The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

The next day, after finishing his business with the Ministry of Revenue, Chen Huai'an instructed Liang Bingyi to carefully inventory the properties and land confiscated from the Lu and Zheng families before heading to the Ministry of Works.

The imperial court is still carrying out a large-scale purge, involving hundreds of people. If this continues, it is entirely possible that the number of people involved will grow to several thousand.

Therefore, Chen Huai'an is quite busy.

However, what was supposed to be a peaceful day turned into a nightmare when, at noon, as he was eating the food Yunyan had brought from home, it suddenly got dark!

That's right, it's literally black.

Chen Huai'an looked up at the rare solar eclipse, somewhat surprised.

A solar eclipse? That's a rare sight. This is only the second time he's ever seen one.

"Minister, the sun... the sun has been eaten!" Chang Gui was no longer calm, and said in a panic, "What should we do?"

"What do you mean, what do we do?" Chen Huai'an said irritably, "It's just a solar eclipse, it'll be over soon, it's not like the sky is falling, what are you panicking about?"

"No, Minister!" Chang Gui exclaimed anxiously, "According to the theory of the interaction between Heaven and Man, which was established by Dong Zhongshu since the Han Dynasty and inherited by a group of great Confucian scholars in the Sui and early Tang Dynasties."

"The sun symbolizes the ruler, it is the ultimate yang, and represents the emperor, imperial power, and the governing principles."

"The moon obscuring the sun is tantamount to yin encroaching on yang, ministers obscuring their rulers, and inferiors oppressing their superiors!"

"Currently, you and His Majesty are locked in a life-or-death struggle with some of the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families. Now, the appearance of the moon obscuring the sun is clearly a warning from Heaven."

"Huh?" Chen Huai'an looked completely bewildered. "There's such a saying?"

The so-called "yin encroaching on yang," "ministers obstructing the ruler," and "subordinates overpowering superiors" are all examples of this.

This means that if the ruler fails in his duties, or if his subjects or their yin energy becomes too strong, Heaven will use this as a warning.

"Yes!" Chang Gui said seriously, "Minister, you are so busy with state affairs that you may not have paid attention to such trivial matters, but there is indeed such a saying."

"However, at this time, a lunar occultation is certainly something to ponder."

"This celestial phenomenon could very well be interpreted as a sign of a ruler's lack of virtue and flawed policies."

"Powerful ministers hold sway, relatives of the empress interfere in politics, and the empress dowager interferes in politics."

"A sign of barbarian invasions and warfare."

"And...an imbalance of Yin and Yang will bring disasters (drought, locusts, plague)."

Chen Huai'an: "..."

What kind of bullshit interpretation is this? Is it taking one of the meanings, or is it trying to capture the whole picture?

Anyway, it seems that the Tang Dynasty occupied them all.

The monarch's lack of virtue... Li Shimin was forced to inherit the throne and made his own father the retired emperor. Wasn't that a lack of virtue?

What about powerful ministers, relatives of the empress interfering in politics, and the empress dowager interfering in politics? Need I say more?

The first two need not be mentioned. Empress Zhangsun probably interfered in politics quite a bit in private, but she just didn't directly intervene.

Needless to say, the borders of the Tang Dynasty are currently insecure due to the incursions of barbarians.

As for the final imbalance of Yin and Yang, which will bring disaster... tsk, you gave a good warning, don't predict it next time.

Chen Huai'an was puzzled: "In that case, this solar eclipse does seem to be somewhat of a coincidence."

"It's more than just a coincidence," Chang Gui said with a bitter face. "Minister, the interpretations of the warnings I mentioned above, our Great Tang Dynasty has covered them all. This is not good news."

"His Majesty may issue another edict of self-reproach, and the second issue of the court report may have to be brought forward. We'll be busy again."

"It's your turn to get busy." Chen Huai'an glanced at him. "If I'm not mistaken, His Majesty will be summoning me soon."

Chang Gui: "..."

Before he could speak, just as Chen Huai'an had expected, a eunuch hurriedly approached him: "Minister Chen, His Majesty requests your presence at the Ganlu Hall."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Chen Huai'an gave Chang Gui a meaningful look and then left.

Chang Gui was left alone, bewildered in the wind.

It was now March of the second year of the Zhenguan era, and Li Shimin finally managed to stand up a little, moving his office out of the East Palace.

After finishing his official duties, he still had to return to the Eastern Palace to live.

It's like making it a commuter system, which is really putting Erfeng in a difficult position.

When the eunuch brought Chen Huai'an to Ganlu Hall, as expected, several officials had already arrived, namely Wei Zheng, Dai Zhou, and Du Ruhui.

Upon seeing Chen Huai'an, Wei Zheng became furious, clearly still resentful of being deceived. He sneered, "With powerful ministers in power, even Heaven couldn't stand it anymore and caused the moon to obscure the sun as a warning."

"In my opinion, a few dozen lashes are too little; it should be a few dozen cuts!"

"Hmm...it would be best to use a Mo Dao (陌刀)."

Chen Huai'an: "..."

Li Shimin: "..."

Dai Zhou couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

Why did Wei Zheng say that?

Because Li Shimin ordered Chen Huai'an to be beaten with dozens of strokes of the cane, but this deadly thing, when it hit Chen Huai'an, was no different from hitting a piece of wood.

Anyway, it didn't cause him any harm.

"Do you still want some tea?" Chen Huai'an glanced at him sideways. "Also, last time you smuggled a glass object from my house, worth at least five thousand strings of cash."

"According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, you should be executed for stealing items of such great value."

"So, old country bumpkin, please keep your voice down."

"Okay," Wei Zheng said softly, not daring to object.

Li Shimin rubbed his temples: "Can't you two just calm down for once?"

"It's another powerful minister, another execution. I don't even know who cried their heart out in front of me last time, shouting something like... Alas, my friend is gone, my only friend is gone, Your Majesty, my only friend is gone."

"Wait!" Wei Zheng's eyes widened, and he became anxious. "Stop! Stop!"

"Stop talking!"

"Hahahaha!" Chen Huai'an laughed loudly. "Xuancheng, is that so?"

"That's bullshit!" Wei Zheng, of course, would never admit it, not even if he were beaten to death. "I never said such a thing. How could I possibly say such a thing?"

"Aren't you ashamed?"

"Oh?" Li Shimin said in surprise, "But Xuancheng, I didn't say that you said these words."

"What's your hurry?"

Wei Zheng: "..."

"..."

The atmosphere inside the hall suddenly became much more cheerful. Dai Zhou and Du Ruhui suppressed their laughter, while Chen Huai'an and Li Shimin didn't care at all and laughed loudly.

Only Wei Zheng wished he could dig a hole and bury himself.

When Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, Xiao Yu, Wen Yanbo and the others arrived, they heard laughter echoing in the hall, and were somewhat puzzled.

"Ahem..." Seeing that everyone had arrived, Li Shimin coughed and suppressed his smile. "Alright, we'll talk about Xuancheng's embarrassing incident later."

"Just now, a lunar occultation occurred, as everyone knows."

"According to the theory of the interaction between Heaven and Man, this is not good news for our Great Tang Dynasty."

"I would like to ask you all, what is the proper interpretation of this matter?"

"..."