Film and Television World Life Record

Chapter 604 The Great Music of Heaven and Earth

In the days that followed, Li Mu returned to his ordinary life, teaching, strolling around the streets, giving pointers on the development of Zhu Ji, and working with Nie Yunzhu to formulate some rules and regulations, and improve the framework and management model of the business.

There are many different kinds!

However, the weather is gradually getting warmer.

With the scorching weather, Su Tan'er gradually went out less often. Sometimes she would even have dinner in the pavilion in the courtyard. The Su family had its own small garden. After dinner, Li Mu would take a walk with Su Tan'er, and they would greet and chat with the other members of the family when they met them.

Although no one was very willing for Su Tan'er to take charge of the Su family, no one dared to give the couple a hard time, since they were both formidable.

Sometimes, when it gets too hot at night, the two of them would eat some iced red bean paste or other chilled snacks. The Su family stores ice every winter, but of course, not just anyone can eat it. Su Tan'er is in charge of the first branch of the family, so her treatment is naturally the best.

However, compared to Li Mu's leisurely pace, Su Tan'er was busy all day long, but judging from how much she enjoyed it, she must have felt a great sense of accomplishment.

After finishing their cold drinks, the two chatted occasionally, played chess, or did their own things until the lights gradually went out at night. Then they cultivated the Great Joy of Yin and Yang together and shared ultimate bliss.

In mid-May, their bed broke down, and it would creak every night when they exercised.

The next day at noon, Li Mu returned home and saw that the bed had been dismantled and that the servants were carrying a sturdy-looking new bed and carefully reassembling it.

Upon entering the study next door, Su Tan'er was pretending to look at account books. When she saw Li Mu enter, she wore a half-smile, her face slightly flushed.

After a moment, she rolled her eyes at him and said coquettishly, "Husband...you're being indecent!"

With a sturdy new bed, it's time to give it a good try. In the evening, the two of them will once again practice the Great Joy of Yin and Yang, perhaps experiencing something new, or perhaps their accumulated knowledge will finally be released.

Su Tan'er finally developed a trace of internal energy.

Four months have passed... Su Tan'er has been cultivating the "Kun Scroll" of the Great Music of Yin and Yang for four months. Li Mu originally thought that with his tireless guidance and assistance every night, and with Su Tan'er's own good aptitude, she would be able to cultivate internal strength in two or three months. He did not expect that four months would pass in a flash.

The internal energy cultivation in this world is even more difficult to master than he imagined.

Fortunately, I finally mastered it.

With her internal energy, Su Tan'er, though physically weaker than the martial artists of this world, could still take on several opponents with the aid of her internal strength.

What pleased Li Mu wasn't this, but rather that Su Tan'er had acquired internal energy, finally enabling her to utilize many techniques of the Great Harmony of Yin and Yang. Otherwise, with only him possessing internal energy, practicing the Great Harmony of Yin and Yang together would render many techniques and moves unusable, a complete waste of the skill.

In the following days, Li Mu tirelessly guided Su Tan'er, who had just developed internal energy, to practice the various techniques of the Great Harmony of Yin and Yang.

With Li Mu, a super master with profound internal strength, as her partner in dual cultivation, Su Tan'er, who had just developed internal strength, also benefited greatly. Under the influence of the Great Harmony of Yin and Yang, her internal strength advanced by leaps and bounds, growing at a speed that was astonishing.

It can only be said that the difference in their skill levels was too great. Li Mu's internal energy was profound, while Su Tan'er's newly generated internal energy was too weak. Even if Su Tan'er only gained a fraction of the benefits from dual cultivation, that fraction of the benefits was still enormous for her limited internal energy. Naturally, this manifested as a rapid increase in her internal energy.

Although it wasn't without its drawbacks, Su Tan'er's internal strength was basically obtained through dual cultivation with Li Mu, so her foundation wasn't very stable, and her future cultivation would rely too much on Li Mu.

But how much can an ordinary person become a martial arts master in just a few years? This is something many people can only dream of.

Now that Su Tan'er has internal energy, Li Mu has an extra task every day: teaching her martial arts. Having internal energy is useless without proper techniques; you can't use it effectively.

For a beginner like Su Tan'er, martial arts have always emphasized quality over quantity, so Li Mu only taught her two skills.

