Chapter 443: I plead guilty

Fei Peng flew over the sea of ​​clouds. After listening to the answer from the Lord of Daming Palace, Zhou Tieyi thought for a while.

The so-called worst plan, the core purpose is to send himself to the front of Shinto, wanting to use Shinto to consume the two holy powers in his hands. In fact, he only has one holy power in his hand, but no one knows this except himself.

Once the holy power in his hands is consumed, the Emperor of Daxia will be confident enough to get rid of him safely and then put the blame on Yuan Meng.

This method seems good, but sending Zhou Tieyi to the front line is like releasing a dragon into the sea. The Zhou family already has a deep foundation in the military, and Shinto is no fool. If Zhou Tieyi is allowed to become more powerful, by the time the time comes, Zhou Tieyi, who holds the holy power and controls the army, will raise his arm and point his sword at Tianjing. The consequences will be far more serious than if Zhou Tieyi became king in Taihang Mountain.

The middle strategy is to place the person under house arrest, just like he would his own mother, keeping her under the emperor's nose and not letting her leave. As for the emperor of Daxia, he only needs to bet that he can become a saint.

On the other hand, Zhou Tieyi only needs to bet that the Saint of Great Xia will fail in his attempt to become a saint. Although Zhou Tieyi laid the foundation for reform for the entire Great Xia, which was the basis for the Saint of Great Xia to be certain that he could practice faster than Zhou Tieyi, there are now internal and external troubles. Reform has both a good side and a bad side, especially for those who preside over the reform. The slightest negligence will lead to a huge disaster. There are countless examples of the dynasty's fortune being exhausted in the reform.

Zhou Tieyi is confident that he can lead the reform, but looking around the world, no one can lead the reform he proposed. After all, the complexity of the reform he proposed almost encompasses the experience of thousands of years of historical development in the previous life, which is far beyond the ability of human intelligence to deduce. On many issues, the rulers need to "turn against each other" at a critical moment and support the new class before they can proceed smoothly.

Especially in the early stages of the reform, the cost of iron ore, inkstone, local finances, and military supplies at the front were enough to make the imperial court suffer.

From Zhou Tieyi's observation, among the current three officials, Dong Xingshu and his ilk are lucky enough to be able to maintain their achievements, but they are not up to the task of reform!

The best strategy, in the eyes of the Lord of Daming Palace, is that the Emperor of Daxia really has the qualities of a wise monarch, and can even let go of the idea of ​​being a saint, and cooperate sincerely with Zhou Tieyi, betting that the fate of the world is in his hands. This method is the best for Daxia, but for the monarch, it is the most uncontrollable.

After Zhou Tieyi finished thinking, he smiled and said, "I think His Majesty will first use the middle strategy to slow down my pace and make sure he continues to lead, and then use the upper strategy to cultivate national destiny and pass the most critical node, and finally use the lower strategy to send me away and let the divine way slow my pace. Do you agree with this, Master?"

The Lord of Daming Palace was not surprised that Zhou Tieyi could analyze this truth. He stroked his beard and smiled, "You already have a plan in mind, which is enough to be one step ahead!"

Feipeng slowly landed on the twelfth-story building in Tianjing City. Zhou Tieyi got off the carriage, but did not go to the palace to report immediately. Instead, he took the carriage back to Zhou Mansion. All his actions were analyzed by people all over the world.

The Simin Mansion was brightly lit.

Many famous Confucian figures such as Dong Xingshu and Deng Zhenquan gathered together.

Dong Xingshu rubbed his nose and finished reading the thick document in his hand.

There is a lot going on in this document.

He could not read the files sealed by Zhou Tieyi, Deng Zhenquan and Cui Wanxia, ​​but with Deng Zhenquan's ability, it was easy for him to write down the key points.

After Dong Xingshu finished reading it, the Confucian figures around him also finished reading it.

"He is criticizing the current situation!"

At this time, the Confucianists present no longer just viewed Zhou Tieyi as an enemy. From Zhou Tieyi's reforms to the local areas, whether it was Pingjindu or Shantongfu, the core seeds of Confucianism were deeply involved.

Pingjindu is Wang Mingyi, Shantongfu is Cui Yu and Li Jianhu. Although the three are deeply involved with Zhou Tieyi, everyone knows that the three of them are the best among this generation of Confucianists. Regardless of whether they will follow Zhou Tieyi's path in the end, being able to deeply participate in this reform is already many steps ahead of other scholars in the world.

After listening to Dong Xingshu's words, Tang Anshi, who had already returned, was silent for a while before he spoke, "We are not unaware of the things listed above, such as the iron guide, the ink stone, and the aristocratic family. Now I don't doubt his intelligence, but he revealed so many problems at once, which is really a disaster for the government!"

With Zhou Tieyi's talent, if he could carry out reforms one by one, Tang Anshi had no doubt that under Zhou Tieyi's leadership, a prosperous Xia Dynasty would be created, and by then the current emperor would be the ruler of the revival.

