Fairy's Capital, Department of Worship.
A few worshippers looked at a broken jade tablet on the table with solemn expressions.
"The Life Talisman is broken. Is Ma Yi dead?"
"Where is he?"
"Ma Yi and Zheng Zong escorted Zhou Zhong to the place of exile. Could it be that Zhou Zhong broke free from the torture instruments and escaped?"
"Zheng Zong's Life Talisman is still intact. Why didn't he send a message back?"
…
Just as he finished speaking, a High Official strode in and said, "I've just received a message from High Official Zheng. Ma Yi wanted to kill Zhou Zhong while he was escorting him, but he was killed by Zhou Zhong …"
As soon as these words were spoken, it caused an uproar.
"Why did Worshipper Ma want to kill Zhou Zhong?"
"Zhou Zhong's mana was restricted. How did he kill Worshipper Ma?"
The Department of Worship was controlled by the royal family in the previous dynasty. Even now, the Xiao royal family still had absolute control over the Department of Worship. Many worshippers in the Department of Worship were loyal to the old party. They would listen to the old party's orders and kill Zhou Zhong to vent their anger in the middle of his exile. This was reasonable.
However, Ma Yi wanted to kill Zhou Zhong but was killed instead. This was somewhat unbelievable.
Zhou Zhong's strength was slightly inferior to Ma Yi's. Under the circumstances where his mana was not restricted, he was not Ma Yi's match. With his mana restricted, his strength was less than ten percent. A Transcendent realm cultivator could probably kill him. How could he kill another Transcendent realm cultivator in the presence of a fifth level worshipper?
A worshipper looked troubled and asked, "How should we deal with this?"
Another worshipper said, "Zhou Zhong is a sinner and has committed such a grave crime. If he is not killed, justice will not be served!"
Everyone looked at him and did not agree.
Ma Yi tried to kill Zhou Zhong while escorting him to exile. To put it simply, this was an abuse of power. To put it bluntly, this was deceiving the emperor. Regardless of the reason, as long as he wanted to kill Zhou Zhong and acted, it was reasonable and legal for Zhou Zhong to kill him.
The old party wanted to get rid of Zhou Zhong through the Department of Worship. This was causing trouble for the Department of Worship.
The worshipper thought for a while and said, "The Department of Worship does not have the authority to decide on this matter. Let's report it to the imperial court first."
…
Today, when Li Mu was helping the Empress deal with the reports, he learned that the worshipper escorting Zhou Zhong wanted to kill Zhou Zhong during his exile and was killed by Zhou Zhong instead.
Although he knew that Zhou Zhong was stronger than him, he was still able to kill a fifth level expert with his mana restricted. this was something only a Transcendent realm cultivator.
However, no matter how powerful Zhou Zhong was, he would not be at the Sixth Realm. Li Mu was certain of this.
In Li Mu's mind, Zhou Zhong's's Of Cultivation was a mystery.
. of Zhou ''s's also Of Lord...
If he had not secretly helped Mrs. Chu that time, Li Mu might have thought that he was just an ordinary cultivator in the Fate Realm.
According to the news sent back by the surviving consecrator, Zhou Zhong only said one sentence, "Deceiving the monarch, according to the law, should be executed." That consecrator Ma's body and head were separated from his body, and then his soul dispersed.
This made Li Mu think of an unpopular cultivation school.
Before the rise of Buddhism, there were all sorts of cultivation schools. There was the school of Medicine, the school of Military, the school of Music, the school of Legalism, and so on. These schools all had their own specialties. Later, when Buddhism prospered and gradually became the mainstream of cultivation, these smaller schools slowly became extinct.
Of these schools, Li Mu had the deepest impression of the school of Legalism.
The cultivators of Legalism did not cultivate abilities or Daoist techniques. Once they reached the peak of their cultivation, their words became law. Daoist techniques and abilities were useless before them.
Even though this ability was not limitless, it still made Li Mu very envious.
However, this was now the world of Buddhism. The cultivation methods of the school of Legalism had long been extinct. Occasionally, a successor of the school of Legalism would appear, but they were like a flash in the pan, quickly disappearing.
From Zhou Zhong's actions and his identity, it was extremely likely that he cultivated the school of Legalism.
Throughout history, the successors of Legalism would actively enter the court and push for legal reform. Perhaps their cultivation had something to do with this.
The school of Legalism did not cultivate Dharmic powers. Their attacks were more like Daoist techniques. If Zhou Zhong cultivated both Daoist techniques and Daoist techniques, then his true strength might be extremely close to the sixth realm. If a fifth realm Transcendent wanted to touch him, he would undoubtedly have kicked an iron plate.
Through this incident, another problem was exposed. The Department of Worship was no longer the Department of Worship of Great Zhou, but the Department of Worship of the old party.
The prefectures of Great Zhou had a high degree of autonomy. The Department of Worship's function was equivalent to the Great Zhou FBI. It specialized in dealing with matters that could not be dealt with locally. If it was controlled by someone, there would be very serious consequences.
Xiao Yu's incident was one of them. Zhou Zhong's incident also explained the problem.
Since they had decided to do something big, they might as well start with the Department of Worship.
However, before that, there was an even more important matter that the Secretariat had to deal with immediately.
After overturning the case for Li Qing's father, two ministers and two assistant ministers of the six ministries were removed from their positions. All of a sudden, there were four empty positions for officials above the fourth rank. The Ministry of Personnel was also without a leader. Without officials to replace them, the yamen would not be able to continue operating.
