Chapter 567: Work hard to mine, young man
Chen Suhui was silent for a moment, then analyzed:
"Later, Gu Xu chose to marry Zhao Yan because Zhao Yan was his enemy in the world. , helped him when he was desperate.
“Not only saved his life, but also provided him with resources for practice.
“In my opinion, although Daxia is now very powerful, it ultimately lacks the basic foundation. At present, elixirs, magic weapons, spiritual herbs and other resources are all plundered from Daqi, and there is a lack of specialized production. Supply lines.
"Gu Xu must have had a headache from this too.
"The two of us went to seek refuge with him, not only bringing a large number of magic weapons, elixirs and funds, but also dozens of craftsmen and alchemists. division.
"This should...can be regarded as a timely help!"
At the end, Chen Suhui hesitated for a moment, a trace of unconfidence flashed in his calm eyes.
She is rational by nature and good at analyzing interest relationships, but feelings are a completely unfamiliar field to her.
"Maybe, things are not as simple as you think."
In fact, Chen Yanping himself has no experience in relationships.
Since Ah Hei's death, he has become an extremely utilitarian person.
He once coveted the Shi family's elixir workshop and hoped that the Shi family would help him fight for family inheritance, so he asked Shi Lei to marry Shi Xiaohan.
After being rejected by Shi Lei, he immediately married Yao Sirou from the Yao family in Longxi, obtained a large amount of mineral resources from the Yue family, and recruited a large number of craftsmen through the Yue family's influence in the art of weapon refining.
However, there is no relationship between him and his wife Yao Sirou.
They have lived apart in two places for a long time, only seeing each other once every few months, and rarely writing letters to each other.
And now, when Gu Xu occupied the Longxi area, ransacked the Yao family's home in Longxi on the charge of "oppressing the people and monopolizing resources", and demoted their family to common people, Chen Yanping also wrote a Letter of renunciation, announcing the severance of relations with his wife.
…………
Soon, the carriage stopped at Cuiwei Palace in the north of Daxing City.
This palace was originally called "Yongqing Palace" and was the summer residence of the emperors of the Chu Dynasty.
After Gu Xu came to Daxing City, he moved in and renamed it "Cuiwei", which means "green mountain".
An ancient book says: "Every mountain looks green when you look at it from a distance. When you get close, the green becomes fainter, so it is called Cuiwei." (1)
This Cuiwei Palace, standing in the mountains, has experienced many experiences. It has been exposed to the sun and rain for many years and no one has repaired it, so it has long been dilapidated.
The walls of the palace have peeled off, and the exposed masonry is covered with cracks and moss. The brilliant paintings of the past have long been lost to the erosion of time.
The tiles on the eaves were in dilapidated condition, some were already drooping, and from time to time there was a crisp sound of falling tiles.
The ground is pitted and overgrown with weeds, including some towering weeds, covering the courtyard in green.
Gu Xu simply liked the quiet, cool and suitable atmosphere here for practice, so he brought Zhao Yan to live here.
However, Gu Xu did not restore Cuiwei Palace with great fanfare. Instead, he conjured dozens of paper figures and used magic to restore four or five main houses to their original state, which was enough for him to rest, practice, and discuss affairs. , handle government affairs.
The main hall of Cuiwei Palace is called Yichun Hall.
Chen Yanping and Chen Suhui waited outside the palace for a moment, and then led by the paper-figure guards, they stepped into the palace gate.
Gu Xu was not sitting on the high throne.
Just like when he was a small official, he was wearing a green cloth shirt and a Xiaoyao scarf, standing by the wall of the hall, looking intently at the faded map painted on the wall.
At this time, his aura was restrained, and he did not exude the power of a saint or a strong man. He looked no different from ordinary people.
But the Chen family did not dare to neglect at all.
"Chen Yanping, a common man, pays homage to the emperor!"
"Chen Suhui, a common man, pays homage to the emperor!"
When Chen Yanping leaned over and handed over his hand, Chen Yanping had mixed feelings in his heart.
The last time they met, he and Gu Xu could call each other "fellow Taoists" and compete on the same stage.
However, only a few months have passed, and the other party has already chased the enemy northward, slaughtering the world, splitting the earth to become the king, and shaking the world. However, he is still unknown and his future is uncertain.
After the two of them finished speaking, Gu Xu was still staring at the map in deep thought and ignored them.
The two Chen family members did not dare to speak to interrupt his thoughts, they only dared to stand motionless.
