Chapter 266 Hu Zongxian: How can this be allowed? Regarding the national policy of regional coordinated development and support for cultivation
Yan Mansion, outside the study.
"Pah, pah, pah..." Looking at the study room occupied by Yan Shifan alone, Yan Song hunched his back and knocked on the door, but there was still no movement in the study room.
"Lord, what?" Hu Zongxian, who was standing next to Yan Song, opened his mouth and said, "Brother Shifan has suffered a blow this time. Let's just let him be quiet..."
"Be quiet, but this is my study!" However, before Hu Zongxian could finish his words, Yan Song snorted in anger, "Ruzhen, do you think he is right?"
"How can you lock your father out?"
So, you are not worried about your son at all...Hu Zongxian: "..."
"He's over a hundred years old, but he's still so unstable when faced with things," Yan Song raised his head and shouted into the door, "I usually tell you to read more books, but you don't listen."
"Han Xin's humiliation under the crotch, Gou Jian, the King of Yue, sleeping on firewood and tasting gall, Wu Zixu's whipping of corpses after defeating Chu, Wang Ban's 30 years of forbearance for revenge, and Fan Sui and Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, which of these heroes did not endure what ordinary people could not endure, and endured humiliation that ordinary people could not bear?"
"What the ancients could do, you can't do?"
"Behind you, Yan Shifan, is a thriving empire. You have the entire empire backing you up, and you were defeated just like that? If you think so, you are not worthy of being my son!"
"Humph!" Yan Song snorted coldly and grabbed Hu Zongxian's hand, "Ruzhen, let's go!"
The study became quiet. Yan Shifan sat in his seat with a sullen face, not saying a word.
Yan Shifan had never suffered such humiliation since he was born. This time in the world of immortal cultivation, he was humiliated just because he looked directly at the so-called young master of the Lu family from Lingxu Island. One can imagine how aggrieved he felt.
How could he not see the other party's arrogance, rudeness, and casualness when humiliating him?
It was precisely because of this random targeting without any prejudice that he felt greatly insulted.
The feeling of being treated like an ant and being bullied just because I feel like it is worse than killing him.
Of course, at this moment, Yan Shifan, the always arrogant cabinet minister who could act arrogantly in the Ming Dynasty, finally experienced the feeling of being a bottom-level ant.
It was unknown how long it had been, Yan Shifan slowly closed his eyes, forcing himself to suppress the pent-up anger in his mind. After taking several deep breaths, Yan Shifan opened his eyes again.
"The world of immortal cultivation is ultimately a world where strength is respected. It is not a world where power and rules are supreme. I have always overlooked this point."
"In fact, it's the same in the Ming Dynasty," Yan Shifan stood up slowly with a cold face, walked to the desk, picked up a document that had been placed on it, and slowly opened it, "Power comes from military force!"
"Troops represent strength!"
"During the Mortal Dynasty, the power of the cabinet and the emperor all came from the huge and powerful military strength."
"Before, I walked step by step from within the rules to the supremacy of the rules, and then made the rules. However, in the world of cultivating immortals, no matter how powerful the art of scheming and controlling subordinates is, it is ultimately a minor path. The realm of cultivation is the main path that steps on the path above the rules!"
"One after another, powerful cultivators have formed a huge army of immortal cultivators. After entering the immortal cultivation world, people like us who stand above the rules can manipulate everything!"
"Only I can take revenge!" Looking at the report on the Lingshi business in Jiangning District and the handling of the Jinyiwei in Nanjing City, Yan Shifan said coldly: "So, only if the Ming Dynasty is better, we can live like human beings in the world of cultivation!"
At this moment, the young cabinet minister Yan Shifan realized it!
He understood that only by making the Ming Dynasty better, developing faster, and becoming stronger to the point where it could dominate the academy, could he take revenge and avoid being bullied.
Of course, he also understood that if his cultivation level was at the Jindan stage or even the Yuanying stage, or even the legendary Sanxian realm, Lu Yu would not have dared to provoke him.
