Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

"His Majesty issued an edict at the beginning of the month, stating that the Institute of Craftsmen should first focus on improving agricultural machinery. The institute has therefore worked overtime for a month to produce an item that can be displayed. We request Your Majesty's permission."

"Approved." Xi Heng was slightly interested.

This was the first time her subordinates had made such an invention since she ascended the throne six months prior.

Although several mathematics PhDs from the Imperial Observatory have made achievements recently, for Xi Heng, who is not good at mathematics, physical objects are still more intuitive.

The other party responded and immediately ordered someone to bring a hand-cranked winnowing machine from outside the hall.

Xi Heng recognized the object as a wooden agricultural tool used to separate chaff and impurities from grains, but he didn't know what improvements his subordinates had made.

"Your Majesty, these winnowing fans all open outwards, causing unpredictable airflow and chaff to fly everywhere. If used indoors or under a shed, they will inevitably scatter straw ash, and the efficiency of separating the chaff will also be inconsistent. If the force is too weak, it will be difficult to separate the chaff, and if the force is too strong, it will blow away half a granary of shriveled grains, thus wasting some..."

At the beginning of the explanation, the skilled craftsman official was somewhat nervous under the gaze of hundreds of court officials and the three high-ranking officials.

But as the explanation continued, his speaking speed gradually became more fluent.

"Now, your humble servant has led the craftsmen in the courtyard to modify the fan cart to emit air radially, with the fan wheel's cylindrical surface sealed. The grain outlet is divided into two parts, one for full grain and one for chaff. Full grain is pushed out through the main outlet, while broken grain and chaff seep out from below, preventing waste of broken rice. A wedge is left above to adjust the feeding rate."

The surrounding officials were not very interested in this. In the eyes of those who knew about such machines, the fan cart in front of them was just a slight modification and not worth mentioning.

Officials who were unaware of this item did not find it particularly special.

But Xi Heng, unusually, clapped his hands in praise and nodded, saying, "Let's do some demonstrations."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The skilled craftsman had no choice but to bring over the previously milled rice, personally loading it into the hopper, lifting the wedges to feed it, and cranking the fan.

Soon, rice grains of different sizes and plumpness were sent out from the two discharge outlets, which the skilled craftsman held in his palm and lifted up.

"This is a practical item; it can be promoted nationwide from now on." Xi Heng asked again:

"The Craftsmen's Academy currently only has eleven master craftsmen. Was this made by all eleven of you together?"

"Your Majesty, this was made by your humble servant and four skilled craftsmen. The other six are busy with other projects, which are more complex and may take several months to complete."

“Alright, send someone to the Craftsmen’s Courtyard and reward the craftsman with a thousand taels of silver for this item.” Xi Heng waved his hand to the old eunuch beside him.

Those in the imperial court below were mostly surprised upon hearing this.

Since the Empress ascended the throne, she has rarely bestowed honors in the court. The last time she was rewarded was for the generals and soldiers who had fought alongside her for a long time.

Now, half a year later, the first person to receive an official reward from the court is a craftsman. Although a thousand taels of silver is not much, a word of praise is worth a fortune.

In the eyes of the civil officials, there was nothing mysterious or unusual about what this person had created, but His Majesty cared so much about it…

I suppose His Majesty has a fondness for these novel objects?

The surrounding officials remained silent, but a thought of using this opportunity to curry favor was subtly forming in their minds.

……

Fifteen days later, someone presented a replica of the "Compass Chariot" from an ancient book to the court. It had a small wooden figure on it, and because its arm always pointed in the same direction, it was named the Compass Chariot.

Legend has it that this vehicle was used as a royal procession for the emperor during his travels in ancient times.

Several court officials presented it together, thinking that such a strange item would surely please the emperor.

But the result was that Xi Heng waved his hand dismissively, showing no interest whatsoever, and ordered him to leave.

This little car only uses gear transmission differences to keep the little figure on the car in the same direction; it's just a toy like a roly-poly toy.

If the person who built it could explain the underlying principles, she might listen to a few more words, but since the other party was merely rebuilding it according to ancient books and did not understand the underlying principles, it was really not very meaningful.

After the officials were persuaded to leave, the court assembly gradually came to an end, and some people walked out of the crowd of officials with difficulty and tension.

