The Great Wei Music Bureau

Last time, we talked about Li Yi and Tao Zhongwen chatting until dawn. When it was time to go to court, they couldn't delay, so they had to give up and go their separate ways. Li Yi returned to the royal hunting grounds, and Tao Zhongwen went to court. So how will the story develop next? Let's read on.

Li Yi returned to the big tent, had a brief conversation with Shiyu, and then fell asleep. Poor Shiyu had to run around on her own. Fortunately, all the groups were almost ready now, so she didn't have to worry too much.

When Li Yi woke up, it was already afternoon. He hadn't even had lunch yet, so he was of course starving. He got up and washed his face. Xing'er saw him wake up and went to find Shiyu, who saw Li Yi and said, "My husband, just now, Manager Zhou from the Exiled Immortal Tower sent someone to tell me that Master Xiao wants to see you."

Li Yi, who was drinking water, spat it all out. He shouted, "What? Master Xiao wants to see me? What do you want to see me for?"

Shi Yu said, "They just said that they have set up a banquet for you to eat, and asked me to notify you." Li Yi's scalp was numb. This Master Xiao was not just anyone else, but the Emperor of Wei, Tuoba Jun! Why did the Emperor personally look for him? Was it because of Nangong Xue? Li Yi muttered to himself.

Seeing Li Yi's worried face, Shi Yu asked with concern, "My husband, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? If you are not feeling well, I will ask someone to go back to the banquet."

Li Yi quickly said, "Absolutely not!" He looked around and said to Shi Yu in a low voice, "Madam, do you know who that Young Master Xiao is? How dare you refuse his invitation! He is the current emperor!"

Shi Yu was about to scream when Li Yi covered her mouth with his hand. The latter signaled her not to speak out. Shi Yu pushed Li Yi's hand away and whispered, "Is what my husband said true? The person behind the Exiled Immortal Tower turned out to be the current emperor?"

Li Yi nodded and said, "Don't tell anyone about this. I will only tell you, not even Bai Ling. Do you understand?"

Shiyu nodded, and Li Yi said, "You said the emperor invited me to dinner, how can I not go? So I must go. I guess I won't be able to come back tonight, my lady, I'll leave this to you." Shiyu nodded in agreement, and asked someone to prepare the carriage. Li Yi got on the carriage and headed straight for Shangjingcheng...

The carriage soon arrived at the Bishui River. A small boat was parked by the river, and the man rowing the boat was Manager Zhou. Li Yi got off the carriage and got on the boat and said with a smile, "Manager Zhou, it's really a waste of your talent to be a boatman. With your skills, why do you need to row the boat?"

Manager Zhou said calmly, "You know that His Majesty left the palace incognito to conceal his identity, yet you are here to tease us. What is the intention of Li Changshi?"

Li Yi shrank his neck and said, "How can Manager Zhou be so ignorant of humor?"

Manager Zhou sneered and said, "Li Changshi, I have heard that you killed Yu Wentian's sixty heavy armors with one move, but I tell you, I am the only one in the Wei Dynasty who has fought with the Buddhist Vajra. I wonder how your Vajra magic skills compare to Monk Zhengyuan's?"

Li Yi was surprised and asked, "Is Manager Zhou in the Transcendent Realm?"

Manager Zhou said, “Only those who are recognized by heaven and earth can enter the realm of transcendence, but the skills we practice cannot be recognized by heaven and earth.

But I can tell Li Changshi one thing, that is, there are still many people like us who practice evil methods in this world, and most of these people are not as kind as us. Although they cannot enter the extraordinary realm, they have the strength of the extraordinary realm. Li Changshi should be more careful in the future and don't provoke those people..."

Li Yi asked: "Manager Zhou, could you tell me something? Li Yi will definitely avoid them in the future."

Manager Zhou smiled faintly and said, “In Nanliang, there are wild cultivators in Maoshan who call themselves exorcists of ghosts. They go around subduing evil spirits in the name of catching ghosts and exorcising demons, but in fact they feed on the souls of the dead and evil spirits to cultivate. As their cultivation level increases, the amount of evil spirits in their bodies increases, and many people have embarked on a path of no return.

The Gu Masters of Western Chu were even more vicious, using their Gu magic to coerce others into working for them. Many of them had committed many evil deeds. When dealing with them, one had to be wary not only of Gu poisons, but also of witchcraft. The state religion of Western Chu was the Witchcraft Cult, and the masters of the Witchcraft Cult were not easy to deal with.

