Meng Tianchu took a look, this is an ivory jade plaque, the front is engraved with Yangwen: "Qin Ming Yuling Heavenly Master Zuo Jiayin", a line of small characters below: "No. 1 Pick Up No. 2" four words, turned over, and the back is engraved: "Alchemy by order, obey orders as one, and violators will resist the order" Eight words.

Meng Tianchu flipped over and looked at it: "Rain Spirit Heavenly Master? Meng Tianchu's eyes suddenly appeared in front of him, a mage wearing a Taoist robe, holding a peachwood sword, dancing on the altar and chanting words in his mouth, and said with a dumb smile: "You are a heavenly master?" Road number rain spirit? ”

"Yes, my Dao name 'Yuling,' my master's Dao name 'Jin Ling,,—— Heavenly Master all use 'Ling, the word as the sign, what's wrong?" Zuo Jiayin saw that Meng Tianchu's eyes not only did not have a look of admiration, but he was a little surprised.

Heavenly Master, is a very respectful title of Taoist, Taoist priest in the Jiajing period, that is a red and purple role, all because Jiajing Emperor is very reverent of Taoism, good fairy old Taoist art, bent on seeking immortality, he everywhere to collect Fangshi, secret recipes, many people because of this step to the sky, some literati also because of the Jiajing Emperor to write green words, that is, Taoist ceremonies in the words of prayer to the heavens, so into the cabinet to become the prime minister, at that time the folk have the "green word prime minister" said. Yan Song is one of the representative figures, what he is best at is writing green words, and he is good at speculating on the emperor's thoughts.

Emperor Jiajing was superstitious about the Dan Bao method, and he sent people to collect Ganoderma lucidum everywhere, and often swallowed the Dan Bao refined by Taoist priests. He also believes in the nonsense of Taoist priests who use the girl's body as the alchemy furnace to "collect yin and supplement yang", and even collect menstrual blood from menarche, plus medium grass and minerals. Refining into a kind of "red lead pill" earth pill, it is said that it can be immortal (in fact, it is a kind of spring pill, and it is a hundred times more spiritual after eating).

The Taoist priests said that alchemy needs morning dew, so Jiajing asked the palace maids to pick dew for him early in the morning. The work of Cailu was very hard, and the palace maids couldn't bear it, and finally in 1542 AD, the palace maids launched the "Renyin Palace Change", which almost strangled Jiajing to death. It can be seen what a state Jiajing's belief in this technique has reached.

It is precisely for this reason that Emperor Jiajing attached great importance to Taoist priests, and after personal screening, he appointed twenty-two Taoist priests who he thought were truly Taoist as "Heavenly Masters." "More than 200 people were appointed as "mages", and they were ordered to smelt the elixir of longevity and immortality. And gave them great privileges.

Of course, Meng Tianchu didn't know that there was such a background in this, so he checked the jade plaque: "This is the day when I was downstairs in Zhiweiguan." You showed it and scared Captain Xiao so much that he shivered that waist card? ”

"yes." Zuo Jiayin was a little dissatisfied with Meng Tianchu's hippie smile, "You know what? There are thousands of Taoist priests in the country, and only the 'Heavenly Master, and' the Master, two kinds, the whole country is qualified to hold the 'Heavenly Master, ivory jade plate, only 22 people, with this 'Heavenly Master, jade card, not only the official yamen. Even the Jinyi Guard of the East Factory has to obey orders as one! Otherwise, it will be regarded as a protest! ”

"Huh, so powerful? How to punish the rebellion? ”

"All over the house, Zhulian Nine Clans!"

"Wow! No wonder the chief Xiao was so scared that he was urinating! Meng Tianchu hurriedly put away his smile and returned the ivory jade plate to Zuo Jiayin: "It turns out that Miss Zuo is a Heavenly Master, and Miss Zuo is young. It's not a Dao Aunt, how did she become a heavenly master? ”

"By opium!" Zuo Jiayin looked a little proud, "My master traveled to the south in his early years. Knowing that overseas merchants have a kind of herb called Hibiscus that can relieve pain and have miraculous effects, my father and mother were in unbearable pain at that time, so my master traveled a long distance to the south and bought seeds from overseas merchants to bring back the seeds of Hibiscus and bring them back to plant, and refined opium. After my master discovered that this opium had miraculous effects, after a long period of research, he prepared a number of herbs, and finally practiced Jindan, which can make people feel a hundred times more energetic and prolong their life after taking it. ”

This sentence reminded Meng Tianchu of another name for opium land, "Fushou Ointment", and frowned: "Although opium can make people feel happy, it is very harmful to the human body..."

