Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 393 The Debate in the Imperial Court
"Do my beloved ministers have anything to say?"

Emperor Liu Dan of Southern Chu rarely lost his temper at court. For a moment, the court was so quiet that only the breathing of the ministers could be heard.

But it's of no use.

Those who truly hold power can get things done without losing their temper. But in a court as intricate and interconnected as the Southern Chu dynasty, the emperor's outbursts are simply…

"My lord is guilty!"

Zhao Xuan, the Chancellor of the Privy Council, stepped forward, bowed, and apologized, saying:
"As the Chancellor, I failed to promptly understand the people's sentiments, which led to the spread of banditry and alarmed Your Majesty. This is truly my dereliction of duty!"
"However... According to reports from various prefectures and counties, this popular uprising was caused by hidden disasters in many places last year, resulting in poor harvests. Unruly people took the opportunity to cause trouble. The local government has tried its best to provide relief, but it is just a drop in the ocean."

"In my humble opinion, the most urgent task is to quickly allocate funds and grain to appease the disaster victims. At the same time, we should order the pacification commissioners and the military forces of all prefectures and counties to strictly suppress the perpetrators, capture the ringleaders, and set an example for others."

"Once the disaster situation has eased somewhat, we will then investigate the responsibility of local officials for their negligence..."

When something goes wrong, the prime minister takes the blame; this has always been the practice of the Southern Chu court.

After all, the emperor cannot be wrong; the only ones who can be wrong are his subjects.

In any case, even if they were to plead guilty, they would go through a lot of back and forth, waiting for these ministers from aristocratic families to "wait in their quarters to await punishment" and quell the incident before returning to their original positions.

Of course, some cannot return to their original positions, but it doesn't matter. Anyway, the meat is still in the pot. Either the Zhao family or the Li family will take over. It will all go around in circles and rotate among the powerful families in the south.

However, Zhao Xuan's identity is somewhat special. His son married a princess, who is Liu Dan's half-sister, so he has more confidence in his actions.

His words, seemingly an admission of guilt, actually shifted the blame to "hidden disasters" and "troublemakers," and exonerated local officials.

As for "waiting until the disaster situation eases somewhat" before discussing the crime, this is a common tactic of appeasement—"easier" means a long time coming.

There have been rebellions in the past that have reached the imperial court, but these were only because the local authorities could no longer contain the situation and the emperor had to send troops to quell it.

No matter how much trouble they cause, ordinary farmers and civilians are no match for the government army with a grandmaster in charge. Moreover, the martial arts army of the Southern Chu Kingdom is very powerful. Unless they face the Northern Xiao Kingdom, where they can be evenly matched, ordinary rebels and rioters are no match for them.

As long as the emperor sends troops, these rebellions will be completely suppressed in no time, and the Great Chu will return to a state of peace and prosperity.

It just means the imperial court will lose some face.

Zhao Xuan took the initiative to plead guilty for the sake of the court's reputation, and this has always been the case in the Great Chu for the past few hundred years.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than Li Zheng, the Vice Chancellor, stepped forward to refute him, his hair and beard bristling, his tone impassioned:
"Prime Minister Zhao is mistaken!"

"Hidden disaster? Where did this hidden disaster come from? Last year the weather was favorable, so how could there be such a large-scale crop failure? It is clearly the local powerful families and their clerks who colluded to embezzle grain from the Ever-Normal Granary and forcibly seized farmland to plant those damned 'spiritual seeds.' Unfortunately, those 'spiritual seeds' also yielded almost no harvest, leaving the people without enough to eat, which led to this great disaster!"
"If we don't thoroughly investigate the root causes and severely punish corruption at this time, and only suppress it, wouldn't that be like officials forcing the people to rebel and adding fuel to the fire?"

As he spoke, Li Zheng also bowed deeply towards the dragon throne and said, "Your Majesty, I humbly request that you immediately dispatch capable officials as imperial inspectors to the disaster-stricken areas to investigate the facts, recover stolen goods and hold those responsible accountable, and open the granaries to distribute grain in order to reassure the people!"

These words practically stripped away the fig leaf from the Southern Chu court.

Everyone knows that powerful families have been acquiring land, and even the emperor of Southern Chu himself planted spiritual grains in his imperial estate. As the saying goes, if the upper beam is not straight, how can the lower beam not be crooked?

Therefore, as soon as Li Zheng said this, there were many dissatisfied people in the court, and the discussions were endless.

"How could it come to this? How could it come to this!"

Qian Congli, the Vice Privy Councilor, immediately stood up, shook his head, stroked his beard, and sighed, "Alas, Councilor Li's words are far too extreme!"

"Now the rebels have become a force to be reckoned with, gathering tens of thousands of people to attack the prefecture. How can simply opening the granaries and distributing grain quell the unrest?"
"We should act swiftly and decisively, deploying the elite Imperial Guards to join forces with local troops to suppress the rebellion. It's not too late to appease them after the rebellion is quelled. Otherwise, where will our national prestige be? Where will our discipline remain?"

