I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 572: Anger and Fear

"Your Majesty, I have objections."

A different voice came again from the back of the hall.

All the officials looked sideways at the source of the clear and hearty voice.

Wang Mingyi was dressed in red, with a tall stature. He saluted with his hands clasped and spoke in a measured manner. Although his face was slightly darker than before, it was the kind of dark complexion that comes from working in the fields, like a green bamboo covered with mud that grows out of the ground in spring.

Wang Mingyi had been recalled to the palace before and had been appointed as the spring plowing and farming commissioner. This new position was under the Ministry of Agriculture and was of the fifth rank. However, like the former director of the Inspection Institute, he was of low rank but great power. As long as it was matters related to farming, he had the right to report directly to the Emperor of Daxia.

"Come forward and speak."

The Emperor of Daxia not only let Wang Mingyi speak, but also stepped forward to speak. This was a way to appease the Confucians.

Although he knew that what Wang Mingyi said would definitely favor Confucianism, as long as what he said was not outrageous, the Emperor of Daxia would agree. Therefore, he said in advance, "Come forward and speak," to let all officials know the Emperor of Daxia's attitude.

Wang Mingyi took more than ten steps forward and walked in front of the ministers, but did not cross their positions. Unlike Zhou Tieyi, he stood directly next to the Simin Dong Xingshu and challenged him.

"Your Majesty, I have implemented Minister Zhou's reform method at Pingjindu, but I have discovered a major drawback in this reform method."

When the ministers heard that there were drawbacks in Zhou Tieyi's reform method, they showed surprise in their eyes.

The Great Xia Emperor even stretched his body and leaned back with a relaxed look, as if he was not listening to the shortcomings of the court's policies, but to the great victory on the front line.

"If you have any problems, feel free to tell me. I will criticize the current problems in the court. If what you say is reasonable, I will reward you handsomely!"

Zhou Tieyi was speechless. The Emperor of Great Xia had said this to him many times before. Before a year had passed, he was no longer Xiao Tiantian, but Mrs. Niu.

Where there are rewards, there are punishments.

When the Emperor of Daxia rewarded Zhou Tieyi, he did not forget to criticize Confucianism. So when he rewarded Wang Mingyi today, he would naturally also have to criticize Zhou Tieyi.

Wang Mingyi looked at Zhou Tieyi with burning eyes, "Minister Zhou believes that human hearts are as deep as the abyss."

As soon as Wang Mingyi opened his mouth, Zhou Tieyi waved his hand and said, "Don't play that game in front of me. I have probably guessed what you want to say. If you want to say it, say it. If not, I will tell you, but then I won't be able to get such a good price."

Interrupted by Zhou Tieyi, Wang Mingyi looked seriously into Zhou Tieyi's eyes. At this moment, Zhou Tieyi's whole body was made up of the three Qi of the Southern Dan Ling. Even in the depths of the hall, he was surrounded by a halo that was not like that of an ordinary person. Everything in the world seemed to be reflected in his eyes, and he had insight into worldly affairs.

He knows the problem.

Wang Mingyi thought to himself that he didn't think Zhou Tieyi was bluffing him, but even after realizing this, Wang Mingyi was not discouraged. He knew there was a problem, but Zhou Tieyi had not corrected it. This meant that Zhou Tieyi's Taoism was not so perfect and there were mistakes. This was also the meaning of his own practice.

Lowering his posture, the brilliance in Wang Mingyi's eyes did not fade, but became more restrained. Then he said loudly in the direction of the Great Xia Emperor, "Minister Zhou's reform believes that what people want is the foundation of being human. Only those who like fancy clothes can have thousands of brocade clothes, and only those who like spacious houses can have thousands of tall buildings. However, those who like fancy clothes do not necessarily weave fancy clothes, and those who like spacious houses do not necessarily build them."

Wang Mingyi first stated the core of his argument, and then continued, "The Pingjindu reform, which made the people's fields belong to the government, built factories, and then recruited people as workers, was a good policy, but in the process of implementation, I found many times that officials took advantage of it. Ten acres of land was reported to the government as no more than eight acres, or ten shares were distributed to each household, and the officials took two. If this trend is not controlled, it will become more and more serious. This is what people want, and on top of what the people need, there is even a hidden collusion between businessmen and officials, which has sprouted. This is the drawback of Zhou Shangshu's theory."

The smile on His Majesty's face turned cold, and he looked at Zhou Tieyi, "Mr. Zhou, is this true?"

After being asked, Zhou Tieyi did not panic, but chuckled and said, "Two out of ten is not bad. Now they know their limits."

After Zhou Tieyi said this, the ministers immediately found the attack point, especially the Confucian and famous officials in the Censorate, who opened fire with full force.

