After returning from the wedding banquet, Ju Ming's focus was not on the emperor, but on renting a house happily.
I keep staying in inns, and I can’t bear the money in my pocket!
As we all know, prices in Tokyo during the Song Dynasty were extremely high, and buying and renting a house was also very expensive.
But the housing prices in the Huizong Dynasty had reached an unbearable level.
Because the royal family and the powerful occupied land in the city, even the houses of some wealthy businessmen were forcibly demolished.
Naturally, it was impossible for these wealthy businessmen to live in shacks along the Cao River. They spent money to buy houses in the city, which suddenly made the supply of large-scale houses tight, and housing prices rose like a rocket.
There are also many middle-income families who, after being forcibly demolished by the imperial court, bought ordinary apartments.
There are also many well-off families who choose to rent houses in the city.
As a result, the prices of all large and small houses have increased, and rents have also increased steadily.
As early as eight years ago, the rent of houses in Tokyo had doubled from when Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne.
This caused many petty officials in the capital to complain that they could not afford to rent houses. Therefore, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty issued an edict, accusing the governor of Kaifeng of not doing a good job.
The imperial court attributed the increase in rents to the owner's random renovations, doubling the rent for just a few random renovations, which was a very bad conscience. Therefore, it was stipulated that if the area of the house did not increase during renovations, the owner was not allowed to increase the price without permission. Violators
Handled as exceeding the limit.
Is there any use for eggs?
The current rent price in Tokyo is three times what it was twenty years ago!
Moreover, it is difficult to rent a house even if you have money, otherwise Ju Ming and the others would have moved out of the inn long ago.
"Everyone, come in and sit down!" Tang greeted warmly.
The Tang family in front of me is the evil mother-in-law who forcibly broke up Lu You and Tang Wan. She is only twenty-five years old, has a dignified and beautiful appearance, and is full of the charm of a young woman.
Lu Zai was about to be appointed as the envoy to Changping in Huaixi, and the house was empty. He heard that Ju Ming and the others did not have a house to live in, so he was willing to rent it out at a low price.
Mrs. Tang ordered her servants to boil water and make tea, and personally brought out some snacks to entertain them.
Lu Zai introduced: "This house was bought by my father when he was the minister of the Ministry of Rites. Later, he was promoted to Zuocheng (deputy prime minister), and he did not buy a new house. The house is not big, and there are only two courtyards. If you think it is expensive,
Yes, you can also invite two more people to share the room."
"Excuse me, Lu Changping, how much is the monthly rent?" Bai Chongyan couldn't help but ask. Although he made a lot of money selling tea, the three-month stay at the inn cost a lot. Moreover, he didn't know when he would get it.
As a job, you can't predict when you will get paid.
Lu Zai thought for a while: "Since we are all Jinshi, it should be cheaper. The monthly interest is one hundred guan."
It is indeed difficult to find a house with this rent price. After all, the house is quite big and can be shared by several people.
Moreover, this place is located in the inner city, which is a prime location. For an inner city house with two courtyards, the monthly rent would be at least 200 guan based on the market price.
Ju Ming cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, senior, for taking care of me."
Tang said: "If you want to hire slaves, there are ready-made ones here. Pick a few yourself, and I will resell the rest. They are all under ten-year contract. I bought them three years ago, and there are more than six years left on the contract."
.”
Ju Ming discussed with Bai Chongyan and Min Zishun and decided to invite Chen Yuan over and share the rent of 25 guan each month.
We all bought two maids together, one to buy groceries and cook, and the other to wash and mend.
As for daily cleaning, they have their own entourage, so they can't leave Bai Sheng, Gu San and others to do nothing.
At noon, the Lu family had guests for dinner.
Lu Zai has not taken any concubines yet, and has only one son with the Tang family, Lu You's brother Lu Song.
Lu Song is seven years old this year and already knows etiquette quite well. He bowed and said: "See you, Song..."
Well, it’s hard to talk about seniority.
Because of Lu Tixue's relationship, Zhu Ming regards Lu Zai as his elder.
But Lu Zai is only twenty-seven years old this year, about the same age as Bai Chongyan, while Min Zishun is already in his thirties.
Zhu Ming, Bai Chongyan and Min Zishun were equal to each other.
This doesn't make sense at all.
Lu Zai said: "Call me sir."
Lu Song bowed again and said, "Song greets you gentlemen."
Everyone sat down, and Mr. Tang poured the wine himself.
After drinking a few drinks, Mrs. Tang asked them about their marriage status. When she learned that Ju Ming had not married yet, she said, "It's a pity that I have to leave the capital with my husband. Otherwise, I will have to find a good wife for my success."
Ju Ming declined: "I'm young, so there's no rush for now."
