Chapter One: The Young Man

  "Master, it's late at night, tomorrow is the day of the list, you should get some rest early!" An old man said softly outside the door.

  "Uh-huh, Uncle Fu, I know. You go to sleep first!" A fourteen or fifteen year old boy sat in front of the lamp, distractedly responding.

  "Tan Yanqian? Tan Yanqian! Hmph, I didn't think it was a famous person!" The young man muttered to himself in a low voice. This young man was indeed Tan Yanqian, but he wasn't Tan Yanqian anymore. Four days ago, a new soul had taken over this body, and his previous life was actually that of a medical doctor named Feng Wenyu from a hundred years later.

  Feng Wenyu's last memory of his past life was of him and his good friend Ma Biao engaging in a shootout at the Wild Shooting Range. The clear sky suddenly turned rainy, but they were having too much fun to stop, each holding a replica 98 rifle from the previous century and wearing holsters on their waists. As Feng Wenyu aimed at Ma Biao, who was carefully moving through a trench, intending to shoot him in the butt with paintballs, a loud thunderclap struck his head before he could fire, and when he came to, he found himself in this body.

  Although Feng Wenyu was a staunch atheist, such an absurd thing happened to him, and reality forced him to face it. Fortunately, he was from Hunan, and the original owner of this body was actually a famous person from Hunan - the only champion in the Qing dynasty's more than 200 years of rule, and three times as governor of Hunan, is the ancestor of the Xiangjiang warlord, but unfortunately, Tan Yankai's reputation in history at that time was not so prominent. What Feng Wenyu knew about this was all from his history textbooks. He was also from Hunan, coincidentally, he and the historical Tan Yankai were both from Chaling, Hunan. To say that Tan Yankai was famous, it is estimated that in Feng Wenyu's era, very few people could remember Tan Yankai. However, Feng Wenyu, this old fellow, was someone who could be buried next to Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum, and those who could enjoy such treatment were not so simple. Feng Wenyu had some understanding of Tan Yankai's history, but it wasn't very clear.

  Because Feng Wenyu had heard of Tan Yanqing's deeds, he became even more confused - he knew that Tan Yanqing was born in 1880, but only after attaching himself did he know that it was now July 1891, and Tan Yanqing was almost fifteen years old. This didn't match up with the historical figure! If Feng Wenyu hadn't inherited Tan Yanqing's memories after attaching himself, he would have suspected that he had attached himself to someone with the same name and surname - historically, Tan Yanqing's father Tan Zhonglin was an official who had risen to the rank of governor-general. Although Feng Wenyu wasn't very clear about whether or not Tan Zhonglin was the governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang, he could confirm that the Tan Yanqing family had considerable influence - not only because his father was a governor-general, but also because after fusing with Tan Yanqing's memories, he found another famous person from the late Qing dynasty - Weng Tonghe. Just last year, Tan Yanqing had met Weng Tonghe in Beijing, and Weng Tonghe was now the Minister of War for the Qing court. The relationship between him and Tan Zhonglin seemed to be very good, and Tan Yanqing's writings had even received praise from Weng Tonghe.

  Feng Wengu's impression of Weng Tonghe's history was nothing special except for his high official position, but another person's memory made him feel a little shocked - Tan Sitong! The names of the other five gentlemen of the Wuxu Six Gentlemen were somewhat forgotten by him, but the name Tan Sitong was like thunder in his ears. "I laugh at the sky with my horizontal sword, and my liver and gallbladder are both Kunlun!" Anyone who has some impression of the Hundred Days' Reform will be stirred up by Tan Sitong's famous words. However, from Tan Yanqian's memory, Feng Wengu knew that their relationship was limited to studying together in Lanzhou, and the two families also had a certain kinship.

  Apart from Weng Tonghe and Tang Shouqian, there was another very famous person, Feng Wengu, who although did not find his appearance in Tan Yankai's memory, but he learned from Tan Yankai's memory that the private residence of the Tan family where he currently lives has a very loud name - Xishu Hall. On the nine large gates leading straight to the back door, a huge "Fu" character was hung, and according to Tan Yankai's memory, these nine "Fu" characters were all written by Empress Dowager Cixi, known as Lao Fo Ye. Even if Feng Wengu's previous life was isolated and ignorant, Empress Dowager Cixi's great name was also like thunder in his ears. Thinking of his own father, Tan Zhonglin, whom he had not yet seen with his own eyes, Feng Wengu knew that in this era, China no longer had anyone who could be a more reliable backer than Empress Dowager Cixi.

