Joy of Life: I'm really not a saint

She asked the general Uesugi Tora, "What do you think, General?"

"Whether to fight or not depends on your majesty's will, and the other matters will naturally be solved by us! Your majesty can ask me to take off my armor with just one word, so why bother about this group of incompetent people! If your majesty wants to go south to counterattack Qing Kingdom, I will definitely charge ahead. Please don't doubt it!" Uesugi Tora's words were as heavy as a mountain. He had been resisting the barbarians in the north of Qi for several years. In the following years, because of the rise of the Western Hu National Master, the northern barbarians were forced to fight back, and the other side had no power to fight back. This made Uesugi Tora breathe a sigh of relief and return to Shangjing.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he was the only great general of Northern Qi.

However, these words also angered many officials, and they all glared at him. However, his adoptive father Sean, on the other hand, raised his lips at this moment, his eyes full of relief.

This kid was smart for once.

Although the boy he mentioned is already over 40 years old.

Zhan Doudou chuckled and threw the question to Li An again: "Please continue, Master."

Li An cupped his hands and his voice gradually became louder: "If you need some money and supplies, I can think of some way to solve this problem. But I am worried about whether the soldiers still have the morale and courage to face the Qing Kingdom!"

He turned around, met everyone's gaze and smiled, "Since the conditions are not met yet, let me solve these problems first, and then send troops after sufficient preparations!"

Then, Li An expressed his real intention.

"I request that a new Black Ice Station be established, with Sean in charge, to conduct external investigations."

The functions of the Black Ice Guard and the Imperial Guard are not in conflict, one is responsible for external affairs and the other for internal affairs. The Imperial Guard is the emperor's personal guard, while the Black Ice Guard is the emperor's private army!

"I request to establish a new People's Bank, and let me manage all matters, take over external channels, increase revenue and reduce expenditure to create tax revenue. This bank will be linked to the Ministry of Revenue and controlled by the court."

This People's Bank is comparable to the Taiping Bank owned by Li Bohua, a disciple of Si Gu Jian in Dongyi City, and it has the attribute of financing. It was opened with funds from the court, which is also a lifeline, and it can solve many problems.

"I request to establish a new military equipment manufacturing office, which will be led by my disciple Hong Kaijia. It will be under the Ministry of Works but independent. The financial resources will be provided by the People's Bank, not the Ministry of Revenue."

This part is somewhat similar to the weapons factories built by capitalists in the United States, where they funded production and then sold them to make money. However, Li An was not doing this for the purpose of making money, but for self-sufficiency and not being controlled by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry. Of course, this was also to facilitate the production of gunpowder in the future.

"I request that a new navy be established, with Captain Yan Xiaoyi as the commander, and soldiers be recruited and trained vigorously. At the same time, the sea ban will be lifted and shipping will be restored. Similarly, the money and weapons needed for this part will all be provided by the people's bank."

"I request to establish a new shipping department, which will be headed by my disciple Hong Kaijia. It will be responsible for shipbuilding and collect commercial taxes from shipping and customs."

"I request that a new Salt and Iron Bureau be established, and I will be in charge of it concurrently. The salt and iron business of the whole country will be nationalized, and all the profits will be put into the people's banks."

"I request the establishment of a new Agriculture Department"

"I request to establish a new Hundred Schools Academy and a Royal Military Academy, both to be built in one place, with me as the chief priest and Your Majesty as the honorary principal."

"I request the establishment of a new imperial merchant."

The ministers in the court became more and more nervous as they listened, and they were already sweating profusely!

If the Imperial Master's method is followed, all of the spies and officials in the court, including military affairs, economy, students, grassroots officers, industry, agriculture, etc., will be under the control of Li An!

They knew that doing so would most likely allow Da Qi to return to its peak and become even more powerful, but they had no choice but to oppose it!

Some people who were previously in the Emperor's Party and the Empress' Party were even more furious!

We believe you when you say this will make Da Qi stronger, but will this powerful Da Qi still be named Zhan? I'm afraid it will be named Li!

So they spoke out against it one after another, and their words were very fierce and left no room for negotiation!

"If that doesn't work, then just send troops to Qing Kingdom!"

Li An's cold and mocking look made all the ministers in the court hesitate to speak. He continued, "If you can't make Da Qi strong, why don't you let others come? Anyway, if we maintain the status quo for a few more years, the soldiers will still be powerless, and the treasury will still be empty. In my opinion, there is no reason for Shangjing Academy to continue to exist!"

"It would be better if everyone dispersed and made room for me to open the Hundred Schools Academy!"

