Chapter 305 The fault lies not with the carriage!
On the throne, the Emperor of Daxia is dictatorial.

"Since you have made great contributions, you should be rewarded. This is what all the ancient sages did. Announce the decree and confer the title."

As the Emperor of Great Xia made his decision, the eunuch Xue Minghao, who held the seal, unfolded the imperial edict woven with bright yellow, colorful brocade.

"The Great Saint Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims this."

"The Book of Changes says, 'A family that accumulates good will surely have good fortune.' The Zhou family has accumulated military merits for three generations, and a unicorn was born into the world. I heard of his family's virtues, so I appointed him as the general flag, demoted him to the position of Supervisory Commissioner, and then he worked hard in politics. The two policies he presented show his virtue as a king's assistant, and the two auspicious signs he presented show his merit in nurturing the people. He is truly a capable minister in governing the world. I heard that when ancient saints came to the world, they all had the act of a unicorn offering auspicious signs. Now that I see the pillars of the country, I know that his words are true. The saintly monarchs of ancient times must have rewards for their merits, so that they can teach the people. I specially confer the words 'Prosperous Times' on him, grant him the title of marquis, and give him the fief of Jian'an to compliment his merits. I decree this."

As this imperial edict was finally read out to all the officials, above the Golden Throne Hall, bright yellow auras formed into luxurious purple-blue, descended from the sky, and continuously landed on Zhou Tieyi's head.

For a moment, Zhou Tieyi, who had just broken through to the seventh level, suddenly felt his aura surge again.

A voice like that of an ox or a tiger emerged from Zhou Tieyi.

Zhou Tieyi thought for a while, his blood and energy rose, and he turned into a strange beast.

It has a dragon head, an ox tail, a deer body, a head with horns covered with soft flesh, feet with hooves with two round toes, and a purple mane under its neck.

Zhou Tieyi took advantage of the situation and bowed to the Great Xia Emperor with the Qilin appearance, saying, "I accept your order and thank you. May Your Majesty bless the people, live forever, and be a great saint with a clear moral character."

All the officials saw the image of Qilin appear behind Zhou Tieyi, and saw Qilin bowing to the Emperor of Daxia.

I sighed again in my heart.

This contribution is beyond the reach of others, and the ability to flatter is far inferior to theirs. No wonder others can be granted titles while he can only stand by and watch.

All the officials naturally knew that Zhou Tieyi had obtained the drop of Qilin's blood from the Right General's Mansion.

But today, Zhou Tieyi successfully broke through to the seventh level and absorbed the blood essence of Qilin. Even the right general Yuchi Pojun felt that it was really the destiny, the time and the fate, and that the Emperor of Great Xia was about to become a saint when he saw this scene.

If Zhou Tieyi, the auspicious unicorn, is not conferred the title, then it would be the Emperor of Great Xia himself who is not in his right mind.

If you don’t tell this good story that shows the world that you are a sage, then what story should you tell the people?

This is just like when Taizu awarded the ten gold coins to the merchant named Shi.

Although the details of the two are different, the principles are the same.

"Hahaha, good, good, good, the unicorn brings good fortune, this is true!"

His Majesty the Great Xia laughed heartily, making no effort to conceal his pride.

Li Jianhu and the other two stood by awkwardly. They clearly felt that many of the officials who had been silent just now were looking at them as if they were dead people.

Li Jianhu felt a chill in his heart, sinking deeper than ever before, as if he had sunk into an abyss, unable to grasp anything around him.

Even if he didn't understand politics, he knew that Zhou Tieyi's being conferred the title at this time was terrible news for him.

Although there are rewards for merits, there are also punishments for mistakes.

But it is impossible that the Emperor of Daxia would reward someone for great merit and then impose severe punishment, right?

What's more, the matter has not been made clear in the first place.

As expected, the smile on the face of the Great Xia Emperor faded. He looked at Li Jianhu and the other two and spoke again, "My dear ministers, what do you think should be done about the complaint filed by these three people?"

