Chapter 387 Phoenix's Dilemma
Xuanzhou.
In front of the Du family.
The Du family's patriarch saw Li Nuo and the other two out, clasped his fists to him, and said, "Thank you for all the time, Lord Li."
Li Nuo also clasped his fists in return and said, "It is a doctor's duty to save the dying and the wounded. You don't have to be polite."
The two people from the Cui family were waiting outside the Du Mansion early.
These days, with the prescriptions given by Li Nuo, the condition of the patients in the mansion was temporarily suppressed, but if he wanted to eradicate it, he had to go to the Cui family in person.
To show their sincerity, the Cui family had already printed a lot of his works in their bookshop.
In addition, they have also used the power of their family to strictly investigate the corruption and lawlessness of officials in the entire Longnan Province, and the illegal acts of gentry and unruly people oppressing the people. The prisons in the county governments across the country are already overcrowded, waiting for him to go and pronounce the verdict.
Of course, these people do not include officials and gentry who have close relations with them.
"Let's go, it's important to get treatment."
Li Nuo waved his hand lightly, and an invisible cloud appeared under the feet of several people.
The Patriarch of the Du family watched Li Nuo leave with a few people on a cloud, stroked the short beard on his chin, and exclaimed: "What a fast speed, the cloud of righteousness is well-deserved..."
Above the clouds, Gu Yanran grabbed Li Nuo's sleeve and looked at the mountains and rivers below. The expression on her pretty face gradually changed from fear to curiosity.
The two masters of the Cui family worked together to hold up a protective shield of true energy. Otherwise, at their current speed, they would surely be blown away by the strong winds in the sky.
Looking at the scenery below rapidly receding, the two couldn't help but marvel in their hearts.
As masters, although they can also fly in the air, to fly so fast and so steadily, only the Confucian cloud of righteousness can do so.
Such a young great scholar is truly the first of all time.
At the fourth level of Confucianism, one can comprehend the principle of "control" in the Six Arts and harness the cloud of righteousness. This makes one the fastest among all the philosophers. No other school of thought can compare to them at the same level.
Within half a day, Li Nuo brought them to Cui's house.
At this moment, there were not only people from the Cui family, but also people from the Pei family, Lu family, Zheng family, and the six major families of Daxia.
This disease started from the Du family and spread through the Pei Mansion's birthday banquet. It has now spread completely. Several major families have all been infected, and some small and medium-sized families who attended the banquet that day have not been spared.
Fortunately, the disease did not have a strong ability to spread in the future. After each family took scientific preventive measures as described in the "Medical Manual", it did not spread widely.
They all gathered at Cui's house to ask for medicine.
The hall was in chaos and confusion. Li Nuo stretched out his palm and pressed down gently, and the noisy sound gradually stopped.
Li Nuo glanced at them and said, "I know about your situations, but this disease is very stubborn. I have to personally contact the patients to completely cure them. However, I am alone and cannot be in two places at once. I can only go to each family one by one. I hope you understand..."
"I understand."
"After the Cui family, Lord Li, please go to my Lu family. The Lu family has already arrested many corrupt officials and people, and they are just waiting for Lord Li to deal with them!"
"Mr. Lu, please move back first. It's our Pei family who made the appointment first!"
"What are you arguing about? This place is closer to the Zheng family, so we should go to the Zheng family first!"
…
Although the six major families occasionally have conflicts of interest on weekdays, they are generally harmonious. However, today, they are fighting fiercely in the Cui family.
After all, it is their wives and children who are sick. If they receive treatment one day later, they will suffer one more day.
The Pei family had made an agreement with Li Nuo first, so he naturally couldn't go back on his word.
As to who would come first, the Lu family or the Zheng family, Li Nuo did not give them a clear answer, he just said, "It depends on the situation."
No one knows what Lord Li meant by "it depends on the situation", but he did ask about the specific number of corrupt officials and troublemakers arrested by the Lu family, which is very intriguing.
Anyone who can represent the family is an old fox, and it is not difficult to guess his intention.
This censor does not want money, nor does he like beauties. He is only interested in solving cases and publishing books. I am afraid that he will go to the Lu family or the Zheng family first, whichever family can satisfy him more in this regard...
…
The Cui family was in a quiet courtyard that had already been prepared for Li Nuo.
Gu Yanran was processing case files. At another desk, Li Nuo was holding a pen, lost in thought.
The six great families monopolized many industries in Daxia, and bookstores were one of them.
They thought that Li Nuo published the book to become famous, and they cooperated with this. Li Nuo's calligraphy skills have been increasing rapidly in recent days. After successfully breaking through to the second level, the speed of his growth has slowed down only recently.
It wasn't that the six big families were playing tricks on him. The books that Li Nuo asked them to publish were all poetry collections or imperial examination preparation books.
The audience of this kind of books are generally those who have received higher education, mostly students taking the imperial examinations, but their number is far less than that of the common people of Daxia.
