Chapter 500: Announcement of the Imperial Edict
Hengzhou, Hengshan Prince's Palace.
"Your Highness! The imperial eunuchs are here and have arrived at the gate." The chief steward of Hengshan Prince Li Xiang reported to Li Xiang.
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and greet the eunuchs and change your clothes." Li Xiang said as he urged the maid to change him into court clothes and prepare to receive the imperial edict.
The imperial eunuch who came to read the imperial edict came to Li Xiang without any hindrance. Li Xiang had just dressed up.
"I greet you, Your Highness!" The eunuch saluted with his arms crossed. The visitor was a eunuch in the palace.
"You have come all the way from Chang'an to me. You have worked hard. I have prepared a banquet to welcome you." Li Xiang said, not daring to be negligent.
Although Li Xiang is a prince, the other party is just a eunuch in the palace, and he can't stand the fact that he is close to his father, the emperor.
The most important thing is that he is still an imperial servant, representing the court and the emperor who is far away in Chang'an. Even for this reason, Li Xiang has to follow the rules.
If he treats the eunuch badly, when he returns to Chang'an, he will exaggerate and say nonsense, which will make his father, the emperor, furious and want to punish him, which will be a loss.
Besides, the other party is just a family slave, and he is a prince after all, so there is no need to lower his profile to him.
"Prince, the matter of welcoming and cleaning can be put aside for later. I came to Hengzhou to read the imperial edict in accordance with the order of His Majesty. Please accept the order!" said the eunuch.
Li Xiang knelt down hurriedly and said, "I, Li Xiang, the King of Hengshan
, accept the imperial decree." "The Emperor of the Great Tang ordered that the King of Hengshan be promoted to the King of Wei, and an additional 200 households be granted. I have been very concerned about the King of Hengshan since he left the capital. I learned a few days ago that you had a son, and I am really happy for you."
"You and I have not seen each other for several years, and I am even more concerned about you. I have issued an imperial decree to order you to come to the capital, and I will spend this year's Lantern Festival with your family."
"The decree is as above, and it will be carried out!" The eunuch read out the imperial decree. "
I, Li Xiang, the King of Hengshan, thank the Emperor for his grace! Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor." Li Xiang bowed his head and shouted long live the Emperor.
"Prince Wei, please stand up quickly. This is the imperial edict from His Majesty. You! Keep it well. His Majesty is waiting for you to return to Chang'an!" The eunuch hurriedly stepped forward to help Li Xiang, who was kneeling on the ground, and put the imperial edict into Li Xiang's hand.
"Thank you, eunuch, for coming to announce the imperial edict. The banquet is ready. Please follow me to the banquet." Li Xiang said.
"Then I will obey your command." The eunuch smiled.
"Congratulations to Prince Wei on his promotion and congratulations to Prince Wei on the birth of his son." At the banquet, the emperor's envoy raised his glass to congratulate Li Xiang.
"Thank you, eunuch! Drink this cup! Nowadays, there are continuous disasters in the world. I don't have anything good to treat you here. I only have some simple tea and food. I hope you don't mind it." Li Xiang said while holding up the wine glass.
Now, more than 40 states in the Tang Dynasty have been affected by natural disasters, and the court has called on all places to join the anti-disaster team.
Those who have money and those who have the strength to help the disaster-stricken people overcome the difficulties.
As a prince, Li Xiang naturally responded to Li Chengqian's call and donated everything he could in the palace. In the Hengshan Palace, he cut back on clothing and food.
This time, in order to entertain the emperor's envoy, it was a considerable expense, using up half a month's expenses of the palace.
Everyone raised their glasses and drank them all.
"Prince Wei, I wonder if the little prince has been named?" asked the emperor's envoy.
"He hasn't been named yet. I plan to give him a name in a few days." Li Xiang answered truthfully.
"Prince Wei is coming to the capital to meet His Majesty this time! Why not ask His Majesty to give the little prince a name?" said the emperor's messenger.
"Good! Thank you for the reminder, eunuch!" Li Xiang immediately understood what the messenger meant and smiled.
...
Chang'an, Daming Palace, Penglai Palace.
"In a few months it will be the Lantern Festival. Now some places in the world are suffering from severe drought and the people are hungry. Some places are suffering from torrential rain and tsunamis and floods. I hope that after this year, the situation will improve." Li Chengqian sighed.
In this year, what Li Chengqian feared most was the news of natural disasters, which would mean that many people would die, starve, and be displaced.
"Everyone! The Minister of Rites said that as long as everyone offers sacrifices sincerely this year and prays for forgiveness from the gods, the gods will feel your sincerity and disasters will stop next year." Wang Quan said.
Li Chengqian was full of disdain after hearing this. Natural disasters are natural disasters and have nothing to do with praying to gods.
The ancients loved to talk about the interaction between heaven and man. They said that all kinds of natural disasters occurred because the emperor did something immoral, and the gods sent down natural disasters to warn the emperor to reflect.
From then on, he should turn over a new leaf and start a new life. When it is time to offer sacrifices, the emperor only needs to pray sincerely and ask the gods not to send down natural disasters again.
To put it simply, as the Son of Heaven, the emperor confessed to the gods during the sacrifice, wrote a letter of
guarantee, and burned it in fire to tell the gods that he had recognized his mistakes, asked for forgiveness, and asked the gods to stop their magical powers and let those poor people go. If after the sacrifice, no disasters occurred in the next year, it meant that the emperor sincerely repented and was recognized by the gods, and stopped warning the emperor.
If natural disasters continued in the next year, it meant that the emperor's repentance was not sincere enough and the gods were still dissatisfied.
The emperor still needed to continue to work hard and continue to repent of his sins until the gods were satisfied.
"Let's not talk about the sacrifice for now. I just want to know how Di Renjie's disaster relief work is going," Li Chengqian said.
"To everyone, Zhongshu Shilang Di Renjie just sent a memorial saying that the situation in various places has been initially controlled and the people have been properly resettled." Wang Quan said.
"What do you mean by initially controlled? Does it mean that it may still get out of control? Is the situation so serious that it can get out of control at any time?" Li Chengqian asked after hearing this. "
Shilang Di said that there are many people affected by the disaster, and more than 40 states have suffered different disaster situations. The money and food allocated by the court can only solve the immediate problem. If you want to stabilize it completely, the court needs to allocate money and food again." Wang Quan said.
"You are here to ask me for money and food again. Not long ago, the Minister of Revenue told me that he was poor and that the Ministry of Revenue had no money to spend. He wished that one dollar could become a hundred dollars to spend."
"I am like this now. The palace is now tightening its belt and dieting. The monthly expenses are being reduced again and again. There is still no money and food. I am in a dilemma!" Li Chengqian sighed.
It is true that a penny can stump a hero, and a good cook cannot cook without rice.
If the Tang Dynasty had an inexhaustible supply of money and food, he would have sent it to Di Renjie without hesitation. The key is that there is no money.
"Everyone! The ministers have submitted a proposal to stop building ships along the coast. Now that the world is at peace, it is a waste to build so many large ships. It is better to use the money for disaster relief." Wang Quan said.
How much money, food and manpower would be spent on building ships along the coast? The ministers did not understand the emperor's intention to do so.