Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1375 Strange Winds Stir Up the Drums and Horns

The release of the second article undoubtedly reignited the already heated argument between the two sides.

In particular, this time the opposition to the skyline is directly linked to the opposition to the purge of the old imperial family and the opposition to national development. If the conservatives do not find a way to refute this forcefully, it is practically a manifesto aimed at the conservatives.

If no counterattack is launched, and everyone reaches a consensus, the conservatives are at risk of being overthrown. Therefore, they immediately organized people to refute various viewpoints.

Meanwhile, the media and writers on the progressive side, as if injected with stimulants, flocked out and engaged in heated debates with them, not to be outdone.

The key point is that Central City, which was added to the skyline, has genuinely benefited, whereas previously conservatives and large corporations had long occupied and controlled the resources of the fusion area.

This has long been a source of discontent for many middle and lower-level companies and groups. They are often the ones who suffer the most exploitation but receive little benefit. If the old imperial family can be wiped out, or these large companies and forces can be overthrown, even if most of the profits are ultimately taken by the government, they can still get a share of the pie during the turmoil and restructuring.

Because they often only have the opportunity to turn their fortunes around and rise to a higher level when the old order is broken, reorganized, and reshuffled.

Once certain beliefs take root in the minds of most people, even actions that previously seemed radical no longer appear so glaring, and are instead seen as conforming to the urgent desires of many.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that the Da Shun government wants things to develop in this direction, which is why it will allow things to develop in this way. Therefore, the struggle for the government's voice is also very important. It is conceivable that the two factions will engage in a fierce struggle around this goal.

Chen Chuan did not think this was a bad thing. In his view, before the big crash came, the internal problems should be eliminated as soon as possible, which was one of the purposes of his article.

As he had hoped, the article's effect was almost immediately apparent; however, in less than a day, he heard a related piece of news.

The government leadership may have temporarily suspended negotiations with the former imperial delegation to avoid suspicion of impropriety.

Clearly, the progressive faction is starting to exert its strength, and he looks forward to what will happen next.

But this is definitely not good news for conservatives. Chen Chuan's article was absolutely right; without the old imperial family, all the forces entrenched in this chain of interests will be affected.

Meanwhile, in the embassy located in the west of the city, Prince Chunxuan Yuan Yong also saw Chen Chuan's article.

Of course, this piece of his was copied by a scribe and rewritten while retaining its original meaning. The more vehement accusations and "disrespectful" words against the former imperial family were removed.

When King Chunxuan looked over, he was not annoyed at all, but rather seemed very interested and asked, "Who wrote this?"

The attendant beside him bowed with his hands clasped, "Your Majesty, do you remember that heated debate that ensued over the idea of ​​expanding the skyline? It was this man who started it."

His expression was solemn. "This man is no ordinary person. General Su Kuo, who was conquered by the East, died at his hands. Later, this man shone brightly in the country of Li, fighting against more than ten Xuan masters and defeating them all. He made the Heavenly Secrets stand still in the heavens. Now he is a famous Xuanji martial artist among all the countries."

"Oh?"

Prince Chunxuan's interest deepened. "To possess such power... do you think this person... could possibly kill my elder brother?"

The servant was taken aback and immediately knelt down, while the other servants and maids around him were all so frightened that they knelt down as well.

King Chunxuan swept his gaze across the kneeling crowd and said, "What, you dare not answer? This is Zhongjing, not Youdu."

He glanced at his retainer, A, below him. "A, what do you say?"

"Your Majesty..." the servant trembled, "This servant...this servant cannot return!" he cried, "This servant deserves to die a thousand deaths..."

"Heh, look how scared you all are. I was just joking."

His face flushed red, and he stood up and said, "As a subject, Your Majesty should not speak recklessly about your sovereign and father; as the king, you should not mock your subjects."

Prince Chunxuan said, "Alright, alright, I'm tired of hearing this. What's so good about my elder brother that makes you all so reluctant to part with him..."

Before the minister could say anything more, his retainer A spoke first: "Your Majesty, we must take that man seriously. He is a hawk of the false dynasty and is determined to destroy our imperial lineage."

"What's so good about our dynasty? We people are already rotten and should have perished a hundred years ago."

Prince Chunxuan didn't care at all, and even seemed to be looking forward to it, with a flush on his powdered face.

He suddenly pulled a map from the table. It was a map sent by the Jingxiu Bureau, showing the old borders of the former dynasty.

"Great Domain Map, hahaha, what's the use? What's the use? Come on, light it for me..."

As he spoke, he tore the picture in his hand to shreds and threw it down. The servants and concubines had no choice but to get up and burn the torn picture on the lamp.

"And order this for me too. This one, and this one too..."

