Chapter 365: Killing Intention Revealed

His Majesty the Great Xia read the entire short memorial.

Nowadays, military heroes have a habit of using vernacular Chinese extensively when writing memorials. The Emperor of Daxia did not rebuke him for this, because using vernacular Chinese and seizing the Confucian authority of speech was what he originally wanted to do. Even though he is now afraid of Zhou Tieyi, he will not change on this point.

He handed the memorial in his hand to Xue Minghao, the eunuch in charge of the seal, who read the entire memorial in a soft and shrill voice.

The Great Xia Emperor said calmly, "Everyone, please discuss this matter. Many memorials have been submitted by various ministries on this matter. Today is a good opportunity for us to come up with a set of rules together."

The officials were not surprised by the contents of the memorial, except for the fact that Yuchi Pojun recommended his grandson at the end.

Yuchi Jing is a scholar and has been strictly controlled by Yuchi Pojun over the years. He is not even allowed to hold an idle position in the Zhushen Division. It can be said that his family tradition is strict.

Although Yuchi Jing did not have much talent in Confucian studies, he had so many resources and was at least a seventh-rank Confucian scholar and a juren, which gave him the foundation for becoming an official.

Dong Xingshu hesitated for a moment.

When it comes to managing the 'Ghost Soldiers Patrolling the Capital', there are three people who are most suitable.

First, the God-Slaying Division; second, the Tianjing Guards; third, the Yulin Army.

The God-Slaying Department manages the Yin Soldiers patrolling the capital because it can guard against evil spirits, which is also the main purpose of the Yin Soldiers patrolling the capital.

The Tianjing Guards were originally responsible for managing the public security of Tianjing, so it would be most appropriate to assign the task of patrolling the capital by the Yinbing to the Tianjing Guards.

In name, the Yulin Army is the direct superior of the Yin soldiers in Bingzhong. When they were in Bingzhong, the Yin soldiers of each unit were under the control of the Yulin Guard Yin soldiers. Moreover, the Yulin Guard was the personal soldiers of the Emperor of Daxia, so it was appropriate to let the Yulin Guard in the Yang world manage the Yin soldiers.

For them, the Confucians, the best choice is the Tianjing Guard, because Zhao Guanshan is half a Confucian, the Zhushen Division is second, and the Yulin Guard is the worst.

He raised his head and looked at the Queen Mother behind the pearl curtain. He instantly realized that the Queen Mother had reached an agreement with Yuchi Pojun on this matter. If he nominated the Queen Mother's brother Zhao Guanshan again today, it would only cause internal conflicts among the three divisions. The Queen Mother could just stand by and watch.

Because no matter whether she chose Zhao Guanshan or Yuchi Jing, the Queen Mother had already gained political benefits.

Thinking of this, Dong Xingshu said nothing.

Because Yuchi Jing is at least still studying Confucianism, which is half good news for them, Confucianism.

After listening to Yuchi Pojun's memorial, Chang Sundan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, stepped forward, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the Yin soldiers patrolling the capital is a big deal. Yuchi Jing is only a juren, and he has not made any achievements in these years. Even if the Right General has military merits to protect him, it is still inappropriate to rashly entrust him with such an important position."

Generally speaking, the appointment of an official to the rank of seventh was already a manifestation of the emperor's great favor.

This is also how Zhou Tieyi’s general flag started.

Even if Yuchi Pojun's military achievements were greater than Zhou's, his promotion to the sixth rank was an exception. The director of the Night Patrol Court was a fifth-rank official, and being able to enter the court and participate in court meetings was a real step to heaven.

Of course, the reason why the Vice Minister of Justice opposed it was not because Yuchi Jing was too young and had no achievements, but because after Yuchi Jing entered the God-Slaying Division on behalf of the Right General's Mansion, the structure of the God-Slaying Division that Zhou Tieyi had worked so hard to establish would be torn to pieces today.

Zhou Tieyi's two most important achievements in the God-Slaying Division.

The first one is the Supervisory Office, which manages the Tianjing Daily. Now that a newspaper department is to be established, it is equivalent to having a boss parachuted in above the Tianjing Daily.

The second is to reorganize the military equipment of the Zhushen Division headquarters, select local small flags and general flags to fill the capital, and let the small flags and general flags of the headquarters go to the local areas for training. If the Night Patrol Division is established, then with the prestige of the Right General's Mansion, the military men that Zhou Tieyi originally gathered will inevitably turn to his side.

After all, the "Night Patrol Department" certainly cannot have only the responsibility of night patrol. As long as this department is established, its responsibilities and powers will be expanded. Compared with the Inspection Office being in charge of armaments, it is definitely more legitimate for the Night Patrol Department to be in charge of armaments.

Chang Sun Dan sighed in his heart. The political situation in Tianjing was unpredictable. Zhou Tieyi had been away from Beijing for less than half a month, and not only had he been attacked by hidden arrows, but even his foundation had been dug up. This was also the reason why Dong Xingshu, knowing that Zhou Tieyi wanted to go there, made every effort to facilitate it.

After all, local areas cannot be compared with the centers of power.

