Life in the world of film and television

In the following days, Li Mu returned to his normal life, teaching, shopping, giving guidance on Zhuji's development, and formulating some rules and regulations with Nie Yunzhu to improve the company's framework and management model.

There are so many to list!

However, the weather was gradually getting warmer.

Due to the hot weather, Su Tan'er's time spent outside gradually decreased. Sometimes she would even eat dinner in the pavilion in the courtyard. The Su Mansion had its own small garden. After dinner, Li Mu would take a walk with Su Tan'er. If they met people from other families, they would greet them and chat with them.

Although everyone was reluctant to let Su Tan'er take charge of the Su family, no one dared to treat the couple harshly. After all, each of them was more difficult to deal with than the other.

Sometimes, when it was too hot at night, the two of them would eat some ice bean paste or other chilled snacks. The Su family stored ice cubes every winter, but of course not everyone could eat it. Su Tan'er took over the eldest house, so her treatment was naturally the best.

However, compared to Li Mu's leisure, Su Tan'er is still busy all day long. But seeing how she enjoys it, she must feel a sense of accomplishment.

After eating cold drinks, the two would occasionally chat, play chess, or do their own things until the lights went out at night, when they would practice the Great Music of Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth together and share bliss.

In mid-May, their bed broke down, and every night when they moved around, it would make a creaking noise.

The next day at noon, Li Mu returned home and saw that the bed had been dismantled and the servants were busy carrying a new bed that looked very sturdy and assembling it carefully.

When they came to the study room next door, Su Tan'er was pretending to look at the account book. When she saw Li Mu coming in, she had a half-smile on her face and her face was slightly red.

After a while, she rolled her eyes at him and said coquettishly, "Husband...you are not serious!"

Now that they have a sturdy new bed, they should give it a try. At night, the two of them will practice the Great Music of Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth together again. Perhaps they will have new experiences, or perhaps their accumulated experience will lead to great results.

A trace of internal strength finally emerged in Su Tan'er's body.

It's been four months... Su Tan'er has been practicing the "Kun Juan" of the Great Music of Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth for four months. Li Mu originally thought that with his tireless guidance and assistance every night, Su Tan'er's own aptitude was also good and she would be able to develop internal strength in two or three months. He didn't expect that it would take four months all at once.

The inner strength of this world is more difficult to cultivate than he imagined.

Fortunately, I finally figured it out.

Su Tan'er, who has internal strength, has poor physical fitness compared to the warriors in this world, but with the help of internal strength, she can beat several people alone.

Li Mu was not happy about this. What made him happy was that Su Tan'er had internal strength, and many methods of the Heaven and Earth Yin Yang Great Music Fu could finally be used. Otherwise, he was the only one with internal strength, and when the two of them practiced the Heaven and Earth Yin Yang Great Music Fu together, many methods and moves could not be used, which wasted this skill.

In the next few days, Li Mu worked tirelessly every night to guide Su Tan'er, who had just gained inner strength, to practice various methods of the Great Music of Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth.

With Li Mu, a super master with strong internal strength, cooperating with him in dual cultivation, Su Tan'er, who had just gained internal strength, also gained enormous benefits. Under the effect of the Great Music of Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth, her internal strength improved by leaps and bounds, and the speed of growth was astonishing.

It can only be said that the difference in their skills is too great. Li Mu's internal strength is strong, while Su Tan'er's newly born internal strength is too weak. Even if the benefits Su Tan'er gets are only a fraction of Li Mu's, for her internal strength, this fraction of benefit is huge, and after it is revealed, it will naturally manifest as a rapid improvement in internal strength.

Although, it is not without disadvantages. Su Tan'er's internal strength is basically obtained through dual cultivation with Li Mu. The foundation is not very stable, and her future cultivation is too dependent on Li Mu.

However, being able to transform from an ordinary person into a martial arts master in just a few years is something that many people can only dream of, so what does this really matter?

Since Su Tan'er has internal strength, Li Mu has another job every day, which is to teach her martial arts. Having internal strength but no moves is useless if you can't use it.

For a beginner like Su Tan'er, martial arts have always been about quality rather than quantity, so Li Mu only taught her two skills.

One is Qinggong, or it can be said to be a body technique, "Returning the Wind and Brushing the Willow Body Technique." This is a Qinggong suitable for women to practice. It is not difficult to practice, nor is it complicated, but it is extremely exquisite and can benefit people for a lifetime.

The other is the sword technique "Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword", which is naturally not the original version from the ancient tomb. This is a set of sword techniques compiled by Li Mu based on the Nineteen Swords of the Jade Maiden of Mount Hua, the Lady Sword, the Thousand Flowers Sword Technique of the Hengshan School, the martial arts philosophy of the Ancient Tomb School, and some sword techniques suitable for women collected in the inner treasury of the Demon Cult.

