Chapter 390: Opportunity of a Semi-Saint
This time when he returned to Chang'an, Li Nuo stayed for a few more days.
This involved the establishment of a new supervisory system, the improvement of papermaking and printing techniques, and the popularization of basic education. There were many details involved, and he had to discuss them with the Left Prime Minister in advance.
A year ago, the imperial court was still unable to handle these things.
But now the national treasury is more abundant than ever before, and there is enough money to do these things.
Last year's tax reform recovered a lot of taxes from local gentry.
This year, Li Nuo inspected various places and confiscated countless properties of corrupt officials, which were eventually deposited into the national treasury. Since the founding of Daxia, this should be the period when the national treasury is the most abundant.
Zhou Yu is no longer in the Secretariat.
A month ago, he was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue and served as Yuwenlang.
Those who can be transferred from the Secretariat to the Six Ministries and promoted two levels are generally the ones who are focused on training by the three ministries.
Li Nuo visited the Song family yesterday and learned that Song Yu's development in the army was also very good. He was promoted to a higher level two months ago. The two former playboys from generals' families now have good futures.
In a certain room in the Secretariat, the Left Prime Minister looked at Li Nuo and asked, "Are you really not going to inspect the places in person?"
Li Nuo nodded and said, "Without a complete supervision system, I alone cannot complete the inspection. The long-term solution is to implement a new supervision system as soon as possible..."
The left prime minister did not say much. It was true that the court of Great Xia could not rely on him alone.
He patted Li Nuo on the shoulder and said, "Based on your achievements this year, you should have been promoted, but you have been promoted too quickly in the past two years. There is no room for you above the fourth rank for the time being..."
Li Nuo didn't care about promotion. Whether it was the third rank or the fourth rank, there was not much difference to him.
What he cares more about is the improvement of his cultivation.
The cultivation of Confucianism and Legalism has reached a bottleneck. No matter whether it is the cases of the Ministry of Justice, or inspecting the local areas, killing corrupt officials and punishing unruly people, the bottleneck of cultivation remains unchanged.
In the past, you could enter the country by simply killing some powerful people. If that didn’t work, you could just use numbers to get in.
Now, the next step forward is to become a semi-saint. If you want to break through, you can no longer rely on piling up numbers.
The identity or strength of the person being killed must be qualitatively improved.
According to the Legalist classics, the bottleneck of a semi-saint can be broken by a semi-saint.
In other words, he must follow the law and kill a sixth-level semi-saint who has committed a capital crime, or someone with the same status as a semi-saint...
Relatively speaking, the latter is easier to achieve.
Although the ruler of a small country has only reached the fifth realm of cultivation, he carries the fortune of a country and his status can be improved a little, so it barely counts.
The problem is that those small countries have taken the lead in entering constitutional monarchy, and the emperor has become a symbol, which should not be used to break through. Besides, although small countries are small, they are also countries with autonomy. Even the emperors of the five dynasties cannot judge them legally.
It is not impossible to rely solely on the number of piles.
But the quantity here must also be of a certain quality, such as officials of the first or second rank, princes, dukes and other dignitaries. Such people have become extinct in Daxia.
The only ones who truly possess the power of the second rank are the left and right prime ministers.
As for the princes and dukes, only a few were left after they were killed by their father. The remaining ones are all your Majesty's own sons. As long as your Majesty is alive, no one can do anything to them.
There are not many powerful people left in other countries.
According to the intelligence of the Qingluan Society, even a powerful person like Wei Chuqi could not avoid the fate of being assassinated. Ever since the rumor that the blood of the powerful could be used to refine longevity pills began to spread on the mainland, the catastrophe for the powerful began.
The emperor of a small country can preserve the royal family by abdicating.
It is impossible for the emperor of a great country to give up the throne, so the royal family will become the prey of others. Even if they hide in the capital, they cannot completely escape the killing. The strong men of the sixth realm want their lives, so what kind of guards can stop them?
Some people even say that the ones who desire longevity the most are the emperors of various countries. Just like the death of the dignitaries of Daxia, the deaths of the dignitaries of other countries were most likely caused by their emperors.
Li Nuo, the emperor of Wei, Chu and Qi, did not understand, but Her Majesty the Queen would certainly not do such a thing.
As the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Li Nuo also took time to visit the Ministry.
He had too many and too complicated official positions. The Secretary of the Secretariat had to deal with important affairs of the court, the Director of the Imperial College had to manage the academy and teach students, and the Inspector Censor had to supervise and inspect the local areas. The main duties of the Ministry of Justice were neglected.
Fortunately, the court understood him. The Ministry of Justice originally had only one assistant minister, but now one more was added. Even if Li Nuo was not there, it would not affect the daily operation of the Ministry of Justice.
