Chapter 446: Meeting Mei Qingchen for the Third Time

After noon, the secondary door on the left side of the palace gate opened, and the eunuch Feng Zikuan, holding the imperial edict in his hand, walked out of the palace gate side by side with Zhou Tieyi. Feng Zikuan and Zhou Tieyi had cooperated very well on the newspaper issue. Now that a central bank is to be established, the most important thing is to balance the interests of three parties: the Emperor of Daxia, Confucianism and Zhou Tieyi. Therefore, Zhou Tieyi also proposed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs led by Feng Zikuan be involved, and at the same time provide core backbones for the central bank.

No matter how good Zhou Tieyi's idea is, to create such a large department out of thin air, it requires the support of a large number of middle and lower-level officials who are familiar with economics and have a high degree of cooperation. This is something that the Zhou family and even the entire military honor group cannot provide. It must go through the hands of the emperor and Confucianists. No one can bypass this point, just like the emperor and Confucianists could not bypass Zhou Tieyi, the originator of the theory, when they set up a central bank.

But the situation now is different from the past. Even when walking side by side with Zhou Tieyi, Feng Zikuan quietly made way for half a body position to show respect.

When Zhou Tieyi arrived in front of the white marble square, Mei Qingchen was already kneeling straight. Firstly, he had eaten the jade rice from Xuandu Mountain, which preserved his energy and spirit. Secondly, no matter how intense his emotions were, they would gradually calm down with the passage of time.

At that time, Mei Qingchen said to Zhou Tieyi "you don't understand", which meant that he believed Zhou Tieyi didn't know what kind of chaos would be caused in the world if the Emperor of Daxia wanted to practice Taoism.

In fact, just as Mei Qingchen expected, as the Great Xia Emperor practiced step by step, the chaos in the world has now become fully revealed.

But what Mei Qingchen did not expect was that Zhou Tieyi was not only part of the chaos, but also had the ability to calm it down!
There was a light layer of snow on the ground, and on top of the snow were two or three newspapers as tall as a person. These newspapers were all sent by Mei Juncang to his father. Before, there was only one copy of the Tianjing News, but as various schools of thought started publishing newspapers, the number of newspapers increased exponentially. Through these newspapers, Mei Qingchen also learned about the world he did not understand, the world that Zhou Tieyi had said was about to undergo a change a few months ago.

"Uncle May."

Zhou Tieyi bowed to Mei Qingchen and said, "Can we settle our one-year bet today?"

"How do you want to decide the outcome?"

Mei Qingchen sighed softly.

"Two methods."

Zhou Tieyi held up two fingers. "The first method, which is also the method I thought of at the beginning, is to arrest all the great scholars, middle-level celebrities, and local 'honest officials' involved in this ink stone case and bring them to Tianjing. Let Uncle Mei, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, personally check the accounts. After confirming that the amount of corruption is huge, he will personally supervise the execution. This is a method of destroying the heart."

Feng Zikuan, who was following Zhou Tieyi, lowered his head slightly and looked at the snow on the ground seriously.

Mei Qingchen raised his head, looked in the direction of the Meridian Gate, and began to think seriously.

When Zhou Tieyi went down to investigate the case, if this method was confirmed, then the core was still to work for the emperor and be a loyal minister of the emperor of Great Xia. The purpose was to clean up Confucianism and expand the imperial power.

But in reality, there are far more variables than expected. Tian's father's entry into the holy path not only left Zhou Tieyi with the means of a saint, but also completely eliminated the path for Zhou Tieyi to continue to be a loyal minister to the emperor.

It is impossible for the Emperor of Daxia to accept a loyal minister who holds holy power, and it is also impossible for Zhou Tieyi to hand over his holy power to the Emperor of Daxia and entrust his family's life and death entirely to the Emperor's mercy.

Based on this, Zhou Tieyi had to find a balance with Confucianism again. Therefore, after the Mingyue system was confirmed in Mocheng, during the battle of Pingjindu, Zhou Tieyi did not force the pacification envoy Sha Youcheng to set the game.

If he had not awakened Sha Youcheng at that time, allowing Sha Youcheng to be placed under house arrest by Confucianists, and holding Confucianists accountable at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties in the final Pingjin ferry, he would have ended up on the first path today.

At the same time, the internal strife in the Great Xia Dynasty will be more intense than ever before, spreading from the court to the front lines, and it will not be as calm as it is now.

Afterwards, everyone recalled the situation at that time and had to admit that Zhou Tieyi had indeed chosen a path that was best for the people, and he was even willing to pay the price of compromising with Confucianism.

So just now in the imperial study, the Emperor of Daxia said to Zhou Tieyi that no matter whether he thought Zhou Tieyi was a loyal minister or not, as long as the people of the world recognized this, he, as the emperor of the world, must recognize this.

This is also the reason why after Zhou Tieyi returned to the capital, the Emperor of Great Xia and the Confucians did not immediately choose drastic measures to restrict Zhou Tieyi. Zhou Tieyi really had the power to cause chaos in the world, but he also set up a game to at least let the Confucians see how they could coexist with Zhou Tieyi.

"What about the second method?"

