Chapter 511: Chapter 511
Feng Qintian, as Xu Qing’s protector, is now ordered to protect Lord Zhou.
In the southwest, there is resistance to the king’s governance, which greatly reduces the dynasty’s fortune. Moreover, it is currently a time of Tusi rebellion, and the safety of officials is not well guaranteed.
On the other hand, the Water West Great Horse is very famous in the southwest.
These tea merchants from Lingnan are also sponsors of the Red Flower Society. They have come to take this opportunity to expand tea and horse trade.
In commercial and military aspects, horses have always been of great use.
Even if the tea merchants don’t use them themselves, they can sell them to the officials.
In a sense, the number of horses can directly reflect the strength of the Court.
The An family can breed horses, so in terms of military strength, they are somewhat superior to the Yang family.
The Fire Cloud Horse Xu Qing rides has been nourished by Xu Qing’s Thunder Sound for a long time, much like a martial artist in training, it is far taller and stronger than when it first came into Xu Qing’s hands.
Today’s Fire Cloud Horse is even more terrifying in strength compared to general internal martial artists.
However, the resources consumed to maintain a Fire Cloud Horse are equivalent to a hundred warhorses. This fellow’s taste is increasingly picky, and it has even learned the bad habit of drinking alcohol.
The Fire Cloud Horse’s coat is now increasingly pure, resembling white clouds, with its hooves like burning flames. Coupled with its tall stature, it is undoubtedly a heavenly horse descended to earth.
At the Juzhou Horse Farm, it exudes a regal aura, causing all other horses to submit, with many mares unable to resist showing signs of heat.
Additionally, the Fire Cloud Horse can now understand human speech, except it can’t speak. Its intelligence is no different from that of a normal mischievous child.
Su Lianqing couldn’t help but secretly suspect that in a few years, this Fire Cloud Horse might directly transform into a spirit and cultivate formidable divine skills.
The group set off for Long Chang Inn.
Along the way, the mountains are high and the roads are distant and treacherous.
Yet with Xu Liushou present, even the most difficult roads are easy to travel.
Along the way, quite a few bandits and evil demon influences appeared.
Most of the time, even before the group could react, Xu Liushou had already taken care of them.
The shopkeepers sent by the tea merchants vaguely guessed that Xu Liushou is the Red Flower Society’s secret leader. Upon witnessing Xu Liushou’s ability to casually kill with ease, they were even more terrified and would surely report back to the tea merchants, stating that Xu Liushou must not be offended.
Especially some hidden evil demon influences, they had no awareness and were also easily exposed by Xu Liushou.
Offending such a person is too frightening. Surely, he can observe one’s fortune, leaving nowhere to hide.
The corpses of the evil demon influences were not wasted by Xu Qing; he sent them to the local officials, instructing them to have forensic doctors perform dissections and share the findings.
In fact, Xu Qing is actively supporting the officials’ forensic doctors in conducting dissections of human bodies.
Additionally, since Elder Dan Xi had imparted medical skills to him, he has his own insights in this field and has written relevant books to be published in the New Citizen Newspaper, Shuntian Times, and Great Ming Newspaper.
With his current fame, actively doing these things will surely have imitators.
Xu Qing doesn’t intend to excel in this, but mainly aims to serve as a benchmark.
For instance, water brewed from willow branches has some medicinal effects, yet he offers a high reward to anyone who can study the reasons behind the willow branches’ medicinal properties.
These influences become increasingly significant after he becomes the embodiment of Wenqu Star.
Reforming from the top down is difficult, but influencing various industries and everyday life, as a superior, it’s easy to exert influence.
For instance, the old Emperor had a significant driving role in the development of Taoism and Alchemy.
In Xu Qing’s view, if he has more time, he would surely compile a Martial Arts Scripture and Daoist Scripture to elucidate the mysteries of martial arts and Daoist skills, combining the intelligence of people worldwide.
As cultivation progresses, it becomes increasingly dependent on wisdom, and a person’s wisdom is limited.
Better to leverage the intelligence of the world to aid one’s own cultivation.
As for whether having too many cultivators would lead to insufficient resources for the Great Yu Dynasty, that is inevitable; hence, further expansion is possible.
With conflicts turning outward, internal consumption naturally diminishes.
These are grand strategies, not matters of one or two years. Xu Qing might not see that day, but he can begin it.
Moreover, the more Xu Qing plans for the long term, the stronger the cohesion among his subordinates.
But in reality, Xu Qing knows that whether he can live past next July is only something of which he’ll be sure when the time comes.
Even so, Xu Qing has no thoughts of wanting to indulge in reckless abandon as death approaches.
Because he treasures everything he has now, as well as his achievements.
Career is another form of life’s continuation.
Once he realizes this, his perception of life and death becomes increasingly indifferent.
Armies can lose their leaders, but a man cannot lose his resolve.
He begins to understand the significance of "resolve."
"Is Ah Wu about to give birth? It must be a son," Xu Qing thinks of his beloved wife, with tender feelings blossoming within.
It’s not that he has a bias against boys or girls, but as the principal wife, having a son would indeed bode well for all aspects.
More importantly, if he doesn’t die young, that’s the best outcome.
Otherwise, his family and friends would only have the option to set sail or venture far away.
Su Lianqing seems to sense Xu Qing’s emotions and says, "Young master, I have already followed your instructions and invited the old Heavenly Master to look after Madam. Once there’s an outcome, news will be promptly delivered through Dao Skill."
The birth of the little master is naturally now the top priority for Xu Qing’s faction.
Honestly, the present world’s situation is increasingly difficult for her to discern.
It seems to be getting better, but there are also more things happening globally—border chaos and various undercurrents swelling within the inland provinces are quite alarming.