Ruins of the past

Jiangzhou, Dragon Snake Mountain.

Hao Xiangtong wore a Taoist robe and climbed to the top of the mountain before dawn, waiting for the sunrise.

As a bright sun broke through the sea of ​​clouds, Hao Xiangtong took a slight breath in front of the first ray of sunshine and sank into meditation.

This female genius who was originally plundered by the demon clan and brought to the grassland in history, and finally entered Taoism through the "Name and Principle" of the Immortal Tao, has now practiced the Taoism taught by the Celestial Master.

The Celestial Master Sect and the Immortal Taoism originated from the same origin, but now they are completely different.

Even if Chu Qiguang knew about Hao Xiangtong's current situation, he probably wouldn't be able to deduce the difference between this seed's achievements and his previous life.

While Hao Xiangtong was meditating and practicing, two figures appeared silently next to her at some point.

One of the Taoist priests had white robes and white hair, and his hair was combed into a bun. He was the Yulou Taoist who recommended Hao Xiangtong to climb Longshen Mountain.

Next to him was an old man with gray hair. His blue Taoist robe looked slightly white from starch, just like an old Taoist priest in an ordinary Taoist temple.

But Yulou looked at the old Taoist priest with respect in his eyes, because he was Zhengyin, the Daoist priest of the imperial court, the great master of Zhengfa support, recognized as the best in the world, and the current leader of Taoism, Huang Daoxu.

Yulou said: "Master, I see that this woman is extremely talented and has a lot of luck. Is there any chance of becoming a Taoist?"

Huang Daoxu looked at Hao Xiangtong in front of him and did not answer immediately, but blew lightly.

In an instant, the wind and clouds surged in front of the three of them, and the sea of ​​clouds rolled violently, turning the cliff in front of them into a fairyland of clouds and mist.

As if feeling the change in the environment in front of him, Hao Xiangtong opened his eyes and found that he had been enveloped by a cloud.

Then the sea of ​​clouds rolled back, and a golden figure slowly walked out.

A kind of warm and bright energy and blood surged towards Hao Xiangtong, making her feel that the figure in front of her was extremely friendly. It was the divine power of Taoist Xuanyuan.

‘Could it be that the Taoist Master appeared? ’

Hao Xiangtong looked at this scene in surprise, staring at the golden figure walking towards her step by step.

The sacred aura surged in, making her dare not make any move. She watched helplessly as the golden man stretched out his hand to press her forehead.

The increasingly strong sacred aura pressed on Hao Xiangtong's body, making her almost unable to move.

The warm light gradually integrated into her body, making Hao Xiangtong feel as if she was melting into the glory of Taoist Master forever.

There seemed to be countless hands grabbing at her body in the light, trying to drag her into it.

But this forced feeling made her very uncomfortable.

However, Chu Qiguang's appearance flashed in Hao Xiangtong's mind, as well as the story of Wu Zetian that the other party told.

A sense of cruelty and strong unwillingness suddenly emerged in her heart.

'My life must be chosen by myself, no one can force me...'

In the eyes of Taoist Yulou, a golden eyeball was floating in front of Hao Xiangtong. The eyeball was wrapped in countless twisting tentacles, emitting a warm light.

The tentacles slowly touched Hao Xiangtong's forehead.

Hao Xiangtong looked at his eyeballs with a look of obsession on his face.

Looking at the golden eyeball, Taoist Yulou showed a look of horror in his eyes: "This is..."

He recalled the contents of the Taoist Scriptures of the Celestial Master's Way, and he was shocked and said: 'Calling divine officials? ’

‘Could it be that Master is already close to that realm...above the Tao. ’

Huang Daoxu on the other side looked at Hao Xiangtong's reaction and shook his head slightly: "Maybe there will be opportunities in the future, but now it's not hot enough."

Taoist Yulou nodded, looking at Hao Xiangtong with a hint of disappointment in his eyes: ‘Can’t she do it too? ’

But just when the two of them turned to leave, Hao Xiangtong's eyes suddenly regained a trace of clarity.

