Chapter 176 Yan Song’s Solution
Night. Beijing.
As Lu Yi led the Xianwu Guards into the city, the generals of the Five Cities Army had been arrested on charges of dereliction of duty.
Afterwards, Hu Zongxian, Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou quickly took control of the situation.
As for the noisy people, they were all driven back home by the reorganized soldiers of the Five Cities Army and were strictly forbidden to go out.
For a moment, the capital city, which had been bustling with noise, finally quieted down, and the streets and alleys were filled with patrolling soldiers.
However, there were still people looking towards the direction of the palace through the cracks in the windows, while kneeling on the ground and praying for something.
They didn't know which god or immortal to pray to, but they prayed to all the gods and Buddhas in the sky.
As for the soldiers, although they had obeyed the order and regained their composure, they still looked at the huge and strange water tornado in the direction of the palace with awe, and prayed silently in their hearts.
At a corner of the city wall, Hu Zongxian and two other men stood still.
"The situation is under control," Wang Chonggu wiped the spiritual rain off his face and looked at Hu Zongxian and Yu Dayou beside him. They said, "But this is just the beginning."
When Hu Zongxian and Yu Dayou heard what he said, they naturally understood the underlying meaning of his words.
As members of the New Party, the three of them are the absolute authority of the military in the cabinet. They are well aware of the absolute secrets of the new army being developed by the Ming Dynasty and the army of spirit beasts.
To put it bluntly, the army of spiritual beasts is an experiment of the Ming Dynasty. By taming these wild beasts that have mutated after eating spiritual resources and have become powerful, they can be controlled by the Immortal Guards.
But precisely because of this, they knew clearly in their hearts that if the spiritual rain that fell today was absorbed by wild beasts, especially in such a large area, the entire northern Zhili and even outside would fall into chaos.
Many people will surely die as a result.
The most important thing is that if the spiritual rain lasts too long, the power these beasts will gain after they mutate will become stronger.
By that time, even ordinary Xianwu Guards might not be able to defeat them. The strongest Xianwu Guards currently controlled by the Ming Dynasty are only the first batch of Qianhu Suo back then.
Now I have only reached the third level of the acquired realm.
There were only three people in total who broke through the innate realm, including the eunuchs and immortal guards secretly trained in the palace.
The three people were Lu Yi, a captain, and a genius eunuch under the command of Shi Sangong in the palace. As for who this genius eunuch was, they had never seen him before.
This is enough to show how difficult it is for this Immortal Warrior to break through to the innate level.
However, there is no so-called realm barrier for the mutation of wild beasts. For these wild beasts, as long as there are enough spiritual resources, they will continue to evolve and mutate.
In recent years, in the spiritual ranch secretly controlled by the Yan family on the outskirts of the capital, they have allowed wild animals to mutate without limits, and detailed records have been kept at every stage.
However, the conclusion is that even Lu Yi, the strongest among the Immortal Guards at the first level of the Innate Realm, cannot easily win by relying on his Innate True Essence, and in the end he has no choice but to use his spiritual power.
In fact, the Xianwu Guards at the first level of the innate realm are not inferior to the immortal cultivators at the first level of the Qi training realm in terms of combat power alone.
Mainly, when the realm of the Immortal Warrior reaches the Innate Realm, he can absorb spiritual energy to form Innate True Essence in the body. In addition, in the Acquired Realm, he begins to replenish Qi and blood, temper the body, and strengthen it from the inside out. The Innate True Essence also enhances the tendons, bones, skin and flesh.
If a cultivator in the Qi training stage does not know how to fight in close combat and does not know how to use talismans and weapons, he would be in great danger if he were approached by the Xianwu guards in the Xiantian realm.
It is precisely because of this that Hu Zongxian and the other two are so worried at this moment.
Now the range of the rain has already exceeded the capital and is covering the surrounding counties and prefectures. If it continues like this and is not dealt with, it is very likely to cover the entire northern Zhili.
At that time, if wild animals in the mountains or poultry mutated, it would be troublesome.
The local police or the army are no match at all.
“I just hope that the Emperor and Lord Yan and others can stabilize the spiritual veins as soon as possible and clean up the mess…” Hu Zongxian gazed at the brightly lit palace in the night, worry evident between his brows.
Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou, who were standing by, also looked towards the direction of the Huagai Palace at this time, looking with serious expressions at the tornado emitting white light in the rainstorm in the distance.
The overwhelming rain curtain seemed to be transparent and penetrated the sky and earth, and the strange tornado emitted a breathtaking white light.
The capital of the Ming Dynasty was filled with fantasy that night.
At this time, in the Huagai Palace, a hundred meters underground.
"Boom!" At the arc of the fourth section of the spiritual vein route, the twentieth reverse spirit gathering array, under Jiajing's best efforts to suppress it, finally tightly grasped the spiritual vein.
"Boom!" At the moment when the spiritual vein was suppressed, the terrifying spiritual energy directly opened up a wide open area underground a hundred meters below the Huagai Palace. A hundred meters underground under the Huagai Palace is the center of the entire spiritual vein route and the place where many spiritual veins converge, with the most abundant spiritual energy.
Of course, at this time, the entire "∞" route covered the entire capital city. Wherever the spiritual vein route passed, the spiritual energy a hundred meters underground was the most concentrated.
"Your Majesty!" At this time, Lu Fang and his men came to Jiajing and saluted.
"Thank you for your help this time," Jiajing raised his arm and wiped it, looking at everyone with tolerance, "Otherwise, I might not be able to lay this spiritual vein alone."
"It is our (slaves') duty to share the worries of the emperor and the court!" Upon hearing the emperor thanking them, Yan Song and others' faces suddenly changed and they all bowed.
The emperor said some of his words out of politeness, but they couldn't take them seriously.
"That's enough," Jiajing smiled and said nothing more when he saw everyone like this. He just waved his hand and said, "I think the capital is in a mess now. Hu Zongxian and others should still be waiting for you to go back and make a decision. I am enough here. Let's go back."
The spiritual vein has been laid, but next it is necessary to pull out more than a dozen branches from the spiritual vein to lead to various parts of the Ming Dynasty.
The support from Yan Song and others also made Jiajing realize the necessity of training a group of cultivators in the middle or even late stage of Qi training as soon as possible.
This time, this seventh-grade spiritual vein was able to be subdued and suppressed, and paved. There was some element of luck involved.
Of course, it is also inseparable from the assistance of the Ming Dynasty and the restraint of Yan Song and others, otherwise it would not be so easy.
Fortunately, Liu Quan gave him a seventh-grade spiritual vein, not a sixth-grade one, or even a higher grade one, otherwise he would have to bring the spiritual vein back to the sect.
With a thought in his mind, Jiajing looked towards the spiritual source that was still flowing out from the scroll space not far away. The imperial seal flew out from his palm, and the next moment the ground began to heal.
The spiritual source tornado collapsed instantly, and then fell back. Under Jiajing's will, it turned into a rushing river of spiritual source, rotating around the bottom of the Huagai Palace, which was the center of the "∞" route.
“We can dig an underground spiritual source river under the Huagai Palace, leading directly to the Taiye Lake, and turn the entire Taiye Lake into a spiritual lake.” Thinking of this, Jiajing did not hesitate. He used the imperial seal to open a way, and soon a riverbed was opened under the Huagai Palace, leading directly to the Western Garden.
After a while, this long spiritual river flowed directly into the Taiye Lake.
The moment Jiajing took back the Lingyuan tornado, it immediately attracted the attention and uproar of the entire city's subjects.
In their view, this miraculous "dragon sucking water" suddenly disappeared. Does that also mean that the "dragon" or "god" has left the Ming Dynasty?
Even the patrolling soldiers subconsciously looked up, and they were not disappointed. The heavy rain began to subside, and disappeared completely in a short while.
Above the sky, the dark clouds dispersed and the bright moon appeared.
The night sky, as soft as water, fell, as if covering the entire capital city with a layer of silver gauze.
But at this time, the people in the capital were full of disappointment.
The strange phenomenon in the palace disappeared, and the "holy water" in the sky also disappeared, which meant that the "god" had indeed left.
Above the ruined Huagai Palace, Yan Song and others looked at the gradually healing ground and the disappearing spiritual rain from the sky, but there was no relief on their faces.
