Chapter 534: A Hundred Flowers Competing in Beauty

Prince Lu was shocked and turned pale: "Your Highness, Your Highness, please calm down!"

You must be joking.

At a time like this, when Prefect Liu is in his prime, you want to use those fifty thousand hidden troops to ambush Prefect Liu?

This is simply taking a desperate risk!

Xie Ling coughed for a while, then grabbed Prince Lu by the collar, roaring with spittle flying: "Do I have any other way out? Huh? You tell me, do I have any other way out? This is the only chance! Only this once!"

"I want him dead, he must die!"

"Die!"

"All of you, go to hell!"

Xie Ling said coldly: "Don't give me any nonsense, go make the arrangements!"

Prince Lu was covered in cold sweat: "Yes..."

He looked back at the wealthy men on the ground, wailing and in utter despair, and sighed in his heart.

It was too terrifying.

It was too insane.

Is this what a financial war is? He could foresee how much of a shock this would cause to the market of the Longyan Dynasty after being swept up by Liangzhou Prefecture for so much gold and silver. Most of these wealthy men from all over Longyan were instantly bankrupted, their assets wiped clean.

After such a long struggle, the twenty million gold they brought was all gone!

Not a single cent left!

This is the capability of Prefect Liu.

This is the formidable strength that Liangzhou Prefecture possesses today...

Liangzhou as it is now.

It has money when it needs money, and people when it needs people.

It has the hearts of the people when it needs them, and combat power when it needs it.

Xie Ling was right...

There is not much time or opportunity left for him.

Longyan, Jinghua.

Yangxin Hall.

"Lost?"

"Xie Ling lost?"

Xie Tianyao was expressionless.

No one could tell what he was thinking at this moment.

But the people beside him were all kneeling properly, none daring to raise their heads. When the temperamental Xie Tianyao had no expression on his face, it meant he was angry.

Angry!

He was indeed angry.

Xie Tianyao even gave a self-deprecating smile, swept the chessboard in front of him into disarray with his hand in agitation, and then slowly stood up with the support of several eunuchs.

Without a word, he arduously walked up to the second floor of Yangxin Hall, then the third floor, the fourth floor...

He stood on the platform that seemed to overlook all living beings, looking out at half of the Capital.

"Emperor, Emperor, this time, Prefect Liu won unfairly, he won unfairly!"

An old eunuch beside him was almost crying.

"Shut your mouth!"

Xie Tianyao roared.

The old eunuch trembled all over and hurriedly knelt on the ground.

Xie Tianyao's eyes, like a Falcon, stared fixedly at him: "Lao Chang, do you know why, after all these years, you have never won My favor like Lao Zhou has?"

Lao Chang gasped: "This old servant is nowhere near as insightful as Grand Eunuch Zhou..."

Xie Tianyao said indifferently: "That is because you talk too much."

Lao Chang stiffened.

Xie Tianyao sighed and continued to gaze into the distance at his empire, watching the clouds like cotton wool, layer upon layer; today's weather was neither hot nor cold, just right.

What a fine empire...

What a fascinating world.

Xie Tianyao said indifferently: "I know that the Third Prince is a child you watched grow up, and it is only natural for you to speak in his favor. But you should not try to confuse My judgment of matters, do you understand?"

The Deputy Grand Eunuch, Lao Chang, was dripping with cold sweat and nodded hurriedly.

Only then did Xie Tianyao slowly sit on the lounge chair nearby; Lao Chang scrambled to his feet and placed the tea brought by a palace maid onto the small table beside him.

"Third Prince, oh Third Prince..."

Xie Tianyao took a sip of tea: "You have truly disappointed Me too much..."

"A good game of chess, played into a complete mess by you."

"The timing, the geography, and the human element—all wasted by you."

Lao Chang stood by, not daring to say a single word.

Yet, despair welled up in his heart.

Is the Emperor planning to abandon the Third Prince?

Xie Tianyao said indifferently: "Issue the decree, let him return. For My birthday, those who should be moved should also set out. Also, have the Hanlin Academy study that Heart Learning of Prefect Liu, thoroughly, they must grasp it completely!"

Today.

Chen Qian of the Hanlin Academy actually went to the Yangxin Hall, a move unprecedented, and told Xie Tianyao in all seriousness that this Heart Learning would be the learning to save the world.

This left Xie Tianyao very shocked.

