I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 560 Sitting and talking

Just like when Zhou Tieyi saw Mei Qingchen's "Petition for Punishment", Gao Wencan learned from Eunuch Lu what happened in Pingzhang Palace, and realized that although this was a game between the Queen Mother and Zhou Tieyi, he, as a pawn, was the first to bear the brunt!
But unlike Zhou Tieyi who could think of three or five methods in just a moment, Gao Wencan's thoughts were in a mess and he couldn't think of a solution at all.

After he whispered to Eunuch Lu, he did not move for a long time. The kidnapped storytellers were good at talking and reading people's expressions, so they immediately understood that Gao Wencan was stopped by the eunuch in the palace. As for who would rescue these storytellers, who else could it be except old Marquis Zhou?

Then the storyteller said loudly, "Now that the sun has risen in the east, it will be difficult for the villain to hide his identity!"

They have all been spreading Zhou Tieyi's holy name in Tianjing. Now there is no way back and they can only go all the way!
As soon as the storyteller said this, another storyteller immediately echoed him, laughing, "That's right, that's right, the thief was on a moonlit night, but the sun rises in the east, how can the moon occupy its position, and cover up the thief's actions!"

This person cursed even more harshly. Everyone knew that Gao Wencan came from the Pingzhang Palace of the Queen Mother. Now a thief has appeared in your Pingzhang Palace, and he is committing crimes with the help of the light of the Queen Mother's Moon. But since the sun has already risen in the east, why is your moon still reluctant to leave and occupying the position? Is it just to protect the thief?

The words of these storytellers were truly outrageous. Even Shentu Yuan, who was standing next to the parade ground, frowned after hearing what they said. If these scholars of letters were ignored, there would really be a big mess.

But what no one noticed was that Hu Wenlang was also tied up among the group of storytellers. At this moment, everything in the world was reflected in his eyes, influencing the people and things around him, making these storytellers even bolder.

I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me!
Being arrested this time also made Hu Wenlang realize that even if he wanted to avoid the world's affairs, if he wanted to continue practicing, the people of the world would have to cause chaos first.

He may not be good enough to do good things, but he is more than enough to do bad things.

Hearing the shouting of the storytellers, Gao Wencan felt his blood rushing to his head. Eunuch Lu, who came to deliver the message, was also horrified. His face turned pale at first, then bloodshot. He pointed at the group of storytellers and said, "This is outrageous! This is outrageous!"

Gao Wencan immediately gave an order, "Come here, soak the sackcloth with horse urine, gag these people, and tie them up here to dry in the sun! I will deal with them when I come back!"

Zhao Guanshan, the direct superior of Tianjing Guard, was actually the younger brother of the Queen Mother. Even Tianjing Guard himself considered himself to be of the Queen Mother's faction. When he heard these words, he was terrified. If these words were to reach the ears of the Queen Mother, these storytellers would have deserved to die. However, their subordinates were also incompetent in their work. As the saying goes, the master is humiliated and the ministers die!
The Tianjing guards immediately did as they were told. Gao Wencan did not delay here and left the God-Slaying Division with Eunuch Lu.

He knew that the problem now was not whether he could find out who was behind these storytellers, but how to solve the problem of the crazy rush for gold in Tianjing. This was the key to whether the Queen Mother would continue to support him.

However, Gao Wencan knew very well that although he was good at killing people and seizing power, he had neither the wisdom nor the resources to solve this kind of economic problem. He even realized that the consequences of Tianjing's crazy rush for gold would be serious, but he could not even analyze what the consequences would be.

Although he cannot analyze it, there are people who can.

Gao Wencan's carriage sped recklessly on the official road.

Daxia Exchange Street.

Originally this street was remote and desolate, but due to the establishment of the Daxia Stock Exchange and the completion of a new railway station, this place became more and more prosperous with the sound of whistles that sounded like the roars of tigers and dragons.

In the beginning, there were only small vendors gathering there, selling lunch to people who came to buy stocks. In the past two or three months, two grand hotels have been built, and some small courtyards around have also been bought by dignitaries and renovated.

One of the courtyards belongs to Zhang San from Tai Academy.

The last time the Pingzhang Palace was recruiting talents, Gao Wencan came to recruit Zhang San, but Zhang San was dismissive. It was not that he did not want to realize his ambitions, but he was very clear about his political position.

Firstly, his first involvement in politics was in running the New Journal, which is now the front page of the Confucian reform faction and one of the few newspapers that was able to thrive under the suppression of the Tianjing News. As a result, Zhang San's abilities were recognized by the Tianjing dignitaries, and he not only left a "crazy" reputation among the clean stream.

