Chapter 72 The Sky Curtain Made Me a Historical White Moonlight The Sky Curtain, for publicity...
After talking with Si Qi, the officials of the court, who had been assigned many tasks by the emperor, suddenly became busy.
In the past, they would attend the morning assembly and then spend most of the day resting. They would drink tea, practice calligraphy, and occasionally meet with colleagues at restaurants for casual conversation, leading a remarkably comfortable life.
Unexpectedly, a curtain of heaven appeared out of nowhere, its contents covering all walks of life. Without exception, every department was mobilized by the emperor. There were so many things to do that they couldn't keep up. They were so busy every day that they had to run to walk.
Those who were truly capable in the court were all busy, leaving behind the nobles who held honors and positions but did nothing of substance, and naturally, they were left behind.
They watched their colleagues discuss official business enthusiastically every day, as if everyone could shine in their own position, and some even had to take on multiple roles. They smiled wryly as their colleagues comforted them, saying, "Capable people do more work."
This made the group of court nobles, who were idle all day and indeed useless in everything they did, even more embarrassed.
Those who felt ashamed of themselves learned to restrain themselves during this period, but those who felt no shame but rather pride, thinking that nobles should enjoy such leisure and pleasure, had plenty of free time and energy every day, and used all their brains to think of ways to deal with Si Qi.
Therefore, when those court officials who were busy with their work and occasionally consulted Si Qi were about to present their recent achievements to the emperor after court, they saw those nobles who were poised to make their move suddenly launch an attack. They joined forces to submit a joint memorial to the emperor, accusing Si Qi of being too powerful and overshadowing the emperor, saying that the people only knew Si Qi and not the emperor, and angrily condemning Si Qi as an ungrateful brat who was disloyal to the Great Qi.
These people had been plotting this for a long time and had made ample preparations for this operation. From Si Qi's "dissatisfaction with the Great Qi and his disloyal behavior" to "a seventh-rank official calling himself prime minister and showing no regard for the law," dozens of people took turns criticizing Si Qi from beginning to end.
His words were sharp and his emotions intense. He stood in the court, passionate and impassioned, as if Si Qi had committed treason and was a heinous criminal.
Some, taking advantage of the fact that those truly responsible were busy during this time, quickly won over many neutral ministers who hadn't been assigned tasks or had the opportunity to meet Si Qi, rapidly seizing the mainstream voice in the court. For a time, it seemed as if the entire court was dissatisfied with Si Qi's arrogance and protesting that Si Qi's achievements overshadowed the emperor.
The emperor, seated on his throne, watched this scene of fervent anger, his face ashen. Below, the ministers, who had been preoccupied with their work, were initially bewildered, then their faces flushed red, their beards practically bristling with rage.
"Nonsense!" Seeing that these nobles were using him as a pawn to try and put him against Si Qi, the Prime Minister, who had been sarcastic about Si Qi, stepped forward and angrily pointed at the nobles, shouting, "When has Lord Si ever called himself Prime Minister? I have never heard of such a thing!"
The nobles were furious that the Prime Minister would stand up for Si Qi, who had humiliated them, at this time. "Prime Minister, have you not heard the gossip? Now the whole world only knows 'Prime Minister Si' and not you. Si Qi has remained silent on this matter, tacitly agreeing with it. Clearly, he doesn't respect you!"
The Prime Minister said, "Lord Si is recuperating in the Eastern Palace. How could he know the language spoken by all the people in the world? And how could he possibly have the power to change how everyone addresses him and stop calling him that?"
The nobles said, "His inaction is his fault!"
The Prime Minister laughed in exasperation: "Lord Si is busy with court affairs all day long, and even during his convalescence he has no free time. How can he have to take the time to deal with such trivial matters and correct how the people address him?"
The nobleman scoffed, "What can a mere brat like him do? He's just putting on an act to win people over!"
As he spoke, he gave the emperor a meaningful look, after all, the emperor was the one who had been most deceived by Si Qi and had the greatest expectations for the so-called "Prime Minister".
They didn't believe that a top scholar who had just entered the court and had never even been involved in government affairs could do anything extraordinary. But to their surprise, the next second, ministers from various departments stepped forward one after another and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the agricultural tools shown in the sky have all been made under the guidance of Minister Si and are being sent to various provinces one after another!"
