Chapter 306 The Tide of the Times

After entering the carriage, Li Jianhu and the other two finally experienced what true luxury was.

Compared with the inside of the carriage, the seven-treasure coral tree outside the carriage is not worth mentioning!

This is a void!
Layers of starlight came from nowhere, decorating the changing celestial phenomena on the dark blue curtain. The nine mirror-like broken kingdoms formed layers of stairs, reflecting nine different kinds of brilliance.

In the battle of Bingyuan, with the help of the White Emperor, Zhou Tieyi finally easily defeated the Star God who was suppressed in his palm, and obtained a complete kingdom of God without any damage.

It's a pity for the remaining nine gods who were killed by the White Emperor. Their kingdom of gods that descended from the air was shattered in an instant by the power of the White Emperor, and its value was greatly reduced.

However, no matter how dilapidated a kingdom of God is, it is still a rare item among the top three grades. Che Wenyuan's white jade chessboard is a secret treasure refined from a dilapidated kingdom of God.

Therefore, Zhou Tieyi took the complete Starry Kingdom of God as the core, and with the help of the space method he had comprehended, he sealed and suppressed the nine broken kingdoms of God, absorbing strength bit by bit.

The only pity is that these ten top three gods all descended through the method of divine fetus and did not carry their divine artifacts, so Zhou Tieyi was unable to usurp the corresponding authority.

But this is understandable. The three-rank gods who descended on the Tomb of Soldiers this time are all "death warriors" in a sense. Gods have the ability to return after death, so for them, their own divine power is even more important than their lives.

As long as theocracy can be preserved, it means that the name of the god himself will continue to be passed down with theocracy, which means there is a great possibility of return.

They left their artifacts in the illusory world of Taixu, and asked the illusion priests and the like to swear an oath to protect their artifacts, which was to leave themselves a way to resurrect. Otherwise, where would they get so many death warriors among the third rank?

Zhou Tieyi sat down casually and pointed to the side, and three corresponding star-lit cushions immediately appeared.

"sit."

Li Jianhu and the other two remained silent. They could still imagine the luxury outside, but the luxury inside the carriage certainly made them feel like they had seen the world.

Among them, even a Confucian scholar like Cui Yu was confused and uncertain.

He could feel some complex spatial changes within the carriage. If Zhou Tieyi, the 'owner', had not agreed, even though they seemed to be close, there would still be an unknown distance between them and Zhou Tieyi.

Zhou Tieyi flipped his hand, took out the wine and wine glass from the space, looked at Cui Yu and smiled, "Didn't you just say that my carriage is luxurious? How about now? This carriage of mine was taken from ten gods and kingdoms, all from the Battle of Bingyuan."

The three of them understood the meaning of Zhou Tieyi's words. This carriage was luxurious, but it was obtained by Zhou Tieyi when he killed the enemies. It was taken from the enemies, not from exploiting the people.

Cui Yu sighed, "A gentleman loves money, but he gets it in a proper way."

Li Jianhu had a complicated expression, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should be happy or worried.

I am glad that my original idol did not disappoint me, whether he was strategizing in the face of the Confucian attack in the Golden Palace, or still being courteous to others after winning a great victory.

Every move he made showed his heroic qualities.

But his hero is my enemy.

The more powerful Zhou Tieyi is, the greater the possibility that he will fail in this lawsuit.

And if it fails...

Li Jianhu recalled the red-robed official in the Golden Palace gritting his teeth as he threatened to kill all nine generations of his clan. His body trembled slightly, his vision went dark, and he felt overwhelmed.

Zhou Tieyi looked at Li Jianhu and chuckled, "Why, are you scared now? Why didn't you think of this when you were making the knife for others?"

Mo Tianheng put his hand on Li Jianhu's shoulder and helped him sit down. He picked up the wine glass in front of Zhou Tieyi and poured three glasses of wine for himself and the other two. He picked up a glass and handed it to his disciple, "Marquis Zhou is not an ordinary person. He asked the three of us to get in the car today. He must have something else to teach us, right?"

Zhou Tieyi didn't care about Mo Tianheng's presumptuous behavior. He smiled and raised his glass to drink. Then he said, "I heard your name from the letter from He Qigong. You can travel six thousand miles for a student. This can be called righteousness. This is why I let the three of you get on the car."

Then Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "But this is just a small favor, so you can't defeat me."

Cui Yu bowed and asked, "What is great kindness and righteousness?"

This time Zhou Tieyi did not answer directly.

The carriage went down the twelfth floor. Jueying neighed, and the carriage carrying the seven-treasure coral tree flew into the air and headed towards the Huwei Armory.

A little after noon, at the foot of Fuyao Mountain, at the Railway Chamber of Commerce.

The people seeking jobs here line up in long queues. On the one hand, after the plan to lay the railway tracks was finalized, the recruitment standards were relaxed. On the other hand, the treatment provided by the Railway Chamber of Commerce has already gained a good reputation among the people.

