Chapter 237: Huge grain contradiction, Yan Shifan: The creation of heaven and earth is unpredictable, and it unexpectedly involves you!
"Have you heard about what happened in the court?" Jiajing looked at Lu Fang from the platform in the side hall of Yuxi Palace.
"Yes," Lu Fang nodded, then hesitated and said, "Master..."
"Just say what you want to say." Jiajing said, and he stood up and walked down from the platform, then walked to the window, put his hands behind his back and stared at the lake surface with ripples under the rain.
"Yes." Behind him, Lu Fang agreed and immediately took a few steps forward.
"Xu Fan's national policy of 'Spiritual Industrial Age' was established in the 61st year of Jiajing, and it has been 14 years now."
"The first stage of the Spiritual Industrial Era, 'Agriculture Spiritualization', has been perfected. But now the second stage has been shelved due to the food surplus and the internal conflicts in Ming Dynasty. It's a pity."
As Lu Fang spoke, she looked up at Jiajing who remained silent, and then continued, "I think that the method proposed by Mr. Zhang to trade grain with other countries can indeed solve the problem of overproduction of grain, thus allowing the 'germination of the spiritual energy industry' to begin."
"You have something else to say," just as Lv Fang finished speaking, Jiajing spoke slowly, "Actually, this is not the best idea in your mind."
"Nothing can be hidden from the master." After being exposed by Jiajing, Lu Fang did not dare to hide his thoughts, but continued: "Then there is Yan Shifan's method. Although it can benefit the Ming Dynasty, it is too cruel."
"Our dynasty is a superior country of immortals. It is disgraceful to use such a shameless method to plot against the mortals of a small country."
"Of course, these are just minor details. If they can really bring practical benefits to the Ming Dynasty and will not affect the Ming Dynasty, then it is nothing. It is just a little more troublesome. If you want to do things more beautifully, I believe that the Ministry of Rites can definitely do it."
"But now, the problem that Yan Shifan has to face with this method is that it will cause civil unrest and a food crisis in the various countries, thus allowing the excess production of the Ming Dynasty to be exported for trade."
"Even in the future, during the 'Era of the Embryonic Industry', when the spiritual energy workshop is built, the industrial products produced by the Ming Dynasty can also be exported, forming a virtuous cycle among the people."
"This will lead to a situation," Lü Fang said, swallowing his saliva, "that is, except for the Ming Dynasty, all other countries must be in civil strife for a long time."
"This is the only way to ensure that our internal products will not be in excess. However, with the speed of Ming's development, sooner or later there will be internal conflicts caused by the excess products of various industries."
"Moreover, this means that these countries need to continue to exist, which goes against Ming's plan to unify the world."
"This requires a perfect balance, and it also involves the development speed and time of the 'Aura Industrial Age', as well as the development of the immortal ways of other provincial governments except the two Zhili provinces. One move affects the whole body, and future plans cannot be taken lightly."
"In fact, you are more inclined to Yan Shifan's strategy." After Lu Fang finished speaking, Jiajing slowly turned around and looked at Lu Fang.
"Nothing can be hidden from the master. I am indeed more inclined to the method of the young minister Yan Shifan," Lv Fang said with a little emotion, "Over the years, I have been fighting at the bottom of the immortal world, seeing the big picture from the small, and I have a deep understanding of the immortal world."
"If we say that the Ming Dynasty is governing the world now, it is because it has built a tower of power invisibly to stabilize the world."
"The same is true for the world of immortal cultivation. Take the world of cultivation on Arcturus for example. It is a larger tower of power. The greater the power, the more resources there are."
"But the population of the Xiuxian world is much larger, and the annual population is incalculable. More resources are in the hands of the academy, and there are also large and small sects under the academy."
"Each of these sects is greedily expanding, but the resources they may have are becoming less and less. Starting a war can certainly release some internal conflicts, but the lower-level cultivators still have no way out."
"There are more and more independent cultivators. I seem to have seen the shadow of the future of the Ming Dynasty in the world of immortal cultivation on Arcturus."
"But the rule of the academy is different from that of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is a country, and every citizen must be taken into consideration. But the academy is different. If there is a local war, as long as it does not violate the rules, they can fight against each other and then devour each other, releasing the internal pressure of the sect."
"But the Ming Dynasty can't do that. In the future, overproduction in all walks of life will squeeze more living space for the people."
