[Ding-dong. The host has received Ji Yuchen’s admiration. +300 Emotional Value!]
“?” Su Wen looked at the system notification and fell into deep thought.
Who was this Ji Yuchen? A passerby? Admiring him?
Why would he admire him? Because he spent money to squander? Worshiping his money instead?
A brainless fan!
After some thought, Su Wen threw this matter to the back of his mind.
For the next few days, life returned to normal.
The negotiations between the Great Zhou and Yan Country were still ongoing. The direction of the imperial court had already changed. Su Changqing had agreed to the deal between the two countries, but it was still difficult to reach an agreement on the method of the deal.
On the other side, Emperor Zhou sent Wu Kunhu to bring troops to the Li Prefecture to quell the chaos.
All this however had nothing to do with Su Wen. At this moment, Su Wen had already established for himself a firm foothold in the Profound Language Pavilion.
As expected, Zhuang Qingbei’s article was graded as the worst.
He could only suppress his embarrassment.
As for Su Wen, he had also stirred up a storm in the Profound Language Pavilion, which was to re-examine the records of the Sages!
Reading seemed to open a new door for these scholars.
Everyone wanted to find out the details that had never been seen before.
“Lecturer Su, look, this sentence ‘I first stepped in with my left foot’, just what is the meaning behind it? Why was it his left foot? I just can’t figure it out!”
“Lecturer Su, I already said that looking up at the sky here represents the saint’s noble and pure sentiments, as well as his heart towards the world. He insisted that it was a saint viewing the night scenery. Tell me, what sort of interpretation is this?”
“Lecturer Su…”
Su Wen was almost driven mad by these people!
It was a good thing that it was almost the end of the year, and the Profound Language Pavilion soon went on vacation.
…
Soon, the new year arrived.
This was Su Wen’s nineteenth year in this world.
Although he had set up his own residence, he still led Cui Yumian and Yiyi back to the Prime Minister’s residence. The more the merrier!
After all, it was the most important festival of the year.
Su Cheng also brought his wife back.
The family celebrated the new year. The only thing that made people sigh was that Su Yu had already been sent out and would not be able to return anytime soon.
In the Great Zhou Imperial Palace, the Sacred Debate Banquet was held as scheduled.
All the famous scholars entered the main hall.
Ji Yuchen looked a little haggard. Ever since that day, he had been thinking about Su Wen’s words every waking minute.
The more he pondered, the more he felt that this was an opportunity for Great Zhou to take another step forward. Similarly, the more he pondered, the more he felt that things were complicated and difficult to handle.
Just deducing it in his mind caused too many problems.
He couldn’t wait to find Su Wen and discuss the details with him.
However, he did not know where Su Wen lived and had never seen him before.
The old fellow had been racking his brains every day, and he couldn’t eat or drink. His physical condition was much worse than that day, but his mental state was still excited.
During the Sacred Debate Banquet, famous scholars from all over the world came to offer some insights and answer some questions. Emperor Zhou recorded them down one by one.
He was still very diligent in government affairs. For all the questions and solutions, he would go back and look at all the problems one by one.
Finally, Emperor Zhou walked in front of Ji Yuchen and said with a smile, “Elder Ji is a man of virtue and prestige. Why didn’t you express your views during this Sacred Debate Banquet?”
Ji Yuchen stood up and said in a deep voice, “Your Majesty, I have heard that Su Changqing’s son, the Official Su Wen, beat up Guo Bin at Pengcheng Banquet. How can you turn a blind eye to such an act? Can my Great Zhou scholars not say anything? At today’s banquet, if I speak ill of anyone, will I be slapped by the son if I turn back? If that’s the case, I can only remain silent!”
Hearing this, Emperor Zhou frowned slightly.
This is a little difficult!
Not only did this old fellow have a great reputation, his words just now were also crafty!
It completely blocked the possibility of Emperor Zhou using Su Wen as an excuse to stand up for Su Changqing.
After pondering for a moment, Emperor Zhou smiled and said, “What are you saying, Elder Ji? The matter between Su Wen and Guo Bin has already been decided. Guo Bin has indeed suffered some grievances. I will placate him another day. Today, we should prioritize government affairs now!”
Emperor Zhou only said that he comforted Guo Bin but did not mention punishing Su Wen. This made Ji Yuchen very unhappy.
“Your Majesty, if you do not punish Su Wen, we scholars of the Great Zhou will definitely feel threatened. No one will dare to speak again! Your Majesty, please make your judgment!” Ji Yuchen knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
Emperor Zhou’s expression was a little gloomy. With all the famous people present today and Ji Yuchen saying such things, if he did not punish Su Wen, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction to rise in these people’s hearts. But then again, Su Wen’s beating of Guo Bin was something he had personally overseen and concluded. If he had to overturn his previous judgment now, wouldn’t that be slapping his own face?
After pondering for a moment, Emperor Zhou said coldly, “This matter has already been decided. Even if we re-evaluate it, I cannot make a decision on our own. This will be decided after the banquet!”
Emperor Zhou’s patience had already run out. He did not want to continue entangling with this old fellow in front of him. He directly used the word ‘stall’, neither rejecting nor agreeing to it. He would leave it at that.
He would never slap his own face.
However, Ji Yuchen did not know what Emperor Zhou was thinking. He felt much better after hearing that.
“Your Majesty, I do have something to report to Your Majesty, but I can only tell it to Your Majesty alone!” Ji Yuchen bowed and said.
Emperor Zhou nodded and said, “Since that’s the case, everyone, please enjoy yourselves for the time being. I’ll have a chat with Elder Ji!”
With that, he turned around and left. Ji Yuchen hurried after him.
The two came to the side hall and Emperor Zhou sat down. He looked at Ji Yuchen and said in a low voice, “Elder Ji, what do you have to report? Let’s talk here!”
Ji Yuchen bowed and said, “Your Majesty! What I have said today is equivalent to something that can shake the entire Great Zhou’s national policy! If Your Majesty can realize it, you will be the Great Zhou’s number one emperor!”
Emperor Zhou looked at the old man in front of him in disbelief. Was he aware of what he was saying?
Ji Yuchen slowly explained the entire process of having a tiered tax system exactly in the way Su Wen had explained to Zhao Wanrou the other day.
After everything was said, Ji Yuchen said, “Your Majesty, that day, when I heard that person’s brilliant remark, I couldn’t sleep at night. After thinking hard for a long time, I realized that the biggest problem of my Great Zhou was that the commoners were too poor and the rich and powerful were too rich! Money was accumulated in the hands of the powerful and influential, and it couldn’t be circulated. The commoners are poor and suffering, and their lives are hard!
In the long run, there would definitely be chaos. Only by finding a way to make the commoners richer and curbing the rich and powerful would the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty be maintained for thousands of years. It would be the foundation of the country’s prosperity and Your Majesty’s ambition.”
Emperor Zhou looked calm, but his heart was not as calm as it seemed.
He knew that doing so would not be easy. This could be said to be affecting the interests of all the influential officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The unrest caused by the conflict might even cause the Great Zhou to lose its might!
But, similarly, once the policy change is completed, the benefits would be equally great.
After weakening the influential families, the power of the royal family would at the same time reach unprecedented heights.
Especially after implementing the policies to benefit the commoners, he would become a god in their hearts!