Unfortunately, many times, even if we know that the path is correct, we are unable to move forward together, because every step is a fight between life and death, and the court is no less dangerous than a battlefield!
“That’s all he can do.”

Deng Zhenquan followed Zhou Tieyi all the way and witnessed Zhou Tieyi's reforms before and after. He said, "We are all keeping an eye on him. If he hides anything, even if it is from the people, he will be doomed. So he can only throw out all the problems. Either we all share the responsibility, or we all work together to find a solution."

Speaking of the word "responsibility", Dong Xingshu read the key points written by Deng Zhenquan again. Among them, the military strategists, Confucianists, Buddhists, Mohists, and Gongshuists could not escape. Neither could the local princes, aristocratic families, and officials. The Tianjing clans were also involved. It was really as Deng Zhenquan said. Once the punishment was handed down, everyone would be responsible. For the emperor, it would not be acceptable to impose a heavy punishment or a light punishment. The only way out was to solve the problem.

However, even with the solutions provided by Zhou Tieyi for the problems listed above, Dong Xingshu still frowned.

"The front line has started to get noisy."

Dong Xingshu sighed.

Tang Anshi frowned, "Can't Jiang Shoucheng control it?"

Jiang Shoucheng is the name of General Zuo.

Everyone present started to curse, "At such a critical moment, are they trying to rebel on the front line?"

Dong Xingshu pressed his palm lightly, "We also have to understand the difficulties on the front line. Inkstone is originally a military supply. Zhou Tieyi will have to dig up accounts from many years ago. They are on the front line, and they are not as well-informed as we are in Tianjing. Once we reach an agreement here and send an inspector to the front line to kill people, they will have no way to complain. So they can only make trouble in advance to let us know the limit!"

After hearing this, everyone could only sigh quietly. The contradiction between the front line and the court was so obvious, not to mention other key points in this reform.

"Fortunately, the prince went to the front line, so the morale of the people on the front line was not dispersed."

"Tomorrow in the court, the old guy Lieutenant Chi Pojun will definitely try his best to smooth things over, so he will definitely stand on Zhou Tieyi's side. Qingkong Gui has always been neutral. Even if he wants to suppress Zhou Tieyi together with us, the frontline military is obviously more important, so he will stand on Zhou Tieyi's side."

"What about us?"

Dong Xingshu leaned back slightly, leaning on the armchair, and said calmly, "We just need to wait for the emperor to win us over. After all, the world still needs people to govern it, not just a saint!"

As the morning light fell, one after another, the carriages of the officials arrived in front of the Noon Gate. When the officials saw the "familiar" luxurious carriage arrive, they all looked sideways, and only a few people went to greet it.

"teacher."

"Brother Zhou." "Lord Zhou."

······
Zhou Tieyi looked at the people who were coming over, they were his disciple Mei Juncang, the director of the God-Slaying Treasury Department Jiao Guoping, the director of the Night Patrol Department Yuchi Jing and others.

Zhou Tieyi nodded slightly in greeting. Although he returned home yesterday, he closed the door and refused to see visitors. At the same time, he made two copies of the case summary, one to the God-Slaying Division and the other to the palace.

Before this court meeting, Zhou Tieyi was different from his usual lively and trouble-making self and appeared extremely calm. This made all the officials feel like a storm was about to come, and they even felt that the morning light in the sky was dim.

Fortunately, everyone didn't have to wait long. The morning bell rang, the Meridian Gate opened, and Zhou Tiege, as the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, led all the officials to meet the emperor. Because they were returning to the capital to report on their work, Zhou Tieyi, Deng Zhenquan, and Cui Wanxia had to wait in the outer hall to be summoned.

The Emperor of Great Xia ascended the throne, the Queen Mother lowered the pearl curtain, and the chief eunuch Xue Minghao nodded.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report. Military supplies at the front are urgently needed!"

The right general Yuchi Pojun changed his usual tepid attitude and submitted a memorial. Since it was a military matter on the front line, it made sense to bring it up first.

"explain."

Daxia Saint said expressionlessly.

"Reporting to His Majesty, the Left General's Office and the frontline troops have been unable to withdraw their troops due to the invasion of Yuanmeng this autumn and winter. The inkstone has been greatly lost, and the Ministry of Revenue urgently needs to allocate another 4 million taels of inkstone. In addition to inkstone, the court needs to allocate another 16 million taels of silver for the construction of railways in the five northern provinces."

One tael of inkstone is worth one tael of gold. In the past few months, because Zhou Tieyi has been investigating a case in Shantong Mansion, the price of inkstone has increased a lot.

His Majesty the Great Xia had a playful look in his eyes. "In the past two months, my frontline soldiers have made great contributions and even pushed the battle line to Miaoshan City. How come we need a city defense mechanism after not seeing them for a month?"

Of course he had seen the battle reports of the past few days clearly. All the military families were implicated in the Mo Shi case. The court had not confirmed how the case would end. Zhou Tieyi looked like he was going to thoroughly investigate the case, which made all the armies worried. Instead, they did not dare to fight with Yuan Meng and only guarded their own lines of defense.