Some of the backlog of files in the Ministry of Justice were dealt with, and several cases were heard in court.
Solving cases is now a very simple task for Li Nuo.
He can get the information he wants without the prisoner's confession.
However, there are also cases where the results cannot be given on the spot.
Inside the Ministry of Justice's office, Li Nuo was holding a file on a missing person case in his hand.
This missing case was received by the Chang'an County Court, but no result was found for a long time, so it was reported to the Ministry of Justice.
Missing cases are generally more difficult to investigate without clues, but that was in the past.
Li Nuo called a bailiff from the Ministry of Justice and said, "Go to the missing person's home and ask about his date of birth."
Although the official from the Ministry of Justice didn't understand why, he still did as he was told.
Half an hour later, he walked into Li Nuo's office with a piece of paper and said, "Master Li, this is the man's birth date."
Li Nuo took the paper and said, "Go and get busy."
After the bailiff left with a puzzled look in his eyes, Li Nuo took out nine copper coins from his pocket and gently threw them on the table.
The result of the calculation made him a little confused.
Can’t calculate.
The missing person is just an ordinary person, and he has entered the Yin-Yang School. As long as the other party is within a hundred miles of Chang'an, even if Li Nuo cannot calculate the specific location, he can still calculate the approximate direction.
Even if he died, Li Nuo could calculate the location of the burial.
But the hexagram did not produce any result.
Li Nuo counted with his fingers, but still felt nothing.
The most likely possibility is that the other party is a hundred miles away from him, and Li Nuo's cultivation is still too shallow to sense distances that are too far.
However, he couldn't figure it out, but someone could.
Li Nuo took the paper with his birth date home and gave it to Dongfang Xuan.
Dongfang Xuan took a look, moved his fingers, and said, "This person is still alive, three thousand miles southwest of Chang'an, but he is not far from death..."
It’s three thousand miles away from Chang’an, no wonder Li Nuo couldn’t calculate it.
However, in terms of distance, three thousand miles southwest of Chang'an is no longer Daxia.
Li Nuo found a map of the continent from the study. Three thousand miles southwest of Chang'an was the location of the Kingdom of Yue.
Yue was a small country, bordering Daxia, Wei, and Chu. Although some small countries were the only way for big countries to trade, Yue was located in the corner of the three countries. The country was mountainous and transportation was inconvenient. It was very unlikely that the people of Daxia would appear there.
Li Nuo asked: "Can you figure out where exactly he is in Yue?"
The State of Yue has an envoy in Daxia. If we can calculate his exact location, we can negotiate through the Honglu Temple and ask the State of Yue to help find him.
It is unlikely that Yue will object to Daxia's request.
The main reason is that they have no power to oppose.
Dongfang Xuan curled his lips and said, "Take away the three words 'can or cannot'. After all, I am also a half-saint of the Yin-Yang School. It is not difficult for me to calculate the position of an ordinary person. Yue Kingdom is a tiny place. I can calculate which state and county he is in Yue Kingdom with just a little calculation..."
As he spoke, he began to slowly pinch his fingers.
At a certain moment, the expression on his face changed slightly, and his finger-pinching movements became faster.
Afterwards, he pinched his fingers faster and faster, and his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Li Nuo noticed his abnormality and asked, "What's wrong? Can't you calculate it?"
Dongfang Xuan looked a little embarrassed and said, "Don't worry, I'm still calculating..."
The movement of pinching his fingers left an afterimage.
Based on Li Nuo's understanding of the Yin-Yang School's realm, this is very abnormal.
Dongfang Xuan frowned and said, "Something is wrong. It's not that I can't predict it, but someone is hiding the secret. Either the Yin-Yang family is involved, or someone from the Sixth Realm is involved..."
At this time, Phoenix walked in from outside and asked, "What's wrong?"
After listening to Li Nuo, she shook her head slightly and said, "If it's the Kingdom of Yue, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to come back..."
Li Nuo looked at Fenghuang, and Fenghuang continued to explain: "Yue State is located between the three states of Xia, Wei and Chu. The imperial court originally had absolute control over the country, but after being split by the strategists, two other separatist forces were born. Now it is a three-way tripod. Among them, the imperial court of Yue State is supported by Wei State, and the other two forces have the shadows of Daxia and Chu behind them. The three forces are in their own corners, checking and balancing each other, and no one can do anything to anyone else..."
"The largest human trafficking organization on the mainland is in Yue. According to the intelligence we have collected, they are very likely supported by the Yue royal family. These people specialize in kidnapping and abducting Daxia citizens. After extorting a large sum of money from their families, they will sell them to merchants from Wei and Chu..."
