The old emperor in the imperial study in the capital was a little crazy. On the one hand, he was excited to hear the news about the dragon, but on the other hand, he seemed extremely uneasy because he heard about a fallen dragon.
This feeling of uneasiness is so strong, like a roar of gongs and drums in my heart.
Emperor Yuande suddenly thought of a secret memorial and searched for it on his desk with his arms trembling slightly. Normally, he paid great attention to his appearance and dignity, but at this moment he was completely unaware of his condition.
“Pah-la-la…Pah-la-la…”
Many of the folded memorials fell off due to Emperor Yuande's rough flipping of the pages.
Prince Jin stared blankly at his father's actions, and of course he also saw the slight trembling in the old emperor's hands very clearly. At this moment, he felt mixed emotions and his mood was extremely complicated.
"Father...is really old..."
Even the King of Wu had a complicated look at this moment, but it was soon replaced by a hint of joy, and then his expression returned to calm.
“Found it…Found it…”
Emperor Yuande muttered to himself, picked up a secret memorial with slightly trembling hands, and then carefully opened it. The person who presented the memorial was Yin Zhaoxian, the prefect of Lishun Prefecture.
Emperor Yuan De opened the memorial and quickly scanned it, as if he was looking for something. After about a dozen breaths, he finally found a row of small words:
(I think that the Wanzhou incident must not be tolerated. Officials deceived their superiors and subordinates, took advantage of the situation, and plundered without limit, causing the people to live in misery. This is endangering the country and society of Dazhen.)
In fact, Ji Yuan’s previous worries were not unreasonable. At that time, he told Yin Zhaoxian that the old emperor was preparing for a water and land ceremony, and he was worried that the old emperor would not have enough energy or courage to handle government affairs.
Emperor Yuande was indeed extremely angry after learning about the incident in Wanzhou, and the story of the imperial study smashing the tea sets was not false. However, as time went by, the old emperor's mentality also changed. Those daring officials plundered so many benefits, so could these benefits go directly into the pockets of the national treasury and the emperor's private treasury? Could the gold and silver continue to flow in like this
Even Prince Jin didn't know about Emperor Yuande's thoughts, let alone Yin Zhaoxian who was in Wanzhou, but it was definitely a very dangerous idea.
But when he heard about the "dragon falling in Guangdong Lake" incident, the old emperor was suddenly awakened by fright.
"Huh..."
Emperor Yuande exhaled, looked at the ministers and princes in the imperial study, and changed his originally prepared remarks...
"As Lord Yin said, the matter of Wanzhou must not be tolerated. Pay attention to the officials in the court who have ties to Wanzhou. Use Lord Yin's advice and find a reason to promote Wanzhou Governor Chen Yuhe to Beijing..."
When the old emperor said this, his eyes swept over his ministers and his sons.
"I don't care whether any of you have any connection with Wanzhou. I will give you a chance today. If you do your best to handle this matter, I will forgive you for what happened. If you dare to leak the news... the royal family will be executed immediately, and the court officials will be exterminated along with their entire clan!"
The old emperor's voice was rather hoarse when he said this, but the chill in his voice made the officials in the imperial study tremble slightly. Some of them even had sweat on their backs, thinking in their hearts that Chen Yuhe was probably in great danger.
. . .
Of course, when the situation in Wanzhou began to change without the knowledge of many parties involved, the water and land ceremony in Gyeonggi Prefecture was also being prepared in full swing. However, this matter is currently only known to people around Gyeonggi Prefecture and is not yet well-known.
For Emperor Yuande, this matter was no less important than the handling of Wanzhou. He even planned to send people to investigate the incident of the falling dragon and look for the extraordinary people in Wanzhou.
Soon, the emperor announced to the world that he would hold a water and land ceremony in Jingji Prefecture. Regardless of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism or secularism, he invited famous scholars and experts from all over the world to go to Jingji Prefecture to participate in the ceremony to pray for the national destiny of Dazhen and the emperor of Dazhen.
Some masters will be selected and given the title of "Heavenly Master", rewarded with a thousand taels of gold, and summoned by the emperor.
As soon as this edict came out, the "elite" in all states and prefectures of Dazhen naturally could not hold back, and those who had some thoughts in their hearts wanted to go to the capital to participate in the ceremony.
. . .
More than twenty days had passed since the full moon celebration for the second son of the Yin family, in the backyard of the government office of Lishun Prefecture in Wanzhou.
A Go game was laid out on the stone table in the garden. Yin Zhaoxian was wearing a white casual suit, and Ji Yuan was wearing a blue shirt. The two sat and played chess.
By now, Ji Yuan's chess skills have far surpassed Yin Zhaoxian's, but the latter has also made progress. Both of them are no longer the bad chess players they used to be.
