The grassland is particularly beautiful at dusk. Layers of faint golden light cover the endless grassland. The cattle and sheep walk slowly and consciously towards the sheepfold and cattlefold under the shouts of the Eastern Turkic people.
In the distance, herds of horses raised a cloud of dust, which blended with the golden dusk, like the back of Buddha, full of mystery.
The sky and the earth seemed to be somewhat pale in comparison at this moment. Amidst the flying dust, horses were galloping across the grassland, echoing with the faint layer of black clouds on the horizon, forming a harmonious and happy picture.
But just after the Eastern Turks had settled their cattle, sheep and horses, the light layer of black clouds under the setting sun suddenly seemed to change its nature. It accumulated more and more on the edge of the sky, becoming thicker and thicker, rolling and swirling, and began to press towards the grassland.
The hills lying on the grassland in the distance were instantly submerged in rolling black clouds. One could vaguely hear the rolling black clouds, carrying lightning and thunder, making a deafening roar, and rushing towards them with unstoppable force.
The wind on the grassland was blowing faster and faster as the low-lying black clouds seemed to be chasing it. The Eastern Turks walked forward one step and back two steps against the wind, and it took them a long time to finally get into their tents.
Amid the roar of lightning and thunder, there seemed to be the howling of wolves, which immediately made the horses, cattle and sheep involuntarily huddle together again.
The entire grassland suddenly became small between heaven and earth at this moment. The grassland, which originally had a hint of light, now turned pitch black. The strong wind was whistling and instantly pressed all the originally upright grass to the ground.
The tents of the Eastern Turks seemed to be shaky under the menacing black clouds. They were blown and hit by the wind, making crackling sounds. It felt like they would be blown away from the ground if the wind was stronger.
...
...
The rolling black clouds swirled and began to ravage the entire grassland. The grassland, which was originally shrouded in a layer of golden light, now seemed like a lone boat in the ocean, tottering under the fury of nature.
There were neighing sounds from the horses, bleating sounds from the sheep, and mooing sounds from the cattle, one after another, and thick black clouds were filled with lightning and thunder.
And on the land, along with the black clouds, there were also a dozen wolves galloping across the grassland, their eyes flashing green, staring closely at the cattle and sheep of the Eastern Turks.
A thunderclap that resounded through the heavens and the earth, like a command from God, slowly rolled towards the sky, shaking the entire grassland.
The wolves seemed to have received an order. The leader howled into the wind, ordering the pack to start charging.
The smell of blood immediately spread across the grassland. The Eastern Turks in the tents were unable to run out of the crumbling tents to stop the wolves from rushing into the herds of sheep, cattle and horses.
The entire grassland then began to fall into a scene like hell. The sounds of biting, wailing, and the strong and pungent smell of blood spread wildly across the grassland.
A group of about a hundred Turks seemed to be following a wolf pack. After the wolf pack had obtained rich spoils, they gradually found the right direction in the darkness.
"Urgent report to the Grand Protector, the horses have been chased away by prairie wolves." The voice in the darkness had just finished speaking when its entire face changed color. This simple sentence already filled his stomach with the smell of strong wind and blood.
In the Chongwen Pavilion of the East Palace in Chang'an City, Liang Xiaoren and Yuwen Rong stood in front of Li Hong and said solemnly: "The water in Qujiang Lake has exceeded the warning line you drew at the beginning."
"The water from Yong'an Canal and Longshou Canal has also begun to overflow from the South Canal. The most serious thing is that this rain water must be discharged from the South Canal and the Longshou Canal in the east. But if this happens, the crops in more than a dozen counties in Guanzhong will be submerged before the autumn harvest." Liang Xiaoren said with some worry.
"What about Taiye Lake? The Qujiang Lake is full of water. Wouldn't the Taiye Lake also flood the newly built Daming Palace?" Li Hong asked while looking at the topographic map on the sand table.
"There's nothing wrong with Taiye Lake for now. A small sluice gate has been opened in the Longshou Canal to the east, and water is being discharged now," Liang Xiaoren replied.
Li Hong held a thin wooden stick in his hand, tapping the Chang'an topographic map on the sand table from time to time, and said lightly, "The terrain of Sanyuan and Gaoling is higher than that of Yong'an Canal, so the water cannot be discharged into the Wei River, and Lantian County cannot enter. What do you think?"
After finishing speaking, Li Hong put down the thin wooden stick in his hand and looked at the two people who were now working in the Ministry of Industry with a smile.
Liang Xiaoren and Yuwen Rong looked at each other. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's meaning was self-evident. This was to drain the flood from Wannian County in Chang'an. After Zhiyang County was incorporated into Wannian County, it was under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture. If the flood was drained from Wannian County, it would inevitably destroy several areas close to the city wall of Chang'an.
"Your Highness, if this happens, I'm afraid the loss to Wannian County will be..."
"Where is your early warning mechanism from that year? Isn't it just used now? Destroying a few wards is better than flooding the crops in Lantian, Gaoling and other counties. Jingzhao Prefecture governs 22 surrounding counties. If we don't pass through Wannian County, at least a dozen surrounding counties will suffer."