Calligraphy practice involves more than just printing books.
More importantly, let their works be seen by more people.
So it is necessary for Li Nuo to write something easy to understand, such as novels, but upon closer thought, things are far from that simple.
Li Nuo has traveled all over Daxia in the past few months and has a deep understanding of the situation of the grassroots people in Daxia.
The right to education in Daxia is almost monopolized by the big families and small and medium-sized families. The literacy rate of ordinary people is shockingly low. They can't even read, let alone spend money to buy expensive books.
His practice was going smoothly at the moment, but if he wanted to reach a higher level in the future, he would have to solve the literacy problem of the people first and lower the price of books. In this way, he would inevitably face a direct conflict with the aristocratic families.
This is a long and arduous task that requires the strength of the entire country and cannot be accomplished by him alone.
He can't do these things yet.
Li Nuo put these thoughts aside and dealt with the matter at hand seriously...
…
In the first half of the 36th year of the Holy Saint, local officials of Daxia lived in fear.
At the beginning of the year, the inspector Li Nuo inspected the local areas and beheaded countless people with the imperial sword.
Officials within the influence of the six major families originally wanted to watch the fun.
With the protection of the noble family, the imperial censors cannot do anything to them.
Who would have thought that it was the states and counties where the six major families were located that were investigated most harshly, and more people were punished.
It was not until this time that the officials of Daxia finally realized that this inspector was an even more ruthless character than his father, Li Xuanjing, the Minister of the Dali Temple.
During the past six months, he had beheaded and confiscated more officials and unruly people than his father Li Xuanjing had killed in the past twenty years.
However, those killed by Li Nuo were all middle and low-level officials, as well as some local gentry bullies who oppressed the people.
The subordinates of Li Xuanjing, the Minister of Dali Temple, rarely killed unknown people. They included local officials of the third and fourth ranks, royal nobles of the first and second ranks, and even great scholars of the fifth realm. There was no one he dared not kill, and no one he could not kill.
Throughout history, the father and son of the Li family should have been responsible for the most deaths.
Chang'an.
Secretariat.
In front of the two prime ministers, there was a thick stack of files.
This file was sent by Li Nuo from the post station in Xing County.
Xing County belonged to Henan Province and was also the location of the Zheng family.
In the past few months, Li Nuo would send a file to the court every once in a while, which would briefly record every case he handled locally. Every time an official was punished, the court would fill their vacancies as soon as possible.
This file was sent from Xing County, indicating that he had visited all the six major families of Daxia.
Originally, these places have always been the toughest nuts to crack for the imperial court.
The aristocratic families had too much control over the local areas, so it was difficult for the people sent by the imperial court to gain anything, and most of the imperial inspectors who went on inspections returned empty-handed.
Unexpectedly, the hardest part was exactly the one that Li Nuo tackled first.
The court had already received news that several families were infected with a difficult disease, and only Li Nuo could cure this disease. He threatened to cure the disease and asked these families to use their influence to investigate local illegal activities. In order to cure the disease, the six families had no choice but to do so...
The right prime minister tapped the table lightly with his index finger and said, "It just so happens that people from the six major families all contracted the disease, and it just so happens that only he can cure it. This is really God's will..."
The left prime minister did not follow his words, put down the file in his hand, and said: "He said that the court should strengthen supervision over the local areas, send officials from the six major families to the local areas to serve as supervisory officials, and evaluate their political achievements every year. Those with outstanding political achievements will be promoted first..."
After reading it, he knew what Li Nuo was thinking.
Officials from the six major families were restricted in Chang'an, but in the local areas, for local officials and gentry, the major families were not to be provoked.
This move transferred the responsibility of supervising local areas from the imperial court to those aristocratic families.
A series of events that have occurred in the past few months show that if the aristocratic families are really willing to do something for the people, even the imperial court cannot compare to them.
His arrangement was indeed a good one.
The Right Prime Minister said leisurely: "Compared to a Confucian, he is more like a diplomat."
The left prime minister said: "Whether it is Confucianism or diplomacy, as long as it benefits the people, it doesn't matter."
Looking at the long list on the table, he said, "Next year, I'm afraid there will be another imperial examination..."
Ningxin Garden.
Ever since Li Nuo took Jia and An Ning to the State of Zhao, Fenghuang was the only one living in the huge Ningxin Garden.
She sat at the stone table in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, staring blankly at the calm water, her heart in deep conflict.
How good would it be if she had not been born in Qi, if her surname was not Jiang?
Without these, she wouldn't be in her current predicament.
She had cheated on him once, and that time, she almost lost him forever.
If he knew that she was a secret spy from Qi and had ulterior motives when she first approached him, would he never want her again?
But this is something she will have to face eventually.
They had spent a great deal of money to train her and would not allow her to be his wife wholeheartedly.
If she had such intentions, they would definitely expose her identity.
By then, even the Li family will be implicated.