With Xi Heng's permission, this man ordered a servant outside the palace to bring a large pair of scissors with an excessively long handle, requiring both hands to use. Amidst the barely concealed snickers of the other officials, he began to speak:

"Your Majesty, this object was extracted from the teachings of the Mohist school of thought and cast by my blacksmiths. The teachings say: 'When carrying a load, the longer and heavier one should be placed below, and the shorter and lighter one above. The higher the load, the more one gains; the lower the load, the more one loses...'"

"I believe that making the handle of the scissors long and heavy, and the blade short and light, would save a lot of effort—these scissors can be used to prune fruit trees, mulberry trees, tea trees, and so on."

Xi Heng realized that the other party knew the principle of leverage, and clapped his hands with a slight smile, saying, "Very good, what is your name?"

"Your Majesty, this humble subject is Li Zaiheng."

“You forged this pair of scissors, knowing not only how but also why. A wise person should be richly rewarded.” Xi Heng said, “This pair of scissors has few practical uses, but the principles contained within it are the manifestation of the Dao, which is infinitely vast.”

"You must learn the principles through practice, and then use those principles to guide your actions and apply them to your work—this is a good thing that benefits the world."

"All things under heaven are manifestations of the Dao. For example, objects float on water, birds fly in the sky, water turns into ice when it gets cold, and turns into vapor when it gets hot... All these things are manifestations of the Dao. The Dao of heaven and earth is not profound and unfathomable. On the contrary, all things that you and I see, know, touch and obtain are manifestations of the Dao."

"By thoroughly understanding the principles of a single thing, one can get closer to a part of the Great Dao; by exhausting the principles of all things, one can glimpse the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."

The ancients held the Great Dao in extremely high esteem. According to various ancient texts, as long as one gets close to the Great Dao, one can transcend the mortal realm and become an immortal in harmony with the Dao.

This is especially true of scholars; many of their poems and writings about aspiring to immortality are still being passed down to this day.

Now that Xi Heng is a child of the Heavenly Mother, he has shown the mortals of the world a path to the Great Way, and all the hundreds of court officials present naturally yearn for it.

After the girl finished speaking, her gaze swept over the eunuchs who were recording the court assembly.

After this court assembly concludes, she will revise the day's proceedings slightly and circulate them far and wide.

"Is there anything else to report?" Xi Heng asked casually.

The many court officials below were still pondering the emperor's words and had not yet recovered.

She waved her hand: "Then, let's cancel today's court assembly."

The courtiers then realized what was happening and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Just as the courtiers at the back were retreating, a gray-clad figure suddenly rushed over: "Report—!"

Xi Heng looked up and saw that the man was the intelligence officer from the thousand elite troops she had left in the capital.

"Why is it in such a hurry?"

The lightly armored soldier clasped his hands and knelt on one knee, responding loudly: "His Majesty has given us a clue to what we are looking for!"

"Oh, the Dragon Locking Well has been found?" She became interested.

"The military has found a square, dark well. There are many chains extending down from the well. If you pull the chains, you can hear the roar of a dragon!"

……

Chapter 131, The Frog in the Cloud Dragon Well

Imperial City.

After Xi Heng left the court, he casually glanced at the memorials behind the Taixiao Hall. Not long after, following the instructions of the messenger from the Changsheng Army's elite troops, he took a carriage to the location where the Locked Dragon Well was discovered.

Her second task for the thousand Ever Victorious Army soldiers stranded in the capital was to search the entire city for the legendary Dragon-Locking Well.

However, because the mission objective was so elusive, no results were obtained even after six months.

Initially, the Ever Victorious Army focused their search on the imperial city, but found only a dozen or so wells of varying sizes surrounded by white stone railings.

Most of them are used for firefighting, washing, and irrigation, so there's nothing particularly unusual about them.

The few slightly unusual wells are those where someone once threw themselves to their death, so no one uses them anymore, and they have nothing to do with the legend of the Dragon Locking Well.

After that, I lost my way.

Xi Heng did not just wait for his subordinates to find it; in the past six months, he had also searched through many books and records about dragons in the royal library.

Most of them only describe the dragon's appearance and heroic posture, or tell stories whose authenticity is unknown.

The story says that dragons are intelligent and can understand human speech. They keep company with gods and can summon wind and rain.

If a flying dragon appears in the sky, the world will surely be in a golden age, and the dynasty will surely endure forever.

But despite the many stories, none of them have ever explained where dragons are in the world or why they are born.

No book has ever said that swallowing dragon's heart and liver will grant one the dragon's power.

It seems that Zhao's research on dragons is not as profound as that of Yan Mengguo, who was culturally unsophisticated.

