594 Innocent of Murder

The night wind brought fragrant and chilly air to the lotus pond. The Minister of Justice, Tian Heng, stood with his hand behind his back, staring blankly at the gently flowing pond water, his mind wondering off.

Suddenly, his servant, Tian Jian, hurried to him and made an urgent report: "Master, the Yang City Minister received news that Su Mo was appointed as Minister of the Masses. The Yang City Minister has gone over to support Su Mo."

The Yang City Minister was Tian Kuo. He had inherited Yang City and became its governor after his brother, Tian Guang, had been promoted to the position of Lordship.

Tian Heng looked up with a jerk, opening his eyes widely as if fury was surging inside him. However, he immediately took a deep breath and controlled his expression, returning it to normal.

"Let him go." His tone was one of indifference.

Tian Jian exclaimed, "Master! How can we just let him go?"

"The Lord meant to give up the position of Yang City Minister!"

Tian Heng gave him an expressionless look and stressed his words. "Let him go."

Tian Jian did not dare to express his doubts again. He bowed in agreement before withdrawing himself from the pavilion.

After staring at the lotus pond for a little longer, Tian Heng suddenly sighed and whispered to himself,

"Perhaps this is good too..."

Inside the palace of the King of Chen, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei, who were waiting for their first court meeting, were anxiously discussing their next course of action.

For the past month, they had pondered over and rehearsed their speech so much so that they had no time to discuss the many details in their plan to "save the nation", thus, leaving many lapses therein despite their overnight discussion on the issue.

"The King of Chen is a grandmaster himself, and has the support of court officials and scholars who are not landowners. He does not lack the support of experts of the Exterior. As long as he is determined, he can abolish the Transit Dues and implement national policies that encourage meritocracy. I do not think that aristocrats at Shangying will vigorously resist. However, I'm afraid of disobedience by officials, which can distort the impact of the policies. That will not only result in the failure to achieve results, but it will also damage relationships with other nations or result in the overspending of its own budget."

As the emperor's younger brother, Zhao Heng had the ultimate say about such circumsatances. Back when the imperial family still had power, top aristocratic families loved to pull such an act.

Qi Zhengyan, who had always been taciturn, had become more outspoken after giving many lectures. He said, "The use of meritocracy can be controlled in the royal court, a few Yamen, officials in Shangying and the King's military. This way, we would have less resistance as the aristocrats' interests will be protected.

These were areas where control by the King was strongest. The aristocrats would be unable to interfere using underhand tactics.

As for the military, the Apotheosized World differed from Meng Qi's world. There were many formations left behind from ancient times. With enough practice and the possession of precious weapons, these battalions could allow those who had enlightened the Apertures to fight the Exteriors. Thus, there was room left behind for an army to exist. However, except for a few special contingents, most armies were unable to fly, and would be useless in an ambush even though they served great purposes in garrison defense and frontal war.

"Well, for a start, we need to avoid conflicts and make Chu negotiate with the secret Taoist sect. We could be bold after different forces approve of our actions, which they would definitely do after experiencing the benefits!" Meng Qi agreed with Yan Zhengqi and they decided to report the result of their discussion to the King before the court meeting.

Jiang Zhiwei frowned slightly and explained her worries, "The implementation of the policies of meritocracy and frugality, as well as our Disapproval of Extravagant Burial Rituals, only concern the King and a small group of others, and thus, we need not worry about external interference. However, the abolishment of Transit Dues requires cooperation from the aristocrats, or else, it would not be able to be implemented in the long run."

One could not attract merchants without abolishing Transit Dues and one could not have any profits without having merchants. How many things could be accomplished without profits?

Persuading the King was only the beginning. The real challenge was yet to come!

Ruan Yushu suddenly blurted out, "Strengthen our patrol and execute someone as an example to frighten others?"

Jiang Zhiwei nodded and said, "That's a solution. As long as we can frighten the others and prevent them from interfering, our plan of action would be so much easier to execute."

As long as the new policies create benefits, those who do not dare to interfere would not even be willing to do so in the end!

Although they would leave this world after one month, they still had sympathy and cared for the country. The King of Chen had treated them with respect and relied on them. How could they just leave a mess behind?

"Execute someone to frighten others? Who do we execute?" Zhao Heng laughed in disdain. "Most of the gatekeepers at checkpoints had at most only opened Nine Apertures. What do we gain by killing them?" "The aristocrats will not leave behind any evidence of their involvement, and will even help the gatekeepers escape. If we cannot find any evidence, the King will lose face."

"There are also too many checkpoints. We will not have enough manpower to check and inspect them. As long as such barriers exist, the merchants' profits will be ruined, and they will doubt the King's determination to remove the Transit Dues. Even if we can remove all the barricades in the future, merchants will not want to pass by Chen anymore."

"If no benefits can be reaped in the short term, why will the King continue trusting us?"

The problem in the execution of the task was the most thought-provoking one. Meng Qi and the rest were all thinking hard but they all could not find an ideal solution.

Suddenly, Meng Qi remembered a book that he had read in the past. His mind flashed as he clapped his hands. "I have a plan!" he shouted.