This was something she didn't want to see even more.
She sighed softly, her fingers tangled together, just like her tangled heart.
…
Chang'an.
Three figures, one old and two young, slowly walked into the city gate.
Gu Yanran followed Li Nuo closely and stepped into Chang'an again. Looking at the familiar streets, she felt as if she was in a dream.
Dongfang Xuan looked at Li Nuo and also felt that he was dreaming.
There are people in this world who can live for a thousand years.
Excluding the possibility that he was possessed or had his yin and yang skills mixed up, he had to believe it even though the number was extremely exaggerated.
The Dongfang family's Yin-Yang magic is best at determining people's fate.
The last time he was able to calculate Li Nuo's fate, he had one thousand years to live. After that, because of the obstruction of the great energy, he could not calculate anything about Li Nuo.
Two days ago, he had successfully entered the Yin-Yang family.
If, if he could cultivate to the sixth level...
He has such a long life, and I have been pretty good to him, so it’s not too much to give me two years of his life, right?
Dongfang Xuan coughed lightly. It seemed that he would have to be nicer to him in the future...
Standing on the streets of Chang'an, Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief.
Half a day ago, Li Nuo left the Zheng family.
In the past two months, he has been a guest in six major families in turn and gained a lot.
With the help of the six major families, thousands of people were sentenced to death, involving one-third of the prefectures and counties in Daxia.
A few days ago, both Confucianism and Legalism encountered bottlenecks.
Going one step further, he is a semi-saint of both Confucianism and Legalism.
However, it is obviously not that easy to take this step. Even if a provincial governor, a fourth-rank official of the imperial court, is killed, there is no sign of loosening the bottleneck.
So after leaving the Zheng family, Li Nuo did not go to a new place, but returned to Chang'an.
After such a long time, with the help of the six great families, he had barely inspected one-third of the counties and prefectures in Daxia. The rest of the places were not within the influence of the six great families. It would probably take Li Nuo several years to do even a rough inspection alone.
It is better for the imperial court to establish a more complete supervision system, which will be more efficient and easier to implement.
Besides, he hasn't been home for a long time.
Henan Road is closer to Chang'an, so Li Nuo plans to visit Fenghuang first and then go to Zhao State.
In Ningxin Garden.
Fenghuang was sitting at the table in a daze when her eyes were suddenly covered from behind.
Feeling a familiar breath behind her, the next moment, she suddenly stood up, tiptoed, and hooked her hands around Li Nuo's neck out of habit.
At the door, Gu Yanran saw this scene, her face turned slightly red, and she quickly stepped back.
After a long time, the two separated their lips.
Fenghuang hooked her arm around Li Nuo's neck, blinked her eyes and looked at him, saying softly, "You're back..."
Looking at her captivating face, Li Nuo couldn't help but kiss her again.
After a long time, Li Nuo smoothed her messy hair and said, "Why don't you let someone else handle the business? I'll take you to Zhao State to reunite with the beautiful lady An Ning..."
After not seeing her for a few months, although Fenghuang was still as charming as ever, Li Nuo could see a hint of haggardness in her eyes.
During this period, even though he was running around outside, he was not very busy because he had six major families outside and Xiao Gu inside.
On the contrary, Fenghuang owns Yuyin Pavilion, Yuelai Tower, Tianyin Courtyard, and her family also has many businesses. She has to take care of all of these, so it would be strange if she wasn't haggard.
Fenghuang shook her head and said, "I don't feel comfortable handing over my family's business to others."
Li Nuo said: "What about Nightingale? She is busy with something every day. She doesn't even help you share the burden..."
Speaking of Nightingale, Fenghuang's eyes showed a hint of hidden worry. He did not answer the question, but asked: "Why do people always send us money during this period of time..."
As a family with a history of thousands of years, its credibility is naturally beyond reproach.
This money should be from selling books.
After Li Nuo and Fenghuang explained, they first left Ningxin Garden and went to the Secretariat, where they talked with Zuo Guan for about an hour about establishing a new supervision system.
Afterwards, he went to the Dali Temple and met his father and Prince Chun.
In Prince Chun's mansion, Li Yun was still studying Mohism day and night as usual. Li Nuo exchanged many ideas with him. When they returned to Ningxin Garden, it was already very late.
After a quick shower, I went back to my room to rest.
Jiayi and An Ning are both in Zhao State, and Fenghuang has not officially entered the Li family yet, so he can only sleep alone.
However, when he walked into the room and saw Phoenix sitting on the bed in pajamas, his expression was slightly stunned.
Although the two had already confirmed their feelings, Fenghuang insisted on marrying him after Yiren. Therefore, the two never took the last step and had never even slept in the same bed.
Fenghuang had just taken a shower, with her black hair draped over her shoulders. She looked at Li Nuo with watery eyes that seemed to be able to speak, and whispered, "I want to sleep with you..."
(End of this chapter)
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