Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 284 Shouchangfang

Gu Xu left his courtyard, walked through two alleys, turned into a busy street, and saw his elixir workshop from a distance.

It was a simple two-story building with a small courtyard behind it.

The crowd at the door was bustling, and the voices inside the door were equally noisy.There are more than ten carriages parked outside the door, some carrying passengers, some transporting materials, and some carrying tools, tables and chairs.

There is also a ladder on the side of the small building, and a carpenter is standing on it, concentrating on carving patterns on the windows.

Gu Xu knows that this place is not far from the Luohe River, and it can be regarded as a prosperous area in Luojing City where every inch of land is expensive.

"I don't have much capital at hand, but Shen Qiu is able to get a shop in this place, he is indeed quite capable." He looked at the small building in front of him, thinking silently.

As soon as Gu Xu arrived at the entrance of the small building, two people came towards him.

One of them was less than Gu Xu's chest height, with a disproportionately large head and a pair of weirdly shaped eyes, wearing a brightly colored brocade robe, with an ugly and funny appearance.

It was Shen Qiu who defected to Gu Xu's mansion not long ago.

The other person's face was more unfamiliar.

It was a thin middle-aged man with a yellowish complexion, obvious wrinkles on his forehead, and some sparse beards on his chin, wrapped in a thick cotton robe.

"Master Gu, you are here!" After seeing Gu Xu, Shen Qiu immediately bowed his hands and saluted.

The middle-aged man next to him was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Master Gu, I'm Yang Shuo, who was in charge of managing the No. [-] pill workshop in Qingzhou Mansion. You should remember that we contacted through tokens at the end of last month."

"I remember," Gu Xu responded with a smile, "Mr. Yang recently traveled all the way to the capital for this workshop. It was really hard work."

"It's not hard, it's not hard," Steward Yang shook his head again and again, "It's my honor to be able to help Mr. Gu."

While speaking, Steward Yang was also secretly looking at the young man in front of him. He only felt that the other party was handsome and elegant, with a good temperament. Although he became famous at a young age, he was not domineering, and his conversation gave people a feeling of spring breeze.

"No wonder Miss fell in love with him," Guanshi Yang thought to himself, "Even the family's ancestral workshop was given to him without blinking an eye."

…………

In the Great Qi Dynasty, the threshold to become an alchemist was much lower than that of a talisman master.

Talismans are ever-changing, obscure and difficult, and it is not easy to understand them.Under normal circumstances, monks need to have extremely high comprehension and a bright mind, and only after years of practice can they master it.

In contrast, getting started with alchemy is much simpler.

If you just want to refine some common pills like "Jingxin Pill" and "Changming Pill", instead of creating new pill recipes yourself, then monks only need to strictly follow the specific process and put the raw materials into the pill furnace It can be refined in it.

Just like cooking from a recipe.

It only takes a period of training to become a "skilled worker".

When he first traveled to this world, Gu Xu thought about learning alchemy in the past.

At that time, he thought that as long as he learned alchemy, he would be able to achieve self-sufficiency in resources in the process of cultivation, without needing to forget about food and sleep to do tasks and earn meritorious deeds.

But later he discovered that the biggest factor restricting him from learning alchemy was not his lack of talent, but his lack of "production means".

As we all know, refining elixirs requires the use of many different special medicinal materials.

These herbs are hard to find in the wild.

Finding precious elixir at a street stall, or picking a random mushroom on the mountain and discovering that it is a thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum—such bridges can only exist in stories made up by storytellers.

However, the royal family, aristocratic families, and sects of the Daqi Dynasty were able to rely on their own financial, manpower, and material resources to construct a medicinal garden with a special environment suitable for the growth of elixir, and to achieve large-scale production of medicinal materials; , There will also be transactions and purchases of elixir between each other.

For example, spiritual plants such as Jiaguo, Huangyu, Xuncao, Jianhui, etc., only grow within the sphere of influence of Jiange in Shudi, and only Jiange in Shudi has mastered the method of cultivating them.If other families and sects want to use these plants to refine elixirs, they must buy them from Jiange in Shu.

In addition, tools for alchemy, such as alchemy furnaces, alchemy tripods, pomegranate jars, sweet crucibles, etc., are usually expensive, at least not something that low-level monks can afford casually.

