The cool breeze is blowing, the night is blurry, and the light veil-like mist surrounds the Qinhuai River.

More than ten years after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, ten years after the Tang Emperor ascended the throne, although the world was peaceful, it had not yet reached the point of singing and dancing.

This bay of Qinhuai River, the Qinhuai River that was extremely prosperous in the Northern and Southern Dynasties for hundreds of years, the Qinhuai River with endless singing and dancing, and bright lights...... At this time, although there are pleasure boats cruising in the meantime, they are only three or two simple boats, and the music is also extremely elegant, not charming or extravagant.

There are also three or five literati inside, a glass of sake to a moonlight, and a flute to wrap around a wisp of mist. Chatting about the situation, talking about the past and the present, talking about ghosts and immortals.

Just as the river was walking on the bank of the Qinhuai River, a slightly dilapidated boat was also floating on the river.

"Mr. today has informed us of the information about the East China Sea, and it is obvious that tomorrow he will ask for countermeasures! The invasion of the countries of the East China Sea has connected more than a dozen cities in one day, and the troops have reached Yangzhou. However, there are senior generals Chi Baolin and Cheng Tieniu sitting in Yangzhou City, but they are not afraid, and the tiger father has no dogs! This cup of wine toasts the soldiers who fought bloodily on the front line, and I wish the banner to be victorious, and I am willing to return to the soul of the soldiers who died in battle!"

A man in a green robe raised a glass of wine to the east, and then slowly poured it into the river.

A scholar with a long sword at his waist next to him said: "The small country in the East China Sea, taking the path of death by itself, and the ghost king, if you don't concentrate on cultivation and become a ghost immortal, but you are infected with red dust, after all, you can't escape the punishment of the eighteenth layer of hell, and you can't live forever." ”

Someone also raised his wine glass and respectfully saluted to the east, and said: "My generation of Confucian disciples, since they should study and cultivate their qi, even if they can't become great Confucians, they must also practice the way of education, as long as they gather 10,000 students who are successful in cultivating qi, they can suppress the ghost king in one word, and return this world to a prosperous world." Now I am a scholar in the Tang Dynasty, and in a few years, the evil demons will have nothing to hide. It's just a ghost king, it's just a small illness!"

"Having said that, it's easy to get a student test, but it's hard to cultivate qi!"

"What Brother Zhang said is extremely true, I have been waiting for the cold and summer to come and go, and I have been studying for more than ten years, although I have already started to cultivate qi, but I don't know how many mountains are separated from the realm of refining and refining qi. Someone chimed in.

At the beginning, the man in Tsing Yi stood on the bow of the boat, and the night wind blew, stirring up the long robe: "Refining and refining qi!" In that realm, maybe we will be on the list after the Spring Festival, and then we will have great wisdom, great perseverance, and great blessings, so that we can break through with the help of national fortunes. The righteousness of the Tang Emperor, the fortune of a country is shared with our generation of scholars, Confucianism should be prosperous, and the Tang Dynasty should be a great rule, and this way will be done, and the Tang Dynasty will be endless!

"I heard that the opening of the branch started from Sui, then Yang ......"

"Brother Zhang, be cautious!" someone interrupted.

The scholar surnamed Zhang was taken aback: "It was my negligence!"

"Okay, okay, let's talk about the autumn test! Brother Zhao, in the early autumn of this year, with your knowledge, Xie Yuan seems to have been captured. ”

The man in green clothes shook his head, returned to the boat from the bow, sat down cross-legged, and said, "There are more knowledgeable people than me, Xie Yuan doesn't dare to think about it, don't dare to think about it!"

Having said that, there was a glint in his eyes, and it was obvious that he was determined to win.

Although the Tang Emperor gave us the opportunity to be promoted, the wealthy still control the lifeblood of the country, even if it seems to be an equal imperial examination, sometimes it is not equal. The wealthy family will only take care of the rise and fall of their own family, how can they take into account the people of Limin, this time the test will not let the wealthy family come out on top, my generation still needs to work hard!"

At this time, the boat happened to pass by a ruin, and one of them pointed to the dilapidated building and said: "I heard that there is a student in this Wuyi Alley, a disciple of Mingde Academy, who is very knowledgeable, Brother Zhao, that person may be your fierce rival this year!"

"Wuyi Lane? this is the ancestral house of Wang Xie's two families, but unfortunately, things are not people, and the huge family is just a passing cloud, think about how prosperous these two families were back then, most of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty came from these two families, now, don't talk about it!"

"The student you are talking about can't be Xie Hong, right? This person is not worried, he is weak and sick, and he is running around all day long for food and clothing, how can he have the heart to study and nourish his qi. ”

"I also know that this person is a little conceited, and he doesn't fit in with the children of the poor family like me, and the children of the wealthy family don't want to see him...... Although he is a descendant of the Xie family, he is even more depressed than our poor disciples!"

The hazy moonlight reflected the clear water of the river, and the boat quietly entered the night from in front of Wuyi Alley. The river flowed slowly, and the river sat on the back of the big buffalo, looking at the large ruins on the bank, the broken houses and grass, and the broken walls, which were unbearable. Only one cottage is located not far from the water's edge, and it is still a bit popular. The water-stained walls were covered with traces of turquoise moss, and some were covered with evergreen vines, revealing only a window that opened on the riverside side.

At this time, it was already night, except for the sound of frogs in the river, the barking of dogs in the distance, and no longer half a sound could be heard, only in a narrow window hole at the east end, the dim light was revealed, and a cough came......

Looking in from the window, there was only a table, a stool, and a bed, and a black oil lamp lit on the table, barely illuminating the three feet between them. On the bench was a porcelain bowl with a missing mouth, and in the bowl were eight or nine arhat beans. A man in his twenties, dressed in a shabby robe and with a disheveled beard, sat on a stool, holding a book in his hand, guarding the medicine jar next to him.

"Is he Xie Hong?" Jiang Liu asked, "With your help, why is he still so down?"

The big buffalo sighed and said, "If it weren't for us, he would have died." Xie Hong was born frail and sickly, and we have tried many drugs over the years, but they can't be cured. But the aura was strong enough to alleviate his pain, so he ...... You know what you know!"

"I haven't asked you a question yet, how do you know that my master is gone?"

The big buffalo blinked his eyes and said, "It was the city god of Huaiyin City who told me in a dream!"

"Huaiyin City City God, it's him again!" Jiang Liu's brows furrowed tightly.

Chenghuang is a ghost immortal, a serious civil servant of the heavenly court, enjoying the benefits of incense and immortals in the world. The strength is strong and weak, and it is closely related to the size of the city and the amount of incense, and the big city has a large population and the incense is prosperous, so it is natural to obtain more rights from the heavenly court.

If we use an analogy, it is the difference between the mayor of the second and third tiers in the mainland and the mayor of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Huaiyin City is an important town, although it cannot be compared with Jinling and Yangzhou, but it is also a big city.

The function of the city god is to maintain the operation between yin and yang, mortals who die, before entering the reincarnation, must first be examined by him, in charge of the living and the dead, rewarding the good and punishing the evil, life and death, and also has the function of guarding the city. However, if it is a mortal war, the city god cannot intervene, and only cultivators, demons and monsters will take action if the city is threatened.

The power of the city god comes from the incense, that is, the power of faith, the more prosperous the incense, the stronger the city god.

This is the high-ranking local officials of the heavenly court facing mortals, the lowest level is the land and mountain gods, and the upper level is the king of Hades.

"Huaiyin City City God!" Jiang Liu looked at the north, his eyes cold.