"Even if the Ming Dynasty will embark on a path of unlimited expansion, there is no guarantee that it will not end up like the current world of immortal cultivation."
After listening to Lu Fang's words, Jiajing also fell silent.
This is also the reason why he did not agree to any proposal from Yan Shifan or Zhang Juzheng.
The main thing is that the originally planned path of unlimited expansion without stopping has become more and more real to him with the start of the third and fourth phases of land reform.
Even after endless years, Daming swallowed up Arcturus, the entire Qinglong star field in the world of immortal cultivation, and even all the Twenty-Eight Mansions, and then the Three Enclosures.
When everything reaches the end, the size of Ming Dynasty will be so huge that there will be no difference between Ming Dynasty and the world of immortal cultivation.
Even if Ming Dynasty was his destiny, he would not dare to expand it easily, because the larger the size, the more difficult it would be to develop his destiny.
Even the slightest internal unrest could cause irreparable "disease", and then the whole thing would be ruined.
At this moment, he suddenly wondered why the emperors of the immortal cultivation dynasties, whose original destiny was to rule the country, in the Sanyuan Star Region would not take the path of expansion or even declare war on the entire immortal cultivation world.
It's not that they don't want to, but they have taken into account the various risks that will be faced after the increase in understanding. This is what it means that it is difficult to turn a big ship around.
The larger the dynasty, the less likely it is to expand easily, and it even has to ensure that there are similarly sized dynasties around it.
"Lü Fang," Jiajing said, his serious face slightly relaxed, "You still have something to say, finish it."
"Yes," Lu Fang opened his mouth, then lowered his head and said, "I think that the countries should not be destroyed. At least, they cannot be destroyed in a short period of time. We have to wait until Xu Fan's 'Spiritual Industrial Age' is over before we can start a war."
"This process may be long, but it also means that by adopting Lord Yan's method, all countries will benefit from the Ming Dynasty." Having said this, Lu Fang shut up, but the meaning was self-evident.
This "benefit" means that all nations will obtain immortal laws as a result.
This topic is absolutely taboo! Even among the common people, no immortal cultivator would sell immortal skills to merchants from other countries!
With the current development of the Ming Dynasty, is it true that there are no businessmen from various countries who would come into contact with the cultivators in the Ming Dynasty's immortal cultivation world?
Yes! But firstly, every cultivator regards "immortal skills" as extremely important, and regards them as forbidden, and will not give them away easily. Secondly, how can ordinary things buy immortal skills?
Finally, the people of the Ming Dynasty are now all arrogant and face the arrogance of foreign barbarians.
I look down on these people deep down and naturally won't do business with them.
In addition, the two factories and one guard have issued a clear ban, and anyone in the immortal world who dares to leak the immortal techniques to the barbarians will be exterminated. Therefore, there has been no news of the immortal techniques being passed on to outsiders so far.
Of course, sometimes even if the magic skills fall into the hands of these foreign races, they can do nothing about it, because they have no resources, and even if they have the magic skills, there is no possibility of practicing them.
The underlying meaning of Lu Fang's words is that while giving the immortal arts to various countries, they should also provide certain resources for cultivation.
The purpose is to promote the development of various countries and at the same time solve the problem of oversupply of products within the Ming Dynasty, thereby accelerating development.
After all, the current overproduction of grain has put the second phase of the 'Spiritual Industrial Age' on hold.
Jiajing turned his back to Lu Fang. After a long silence, he suddenly changed the subject and asked, "How is the development of the world of cultivation?"
"The ancestor behind the Huoyun Sect may be about to pass away..." Lu Fang no longer dwelled on the previous events and began to report on the developments in the immortal cultivation world over the years.
"I think that the Nascent Soul Patriarch might have a relationship with the Huoyun Sect, but the relationship should not be very close, or even distant."
"Yes," Jiajing nodded and said, "In the world of immortal cultivation, the upper limit of the lifespan of a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage is 1,200 years. During this period, the cultivator has now passed away, which means that he has existed in the world of immortal cultivation for more than 1,200 years."
"During this period, there are so many descendants. The Fire Cloud Sect is just a small sect in a corner of the country."
"If they really have a Nascent Soul behind them, why would they bother to befriend the independent cultivators in Beigang Town at any cost?"
"Although the world of cultivation on Arcturus relies on the Confucian patriarchal system, the world of cultivation is ultimately a world where the strong prey on the weak."
