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

Chapter 56 Li Longji's Interpretation of "Remembering Tongguan" [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

"When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer..."

In the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, in the Wude Hall of the Taiji Palace in Chang'an, Li Longji, who had just been on the throne for ten months, was holding Gongsun Da Niang's "Remembering Tongguan" and reading it word by word.

At the entrance of the Wude Hall, the deputy commander of Tongguan, a rank of eighth grade, knelt. He dared not utter a sound, fearing that the emperor might take his anger out on him, dismiss him from his post, execute him, and exile his entire family.

Fortunately, his fears did not come true; instead, he was greeted by the polite and courteous Gao Lishi.
"This matter is of great importance, so please do not spread it... General, you must be tired from your journey. Please follow the palace guards to the post station to rest."

The deputy commander nodded in agreement and followed the palace guards out.

Li Longji handed Gongsun Da Niang's calligraphy to Wang Ju, the Vice Minister of the Chancellery:

"The gods have decreed that I should be a benevolent ruler. Emperor Taizong once said the warning, 'Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.' But if even the throne is not secure, how can I be a benevolent ruler?"

This is the most intense period of his struggle with his aunt, Princess Taiping, with both sides trying to win over officials in Chang'an to their side.

Princess Taiping won over four prime ministers and several generals, and demoted prime ministers such as Song Jing and Zhang Yue, who refused to submit to her, to remote areas, further weakening Li Longji's power.

Li Longji relied solely on the "Ten Thousand Cavalry," which was directly under the emperor's command.

The Ten Thousand Cavalry was originally an organization that accompanied the emperor on hunts. It was originally called the Hundred Cavalry. Later, as its number gradually increased, it became the emperor's private armed force, which was more trustworthy than the Imperial Guard.

Especially now, with the Left General of the Imperial Guard and the Right General of the Feathered Forest Guard both on Princess Taiping's side, the safety of the palace is in grave danger, and the 10,000 cavalry has become the only armed force in Li Longji's hands.

After reading the entire poem in both long and short verses, Wang Ju congratulated Li Longji:

"Congratulations to your majesty, congratulations to your majesty."

Li Longji asked, puzzled:

"Now that my aunt is pressing me so hard, the two sides are like oil and water. What is there to be happy about?"

Wang Ju knew very well that analyzing the situation was no longer useful at this point, and all the situations had already been thoroughly analyzed. What he needed to do now was to increase His Majesty's confidence.

Why was Cao Cao so interested in Guo Jia's theory of ten victories and ten defeats? Was it because his analysis was insightful? No, it was because it could boost the belief and determination of the Cao Wei side!
Even bystanders could see that more than half of the ten victories and ten defeats theory were just filler, and Cao Cao, as a military master, was naturally well aware of this as well.

At that time, anyone who could inspire people and boost morale was considered a good strategist and would be treated as an honored guest by Cao Cao.

Now, borrowing from Gongsun Da Niang's poem of varying lengths, Wang Ju intends to emulate Guo Fengxiao and boost the morale of his side:

"It is said that immortals can foresee five hundred years into the past and five hundred years into the future. The fact that the immortals bestowed this prophecy upon Your Majesty shows that they clearly understand that Your Majesty is the emperor chosen by all to be the one to rule, and this is the mandate of Heaven!"

Li Longji became interested in these words:

"Keep talking!"

"The reason why the Pomegranate Fairy, a celestial being walking among mortals, chose to offer auspicious omens to His Majesty instead of the other side... must be because Immortal Master Yiyuan knew that His Majesty could clear away obstacles;"

"All the palaces and pavilions have turned to dust. This is a warning to Your Majesty to be diligent in governing and to love the people in the future, and not to indulge in pleasure... It must be because Immortal Master Yiyuan believes that you are a wise ruler, and that is why he has given you such high expectations."

Li Longji's confidence had indeed increased, but he was still somewhat uneasy:
"Does the word 'hesitant' mean that I'm having trouble choosing between my aunt and me?"

As a Vice Minister of the Chancellery, Wang Ju had a very quick reaction time:
"No! The deity is simply worried that if the final result is told to His Majesty, His Majesty might become complacent and forget the requirements of being a benevolent ruler, hence his hesitation."

These words greatly boosted Li Longji's confidence, and he instructed Gao Lishi:

“In the market town near the palace, a courtyard was cleared out to build the Yiyuan Temple. As soon as the Pomegranate Fairy arrived in Chang'an, she was appointed as the steward of the Yiyuan Temple. I personally go there to burn incense and pray for blessings on the first and fifteenth of every month.”

He originally wanted to build a Taoist temple in Taiji Palace or the soon-to-be-completed Daming Palace, but he was worried that it would displease Immortal Master Yiyuan... Letting the immortal master's mortal walk into the palace to take up a position seemed like coveting power, so he had to avoid suspicion and not let the immortals misunderstand.