"Zhou Tieyi, your perverse theories are inhumane. Even with such a big problem, you are still shameless and proud of it. I am ashamed to be associated with you!"

"Your Majesty, this corrupt person must have someone behind the scenes directing him to take bribes and pervert the law. No one knows where the stolen money has gone. I suggest that the Censorate conduct a thorough investigation and find out who is behind this!"

"Those who help the tyrant must be made known to the world, so that the people know right from wrong!"

······
The more angry the ministers became, the more indifferent Zhou Tieyi became. Not only did the glory on him not diminish, but he seemed to be about to leave the world. This was in stark contrast to the beasts in human clothing around him who were eager to eat him up.

Seeing this scene, Wang Mingyi felt an inexplicable sadness in his heart.

He found the loopholes in Zhou Tieyi's theory in order to gather the wisdom of all schools of thought and find a better solution.

But the reality is that when he found a loophole, before he could talk about the other benefits of his experience, the hundreds of scholars in the court began to criticize him. Everyone knew whether the right and wrong they were talking about were for the people in Pingjindu or for the party struggles in the court.

Compared with those petty officials in Pingjindu who exploited the local people, these officials in the imperial court were no less capable.

"Everyone, be quiet!"

The surging righteous energy was like a small white whirlwind that pushed away and suppressed the noisy voices in the hall.

The blazing righteous energy seemed to have the power to question people's hearts, making the gloom in the hearts of all officials appear, forming a group of vague black outlines.

The officials were slightly surprised and looked towards the source.

They were surprised that Wang Mingyi's righteous spirit was so pure that he could even display it in the hall.

At that time, Wang Mingyi inherited the word "righteousness" from Che Wenyuan, and later when he was an apprentice in the Railway Chamber of Commerce, he comprehended the Confucian sixth level of "Haoran Qi".

Then it was put into practice in Pingjindu.

The situation in Pingjindu was very special. Because of the Shinto Rebellion, the people were panicked. But because Zhou Tieyi clearly proposed the reform method of Pingjindu, the resources of Tangzhou Prefecture and Ningwang Mansion were obviously tilted towards it. Therefore, Wang Mingyi, who stayed in Pingjindu to practice the reform method, was a great trick.

The fifth level of Confucianism is "pacifying the people". For ordinary Confucian practitioners, one must either go to a place where the people are already stable and then, if one wants to gain the recognition of the people with one's own political achievements, it will take at least three to five years, and at most ten years, of hard work.

Either a place is in chaos, like the town on the front line of Yuanmeng, and a mere Confucian official of the sixth rank goes there. He has no money, no people, and no plan. How can he calm the people's hearts?

Only the situation in Pingjindu seemed to be specially prepared for Confucian practitioners, from a small chaos to a big order, so it took only half a year for Wang Mingyi to successfully enter the fifth rank of "pacifying the people". But just "pacifying the people" was far from being able to shock the officials in the hall.

With the Emperor and the Empress sitting in the Golden Palace, even Dong Xingshu would find it difficult to mobilize the righteous energy, except for a tough guy like Zhou Tieyi.

Therefore, the fact that Wang Mingyi was able to do this shows that his righteous spirit is very unique.

Did Wang Mingyi completely inherit Che Wenyuan's legacy?

Many Confucianists think this in their hearts.

The four qualities of Confucianism are called "inheriting the past", which means inheriting the power of past teachings.

At that time, Che Wenyuan was close to the third rank and had some embryonic form of Taoism. Although he passed on his own "righteousness" to Wang Mingyi in secret, all Confucianists knew about it. Therefore, it was not surprising that Wang Mingyi inherited Che Wenyuan's embryonic form of Taoism and was able to quickly become a fourth rank.

But even if it was Che Wenyuan, he couldn't directly display his righteous spirit in this Golden Palace, right?
"The saint's legacy!"

Dong Xingshu, who was supported by Zhang Shizhong, the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy, stopped coughing at this time. He took a few steps forward, touched Wang Mingyi's pure and righteous spirit, and spoke in a decisive tone.

This immediately made all the officials cry out in surprise. The changes in the court today originally made people think that Confucianism was on the decline, but the sudden appearance of Wang Mingyi, who inherited the legacy of the sage, made the situation even more interesting.

All the officials suddenly thought of the bet that Che Wenyuan had made with Zhou Tieyi. Although Che Wenyuan's cultivation was not as good as many people present, when a person is about to die, there may really be some strange connection between heaven and man, especially something like Taoism that can be intertwined with the future.

Che Wenyuan may not have seen the entire future, but perhaps he happened to see a fragment of the future, which is why he dared to make a bet with Zhou Tieyi.

This made everyone start to pay attention to Wang Mingyi again.

As for how Wang Mingyi received the saint's legacy...

The Queen on the throne suddenly spoke up, "What Mr. Dong said is the last legacy of the Confucian sage of the academy?"

