In Xianyang City, banquets are being held in the homes of many dignitaries for no other reason than to be happy.

As for why he was happy, it was because Li Xin left Xianyang and went to the north to attack the Huns.

They were not happy to get rid of the troubles in the border areas, but felt that one of the demon kings in Xianyang City was gone, and only Li Shui was left. They might be alone, and they would have a few months of peace.

.

Just when this wave of banquets had just passed, they heard another news. Li Shui was recruiting alchemists and had the idea of ​​​​looking for the fairy mountain. He might leave Xianyang after a while.

After the news came out, the banquets among the courtiers became more frequent again.

During this process, the happiest thing was the Immortal Exorcism Tower. The Exorcist Immortal Tower was not only a tavern, but also the designated sales place for immortal wine.

Recently, Wang Laoshi did some calculations and found that the profit increased by another 30%.

Recently, when Wang Laoshi was quiet at night, he always liked to look at the moon in the sky and think about life. He found that money was just a bunch of numbers, and he suddenly didn't like money anymore...

Wang Laoshi feels that he has been sublimating recently and moving closer to being banished to immortality...

…………

Li Shui has recently made a big splash and is recruiting alchemists from all over the world. The conditions offered are very attractive. Regardless of men, women, old or young, no matter how many years they have been alchemists, as long as they are determined to find the fairy mountain, they can come to Shangjun Villa to sign up.

Once you are selected by the Exalted Immortal, you can receive funding from Shangjun Courtyard. If you can find something during the search for the Immortal, there will be more rewards.

This news spread as early as a month ago. Now, many alchemists from all over the country have come from all over the country to try their luck at Shangjun Courtyard.

You must know that alchemists are also divided into three, six or nine grades. The top ones, like Lu Lie and Hou Ji, work beside the emperor. They usually have fine clothes and fine food, and have a respected status. When they look for fairy mountains, they can get a lot of money.

At a slightly lower level, they work for county guards, county magistrates, and powerful people, becoming their guests and teaching them some techniques for strengthening the body, curing diseases, and eliminating disasters. In fact, the most common ones are Fangzhongshu.

These people can drink fine wine and eat delicious food, and they can also shout and drink in local places, but it is not necessarily true that they have great status.

The lowest level is to hide in the mountains, sleeping in the open air, and searching for immortals. If you can survive to become famous and get the recognition of the powerful, you can soar to the sky. If you can't survive, you can only collect herbs and pretend to be gods.

, using medical skills and witchcraft to treat people's illnesses, exchange for some money and food rations, and barely survive.

The original Huaiguzi was a bit close to the last alchemist.

All alchemists have two major wishes. The first wish is to find an immortal, and the second wish is to be appreciated by powerful people.

Therefore, after Hou Ji and others were killed, all the alchemists in the world were eagerly waiting, hoping that Your Majesty would recruit alchemists again. By then, they would be able to enter Xianyang and enjoy the glory and wealth.

As for whether they would become the next Hou Ji, they didn't bother to think about it.

However, they soon became disappointed, because His Majesty believed in Li Shui and put all his thoughts on refining alchemy, and no longer wanted to recruit alchemists. After all, these alchemists were extravagant and spent countless money, but they still had no results.

On the other hand, Li Shui has made too many things, from Daitian method to fairy wine, from fairy paper to convex lenses, from fairy eyes to fairy ears.

As a result, these alchemists gradually gave up the idea of ​​going to Xianyang. However, they soon discovered that the powerful local magistrate did not seem to believe them.

The magic in Xianyang City is spreading to the outside world. Many county magistrates and county guards are already drinking fairy wine and using fairy paper.

There are even many people who are inquiring about how much they plan to sell an elixir for when they are banished to immortals in the future...

The alchemists are desperate. They know in their hearts that maybe in three to five years, they will lose their jobs completely. By then, where will they go?

The alchemists were confused and felt that their future was dark.

However, at this moment, Li Shui suddenly put up a torch in the darkness and told them: Come to me, I am ready to reuse you.

As a result, almost all the alchemists from all over the world were rushing to Shangjun Courtyard.

Being able to work under this banished immortal will greatly increase the chance of finding an immortal. Even if you can't find an immortal, you can still have enough food and clothing.

…………

The area near Shangjun's courtyard was overcrowded. Until they received Lishui's approval, these alchemists could not enter the gate and could only wait outside.

So among these alchemists, those with connections sought refuge with nearby powerful men, and those with money rented private houses. Those with neither connections nor money set up their own tents.

In the past, the people near Xianyang City felt that the alchemists were extremely mysterious after seeing them, and they were simply messengers of immortals. But now... after seeing them more, they feel that the alchemists are nothing more than that.

Especially the alchemists who had been waiting at the gate for more than ten days, all of them were looking miserable and miserable. Compared with the banished immortals in Shang Jun's courtyard, they were completely different.

As a result, the people's worship of Li Shui became even more unwavering.

In fact, Li Shui didn't mean to ask the alchemist to wait outside. The main reason was that there were too many people coming, and it was a mixed bag, and he had to interview them one by one.

