Shendou Continent

Chapter 203 The setting sun is like blood
On May [-]th, there are still three days before the summer solstice, one of the four o'clock and eighth festivals. However, in Chuzhou, Nanou Province, the Oujiang River burst in Moon Bay, Long County after days of heavy rain.The flood flooded many farmlands in Long County, Yun County, Lian County of Chuzhou, and Yandang County of Jiazhou, causing tens of thousands of houses to collapse, tens of thousands of people were affected, and countless cattle, poultry, etc. were washed away.

It was two nights later that the capital learned the news.The Secretary of General Administration who was in charge of the memorial received the memorial, and the chief official and general administration envoy immediately brought the memorial of the prefect of Chuzhou to the palace to submit to the emperor.Because Emperor Xinfeng was having fun with his concubine in the harem, the eunuch at the gate of the palace lied that his majesty had gone to bed, and sent him away after receiving the memorial.

The next day is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the most yang energy.Before Mao's time, in the Jiuqing Room outside the Chongzheng Hall in the Hangjing Imperial Palace, hundreds of civil and military officials had gathered here, waiting to go to court.But when it was Maoshi, a eunuch in the palace only came to announce that His Majesty was unwell and canceled the morning court today.

The ministers can't remember how many times this year the court meeting has been canceled, but it feels that the number of court meeting cancellations is increasing.Yang Siwei, chief assistant of the cabinet, knew that Ke Wuxin recruited a group of new beauties last night, and Emperor Xinfeng worked hard all night.But Nanou was hit by a flood, and human lives were at stake. This matter must be ordered by the Holy Majesty immediately.However, the memorial submitted by the Secretary of General Administration has not yet been transferred to the cabinet, so he will immediately go to the palace to face the saint and clarify his interests.

Therefore, Yang Shoufu immediately came outside the Funing Hall, the emperor's bedroom, and asked the eunuch on duty to report on his behalf.Because it was the chief minister who asked for an audience, the eunuch did not dare to neglect, and bravely waited in Funing Hall for a long time, only then did he see the emperor wake up, and went forward to tell about Yang Shoufu's request for an audience.After listening to the eunuch's report, Emperor Xinfeng slowly found the memorial from last night, but he did not see the first assistant. He only scanned the memorial and asked to send it to Wenyuan Pavilion, and asked the cabinet ministers to deal with it.From Emperor Xinfeng's point of view, the Ouyue Kingdom ruled 5000 million subjects, and he didn't care about a small flood in the south with a mere hundreds of thousands of people.Although Yang Shoufu left angrily, the emperor had forwarded the memorial and his goal had been achieved.

According to the system of the Ouyue Kingdom, after the memorial was transferred to Wenyuan Pavilion, the cabinet scholar drafted the content of the approval in the emperor's tone, and posted it on the original memorial with a small note written in ink and submitted it to the emperor.Because it is drafted with small notes written in ink, it is called ticket drafting.Due to the importance of the matter, the cabinet quickly gave advice on how to deal with it, requiring the Ministry of Industry to send personnel to immediately repair the breach, allocate money and grain to the household registration, and open warehouses to release grain at the local level to do their best to relieve the disaster.Emperor Xinfeng didn't care about these details, and only sent the eunuch Miao Ren, the supervisor of ceremonies, to use the ink pen to approve the memorial and execute it, which is commonly known as the red batch.

"The Oujiang River is flooded every other year, and so is the Huaijiang River. There were floods in the north and south, mountain fires in the middle last year, and countless burns. There were military disasters in the southwest, and sea troubles in the east. The empire has not been peaceful these years." An old eunuch with white hair and white eyebrows. He said to Miao Ren who was beside him while holding the jade seal and stamping it.

"Godfather, do you see that there are frequent natural disasters, is there any sign?" Miao Ren recognized the old eunuch who stamped the seal as godfather, and seemed to respect the old eunuch.