Even if he had the cultivation level of a wandering immortal, even if he killed him, I believe the Lu family of Lingxu Island would choose to swallow their anger, and they might even come to apologize.
Because they couldn't bear the wrath from a wandering immortal.
But even if he was a Sanxian, what could he do? How could a Sanxian deal with two Sanxians of the same realm at the same time?
In the world of cultivating immortals, like those super large sects, or academies, which one doesn’t have a few immortals in charge?
Therefore, if he wanted to truly stand above the rules and look down on everything, he had to rely on the power of the dynasty!
Only when the entire dynasty becomes strong and has the enormous force to suppress the entire world of immortal cultivation, can he act without scruples like he did in the Ming Dynasty, and only then can he bully others.
Well, at this moment, Yan Shifan, "the poisonous snake", realized that it is not only for revenge, but also to bully others!
However, this is consistent with his "venomous snake" character.
"Isn't it just patience? Lu family, I, Yan Shifan, swear that I will not be a human being if I don't kill all of your clan!"
After saying this, Yan Shifan buried the world of immortal cultivation and the humiliation in his heart deep in his heart, then took the official documents and left the study.
"Young Lord, you..." Seeing Yan Shifan coming out, the servant immediately stepped forward, but before he could say anything, Yan Shifan took the lead and said, "Tell my father that I want to go to Nanjing in person."
After saying this, he strode away without paying any attention to the servants.
Soon, Yan Song, who was sitting in the inner hall drinking tea with Hu Zongxian, received a report from the servant.
"Got it, leave now..." Yan Song waved his hand, signaling the servant to leave, then looked at Hu Zongxian and said:
"When I first decided to open the spiritual stone trade to other countries, I had expected that sooner or later some people would be blinded by greed and unable to resist the temptation of spiritual stones."
"This caused the spiritual stones to flow back to Ming Dynasty."
"Ruzhen, do you think that the spiritual stone can be completely banned?" Suddenly, Yan Song looked at Hu Zongxian.
"Impossible." Although he didn't understand why the teacher suddenly tested him, Hu Zongxian still gave his own answer, saying, "From the students' point of view, it is the same as the world of immortal cultivation."
"The main reason is still the problem of spiritual resources," Hu Zongxian paused and continued, "A spiritual stone of only low purity can be equivalent to the effect of four or five taels of spiritual source!"
"In the world of cultivating immortals, one zhu of low-grade spirit stone can be sold for thirty taels of spirit source. In my Ming Dynasty, because the resources of spiritual objects are limited, the price of spirit stones is much lower."
"But over the years, the price of spirit stones has been rising steadily."
"In the beginning, one zhu of spiritual stone was worth three liang of spiritual energy. In just a few decades, the price has risen to one zhu of spiritual stone, which is worth ten liang of spiritual energy, or even more!"
"And as the spirit stones have been used as energy sources for the spirit industry over the years, their value is still rising!"
"As for those casual cultivators, the spiritual resources they obtain are limited. If they use them to purchase spiritual resources and other normal cultivation resources, or to work hard, plant spiritual crops, or engage in various occupations in the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation..."
"After finally saving up some wealth, they naturally hope to use it to improve their cultivation."
"But if you buy spiritual energy of the same price, the cultivation effect it brings is far inferior to that of spiritual stones."
"Most casual cultivators are well aware of the dangers of spirit stones, so why are they still flocking to them?"
As Hu Zongxian spoke, he drank a sip of spiritual tea to moisten his throat, and continued: "For example, if a casual cultivator's cultivation level is raised to the foundation-building stage, then he will be a powerful person!"
"In the current world of immortal cultivation in the Great Ming Dynasty, cultivators in the foundation-building stage can completely dominate a region and even establish a family."
"Well, this is the national policy of the imperial court, which is to increase the speed of Ming Dynasty's development again."
"The spiritual veins of the two capitals and thirteen provinces are now covered. The spiritual energy generated every moment is enough to fill the entire territory of Daming, thus forming a natural environment for cultivating immortals."
