Chapter 507

After a moment of silence, Old Man Xia finally spoke, "You little brat, you're really capable. Imperial Uncle Li is such a respectable person, yet you managed to defeat him with just a little trick!"

Ye Xiaotian bowed to him and said humbly, "Father-in-law overpraises me. I only played a game of Beast Fighting Chess. The big eats the small and the little eats the big. That's all. The Imperial Uncle has many misgivings and restrictions, so he could only retreat. It's not because of Little Tian's ability. "

Old Man Xia slammed the table and said angrily, "Am I praising you, huh?" He took two deep breaths and leaned back in his chair, saying in a deep voice, "Speak, what do you want before you let Yingying go?"

Ye Xiaotian frowned and said, "Father-in-law, Yingying and I are truly in love."

Old Man Xia said with contempt, "Promotion? Within twenty years, this old man will guarantee that you will be promoted to the fifth rank, how about it? "

Ye Xiaotian said, "Father-in-law, Yingying and I are truly in love."

Old Man Xia's eyebrows twitched, "You want to get rich? My Xia Clan has four gold sand mines, at most … This old man will give you one. With this gold sand mine, you will have no worries for the rest of your life! "As soon as this sentence came out, the faces of the warriors standing at the side changed.

Ye Xiaotian said, "Father-in-law, Yingying and I are truly in love."

Old Master Xia closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them and said, "Beauty? This old man will give you three hundred beautiful girls under the age of sixteen, how about it? "

Ye Xiaotian said sincerely, "Father-in-law, Yingying and I are truly in love."

Father Xia abruptly stood up in a fit of rage. Ye Xiaotian also stood up and glared at him without showing any signs of weakness. Old Man Xia thought for a while and slowly sat down, saying, "This old man has forgotten that you are the Venerable. If you are greedy for power, money and beauty, these things are easily obtainable. "

Old Man Xia paused, then said, "You really like my daughter?"

Ye Xiaotian nodded vigorously and said, "Yes!"

Old Man Xia said, "Then, do you have the heart to harm her? You only have twenty years of worldly fate, and it's already less than twenty years. At that time, Yingying will still be very young. Do you have the heart to let her live alone? "

Ye Xiaotian also became serious, no longer using a frivolous tone to talk to him. Ye Xiaotian said seriously, "Uncle, I also know that this is unfair to Yingying. At first, I thought she was from a poor family, so I thought I could give her a rich life as compensation … "

Ye Xiaotian looked at Old Man Xia and said, "Later on, of course, I found out her true identity. However, liking someone wasn't like getting something that could be put down just like that. Uncle, Yingying and I really like each other, and she knows my identity as the Venerable. "

Old Man Xia said coldly, "So, you would rather sacrifice her happiness and use her feelings for you?"

Ye Xiaotian said, "No! I will have a good talk with the elders and change the rules that have been in place for a thousand years. "

Old Man Xia said, "Is that possible? Is it so easy to change the rules passed down by our ancestors? Those old fellows hiding in the mountains, their brains have turned into lumps of wood. Will they agree? "

Ye Xiaotian said, "Uncle, this junior has not talked to them about this. In order to force them to take a step back, this junior has already used a Herculean effort. This junior also knows that it is very difficult to make them take another step back. This is also the reason why I want to establish myself in the bureaucracy. This junior wants to be an official, a high official, not only to bring glory to my ancestors, but also … as long as I can grasp enough power, those elders will have no choice but to take my opinion seriously. "

The people who set the rules, of course, can also be changed by people. But not everyone has the right to change the rules, unless you have great power. Only when your strength is equal can you negotiate on an equal footing.

If Ye Xiaotian continues to stay in the Gu God Sect, then no matter how much power he has, he cannot overturn the rules of the Gu God Sect. Because his power comes from the Gu God Sect. Even if a strong man has the strength to move a mountain, how can he lift himself up by his hair, who only weighs a hundred pounds?

If Ye Xiaotian wants to have a greater influence on the Gu God Sect elders, then he can only use external power. If this external power is so great that it cannot be ignored by the Gu God Sect elders, then once combined, it can have a great impact on the Gu God Sect. Then, it is not impossible for Ye Xiaotian to force the Gu God Sect elders to take a step back.

However, for a powerful force that is aloof from the world, how much power is needed to have an impact on them? Is it possible for a small warden? Even a local tyrant like Magistrate Zhang of Tongren is not enough, unless he is at the level of the Eight Chieftains of Guizhou.