There are also witchcraft, shamanism, and Zoroastrianism on the grassland. There are too many people in this world who are not presentable but have reached the extraordinary level of strength. What we are talking about is only what we know. There are many things we don’t know. Li Changshi, there are always people better than you, and there are always things better than you. This sentence is not a joke.

Li Changshi should be glad that he was born in the Wei Dynasty, where there is not so much chaos. If he were in the Western Chu Dynasty, I am afraid you would not even know how you died! "

Li Yi bowed to Manager Zhou and said, "Thank you for your reminder, Manager Zhou. Xiu Yuan will keep it in mind and will be more careful in the future."

Li Yi deduced three meanings from Manager Zhou's words. First, there are still evil demons that are not recognized by the heavens. Although they have not entered the extraordinary realm, they have the strength of the extraordinary realm. Manager Zhou also has the strength to fight against the Vajra of Buddhism. On the surface, Manager Zhou only showed the strength of a fourth-grade warrior, but no one knew what his actual strength was.

Second, in the Great Wei, there is only Manager Zhou who practices evil skills, and he is under control, so he said that there is no corruption in the Great Wei.

Third, there are people who practice this kind of evil techniques in Nanliang, Xichu, and even in the grasslands and deserts. If you go to other countries, you must be extremely careful.

Li Yi suddenly saw the purple thunder mark on the palm of his right hand appear, in purple and red. He closed his eyes and felt it silently. In his heart, he vaguely felt a difficult-to-dispel thought, which probably meant to eliminate demons and defend the way. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Manager Zhou, and asked, "Why are you telling me this, Manager Zhou?"

Manager Zhou smiled and said, "It's just idle chat. I just want to advise you to be more careful in the future. Don't think that you are invincible just because you have mastered the Buddhist Vajra Divine Art. Now you can't even beat Dugu Long." Li Yi looked at Manager Zhou with a serious face, then saluted with both hands.

The boat stopped beside a ship, and a ladder was lowered from the ship. Li Yi was led by a maid to the second-floor banquet. At the banquet, Xiao Yao, who was aliased by Tuoba Jun, was smiling. Li Yi saluted with both hands and said, "I wonder what kind of banquet Brother Xiao is preparing today?"

Xiao Yao waved his hand to signal Li Yi to take a seat. He and Li Yi were the only ones left in the hall, so he smiled and said, "Help yourself. Eat and drink. Don't be polite. I called you here today just to treat you to a meal and chat."

Li Yi was indeed not polite. He was really hungry. He ate meat and drank wine, and he really didn't treat himself as an outsider. After wolfing down his food, Li Yi wiped his mouth and said, "I'm done. Brother Xiao, you can say whatever you want to say."

Xiao Yao said while eating, "You were the one who came up with the idea of ​​the imperial examination. I heard from the teacher that you even thought of a way to implement it, and you also solved the problem of money. This meal is specially to express your gratitude."

Li Yi said coldly, "May I ask whether you are inviting me to dinner today as the Emperor of Wei or as Young Master Xiao Yao?"

Tuoba Jun asked with a smile: "What's the difference?"

Li Yi replied: "If you invite me to dinner as an emperor, it would be too stingy. The imperial examination system benefits the country and the people, and it is also a major plan for long-term stability. Don't you think it's too frivolous to just treat me to a meal?"

Xiao Yao poured himself a glass of wine and asked with a smile: "What difference would it make if it was Xiao Yao's identity?"

Li Yi said as he picked up some food: "If you are inviting me to dinner as Master Xiao Yao, then it means you still have doubts about the imperial examination system and you are here to discuss it in detail. This meal is reasonable."

Xiao Yao smiled, picked up the wine jug and glass, stood up and sat next to Li Yi. He first poured himself a glass of wine, and then poured wine for Li Yi. Li Yi quickly straightened up and picked up the wine glass to show respect.

Xiao Yao smiled and said, "My teacher told me a long time ago that all great talents in the world have some strange tempers and are even more unruly. He warned me that if I want to conquer you, I must humble myself and open my heart to you. Today, I am here to drink with you as a friend."

When Li Yi heard this, he drank the wine in his glass in one gulp, then picked up the glass again. Xiao Yao smiled and filled it up for Li Yi. Li Yi drank three glasses in a row, then put down the glass and bowed to Xiao Yao, saying, "Brother Xiao, I understand your feelings, but I wonder if you know mine, Brother Xiao?"