More importantly, some books mention the Dragon-Locking Well, saying that it was left by an immortal to suppress an evil dragon, which then went deep underground and transformed into a dragon vein to secure the world.

However, this story was passed down during the reign of the ancient Wu dynasty, which is now several hundred years ago.

The Great Wu Kingdom had long since perished, and the Dragon Locking Well, or rather the Dragon Vein, clearly did not have the power to help the emperor stabilize the realm and his regime.

Xi Heng searched everywhere but couldn't find any description of the location of the Dragon Locking Well.

He could only order his men to continue searching the vast capital city.

They searched for half a year, turning the entire capital city upside down, but still couldn't find it.

It wasn't until the second time, when the military thoroughly searched Penglai Mountain, that they discovered a narrow crevice in the cliff face in a secluded spot in what appeared to be a deliberately created mountain stream.

Only the smallest soldiers, after removing their armor, could barely squeeze in.

Inside, there is a staircase leading to an underground cave. Soldiers carrying torches walked for a long time in the terrifying darkness and silence, until they reached the end and saw a large square well with chains hanging on it.

"I thought it would be in some deserted place in the capital, but it turns out it's actually right next to the imperial city..."

On his way there, Xi Heng listened to a report from the messenger.

The soldiers smashed open the entrance to the Dragon Lock Well and went together to the deepest part. They pulled out a rusty iron lock as thick as an adult's waist. Only when they heard the roar of a dragon did they realize that they had found the real thing.

Therefore, the centurion who was leading the group excitedly sent someone to report to the emperor.

Xi Heng asked, "Did you only hear the sound, but never actually see the dragon in the well?"

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the messenger replied.

"That might not actually be a dragon."

She lowered her expectations first.

The sacred mountain called Penglai was built by Zhao Qianyuan, and the things beneath it may have been deliberately created by him.

Perhaps it's just an object that can mimic the roar of a beast when disturbed.

If that guy really got his hands on a dragon, he should have done some research on it.

In his previous lives, Xi Heng was only known for his focus on alchemy and qi cultivation, and there was no record of dragons in his diaries and experience books.

She didn't have high hopes for this path.

Gradually, the open-top carriage came to a stop at the foot of Mount Penglai.

Looking up, you can see the intricately carved coal dragon on the mountainside. The coal ore reflects the sunlight like obsidian, shining brightly.

On a sunny day, walking beside it would probably make an ordinary person squint.

This black dragon was built along the steps leading up the mountain, but Xi Heng's route was not to follow it up the mountain. Instead, he went into the mountain and reached a fork in the road, heading down towards the dragon's tail.

The mountain is covered with a variety of trees, and it is rare to see similar tree species planted side by side.

Perhaps all the trees that could be planted in the Zhao state were scattered on this hillside, like a specially made botanical museum.

Looking up at the mountainside, one can see flowers vying for attention, and even higher up, there are dense bamboo groves with tall pavilions built among them. The beautiful scenery, shrouded in mist, looks like the abode of celestial beings.

The picturesque scenery helped Xi Heng calm down a bit.

Although Zhao Qianyuan was a foolish ruler, one has to admit that the other party did have some achievements in art or architecture.

If skill points existed in this world, he would probably have used the points that should have been used for governing the country on these other things instead.

However, today is not the time to admire the scenery.

Time passed gradually with each step. The girl walked around the black dragon formed by the entire coal mine, and when she reached its tail, she could hear a thumping sound.

After bypassing the bushes that blocked the view, upon closer inspection, it was revealed that some of the officers and soldiers, skilled in martial arts, were using a sledgehammer to smash rocks.

The solid rocks were smashed into pieces, and the narrow opening at the front became a hole large enough for a person to pass through.

Upon seeing her arrival, the surrounding soldiers immediately knelt down and paid their respects to the emperor.

When I was leading troops in the army before, I often heard honorifics and praise, but I had never received such excessive respect.

Xi Heng was already used to it. She gave the order to the centurion who commanded this man to stand up and report the current situation to her.

The centurion replied: He loosened the iron chains upon hearing the dragon's roar, and dared not make any further rash moves.

Half a day later, they simply smashed the hole even bigger.

Xi Heng sighed and simply said, "Lead the way."

"Yes!"

The group stepped into the gorge and walked down a stone staircase leading underground.

The narrow, dimly lit passageway stretched as far as the eye could see.

Xi Heng snatched a torch from a soldier and led the way.