Halfway through the winter moon, a heavy snowfall came to Luoyang, the capital of Dayue, dyeing the mountains, rivers, land and the ancient capital into snow-white.

In the morning, the howling cold wind came from the north, passed through half of Luoyang City, and entered the heavily guarded palace. In the end, it was cut off and divided by the stack of palaces and pavilions, and it was almost gone when it arrived in front of Qinzheng Hall.

At this time, the palace was closed, with hundreds of elite soldiers guarding each other in front of him, because the emperor was meeting with important officials in the court in the palace to discuss state affairs. Not to mention the idle people waiting, even a bird would not be able to approach.

Unlike the cold weather outside, the Qinzheng Hall is as warm as spring. The huge beast-headed copper furnace is lined with smokeless and odorless high-quality golden wire carbon inside, which emits heat and fills the entire wide palace, making the monarchs and ministers who are talking about the important matters in the country almost forget that it is now cold winter.

However, with a minister's report, everyone soon realized how cold and cool the season is now: "Your Majesty, since the beginning of winter, there have been wind and snow attacks of different sizes in Shanxi, Shaanxi and northern Xinjiang. Some areas with severe disasters have even suffered houses and houses collapsed, and many local people have died. Nowadays, many officials from all over the country have submitted memorials for relief, and the court has asked for a quick decision."

The emperor frowned slightly. Such cold disasters occurred almost every year. The bitter and cold areas in the north were not wealthy. In addition, the harsh climate always brought considerable pressure to the court at this time. Although he was used to such problems, he was still a little unhappy when he heard the news and hummed: "Every year after year, officials from all over the country have never thought of preparing in advance to save the people? What's the difference between letting the people suffer from disasters every year and dereliction of duty and neglecting human life?"

When the emperor was angry, these important officials in the court were shocked. After a few people exchanged their eyes, Tang Qianwen, the deputy general, came forward and said: "Your Majesty, there are indeed some inappropriate things in this matter, but it is really out of helplessness. Shanxi and other places are already poor, and it is not easy to ensure that the people have enough food and clothing on weekdays. As for the repair of their residences, it is not within the capacity of the government. As for the northern border, it is necessary to be warned because the ghosts invade the border and have to strengthen the walls and clear the fields. Therefore, the construction of the city is mainly based on defense and cannot spend more money to benefit the people's livelihood..."

As the emperor, Sun Yong was not clear about these principles. He just wanted to vent a few words because of his anger. After hearing the explanation, his anger dissipated and he waved his hands: "The people in these places are also my people of Dayue. I feel very sad when they are affected by disasters. In this way, the Ministry of Revenue allocated 100,000 silver, 50,000 dan of grain, and 30,000 pieces of cloth within the year, and escorted them to the specialist to provide disaster relief and comfort. It is necessary not to let more people suffer from disasters and deaths."

"Your Majesty is truly a blessing for my great victory over all the people." The ministers quickly praised him and wanted to expose the matter. However, the emperor did not stop and continued: "In addition, I will also select a few righteous and useful people from the Censor Taichung to go to the above places to check whether there are any corruption, especially the money, grain and cloth for this disaster relief. If anyone dares to embezzle, I will definitely forgive me!" Now the officials are aware of what kind of behavior they are, and the emperor is naturally aware of it.

Several important officials knew even more. After hearing this, they felt a stern again. Maybe someone would really hit the gun. However, after seeing the emperor's serious expression, they did not dare to object, and could only claim that it was.

"Your Majesty, there is another thing. Judging from the reports from the northern border, Guirong seems to have a strange movement this year. Many of our border guards will want to take the initiative. I wonder what your Majesty's will mean?" This time, the person who spoke was no longer a civil servant, but Qi Heng, the Privy Councilor who rarely appeared in the court meetings in the past.

After he finished speaking, the right prime minister Wang Han quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I think our northern border guards should not act rashly anymore, and we should make self-defense first."

"Wang Xiang, are you trying to increase your ambitions and destroy my great power? For a hundred years, we have always taken the initiative in the war between my great Yue and Gui Rong. How can we allow Gui Rong to invade my borders and hurt my people?" Qi Heng was a little unhappy when he heard this, and immediately raised his eyebrows and opposed it.

"Shishou Qi's idea is really a bit too reckless. Have you forgotten the failure three years ago? Taking the initiative will only make our border army attack the enemy's strengths with its own shortcomings and lose the protection of the city. Can our generals really make a profit from the fierce and warlike Guirong people?" Immediately, another civil servant stood up and retorted.

"That was because we underestimated the enemy at that time, but after a lesson, it was different..." The Deputy Privy Councilor also spoke out to support his superiors.

For a moment, senior civil and military officials started to argue fiercely in front of the emperor, each of whom had their own reasons, making the Qinzheng Hall quarrel like a street vegetable market.

