I changed the world.

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Therefore, as far as he knew, since Master Li returned from the capital, he had issued a decree refusing all requests for apprenticeship. Not only did he not accept disciples himself, but other masters of Yunxiao Mountain were also extremely strict in accepting disciples, with a special high-ranking priest conducting the examinations.

Of course, there are exceptions. For example, some patrons come from prominent families or have made substantial donations, many of whom have been followers of the Yunxiao Mountain Taoist tradition for generations. These individuals are themselves an extension and manifestation of the temple's influence. The temple may grant them the status of nominal disciples, but these are different from formal disciples and are generally referred to as lay practitioners.

“No, he was an inner disciple. Later, I learned that my master had a close relationship with that Master Li and held a high position in the sect.” An Huiling carefully chose her words. Seeing that her father was listening attentively, she continued, “Not long ago, I went to Dinghai Yunxiao Mountain with my master. At that time, my master visited Master Li, and I listened in on the conversation.”

"You mean, the abbot of Yunxiao Mountain, Master Li Jingxin?" An Zhengquan interrupted his daughter.

“Yes, it is the abbot of Yunxiao Temple who was granted the title of Protector of the Nation, Profound Knowledge and Virtuous Deeds.” An Huiling nodded.

Unexpectedly, his daughter had such an experience. An Zhengquan subconsciously sat up straight. Even in his social circle, he had heard people talk about this Protector of the Nation, the Mysterious and Virtuous Master more than once.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 740 The Profound Heritage of Yunxiao Mountain

Because of their imperial decree, the "True Persons" of the Xuanmen in this world are not like those so-called "masters" in Zhang Jing's previous life, who dare to boast about themselves. Instead, they are Xuanmen giants who need to be granted imperial decree, have real social status, and are widely recognized.

After all, Xuanmen is currently the largest orthodox religion in the Great Zhao Dynasty. Due to the previous dynasty's support for Buddhism, since the founding of the dynasty by Emperor Taizu, Xuanmen has always been respected in the religious field. As a result, Xuanmen has flourished in the world during this dynasty.

As technology advances, the role of religion in educating the people and maintaining rule is given more importance. Therefore, even without the series of events involving extraordinary resurrection, a Xuanmen Zhenren who is simply granted an imperial title is still a very important figure in the empire.

Therefore, in history, the number of imperial edicts bestowed upon "real people" during the same period was usually no more than a handful.

In the eyes of many powerful figures, this Master Li Jingxin was the most legendary and mystical master in the entire Xuanmen (Taoist) sect.

From the moment his master, Xiao Daoguang, was bestowed the title of "Perfected Person of the Profound and Mysterious Way of Non-Action, Manifesting Teachings, Solemn and Universal Salvation," ascended to heaven, to his succession as abbot of Yunxiao Temple and his participation in the sacrificial ceremony in the capital, a series of rumors, true or false, circulated. Then, he was summoned to the palace and received by the Empress and the Emperor. Finally, the Emperor not only bestowed generous rewards upon him but also sent eunuchs to accompany him on a tour of the capital. Finally, an imperial edict bestowed upon him the title of "Perfected Person"... This honor made those in the capital who were always observing the actions of the highest authority speculate wildly.

There have always been rumors that His Majesty holds this Master Li in extremely high regard... It is said that this rumor first came from a minister in the cabinet, after a few drinks...

“This Master Li… is no ordinary person!” An Zhengquan said thoughtfully.

“It’s not as exaggerated as Dad said. Master Li actually has a good temper and a kind personality.” An Huiling thought about her nephew who was always humble and polite when they met and couldn’t help but say.

“Don’t think that Master Li is just an ordinary abbot of a temple.” An Zhengquan shook his head and said, “Do you know that on the board of directors of Southern Bank, there are two directors representing Yunxiao Mountain, who represent 18% of the voting rights and are the actual largest shareholder?”