Zuo Jiayin sighed and said: "Yes, I also know this, so after this golden pill is refined, except for paying tribute, we have not given it away for sale." ”

"That's good, presumably the Jin Dan you paid tribute was appreciated by the emperor, right?"

"Yes, my master was introduced by a celestial master who was a friend of the capital, and he paid tribute to the palace. Not long after, the emperor decreed that my master and I were appointed as heavenly masters, and that the golden pills were paid regularly. ”

"That's good," Meng Tianchu thought to himself, since he only used this opium to poison the emperor, it would not harm the people, and he didn't have to worry about it, he glanced at the faint sadness in Zuo Jiayin's smile, and said strangely: "Miss Zuo has become a heavenly master, and even Dongchang is afraid of you, what else is there to worry about?" ”

"The control of Jin Dan, I have now found that it is far from being as easy as we imagined, if you use it too much, you will be poisoned and die, and if you use it less, you will not achieve the effect. My father's headache is getting worse and worse, but I don't dare to increase the dose for fear of poisoning..."

Meng Tianchu thought of those corpses: "So you just use others to try them, right?" ”

Zuo Jiayin shook his head: "It's not what I want, it's the emperor's will." ”

"What do you mean?"

"The emperor specially selected some people from among the condemned prisoners and felons and distributed them to the various heavenly masters to use for testing. After being sure that there is no problem, you can pay tribute to the emperor. Those people were all selected by the emperor to try out. My master is mainly responsible for the trial, and I have the heart to stop it, but I can't do anything about it. ”

Hearing this, Meng Tianchu felt a trace of relief inexplicably in his heart, as if he had put down a big stone in his heart.

At this moment, a maid hurriedly ran in and said in a panic: "Girl, it's terrible, the old man has passed out!" Now it's so angry that it's almost gone! ”

Zuo Jiayin was shocked, and he didn't have time to say hello to Meng Tianchu, so he rushed out of the door quickly. Meng Tianchu chased after him and shouted, "Miss Zuo, I'm going to visit Ling Zun too, okay?" ”

Zuo Jiayin smiled gratefully and nodded. The two came to a small courtyard not far away. The courtyard was full of maids and servants, all of whom looked panicked.

The two entered the door, and inside was a spacious house. There was a large bed in the middle, and a middle-aged woman was sitting next to the bed, crying, and behind her stood a woman, masked in a black veil, also sobbing. An old man with white eyebrows and a white beard sat on the edge of the bed, looking solemn and shaking his head.

Zuo Jiayin walked quickly to the side of the bed and asked the old man, "Master, how is my father?" ”

"The dose is too large. I'm afraid I can't stand it, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive tonight..."

The two women cried even louder. The servants on both sides also began to cry.

Meng Tianchu took two steps forward and glanced at the thin and sleepy old man lying on the bed. Thinking that Zuo Jiayin agreed to increase the dose just now, which led to poisoning, seeing that the situation was critical, he didn't want to think about it, and said urgently: "Hurry up and induce vomiting, and spit out the pills that have been taken." ”

Only then did the old man find that there was a young man standing behind him, and his white eyebrows trembled twice: "Who are you?" ”

Zuo Jiayin hurriedly said, "Master." This is Meng Tianchu, the famous criminal master of Renhe County, who came to visit my father. He also introduced to Meng Tianchu: "Master Meng, this is my master Jin Lingdao, that is my mother and my nurse." ”

Meng Tianchu just smiled and nodded, not being polite, and hurriedly stepped forward. Gently opened the old man's eyes, and found that the pupils of his eyes had shrunk like the tip of a needle, and he shook his palm in front of his eyes. The pupils barely reacted, and said: "The old man has eaten too much, and he has been deeply poisoned, and he must induce vomiting immediately!" Otherwise, you will die! ”

The old man snorted: "Vomiting? After throwing up, a severe headache will kill him! ”

Of course, Meng Tianchu knew this, and it was estimated that this old man Zuo might have brain cancer, and that kind of severe pain was not something that people could bear, and it would lead to painful shock and death. But now he can only look at one head first, and shout: "Induce vomiting first!" I have a way to get a headache from him! ”

The old man looked Meng Tianchu up and down, and doubted: "Do you know medical skills?" ”

Meng Tianchu hurriedly said: "Don't interrogate first, you must believe me now, spit out the poison first, and solve the immediate crisis, I have a way to relieve the pain!" ”

Zuo Jiayin said: "Master, Master Meng knows Ah Furong's habits, I believe he has a way!" ”

"Oh?" The white-eyed old man looked at Meng Tianchu again, "Do you know Ah Furong?" ”