Now everyone knows that the Railway Chamber of Commerce not only has the backing of a big tree, but also has no shortage of wages and prospects. The people naturally know what to choose.

Zhou Tieyi's carriage landed directly in the courtyard of the main building of the Railway Chamber of Commerce. He got off the carriage and Hao Ren immediately trotted over.

Compared to a few months ago, Hao Ren's round and fair face has become much thinner and darker, and the exposed jawline also makes him look more resolute.

He did not wear the silk clothes that wealthy businessmen liked to wear, nor did he wear the brocade clothes of the Zhushensi Xiaoqi. Instead, he wore the short coat that most of the workers in the Railway Chamber of Commerce wore, revealing two strong and powerful arms.

Zhou Tieyi looked Hao Ren up and down and said with a smile, "I've already told you that you're busy. When I come to visit the Railway Chamber of Commerce, you don't have to follow me."

Zhou Tieyi knew too well how busy the general manager of a rising chamber of commerce was.

However, this time Hao Ren did not follow Zhou Tieyi's wishes. Instead, he solemnly bowed and congratulated him, "Your Excellency is right, but today's ceremony cannot be abolished. I, Hao Ren, a flag officer of the God-Slaying Division, pay my respects to the Marquis of Shengshi! May the Marquis' martial arts flourish and the family prosper!"

Everyone naturally knew that Zhou Tieyi was conferred the title of marquis today.

Generally speaking, Zhou Tieyi should return home at this time, and then invite relatives and friends to hold a grand banquet. It would not be too much even if he entertained the guests for three days.

But Zhou Tieyi gave advance warning. Although the matter of the Bingzhong Divine Evil was over, there were still many remaining problems, such as who published the novel "Sleepyhead" and how it was published. These all needed to be traced and cleared up.

Whether it is the Railway Chamber of Commerce or the God-Slaying Division, Zhou Tieyi's subordinates are now the busiest. Zhou Tieyi believes that business is more important and lets his subordinates focus on business first.

Of course, he did not follow the example of those great officials and cancel the banquet, but postponed it.

Canceling the banquet is certainly beneficial, as it can demonstrate Zhou Tieyi's humility and frugality to the world.

But that would only benefit Zhou Tieyi, because the money saved from banquets could not be distributed equally to everyone in the world.

Instead, it makes the emperor suspicious and the subordinates worried.

Zhou Tieyi smiled and nodded, accepting Hao Ren's blessing. He then pondered for a moment and said, "Since you are out, come with me to wander around the Chamber of Commerce."

It's not that he is a formalist, but the fact that Li Jianhu and the other two filed a complaint to the emperor today means that the Shantong Mansion incident that he had planned will have to go through, and he will probably have to leave Tianjing for a while.

The matter of Shantong Mansion is quite complicated. The inkstone is related to the military, the coal mine is related to the development of steam engines, and in between are the revival of ancient gods, the deification of local clans, as well as Ningwang Mansion and Confucianism.

None of his subordinates could handle such a complicated situation. So Zhou Tieyi had to go to Shantong Mansion.

"Yes."

Hao Ren bowed and accepted the order, then took Zhou Tieyi to start from the recruitment office, with Li Jianhu and the other two following closely behind.

Today, the recruitment office is the busiest place in the Railway Chamber of Commerce.

The Railway Chamber of Commerce has relaxed its recruitment standards, which is a good thing, but it has also naturally caused trouble.

There are recruitment corridors on both sides. One side requires applicants to be over 14 years old and under 18 years old, and mainly recruits steam apprentices, while the other side requires applicants to be over 18 years old and recruits steel workers and track workers.

Everyone naturally knows that steam apprentices are paid better and have greater development potential.

For example, here right now, there are problems with recruiting steam apprentices.

An obviously middle-aged man grabbed the recruiter and shouted, "I just look a little anxious. How can you say I'm not eighteen years old?"

The middle-aged man's eyes flashed with cunning, and he shouted at the top of his voice, "The Railway Chamber of Commerce was founded by Lord Zhou for the people of Tianjing! It is a benevolent policy, and it is written in the newspapers. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can fight for a future! Are you going to go against Lord Zhou's wishes? Lord Zhou is working for the country and the people, how can he tolerate you!"

This guy was originally a ruffian in Suzaku City.

Before coming here today, he had inquired about the specific situation of the Railway Chamber of Commerce.

It cannot be said that Zhou Tieyi was not good to the workers he recruited, but rather that he was too good to them.

Not only do they sign long-term labor contracts and pay wages on time and set holidays, but there are also doctors and monks on call at all times in the factory and on the construction site, not to mention calligraphy classes and martial arts classes on weekday evenings, so many benefits that even ninth-rank warriors want to get in.

After all, Zhou Tieyi promised that if you become a first-class technician of the Railway Chamber of Commerce, you can be accepted as a disciple by Zhou Tieyi himself, which would be a real step to success.

It was precisely because in this era, the Railway Chamber of Commerce gave too much and was too dreamy, and because the Tianjing News spared no effort to promote Zhou Tieyi, that some people had fantasies that they should not have.