Li Mu originally wanted to teach Su Tan'er the Nineteen Jade Swords or the Lady Sword. After all, they were Ning Zhongze's signature skills. However, these two sword techniques were extremely difficult and complicated to practice, and the entry threshold was high.

Yue Lingshan practiced swordplay for ten years, but it was not until she was seventeen that her master Ning Zhongze taught her the Nineteen Jade Swords. She was not qualified to learn the Lady Sword until she was in her twenties. What's more, Su Tan'er had never touched a sword since she was a child.

Li Mu considered for a long time, based on the Nineteen Swords of the Jade Maiden and referring to many sword techniques, he created the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword.

In terms of power, this sword technique is naturally inferior to the Nineteen Swords of the Jade Maiden, the Lady Sword, the Ten Thousand Flowers Sword Technique...

The only advantage is that it is simple to get started and easy to use, which is suitable for people like Su Tan'er who have no basic knowledge.

Moreover, he has good potential. If he practices this sword technique well, it will be easy to learn the Nineteen Swords of the Jade Maiden, the Lady Sword, and the Ten Thousand Flowers Sword Technique in the future.

Moreover, if we talk about the martial arts in this world, the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword can be regarded as a unique skill. If one masters this sword skill well and combines it with the corresponding internal strength, one can be considered a top master.

……

The days passed by slowly, but the rain became noticeably more frequent. At the end of May, Li Mu was playing chess with Qin Siyuan by the Qinhuai River and heard the other party was concerned about the flood.

"The weather this year is a bit hot, and there is a lot of rain, which is a bit abnormal compared to previous years. Now that the flood season has arrived, there may be floods in the future."

"Alas! This is not a good year. If things continue like this, there might be a wave of refugees by June or July."

The productivity and social structure in ancient times had too little ability to resist risks. Whether it was drought or flood, which caused poor harvests or no crops, it would create a large number of refugees with no way to survive, which was the source of unrest.

In addition, the situation in the north was tense, the war between Liao and Jin was about to break out, and the whole world was filled with the smell of gunpowder, just waiting for a spark to ignite it.

Li Mu thought to himself, you have a keen eye. There will be a big flood next, and refugees will pour out from everywhere.

But, what can we do about this kind of thing even if we know about it? The flood will come anyway.

However, Li Mu also asked Nie Yunzhu to purchase more food and grass. He didn't mean to hoard rare goods. He would need a large amount of food to recruit workers and guards from the refugees. If he couldn't finish eating them, he could use them to make wine.

……

Time flies and it is already mid-June.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and floods occurred in various places. Jiangning was close to the Yangtze River, so the water could be drained away in time, so it was relatively better. However, in many areas upstream, the impact of the floods became more and more serious, resulting in a large number of refugees.

Everyone knows that Jiangning is wealthy and less affected by floods. There are already many refugees outside the city, all of whom have come from all over the place.

The atmosphere in the city was a little tense. Perhaps because people had experienced similar situations before, they knew that this was just the beginning and that more refugees might come in.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of June. It was not yet the end of the dog days of summer. The abundant rain made the weather seem unusually hot and muggy. Because of the flood and disaster in the upper reaches, the atmosphere in Jiangning became increasingly dull and desolate. That day, when I met Qin Siyuan, the old man said with some worry, "I got the news that four places in the upper reaches have been flooded, and the Yellow River has burst its dike. When July comes, there will be more victims coming, and I'm afraid the gates of Jiangning will have to be closed by then."

"Alas, the grain prices are already skyrocketing. I wonder how many more people will die in this flood!"

Li Mu could only remain silent. This was the fragile ancient society where natural disasters and man-made calamities could take lives at any time.

The depressing atmosphere in the city actually boosted the business of brothels and painting studios. Many officials and scholars expressed their concerns about the country and the people, and gathered on the painted boats to drink, write poetry, and have fun every night.

He did write a few high-quality poems that were full of concern for the country and the people, and they were praised by countless people. He was praised for having the world in his heart and worrying about the country and the people.

The government also stepped up at this time and set up porridge stalls outside the city. At the same time, it called on all major merchants and wealthy people to donate money and grain and distribute porridge outside the city.

Zhuji naturally took the lead and donated a sum of money and set up a porridge stall outside the city. This was just an open move. Privately, they had already prepared manpower and started recruiting workers on a large scale from the disaster victims.

The Su family was also preparing to deal with the disaster. The continuous floods caused a decline in business in various places, and some places had even closed stores.

