Chapter 218 Black Iron Teaching Stick!
On May 13th, at dawn, the court meeting began.

Zhou Tieyi was wearing a dark red official uniform and white boots embroidered with dark clouds. His wide sleeves swayed from side to side, making him as light as a bird spreading its wings.

"My Lords, it's so early today!"

Zhou Tieyi's voice is still bright and lively, full of youthfulness.

In the White Jade Square, this greeting interrupted the officials who were still chatting in low voices.

However, today's court session was different from the last time. Even the censors who were full of resentment towards Zhou Tieyi just snorted coldly and turned their heads to the side, indicating that they would ignore this "villain" Zhou Tieyi.

But they would never dare to join the Minister of Justice Dong Xingshu in criticizing Zhou Tieyi like they did last time.

Putting aside the last time they criticized Zhou Tieyi verbally, they were speechless when he simply said "Simin, why are your disciples kneeling here?"

Besides, Xu Dingsheng’s incident really scared them.

At least they dare not speak easily until this wave of events is settled.

Didn't you see that the 'white pigs' Xu Dingsheng and others who were caught by Zhou Tieyi didn't even dare to come to today's court meeting, and only dared to ask their colleagues to pass on their resignation letters?

Censors may seem noble, but they value their reputation the most. They dare to fight against "evil officials" and die against a wall, which will leave their names in history.

But if Zhou Tieyi stripped me naked and published my story in the newspaper to humiliate me, it would be more painful than death.

The censors couldn't help but look at Si Min and Si Lu carefully, why is your "Xing Shi Bao" so much worse than "Tian Jing Bao"?

How come you run this newspaper so that we don't even dare to cheer for you in the court!

The crime is not that we don't fight to the death, but that the two of you are a few moves behind each other!
The censors were like eggplants hit by frost and dared not speak, but Zhou Tieyi would not miss the opportunity to expand his achievements.

He looked at his disciple Mei Juncang who was following him. Today, Mei Juncang not only prepared "Xingshi Newspaper" and "Tianjing Newspaper" for his father, but also took out two more stacks of "Tianjing Newspaper" and "Xingshi Newspaper" to give to everyone.

"Waiting for the Meridian Gate to open is a waste of time. Juncang, you can distribute newspapers to the adults to relieve their boredom and see the effect of my report on the matter."

"is teacher."

Mei Juncang first handed two newspapers to his father who was kneeling on the ground, and then began to distribute them one by one.

The military officers who had nothing to do with the matter were of course happily reading the newspapers. How long had it been since they saw the censors being humiliated like this?
In the past, in the court, did they ever have the opportunity to speak loudly?

But the boy from the Zhou family has only attended court twice, and this court meeting in Tianjin is very different!

Just for this reason, the military officers will do their best to protect Zhou Tieyi.

Otherwise, if Zhou Tieyi was eliminated, not only would they not be able to see the good show, but they would also be scolded by the censors as before, wouldn't that be unfair to them!

The military attachés took the newspaper, and the neutral officials from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture hesitated for a moment and then also took the newspaper.

Anyway, they will buy these two newspapers after the morning court session. At the same time, they are also very curious about how Zhou Tieyi arranges the censors.

When Mei Juncang handed the newspaper to a censor, the censor snorted coldly and tried to turn aside to avoid taking the newspaper.

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "It is wise to listen to both sides, but blind to one side. Since Lord Jiang does not want to read the Tianjing Newspaper, then you can just show him the Awakening Newspaper. He likes to be blinded by one side anyway. Oh, write down Lord Jiang's name and publish this matter in the next issue of the Tianjing Newspaper."

"Hmm... Let's write the title 'The adults in the Ministry of Words who like to believe in the dark', and write about Lord Jiang, Sima Liang, and Xu Dingsheng side by side!"

Sima Liang and Xu Dingsheng had both been identified as criminals, so Zhou Tieyi of course called them by their names.

When Lord Jiang heard that he was going to be written alongside these two people, he was so angry that he trembled all over.

At this time, Xu Ningzong, the Minister of Publicity, said, "Everyone, since we are the Publicity Department, we naturally cannot be biased."

He took the lead and stepped forward to take the two newspapers that Mei Juncang handed over respectfully.

Just as the censors were secretly praising their superior's courage, when Xu Ningzong's eyes glanced at the newspaper, his hand paused and his expression changed slightly.

