Chapter 319

Di Yi's announcement made the ministers lost in thought.

Although he bestowed marriage to Yin Shou, to marry the daughter of the East Earl Marquis, Yin Qi had already married the daughter of the West Earl Marquis.

Now he is letting Yin Qi marry the daughter of the Qingzhou Marquis and the daughter of Huang Gun; this is clearly tacitly allowing Yin Qi to expand his connections and influence.

With two great marquises outside and the support of the Huang family inside, Yin Qi's influence has already far exceeded Yin Shou's.

However, Di Yi doesn't seem to have given up the idea of establishing Yin Shou.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to Yin Shou marrying Jiang Ying.

"Thank you, Emperor Father!"

Yin Qi and Yin Shou heard this and bowed to thank him.

"Alright, court dismissed."

Di Yi stood up.

He waved his robe and turned to leave.

The ministers bowed one after another: "Respectfully send off the Great King!"

………

The ministers exited the Golden Throne Hall.

Yin Shou called out to Yin Qi and said: "Imperial Brother, this expedition against the Eastern Yi, I know I have actually already lost. It's just that I am determined to get the position of Crown Prince, I hope you can understand."

The current Yin Shou is undoubtedly proud.

Instructing Chen Xu and others to impeach Yin Qi was actually not his original intention, but planned by the East Earl Marquis Jiang Huanchu.

Of course, it was also because his mentality had changed; in the past, he would never have agreed to it.

The ministers watching could not help but look at Yin Shou with new eyes.

Although Yin Shou's methods were not very clever, being able to admit it on the spot, and even admitting to Yin Qi that he lost, required great courage and was also a manifestation of his straightforward and honest character.

For such people, everyone often holds goodwill.

Yin Qi maintained his persona and smiled gently: "Imperial Brother doesn't need to be like this. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, concerning the position of Human Emperor, and even more concerning the country. You and I compete fairly; whoever wins shows who is more qualified to become the Human Emperor, which is also a fortunate thing for the common people."

Yin Shou said solemnly: "Imperial Brother is right. In the third round, I will not lose again."

Yin Qi smiled gently: "Then Imperial Brother, keep it up."

"Prince Qi is truly benevolent and magnanimous, his character is so noble that it makes people admire him!"

"If you ask me, Prince Qi becoming the Crown Prince is the blessing of the world."

"I used to think that Prince Qi was inferior to Prince Shou, but now it seems there is still quite a gap between them!"

……

The ministers whispered, conquered by Yin Qi's demeanor.

If it were someone else, being stabbed in the back, they would have probably already spoken harshly.

Wen Zhong, Shang Rong, and Bi Gan watched from afar, looking at Yin Qi's retreating back, and couldn't help but nod slightly.

Yin Qi's demeanor was indeed consistent.

………

After the Grand Court Meeting, the news that the results of the second assessment were void also quickly spread throughout Zhaoge.

Compared to the ministers, the common people were not so rational.

In their view, whoever can lead the Great Shang to victory, whoever can bring glory to the Great Shang, should become the Crown Prince.

For Chen Xu and the others, they were extremely disgusted.

"That Grand Historian Chen Xu, I used to think he was an upright official, and I admired him quite a bit, but I didn't expect him to be so shameless this time, actually impeaching Prince Qi."

"This second assessment, it was clearly Prince Qi who won, why cancel the results? This is unfair."

"I really didn't expect Prince Shou to be such a sore loser!"

"Compared to Prince Qi, besides having good martial arts talent, what else does Prince Shou have that can surpass Prince Qi?

In terms of character, Prince Shou is arrogant, Prince Qi is benevolent;

In terms of merit, Prince Qi invented paper and books;

In terms of literature, he pioneered disaster relief;

In terms of martial arts, he destroyed the Red Yi, defeated the Eastern Yi allied forces, and expanded the territory by sixty thousand miles."

……

Inside Zhaoge City, the people were discussing.

The more they compared, the more they found that besides martial arts, Yin Shou truly had no strengths.

In the end, public opinion was basically one-sided.

……

Qi Wang Mansion.

Main Hall.

Yin Qi summoned the various halls of the three palaces to discuss matters.

Zishi, Zhang Shaokang, and others were indignant after learning about the court meeting, cursing Chen Xu for being shameless, cursing Yin Shou for being a sore loser, and even saying that Di Yi was unfair.

"Quiet!"

Yin Qi waved his hand and said in a deep voice: "It has come to this, don't say any more hateful words. Although the results of the second assessment are void, based on the current situation, the advantage is still with us.

If I win the third assessment, the position of Crown Prince will be decided.

Even if Yin Shou wins, we still have a chance."

Zishi was also a rare calm person and said: "I think His Highness is right, the advantage is with us. Although the results of the second assessment are void, everyone has a scale in their hearts. His Highness's performance, the Great King must have seen it in his eyes. Conspiracies and tricks are ultimately minor paths and cannot be brought to the table; we can win by being upright."

Hearing this, everyone calmed down.

Yin Qi smiled and said: "Actually, regarding the assessment, I have never taken it to heart, and you shouldn't take it too much to heart either; you should calm down and do some practical things for the common people of the world.

I believe that the Great King will silently watch our performance in secret.

When we do things and seek welfare for the common people of the world, while the Shou Wang Mansion is obsessed with the struggle of the assessment, what do you think the Great King will think?"

Everyone's eyes lit up, feeling that their perspective had suddenly opened up.

In the end, who can become the Crown Prince is entirely a matter of Di Yi's word.

If Di Yi favors someone, the third assessment will favor that person.

"Please give your orders, Your Highness!"

Everyone bowed one after another, their morale high.

Yin Qi nodded and said: "Zishi, your Wenhua Hall has two tasks: first, to establish the Great Shang Academy, with departments for rites, politics, law, mathematics, history, etc., hire famous scholars from all sides as teachers, recruit children from good families as students, and teach them courses in various subjects.

In the future, if these students pass the assessment, they can be recommended to enter the court as officials.

Second, to compile a dictionary and promote simplified characters.

Our current characters are too complicated, which is not conducive to learning and writing.

I will participate in this matter personally."

Although the characters of this era are not the original oracle bone script, they are also complicated bronze script, belonging to a type of large seal script, which is very unfavorable for learning and writing, and naturally unfavorable for dissemination.

The merit of education has always been a great merit.

Yin Qi dared not compete with the Sages for the merit of immortal cultivation education, but he could still get his hands on this merit of educating the common people, and it could greatly enhance his personal prestige.

Current education is still in the hands of the nobles.

It is too early to talk about imperial examinations.

Yin Qi is now just laying a foundation, first promoting universal education, and then proposing imperial examinations when the time is ripe.

As for establishing the Great Shang Academy, it is firstly to cultivate qualified officials; secondly, it is also to cultivate his own confidants.

He appointed himself as the principal, and those who come out as officials will all be his disciples.

Zishi was extremely intelligent, and hearing Yin Qi's words, although he didn't immediately understand the key, he instinctively felt that these two actions of Yin Qi were of immense significance.

He nodded solemnly: "Yes, Your Highness."

Yin Qi looked at Zhang Shaokang and said: "Shaokang, your Wuying Hall also has two tasks: first, to establish the Great Shang Martial Academy, with departments for martial arts, military strategy, riding and shooting, etc., hire martial arts powerhouses and old generals as teachers, and recruit children from good families as students.

Second, to compile a Martial Classic to lower the threshold and difficulty of cultivation.

I will ask Daoist Yang to take action on this matter, and after you get it, just use it as the textbook for the Great Shang Martial Academy."