In the night, a cold wind blew, causing the red lotuses in the pond to sway, resembling a sea of undulating fire—a truly beautiful sight.
Xu Qi An silently took a deep breath, inhaling the subtle fragrance.
“Yunzhou is mountainous, but unlike the Southern Borderlands, it’s not covered in dense forests and miasma. The mountains are rich in medicinal herbs and other resources,” the Ziyangju Scholar gazed at the pond full of red lotuses and continued:
“Yunzhou also has fertile farmland and abundant water. Although its annual grain production doesn’t match Yuzhou and Zhangzhou, the two regions are known as Da Feng’s granaries, Yunzhou’s annual grain output is more than enough to feed the people of both provinces.”
…It sounds like Yunzhou should have a hilly terrain, Xu Qi An nodded in realization.
Among the five basic terrestrial landforms, hills are the most fertile and resource-rich. In his previous life, the so-called “land of fish and rice” referred to the hilly regions of Jiangnan.
Yuzhou and Zhangzhou, Da Feng’s two granaries, were plains, while the Southern Borderlands had a mountainous terrain with high peaks everywhere and little arable land.
The Ziyangju Scholar continued in a deep voice, “Yunzhou has another geographical advantage: it’s right next to the South Sea, so there’s no need to worry about being attacked from both front and rear. As a last resort, one could even set sail.”
“The friction between the Witch God Cult and Da Feng along the border is intensifying. If they want to create internal chaos to keep Da Feng preoccupied, choosing Yunzhou would be a wise move.”
The way you put it, why do I feel like this trip to Yunzhou is a journey of annihilation? Tut, tut, tut, children’s words are harmless, children’s words are harmless…
“Don’t worry,” as if seeing through Xu Qi An’s concerns, the Ziyangju Scholar smiled and said, “Although Da Feng has serious problems, it’s still relatively peaceful overall, and the court’s authority remains intact.”
“Even if the Witch God Cult is plotting in Yunzhou, they would only dare to hide in the shadows, not act openly. I’ve been idle these days and have trained a few hawks. I’ll send you one later. If any unexpected situations arise in Yunzhou, you can use the hawk to send messages. It’s faster than using the official post roads.”
No matter how fast, it would still take quite a few days for a round trip… Indeed, a world without mobile phones lacks a sense of security. If only everyone had a piece of the Earth Book… Xu Qi An gratefully said, “Thank you for your kindness, Teacher.”
After a pause, he asked, “What should I do when I get to Yunzhou?”
“Just focus on investigating the case and protect Zhang Xingying well. As for socializing in official circles, you don’t need to worry about that,” the Ziyangju Scholar said with a smile.
“Since Wei Yuan appointed Zhang Xingying as the Inspector-General, he must not be an ordinary person.”
Xu Qi An nodded.
Having finished discussing official matters, the Ziyangju Scholar pondered for a moment and said, “I often exchange letters with Jingyan, and he frequently mentions you in his letters. You’re considered half a student of the Yunlu Academy… I heard that a few months ago, there was a surge of pure energy at the academy?”
Who’s Jingyan? Oh, oh, it’s Second Young Master’s teacher, the great scholar Zhang Shen… Because he wasn’t used to addressing people by their courtesy names, it took Xu Qi An a few seconds to realize who “Jingyan” referred to.
What does the Ziyangju Scholar mean by this… Did the Yunlu Academy not tell him the truth? Or does he know I did it, and is saying this to give me a hint? But there’s no need for hints… Is it because correspondence can’t be kept confidential, so the great scholars of the Yunlu Academy only mentioned it in their letters without revealing the truth?
He carefully said, “This matter seems to have been classified as top secret by the academy. The Yasheng School is still sealed off, and no one is allowed to enter.”
At this point, Xu Qi An couldn’t help but think of the Yasheng who had called a deer a horse—truly a great man, for he always stood behind his wife.
The Ziyangju Scholar nodded slightly, without further questions.
Xu Qi An, on the other hand, had some questions he wanted to ask this great scholar. After some thought, he decided to ask the first question:
“Teacher, some time ago, because of the Sangbo case, I challenged the Night Reading and looked through historical records. I found that before our faction’s Prime Minister destroyed Buddhism, he shouted the slogan ‘If Buddhism is not destroyed, all under heaven will be Buddhist.'”
“After that, that Prime Minister advanced to the Establishing Fate realm. I wonder, even if Buddhism had various drawbacks, it was still an orthodox school. Isn’t ‘If Buddhism is not destroyed, all under heaven will be Buddhist’ too extreme?”
Xu Qi An didn’t know how the Buddhist schools in this world differed from those in his previous life. This world had no Buddha, only a Buddha.
But regardless, Buddhism shouldn’t be considered a cult, right?
“This matter involves secrets that I don’t know about,” the Ziyangju Scholar said.
If you don’t know, then how do you know it involves secrets? Xu Qi An forcibly held back this retort.
The Ziyangju Scholar let out a “hm” and said, “The Academy Chancellor knows.”
Xu Qi An’s second question was why there were stone statues of Confucian sages in the Extreme Abyss of the Southern Borderlands, but he decided against asking it.
Xu Qi An, being in the capital, shouldn’t know about the Confucian sage statues at the bottom of the Extreme Abyss. Even using the excuse of “I have a friend” wouldn’t work.
Even the Night Watchmen’s Office wouldn’t know about this.
…
Back at the courier station, Xu Qi An took a cold bath, then returned to his room to sit cross-legged, practicing breathing exercises and visualizing the Dharma image.
Qingzhou borders Yunzhou. Setting out from here, riding hard, one could reach Yunzhou in three to five days. Even considering Inspector-General Zhang’s weak constitution, they should reach the Qingzhou border in about a week.
“I can use this time to try and break through to the Spirit Refining realm. It’s just not sleeping for ten days, right? Back when I was still an ordinary person, I achieved the feat of gaming for 72 hours straight in an internet cafe…”
The next day, Provincial Administration Commissioner Yang Gong gathered stonemasons to engrave the four lines of poetry warning officials on the warning steles in front of various government offices in Qingzhou.
From the Qingzhou Prefect down to ordinary clerks, everyone entering and leaving the offices could see these four lines of poetry every day.
“What’s written up there?”
“You eat your salary, the people’s fat and marrow. The common people are easy to oppress, but Heaven is hard to deceive.”
“Good poem! I’m illiterate, but I can only say: Damn, it’s well-written. Must be by our Provincial Administration Commissioner, right? He’s truly an upright official.”
“It’s not by the Provincial Administration Commissioner, but by someone called Xu Qi An. Oh, there’s a small text on the side: Master Yang Gong. Oh, I see, it’s a student of our Provincial Administration Commissioner.”
The poem was indeed composed by Xu Qi An, but the Ziyangju Scholar had a clever move: he had three small characters engraved to the left of Xu Qi An’s name: “Master Yang Gong.”
If the three great scholars of the Yunlu Academy were present, they would be spitting blood and roaring: Shameless old thief, how can you piggyback on this too?
Many upright officials were thrilled by this poem, taking note of Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An’s name quickly spread through Qingzhou’s official circles. Soon, many students and officials suddenly realized that the person who had composed the poem for the stele inscription was the same great talent who had written those poems hailed as the light of Da Feng’s literary world for the past two hundred years.
What astounded people most was that he wasn’t a scholar, but a night watchman.
However, whether Qingzhou officials or students, they were all genuinely impressed by Xu Qi An, admiring his poetic talent and even more so the spirit expressed in his poems.