At this time, Si Min Dong Xingshu did not wait for the officials to speak, and spoke first, "Your Majesty, I think that since the cause was in the Lake Center Academy and ended up with Zhou Hou, a single trial is indeed unconvincing. It would be better for the three parties to jointly try the case, the God-Slaying Department, the Censorate, and the Ministry of Justice, and then report it to Your Majesty."

In fact, up to this point, Dong Xingshu didn't think that the ink stone case could bring down Zhou Tieyi anymore, so he took the opportunity to implement the second step of his plan.

The Great Xia Emperor pondered in silence and looked at Zhou Tieyi.

Dong Xingshu's suggestion of a three-party trial is indeed pertinent. Otherwise, it would be a mess to let any one of them try the case alone, unless he fully expresses his determination to favor one party.

But there are rewards for merits and punishments for faults. What His Majesty of Daxia hopes is that Zhou Tieyi can involve Confucianism, rather than helping Zhou Tieyi confront Confucianism himself!

Sure enough, Zhou Tieyi understood the meaning of the Great Xia Emperor's gaze in an instant, "Your Majesty, Mr. Dong's words are mature and prudent."

The Great Xia Emperor nodded and said, "Then do as you wish. The God Execution Division will preside over the trial, and the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice will serve as jury members."

Now that the position of chief judge had been decided, Confucians knew that they could no longer argue and that this was already the best outcome.

Then all the officials, led by the Confucians, bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise and wise."

······
The chief eunuch announced the adjournment of the court, and all officials flocked out.

Today's grand court meeting made all the officials, who had not experienced a court meeting for a long time, alert.

In the past three years, Your Majesty has not taken care of state affairs. The Three Departments are in charge, and the head of the Three Departments, Si Min Dong Xingshu, almost exercises the imperial power, making everyone accustomed to this political struggle model with the Three Departments as the core.

But today it seems that this situation is gone forever.

If before Zhou Tieyi was just trying to sow discord among the three departments and use some trivial matters to make the three departments lose face.

Today, even the three divisions combined cannot suppress Zhou Tieyi.

Even using his killing moves, he was unable to shake Zhou Tieyi at all, and his right to be the presiding judge was taken away from him, which meant he had lost his dignity!

The alliance between Zhou Tieyi and the Queen Mother was completely formed. They confronted the Three Officials in the government and even slightly surpassed them, causing the various schools of thought to have inappropriate thoughts.

The Hundred Schools of Thought have suffered from Confucianism for a long time!
In the past, Buddhism and Taoism had not emerged, and the hundreds of schools of thought could not compete with Confucianism.

Now Zhou Tieyi represents Taoism, and the Queen of Heaven represents Buddhism. They have joined forces to attack, which is really wonderful! Naturally, it also gave the Hundred Schools new ideas.

It can be said that the real change in the political situation began today.

After leaving the Jinluan Palace, Zhou Tieyi took the lead in walking towards Dong Xingshu and bowed, "Simin, since the emperor has asked me to preside over the trial at the God Execution Division, I will take these three suspects back to the God Execution Division and detain them first."

It starts again!

The officials had already trained themselves to react instinctively. They took a step back and vaguely formed a circle around Zhou Tieyi and Dong Xingshu.

It feels like watching a beast fight.

But they are not completely gloating, they are more cautious.

Because there are no barriers in this beast fight!

Watching the beast fights through a railing is an enjoyment, but watching them without a railing is frightening.

They knew how ferocious and powerful the two beasts were.

They just need to get a little closer and enter this 'circle'.

If you are mistakenly identified as an enemy by these two beasts, then there is a high possibility that your entire family will be wiped out in this shocking case the next day. There will be absolutely no chance of luck.

Dong Xingshu did not speak, Si Lu Qingkonggui sighed and stepped into this vague circle, "These three people are both suspects and the ones who beat the drums. Zhou Hou should be careful to detain them."

The meaning of Qingkonggui's words was very simple. Zhou Tieyi could use any means, even torture, but he had to at least be careful. Don't let three inhuman creatures be dragged out when the case is tried. That would be embarrassing for everyone.