The tentacle that was about to touch her forehead froze slightly and stopped in mid-air.

Huang Daoxu suddenly turned around and looked at Hao Xiangtong's position.

Taoist Yulou noticed Huang Daoxu's movements and looked back.

Hao Xiangtong's face was filled with blue veins, a ruthless expression appeared on his face, and he stood up little by little, trembling all over.

Taoist Yulou said in surprise: "Is the barrier broken?"

boom!

Hao Xiangtong reached out and grabbed the big golden eyeball.

With a soft squeaking sound, her eyeballs were crushed to pieces by her, turning into light flakes that filled the sky and dissipated in the air.

Hao Xiangtong looked at this scene in surprise, and countless questions came to her mind.

Huang Daoxu smiled slightly and said to Hao Xiangtong: "Little girl, are you interested in learning Taoism?"

Hao Xiangtong, who was startled by the golden eyeballs, realized there was someone not far away and turned around to look: "Who are you?"

Just as Yulou was about to speak, Huang Daoxu stopped him with a wave of his hand.

The world's number one Taoist immortal said with a kind face at this moment: "My name is Huang Daoxu, little girl, do you want to learn the talisman?"

"Huang Daoxu?" Hao Xiangtong's eyes moved slightly, and he looked at the other person and said, "If I learn from you, can I catch up with Chu Qiguang?"

"Chu Qiguang? Oh, he's the newly promoted Martial God, right?"

Huang Daoxu touched his beard and chuckled: "After entering Taoism, martial arts cannot be compared to Taoism."

"As long as you learn from me, you can suppress such a martial god by flipping your palms."

…

Shuzhou, south of Bafu, in the Lan River Valley.

This place has been established and operated by the monsters sent by Chu Qiguang for a year and a half.

The scale of farmland on both sides of the strait continues to expand, which not only meets the needs of the villagers here, but also provides a large amount of food, which is either stored or thrown into the blood pool.

In the past few months, relying on the business of the Bashu Chamber of Commerce, we have obtained various foods in large quantities.

Now, with the arrival of more and more monsters from Yaoyin Village, the whole valley is becoming more and more lively, as if it has been injected with vitality.

Chu Qiguang used his Taoist skills to create more blood pools, and at the same time wrote all the underlying commands using the method of blood communication.

At this moment, as the craftsmen of Yaoyin Village began to use the blood pool to build the Qi and blood network here, a large amount of stored grain was put into the blood pool, and the village began to create farmers and laborers from the blood pool in large quantities.

These farmers and workers will start farming, mining, and building construction, which in turn will further increase the productivity of the blood pool and produce more farmers and workers.

At the same time, workshops and kilns were built one after another, and craftsmen began to think of ways to make cement, preparing to provide building materials for building houses and building roads in the Lanhe River Valley.

The development speed of the entire Lan River Valley bottom is like being added to a rocket by Chu Qiguang, becoming faster and faster.

…

Shuzhou, Jinrong Mansion.

In the study room of the governor's yamen, a middle-aged official looked at the official document in his hand with a solemn look on his face.

But at this moment, a male voice sounded in the study.

"Master Li."

The middle-aged official suddenly raised his head and saw that the person who spoke turned out to be a young man with red lips and white teeth.

But he knew that the governor's office was heavily guarded, but he couldn't find out when the other party came in. This young man's martial arts must be unfathomable.

Chu Qiguang sat on the Grand Master's chair and smiled gently at the middle-aged official in front of him: "Master Li, don't be so nervous. I, Chu Qiguang, are here to cooperate with you in clearing the fields this time."

With that said, he gently placed his waist badge in front of the other party.

Li Qingyun looked at his waist badge and breathed a sigh of relief.

He had already heard the name of Chu Qiguang, the newly promoted Martial God, but he did not expect that the other party would sneak in late at night, saying that he wanted to cooperate with him to clear the field.

Looking at this martial arts master who was less than 20 years old, Li Qingyun had curiosity and envy in his eyes.