Because of this, the elixirs of the Daqi Dynasty were often produced in the form of workshops.

Aristocratic families and sects established workshops, provided medicinal materials and tools, and then recruited monks from the people as labor.These hired monks can get a certain salary through alchemy, but the final alchemy will belong to the owner.

And a large part of the elixir in the exorcism treasurer's room was purchased from these families and sects.

At the beginning, Gu Xu, as a "proletarian", felt that it was more cost-effective to work for the government yamen than to work for these "capitalists" - the salary was better, the social status was higher, and Chen Jisheng treated him well.

So he no longer spent time and energy pondering the art of alchemy, but devoted himself to the study of talisman spells.

But today, when Gu Xu, under the leadership of Shen Qiu and Steward Yang, wandered from the first floor to the second floor of the small building, from the front lobby to the backyard, he saw boxes of medicinal herbs placed on the ground, and saw which one He was in a trance for a while looking at the alchemy furnace with complex formations carved on the surface.

"Before I knew it, I also changed from a worker to a boss." He sighed silently in his heart.

…………

In this branch workshop in the capital, there are currently five alchemists in total.

Three of them were from Qingzhou Mansion, and they were an old lady who was over seventy years old with her two apprentices.

The old lady's name is Wang Shuzhen, she has a third-level cultivation, and she has been refining elixirs in Wei Shi's family more than 20 years ago.

Not long ago, the "Nine Infant Snake Demon" broke out and caused a terrible disaster in Qingzhou Prefecture.Although it has been sealed again by the national teacher, Mrs. Wang is still full of worries about the safety of herself, her family and her apprentices.

Therefore, when Shen Qiu sent her an invitation, suggesting that she come to Luojing City to work in the branch workshop, Mrs. Wang agreed without hesitation, and moved here with her family and two apprentices.

"Old lady Wang, this is Jin Yangzi, the head of the Department of Exorcism, a guest lecturer at Longmen Academy, and a well-recognized talisman master in Luojing City, Mr. Gu Xugu." Steward Yang introduced to her.

Hearing his words, the old lady Wang Shuzhen stood up from her seat, squinted her eyes and looked at Gu Xu, and then said slowly: "So this is my uncle! He is indeed a good-looking talent, and he is a perfect match with Miss Shi."

Steward Yang smiled awkwardly, and explained: "Lord Gu and Miss Shi are not engaged yet, so let's not call them that."

"Not yet engaged? How can I do that?" Mrs. Wang frowned and said, "Such a handsome young man must be very popular in Luojing City. Don't you tie him by your side early, so you won't be afraid of being snatched away by others?"

Steward Yang immediately turned around and said to Gu Xu: "Master Gu, Mrs. Wang has always been outspoken, she always says whatever comes to her mind, I hope you don't take it too seriously."

Gu Xu smiled lightly, expressing that he didn't mind.

It can be seen that the relationship between Mrs. Wang and Shi Xiaohan should be quite good. Talking about Shi Xiaohan's expression and attitude is similar to talking about her own granddaughter; and she is obviously very worried about Shi Xiaohan's lifelong events.

The other two alchemists were recruited by Shen Qiu from Luojing City in recent days.

They are all first-level monks, they came here because they admired Gu Xu's reputation, and are now familiarizing themselves with the working environment and alchemy process here under the guidance of the old lady Wang Shuzhen.

At present, there is still a notice board for recruiting alchemists and alchemy apprentices outside the workshop.

"Lord Gu, there will be two more monks coming here tomorrow," Shen Qiu said to Gu Xu, "If they can pass the assessment, they can help Old Madam Wang share some work."

"What is this?"

At this time, Gu Xu found a pair of silk curtains on the table next to him, on which were written the words "Together forever, the phoenix and the phoenix sing in harmony".

He felt a little puzzled, thinking: Is it possible that someone in this workshop is going to get married?
Seeing Gu Xu's expression, Shen Qiu explained with a smile: "In order to open this branch workshop, I borrowed a thousand taels of silver from the 'Wynn Chamber of Commerce' in Luojing City last month. Because Ye Huishou of the 'Wynn Chamber of Commerce' is very He is optimistic about your development prospects, Mr. Gu, and wants to make a good relationship with you, so he waived most of the interest.

