Chapter 346: Death as Atonement

It has been nearly twenty years since the great peace of the world.

The students of the Confucian School are as their name suggests, and they are all over the world.

The school was divided into two pavilions, the civil and military pavilions, by Zhao Yuan.

The civil pavilion was ruled by Li Hongyi, who had read thousands of scriptures and understood the great righteousness.

The military pavilion was governed by He Mingtao.

Above the civil and military pavilions was Zhao Yuan, the leader of the teaching.

Needless to say, He Mingtao was very strong in martial arts, and was only slightly inferior to Zhao Yuan in the past.

After Zhao Yuan planted a seed of great righteousness in his heart, he also developed a literary mind and broke the shackles of martial arts.

In several battles, he killed several wizards for Da Cai.

He was worthy of the title of the head of the martial pavilion.

The reason why Li Hongyi was able to defeat a group of great Confucian scholars in the court and become the head of the civil pavilion.

It was because after following Zhao Yuan, he did not learn Zhao Yuan's martial arts.

He also rejected Cai Ningrui's recruitment, but studied hard in a side room of the library for twelve years.

Except for daily physiological needs, the rest of the time was spent on reading.

He had witnessed the scene of Zhao Yuan chanting "Song of Righteousness" and painting and swordsmanship.

After Zhao Yuan's explanation, he became more and more convinced that Zhao Yuan's power did not come from martial arts, but from faith.

So, twelve years later.

Li Hongyi's Yin Shen came out of his body in the daytime, and he survived six disasters in the spring thunder.

He used ten thousand volumes of scriptures and compiled a book called "One Stroke to Decide the Thousand Years" to enter the Tao.

This Tao is not an orthodox way. After all, its main cultivation is not the soul and magic power, but the cultivation of the righteousness in the heart.

Even Zhao Yuan practiced this method later.

In the past ten years, almost all the top scholars in civil and military affairs in Da Cai were disciples of the Confucian School.

Not only that, even when the Confucian world was first established, Cai Ningrui personally came to the scene and wrote a plaque for it.

The words "Da Cai Xue Palace" on it are a great honor for countless people.

But Zhao Yuan did not take it seriously, and just wrote a larger line of "Confucian World" above this Xue Palace.

But so far, the two words "Xue Palace" have almost become a synonym for Confucian World.

It also made the common people and nobles in the world almost want to send their children to Fengxin County to study in the Xue Palace.

It's a pity that in recent years, although Zhao Yuan has recruited many talented Confucian scholars hidden in the folk.

But for the number of students, it is still just a drop in the bucket.

Zhao Yuan did not teach his disciples personally, but formulated the rules and system of the Xue Palace.

After all, not every student is a genius, and they are destined to be proficient in only one of the two ways of civil and military.

And what Zhao Yuan has to do is to formulate a series of courses for martial arts students, so that these martial arts students understand that they cannot violate the rules with force and cannot bully the weak.

Students of liberal arts are honest, love the people, and respect the people.

However, in recent years, as the world has become peaceful, Da Cai has gradually become richer from its previous poverty.

Due to climate and land issues, as long as the people of Da Cai are diligent, they will not lack food and drink.

In addition, Zhao Yuan still has the memory of Xie Que in his mind.

This makes the textbooks in the academy not only monotonous and boring.

There are also a lot of content related to agriculture and fisheries.

Zhao Yuan knows that people's livelihood is the foundation of the country.

Even inside the academy, there are thousands of acres of fertile land.

These fields allow students to experience the hardships of labor and learn a lot of agricultural knowledge from practice.

Regardless of civil or military, there are a lot of practical courses.

Therefore, in recent years, officials who have come out of the Confucian world are almost all able to do practical things.

Moreover, Da Cai is already rich. Most areas in the south do not have cold winters or hot summers, and the fertile land can harvest grain four times a year.

The almost endless grassland in the northwest has become a natural pasture.

Both agriculture and animal husbandry have been developing rapidly in the past ten years.

Development breeds corruption.

In the fifteenth year of the Xin Dynasty, Zhao Yuan set up the School Palace Supervisor to supervise the words and deeds of students leaving the School Palace.

Only graduates of the School Palace who passed the imperial examination were eligible to apply for the post of Supervisor.

Trained by Zhao Yuan himself, and personally appointed by the emperor, he has the power to thoroughly investigate all officials.

Under the insight of Zhao Yuan's noble heart, all thoughts are unavoidable.

This also makes the supervisors truly impartial.

It's a pity that the ideal country that Zhao Yuan wants to build is always one step away from his idea.

In recent years, there are not a few supervisors who have been corrupted and fallen.

These people may be righteous when they first enter the School Palace.

But as time goes by, people's hearts also change.

It is for this reason that Zhao Yuan even went out of his way to thoroughly investigate two cases of corruption by first-class officials.

After this incident, Cai Ningrui couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

After all, these two first-rank officials were all those who followed him in the uprising.