It turned out that Zhou Tieyi had turned to the first page of the "Tianjing Shi" edition, which had a simple drawing of Xu Dingsheng wearing a red veil, revealing his white belly, and a large title: "Old but still strong! The Imperial Censor of the Ministry of Propaganda fought with eight women at night, and was diligent and never slack off!"

How vicious it can be!

Xu Ningzong took the newspaper, and the censors around him naturally also took the newspaper with a sneer, but they were very quick to cover the "Awakening Newspaper" on top of the "Tianjing Newspaper", which was the Daxia version of covering one's ears and stealing the bell.

When Zhou Tieyi saw this scene, he laughed out loud to himself.

His arrogant laughter formed a sharp contrast with the censors' anxious eyes and red ears, who dared not speak out, and immediately made Wu Xun and other neutral officials laugh as well.

Smiles are contagious!

Suddenly the atmosphere in Baiyu Square became extremely cheerful!

But Zhou Tieyi has more to do than just this.

He stopped laughing and strode towards Si Lu Qingkonggui.

The laughter in the square suddenly stopped.

"Crazy Zhou!"

Many officials gave Zhou Tieyi a new nickname in their hearts.

Zhou Tieyi walked towards Si Lu Qingkonggui, and it was obvious that he was going to bring up Qingkonggui again today.

You should know that the first time he went to court, he rubbed the face of Si Min Dong Xingshu on the ground, but who would have thought that the third time he went to court, he not only did not restrain himself, but instead looked like he was determined to fight to the death with the three officials.

Everyone knows that you want to be a lone minister.

But even if he was a lone minister, he would not attack Si Min and Si Lu one after another after only attending court three times!

You are just an inspector of the fifth rank. If someone doesn't know you, they would think you are trying to take control of the Ministry of Speech.

"Si Lu."

Zhou Tieyi walked up to Qingkonggui and bowed to him.

Qingkong Gui said, "If you are here to criticize me for my mistakes in educating my son, then there is no need to do so. I will report to His Majesty today and apologize for my mistakes."

The last time Zhou Tieyi scolded Simin Dong Xingshu, it was because Dong Xingshu did not teach his apprentice well.

Zhou Tieyi had a look on his face that said "you misunderstood me" and waved his hands quickly, "How could I think that you, Si Lu, are bad at parenting? I heard that the way you beat Uncle Qingkong the night before was really spectacular. You even broke two parenting sticks. The people around you cried and tried to persuade him to stop. I even heard it at the foot of Yujing Mountain."

Qingkonggui's face twitched.

Zhou Tieyi clapped his hands, and immediately another disciple of Gongshu family came down from the carriage, holding two brocade boxes in his hands.

Zhou Tieyi took one of the brocade boxes, opened it, and handed it to Si Lu Qingkonggui, "I thought you would not be able to use the wooden stick easily, so I specially asked someone to prepare a gift for you. It will be useful when you educate Uncle Qingkong in the future."

Many officials looked at the brocade box that Zhou Tieyi opened. Inside the box was a teaching stick made of black iron, as thick as a goose egg.

A teaching stick made of black iron!

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "If you use this stick, you don't have to change sticks anymore. Wouldn't that save both time and wood?"

There was a moment of silence in the White Jade Square.

Baiguan suddenly felt that his previous description of Zhou Tieyi as "vicious" was too light.

These heart-piercing words are so vicious that they cannot be described.

I, Zhou Tieyi, will tell everyone clearly that I know that you, Si Min, Si Lu, are using your son to fill the hole, and I will expose it this time.

But don't you two sons fall into my hands again!

Next time you use your son to fill the hole, use this black iron rod, so that the self-torture trick won’t be performed well!
Si Lu Qing Kong Gui was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said, "As Si Lu, I can fight more than just my son!"

He took the brocade box without hesitation and made some harsh remarks.

All the officials looked at Zhou Tieyi. It seemed unwise to push Si Lu to the extreme. Now everyone knew that the Confucianists were investigating your Zhou family's background. Are you really not afraid that Si Lu will hit you with this stick?

Zhou Tieyi didn't care and looked at Simin Dong Xingshu.

Dong Xingshu snorted coldly. If Qingkong Gui dared to take the stick, why shouldn't he dare? So he took two steps forward and took Zhou Tieyi's gift.

Then Zhou Tieyi took advantage of the fact that Dong Xingshu and Qingkong Gui were in front of him and continued speaking.

"By the way, I have one more small matter. Should I tell you, Si Lu?"

"It's okay if you don't want to say it."

