Chapter 366 The ultimate plan
"Of course, to celebrate your promotion."

Zhou Tiege did not reject Yuchi Jing's proposal.

Yuchi Jing had a sigh on his face, "It's not just a promotion."

Hu Wenlang and Zhou Tiege looked at each other, and both realized that Yuchi Jing might have made a breakthrough.

Originally, Yuchi Jing's talent was not too bad, but he had always been suppressed in Confucian studies by his grandfather Yuchi Pojun. Although he had worked very hard over the years, and was the eldest grandson of the Right General's Mansion, he had no shortage of resources for practice and famous teachers.

But the Confucian "righteousness" comes from one's heart, which cannot be helped by external forces. Therefore, Yuchi Jing has been stuck in the Confucian seventh level of "self-cultivation", but he has almost achieved the ultimate of the seventh level of "self-cultivation", especially for the polishing of the physical body, which itself is also a kind of self-cultivation.

Originally, according to Yuchi Jing's idea, he wanted to find a time and a reason to switch to studying military tactics.

However, the appearance of Zhou Tieyi and the changes in the political situation brought new changes.

In particular, he had a long talk with his grandfather Yuchi Pojun that day, which broke his awe of his grandfather and made him determined to change the current military system, even if it would go against his grandfather's wishes in the process, because he did not want the military families in Tianjing to become tamed sheep.

After that, he suddenly understood many principles that he had not understood before. The seed of Haoran Qi also sprouted on the next day, opening the door to the Confucian sixth level of "Haoran Qi".

This time, Yuchi Jing did not hesitate any more, nor did he think about switching to studying military strategy. Instead, he strode directly in. He wanted to take a different path from his grandfather, so naturally he did not need to worry about the methods of military strategy.

In Confucianism, one can also cultivate the art of war.

Yuchi Jing took the carriage from his subordinates, drove it himself, and skillfully brought Zhou Tiege and Hu Wenlang to the tavern where he had been drinking before.

The last time Zhou Tieyi and Yuchi Jing came together, the owner of the tavern knew that Yuchi Jing was not an ordinary coachman but a prominent figure. Today, Yuchi Jing was wearing a vermilion official uniform and brought two other people in official uniforms with him, so the owner hurriedly made arrangements.

"Still the same."

Yuchi Jing said familiarly, waiting for the shop owner to set up the tables and chairs in the open space by the lake. This time, the lighting around was no longer ordinary white wax, but precious black stone lamps.

Yuchi Jing smiled and looked at the shop owner, "Your business is booming now. You can even afford inkstone lamps."

The shopkeeper said with a flattering smile, "I was not very welcoming when Lord Zhou and you came to our shop last time, so I made preparations. And thanks to you two, business has indeed been much better recently."

The last time Zhou Tieyi came to drink, he was seen by many coachmen. As Zhou Tieyi's power expanded rapidly, from an unappreciated second-generation ancestor of the Zhou family to the Inspector General of the God-Slaying Division, and then to the Marquis of Shengshi, his transformation naturally brought about changes in the people around him, even though he had never questioned many of them once.

The word spread quickly among the drivers. Although the upper echelons of Tianjing did not know about the tavern yet, officials such as the city guards of Xuanwu City who had contact with the tavern knew about it first. So after that, the tavern was no longer harassed by low-level officials.

Today, Yuchi Jing brought people here, which was a new signal. For the shop owners, let alone using a few inkstone lamps today, even if they burned down the shop to provide lighting for Yuchi Jing, someone would help him build a new one tomorrow.

Yuchi Jing waved his hand and smiled silently.

After the braised beef and other food were served, Yuchi Jing took out something from his arms and placed it on the table. Suddenly, the scenery around them was like rippling water. Yuchi Jing smiled and said, "This way, we don't have to worry about people eavesdropping."

Hu Wenlang looked at Zhou Tiege, asking with his eyes whether he should talk about certain things.

Yuchi Jing spoke first, "I read your brother's article "On Wealth and Goods" and I admire it very much."

Zhou Tiege's expression relaxed and he sighed, "I read it too. If he was in Tianjing at the time, I would have broken his legs and stopped him from publishing the article in the newspaper."

Yuchi Jing thought of the teaching stick and suddenly laughed out loud, "Wait until he comes back, I'll find you a great stick!"

The two of them opened up the conversation, and Hu Wenlang picked up the wine glass and took a sip of wine, "How much do you think he had predicted about today's court situation?"

Yuchi Jing restrained his smile, picked up a peanut, and chewed it carefully. "He has always been very careful in his plans. Since he dared to say this, he must have anticipated the current political situation. He is not a naive person..."

At this point, he paused, recalling the sentence in On Wealth and Goods: "Continuously liberate and develop productivity to meet the people's growing material and spiritual needs." He smiled again and said, "But perhaps he is much more naive than the rest of us."

"Does it include the punishment that His Majesty has imposed today?"

Zhou Tiege looked worried.

The punishment His Majesty gave today was too lenient, which means he had murderous intent.

Instead, he called back his younger brother Zhou Tieyi. Although his brother's official position would be completely stripped, with the foundation laid by his brother, as long as he could get through the hurdle of the emperor, the political foundation could be rebuilt in the future, just like he rebuilt the Zhushen Division in just three months.

In Zhou Tiege's opinion, returning to Beijing is the most important thing, even more important than everything he has now in Shantong Mansion.

