Chapter 361 Simin's plan, Wenlang's desire

"Be careful!"

Seeing that the person next to him was talking more and more outrageous, Wang Jizhen hurriedly stopped him.

In this matter, Zhou Tieyi was unreasonable, and they, the Confucians, were right. There was no need for them to say foolish things out of anger. If this gets to the ears of the emperor, what should they do?

"No, he has a point."

Dong Xingshu, who had been silent all the time and sitting in the main seat listening to the Confucian officials' discussion, not only did not say anything to stop them, but instead spoke up, which was unusual for him.

The Confucian officials who had just been discussing the matter looked at Dong Xingshu in surprise. For a moment they did not understand which statement Dong Xingshu agreed with.

Wang Jizhen also didn't understand why Dong Xingshu, who was always serious, suddenly said such "stupid words".

Then Dong Xingshu pointed at the official who had just spoken and said, "Say what you just said again."

Jia Yuanchang, the official of the Ministry of Propaganda who was pointed at, took a while to react before he said, "Simin, I was rude just now..."

The censors always speak without thinking because of their privilege of giving advice, so they often say many things without even thinking through them.

"No. Say it again."

Dong Xingshu said affirmatively.

Jia Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "If the people demand to wear the twelve chapters, should we make everyone in the world wear the twelve chapters?"

This is already a lie to deceive the emperor, dragging the high and mighty emperor into factional struggles and disputes over the orthodox doctrine, making it impossible for the emperor to serve as a judge with peace of mind. So generally speaking, officials will avoid involving the emperor even if it is a factional struggle or a dispute over the orthodox doctrine.

Just as Mei Juncang wrote in his article, there is no one wiser than the king and father.

Dong Xingshu nodded and said, "Use your argument as a basis and write an article, but don't write it in the form of a memorial. Once you've written it, publish it directly in the Awakening Newspaper."

"what?"

The Confucian officials present paused for a moment, only Zhao Guanshan, Tang Anshi and others showed a look of sudden realization.

Dong Xingshu smiled and pointed at the newspaper. "Father Tian wants to hide his head and show his tail, and throw a stone to test the water, so we have to clear the clouds and see the sun. Doesn't Zhou Tieyi advocate that the emperor should be sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, and that he should discuss things based on the facts? Since he published it in the newspaper, we will say it in the newspaper, let the emperor see it, and let the people of the world see it!"

Wang Jizhen and his ilk reacted immediately.

Simin’s trick is brilliant!
Hasn’t His Majesty the Great Xia always felt that it was us Confucians who hindered his practice of Taoism, blinded his vision and hearing, and oppressed the people?
We Confucians will not try to deceive people this time. We will let the Emperor of Great Xia see what kind of fallacies and heresies Zhou Tieyi, the person he has trained, will come up with.

If these fallacies and heresies are slightly twisted, let the Emperor of Great Xia see if he can still educate the people of the world!
Tang Anshi sighed, "But if we do this, the power of the Hundred Newspapers will probably not be as great as it is now."

After this incident, the Emperor of Daxia will definitely restrict the content of newspapers published by various newspapers. This is a more difficult problem than the "Sleepyhead Case" which has not yet been fully investigated.

Because the Sleepyhead case was only a problem caused by external enemies, everything is fine inside our Daxia.

But once the statement of "making the world submit to the Twelve Chapters" came out, it meant that we had an enemy within our ranks. By then, even if Zhou Tieyi made a thousand excuses, he would not be able to change the Emperor of Great Xia's inherent ideas.

He finally revealed his flaws!

Many Confucian officials' eyes lit up, and some even sighed, "Perhaps we should have let him go to the local area long ago. With us suppressing him in Tianjing, he still can't 'show his strength'?"

After this person sighed, the others immediately laughed in an ambiguous manner.

Dong Xingshu, the one who proposed this plan, looked calm. After everyone had finished laughing, he looked at Tang Anshi and said, "Ping An, how are your preparations for the Autumn Examination going?"

The Autumn Examination was an exam held in each state and province to select Juren, who were the foundation for common people to become officials, hence the saying "Juren are gold and Jinshi are silver".

Tang Anshi bowed to Dong Xingshu and said, "Everything remains the same. Get ready."

Dong Xingshu glanced down at the article written in half vernacular and half classical Chinese, and said, "This year's examination on the meaning of the classics can be a little more in-depth."

Tang Anshi immediately understood what Dong Xingshu meant, and said with a folded hand, "I will notify the examiners in various places."

To study the meaning of the classics more deeply, one must read the classics carefully and try to understand the deep meaning of the text from each sentence. Therefore, people who read more classical Chinese texts naturally have an advantage.

In this year's autumn examination, Dong Xingshu wants to let the world know that if one wants to become an official, it is not enough to read vernacular Chinese. This is also a political move.

······
The God-Slaying Department.

Although the autumn rain continued, the clerks coming in and out were all happy. Ever since Marquis Zhou restructured the headquarters of the God-Slaying Division, they were no longer a poor office. They were now in charge of supervising the "luxury tax" and handling the "warehouse burning case". In the past two months, the salaries of the God-Slaying Division had become more generous than ever before. This was all thanks to Marquis Zhou!