"Therefore, the relationship between the Huoyun Sect and the Yuanying Patriarch of the Upper Yanyun Sect should not be a cause for concern."
Hearing Jiajing's analysis, Lu Fang also thought so, nodded, and said, "I think so too."
"Therefore, I plan to wait for the old ancestor to pass away and the Huoyun Sect to be in trouble, and then take the opportunity to control him in secret."
"Then, based in Beigang Town, we will become a sect under the command of Mingri Tower, and then collect resources for Ming Dynasty."
"But you, the master, will need to step in at that time. After all, if there is a cultivator in the middle stage of the Golden Core Stage behind the Tomorrow Building, it can deter everything and save a lot of trouble."
"Okay." Jiajing nodded, agreeing.
In the following days, Lu Fang did not return to the world of immortal cultivation, and the Ming Dynasty continued to develop in full swing.
However, the atmosphere during the cabinet meetings in the Wenhua Hall became increasingly tense, with discussions ending in unpleasantness almost every day.
The six ministries were quarreling with each other so fiercely that officials would eat each other alive when they met.
For example, some officials who practiced immortal martial arts almost got into a fight in the square outside the Meridian Gate several times.
The contradiction is naturally due to the internal contradictions of the Ming Dynasty. There is a surplus of food. Even if the Ming Dynasty is an immortal dynasty, there is no perfect way to store it. In addition, the current imbalance between supply and demand of food has directly led to the "provincial wealth" of various provinces, which has begun to decline year by year.
You know, even though all industries are thriving in Ming Dynasty now, agriculture is still the focus of Ming Dynasty.
The population engaged in agriculture, coupled with the previous encouragement of fertility rate, increased rapidly year by year. After the first and second stages of land reform in the Ming Dynasty, land was distributed on a per capita basis.
The food surplus has exposed many problems.
For example, farmers’ incomes began to decrease, the population increased, and there became not enough land to go around. How could each household support their family?
For example, with the increase in agricultural output, farmers' demand for agricultural tools, daily necessities, etc. also increased, thus promoting the prosperity and development of handicrafts.
Nowadays, all industries are thriving, and the Mohist and Gongshu schools of thought among the Hundred Schools of Thought have greatly helped the advancement of agriculture thanks to "Records of Immortal Craftsmen", such as various advanced farm tools.
In addition, the development of the iron smelting industry also provided more advanced agricultural tools for agricultural production, and the textile industry met people's demand for clothing. Therefore, the development of agriculture provided rich materials and a broad market for the handicraft industry of the Ming Dynasty.
Damage to agriculture will lead to insufficient supply of raw materials for handicrafts and shrinking market demand, which will seriously affect the development of handicrafts.
Many people engaged in handicrafts will lose their livelihoods, leading to the decline of the industry. Some people in the private sector have begun to question the national policy of "inspiring innovation."
For example: the court is ultimately the world of scholars, and all the three religions, nine schools of thought, five elements and eight crafts, and hundreds of schools of thought are nothing but short-lived arguments, which directly began to impact national policies.
Some children of the common people who have outstanding talents in craftsmanship are even more worried.
Not only that, industries such as commerce, animal husbandry, and fisheries have also been hit due to the damage to agriculture.
In just five years, a "huge food crisis" has caused the people to become worried and even complain.
The lower-class people were unhappy, especially after being baptized by the national policy of "inspiring thinking and innovation", the people already had a concept of relative freedom of speech, which directly affected the interests of the officials.
After all, when reporting to the court and evaluating political performance every year, in addition to the 'provincial wealth', 'prefectural wealth' and even 'county wealth', there is also an assessment of people's livelihood.
If you are unhappy, you can't cover your mouth!
If you cover your mouth, it means you are questioning and challenging the national policy of "initiating innovation". During the annual assessment, many eyes are watching, including those in the government.
If you don't cover your mouth, you will also be labeled as having unsatisfactory political performance.
Over a five-year period, the performance ratings of officials, from the provincial governor to the prefect and county magistrate, declined year by year.
During the Ming Dynasty, which consisted of two capitals and thirteen provinces, the wealth of each province declined, which directly led to a year-on-year decline in "national wealth."
In this way, the knife was directly stabbed at the masters of the six ministries, and stabbing the six ministries was equivalent to stabbing the elders in the cabinet.
Not only that, the emperor is urging the cabinet to come up with a charter for the start of the third and fourth phases of land reform next year.
