Tibet

It was snowing in the sky, and Li Ye put on a cloak and came to the east courtyard. Generally, large families have an east courtyard and a west courtyard. The east courtyard is where the married daughter and her son-in-law come back to live, and the west courtyard is where guests or staff live.

Li Dai has two staff members who have just arrived in Chang'an and are currently living in the west courtyard, while the east courtyard is lived in by the fairy Li Tengkong and several apprentices.

The east courtyard covers an area of ​​about one acre, with more than a dozen rooms. The yard is not small. There are nine wooden stakes erected in the yard, arranged in a nine-square grid. Two little Taoist nuns are practicing sword practice on the wooden stakes, with iron sand bags tied to their legs. , the two female Taoist nuns both move like dragons, very smooth, their feet are very steady, the swords in their hands are shining with cold light, and their moves are endless.

The little Taoist nun Qing Yu was practicing flying knives in another corner. One foot away, the nine flying knives were all hitting with perfect accuracy.

Li Ye nodded secretly. Before, he thought Li Tengkong's apprentices were mediocre in martial arts, but now they seem to be really good and somewhat capable.

"Auntie!"

Xiao Hong shouted and waved to Li Tengkong.

It was Pei Sanniang who arranged for Xiao Hong to serve tea and water to Li Tengkong. Unexpectedly, Li Tengkong took a liking to Xiao Hong and planned to accept her as his apprentice. Pei Sanniang was so frightened that he quickly pulled Xiao Hong away.

"Xiaohong is here, yo! Aye is here too."

With a sound, Aye narrowed the distance between Li Ye and Li Tengkong. Li Ye bowed and saluted: "Hello, Auntie!"

"Come in! Come in!"

Li Tengkong is still very grateful to Li Ye. Last time, Li Ye gave her five thousand taels of gold, equivalent to fifty thousand guan, and bought eighty thousand shi of grain to help the victims of the Huaibei disaster. He saved many people. Li Tengkong always remembers this kindness. in my heart.

Li Ye walked under the wooden pile and watched the two junior sisters practicing sword carefully. Li Tengkong smiled and said: "You are a master, you can give me some advice."

Li Ye smiled and said: "Hanging iron sand is not a good idea. Let them practice swords at the bottom of the river and feel the water flowing out of the swords. The effect will be better."

Li Tengkong smiled bitterly and said: "They have all practiced underwater. They have been practicing for three years. Now they are at their limit. The speed is okay, but the main reason is that the strength cannot keep up. Not everyone can practice the Suzaku Mental Technique."

"Agu, where is Liefeng?"

"Master went to Qingcheng Mountain Wuji Palace to visit her senior sister Qingling Zhenren."

Li Ye was startled, "Liefeng still has a senior sister?"

"Go sit in the room! I'll tell you something."

The two of them came to the hall and sat down. Li Tengkong pondered for a while and said: "Originally, there are some secrets that I cannot tell you, but if I don't tell you, you won't know how the five thousand taels of gold were used. You will think that we are corrupt. ”

"I have never thought of it this way!" Li Ye shook his head.

"You don't think so now, but that doesn't mean you won't think so in the future. I haven't even left the capital, everything has been done, and the food relief has been distributed to the hungry people."

"Auntie, did you ask someone to do it?"

Li Tengkong smiled and said: "The distribution of 80,000 shi of grain cannot be done by just a few people. Hundreds of people are doing this. Some people are responsible for going to Jiangnan to buy food, some are responsible for distributing food, and some are responsible for counting the hungry people."

“Is a sect doing these things?”

Li Tengkong smiled and said: "To be precise, four sects are doing it. Taiqing Palace in Chang'an, Zixia Palace in Lushan Mountain, Taurus Palace in Hengshan Mountain, and Wuji Palace in Qingcheng Mountain. These four Taoist palaces are all places where female Taoists practice, and they have deep connections with each other. , was actually founded by four sisters from the Wuji Palace in Qingcheng Mountain. Their master was called Li Wuji, who founded the Wuji Palace in Qingcheng Mountain. My master Liefeng ran away from the Pei family in Hedong at the age of fourteen and became a female Taoist priest in the Wuji Palace. , and later she entered the royal family, and after accepting Princess Jinxian and Princess Yuzhen as her disciples, the emperor built the Taiqing Palace for her, and she finally had her own foundation."

"Liefeng is the master's Taoist name?"

Li Tengkong nodded and said with a smile: "She came to be an apprentice in art. Her name was Pei Tianfeng, and she was later named Tianfeng Zhenren by the court. Later, it was said that Feilong thought she had a bad temper, so he changed her name to Liefeng. She is Li Wuji's second apprentice. , the real Tianfeng mentioned by Taoist friends from all over the world is Liefeng.