"Lord Yan," Xu Jie suddenly turned around and looked at Yan Song, "The spiritual energy between heaven and earth is quite strong..."
Upon hearing this, the others also started practicing their skills and sensing the situation. Indeed, there was a lot more spiritual energy between heaven and earth, and it was extremely rich.
"With the spiritual veins laid, the capital will be filled with spiritual energy," Yan Song said in a submissive tone, "plus the previous spiritual source transformed into the 'dragon sucking water' phenomenon rising into the sky, and the capital will be filled with spiritual rain."
"It is normal that there is a strong spiritual energy remaining in the air." After saying this, Yan Song paused slightly. He first looked at Prince Yu and Prince Jing, bowed, and then looked at the people in the cabinet and the Imperial Household Department.
"Today's spiritual veins went out of control, causing a shock throughout the capital. All officials are already waiting outside the Fengtian Palace... and the people and soldiers in the city must have been affected by the spiritual energy."
"Your Majesty has more important things to deal with. At this time, we should share His Majesty's worries."
"It is better to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible to avoid causing unrest in the capital and even the entire Ming Dynasty..."
Hearing Yan Song's words, Prince Yu nodded with a sullen face, then looked at Yan Song and said with a cupped hand: "Then according to what Lord Yan said, how should we solve the unrest caused by the spiritual vein riot?"
After hearing Prince Yu say this, everyone else looked at Yan Song.
After all, Yan Song is the prime minister of the cabinet. Today's incident has caused too much trouble, and they all know the effect of spiritual energy.
What's more, today's spiritual rain is the product of diluted spiritual source. If ordinary people are touched by it, some minor illnesses will disappear.
In addition, ordinary wild beasts and poultry inside and outside the capital will mutate because of the spiritual rain, and things will inevitably get out of hand in the next period of time.
According to the original plan, the Ming Dynasty needed to wait until the reform was completed and the old system of the dynasty was completely broken before it would gradually announce to the outside world that the Ming Dynasty would enter the Immortal Dynasty.
Everything that happened today caught everyone present off guard. So, it all depends on how Yan Song, the cabinet chief, handles this matter.
Such an important decision should be presided over by Yan Song, the head of the cabinet, in terms of both reason and emotion, as well as public and private considerations.
"Haha." However, under the gaze of everyone, Yan Song behaved very normally. He just smiled slowly and said, "As the saying goes, fortune and misfortune go hand in hand."
"Although this spiritual vein riot deviates from the court's established plan, it is still an opportunity."
As Yan Song spoke, he took a deep breath of the slightly cool air, looked up at the bright moon hanging in the night sky, suddenly chuckled, then walked out on his own.
Seeing this, everyone followed. Opportunity? They didn't understand what Yan Song was going to do, but they all understood that since Yan Song was so confident, he must have made a decision.
"According to the original plan, the focus of our Ming Dynasty will be the implementation of the national policy of 'Innovation'," Yan Song said, looking back at everyone and said, "Innovation focuses on changing the people's thinking, so how can we change their thinking?"
How to change the people's thinking? Under Yan Song's gaze, the cabinet, the Imperial Household Department and others all looked thoughtful.
Everyone knows that the national policy of "initiative and innovation" proposed by Yan Shifan was to break the outdated system of the dynasty that had existed since ancient times.
And what is the system of dynasty achievement?
To put it more generally, it is a rule that has been silently followed by all dynasties from ancient times to the present.
But what are these rules?
It is reflected in all aspects, and the most intuitive understanding of the public is the thoughts of the people of the world.
If we have to find a representative for this kind of thought, it is undoubtedly the "Confucian" thought.
In the Ming Dynasty, perhaps we should also add the thoughts of scholars trapped in the "eight-legged essay cage" and the people who yearn for it.
Combined with the rules for synthesizing all the messy things, people can intuitively feel the invisible stale atmosphere.
"The purpose of this reform is not to break the rules, but to break them and then build them up. To put it bluntly, it is to be reborn. Thus, this era will become an era ruled by the Immortal Dynasty!"
"This spiritual vein riot will make the people of the capital and even the entire northern Zhili believe that there are immortals in this world."
"In this way, if the imperial court gives a little guidance and gives him the title of immortal, then everything will become very easy..."
