Chapter 10 Changing the King’s Flag at the City Head

Five months later.

"My benefactor, this is my good friend, Jian Zheng, and he is also a classmate of Song Wei who came here earlier." Huang Xu pointed at the scholar next to him and introduced him.

It has to be said that Huang Xu has a wide range of social contacts. Since taking over Qingzhou, Gu Qingyuan has often seen this scene.

Either they are classmates or wealthy businessmen, a steady stream of talents gather through various channels.

Gu Qingyuan handled this quite skillfully. He rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out a copybook of calligraphy. He stuffed it into Jian Zheng's hand and said, "It turns out to be Jian Dacai. Nice to meet you. This is a gift for meeting you. Tell me if you have anything to say. Discuss with Huang Xu what kind of official position you want to take. I have something important to attend to. Let's talk again when we have time!"

Gu Qingyuan folded his arms and slipped out, leaving Huang Xu and the other person looking at each other in bewilderment.

"This... what does Lord Gu mean by this?" Jian Zheng was holding the copybook in his hand, recalling the scene of Gu Qingyuan taking the copybook out of his arms, and then looking at the copybook that was obviously too big to fit in his arms.

Huang Xu seemed very calm, looking at the calligraphy that was far more exquisite than the collections in the mansions of the gentry and nobles: "It's okay, since it is a gift from a benefactor, Brother Jian should accept it. This gift is for everyone. Brother Jian is lucky, but Brother Song Wei only got a fragment of an ancient book."

"But..." Jane was about to say something but stopped.

Huang Xu knew what Jian was about to ask, so he interrupted him and said, "Your Excellency has been entrusted with the mission by Heaven, so a little bit of supernatural power is nothing. Brother Jian, you should think about what position you can take."

"Brother Huang, don't you need to ask Lord Gu for permission?" Jian Zheng was shocked but didn't show it on his face.

Huang Xu remembered Gu Qingyuan's hands-off look and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Five months ago, I came to Donglai, Qingzhou with my benefactor. It was a year of great famine, and the people were living in poverty. The officials in the court were incompetent, and the local officials were tyrannical. My benefactor was kind and wanted to save the people from the dire situation. I took over the city of Donglai, forced the wealthy merchants to donate grain, and rectified the administration. Unfortunately, we were short of manpower, so I asked Brother Jian to come out. I would like to thank you."

Huang Xu bowed deeply to Jian Zheng and continued, "But my benefactor is not interested in this. He never asks about civil and military affairs. I have the final say. The positions of officials in a state, big or small, are all up to Brother Jian's will."

Jian Zheng pondered for a moment and said, "Where is the county governor here?"

"The county magistrate Fang Zhengping is a man of great literary talent but lacks political skills. It is a great dereliction of duty that has led Qingzhou to this situation. Now he is imprisoned in the county magistrate's mansion and cannot take a single step out." Huang Xu said with a smile.

Jian Zheng thought after hearing this, a prison made of lines? Maybe he was put under house arrest. He also remembered how ruthless Huang Xu was. He was lucky that the county governor was still alive instead of being buried in a grave. "I know Huang Xu's ruthless methods. A city cannot have two masters. Brother Huang, do you have any plans for the position of county governor? For the future, I should take a legitimate position!"

"Brother Jian, don't worry too much. I have already sent people to the capital to present auspicious signs and ask the emperor to grant me a title. I have also sent people with treasures to bribe Dong Taishi's adviser Li Wenru and the eunuch Feng Zhong. These two people took advantage of the emperor's young age to sell official positions and titles to enrich their families. In addition, Qingzhou is in a year of disaster. I'm afraid the officials are eager for someone to take over. Not to mention the position of county governor, they can also covet the position of governor."

Huang Xu snorted coldly, "It's just a little reputation. After some time, when I take over the iron bucket of Donglai, I will use Donglai to sweep Qingzhou. Then those nobles will have to accept it. Daxia is doomed. Fang Zhengping is quite sensible and wrote a letter of apology and recommendation. It's not bad for him to give up his position by himself. But if he refuses to accept the honor, falling into the water is also a good ending."

Jian Zheng did not comment on Huang Xu's arrogant words. He only noticed one point in his words: "May I ask, Brother Huang, what does this auspicious sign mean?"

Speaking of auspicious signs, Huang Xu could no longer maintain his calm expression, and pulled Jian Zheng to his side, "This auspicious sign is called potato, and was given to you by your benefactor because he couldn't bear the people's hunger. It is said that the yield per mu is more than dozens of stones. But your benefactor didn't want the people to suffer, so he was willing to offer the auspicious sign to the world and relieve the people's suffering of hunger. It is truly an act that surpasses the Five Emperors and benefits all people. According to the time, the potato should be ripe. Brother Jian, come with me to take a look. If it is really as your benefactor said, it is God's will and I can accomplish my great cause!"

Caring for the world is benevolence, daring to delegate power is broad-mindedness, and there are all kinds of supernatural powers in him. Could it be that a holy emperor has really come to the world to turn the tide, support the collapsing building, and save the people from hanging? Jian was thinking of the petty intrigues in the court, and his heart was shocked.

Not to mention Huang Jian and the other two, Gu Qingyuan was setting up a stall to treat patients.

Ever since he became a hands-off boss, Gu Qingyuan has been treating patients on the street every day for the past five months. He accepts all civilian martial artists who come to him for treatment, one reason being to understand the human meridians, and the other to observe the effects of various kinds of true qi on the human body.

He gets up early in the morning and returns in the evening. After returning home, he records and ponders each sample case one by one, hoping to apply it to himself.

A big man had been waiting here for a long time. When he saw Gu Qingyuan coming, he hurriedly saluted.

Gu Qingyuan nodded and put his hand on the big man's wrist: "Your true energy is stagnant, but you often feel unbearable pain in your armpits?"