At that moment, Chu Qiguang mentioned a little about his cooperation with Mr. Wu Ge. After a while, he and Li Qingyun became slightly closer.

When Li Qingyun was sizing up Chu Qiguang, Chu Qiguang was also sizing up the newly appointed governor of Shuzhou.

Li Qingyun was born into poverty. His father died young and his mother remarried to a businessman's family. He had no conditions to practice martial arts since he was a child.

But Li Qingyun did not give up, but studied the scriptures diligently since childhood, and finally passed the Jinshi in Liberal Arts at the age of thirty.

However, although this person had no martial arts ability, he was still an upright official. He offended the powerful by settling a case in Dali Temple, and was later demoted to the local government. He was promoted along the way until Wu Siqi became the chief minister of the cabinet. He was a die-hard reformer.

Chu Qiguang also knew through Qiao Zhi that this person helped Wu Siqi reform land taxes in history, proposed various bills and implemented them across the country, and he was Wu Siqi's general.

In order to carry out local reforms, Li Qingyun worked in several southern states for many years and was unwilling to return to the capital for promotion. He was afraid that after he left, his successors would not be able to suppress the local gentry and the results of the reform would be in vain.

Finally, Li Qingyun encountered an uprising by Tianyang Sect believers in Dianzhou. He led eight hundred volunteers to suppress the rebellion, but was killed by the leader of Tianyang Sect at the time.

After Chu Qiguang talked with the other party about some interesting things about the capital, he suddenly asked: "I wonder what Brother Li plans to do in Shuzhou?"

Li Qingyun's expression straightened when he heard this, and he said, "I want to clean up the land and reform the land tax at the same time."

Chu Qiguang said: "I would like to hear the details."

Li Qingyun said sternly: "First measure the land and remake the field register. Regardless of official land, civilian land or military land, all land will be paid in silver per mu. Other than that, no other exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes will be levied..."

Listening to what the other party said, Chu Qiguang raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile: "Brother Li really thinks highly of me."

The method Li Qingyun mentioned seemed to Chu Qiguang to be very similar to a whip method on earth.

If implemented properly, the burden on the people will be reduced, but the taxes of the local gentry will definitely be greatly increased, the random apportionment of subordinate officials will also be blocked, and the court's annual tax revenue will be increased by at least half.

It is conceivable how great the resistance will be, especially since Shuzhou is located on the border. The local powerful people and indigenous chieftains here have always been far away from the emperor.

Especially now that the Han Dynasty is declining day by day, they often have the Jie Sect as their backer, and they have become less and less concerned about the imperial court.

Even Bai Shihe, a Taoist martial god, had to resist the demon kingdom in Xuanji Mountain and contain the Tribulation Sect, so he often didn't have much spare time to take care of local affairs.

Only when Chu Qiguang, the God of War, personally controlled the situation, could Li Qingyun dare to reform like this.

Li Qingyun said: "As long as Brother Chu Xian is here, a group of monsters and monsters in Shuzhou don't matter."

Chu Qiguang originally wanted to clean up the place to make room for the future development of his chamber of commerce, but now he happily agreed.

He thought in his mind: ‘Isn’t the reform progressing faster than before in history? I don’t know what impact it will have on luck, whether it’s good or bad. ’

After the two had a discussion, Li Qingyun spoke directly: "Brother Chu Xian, these chieftains and powerful rightists in Shuzhou are so bold. I was checking the field records near Jinrong Mansion a few days ago, and they blocked me a lot."

"I'm afraid I'm going to do some evil things next. Please stay with me for the next half month and raid the formation for me."

Chu Qiguang nodded, and then reminded: "Don't expose my identity first, otherwise I'm afraid they won't dare to take action."

If everyone knew that Chu Qiguang was behind it, the other party would probably choose to be obedient and obstructive instead of confronting him directly.

‘If that’s the case, wouldn’t it delay me from raiding their house? ’

Next, Li Qingyun called his men outside and said to him: "Ningyu, this gentleman will protect my safety. Please instruct the people below not to collide with him."