Hearing Yan Song say this, everyone present suddenly understood. No one present was stupid, so how could they not understand Yan Song's purpose?
To put it bluntly, whether the old rules can be successfully broken depends mainly on the people.
To give the most straightforward example, if a scholar who can only speak a lot of nonsense is asked to suddenly learn business, craftsmanship, or cooking, can he accept it?
The answer is no. Even if the imperial court allowed it, there would not necessarily be scholars who would take the initiative to step forward and learn things other than studying.
Because they couldn't accept this kind of behavior in their hearts. They thought it was heresy, so what if the court allowed it? Even if the court allowed it, it would be safest for me to continue studying!
This is a fundamental change in thinking. Unless the individual is willing, forced change by external forces will only backfire.
But since ancient times, people have naturally had awe of legends about immortals and gods. Coupled with this great change, people will be more easily able to accept the belief that immortals and gods exist in this world.
In this way, if the court implements reforms and uses the name of immortality, then over time, the people will agree with it from the bottom of their hearts.
"If you want to destroy the old system, you need a completely new idea to deal a heavy blow that shakes its foundation!"
Yan Song said, with a firm and confident tone, "And cultivating immortals is the best weapon!"
"Lord Yan is wise!"
After hearing Yan Song's words, everyone bowed and praised him.
"In this way, the imperial court will not need to stop the people from discussing the issue. Even if mutated spirit beasts appear in various places, we only need to let the Immortal Guards kill them."
"The people will also become more and more convinced of the existence of immortals in the world. The court's reforms can be smoothly implemented by naming them after immortals, which will invisibly eliminate the turmoil caused by this time. Not only that, but it will also help the implementation of the reforms. By the time the reforms are over, the impression that there are immortals in the world will have already been deeply rooted in people's hearts..."
As Zhang Juzheng analyzed the situation, he looked at Yan Song with admiration in his eyes. Others also looked at Yan Song with amazement in their eyes.
Of course, they saw much more through this incident.
Yan Song's move was to prevent the court from making any response to this incident.
The imperial court only needs to kill the mutated spirit beasts directly when they appear in various places, and it is okay to let the people see it. The people will use their imaginations to understand it, and then secretly guide them to add fuel to the fire.
It moistens things silently and subtly, and changes people's thinking imperceptibly.
In fact, not only the common people, but even the court officials would feel awe in their hearts and have many speculations.
So that you can better perform your duties as an official!
I can only say, he is worthy of being Yan Song!
"But next, I'll have to trouble the Immortal Guards." As he said this, Yan Song looked at Lu Bing.
"This matter needs to be reported to the emperor..." Although Lu Bing also agreed with Yan Song's move, no one was qualified to mobilize the Xianwu Guard without the emperor's permission.
On the ground, Jiajing naturally heard everything that Yan Song and others were talking about.
"Parents who love their children will plan for them in the long run," Jiajing couldn't help but chuckle. "Yan Song really did his best for Yan Shifan, but it's fate, and it can be considered Yan Shifan's good luck."
"Approved," Jiajing's calm voice rang in everyone's ears just as Lu Bing finished speaking, "From today on, the 'Great Ming Immortal Martial Division' will be established, and Lu Bing will be the commander. The regulations of the Great Ming Immortal Martial Division will all follow the regulations of the Jinyiwei."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone quickly turned around and bowed in the direction of the Huagai Palace.
First it was the "Da Ming Immortal Palace" and then the "Da Ming Immortal Martial Arts Department". The imperial court did not need to explain anything to the outside world. It only needed to use actions to tell the world that if there were immortals, only the imperial court knew about it.
In this way, the court's use of the name of "Xian" to justify the reform would be more convincing.
There are some things that I am afraid of thinking about alone.
If the imperial court was unaware of the existence of immortals and had no contact with them, how could they suddenly establish the 'Da Ming Immortal Palace' and the 'Da Ming Immortal Martial Department'?
At this time, the imperial court was taking advantage of the situation to use the name of immortals to implement and publicize the national policies of reform. If they could add that these were all tests from immortals... the effect would be even better!
Everyone will try their best to do things to the best of their ability in order to gain the favor of the immortals and obtain immortal fate.