When the big man heard this, he was overjoyed: "What Divine Doctor Gu said is absolutely right. The external skills I practiced have some problems with the flow of Qi to my armpits, and I have cramps on rainy days."

Gu Qingyuan had treated this disease for at least 800 yuan, if not 1,000 yuan, in five months. He waved his hand and said, "Stand up."

After the big man stood up, Gu Qingyuan pointed his fingers at a dozen acupuncture points on his chest, upper limbs, waist and abdomen, which made the big man scream and jump up and down.

"Bear with it, man, can't you bear this little pain?" After saying that, Gu Qingyuan punched the big man hard three inches below his armpit.

The big man then let out a long breath, and felt his whole body was smooth, his Qi flowing more smoothly, and his progress in martial arts was about to reach a higher level.

"Thank you, Doctor Gu." The big man bowed deeply again. "This is actually due to the incorrect circulation of your true qi. In the future, you can circulate qi more through the Yuanye acupoint." Gu Qingyuan pointed at the big man's armpit, indicating that the acupoint was here. "Okay, if there is nothing else, let's go. Don't delay the treatment of the patients behind. You can give the money as you see fit."

The big man searched his body, respectfully presented all the silver he had, and turned to leave.

A martial artist who saw this scene couldn't help but ask the local people around him: "Brother, this person's skills are amazing, when did such a person appear?"

The man said proudly, "This man is called Gu Qingyuan. He has a deep knowledge of martial arts. He has been here since May to treat illnesses. Whether it is a common person with a cough or tuberculosis, or a martial artist with a variety of hidden diseases, he can cure them with just one blow. Because when he treats martial artists, he always ends with a punch. With one punch, all meridians are opened, and the disease disappears. He is invincible, so the local martial artists call him the Invincible Iron Fist."

The Iron Fist is invincible. If you don’t know the name, you might think he is some boxing master.

The people nearby also said, "This Divine Doctor Gu is not only a skilled doctor, but also very kind-hearted. He doesn't charge us any consultation fees for seeing him. Even Mr. Huang who distributed food to us was brought here by Divine Doctor Gu."

The people around soon started chatting.

"What do you mean by distributing food? It means working for the food. I heard from my second child that it's called... something like work-for-relief. In my opinion, the county magistrate should be someone like Divine Doctor Gu and Mr. Huang!"

"Your second child is very lucky. He got a job in the government office. His ancestors are very happy."

"The county magistrate is still alive. I guess Doctor Gu can only become the county magistrate after the prefect dies."

"I don't know when the governor will die."

The crowd soon became noisy.

The martial artist ignored the people around him and just looked at his smug brother beside him, thinking to himself, I don’t know, I thought you were invincible with your iron fist.

Just as he was thinking about it, he saw the man next to him take a big step forward, salute Gu Qingyuan, the invincible iron fist, and call him Master.

Gu Qingyuan looked at the visitor without any surprise and said, "Come on, find a place to sit."

The visitor's surname was Jiang, Jiang Renyue. A few days ago, Jiang Ren's mother fell ill, and ordinary people were helpless, so they came all the way to Gu Qingyuan for help. After Gu Qingyuan cured her, Jiang Renyue was grateful for his great kindness and insisted on staying by his side. He also wanted to become his disciple and learn skills, and kept calling him master. Gu Qingyuan refused, but the young man kept serving her, and was quick-witted and quick-handed, so Gu Qingyuan just let him go.

Five months of non-stop treatment allowed Gu Qingyuan to gain a deeper understanding of the human body, meridians, and true Qi. With the help of these resources, Gu Qingyuan was finally able to condense the true Qi in his body into one, combining the strengths of hundreds of schools.

Gu Qingyuan simply integrated all his insights and combined them into the "Eternal Life Secret". After the integration was completed, Gu Qingyuan vaguely realized that his strength had reached its limit.

It is not his upper limit, but the upper limit of the world. The concentration of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth restricts the development of warriors' strength. Unless there is an unexpected event such as the revival of spiritual energy, it is difficult to have a major breakthrough.

The rest can only learn various skills and develop horizontally by analogy, but they cannot make progress in a big realm. Gu Qingyuan calls this the world's limit.

Of course, Gu Qingyuan did not gain nothing. Not only did he push his strength to the peak, he also figured out some tricks to break through the limits.

After the strong man left, more than a dozen civilians came one after another. They all had minor illnesses, but for these people, they were tantamount to a catastrophic disaster.

"Master, looking at the sun, no one should be coming." Jiang Renyue reminded as he saw it was getting dark.

After five months of treatment, Gu Qingyuan summed up a complete set of treatment methods and prescriptions for symptomatic treatment, which he then handed over to Huang Xu. As long as he followed the map, there would be some effect. However, human power is limited. It would be extremely difficult for Gu Qingyuan to sort out all the patients in a county by himself. It is always better to follow the map than to wait for death. In this world, the only way is to save lives first and then treat people.

So after five months of sorting out, the patients in the city have either been cured or no longer need treatment, and as a result, Gu Qingyuan's place has become much quieter.

"Well, pack up and go." Gu Qingyuan stood up. Behind him were scattered miscellaneous items. The people in the city lived better than the disaster victims outside the city, but only slightly better.

Gu Qingyuan established a rule of not charging for medical treatment, and he rewarded people with their hearts. Although the people were in poverty, they knew who was good to them. Sometimes people would give him a handful of wild fruits or two eggs, which would be scattered around and piled up on the ground.

"Dr. Gu, you are a miracle doctor!"

When the voice came, Gu Qingyuan looked up and saw a handsome man coming in front of him.

"My name is Li Shiqiong. Please ask Dr. Gu to treat my brother."

(End of this chapter)