"The situation in the world is about to change. People like Uncle Mei are honest and upright. You are the father of my apprentice and the best apprentice of Simin. The previous dispute was actually due to different paths. Now the paths have been redefined. The emperor's cultivation is an established fact, and the Great Xia reforms I have promoted are also established facts. Why not ask Uncle Mei to continue to move forward in these two established facts? If our paths are wrong, Uncle Mei will definitely be able to find his own path, which is worse than kneeling in front of the noon gate and watching the people rise and fall."

Mei Qingchen closed his eyes.

Zhou Tieyi waited patiently. He had to manage the central bank. The emperor of Daxia needed Feng Zikuan to join, and the Confucianists also needed to send someone to participate. Mei Qingchen's integrity and ability were obvious to all. In addition, he had made his previous promise to Mei Juncang. Now that the time, place and people were all right, Zhou Tieyi would of course pull up his enemy and bring him into the central bank, letting him shine. It was better than seeing such a person die in party struggles.

Mei Qingchen opened his eyes, picked up the "Tianjing News" next to him, and carefully read the recent copies of the newspaper. Although there were restrictions from the Newspaper Department, the "Tianjing News" did not publish much about the series of reforms made by Zhou Tieyi in Shantong Prefecture and Tangzhou Prefecture.

However, the Tianjing-Kaiping railway built by the Railway Chamber of Commerce is still the hot topic in Tianjing this month. After all, the rumbling sound of the huge steam engine like a mid-grade exotic beast, and the coal and iron ore that are pulled from Kaiping to the Railway Chamber of Commerce every moment are matters that are closely related to the people. Everyone also understands how much profit these coal and iron ore will generate after being refined.

"What are you going to do next?"

Zhou Tieyi smiled slightly and gave Feng Zikuan a look. Feng Zikuan unfolded the imperial edict and read it out, "Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Mei Qingchen was not good at educating his son and roared at the court, which was unsightly. However, considering that his son has redeemed his mistakes and that he is concerned about the country and the people, he is dismissed from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Because of the recommendation of Shengshi Hou Zhou Tieyi, the court is in need of talents, he is demoted to the position of Director of the Central Bank."

The so-called director of the central bank means the secretary-general of the central bank, who assists Zhou Tieyi in establishing various affairs of the central bank.

In the last debate, although the Minister of Revenue Shi Changsheng agreed with Zhou Tieyi to set up a central bank, he wanted to bring the central bank under the management of the Ministry of Revenue on the grounds that the laws of the nine ministries could not be easily changed.

But this was nothing but wishful thinking. Zhou Tieyi certainly would not agree to it. He was even willing to set up the central bank as a "department-level" administrative unit first, and was unwilling to put it within the Ministry of Revenue.

Anyway, it is a department-level unit. The country has only established a newspaper department, not more than a central bank.

As a meritorious official who pacified the rebellion of the gods in Pingjindu and Shantongfu, he was naturally promoted from the director of the Inspection Office of the God-Slaying Division to the director of the Central Bank of the third rank. No one was surprised that Zhou Tieyi was promoted to the third rank, whether in terms of strength, ability or achievements. Instead, they felt that it was a bit too light.

Of course, for Zhou Tieyi, the third-rank position of director of the central bank is a job that only involves printing money, and he would not trade it for a second-rank position as minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Not only did the Ministry of Revenue fail to gain any benefits from Zhou Tieyi, Zhou Tieyi also proposed to hand over the Ministry's coinage rights and departments to the central bank. This scared Shi Changsheng so much that he kept saying that the ancestral laws cannot be changed.

In the end, the Emperor of Daxia did not agree to this, but only agreed that the central bank could issue new "silver notes", which is what Zhou Tieyi called paper money.

After some argument, Zhou Tieyi agreed to this.

Only he himself knew that as long as the central bank had the right to issue paper money, the Ministry of Revenue would not make much money even if it held on to its copper coin department. It was an inevitable trend that paper money would gradually replace copper coins, and even silver dollars. By then, the minting department would only exist in name only and at most print some commemorative coins.

After Feng Zikuan finished reading the imperial edict, Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "Whether Daxia is stable or not, external enemies are not the most important issue. The most important issue is whether Daxia's own 'money' can bear the pain of the entire reform period and complete the accumulation of private wealth by state-owned capital. I hope Uncle Mei can put his knowledge into practice and live up to the books he has read over the years."

Mei Qingchen raised his hand, "I accept your order."

Seeing Mei Qingchen accept the imperial edict, Feng Zikuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Tieyi stepped forward, raised his hand to grab Mei Qingchen, and the next moment something strange happened.

Thunder-like dragon roars came from all directions, causing the entire Yujing Mountain to begin to shake slightly. As the dragon roars rang out, the falling snow in the sky was also attracted, and in a short moment, it turned into heavy snow like goose feathers and fell down.

What is even more peculiar is that Mei Qingchen's Confucian integrity, which gathered from all directions, turned into a straight pillar of light that reached the sky amid the falling snow. In this pillar of light, countless Confucian sage words fell from the sky, accompanied by the figures of ordinary people, constantly questioning their inner selves.

