Chapter 597

By the lotus pond, the night breeze carried a pleasant fragrance. Minister of Justice Tian Heng had his hands behind his back as he gazed at the slowly flowing water. His mind seemed to be wandering somewhere.

Suddenly, his servant Tian Jian hurried over and reported, "My Lord, the Governor of Yang City heard that Sumo is the Prime Minister and changed the recommendation to the selection. He has gone to seek refuge."

The Governor of Yang City referred to Tian Kuo. When he came of age, his brother Tian Guangcheng became the Minister of Defense, so he became the Governor of Yang City.

Tian Heng suddenly raised his head. His eyes were wide open as if he was angry. However, he immediately took a breath and his expression did not change. He was like an ancient well without ripples.

"Let him go," he said indifferently.

Tian Jian was surprised. "My Lord, how can I do that?"

"My Lord, you mean to give up the Governor of Yang City?"

Tian Heng looked at him without any emotion and emphasized, "Let him go."

Tian Jian did not dare to show any more doubts. He bowed and left the pavilion.

After looking at the lotus pond for a while, Tian Heng suddenly sighed and whispered to himself,

"That's good …"

…

Inside King Chen's palace, Mengqi, Jiang Zhiwei, and others were waiting for the first court meeting. They were discussing what to do next.

In the past month, they had been deliberating and rehearsing what to say when they met King Chen. They did not have time to consider how to implement their "national saving strategy" after King Chen accepted their suggestions. They still had many questions even after discussing overnight.

"King Chen is a guru and has the support of non-feudal officials and scholars. He has many Exterior experts under his command. As long as he is determined, he can implement the national policy of abolishing the Transit Dues and honoring talents. At least no aristocrat will react violently in Shangying. I'm afraid that the good national policy will be distorted. Not only will it not achieve good results, but it will also offend Chu and Tang or waste money."

As the emperor's younger brother, Zhao Heng had the most say in such situations. In the past, when the royal family was still majestic, the top aristocratic families loved to do this.

Qi Zhengyan, who had always been a man of few words, expressed his opinion more actively after taking turns to lecture. "For the time being, the scope of Shang Xian can be limited to the palace, a few key Yamen offices, Shangying officials, and the army directly under the King of Chen. As long as it doesn't encroach on the interests of the nobles, there will be fewer obstacles."

These were the areas where King Chen had the strongest control. The aristocrats could not interfere even if they wanted to.

As for the army, the Apotheosized World was different from the world of Mengqi and others. There were many formation maps left. As long as the experts who had enlightened the Apertures were selected and practiced with the formation maps, with the corresponding Precious Weapons, they could fight against the Exterior for a short time. Therefore, there was room for the army. However, except for a few special formation maps, most of them could not fly. If it was a surprise attack, they could not be used much. They were good for defense and frontal battles.

"Well, at the beginning, we should try to avoid intensifying the conflict and attracting the interference of Chu and the secret Taoist sects. When the 'benefits' and 'uses' are shown and the forces who have tasted the sweetness acquiesce, we can be decisive!" Mengqi agreed with Qi Zhengyan's idea. Before the court meeting, they would report the result of the discussion to King Chen again.

Jiang Zhiwei frowned slightly. "For the time being, honoring talents and using frugality and funerals only involve King Chen and a small group of people. We don't need to worry about interference. However, the abolition of the Transit Dues requires the cooperation of the aristocrats. Otherwise, it can't be implemented at all."

If they could not abolish the Transit Dues, they would not be able to attract merchants. If they could not attract merchants, it would be difficult to see the "benefits". Few things could be achieved without benefits!

Persuading King Chen was just the beginning. The real hard part was yet to come!

"Strengthen the patrol? Kill the chicken to warn the monkey?" Ruan Yushu said.

Jiang Zhi Wei nodded and said, "That's a good idea. As long as we can scare the 'monkeys' for a while and make them not dare to make trouble, we can carry out our plan smoothly. Things will be much easier."

As long as the new national policy showed attractive benefits, the monkey who did not dare to make trouble for the time being would not want to make trouble!

Although Meng Qi and the others would be able to leave after a month, regardless of what happened next, they still felt sorry for him. The King of Chen had treated them with respect and valued them. How could they leave a mess behind?

"Kill the chicken to warn the monkey? Kill the chicken? " Hearing the opinions of the two girls, Zhao Heng chuckled. "Most of the guards at the checkpoints are at most Nine Acupores. What's the point of killing them? The nobles have already washed their hands clean of any wrongdoing. They even helped the watchers escape, so that we can't get any evidence to make things difficult for them. The King of Chen's prestige has been completely destroyed. "

"There are too many checkpoints like this. How can we have so many people to supervise? As long as these checkpoints exist for a few more days, the merchants will suffer losses and doubt the King of Chen's determination to abolish the Transit Dues. Even if all the checkpoints can be cleared in the future, the merchants won't be able to pass through the Chen Kingdom voluntarily in a short period of time. "

"If we don't see any benefits in a short time, why will King Chen always believe us?"

This kind of problem in implementation was the most nerve-racking. For a moment, Mengqi and the others were thinking hard but could not find a solution. It was easy to kill the King of Hell, but difficult to deal with the little devil!

Suddenly, Mengqi remembered a book he had read in the past. With a flash of inspiration, he put his palms together. "I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Jiang Zhiwei and the others all looked at him.