However, the money that should be donated still needs to be donated, and the porridge stalls outside the city also need to be set up. This is how we have been doing all these years.

When Li Mu returned home in the evening, Su Tan'er was in a rare good mood. She took out a piece of silk the size of a palm and in extremely bright colors and showed it to Li Mu: "Husband, do you think this color is good?"

Li Mu nodded: "Is this the new dye you developed with your improved technology?"

Su Tan'er nodded: "Yes! Tan'er put in a lot of effort!"

Li Mu said: "It's very beautiful. If the dye is stable enough, it will be a major breakthrough and will definitely be popular."

Su Tan'er said: "We are verifying it to see if there is any problem of fading or discoloration. It will be easy to take down the Royal Merchant then."

Li Mu knew that she would probably be disappointed this time, but it was not convenient for him to say anything more at this time.

……

As July approached, there were more disaster victims outside the city. The whole Jiangning seemed to have pressed the pause button. Except for a few entertainment venues, most stores were deserted. Prices also soared, especially food prices.

As more and more disaster victims gathered, in order to prevent them from pouring into the city, the city gates were not only strictly guarded but also only opened for a few hours every day.

Under such circumstances, the atmosphere in the city became increasingly depressing. Even Li Mu focused most of his attention on the large number of disaster victims outside the city, recruiting craftsmen and selecting guards.

As for the craftsmen, Nie Yunzhu will take the lead. Hulu Valley is large enough, with enough food, and enough planned and under-construction workshops, with thousands of job vacancies.

If there weren't so many disaster victims gathered here, it would be really difficult to recruit so many people with certain skills or who can read and write.

Li Mu was personally responsible for the recruitment of guards.

It's simple. Practicing martial arts also depends on one's aptitude. Those with good aptitude can practice faster and better than those with poor aptitude.

However, not everyone has the ability to tell whether a person has a talent for martial arts, so Li Mu can only do it in person.

Fortunately, there were enough victims for him to choose from.

It took half a month to select more than 500 young men with decent qualifications from tens of thousands of young men. There were also more than 100 teenagers over the age of twelve with good qualifications.

For the more than 500 young men who had already reached adulthood, it was too late to practice martial arts at this age. Li Mu taught them the easy-to-learn and easy-to-practice techniques of Reckless Bull Strength, Eight Bloody Fighting Styles, and Ten Direction Steps.

As long as you learn the kung fu, you can quickly develop combat effectiveness.

At the same time, the Demon Cult's Five Elements Flag's military training methods were also used on these young and strong men, hoping to train them into an elite force, which would also be the seeds for future expansion.

The remaining one hundred or so teenagers are still young and have great potential to be tapped. Li Mu adopted a more orthodox training method, starting with the basics. If he can train more than one hundred masters who are proficient in military formations in the future, it would be quite cost-effective.

In mid-July, the continuous rain finally stopped, the disaster situation eased, and the refugees outside the city finally stabilized.

Li Mu and Nie Yunzhu left Jiangning and went to Hulu Valley to check on the resettlement of the craftsmen.

Outside Jiangning, there were groups of disaster victims gathering together. The government's measures were effective. Although it was a bit chaotic, there was still a certain order.

The two men rode their horses forward. Even though they were far away from the gathering place of the refugees, there were still many refugees with ragged clothes and pale faces on the official road.

Fortunately, the farther away from Jiangning City they were, the fewer victims gathered there. Once the two men got off the official road, they could no longer see any trace of the victims.

Nie Yunzhu didn't know what he was thinking about, maybe his former family, or maybe he was alone and helpless, his eyes were slightly red.

Li Mu asked softly, "What happened to Yunzhu?"

Nie Yunzhu shook his head: "Nothing, just thinking about the past."

Li Mu asked: "Then, is there anyone else in your family?"

Nie Yunzhu shook her head in confusion: "Maybe not. Yunzhu's family used to be an official family. I was considered smart. My father loved me very much. When I was a child, he asked someone to teach me poetry and songs... When I was young, I was also called a talented girl."

"Until I was ten years old, my father got into trouble, and both my father and mother died on the way to exile. My aunt also remarried, and I was sent to the Jiaofangsi."

"As for whether there are any alive, I haven't asked for the past few years. Maybe there are, maybe there isn't any. Yunzhu doesn't want to know the result."

When she spoke the last part, her voice became low and she seemed about to cry.

Li Mu sighed and patted her hands gently.

"You've suffered so much, don't worry, I'll be there for you in the future!"

Hearing Li Mu's words, Nie Yunzhu felt sweet in the heart, as if he had received a promise, and his mood improved.

(End of this chapter)