"Oh my God, hibiscus, also known as opium, is a plant of the poppy family that blooms in summer, red, purple or white. The capsule is spherical or oval. The seeds are small and numerous. The unripe fruit of the opium poppy is cut with a sharp knife, and after the slurry that flows out of the ground is slightly solidified, it is scraped off and dried in the shade to become raw opium, and the calming and pain-relieving effect of opium mainly depends on the morphine inside - don't ask, okay? It's important to save people first! ”

Meng Tianchu finished speaking in one breath, regardless of whether they could understand or not, and added: "I know that you have planted poppies all over the mountains and fields in Jiayin Villa, and I also know how to better exert the pain-relieving effect of opium, so I have a way to relieve the pain of Master Zuo, let's hurry up and detoxify him first!" ”

Few people knew opium in the Ming Dynasty, since Meng Tianchu knew, he must have an understanding of this thing, Lao Dao heard him like a few treasures, and immediately believed it, and hurriedly asked the servants to bring a large basin of warm water, took out a small bottle from his arms, and when he got some red powder in the water, stirred it with his hands, and ordered the old man Zuo to pry open his mouth, scoop the water with a spoon and pour it down. It is also called to bring the toilet.

After a while, Old Man Zuo woke up, turned sideways and lay on the side of the bed and vomited wildly.

After spitting it up, it was poured again, and after it was filled, it was vomited again, and so on, until all the water in the basin was drunk and spit out, and then it stopped.

Most of the opium in the old man's stomach was vomited out, and the person woke up, but then he began to roll on the bed with his head in his arms, and the screams shook the eardrums.

The two middle-aged women comforted Master Zuo softly, and looked at Meng Tianchu with blank eyes.

Just now, when he was stopping vomiting, Meng Tianchu took the time to draw a sketch and asked Zuo Jiayin: "Is there a craftsman in the house?" ”

In ancient times, large families generally had their own craftsmen, and the Zuo family was of course no exception, Zuo Jiayin hurriedly ordered the housekeeper to go out and call the craftsman, Meng Tianchu called the craftsman aside, and after taking out the sketch and explaining it in detail, the craftsman went out with the sketch.

After the old man Zuo vomited and woke up, he had a splitting headache and screamed endlessly, and the head of the Jin Ling Dao asked, "Master Meng, what should I do now?" ”

Meng Tianchu said: "Don't be impatient, I have already drawn a sketch just now, and asked the craftsman to immediately make an instrument, using this instrument, you can quickly relieve the pain." ”

Is it really that amazing? Jin Ling Lao Dao and others will be skeptical. Meng Tianchu asked Zuo Jiayin for a few opium pills again, and asked the servant to find a small pot and boil it into a paste of cooked opium.

At this time, the craftsman was holding a pole more than a foot long in his hand, hurriedly ran in, bowed down and handed it to Meng Tianchu, which turned out to be a smoking gun specially used to smoke opium.

Meng Tianchu took it and took a closer look, met the requirements, nodded, picked the cooked opium in the pot with a cigarette stick and put it on the smoking gun, and said to Lao Dao: "You let Old Man Zuo smoke it like this with the lamp." "I taught me how to smoke, and I did the same way.

Old Man Zuo seemed to trust this old man very much, endured the severe pain and began to smoke opium, after a while, the headache was greatly relieved, and after a while, Old Man Zuo's head no longer hurt. Putting the cigarette gun aside, lying on the bed with his eyes closed, he looked quite comfortable.

The old man and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Zuo Jiayin was very happy, thanked him repeatedly, and curiously picked up the cigarette gun and looked left and right: "What is this?" How can it be so effective? ”

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, tobacco had not yet been introduced to China, so there was no such thing as a smoking pen, and of course they didn't know it. The practice of smoking opium with a smoking gun did not begin until after tobacco was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Meng Tianchu asked the craftsman to make this smoking gun, which no one knew.

Before this, the ancients mainly made raw opium into small pills, swallowed directly, so that the onset time was relatively long, but the strength was slow but the duration was very long, often when the effect of the pills did not reach the highest value, in order to obtain a strong analgesic effect and take the pills, the amount of pills accumulated led to acute poisoning. However, the use of a bong, on the other hand, can take effect quickly, and the smoker can grasp the amount of inhalation according to the body's feelings, and generally does not have an overdose and acute poisoning.

In order to relieve the pain of Zuo Laozi, Zuo Jiayin gave him opium pills for a long time, so his tolerance to opium is increasing day by day, and the slow swallowing method makes Lao Dao and Zuo Jiayin unable to grasp how much to achieve the effect, resulting in acute poisoning of Zuo Lao, and the toxicity is relieved after vomiting and gastric lavage, but the severe pain in his head makes him miserable.

Meng Tianchu asked the craftsman to make a smoking gun for Old Man Zuo to smoke opium, and the effect was fast, and it was the first time to use this method, so the effect was quickly achieved.