Ji Yuan is not Lao Long, who is so competitive. Of course he will give in to Yin Zhaoxian when playing chess with his good friend, so the two of them still play back and forth. They have played many games like this during this period, which can be regarded as a game of chess and chatting.
At this moment, Ji Yuan dropped the black piece in his hand and took the initiative in a corner, causing Yin Zhaoxian to frown and think.
"Master Yin is a little absent-minded today?"
Yin Zhaoxian looked at the black and white pieces crisscrossing on the chessboard and could almost see the final result. After hesitating for a moment, he resigned and admitted defeat.
"Hey... There's news from the capital. The emperor has finally made up his mind to take action against the Wanzhou officials. However, the imperial edict for the water and land ceremony has also been issued. It's called the Nine Heavens and Ten Meetings, and it invites all the masters in the world to participate in the grand event of the immortal way..."
Yin Zhaoxian had really come into contact with masters, and he knew more about things than many people in the court and the public. How many people with real talents would be willing to go for such a recruitment
This situation inevitably reminded Yin Zhaoxian of the absurd things that Emperor Zhengyuan did when he was seeking immortality. It would be fine if he wanted to seek immortality, but he did not have the attitude that one should have when seeking immortality. He clung to power and ignored the order of the court, neglecting the country. He held on to the country not for the sake of the country but for the sake of elixirs. This inevitably brought a heavy burden to Dazhen.
Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, then he smiled.
"This matter is not something you can control, Master Yin. There are a group of censors in the court. Besides, Emperor Yuande is still concerned about Wanzhou. This is much better than what I had hoped for before. Let him hold a ceremony!"
Yin Zhaoxian smiled and shook his head.
"Hey, I will be very busy from now on. I am already overwhelmed by the affairs of Wanzhou. I don't have the ability to take care of the Kyoto. But I am afraid that those people in the Ministry of Personnel will not be able to persuade the emperor."
Yin Zhaoxian was just chatting with Ji Yuan. Although he knew that the real master was right in front of him, he had no intention of inviting Ji Yuan to participate in any ceremony. Good friends would not be interested in such things.
But this time Yin Zhaoxian guessed wrong. Ji Yuan was really interested in this water and land ceremony. Of course, he was not greedy for the title of Heavenly Master or the rewards of gold and silver.
In fact, he and Lao Long had already discussed this ceremony in private, and even Yu Huaishan was preparing to take some action.
Is Emperor Yuande really blessed with great fortune? Not really.
The main thing is that the situation in Dongtu Yunzhou is starting to get a little strange. This may be a problem that has been brewing in Dongtu Yunzhou itself for a long time. The rumors in Tianji Pavilion back then caused Dazhen, which was originally on the edge, to suddenly attract a lot of attention.
Today, Dazhen is indeed a place of "hidden dragons and crouching tigers", but it is also conceivable that Emperor Yuande's water and land ceremony may not only attract a few swindlers, but there may be some evil spirits in it.
After all, being personally canonized as "Heavenly Master" by Emperor Dazhen is equivalent to obtaining the legitimacy of Dazhen. To put it another way, even some monsters with shallow Taoist practices are also extremely eager to obtain this title.
However, it is not so easy to pass the underworld in Jingji Prefecture, and the orthodox immortals within Dazhen will also seize the opportunity to dig out the roots and carry out a purge.
Ji Yuan was thinking about it when Yin Zhaoxian suddenly spoke again.
"Oh, by the way, the prefect will be promoted and come to Beijing soon, and I have to prepare a gift for him."
"Haha, Master Yin will have to spend a lot of money. The gift you can prepare with your salary will probably be easily squeezed out by other people's gifts."
"Mr. Ji, you are joking. Yin is reluctant to spend money. Just write a large calligraphy copybook!"
Yin Zhaoxian stood up as he spoke.
It's true that the gift prepared by Master Yin was really not shabby. It would be an exaggeration to say that it was worth a million dollars, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was priceless.
"In that case, Master Yin, please go and do your work. I have been bothering you for more than two months. It is time for me to leave."
Ji Yuan also stood up, saying goodbye to his friend.
Yin Zhaoxian was not surprised. It was already good enough to be able to keep Mr. Ji for another month.
"Mr. Ji, are you going back to Ning'an County?"
Ji Yuan smiled.
"No, I am going to see the water and land ceremony in Gyeonggi Prefecture."
. . .
Half a day later, Ji Yuan said goodbye to everyone in Yin Mansion and left the Lishun government office. After strolling around the city casually, he walked out of the city on a cloud.
Ji Yuan himself would naturally not risk his life to attend such a Dharma assembly, but he had to go early to reserve a spot.
This ceremony was destined to be unusual. Perhaps it could be considered a blessing for Emperor Yuande, as at least he would not be like Emperor Zhengyuan who could not see anything.