The next day, Duan Changchuan woke up in Alpha's arms again.
Thinking about the teaching-like kiss we had last night, I still feel a little embarrassed.
But I am very dependent and don't want to get up.
Hmm... She smells so good, with the scent of flowers and soapberry after a bath, and the pheromone scent of peony.
But in the end, driven by responsibility, the hardworking emperor lifted up the warm quilt and went out.
-
After three days, there was no change in the court.
Except for the Imperial Physician Sun who had not been to the court for a long time, he was chatting with several equally old ministers and discussing their health problems. This made the court, which was always tense, more lively.
After Duan Changchuan entered the hall, all the ministers stood up quickly. After he sat on the dragon throne, they shouted "Your Majesty" and knelt down to pay homage to him.
He raised his arm slightly and said, "My dear ministers, please stand up."
His eyes swept over everyone below the stone steps.
It can be seen that after the shock in the court last time, the ministers have restrained their thoughts a lot. The Regent and Prime Minister Bai stood on both sides, and they looked much more cautious than before, at least they stood much straighter.
-
At the last morning court session, Duan Changchuan issued an edict ordering Dali Temple Minister Jiang to go to Huainan, and he had already set off two days ago. The case of Huainan Governor Chen Kangcheng is now being tried by the Shaoqing.
Duan Changchuan first inquired about the trial progress of the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.
The young man knelt on one knee and replied, "After three days of interrogation, the guilty minister Chen has confessed to the crimes of 13 officials and merchants from various counties and towns. Among them, eight people accepted bribes; five people offered bribes; four people embezzled the court's money; eight people privately sold disaster relief grain; and five people hoarded goods and raised the price of grain."
Then he handed over the book stating the case with both hands.
So, in the hall, under the gaze of everyone, the young emperor, holding the spine of the book with one hand, calmly read the book.
In the empty hall, the only sound was the crisp sound of flipping papers.
And every time he read a page, the young man would glance at the officials below, which made the officials tremble in fear and lower their heads, not daring to look at him again.
When he finally closed the book, he looked at Prime Minister Bai with an especially meaningful look.
"People in the frontline suffered from the disaster. In the cold winter, they had no food to eat and no warm clothes to wear, but some people filled their pockets and ate a lot of greasy food."
Then he raised his chin and looked at the regent who was at the top. "Is this the talent that Uncle Wang has selected for Datong over the past decade? Uncle Wang is really old and his eyesight is blurry."
After saying that, he turned his head to look at the eunuch in official robes and said, "Changle, pass on the order. I am worried about the regent's eye disease, so I specially allow the uncle to take a month off and return home to recuperate. No one is allowed to disturb him."
Then, under the regent's angry gaze, he handed the book back to the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.
"Take the names of all the people in the book and arrest them secretly. Send one to Shengjing as soon as you catch one. It just so happens that the spring examination has just ended, and many talents have not yet been assigned official positions. They don't want to do it or can't do it, but there are many people who can do it. Also, pass on my oral order that anyone who confesses or surrenders himself can be given a reduced sentence. Otherwise, all nine clans will be executed without mercy."
The Dali Temple Shaoqing took the book, kowtowed immediately, and replied word by word: "I obey your order!"
-
After discussing the Huainan corruption and bribery case, Duan Changchuan was already a little tired...
But I still tried to cheer myself up, as the plague issue was not resolved yet.
"During my recuperation in recent days, I heard that there were patients with similar symptoms in Huainan, and they were contagious, and there were already fatalities. Have you heard about this, my dear ministers?"
The ministers looked at each other and shook their heads in confusion.
Only one person stepped forward and said hesitantly, "I have heard something... I heard that a pharmacy received a patient and sealed the entire pharmacy the next day, but other pharmacies did not take any action, and the people's lives and medical treatment were not affected. Some rumors are so incredible that they say it is a plague... I have not heard more about the situation, so I dare not jump to conclusions."
Duan Changchuan nodded, turned to look at the Regent and asked, "Uncle Wang, have you heard about it? What do you think?"
