The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 385: The Peerless Master Wuyazi

As the saying goes, when the granaries are full, people will know etiquette. Because the Yazhou Prefecture of the Song Dynasty opened up channels for foreign trade, the Dali Kingdom earned one million taels of silver a year and a large amount of supplies poured in. It had escaped famine. The "miracle doctor" Ma Wangshen Zhong Wanchou conquered the common diseases in the Dali Kingdom, and for a time, the Dali Kingdom had the rudiments of a prosperous era.

Emperor Baoding was not originally a tyrant or incompetent ruler. He was a devout believer in Buddhism and a benevolent government that loved his people. Although there were some constraints, he basically ensured that people's livelihood was not difficult. At this time, further efforts would increase his influence.

Murong Fu, Wang Yuyan and Wuyazi pointed out a way for him. You know, fame exists among the common people and the upper class, and literati and scholars have the greatest influence among them. However, they want Emperor Baoding to bring out the advantages of Dali Kingdom and pay some price to let the literati of Song Dynasty spread it widely.

What are the advantages of the Dali Kingdom?

Murong Fu's answer was mountains and rivers. He put forward the slogan "Dali's mountains and rivers are the best in the world" and built many houses with local characteristics in the scenic spots of Erhai Lake and Lijiang. He sincerely invited scholars and literati from all over the world to leave their works here, and selected the top ten articles to spread throughout the world as the king of Dali.

Literati love fame, so Emperor Baoding could cater to their tastes by promoting the mountains and rivers of Dali Kingdom. By then, he might be able to attract visitors from all over the world, not only to earn a lot of money, but also to recruit some useful talents.

Although a woman, Wang Yuyan preferred the flowers and plants of Dali. After hearing her mother talk about the camellias in Dali, she became interested in them. She proposed to Emperor Baoding to develop the three or five barren mountains separately and plant various kinds of camellias, so as to win the title of the world's number one camellia show.

This Camellia Festival is open to both men and women. The venue can be divided into two parts, inviting only young men and women in their prime to recite poems, write couplets, play the piano and sing songs. Adding some local singing and dancing customs, it will surely be very attractive.

Doing so can not only spread Dali culture, but also attract talents and increase exchanges between Dali and the outside world. If a few good marriages can be facilitated at the flower show, the effect will be even better.

"Dali's mountains and rivers are breathtakingly beautiful, and Dali also has its own unique products, but they are buried because of its geographical location and inconvenient transportation. If these problems can be solved, Dali will have unlimited potential." Wang Yuyan's words were a bit exaggerated. It is true that Dali has pleasant scenery, but it is also a fact that the country is small and weak and is surrounded by other countries. Dali's national strength still has a lot of room for improvement, but it is definitely not considered to have unlimited potential.

The proposal of Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan was quite appealing to Emperor Baoding and his wife. They all turned their eyes to Wuyazi, who only said four words: revise the book and restore the ancient times!

Emperor Baoding and his wife looked at each other in surprise, while Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan applauded.

Wuyazi explained, "The Dali Kingdom is small and weak, and it needs to rely on external forces to develop. Neither Tubo nor Xixia are states of respect, so the Song Dynasty is the best choice. However, the Song Dynasty is located in the Central Plains and has always regarded itself as a central country. The debate between Chinese and barbarians has been enduring. If we can't get them to treat the Dali Kingdom as one of our own, it will be extremely difficult to get them to treat the Dali Kingdom sincerely."

"Therefore, we need to revise the book and rectify the name of the Dali Kingdom. We need to explain that the people of Dali and the Han people of the Song Dynasty share a common origin and have a deep connection. They can't just be as close as family, but they must also be brothers by blood. This is one reason!" Wuyazi continued, "However, this book will inevitably lead to many doubts, so we need evidence. Now is the time to go back to the past."

"What does it mean to restore the past?" Wuyazi continued, "Restore all the significant buildings in Dali from ancient times to the present. All traces left by famous people from the Central Plains in Dali need to be repaired and properly managed. We can even invite famous scholars from the Song Dynasty to research them together."

"It's human nature to respect the past and despise the present, and this is common among scholars and literati. If the Dali Kingdom presents this evidence and combines it with ancient records, they will find it difficult to deny it. They may even be proud to revisit the old place and follow the path of the ancient sages. This is also a great opportunity for the Dali Kingdom."

Emperor Baoding was not an ordinary pedantic man. When he heard this, he immediately understood and was overjoyed. He thanked Wuyazi repeatedly. Compared with Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan who saw the mountains, rivers, flowers and plants of Dali Kingdom, the old man Wuyazi saw the rich history of Dali Kingdom. The difference was obvious at a glance.

It’s not that Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan’s methods are bad, but their vision is inferior to Wuyazi’s.