  What made Feng Wengu even more bewildered was that it was only the 17th year of Guangxu, or 1891 AD, a time when China was in its darkest period of late Qing dynasty. What could he do at such an era?!

  "Three years later, it was the old lady's birthday banquet that buried the Beiyang Navy; a few more years and it would be the Reform Movement; haha, twenty years later would be the Xinhai Revolution! Hehe, there were really too many capable people in this era, each with their own impressive background, could they still have their own seats?" Tan Yankai thought to himself.

  Feng Wenyu, after experiencing initial shock, panic and then calmness, first thought of how to design a better escape route for himself. Feng Wenyu believed that "the body is the capital of revolution", but what if his body was thoroughly destroyed? He had just gone through a death, although he didn't feel any pain, it could be said that his previous life's "journey" wasn't painful, however, he also didn't dare to hope that if he died again in this world, he would still be able to run to someone in the Ming Dynasty and continue to live a carefree life.

  "If I were to manage carefully, maybe in the future I could become a warlord and make a name for myself in history. After all, wasn't Tan Yankai the founder of the Xiangjiang warlords? Unfortunately, there were too many powerful people in that era, and my knowledge of history is not very good. Although I've read many historical books thanks to Mr. Yi Zhongtian's influence, it was just for entertainment purposes. Who would have thought that I'd end up in this place? No matter what, I won't study medicine, I must focus on learning about the late Qing dynasty!" Tan Yankai thought to himself with some regret as he lay in bed.

  The sweltering heat of Changsha at the end of July was unbearable, and even in the dead of night, Tan Yanqin couldn't sleep soundly. It had only been four days since Feng Wenyu possessed Tan's body, and he was still extremely curious about this era. He eagerly wanted to understand what this era was like, as it was unlikely that he could return to his own time. From now on, he would have to make a living here. In the few days since possessing Tan's body, Feng Wenyu had been busy adapting to his new physical form, dealing with Fu Bo who served him, and thinking about China's future history... Unfortunately, he hadn't considered his current situation, and with a heart that was both melancholic and excited, Feng Wenyu, or rather Tan Yanqin, slowly drifted off to sleep.

  "From today on, I am Tan Yanqing! The former Feng Wenyu is completely dead!" Tan Yanqing stood in front of the mirror and shouted loudly to himself. In the mirror, he was wearing a white silk changshan, if you didn't look at the two-foot-long braid behind his head, he could really be called "handsome".

  Today is the day of the list, Tan Yanqian is still in Changsha, Hunan, and did not follow Tan Zhonglin to Fuzhou. This is because he will participate in the Tongzi trial held in Changsha in July. If this test can be listed, he will become a Xiucai after completing the first step of the Wanli Imperial Examination.

  Actually, just a few days ago, when Feng Wenyu had just accepted the reality of being possessed by Tan Yanqin, what he was most worried about was how he could pass the academic examination under the imperial examination system. At that time, except for a few who took the path of going abroad, almost everyone had to attend private schools from a young age to study the Four Books and Five Classics. How would Feng Wenyu know these things?! Fortunately, Feng Wenyu inherited everything from Tan Yanqin, including his complete memories and old knowledge system. This made him not worry about being beaten to death by Old Man Tan Zhonglin in the future - from Tan Yanqin's memories, Feng Wenyu knew that Tan Zhonglin had very strict requirements for Tan Yanqin's studies, which left him speechless.

