Chapter 54: The Great War is About to Begin

According to New Year customs, restaurants usually open on the eighth day of the first month.

Those that open early are either large restaurants that cater to the needs of nobles to receive friends and have fun;

or small restaurants with poor family backgrounds that earn some clever money.

The wine banners were discolored by smoke and fire.

The floor in the shop was uneven.

Chen's shop, with its wooden tables and small stools that were so old they were peeling, was undoubtedly the latter.

Entering the restaurant, Zhang Gui and his little partner casually found a low table against the wall and sat down.

They filtered a jar of sour plum wine, ordered a full basin of hot braised lamb hooves, and began to chat and brag.

First, Zhang Gui, half-truthfully and extravagantly, told about his experiences in the late period of Blackwood Town.

He focused on how enchanting the maid brought by Young Master Tong San was when she dressed as a man.

Zhang Jiujiang listened and clicked his tongue repeatedly.

Then Zhang Jiujiang also told about his various experiences after returning home from Giant Serpent Head Island.

Although many of these things couldn't be called secrets, they weren't things that ordinary commoners could know.

It turned out that the Yuan Mountain Empire, which bordered the Ming Song Northern Kingdom, had produced a generation of dominators in recent years.

Unexpectedly, while attacking the Xia Qing, which was also famous for its cavalry, in the west, and taking the Xiangfan, which was hot all year round, in the east, they didn't forget to harass the high-plateau great country of Benfo Tubo all day long.

A few days ago, they didn't know what kind of madness they had caught, and actually sent envoys to blackmail the Ming Song for one million bolts of cotton cloth.

To say that with the foundation of the Song Ming, although troubled times were rising, they could still afford this bit of cotton cloth.

And the Southern Province, which had been peaceful for a long time, had many fish and rice villages, and also had the benefit of maritime trade, gritted its teeth and was willing to produce this cotton cloth.

But the new emperor 'Hezheng', who had been crown prince for twenty-nine years and only ascended the throne at fifty-one.

In the first half of his life, he didn't submit to anyone except his father, but at this time, he habitually became stubborn.

He believed that although the Wood Iron Wolf Khan of Yuan Mountain was a dominator of a generation, he, Emperor Hezheng, was not inferior.

He directly gave a left kick, tore up the Yuan Mountain Emperor's national letter, and killed his envoy.

And those provinces in the north of Song Ming, where the folk customs were fierce and land annexation was serious, with rebels rising everywhere and days being bitter and chaotic, were not afraid of turning internal contradictions into external wars.

Regardless of whether they could beat Yuan Mountain or not, since they couldn't live well, they first occupied the moral high ground and earned a name in history for being upright.

Therefore, led by the frontier officials of the Longjin and Zhenchuan provinces, the six northern provinces wrote to the imperial court to denounce the Yuan Mountain for being tyrannical, immoral, and greedy, and wanted to 'fight to the death with them'.

Now the five southern provinces were dumbfounded; although they couldn't openly oppose it, they secretly engaged in public relations.

And although Zhang Jiuqing's noble, Duke Hexiang, was a Southerner, he had entered the officialdom and served as an official since the time of Emperor Geng, and his attribute as a 'Royalist' of the three-dynasty veteran overwhelmed everything.

His political inclination leaned toward the Northern Kingdom with the wind.

Therefore, he didn't think about letting his future grandson-in-law 'be humble and cultivate reputation' anymore.

He ordered Zhang Jiuqing to immediately pass the provincial examination, then the metropolitan examination, and return home to be an official.

To be a nail driven into the Southern officialdom.

To say what use it had, even if he passed the third rank, he would only be a Sixth Rank official at the beginning.

Not staying in the Hanlin Academy but returning home to disgust people, and being promoted one level from a capital official to a local one, making him a qualified troublemaker wasn't even enough.

But although he couldn't be a troublemaker, he could be a weather vane showing loyalty.

And this weather vane was very important to Duke Hexiang, who was a Southerner, and his party members who were also Southerners.

Zhang Gui's smile gradually disappeared upon learning this news, and he was silent for a while before saying in a low voice:

"Then it means there might be a war."

Zhang Jiujiang spat out four words, "Imminent!"

"Hiss..." Zhang Gui grabbed a few lamb hooves as if he had a toothache, and was speechless for a long time.