"We figured out the correct way to use the smallpox vaccine that you instructed us to develop, thanks to Mr. Si's guidance, and it has been confirmed to be effective after testing!"
"Regarding the post station mentioned in the sky, Lord Si has guided us in finalizing the general arrangements. Please take a look!"
"Seasonal Astrological Detection..."
"Climate and topographic map..."
"The heated kang (traditional Chinese bed) and honeycomb briquettes for keeping warm in winter..."
One after another, the court's renowned pragmatists stepped forward, recounting their recent work progress to the emperor in a flowing stream.
The ministers who hadn't been assigned tasks or had any contact with Si Qi were dumbfounded, completely bewildered by what they hadn't been able to accomplish in years. The nobles were furious, jumping up and down, shouting, "Nonsense! You're trying to build your own faction in court by attributing all this credit to Si Qi!"
The emperor completely ignored the voices of the group. Hearing the successive good news, he stroked his beard with delight and exclaimed, "Good, good! I knew then that Minister Si was a rare talent in the Qi Kingdom!"
The ministers who were reporting on their work all agreed, congratulating His Majesty on having such a capable minister, which is a blessing for the State of Qi.
Originally, they wouldn't have so obviously attributed all the credit to Si Qi. After all, Si Qi had a lot of political affairs to deal with, and for them, he only played an initial guiding role, answering their questions and telling them the direction to move forward. The ones who really buried themselves in the work and delivered the results step by step were them and a large group of people under them.
But provoked by these nobles, the ministers remembered how such a capable man as Si Qi had been humiliated and belittled. They were so angry that they disregarded everything else and stepped forward to prove everyone wrong, showing that Lord Si was indeed that capable and deserved the praise of the whole world.
The nobles refused to accept the facts, jumping up and down in protest: "Nonsense! How could a mere brat from the Si family have accomplished so much? You are lying in public, attempting to deceive the Emperor; you have committed the crime of deceiving the Emperor!"
The ministers arrogantly raised their chins and sneered, "How can those who are like frogs in a well know the vastness of the world! The Heavenly Curtain has already shown everyone Lord Si's achievements, demonstrating his extraordinary nature. Yet you judge others by your own standards, slandering the Heavenly Curtain and us as lying! It's utterly laughable!"
If one or two ministers said this, others might think they were flattering Si Qi and trying to give all the credit to him.
But all the officials who had been assigned tasks by the emperor said the same thing. Clearly, Si Qi must have real talent and ability, otherwise he wouldn't dare to make up such an exaggerated story even if he were to lie through his teeth.
The historians responsible for recording stood aside, writing furiously, focusing on the scene of the nobles joining forces to attack Si Qi, and most of the officials in the court standing up to support Si Qi, showcasing Si Qi's many merits one by one, recording them on paper for future generations to appreciate.
Upon seeing this, the ministers who had sided with the nobles dared not speak again, fearing that if they continued to follow the nobles in their cause, they would incur the emperor's wrath, and even more so, they would be stigmatized and "passed down through the ages."
The nobles were furious, angry at the emperor's favoritism, angry at the ministers' opportunism, and even more angry that the contents of the Heavenly Curtain had damaged the foundation of their families and caused them huge losses. They almost wanted to rush to the Eastern Palace and stab Si Qi to death to prevent future troubles.
But at this very moment, the sky appeared once again.
The emperor and his entourage stopped talking and, one by one, rose with practiced ease and walked out of the hall, eagerly anticipating what new gains they might make today.
The nobles were disgusted, but they still went to listen to Tianmu praise Si Qi in front of the whole world, extolling what amazing things Si Qi had done that day.
They stood casually at the back of the crowd, watching the officials and emperor in the front row crane their necks to wait for the sky to appear, as if the poor were raising their hands and palms out, begging the rich for alms, full of disdain.
They don't understand why these people, who are already at the top of the world, would still devote themselves to things that have no bearing on their quality of life.
The farmers have less work to do and their lives are better, so what does it have to do with them? It's not like they're the ones doing the farming!