An Huiling was taken aback. She knew that the Southern Bank was one of the oldest and largest banks in the southern part of the empire. It was said to have close ties with the wealthy gentry and nobles of the southeast. However, she did not expect that the largest shareholder was Yunxiao Temple!

With her knowledge, she naturally wouldn't think that an 18% shareholding ratio was low. For large banks like Southern Bank, whose shareholding has been extremely dispersed since its establishment, an 18% shareholding ratio, along with some supporters on the board of directors, would definitely have a significant influence on the decision-making of Southern Bank.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg of Yunxiao Mountain’s investment empire.” An Zhengquan exhaled: “The Three Mountains Talismans, a two-thousand-year-old orthodox Xuanmen tradition… Apart from themselves, no one else could possibly guess how many businesses they have, or how many good deeds they have done…”

"Even my family, though we see a blazing fire and boiling oil, can't compare to Yunxiao Mountain in terms of wealth and heritage..."

"Is that so?" An Huiling's eyes widened. She truly had no idea that Yunxiao Mountain was so wealthy...

Seeing his daughter's surprised expression, An Zhengquan couldn't help but smile and shake his head: "Wealth is secondary. Just talking about influence, Xuanmen is the largest religion in our country. Since the development of Southeast Asia in modern times, it has increased its efforts to spread outwards and now has a wide influence throughout the East. Among its hundreds of millions of believers, there are many wealthy merchants, high-ranking officials and nobles, and many who secretly support it... These are all formidable hidden forces."

"Not to mention those powers that are said to be hidden behind the scenes, and can only be glimpsed in myths and legends..."

“This Master Li is now showing signs of becoming the number one figure in the Xuanmen sect, comparable to the old Celestial Master of Dan Ding Mountain. Not to mention, there are rumors that His Majesty currently holds him in high esteem.” An Zhengquan said, looking at his daughter, “In the future, if you have the opportunity to meet this Master again, remember to treat him with utmost respect and not be negligent. If you can leave a good impression, that would be even better…”

"I know..." An Huiling didn't know what to say, after all, the truth was quite different from her father's understanding, so she could only shake her father's arm in a coquettish manner, indicating that she wanted to continue.

“Alright…you go ahead.” An Zhengquan immediately smiled and waved his hand.

“The reason I mentioned this to you is because I overheard Master and Master Li discussing some information while I was listening nearby.” An Huiling paused, and seeing her father listening attentively, continued, “Father, do you know that something happened at Fengsui Fortress not long ago?”

"Oh?" An Zhengquan frowned upon hearing this. After a moment's thought, he hesitated and said, "I did see in the internal information briefing that there were indeed some problems with Fengsui Fortress, but they guessed it from online public opinion tracking."

"I also tried to inquire through other channels, but I didn't get any definite information. The information I have so far is that there are several possibilities: one is that there was a navigation accident due to some unknown reason; another is that a military exercise was conducted there; and yet another is that a free asteroid in the Kuber planetary debris belt was being cleared by explosives..."

"What? From what you're saying, is there a problem here?" An Zhengquan was also curious as to why his daughter would bring this up.

"The news my daughter heard came from Li Zhen." An Huiling couldn't find a better reason now, so she had to use Li Jingxin as a pretext: "It is said that one of the three experimental ships that the Human Joint Scientific Exploration Agency sent out for the second time has already returned to port."

"It was that experimental exploration ship, the Mogen River, that returned directly to Fengsui Fortress via space jump."

"Back to Hong Kong? Then why..." An Zhengquan was puzzled. Logically speaking, such a globally watched experimental project should have been covered extensively in the media once it successfully returned to Hong Kong. Why was it so quiet until now, with no news at all? He immediately realized that there must be a problem. An Zhengquan's expression turned serious, and he whispered, "Is there a problem?"

“Dad guessed right.” An Huilingyue didn’t keep them in suspense and nodded, “It is said that an unknown danger from deep space appeared on the Mogenhe exploration experimental ship, resulting in huge casualties among the crew. At the same time, this danger also spread to Fengsuibao, which forced our country to close the waterway leading to Fengsuibao for a time.”

