Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1586 Future
"I see," Zhu Xianxi understood. "So Master Sa means that there are some generational conflicts between us that need to be bridged?"

This is a problem that has always existed.

Grand Secretary Wen pondered, "I think what he really meant might not be our two or three generations, but our three generations and their generation."

The so-called "generation" consisted of only five people, but those five people could surround everyone else.

Even though the number of Celestials and Qi Cultivators in the imperial court has increased significantly compared to the past, they are still insignificant in front of the Dao Lord and the four Celestial Masters. To understand this, we don't actually need to consider the strength of the Celestial Masters themselves, or even the True Persons. This question can be answered by anyone below the Celestial Master level.

In other words, it's about which side the celestial beings and humans are on.

A single Qi Cultivator pilot is enough to suppress the airspace of a medium-sized country, slaughtering all the ordinary flying vehicles within. And the Celestials' suppression of Qi Cultivators is just like the Qi Cultivators' suppression of ordinary people.

If the celestials truly begin to fight against mortals, then the recent "eagle catching chicks" game between Fu Yuanshan and the air force and army has already provided the answer: even if the mortal army goes all out, it still cannot touch a single hair of the celestials. Furthermore, during the previous battle against the Japanese, the iron rod that Fu Yuanshan casually threw was able to destroy an entire mortal fleet.

The martial prowess of mortals is meaningless before celestial beings, even those who cultivate Qi are insignificant. Therefore, the key question lies in which side the celestial beings stand on—which is truly difficult to say. This is because all celestial beings can trace their lineage back to a Celestial Master, their ancestor, and their path to advancement is often related to their ancestor.

For example, Zhu Xianxi, as a celestial being, had Daojun himself as his ancestor. Fu Yuanshan, on the other hand, was guided by Master Sa.

Of all these people, Shangluo was the only exception. Only Shangluo was without beginning or end, having never had a patriarch from the start. His magical power did not come from one of the five Celestial Masters, and only his choice was indisputable.

“I understand.” Zhu Xianxi pressed his head. “So, you’re essentially asking me, right? If the Celestial Masters really force me to do something, would I really object?”

"Your Majesty the Holy Emperor," Grand Secretary Wen asked directly, "which side are you on?"

"Old Wen, you're asking me this question: if your mother and wife fell into the water, which one would you save first? Why don't you ask Shang Luo?"

"Ask me?" Shang Luo put down his teacup. "Then of course I'll stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty. My skills weren't taught to me by the Celestial Master."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I'm in double the trouble. My skills were personally taught by the Daoist Master, and I'm his grandson. But I am the Emperor, you know."

"Senior brother, the emperor is the son of heaven. There is heaven above you."

"So you're the only one who doesn't know what heaven and earth are, huh?"

"Yes, but I know someone. So, I'm on your side, and I'll choose whatever you choose."

"Are you implying that I have no other choice but to choose the Ming Dynasty?"

“What I mean is, senior brother, look at the name ‘Celestial Being’—Celestial Being is the place where heaven and earth meet, naturally having benefits in both heaven and earth for two hundred years. No matter which side you stand on, you have choices. So you see, aren’t you very anxious? The Samoan people are the same as us. When there is no scarcity, the main source of anxiety is choice. The more choices you have, the more significant the impact of those choices, the more anxious you become.”

"I'm finished," Zhu Xianxi leaned back in his chair. "How about I skip court? I won't attend court anymore. I'll stay home and refine elixirs and won't go anywhere. Do whatever you want."

"No!" Grand Secretary Wen stood up abruptly. "Your Majesty, don't follow your ancestors' example! Don't let your old habits relapse!"

"Old man Wen, you've gone too far! Don't think I'm afraid of you! You think you can hit my hand with a bamboo stick?"

Hearing a noise inside, Wen Yuan, who was standing at the door, tilted her head and peeked inside.

"Get out!" Zhu Xianxi and Grand Secretary Wen roared in unison, scaring him half to death. He quickly closed the door, not daring to look inside again.

[Poor Wen Yuan, he's just like your senior brother, standing on both sides at the same time. He has too many choices, so it's not appropriate for him to help either side.]