Zhou Tieyi laughed loudly, "Doesn't Si Lu know who I am?"

He directly expressed Qingkong Gui's worries, "Punishment? Why do I need such a petty trick?"

After that, Zhou Tieyi ignored the objection of the Minister of Civil Affairs Dong Xingshu and smiled at Li Jianhu and the other two, "Will you three follow me obediently, or do you want to wear shackles and anklets and let me hold you down?"

Li Jianhu's mind continued to sink, Mo Tianheng coughed softly a few times, and Cui Yu sighed slightly.

After leaving the Noon Gate, Zhou Tieyi did not call for a prisoner car, but took Li Jianhu and the other two directly to his carriage.

This move surprised all the officials, but also made them feel it was natural.

Surprisingly, Zhou Tieyi did not call for a prison van, but paraded the three people through the streets to undermine the morale of his political opponents. This was a routine operation and was consistent with Zhou Tieyi's character.

But if we talk about Zhou Tieyi's true character, it is that it is changeable, so changeable that even the three officials are confused.

So it seemed reasonable that he deliberately tried to be humble and courteous in an attempt to get the three people who had filed the complaint to turn against him.

Lord Zhou, you are so unpredictable!

Zhou Tieyi's carriage was naturally extremely luxurious, even compared with the carriages of the three departments, it was much superior. Even now when the extravagance was being strictly investigated, all officials had changed to simpler carriages, for fear of being caught in the slightest flaw.

What’s even more exaggerated is that the railing of Zhou Tieyi’s carriage is decorated with a grand seven-treasure coral tree. Just the Buddha’s light that keeps shining through it can make people feel calm and show them clearly what luxury is.

Li Jianhu stood in front of the carriage, unable to move for a moment.

He originally thought that filing a complaint to the emperor today was really a complaint to the emperor. With the full support of Confucianism, the wise and powerful Emperor of Great Xia would directly accept his grievances. It would be best if he could overturn the verdict of Huxin Academy in no time and then convict the Zhou, He, and Wu families.

But after actually going through the whole thing, he had no control over life and death. The fear that his entire clan would be wiped out if he was not careful made him despair and suffocate. He couldn't even utter a word during this process. He was like a used tool that was thrown aside at random and all he had to do was wait for the final result.

And when they heard Zhou Tieyi asking them to get in his own car instead of the prison van.

When seeing this extremely luxurious carriage.

Li Jianhu's feeling of despair and suffocation turned into surprise, which made the heavy stones in his heart feel a little lighter, allowing him to breathe and exhale, and his almost numb mind to think again.

He looked at Zhou Tieyi, who was only one or two years older than him.

This idol whom I once worshipped is now my mortal enemy.

The enemy who had just wanted to kill him invited him to ride in such a luxurious carriage.

For a moment, I really felt that as the Buddhists said, the world is ever-changing, like a dream or bubble.

Seeing that Li Jianhu didn't move, Zhou Tieyi said with a smile, "How is it? Isn't this carriage of mine nice?"

He pointed proudly at the carriage of the three officials next to him and said, "If you follow them, you won't be able to ride in this carriage."

Today, Tianjing is strictly cracking down on extravagance. In the whole Tianjing, even the crown prince is being cautious. Except for Zhou Tieyi, no one in Tianjing dares to use such an extremely ostentatious carriage.

Cui Yu sighed, "Zhou Hou strictly investigated the extravagance in Tianjing. Isn't this setting an example for the people of the world?"

Zhou Tieyi burst into laughter.

Cui Yu frowned and asked, "Does Lord Zhou think this is wrong?"

Zhou Tieyi's smile faded, he looked at Cui Yu and shook his head, "You are still too young."

He sighed, "If I don't ride this carriage, there are so many people in the world who want to ride it! It is because I rode this carriage that you see that the carriages of officials are so simple nowadays. They don't have my position and achievements. If they ride this kind of carriage, they will repeat my story! Any smart person will seriously consider whether they have the ability! Can they bear the consequences! If I am guilty in the future, it will not be because of this carriage!"

(End of this chapter)