Seeing that everyone was talking and speaking ill of each other again, the voices of opposition were not as loud as at the beginning.

Li An smiled slightly. This is what Brother Xun said about the theory of removing the roof: people always like to reconcile and compromise. For example, if you say that the room is too dark and you want to open a skylight here, people will definitely not allow it. But if you advocate removing the roof, they will come to reconcile and be willing to open the skylight.

Just as Li An first proposed something that could not be done now - sending troops to Qing State. Then he asked these ministers to state the reasons why they could not send troops and oppose his proposal. Then he took the second best option and established many departments to achieve his goal of integrating Qi State's resources.

Chapter 178 Calling a Deer a Horse?

This really put the ministers in a difficult position.

It is impossible that someone else has said the direction of development for the new year, and you are not able to oppose this or that, right? If you keep opposing, then please come up with a feasible suggestion yourself.

But, they can’t say it!

But if they just agree with Ang Lee's idea, they will gain nothing. Even the power in their hands will be greatly reduced and eventually diluted and hollowed out.

The most difficult thing to accept is the academy.

This is uprooting the major aristocratic families!

The talents produced by the academy and military school will definitely be sent to the court. If they cannot intervene and get a share of the pie, it will only become more and more difficult in the future. Once the selection and delivery of talents is in the hands of others, the aristocratic families behind them will only slowly die out!

While everyone was still discussing, Li An had lost much patience.

He turned to look at the emperor and asked directly, "What do you think, Your Majesty and the Queen Mother?"

Silence, silence is Cambridge tonight. Oh, no, it is the palace today.

After a long silence, a difficult voice came from the hall: "Approved!"

This was the Queen Mother's voice, accompanied by Zhan Doudou's nod.

Seeing this, Li An no longer hesitated. He patted the sword box under him, and a sword flew out of it with a thought, and began to carve on the pillar in the hall without anyone to do it.

A moment later, a vivid sika deer came into view of everyone.

Everyone exclaimed in amazement at this amazing scene. Looking at the master's painting and the meticulous carving techniques, they all sighed and completely forgot that Li An had entered the palace with a weapon in his hand.

Today was the second time Shangshan Hu and Xiao En had seen such a swordsman's skill, but they were still shocked. Although they were not grandmasters, in their opinion, perhaps even a grandmaster could not do what they saw before them.

Li An used his luck to speak, and his voice was as loud as a bell, awakening everyone who was intoxicated: "You are all the backbone of the court, and you must have extraordinary knowledge!"

"Then let me test you all. What is this that I am depicting?"

Seeing the imperial teacher asking questions, the ministers all smiled, thinking that he was showing off his painting skills. Although it was a bit inappropriate to do this in a court meeting, who could blame him for his exquisite painting skills?

Look at this sika deer, it seems to be about to jump out of the pillar!

So they responded one after another: "The master's skills are amazing. This little deer looks so lifelike, as if it were a living creature. It's really amazing!"

"Yes, it is a fawn."

"Although our painting skills are average, we can still recognize it!"

Li An nodded with a smile on his face, but his smile was intriguing. He continued, "That's not the case. What I drew is a horse!"

Mu Yun seemed a little uneasy, not knowing what Li An was thinking, so he said, "Perhaps the Imperial Master made a mistake?"

Hahaha!

The more Ang Lee thought about it, the more interesting it seemed. It was as if he was witnessing a historical story, except now he was the protagonist of the story.

The loud laughter resounded throughout the hall, causing all officials to look at each other in confusion.

"Please take a closer look."

Li An turned around and asked the Emperor and the Queen Mother: "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Just as Zhan Doudou was about to say that it was a deer, he heard the Queen Mother coughing behind him, so he didn't rush to express his opinion, but just said: "It's too far away to see clearly, so let's listen to your opinions!"

Li An nodded in agreement and spoke again to interrupt the discussion.

"After taking a closer look, do you still think it is a deer?"

Some people who were observing the situation had sensed something unusual and began to speak tentatively: "I think it's a horse!"

After a while, more than half of the people in the hall claimed to be horsemen.

"Since there is still controversy, let the minority obey the majority!"

"If you think it's a deer, please stand on my right hand side. If you think it's a horse, please stand on my left hand side!"

Those who could sneak into the capital of Northern Qi and attend the court meeting were not stupid people at all. Now everyone understood Li Ang's intention.

This is forcing yourself to take sides!

At that moment, some people in the crowd began to move slowly. In a short while, the crowd was clearly divided into two groups, but there were still people moving back and forth between the two sides, some hesitant.

