People in Hongwu, from heavenly master to emperor master

Chapter 75 The meaning of alchemy

"Water does not burn because water is a product of burning. Just like ashes burned by firewood will not burn again...

The essence of fuel is the result of a violent chemical reaction between the oxygen in the fuel air.Water is the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen after combustion..."

Zhang Normal waited for Zhang Yi to finish his answer, and then fell into deep thought.Seeing his father put down his pen and pondering there, Zhang Yi smiled and stopped talking, waiting for him to meditate.

The questions in "One Hundred Thousand Whys" are standard childlike questions.

In the process of growing up, there will always be a stage where people are full of curiosity about the world, and then ask many seemingly naive questions.

Why is the sky blue...?
Where do kids come from and things like that...

Parents may talk nonsense about these questions, and they will also use words to stop them from asking.

Or, the sages of various schools of thought or religious masters will try to answer these questions with their understanding of the world, but the direction of the answers often leads to philosophical and theological fields...

Few of the ancients would seriously study these issues in the scope of natural science, because most of the people who study the laws of nature are not of high class.

Except for one group, they travel outside the mainstream class, but for the goal of "longevity", they tinkered with many unexpected inventions. This group is alchemists, and later gradually evolved into Taoists. They are probably the most ancient people. One of the groups close to science...

The Zhang family of Longhu Mountain is naturally the best in this group.

As one of the instigators of the origin of the outer alchemy, the Zhang family is very concerned about alchemy. Even though the years have changed, the outer alchemy has long since declined, and has been replaced by the safer inner alchemy.

The study of Wai Danshu on longevity has long been proven, and now it has no second effect other than using it to kill the emperor.

The people of the old Zhang family did not lose this skill. After all, the external alchemy is the facade left by Zhang Daoling's patriarch. The emperor is like a layman who eats golden pills desperately and eats himself to death in the end.

But Zhang Yi knew that Zhang Normal was still an alchemist, and would occasionally eat these golden elixir.

That's why he stopped thinking about fire and burning.

In order to inspire his father, he decided to revise "One Hundred Thousand Whys".

"What is heavy metal poisoning..."

Zhang normal stopped thinking and continued to record. At that time, the more he wrote, the deeper his brows became...

This brat, he seems to be using another way to destroy the belief he has insisted on for many years.

Lao Zhang raised his head and looked at Zhang Yi with complicated eyes.

If it was the past, he would have been furious and scolded Zhang Yi for being a villain and a devil.

But at this time, he didn't reply, and continued to copy what Zhang Yi said.

From time to time, Zhang normal will ask why is his own?
Zhang Yi answered truthfully according to his own understanding.

"According to you, our Zhang family's alchemy is meaningless, and we can't become immortals?"

Zhang Normal couldn't stand Zhang Yi's answer, and finally showed his shame and confusion.

Although the celestial masters of the Zhang family have not regarded Wai Dan as their main practice method for a long time, this is the belief of the old Zhang family after all.

"On the contrary, in the future world, future generations will look back at the past, and the things we alchemists have tinkered with have had a great impact on the world, just like the ancestor Ge Hong... just like the sages who tinkered with gunpowder, my son thought, alchemy In essence, it is also a method of exploring the origin of the world, and studying the laws of everything is its greatest significance!"

Zhang Yi's words are cloudy, but they are in line with Zhang's normal cognition.Anyway, the speaking style of the immortals has always been not to speak human words.

To study the origin of things...

Is what is recorded in the Hundred Thousand Whys the original law of the world?What about the fairy?
Lao Zhang fell into deep thought, and immediately aroused a strong interest.

Wai alchemy has been declining for a long time, because no matter whether the priests admit it or not, from the first emperor to Tang Taizong and other emperors, to the alchemists themselves, too many people in history have had accidents because of taking Wai alchemy.Gradually, except for some alchemists who like to take risks and seek wealth.Taoist priests from a big family like the Zhang family are rarely willing to offer longevity prescriptions to the emperor.

The disproportion between risks and benefits is one of the reasons. The core reason is that taking Wai Dan can lead to longevity. They themselves don't believe it.

A person like Zhang Normal who is still serious about alchemy can only be said to be true love.

"oh, I understand now!"

Seeing that his father took his words seriously, Zhang Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Using this indirect method to persuade Lao Zhang to take less pills, maybe he can really live a few more years in the future.

"Your book is very interesting. If you have time, write the rest and send it to Longhushan anytime!"

Lao Zhang went through it carefully, and he was still unsatisfied. Because he disliked the ugly writing of Zhang Yi, he also re-transcribed what Zhang Yi had just written with a pencil.

Zhang Yi silently looked at Zhang Normal. The father and son were silent, but the atmosphere was not awkward. He looked at the half of the pencil left in his hand, took out a piece of paper, and began to draw on the paper.

The second day, morning.

Zhang Normal managed to finish transcribing what Zhang Yi had written, but found that his son had fallen asleep. He smiled, put away all the papers on the table, and prepared to enter the palace.

On the fourth watch day, the streets of Yingtianfu had already begun to produce noisy sounds.

The people began to be busy with their livelihoods, and the officials of the court also began to prepare for the court.

The well-informed court officials heard some shocking news as soon as they woke up.

"The Zhang family, the Kong family..."

Yingtian Mansion is not big, and the affairs inside the palace walls, unless the emperor deliberately conceals them, are not airtight.

About the emperor's meeting with Yan Shenggong yesterday, it was heard by all officials through various channels.

"Traitor, what is His Majesty's evaluation of Yan Shenggong?"

"The Holy Majesty directly dismissed Kong Kejian? Change Kong Xixue to be the Holy Duke of Yan. Also, Kong Kejian was left in Yingtian Mansion, and the emperor let..."

Somewhere in Yingtian Mansion, Li Shanchang, the left minister of Zhongshu Province, fell into silence after listening to his subordinate's report. Immediately, he laughed:
"Your Majesty is still the same Majesty. Since he left the Zhang family as a hostage, there is no reason for the Kong family not to keep something. Our Holy Majesty, we can't tolerate both snakes and rats..."

"Okay, get ready to go to court!"

Li Shanchang tidied up his appearance and went out!
"Your Majesty, it's dangerous to do this..."

Another part of Yingtian Mansion, Liu Mansion.

Yushi Zhongchen Liu Ji was worried after hearing what the servant said.

"Regardless of Kong Kejian, he is a descendant of the most holy teacher Kong Shengren, His Majesty is so impulsive, but it will chill the hearts of scholars all over the world...

However, the Kong family is indeed too much! "

……

When Zhang Normal and his son came to the gate of the palace, they unexpectedly discovered that someone was earlier than him.

Kong Xixue, the newly promoted Duke Yan, stood alone in the cold wind. Without Kong Kejian, he seemed alone.

Zhang Normal went over to say hello to him, but Kong Xixue looked indifferent.

The two patriarchs of the aristocratic families stood together in front of the palace gate waiting to be received. After a while, all the officials came to court one after another.

Kong Xixue raised his head and looked at these officials, but it was different from yesterday,
Most of the enthusiastic officials yesterday walked straight past without looking sideways.

When they passed by Kong Xixue, they couldn't help speeding up their pace.

This subtle change made Kong Xixue feel more and more that Ying Tianfu's wind,

It’s so cold!

(End of this chapter)