mtlumby2d Chapter 438: Spiritual Restraint
Chapter 438: Spiritual Restraint
(Maid Ji Ruxue)
It is not easy to be a favorite of the emperor. Not only must you be able to speak, but you must also be able to do things. You may not be able to do anything that benefits the country and the people, but you must be able to do things that can make the emperor happy.
For example, before, Lu Cheng got a position as a writer because of his contribution of treasures. The salary was generous, the work was leisurely, and he could concentrate on reading.
Now, several months have passed since the treasure offering, and it is time to improve the favorability of Emperor Huizong of Song again.
A treasure is a dead object after all, and it is impossible to exchange it for the long-term attention of Song Huizong. Besides, it is just a transparent glass ball with a dragon-shaped carving inside, and you will get tired of it if you look at it too much.
If you want Song Huizong to remain in your favor, you must be able to provide him with long-term, continuous and stable value.
After the morning court session that day, Lu Cheng entered the palace again and met Song Huizong.
"Shou Xin, you haven't come here to chat about calligraphy and painting with me for a while. How's your revision of the Daoist Canon in the Sutra Bureau going?"
"Your Majesty, the revision of the Daoist Canon has been proceeding in an orderly manner. I have been studying the Daoist scriptures diligently for the past few months and have gained a lot of knowledge. I was so immersed in it for a while that I did not come to the palace to greet you from time to time. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
"It's a good thing that you can concentrate on studying the Taoist scriptures. What's wrong with that? Tell me, what have you gained recently?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Daoist Canon contains thousands of volumes, and in the final analysis, it is the law of nature. Between heaven and earth, the sun and the moon rest, the four seasons change, and the flowers bloom and fall. They all follow their natural laws and are not changed by humans. They are always the same year after year. This is the Dao. Heaven and earth live forever because they do not produce themselves..."
Lu Cheng spoke eloquently, linking together various Taoist scriptures, and his words were very logical, which made Song Huizong nod his head repeatedly.
"Shou Xin, it seems that your study of the sutra during this period of time was not in vain, not bad, not bad."
"Your Majesty, I came to see you today not to recite scriptures for you, but to present you with a fortune."
When Song Huizong heard this, he immediately became interested: "What kind of wealth is this?"
Lu Cheng took out a brocade box he was carrying with him, and after opening it, there were four bars of soap neatly placed inside.
"What is this? It smells like a faint floral scent. Could it be the same as the perfume you made?"
"Somewhat similar, but not the same. Your Excellency, this thing is used for daily cleaning. It can be used to wash hands, bathe, or wash clothes. Your Excellency can have someone fetch two basins of clean water and we'll know once we try it."
Zhao Ji immediately signaled a eunuch next to him, and the young eunuch immediately went down to ask someone to fetch water.
Soon, two young eunuchs each brought a basin of clean water. Lu Cheng first demonstrated how to use the soap, and Song Huizong immediately followed suit.
"Your Majesty, use this to clean your hands. It will remove stains more easily and leave a fragrance. Your Majesty can smell it."
"Indeed, it is convenient and easy to use. Could it be that the wealth you are talking about is in this soap?"
"Yes, the emperor should know that my family has saved some money through the perfume and some medicinal materials business, which allows my family to live a good life. But the output of perfume and medicinal materials is limited. Especially the perfume, which requires a large number of petals and needs to be purified with wine, so the output is limited.
The cost of this soap is lower and more people will use it. His Majesty and the ladies in the harem can use it, and ministers and wealthy businessmen outside the court can also afford it. Moreover, it is a daily consumable and people will continue to buy it after it is used up, so it can bring in continuous profits.
It will certainly create an astonishing amount of wealth, and only Your Majesty can enjoy such wealth."
Song Huizong laughed and said: "Since it can create wealth, why don't you keep it for use instead of selling it?"
"Your Majesty, I am where I am today thanks to your support and favor. Moreover, if one's virtue is not worthy of his position, there will be disasters, and if one is not worthy of wealth, there will be losses. For me, as long as the money in my family is enough, that's enough."
"You are quite clear-headed and open-minded. But I can't find a suitable person to take care of this item for the time being."
"The government can arrange for some personnel to set up a business to specialize in the production and sale of this soap. The Ministry of Internal Affairs should have many people available."
