Chapter 354
When the emperor was furious about the rumors among the people, Xie Yi returned to the capital.
The emperor didn't expect him to come back, and immediately took out his anger on him.
"The Imperial Observatory neglected its duties and betrayed its master for glory. It should be executed!"
Before he could finish his words, the inkstone fell in front of Xie Yi.
It wasn’t that the emperor held back on him, but that he was so angry at the rumors that he became ill and too weak to be thrown far.
Xie Yi ignored the imperial guards who came to arrest him and said to the emperor: "I came back to relieve your majesty's worries."
"You still have the nerve to say that you are here to share my worries. I didn't get mad to death. Are you disappointed? Take him away immediately and execute him on the spot!"
"Your Majesty, I know I am wrong. I don't deserve death, but I can help you dispel the rumors."
As he said this, he had already been grabbed by the Royal Guards and dragged out.
Seeing that he was about to be dragged out of the imperial study, the emperor shouted hurriedly: "Bring him back!"
"Xie Yi, I want to see how you can dispel the rumors. If you can't, I will torture you to death!"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I never lie."
"Go ahead."
"The lightning-struck wood incident is clearly a setup by someone to frame the emperor. So let's give him a taste of his own medicine and use the lightning-struck wood to clear the emperor's name."
The emperor certainly thought of this method, but thunder cannot be controlled by humans.
"Can you attract lightning?"
"I can't, but I can ask a charlatan to use a magic trick to stage a lightning strike. And the stone struck will be more convincing than the charred wood that is easy to carve."
These words dissipated the emperor's anger a little.
He snorted coldly and said, "I'll give you three days. If you can't do it, you'll be tortured to death!"
"I obey your order!"
"Get out of here."
Xie Yi stood up but did not retreat immediately.
"Your Majesty, there must be someone behind the rumors fanning the flames. If you want the rumors to stop, you must find that person."
Of course the emperor knew that there was someone behind the rumors.
But he sent people to investigate and found nothing.
"Can you figure out who is spreading rumors and slandering me?"
Xie Yi pretended to count with his fingers.
"I can only calculate that the palace of the emperor's villain is in the southwest, no more than a hundred feet away from the palace. I will need to spend time to calculate who it is."
"You only have three days!"
"I understand. I will take my leave."
After Xie Yi left the Qinzheng Hall, he did not go to the Imperial Observatory, but went straight out of the palace.
He has a house outside the palace.
It has been almost a year since he left the capital, but there is no weeds or dust in the house. It is obvious that his disciples often come to clean it.
After putting down his luggage, he went out with a compass.
The emperor did not trust Xie Yi and sent experts from the palace to monitor him.
Xie Yi noticed that someone was following him, but he ignored it.
He walked back and forth within a hundred feet in the southwest of the palace.
This area is where aristocratic families gather.
He randomly selected a few households and made excuses to enter the mansion.
Among them is the Song family.
One cannot just barge into an aristocratic family. The emperor's men can only wait outside the palace.
This gave Li Yi and Song Mingyu, the head of the Song family, an opportunity to negotiate.
He didn't dare to stay in the Song family for long, so he briefly told them about his plan to push Qi Yanzhou and Ye Chutang to the top.
"Master Song, if you have no objection, I will tell you about the next plan."
The Song family chose Qi Yanzhou very early on.
Song Mingyu: "I have no objection. Sir Jie, please tell us your plan."
"If I want to complete the plan, the first step is for me to regain the emperor's trust. I need the cooperation of the head of the Song family."
"As long as the Song family's foundation is not harmed, I will fully cooperate."
Xie Yi assured: "Master Song, rest assured, I will not harm the Song family just because they raised the future uncle of the emperor."
When Song Mingyu realized that Jie Yi even knew about this, she knew that he was truly trustworthy.
"Master Jie, please continue."
"My plan is this: I will have the quack perform a scene where a thunderbolt hits a rock in a drought, and use the phrase 'a wise ruler protecting the country' to suppress the rumors that are unfavorable to the emperor. The Song family will secretly promote these rumors to reverse the situation, because now is not the time to take action against the emperor."
"Okay, anything else?"
"Yes, I will tell the emperor that the rumors that slandered him were probably spread by the Song family. Then I will convince the emperor to let me pretend to be friendly with the Song family, secretly collect evidence, control the Song family, and make the Song family serve the emperor."
In this way, he could conspire with the Song family openly.
Song Mingyu is a smart man. After listening to Jie Yi's words, he guessed his ultimate goal.
"Master Xie wants the emperor to deal with Lao Wu by dealing with the Song family, and force Ye Chutang to seize the world to protect him?"
"It's not just Song Jingning, her twins are also in my calculations, but this will take a long time to lay out slowly, otherwise it will be easy to be discovered and all the previous efforts will be wasted."
