Volume 1 Chapter 126 Reviewing the Memorial

At this moment Qin Su finally couldn't help it, her eyes turned red, and tears streamed down.

Why was Xiang Yun so nice to me? My face was obviously disfigured and I wasn't even half as pretty as this Lingzhi girl.

Why is this happening? Why!

Xiang Yun said to her gently, "How come we were able to defeat Qin Su of the Sand Barbarians? General Qin is now shy in front of your sister like a little woman?"

"Your injuries were caused by me. I have already told you that I will never despise you!

And you are really very beautiful, very attractive to me, so please stop feeling so inferior, okay?"

Qin Su blushed and nodded shyly.

Xiang Yun added: "Raise your head and be more confident!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Su quickly wiped the tears from her face, raised her head, and openly showed her scar to Lingzhi.

Seeing the two of them showing their affection so much, Lingzhi on the side felt extremely jealous and didn't know how resentful she must be in her heart.

Qin Su tucked her hair up, straightened her chest and twisted her waist, and said to Lingzhi with a smile: "Your Majesty has been away on the expedition these days. Thank you for taking care of him."

As soon as these words came out, Xiang Yun knew that something was wrong. He didn't want to see these two people fighting over power and saying sarcastic words, so he immediately stopped them: "Xiao Susu, tell me about the war in the northern border. How did you defeat the Sand Barbarians?"

But Lingzhi on the side immediately refused to do so, stepped forward and grabbed Xiang Yun's hand, and said coquettishly: "No, how can you be so partial? You must call me Xiao Zhizhi, no, you must call me Xiao Lingling!"

The atmosphere in the carriage was very "harmonious" and everyone was "talking and laughing". The carriage moved forward with the army and soon arrived at where the three prime ministers were.

Led by Liu Yiyi, Zhu Qiyu and Wang Shu, they were ready to go forward to welcome the Emperor, but the carriage did not even stop in front of them, but went straight away.

All the civil and military officials stared blankly at the receding carriage, and were shocked in their hearts. The emperor's meaning was obviously very clear.

The three prime ministers were even more panicked because they were very dissatisfied with the court affairs handled by them during the time when he was away from Beijing in person.

The emperor handed over power to these three people, and ended up with the rebellion of the Eighteen Rebel Kings. How could he not be angry?

Wang Shushu frowned and said, "You two, the emperor is angry. What should we do now?"

Liu Yiyi sighed and said, "Everything will be known at the court tomorrow morning. The emperor is kind and righteous, and will not kill innocent people indiscriminately. We don't need to worry too much.

Since the emperor doesn't want to see us, then colleagues, please stop standing here and go back."

Zhu Qiyu frowned and said, "No matter what, all the sins will be borne by the three of us. If you want to punish us, punish us three. How about that?"

Wang Shu also said: "That's right, the rest of them are pillars of the court and are not worth keeping. There are only three of us left!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yiyi immediately shook her head and said, "No, you don't understand the emperor's character at all. Once His Majesty decides on something, he won't change it!

If we act on our own, it will backfire. Let's wait until tomorrow morning to see the emperor's attitude and never unite to oppose the emperor!"

This remark awakened Zhu Qiyu and Wang Shu, who were in a dream, nodded quickly and broke out in cold sweats.

The carriage kept moving towards the capital without stopping for a moment. It did not stop even after entering the capital and drove all the way to the imperial palace.

Civil and military officials as well as the three prime ministers had no choice but to follow behind the carriage. When they saw Xiang Yun get off the carriage, he didn't even look at them. He held Qin Su in one hand and Lingzhi in the other, and walked towards the palace with a smile. Not long after, he disappeared from everyone's sight.

Seeing this scene, Liu Yiyi felt very uncomfortable. He wished that Xiang Yun was holding his hand and smiling at him...

The army returned to the barracks, and Xuanyuan Dabing hurried back to his mansion to look for his wife at home, wanting to vent the frustration of fighting outside for so many years.

The emperor ignored his ministers, and they all said goodbye and went home. Only the three prime ministers remained outside the palace gate, hesitating.

Going home, they don't have the mood to go home now, even if they go back home, they can't stay there.

The three of them waited outside the palace gate for about five minutes, and then they saw Xiao Guazi running out in a hurry to report: "Three Prime Ministers, His Majesty wants you to bring all the memorials that you have reviewed since leaving Beijing to the Imperial Study."

Upon hearing this, the three of them hurriedly said goodbye to Xiao Guazi and went to their respective units in the three provinces.

In the imperial study, batches of memorials were brought in. Not only did they pile up on Xiang Yun's jade desk like a small mountain, but there were also large piles on the ground on both sides.

Xiang Yun was away for more than half a year. There were so many political affairs of the huge dynasty, both big and small, and the entire imperial study was almost full of memorials for each matter.

But no amount of memorials could change Xiang Yun's current expression. He sat in front of the desk, looking at memorials one by one with great seriousness.

