Chapter 378 The Foolish Bird Flies First
The huge steam airship slowly landed at the Tangzhou Airport, successfully completing the first test flight of the steam airship.

The hatch opened and Zhou Tieyi led everyone out. The first person he saw was an old acquaintance, Gu Yingtian from the Zongheng family.

Compared to the last time, Gu Yingtian in front of Zhou Tieyi has not changed much, but it can be clearly felt that he has been very busy recently, which can be seen from the details of his appearance.

This third-rank diplomat's eyebrows and hair were not as neatly groomed as before, he also had a short beard under his chin, and his clothes were more capable rather than luxurious.

Considering the recent huge changes in Ning Wang Mansion, it is easy to see the reasons for these changes.

Prince Ning is now partnering with the fourth prince Li Jing to open a shipbuilding company. At the same time, a month ago, he also agreed with the Mo family and Shantong Prefecture on the railway track from Shantong Prefecture to Tangzhou Prefecture.

Among them, the Ning Wang Mansion was particularly active, and its contribution was even no less than Zhou Tieyi. One project after another was quickly established, and all these projects required the control of Gu Yingtian, who had been to Tianjing and saw with his own eyes how to build steel mills, railways, and shipyards. He had come into contact with a lot of middle and lower class people, which naturally changed Gu Yingtian's dressing style.

When Zhou Tieyi looked at Gu Yingtian, Gu Yingtian was also using the sixth-grade "physiognomy" method of the Zongheng family to look at Zhou Tieyi. The last time he met Zhou Tieyi, he knew that Zhou Tieyi's face was difficult to read.

He holds great power, yet is in deep danger.

He is thoughtful and yet rebellious.

The subsequent changes in the situation in Tianjing proved that his judgment was correct.

It's just that my judgment at that time was only based on my personal perspective, and I simply regarded Zhou Tieyi as a powerful official.

On the contrary, the judgment given by the king was more accurate. Zhou Tieyi seemed to be a person of the eclectic school, but not the eclectic school of today, but a first-class eclectic school that appeared once during the Five Dynasties of the North and the South, but whose name was not even recorded in the long river of history.

According to the advice given by the king, Gu Yingtian went to the Railway Chamber of Commerce in person and secretly visited the "union" set up by the miscellaneous parties in the Railway Chamber of Commerce, which made him more certain of this.

Zhou Tieyi is not a powerful official, but a Taoist master!
Even Zhou Tieyi is different from the first-rank grandmaster of the Miscellaneous School. He is not just one person, but a school of thought that is changing. The people and school of thought related to him are also changing, just like the current great struggle in the world.

Looking at Zhou Tieyi's face again at this time, Gu Yingtian could feel the booming luck that gathered from thousands and millions of people, forming a layer of moonlight that enveloped Zhou Tieyi's whole body, changing like a waxing and waning moon.

"Mr. Gu, please come and greet me in person."

Zhou Tieyi smiled modestly and stepped forward to greet him.

"Lord Zhou, you are too kind. Last time I went to Tianjing, Lord Zhou taught me a lot of truths. When I think about it now, every word is still precious. Now I am very lucky to be able to meet Lord Zhou and have a night talk with him again."

In front of Zhou Tieyi, Gu Yingtian did not act arrogantly and spoke politely.

After leaving the airport, they got on a luxurious carriage and drove towards the outside of Tangzhou Prefecture. Qin Yu, who was sitting next to Zhou Tieyi, had been to Tangzhou Prefecture before and asked curiously, "Prince Ning's Mansion doesn't seem to be in this direction?"

Zhou Tieyi came to Tangzhou Prefecture this time with three apparent purposes.

The first one is to represent the Mohist school and come to see the laying of the railway in Tangzhou Prefecture.

The second was to seek the support of the God-Slaying Division of Tangzhou Prefecture, examine the case files of the Huxin Academy case, and investigate the Moshi case.

The third one came to visit King Ning.

Gu Yingtian smiled and said, "The king is not in the palace now."

Qin Yu and others were surprised. Where was Prince Ning if he was not in the palace?
It was almost noon when the steam airship landed at the Tangzhou Airport. Everyone took a horse-drawn carriage for another hour. Here they could see a railway track that had been laid for more than ten miles. With the help of simple mechanical machines and the hard work of workers, each sleeper led to the distance.

When the carriage that Zhou Tieyi and others were riding in arrived at the construction site, the managers had received the news in advance. One manager hurried to a group of workers who were laying the railway, "Li Hua."

"Eh."

