as I finished writing, the character "rain" actually appeared in the air. The character floated around, like a dream, making everyone around hold their breath.

Xin Qiji raised his arm, lifted the character upwards, and then pushed it forward.

The character for "rain" seemed to come alive, truly floating upwards and to the side, rising higher and higher, growing larger and larger until it burst open in the air, transforming into raindrops that fell into the potato field.

"It's raining, it's really raining!"

"It truly is a magical brush capable of summoning wind and rain."

"Tanf is a savior and a wise ruler who can wield the magic pen!"

"..."

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi flipped to Xin Qiji's page and discovered that this guy's merit had actually increased by four taels:

[First use of Righteous Qi to activate the Scholar's Pen, Merit +40]

Righteousness and integrity?

Xin Qiji actually used his righteous spirit to inspire his Confucian scholar's writing?!

(End of this chapter)