"Qian Shumi! Are you trying to incite the people to revolt?" Li Zheng shouted sternly. "The movement of the Imperial Guards will consume countless amounts of money and grain, and the people will suffer terribly wherever the army goes. Those who have not been harmed by the famine will also be afflicted by the war!"
"Moreover, if the root cause is not eradicated, even if we quell the rebellion here today, it will revolt elsewhere tomorrow. Do we intend to slaughter all the people of my Great Chu?!"

"Counselor Li! You are spreading alarmist rumors and protecting traitors!"

"Qian Shumi! You are the one who disregards the people's suffering and only knows how to kill!"

The imperial court was immediately thrown into chaos.

The pro-suppression faction and the pro-appeasement faction each held their own views and attacked each other.

Chancellor Zhao Xuan appeared to be conciliatory, but in reality he leaned towards suppression, while Vice Chancellor Li Zheng strongly advocated for a thorough investigation and relief efforts.

The Privy Council intended to mobilize troops to demonstrate its authority and take the opportunity to demand benefits. Meanwhile, officials from the Censorate impeached local officials and their colleagues in the court who colluded with powerful clans, as well as the Chancellor (Zhao Xuan, the Chancellor of the Secretariat and the Chancellery) for inaction, creating a chaotic scene.

Sitting upright on his throne, Liu Dan looked at his ministers below, who were arguing heatedly and their faces were red with anger, and felt a headache coming on.

He was well aware that the root of the problem lay in land annexation and official corruption.
However, since his ascension to the throne, he has been sidelined by these deeply entrenched powerful families, nobles, and officials. His decrees rarely leave the palace, and even if he wanted to make a difference, he was powerless to do so.

All his decrees had to be countersigned by the Secretariat and Chancellery before they could be issued and take effect.

Although officials still have the final say in their appointment and removal, ...

Does what you say really count?
Which official who could stand in the Southern Chu court didn't have a string of powerful and influential families behind him?
In this situation, what can I do?
After all, the last emperor of Southern Chu who had the ambition to achieve something had already fallen into the water and died of a cold.

……

"enough!"

After an unknown amount of time, Liu Dan finally couldn't hold back any longer.

He slammed his hand on the imperial desk and said impatiently, "What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket!"

"The rebellion has begun, and more than twenty counties are in ruins. Instead of thinking about how to quell the situation as soon as possible, you are here shirking responsibility and attacking each other endlessly!"

His gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on Sun Chong, the Minister of the Three Departments who had remained silent: "Minister Sun, is it possible for the national treasury to allocate funds and grain for disaster relief and suppressing rebellions?"

Sun Chong, whose name was called, inwardly groaned. He forced himself to step forward, wiping sweat from his brow with his sleeve despite it being still the dead of winter, and respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, last year's taxes from various regions were largely in arrears. Add to that the palace repairs, the expenses of the imperial family… the national treasury… is truly… stretched thin… If we forcibly draw funds, I fear… I fear it will jeopardize the border troops' pay and the salaries of all officials…"

Upon hearing this, the emperor's expression turned even more unpleasant.

When it comes to the interests of powerful families, the national treasury is full, but when it comes time to use the money, it is empty of funds and food!

Absolutely ridiculous!
Without money or food, all talk was meaningless. Liu Dan felt a tightness in his chest, unable to rise or fall, making him extremely uncomfortable.

At this moment, Wang Qixian, the Privy Councilor who had been observing from the sidelines, stepped forward, stroked his beard, and slowly cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, perhaps we could order the local powerful families to contribute money and grain to form a local militia to assist the government in quelling the rebellion... After all, they cannot sit idly by and watch their homeland crumble. After the matter is settled, the court can then reward them appropriately or bestow honorary titles to show its favor. In this way, the rebellion can be quelled without damaging the national treasury."

Upon hearing this proposal, many ministers from prominent families exchanged glances and began to secretly make their own calculations.

Letting local powerful families provide the manpower and funds to quell the rebellion saves the imperial court money and resources. Moreover, the "rewards" and "honorary titles" are inexpensive and offer great flexibility. As for whether those powerful families will use this opportunity to expand their power or even become uncontrollable... that's a matter for the future. Right now, getting through this difficult time is the priority.

Many people actually wish it were like that!

No sooner had Wang Qixian finished speaking than Li Zheng immediately saw the hidden danger and said urgently, "Your Majesty! This is unacceptable! If this precedent is set, local powerful clans will seize military power, which could lead to the scourge of regional warlords! At that time, where will the imperial authority be? Your Majesty! We must be wary of the scourge of regional warlordism that plagued the Zhou Dynasty!"

Zhao Xuan glanced at Li Zheng and said calmly, "Counselor Li is overthinking it. It's just a temporary mobilization of local militia to help suppress the rebellion. They'll disperse once the task is over. How can this be considered a regional warlord? It's completely different from the regional warlordism that plagued the former Zhou dynasty. Why make such a big deal out of it? If we don't do this, the imperial treasury will be empty, making it difficult to provide disaster relief and quell the rebellion. If we don't use this method, are we just going to sit idly by and watch the rebels grow stronger, causing widespread devastation?"

