Volume 2: The Youth's Merit and Fame Chapter 65: Each Has Their Own Master

  (Once again written at the beginning of the chapter: No way, last night another reader questioned me: Why did I strongly promote it and still update once a day? In his righteous gaze, I lowered my guilty head...)

  Alright, I'll say it again: today is still one update, but it's still over 6,000 words. I'm really puzzled, why do you all only look at the number of updates per day and not the number of words updated? If you're really willing, alright, I'll split the 6,000 words into three chapters and release them three times a day, morning, noon, and night, is that okay?

  PS: I revised a few chapters this morning that everyone wasn't quite satisfied with, hope you all collect and recommend them, thanks.

  What is the concept of one hundred taels of silver?

  During the Hongwu period, there was not much silver produced in the country, and copper coins were also scarce. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang issued the Great Ming Treasure Note in the eighth year of Hongwu. Ancient people did not understand what inflation, reserve requirements, or currency credit meant. The Baochao Promotion Office could print as much as they wanted, but unfortunately, the notes were easily forged and deteriorated quickly because they were made of paper. The court only issued them but did not collect them, so... Zhu Yuanzhang suffered a tragedy. The issuance of the Great Ming Treasure Note in that year caused inflation, devaluation was rapid, and the people generally distrusted it. Although the court repeatedly ordered that the notes must be used for circulation among the people, the people did not recognize them as legitimate currency. In private, they still used silver as a circulating currency, and some even preferred to use bartering, a primitive form of transaction, rather than using the Great Ming Treasure Note to bring trouble upon themselves.

  In comparison, the purchasing power of silver has increased greatly. In the Ming Dynasty, one liang of silver could buy two dan of rice, with one dan being over 90 kilograms. Calculated this way, 100 liang of silver can buy 20 tons of rice.

  This was no different from a windfall for Xiao Fang and his two companions who had just been penniless and starving.

  They certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to spend all their silver on rice, but at least they could afford to drink and eat meat occasionally, the little beggar girl could get a few new clothes, what about Xiao Fang? He really couldn't think of anywhere he needed to spend money.

  This is truly a happy sorrow, with so much money that I don't know how to spend it.

  "What's it like being a rich man?" Xiao Fang asked Tai Xu with a smile.

  "Hooves buy two at a time, one for lunch and one for dinner." Tai Xu's ideal is not very grand.

  "What about you?" Xiao Fang asked the little beggar girl.

  The little beggar girl pointed happily at Tai Xū, then held up two fingers.

  "Alright, buy four hooves, you two and Master two."

  Tai Yu asked: "And you?"

  Xiao Fan gazed up at the sky at a forty-five degree angle, with a faint sense of depth in his eyes.

  "I want to have a bowl of shark fin soup..."

  Tai Xū and the little beggar girl looked at each other in dismay. Tai Xū sighed, "Indeed, it's the fate of royalty! Their ambitions are far greater than ours..."

  Holding the heavy silver, the three returned to the Mountain God Temple.

  Tai Yu wandered around the temple, muttering to himself: "So much silver, what if it gets stolen? I need to find a place to hide it..."

  After wandering around for a while, Xiao Fan couldn't help but say, "Master, didn't you say that your martial arts skills are unmatched in the world today?"

  Yes.

  "Why didn't you just beat him up when someone robbed your money? Why hide instead?"

  Tai Xū suddenly came to his senses: "Right! I'm an extraordinary master, yet I'm afraid of being robbed of my silver..."

  Xiao Fan was worried, following such an unorthodox master to learn martial arts, would he end up becoming as unorthodox as him? Intelligence is hard to say, some people are high, some people are low, and some can even infect others...

  Their lives were no longer lacking in food and clothing, and the three of them lived a more and more abundant life.

  Xiao Fan then began to diligently practice his martial arts skills.

  It's called "hard training", but in fact it's a bit of an exaggeration.

  Tai Xū's teaching of martial arts was very strange, he didn't teach moves, but instead started with breathing exercises. First, he forced Xiao Fan to learn the locations of all the acupoints on the human body, then forced him to memorize a set of internal energy techniques called "Pure Yang Infinite Skill". After memorizing it, he began to practice diligently, sitting cross-legged in front of the Mountain God Temple, closing his eyes and carefully experiencing the Qi in the Dan Tian as described by Tai Xū, striving to find that legendary thread of Qi...

  Xiao Fan is not a martial arts genius, and can even be said to have mediocre qualifications... Alright, saying he has mediocre qualifications is already flattering him, to put it correctly, in terms of martial arts, he's simply a rotten wood.

