Garrisoning Mount Tai
"His Majesty must be grieving over Han Yan's death and feeling oppressed by the King of Huainan, which is why he relaxed the regulations on his subjects practicing magic arts. Given His Majesty's understanding of history, when he quells internal and external troubles in the future, his focus will likely be on us!"
Zhang Xuezhou roughly figured out the connection between the three secret places on Mount Tai, found the key to the formation, and confirmed that the new emperor would continue to investigate. He then shifted his focus to other matters and figured out the new emperor's standards for action.
It must be said that it is extremely important to be shrewd and discerning when serving an emperor.
Once you understand the emperor's bottom line, things will be much easier.
At least Zhang Xuezhou knew that the new emperor wouldn't be fickle, leading everyone in rituals to pray for good fortune one day and then turning his back on them the next.
The other party had a very strong will and even harbored the hope that his subjects would act as feudal lords to suppress the four directions within the territory of the Great Han.
This means that practitioners of magic will be safe for decades, but the future is uncertain after internal and external troubles are quelled.
This is somewhat similar to the idea that one can share hardship but not prosperity.
For Zhang Xuezhou, wealth and status are not important; the window of opportunity is crucial.
Given the current situation of the Great Han Dynasty, it would take at least several years, or even a decade, to achieve the goal of becoming a new emperor.
Even though he was dull-witted, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he had enough time to utilize the power of luck, and he had a high probability of obtaining what he needed through the art of luck.
Emerging from the Daoist temple of the Lord of Mount Tai, and having swallowed a Creation Pill, the Imperial Shuttle ascended into the darkness.
As long as one can discern the direction and know the length of the journey, flying blindly in the dark is not difficult.
The only thing to be careful about is that the jump height must be sufficient to avoid accidentally crashing into a mountain.
"Is Your Majesty not going to Suiyang and the military regions in the Northern Border?"
The Imperial Shuttle flew towards Chang'an City, not towards the nearby Suiyang City, and the new emperor had no intention of meeting Empress Dowager Liang.
The new emperor never went to the Northern Border Military Region, which he had always longed for.
After pondering many things, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but wonder why the new emperor would return directly to Chang'an City.
"The defeat of the Liang King's uncle has brought endless troubles. The State of Liang can be described as a tree falling and its monkeys scattering. It's not that the court is targeting the State of Liang. The Liang Queen's pledge of loyalty to me won't solve the problem," the new emperor said. "She herself is very likely to fall into a period of decline and have a bad end. My going there would be of no use, and a private meeting would be even less effective, only giving her a sliver of hope!"
The new emperor had already decided to reduce the power of the vassal kings, and it was clear that he would not support the State of Liang.
It would be better not to meet the Queen of Liang than to meet her at all, as the benefits she could offer far exceeded what he sought.
As for the problems in the Northern Border, they are not something he can solve simply by glancing at them.
The new emperor had previously been eager to investigate the situation in the Northern Border, but through Han Anguo's investigation, he discovered that it involved a complex chain of interests at all levels, and even Li Guang, who claimed to be innocent, had unknowingly become a victim of these interests.
Even a highly competent imperial envoy could not resolve the problem after six months of investigation, and the new emperor would also find it difficult to solve the problem in a short time.
He used the military operation of the Battle of Mayi to redeploy and disperse forces, disrupting the existing order of interests.
Some generals were transferred to other regions, some were promoted, and some were demoted, but the changes did not bring much effect, and the old unspoken rules continued.
The new emperor can only gamble on human nature and true ability, to see if the new system of official promotion will bring about change and thus break down the old rules.
"Once the new blood clashes with the old, the Northern Border Military Region will have completed its transformation, and I won't need to investigate there anymore!"
He sat behind the Sky Shuttle and looked back at the north, where only a few stars shone.
Upgrading and replacement takes several years or even more than a decade; it cannot be solved overnight.
But the bloodshed brought by war will accelerate this process and continuously purge the existing vested interests, thus bringing about a new order.
Having eliminated the potential future troubles posed by the Immortal Court, the new emperor will clearly not remain passively attacked indefinitely, but will instead take the initiative to launch offensives.
Whether the war can be won is another matter, but it will inevitably replace the old vested interests, thereby eliminating the internal contradictions of the Great Han Dynasty. No matter how this war is fought, it will not be a loss.
"I'm currently very interested in the connection between the secret realms of Mount Tai and the Immortal Court, and also in the immortals of the lower realms," the new emperor laughed. "The secret realm at the Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai must be occupied for research. This matter can only be led by you. As for those immortals of the lower realms, I will have others deal with them!"
"I... I still have to build your mausoleum and repair your tomb, so I can't come to Mount Tai," Zhang Xuezhou complained.
"I'm not going to die that early, you can put things aside for now, we're not in a rush to build the tomb!"
The new emperor felt a headache coming on when he heard Zhang Xuezhou's words, knowing that the other party was once again slacking off.
He put Zhang Xuezhou in charge of building Maoling, but the officials below him only saw Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou once and never saw him again. Many things were left to Rong Tianding to supervise.
The new emperor wouldn't believe a word that Zhang Xuezhou was too busy building the mausoleum.
"Just in case..."
"There's no 'what if' in these kinds of things. You're someone who's cultivated the art of luck, so don't wish me an early death!"
Zhang Xuezhou had barely started a tune when the new emperor quickly shut Zhang Xuezhou foul mouth up.
"Zhufu Yan is decisive in his actions. I'll have him assist you in Maoling for a while, handling all the troublesome matters for you. Then I can also transfer your cousin out there," the new emperor said. "Your cousin has practiced magic on Mount Tai; he should be quite willing to come and help you with your affairs there!"
"Why!"
"Besides, it's not bad for you to be away from Chang'an City for a while. I used the name of the Marquis of Pingyang, but you were acting under your own name. This way, the Dao Lord won't come knocking on your door. If you want to go back to Chang'an City, it's only a matter of flying for one night. You don't have a carrying pole, so you can even fly faster!"
"Well... that's fine too!"
Although he could die legally under the Nine Spirits Primal Sage, Zhang Xuezhou was still wary of being ambushed and killed again.
If Rong Tianding is dismissed from his post and temporarily removed from Chang'an City, many clues related to Zhang Xuezhou will be lost.
Given enough time, no one would stay in Chang'an City to wait for him indefinitely.
With Lao Tong returning to Western Kunlun and Dong Hua needing to maintain his body, the likelihood of the great demon of Western Kunlun retaliating in the near future is low.
Zhang Xuezhou carefully considered the various connections to himself and finally realized that it was not a problem for him to temporarily leave Chang'an City.
It wouldn't be a bad thing for Zhang Xuezhou to do more research in Mount Tai. Although he understood the connection between the three secret places and there seemed to be nothing to study, he could try to push the Tai-level Six Symbols to a higher form.
He was also somewhat interested in the spiritual imprint left by the Seventy-Two Sage Emperors during their sacrifices at Mount Tai. If he could investigate it with the imperial decree and utilize the power contained within, it might be more effective than practicing magic in Chang'an City.
If he truly has the ability to create a grand formation on Mount Tai, he might be able to leverage that power in the future to recreate the Spiritual Qi storms he experienced in the past.
Besides these things, Zhang Xuezhou can also study the Reincarnation Stone to see if he truly possesses the ability to die or if he has been hallucinating.
After some initial hesitation, Zhang Xuezhou happily accepted.