xymnovel Chapter 46 The Way of Heaven is to take from the surplus and give to the deficiency.
Chapter 46 The Way of Heaven is to take from the surplus and give to the deficiency.
"Your humble servant Wang Jun pays his respects to the Empress Dowager."
"I'm no longer the Empress Dowager. Call me Immortal Master, Master Wang. Please sit." As she spoke, she instructed a palace maid to pour him tea.
Empress Dowager Fu was dressed casually in a Taoist robe, looking somewhat languid. In her early twenties, she looked like a Taoist nun in this attire, and she was quite charming.
Seated on the imperial carriage, the Empress Fu didn't care about etiquette at all. Her upper body seemed boneless, leaning back with half of her shoulder slipping out from under her Taoist robe. Seeing his restrained appearance, she burst out laughing.
"You, a truly enlightened being, are dressed in official robes, while I, a mere mortal, am dressed in Taoist robes. I wonder if this constitutes blasphemy against the Taoist ancestor?"
Wang Jun was also somewhat embarrassed, not expecting Empress Dowager Fu to be so capricious. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and still perform the proper courtesies:
"I am no longer a Taoist priest, nor would I dare to call myself a Taoist. As for the Empress Dowager... the Taoist patriarch is not like the Buddha. He is a deity of his own, so there is no need for such fuss."
"Your own deity doesn't have so many rules? Ha, you're quite an interesting person. Forget tea, let's drink wine! Someone, bring the wine!"
"what?"
"Have a drink with me." As she spoke, Empress Fu gave Wang Jun a flirtatious wink. When Wang Jun lowered his head, she simply changed her position on the imperial carriage, deliberately lying down and revealing half of her snow-white chest, which made Wang Jun blush.
This is way too extravagant!
To be honest, Empress Dowager Fu was now acting with considerable impunity in the Song Dynasty. Some later generations in the Ming and Qing Dynasties claimed that Empress Dowager Fu was under house arrest in the early Song Dynasty, but that's pure nonsense.
When Chai Zongxun died, she made a special trip to Fangzhou to see him and even took a vacation. She didn't return to Kaifeng for more than half a year. Zhao Kuangyin didn't impose any restrictions or precautions on her at all.
On the contrary, after Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne, his control over Empress Fu became noticeably stricter.
This empire was originally abandoned by the father and daughter, which gave Zhao Kuangyin the opportunity; one could even say that she practically forced it into Zhao Kuangyin's hands.
Fu Yanqing is still alive, and at this time, there is no time to treat her well and with respect. Therefore, when Empress Fu was the Empress Dowager in the Song Dynasty, she was more indulgent and willful than when she was the Empress Dowager in the Zhou Dynasty.
A young woman in her early twenties, whose father was the only prince of a different surname in the land, was living a comfortable life as a princess. She might have even had her own childhood sweetheart or something.
As a result, an imperial edict summoned her to the palace, making her the empress, but in reality, she was a widow from a poor family. She was made empress dowager in the special period of the Five Dynasties, holding her nephew. It would be a miracle if she had even the slightest affection for Chai Rong as a wife.
Chai Rong issued an edict on the ninth day of the sixth month to establish her as empress. He himself died on the nineteenth day of the sixth month. The edict had to be sent to Daming Prefecture first. Even if she received the edict, there would be no delay. She would immediately put on her wedding dress and go from Daming Prefecture to the capital to marry into the palace. There was not enough time.
This is a wedding, not a military dispatch delivered by express courier.
So she has never even met Chai Rong. She is still a virgin. Why should she put on a dignified act for Chai Rong's sake?
She not only doesn't want to remain a widow for Chai Rong, but she also doesn't want to remain a widow for him. Why should she remain a widow for Chai Rong?
Unfortunately, there were hardly any men in the palace on ordinary days. The few men she occasionally saw kept their distance from her. She couldn't very well seduce Zhao Kuangyin, and he would never fall for it. So when she finally met a man, she couldn't resist teasing him.
Especially Wang Jun, who looks to be in his early thirties, is quite handsome. While not exactly dashing, he's certainly good-looking.
Perhaps because of his past cultivation, Fu Hou saw that he possessed a transcendent quality that was quite captivating.
"A few days ago, after Han Tong resigned, he came to the palace specifically to see me, saying he wanted to say goodbye. He mentioned the Taoist priest and said that if it weren't for you, his son-in-law, saving him, the entire Han family might have been wiped out by now."