To be fair, Wu Zetian really understood her descendants. Knowing that Li Longji was susceptible to this, she had Gongsun Da Niang act in a high-profile manner. Now, Gongsun Da Niang has become synonymous with a deity, and even the troupe she once worked in has benefited greatly from her fame.

While Li Longji's confidence soared after reading "Remembering the Past at Tongguan", a completely different scene unfolded inside the Hunyuan Palace.

The poet Li Bai sat in front of the computer, fiddled with it for a long time, and finally typed out the first word. He was so excited that he cried tears of joy:

"Master, disciple... disciple has finally learned to type." He used to write with a brush, but since coming to Hunyuan Palace, he has started to use hard pens such as carbon pens, ballpoint pens, and pencils. Today, he has taken it a step further and started to use a keyboard to type.

The transition from brush to keyboard typing may not seem like much to modern people, but it was a huge leap for people in ancient times.

Zhou Yi rubbed his head and said:

"Practice with this Kingsoft Typing Tutor more. It can help you learn Pinyin and improve your typing speed. When I was in school, we had a web novel writer in our dorm who could write tens of thousands of words a day and still had time to play games with us. His typing speed was super fast."

Tens of thousands of words?
Li Bai calculated that it would take at least a month to write tens of thousands of words with a brush and weave them into a coherent story.
Zhou Yi looked at Granny Gongsun, who was holding a tablet computer and studying Taoist terminology:
Have you learned how to type?

Gongsun Da Niang immediately opened the notepad, brought up the handwriting input method, and said:

"I can type, and I even found a handwriting input method. Sister Meiniang said you don't like stupid people, so I secretly worked on it a little."

After showing off, the girl suddenly lowered her voice and whispered:

"Daoist Master, on our way to Chang'an, should I try to save Princess Taiping? After all, she is Sister Meiniang's youngest daughter. If she is executed, I'm worried that Sister Meiniang will be unhappy."

Zhou Yi saw through Gongsun Da Niang's plan at a glance:

"You want Princess Taiping to call you 'Auntie,' don't you?"

Upon hearing this, Li Bai chuckled, but then realized it was inappropriate and quickly suppressed his laughter, his face turning red.

Gongsun Da Niang naturally denied it:
"I just feel that Sister Meiniang is all alone and has no one at home who is easy to deal with. I don't mean anything else... Of course, if Princess Taiping insists on calling me Aunt, I can't refuse, after all, Her Majesty the Empress and I are very close sisters."

Zhou Yi checked the calendar and found that Princess Taiping was 48 years old this year. In ancient society, where people would refer to themselves as "old women" at the age of 40, this age usually meant that three generations were already living together, and some even had great-grandchildren.

What is Gongsun Da Niang thinking all day about making such an old woman call a little girl "auntie"?

Zhou Yi mentally muttered a couple of complaints and then gave the instructions:
"As for Princess Taiping, you can handle it yourself. Just don't get yourself into trouble or bring any disaster upon yourself. As for other matters, you are free to act as you see fit."

Grandma Gongsun cheered, feeling that the Book of Changes was extremely wise.

Li Bai couldn't help but ask:
"Sister Gongsun, if Confucius were to come in the future, you wouldn't try to establish a connection with him and have all the scholars call you 'Ancestor,' would you?"

Granny Gongsun waved her hand:

"Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who randomly claims seniority... Oh, by the way, Brother Li Bai, is your family from the Longyou Li clan? Then when I meet Li Xin, Li Guang, and others..."

Li Bai: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
She just said she wouldn't make unfounded claims about family lineage, and the next sentence she's asking about the Li family's ancestors. Gongsun, that's enough!

After checking on the two students' studies, Zhou Yi rode his motorcycle down the mountain to buy some ingredients for a tomato-flavored hot pot dinner.

The town was as bustling as ever. Zhou Yi was just about to go to the supermarket to pick out some ingredients when Wu Aimin, who was passing by, stopped him:

"Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi, do me a favor and go to the trade fair that our institute is holding."

Zhou Yi has some doubts:

"What kind of trade shows or exhibitions does your substation hold? Do you sell transformers?"

Wu Aimin said helplessly:

"Don't even mention it. A batch of solar power generation equipment has been put down from above, saying that we should vigorously promote rural photovoltaic power generation. The leader asked me to find the people in the town to help with the publicity... It's just a job to get by, just take a few photos. If you're not busy, come and help me. It'll be over in a few minutes."

Upon hearing about photovoltaic equipment, Zhou Yi became genuinely interested.

He had always been troubled by the problem of charging flashlights in ancient times, but now that there are photovoltaic power generation devices, the problem has been solved!

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Second update delivered, please vote with monthly tickets, brothers!

(End of this chapter)