The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 657 Nine Songs
Lin Yu said nothing, with his hair disheveled, turned silently and walked out of the hall.

Watching Lin Yu go away, I suddenly felt that his back was much taller than before.

"Are you still growing, Big Lin? You're already nine feet tall."

The emperor said this inexplicably, and suddenly he saw the giant's feet hanging in the air, more than two feet above the ground.

"Are you a human or a ghost?!"

Liu Zhaosun was confident that he was half-human and half-god, and that he had received the true teachings of Zhang Yixing. He was only one step away from becoming an immortal and joining the ranks of immortals. Naturally, he did not know what fear was, so he stood up to chase him. However, Lin Yu flew away more than ten steps and said in a muffled voice:

"I hope Your Majesty will treat my old ministers well. I will go to find Captain Shen and General Yang."

He wanted to ask again, but a cold wind suddenly blew up in the hall. In the early summer, a bitter winter wind blew out of nowhere, and all the whale oil lamps in the hall were extinguished.

When the oil lamp was lit, Lin Yu had disappeared.

The emperor was shocked.

Fine beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.

He sat slumped on the ground, feeling lost for a long time.

It was not until the patrol soldiers from the Bingmasi struck the third drum on the street outside the palace that he gradually regained consciousness.

It's time for the third watch.

The Emperor said to himself:
"Lin Yu is a great general of Qi. He will not die."

Sipping tea alone, I felt bitter in my heart. The more I thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

"Could it be that Lin Yu and the others died in Yangzhou?"

After leaving the front hall, he found Francisco and asked the high priest to summon the prime minister Lu Xiangsheng to enter the palace overnight.

The blond and blue-eyed Francisco took the order and left.

Liu Zhaosun was restless and took a walk around the Cining Palace. The two Empress Dowagers had already gone to bed, and Chen Yuanyuan and Liu Rushi had also been asleep for a long time. Only Amber was yawning and guarding the door.

The Emperor asked the maid, "Do you believe in ghosts and gods in this world?"

Amber Wan didn't expect the emperor to ask him this question. After a moment's silence, he murmured:

"Your Majesty, I dare not speak carelessly about matters concerning ghosts and gods, but everyone in the world believes that the Emperor will surely become an immortal."

"Will you be able to become an immortal?"

Liu Zhaosun chuckled and led Amber back to Wenhua Palace, ready to wait for Lu Xiangsheng to arrive so that the king and his minister could drink all night long.

In the dark Forbidden City, a dim moon was hidden in the clouds, occasionally peeking out from the dark clouds to carefully observe the most powerful man in Da Qi.

Inside and outside the palace walls, the shadows of the trees swayed, the wind blew, the branches and leaves moved, and there were vague figures moving.

Amber was trembling all over and followed the emperor closely.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you shouldn't have planted these trees in the first place. I heard that there were no trees in the Forbidden City during the Ming Dynasty."

The Emperor turned around and smiled, "Are you saying that trees attract ghosts?"

Amber didn't dare to speak.

"I have the protection of Heaven. Not to mention the demons and monsters, even if the gods descend to earth, they cannot harm me."

The retired emperor thought to himself, it's funny that Amber just said he didn't know anything about ghosts and gods, but now he's so scared after seeing a few dark shadows.

When Liu Zhaosun first arrived in Nanjing, he ignored opposition from the palace and ordered the removal of thousand-year-old trees from Zhongshan Mountain and their planting in various places in the Forbidden City.

It wasn't because Liu Zhaosun loved gardening or had any fascination with ancient pines, but because Master Zhang once said that the emperor lacked wood in his five elements.

"Your Highness, your Highness has heard someone say,"

Amber has grown from a young girl into a thirty-year-old beauty, but now she was so scared that her whole body went limp and she snuggled in the arms of the retired emperor.

Liu Zhaosun looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and recalled the night he spent with Zhang Yan in Wendeng County.

In a trance, I heard Amber continue to say:

"I heard that when the grain transport was abolished, the Qi army killed more than 100,000 grain transport soldiers in Yangzhou, Guazhou and other places. These people are full of resentment after their death, so their souls are still lingering and want to come to the Forbidden City to seek revenge..." "That's nonsense! I killed those who deserved to be killed. They have all fallen into hell and there will be no ghosts to come to take their lives."

The two talked as they walked and soon arrived at Wenhua Hall.

Amber hurried to make tea. The emperor opened a copy of Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs" and drank several cups, but still felt anxious and uneasy.

"The sky is dark and the day is gloomy, the east wind blows and the gods rain."