"What plan?" Jiang Zhiwei and others looked at him.

Meng Qi regained his calmness and smiled profoundly. "It's not a complicated idea," he said.

"Stop keeping us in suspense, there is no need to show off in front of us," Jiang Zhiwei criticized him with a smile.

Meng Qi coughed. "The fortresses at the border are under the King's control. Their Transit Dues will be the easiest to abolish."

Zhao Heng and the others nodded gently. That's the easy part. As long as they paid the masters enough, or replaced them with their own men, it would not be hard to achieve.

"Thus, as long as we gave the merchants an order from the King as they were passing through these fortresses, we need not worry about most of the remaining checkpoints." Meng Qi was still smiling profoundly.

Ruan Yushu suddenly became curious as if he had a delicious dish in front of him that he could not consume. "What order?"

Meng Qi let out a sly grin before becoming serious again. "Whoever kills anyone who collects Transit Dues will be innocent of murder!"

"Innocent of murder?" Zhao Heng blurted out in shock.

Such "orders" were beyond his imagination.

Jiang Zhiwei was puzzled at first before she showed a smile of realization. "That's great. There are plenty of masters among the merchants themselves who pay Transit Dues only because they are afraid of the powerful masters of the country. The latter can only be stopped by experts of the Exterior!"

The nations are in turmoil. How can merchants who travel across the different lands have no masters and no support? As long as the suggestion by Meng Qi was implemented, they could resolve their lack of manpower by borrowing that of the merchants. Then the different checkpoints in Chen could then be monitored.

"What a wonderful idea! We can convey the determination of the King to abolish the Transit Dues for the merchants this way too." Zhao Heng shouted as he clapped.

Meng Qi enjoyed their praise and continued while smiling, "If the aristocrats use any Exterior or any army with formations, they would be unable to escape our notice and we can then eliminate them as an example."

He paused in consideration before adding: "We can even initiate the killings ourselves. We can divide ourselves and join different caravans. If we meet any experts of the Exterior or any army with battalions that try to collect taxes from us, we can attack them immediately to set an example for others. Anyway, murder is innocent!"

"However, we shouldn't force the aristocrats too much. We can punish them harshly, but we can't intensify the conflicts as it would allow the other aristocrats to be wry with us and start a civil war. This would leave room for Chu to interfere."

Qi Zhengyan supported Meng Qi expressionlessly, "So, choosing a good victim is the key."

Meng Qi nodded in response. "Chen State is a small country with a few powerful aristocrats other than the King. The main aristocrats are the Ex-Minister of the Masses, Wang Dan, the Minister of Justice, Tian Heng, and the Minister of Works, Gongyang Zeng. They all have Peerless Master Pros, the influence of the court, a big plot of land and various checkpoints in the country. If we were to kill one as an example, we would need to choose from within their circle."

The words were plain but murderous.

"The Minister of Justice, Tian Heng, had many generations in his family that are related to the aristocrats of Chu, thus, making him an unsuitable target." Zhao Heng first eliminated one potential target.

Ruan Yushu then said with a moderate tone, "The Minister of Works, Gongyang Zeng, has a son who studies martial arts at the Golden Light Cave of Mount Wudang."

"In this case, only the Ex-Minister of the Masses, Wang Dan, whom I have replaced, is left!" Meng Qi exclaimed. "His family is the oldest family of aristocrats in Chen State. They had served the first King of Chen. There are many masters in their clan and they have friends and families all over the land. However, they have no strong support from outside Chen. This makes them an easy target. As you join the caravans, you should pass by their lands."

"Alright," Jiang Zhiwei and the others agreed.

After the discussions, Meng Qi and the rest met the King once more before the meeting to expose their plan.

…

Compared with previous court meetings, this one was much simpler and relaxed as the King of Chen was now devoted to the School of Mo. There were no longer red tapes and bureaucracies and many returned to their positions quickly for the King's speech.

The only thing that did not satisfy Meng Qi was that his space ring and weapons were confiscated and kept outside by the guards, just like when he met the King previously.

Because this was a world with weird and powerful secret artifacts, he needed to be wary of the King even though he was only a grandmaster. Other than Meng Qi, the weapons and space rings of all other the officials were confiscated as well.

"I have the Wrist Bone of Nether and the Unrefined Oceanic Dominion Pearl in my space ring. My precious weapons are of top grade and mid-grade, respectively. Please don't lose them..." Meng Qi prayed in his heart as he knew that he would have to pay many karma points for those treasures.

The King looked at the officials before he announced his first decision, which was to appoint Meng Qi as the Minister of the Masses and the rest as his assistants.

When the announcement was made, many eyes of shock were cast on Meng Qi at once. However, one of those pairs, which was calm, surprised Meng Qi.

He sensed that the pair of eyes belonged to a young man wearing an expensive crown and an ancient robe. He was elegant and graceful.

"Tian Guang, the eldest son of the Minister of Justice, Tian Heng, had achieved the rank of Exterior at the age of thirty. He had just attained Lordship..."

Meng Qi quickly recognized the man and details about him flashed through his mind.