  This rotten wood, however, has no sense of self-awareness or humility as a rotten wood.

  "What's the point of just sitting here inhaling and exhaling all day?" asked Rotten Wood, who had only been practicing for two hours, to Tai Xu.

  Tai Yu had an urge to drive him out of the door, and coldly said: "Correct you, that's not called inhaling and exhaling, that's called Tu Na, authentic Taoist internal skill, people in the martial arts world are crazy about it but can't get it..."

  "Why do I feel like I'm wasting my youth by just sitting here? Are you sure this thing called 'Tu Na' is useful?" The rotten wood still didn't know to repent.

  He took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to vomit blood, and gritted his teeth to force out two words: "Confirmed!"

  "Well, I'll sit for a little while longer..."

  Looking at Xiao Fan sitting on the ground with a worried face practicing Tu Na, Tai Xu sighed: "You've been sitting for two hours, can't you feel any Qi in your Dantian?"

  "There wasn't... I fell asleep for half a time..."

  He weakly lowered his head, extremely disheartened: "I'd better give you a kitchen knife for self-defense, teaching a disciple like you, I'm afraid I'll be driven to death... I've lived over 130 years, it's not easy..."

  Xiao Fan also felt ashamed, then his eyes lit up and he said: "Master, do you have that kind of powerful medicine pill that can increase one's cultivation by a hundred years after eating it? There are many at the bottom of cliffs..."

  "No! Martial arts require diligent practice, no room for shortcuts or clever tricks... "

  Xiao Fan asked with a hopeful tone: "Can you put your hands on my back and transmit some of the power you've accumulated over decades? You must have at least a hundred years' worth of internal energy, can't you spare some for me?"

  Tai Xukuai burst into tears: "Where did you hear such nonsense? Cultivation is all about one's own hard work and dedication, merging with the essence of blood and energy, how can it be shared with you?"

  Xiao Fan looked at him disappointedly and said: "This doesn't work either, that won't do, Master, you're too useless..."

  Tai Xuzi's old tears flowed horizontally: "…………"

  …………

  …………

  A whole day passed and Xiao Fan's cultivation made no progress, equivalent to zero.

  Tai Xū actually has an internal fire rising, with a breakthrough in the bottleneck that has been stuck for many years - all of which was caused by Xiao Fan's anger.

  The next morning, the master and apprentice continued their training.

  Tai Xū didn't know what kind of purpose he had, but he seemed to want to teach Xiao Fan into an extraordinary master. Unfortunately, the disciple's talent was too low, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't accomplish anything, not even entering the door.

  Tai Xū was in a state of extreme agitation, constantly on the verge of exploding with violent energy. Countless times, he felt an overwhelming urge to crush Xiao Fan beneath his palm. The Three Pure Ones could attest that Tai Xū had not had such a violent thought in at least a hundred years.

  One teaches kung fu, one practices kung fu, and the little beggar girl has nothing to do. In a situation where she doesn't lack food or clothing, she is a bit lost and doesn't know what to do. Since the little girl came of age, it seems like she's been constantly worrying about survival issues. Once the survival issue was solved, her life became a blank slate, not knowing how to spend her time.

  She crouched in front of the mountain temple, watching Xiao Fan practice with great interest for a while. Soon she lost her patience and hopped away to pick wildflowers or weave grass rings, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

  Xiao Fan's heart was absent-minded, sitting cross-legged, his eyes quietly opened a slit, watching the little beggar girl play boredly and then self-satisfied, a warm smile inadvertently hooked on his face.

  It's his responsibility to make this poor child happy.

  Bang!

  A loud slap landed on Xiao Fan's forehead, and Tai Xū growled in a low voice with anger: "Concentrate! Focus your mind, calm your energy!"

  "Speak nicely, don't use your fists, or I'll lose my temper..."

  Two hours later, Xiao Fan opened his eyes, and his gaze was clear.

  Tai Xū squatted down, staring at him expectantly: "How is it? Is there any sensation in the Dan Tian?"

  "Hmm..." Xiao Fan murmured.

  Tai Xū was unhappy: "Huh? What does it mean?"

  "Just now it seemed like my stomach growled..."

  Tai Xū was overjoyed: "So that's it! There's been progress! Old Lord, bless me, I've followed the will of heaven and finally..."

  "No, Master, I'm hungry... " Xiao Fan said with a blush, carefully pointing to the sky: "It's almost noon, time for lunch, Master..."

  Tai Xū's face turned as black as ink: "………"

  The little beggar girl also ran back at this time, her small face sweating finely, slightly panting, with an excited expression, and still holding a small ceramic jar that shone brightly in the light, the mouth of which was sealed with mud, it was unknown what was inside.