However, the New Journal also determined that Zhang San's political background was that of a Confucian reformist who was allied with Wang Mingyi. Moreover, Zhang San was a man of character and knew that even if Gao Wencan tried to recruit him, given Gao Wencan's narrow-mindedness, it would be impossible for him to offer advice and suggestions directly to the Queen Mother and be on an equal footing with her. This determined that as a minor official under the Queen Mother, Gao Wencan had no right to recruit Zhang San.

If Zhang San agreed, he would lose all the foundation for entering politics. Not only would he not be crazy, he would also fail to gain recognition from the Confucian reformists.

Gao Wencan couldn't even figure this out, and yet he wasted his time and energy trying to recruit Zhang San. No wonder Zhang San was cursing at him. This idiot always does stupid things!
Second, Zhang San has his own views on reform. He and Wang Mingyi formed a political alliance. One of them was in Beijing, connecting like-minded people through the compilation of the "New Journal" to prepare for the future; the other was in the local area, deeply participating in Zhou Tieyi's local reforms, and thus learning real things, laying the foundation for finding a theory to defeat Zhou Tieyi in the future. If you don't even learn the enemy's doctrine, how do you know the weaknesses of the enemy's doctrine?

So in the past few months, Zhang San has been waiting patiently, waiting for Wang Mingyi to return after completing his studies, and also waiting for the opportunity for them to show their skills.

And this opportunity came swiftly. In the battle at the academy the day before yesterday, the new Confucianism's biggest supporter, Si Min Dong Xingshu, successfully gave up part of his interests in exchange for Wang Mingyi's return to the capital. At the same time, he snatched the right to new agricultural affairs between the Queen Mother and the Zhou family!
Although it is only a part of the power, everyone knows that agriculture is the foundation of the people. If Wang Mingyi can put what he has learned into practice in new agricultural affairs and combine it with Confucianism to achieve complete results, then the new Confucianism will have a theoretical and practical foundation no matter what. By then, no matter how popular Zhou Tieyi's doctrine is, the new Confucianism will at least have the strength to secure its own base and wait for a counterattack.

Ensure your base and wait for counterattack.

This is the first strategic goal set by Wang Mingyi and Zhang San.

If this goal were made public, it would probably shock the people of the world. The first goal of these two young talents whom the people had high hopes for turned out to be so humble.

But only Zhang San and Wang Mingyi, who had communicated with each other many times, understood that the more they studied Zhou Tieyi's theory, the more they discovered its profoundness.

Any set of theories is gradually improved through practice, but Zhou Tieyi's theory, once put forward, seems to be a complete and nearly perfect set of things. Its speed of self-improvement is even faster than the practice of social development, so people feel as if Zhou Tieyi has already predicted the future.

How can we have a chance to fight back when facing such an opponent and can't even guarantee our basic situation?
At this time, two people were playing chess in the courtyard, and news came one after another.

First, Gao Wencan arrested the storyteller in Tianjing with great fanfare. Zhang San sneered, "He just became a cruel official, but he is so impatient. He is really a waste!" Wang Mingyi asked while holding the chess piece, "Indeed, if he had waited a few more days, the result would have been different. However, cruel officials always have to race against time..."

His expression was filled with complex emotions that he couldn't even explain. He thought back to when Zhou Tieyi broke the impasse and was just as energetic.

If Zhou Tieyi had chosen to retreat eight thousand miles away, perhaps the world would be in a different situation now, and his teacher would not have died on that rainy night.

Sitting next to the two of them were several students from the Imperial Academy, ranging in age from teens to twenties, all of whom were recruited by Zhang San. The younger ones hadn't figured out why they had to wait a few more days, so they asked, "Why would waiting a few more days make a difference?"

Wang Mingyi made a move and intercepted Zhang San's big dragon. "There are two things wrong with Gao Wencan arresting the storyteller at this time."

"The first inappropriate thing is to guard against the people's mouths, which is more important than guarding against the river. Zhou Tieyi's reforms have now been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and have changed every aspect of Tianjing. In fact, in the hearts of the people, Zhou Tieyi's becoming a saint is something that everyone expects. The storyteller just made this matter clear. This process has already happened. If you arrest the storyteller again, you will lose your moral integrity because you will only deepen the people's thoughts."

"The second inappropriateness is due to tactics. Gao Wencan naturally does not want to occupy the moral position. He is a cruel official, and it is his instinct to think about problems based on tactics. His idea is very simple. He wants to use the storyteller's matter to break Zhou Tieyi's authority in the God-Slaying Division, gain more support from the Queen Mother of Heaven, continue to expand the scope, wipe out Zhou's party, and obtain the authority left vacant by Zhou's party."

Hearing this, several people around nodded secretly. The older ones among them felt that they had thought it through, but Wang Mingyi's analysis based on the theory of "Taoism" was indeed more specific and objective.