The deathly silence in the hall at this time was undoubtedly an unbearable torture for them.
I don’t know how much time passed, but another person hurriedly walked into the hall.
"Emperor, the information you requested is here!"
The person coming was none other than Luochuan.
He arched his hands towards Gu Xu, then took out several documents from his sleeves and handed them to Gu Xu's hands.
Gu Xu took the document, frowned slightly, and looked back and forth casually. In this silent hall, the sound of paper turning was particularly harsh.
Chen Yanping always felt that Gu Xu's eyes looked through those documents, as if he had penetrated the secrets hidden deep in his heart.
After a moment, Gu Xu raised his head and looked at Chen Yanping, who was standing in front of him and did not dare to move: "In the past few years, you have been running the red copper mine in southwestern Longnan, right?"
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"Yes, Emperor." Chen Yanping didn't know why Gu Xu suddenly mentioned this.
“I heard that after you took over the Tianchu Copper Mine, you greatly reduced operating costs and doubled your annual profits. Your parents and elders appreciate you very much for this.”
Emperor Are you appreciating my talent?
Chen Yanping immediately admitted humbly: "The emperor has given me the reward, I just used some trivial means."
However, Gu Xu's next reaction was far beyond him anticipation.
He saw Gu Xu slamming the document in his hand into his face: "What a trivial little trick!"
Chen Yanping instinctively wanted to dodge, but he quickly realized that the two of them were inferior. There is a difference, and now I still ask for help from the other party.
So he stood there, motionless, and let the paper hit the corner of his eye, cutting his skin and leaving a thin scratch. Chen Suhui next to her caught a glimpse of this scene and couldn't help but lower her head, her eyelashes trembling slightly due to nervousness.
She didn’t know why Gu Xu suddenly became angry at his brother.
But she didn't plead for her brother - because her intuition told her that no matter what she said at this time, the situation would only get worse.
I heard Gu Xu pause for a moment and say in a casual tone: "I investigated some time ago and found out that in the past few years, the Longxi Tiancha copper mine has abducted a large number of homeless people. Among them were many children, who were detained in the mines, given only one meal a day, and had supervisors hold whips to force them to mine for a long time.
"For several years, they were beaten alive. There were hundreds of refugees who died, starved to death, and died of exhaustion in the mines. Their bones were dug and buried haphazardly, and they were reported as 'missing' or 'eaten by ghosts'.
“Anyway, Daqi’s government never cares about the lives of these refugees.
“As far as I know, under your name, there are also minerals similar to the Tiancha copper mine. Several. ”
Before Gu Xu finished speaking, Chen Yanping immediately knelt down on the ground with a bang and kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, forgive me! Although the Tianchu Copper Mine is my property, these things were arranged by the people below. I did not Participate-"
"-Do you know about it? Have you stopped it?" Gu Xu interrupted, "Or do you think that their approach can save you a lot of operating costs? Are you letting it go?"
Chen Yanping buried his face on the ground and said nothing.
He actually didn't quite understand Gu Xu's anger at this time - after all, in the eyes of many dignitaries in the Da Qi Dynasty, the lives of these uncultivated refugees were nothing, so why should they care so much about their lives?
“Feel wronged?”
"I don't dare."
"I know that people like you, from a wealthy family, never take the lives of ordinary people seriously," Gu Xu took a few steps, "But maybe you have forgotten, My parents are just two ordinary people with no official titles and no cultivation, and my great-grandfather was a refugee who lost his hometown due to being attacked by ghosts."
"The villain knows his crime and asks the emperor to punish him. ——" Chen Yanping found that his fingertips were trembling uncontrollably, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.
"Yan Ping, I know you are a person who pays attention to practical interests," Gu Xu's tone softened, "If I tell you something like 'love the people like a son' and 'the people are more important than the king', you may They will think that I am bragging about my virtue to build momentum for myself."
At this point, he suddenly stretched out his right hand and said, "Yan Ping, look up, guess what this is?" ”
Chen Yanping raised his head and found that an almost transparent and colorless flame burst out silently in the palm of Gu Xu's hand.
This flame burns quietly, without blazing temperature or dazzling luster.
But Chen Yanping felt an inexplicable strong fear in his heart.
He had a vague feeling that as long as he was touched by the flames, he would be instantly burned to ashes.
“The guilty people don’t know, please give me advice from the emperor!”