The eldest disciple was named Xie Qingling, who was named Qingling Zhenren and inherited the Wuji Palace. The third disciple was named Zhang Ziyun and was named Ziyun Zhenren. He founded the Zixia Palace in Lushan. The fourth disciple was named Meng Luojin and was named Luojin Zhenren. , created the Golden Bull Palace in Hengshan. This time the Huaibei disaster relief was initiated by Qingling Zhenren. The four Taoist palaces had money and were able to contribute, but several Taoist palaces were very poor. A total of 53,000 yuan was raised. , you alone have made 50,000 yuan, think about your importance. "

Li Ye smiled and said: "No wonder Agu wants to explain it clearly to me!"

"exactly!"

"Then why did Agu go to Lushan Zixia Palace again?"

There was hatred in Li Tengkong's eyes, "I have a bad relationship with Princess Yuzhen. I can't stand her dissolute ways. She is not a Taoist at all. Ten years ago, I left the Taiqing Palace in anger and went to the Third Division. My uncle's Zixia Palace is where the real Taoism is. I moved to your father's house these days just to avoid Princess Yuzhen."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and then asked: "Suzaku went to Qingcheng Mountain with Lie Feng?"

"Of course, but you are not kind, and Suzaku left in anger."

Li Ye was stunned, "Why?"

"I don't know the reason. When Suzaku entered the palace, it seemed that the imperial concubine showed her a gem."

Three black lines suddenly appeared on Li Ye's forehead. If he had known that Concubine Yang was showing off gems everywhere, he would not have given them to her. Not only did Mrs. Guo Guo force him to find gems for her, but now even Suzaku was angry. She was a dignified concubine. What was she doing? Want to show off to Suzaku?

At this time, Qing Yu came in to serve them tea. When she turned around, she secretly stuck out her tongue to Li Ye and made a face, full of ladylike air.

"Qingyu, don't be like this, it's very rude!"

Qingyu pouted and went out.

Li Ye looked at her back and smiled: "I punched her last time. Is she still angry with me?"

Li Tengkong smiled and said, "She has the same straightforward personality as her father. If you treat her well, she will share her feelings with you. But if you bully her and lie to her, she will hold a grudge, so you punch her. If you pretend to be hurt and lie to her again, she will become more prejudiced against you, so take your time!"

"Who is her father?"

"Her father is more famous, the poet Li Bai."

It suddenly dawned on Li Ye that it was Qing Yu who was the daughter of Li Bai who went to Taiqing Palace to visit him!

"Her name is Li Qingyu?"

Li Tengkong shook his head, "She takes her mother's surname, and her name is Xu Pingyang. Qingyu is the Taoist name I gave her. She has a deep resentment towards her father. She didn't see her father when he came to visit her some time ago."

Speaking of his father, Li Ye pondered for a moment and then asked, "Has Agu visited my grandfather?"

Li Tengkong shook his head, "He has done too many evil things, which have affected all people in the world. I am ashamed of him!"

Li Ye said calmly: "Agu, the reason that affects the people all over the world is that the borders of the Tang Dynasty were not peaceful, the burden on the national power was too heavy, and the powerful people of all sizes annexed the land. In fact, it has nothing to do with my grandfather. It started as early as the Wu Zetian era. The reason why the Kaiyuan Dynasty occurred was because the benefits of water transportation brought a large amount of wealth and food to the south of the Yangtze River, and Chang'an and even Guanzhong would be unprecedentedly prosperous."

Li Tengkong did not say anything, and Li Ye continued: "At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the huge wealth accumulated by the Sui Dynasty was used until the later period of Emperor Gaozong, so that the imperial court could do little corvee and recuperate with the people. At that time, the old aristocracy was wiped out. It was almost done. The new aristocracy had just begun. The Tang Dynasty had only a small number of people, so it could implement the military system. The court almost no longer had the burden of military expenses. Later, a powerful nobleman gave birth to ten sons, and ten sons gave birth to hundreds of grandsons. Each grandson had to Land, manors, and a hundred years of population growth meant that the land was simply not enough. Farmers' land was annexed, and the military system collapsed.

Then the military recruitment system began, the military expenditure of the court increased sharply, there were fewer and fewer farmers, a large number of powerful people evaded taxes, and wars with Tibet broke out every year, the government's finances became more and more difficult. This is not something that a single prime minister can change, except for raising taxes. , the court has no way, this has been the case since ancient times, the growing number of court and local dignitaries and their increasingly greedy appetites are the root of the demise of all dynasties. "

Li Tengkong sighed, "How long can your grandfather live?"

"I don't know, maybe a month or two at most!"

Li Ye finally advised: "Since Agu is cultivating immortality, she should put aside all emotions and worldly burdens. The spiritual platform should be empty, selfless, without desires, and free from worries. But if your grandfather passes away, you will not be able to see your father for the last time." , especially if you find that you have wrongly blamed your father, you will have a knot in your heart, then stop thinking about cultivating immortality."

Li Tengkong frowned slightly, "Will I blame my father wrongly?"

"Auntie, it doesn't matter whether you are wrong or wrong. The key is that if you don't live in the world, how can you be born in it?"

Li Tengkong was shocked and murmured: "If you don't join the world, how can you be born in it?"