Chapter 15 Trouble

Wen Fengli said, "Lord Yuan, is there anything wrong with what I said?"

Yuan Buyi snorted and said, "Lord Wen, you are the Minister of Rites and the top scorer in the imperial examination. You must be familiar with the words of the sages, right?"

Wen Fengli raised his head, full of pride, and said, "Of course! But what does the words of the sages have to do with the selection of the Minister of Revenue?"

"The sage said, 'Promote the worthy without regard to relations.'"

Yuan Buyi slowly said, "The sage said so. As a disciple of the sage, does Lord Wen want to oppose the sage's words?"

Wen Fengli's eyes widened, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, but he couldn't utter a word.

He couldn't refute Yuan Buyi's words at all!

At least, he couldn't refute it from the standpoint of the sage's words.

The Minister of Rites, Yang Yongqi, quickly stood up and said, "Lord Yuan is right, but as far as I know, although Lord Xu's ability is good, it remains to be seen whether he is capable enough to serve as the Minister of Revenue."

"You think Lord Xu is not capable enough?" Yuan Buyi suddenly asked.

Yang Yongqi didn't expect Yuan Buyi to make his words so clear. He said, "I'm just not sure. After all, Lord Xu hasn't shown any outstanding performance before…"

Before Yang Yongqi could finish speaking, Yuan Buyi took out a stack of documents and stuffed them into Yang Yongqi's hands, saying, "Is this enough?"

Yang Yongqi was confused. After looking through them, he was shocked.

What was recorded on these documents was Xu Changqing's land distribution log in Jinling. Every event recorded on it was enough to prove Xu Changqing's ability.

Yang Yongqi wanted to say that these documents were likely fabricated, but after thinking about it, he kept his mouth shut and retreated.

Such unreasonable arguments could only delay things for a few days. After investigation, Xu Changqing's ability would still be proven.

Seeing that Yang Yongqi had nothing to say, Yuan Buyi took the initiative and looked at the remaining three ministers.

"Lord Wei, Lord Mo, Lord Han, do you have any objections to Lord Xu serving as the Minister of Revenue?"

The three looked at each other and reluctantly shook their heads.

At this point, they could see that there was no way to stop Xu Changqing from becoming the Minister of Revenue.

Seeing the three of them retreating, Yuan Buyi felt great joy in his heart.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel admiration for Jiang Chen.

The entire debate just now was simulated for him by Jiang Chen last night.

And as it turned out, what happened today was almost exactly the same as what Jiang Chen had simulated.

It could be said that everything was under Jiang Chen's control!

Yuan Buyi's excitement, falling into the eyes of the five ministers, made them very angry.

Those words were not something the old-fashioned Yuan Buyi could say!

This was clearly His Majesty's tone!

After all that, Yuan Buyi's attack last night was not for him to serve as the Minister of Revenue, but to act in a play!

Now that things had developed to this point, the five ministers could only sigh in vain.

At this time, Jiang Chen chuckled and said, "In that case, it seems that you ministers have no objections to Minister Xu serving as the Minister of Revenue. Since that's the case, then it's settled!"

"Feng Jin, issue an order to Jinling, ordering Xu Changqing to return to the capital quickly and take up the post of Minister of Revenue."

After speaking, Jiang Chen looked at Yuan Buyi again.

"Grand Tutor Yuan, the affairs in Jinling have not yet been completed. How about you go and take over?"

"This old minister obeys the decree!" Yuan Buyi said loudly.

The court meeting ended quickly.

Jiang Chen left satisfied, while the faces of the five ministers were as gloomy as if it was about to rain.

In just one month, they had suffered repeated setbacks, which not only caused great damage to their interests.

More importantly, they could see that many ministers were not as close to them as before.

They were trying to draw a line!

The five ministers gathered together to discuss ways to consolidate their positions.

At this time, Jiang Chen was in plain clothes outside the capital city gate, seeing Yuan Buyi off.

"Grand Tutor, you've worked hard," Jiang Chen said.

Yuan Buyi was a little emotional and said, "Being able to contribute to His Majesty and Great Wei, this old minister will have no regrets even in death!"

"Grand Tutor, you can't think like that. There will be many things in the future that will rely on the Grand Tutor," Jiang Chen said with a smile.

"Good, this old minister will never forget what His Majesty said. This old minister is leaving."

Jiang Chen watched Yuan Buyi's carriage leave, and only after he could no longer see it did he walk back with Feng Jin.

Perhaps it was the reclamation of land plus redistribution, or perhaps it was Jiang Chen's recent series of measures. At this time, the capital was bustling with activity. The streets were full of merchants and pedestrians, and the sounds of hawking rose and fell.

Jiang Chen walked on the street with Feng Jin, looking at the crowded restaurants and shops, and smiled with satisfaction.

Suddenly, Feng Jin shouted, "Your Grace, be careful!"

Jiang Chen was shocked, thinking that someone was trying to assassinate him.

He immediately reached out to strike that person.

But soon, Jiang Chen realized that the other party was not trying to assassinate him, but was stumbling towards him.

Jiang Chen dodged to the side, and the person immediately fell at Jiang Chen's feet.

Feng Jin did not dare to let Jiang Chen take risks. He carefully squatted down to take a look, and then, as if seeing something, he screamed.

"Ghost! It's a ghost!"

This shout scared the pedestrians nearby to scatter and flee.

Jiang Chen frowned and shouted, "How can there be ghosts in this world? Even if there are, how could they come out in broad daylight?"

Feng Jin's mind was slightly settled, but he still said, "Your Grace, it's really a ghost. This person's hair is golden, his eyes seem to be blue, and I can't understand what he's saying."

"A foreigner?"

A guess emerged in Jiang Chen's mind.

He ignored Feng Jin's reminder and squatted down to take a look.

Sure enough, it was a standard Westerner's appearance.

And it was a woman.

Although she was dirty, it still couldn't hide her beautiful face.

"Take her to a nearby inn and find someone to take care of her," Jiang Chen said.

Feng Jin reluctantly did so.

An hour later, the woman put down her chopsticks, burped, and said to Jiang Chen, who was frowning beside her, "xie xie."

The tone was strange, and Feng Jin couldn't help but correct her, "It's 'thank you', not 'xie xie'."

But the woman looked at Feng Jin blankly, completely not knowing what Feng Jin was talking about.

"Where do you come from?" Jiang Chen suddenly opened his mouth, using the common foreign language that he hadn't spoken for a long time.

When the woman heard this, her eyes lit up, and she fluently said in the common foreign language, "You understand our country's language? That's great!"

As she spoke, the woman shed tears of excitement.

She had been in Great Wei for half a year, and this was the first time she had met a Great Wei person who could speak their language.

Feng Jin on the side was also very surprised.

When did His Majesty learn a foreign language?

"Not much."

Jiang Chen gestured and then asked, "What's your name? Why did you come to Great Wei?"

"My name is Catherine, and I come from a country called England. I heard that Great Wei is very prosperous, so I wanted to come and see."

"But I encountered a big storm on the way, and in the end, only the ship I was on came here. No one heard what I was saying, so that's why I became like this."