A young man looked up. Compared with the workers around him, his eyes revealed a cleverness and his eyebrows were gentle. However, his exposed arms were muscular, and after a day of hard work, they were slightly red and dripping with sweat.

"Did you remember everything I told you? An important person is coming to inspect today, so don't say anything you shouldn't!"

The manager looked at Li Hua sternly. Li Hua was the child of another manager's distant relative. He went to school for several years but failed to pass the examination to become a scholar, so he was recommended by the manager to come here to be a small foreman.

When it comes to receiving people from above, the people below already have a set of logic. People above want to see the so-called "lower-level people", but they don't want to see the numb lower-level people who can't even speak clearly, so they need representatives of the "lower-level people" to tell people above that the lower-level people are living well, at least on the surface.

"Money is everything, I understand."

The young man named Li Hua nodded repeatedly and wiped his face with the slightly blackened sweat towel wrapped around his neck. "Manager Qian, do I need to go wash up?"

Manager Qian glanced at Li Hua and said, "No need, take this with you."

He handed Li Hua a string of wooden beads, which was a little gadget that could cover up the smell of sweat on his body.

Naturally, there were no good rest rooms when laying the railway, and many workers rested under the shade of trees, so Zhou Tieyi and others did not get off the carriage.

When Li Hua was led to the carriage where Zhou Tieyi was, and the door of the carriage closed, Gu Yingtian stood up first, "Your Majesty."

The simple and clever smile on Li Hua's face changed to become gentle and profound. He pressed his hands slightly and said, "There is no need to salute in such a narrow place."

Although he was speaking to Gu Yingtian, he was actually speaking to Zhou Tieyi and others.

Zhou Tieyi smiled and looked at King Ning, "You are really different."

Qin Yu and Li Jianhu looked at each other.

Is this Prince Ning?

Qin Yu compared the Prince of Ning whom he had met from afar in his memory with the person in front of him. Their appearance matched, but their temperament and tone of voice were completely wrong.

Because before, everyone in the world knew that King Ning was extravagant, so how could he be compared with the small workers who were laying the railways now.

I'm afraid that even if someone has seen Prince Ning from afar, they would only think that the two of them are a little similar and would never associate them together.

Prince Ning sat next to Gu Yingtian. He took a sip of the tea in front of him without any image. Then he looked at Zhou Tieyi and said with a smile, "You are the same." Zhou Tieyi shook his head slightly, "It's different. I can't lay the railway myself."

Zhou Tieyi said in a declarative tone.

King Ning thought for a moment and nodded, "Of course, you are much smarter than the rest of us. Since ancient times, smart people should do smart things. People are born different. Some are good at planning, while others are good at fighting..."

Zhou Tieyi suddenly interrupted, "What about you? You are good at laying railways. This is good news."

His words were extremely rude.

Gu Yingtian naturally had a little anger on his face. Up to now, they, the Ning Wang Mansion, had treated him with courtesy. Although the place where they first met was a little simple, the Ning Wang himself was laying the railway personally. If Zhou Tieyi was so arrogant because of the hospitality, it would be really rude.

But Gu Yingtian knew what kind of person Zhou Tieyi was. Zhou Tieyi's words were definitely not simply out of rudeness, but an attempt to test something from King Ning's answer.

So he was only angry on the surface, which he did for King Ning to see, to prove that he was insulted just like King Ning. But he did not stand up and interrupt rashly, because he did not analyze Zhou Tieyi's real intention of saying this. When a smart person was speaking, if a "stupid man" like him rashly interrupted, it would make both Zhou Tieyi and King Ning look down on him.

Sure enough, after hearing this, King Ning first reached out to stop Gu Yingtian, then looked at Zhou Tieyi and said with a smile, "I'm not good at anything, so I only knew how to enjoy myself before."

Then he continued, "I heard you praise Li Jing as a big bird on Fuyao Mountain, which doesn't fly for nine years and doesn't sing for nine years, but once it soars into the sky, it makes a stunning sound."

Zhou Tieyi nodded and continued to jokingly ask, "King Ning, do you also want to be a big bird?"

King Ning sighed, "I can't be a big bird. I am born stupid, just a stupid bird. But stupid birds also have their advantages, because stupid birds fly first. I am also an idle person. I have figured out a lot of things about you, but I still have doubts, so I came to lay the railway myself to verify some of the doubts in my heart."

Zhou Tieyi's smile faded and he said seriously, "A wise man will make mistakes in a thousand considerations, and a fool will gain something in a thousand considerations."

He sighed in his heart. Although he had expected that Prince Ning would be difficult to deal with, it was only after seeing him today that he realized how difficult he really was.