For the cabinet, which is high and mighty, this is like being attacked from all sides, just like being roasted on the fire.
“Pah, pah, pah!” Inside the Wenhua Hall, Gao Gong slammed the table loudly. “I just don’t understand, can the Ming Dynasty today still be affected by a mere natural disaster?”
"Hanoi County has been hit by heavy rain for a month, causing landslides and abandoned fields. This is all the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue!"
Being scolded by Gao Gong, Yan Shifan, the Minister of Revenue, also lost his temper and slammed the table and shouted angrily:
"Gao Suqing, please be careful with your words!"
"Natural disaster, can the Ministry of Revenue be blamed for the natural disaster?"
"Bang!" Gao Gong slammed the table again and said angrily: "Am I talking about natural disasters? I am asking you why a month of heavy rain can cause floods in the current Ming Dynasty!"
"There were floods before the 70th year of Jiajing, right? Did they affect the people? Never!" "The people of our dynasty no longer fear so-called minor natural disasters, because they have a powerful court behind them!"
"It's already the 75th year of the Jiajing reign, but there are floods that have destroyed farmland and houses. This is a disgrace to the court," Gao Gong said, stepping forward and questioning:
"Am I asking about natural disasters? Hmm? What I'm asking is why there were no water conservancy projects last year or the year before?"
"Why doesn't the court allocate funds to repair water conservancy projects?" Gao Gong turned around and glared at Li Yuanming, the Minister of Personnel, who was also a member of the Yan Party, and said, "Why hasn't the Henei County Magistrate been removed from his post?"
The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue are both members of the Yan Party.
At this moment, facing Gao Gong's questioning, Li Yuanming could only keep a gloomy face and remain silent. What could he say? How could he be dismissed? He couldn't!
Everyone knows what is happening now.
If an official is removed from his post, it will inevitably cause panic among other officials, which will only worsen the conflict.
The conflicts among the people can be regulated and appeased as much as possible, but the conflicts among officials will only be transferred downwards.
At that time, it will intensify the conflicts among the subjects!
As the Minister of Personnel, although he is from the Yan Party, he has also been screened and has reached this point. He is not a fool and he also has his own arrangements.
Now, facing the cabinet's questioning, he can only remain silent. In one word, he will delay until the court resolves the conflict fundamentally.
"In the final analysis, it is because the 'total national tax' has been declining year by year in the past few years. If the court continues to spend money, it will be because of your incompetence as the Minister of Revenue. The same goes for the county!"
"It's not that you don't have money, it's that you have money but don't want to spend it!" As soon as Gao Gong said this, the expressions of everyone present changed, because this was the fact.
Political achievements!
Everything is for political achievements!
Especially since the total national tax revenue of the entire Ming Dynasty has been declining year by year, even if the provinces, prefectures and counties have money in their accounts, they will not spend it. For example, building water conservancy projects would cost a lot of money.
In today's Ming Dynasty, there is no such thing as a lack of money. However, Hanoi County was hit by floods due to heavy rains, which destroyed farmland and houses. There can only be one reason for this situation, which is a water conservancy problem.
The people present could almost see through the reason at a glance. Wasn't it because the overall environment was not good, the "county wealth" was declining year by year, and then the officials began to adopt the strategy of "having money but not spending it"?
"Stop biting like a mad dog here!" Yan Shifan, whose veil had been torn off, said angrily, "You know better than anyone why the Ming Dynasty has become what it is today!"
"Haaaa," Yan Shifan said, letting out a long breath. He paced back and forth, pointing at Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, and shouted angrily, "Now, each of you is pretending to be a saint in front of me!"
"Just speak, why hide it? Just tell me the reason." Zhang Juzheng was not going to tolerate it. He pretended to be ignorant even though he knew the truth and asked Yan Shifan to tell him the reason.
What is the reason? Isn't it the 'big food crisis'? The cabinet has already given two solutions.
The first one was proposed by Zhang Juzheng, which was to trade with other countries and export grain in order to resolve the internal contradiction caused by grain surplus.
The second one was proposed by Yan Shifan, which was to let the various countries suffer civil unrest and allow the Ming Dynasty to make war profits in order to ease the pressure of domestic conflicts.
In fact, no matter which one, the internal pressure can be released instantly and these problems will not exist, but the emperor did not agree!
Could he still bring the conflict to the emperor? Are you tired of living?