Zhang Jiujiang waited impatiently, reached out and poked his little partner, "What are you thinking, why don't you say it?"

"What does this kind of national affair have to do with a scumbag teenager like me?"

"But the lamb hooves are cold and greasy, can't you taste it?" Zhang Gui put down the lamb hooves and called out to Old Chen:

"Old Uncle Chen, please heat up the lamb hooves, and bring a plate of hot mixed lamb head meat, a basin of lamb miscellaneous soup, and ten flour cakes."

How could a restaurant owner be afraid of a big eater? The fat and greasy Chef Chen responded with a smile,

"Alright."

"Heat up the lamb hooves, a basin of hot mixed lamb head meat, coming right up."

Zhang Jiujiang looked at the countless lamb hoof bones on the table and the ground and suddenly said:

"This national affair might really have something to do with you."

"Dagui, tell the truth, did you enter the Dao by relying on the Zongheng cultivation method scattered by the old thief Zhang Yan?"

Seeing that his little partner had seen the trick, Zhang Gui wasn't surprised, sighed, and said:

"You saw something from my appetite."

"But I hadn't heard before that entering the Dao would turn one into a big rice bucket."

"However, I have indeed been eating more and more differently from ordinary people these days."

"And the more I eat, the faster I run, and the Zongheng Flying Kicker Art has made great progress."

"But I can't find anyone to ask whether I've entered the Dao with this status."

"I can only practice for the time being."

"Anyway, my mother's shrimp paste business is getting bigger, and I don't eat delicacies, so wide noodles mixed with mixed fish can handle it."

"Eating more won't make me starve."

"That's right." Zhang Jiujiang became excited, "I felt it was tricky when you fainted for no reason this time."

"It feels very much like what's written in a book, Drunken Dao."

"That is to say, if you have achieved success in practicing Qi-Blood type cultivation methods and have natural talent, you will eat more and more."

"This is a great benefit that ordinary people don't have."

"The more you eat, the more Qi-Blood is transformed, and the more violently it surges when running."

"At this time, without a master or an elder who has achieved success in cultivation to help regulate it, people are prone to fainting as if they were drunk."

"You are Drunken Dao!"

"In the future, if you want to make progress, eating wide noodles won't work; it's best to eat 'Refined Pills'..."

Refined Pills, the cheapest kind of food pills.

The 'Liang' (Refined) character is synonymous with 'Liang' (Grain).

It is a medicinal pill obtained by refining grain using a method similar to alchemy.

A 'Refined Pill' the size of a thumb cover is equivalent to eating thirty catties of grain, and it has no impurities and is easy to digest.

And above that are 'Refined Meat Pills'.

They are medicinal pills made by mixing grain with good meat that is half fat and half lean.

Eating one is equivalent to eating thirty catties of grain and thirty catties of meat, which is even rarer.

Above that are 'Pure Meat Pills'.

Made purely from top-grade lean meat, one pill can be worth a hundred catties of meat.

Zhang Gui's 'Heavenly Craft Opens Things', because it is built above the earth fire, that is, volcanic magma.

Once the one-year period expires and the entire 'Hanging City', that is, the county seat, is built, the metal house transformed by the marvel can trigger the earth fire and automatically transform into the simplest elixir room.

The one hundred and eight metal craftsmen created by 'Heavenly Craft Opens Things' can be transformed into mechanical elixir masters, producing 'food pills' day and night.

And this is the most precious part of this marvel.

Although the 'Shadow Water Spirit Wall' is far more valuable than a miscellaneous elixir room, there are not many places in the world, but there are plenty of volcanic terrains...

Zhang Gui vaguely realized that if he wanted to improve his strength in the future, it would inevitably depend on bloodline tracing.

For example, the Kuafu bloodline requires learning from the ancient god Kuafu to swallow fire and drink rivers;

The Chiyou bloodline requires learning to transform all herbs and the essence of gold and stone;

The Tai Sui divine cluster is the transformation of the primordial spirit from virtual to real, assimilating the corpses of all spirits and squeezing out the dissipated souls.

Wanting to rely on eating grain and meat, even if you eat up a granary or pasture in one day, and eat for ten thousand or eight thousand years, it is impossible to transform into an ancient demon god.

But that is a matter for the late stage.

Now Zhang Gui is just a Ding-class cultivator who is a loser, and food supplementation still has a certain effect.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 55 =====