One is a light-body skill, or you could say a movement technique, called "Returning Wind and Willow Swaying Movement Technique." This is a light-body skill suitable for women to practice. It is not difficult or complicated to learn, but it is exceptionally exquisite and can benefit a person for a lifetime.

The other technique is the swordplay "Jade Maiden's Pure Heart Sword," which is naturally not the original version from the Ancient Tomb Sect. This is a set of swordplay that Li Mu compiled and organized based on the Nineteen Jade Maiden Swords of Mount Hua, the Lady Sword, the Myriad Flowers Swordplay of the Hengshan Sect, the martial arts philosophy of the Ancient Tomb Sect, and some swordplay suitable for women collected in the Demonic Sect's internal treasury.

Li Mu originally intended to teach Su Tan'er the Jade Maiden Nineteen Swords or the Lady Sword, since they were Ning Zhongze's signature skills. However, these two sword techniques were extremely difficult and complicated to master, with high entry barriers.

Yue Lingshan practiced swordsmanship for ten years, until she was seventeen, when her master's wife Ning Zhongze taught her the Jade Maiden Nineteen Swords. She was not qualified to learn the Lady Sword until she was over twenty. Not to mention Su Tan'er, who had never touched a sword since childhood.

After much deliberation, Li Mu used the Jade Maiden Nineteen Swords as the framework and referenced many other sword techniques to create the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword.

In terms of power, this sword technique is naturally slightly inferior to the Jade Maiden Nineteen Swords, the Lady Sword, the Myriad Flowers Sword Technique, and so on.

The only advantage is that it's easy to get started and suitable for people like Su Tan'er who don't have much of a foundation.

Moreover, it has good potential. If it masters this sword technique, it will be easier to learn the Jade Maiden Nineteen Swords, the Lady Sword, and the Myriad Flowers Sword Technique in the future.

Moreover, in terms of martial arts in this world, the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra Sword can be considered a unique skill. If one masters this sword technique and combines it with the corresponding internal energy, one can be considered a top expert.

……

The days passed by, but the rains became noticeably heavier. At the end of May, Li Mu was playing chess with Qin Siyuan by the Qinhuai River when he heard the other man concerned about the floods.

"The weather is a bit hot this year, and there's been a lot of rain, which is unusual compared to previous years. Now that the flood season has arrived, there might be flooding coming."

"Alas! This is truly a terrible year. If this continues, there might be a refugee crisis by June or July."

Ancient productivity and social structure had very little ability to withstand risks. Whether it was drought or flood, which caused crop failure and no harvest, a large number of refugees would be born with no way to survive, which was the source of turmoil.

Adding to the tension in the north, the Liao-Jin war was about to break out, and the whole world was filled with the smell of gunpowder, just waiting for a spark to ignite it.

Li Mu thought to himself, "You have such keen insight. There really is going to be a major flood, and people are flocking out from all over the country."

But what good is knowing this? The floods will still come.

However, Li Mu also asked Nie Yunzhu to purchase more grain and fodder. He wasn't hoarding rare goods, but he needed a lot of grain to recruit workers and guards from the refugees. Any leftover grain could be used to brew wine.

……

Time flies, and it's already mid-June.

With increasing rainfall, floods have occurred in various places. Jiangning is located near the Yangtze River, so the water can be drained in time, which is better for it. However, in many areas upstream, the impact of the floods is getting bigger and bigger, creating a lot of refugees.

Everyone knows that Jiangning is wealthy and has been less affected by the floods. There are already many refugees outside the city, all of whom have come from various places.

The atmosphere in the city was slightly tense. Having experienced similar situations before, they knew that this was just the beginning and that more refugees might flood in.

It was already the end of June, but the dog days of summer were still lingering. Plenty of rain made the weather unusually muggy, and the atmosphere in Jiangning became increasingly somber and desolate due to the floods and disasters upstream.

That day, when he met Qin Siyuan, the old man said with some worry, "I have received news that four places upstream have been flooded, and the Yellow River has breached its banks. When July comes, even more disaster victims will flood in, and the gates of Jiangning will probably have to be closed."

"Alas, grain prices are already soaring, and I wonder how many more people will die in this flood!"

Li Mu could only remain silent. This was the fragile nature of ancient society, where natural disasters and man-made calamities could take lives at any moment.

The somber atmosphere in the city ironically boosted the business of brothels and painting studios. Many officials and scholars, concerned about the country and its people, gathered on pleasure boats to drink, compose poetry, and indulge in nightly revelry.