The person being asked was apparently still immersed in the punishment of being "confined" for a month, and only came back to his senses when his name was called.
He was stunned for a moment, and after a long while he finally realized what was happening, he said, "I have not heard of it."
The young man raised a sarcastic smile at the corner of his lips: "Maybe the government is still investigating and dare not report it? Or... they are busy with other things and have no time to take care of it, right?"
The person standing in the first position bowed his hands and said, "Your Majesty has just touched upon a political matter, so it is normal for you to have doubts. The government will not report anything until it has reached a conclusion. Otherwise, if all matters, big or small, are reported to the court, there will probably be so many memorials that the entire Mingsheng Palace will not be able to accommodate them all."
As expected of an old man who has controlled the government for more than a decade, he is able to turn the tables at this time.
Duan Changchuan asked directly, "So, in Uncle Wang's eyes, things like the plague are just trivial matters? If Uncle Wang doesn't understand, I will explain it to you."
As he spoke, he slowly unfolded a memorial and read out word by word: "In Huainan City, seven people were infected five days ago, and one died. One of them was a family of three. In addition, the waiter in the clinic was infected after only contacting the patient for one day, so the total number of infected people is eight. The clinic immediately closed itself and stopped accepting patients. This is the news that Lord Li just heard. Today, I just received news that two days ago, the number of infected people in the city had risen to fifty, and there were four infected waiters in the clinic alone. The four people who were infected before, the whole family is sick, accounting for 16 people. Currently, five people have died and three are critically ill. Among them, the five who died were all patients in the first batch of infection."
As soon as the words fell, there was another uproar.
The ministers discussed:
"It's only been three days and five people have already died. This is no small matter, no small matter!"
"There was only one person infected in the clinic, but now the number has risen to four. There aren't that many people in the clinic, including the pharmacists and doctors... This..."
"The whole family of those who were infected earlier were infected, no one was spared... This disease spreads too quickly!"
Finally, he came to the conclusion: "This... is most likely a plague, right? Huainan is really committing a sin, ah..."
Everyone started to panic, even the prime minister began to feel dazed and didn't dare to look Duan Changchuan in the eye.
Only the regent still stubbornly insisted on his own opinion.
"Let's not talk about whether the news is accurate or not. Even if it is true, the government will have to go through rounds of approval and inspection, and then report to the court layer by layer. How can we make a hasty decision?"
Duan Changchuan was so angry that he almost laughed.
He is the one who is still stubborn even though he is dead.
He called a minister at random and asked, "According to the previous emperor's regulations, what are the circumstances under which local officials can bypass the level and report directly to the emperor?"
The minister who was called up was under the protection of the Regent. He stood up tremblingly and looked at the gloomy Regent first... But he still answered Duan Changchuan's question in a proper manner.
"Your Majesty, the late emperor had set a rule thirty years ago that if there were foreign enemies invading the border or a level one emergency natural disaster in the local area, including floods, mudslides, strong earthquakes, large-scale wildfires, typhoons, etc., they could be exempted from hierarchical approval and sent directly to Shengjing for your hearing. However, thirty years ago, a plague raged, killing nearly a million people, and the impact was so far that it even affected Shengjing. The late emperor issued a decree to include the plague as well."
Duan Changchuan nodded in satisfaction, then turned to ask the Regent: "Report to the higher authorities? Don't make hasty decisions? I didn't know that Uncle Wang has been ruling in this way for more than ten years. I was wondering, how could Chen Kangcheng, an imperial envoy and governor, have the courage to so blatantly and unscrupulously deceive the emperor! It turns out that Uncle Wang is deaf and blind, and he can't see or hear anything."
Two people standing at the pinnacle of power suddenly confronted each other.
Almost no ministers dared to speak rashly, for fear that they would accidentally become cannon fodder in the fight between the two tigers.
The young man sitting at the top, dressed in bright yellow, made some comments and then looked down at everyone.
Sweat broke out on the Regent's forehead.