No matter how much rice is produced, it only saves those people who are about to starve, not those who have wine and meat at every meal. On the contrary, because of the overproduction of grain and the drop in grain prices, people no longer sell themselves into slavery or become tenants for them just to have a bite to eat, and they no longer transfer their farmland to them at low prices. They are actually losing out big time.
As for the so-called prohibition against marriage between cousins, that's even more abhorrent. It's tantamount to severing the close ties between their relatives and reducing the cohesion between clans.
Furthermore, there were restrictions such as not being allowed to bind feet or take Five-Stone Powder... This made their daughters, who already had bound feet, less desirable, and turned the Five-Stone Powder, which they sold and bought at high prices, into a poison that everyone avoided, completely losing its due value.
The more they thought about it, the angrier they became. They couldn't understand why the heavens were so hateful, always going against them! Just because they were gods, did they arrogantly and carelessly think that everyone was equal?
They had no interest in hearing or seeing just how powerful Si Qi was; they merely tilted their heads slightly, pretending to listen attentively. But the next second, a deafening roar of thunder erupted from the sky, as if a hole had been smashed through it. Startled, they all looked up sharply and saw mountains and rivers blasted apart by a tremendous force. Dust filled the sky, obscuring the sun, and shards of rock, large and small, flew in all directions like arrows. For a moment, the world shook violently; the terrifying scene resembled the end of the world!
They turned pale with fright, their bodies tense, and they were poised to flee. "What is this—"
Before he could finish speaking, Tianmu said in a praising tone, "This is the power of explosives."
The nobles stared wide-eyed at the ground, which was pitted and uneven after the smoke and dust had cleared, resembling the land where a meteorite had fallen. Looking at the deep craters, their hearts raced, and they completely forgot how to speak.
Is this truly a sight that could be created by human power, or is it some kind of divine punishment?!
"Gunpowder, as a military weapon, played a significant role in warfare..."
The sky slowly explained the function of gunpowder, and the crowd below gradually came to their senses.
Although the ministers were greatly frightened, witnessing the immense power of this thing firsthand, they instinctively felt that it could indeed have a huge deterrent effect on the battlefield, and subconsciously developed a desire to master this power.
But before they could come up with a solution, the Zhao family patriarch, Zhao Ren's father, instinctively seized on the key point and said, "Your Majesty! This gunpowder can even shatter mountains and rivers. If it were sent to the battlefield, it would surely leave people with nothing but bones and flying limbs! How can such an inhumane thing be used? If others were to obtain such a weapon, it would surely cause too much bloodshed and bring unrest to the world!"
Inspired by Zhao Ren's father, the other nobles' eyes lit up, and they hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have never understood how our mighty Qi could be defeated by the mere Liang Kingdom! Now I know that it was because the Liang Kingdom obtained gunpowder with the help of Si Qi that caused our Great Qi to suffer repeated defeats and the people to live in misery!"
"Your Majesty, Si Qi is like a blade. He may save us a lot of effort in expanding our territory, but if he is not used properly, he may harm himself or become a weapon for others to attack us! It is best to nip him in the bud while we still have control."
"If Si Qi weren't so bloodthirsty, why would he research such heinous things? Clearly, he harbors resentment towards my Qi state, which is why he's helping Liang—"
The emperor was extremely annoyed and wanted to shut them up. But Tian Mu didn't care that the nobles below were seizing the opportunity to attack Si Qi, and said to himself, "As we all know, the advent of gunpowder has allowed us to evolve from the era of cold weapons to the era of firearms. It has not only had a huge impact on warfare, but has also made a great contribution to people's livelihood."
“In ancient times, opening up mountains and building roads required manual labor to dig bit by bit. This was extremely exhausting for the people, and countless people died from forced labor every year.”
"In order to relieve the people from suffering, with the help of Taoist priests, Si Xiang produced gunpowder. He also found a way to increase the power of gunpowder so that it could be safely used in projects such as opening up mountains and building roads."
"As shown in the video, the effect is just as it appears. People no longer need to expend enormous effort to break through mountains and dig riverbeds. They can simply place explosives in suitable locations to instantly complete tasks that previously took them months or even years. This greatly reduces the burden on those performing corvée labor, helping to accelerate the development of people's livelihoods. Whether it's clearing land for farming or building roads and waterways, progress is extremely fast and labor-saving. Convenient transportation also effectively promotes the economy and culture, making exchanges between different regions more active."