The two, enraged and embarrassed, also noticed this.
Wen Yuan was familiar with both of them. He was now a smaller version of Zhu Xianxi, facing pressure from both sides. He couldn't stand on either side and could only suffer from both.

As always, Shangluo had nothing to do with this matter.

"Pfft~~" Zhu Xianxi laughed in exasperation, "What are we arguing about here? What's there to argue about?"

"Your Majesty remembers the beating I gave you when I was a child, and you still remember it. This old minister is truly living in constant fear, afraid that one day you will arrest me."

Although Zhu Xianxi's mentor in his career was Daojun himself, he was taught to read and write by Wen Ge Lao—it was common practice for the Grand Master of the Imperial Academy to teach the Crown Prince to read.

Zhu Xianxi is an out-of-school child. He has no way to go to school and has only left the house when he was in college.

He attended primary school entirely at home, and the person in charge of his family education at that time was Wen Ge Lao.

He had a student status at the Imperial College Affiliated Middle School during his middle school years, but he rarely went to school. Instead, he had teachers from the Imperial College Affiliated Middle School come to his home to teach him. This was also handled by Grand Secretary Wen. Zhu Ling, on the other hand, could go to school normally and did not need to stay at home.

All things considered, apart from the Dao Ancestor, Wen Ge Lao was the person he spent the most time with, because they met every day, and Wen Ge Lao led him in reading every morning.

"That's why I said I'd give you the title of Grand Tutor. You really are my Grand Tutor, but you don't want it."

"Throughout my life, I have only been cautious, and only through caution have I been able to get to where I am today. If I had been granted the title of Grand Tutor, I'm afraid it wouldn't be me here today representing the Cabinet to speak with you two."

"And now?" Zhu Xianxi asked. "I think it's time for you to add one, isn't it?" "Well..." Grand Secretary Wen looked at Shangluo. "Shangluo, what do you think?"

"Huh? This has nothing to do with me." Shang Luo looked back with clear eyes. "I don't comment on the affairs of the court casually. I don't know anything about it, I'm just a college student. If you're talking about academic credits, then I'll answer once."

"What if there are academic credits?"

Shangluo took a sip of tea: "I'll support whoever approves my credits, but none of you will approve them for me. Senior brother is a teacher at the Imperial Academy, right? But he can only approve credits within his own field. Grand Secretary Wen can approve credits to whomever he wants, but you won't give me credits for your own personal gain. You've already emphasized to me that I must attend classes—so you see, I said from the beginning that I wouldn't answer because I can't stand on either side. If you insist on a side, then I'll stand with Wen Yuan. He's a good friend of mine. You all criticize him, but I'll be the only one who treats him to a Coke later."

He seemed to have answered only one question, yet he also seemed to have answered all of them.

Zhu Xianxi also read it aloud: "Although the Dao Ancestor didn't really teach you anything, it seems like he taught you everything. Your level of cryptic communication is just like his. If I'm not mistaken, when you say you're standing with Wen Yuan, you mean you're standing with everyone in the world?"

Shangluo nodded: "I'm doing all this for this family. I'll only make decisions for this family. Because ultimately, this is a problem of the imperial court and the heavenly court, not a problem of the people."

Zhu Xianxi sighed: "How could I not know? But what exactly do the Celestial Masters want? I don't want to regard the Celestial Masters as my opponents, but the reality is that there is a very real problem between us and the Celestial Masters. This problem was not very important before, but it will be very important later—that is, who will form the Heavenly Court between the Taoist sect and the imperial court?"

This problem didn't exist before. In the past, the five old men simply provided guidance at crucial moments, and their guidance was often very accurate. It was truly a case of having an elder in the family being a treasure.

For example, the matter of summoning the Qilin Child could not have been accomplished without the involvement of the Celestial Master.

Summoning the Qilin Child was undoubtedly the most correct decision in recent decades. Shang Luo's efficiency was as high as a bulldozer; he worked a lot but ate little, coloring maps was his hobby, and he never messed things up.

More importantly, he didn't need any mental preparation because he was naturally one of their own—the Romans used a similar summoning technique to create automata, but the out-of-control intelligence ultimately led to the entire Neo Antioch being blown to bits.