"If a cultivator sets up a family in some major immortal cultivation city, it may be difficult to develop. Because these cities have already been divided up."
“But if we establish a family in some remote areas, we can obtain a lot of resources with the cultivation of the foundation-building period.”
"Even local government officials would support families established within their jurisdiction."
"After all, the performance rating of officials nowadays has shifted from being linked to the livelihood of the people under their command and the increase in the local 'total tax' of the year to being centered on the number of immortal cultivation families and immortal cultivators under their command."
"As a result, many local government officials will introduce immortal cultivation families and even some immortal cultivation chambers of commerce from other immortal cultivation cities for the sake of their own political achievements."
"And before that, it was decided at the cabinet meeting that if any immortal cultivation family or immortal cultivation business reaches a certain scale, the court will allocate a certain amount of immortal cultivation resources to that place."
"Even if the immortal path in a certain place develops vigorously and reaches a very large scale, you can apply for a low-grade spiritual vein."
"Under these circumstances, if a cultivator relied on spirit stones to forcibly improve his cultivation to the foundation-building stage, and then married and had children normally, he would move his family to some remote areas and establish his own immortal cultivation family."
"That would be enough to provide great protection and even resources for the family before I die!"
"Sacrificing myself in exchange for the safety of my descendants, this deal is a great bargain no matter how you look at it."
"That's why the spiritual stone business has already become popular in the Ming Dynasty. It is very difficult to eradicate it..."
"The huge interests involved behind this are not only related to the monks themselves, but also to officials and even the top officials in the court. After all, the current structure of the court has long been fixed."
"If the performance of local officials improves, they will feed back to the top officials in the court, thereby gaining more rewards."
"In fact, according to the extreme view of some people in the court on spiritual stones, the emergence of spiritual stones can speed up the development of the Ming Dynasty. Thinking about it this way, it is not wrong..."
When he said this, Hu Zongxian couldn't help but sigh: "Who would have thought that a poison could involve such huge interests and even affect the progress of the Immortal Dynasty..."
"Doesn't Ruzhen also think that spirit stones should not be banned?" After hearing what Hu Zongxian said, Yan Song did not rush to express his opinion, but asked slowly.
"I heard that the number of Qi training cultivators in the UK has reached a considerable scale."
"Not only that, riding on the trend of the spiritual energy industrial era, many spiritual energy industrial products have appeared in the UK."
"They even developed a kind of immortal customs that are unique to their country, and other countries are similar."
"Compared to the development of our Great Ming Dynasty, it has only been 30 years since these countries officially began to embark on the path of cultivating immortals. It was the 52nd year of Jiajing when our Great Ming Dynasty announced its entry into the Immortal Dynasty."
"That is to say, for the common people, the Ming Dynasty truly entered the Immortal Cultivation Dynasty in the 52nd year of the Jiajing reign."
"If we calculate from nothing to something, this speed is not much slower than that of the Ming Dynasty." "It can be seen how fast this spirit stone can be cultivated!"
"Yes," Yan Song nodded when he heard this, and said, "Everything has two sides. Although the spiritual stone is extremely harmful, even the law states that if one person makes a mistake, the whole family will be affected."
"But there are still many independent cultivators who are willing to take risks," Yan Song said in a submissive tone, "and the reason for this is just as Ru Zhen said, it involves many aspects."
"Some officials in remote areas, for the sake of their own political achievements, even if they introduce immortal cultivators to use spiritual stones, as long as the matter is not exposed, the people will not report it and the officials will not investigate it."
"If this cultivator can establish a family in the area under his jurisdiction, it will be a great political achievement."
"Even if the cultivator who founded the family had some brains, he could contribute to the development of the local immortal path."
"Then these officials will protect them to the death. Even if they can't protect the leader, they will choose to protect the family."
"Besides, the imperial court really can't ignore the development of the immortal way in a place and destroy it without any care."
"The above reasons naturally lead to the situation where Lingshi is destined to be impossible to eradicate in Ming Dynasty."