The nobles below, who were vehemently accusing Si Qi, were humiliated before they could finish their sentences. Their faces turned grim, but they still insisted, "Even so, the advent of gunpowder still killed many innocent people and caused even more civilians to suffer from the war—"
"Furthermore, thanks to the invention of gunpowder, our country's weapons development is no less advanced than that of other countries. This greatly helps us defend our territory and protect the safety of our people when others invade our country. Instead of soldiers having to struggle to carry swords and spears to the battlefield, we can stand tall and fight back."
The nobles: "………………"
The emperor looked at the group of nobles who had risen through the ranks of military generals with a half-smile, and said sarcastically, "You have divine weapons and weapons, yet you insist on cutting off your own arms and fighting with your bare hands. It seems that you have forgotten how your ancestors earned their merits on the battlefield with their blood. How can I entrust the soldiers to you and let you guard the four directions?"
The nobles blushed and were speechless.
After reprimanding them, the emperor turned his gaze away and solemnly continued to look at the sky.
Unfortunately, Tianmu only mentioned the power of the explosives and where they could be used, without revealing the method of making them or even what they looked like.
But this also greatly ensured that the development of explosives could be firmly controlled by the royal family, and the emperor quickly ordered the Ministry of War: "We must hurry up and develop gunpowder."
The Minister of War, who came from a noble family and usually managed affairs, bowed and said, "Yes."
The emperor looked the Minister of War up and down, recalling that this man had also spoken ill of Si Qi, and warned him: "You have one month to complete this matter. If you fail to do so, this position of Minister will be filled by someone more capable!"
The Minister of War, who had long been convinced of Si Qi's abilities, couldn't help but widen his eyes and say, "Your Majesty, isn't a month too much—" a bit too much to ask of people?
The Emperor said, "I don't mind if you consult Minister Si."
Minister of War: "..." Fine, fine, I know you cherish your Minister Si the most. You're treating him like a mule.
Subsequently, under the theme of "science and technology," the sky screen successively revealed content related to "cement," "paper," and "printing." The common people and court officials alike listened with fascination, gazing upon the hard, flat, and wide roads, the snow-white and light paper, and the printing technology that greatly reduced the cost and purchase threshold of books. They all wished they could fly directly to the sky to experience these treasures up close.
The civil officials diligently wrote down every word Tianmu spoke, as if they had never had the privilege of exchanging ideas with famous literary masters during their studies. They were so careful not to miss a single word that they had not been able to do so today.
Judging from the amount of text they are writing at this time, one can imagine that in the coming period, the entire court will be busy with cement, paper, and printing technology.
More importantly, truly capable people will be given important positions, and the credit they receive after completing the task will be enough to ensure their promotion, wealth, and bright future.
Those who lack ability, such as nobles, find themselves in an awkward position. They participate in court affairs daily, but it seems they can't accomplish much beyond criticizing others and engaging in factional politics.
It's easy to imagine that when the vast majority of people in a group are working hard and moving quickly in a positive direction, those who only know how to argue and can't help at all will be left behind and gradually drift away from the mainstream.
This is not exclusion, but rather that these people cannot keep up with the pace and will eventually be left behind, gradually becoming insignificant in terms of status, power, identity, and so on, and eventually becoming the lowest of the low.
Seeing the ministers and the emperor discussing the matter in a heated manner, the nobles wanted to attack and annihilate Si Qi at this time, but their words were choked in their throats by the constant praise of "Lord Si is really amazing," and they didn't know how to speak.
Just then, Crown Prince Chu Feng, who was ordered to investigate the matter of Si Qi being framed, had already made progress and presented the evidence he had gathered to the emperor.
Even though the emperor had anticipated this, he was still furious when he saw the series of framing and slander that were so airtight and left Si Qi with no way out.
He threw the object directly at Zhao Ren's father's face, pointing his finger at him and spitting insults without any regard for his dignity: "I've never seen you so meticulously prepared when handling your duties! You've gone to such lengths!"
Zhao's father's eyes swept over the document on the ground. Seeing the names and events written inside so familiar, he was terrified and knelt down, loudly protesting, "Your Majesty, this old minister is innocent!"