Mengqi recovered and pretended to be profound. He smiled and said, "It's not hard to hear."

"Don't keep us guessing. There's no need to show off in front of us." Jiang Zhiwei scolded him with a smile.

Mengqi coughed and said, "The fortresses at the borders of other countries are all under King Chen's control. The Transit Dues are the easiest to abolish."

Zhao Heng and the others nodded. It was the easiest part. As long as they paid the experts or replaced them with their own people, it wouldn't be difficult.

"Therefore, we only need to issue an order from King Chen to the merchants when they pass through the fortresses. Then, most of the checkpoints won't be a problem." Mengqi was still smiling mysteriously.

"What order?" Ruan Yushu's curiosity was piqued, as if a delicious meal was placed in front of him but he could not enjoy it.

Mengqi chuckled at first. Then, he put on a serious face and said, "Anyone who collects the Transit Dues will not be punished for killing them!"

"Not punished for killing them?" Zhao Heng lost his voice.

Such an "order" was beyond his imagination.

Jiang Zhiwei was confused at first, but then she smiled and said, "That's good. There are many experts among the merchants who can travel between countries. They only pay the Transit Dues because they are intimidated by the experts of other countries. When that time comes, only the guards of the Exterior can stop them!"

The countries were in chaos. How could the merchants who dared to travel between countries not have some experts and some backing? As long as the order proposed by Mengqi was implemented, they could "borrow" their strength to alleviate the crisis of the lack of manpower and help the Chen State to supervise the checkpoints!

"What a wonderful plan! And it clearly conveys King Chen's determination to abolish the Transit Dues to the merchants. "Zhao Heng clapped his hands and praised.

Mengqi enjoyed their compliments and continued with a smile, "If the nobles use the Exterior or the army with the formation map, they can run but not the temple. It's enough for us to kill the chicken to warn the monkey."

He paused and said, "We can even take the initiative to do this. When the time comes, we can send some people to blend in with the ordinary caravans. When we encounter the experts of the Exterior or the army with the formation map, we can directly attack them. We can follow the clues and kill the chicken to warn the monkey. Anyway, killing the chicken is not a crime!"

"However, we can't force the nobles behind the scenes too much. We can punish them severely, but we can't completely intensify the conflict. This will make the other nobles feel sad and contact each other to start a civil war. This will give the Chu State an excuse to interfere and the new national policy will fail prematurely."

Qi Zhengyan was expressionless but tacitly said, "So we have to choose a good 'chicken'."

Mengqi nodded and said, "Chen State is a small country. There are not many powerful nobles other than King Chen. The three families represented by the former Minister of Ministers Wang Dan, the Minister of Justice Tian Heng, and the Minister of Public Works Gweng Zeng are the most powerful. Not only do they have Peerless Master Pros, but they also control the court. Their fiefs are not small and there are many checkpoints. If we want to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, we have to choose from them."

His words were plain but full of killing intent.

"The Minister of Justice Tian Heng has been in the family for many generations and is inextricably linked to some of the nobles in the Chu State. He is not a suitable target." Zhao Heng first rejected one family.

Ruan Yushu said in a low voice, "It is said that Sikong Gweng Zeng has a son who is learning Kung Fu in Gumgwang-Hole of Mount Wudang."

"In this case, the only choice left is the former Minister of Ministers Wang Dan, whose position was taken by me …" Mengqi said in a low voice, "His family is the oldest noble family in the Chen State and is the retainer of the first Uncle Chen. There are many masters in the family and friends all over the country. However, there are no strong reinforcements outside, so it is a good time to take action. When you sneak into the ordinary caravans, it is best to pass through his fiefs."

"Okay." Jiang Zhiwei and the others said.

After the discussion, Mengqi and the others met King Chen again before the court meeting began to explain their overt plot.

…

Compared with the previous court meetings, because King Chen began to follow the School of Mohism, this time it was clean and straightforward. There were no red tape. Soon, everyone returned to their positions and waited for King Chen to speak.

The only thing that dissatisfied Mengqi was that his Space Ring and weapons were placed outside and guarded by the guards, just like when he met King Chen.

Because this was a world with strange and powerful secret treasures, King Chen had to be on guard even though he was a guru. Not only Mengqi, but the Precious Weapons and items similar to the Space Ring of the other ministers and officials were also removed.

"My Space Ring has Acheron's Hand Bone and the incomplete Oceanic Dominion Pearl. My Precious Weapons are of the Upper Grade and the Middle Grade respectively. Don't lose them …" Mengqi muttered in his heart. If he lost them, how many Karma points would he have to pay!

King Chen looked around and announced the first thing, which was that Mengqi would be the Prime Minister and Jiang Zhiwei and the others would be the assistants of the Minister of Ministers.

When the announcement was made, many eyes were cast on Mengqi. All of them seemed to be real, but one of them was quite indifferent, which slightly surprised Mengqi.

He sensed that it was a young man wearing a high crown and an ancient robe. He was handsome and had an outstanding temperament.

"Tian Guang, the eldest son of Minister of Justice Tian Heng. He reached the Exterior at the age of 30 and became a Shang Doctor …"

Mengqi quickly recognized the man's identity, and bits of information about him quickly flashed in his mind.