"Father should have no difficulty verifying that on March 31, our country used the pretext of exercises to demarcate an area and mobilize the fleet to block the international waterway leading to Fengsuibao."

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 741 An Zhengquan's Awakening

An Zhengquan was not a reclusive old-fashioned person. Due to the development of space technology, the entertainment industry in this world has created far more science fiction works than Zhang Jing's previous life on Earth. Among them are many movies or novels that describe crises from outer space, such as "Deep Space Crisis," "Alien," and "Deep Rising." An Zhengquan has naturally read many such works.

Therefore, upon hearing his daughter's description, the first thing that came to his mind was those works that had been widely discussed in the past.

"What kind of danger is it exactly? Do you understand?" he pressed.

"It is said to be some kind of unknown entity, possibly a biological form that we cannot understand. It arrived at Fengsui Fortress with the experimental ship and immediately caused a huge disaster. The garrison at Fengsui Fortress was almost completely wiped out in a short period of time..."

"So, the beacon tower failed to mount an effective defense?"

"No."

An Zhengquan's heart sank. He naturally knew that the beacon tower was the largest defensive stronghold that mankind had built in the solar system besides the moon. If even the beacon tower could not make timely defenses, it would mean that human society's ability to deal with such crises was extremely inadequate.

"So in the end... was the matter resolved?"

"It's been resolved. It's said that a master from the Xuanmen sect intervened..."

"A master of the Xuanmen sect?" An Zhengquan's first reaction was disbelief. After all, if the fleet and military base couldn't solve the problem, how could a master of the Xuanmen sect possibly do it? This was simply too contrary to common sense...

However, he quickly recalled the events that had happened to his daughter, and especially since, as the leader of Qianluo, he inevitably had access to information that ordinary people couldn't. This made him realize that some kind of extraordinary power truly existed in this world...

"Do you know the specifics of that expert?" An Zhengquan asked tentatively.

"I don't know, after all, I was just a disciple who was with him that day." An Huiling naturally couldn't tell her father that the master was her senior brother, so she pretended not to know.

An Zhengquan thought this was normal and didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he frowned and pondered for a while before picking up his phone, dialing his assistant's number, giving a few simple instructions, and then hanging up.

When his daughter brought up the incident at Fengsui Fort, An Zhengquan naturally understood what she meant. If all of this was true, then the acquisition of Genesis Aerospace Company shares by Qianluo, which he had been planning, was likely a scheme orchestrated by someone else.

However, before confirming this, he needs to do some simple checks.

An Huiling naturally understood what her father needed to do at this time, so she stopped bothering him and pretended to look out the window.

The car returned to silence, but just a few minutes later, An Zhengquan's cell phone rang again.

"Um... um... okay, I understand." An Zhengquan hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

The information obtained from the assistant has confirmed that on the morning of March 31, the Aerospace Force issued a notice for a temporary exercise, and the area designated for the exercise happened to be located on the international waterway leading to Fengsuibao...

What's particularly intriguing is that the civilian waterway leading to the beacon tower remains closed to this day, supposedly for clearing meteorites.

Originally, the shipping lanes outside Beacon Tower were not popular routes; only some planetary mining companies would go there and resupply at Beacon Tower Airport.

However, in An Zhengquan's view now, this undoubtedly proves the authenticity of the information his daughter just revealed!

He couldn't help but feel a chill of fear. He knew that if he hadn't been reminded by his daughter and had still pushed forward with the merger, Qianluo would not only have faced a tight cash flow situation for a considerable period of time, but would also have incurred huge debts.

In this scenario, if the deep space jump test goes wrong and the deep space exploration process cannot proceed as expected, then the deep space concept stocks and even aerospace concept stocks in the market will inevitably plummet, which may even lead to a decline in the overall capital markets of various countries and affect the economy.

After all, the capital market is all about expectations. If expectations are not ideal, then stock valuations will need to be restructured, and commodity prices will also fall. Various demands in the market will slow down, and the economy will slow down or even decline.