He did indeed compose several high-quality poems expressing his concern for the country and its people, which received countless praises, with accusations of having the world in his heart and being concerned for the country and its people emerging.

The government also stepped in, setting up soup kitchens outside the city and calling on merchants and wealthy people to donate money and grain to distribute soup outside the city.

Zhu Ji naturally took the lead, donating a sum of money and setting up soup kitchens outside the city—these were just the public actions. Privately, they were already preparing manpower and had begun large-scale recruitment among the disaster victims.

The Su family was also preparing for the disaster. The continuous floods had caused businesses to decline in various places, and some shops had even closed down.

However, we still need to donate the money that should be donated, and the soup kitchens outside the city also need to be set up. That's how we've been doing it all these years.

When Li Mu returned home that evening, Su Tan'er was in an unusually good mood. She even took out a palm-sized piece of silk with an extremely bright color and showed it to Li Mu: "Husband, do you think this color is nice?"

Li Mu nodded: "Is this the new dye you developed through improved technology?"

Su Tan'er nodded: "Yes! Tan'er put in a lot of effort!"

Li Mu said, "It's quite beautiful. If the dye is stable enough, it will be a major breakthrough and will definitely be popular."

Su Tan'er said, "We are currently conducting verification to see if there are any issues with fading or discoloration. Once that's done, it will be easier to take down the Imperial Merchant."

Li Mu knew she was probably going to be disappointed this time, but it wasn't appropriate to say anything more at this point.

……

As July arrived, the number of disaster victims outside the city increased, and the entire Jiangning seemed to be put on pause. Except for a very few entertainment venues, most shops were deserted, and prices were soaring, especially food prices.

As more and more disaster victims gathered, in order to prevent them from flooding into the city, the city gates were not only heavily guarded, but were also only opened for a few hours each day.

Under these circumstances, the atmosphere in the city became increasingly oppressive. Even Li Mu focused most of his attention on the large number of disaster victims outside the city, recruiting craftsmen and selecting guards.

As for the craftsmen, led by Nie Yunzhu, Hulu Valley is large enough, has enough food, and has enough planned and under-construction workshops, with thousands of job openings.

If it weren't for the large number of disaster victims gathered here, it would have been really difficult to recruit so many people with certain skills or who were literate.

Li Mu personally oversaw the recruitment of guards.

There's no other reason than that martial arts training also depends on aptitude; those with good aptitude can train faster and better than those with poor aptitude.

However, not everyone has the insight to discern whether someone has the talent for martial arts; Li Mu had to do it himself.

Fortunately, there were enough disaster victims for him to choose from.

It took half a month to select over 500 promising young adults from tens of thousands of applicants. There were also over 100 promising teenagers over the age of twelve.

For the more than 500 young men who had already reached adulthood, it was too late to start practicing martial arts at this age. Li Mu taught them the easy-to-learn and easy-to-practice Raging Bull Strength, Blood Battle Eight Forms, and Ten Directions Steps.

Once you get the basics of kung fu, you can quickly develop combat effectiveness.

At the same time, the training methods of the Five Elements Banner of the Demonic Sect were also used on these young men, hoping to train them into an elite force and the seeds for future expansion.

The remaining hundred or so teenagers are still young and have great potential to be tapped. Li Mu adopted a more orthodox training method, starting with the basics. If he can train more than a hundred experts in military formations in the future, it will be quite worthwhile.

In mid-July, the continuous rains finally stopped, the disaster situation eased, and the refugees outside the city finally stabilized.

Li Mu and Nie Yunzhu left Jiangning and went to Hulu Valley to check on the resettlement of the craftsmen.

Outside of Jiangning, there were large groups of disaster victims gathering. The government's measures were relatively effective; although things were a bit chaotic, there was still a certain degree of order.

The two rode their horses along the road. Even though they were far from the gathering place of refugees, there were still many ragged and pale refugees on the official road.

Fortunately, the further away from Jiangning City they were, the fewer refugees gathered there became. Once the two of them left the official road, they could no longer see any trace of the refugees.

Nie Yunzhu seemed to recall something—perhaps her former family, or perhaps her own loneliness and helplessness—and her eyes reddened slightly.

Li Mu asked softly, "What's wrong with Yunzhu?"

Nie Yunzhu shook her head: "It's nothing, I was just thinking about things from the past."

Li Mu asked, "Then, are there any other people in your family?"