Of course, the Xia family is one of the Eight Chieftains. If they cannot separate Yingying and Ye Xiaotian, it seems that they can only stand on Ye Xiaotian's side and help him pressure the Gu God Sect, forcing the Elders to take a step back. But the power of the Xia family is after all not the power of Ye Xiaotian. Although Old Xia loves his daughter, it is impossible for him to trade the interests of the entire Xia family. In this way, the influence of this power will inevitably be greatly reduced.

Old Xia father looked at Ye Xiaotian and said disdainfully, "What a big tone! You are only a small warden, do you think you are the Governor of Guizhou? Do you think that one day you can be promoted to such a high position? "

Ye Xiaotian retorted, "Why not? I am blessed by the heavens with resources, and I do not lack wisdom and ability! It is just that I am in a treasure mountain, I did not know how to use it before. "

As Ye Xiaotian spoke up to this point, he suddenly glanced at the warriors standing to his left and right. Old Man Xia understood what he meant. These people were his trusted aides and he didn't mind letting them hear anything. However, he still waved his hand, signaling for them to leave.

After these people left the hall, Ye Xiaotian said, "Uncle, in fact, this junior's plan has always been very simple. Twenty years of worldly affairs, to be a good official, marry a beloved wife, and have a few lovely children. Unfortunately, the heavens do not allow me to be so free.

I only want to be an official, an official with a clear conscience, endure until the seventh rank, at most the sixth rank. It is enough to bring glory to my family. I do not want to fight with others, and I do not want to step on others to climb up, but others do not tolerate me. This time, when I went to Jinling to participate in the civil service, I was lucky to be able to escape danger, but what about next time?

I do not have luck every time. If it was not for the great change in the court this time, I may have been beheaded. Perhaps County Magistrate Xu is right, as long as you walk on this road, you can only work hard to climb up. If you do not step on others, you can only be stepped on by others. Since this is the case, I will also step on others! The Gu God Sect has great power, I did not want to have too much to do with them for the past twenty years, so I did not think of using them, but now I have changed my mind. If I can use the power of the Gu God Sect as a backing, how far can I go in the officialdom? "

Ye Xiaotian's eyes were burning, at this moment, he really changed. He was no longer the Ye Xiaotian who followed the crowd, the Ye Xiaotian who was content with a small fortune, the Ye Xiaotian who had a wife and children. His eyes flashed with ambition, he began to understand how to use all the resources he could control.

If you want to be promoted, you need a background, backing, and connections, and all of these cannot be separated from the power of money. But how could someone who had just entered the officialdom have this kind of power? Either he needed his family to pave the way for him, or he needed to rely on a strong person to develop his own wings, but Ye Xiaotian had an innate advantage in this aspect.

If he was willing to work hard, with his strength, he could make friends with powerful people. In order to avoid being impeded and embezzled, to ensure the quality of his armaments and control of the army, Qi Jiguang needed to make friends with important people like Zhang Juzheng.

In order to carry out his policies and fulfill his life's ambition, Zhang Juzheng needed to make friends with inner palace eunuchs like Feng Bao, and all of this needed money to pave the way. Ye Xiaotian had an inexhaustible mountain of gold. If he wanted to do the same, he would have one less long-term accumulation compared to those who stood at the same starting line.

Using money to pave the way could make friends with those important people, but to make them appreciate you and think that you can be trained, of course, it was not enough to rely on this alone. This was just a stepping stone. The teacher showed you the door, but the cultivation was up to the individual. To really make those important people appreciate you and train you, you must have enough wisdom and ability, and in this aspect, Ye Xiaotian was also not lacking.

Did he not have wisdom and ability? He turned Gourd County upside down, and he killed the local tyrant of Gourd County, Qi Mu. At that time, he was not even a real official! He could be used by Professor Li in Tongren, and he could be appreciated by Magistrate Zhang, it was not without luck, but luck only helped him choose the right time, the right place, and met the right person.

But at that time, was there no one in Tongren Province? Could Professor Li only choose Ye Xiaotian? Of course not, he chose Ye Xiaotian because he felt that Ye Xiaotian met his requirements. This was not luck, but ability. Did Professor Li not think of other candidates before? It was just that other people could not meet his requirements. He saw that Ye Xiaotian's calligraphy was not inferior to that of famous masters. When talking with him, he considered Ye Xiaotian's knowledge, so he confirmed that Ye Xiaotian was his target. This was Ye Xiaotian's ability.