Not only that, many officials in the court were also under pressure and began to shout the slogan of "removing the academy".

Although Cai Ningrui is now nearly seventy years old, he is still strong because he has practiced some Taoist methods.

At first, he admired and respected Zhao Yuan.

But after this incident, his impression of Zhao Yuan also changed.

Now that the world is stable, Zhao Yuan is like a time bomb to him.

It may explode at any time.

After several wizards surrendered, he was confident that he could rule the world even without Zhao Yuan's power.

However, the friendship of the uprising in the past and the two iron chains on Zhao Yuan's wrists still dissuaded Cai Ningrui and told him what kind of person Zhao Yuan was.

This also made Cai Ningrui reluctant to take action.

He sighed deeply and waved his hand to let the wizard in front of the hall withdraw.

The wizard's name was Chen Tong, a native of Da Cai.

Chen Tong followed him in the uprising more than ten years ago and overthrew the Jin Dynasty.

Cai Ningrui was not stingy and granted him the official positions of Wanhu Hou and Taiwei.

Among the two first-rank officials who were imprisoned and died tragically in prison because of corruption, one was Chen Tong's brother.

Because of this matter, Chen Tong told Cai Ningrui more than once that he wanted to abolish the Supervisor and even the Academy.

But every time, Cai Ningrui rejected him.

Yesterday, one of Cai Ningrui's nephews was also investigated by the Supervisor and thrown into prison.

Even the sons of the royal family were not spared.

This made Cai Ningrui more and more shaken.

He was now old and could not be emperor for a few more years.

And his son, the crown prince of the dynasty.

He was a die-hard Zhao Yuan and had served as a supervisor for a few years in the past.

He claimed that after he succeeded to the throne, he would conduct a major investigation of the officials in the court.

This made many old subordinates, even those in their seventies and eighties, come to Cai Ningrui in tears to plead for mercy.

Cai Ningrui was also a little annoyed.

He did not blame his son, but instead pushed all these problems onto Zhao Yuan.

With these worries, Cai Ningrui drank some wine after meeting with several officials.

This was a habit he developed in his early years.

If he did not drink, he would suffer from insomnia.

After that, he put on a velvet blanket and prepared to take a short nap on the dragon bed.

Snowflakes were fluttering outside the window and the north wind was howling.

The maidservant beside him lit the stove again and lighted some incense to dispel the smell of firewood.

In the warmth and tipsiness, Cai Ningrui felt that all kinds of things flashed through his mind.

Just when he was about to fall asleep, he saw a young man walk into the palace.

The man was wearing a dragon robe and was tall and straight, just like in his memory.

This man was the late emperor Cai Tangyuan, and also Cai Ningrui's nephew.

He was also the one who was aggressive and advised Zhao Yuan, and was finally humiliated and killed by the Jin people.

Although Cai Ningrui was older, Cai Tangyuan was a few years older than Cai Ningrui.

In Cai Tangyuan's hand was a plum blossom that had fallen in the courtyard.

He sniffed and smiled at Cai Ningrui: "Uncle, you're awake."

Cai Ningrui was not surprised to see this, but said calmly: "It's you, let me think, how many years have we not seen each other..."

"Uncle, it's been forty-three years." Cai Tangyuan put the plum blossom branch in his hand on the table and put his hands on the stove in the shape of a Pixiu to keep warm.

Cai Ningrui pondered for a while, then nodded again: "It's been so long, it seems that I haven't been back to the capital for too long."

"What's the difference between the capital and the county city?" Cai Tangyuan smiled, and never mentioned this topic again. Instead, he said: "Since the emperor's uncle has inherited the throne, I can rest assured."

Cai Ningrui dragged his old body to sit up from the dragon bed, and shook his head with all his strength: "It's all thanks to you for reminding Zhao Yuan at the beginning. If not, the world would be over..."

Unexpectedly, Cai Tangyuan suddenly smiled knowingly: "Uncle, if you hadn't colluded with the Jin Kingdom, how could my Cai be like this?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cai Ningrui suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

He looked at himself, and was suddenly covered with a golden robe, and a five-clawed golden dragon on the clothes seemed to be about to take off immediately.

Cai Tangyuan has been dead for decades... but how could he meet him in the palace...

He hurriedly shouted: "Come here... Come here..."

Cai Tangyuan took a step forward and lifted Cai Ningrui's chin: "Uncle, remember... Zhao Yuan will avenge me..."

In a trance, Cai Ningrui felt dizzy.

He had woken up from a dream, and the whole bed was full of sweat.

And around him, there were all the guards and palace maids with stunned expressions.

Cai Ningrui felt that his face was a little embarrassed, so he waved his hand to let all these people disperse.

Leaving himself sitting in front of the bed and thinking deeply.

He didn't understand that only one person knew about his collusion with Dajin.

Because it was that person who got his information and sent it to Jin.

And this person was killed by him later, and he also ensured that all those who knew about this matter were dead.