Regarding this, the Secretariat had been arguing for an entire morning.
The Ministry of Personnel was the lifeblood of the old party. It was originally completely controlled by the old party. One minister and two assistant ministers were all members of the old party. The minister of the Ministry of Personnel was the Duke of Nanyang. Through the Ministry of Personnel, the old party controlled the assessment, appointment, and dismissal of most officials in Great Zhou. They also indirectly influenced the Department of Worship. It could be said that they had grasped the lifeline of the imperial court.
In the process of overturning the case for Li Yi, Li Mu and Zhou Zhong had cut off the lifeblood of the old party.
It seemed that the old party had only lost three officials, but in reality, they had suffered heavy losses. The old party was the upper echelons of the government and could influence countless lower echelons of the government. Without the Ministry of Personnel, the old party would lose half of their authority in the imperial court. Therefore, they hated Zhou Zhong to the bone and wished that they could get rid of Zhou Zhong on the way to exile him.
This time, the position of the minister of the Ministry of Personnel was contested by Xiao Ziyu, who represented the royal Xiao family, and Zhou Xiong, who represented the Zhou family, for the entire morning. They argued until their faces were red and their necks were thick, but no one gave in to the other.
It was impossible for them to give in.
In terms of power, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel was the most powerful among the six ministers. The old party wanted to take back the position that originally belonged to them, and the new party would not let go of this one and only opportunity. If they obtained the Ministry of Personnel, they would be able to suppress the old party.
Compared to them, the others did not speak much. This important position did not belong to the old party, but to the new party. It could not fall to anyone else.
As for the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Secretariat could submit seven candidates.
In order to ensure that nothing went wrong, the Xiao family wanted to monopolize the seven positions. Naturally, the Zhou family also wanted to monopolize it. Neither side would let the other have their way. As the two argued back and forth, Li Mu felt a headache coming on.
"Why don't you take a look and see if the person you nominated has any qualifications?"
"My person doesn't have any qualifications, but your person does?"
"At most, I'll give you one."
"Seven positions, not one less. This position originally belonged to us!"
… …
Li Mu finally could not take it anymore. He slammed the table and said, "The two of you, that's enough!"
He looked at Zhou Xiong and Xiao Ziyu and said, "The two of you have argued for four hours over a single position. Do you still have any respect for your colleagues? There are still two assistant ministers and one minister to recommend. Are you going to discuss this until next year?"
The other officials of the Secretariat agreed with Li Mu and spoke up.
"Yes, Lord Li is right."
"If the two of you continue like this, when will it end?"
"Let's discuss and come up with a plan …"
… …
After some thought, Li Mu said, "How about this? Of the seven positions, each of you can have three. The last position can be left empty or someone else can be chosen."
"No!"
"I don't agree!"
The two of them refused without hesitation.
Whether it was the New Party or the Old Party, they were both determined to obtain the position of Minister of Personnel. They did not want to give up even one position, much less three.
"What right do you have to disagree?" Li Mu's face darkened as he said, "As officials of the Secretariat, are you more handsome than the other officials or have a higher cultivation? Why should the two of you decide on seven positions? By allowing the two of you to discuss this, we are giving you face. If you don't want it, then we won't give it to you. For these seven positions, the six officials of the Secretariat will each recommend one person, and the last one will be decided by Assistant Minister Liu. Are the two of you satisfied?"
Zhou Xiong and Xiao Ziyu were speechless. The other three officials of the Secretariat felt extremely satisfied. Li Mu's words had spoken out what they had been thinking for many years.
There were six Imperial Secretariat officials in the Central Secretariat. Everyone had the same rank and status. Due to the influence of the old and new factions, they usually gave these two people more power to speak. If they continued to push their luck, then they would be asking for more face.
Which of the officials of the Secretariat did not come from an illustrious clan? They were not inferior to the Xiao clan or the Zhou clan. For thousands of years, the dynasties of this land had, at some point in time, shared the same surname as them. Who did not have some pride in their hearts?
Not long after Li Mu's voice fell, Wang Shi of the Secretariat said, "I agree with what Sir Li said."
Zhang Huaili continued, "Continuing to argue like this is not a solution. If the two of you do not agree with Lord Li's initial proposal, then we will each nominate one person. Wouldn't this be fairer?"
Song Liangyu looked at the two and asked, "Lord Xiao, Lord Zhou, what do you think?"
Xiao Ziyu and Zhou Xiong thought quickly. The second situation was naturally the one they did not want to see the most. If each of them could only nominate one person, then there was not even a twenty percent chance. If each of them nominated three people, then the chance was close to fifty percent.
They were clear about this.
The two of them looked at each other and said at the same time, "Then let's follow Lord Li's initial proposal."
The two of them each wrote three names on the paper. Xiao Ziyu asked, "The nomination of the last person …"
"That is none of your business." Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Out of the seven spots, the two of you have taken up six. The five of us do not even have a chance to nominate one person?"
Zhou Xiong and Xiao Ziyu did not speak. The last person to nominate was just to make up the numbers. As long as it was not someone from the opposing faction, they had no objections.
Zhou Xiong was still worried and added, "The position of Minister of Personnel is very important. Zhang Chun does not have enough experience. If Lord Li wants to nominate him, I'm afraid it is against the rules."
"Do you think that I am like the two of you who only know how to suppress dissidents and appoint people based on favoritism?" Li Mu looked at him with disdain and said, "Besides, even if it is a nomination, the final decision is made by His Majesty. Do you think that I can make the decision for the Minister of Personnel?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