After all, in this era, the economic impact of aerospace-related industries is enormous, not to mention that they embody all of humanity's expectations for future development.

In this situation, not only will the stock price of Qianluo Group itself inevitably fall, but the stock price of Genesis Aerospace, which the group just acquired for a large sum of money, will also plummet. Consequently, banks will require them to provide more collateral.

After all, the previous syndicated loans were secured by shares of Chien-Luo and even shares of Genesis Aerospace after the acquisition. If the value of these shares continues to decline, then the banks will inevitably require the lenders to provide additional collateral.

Alternatively, in extreme cases, there is a risk of loan withdrawal. I wasn't worried about loan withdrawal before because the economy was doing well, all expectations were optimistic, and the overall market liquidity was ample. Even if loans were withdrawn, I could borrow money from other banks.

However, if there is an economic contraction or even an economic crisis, the situation will be completely different. Once a loan withdrawal occurs, finding a bank willing to lend will not be so easy...

Based on An Zhengquan's observation of the market, he naturally knew that the current capital market was obviously overvalued. The economic boom cycle had lasted for too long, and due to the rapid development of technology and even the expectation of deep space exploration, the stock market as a whole was at an extremely high level.

All stock commentators and institutions are telling investors that the future is bright, and that humanity's hope lies in the distant deep space, just like the Age of Exploration. Deep space exploration will bring vast living space and room for imagination, thereby leading to tremendous economic development. This is the supporting factor for the capital market's optimism.

However, once this support level is shaken, even in the short term, it will greatly affect investor confidence.

Considering the recent continuous decline in stock markets around the world, and even the Zhaozhou stock market reaching its lowest point this year, experts and analysts within Qianluo previously offered various explanations, generally believing it to be a normal market correction.

However, after hearing the news his daughter had just brought, An Zhengquan was shocked. This was clearly a large amount of well-informed capital fleeing the country!

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 742 Cessation of Acquisition

Furthermore, the very act of Interstellar Ventures being willing to sell its shares in Genesis Aerospace on the secondary market is itself part of this exodus!

At times like these, the old money men's keen sense of smell came into play. If it weren't for their daughter's excellent connections, they wouldn't have heard a single definite rumor!

If you think about it a step further, it becomes even more worth considering. The real facilitator of this acquisition was Haishang Bank. Qianluo is a well-known conglomerate in Jian'an, with extensive cooperation in the financial circles of Jian'an and the south. Haishang Bank, as the largest bank in Jian'an, naturally possesses considerable strength.

This time, the Maritime Bank led a syndicate to provide the loan. An Zhengquan originally hoped to use this transaction to further strengthen his ties with these financial institutions and the powerful families behind them.

This has always been his approach. Even though many people see him as a representative of the new internet elites, he himself is well aware of the enormous power contained within the traditional forces that have been rooted in this country for hundreds of years.

He did not believe that confrontation was a good strategy; on the contrary, gradual integration was the better option.

This time, however, if the news about the daughter is indeed true, then the role of the Maritime Bank, and even the Wei family behind it, in this acquisition becomes quite intriguing…

It should be noted that the Wei family has a Grand Secretary in the cabinet, a figure who has direct access to the emperor. An Zhengquan simply does not believe that they are unaware of what happened at Fengsui Fortress.

Since they were aware of the situation, why did they still push for this merger and even organize a syndicate to provide loans? Their intentions... must be quite complex.

With a serious expression, An Zhengquan dialed another number: "Hello, yes, it's me... Junwei, listen, you need to completely stop all matters involving Genesis Aerospace shares."

“Yes, that’s right, a complete halt… um, all previous verbal agreements are null and void. Qianluo is withdrawing from the acquisition of Genesis Aerospace’s shares.”

"Yes, I understand... I understand... There's no need to say anything more. I have my reasons. Yes... I've already made my decision."

"Okay, go and inform them... express your apologies, and find a reason yourself. Hmm... I'll talk to you in detail when we get back. Okay, that's all."