Zhou Tieyi smiled awkwardly. You are not generous at all. "I thought about it and I still have to say that the railway chamber of commerce I founded has achieved some small results. Uncle Qingkong is also one of the shareholders. I originally wanted to invite him to see the results with many shareholders today and check the accounts to see where I spent more than two million taels of silver. But Uncle Qingkong is in poor health. I thought that after the court meeting, if you are not busy, you can follow me to check the results and accounts. If there is anything wrong, you can use this stick to beat me up and eliminate your resentment."

Train Chamber of Commerce!

Si Cun Dong Xingshu and Si Lu Qing Konggui looked at each other and saw seriousness in each other's eyes.

There are only two things that Zhou Tieyi has been busy with recently.

One is the Tianjing News, and the other is the Railway Chamber of Commerce.

The Tianjing News almost made them both exhausted.

Zhou Tieyi attached more importance to this railway chamber of commerce. Both of them had guesses about what was hidden inside, so they naturally handled it more carefully.

Now there is a 'small result'...

He took the initiative to invite me to go and see it. Should I go or not?

If he goes, it must be another hidden conspiracy of Zhou Tieyi.

If he didn't go and something went wrong, Zhou Tieyi would loudly say, "I asked you to supervise, and you originally agreed to it. Now you don't come to supervise yourself. Aren't you breaking your promise and also responsible for negligence?"

"I am not the kind of person you call a vengeful person. I will reward merits and punish faults. If your Railway Chamber of Commerce really does a good job, I will personally ask the emperor for credit for you!"

As the lawyer, Qing Konggui could only answer like this after being framed by Zhou Tieyi to this extent.

Even after he finished speaking, he himself didn't know for a moment whether he should hope that Zhou Tieyi would make a mistake or produce results.

Think of this.

He was suddenly startled.

Good boy, my emotions have been completely aroused.

If I, as a lawyer, cannot enforce the law impartially...

Then can I still hold the position of Si Lu securely?

After figuring this out, Qingkong Gui calmed down again and re-examined Zhou Tieyi's words and actions.

Although it is a political struggle, Zhou Tieyi has not made any wrong moves up to this point.

To those above, one can say that one is loyal to the emperor and father; to those below, one can say that one serves the people.

It would be a big mistake for me, the lawyer, to look at others with a narrow-minded, stereotyped and hateful mindset!

Just when Qingkong Gui was about to calm down.

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said to Simin, "It's a pity that you don't have any shares in my Railway Chamber of Commerce, unlike Si Lu who has shares in my family, so I can't invite you today."

Sow discord!

Blatant instigation!

In front of all the officials, he tried to sow discord between the Si Lu and Si Min!
Qingkong Rule: ...

Okay, I take back my comment about this kid. When he does something wrong, he deserves a good beating!
In Cheng'en Hall, there is the scent of sandalwood.

The Cheng'en Hall was extra silent today, or it could be said that ever since Zhou Tieyi entered the court, although he was not yet one of the three officials, he had planted countless mines among the three officials.

The right general Yuchi Pojun originally had the inclination to side with Zhou Tieyi, although for the sake of the overall situation, his wavering was not obvious now.

But Qingkong Gui and Dong Xingshu would not believe that Yuchi Pojun would completely side with them and suppress Zhou Tieyi.

As for Yuchi Pojun, the only hope the two have now is that he wants to compete with Zhou Tieyi for the right to speak in the Tianjing News.

But Yuchi Pojun was not stupid either. Zhou Tieyi had given him one-eighth of the page space, and he was charging ahead, firing at Confucianism, Legalism, and the School of Words. Naturally, he was happily waiting for the benefits and watching the success or failure. There was no need for him to grab the credit at this time.

Otherwise, even with his prestige, he would have lost face among the military heroes, and would have been criticized for having an ugly eating habit and having no political intelligence. No wonder he was suppressed by Dong Xingshu and Qingkong Gui over the years.

Originally, Qingkong Gui and Dong Xingshu had already formed an alliance, but today Zhou Tieyi invited Qingkong Gui to visit the Railway Chamber of Commerce but did not invite Dong Xingshu.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Zhou Tieyi had a plan to sow discord between the two.

Moreover, this back-up plan must be legitimate and have great certainty!

Dong Xingshu looked through several memorials, all of which were requests for resignation. He was bored, so he put down the memorial in his hand and said to Qingkong Gui, "I am bored reading all these memorials today. Why don't you follow that guy to see his Railway Chamber of Commerce and see what he is up to!"

Dong Xingshu's words showed his great trust in Qingkong Gui.

Qingkong Gui thought for a moment and said, "No hurry, wait until I finish reading the memorial before going."

