Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 270 National Destiny Damaged
"Oh, the decree has been issued, but some people don't want to carry it out, but instead report it to me and criticize me?"

"Do I have to discuss everything I want to do with them?"

"Do they really consider themselves loyal and good ministers?"

An Taixuan flipped through the memorials, his expression changing from gloomy to bright.

The eunuchs in the hall were silent, lowering their heads and not daring to speak.

They also don't know what's wrong with their Majesty recently, and his temper is getting worse and worse.

At this time, someone came to report, "Your Majesty, Zhang Jianzheng of the Imperial Observatory wants to see you regarding something important."

An Taixuan raised his head slightly when he heard this and said calmly, "Let him in."

Soon, Zhang Jianzheng entered the hall and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have something to report..."

Seeing Zhang Jian hesitated to speak, An Taixuan said, "Everyone else, please leave first."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly left the hall.

Seeing that no one else was around, Zhang Jianzheng whispered, "Your Majesty, just now, around a quarter past noon, the luck of Hongzhou suddenly declined..."

The fortune of a country is changing all the time.

But occasionally there will be some unusual fluctuations in increases and decreases that must be paid attention to.

One of the duties of the Imperial Observatory is to keep a close eye on changes in the country's destiny.

If there is any unusual movement, we can use it to infer the situation and respond in advance.

In recent years, there has been no unusual changes in Anguo's national destiny.

When Zhang Jianzheng learned that Hongzhou's fortune had changed, he did not dare to delay and came to report it in person.

You have to know that Hongzhou had just received the grace of a saint a few days ago, so the local fortune should have increased, rather than suddenly decreased.

An Taixuan couldn't help but ask, "How much is missing?"

Zhang Jianzheng replied, "The sudden loss of luck within a hundred miles of land is attributed to someone, not some kind of celestial event. I've already sent subordinates to investigate, and they should be bringing back news soon."

Hongzhou is thousands of miles away from Tai'an City, but there is a large formation built in the Imperial Observatory that can send people directly there. The only problem is that the spirit stone resources consumed in the round trip are a bit too much.

An Taixuan asked, "What about other places?"

Zhang Jianzheng quickly said, "There's nothing unusual about other places. Everything is within the normal range."

An Taixuan nodded slightly, then asked, "Since I ascended the throne, has the nation's fortune increased or decreased?"

Zhang Jianzheng shuddered when he heard this, lowered his head and did not answer immediately.

An Taixuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said quietly, "It seems that the fortune of our country has declined quite a bit. Is it because of me?"

Zhang Jianzheng couldn't help but say, "This is the law of nature, not your Majesty's fault. Your Majesty is a benevolent and enlightened ruler. Since ascending the throne..."

An Taixuan was inexplicably annoyed by what he heard, and waved his hand to interrupt, "Stop flattering me! If it's not my fault, then there must be a termite within the An Kingdom! How do you think I should get rid of it, Mr. Zhang?"

He has worked hard to govern the country during the years since he came to power, but he still cannot stop the decline of Anguo's national fortune.

He didn't believe that a country's life couldn't last long because it was due to the laws of nature. It was clearly caused by human beings.

From ancient times to the present, there has never been any such thing as God's will to destroy a country. It is always the country that destroys itself.

Zhang Jianzheng bent even lower and said softly, "I only know how to observe the qi, but I don't know how to govern the country. Please forgive me, Your Majesty..."

There were some things he didn't dare say as it would easily offend many people, and if he really came up with some ideas, it might be detrimental to the stability of the country. He didn't want to be a sinner.

An Taixuan stared at Zhang Jianzheng, knowing that the other party did not not understand, but was afraid to say it.

He couldn't help but shook his head and said impatiently: "Go down, if there is any news from Hongzhou, report it to me as soon as possible!"

"Wei Chen resigns!"

Zhang Jianzheng, as if he had been pardoned, hurried out of the hall.

After a while, the eunuchs returned quietly.

An Taixuan sat there with a frown on his face, feeling upset.

He looked at a eunuch next to him and asked, "Is Master Xu still in seclusion?"

The eunuch replied, "Your Majesty, I haven't heard that Grandmaster Xu has come out of seclusion. Do you want me to..."

"no."

An Taixuan said, "If he ever comes out of seclusion, let him come to see me."

The eunuch replied, "I've made a note of it."

An Taixuan turned around and continued to handle official business, but his heart was restless.

After some time, officials from the Imperial Observatory returned from Hongzhou.

The official traveled back and forth without stopping and came directly to report to An Taixuan.

An Taixuan dismissed everyone again and let the other party catch his breath before speaking.

The official said slowly, "Your Majesty, I arrived in Hongzhou and discovered that the place where the luck is damaged is not far from Hongzhou City. Moreover, a major incident occurred in Hongzhou City today..."

After listening to the story, An Taixuan looked a little strange. "You mean, he, a Confucian scholar, took advantage of the people's support and stole the fortune of the land of a hundred miles?"