The emperor sneered: "Whether it's a miscarriage of justice or not, you know better than I do."
After saying that, he looked at Chu Feng and asked, "Where is Zhao Ren?"
"He's been brought here," Chu Feng glanced at his subordinates behind him, who immediately went out and brought Zhao Ren, who had been detained outside the hall, to kneel on the ground.
Zhao Ren's knee slammed into the ground, his face contorted in pain. His face showed anger and hatred, but no regret.
Chu Feng glanced at Zhao Ren and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, I have investigated Zhao Ren's actions, but I have not been able to find out why he targeted Lord Si. Perhaps it would be more appropriate for Your Majesty to interrogate him personally."
What are they interrogating? Of course, they are interrogating Zhao Ren about the strategies he previously wrote, as mentioned in the Heavenly Curtain. They are asking Zhao Ren how he came up with them, what investigations and research he conducted, and why he was convinced that such a solution should be made.
Without actual participation, how can conclusions be drawn? And with participation, there must be an investigation process. Zhao Ren must publicly discuss this process in front of everyone in the court.
If he can't say it, then he's lying, he's framing someone.
Zhao Ren was furious and hated Chu Feng standing beside him.
Chu Feng could have asked him privately and gotten the answer, but he didn't. Instead, he claimed he couldn't get any information and forced him to the court for interrogation in front of everyone. Wasn't this settling a personal score and avenging Si Qi? Wasn't he just trying to make Si Qi lose face in public and clear his name by saying that all the suggestions and poems were Si Qi's doing?
The father and son conspired together to maliciously humiliate him!
The emperor understood his son's thoughts and, as expected, showed no respect for Zhao Ren, directly bringing up Zhao Ren's original suggestion for questioning.
At first, Zhao Ren was able to put up a stubborn resistance, and he could give a detailed account of his personal experience after the policy was implemented, based on his memory.
But in his memory, he was a playboy, and he hadn't really accomplished anything yet. He might be good at theoretical discussions, but when it came to practical application, he couldn't even understand the meaning of the emperor's questions, let alone answer them.
Seeing his nonsensical and irrelevant answers, everyone present knew the truth of the matter.
It seems that what Tian Mu said was indeed true; Zhao Ren did steal Lord Si's policy proposal to please the emperor. To silence him, he even took advantage of Lord Si's trip back to his hometown to fetch relatives and devised a series of conspiracies to frame Lord Si and imprison him.
This method is extremely insidious.
The emperor looked down at Zhao Ren, who was stammering and covered in cold sweat, and grew increasingly disheartened with each question. If Tianmu hadn't appeared in time to clear Si Qi's name, he would have certainly punished Si Qi and exiled him to the frontier, just as Tianmu had suggested, upon seeing the numerous pieces of evidence presented by the interrogating officials.
And with Si Qi's departure, the future of the Qi Kingdom will, as prophesied, gradually march towards destruction. He and his crown prince will both be killed one after another by these people!
The emperor's face was as cold as ice, and he said in a chilling tone: "Zhao Ren has framed a loyal official and deceived the emperor. He shall be punished with fifty strokes of the cane and stripped of his title as heir apparent. The Marquis of Yong'an has failed in his duty to educate his son. He shall be dismissed from his post and demoted to the Earl of Yong'an, and shall never again serve as an official in the court!"
He secretly wished these people were dead right now, but while the crime of framing was serious, the law wouldn't warrant the deaths of these nobles. His only option was fifty strokes of the cane, enough to paralyze them or even leave them half-dead.
Moreover, the emperor did not want people to have the negative impression that "offending Si Qi means death." It might sound impressive, but it would be detrimental to Si Qi's image.
At worst, the emperor can find another pretext to deal with them privately after his death. We can't let these people's deaths implicate Si Qi and leave a stain on his reputation.
Zhao's father swayed, utterly astonished that the emperor would show such ruthlessness for the sake of Si Qi. This was tantamount to banishing them from the center of power, reducing them to commoners! For the first time, he genuinely cried out in protest: "Your Majesty!"
The emperor looked indifferently at the old minister kneeling below. He, who was usually kind, rarely spoke words that were laced with murderous intent: "If you were not the only son of General Zhao, who once followed the late emperor to kill enemy soldiers of the previous dynasty, I would really want to wipe out your entire family!"