"Those people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs... never mind. Aren't you good at business? How about this, I will assign you some manpower and let you take charge of this matter. Just tell me what manpower and materials you need, and I won't ask too much. You just need to hand over the profits every month."
"Thank you for your recognition, Your Excellency. I will definitely fulfill my mission and plant a money tree for you."
In fact, Lu Cheng offered the soap and proposed to set up a business just to become the owner of this business.
Firstly, the business of Lu's company was growing bigger and bigger, which had attracted the attention of many people. However, because Lu Cheng was a close minister of the emperor, no one dared to attack him. Once Lu Cheng lost power, a group of people would come and divide up his family property.
If Lu Cheng is making money for His Majesty the Emperor, who would dare to covet him?
Secondly, as he controlled Song Huizong's purse, as long as he could continue to make money and give money to Song Huizong in a stable manner, Lu Cheng's position would be extremely stable and could not be blown down by any storm.
As for whether Song Huizong would hand over the management rights of the business to someone else, Lu Cheng was not worried. If it was really handed over to someone else, Lu Cheng had plenty of ways to make him unable to run the business and finally return it to himself.
However, Lu Cheng had already proved his loyalty, and he was favored by the emperor. In addition, he was good at business and was the inventor of the soap. He was naturally the best candidate to run this business.
Soon, Song Huizong dispatched a group of personnel, together with a group of capable workers transferred by Lu Cheng from Lujiazhuang, and now a production workshop was established outside the city of Bianjing, and a piece of land was enclosed, preparing to build a large factory.
After the first batch of soap was produced, it was first supplied to the palace, and then a shop was set up to specialize in selling perfumed soap and soap.
Lu Cheng also used the royal family's name to run an advertisement, saying that the soap was for royal use and that the emperor and empress had used it and praised it, and that officials and common people enjoyed it together, so the soap was promoted to the general public, and soon the soap became popular throughout the entire Bianjing city.
If a family has some money but doesn't use soap, it's like a bumpkin.
Lu Cheng was very good at business speculation. As the daily turnover was presented to Song Huizong's desk, he made more and more money, and Song Huizong was more and more satisfied. He immediately accelerated the construction of the factory and called on people from all over the country to raise pigs and plant flowers and plants to provide sufficient raw materials for making soap.
What is good from above must be followed by those below.
By the spring of the third year of Zhenghe (1113 AD), soap was already selling well in both the north and the south, even to the Liao Kingdom in the north and the Western Xia in the northwest.
Thanks to this achievement, Lu Cheng was promoted from a seventh-rank Zhuozulang to a seventh-rank Xuandelang, and concurrently a seventh-rank Yunqiwei.
However, the original Zuozuo Lang was a seventh-rank official with a real job title, while Xuan De Lang and Yun Qi Wei were both casual officials with only positions but no specific duties.
On the surface, Lu Cheng received double the salary of a seventh-rank official and was well treated, but in reality he had no position and was not in charge of anything.
Perhaps, Song Huizong also wanted Lu Cheng to run the business well and make money for him without arranging any other positions for him.
Lu Cheng didn't care about these things. It was good this way. He didn't have to worry about anything and could still get paid. By the way, he could continue to concentrate on studying Taoist scriptures. It was also good.
At this time, Lu Cheng has already touched the threshold of holding the elixir. He only needs to take one more step forward to enter the elixir realm. His spirit will be as introverted as a golden elixir, and everything he does will be perfect. He will concentrate his whole body's energy and spirit, just like the beginning of the universe, evolving into the universe.
When you reach that stage, you can be called a martial immortal.
When Lu Cheng read "Mr. Chen's Inner Alchemy Secrets" written by a Taoist who was a contemporary of Lu Dongbin, he was suddenly inspired by some of its content.
"The merit of the inner elixir begins with one and ends with nine. One is the source of all things... The inner elixir has nine transformations. The nine transformations are: the first transformation is to lower the elixir, the second transformation is to have sexual intercourse, the third transformation is to nourish the yang, the fourth transformation is to nourish the yin, and the fifth transformation is to transform the bones..."
When Kung Fu is trained to the bone marrow, the whole body is replaced with blood, and the Qi and blood of the whole body can be mobilized at will, the physical body has been trained to the extreme, and the remaining thing is the inner spirit...