  Xiao Fan laughed: "Where did you run off to play? What's that in your hands?"

  The little girl smiled slightly and handed the ceramic jar to Xiao Fan with a treasured look. ——After getting to know Xiao Fan, the little beggar girl's smile appeared more and more often.

  Xiao Fan took the pottery jar and knocked off the mud seal on the mouth of the jar, curiously glanced at it: "What's inside? It's white like flour..."

  Tai Xū snatched the ceramic pot without any politeness, took a peek inside and laughed: "This is actually just flour, I'll try some first..."

  Tai Yu reached into the jar and pinched a small amount of powder, putting it in his mouth to savor the flavor.

  "Huh? This taste is kind of weird... doesn't quite seem like flour..." Taizi was puzzled, savoring the flavor in his mouth.

  Xiao Fan looked at him worriedly: "Master, this thing has an unknown origin, you're putting it in your mouth like that, aren't you afraid of poisoning?"

  Haha laughed loudly: "Poisoned? Haha, joke! I've lived for two hundred years, and I'm immune to all poisons. Even if this jar contains arsenic, I can eat it and still be alive and kicking, believe it or not?"

  After finishing speaking, he grabbed a big handful of "flour" and stuffed it into his mouth, then puffed out white smoke and looked at Xiao Fan with a showy expression, hoping to see a proud expression on Xiao Fan's face for having such a great master.

  Xiao Fan hastily revealed a proud expression, blocking Tai Xu's way: "Alright alright, Master's divine skills are unparalleled, the disciple admires them with utmost sincerity..."

  The little beggar girl had a potential to go crazy, and she also grabbed a handful of flour to stuff into her mouth. Xiao Fang was frightened and quickly knocked the flour out of her hand, saying: "You can't eat it, your divine skill is not invincible..."

  The little beggar girl had to give up, then blinked her big eyes and stared at Tai Xū's mouth, which was savoring the food with relish, her expression full of envy.

  Tai Xū raised an eyebrow at her with ill intentions, looking very arrogant.

  This is the small life of the three, warm and quiet, the small mountain temple is like a paradise on earth, they are isolated from the world inside, living their own lives without desires or disputes, although plain, it is very precious.

  Just after dinner, someone walked far away from outside the mountain temple.

  Xiao Fang's eyes narrowed as she looked at him, and hummed, this person he recognized.

  He is Liu the captain of the county yamen.

  What is a police officer doing here at the mountain temple outside the city for no reason? Is he guilty of some wrongdoing and his conscience is uneasy, so he came to pray to the gods?

  Tai Yu had been hiding in Jiangpu for a long time, so he naturally knew the captain who often patrolled the streets with a sword. As soon as they met, Tai Yu's face turned pale: "It's all over, it's all over. He won't be coming for me, will he?"

  Xiao Fan glared at him: "You haven't broken any laws, what right does he have to take you?"

  Tai Xū was very embarrassed and lowered his head: "The day before yesterday, I went to the street to calculate my fortune, and passed by the house of Cai Guafu in the north of the city. Just as I heard the sound of water flowing, I couldn't help but take a sneak peek. Oh no! It turned out that Widow Cai was taking a bath... This has been going on for several days now, will Captain Liu come to arrest me because of this?"

  Xiao Fan was shocked: "Master, you actually had such a romantic encounter, why didn't you tell me earlier? ... However, you just accidentally saw it, shouldn't be considered a crime, right?"

  He looked at the approaching Liu with a worried and bitter expression, sighed and said: "I was careless for half an hour, until she finished washing and dressing, I remembered what the sage once said: Do not look at what is not proper..."

  Even a little beggar girl couldn't bear it anymore, casting a gaze of utmost contempt at Taiyu.

  At this time, Liu had already walked up to the three men. He had just opened his mouth and hadn't spoken yet when Tai Xū was so frightened that he shook all over and surrendered voluntarily.

  "Master Liu, I was wrong, I shouldn't have broken the rule of lust. Amitabha Buddha, my sins are deep and heavy. From now on, I will never dare to sneak a peek at Widow Cai taking a bath again..." Taixu wept with remorse.

  Liu caught his breath and looked at Tai Xuzi with surprise, then fell into deep thought, saying: "Are you talking about Cai's widow from the north of the city?"

  "It is indeed. I was wrong..."

  "Doesn't that widow have a very noticeable red mole on her butt?"

  "That's right."

  "This time I'll let it go, but don't think you can get away with it next time."