He wondered who had caused the decline of Hongzhou's fortune, but it turned out to be Lu Zheng?
An Taixuan even suspected that someone was framing him.

However, it is unlikely that there will be any problems with the investigation conducted by the officials of the Imperial Observatory.

The official couldn't help but say, "This is the result of my investigation and deduction, there should be no problem. If someone forcibly seized the local fortune, they would have set up a lot of arrangements and left some clues, but I didn't find any..."

"I hadn't anticipated his location. This matter is special, so I dare not delay. I'll return and report the situation." An Taixuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Who else knows about this?"

The official said, "I came here to report this to Your Majesty immediately. Others in the Imperial Observatory are still unaware of this matter."

An Taixuan nodded slightly, "Very good, forget about this matter. Don't let me hear about this to anyone else. Go back and have a good rest."

The official paused, "Well, that person..."

Someone is stealing the local fortune secretly, and Your Majesty doesn't care?

Such things are unforgivable crimes no matter which country they happen in.

He knew a little about Lu Zheng, but he didn't expect that he was so favored by the emperor.

An Taixuan's eyes flashed, and his tone was a little cold, "You didn't understand?"

The official was startled and quickly said, "I understand."

The official dared not say much and cautiously took his leave.

He was a little curious, but he could only suppress it. Knowing too much about some things is not good for health.

He just did his job honestly.

"interesting……"

An Taixuan's expression shifted slightly, and he said quietly, "The way of Heaven is to reduce the excess and replenish the deficiency. This must be a gift from Heaven, how can it be stolen so easily?"

An Taixuan didn't think that Lu Zheng had used any shameful means to steal the luck of the place.

He had met Lu Zheng before and didn't think Lu Zheng had such thoughts.

If he had such an idea, Lu Zheng could just ask for it openly and let the court confer the title and reward him.

He thought that Lu Zheng might not even know that he had done this.

An Taixuan couldn't help but say, "What the old ancestor said is absolutely right. This boy has great luck. Let him go."

Anguo is a country with vast territory and abundant resources, so the loss of the local fortune of a hundred miles of land is not a big deal.

Anguo will not decline because of this little loss of luck.

Moreover, the country's fortune has declined much more than this in recent years.

Even so, as long as no major changes occur in the world, Anguo's reign will not be shorter than that of the other eight countries.

So when An Taixuan learned the whole story, he didn't care too much.

Of course, if it were someone else, An Taixuan might not be so easy to talk to.

……

Kaiyang County, a mountain village somewhere.

The villagers are busy repairing the road.

The narrow path that originally led to the outside has been widened by them to accommodate ox carts, greatly facilitating the passage of villagers.

Such changes were due to the government's large-scale allocation of funds, food and labor to improve their living conditions.

In the past, when the government organized a construction project, it had to go door to door to select people to perform labor service, which could be exhausting if there was no money.

But now things are different. Not only am I repairing a mountain road that is beneficial to me, but I can also get paid every day.

As a result, the men, women, young and old in the village are full of enthusiasm and will spontaneously help when they have time.

An Jing took An Yang through several villages and found that construction was being actively carried out everywhere, and roads, water conservancy projects and other people-friendly projects were well built.

We even saw teams of warriors organized by the government going into the mountains to hunt wild beasts and demons in order to maintain local stability.

Walking through the places he had been to before, An Jing found that the changes were quite great.

The people I used to meet were always struggling to make a living, and it was rare to see them smiling.

Nowadays, the lives of ordinary people have not actually gotten much better, but they are filled with joy and happiness from the heart, and are obviously full of expectations for their future lives.

Is this the enthusiasm Lu Zheng mentioned? An Jing felt a little strange.

Anyang watched all the way and knew what this meant.

She couldn't help but hold An Jing's arm and whispered, "Royal sister, that Lu Zheng is really capable. He governs the people in this way, much better than those officials."

An Jing agreed with this, but Anguo was in dire need of talents like Lu Zheng, so it was difficult to make the entire Anguo become like this.

After all, doing these things requires a lot of money and manpower, which are big problems.

The Kaiyang County government has money, which was obtained by exploiting many wealthy families.

It would be quite difficult for other state and county governments to follow suit, and few officials would have the courage to do so.

Some officials who didn't collude with local gentry to exploit ordinary people were already considered rare and honest officials...

We still have to take one step at a time. An Jing couldn't help but agree with Lu Zheng's words.

The two women observed for a while and then went back to the village, ready to find a family to sit with, rest for a while, and chat about the local situation.

An old woman saw the two girls and treated them warmly, even pouring them some boiled water.

"Why did you two girls come to a small place like ours?" the old woman asked curiously, "Are you here to seek refuge with your relatives?"

An Jing smiled and said, "We are cultivators, passing by here..."

The old woman couldn't help but say, "Is that so? Hey, there are quite a lot of people like you recently. I heard that they all go to the mountains to catch wild beasts, monsters and ghosts. Thanks to Mr. Lu, otherwise, ordinary people like us would not be able to live such a peaceful life."

(End of this chapter)