Lu Zai said: "There is no rush to succeed. Some people are very anxious. If the officials hadn't been offended by the news of the wedding banquet, I'm afraid someone would have come to propose marriage."
…
Zhu Ming and others went to see the house, but Xue Daoguang was ordered to enter the palace.
Several eunuchs and guards surrounded Xue Daoguang and escorted him all the way into the city, as if they were afraid that the Taoist priest would escape.
Zhu Gong, who had just been demoted as the magistrate of Dazhou, took a carriage out of the city to take up his post, feeling extremely happy in his heart.
He raised the curtain of the car and saw Xue Daoguang entering the city. He sighed sympathetically: "Another one who was forcibly conquered. How pitiful!"
Then, the old gentleman came to the pier, cheered and boarded the ship to escape Tokyo.
Zhu Gong was awarded Jinshi twenty-seven years ago. He was dismissed from office by Zeng Bu for criticizing the current malpractice. From then on, he devoted himself to the study of medicine. He even revised and annotated the "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" and renamed it the "Nanyang Living Book" with a total of twenty volumes.
.
This book became a guide for doctors. Because of this, Zhu Hu was forcibly recruited by Song Huizong and became a doctor of medicine in a daze.
He was obviously a doctor, but Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty actually came to him from time to time to ask for advice on how to practice Taoism. (Zhu Gong also compiled "Two Scenes of Internal and External Scenery", which is an acupuncture book, but it was regarded as a Taoist spiritual map by the author Zhu Gong.
He was also mistaken for a monk.)
Zhu Gong couldn't bear the harassment, so he openly copied Su Shi's poems and promoted Su Zi's teachings to everyone he met. He asked for a hammer, but was demoted after succeeding, and was sent to Dazhou to live happily.
There were many people who had the same idea as Ju Ming and deliberately angered the emperor in order to seek external release.
But he said that Song Huizong was reading "Journey to the West". He had been reading this book for two days, and he could be said to have forgotten all sleep and food.
There were no long novels in the Tang and Song Dynasties. For ancient people, "Journey to the West" was too powerful. Song Huizong was not only fascinated by the plot of the story, but also fascinated by the gods in the book. Various gods, Buddhas, fairies and ghosts were completely consistent.
His imagination of cultivating Taoism and becoming an immortal.
"Guan family, Master Xue is here." The waiter reminded.
Song Huizong was overjoyed, put down the novel and stood up: "Please invite the real person in quickly!"
Xue Daoguang recently found a job and worked in a printing house. He was currently wearing the clothes of a workshop clerk.
Dressing up like this was beyond Song Huizong's expectations.
In the past, Taoist priests from all walks of life wore Taoist robes and a Taoist bun when they entered the palace. However, Xue Daoguang had nothing and had nothing to do with Taoist priests.
Song Huizong suspected that this was a fake Taoist priest and couldn't help but ask: "Why does the real person dress up in Guizhou?"
Xue Daoguang made a Taoist bow and replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, this poor Taoist cultivates the Golden Elixir Dao. He does not pay attention to Taoist rituals, nor does he care about the clothes he wears or the bun he wears."
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty saw that his face was rosy and his complexion was better than that of most Taoist priests, so he asked again: "Can a real person pass on the Taoism?"
Xue Daoguang took out a book and said: "I want to present it to the official family."
Song Huizong glanced at the cover, but it was "Notes on the Enlightenment of Truth".
He had seen "Enlightenment of Truth" before, but no one had annotated it and many parts were incomprehensible.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty said: "I will take a look at the real person."
Xue Daoguang sat down cross-legged and said nothing.
When Huizong of Song Dynasty opened this book, it was full of Taoist poems.
After Xue Daoguang's annotation, the first poem talks about how hard it is to meet a famous teacher and how hard it is to find the true way. It also writes that cultivating Taoism and becoming an immortal is extremely desirable. The second poem talks about how after meeting a famous teacher, you rush to learn Taoism.
Well, if you don't learn, you are a fool.
Does this rhetoric sound like a real estate advertisement?
The first two poems, with Xue Daoguang's provocative annotations, had fascinated Song Huizong.
Looking at the third poem again, Song Huizong was so excited that he was breathing rapidly.
It was here that Xue Daoguang distinguished the heavenly immortals, earthly immortals, human immortals and ghost immortals.
And what about Song Huizong?
In the past, we only knew that there were heavenly immortals, earthly immortals and corpse-dissolving immortals.
After receiving Xue Daoguang's annotation, Song Huizong finally understood it.
It turns out that the inner alchemy Taoist priests under him can only cultivate low-grade ghosts and immortals with their cultivation methods.
The group of Taoist priests from the Waidan sect, who achieved Taoism through talismans, alliance power, wonderful magic, swordsmanship, and methods of dismembering corpses, eventually became Nangong Immortals (middle-grade immortals) at most.