The person called by Li Qingyun was a woman in her late thirties. Her muscles were undulating like marble, and her blood was flowing with warmth.

Chu Qiguang took a glance and found that this woman's martial arts cultivation was quite good among the five realms.

The woman known as Ning Yu frowned and looked at Chu Qiguang. He looked a little too young, making her unable to trust him.

She is a disciple of the Guishan School in the South. She has been taught by famous teachers since she was a child. She was impressed by Li Qingyun's courage. After knowing that he was going to Shuzhou to take up a post, she followed him to protect him.

Ning Yu knew that Li Qingyun had no conditions to practice martial arts since he was a child. Although he picked up martial arts again after becoming an official, he was only at the second level now.

It just so happened that this old man admired people with strong martial arts skills, but he didn't have enough eyesight, so he often fell in love with those who deceived the world and stole their fame.

Ningyu said: "Sir, who is this...? The Jinrong Mao family is secretly trying to connect the major families with bad intentions. I heard that there are also demons from the Jie Cult among them. We should hire more experts to prevent it. Unexpected."

But Li Qingyun looked confident: "No, it's enough for me to protect me. Qingtian, you can lead the people to do it yourself, don't have any scruples."

Hearing these words, Ningyu couldn't help but look at Chu Qiguang who was calm and composed at the side.

The opponent was wearing an ordinary white gown, and there was no trace of hard training on his fair and tender face.

Ning Yu's face looked a little ugly, and she said, "Sir, you don't have a deep understanding of martial arts. Some people are eloquent, but they are not reliable.

The people in Shuzhou are fierce, and the natives often kill officials and rebel. If I don't stay by your side, I'm afraid it will be very dangerous. "

Chu Qiguang looked at the woman and smiled and said, "You have been practicing for at least ten years, right?"

"I have also practiced hard martial arts. I know that I can twist my muscles at will when I practice martial arts. You can't hide the muscles in your body. It seems that you haven't mastered martial arts yet. The land of Shuzhou is full of demons. You have to protect Brother Li. I’m afraid there are still some who are not home yet.”

Ningyu's face became even more ugly when she heard these words. She hated what others said about her body shape.

What's more, she originally thought that this young man was not very reliable, but now he was criticized for his lack of martial arts skills.

At this moment, anger arose in his heart, he didn't say anything, just snorted coldly, then reached out and grabbed Chu Qiguang.

At this moment, she punched out, her energy and blood circulated, and her fist became red and big, like a red-hot hammer, hitting Chu Qiguang's chest hard.

Facing Ningyu's attack, Chu Qiguang smiled slightly, but his hands and feet did not move. Ningyu only felt his eyes blurred, his whole body felt a pain in his stomach, and he rolled to the ground.

Ningyu was defeated in one move. He looked at Chu Qiguang, whose face turned blue and white, and his eyes were full of shock: "Who is your Excellency?"

Chu Qiguang smiled slightly: "I can't tell you now, but as long as I'm here, no one can hurt Brother Li. Just do whatever you need to do."

Li Qingyun on the side said: "Ningyu, are you relieved now? With this gentleman here, I am very safe."

In the next ten days, Chu Qiguang stayed by Li Qingyun's side, watching the other party select personnel and abbot Qingtian.

It is said that the local people were incited by the local gentry to hinder the clearing of fields. There were also many problems with the officials under Li Qingyun, who was severely punished by him and continued to clear the fields.

At the same time, an undercurrent seemed to be surging in Shuzhou.

Chu Qiguang didn't care about this. Li Qingyun was capable and courageous, so he didn't need his advice.

He was just staying here waiting to do it, and he would not have nothing to do during the period. He picked up some martial arts secret books and started reading them, preparing to learn a few more martial arts in case of emergency.

That night, a fishy smell suddenly rushed into the tip of Chu Qiguang's nose. When he took a slight sniff, a trace of amusement appeared on his face.

"It's really bold."