Listening to Yan Song's words, Hu Zongxian, who knew his teacher well, had already sensed something.
His intuition told him that his teacher might take action again, and this time the action would be against the current signs of spiritual stones in the Ming Dynasty. Yes, it was just a sign, but it was not enough to be called chaos.
However, the fact that this sign has now been passed from Nanjing City to the Cabinet and has been noticed by this Lord Yan means that the situation has reached the point where it needs to be resolved.
After all, as the Immortal Dynasty's steps become larger and larger and its development becomes faster and faster, its future territory will become larger and larger. Every step of the Immortal Dynasty must be treated with caution.
Once a problem is discovered, even if it is just a sign, it must be solved. If this sign becomes a chaos, once you take action, it will be disastrous.
As the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, if my teacher doesn't even have this little awareness and foresight, then that position is doomed!
"Indeed, such signs of Lingshi cannot be allowed," Hu Zongxian said in a serious tone.
"I don't know, what solution do you have?"
"I do have some ideas," Yan Song paused for a moment and said, "Ruzhen, how about we discuss this?"
"Students should be respectful and obey orders!"
While Yan Song and Hu Zongxian were discussing how to resolve the Lingshi issue, the elders in the cabinet were also discussing the issue.
At Zhao Zhenji's house.
At this time, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and the other two gathered together again.
Although they are now working independently, they all have different attitudes towards different things.
For example, if the matter involved the dispute among kings, or his own political ideas, Zhang Juzheng would not meet with Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji, after all, it was a confidential matter.
But if it involves matters concerning the world of immortal cultivation, then the three of them are one, and they will get together to discuss any issues.
"What do you think about what happened to Yan Shifan yesterday?" Zhao Zhenji took a sip of the spiritual tea and looked at the two of them.
When Zhao Zhenji finished speaking, Gao Gong, who had always been at odds with Yan Shifan and was happy whenever he saw Yan Shifan being humiliated, had an unusually gloomy face.
Even Zhang Juzheng had a strange look on his face, his brows were furrowed, and he seemed to be in discomfort.
After looking at Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng naturally knew why he was like that.
If Yan Shifan could be beaten, then they could naturally be beaten as well. It was just that Yan Shifan was unlucky that day.
If they were the ones who were beaten that day, they would probably not be feeling much better at this moment.
The reason is naturally not because of how deep their relationship is or any friendship between colleagues.
It's just a feeling of grief for the rabbit's death!
Thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng took a deep breath and exhaled, saying in a deep voice: "The lips and teeth are interdependent. What happened to Yan Shifan yesterday may very likely be what happens to us in the future..."
"The Lu family of Lingxu Island is the super immortal cultivation sect and family that Eunuch Lu told us about before."
"The background of this family is beyond our imagination. Even if the emperor breaks through to the Nascent Soul stage, it is nothing great in the eyes of the other party."
"That Lu Yu's servant is a cultivator in the early stage of the Golden Core. This is obvious."
"Of course, the most important thing is that as our business on Lingxu Island grows, we will have more opportunities to come into contact with such families in the future. If we encounter such a thing again, and if the other party uses force to bully us, what should we do?"
"The most important thing is," Zhang Juzheng said, his tone gradually becoming heavier, "We are in Fengling Town, and the four major families have already become representatives of a super power in the southern continent."
“If we are beaten in public by a family like the Lu family again in the future and cannot fight back with a strong attitude, then the four major families in Fengling Town will probably become suspicious.”
As Zhang Juzheng spoke, Zhao Zhenji and Gao Gong also frowned, their expressions indescribably serious.
They knew that Zhang Juzheng was right. This was a problem that had to be faced and needed to be resolved urgently.
"Could it be that Taiyue has already come up with a solution?" Zhao Zhenji knew that since Zhang Juzheng dared to raise the question, he might have some ideas in his mind.
Gao Gong also raised his head and looked towards Zhang Juzheng.
"I think that Lu Yu's beating of Yan Shifan this time is both an insult and a warning to us!"
Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji looked at each other, thought for a moment, and nodded, thinking that what he said made sense.
"It has only been a few decades since we entered the world of immortal cultivation." Zhang Juzheng paused and continued, "Too fast!"
"So what I mean is that we can suspend the current pace of business expansion in the Xiuxian World."
"We will make plans after the emperor's cultivation reaches the Nascent Soul stage and he comes out of seclusion!"
"The business we have developed in the Immortal Cultivation World is now sufficient to sustain the transportation of basic Immortal Cultivation supplies to Daming."
"If we continue to expand, the forces we come into contact with will become stronger and stronger."
"When that time comes, there will definitely be a giant behind all the big and small forces, and no one will submit to anyone else, unless we can provide a cultivator of a higher realm as a backer."
"Moreover, in the world of immortal cultivation, to put it bluntly, although it is under the rules of the academy, in a place like the Western Continent where the strong prey on the weak, the bigger the fist, the more true it is."
"If you want to continue your business and do it well, you must fight hard. Therefore, before the emperor breaks through the Nascent Soul stage, you must not act rashly."
"Once it is exposed by others, everything we have now will most likely be lost..."
After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Zhao Zhenji and Gao Gong lowered their heads and thought for a moment, then looked at each other and said:
"Taiyue is right!"
"The Emperor has been in seclusion for more than 20 years. I hope he can successfully break through to the Nascent Soul stage this time. Eunuch Lu is also developing his 'Tomorrow's Tower' in the Central Plains of the Southern Continent."
"It has been thirty years in total... If the emperor can come out of seclusion before the end of this year, it will be the 100th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty. I believe he will start the highland political discussion here."
"Yes, since we entered the world of immortal cultivation, the highland political consultation has been cancelled. The annual performance evaluation is handled in Wenhua Palace and then reported to the Emperor's Seal."
"After that, the imperial seal will be used to confer awards on officials of all ranks," Gao Gong said with a hint of excitement, "If by the end of this year, in the 100th year of Jiajing, our cultivation that has not been awarded for 30 years can also be approved..."
When they heard Gao Gong talking about the "year-end bonus" for the past thirty years, even Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji held their breath.
Although the emperor would rate the performance of officials every year and reward them according to their ranks.
However, the rewards for the cabinet members’ cultivation were bestowed personally by the emperor.
Thirty years of cultivation have been fed back to the natal fields on the natal plateau. They dare not imagine to what extent their cultivation will be improved by paying out thirty years of "year-end bonus" at once?
You know, everyone's current cultivation level has almost reached the late stage of foundation building, which will only take another four to five years, no more than ten years.
Now, Lu Fang and Lu Bing have reached the Jindan stage, and Prince Yu and Prince Jing have begun to retreat to achieve the Jindan stage.
Yan Song, Yan Shifan, Xu Jie and Hai Rui have also reached the late stage of foundation building, and some are even more mature than them.
The reason why they haven't practiced in seclusion yet is, firstly, because the court and the world of immortal cultivation cannot do without them, and secondly, they are also waiting for their life force to repay them. After thirty years of cultivation, they may be able to break through to the golden elixir stage directly.
"I hope the emperor can break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Then, we can also make some progress in our cultivation," Zhao Zhenji said, suppressing his expectations and asking, "Have you heard about what happened in Nanjing?"
"Yes, I heard about it," Gao Gong nodded and said, "It was done by the young grandson of the Crown Prince. It's harmless."
"Besides, the spiritual stone problem has shown some signs in Nanjing City and other places. It's time to suppress it."
"In fact, the issue of spirit stones is very complicated..." Zhang Juzheng also took over the conversation.
Then, several people began to discuss the issue of spirit stones.
At this time, in the inner hall of Yan's mansion, Hu Zongxian took over a memorial from his teacher, which took who knows how long to write, along with a long list of titles on it, and read it out loud in confusion.
"National Policy on Regional Coordinated Development and Support for Immortal Cultivation? Sir, have you already had plans for this?" Hu Zongxian looked at Yan Song in surprise.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