"I'm afraid you'll have to call the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Central Affairs to inquire about this matter, otherwise it may be difficult..."
"Go ahead and do it. Isn't this the flood discharge route that you studied back then? Besides, the sluice gates are not as good as before, so we can open them in time to discharge the flood. Hua Meng, summon the Secretary of State, the Ministry of Personnel, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Minister of the Ministry of War. Well... just in Chongwenguan." Li Hong said after thinking for a while.
"But..." Liang Xiaoren and Yuwen Rong were still a little at a loss.
Li Hong was about to leave for the meeting hall of Chongwen Hall. Seeing that the two were still hesitating, he smiled and said, "Before my father and mother went to the Eastern Capital, they had already appointed me as the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. I appointed the prefectural chief. Do you two have any questions?"
The two looked at each other and saw the joy in each other's eyes. If this was the case, it would be easy to deal with. They were just afraid that His Highness would execute first and report later again. Moreover, such things had happened more than once in the court. His Majesty was so angry that he slammed the table in front of him every time he went to court, but it was still no use.
They all said at once: "Yes, Your Highness, I will do it right away."
"Remember, do not use force when relocating the people from Daning, Xingning, and Yongjia. The city guards will cooperate with you in relocating the people."
After Li Hong finished speaking, he was about to leave when Xiaoxue ran over and said in a crisp voice, "Your Highness, Zong Chuke is at the door asking to see you."
"He even knew to come here. What is he doing as the chief official of Jingzhao Prefecture? Why did he show up after such a long time? Tell him that I am busy and ask him to relocate and evacuate the people of the three districts with Liang Xiaoren and Yuwen Rong."
Liang Xiaoren and Yuwen Rong, who had not yet left their homes, felt even more relieved when they heard this. With this de facto official in charge of Jingzhao Prefecture, relocating the people and draining the flood would be much faster.
Immediately, the two of them bowed deeply to Li Hong again: "Students thank Your Highness." After saying that, they hurriedly followed Xiaoxue to find Zong Chuke, who was promoted from the magistrate of Lantian County to the chief official of Jingzhao.
Jingzhao Prefecture was formerly called Yongzhou Prefecture. Its function was to govern the surrounding counties, headed by Chang'an and Wannian counties. Although it was a remote jurisdiction, this position was also held by Li Shimin before he ascended the throne, and it was a position with real power.
At that time, Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin, was the General of the Left and Right, the Minister of the Chancellery, the Envoy of Liangzhou, the Governor of Yongzhou, and the General Manager of Liangzhou. It can be said that his power was so great that he could even override the emperor.
And now, although Li Hong is nominally in charge of Jingzhao Prefecture, the court officials are all clear in their minds that this is another naked emperor. Who has ever seen someone remotely in charge of Jingzhao Prefecture and able to appoint the prefectural officials by himself?
To put it bluntly, the emperor and empress plan to train the next emperor.
But even if he added the position of Jingzhao Prefecture Governor and the position of Minister of Revenue, Li Hong was still much inferior to his grandfather.
In his own words, "A grandson is a grandson, and a grandson will always be a grandson."
After watching the few people leave, Li Hong, under the leadership of Xia Zhi, looked at the heavy rain outside. He saw Zong Chuke wearing a simple straw raincoat, standing under the eaves like a drowned chicken, waiting for a reply.
"Send someone to bring him a bowl of hot soup. Don't let him die suddenly because of this rainstorm." Li Hong sighed and said.
Xia Zhi then quietly signaled the other palace maids to hurry up and then led Li Hong to the meeting hall.
At this time, Li Zhi and Wu Mei were excited about the completion of several palaces in the Eastern Capital, such as the Hebi Palace, so they left their court affairs and went to Luoyang for fun, leaving the crown prince in Chang'an to supervise the country.
After a while, the Minister of the Secretariat Pei Yan, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Cen Changqian, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Jing Hui, and the Minister of War Ren Yaxiang hurried over.
Li Hong sat on the chair in the middle of the upper room, looked at the few people and their subordinates on the left and right, and waved his hand to signal them to sit down.
"Is there any order from my father?" Li Hong asked Pei Yan, the chief official of the Secretariat.
"Your Highness, His Majesty has no order."
"They are quite open-minded. It's raining so heavily for several days now, there's no way they don't know about it, right? They are really generous." Li Hong pouted in dissatisfaction.
Then he signaled to the eunuch Mangzhong to hand the documents that he had just instructed to Liang Xiaoren and Yuwen Rong to the people present.
"Everyone, take a look. What do you think? If you have no objection, you can issue it." Li Hong picked up a glass of boiled water, took a sip and said.
He had already started drinking tea, but once when he was playing chess with Sun Simiao, the old Taoist looked at the tea handed to him by the palace maid, lowered his eyelids and said unhappily: "Why do you drink tea when you are young? Wait until you have children or grow up before drinking tea."
Li Hong asked in surprise why, and the old Taoist hummed and said, "I'm afraid you won't be interested in ** in the future. You will have three palaces and six courtyards in the future, and you will be favored by all of them. Drinking tea now is not good for you."
So, from that day on, before he could figure out whether the Taoist's words were true or not, Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue took the initiative to help him replace his tea with boiled water.
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