Qian Congli echoed, "Prime Minister Zhao is absolutely right! In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken. Making those wealthy families bleed a little is their duty!"

Seeing that another argument was about to break out, Liu Dan rubbed his temples wearily.

But he knew that this was probably the only solution that could be implemented quickly, despite the endless troubles that might follow.

What's more...

I am not one to sit idly by and wait for death.

"That's all..."

Although he had his own plans, Liu Dan waved his hand weakly and said, "The matter of suppressing the rebellion is urgent. The disaster victims should be appeased rather than suppressed. As Wang Qing said, we should instruct the affected prefectures and counties to inform the local gentry to donate money and grain, recruit local militia, and help the government troops to quell the rebellion. Those who make contributions will be rewarded by me."

He paused for a moment, casually selected a few veteran generals, and hastily ended the court session.

The eunuch's shrill voice announced "Dismissal!" echoed in the hall. The officials bowed with varying expressions and then left the hall in twos and threes.

Zhao Xuan and Qian Congli exchanged a knowing glance, while Wang Huan stroked his beard and smiled, seemingly quite pleased that his suggestion had been adopted.

Li Zheng watched their retreating figures, sighed heavily, and could not hide his worry.

On the other side, Liu Dan, who had left in a hurry, went to Yanhe Hall as usual and summoned Ye Nanting, the Junior Guardian of the Imperial Academy.

A moment later, clear footsteps came from the palace gate. Liu Dan, while looking at the memorials, sighed and said, "You'an, why are these people always so dissatisfied?"

Ye Nanting, courtesy name You'an, was Liu Dan's childhood study companion.

Of course, no one knew that Ye Nanting, under Liu Dan's diligent nurturing with rare and precious materials, had broken through to become a Grandmaster, a top-tier combatant second only to a Great Grandmaster, and one of Liu Dan's few sources of confidence.

"Human hearts are never satisfied."

Ye Nanting replied.

"All of you, leave!"

Liu Dan waved his hand, dismissing all the eunuchs and others from the hall, and Ye Nanting then closed the hall door.

"If you stay here, I feel like today is probably almost over!"

As Liu Dan spoke, he went around the screen as before and sat down on the low couch used for temporary rest.

On the table next to the low couch were two clumps of licorice, plants that should not have appeared in the palace, much less in such precious flowerpots.

They are growing vigorously, with each pot bearing five or six clusters of purple flowers that look like pine cones, and they are much larger than ordinary licorice.

Or rather, these two pots of licorice are not ordinary licorice, but spiritual plants. To distinguish them from ordinary licorice, they are now called "Fairy Spirit Licorice".

This was purchased from the White Stone Immortal Sect at great expense by the Ye family, and then delivered to Liu Dan through Ye Nanting.

In addition to these two pots of celestial licorice, a pot of spiritual spring water, which is taken from the spiritual lake in the Heavenly Pool, is also regularly used to irrigate them.

And all of these things are for one purpose.

"Rumble--"

Suddenly, thick dark clouds gathered above the Yanhe Hall.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared incessantly in the clouds, brewing a chilling pressure.

Inside and outside the palace, court officials who were gathering in twos and threes were all startled by this sudden celestial phenomenon. They all looked up at the sky, their faces showing surprise and doubt.

"Is it...going to rain heavily?"

Someone whispered.

"No, these clouds... why are they so low and so dark? And this thunder..."

Zhao Xuan hurriedly walked out of the house, gazing at the distant clouds, his brows furrowed, a sense of unease creeping into his heart.

If he wasn't mistaken, that place should be the Yanhe Hall, the place where the Emperor summoned Ye Nanting...

Could it be that Ye Nanting is about to break through to the Grandmaster level?
No, that's not right. Breaking through to the Grandmaster level shouldn't cause this kind of commotion. Such a huge thundercloud looks more like...

It's just like the tribulation of immortality described in "The Book of Immortals by White Stone"!

Could it be that Ye Nanting has secretly switched to cultivating immortality?!

Many people guessed this, and Qian Congli also subconsciously looked at Zhao Xuan. The two of them saw fear in each other's eyes.

Inside the Yanhe Hall, Ye Nanting, gripping his sword hilt, stood solemnly guarding the tightly closed hall doors.

His gaze occasionally swept over the rolling dark clouds outside the hall, his eyes filled with both worry and a hint of anticipation. His aura was restrained, like a fully drawn bow, and his breathing was so rapid with tension.

Behind the screen, Liu Dan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, sweat beading on his forehead, and his aura becoming somewhat chaotic. The spiritual energy from the two licorice plants entangled with the spiritual power bursting from Liu Dan, forming a vortex of spiritual energy that made the windows, which were not yet sealed shut, rattle loudly.

Shortly after, a blinding bolt of lightning tore through the sky and struck directly towards the Yanhe Hall.

"Click——"

coming!

Ye Nanting's eyes flashed, but he did not make a move, because he knew that this was not an external enemy, but a tribulation lightning for a cultivator's Foundation Establishment!
(End of this chapter)