Xiao Yao picked up the wine glass and said, "I've heard some of what the teacher said, but I still want to hear it from you in person."

Li Yi filled his glass with wine and said, "To be honest, Brother Xiao, I am lazy and unmotivated. I don't have many grand ambitions. As long as I live a carefree life, I will be satisfied. Mr. Tao asked me to join the Secretariat several times, but I refused. That's why."

Xiao Yao asked, "Doesn't Xiuyuan have the ambition to unify the world?"

Li Yi nodded and said, "Yes, there is, but this is definitely not something that can be done by one person. It requires the joint efforts of the Wei State from top to bottom."

Xiao Yao smiled and said, "From the tone of your voice, it seems that unifying the world is not a difficult task for you?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "May I ask Brother Xiao, what difficulties does it have for our Great Wei to march south?"

Xiao Yao said, "Xiaoliang has the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, and our Wei people are not good at water battles, so we have been unable to conquer it for a long time; Chu relies on the difficulty of the Shu Road to block our army's way south, and the two countries in the Southern Dynasty both rely on geographical advantages to hold on, which is one of the difficulties.

However, our great Wei is threatened by the Huns in the north, and is watched by the Qiang and Di people in the west. We also have to guard against the southern kingdoms moving north. In other words, we are attacked from all sides. This is the second difficulty.

Looking at our dynasty, the contradictions between the Xianbei tribe and the Central Plains clans are becoming increasingly intensified, the people are unwilling to return, civil unrest is frequent, and reform is imminent. This is the third difficulty. With these three difficulties, how difficult it is to achieve world peace! "

Li Yi smiled and said, "To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country. As I said before, we should promote Confucianism and restore rituals, lead the orthodox system, win the hearts of the people, strengthen the imperial power, carry out reforms, enrich the country and strengthen the army, and then we can stabilize the country. The role of the imperial examination system is to let everyone in the world see that no matter how high or low their family background is, they have the opportunity to enter the government in our Wei Dynasty. With the literary governance and literary prosperity, we can attract students from all over the world and gather talents from all over the country. Why worry about not being able to conquer the country?"

Xiao Yao shook his head and said, "But once the imperial examination system is really implemented, it will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction among the aristocratic families, the royal family, and even the old Xianbei people! They have controlled the path to officialdom for a long time. If their way of being an official is cut off, I am afraid that the Wei Dynasty will change!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Brother Xiao, you must have thought this through carefully. Can you think of any solution?"

Xiao Yao said dissatisfiedly: "If I had thought of it, why would I ask you to drink?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "In fact, this problem is easy to solve. The purpose of establishing the imperial examination system is to recruit talents, but the court naturally has to retain other ways to enter the government. Aristocratic families and royal nobles still have their own ways to enter the government, but the official positions have to be determined by your majesty. In addition, expanding the territory and increasing the demand for officials can also ease this contradiction."

Xiao Yao asked, "Open up new territories? What do you mean by cultivating your destiny?"

Li Yi pointed to the west and said with a smile: "Western Regions! The Western Regions have no longer been connected with the Central Plains since the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty. The Silk Road opened by Emperor Wu of Qin is no longer as prosperous as it used to be. You know, this trade route is a very important source of tax revenue!

As far as I know, Guazhou is now the northwest gateway of our Great Wei, and the most important city of Dunhuang on the Silk Road is like a pearl outside the Great Wall, waiting for a wise ruler. If we can occupy Dunhuang, pacify Gaochang, open up the Silk Road, and then attract the Western Regions to trade, we can not only show the power of our Great Wei, but also collect taxes from them, and also divert conflicts and mediate internal problems. Isn't this a strategy of killing three birds with one stone?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yao laughed happily and said, "This may be feasible! Great! Xiuyuan, the teacher also has plans in the Western Regions. If you two can come up with a foolproof plan, I will naturally be willing to expand our territory!" As he spoke, Xiao Yao poured the wine again.

Li Yi finished the wine in his glass and said, "I have discussed this with Old Silver Coin before, but we haven't come to a conclusion yet. I will discuss this with him later. But Brother Xiao, I am used to being lazy. I can give you advice and think of solutions, but when it comes to the actual work, please find someone else who can do it."

Xiao Yao sighed: "But I am short of people."