In the central government where Li An was, only the prime minister and the grand tutor did not take any action.

Seeing that the crowd had gradually calmed down, most people agreed that it was a horse. According to what was said before, the minority obeys the majority, so we can now conclude that it is a horse.

Li An shook his head in disappointment, without a trace of pride.

If the entire Northern Qi court is like this, how can we talk about defeating the Qing Kingdom?

"Your Majesty, it seems that the ministers have come to the conclusion that this is a horse!"

Zhan Doudou just thought it was a show. She remembered the many officials standing on the side of the horse. She looked at them until they lowered their heads. Then she smiled and said, "Yes, even I think it looks like a horse!"

This also made the many officials standing on Ma Yi's side breathe a sigh of relief.

Among those standing on the side of the deer were Mu Yun and others. They were still moved. They were on the side of justice, seeking truth from facts and not confusing right and wrong! They straightened their chests like fighters who were not afraid of power!

This is the Northern Qi court!

There wasn't even one person who refuted him harshly. Even those standing opposite him were Mu Yun and others who had people behind them who were hostile to him and were challenging him.

The only ones who still care about their reputation are the transparent prime minister and the imperial tutor, right?

"Please ask Minister Yu to record the names of the gentlemen standing on the side of the deer, and then send imperial doctors to treat their eye diseases one by one. I think it's because you have worked so hard and devoted yourself to your papers that you overused your eyes and couldn't tell whether it was a horse or a deer."

Li An's words sounded like the roar of the King of Hell, blasting into the ears of the officials on that side.

This... This means that there will be a reckoning later!

They no longer had the righteous spirit they had before, their bodies were shaking like sieves. On this snowy winter day, they were sweating profusely, their faces were unnaturally red from being too excited.

Not a single one behaved normally.

Now Li An has completely given up and has no more worries. It seems that no one has been wronged, and no one believes that it is wrong and insists that it is a deer!

Even though the sword is still floating above my head

"Sir, is it really appropriate for you to confuse right and wrong like this?" Although Wang Shisanlang's words were not complimentary, he was concerned about Li Ang.

Ang Lee didn't feel offended because he was indeed confusing right and wrong.

"If I were a treacherous official, I would be infamous for eternity after what I did today."

He smiled slightly and said nonchalantly: "If I can make this country strong and unify the world, then today's incident will only be an interesting story!"

"I just want to stop the opposition in the court so that I can do what I want to do instead of arguing with them here. In this way, I believe that the people of the world can live a life with enough food and warm clothes as soon as possible!"

Although he was still worried about Li Ang, Shisan Wang stopped talking.

Since the gentleman is not afraid, why shouldn't I accompany him all the way to the end?

Chapter 179 The court affairs come to an end.

Seeing that the farce was about to end and the censor had already recorded today's events truthfully, Zhan Doudou could not help but stroke his forehead, full of impatience.

I don't know what Ang Lee is up to, but I actually cooperated miraculously. I'm afraid that I will be labeled a tyrant by the people.

She also said something about helping her regain her female body so that she could rule the world as a woman.

This Lee Ang will play tricks on me!

Zhan Doudou couldn't help but think, this matter would probably spread to all the countries in a few days, right?

She looked at the eunuch Yu Wenyun who was still recording the names of the ministers and was furious. "Are you done yet? You can't record it all by yourself, so why don't you ask someone to help you record it? What a waste of time!"

She decided to vent her anger towards Li An on the eunuch.

The three perspectives of the young people near the door in the hall were severely shattered, and some even made a vow on the spot that they would become figures like the imperial master in the future!

Seeing that the eunuch had finished recording, Li An brought the topic back to the beginning.

"It is true that Sean accepted bribes, but it is false that he deceived the emperor. Your Majesty knew all of this beforehand."

"It is true that General Uesugi used to be arrogant and self-respecting, but he was also punished and surrendered his military power. As for colluding with Nanqing to betray Daqi, it is false. How true are the words in the letter? Who would write their true feelings in a letter?"

"It is true that Commander Wang Shisan released the suspect privately, but the so-called suspect was only identified as a suspect because he had offended the powerful. He himself had not committed any crime, so what was wrong with releasing him? As for condoning his subordinates to commit violence in the street, it was false. It doesn't matter who those people belonged to, because they are now in the mass grave."

"As for me? Haha." Li An stopped talking.

He just said: "So who is in favor of the proposals I mentioned and who is against them now?"

The ministers in the room looked at each other, hesitating for a long time and unable to make any clear words. However, the prime minister and the imperial tutor were the first to respond to Li An's words.

"I agree!"

"I agree too!"