But they should be worried too!
There was rage in the eyes of the Great Xia Emperor. He also knew the trick inside the ink stone, but if Zhou Tieyi hadn't checked the entire criminal record, he wouldn't have known that the trick was so big!
Just from the accounts found so far, in the past thirty years, as much as 70 to 80 million taels of inkstone from the entire Taihang Three Provinces have simply 'disappeared'!
Seventy or eighty million taels!
Even if they use the ink stones as required by the front line, it will be enough for them to fight for twenty years!

But what makes the Emperor of Daxia angry is that he cannot speak out about the loss openly now, otherwise he will tear off the last fig leaf of Daxia. In addition to the ink stone, there are also iron and copper attractants!
The Great Xia Emperor could not scold the army at this time, so he could only scold the Ministry of Revenue, "Ministry of Revenue, how do you manage the family!"

The Minister of Finance Shi Changsheng knew that this was an unprovoked disaster, but he could only bite the bullet and step forward, "Your Majesty, in normal years, the Ministry of Finance has given enough inkstones to the front line, and it is kept on file every year."

The Great Xia Emperor sneered, "Since we have given enough, why do the soldiers on the front line want more!"

Minister of Revenue Shi Changsheng hesitated and finally said, "I think the fighting on the front line was a bit fierce this year."

"Then how many inkstones does the Ministry of Revenue have now?"

"There are still 2.7 million taels in stock."

Shi Changsheng answered honestly that since the front line dared to ask for four million taels, they must be sure that the Ministry of Revenue did not have enough inventory.

"What about the bad inkstone?"

The Great Xia Emperor questioned sternly.

Shi Changsheng had no words to complain about, but what could he do with the poor quality inkstone? He could only dig it from Taihang Mountain.

The usually silent Queen Mother said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The most important thing now is to solve the military supply problem at the front. Why not first mobilize this part of the inkstone to the front and then buy it from the public..."

When Shi Changsheng heard about buying from the public, he knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue does not have any extra money to buy inkstone from the public this year."

Hearing what the Minister of Revenue said, all the officials looked at each other sideways, but the Emperor of Daxia calmed down his anger.

Shi Changsheng said, "This year is a time of chaos and chaos. Although Tianjing is protected by His Majesty and the Queen Mother, outside of Tianjing, five provinces including Yuzhang, Hongmen, and Yinshan are suffering from drought, two provinces including Xiluo and Linying are suffering from floods, and three provinces including Taihang Mountain are suffering from natural disasters. They are all waiting for the court to allocate funds for relief. In addition, His Majesty is building the Zixiao Taoist Palace and the railways in the five northern provinces. Even if the surplus of the previous two years is put into it, it is still not enough to cover the expenses. Where can we get the money to buy inkstone!"

All the officials were silent. Everyone knew the difficulties the Ministry of Revenue was facing this year. The finances, which seemed abundant in previous years, were really stretched this year.

Suddenly, the right general Yuchi Pojun stepped forward, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I can handle the matter of the ink stone."

The Great Xia Emperor suppressed his sneer and said expressionlessly, "How do you solve this, old general?"

Yuchi Pojun didn't care about the murderous intent in the tone of the Emperor of Great Xia. At this point, if the Emperor of Great Xia didn't want to break off relations with the military strategist, then he wouldn't touch him.

"The one who tied the bell must be the one who can untie it. This inkstone came from the Shantong Mansion, so naturally the Shantong Mansion can untie it. It just so happens that the angel has returned to the capital to report the case of the inkstone. Why don't His Majesty summon Zhou Tieyi, Deng Zhenquan, and Cui Wanxia to the palace to inquire about the matter of the inkstone?"

Yuchi Pojun's words have a double meaning, that is, the person who tied the bell must be found to untie it. Although supplies are tight on the front line this year, the Mo Shi will definitely be enough. The reason why everyone is not trying their best is that they are afraid that the court will dig up old accounts, especially if someone really dares to dig up these accounts, as if they want to drag everyone down together. Therefore, the military generals do not want Zhou Tieyi to get into trouble the most, at least before the Mo Shi case is completely resolved. After all, no one believes that anyone except Zhou Tieyi has the ability to resolve the Mo Shi case.

"Xuan."

Following the chief eunuch's loud voice, Zhou Tieyi and the other two who were waiting outside the hall went up to the hall. Zhou Tieyi saluted to the Emperor of Great Xia and the Queen Mother of Heaven.

The expressionless face of the Great Xia Saint showed a smile, "Mr. Zhou, the front line just reported that the ink stone is in short supply. General Yuchi recommended you to solve the ink stone issue. I wonder what plan you will use?"

Originally, Yuchi Pojun only wanted to inquire about the ink stone, but in the mouth of the Great Xia Emperor, he directly changed it to solving the issue of the ink stone.

Zhou Tieyi was not willing to indulge His Majesty, so he clasped his fists and said, "I apologize."

(End of this chapter)