The Supervisor of Rituals is one of the "Twelve Supervisors" in the imperial court to manage eunuchs and palace affairs. It supervises all etiquette, criminal names, management errands, and hearing duties in the imperial city. It is known as the "First Department" of the inner court. .This eunuch Bingbi is a senior eunuch of the Lijian Supervisor, and his position is only under the eunuch Zhangyin.And the godfather that Miao Ren spoke of was the most powerful person among the twelve inner court eunuchs, the eunuch Xiao Zhou, who was known as the "Inner Prime Minister" and was in charge of the eunuch Xiao Zhou.The rank of eunuchs is strict. The eunuch was originally a high-ranking eunuch in the imperial court, and the eunuch with palm seal is undoubtedly the top eunuch. He is the head of the eunuch who is in charge of the imperial imperial seal.

"Heavenly secrets must not be leaked, but God's will must not be violated!" Hearing Miao Ren's words, Xiao Zhouxuan said something profoundly.

Soon, the opinions of this group of reds were conveyed immediately.Xiao Zhou asked people to accept the big seal, dismissed the little eunuch beside him, and walked towards the outside of the hall alone.As the sun set, the afterglow of the setting sun formed a vast withered yellow in the distance, and the falling red sun became extremely huge, reflecting the buildings in the palace city also turning red.Looking at the afterglow of the setting sun, Xiao Zhou was thoughtful, he didn't know whether he was thinking of himself, the empire, or the new Emperor Feng.

The palace city of the Ouyue Empire is also called the Ziwei City. Xiao Zhou has lived in the Ziwei City for more than 100 years, and is now in his twilight years.Old people always like to recall the past.Because of his poor family, he was purged and sold into the palace since he was a child. After suffering all kinds of hardships, he vowed to become famous.After going through the four dynasties of Kangtai, Longxing, Yongli and Changhua, relying on his own cultivation and ability to adapt to the situation, he finally achieved it. a eunuch.

Looking at the afterglow of the setting sun, he seemed to think of the past again, maybe he also remembered the former emperor.Back then, he accompanied Emperor Yongli of the same year to Wuyunmen. Although he was trusted by Emperor Yongli to become a personal eunuch, the authority given to him by Emperor Yongli was far from what he expected.Later, he betrayed Emperor Yongli, made a false edict to help Emperor Changhua ascend the throne, and gambled with his wealth and life.He was right. At that time, Emperor Changhua received the support of the royal family and the main ministers, and even the support of the Holy See. The road to the throne was generally smooth. His rule was thus greatly strengthened.Emperor Yongli himself was not a faint emperor, but he was so ignorant of the people around him that his brother stepped in and replaced him.And the current Emperor Xinfeng and King Lu seem to be fighting with each other as brothers, but although Emperor Xinfeng is stupid, King Lu is too obvious. It is estimated that there will be a conflict sooner or later.He was already old, walking in the courtyard, the wind was calm, and it seemed that he no longer wanted to fight against fate as he did back then.

"Godfather!" A thin voice stopped him, it was Miao Ren just now.

"Little Miaozi, you're done."

"Well, godfather is walking alone in the palace, is there something on his mind?"

"After following me for so long, I really have a bit of insight."

"Godfather has won the prize! I don't know what's on my godfather's mind, so tell me so that the little ones can share their worries."

"Look at the world, it doesn't seem to be peaceful!" Xiao Zhou said lightly, provoking the conversation.

"Godfather, do you see His Majesty and King Lu?" Miao Ren did not dare to speak easily, but only said something tentatively.

"What do you think?" Xiao Zhou replied naturally.

"Emperor Xinfeng was obsessed with beauty, abandoned the government, and the people were eccentric. A few years ago, there were a few courageous people in the court who dared to speak out. There is a group of harmony, but in fact, hundreds of officials have deep grievances."

"Well, what about King Lu?"

"It's like the former emperor of Changhua." Miao Ren only said one sentence, but Xiao Zhou looked at him and nodded, already understanding.

In the distance, the setting sun is like blood. As time goes by, it sinks little by little, and gradually sinks into the horizon...

(End of this chapter)