But the clerks were in high spirits. The strongmen, small flags, and general flags of the God-Slaying Division dared not neglect them. Because of the last incident at the Soldiers' Tomb, all of them who were slightly greedy died or were injured because of their involvement. Especially those who were inserted by local noble families through connections, they were turned into dust if they were slightly affected in the battle of the Thousand Gods Pit. After experiencing that life-and-death battle, the remaining people either chose to quit the God-Slaying Division or train hard, especially obeying the training requirements left by Zhou Tieyi, because those who obeyed Zhou Tieyi's training requirements and followed Zhou Tieyi survived the most.

The simplest human attribute of seeking benefits and avoiding harm is vividly reflected.

Therefore, even though the autumn rain continued, the drills in the training grounds did not stop.

Next to the parade ground is the Inspection Office of the God-Slaying Division.

Mei Juncang, Hu Wenlang and Wu Qian were handling various affairs, many of which were letters that the people sent to the Supervisory Office through the "Petition Policy", requesting the Supervisory Office to review them and then contact the various ministries.

After dealing with external affairs, the next thing is internal affairs.

Hu Wenlang looked at Mei Juncang and said, "It's almost the middle of the month. It's time to go to the warehouse to report the silver."

The expenditure of each courtyard would be reported to the Treasury Court one or two days before the middle of the month. After the Treasury Court had collected the information, it would report it to the Ministry of Revenue, which would then issue the corresponding money and grain.

Although the treasury now has sufficient money and food, and the God-Slaying Division can even be "self-sufficient", this normal reporting process still needs to be followed.

It’s just that Hu Wenlang speaks and acts strangely.

Because Mei Juncang is now acting as the director of the Inspection Institute in accordance with the emperor's order, even if it is Mei Juncang's job to inform the Warehouse Institute, it should be Mei Juncang who orders Hu Wenlang to do it, rather than Hu Wenlang asking Mei Juncang to do it.

The busy clerks around lowered their heads a little, as they had heard a little about the struggle above.

The position of leading the Supervisory Institute should have originally belonged to Vice President Hu Wenlang, but Mei Juncang presented a congratulatory message and pleased the emperor, allowing Mei Juncang to intervene and "take over" the position of president of the Supervisory Institute.

This has extraordinary significance. Mei Juncang, as Zhou Hou's disciple, shouldn't you be courteous at this time? How come you even forget your teacher when you see power?
Considering what Mei Juncang had done before, everyone suddenly felt sorry for Zhou Hou.

Especially in the eyes of the many civil and military officials in the Inspection Office and even in the God-Slaying Division, who can compare with Zhou Tieyi's prestige now? Mei Juncang, why don't you look in the mirror and see how much of your teacher's skills you have learned?

He took the position of teacher without any ability. To say that he is greedy for profit is an understatement!
Mei Jun raised his dark eyes, looked at Hu Wenlang, and said softly, "I have already dealt with this matter."

When the clerks around heard this, they smiled with a little disdain in their hearts. As expected, the apprentice betrayed his master halfway through his learning and couldn't even manage his subordinates.

Hu Wenlang smiled, "That's good, that's good, I can finally take a break from my busy life."

After saying that, he looked at the autumn rain outside, picked up the newspaper, and walked towards the pavilion outside.

In the pavilion, Concubine Mo's voice rang in Hu Wenlang's ears, "Wenlang, he took your position, are you really not going to do anything?"

Mo Fei's voice was bewitching.

Hu Wenlang leisurely read the newspaper and said in his heart, "Mei Juncang and Zhou Tieyi had a falling out that day, and I was not there."

Concubine Mo burst out laughing and said, "It seems that the young man from the Zhou family doesn't trust you!"

Hu Wenlang looked at Concubine Mo in his mind, "He is so smart, he must have noticed the strangeness between you and me. He is calculating in everything, so it is normal that he does not trust me, otherwise he would not have let us live in Zhou Mansion."

When Zhou Tieyi let Hu Wenlang and Mo Fei live in Zhou Mansion, he intended to monitor them closely.

"So the falling out between them as master and disciple was a plan he had made in advance?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's just that for this calculation, the master and disciple really parted ways. As for me, I don't have much intention of taking action. He has already given me what he promised. As you said, he actually never promised me anything."

Hu Wenlang looked at the newspaper in front of him with deep eyes.

When Zhou Tieyi recruited Hu Wenlang, he promised him two conditions. One was that the novelist would further his orthodoxy. Now, with Mei Juncang going to run the Legal Daily and Zhou Tieyi leaving Beijing, he has the final say on the Tianjing News. The role of the newspaper has become more prominent. At the same time, with the help of running the Tianjing News, Hu Wenlang has touched the fourth level of novelist, "entering the truth", which is the beginning of making the fake look real.

What could be more easily mistaken for the real thing than a newspaper?

Especially since this newspaper is the best-selling, most reputable and government-endorsed newspaper in Daxia today!

Another condition is the position of deputy director of the Inspection Institute, a sixth-rank official.

Zhou Tieyi did all these things, but as for the position of acting Inspector General, Zhou Tieyi never promised it to Hu Wenlang.

Concubine Mo looked through Hu Wenlang's eyes at the newspaper in front of her. The newspaper published "On Wealth and Goods". She smiled and said, "This is not like your previous character."

Hu Wenlang knew that Mo Fei was talking about his past life, a past life he never acknowledged, "What was my personality like before?"

"You used to have the opposite personality to your current one, just like the one described in this article. What people want is like a deep abyss, with no bottom in sight. Even the mountains that reach the sky cannot fill it. You think the world belongs to you, and you will kill anyone who dares to touch your world!"

(End of this chapter)