"...You!" How could Yan Shifan see the sinister intention hidden in the words of Zhang Juzheng, who had thick eyebrows and big eyes? He was choked and his face turned pale and blue.
"Hahaha..." Suddenly, the furious little cabinet minister pointed at Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong, laughed angrily, and said:
"The creation of heaven and earth is truly unpredictable. It has even included the pests of your country!"
"You're all coming for me, right? You think I don't dare to say anything, right?" Yan Shifan was about to speak, but at this moment, Yan Song suddenly slammed the table and said angrily:
"Yan Shifan, shut up!"
"...Dad!" The angry young minister turned around and was about to speak after being interrupted by his father, but was rebuked by Yan Song again, "Dad, what dad? This is the court, there is no such thing as father and son!"
"In the court, it's called an official title!"
Seeing that the madman Yan Shifan was interrupted by Yan Song, Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong looked at each other and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
How could the emperor not see through this brilliant trick to guide Yan Shifan to speak out? They would not get any good results if they were blamed, but fortunately Yan Song still had some sense.
"Everyone," after reprimanding Yan Shifan, Yan Song coughed lightly, and the pressure of the foundation-building period emanated. The Wenhua Hall also became quiet. After everyone's eyes were focused on him, he said:
"It is now the seventy-fifth year of the Jiajing reign, the end of November."
Hearing this, everyone was stunned, and the expressions behind them changed slightly. Yes, it was the end of November, and according to the political consultation after the 60th year of Jiajing, the plateau political consultation would be held every five years.
Therefore, a plateau political consultation will also be held at the end of this year. During the past five years, most of the officials from the six ministries have also handed in their names. Originally, they were looking forward to going to the plateau at the end of the 75th year of Jiajing.
But now it seems that it is better not to go to the plateau to discuss politics. The emperor has already come out of seclusion. Who knows if he will be criticized for the first time he goes there. He has come up with such a bad performance in five years. He has lost all his face!
Almost since the 74th year of Jiajing, the "national wealth" has been declining year by year. How can we face the emperor?
"Next year, the final stage of land reform will begin. You all know what that means."
"We must come up with a charter by the end of the year. The emperor won't wait for us, and we can't let him wait either."
"The opening of the last two stages of land reform means the coming of the war era," Yan Song said in a submissive tone, "In the third stage of land reform, military merit will be used as an incentive policy."
"Using military merit as an incentive policy can improve the enthusiasm and combat effectiveness of the army. It can improve morale and soldiers can be rewarded for outstanding performance on the battlefield."
"For the soldiers, if they gain military merit, they can obtain a higher status, magic, resources, and so on."
"Let's talk about the fourth stage, external expansion." Yan Song paused and said, "Of course, the third and fourth stages are together."
"The court wants to strengthen the Ming Dynasty through military victory. Mainly, it can help acquire resources and expand territory, and it can help acquire new resources and territory."
"Then it is about promoting economic development. The development of new territories can provide new impetus for economic development."
"With more land, there will be more arable land," Yan Song said in a slow tone, pausing as if he was getting old. "China has been an agricultural country since ancient times!"
"Even in the current Ming Dynasty, agriculture still drives the development of all industries. Sigh..." Yan Song sighed and said in a tepid tone:
"Now we finally have the 'Aura Industrial Age' proposed by Lu Qing, which can allow Ming Dynasty to transform from 'agriculture drives all industries' to 'Aura Industry drives all industries including agriculture'. After all, the Aura Industrial Age seems to be the most perfect now."
"It is not subject to the shackles and fetters of nature, but rather has many advantages."
"For example, 'Spiritual industry drives all industries'. For the Ming Dynasty, it has extremely high productivity. It can produce the items needed by all industries on a large scale and efficiently."
"Unfortunately, the 'Great Food Crisis' has now occurred, forcing us to shelve the implementation of the national policy of the 'Aura Industrial Age'."
Luqing is the pen name of Xu Fan.
When Xu Fan heard Yan Song talking about his national policy, he subconsciously glanced at his father Xu Jie who was listening attentively, and then lowered his head.
Yan Song chattered on and on, talking about his daily life, and suddenly changed the subject and said, "If the third stage is launched during the huge food crisis, it will mean that a large number of people will have to pour into the military camp."
"Being a soldier and fighting in wars to get paid will become an outlet for the transfer of contradictions. In this way, the pressure will be placed on the resources for cultivating immortals."