Yan Shifan, who was standing aside, felt his heart burning with joy as he looked at his father Yan Song.
To be honest, although the Kong family was uprooted, the Confucianists in the world became leaderless.
But regarding the reform, even with his father's help, he still had no confidence.
As Dad said before, it is very difficult to completely change the people's thinking and make the whole world accept other doctrines.
However, this time the spiritual veins were rioting, and Xiu Xian could no longer hide it. He thought it was another trouble. He only had four years left to carry out the reform, and if things went wrong the reform might be delayed again.
I didn’t expect that Dad could turn crisis into opportunity!
Once the reform is carried out in the name of immortal, it will undoubtedly help him to reform, which will greatly reduce a lot of difficulty.
In fact, Yan Song's method did include the right time, right place, right people and luck.
According to the plan previously made by the court, even if the cultivation of immortals was not exposed, this reform would be implemented step by step. It is even a theoretically feasible way of reform in any dynasty.
But if we use Yan Song's method and implement reforms in the name of immortals, we have to consider one question: whether there really are immortals in the world.
All his plans were based on the real existence of "immortals". Otherwise, he would be deceiving the world and the court would lose all face. Even the history books of later generations would record it as ridiculous!
But who made this the Ming Dynasty? Who made him really cultivate immortality?
That's why Jiajing said that Yan Song cared a lot about his son and Yan Shifan was lucky.
Now that they had made up their minds, all the worries in everyone's hearts were dispelled. Thinking that the spiritual energy in their respective homes would be even richer than before, they felt relieved instead.
When everyone reached the Fengtian Temple Square, they could see from afar officials from the six ministries, the Inspectorate and other institutions who were still waiting.
"That 'holy water' just now actually cured my eye disease that I've had for years. It's incredible!"
"Do you think there are really gods and immortals in this world? That strange 'dragon sucking water' must have rushed out from under the Huagai Palace, right?"
"And before this, Elder Yan and others who were so fast, have they already obtained the chance to become immortals?"
"The imperial court actually has contact with immortals?"
"Who knows, maybe this incident was just an accident..."
"Accident? You're lucky you could have thought of that. If it was an accident, why would the cabinet elders go directly to the Huagai Palace? And these eunuchs...how would they explain it?"
"..."
On the square outside the Fengtian Palace, officials were discussing the matter.
In the crowd, Li Zhiyuan was excited, but he was very restrained. He knew more than others, so he could naturally see that today's shocking changes would inevitably lead to the exposure of the imperial court's cultivation of immortals.
So what will the court do next?
Should he announce to everyone that cultivating immortals does exist and the court has mastered the method of cultivating immortals, or should he continue to "cover his mouth" as he did last time when Yinshan was buried on the border of Datong?
"The elders are coming out!" Someone suddenly shouted, pointing at Yan Song and others who were walking in the distance under the moonlight.
Seeing Yan Song and others appear, the purple-robed eunuchs who were trying to stop the officials quickly left under the leadership of the chief eunuch.
The ghostly figure made all the officials feel terrified, and at the same time, they became more and more convinced that the court had obtained the immortal fate. Otherwise, how could these eunuchs have such extraordinary talents?
“Greetings to His Royal Highness Prince Yu, His Royal Highness Prince Jing, Lord Yan…” Led by the six ministries, all the officials stepped forward and blocked the way of the cabinet.
Prince Yu and Prince Jing looked at each other. How could they not understand why the officials stopped them?
After all, such a big thing has happened. If the officials turn a blind eye to it, that would be a problem.
If they had not discussed countermeasures before, they would still have to think about how to respond, but with Yan Song's "no explanation" method, they naturally knew how to deal with the officials.
"It's so late, why haven't you gone back yet? Why are you gathered here?" Prince Yu asked in confusion.
"...This." His question made all the officials stunned.
But in the end, it was the Minister of War Li Chengwu who spoke first, saying, "May I ask Your Highness Prince Yu what happened in the palace? We are all very worried. I hope Your Highness and the elders can help us solve our doubts."
Li Chengwu was born into a military family and exuded the air of a soldier. With him standing up, everyone fell silent and waited for Prince Yu and the cabinet to explain.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