Ye Chutang and Qi Yanzhou are too smart, and it is very difficult to make their plan flawless.
Song Mingyu realized that Jie Yi had already thought of a specific plan and nodded.
"We will discuss the details slowly and strive for perfection."
Xie Yi stood up and said, "I'm leaving first. When I need the cooperation of the Song family master, I will send someone to deliver the message."
"Okay, Master Jie, take care."
After Xie Yi left the Song family, he moved into the mansions of two other aristocratic families.
That afternoon, he told the emperor that he suspected the Song family of spreading rumors.
The Song family is a giant in the literary world, and we cannot take action against them without solid evidence.
So he proposed to cooperate with the Song family and open a Xuanmen course in Huating Academy to collect evidence of the Song family's crimes.
The emperor did not agree immediately.
Because in his opinion, dispelling rumors is more important than keeping the Song family in his hands!
"Lord Jie, if you can reverse the rumors within three days, I will agree to your plan."
"Your Majesty, please wait and see."
Before Xie Yi went to Beijing, he had already thought of a way to regain the Holy Heart.
The sorcerer he mentioned had been found long ago and was placed in the inn.
Two days later at noon.
The sky was clear and thunder was rumbling.
Amid a loud bang, a bolt of lightning brighter than sunlight struck the Huguo Temple.
The standing stone beside the koi pond in the temple was split open, revealing four charred characters "明君保国" (A wise ruler protects the country) on the cross section of the stone.
At the same time, all the koi in the pond swam towards the location where the lightning struck, and the scene was very spectacular.
Many people come to Huguo Temple to pray.
Seeing this scene, everyone knelt down and kowtowed.
Soon, the news of the strange phenomenon falling from the sky spread throughout the capital with the help of the Song family.
When the emperor found out, he was very pleased and immediately summoned Jie Yi to the palace.
"The sorcerers that Lord Jie invited are really capable. I wonder if they can pray for rain for me?"
His tone was inquiring, but his eyes were cold, making it clear that he would not let Xie Yi refuse.
As for whether Xie Yi can do it or not, it has nothing to do with him.
Xie Yi had already prepared for the scene of praying for rain, and nodded readily.
"Although I cannot solve the drought, I can still pray for rain and fool the people, but I need to wait for the right time."
Even though it is sunny every day, there are times when the clouds are thick.
Only when the clouds are thick will it rain.
The emperor was in a good mood and was more tolerant towards Xie Yi.
"I will give you ten days at most. If you can't do it, don't blame me for punishing you!"
Xie Yi knew very well that the emperor was just threatening him and would not do anything to him.
After all, if the emperor wants the Song family to serve him, he has to rely on him.
He bowed respectfully, "I obey your command!"
"How is your talk with the Song family going? When can we enter the Hua Ting Academy to collect evidence of the Song family's rebellion?"
"I will visit the Patriarch of the Song family later."
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Go down."
***
Less than three days.
The news that Xie Yi was going to become a teacher at Huating Academy and teach people divination spread throughout the capital.
Xuanmen has always been mysterious and only recruits disciples internally.
Now that the Imperial Observatory is going to teach publicly, many people want to be his students.
From the sixty-year-old man to the young baby.
Xie Yi gave three days for registration, and on the fourth day he personally selected students with wit and talent.
In the end, he reluctantly kept twenty people of varying ages.
He took out some books from the He Xuanmen collection and showed them to the students.
"Read it carefully and memorize the contents. If you don't understand something, you can ask me. I will test you in a month, and those who pass will become my disciples."
There is a huge difference between a student and a disciple.
The former can only learn the basics, while the latter can learn the essence.
"We will definitely not let the Master down!"
After Xie Yi stayed in Huating Academy for a few days, the time to pray for rain had arrived.
He hurried into the palace and asked the emperor to arrange a ceremony to offer sacrifices to the heavens and pray for rain in person.
The emperor looked at Xie Yi suspiciously.
"Are you sure that the ritual of offering sacrifice to the heaven can bring rain?"
If he prayed for rain with great fanfare but failed, he would become a laughing stock!
"I guarantee with my life that it will succeed."
"Xie Yi, I remind you that offering sacrifices to the heavens is no small matter. If you fail to pray for rain, not only will you die, but also your disciples in the Imperial Astronomical Observatory!"
The emperor knew that Xie Yi valued his disciples very much, so he used this to threaten him to prevent him from rebelling.
"I understand. Your Majesty, please rest assured that praying for rain will succeed."
After Xie Yi finished speaking, he told the appropriate time to pray for rain.
Then he left the palace to make preparations.
At the hour of Mao the next day, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven began.
The ceremony was very complicated, and by the time the emperor reached the altar, nearly an hour had passed.
During this period, the weather gradually changed.
The sky went from being bright and sunny to being filled with clear skies, to being covered by white clouds and having a cool breeze.