Hu Wenlang shook his head, thought for a moment, and suddenly asked, "If a chess game is doomed to fail from the beginning, how would you play it?"

Zhou Tiege turned to look at Hu Wenlang, "Have you heard anything?"

Hu Wenlang was well-informed, and Zhou Tiege learned many things, including secrets, from Hu Wenlang.

Hu Wenlang thought for a while and said, "When Ke Anran came to Beijing, he first went to Mingde Palace and met the Lord of Daming Palace. Before today's court meeting, the most thing Ke Anran did was to find people to play chess with, and his chess moves were very strange. His first move was to Tianyuan. Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Lord of Daming Palace presented a congratulatory message. At today's court meeting, His Majesty ordered Ke Anran to take charge of the Newspaper Department." Hu Wenlang told some information.

Yuchi Jing reacted, "Ke An was able to gain the emperor's favor through the congratulatory memorial presented by the Lord of Daming Palace. No wonder he saw the Taoist third-rank 'Heavenly Phenomenon' instead of the Confucian third-rank 'Essay'!"

Zhou Tiege asked, "What did the article say?"

He frowned. His younger brother was good at writing. One of his peerless poems could impress the emperor, and one of his peerless strategic essays could make the emperor want to kill him.

Hu Wenlang spread his hands and smiled, "No one knows about this, but aren't you surprised that Ke Anran likes to play at the Tianyuan level? As far as I know, Ke Anran is a great chess player, but he has never played at the Tianyuan level before."

Yuchi Jing pondered for a moment, "Was he upset when he played chess with the Lord of Daming Palace that day?"

"No, the Lord of Daming Palace is an expert at chess. He has never lost in 200 years. Even if Ke Anran lost miserably that day, he would not be upset." Zhou Tiege further deduced, "He should be trying to figure out something, just like we are trying to figure out him. He made the Tianyuan move to imitate others, hoping to see more things that he himself cannot see through other people's reactions!"

When it comes to imitation, the two looked at each other.

Yuchi Jing gave a bitter smile, "I didn't know your brother liked to play Tianyuan style of chess."

Zhou Tiege also smiled bitterly, "I remember that he has only played a few games of chess since he was a child."

"Before he entered the palace to meet the emperor, he presented his poems through the Daming Palace Master. He must have played a game with the Daming Palace Master at that time. He played at the Tianyuan position, so he won?"

Zhou Tiege asked in disbelief.

Yuchi Jing thought of Hu Wenlang's initial question and sighed, "So this is a losing game. Whether he plays at Tianyuan or any of the other four corners, it's a losing game. It's just that he chose to play at Tianyuan in the end."

Then he asked in disbelief, "He knew from that moment on that this game was going to be a loss? How is that possible!"

Even if Zhou Tieyi had planned everything, how could he have predicted the current situation before he entered the palace, met the emperor, and gained power?

And what exactly does this Tianyuanzi represent?
Was it intentional or just a casual move?
"This game is really hard to solve, but he did at least count the three of us."

Hu Wenlang sighed and pointed at the three of them.

Yuchi Jingduo glanced at Hu Wenlang. Before, Hu Wenlang was the chief writer under Zhou Tieyi. He thought Hu Wenlang should be taken seriously, but only as an ordinary counselor. But now it seems that Hu Wenlang is much more complicated than he thought.

There are so many heroes in the world!

Zhou Tiege nodded slightly. His younger brother Zhou Tieyi had calculated that he and Yuchi Jing had shortcomings in terms of intelligence, so it was normal for them to be calculated, but what about Hu Wenlang?

He knew that Hu Wenlang had always been outside his brother's core.

"How did he figure you out?"

Zhou Tiege asked with a smile.

Hu Wenlang curled his lips, "Why do you think I agreed to drink with you today?"

Zhou Tiege was stunned.

Hu Wenlang agreed to drink with him and told him so much, almost like he was now his adviser in Tianjing. The gap between the two was mended again, but what was mended was no longer friendship.

He pushed back.

"Tianjing News"!
The Tianjing News was the power that Zhou Tieyi promised to Hu Wenlang, and Zhou Tieyi did not take away this power. However, now a blue-robed Confucian scholar named Ke Anran has appeared and restricted the Tianjing News from a higher level.

If Hu Wenlang does not want to lose this power, then he must fight with Ke Anran and cannot sit idly by and guard his own piece of land. In this process, Hu Wenlang must rely on the power of the Zhou family.

Yuchi Jing took a sip of wine and sighed, "This is really a plan that has been carefully considered."

······
Six thousand miles away, Mo City.

Zhou Tieyi was in the master's yard, drinking osmanthus wine, curling his lips, "Master, your wine is really bland and tasteless."

The Mohist master adjusted his tortoise-shell glasses and said, "If Zhou Hou had poems, this wine would naturally have flavor."

Zhou Tieyi looked around and saw only him and the Mohist master. "There are only two of us here. How can I write a poem that will show the elegance of the ages?"

The Mohist master had a better understanding of Zhou Tieyi's character during this period, so he smiled and said, "Didn't Lord Zhou express his nostalgia for his hometown during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but only wanted to leave a legacy for the ages?"

Zhou Tieyi raised his head, looked at the full moon in the sky, and said with a smile, "Even if I don't write poetry, the people in Tianjing will still think of me, so I don't have to think about them."

(End of this chapter)