The night breeze from the lotus pond carried fragrance, bringing waves of coolness. Sikou Tian Heng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the gently flowing water, his thoughts seemingly drifting far away.
Suddenly, his servant Tian Jian hurried over and anxiously reported, “My lord, the Magistrate of Yangcheng, Tian Kuo, originally recommended Su Mo as the Grand Minister of Ceremonies, but now Su Mo has switched his support, pledging allegiance elsewhere.”
The Magistrate of Yangcheng referred to Tian Kuo. After reaching adulthood, because his elder brother Tian Guang had become a senior minister, Tian Kuo was appointed as the local governor of Yangcheng, their family’s fiefdom.
Tian Heng abruptly raised his head, eyes wide with apparent anger. Yet, just as quickly, he inhaled deeply, his expression returning to its usual calm, as still as an ancient well without a ripple.
“Let him go,” he said indifferently.
Tian Jian was surprised. “My lord, how can this be allowed?”
Was his master planning to abandon the Magistrate of Yangcheng?
Tian Heng gave him a cold, emotionless glance and emphasized, “Let him go.”
Tian Jian dared not question further. Bowing respectfully, he withdrew from the pavilion.
After gazing at the flowing water in the lotus pond for a while longer, Tian Heng suddenly sighed softly, murmuring to himself:
“Perhaps it’s for the best…”
Inside King Chen’s palace, Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and others were eagerly discussing their next steps while awaiting the first court assembly.
Over the past month, they had repeatedly rehearsed what to say when meeting King Chen, to the point they had no time to consider how to implement their “national salvation strategy” once their suggestions were accepted. Even after late-night discussions, many issues remained unresolved.
“King Chen himself is a Grandmaster, and he has the support of non-feudal ministers and scholars. His forces are not lacking in Quasi-Worldly experts. As long as he firmly decides, he can forcefully implement the policies of abolishing customs duties and appointing the worthy and capable. At least none of the nobles would dare to openly oppose him in Shangying. The real danger lies in passive resistance, distorting good policies, which would not only fail to produce positive results but could also provoke conflicts with the states of Chu and Tang or cause unnecessary financial waste.”
As the Crown Prince, Zhao Heng was most familiar with such situations. Back when the royal family’s authority was still strong, the top aristocratic families had loved to do exactly that.
Qizhengyan, usually quiet and reserved, had become slightly more vocal after participating in the rotating lectures and now offered his opinion: “The scope of appointing the worthy and capable can initially be limited to the palace, several key departments, officials in Shangying, and troops directly under King Chen’s command. This way, we can avoid excessively infringing upon the nobles’ interests and reduce resistance.”
These were the areas where King Chen had the strongest control. Even if the nobles tried to interfere with small tricks, they would be unable to do so.
As for the military, the world of Fengshen differed from Meng Qi’s original world. There were many inherited battle formations. As long as they selected martial artists who had opened their acupoints and trained them with these formations, along with suitable treasures, they could briefly resist Quasi-Worldly experts. Thus, there was room for military forces. However, except for a few special formations, most could not fly. In surprise attacks, they would have limited utility, but they were quite effective for defense and open-field battles.
“Yes, initially we must avoid escalating conflicts and drawing interference from the state of Chu and the secret Daoist sects. Once the benefits and effectiveness of these policies become apparent and the powers that benefit from them remain silent, we can then boldly advance!” Meng Qi affirmed Qizhengyan’s suggestion. Before the court assembly, they would report their discussion results to King Chen again.
Jiang Zhiwei lightly frowned: “Appointing the worthy and capable and frugality in expenditure and burial are currently limited to King Chen and a small circle, so interference is not a concern. But abolishing customs duties requires cooperation from the feudal nobles. Otherwise, today they are removed, and tomorrow they reappear, or other methods are used to muddy the waters, making implementation impossible.”
Without abolishing customs duties, merchants could not be attracted. Without merchants, the benefits could not be seen, and without benefits, few endeavors would succeed!
Persuading King Chen was just the beginning. The real difficulty lay ahead!
“How about increasing patrols and making an example of a few?” Ruan Yushu suddenly suggested.
Jiang Zhiwei nodded: “That’s not a bad idea. If we can temporarily scare the ‘monkeys,’ making them too afraid to cause trouble, we can smoothly implement the policies, making things much easier.”
Once the new policies showed tangible benefits, the ‘monkeys’ who had previously hesitated would no longer wish to cause trouble!
Although Meng Qi and the others could simply leave after a month, regardless of what happened afterward, they still had compassion and concern. How could they leave a mess behind after King Chen had shown them such respect and trust?
“Making an example? Which chicken should we kill?” Hearing the two ladies’ opinions, Zhao Heng chuckled, “Most of the guards at these checkpoints are at most Nine-Orifice experts. What good would killing them do? The nobles have long distanced themselves from any association and might even help the guards escape, leaving us with no evidence to act against them, which would severely damage King Chen’s authority.”
“Moreover, there are too many such checkpoints. How can we possibly monitor them all? As long as these checkpoints remain for a few more days, causing losses to merchants, it will make them doubt King Chen’s determination to abolish customs duties, and they will no longer believe in us. Even if we eventually clear away all checkpoints, it will be difficult to convince merchants to willingly pass through Chen territory again in the short term.”
“And without seeing immediate benefits, why would King Chen continue to trust us?”
These implementation issues were the most headache-inducing. For a moment, Meng Qi and the others were lost in thought, unable to come up with a solution. Indeed, the King of Hell was easy to kill, but the little ghosts were hard to deal with!