"But what he didn't understand was that Zhou Tieyi took the initiative to withdraw the power of Tianjing, not because he lost it. So the power that Zhou Tieyi withdrew had either been handed over to the Queen Mother and the Emperor long ago, or was in the process of being handed over."

“If Gao Wencan fights for the power of Tianjing now, he is actually suppressing the process of Zhou Tieyi handing over power. Rather than fighting with Zhou Tieyi, he is fighting for power with the Queen Mother and the Emperor. The final backlash will definitely fall on the Queen Mother and the Emperor!”

The result of this inference was so bold and novel that many people present couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Then why would the situation be different if we waited a few days?"

Zhang San pointed at his dragon and said, "Where is this dragon located?"

When everyone looked, they saw that Zhang San's big dragon on the chessboard was in the southeast direction. They were all smart people and someone noticed it immediately. Combined with Wang Mingyi's Taoist theory just now, they were able to deduce the conclusion.

Wang Mingyi sighed softly, "At this point, it's very difficult to find loopholes in Zhou Tieyi. We can only wait for him to make loopholes or for his subordinates to make loopholes."

"From a Taoist point of view, at least the people of Tianjing want Zhou Tieyi to become a saint. The people don't care that there are two suns in the sky, they only care whether they will have a better life tomorrow. It is naturally not possible to prevent the people from talking, but it is okay to prevent Zhou Tieyi from becoming a saint. He built the Thirty-Three Days on Taiyi Temple. There are many games of chance, but the only thing that can be inferred is that if he really builds the Thirty-Three Days this time, there is a high probability that he will directly ascend to the sainthood. Neither the emperor, Yuan Meng nor the gods will allow this. So Gao Wencan only needs to wait for a few days. If the Thirty-Three Days fail to be built this time, then he can spread the word to Yujing Mountain to prove that the destiny is not with Zhou Tieyi. After all, whenever a true dragon is born, there are snakes and pythons mixed in, and they are the forerunners of the king."

"From a tactical point of view, Zhou Tieyi has withdrawn from the central power and has taken control of the local power. His weakening in the central power is inevitable. The emperor is getting closer and closer to the sainthood, and it is increasingly impossible for Zhou Tieyi to control the central power. Instead of fighting here, it is better to fight in the local area. Now the eight major banks have not completely incorporated the local banks, and the shipping companies have not completely defeated the grain transport. Gao Wencan has the emperor's favor, and there are actually many things he can do. It's just that he has no like-minded people as his arms, and he has no belief in correcting the world's morality, so he acts rashly. Killing a few people is okay, but it can't change the general trend of the world!"

"This theory is very wonderful and should be made clear!"

Zhang San laughed loudly, took the melon ladle beside him, scooped a bowl of water to drink. Since that day when he got rid of the name of a madman, he stopped drinking.

He said to himself, "I am no longer a madman, so how dare I make friends with wine? I would rather be friends with clear water, which is the friendship of gentlemen."

Zhang San drank a bowl of water, looked at the chessboard again, and asked, "Do you think the backlash this time will fall on the Queen Mother or the Emperor?"

Wang Mingyi thought for a moment, "Zhou Tieyi's relinquishment of power has two sides. What he gave up to the emperor was the power of the God Punishment Department. If Zhou Tieyi is interested in this, he only needs to stir up Shinto disturbances in various places, use the appointments he made during the selection, instigate one or two key people to rebel, and cooperate with the Shinto rebellion. The imperial court is already short of military forces at this time. If the Shinto chaos starts, from Taihang Mountain to Luoshui River, and then to the spring drought in the south, all the lives of the people in the world will be destroyed in a matter of days."

Everyone held their breath slightly.

Zhang San looked at his strangled dragon, and left a word, actively killing the dragon, leaving a large blank space, "Killing the dragon may seem beneficial, but in fact it is like letting a pack of wolves chase the deer, which is not a wise move."

Wang Mingyi listened and smiled, "Yes, this is the way of the military, not caring about the lives of the people. Although he comes from a family of generals, his style of doing things is more like Taoism. Taoism is reborn. As the saying goes, God leaves a ray of hope for life, but if he doesn't leave it for others, how can he leave it for himself? So his actions will definitely be more gentle."

Zhang San nodded and said, "Then it seems that the backlash will fall on the Queen. The power that the Queen has seized is in the Central Bank. I wonder where she will start?"

While the two were sitting and discussing, a servant came in to report.

"The exchange rate of gold and silver at Southeast Bank is 1:15."

"Zhou Hou is consigning new inkstones, ginseng fruits and other spiritual items for sale. They can only be exchanged for gold."

"There is a rumor in the market that gold is the light of the sun, the light of the holy way. Zhou Hou is exchanging gold in this way, which means he will soon become a saint."

The audience looked at each other and then at Wang Mingyi and Zhang San. The reality was exactly the same as their analysis.

(End of this chapter)