In fact, such things have happened in the past. Because of the principle of equal importance to civil and military affairs, no one in the Dayue Dynasty has ever been convinced by the civil and military officials. However, as few wars have become less and less common in recent years, the military officials have been suppressed little by little, but obviously they did not give up. This time they seized the opportunity and wanted to rely on taking the initiative to make a fortune.

But this was obviously not what the civil servants wanted to see, so they naturally tried their best to obstruct. The emperor sat on the top and was not surprised by this. He actually listened to them with interest to argue with each other. Until both sides said all the words, he looked at Lu Zhen: "Lu Qing, what do you think?"

As the highest official in the court, Lu Zhen was surprisingly silent today. Until the emperor asked, he went forward and replied: "Your Majesty, I think that the concerns of Qi Zheng are very reasonable. Since the defeat three years ago, the situation in the northern border has become increasingly unbearable for several years. There are always small troops of Guirong who invaded our borders. Even if they do not hurt our spleen and stomach, it will be somewhat destructive to our northern borders.

"And, as this continues, it will boost their arrogance. Perhaps only 20,000 invaders this year will be more than 20,000 soldiers and horses next year. One day, it will pose a great threat to our northern border. Therefore, taking the initiative to attack and defending the enemy outside the country's border is a way.

"However, I think the current situation is not easy to rush to fight in the northern border. This is because after the defeat three years ago, the soldiers in the army were either afraid or eager to win. If there was no famous general who could reverse the mentality of the soldiers, it would be difficult to win."

"Prime Minister Lu, are you saying this a bit too absolute? Nowadays, those who guard the northern border are all my old generals who have been in Dayue for decades. They are enough to guard one side in terms of prestige and ability. How could there be any mistakes?" Qi Heng retorted with some dissatisfaction.

"You said that they are good generals to guard one side, rather than expanding territory, and can wipe out the stars of the northern desert by themselves. If Qi Shuai, you really think that anyone in the northern border can compare with the guards of Han and Li Xue of Tang, I naturally would not dare to obstruct them anymore."

Well, this opening brought out Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Li Jing and Xue Rengui, who could expand territory and kill foreign tribes such as the Huns and Turks, and so much that Qi Heng could not refute it. When Dayue founded, there might be such a talented general who was rare in the world, but now, there is not half of them. He, the Privy Councilor, went there himself, and he did not have such ability.

Lu Zhen suppressed the other party and smiled again: "What's more, I have another concern here." As he said that, he saluted the emperor, "Your Majesty, although the minister of military use is not as good as the general of Qi, he also knows the most important truth. Before the troops are moved, the food and grass will be moved first. Once the troops are really going to be used in the north, the food and grass will be mobilized. However, the current situation of the imperial court's treasury is not optimistic. It has been the end of the year, and the taxes, money and grain in Jiangnan have not yet been transported."

"What's going on? What's Wen Ming doing? Didn't the court issued an order to him early in the morning to only reduce the local taxes by 20% and send the taxes as soon as possible?" The emperor's face darkened and asked in a cold voice.

Jiangnan is the basic capital of Dayue’s money and grain. Once the taxes there cannot be sent to the court on time, it will inevitably lead to a series of changes. Not to mention the northern border sending troops, even disaster relief in various parts of the north may be dragged down or even impossible to accomplish. What’s even more terrifying is that the court will be stretched out and the consequences will be disastrous.

"Your Majesty calmed down. It was because the Governor of the South did not want to do the job attentively. It was really that Jiangnan had another chaos, so he could only delay the collection of money and grain to the capital in time." Lu Zhen paused, and then raised the urgent report he had just obtained yesterday. "Your Majesty, there is Governor of Jiangnan Wen Ming who reported that just ten days ago, the Luotian Sect in Jiangnan was in chaos and conspired to seize the government's money, grain and taxes, and even tried to capture Jinling."

As soon as these words came out, there was no civil and military in the hall, and everyone was uproaring. The emperor even changed his color and slapped: "The Luotian Sect's traitor! He is really brave and deserves to die!"

"Prime Minister Lu, what's the situation in Jiangnan now?"

"Yes, can those money and grain be kept? Jinling is fine?"

In horror, everyone didn't care about any etiquette anymore, so they asked in the hall all the time. Even the emperor did not blame everyone, and said with a serious expression: "Can Wen Ming quell this chaos?"

"Trust your Majesty to make a fortune. This rebellion was quickly quelled, and the secret son of Luo Tian Sect who had been infiltrated into the government early in the morning were also captured. The Governor Wen even mentioned in the report that he would transport the money and food to the capital soon." Lu Zhen did not keep it in his arms, and soon he told the result of the incident, which made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, Jiangnan was settled.

However, his words were not finished: "It was just after this chaos that the situation in Jiangnan became increasingly unstable, especially the Luotian Sect was almost everywhere, which was a big hidden danger. In addition, the previous floods and hidden worries remained, so when the governor considered the overall situation in Jiangnan, he thought of a thorough investigation and digging out all the remnants of the Luotian Sect hidden among the people."

"This is a matter of course. I think this method is very appropriate." The emperor nodded in agreement.
Chapter completed!