Just as Zhou Tieyi said, he couldn't even lay the railway himself. He could only control the development of the Industrial Revolution with his insights that were ahead of his time and his understanding of people's hearts.

However, he could only vaguely perceive the impact of the specific industrial revolution and this world on the lower-class people, and could not empathize with them.

Of course there is another reason, he doesn’t have as much time as King Ning.

Of course, Prince Ning will gain something by doing this, and this gain may be useless to others, but it will be of great use to him in his position.

For any leader, having been to the grassroots and not being to the grassroots are two completely different concepts.

Many of the things we learn from books can only be grasped after they are truly verified and compared with the lives of grassroots people.

Zhou Tieyi was not worried about Li Jing, because until now, whenever Li Jing set up a shipyard, he would follow the plans and design drawings given by Zhou Tieyi. With insights far beyond his time, Zhou Tieyi's designs and plans were always ahead of Li Jing.

So no matter how smart Li Jing was or how high she could fly, she could only follow behind him.

He was not worried about Wang Mingyi, because even if Wang Mingyi went to the grassroots level, he was still hindered by Confucianism. Before he completely reformed Confucianism, or at least before he established his own doctrine, it would be difficult for Wang Mingyi to control the overall situation. The one who controlled Wang Mingyi was always Si Min Dong Xingshu.

But Prince Ning is different. He is an early bird that flies first. He is able to control the overall situation and think about problems with his high status. He is also able to humble himself and experience the changes personally.

Soon, Prince Ning will integrate the changes he has brought to the times into what he has learned, and from another perspective, confirm the principles that he has never told outsiders.

After all, truth is always truth, not a secret. When times change and when someone is willing to verify it personally, the truth will naturally become apparent.

I can still be ahead of King Ning now, but five years later, that may not be the case.

After talking about himself, the gentle smile on King Ning's face suddenly turned sharp. In the narrow carriage, Qin Yu and Li Jianhu, who were sitting next to Zhou Tieyi, held their breath slightly. They felt as if they were brought into the wilderness and were being scrutinized by countless people.

In this process, the cultivation methods that they were proud of before were all useless.

It is rumored that Prince Ning's cultivation is of Gongshujia's fifth rank, but in fact even Gongshujia himself does not care much about this matter, because Prince Ning only needs to hold the 'Golden Seal of Prince Ning' in his hand. In the fiefdom of Tangzhou Prefecture, he can mobilize the national destiny of Daxia, so it doesn't matter whether his strength is of the fifth rank or not.

"What about you? I always thought you were afraid of death, because people who are not afraid of death can't achieve great things. What makes you not afraid of death now?"

King Ning's question also hit the nail on the head. Just like Zhou Tieyi asked King Ning and King Ning answered, Zhou Tieyi replied, "Then he must be dead, so he survived from death."

"is it?"

King Ning was skeptical, but Zhou Tieyi did answer his question, so he thought about it and his eyes softened again, "If Marquis Zhou dies, everyone in the world will definitely miss him."

Zhou Tieyi asked back, "Why do you say that?"

King Ning said confidently, "Because I will help you realize your unfinished dream. Even if Zhou Hou dies at that time, he will be a pioneer and live in the hearts of the people of the world."

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "Although it sounds unlucky, the result at least looks good."

King Ning said, "You can do whatever you want in Tangzhou Prefecture. If you need anything, just let Gu Yingtian know. He will do his best to help Marquis Zhou."

Zhou Tieyi looked at King Ning, "What about you?"

Prince Ning stood up and said, "Of course I will continue to lay the railway. Only when a complete railway is laid, connecting Tangzhou Prefecture and Shantong Prefecture, can I see clearly the various changes along this line. Besides, you have given me such a wonderful cover, it would be a pity not to use it."

Prince Ning got off the car and left the carriage.

When Zhou Tieyi and King Ning met this time, as the leaders of their respective forces, they no longer needed to talk about the exchange of interests like Zhou Tieyi talked with other people. The specific exchange of interests would be completed by their subordinates. The main purpose of their conversation was to test how smart the other party was and how well they understood the current situation. This not only revealed how reliable the two parties were as allies, but also warned each other not to use any tricks, as we are not fools.

As for the result of this meeting, at least for now, both of them are quite satisfied.

Prince Ning expressed that in the matter of the Moshi case, the Ning Palace would fully cooperate with Zhou Tieyi and was even willing to sacrifice its own interests. But at the same time, Prince Ning also asked Zhou Tieyi to take the lead and withstand the pressure from Daxia and Shendao to buy time for his development.

(End of this chapter)