"Alas, I know that Han Tong is utterly loyal to the Great Zhou, and even to me, and is someone I can rely on. It's just that the times are difficult, and how can a woman like me bear the weight of the world on my shoulders? It's me who has let him down."
"Your Majesty, please don't say that. My father-in-law has never blamed you. He only blames the cruelty of Heaven. The Great Zhou has no destiny. In any case, it cannot be blamed on Your Majesty."
Empress Fu smiled upon hearing this and said, "I heard from Han Tong that you, Daoist, possess true and profound Daoist knowledge. Although I am currently in the palace, I have also entered the Buddhist order. No, shouldn't I call myself Xuanmen (玄门)? Entering the Buddhist order requires shaving one's head, how ugly! Hehehehe."
"Well, in short, Daoist Master, do you think I could learn a few Daoist techniques? I wonder if you could teach me?"
Wang Jun's eyes darted around. He didn't know if Han Tong had told Empress Dowager Fu about his predicament, or how much he had told her. However, if Han Tong could help him arrange this meeting, he would seize this opportunity.
He immediately replied, "Reporting to the Empress Dowager."
"Call me Immortal Master Yuqing. It's not just to avoid suspicion; I actually don't like it at all when people call me Empress Dowager."
"Yes, in reply to the Immortal Master, it is truly said that the Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao; it is profound and mysterious, the gateway to all wonders. Cultivating the Tao and the mysteries is as difficult as ascending to heaven for ordinary people. Even I myself have lost all my Taoist arts and techniques. How dare I speak to the Empress Dowager about the Tao and instruct the Immortal Master in cultivating the mysteries?"
"Although his Taoist magic is completely gone, he still has a lot of magical techniques left. If Your Majesty is interested, I may be able to teach you the ways of magical techniques."
"The Way of Magic? What is the Way of Magic?"
"The art I specialize in is called Chemistry."
"Chemistry, that sounds amazing. I've heard that you can spin hemp into silk and mass-produce glazed tiles. Could it be that all of this comes from your chemical skills?"
"Good, good, good chemistry, good chemistry, do you have any... scriptures or formulas?"
"There is indeed a formula."
"What's the formula?"
Wang Jun adopted a profound and inscrutable demeanor, sat upright, and imitated the tone of the Bodhi Patriarch preaching in Journey to the West, saying: "Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon."
"Light...what? What? It really is a profound spell. I don't understand it at all. I guess I'm just slow-witted. I wonder if you could explain it to me in detail?"
"Of course, but Immortal Master, as the saying goes, the Dharma should not be passed on lightly. Although it is just a technique, to teach it carelessly would be disrespectful to the Dao."
Empress Fu nodded repeatedly and said, "I will speak to the Emperor right away and ask him to allocate funds for me to build an altar and worship Heaven and the Dao Ancestors. But I don't know exactly what I will need or what the specific details are."
"Setting up an altar for sacrifice is an unorthodox practice. Heaven and Earth are the ancestors of the Way, why should they need human sacrifices? As the saying goes, Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs."
"What should we do then? Please advise, Daoist Master."
"The way of man is to take from the deficient and give to the abundant, while the way of Heaven is to take from the abundant and give to the deficient. If a master wants to learn magic, he should follow the way of Heaven."
"Who knows, how exactly do we 'take from the surplus and give to the deficiency'?"
"In Kaifeng today, grain prices are high, causing hardship for the people. Those with surplus grain are hoarding it for profit, showing insatiable greed."
Those who lack resources suffer hardship, hunger, and cold, unable to survive; this is the way of humanity. If the Immortal Master wishes to act in accordance with the Way of Heaven, he should take from those who have more to relieve the needy, thus benefiting all living beings and accumulating blessings for the Great Song Dynasty and for the Prince of Wei.
"So it's because of hoarding and speculation that grain prices in Kaifeng have been rising incessantly. I know this, but even though the Emperor has issued an edict for disaster relief and declared those who hoard grain to be executed without mercy, it seems that the price of grain still hasn't eased. What can a woman like me do?"
"If Your Majesty is willing to intervene, I do have a way to curb grain prices, reduce surpluses to make up for deficiencies, and do good for Your Majesty and the Prince of Wei."
"Oh? Please tell me quickly, Taoist Master."