Magistrate Zhang Yi was temperamental. Usually, he was just a fat man who looked completely harmless, but if anyone made him unhappy, he could turn the other person's body into dust with a flip of his hand. Such a tyrant liked Ye Xiaotian very much, that was also Ye Xiaotian's ability. Ye Xiaotian had seen many important people and understood this kind of people's psychology very well. He knew how to cater to this kind of important person. At that time, if it was someone else, it was very likely that they would tremble with fear and would not be able to arouse Zhang Yi's interest at all.

In Guiyang Prefecture, it was like this. From Xie Chuanfeng, Xue's mother, Li Qiuchi, and Xu Boyi's traps, and from the challenge of Gorgelon, if he did not have enough resourcefulness and adaptability, how could he have avoided danger one by one? Luck provided him with opportunities, but to seize this opportunity, it depended on his intelligence, courage, and ability.

Moreover, wasn't luck an indispensable and important factor for every successful person? For those who rose step by step and achieved success, looking at their life's work, how could they not have had luck and opportunities that were hard to explain? If the same opportunity was in front of you, would you be able to seize it? When the opportunity appeared, some people did not even realize it, and could only blame the heavens and others.

Take Qi Jiguang, for example. Even if he was a god in commanding troops, if it was not for the Wokou pirates' rebellion, if he had grown up in a peaceful and prosperous era, he would have faded into the crowd. How could he have built a glorious career? The heavens just happened to give him a stage at the time when he was growing up. This was his luck, and this luck was provided to everyone. Some people grasped it, and some people missed it.

It was the same for Ye Xiaotian when he ascended to the position of Venerable One. He didn't just sit there and wait for the Heavens to send the Venerable One's legacy to him. He had risked his life to get there, and all sorts of good fortune had come together to create his current position.

What if the person who wielded the sword to face the Millennium Bug and fell into the underground river was Zhan Ning'er? Or what if Bai Xiaoxiao did not choose to assassinate him? Every choice was a path in life. Some people chose the wrong path, and some walked on the road to death. For him to be able to reach the end, it was not only luck that could explain it.

Ye Xiaotian was no longer muddle-headed. Although he was sent to Jinling to serve as a Marquis, he received a result that was almost child's play. However, the possible consequences of this matter made him wake up. When he decided to use the power he had to climb up, how far could he go?

Perhaps, when he met the children of the officials in Jinling and stood with them without hesitation, he already had this kind of long-term thinking. Think about it, he offended the power of the relatives of the Emperor, and disdained the power of the Duke of Wei, who represented the meritorious officials, but chose the relatively weak power of the officials. Was it really just because of circumstances?

In this small circle, the relatively weak power was the power of the officialdom represented by Zhang Hongyi and the others. However, in the whole of the Great Ming Dynasty, the most powerful power was not only above the relatives of the Emperor and meritorious officials, but even above the imperial power, but it was the power of the civil officials. If Ye Xiaotian did this consciously, then how deep was his scheming and vision?

As the head of a clan, Old Xia's mind was definitely not as rough as his appearance. At this moment, hundreds of thoughts ran through his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more shocked he became. However, even if he had so many resources to use, it would probably take him thirty to fifty years to reach this day. How could he fail midway?

Old Xia's expression changed, and Ye Xiaotian saw it all. Ye Xiaotian said, "Uncle, who can guarantee that everything will be under his control in the next few decades? In terms of wisdom and martial prowess, who can compare to the first emperor? But he can't even control what will happen after his death. Why don't we make a bet? Three years, if I, a lowly Warden, can rise to the sixth rank within three years, you will marry your daughter to me. How about it? At that time, Yingying will not even be twenty years old yet. I don't think it will affect her future. "

Three years? Sixth rank! Old Xia's eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets.

This was an extremely arrogant statement. Ye Xiaotian was now an unranked Warden, and the next level was from the ninth rank. From unranked to the sixth rank, he would need to rise eight ranks in a row. Even if it was a little vague, to rise to the sixth rank, he would need to rise seven ranks in a row. This was equivalent to rising one rank in less than five months. This was simply impossible.

Just now, when Old Xia's father suggested that if Ye Xiaotian gave up on Yingying, he would use the Xia family's resources to fully support Ye Xiaotian's career in the officialdom, he only very cautiously mentioned that it would take him twenty years to reach the fifth rank. However, Ye Xiaotian himself suggested that he could rise to the sixth rank within three years.

Old Xia's father looked at Ye Xiaotian suspiciously, "This kid, don't tell me he's retreating in the face of difficulties and is trying to find a way out for himself?"