You must follow Xue Daoguang's method to become a supreme ninth-level immortal.
Next, there was a detailed explanation of the method of Jindan Dao. Although Song Huizong did not fully understand it, his soul was greatly shocked. His previous path of cultivating the Dao was wrong!
After reading the annotation of the fourth poem, Song Huizong asked: "Isn't this a way for men and women to take supplements?"
Xue Daoguang asked back: "Who explained to the officials that men and women take supplements? It's a heretic! When a man leaves a woman, he divides heaven and earth, yin and yang, host and guest, essence and blood."
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was a little unconvinced, and commented that "the combination of two emotions and the exercise of martial arts will naturally condense the essence of the true qi". Previously, there were also phrases such as "Lifan is a woman, Kanfan is a man", which is obviously the way to supplement yin and yang.
Ah. If you cooperate with the magical medicine offered by other Taoist priests and take supplements every day, you will definitely be able to cultivate the golden elixir.
Let’s look at the next poem. Well, the previous one was just about practicing outer alchemy, but this one is really about practicing inner alchemy.
As he read it, Song Huizong felt that the external alchemy method and the yin and yang tonic were really rubbish compared with the inner alchemy.
Xue Daoguang's Taoist skills can be used to cultivate both inner and outer elixirs!
When Huizong of the Song Dynasty read the "Notes on the Wuzhen Chapter", he expressed his doubts, and Xue Daoguang gave detailed answers to them all.
The two chatted until dark. Song Huizong left Xue Daoguang to eat, took his hand and said: "Today we have to meet a real person to know the true way of the world. It's too late to meet!"
Xue Daoguang advised: "To cultivate Taoism and become an immortal is to be born into the world. Before being born into the world, you must enter the world. Officials must be benevolent and love the people. Otherwise, if the Taoist heart is not stable, even if you cultivate the golden elixir, you will not be able to achieve great perfection."
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty said sincerely: "What the real person said is absolutely true. I have always governed benevolently and loved the people."
Xue Daoguang wanted to roll his eyes after hearing this.
At the dinner table, Song Huizong asked again: "I heard that the real person met Zhu Guoxiang. Did he meet the immortal overseas?"
Xue Daoguang was sold by Ju Ming, and now he finally has the opportunity to sell it back. He replied: "The Bodhi Patriarch in "Journey to the West" is most likely the poor Taoist master Ziyang Zhenren. And the person Zhu Guoxiang met overseas is very likely
Maybe he is also my master Ziyang Zhenren."
Song Huizong exclaimed: "Zhenren Ziyang has become an immortal?"
Xue Daoguang guessed: "Most of them have cultivated to the realm of earthly immortals. They can fly in the air and walk through the mist. They are not hungry or thirsty. They are not invaded by cold or heat. They can travel around the islands and live forever."
Song Huizong immediately said: "I want to canonize Zhenren Ziyang as the righteous god."
Xue Daoguang shook his head: "The Earth Immortal does not need to be enthroned as a god, as he is not the same as the Nangong Immortal."
"It's a pity." Song Huizong said that he was very sorry that he could not do anything for Zhenren Ziyang.
That night, Xue Daoguang stayed in the palace.
The next day, the emperor issued an edict, canonizing Xue Daoguang as Zixian Yuanming Zhenren, his ancestor as Ziyang Zhiyuan Zhenren, and his master Cuixuan Huanyuanzhenren.
Several more Taoists were given and Xue Daoguang was allowed to live in Nanyuan.
Nanyuan was the house given to Cai Jing by Song Huizong when Cai Jing resigned as prime minister for the second time.
The emperor seemed to regret a little. Shandong Taoist Wang Laozhi was favored and allowed Wang Laozhi to live in Nanyuan. In just over a year, Wang Laozhi reported illness and returned home. It was most likely that he was forced to leave by Cai Jing.
"History of the Song Dynasty" also mentioned that Cai Jing warned Wang Laozhi.
Now, Song Huizong let Xue Daoguang live in it again and become neighbors with Cai Jing's family. In essence, he occupied Cai Jing's house.
Regarding this situation, civil and military officials and the people of the capital have long been accustomed to it. Anyway, there are always one or two Taoist priests who are favored every year.
While practicing Xue Daoguang's Taoism, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty summoned other Taoist priests to study the art of tonic from the "Notes on the Wuzhen Chapter". Together with aphrodisiacs, he enjoyed practicing every day.
When Xue Daoguang learned about the situation, he could only laugh it off and regard the emperor as a villain.
Zhu Ming and others also moved into Lu Zai's mansion, and the day for the new Jinshi to be conferred has come.
This chapter has been completed!