  Three people wiped their sweat: "……"

  Then Liu caught the head towards Xiao Fan a fist, said: "Xiao Gongzi, let me find you well, Cao County wants to see you, please Xiao Gongzi go to the official post house."

  Xiao Fan hastily said: "It's an honor for Lord Liu to personally come and invite me, I'm flattered. I'll follow Lord Liu to see County Magistrate Cao."

  At the same time, Xiao Fan turned his head and looked at Tai Xu with disdain.

  "Let's go together, someone has invited us for a drink." Xiao Fan said with an unpleasant tone.

  On his way to the government inn, Xiao Fan let out a sigh in his heart.

  It seems that Cao Yi finally knows he won't be a son-in-law of the Chen family, this time he will probably make an effort to persuade him to surrender to the King of Yan. However... Xiang Fan really doesn't want to surrender to him. The Ming Chengzu in history was a great and powerful hero, a hero of his generation. If we talk about being an emperor, he is indeed a good emperor, with both civil and military achievements outstanding. He single-handedly created the first prosperous era of the Great Ming, the Yongle Prosperous Era.

  But serving as an official under this emperor was a miserable experience. In his over 20 years of reign, he didn't lag behind his father Zhu Yuanzhang in terms of killing people. Serving as an official under him required constant vigilance to avoid being beheaded, which would lead to psychological depression and was very unhealthy.

  Xiao Fan is now close to Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen, and relying on the King of Yan would necessarily mean going against Zhu Yunwen, which would be a betrayal of his friend.

  On the road, Xiao Fan made up his mind that if Cao Yi advised him to go north, he would think of a tactful way to decline. A man has things he must do and things he cannot do; since he had become friends with Zhu Yunwen, betraying a friend was absolutely something he could not do.

  After making up his mind, Xiao Fan felt relieved instead.

  He never thought he was great, what about crossing over? What's the use of relying on that little bit of poor historical knowledge to predict the future? Under the circumstances, some things cannot be changed by one person's power alone. Not every butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane. Xiao Fan is just a weak butterfly flapping its wings, and it has nothing to do with whether or not a hurricane comes.

  Xiao Fan and the other two followed Liu to enter the city. Before long, a runner hastily approached Liu and said: "Head, someone reported to the official that County Magistrate wants us to quickly investigate the case and catch the criminal."

  Liu said calmly: "What's going on?"

  "Let's not mention it, Li Shi Tou from Li Village outside the South City, his son contracted smallpox a few days ago and died. According to the customs of Li Village, those who die from smallpox must be cremated, and their families can only bury the ashes..."

  "What's the result?"

  He slapped his thigh and said, "These days, what strange things are happening? Li Shi Tou's family cremated their son, collected the ashes in a small ceramic jar, and then the couple cried and dug a hole outside the village. After finishing digging, they looked up to find that the jar had disappeared from beside the hole..."

  Liu caught his head and exclaimed: "Stolen?"

  "That's right!"

  Liu caught his head, frowning and said: "Damn it! These days are really strange, why did the thief steal ashes? It's scary..."

  Bao Kuai laughed and said: "I was thinking that this thief must have been starving to the point of dizziness, stealing ashes as flour to eat, haha..."

  Liu caught the head also haha laughed loudly.

  They were laughing, but Xiao Fang and his two companions couldn't laugh.

  Xiao Fang and the little beggar girl exchanged a glance, the little beggar girl's expression remained unchanged, but she secretly nodded at him.

  Then both of them turned their heads towards Tai Xu without saying a word, their eyes filled with sympathy.

  His face turned green, a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his face twitched rapidly several times, he struggled to take two steps, and finally couldn't help but let out a "wow" and vomited profusely.

  Liu caught a glimpse of him with a strange look and asked Xiao Fan: "What's wrong with him?"

  "It's nothing, old man is getting older, his mouth is greedy, and he has eaten something bad for his intestines..."

  …………

  …………

  When the three saw Cao Yi, Cao Yi glared at Xiao Fan with great dissatisfaction.

  "Damn it! I heard you broke up with the Chen family and moved into the Mountain God Temple, homeless and didn't come to find me? Do you take me for a brother?"

  Xiao Fan smiled and said: "At that time, I wanted to find you, but later the saint said that I couldn't find you, so I didn't dare to come..."

  Cao Yi glared and said: "Why can't you find me when you're in a desperate situation? Which saint said that?"

  Xiao Fan smiled and said, "That sage is called Mencius. Mencius said: 'Poverty and lowliness cannot be moved.' In other words, since I have humbly entered the Mountain God Temple, don't move me casually, or it will be even more troublesome..."