With the talent displayed by Wang Yuyan, she is capable of managing a clan or even serving as a local official. Murong Fu's talent is enough to make him a general or a prime minister. If he were in a small country, he would be comparable to the ancient Zhuge Liang, a talented person with no flaws in all aspects.

However, in the eyes of Emperor Baoding, Wuyazi was definitely the best candidate for the national teacher. A casual suggestion from him could improve the national strength, which made him respect this old man even more.

However, no matter how much he respected him, he could not stop Wuyazi from leaving with Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan. Before leaving, Emperor Baoding invited Wuyazi to Tianlong Temple alone to discuss philosophy with Zen Master Kurong, trying to follow the old man's approach. However, Zen Master Kurong was also defeated. They found that the old man had amazing attainments in Zen, and he had integrated the three religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism into one without any flaws.

After leaving Tianlong Temple, Wuyazi secretly felt lucky. If Murong Fu hadn't recently given him not only the Yi Jin Jing but also a copy of Kurong Zen Gong, which would have given him a deeper understanding of Master Kurong's teachings, he wouldn't have been outclassed in Buddhism and Zen. Coupled with his formidable knowledge of Confucianism and Taoism, it was only natural that the Three Religions would have completely suppressed Master Kurong.

After settling Qin Hongmian, Zhong Wanchou left in disappointment. Murong Fu, Wang Yuyan and others openly inspected the business of Murong Trading Company in Dali City and made targeted adjustments.

At the instruction of Emperor Baoding and Prince Zhennan, Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan obtained a hilltop thirty miles outside Dali City and made detailed plans to make it the Murong family's Dali villa. However, in the eyes of the Dali royal family, this villa was more like a princess's mansion specially given to Wang Yuyan.

Truth cannot be hidden. Dao Baifeng could tolerate an illegitimate daughter of the royal family who married out and was helpful to the Dali Kingdom, but she could not tolerate a love rival coming to her door. After knowing that Qin Hongmian had obtained a small courtyard in Dali City, the jealous Dao Baifeng almost couldn't help but pick up a knife and kill someone.

Even though Duan Zhengchun used all kinds of sweet words and flattery, he was unable to keep Dao Baifeng for another day, and he turned around and returned to Chongxu Temple.

This was a difficult time for Duan Yu, the prince of Zhennan. On one side was his father, and on the other was his mother. He finally tricked his mother back to the Zhennan Palace under the pretext of Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan, but his mother left because of his father's other lover.

The source of this matter lies with his father, but he cannot blame Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan. Moreover, it is not easy for that Shura Knife to give birth to a daughter for his father and she has been living alone for more than ten years. Compared with his own luxurious life, his sister Mu Wanqing's life must not be so easy.

Moreover, as the only contemporary heir of the Dali Duan family, he is also knowledgeable and can see many problems from his sister Mu Wanqing's martial arts. The martial arts she learned are definitely not orthodox, and they use poison a lot.

The Dali Kingdom is located in the south of China, and poisoning is a common practice. However, Duan Yu, who has been influenced by Confucianism and Buddhism since childhood, looks down on these little tricks. He thinks they are not upright enough and bring shame to the Duan family of Dali. If possible, he still hopes that his sister can learn some orthodox martial arts.

It's just that without the master's permission, he couldn't teach all his martial arts. However, as a descendant of the Dali Duan family, the inheritance of the Dali Kingdom was not a big problem. For the first time, Duan Yu felt that his martial arts skills were not enough. Although it was only for the consideration of others, he still had this feeling.

"The martial arts of the world come from Murong. I wish I could be as knowledgeable as Master Murong or my sister Wang Yuyan." Duan Yu sighed. After a few days of communication, he found that Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan seemed to know almost all the martial arts in the world. They knew many of them like the back of their hands, and could also tell you a lot about other secret skills.

Compared to me, they are the real geniuses, the all-round ones.

Ba Tianshi and Zhu Danchen who followed Duan Yu were delighted when they heard this. It was a good thing that their young master had actually started to take an interest in martial arts. It turned out that making friends was important. The young master probably felt the attainments and erudition of the two in martial arts, and was influenced by them and was ready to dabble in more martial arts.

As an emperor, he may not consider the level of martial arts, but the Dali Duan family is also the leader of the Tiannan martial arts world. If the head of the family does not have extremely strong martial arts skills, he will inevitably be controlled by others. They are happy to see Duan Yu study martial arts diligently.

Ba Tianshi and Zhu Danchen: The prince is good in everything except his attitude towards martial arts, which he takes too casually and does not take seriously enough.

Duan Yu: My martial arts skills are enough. I don't fight people all the time, so why would I need such strong martial arts? As the Buddhist scriptures say...