Otherwise, he would not have been able to sit firmly on the position of the emperor for more than 20 years.

It was just that Cai Ningrui underestimated Junlu too much at the time.

Just now, Da Cai completely collapsed.

At first, he just wanted Junlu to abduct Cai Tangyuan, and then he would return to the capital to fight for the throne.

Unexpectedly, Junlu took Zhao Yuan and the entire palace in one fell swoop.

After this incident, Cai Ningrui was in a state of panic for many years.

Even the habit of falling asleep only after drinking was developed at that time.

Not long after, another minister came to see the emperor.

He was also an old meritorious official who drove out the Jin people with him.

But now he came for Zhao Yuan.

He said that in the academy, the content taught included loyalty to the people and loyalty to the country, but not loyalty to the emperor.

This shows that Zhao Yuan has no respect for His Majesty.

And there is news among the people.

Nowadays, almost all local officials and military officers come from the academy.

Almost all of them are Zhao Yuan's disciples.

There are rumors among the people that after Cai Ningrui's death, Zhao Yuan will be able to become a real emperor.

Nowadays, some people who like to do good things call Zhao Yuan "Zhao Tianxia".

Hearing this, thinking of the dream just now, Cai Ningrui sighed.

After waving his hand to let the official leave, he called out a few more figures.

These people are all Taoist masters he recruited. One of them is from the "Zenlin Temple" thousands of miles away, and his cultivation has reached the ninth level of thunder tribulation.

Cai Ningrui did not beat around the bush and said directly: "If you want to take down Zhao Yuan, are you sure?"

After seeing the few people looking at each other, Cai Ningrui just looked calmly.

Only then did the few people know that the emperor really wanted to take Zhao Yuan.

After all, for so many years, the few people have been protecting Cai Ningrui closely, and have never seen him have any abnormal emotions towards Zhao Yuan.

But he didn't expect that he would be killed as soon as he attacked.

After several people pondered for a moment, the Nine Tribulations Master of Chanlin Temple nodded slowly.

They didn't know Zhao Yuan's true strength, but they also knew that in this world, the strongest cultivator was only at the seventh level of Thunder Tribulation.

No matter how invincible Zhao Yuan was, he couldn't be a Yangshen Zhenjun.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been imprisoned by the Jin Kingdom for so many years, and he couldn't remove the cold iron chains in his body.

The next day, Cai Ningrui summoned Zhao Yuan.

After the two reminisced about the past, Zhao Yuan had a clear understanding of everything around him.

In Haoran's heart, all thoughts can be seen.

Cai Ningrui just sighed, rewarded Zhao Yuan with a glass of wine, and said:

"Mr. Zhao, everyone says that you are more powerful than the master, but I know that this world is almost conquered by you."

"How about you sitting on the throne of the emperor?"

As he said that, Cai Ningrui actually took off his dragon robe and threw it in front of Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuan was silent, just shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"

Cai Ningrui looked directly at Zhao Yuan, whose face was still like that of a middle-aged man, as if he would never age.

He raised his hand and looked at the wrinkles on the back of his hand, and became more and more convinced of what others said.

If he died, Zhao Yuan would indeed be able to control the world.

And if he lived long enough, his Cai family would never be able to make a name for themselves again.

At that time, the world would be ruled by the Zhao family.

Cai Ningrui thought of this and asked for another piece of red silk:

"If you have no intention of becoming emperor, then use this red silk to commit suicide."

He knew that Zhao Yuan was a passionate person. If he really had a loyal heart, he should have died to apologize when he heard these rumors.

If he denied it, it would prove that Zhao Yuan really had ambitions.

Zhao Yuan, who saw through everything, was calm and even had no expression on his face.

He just said calmly: "Your Majesty, if you can't sit in peace in this world, I won't help you sit."

"But committing suicide is only a coward's act."

"A real man is born between heaven and earth, and he should cook five tripods and eat."

"I have ambitions, but my ambition is just to protect this great Cai Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Zhao Yuan looked at Cai Ningrui again, sighed and said: "Your Majesty, this is just the last time I call you Your Majesty."

At this point, Cai Ningrui suddenly felt a sense of crisis in his heart. He hurriedly waved his hand to call out several masters of the palace, but what fell in front of him were just three dead bodies.

Then, it was Li Hongyi who jumped down.

Li Hongyi looked like a young man, with a handsome face, holding a scroll of scriptures and carrying a book basket, as if he was a young Confucian scholar going to Beijing to take the exam.

In Cai Ningrui's panicked eyes, Zhao Yuan said again: "Cai Ningrui, if you can sit on the throne of the world, it will be fine."

"I can ignore your collusion with the Kingdom of Jin."

"But now your inner demon is revealed, and the world will only be in chaos in your hands."

Cai Ningrui's eyes widened when he heard this.

He didn't know how the other party knew these things.

Li Hongyi took a step forward and sighed: "Cai Ningrui, the letter you sent... happened to be read to King Jin by me."