After a long time, he finally staggered, lifted his robe and knelt down, gritting his teeth and said, "Yes... I don't know people well."
The young man who won the game did not respond. He just left him aside and called out, "Doctor Sun."
The vigorous old man immediately stepped forward, knelt down in front of the emperor's stone steps, and responded with full energy: "Your Majesty, I am here!"
The ministers then understood why the old imperial physician Sun, who had been away from the court for a long time, suddenly appeared in the court today.
The emperor, who had just looked down upon his minister without giving him any respect, walked down the steps with the help of Changle, then half-knelt down respectfully and helped him up: "Please stand up, Mr. Sun. You have been away from the court for several years. You should have been enjoying your old age. I shouldn't have disturbed you. However, Huainan has a serious matter. I have no choice but to trouble you. On behalf of the millions of people in Huainan, I respectfully invite you to come out of retirement."
These words are very touching.
The old doctor who had fought on the front line of plague prevention and control immediately had tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, please don't do it! The people's affairs are of paramount importance. Saving Huainan is to save the people from danger. I, your servant, have no choice but to do it! It is a blessing for the people and the country of Datong that Datong has a benevolent emperor like your Majesty!"
After saying this, he looked to the side with a pointed look: "It is a million times better than some people who only care about the power in their hands and do anything to win people's hearts!"
What a roundabout way of speaking.
But the Regent and Prime Minister Bai, who were scolded, could only endure it.
After all, if he refuted it, wouldn't that mean he was admitting that he was wrong? He had to swallow his loss.
Seeing the two old foxes being humiliated, Duan Changchuan felt extremely happy. He watched Changle finish reading the imperial edict, and then personally handed the yellow scroll to Doctor Sun.
"I hope you return safely, sir."
"I will definitely live up to your Majesty's wishes!"
…
-
After the morning court session, Duan Changchuan simply sent Doctor Sun out of the hall.
The two walked and chatted along the way:
"Thank you for your help, sir. As for whether the Queen will go with you, I just received the news today and need to finalize it. I'm afraid I can't give you a definite answer today."
"Last time, I was impulsive..."
"You are right, sir." Duan Changchuan said, and then changed the subject, "Sir, you have a straightforward personality. Datong needs someone as outspoken as you."
The old man laughed heartily, "Your Majesty, are you saying that I scolded the regent today? He raised a servant like Chen Laogou, shouldn't he scold me? I am old now and my temper is better. If it were the time of the late emperor, I would have scolded him even more harshly. Besides, I am not afraid of him. His eldest son, who is not ambitious, goes to brothels every day to seek pleasure. He couldn't stand up a year ago. Looking at the whole Shengjing, only I have the skills to deal with him. I hold their family's incense in my hand. Even if I scold him bloody, he will have to bring gifts to say good things."
Duan Changchuan: …
Phew.
It seemed like I accidentally heard something extraordinary.
Moreover, he sent Doctor Sun out, and other ministers also came out in twos and threes. The old man spoke with full vigor, and the words "can't stand up" could even be heard echoing off the courtyard wall.
The young man glanced back calmly, and sure enough... The expressions of the ministers were truly spectacular.
The Regent was probably still discussing matters with Prime Minister Bai and had not come out yet.
Speaking of which... at the last flower-viewing party, it seemed that the real daughter of the prime minister, Bai Jinzhi, had been promised to Duan Xuyuan
Tsk tsk tsk.
Marry a bitch.
The young man, who had been maintaining a serious and solemn demeanor as an emperor since the morning court session, finally couldn't help but curved his beautiful eyes.
What could be more joyful than a person who [breaks off the engagement and humiliates herself] and marries a [person who is ten thousand times worse than herself]
What could be more exciting than knowing that this happy event will soon be known to everyone and will spread to the ears of everyone in Shengjing
The young man waved goodbye to Doctor Sun with a smile, then hurriedly walked towards the Mingsheng Temple.
He couldn't wait to share this good news with Bai Su.
The author has something to say:
Good night~