After all, it is his own dynasty, so he should review these matters himself to avoid any mistakes. At the same time, he should also see what the administrative abilities of these three prime ministers are. If they are just superficial, then they are not suitable for such an important position as prime minister.

Liu Yiyi, Zhu Qiyu and Wang Shu, the three prime ministers were sitting in the imperial study, but they all felt very uncomfortable and like thorns in their backs!

Although the emperor did not scold them, they could feel the anger brewing in his heart.

After reviewing all the memorials, it was clear that they showed great distrust in their abilities. Perhaps this time, one of the three of them would fall.

Xiang Yun's current mental strength and physical fitness are excellent, incomparable to ordinary people, so he decided to read all these memorials at once so that he could plan the affairs of the court.

He looked at Yun from day to night, and continued to look at him all night long. The three prime ministers fell asleep on their seats.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, when the three prime ministers woke up in a daze, Xiang Yun was still flipping through the memorials with great energy, not looking tired at all.

Liu Yiyi and the other three were about to speak but stopped talking. Not long after, a young eunuch brought them breakfast. Only then did Xiang Yun say the first thing he said when he saw them: "I have already eaten. Don't go hungry."

That was all he said, and then Xiang Yun continued reading the memorial.

But just this one sentence made the three of them feel relieved and relaxed.

Because they did not hear any anger in Xiang Yun's tone, they thought that the emperor was still very satisfied with their way of handling affairs for the time being and did not find anything inappropriate.

Today's morning court session has long passed, but Xiang Yun has only read half of these memorials. Judging from the situation, he may have to go to court tomorrow.

Xiang Yun kept reading until late at night. Finally, after he finished reading all the memorials, he let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and rubbed his trigeminal nerve involuntarily.

When Liu Yiyi and the other two saw this, they quickly stood up, knowing that they had to get down to business, and they didn't dare sit any longer.

Xiang Yun rested for a long time before he opened his eyes and looked at the three of them. He said expressionlessly, "You are only clever but not strategic. Your vision is still too narrow!"

"You three are capable of managing a prefecture, or even a province, but you are too immature to manage a country!"

These words made the three prime ministers terrified, and they all lowered their heads and kept silent.

"I don't know how to govern a country, but when it comes to some major issues, I always think it would be better to do it this way!

For example, when eighteen rebel kings rebelled within the dynasty, countless victims were killed and the people were displaced. Millions of people gathered outside the capital. You could prevent them from entering the capital for the sake of public security, but why did you drive them away?

Why not send troops to set up porridge stalls outside the capital to provide porridge to the people?

I know that there are wars everywhere and there is not much food in the country, but if we don’t cook thick porridge or thin porridge, people will not starve to death!

Furthermore, I remember there are still many military tents in the army, why not use them to set up camps for the people to live in, at least to provide a place to shelter from the wind and rain!"

“They can’t even do such a basic thing, and they sent troops to drive these disaster victims to other cities!

I want to ask you three, now that you have come to the capital, where else can you go, and where else can accommodate them!"

Xiang Yun's tone was originally calm, but he became excited as he spoke, and even pointed at Zhu Qiyu's nose and scolded: "Why do you think they became victims of the disaster? Isn't it because of the wrong government affairs of you three!"

"You think their lives have nothing to do with you, they are not your people, right?"

Xiang Yun immediately ordered: "After today, gather the army to find the whereabouts of these disaster victims, bring them back to me, and properly settle them. Also, let officials from all over the dynasty count the number of people who starved to death because of this rebellion!"

Zhu Qiyu quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order!"

In fact, this decision was made out of helplessness. The three prime ministers believed that the capital was the foundation of the dynasty. If it was harmed by these disaster victims, once it fell and lost order, the decrees would be issued but the troops from all over the dynasty could not be mobilized, and the entire dynasty would be over.

And sending troops to drive away these disaster victims was, in the view of the three men, for their own good. After all, if the army of the eighteen rebel kings arrived one day, the first people to be killed would still be ordinary people like them.

Rather than waiting to die outside the capital, it is better to rush to another city as soon as possible, where perhaps you can find a way to survive.

This approach saved the capital, but it lost the support of the people. It was like sacrificing the pawn to save the king. It was a helpless move. Zhu Qiyu, who was wholeheartedly serving the people, was tormented by this decision.

As for distributing porridge, there was a severe shortage of food in the country. The dynasty was fighting on three fronts and no one could let the soldiers go hungry. The court had already spent a lot of money on purchasing food and there was really no extra food to distribute to the victims.

But Xiang Yun couldn't care less about so many things. He would never agree to let a large number of people starve to death.

Then Xiang Yun picked up a memorial from the jade table and threw it in front of the three of them, continuing to refute: "You have exploited the food and money of the wealthy families twice. How dare you do such a bold thing!"

"Is the imperial court unreasonable? You are just robbing! What's the difference between the imperial court and the bandits I want to eliminate?"