Zhou Tieyi was able to rise to great heights within three months, so naturally, Confucianism also had a way to push Zhou Tieyi into the abyss within three months.

The Great Xia Emperor knew what Chang Sundan was thinking, but he still asked, "Who do you think can accomplish this?"

Chang Sun Dan bowed and said, "The soldiers of Bingzhong Yin have always been under the jurisdiction of Yulin Guards. Even if they are on night patrol, they should be under the jurisdiction of Yulin Guards."

This was the most advantageous solution for Zhou Tieyi after he thought about it.

First, to prevent the forces of the Right General's Mansion from entering the God-Slaying Division this time. Second, Zhou Tiege is the deputy commander-in-chief of the Yulin Guard, and he will have the opportunity to manage the night patrols of the ghost soldiers in the future.

Of course he knew that his proposal had little chance of passing, but he needed to make a political statement in the court, at least to make others pay a greater political price.

Wang Jizhen, the Minister of Elephants, stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the core responsibilities of the Imperial Guard are two points. The first is to be the emperor's guard of honor, and the second is to select talented people for Daxia. The Yin soldiers are incompatible with these two points. I think what Minister Changsun said lacks some consideration. On the contrary, what the right general said is very right. The Yin soldiers patrol the capital to prevent the chaos of the gods. If they cannot cooperate with the God Punishment Department, then they cannot play their role."

"Besides, our Great Xia has produced many young heroes. In the past, Zhou Hou was made a marquis at the age of seventeen. Now Yuchi Jing was born into a famous family and has made great achievements. It is natural for him to be recommended by his grandfather. As the saying goes, one should not avoid relatives when selecting talents."

As Wang Jizhen spoke, he looked at Changsun Dan with a playful smile in his eyes. Zhou Tieyi's extraordinary promotion was a good start.

Wang Jizhen spoke, and the Confucian officials followed suit. However, this time, the military honor did not speak for Chang Sun Dan, because the right general was the leader of the military honors in the court.

No chance.

Chang Sun Dan silently returned to the ranks of court officials. On the other side, the Queen Mother's faction did not raise any objection to the Right General's proposal.

For a time, whether Yuchi Jing had enough ability and qualifications was not the most important issue.

The most important issue is that Yuchi Jing's identity is most suitable to be placed there, and the Night Patrol Court is also most suitable to be placed in the God-Slaying Division.

Since Chang Sun Dan did not say anything, there was naturally no need for other officials to get involved in this mess. They sighed in their hearts that the situation in the court was changing so rapidly. After Yuchi Jing entered the God-Slaying Division, Zhou Tieyi's base would no longer be so stable. Even if he returned to Tianjing, he would probably have to "start all over again."

Moreover, this time it also shows that the Military Honor is not a monolithic entity, and there are conflicts of interest among the Military Honor itself.

If Zhou Tieyi could reach an exchange of interests with the Queen Mother, then naturally the Right General Yuchi Pojun could do the same.

The officials quickly reached a consensus. The Great Xia Emperor hesitated for a moment and said, "Then let's follow your advice."

The subsequent resolutions no longer involved the political struggles in the court, but were all about practical matters such as preparations for war after the autumn and the autumn imperial examination. When the officials thought that today's court meeting was over, Zhou Tiege stepped out at the end.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"What's the matter?"

"I report today that Minister Mo was indecent in front of the noon gate, that Master Jia made slanderous remarks, and that Zhou Tieyi made false remarks."

As the emperor's ceremonial guard, the Yulin Guard has the power to regulate, admonish, and punish court officials for their etiquette. For example, today Mo Qu aggressively attacked Jia Yuanchang in front of the Zhengwu Gate, which was considered a misconduct in front of the palace. After the court meeting, the Yulin Guard reported to the emperor and imposed punishment.

All the officials turned their attention to Zhou Tiege again.

It has a beginning and an end, which is good.

Today’s incident naturally started because of Zhou Tieyi’s remarks, because the Confucians misinterpreted these remarks, and because the Mohists behaved inappropriately outside the palace.

Although it was later covered up by the Newspaper Department, the Night Patrol Department and other matters, the Emperor of Daxia never punished this mistake from beginning to end, and this is the biggest problem.

Zhou Tiege was able to see this problem and raised it at the end of this court meeting, which is better than letting it end in obscurity.

"How do you think the punishment should be?"

"Zhou Tieyi's unfounded remarks should be ordered back to the capital to be personally reprimanded by Your Majesty. Jia Zhushi's criticisms implicated the emperor, so please demote him. Minister Mo was disrespectful in front of the gate at noon, so he should be fined three months' salary according to the law."

After explaining the punishment for the three people, Chang Sun Dan looked at Zhou Tiege with satisfaction.

Among these three people, Zhou Tieyi received the heaviest punishment. Zhou Tieyi is now an angel. If he is ordered to return to Beijing for handling the Mo Shi case, it would be tantamount to being demoted to the bottom. In addition, his original position as the director of the Inspection Institute was temporarily replaced, and his official career was almost half cut off, not to mention that he would be reprimanded in person by the emperor. It is unknown whether there will be other punishments.

But such punishment can at least reduce the emperor's murderous intent.