"This is the power of 'incense', which comes from the offerings and worship of others," Gu Xu smiled and explained, "For ordinary practitioners, after being promoted to the eighth realm of 'Nine Nether Prison', Can feel its existence
"But 'incense' is the name given by Taishang Haotian. I personally prefer to call it ‘people’s hearts’.
“Because I found that compared to forcing people to go to the temple to burn incense and worship an illusory idol, I personally do something that is beneficial to the people of the world and gain their heartfelt support. I can get more. Powerful power."
Now that Gu Xu is powerful enough to challenge Emperor Tian Xing head-on, there is no need to hide the existence of "incense" and dare not talk about it like before.
I saw him suddenly extinguishing the flame in his hand and raising his voice: "Yan Ping, do you know? What you are doing is digging for the foundation of my strength!"
Chen Yanping suddenly understood why Gu Xu was so angry.
Just like the Taoism practiced by the Chen family in Xiangyang for generations, it is the way of "entering into official positions with talents, harmonizing the family and governing the country". For the Chen family, secular affairs and spiritual practice are not contradictory to each other, but complementary to each other.
Being an official, holding power, and running a family business will not hinder the Chen family's spiritual practice. On the contrary, it can be regarded as another form of experience.
As the power in their hands increases and their understanding of worldly affairs becomes deeper, the efficiency of their practice will also become higher.
Because of this, if a child of the Chen family is deprived of his power or property, he will immediately jump up and fight for his life, as if he has the revenge of killing his father.
Chen Yanping didn't know that "incense" was the ladder leading to the realm of "return to ruins".
In his understanding, "incense" should be some kind of Tao that can help Gu Xu improve his strength.
It’s just that Gu Xu’s ambition is much greater than that of the Chen family.
What he cultivates is the way of a king, and what he wants is for the world to return to his heart and for the support of all people.
“According to my rules here,” I heard Gu Xu continue to say, “if you oppress the people and torture the living beings, you will be sent to have their heads chopped off. In provinces such as Xijiang and Hedong, those who think they are incompetent I have killed more than a hundred of the 'big shots' in my life."
"Emperor, have mercy! Emperor, have mercy! Please give me a chance. I am willing to atone for my sins!" Chen Yanping knelt on the ground, knocking his forehead so hard that it hurt, and his voice was filled with tears. "I can give all the property in my name to you." , donate them all to Daxia! The emperor can do whatever he wants!"
He came to Daxia to seek refuge with Gu Xu, thinking he could find a way out for his family, but he didn't expect that he would end up dead first.
“However,” Gu Xu paused for a moment, then changed the subject, “I saw that you brought a large amount of elixirs, magic weapons and other resources to Daxia, as well as skilled alchemists and alchemists. Utensil Craftsman.
“These are indeed the things we need especially now.
“Many practitioners in Daxia need a handy weapon to improve their actual combat capabilities; there are also many people who are just one step away from a breakthrough, but because of the lack of a breakthrough elixir Medicine, cultivation has been stagnant for a long time
"You have really solved our urgent need, which can be regarded as a great achievement."
When Gu Xu said the word "but" in his mouth, Chen Yanping couldn't help holding his breath, he was already filled with fear. A glimmer of hope suddenly rose in his heart, like a person who was about to fall off a cliff and suddenly grabbed a protruding vine next to him.
When Gu Xu said "a great achievement", the big stone hanging in his heart finally fell back to its original position, and his eyes became blurred with tears.
He couldn't help but think of the first time he and Gu Xu met at the Tongfu Inn in Jiaodong Province last winter.
At that time, he never dared to imagine that Gu Xu, who was younger than himself and had a lower cultivation level than himself, would actually bring such a strong and terrifying sense of oppression to him a few months later.
Just a few words made his emotions fluctuate between peaks and valleys, which was more exciting than a life-and-death fight with a ferocious god-level ghost.
"Thank you... thank you Emperor for not killing me..."
"Your merits can barely offset your death penalty, but you can't escape the living penalty," Gu Xu continued He said, pronouncing Chen Yanping's fate, "In the next few years, you can go mining in the Wuyun Mining Area in Hedong Province, and experience the life of the workers who were persecuted by you nobles in the past. Think of it as labor reform."
“Don’t live a life of fine clothing and fine food for too long, thinking that you are superior to others and can ride on the heads of ordinary people to show off your power.
“Whenever you think about it clearly and feel that the fruits of your labor can atone for your crimes, come find me here again.”
.........
Note:
(1) Yang Shen's annotation of "Erya·Shishan".
(End of this chapter)