"As a human relationship, we also want to give him some gifts to express our friendly attitude. Recently, Ye Huishou's son has just got engaged, and we gave him a wedding curtain, together with red dates, peanuts, Longan and lotus seeds are undoubtedly more appropriate."

Gu Xu nodded, then glanced at an embroidered decorative painting hanging on the wall with a carp playing in the water and the words "wealth is more than enough", and asked Shen Qiu: "If I'm not wrong, This embroidery should be a gift from someone else, right?"

"It was sent by Mr. Liu Qu, the second assistant of the cabinet," Shen Qiu replied, "and I also gave him a can of 'Langya wine' as a gift. Mr. Liu likes to drink, and you are from Qingzhou , using Qingzhou's specialty 'Langya wine' as a gift, it couldn't be more suitable.

"In addition, Commander Wang of the imperial guards also sent us a pill furnace. Since his son had just reached the first month, I gave him a golden longevity lock as a gift, and painted the longevity lock on it. A talisman to ward off evil spirits.

"..."

In the next period of time, Shen Qiu told Gu Xu about his relationship with officials and wealthy households in Luojing City in the recent period.

Gu Xu had to admit that Shen Qiu was indeed an expert in dealing with these matters - he knew very well the personalities, preferences, and even the family situation of these big shots in the capital, so every gift could be tailored to suit their liking and be given just right.

Even if it was him who had the authority of "wisdom", he couldn't guarantee that he could do better than Shen Qiu in this respect.

After all, Shen Qiu was born in a wealthy family, and he is also a bastard with a sensitive identity, so he has been obsessed with such things since he was a child.It is difficult for others to have such knowledge and experience as him.

…………

"Master Gu, after discussing with Guanshi Yang recently, I think it's better to have a new name for this workshop to develop in the capital in the future," Shen Qiu pondered for a moment, then continued, "If it continues to be called 'No. There is always something inappropriate and not easy for others to remember.

"How about you give it a new name?"

Gu Xu thought for a while, and said, "How about the name 'Shouchang Fang'?"

Hearing his words, Shen Qiu repeatedly praised "it's a good name", but he couldn't help thinking of Gu Xu's study room named "Changshengzhai", and felt that Mr. Gu was really obsessed with the concept of "longevity". .

Afterwards, Shen Qiu fetched plain white rice paper for Gu Xu and spread it on the table.

Gu Xu took out the "Jinghong Pen" and wrote "Shouchangfang" on the paper without dipping it in the ink.

After he put down the brush, the three characters flew up from the paper, floated into the air, and then turned into a plaque, which was hung on the top of the gate of the small building.

At this time, he found that Shen Qiu, Guanshi Yang, the old lady Wang Shuzhen, several alchemists, the handymen who moved the furniture and the furnace, and the craftsmen who were busy carving patterns on the window lattices all stopped their work at the same time. , gathered around him, raised their heads, and stared intently at this mysterious scene.

After a brief silence, Shen Qiu took the lead in clapping his hands in a "clap clap".

Then everyone started clapping.

They all had smiles on their faces, and they seemed to have fantasized in their minds that this "Shouchangfang" would flourish in the future and everyone would make a lot of money.

"No wonder people say that life needs a sense of ritual." Seeing such a scene, Gu Xu sighed silently in his heart.

…………

This afternoon, when Gu Xu was busy dealing with affairs in the elixir workshop, Zhao Yan rode a horse and brought her maid, Qiuyan, to the urban area north of the Luohe River.

Compared with Nancheng District, where there are row upon row of mansions and wide and clean streets, this side is obviously much more dirty and chaotic.

The simple houses are crowded together, and the ground is full of mud, sewage and garbage.

Zhao Yan jumped off the back of the steed "Big Red", took its reins, and walked a long distance on the uneven bluestone road.

The pedestrians around were all attracted by her eye-catching red dress and her enchanting appearance, and cast their eyes on her one after another.

But Zhao Yan didn't seem to notice it.

She kept her head down, staring at the road under her feet for a long time.

Vaguely, she seemed to see not only mud, sewage, broken branches and leaves, but also scarlet blood flowing on the ground.

Blood flowed from her feet, soaking her red fragrant sheepskin boots.

But when she blinked, the blood disappeared in an instant, as if it was just an illusion in her mind.

Then she glanced to the right and saw a broken street sign that said "Huansha Lane NO.30".

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(End of this chapter)