Those who can pass the test have either traveled around the world for many years, know the mountains, rivers, and swamps like the back of their hand, and have rich wilderness survival experience.

Either you are strong and have strong vitality, so you can travel long distances.

In the end, Li Shuixian chose about fifty old men with white beards and hair.

These old men thought they were chosen because they were destined to be immortals. In fact, Li Shui chose them because they had been searching for immortals outside for many years and had rich experiences in the wild.

For these old men, letting them go to the frontier to investigate the situation would simply cost them their lives. But it would be more than enough to let them teach the young alchemists something.

After selecting fifty old men, Li Shui selected three hundred talented and strong young alchemists.

These alchemists have some experience in searching for immortals, but it is obviously not enough.

So Li Shui started to set up an immortal-seeking class in Shangjun's courtyard, and asked the fifty old men to take turns teaching them knowledge.

In this process, whether it is the master or the apprentice, Shangjun Villa is responsible for all the food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Moreover, Li Shui also said that these three hundred people are just the first batch of students. He welcomes other alchemists to continue their efforts and strive to pass the examination as soon as possible.

Once you enter Shangjun Courtyard, it is not impossible to be recommended to the emperor in the future.

For a time, all the alchemists in the world went a little crazy.

At first, Li Shui's behavior puzzled the powerful people in Xianyang. How could Huaiguzi, who always loved money as much as his life, let these alchemists in without charging admission?

How could he agree to take full responsibility for the food, clothing, housing and transportation of more than 300 people? Could it be that he had too much money and wanted to find someone to help him spend it?

As more and more alchemists gathered near Shangjun's courtyard, the courtiers felt that something was wrong.

Someone began to write to Yingzheng, saying that Li Shui was trespassing and was conducting the imperial examination privately.

The person who wrote the letter was named Niu Dou, and he was a Confucian scholar.

Although Li Shui had a great reputation for defeating Wang and Zhao Gao in successive battles in Xianyang City, there were always a few people in the court who were not afraid of death.

This Niu Dou was not afraid of death. In his eyes, etiquette and law were of paramount importance. Li Shui's daring to hold the imperial examination privately was simply treason and tantamount to conspiracy.

Niu Dou is a Confucian scholar. Strictly speaking, he is a man of Chunyu Yue.

However, Chunyu Yue did not know Niu Dou's petition in advance. After the contents of the memorial came out, Chunyu Yue did not object to this opinion. Instead, he told many people: "The imperial examination is of great importance and is the most important thing."

It is a solemn matter. It is really inappropriate for Huaiguzi to imitate the imperial examination. However, this person may just be ignorant and did not consider this aspect."

Chun Yuyue's attitude seemed to be excusing Li Shui, but in fact it also showed that he was against Li Shui.

As a result, many people began to criticize Li Shui from the perspective of etiquette.

It's not that they wanted to accuse Li Shui of treason. They simply believed that Li Shui had indeed overstepped his bounds and should restrain himself.

The opinions of the courtiers were put on several cases of winning the government, and soon, Li Shui was summoned to the palace.

When Li Shui came to Ying Zheng's study, he found that there were many people here, most of whom were members of the Chunyu Yue Party, mostly Confucian scholars.

These naive people...

Li Shui greeted them warmly: "You are doctors, and I am also a doctor. Why are you impeaching each other?"

The Confucian scholars couldn't help but move to the side, trying to keep a distance from Li Shui.

Li Shui chuckled and didn't care.

Ying Zheng said calmly: "Recently, many people think that you are overstepping your bounds by holding the imperial examination privately. I want to hear your opinion."

Li Shui bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have not overstepped my bounds. It is just some people who are making trouble out of nothing and making random rumors. They want to show that they understand etiquette by belittling me."

These words made all the Confucian scholars present turn red.

Chunyu Yue said: "Huai Guzi, everyone knows that you opened the imperial examination privately, why do you deny it?"

Li Shui smiled helplessly and said: "I am taking an exam, not an imperial examination. Even if it is an imperial examination, why is it an arrogance? I can take the imperial examination in the palace, but I can't? I can eat in the palace, but everyone in the world wants it.

Will you starve to death?"

Chunyu Yue was stunned. He felt that Li Shui was making excuses, but for a moment he didn't know how to refute.

Fortunately, there are many Confucian scholars present today, and there are always those who react quickly. For example, Niu Dou reacts very quickly.

He stood up and said: "There are some things that the king can do, and the ministers can also do. There are some things that the king can do, but the ministers cannot do. Master Huai has done something that the ministers cannot do, and that is trespassing."

Li Shui asked curiously: "So what can be done and what cannot be done?"

Niu Dou said: "Going beyond one's duty, using the emperor's ceremonial guard, wearing the emperor's robes, and living in an illegal house... This is a transgression of status."

"To hold the imperial examination privately, to raise soldiers privately, to manufacture weapons privately...this is essentially transgression. No matter what kind of transgression, it is treason. Sir Huai, I hope you will rein in the situation."
Chapter completed!