The two things were linked together, and even the "street elders" who chatted after dinner could guess that the selection of the Council of Political Scholars and the disciplinary regulations of the Strict Strike Force were aimed at those families that caused trouble.
When the news was released, family heads from all over Jing State studied it carefully and were delighted to find that the word "Council of State" in this so-called Council of State was just a cover-up. If this institution was named more accurately, it should be "Council of State Councillors".
The major families and scholars have always been troubled by the lack of a nominal status to participate in politics. Now that they have this opportunity, they must use all means to obtain it.
As a result, the first group of completely innocent families suddenly began to make statements locally and on the forums.
The main contents of these statements are extremely similar, basically there are four points.
Support court reform.
Support Fang Yun as the left prime minister.
Support the crackdown on local tyrants and evil gentry.
Oppose any family besieging the imperial palace and government offices.
In just one day, the number of families supporting Fang Yun and the Strike Force exceeded the number of families besieging government offices and the imperial palace.
It was on the evening of that day that Quanyuan held a family dinner for the Fang family, with only six tables in total.
Five of the tables were used to entertain the five major families, and the sixth table was for Fang Yun and several guests.
Among the guests were Right Prime Minister Cao De'an, Assistant Prime Minister Yang Xuwen, Gao Mo of the Criminal Hall, Xiang Liyuan of the Works Hall, Xu Shi of the Agriculture Hall, and Zhang Zangxiang of the Medical Hall.
The heads of the five major families, namely the Chen Sheng family, the Zhang Heng family, the Cui Sheng family, the Ban Gu family and the Gong Yang family, their eldest sons or eldest grandsons or important clan elders were all at the family banquet.
The scale of this family dinner has exceeded that of a state banquet.
The venue for this family dinner was very ordinary, just a courtyard in Quan Garden.
The servants used were very ordinary, all servants and maids of the Fang family.
The chefs are a little special. They are all master chefs from the five major families. They are far better than the royal chefs and represent the highest cooking skills of the human race.
The most special thing is the food.
The rice is dragon-patterned rice, the water is vital energy water, the wine is brewed light wine, and the dishes are divine objects from all realms.
The ingredients this time were taken from the Blood Ray Realm, the Ten Cold Ancient Land, and the Sacred Burial Valley. The value of each dish was more than one Shengshen Fruit. The value of one-third of the dishes could not be exchanged even with dozens of Shengshen Fruits.
After learning about the ingredients for the banquet, the five great families not only sent their best chefs, but also sent a university scholar to each kitchen to conduct comprehensive monitoring to prevent any waste of the magical items and to prevent anyone from stealing them.
This is because any scraps of divine objects could be sold for hundreds of thousands of taels of silver if they were put on the market.
At the beginning of the family dinner, Fang Yun exchanged a few pleasantries first, and then said a lot of polite words. After the food was served, Fang Yun raised his wine glass and said with a smile: "Under the rank of great scholar, you are not allowed to drink alcohol, but you can put the divine wine in a jade bottle, take it home, and drink it after diluting it ten thousand times."
A group of great scholars raised their glasses, and then Fang Yun praised the saints and the king, and the great scholars drank it all in one gulp.
Then, Fang Yun held the official seal and mobilized the power of the Holy Temple to suppress the place.
Those who had not drunk alcohol saw that all the great scholars except Fang Yun were glowing, their talents were vibrating, their faces were flashing with strange lights, and their powerful aura was almost sweeping across the four directions.
But under the seal of the holy temple, these people's power could not be released outwards but was confined within their bodies.
Everyone looked at them secretly. After the initial strangeness, every great scholar had a flushed face, just like an ordinary person who was drunk. After a full hundred breaths, the great scholars finally sobered up one by one. Their eyes became clear again, but their faces were still drunk.
The strong smell of alcohol lingered in the vicinity, even making people feel pungent and nauseous. The great scholar could only endure it.
Many great scholars praised the wine, without sparing any words of praise.
The others were also unclear about the effects of this magical wine, but at least they could see one thing: with just this glass of wine, Fang Yun had bribed all the great scholars.
What's more, there are a lot of divine delicacies on the table.
After drinking, Fang Yun didn't say much. After a few more words, he asked everyone to taste the wine and said they could talk after dinner if there was anything else.
Not to mention the children of aristocratic families, even the heads of aristocratic families and the elders of the Holy Academy had never tasted such luxurious food in their lives, so everyone did not hesitate to eat these delicacies as if they were taking magic medicine.
Those young descendants of the aristocratic families only ate one chopstick of each dish before stopping, because if they ate any more, their bodies would be blown up by the terrifying force. Even if they ate very little, it would take years to fully digest and absorb it.
The rest of the visitors were at least university scholars and could eat more, but they quickly put down their chopsticks and used their power to absorb the divine objects.
Only great scholars can eat until the end and finish all the delicacies.
The plate was spotless, with no soup left.
After eating, no one spoke at all. Everyone began to mobilize their energy to digest this rare divine item.
Half a quarter of an hour later, a university scholar from the Chen Sheng family was promoted from the fourth realm to the peak.
A quarter of an hour later, the great scholar of the Gongyang family was promoted from the first realm to the second realm...
Within two hours, seven people advanced one small realm in Wenwei, five people advanced one small realm in Wendan, and three people were already able to break through Wenwei or Wendan, but they suppressed it for the time being and would make preparations after the dinner before breaking through.
After two hours, everyone stopped absorbing one after another. It was not because they had finished absorbing, but because they had finally completed the initial absorption and would continue.
Everyone noticed that everyone present had become younger and their aura was slightly different.
No one thanked Fang Yun, but everyone was struggling inside.
There is no free food in the world, let alone divine objects. How can I repay Fang Yun
This dinner was not just a transaction. When they ate these divine objects, they already owed Fang Yuntian a huge favor, or perhaps even a kindness.
Seeing that everyone was sober, Fang Yun smiled and said, "Now that we have had enough wine and food, let's skip the discussion and get straight to the point about the purpose of this dinner."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Fang Yun did not mention these magical objects at all because he was afraid that everyone would feel embarrassed or confused.
Fang Yun restrained his smile and said seriously: "You are all the pillars of the human race and the pillars of Jingguo. You all knew better than I did many years ago how serious the internal crisis of Jingguo has become."
Everyone nodded slightly.
"Without reform, Jingguo won't last five years. With reform, I dare not say how long it can last, but at least there is a certain possibility that it can last five years. Of course, it is also possible that the reform fails and Jingguo pays a heavy price, and it can't even last three years. I am very confident about this reform, but I have also been preparing for the worst."
"The biggest obstacle to this reform is well known to you and me. It is not the ability of our luck, the attitude of the officials, the authority of the royal family, or even the content of the reform, but the groups whose core interests I have touched, including some aristocratic families, various countries, large families, and many scholars. They are the vested interests of the old system. Once the reform is carried out, they will inevitably pay a painful price. Even if they can be reborn from the ashes, they will still oppose me."
"In fact, when I decided to take on the role of Left Prime Minister, I was preparing for today's family dinner, but I don't want to host this family dinner more than anyone else. Once this family dinner is held, it means that my enemies have used means that should not be used and have exceeded the bottom line of the human race. The rebellion in Dingfu is the final example."