King Chunxuan became agitated. In one go, he tore up all the books, drawings, and other things on the table and threw them down. The palace was filled with smoke, and people coughed incessantly.

The retainer A lowered his head and muttered, "The king has gone mad, he's gone mad again."

He sighed. He knew that Prince Chunxuan was not insane, but in this situation, he had to appear insane.

Five days later, at the Ministry of National Security, Chen Chuan was looking at a report handed to him by the interrogation department.

After detaining Song Shicheng and others, the department did not do nothing while following procedures, but instead conducted severe mental interrogations on them.

Given their status, such potentially problematic methods would not have been used against them in the past, but now they are being used without any hesitation.

Most of Song Shicheng and his ilk were members of the "Natural Nature" faction. After joining, it became difficult for elders and parents to impose strict constraints on them, since the faction's aim was to encourage the expression of one's natural instincts.
So, besides the Haicun case, they had committed many other crimes in the past. And what they found out was truly shocking.

In reality, they didn't take these things seriously at all, and given their status, even if they were investigated in the past, these matters were indeed beyond their control.

As Ren Xinshan said, without the charge of endangering national security, it would be difficult to do anything to them based solely on these charges.

But once the verdict is handed down, these additional charges will be enough to silence the vast majority of people.

Surprisingly, Zhu Er was not very tainted by his past.

All he did was promote celebrities and, at most, amass wealth beyond his own means.

However, his father was the deputy finance minister, and his brother was a senior executive of a multinational corporation. Moreover, whenever large sums of money were involved, he usually borrowed from banks or asked others to donate, so at least on the surface, he was clean.

Because this person was not the main focus, and Vice Finance Minister Zhu promptly paid a large fine and voluntarily confessed to the crime, he was not subjected to overly in-depth mental interrogation.

After reading the report, Chen Chuan put it down. It seemed that Minister He was not only not obstructing them, but was also intentionally or unintentionally creating convenience for them so that they could proceed smoothly.

He didn't care what Minister He was thinking, but doing so was undoubtedly beneficial to them.

As long as the Security Affairs Department doesn't encounter internal problems, or if higher-ups issue special administrative orders to stop them from continuing their investigations, they don't need to pay any attention to the external clamor.

Once fifteen days have passed and these people have been punished, he can then begin to eliminate the anomaly.

On Haixi Road, inside the branch of Chiyin Dayu Company, President Song Haiying was on the phone. After a while, he said, "Okay, Mr. Long, thank you."

With that, he hung up the phone.

Mrs. Song, who was waiting anxiously beside him, asked, "Old Song, how is he? What about our son?"

Song Haiying shook his head. "It's difficult. I've asked so many old friends, but none of them are willing to get involved. They all advised me not to bail them out anymore, but how can I let go?"

Although he has more than a dozen sons and daughters, Song Shicheng is the most outstanding among them and is expected to take over all of his businesses in the future.

Madam Song said anxiously, "I will go and beg my father."

Song Haiying grabbed her arm and said in a deep voice, "It's no use. The people I just asked for help are all of the same rank as the old man. What can a retired vice minister do? He can't help."

“What else can we do?” Madam Song’s eyes reddened as she grasped Song Haiying’s hand. “Old Song, why don’t we just give away that secret treasure we just discovered…”

Song Haiying sneered, "What's the use of giving them to us? They won't help us; they'll just take advantage of us. When we're strong, they'll take care of us, but once they see through our weaknesses, they'll all rush in and devour us."

"What should we do then..." Madam Song couldn't help but cry.

Song Haiying frowned and said, "If possible, I would have liked to give this secret to that Manager Chen."

I initially thought he was manipulating us to get something in return, but now it seems he might not care about that at all, and is focused on a bigger goal, so this approach won't work.

"Old Song, this won't work, that won't work, what should we do? You should make a decision."

"It's difficult."

Madam Song cried out, "I don't care, I don't care, I want my son! You have to come up with an idea for me today!"

Song Haiying thought for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "This person is a member of the Pure Faction, and should have a good relationship with the Implantation Faction. I have a lot of dealings with the Implantation Faction, so let's try to make connections there. If it works out..."

Just then, an assistant sent a message: "President Song, please take a look at this article. It was written by that Manager Chen."

Upon hearing this, Song Haiying immediately turned the page over to read it. After reading the whole thing, he seemed to suddenly realize something. He took a few steps forward and after a while, he immediately boarded the Jieping and instructed his assistant, "Prepare an airship for me. I need to go to Zhongjing. I'll be leaving within an hour."

Mrs. Song wiped away her tears and said expectantly, "Old Song, have you... have you come up with an idea?"

Song Haiying said in a deep voice, "It's not certain yet. I need to meet that person. Whether it will work out or not, we'll only know after we meet."

……

……

(End of this chapter)