"Nine Songs" is full of ghosts and gods, which fits the current mood.

Why did the old ministers around him leave him one after another?

Perhaps it was just as Ke Zhen'e said back then, Liu Zhaosun's fate was too tough and would bring trouble to his relatives and confidants.

~~~~
Lu Xiangsheng finally arrived at Wenhua Hall, and the emperor told him everything he had just seen.

Lu Xiangsheng listened and said comfortingly:
"Your Majesty is sympathetic to the officers and is concerned about the issue of abolishing the grain transport system in Yangzhou. You may think about it during the day and dream about it at night. There is no need to disturb them."

The Emperor then asked, "Liu Xuande dreamed of Guan Yu the other night, and Guan Yu was defeated and fled to Maicheng, where he was killed by Sun Quan. Just now, I saw Lin Yu covered in blood, looking like a ghost. I'm afraid he's in great danger."

Lu Xiangsheng was a Confucian scholar and had never been interested in the idea of ghosts and gods. He had written to the Forbidden City many times to persuade the emperor to stop seeking immortals and medicine. However, seeing that the emperor was suspicious, he could only comfort him:
"Your Majesty, Lin Yu is your lucky general. He has gone through so many hardships over the years. He will definitely be fine this time. Yangzhou has been pacified. Please cheer up, Your Majesty. There is no need to be like this..."

While Liu Zhaosun was listening to Lu Xiangsheng's long speech, he looked up and inadvertently looked at the wall, and vaguely saw a black shadow flying by.

The retired emperor had followed Master Zhang in seeking the way of immortality over the years, and had some knowledge of prophecies, divination, astrology, and Qimen Dunjia. He knew that he would not have such a dream for no reason.

"Well, let's not talk about this dream for now. What does Prime Minister Lu have to say about the Fujian situation?"

Seeing that the emperor did not mention ghosts and gods, Lu Xiangsheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly:

"Fujian is overrun with pirates, mixed with innocent civilians. In the past, pirates have colluded with Japanese pirates to wreak havoc in the southeast. If we want to completely eradicate this maritime threat and stabilize Fujian's new administration, I believe we must address three areas."

The Emperor said expectantly, "Tell me now."

Lu Xiangsheng pondered for a moment and said, "First, we will ban the people from going out to sea easily. At the same time, we will relocate those who collaborate with pirates in each county fifty miles inland to cut off their food and population supplies. In just two years, the pirates will surely collapse on their own."

Liu Zhaosun thought for a while and remembered that the Qing Dynasty had indeed adopted this policy along the coastal areas, which eventually evolved into a closed-door policy.

"What about the second one?"

Of course, Lu Xiangsheng didn't know about the Qing Dynasty's policy of seclusion. Seeing the emperor asking, he continued:

"Your Majesty, Fujian's stability depends on the navy. You can appoint a Fuzhou Navy Assistant Commander, a Quanzhou Navy Battalion Lieutenant General, and a Zhangzhou Navy Battalion Lieutenant General. The navy will mainly be recruited from Fujian fishermen."

On the southeast coast, Da Qi will inevitably have more intense conflicts with European colonial forces in the future.

It is a good idea to have Fujian people guard Fujian land.

The emperor's thoughts flew far away and he didn't listen to what Lu Xiangsheng said.

······
The emperor and his minister talked for more than half an hour. The emperor rewarded Lu Xiangsheng with silver and silk and praised him. There is no need to elaborate on this.

Lu Xiangsheng said goodbye to Wenhua Hall and the emperor saw him off to the middle gate. When he was about to turn around, he ran into Yang Jianzheng of the Imperial Observatory.

When Yang Jianzheng saw that he had bumped into the retired emperor, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, wishing to die.

Liu Zhaosun glanced at him, waved his hand, and said nonchalantly:
"Okay, let's get down to business. Why are you so late?"

Yang Jianzheng said quickly, "I just went down to report a secret. I heard that the Supreme Emperor was in Wenhua Palace, so I came here specially."

Liu Zhaosun frowned: "What secrets are there?"

Yang Jianzheng said, "I'm afraid General Lin has died in battle! That's why I've come to report this to the Emperor."

Liu Zhaosun felt heartbroken and gestured to the official from the Imperial Observatory to continue.

Every profession has its own expertise. When it comes to fortune-telling and divination, Qintian is second to none.

"Don't exaggerate. I hate people who talk nonsense the most in my life."

Yang Jianzheng said in a firm tone:

"I observed the celestial phenomena at night and saw the general star set over Huaiyang the other day. I knew that General Lin would be doomed to fail."

(End of this chapter)