He knew Chen Qian's capabilities; he was absolutely a good prime minister. Since he gave such high praise, he became somewhat curious: what exactly was this Heart Learning?

At the same time.

Xie Tianyao fell into deep thought again.

Prefect Liu...

You have set another difficult problem for Us.

At this critical juncture, you have come up with a learning to save the world.

Should We kill you?

Or should We not kill you?

"Yes!"

The Liangzhou Poetry Society was already undergoing further renovations.

It was expected that in one month's time, this place would become the Liangzhou Academy.

And Liu Zheng's Heart Learning had, in these past few days, spread throughout the entire Longyan, shocking the whole world, and scholars everywhere had set off a craze for studying Heart Learning. Of course, whenever academics were involved, there were certainly those who supported it and those who opposed it.

Some felt that Liu Zheng's Heart Learning was absolutely the most perfect state of Confucianism.

Others felt that Prefect Liu's idea of "recognizing desires as principle" was a blasphemy against the sages!

The two factions began a back-and-forth Bitter Remonstrance.

Consequently, various articles and analyses regarding Heart Learning erupted like a geyser, continuous and unending. The literary world of the Longyan Dynasty, after being silent for nearly a thousand years, finally began a lively scene of a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending.

The entire ideology of Longyan was also, more or less, influenced to some extent.

Of course.

Within the borders of Liangzhou, it was naturally a different kind of scenery.

These past few days.

The atmosphere in Liangzhou was excellent.

As long as one was walking within the jurisdictions of Liangzhou, Yinzhou, or Yangzhou, if one did not have a copy of "Principle" or "The Book of Nothing" or other works by Prefect Liu in hand, one would be too embarrassed to greet others.

People's greetings to one another had also changed from the previous "Have you eaten?" to: "Do you have any insights today?"

Scholars were like this.

Merchants and peddlers were like this.

Artisans and workers were likewise the same.

This was the effect that an advanced theory could produce.

Liu Zheng was very satisfied.

Ideological matters could, of course, not be achieved overnight, but he had already accelerated the transformation of the Liangzhou people's ideology.

He specifically set aside one day to handle the pile of accumulated matters.

For example, the issue of the Pension.

While he was not in Liangzhou, the Pension had been obstructed by the Cabinet.

This time, Liu Zheng directly convened the People's Representative Congress for the first time to overturn the Cabinet's decision and hold a vote on the matter.

As a result, it passed with almost a unanimous vote.

Not only that, but they also voted to dismiss and appoint several Cabinet members.

By this time, in the entire Liangzhou, there was almost no one who dared to oppose Prefect Liu. Whatever powerful clans, whatever Powerful Clans, whatever elite figures—all had been brought to heel by Liu Zheng.

After that came the implementation of the Household Registration System.

It also received the support of the People's Representative Congress.

He also met with Ling Chen, who had returned from the Western Regions to report on his duties, gave instructions regarding some situations in the Western Regions, and then let him return to the Western Regions—Xie Chan was now the Longyang Princess and naturally could not go back with him.

Next.

He naturally could not attend the opening of the Academy.

Because he still had to go to Jinghua.

Xie Tianyao's birthday—if his prediction was correct, this should be the last birthday of Xie Tianyao's life. On the other hand, this was also Liu Zheng's first time going to the Capital.

What needed to be prepared?

On this day, he still came to Yintan City.

Once inside the borders of Yinzhou, one could feel the difference here compared to the past. Thinking back to when he first arrived in Yinzhou, it was barren, desolate, and filled with despair everywhere. But today, it had almost become the financial center of the entire Longyan Dynasty.

More and more people began to pour into Yinzhou, and all walks of life were developing as if they had been injected with hormones.

Prosperity.

Flourishing.

The focus of Longyan.

This was the Yinzhou of today.

This time, Yintan City sweeping up the twenty million gold brought by Xie Ling had further severely boosted investors' confidence in the Yinzhou Coin.

Soaring.

It had been soaring the whole time.

When Liu Zheng arrived at Yintan City, Qingyang Shuo, who was usually stern and rarely smiled, could not stop laughing.

"Young Master..."

Zheng Yueru had also not seen Liu Zheng for a long time; looking at the increasingly mature and steady Liu Zheng, her eyes were already filled with a different kind of smile.

"Where is Xi'er?"

Liu Zheng found it somewhat strange that Hu Xi'er was unexpectedly not here.

Qingyang Shuo chuckled, "She has gone to Liangshan."

"What?"

Liu Zheng was startled.