Zhao's father turned pale and stared blankly at the emperor above, unable to utter a single word for a moment.
"Get out!" The emperor waved his sleeve, and the guards stepped forward, pulled the father and son, who were kneeling on the ground, to their feet, and dragged them out of the hall. Those who deserved to be caned were caned, and those who deserved to be thrown out of the palace were thrown out of the palace.
Two nobles who once held extremely high positions in the court disappeared from everyone's sight. The ministers never expected that the emperor would go to such lengths for Si Qi, and their feelings were complicated.
The nobles wanted to say something, arguing that the punishment was too harsh. The Zhao family were truly meritorious officials who helped the late emperor establish the empire, yet they were punished so severely for merely framing a promising young minister like Si Qi. Not only were their futures ruined, but they almost lost their lives! It was truly disheartening for these meritorious officials.
But seeing that the emperor was completely enraged, they did not dare to speak rashly at this time. The emperor sat on the dragon throne with a disgusted look on his face and ordered: "Announce the fact that Zhao Ren impersonated someone else. I cannot bear to hear those beautiful articles being sung under the name of that villain."
Although Tianmu mentioned the possibility of Zhao Ren impersonating Si Qi, he didn't provide conclusive evidence. The emperor still needed to give the world an explanation, letting everyone know that Si Qi was indeed wronged. The so-called rising star of the court, Zhao Ren, was nothing more than a despicable villain who stole Si Qi's talent to rise to power and was praised by many uninformed scholars.
The ministers didn't feel much after hearing this; they only felt that the emperor had indeed severely punished that family in order to appease Lord Si's feelings.
The nobles, however, felt a chill run down their spines, realizing that things seemed to be heading in a bad direction, and they were powerless to do anything about it...
Half an hour later, Zhao Ren was beaten until he was covered in blood and had almost no feeling in his lower limbs. He was thrown out of the palace gate like a dead dog and then his father, who was waiting outside the gate, took him home with tears in his eyes.
Spoiled since childhood, he was in excruciating pain, breaking out in a cold sweat. His words were laced with rage, his eyes bloodshot as he roared, "I'll kill Si Qi! I want him dead!!!"
In his memory, he was killed by the emperor and Si Qi, and now he has suffered such a great crime because of Si Qi. He must have Si Qi cut into a thousand pieces to quell his hatred!
Zhao's father also hated Si Qi to the core, and said without hesitation, "He deserves to die!"
However, given Si Qi's current status in the emperor's heart and how much he is treasured in the eyes of the people and officials, even if they hate Si Qi, they can't do anything about him.
Zhao Ren was in so much pain that he saw stars, but for the sake of the pride he was holding in, he forced himself not to faint and said, word by word, "Father, I have something to tell you!"
"Around the Dragon Boat Festival, Songzhou will experience a flood, and the Emperor will send the Crown Prince to provide disaster relief!"
Zhao's father was taken aback and asked uneasily, "Ren'er, what are you saying?"
Zhao Ren gripped his father's hand tightly, his eyes bloodshot, and said viciously, "Father, I know about the developments of the next twenty years!"
Father Zhao panicked even more, but then he heard his beloved son say, word by word, "Twenty years from now, I will be killed by Si Qi, who has become the prime minister, and be executed by order of Crown Prince Chu Feng, who has become the emperor! I remember the feeling of my head hitting the ground, I remember the pain of death! Father, I am not reconciled!"
Father Zhao shuddered, his voice trembling as he said, "You, you..."
Zhao Ren spoke with too much force, tearing at his almost mangled buttocks. He gasped in pain, his vision blurred, and he nearly lost consciousness.
He struggled, and before completely losing consciousness, his forehead covered in cold sweat, he stammered, "Floods, Songzhou riots, kill, the Crown Prince..."
Before he could finish speaking, his head slumped down, and he completely lost consciousness.
Mr. Zhao quickly checked on his son and, upon confirming that he was only unconscious, breathed a sigh of relief.
He wiped the large beads of sweat from Zhao Ren's face with a handkerchief, his mind replaying Zhao Ren's words, his expression filled with doubt and uncertainty.
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