Yuchi Pojun couldn't help but laugh and said, "You are really patient."

Qingkong Gui looked at Yuchi Pojun, thought for a while and said, "That guy embarrassed Lord Dong in his first court meeting, and embarrassed me in his third court meeting. Who do you think he will embarrass in his fifth court meeting?"

Yuchi Pojun stopped smiling immediately.

It was almost noon when Qingkong Gui finally came out slowly from the Noon Gate.

Zhou Tieyi was very patient. He stood at the door waiting and gave Qingkonggui enough face.

He had been standing in front of the general's mansion for two hours taking off his clothes, so he wouldn't mind standing there for a little longer.

"Si Lu, it looks like the government is busy today."

Qingkong Gui had calmed down and replied, "The daily court meeting to read the memorials is about this time. Today is considered fast. Many times we can leave after the 3:00 p.m."

Zhou Tieyi opened the door personally, Qing Konggui got on the Zhou family's bicycle, and then Zhou Tieyi and Mei Juncang got in.

Zhou Tieyi has read Qingkong Gui several times, and he can no longer find accurate words to describe this young man who is difficult to distinguish between loyalty and treachery.

However, Mei Juncang, even though he knew about the changes in Mei Juncang in recent days, learned from his son that Mei Juncang might be suitable for the Legalist path.

However, due to the fact that Confucianism and Legalism had joined forces to suppress Zhou Tieyi's "Tianjing News", and Mei Juncang was one of the main writers of "Tianjing News", Qingkong Gui did not pay any extra attention to Mei Juncang, and even deliberately avoided noticing the changes in Mei Juncang.

But it would have been better if I hadn't seen it. Today, I saw Mei Juncang...

Qingkong Gui is moved!

He finally understood why his son came back to tell him about Mei Juncang after meeting him that day.

Mei Juncang was dressed in green, with long hair as white as snow, not wearing a crown, but tied with a red rope. He skillfully took out two chilled cups from the wine cabinet and poured a glass of sour plum juice for Zhou Tieyi and Qing Konggui to cool down.

Everyone in the world knows that Si Lu follows the teachings of Legalism, disciplines himself and rarely drinks.

This person already has a preference in his mind, and thinks that seeing other people poop is beautiful.

Qingkong Gui probably feels the same way now.

Mei Juncang just did ordinary things and didn't even flatter him, but Qingkong Gui felt that Mei Juncang was a talented person with great potential, and a talented person of their Legalist school!

After drinking a sip of sour plum juice, Qingkong Gui deliberately avoided looking at Zhou Tieyi and looked at Mei Juncang, asking kindly, "Have you switched to practicing law?"

With his ability, he could certainly see that Mei Juncang's foundation had changed, and had turned to their Legalist school.

This is a good thing.

Zhou Tieyi picked up the sour plum juice and drank it himself.

Si Lu, your attempt to sow discord is not working! You still don't understand my plan, or you underestimate me, Zhou Tieyi!
Although Zhou Tieyi didn't say anything, Mei Juncang didn't need to look at Zhou Tieyi's expression and answered directly, "Yes, Si Lu."

As Zhou Tieyi's disciple, and also possessing the ability to see through the darkness, he witnessed the fickleness of human nature that night and was taught by Zhou Tieyi. He knew too well what his teacher really cared about.

Qingkong Gui pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you have a teacher who can teach me?"

He was talking about his master, who was talking about the Legalist way of practice. Zhou Tieyi did not practice the Legalist way, so he certainly was not very clear about the specific methods of practice.

At this time, Zhou Tieyi interrupted and said, "Since Si Lu has given you some advice, then you should study hard and don't care about me. Scholars are not bound by one teacher or one method. There are different levels of learning the truth and different specializations in skills. Therefore, there is no noble or humble, no elder or younger. Where the truth exists, the teacher exists."

After Zhou Tieyi said this, Qingkonggui was stunned at first.

Then he laughed and sighed, "The scholars outside all say that you are illiterate and that's why you produced such a crude newspaper. But you are not illiterate at all. Just one sentence of yours makes me ashamed."

Then he took a sip of the sour plum juice and repeated what Zhou Tieyi had just said, "Scholars are not bound by one teacher or one method. There are different levels of learning and specialization. Therefore, there is no noble or humble, no elder or younger. Where the Tao exists, the teacher exists. This statement should be made clear, so that this sour plum juice will be like aged fine wine! Endless aftertaste, endless aftertaste!"

(End of this chapter)