When the school opened that day, Zhou Tieyi was finally helped, the Great Red Sky was opened up, and the Tai Chi Yin-Yang Bracelet was completed, but at the same time it was also confirmed that the power in the bones of the Confucian saint had been taken away long ago.

But he was, after all, a saint who could be right and wrong at the same time. When the last rays of light from the Confucian saint's bones burned out, it was normal to find a successor.

And one of the people who entered the palace at that time happened to be Wang Mingyi.

The afterglow of the Confucian sage did not choose Zhou Tieyi who re-opened the Great Red Sky, but chose Wang Mingyi. It was really a wonderful combination of time and fate.

Dong Xingshu didn't answer, but his expression seemed to indicate his agreement.

No matter how much power Wang Mingyi inherited from the bones of the Confucian sage, even if it was just a little bit, Dong Xingshu would make this matter finalized in the court today.

Because Confucianism also has factional struggles, Wang Mingyi inherited the legacy of the sage, so he has an innate advantage in fighting against the "Imperial Confucianism" headed by Ke Anran, and can also suppress the "Successor Confucianism" headed by Confucius Academy.

Dong Xingshu's tacit agreement made the ministers behave even more strangely.

First, the Confucians led by Deng Zhenquan, the chief censor of the Censorate, stepped forward and pulled Wang Mingyi behind them, separating him from Zhou Tieyi.

Wang Mingyi was too close to Zhou Tieyi just now!

If Zhou Tieyi was really afraid of Wang Mingyi, the descendant of the Confucian sage, and suddenly attacked and killed someone, it would be easy for him to kill the current Wang Mingyi, and the only thing he would lose was a clone that could not even be called an incarnation.

Even though Zhou Tieyi had behaved very uprightly in the past, no one dared to bet on Zhou Tieyi's character, especially since Wang Mingyi had inherited the legacy of the Confucian sage. This seemed to further prove that the future that Che Wenyuan saw was true, and that Wang Mingyi could really defeat Zhou Tieyi in the future, and that was why he was able to point out Zhou Tieyi's mistakes today.

The situation in the hall suddenly became weird. The Confucians protected Wang Mingyi behind them like a chicken, fearing that Zhou Tieyi would suddenly eat him. This was in stark contrast to their angry attitude when they had scolded Zhou Tieyi before.

Zhou Tieyi couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Pointing at the Confucianists, he said, "I've heard before that 'arrogant at first, respectful later, which makes people laugh', and today I see 'angry at first, fearful later', which is no less true!"

He put down his hand and snorted coldly, "Today is a dispute over principles. I am not afraid of a Confucian saint here. But here comes a successor to the Confucian saint, and you don't even wait for me to finish explaining my principles. You are afraid that I will suddenly attack you. I think Confucianism is really going backwards. You might as well switch to military studies!"

There were many military merits in the palace. After hearing this, the tension that had just caused them to figure out the situation relaxed a little, and they couldn't help but chuckle.

Wang Mingyi pushed away Deng Zhenquan's hand that was holding his sleeve and took a few steps forward. "I believe in Minister Zhou. Please tell me why you can laugh when the officials take advantage of the people."

On the throne, the Emperor of Daxia saw the reactions of the Confucianists below and secretly cursed them as idiots in his heart.

Don’t they know that with themselves and the Queen Mother in the court, Zhou Tieyi’s clone may not be able to take action even if he wanted to?
On the contrary, their stress reaction might intensify Zhou Tieyi's murderous intent. If Zhou Tieyi really took action outside the court, the world might not be able to stop him from killing a fourth-rank Confucian scholar.

Of course, this is not a bad thing for the Emperor of Daxia, because the appearance of Wang Mingyi is not all good for him who is competing for the throne, so he said nothing and waited for things to develop.

Zhou Tieyi returned to the previous topic and asked, "Since you noticed it, you are in charge of the Pingjindu reform. Did you stop it?"

"Of course it was stopped, and the culprits were punished."

Wang Mingyi said affirmatively.

Zhou Tieyi nodded slightly, "Yes, you know to only punish the culprit. Then you actually understand that the people are human beings, and the officials are also human beings. Reform and change will inevitably break the inherent interests and create a large number of new interests. People's desires are hard to satisfy, and it is normal for them to want to make a profit. Ordinary people know to bring gifts when they ask others to do things for them."

Zhou Tieyi spoke loudly about corruption in the court, and it felt like Tathagata was selling Buddhism at a low price on Mount Sumeru.

Wang Mingyi frowned. Zhou Tieyi generously admitted that he had thought of this, but he didn't think it through. Why didn't Zhou Tieyi give a better explanation and solution? Instead, he protected his subordinates like a corrupt official. Doesn't he know the harm of it?

(End of this chapter)