Suddenly, Meng Qi recalled a book he had read before. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he clapped his hands together: “I have an idea!”
“What idea?” Jiang Zhiwei and the others all turned to look at him.
Meng Qi regained his cheerful mood and smiled mysteriously: “This isn’t difficult at all.”
“Don’t tease us. There’s no need to show off in front of us,” Jiang Zhiwei smiled and scolded.
Meng Qi coughed: “The fortresses along the borders with other states are all under King Chen’s control. These customs duties are the easiest to abolish.”
Zhao Heng and the others nodded slightly. This was indeed the easiest part. As long as they subsidized the fortress guards or replaced them with their own selected personnel, it wouldn’t be hard to accomplish.
“So, all we need to do is issue a royal decree to merchants passing through these fortresses, and the rest of the checkpoints will no longer be a problem,” Meng Qi continued with his mysterious smile.
“What decree?” Ruan Yushu was curious, like a delicious meal placed before her but out of reach.
Meng Qi first chuckled, then turned serious and solemn: “Anyone collecting customs duties shall be killed without crime!”
“Killed without crime?” Zhao Heng exclaimed in disbelief.
Such a “decree” exceeded his imagination.
Jiang Zhiwei was first puzzled, then her face lit up with a smile: “This is excellent. Merchants traveling between states often have martial experts among them, but they have been forced to pay customs duties due to the intimidation of powerful experts in various states. Once this decree is implemented, guards who are not Quasi-Worldly experts will be unable to stop them!”
In this chaotic era of warring states, merchants daring to travel between states surely had some martial experts and backing. Once Meng Qi’s suggestion was implemented, they could “borrow” these merchants’ strength to alleviate their own lack of manpower, helping King Chen monitor all checkpoints!
“Truly a brilliant strategy! And it clearly conveys King Chen’s determination to abolish customs duties to the merchants,” Zhao Heng applauded.
Enjoying their praise, Meng Qi continued with a smile: “If nobles deploy Quasi-Worldly experts or troops with battle formations, then ‘the monk may run, but the temple cannot.’ We will have ample opportunity to make an example of them.”
He paused and continued: “In fact, we can take the initiative. We can assign some of our people to blend into ordinary merchant caravans. When they encounter Quasi-Worldly experts or troops with battle formations forcibly collecting customs duties, they can directly confront them, trace the connections, and make an example of the ‘chickens,’ all under the banner of ‘killing without crime.'”
“But for now, we shouldn’t push too hard against the nobles behind the scenes. We can severely punish them, but we must not completely escalate the conflict. That would cause other nobles to feel sympathy and unite, possibly sparking civil war and giving Chu a pretext for interference, causing the new policies to wither before they mature.”
Qizhengyan, expressionless yet in sync, said: “Therefore, we must choose the right ‘chicken.'”
Meng Qi nodded: “Chen is a small state. Besides King Chen, there are not many powerful nobles. The three most influential are Wang Dan, the former Grand Minister of Ceremonies; Tian Heng, the Grand Minister of Justice; and Gongyang Zeng, the Grand Minister of Works. They not only have top martial experts but also control the court and possess large fiefs with numerous checkpoints. If we are to make an example, we must choose among them.”
Though his words were calm, they carried an undercurrent of killing intent.
“Tian Heng’s family has been passed down for generations and has deep ties with some nobles in Chu. He is not a suitable target,” Zhao Heng first eliminated one option.
Ruan Yushu said in a measured tone: “It’s said that Gongyang Zeng’s son is training at the Golden Light Cave on Wudang Mountain.”
“If that’s the case,” Meng Qi mused, “then only Wang Dan, the former Grand Minister of Ceremonies whom I replaced, remains…”
“Wang Dan’s family is the oldest noble family in Chen, originally a retainer of the first Duke of Chen. They have many martial experts within their clan and extensive connections throughout the land, but they lack powerful external allies, making them the ideal target. When you infiltrate ordinary merchant caravans, the best route would be through his fiefdom.”
“Good,” Jiang Zhiwei and the others agreed.
After finalizing their plans, Meng Qi and the others took the opportunity before the court assembly to meet King Chen again and present their strategic plan.
Compared to previous assemblies, this one was clean and efficient, without excessive formalities, as King Chen had begun to adopt Mohist practices. Officials quickly took their places, awaiting King Chen’s words.
The only thing that slightly disappointed Meng Qi was that his ring of space and weapons were kept outside, guarded by palace guards, just as they had been during previous meetings.
In this world of strange and powerful treasures, even though King Chen was a Grandmaster, he still had to guard against danger. Not only Meng Qi, but all ministers and officials had their treasures and items like the ring of space confiscated.
“My ring of space contains the Yellow Spring hand bone and an incomplete Dinghai Pearl. My treasures are of high and medium quality. I hope they don’t get lost…” Meng Qi silently worried. If they did get lost, how many good deeds would he have to do to compensate!
King Chen scanned the room and announced the first matter: Meng Qi would serve as the Grand Minister of Ceremonies, with Jiang Zhiwei and others as Deputy Ministers assisting him.
As he announced this, many gazes fell upon Meng Qi, almost tangible. Yet one gaze was particularly calm, slightly surprising Meng Qi.
Sensing it, he saw a young-looking man with an ancient robe and tall hat, elegant and refined in demeanor.
“Tian Guang, eldest son of Tian Heng, the Grand Minister of Justice. He attained Quasi-Worldly status at thirty and became a senior minister…” Meng Qi quickly identified the man’s identity, recalling the details about him in an instant.
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