For example, this middle-aged man is not stupid, and he has heard the story of Taizu rewarding ten gold coins for performing drum-beating, so he wants to try this story today.

It was well known that the Zhou Mansion welcomed an angel today, so he roughly guessed that Zhou Tieyi would be conferred the title of marquis today.

Since it was a happy event of being conferred a title of nobility, even if he ended up causing trouble to Zhou Tieyi, as long as he sang a few words of praise, he would naturally have a chance to get the original reward of 'ten gold coins'.

After all, for Zhou Tieyi, this is just a matter of words, but for him, it may change his life.

You should know that the reward that the businessman named Shi received was not just ten gold coins.

Taizu rewarded him with ten gold coins. With these ten gold coins as a foundation, this businessman named Shi became prosperous in business and made a lot of money. He eventually became a third-rank businessman and changed his name to Shi Shijin.

As soon as the ruffian said this, dozens of people behind him hurriedly said, "Yes, Lord Zhou is kind and righteous, and he will never let us ordinary people suffer any loss."

"You are blocking us from entering the Train Chamber of Commerce and delaying the Chamber of Commerce's recruitment. Aren't you afraid that Lord Zhou will blame you?"

"You must have been planted here by other unscrupulous businessmen just to hinder the development of the Train Chamber of Commerce!"

······
With dozens of people joining in, the situation became more lively, and even the people in the row of track workers and steel workers nearby began to join in.

Although they are not those ruffians, if these ruffians can be recruited as steam apprentices, then don’t they have a chance as well?
Driven by interests, everyone, regardless of their status, has the same virtue.

On the contrary, those real teenagers who were queuing up, because of their lack of experience in life and thin skin, did not realize that this was harming their own interests and that they should step up to stop it.

Just when the ruffian was feeling smug, a hand suddenly reached out and lifted him up.

The ruffian was already at the ninth level of martial arts when he was suddenly picked up. He subconsciously wanted to raise his hands to resist, but when he really saw who was coming, he was shocked.

Zhou Tieyi looked at the ruffian with a smile, "Are you eighteen years old?"

Although the ruffian had never seen Zhou Tieyi, he guessed the identity of the man in front of him by looking at his appearance, age, and the dragon robe and golden crown. He gritted his teeth and said, "Age is not important for ambition. Lord Zhou is here. I want to be the master of the people that Lord Zhou mentioned, so I want to compete!"

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "Not bad."

Before the ruffian had time to be happy, he heard Zhou Tieyi laugh and say, "But if you want to fight, you must have the life and ability to fight. Come on, bring the military sticks!"

With Zhou Tieyi's call, two guards on duty at the Huwei Soldiers' Quarters came over soon with military sticks in their hands. They were all Zhou family guards, and they were tall to begin with, and now seeing the ruffians causing trouble, they were even more murderous.

Zhou Tieyi looked at the ruffian and said with a smile, "I'll give you two choices. First, you lied about your age and disrupted the registration venue. Considering that this is your first offense and the rules set by the Railway Chamber of Commerce are not complete, I will fine you ten taels of silver and you can leave on your own."

"Second, you want to fight for the top spot. I did say that, and I'll give you this opportunity. The punishment is the same as deceiving your superiors, twenty sticks. If you survive, it means you have the fate and the ambition to do it."

The ruffian looked at the two soldiers beside him. The two soldiers had sneers on their faces and were holding the killing sticks tightly with their thick knuckles. It was obvious that they would not let him go easily.

The sun was scorching in the courtyard. The ruffian could not control his anger and sweat broke out on his forehead. He stared at Zhou Tieyi's smiling face, as if trying to find out Zhou Tieyi's true thoughts from that face.

Do you want to kill him to establish your authority and intimidate others, or do you really want to give him this opportunity?
Zhou Tieyi kept smiling and waited quietly.

The ruffian suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "I deceived Officer Zhou, I am willing to accept the punishment!"

After saying that, he clasped his fists and accepted the punishment.

Zhou Tieyi sighed in his heart, he is a smart man who can seize the opportunity in his words in life and death decisions.

It’s a pity that it was not used in the right way before, but it can still be saved if we teach it now.

He looked at the two Zhou Palace guards expressionlessly, "Execute."

Even though Zhou Tieyi didn't give any hints, this thug said "deceiving Commander Zhou" first. This sentence was an identification. Although the two guards used strong force in their hands, they did not hit the spine. The force only went into the flesh, not the bones.

So even though he was beaten to a bloody mess and barely breathing, it was only for others to see.

A guard stepped forward to sniff his breath and said to Zhou Tieyi, "Sir, he is still breathing."

Zhou Tieyi nodded, "He is lucky, so carry him away."

At this time, Zhou Tieyi turned around and looked at the others, "Does anyone of you want to fight for your life?"

The others who were eager to make a move lined up obediently in their seats.

Not everyone dares to fight for their destiny. Besides opportunity, wisdom and courage are all indispensable.

(End of this chapter)