  Tan Yanxin walked on the main street, with Tan's old servant Fu Bo following behind him. Tan Yanxin was very curious about everything on the main street. According to his previous memories, there was a special story behind Tan Zhonglin's strict requirements - Tan Zhonglin was skilled in "Mai Yi Xiang Fa" (a fortune-telling technique), liked to read people's faces, and also liked to invite diviners to predict the fortunes of his family members. Tan Zhonglin had once invited a diviner named Yang to the government office, where he stayed for over a month. However, Yang only spoke up at the end of his stay, saying: "Governor Tan, I have been in your mansion for a month and have seen some things. The other two young masters will have higher positions and greater achievements than you in the future. But to be honest, I'm afraid that Tan Yanxin's future accomplishments may go against yours." Tan Zhonglin wanted to ask more questions, but Yang suddenly fell silent. From then on, Tan Zhonglin was afraid that Tan Yanxin would cause trouble and endanger the safety of the Tan family in the future, so he became even stricter in his discipline of him.

  This matter was told to Tan Yankai by his own brother, but now Feng Wenyu's spirit is attached to Tan Yankai's body. In his heart, he thought: "This Yang surname Taoist priest really has two hands. According to the historical records of Tan Yankai's actions, apart from being the governor of Hunan three times, it seems that he was also a very important official in the Republican government. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been buried next to Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, which is comparable to being buried next to an emperor's mausoleum! According to reason, this Taoist priest's calculation is indeed correct! Unfortunately, Tan Yankai now is not the same as before. If there was no chance of success, it would have been better to move his whole family overseas in the late Qing dynasty, and then he wouldn't have seen or heard anything!"

  Tan Yanqian walked on the road, thinking about how to face the great changes of the future era. After all, he had some understanding of the strong men of that era. If it weren't for a chance encounter with a great opportunity, wanting to be on par with those strong men or great men would be impossible for him. Walking freely on the street like this was extremely rare for Tan Yanqian. Feng Wenyu was naturally free in his lifetime, but at that time, he lived more than 100 years ago. Although it couldn't compare to the prosperity of the 21st century, it had its own unique charm.

  Hunan is the central region of China, where merchants come and go, and its geographical location is superior. At this time, it still largely retains the appearance of the late Qing dynasty and has not yet begun to take on the shape of a modern city like Shanghai. Walking on the streets of Changsha, there are many things that Tan Yanxin had never seen before, and while being a scholar is important for readers today, it does not represent anything for Tan Yanxin at this time, and he still looks down on these things.

  "Get out! No money and still coming to my place, I'm so fed up with you!"

  Tan Yanqin was walking with Fu Bo on the street, when suddenly he blurted out a sentence that left him very surprised. He thought of quickening his pace to take a closer look at what was happening, but Fu Bo pulled on his sleeve and said disapprovingly: "There are many people ahead, young master should not walk too fast!"

  Tan Yanqin was curious in her heart, but at this time, a weak and powerless voice came: "Give me a little more! Just a little, I'll give my life to you!"

  Tan Yanqun stopped in his tracks at the sound - it was too familiar to him, the voice of a drug addict - without dignity, lowly and not even as good as a dog, a mere shell of humanity, a walking corpse! In his past life as a doctor, he had a deep understanding of drugs, after all, the medical industry and drugs were closely linked. If given the equipment and raw materials, he could even produce drugs that were unimaginable in this era, at a lower cost, and easier to get people addicted unknowingly!

  Feng Wenyu, who was possessed by Tan Yanxin, had also participated in the research of anti-drug medicines in his previous life. In his time, drugs were still a major problem plaguing China. It was precisely because of this social demand that the relevant anti-drug medicines continued to be upgraded and replaced. To put it simply, Feng Wenyu did not just participate in the research of such topics once or twice. Either the effect was not obvious, or the variety of drugs was constantly changing, making the existing anti-drug medicines ineffective. However, fortunately, before he went to Germany, a new generation of anti-drug medicines that he had participated in had entered the production line, with very good results. Most importantly, its source was a prescription from traditional Chinese medicine. At that time, his work was to convert decoctions into preparations and pills.

  Although it has been a long time, the images of those drug addicts seen by Feng Wenyu still linger in his mind from time to time, and the main reason is that drugs have tortured people too much, simply turning them into ghosts. He didn't expect that he had just arrived in this era for less than a few days, but he encountered a drug addict again, which gave him a huge shock.

  The big smoker who was thrown onto the street had already become a drug addict, his skeletal body trembling and curled up into a ball. His dry, chicken-like hands kept scratching at his chest and neck until blood flowed out in streams, yet he still shouted hoarsely: "Give me one puff! Give me..."

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