When the emperor ascended the platform, a strong wind blew and dark clouds covered the sky.
The entire capital city was shrouded in darkness.
All the officials were shocked, and the people were shocked too.
Soon, heavy rain came, soaking everyone outdoors.
But no one hid, everyone was enjoying the rain.
"God has mercy on us, and finally the rain has fallen!"
"A wise ruler protects the country. Your Majesty is truly a wise ruler!"
"Please God, let this rain last a little longer!"
But the rain didn't last long and stopped, and the air was filled with the smell of dust.
Despite this, the emperor's reputation for virtue spread.
The news soon spread to Tianshan County.
After hearing this, Ye Chutang didn't take it to heart.
Although she didn't know what praying for rain was all about, she believed that Jie Yi would not really help the Dog Emperor.
The little bit of rain that was prayed for from heaven was only enough to wet the ground and had no effect at all.
The Dog Emperor’s reputation as a “wise ruler” will not last long.
She only cares about her own development plan.
It is now midsummer.
With the joint efforts of the people and the garrison, the river channel has been dug for nearly two hundred miles.
The canals extending to the villages are also being dug and sealed with cement.
Villages close to the Tianshan Mountains have already diverted river water over there.
Farmers will no longer have to worry about water.
Willow trees soaked in spiritual spring water by Ye Chutang were planted on both sides of the river. Someone would irrigate them regularly, so keeping them alive would not be a problem.
The trade routes are also being repaired in an orderly manner.
However, because all the manpower was used to dig rivers and canals, the progress of road construction was relatively slow.
However, it will take at most one year to build a road connecting the north and the south.
As for the shops opened by Ye Chutang, business was booming.
Sun Chu also opened branches in neighboring counties.
Time flies.
While people everywhere were suffering from a barren harvest due to drought, Tianshan County and Linzhou City were busy harvesting.
The mountains and fields are filled with laughter.
"This year's production is so good, three times more than in the past!"
"Mrs. Qi not only gave me good seeds, but she also solved the irrigation problem. She is truly a living Bodhisattva!"
"Who says it isn't true? Even if we hand over some of the food in return, there will still be a lot left."
"Yes, with these grains, we won't have to go hungry anymore!"
"I heard that Master Qi wants to collect grain. Will you sell it?"
"Of course we will sell it! We don't lack water now, and we can guarantee the grain production every year. We just need to keep some food for ourselves."
"From what you said, next year's seeds will be free?"
"Lead! Don't you know? Madam Qi said that only her seeds can produce high yields!"
"I don't believe it. I'm going to save some for growing crops and try planting two acres of land next year."
Along with the joy of the harvest, Qi Yanzhou's granary became fuller and fuller.
After local governments learned the news, they reported it to the emperor.
Let the emperor send someone to learn from Ye Chutang and buy high-yield seeds.
Of course, the techniques of digging rivers, canals and wells also need to be learned.
The emperor was furious when he saw the piles of memorials.
"Burn them all!"
There is absolutely no way he would bow down to the bitch who had plotted against him time and time again!
Whoever wants seeds can go find Ye Chutang!
Prime Minister Qin Zheng hastily dissuaded him, "Your Majesty, please think twice. The drought is getting worse and worse. People from all over the country are leaving their homes to become refugees. If this continues, the world will be in chaos!"
As soon as these words were spoken, another official stood up.
"Your Majesty, if we can learn well-digging skills from Ye Chutang, we can solve the problem of water shortage. If we can buy high-yield seeds from Ye Chutang, we can solve the problem of food shortage in various places."
"I beg the Emperor to put aside his grudges and put the people first."
These words angered the emperor, and flames rose from his cold eyes.
He snorted coldly, "Lord Zhu, go to Tianshan County and persuade Ye Chutang to buy seeds and pass on skills. If she disagrees, tell everyone in the world that Ye Chutang is a fake Bodhisattva!"
Lord Zhu had long been extremely disappointed with the court.
He knelt down and bowed his head to the ground, "I obey your command!"
Going to Tianshan County is not a dead end for him, but a chance of life!
Because he wants to join Qi Yanzhou!
Qin Zheng knew that Ye Chutang liked silver, so he quickly reminded him, "Your Majesty, you need silver to buy seeds."
When the emperor heard the word "silver", his eyes went dark.
He managed to pile some silver into the national treasury by raiding the homes of ministers and wealthy businessmen.
Asking him to take it out before it’s even warm enough, isn’t that asking for his life?
The person Qi Yanzhou had planted in the court quickly said, "Prime Minister Qin is wrong. As far as I know, Ye Chutang provided seeds to the people for free, and the people repaid her with the harvest, so there is no need for the emperor to pay."
Qi Yanzhou asked him to say this.
The purpose is to control the world's food in their own hands.
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