Gu Shaoyu found Leng Luo and whispered, "I need to see His Majesty immediately."
Leng Luo whispered a few words to Hua Zisheng, who came out a moment later and said to Gu Shaoyu, "His Majesty summons Grand Secretary Gu."
Gu Shaoyu followed Hua Zisheng into His Majesty's bedchamber.
Not long after, His Majesty summoned Grand Secretary Liu, Xie Anfeng, and other ministers to the palace.
As the Duke of Cheng'en watched them go in one by one, he knew that His Majesty might already know about their plan and be discussing countermeasures!
Pshaw, discuss it? Do you think food will fall from the sky?
"Is everything ready?"
"Your memorial has been written."
"At the beginning of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), everyone should go to the palace gate and kneel down to beg."
At the beginning of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), outside the Golden Palace and outside the Second Gate, officials of all ranks knelt in unison.
We beg Your Majesty to have pity on the vast number of people, to not abandon the ancestral land, and not to let the people become slaves of a conquered nation!
Emperor Hui did not leave his residence, but listened to Leng Luo's reports.
He sipped his rice porridge slowly and said, "These are people who have plenty of food at home and are just full. Since they like to cry, let them cry in the cold wind for a while longer, and after they've digested their food, I'll talk to them."
Emperor Hui, who usually held court at dawn, did not open the gates or call for court today.
The people brought by Cheng'en Gong cried and begged for a long time at the main gate and the second gate, their lips turning blue from the cold.
If you were to ask them to commit suicide by crashing into a pillar, they wouldn't be sure if they had enough strength to do so.
At dawn, the inner gates of the palace opened, and Emperor Hui finally emerged. Standing beside him were ministers such as Grand Secretary Liu, Grand Secretary Gu, and Xie Anfeng.
"I have heard the pleas of my beloved ministers!"
"The Imperial City Guard has conducted a thorough interrogation, and the three individuals who disturbed public morale yesterday have all confessed to being spies from other countries. The military report of an emergency at the border was a false report!"
"I have already collected 200,000 shi of grain, which will be deposited into the national treasury today."
"In addition, the righteous people who sold rice in Kyoto a few days ago have started selling rice in Wancheng and Zhongzhou areas at a price of fifty wen per catty starting today."
"If there is anything to report, all of you shall report it; if there is nothing to report, each of you shall perform your duties diligently and conscientiously!"
The slow-witted Duke Cheng'en asked the minister beside him, "What is Your Majesty saying?"
"His Majesty said that with a great effort, grain will be plentiful everywhere."
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