This time, His Majesty the Great Xia did not ask the court officials again, but said on his own, "Not appropriate."

He paused for a moment, "Mo Qu was disrespectful in front of the palace, and he was fined three months' salary. Jia Yuanchang's critical remarks were fined two months' salary. Zhou Tieyi's false remarks were fined one month's salary."

The court officials were slightly stunned, but the Confucian official was the first to bow and say, "Your Majesty is kind to us, which is a manifestation of morality!"

Zhou Tiege's eyes were deep and deep. As he bowed, he sighed in his heart, thinking that His Majesty had already decided to kill him.

······
The God-Slaying Department.

After the morning meeting this morning, a new 'Night Patrol Court' will be set up. Naturally, the clerks in the office will be very busy. At least a courtyard must be vacated to handle the matter, and a group of clerks must be selected to fill the position and wait for Yuchi Jing to select them.

Fortunately, Yuchi Jing was not a harsh person. After noon, he received the imperial edict and met with the officials of the God-Slaying Division. He hardly complained about anything else, nor did he try to undermine Commander Wei Shaoan's authority as Zhou Tieyi did as soon as he arrived at the God-Slaying Division. This made Wei Shaoan in a good mood, so he paid special attention to the Night Patrol Court and kept helping to set it up as soon as possible.

He couldn't suppress Zhou Tieyi in the God-Slaying Division, and now the imperial court had sent Yuchi Jing to compete with Zhou Tieyi. This was the best news for him.

Today, the clerks in the Inspection Office were extremely busy because the acting director of the Inspection Office, Mei Juncang, also served as the deputy director of the "Newspaper Department".

Although the Newspaper Department is still just an empty shell, it manages the opinions of hundreds of newspapers. Anyone with a little common sense knows that this department will at least be at the same level as the God-Slaying Department in the future. The fact that the director, Ke Anran, is a Taoist third-rank 'Tianxiang' is a symbol of this.

In the eyes of the clerks below, Mei Juncang's "Memorial on the Abuses of Newspapers" today made an indelible contribution. In a sense, if Ke Anran had not intervened, Mei Juncang would have been in charge of the Newspaper Department. This would mean that it only took him half a month to break out of the framework originally set by Zhou Tieyi and greatly increase his power.

No matter where this power comes from, power itself is enough to change people's hearts, and it is the most powerful force that can change people's hearts.

So the clerks who had sneered at Mei Juncang for his poor management of his subordinates a day or two ago now looked at Mei Juncang with complicated expressions.

Even though it was flattery and trying to guess the emperor's intentions, Mei Juncang went a step further, which showed that Mei Juncang was capable.

Of course, there were also those who secretly cursed Mei Juncang in their hearts, saying that he deserved it because he betrayed his teacher, so all the official positions he had obtained were lost and he could only get a deputy position.

The same is true for human nature.

Hu Wenlang was in charge of the Tianjing News, so he had to hand over a lot of documents. By the time the handover was completed, it had become completely dark, and a huge bright moon was hanging in the sky.

"The fifteenth moon is sixteen full."

Hu Wenlang stood at the gate of the God-Slaying Division and sighed in a low voice.

Suddenly, laughter came from beside him, "Are you free to drink tonight? We haven't had a drink together for a long time."

Hearing this, Hu Wenlang turned to look at Zhou Tiege who was waiting beside him and said with a smile, "I'm afraid you didn't just come here to drink with me, did you?"

There is no need to say much about the friendship between Hu Wenlang and Zhou Tiege, although it was only because of the unfinished half volume of the novel Sunset Pass, but after all, they had gone through the underworld together, so it was a true life-and-death friendship.

Before Zhou Tieyi appeared, both Hu Wenlang and Zhou Tiege believed that this pure friendship would last for decades or even a lifetime.

Because the two people's paths are originally different, one is in the court and the other is in the rivers and lakes, and there is no intersection, they can maintain such a pure friendship.

But things went against their wishes. That night Zhou Tiege took Zhou Tieyi to find Hu Wenlang. Zhou Tieyi valued Hu Wenlang's ability, but was also afraid of what Hu Wenlang was hiding.

Therefore, he used the power of the Tianjing News to bring Hu Wenlang into the court.

After this, the friendship between Zhou Tiege and Hu Wenlang naturally changed. Although the two did not say it explicitly, they were both smart people. In addition, the political situation had been unpredictable in the past few months, and there were many things to deal with, so Hu Wenlang and Zhou Tiege naturally had no chance to drink alone.

Zhou Tiege smiled helplessly. Once he entered the court, everything would naturally be different.

Just as the two were about to leave, Yuchi Jing, who had finished his work temporarily, also walked out of the gate of the God Execution Division and asked with a smile, "Would you like me to have a share of the wine today? I just happen to know a small place suitable for drinking."

Zhou Tiege turned his head to look at Yuchi Jing. He instinctively felt that Yuchi Jing was a little different from the last time they met. He was wearing a vermilion official uniform. Instead of looking funny like a bear in clothes, he looked majestic and steady. Although he was smiling, an invisible pressure surged over him.

(End of this chapter)