  Cao Yi nodded and said calmly: "Although I don't read many books, I can also tell that your words are simply nonsense!"

  "I really thought it was like this..."

  "Alright, stop messing around! Let's get down to business. I'm asking you, do you plan on staying in the Mountain God Temple forever and never caring about worldly affairs again?"

  Xiao Fang said quietly: "Brother Cao, if you want to say something, just say it directly."

  Cao Yi looked at him deeply and said, "A great man in the world should rely on his own abilities to achieve fame and fortune. Now that you have nothing to do with the Chen family, you are alone and free. Why not enter officialdom and show off your ambitions?"

  Xiao Fan smiled faintly: "Brother Cao is being too kind, some things are better left to fate, and forcing it would be unseemly. Besides, I've never attended county school, nor have I studied diligently in a cold window, so taking the imperial examination and becoming an official is probably impossible for me. Nowadays, I couldn't even pass the exam to become a scholar."

  Cao Yi smiled and said, "You little scoundrel, you're not speaking the truth again. Now that you know me and have met the Crown Prince, are you afraid you can't even become an official? I'm afraid you've already made plans for yourself."

  Xiao Fan bitterly smiled and said: "I really didn't plan to, besides, if someone as incompetent as me became an official, wouldn't that be a disaster for the country?"

  Cao Yi sneered: "You're still pretending! First, you used the Chen family's matter to shift my attention, using the pretext of establishing prestige to ensure their safety. Later, you took advantage of me to contend with Huang Zhizhou, allowing me to seize the power of the county magistrate and resolve your own crisis. The Chen family also greatly benefited from this. Do you think I'm blind and can't see through it? You've got a belly full of evil intentions, yet you still have the nerve to say you're not capable?"

  Xiao Fan paid tribute: "Brother Cao is indeed a sharp-eyed...".

  "No need to mention the past, but recently, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince presented a memorial to the Emperor, discussing matters related to merchants. The ideas and words expressed in the memorial were quite novel and interesting. Hehe, although His Imperial Highness is benevolent, righteous, and loyal, I know that he couldn't have come up with those contents on his own. That memorial must be somewhat connected to you, right?"

  Xiao Fan was startled and hastily waved his hand: "Cao brother, the walls have ears, be careful what you say! Some things can't be said, or it'll cost us our heads!"

  Cao Yi burst out laughing and said, "Don't worry, there's no one around this official residence. Speaking a few words of truth won't matter much. I've long seen that you're a capable person... Capable people can't be buried..."

  He deliberately lowered his voice, and Cao Yi said in a low tone: "In recent years, the King of Yan has refused to surrender to the Northern Yuan, and has been polite to virtuous scholars and widely recruited talented people from all sides to serve under his command. If you are willing, I am willing to recommend you to the King of Yan, other brothers dare not guarantee, becoming a sixth or seventh rank official is by no means a difficult task, what do you think?"

  Xiao Fan sighed in his heart, he had to face it and couldn't avoid it. How could he bring himself to tell him? He wanted to make him understand that he was refusing, but at the same time, he didn't want to hurt their relationship, after all, Cao Yi was also a close friend of theirs.

  Hesitating for a moment, Xiao Fan smiled and said: "Brother Cao is being too kind, who wouldn't want a good future? It's just that the north is dry and cold, if I go there, I'm afraid I won't be able to adapt to the local climate..."

  Cao Yi looked at him with a profound gaze, for a long time, and finally sighed, saying in a tone of utmost desolation: "Xiao younger brother, I know that the Crown Prince has treated you well. If you insist on not going north, I won't blame you. Forcing someone to do something against their will is meaningless among brothers. In any case, I have considered you as my brother, and in the future if you encounter danger, I will absolutely not stand idly by."

  Xiao Fan could hear the deep meaning in Cao Yi's words. The King of Yan had been planning to usurp the throne for many years, and as one of the King of Yan's favorite generals, Cao Yi knew some inside information. It seemed that the King of Yan's chips were not small, and Cao Yi no longer looked favorably on Zhu Yunwen. By saying this today, he was indicating that if one day the King of Yan successfully usurped the throne and wanted to purge the old ministers of the Zhu Yunwen court, he would ensure Xiao Fan's safety.

  Xiao Fan looked at Cao Yi with emotion, this rough and straightforward northerner, open-minded and chivalrous. If others truly regarded him as a friend, how could he repay them? What if... one day in the future, he and Cao Yi were on opposite sides and had to meet on the battlefield, how would they face each other?

  I hope that day will never come...

  That's too melodramatic!