In order to interfere with the Great Xia Emperor's cultivation, Mei Qingchen did not hesitate to connect his own Qi with the earth veins and human connections of Yujing Mountain. As a result, the third-rank military commanders were unable to lift Mei Qingchen. Even the right general Yuchi Pojun, who had the second-rank power of "pulling mountains", did not dare to lift Mei Qingchen easily, because while lifting Mei Qingchen, there was a high possibility of damaging the mountain range.

If it were an ordinary mountain range, it would be damaged, but the Yujing Mountain is related to the country and the people, so it cannot be moved lightly.

Later, although Mei Qingchen's will to die was weakened by Zhou Tieyi's calculations, and his fusion with the earth veins and human veins stopped, the part below his legs that was fused with the earth veins was irreversible, and even Mei Qingchen himself could not change this.

The blazing righteous energy descended from the sky, and Feng Zikuan felt that all the sinister things he had done over the years surged into his mind like a tide, constantly drowning his mind, making it difficult for a third-rank puppeteer to contend with him. He had to retreat more than ten steps and quickly exit the core area covered by the righteous energy. At the same time, he looked solemnly at Zhou Tieyi, who was still standing upright under the righteous energy.

Heavy snow was falling from the sky, along with the righteous energy falling like rain. The dark yellow power on the ground was surging, the power of the earth veins was boiling, and amidst the countless human voices and dragon roars, it seemed as if the whole world was shaking.

However, Zhou Tieyi, who was standing in the middle, was wearing a white python robe, and his jet-black hair did not even flutter under the golden crown, as if there was an invisible barrier between him and the entire outside world.

There were several carriages parked on the White Jade Square. They were the carriages of Simin and others. Dong Xingshu and others also did not leave and were ready to assist Zhou Tieyi at any time.

"It seems like he doesn't want our help."

Qingkong Gui picked up the liquor and looked through the window at Zhou Tieyi, who was surrounded by a righteous aura.

Pulling Mei Qingchen back was already an established fact, but how to do it without hurting him was a big challenge for the three companies.

Originally, Qingkonggui thought that after Zhou Tieyi convinced Mei Qingchen, he would directly ask them for help. As a legalist and judge of law, he could strengthen the rules of heaven and earth, so naturally he could also weaken the rules of heaven and earth.

He only needs to weaken the rules of heaven and earth that connect Mei Qingchen to Yujing Mountain, let Dong Xingshu stabilize the Confucian righteousness, and let Yuchi Pojun suppress the surging power of the earth veins. At that time, Mei Qingchen only needs to pay a certain price and give up his half-petrified legs, and he will naturally be able to escape completely.

But not only did Zhou Tieyi not ask for help from the three of them, he also seemed to want to pull Mei Qingchen up unharmed. To be honest, the three of them could not do it alone.

Yuchi Pojun also held the wine glass, "Is this kid going to use those two holy powers?"

In his opinion, the only way to pull Mei Qingchen up safely was to use the holy power, but using the holy power for this matter was almost stupid.

Dong Xingshu understood what Zhou Tieyi was doing. He sighed and said, "He is trying to tell us and His Majesty that even without the support of the Holy Power, his current strength is enough to influence the situation in the world."

A five-colored rainbow light shot out from between the eyebrows of Zhou Tieyi, who was standing between heaven and earth. A unicorn stepped out from a cloud of auspiciousness, with a full moon on its back. The bright moon rose to the middle of the sky, forming a huge dream that encompassed millions of people.

Seventy-two transformations, transform into the moon!
When the Mingyue system was completed, it not only included the dreams of the people in Mocheng and Jijiacheng, but also covered the dreams of many miners in Taihang Mountain. Although it was not as good as the Taixu Illusion Realm for the time being, it was more than enough to withstand the expectations of the people gathered by Mei Qingchen, because what Zhou Tieyi had done had far exceeded the "Petition of Begging for Guilt" written by Mei Qingchen. He was worthy of the order given by the emperor and father, and lived up to the expectations of the people.

The righteous energy that surged from all directions was like a wave that overwhelmed Feng Zikuan's self-will, and like the warm spring breeze and sunshine in Zhou Tieyi's heart.

The Qilin carried the falling words of the sage on the bright moon, ran on all fours, landed on the ground, and stepped on the illusory power of the earth veins that had not yet fully risen.

The next moment, golden lotus grew under its feet, and a long bridge was built on the golden lotus. For an instant, Zhou Tieyi's body had a feeling that it encompassed the heaven and the earth. The world inside him was primitive and chaotic, and it actually directly channeled the power of the surging earth veins into the primitive world in Zhou Tieyi's body, guiding the power of one world into another through the long bridge.

Seventy-two transformations to save the world!
Zhou Tieyi fixed the earth veins and human veins, and used his other hand as a sword finger, pointing at Mei Qingchen's petrified skin. The next moment, his spirit and energy transformed, and the skin that was as hard as stone softened and turned into real flesh and blood again. At the same time, the sword finger directly cut off Mei Qingchen's connection with the earth veins and human veins.

Seventy-two changes of swordsmanship!
Zhou Tieyi took this opportunity to lift Mei Qingchen up from the ground with great force.

(End of this chapter)