"So you see, Shangluo. Listening to the Celestial Master and inviting you here was indeed the right decision. But what about later? The Celestial Masters also have their own Taoist sects. If Wudang Mountain clashes with the imperial court, what should we choose?"

The Celestial Masters themselves were unlikely to clash with the imperial court, but their Taoist sect might be a different story. Take, for example, the film they're currently discussing; it concerns the career of Celestial Master Sa—to some extent, he considered his career part of his Taoist sect. Yanqiu, as his disciple, received guidance not in Taoist practice, but in her acting career.

In fact, most other Celestial Masters were similar; they also had their own spheres of influence. Zhang Sanfeng, the Celestial Master of the Wudang School, organized a legitimate sect, the most normal Taoist sect. The Celestial Master Qiu of the North, like Celestial Master Sa, seemed to specialize in another field—he seemed more interested in technological development. There was also a Celestial Master who did nothing, yet did everything—that was Lü Chunyang.

"If you still don't understand this issue, I can reveal some information to you," Zhu Xianxi said in a low voice, "Actually, every Celestial Master has their own career. Including the Pure Yang Grand Celestial Venerable."

"That guy has one too? Doesn't he do nothing?"

“Let me give you an example and you’ll understand—do you remember Wang Yangming when he’s still alive? He’s currently traveling the world with his sword, and recently he seems to be driving along National Highway 318. So, where do you think his sword came from?”

"???"

“So you see. That’s why I’m so interested in Master Sa’s movie.” Zhu Xianxi shook his head. “Master Sa’s movies are never just movies. They are his Tao, the Tao of Blessing.”

Every film adaptation of Wang Lingguan is a phenomenal success, dominating the box office and overwhelming other films. Each new installment becomes a hot topic of discussion. However, Wang Lingguan is ultimately a comic book, and serialized comics inevitably reflect the thinking of the main audience for comics at the time—namely, students.

This makes the Wang Lingguan movies sometimes seem too "avant-garde," and sometimes even radical. Also, Master Sa had no intention of making dumplings in the movie; he only cared about starting the fire and nothing else, because the discussion itself could increase the movie's box office.

This is what's giving Zhu Xianxi a headache. Master Sa seems to care about nothing but box office revenue.

Zhu Xianxi shook his head: "If we film it according to the current plot, it will probably cause a lot of social problems—so this matter really is a vaccine. All the problems we mentioned before can converge here. Because the Celestial Master doesn't care about anything. I even think that the Celestial Master's original intention was probably not just to give us a vaccine—he thought that filming it this way would generate more discussion, more public opinion, and higher box office."

"." Shangluo and Grand Secretary Wen both fell silent.

Upon closer reflection, it does seem to be true.
As the Celestial Master who was closest to ordinary people among the Celestial Masters, he also had a side that was closer to the "Way of Heaven": he didn't really care about the various organizations of the imperial court; what he cared about was how to acquire more money through his social activities. That is, the essence of the Way of Fortune.

The Way of Fortune, the Way of Fortune, money is the greatest blessing, for money itself has magical power in Taoism.

The economic history course offered by the Imperial College was, to some extent, an explanation of various paths of Taoism, including the Tao of Fortune and Prosperity.

"Senior brother, so what should I do? I'll listen to you on this matter. After all, I'm close by, so I can go and investigate."

"Here's what we'll do—there's an economic history class tomorrow, and Master Sa is the guest lecturer. Why don't you call him over and ask him about the movie when he leaves get out of class tomorrow?"

"I can ask you anytime I want."

"It would seem too deliberate to ask him alone. Ask him casually after class, and that will seem less deliberate."

"Alright." Shangluo thought for a moment, "Then what should I ask?"

“Ask him what he’s right, ask him about his salary! Ask him what the expected box office is, and ask him how much of his salary you’ll get.”

By observing Master Sa's expectations regarding his fee, one can discern the scale of the project he intends to undertake.

"And to be honest," Zhu Xianxi said in a low voice, "it's impossible to do anything behind the backs of the Celestial Masters, and he won't answer if you ask him directly. But by asking about his salary and box office, you can get him to answer indirectly. I don't think he'll refuse to answer. By the way, you can also ask Yanqiu how much she's paid, and I'll give you an estimate."

(End of this chapter)