Dongfang Xuan looked at Li Nuo and asked, "Your court doesn't care about this?"
Although Li Nuo did not know about these things, he had served as the Secretary of the Honglu Temple and knew why the court did not intervene.
No matter how small the State of Yue was, it was still a country.
Even if Daxia could crush Yue countless times with a flip of its hand, it could not send troops to Yue openly. Yue borders both Wei and Chu. If Daxia sends troops, what will the other two powerful countries think?
What happened in Yue State could only be mediated by Daxia through diplomatic means.
Although it is frustrating, it is a rule that the countries on the mainland have tacitly accepted for three hundred years.
Dongfang Xuan thought of something and frowned and asked, "The Yue Kingdom has the sixth realm?"
Fenghuang said: "Although Yue Kingdom does not have the sixth realm, Wei Kingdom does. Wei Kingdom is behind the Yue Kingdom's royal family. Our power in Wei Kingdom is limited. We just found out that the human trafficking in Yue Kingdom is very likely related to the Ximen family of Wei Kingdom..."
Dongfang Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard this, and whispered: "Ximen family, no wonder..."
Li Nuo asked, "Is it the Ximen family of the Yin-Yang family?"
Dongfang Xuan nodded and said, "That's them."
The Yin-Yang arts that Li Nuo learned were passed down to the Dongfang family. Dongfang Xuan had mentioned the Ximen family to him more than once. The Dongfang and Ximen were not only families with opposing surnames, but also feuding families.
However, the Dongfang family is no longer prosperous.
But the Ximen family is at its peak.
The Dongfang family has been passed down to this day, with only grandfather and grandson Dongfang Xuan and Dongfang Qing left. The Ximen family is not only prosperous, but also has two Yin-Yang family semi-saints at the sixth level, and countless family heirs, making it the number one Yin-Yang family in the world.
Dongfang Xuan seemed to realize something and frowned, "Could it be that they are still practicing that set of harmful and evil techniques?"
Li Nuo asked: "What kind of skills?"
Dongfang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Using human lives as a joke to improve one's own cultivation, in the early years, the Ximen family was rejected by all the Yin-Yang families. I didn't expect that now that all the families have declined, this young man would gain power..."
Let’s not talk about the grudge between the Dongfang family and the Ximen family for now.
As the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, since he has found clues to the case, Li Nuo must deal with it.
He first found the missing person's family and drew his portrait based on their description.
With the ability of painting, Li Nuo can make his paintings look 100% similar to people.
While asking the court painters to copy these paintings, Li Nuo issued an order from the Secretariat, ordering officials from the Honglu Temple to negotiate with the envoys from the State of Yue to see if they could successfully retrieve the person through official channels.
Sifang Pavilion.
Inside the Wei embassy.
Although Daxia and Wei were already on the verge of a war, Wei's embassy was still one of the largest and best in the Sifang Pavilion.
An envoy from Yue State handed the document from the Honglu Temple to the envoy from Wei State, bent over, and humbly asked: "Sir, the Honglu Temple asked us to help find someone. What do you think we should say?"
The Wei envoy took a look at the document, threw it aside, and said, "Yue is not a vassal of Xia. If you do whatever the Honglu Temple tells you to do, how can you put your reputation aside?"
The Yue envoy nodded and said, "I understand..."
If it was the request from the Honglu Temple of Daxia two years ago, they would not have dared to refuse.
In front of the five great dynasties, these tiny countries are like ants.
But the present is different from the past. Everyone knows that Wei and Xia are about to have a war. Xia's national strength is much inferior to Wei's. By then, Wei will surely be defeated and Xia will be destroyed soon. Why should Yue give face to Xia's court?
…
Ningxin Garden.
Li Nuo had just returned from the Secretariat with the reply letter from the Vietnamese embassy in his hand.
The Yue delegation politely declined the request from the Honglu Temple to help find someone. Their reason was that although Yue was small, it had a population of tens of millions. Looking for one person among tens of millions was like looking for a needle in a haystack. It would cost countless manpower and financial resources. Yue was weak and could not comply...
This case itself is related to the Yue court.
It is also a very simple thing for them to find someone.
The reason for rejecting the Honglu Temple was simply that they felt that Daxia was no longer the Daxia of the past. Facing the threat from Wei, it was already unable to take care of itself and could not do anything to Yue.
The Great Xia court really couldn't do anything to the Kingdom of Yue...
Then don’t go through the court.
Li Nuo looked at Fenghuang and asked, "There may be a Semi-Saint of the Sixth Realm involved in the Yue Kingdom incident... How credible is this information?"
(End of this chapter)
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