Hearing this, everyone's eyelids jumped.
"Everyone," Yan Song said, raising his drooping eyelids, "You don't want your cultivation resources to become an outlet for your anger, do you?"
No, absolutely not!
This was the first reaction of everyone present.
For the upper class like them, the resources for cultivating immortals are not enough to support themselves and their families. Although they know that they will inevitably be distributed to the military in the future, no one is willing to bear the extra responsibility.
Now it's just a conflict among lower-level mortals. If we transform the conflicts among mortals into conflicts at the level of immortals, and use spiritual resources to solve every problem for mortals, wouldn't that mean the end of all their lives?
For a moment, everyone's expression became tense.
Seeing this scene, Yan Song's eyes sparkled, and he continued in a deep voice:
"Since no one wants to transform the conflicts among mortals into conflicts among immortals and be held responsible for them, then let the conflicts be completely resolved at the mortal level and not allow the situation to escalate further."
After hearing what Yan Song said, Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong looked at each other. How could they not see what Yan Song meant?
Yan Song had obviously made up his mind. What he said was a warning to everyone that if they couldn't come up with a practical idea, they would have to obey him if he came up with one.
Otherwise, when the time comes, you will transform the conflicts among mortals into conflicts among immortals, which will only affect your own interests.
Yan Song's move was to integrate the voices of everyone in the court, in order to avoid a situation like the last political meeting, where two different voices of opposition emerged and the meeting ended in a bad mood.
"It seems that Yan Song has already found a solution." Everyone thought in their hearts.
"So, how to solve this huge food crisis, we need to come up with a charter for the emperor within the next month."
"During this period, local officials who are not doing their job should be dismissed, and the Ministry of Revenue should allocate funds if necessary. This must be maintained for another month. During this period, we must do our best to appease the people."
"We need to let them know that the imperial court will not ignore them."
Yan Song's voice at this moment seemed to have some kind of magic, like the gurgling of water, which made everyone feel very comfortable and even felt that as long as he was there, the problem would definitely be solved.
Of course, everyone present had been screened through layers of screening, and although they were shaken for a moment, they quickly came to their senses.
The old villain Yan Song has always been like this. Let’s see what he plans to do!
Everyone naturally knew that Yan Song's arrangement was to tell everyone that I have made a decision, so you don't have to worry about it anymore and just handle your own affairs.
However, no one has a solution now, and no one wants to take responsibility. If Yan Song can take the initiative to step forward, then let him do it.
When the time comes, when the credit is earned, we will all share it!
Just like that, the meeting ended with both sides having their own ulterior motives.
During the next month, although the tensions between the six ministries in the imperial court were still high, they were able to restrain themselves.
Naturally, everyone in the cabinet could smell the increasingly suppressed gunpowder smell in the court. They all knew that the contradictions under the "huge food crisis" were not only among the people, but also in the court.
But everyone is waiting to see what kind of rules Yan Song will come up with at the plateau political meeting at the end of the year in a month.
After all, this charter concerns the entire Ming Dynasty.
Once the conflict cannot be resolved, the conflict that has been suppressed for five years will be instantly ignited starting from the court and then spread to the whole world. Then, there will be trouble.
If you want to prevent the people from being set off, you have no choice but to resort to repressive measures.
This is something the imperial court would never be willing to do unless it was absolutely necessary. After all, the fundamental purpose of "initiating innovation" was to make the people believe from the bottom of their hearts that they were living in a different era and to liberate their minds.
If the rebellion was suppressed by force, wouldn't the court be slapping itself in the face?
Time passed quickly, and in these days when everyone in and outside the government was restrained, it was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.
In the study room of Yan Mansion.
"Dad, the news has come."
Yan Shifan lifted the heavy blanket and rolled up a pile of flying snow, which stuck to his body. He said to his father Yan Song, who was sitting by the window, holding a heater on the couch, staring at the heavy snow outside the window in a trance:
"The palace said that on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, which is tomorrow at noon, we will hold a political meeting on the plateau, and on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, we will let everyone have a good New Year..."
However, after hearing this, Yan Song just turned around and glanced at Yan Shifan indifferently, then continued to stare at the snow in a daze.
"Dad, will the emperor agree to the method you suggested?" Yan Shifan said unconfidently as he thought about the plan his father would propose tomorrow.
Because the charter that my father wants to propose may be contrary to the development goals of the Ming Dynasty, and I am afraid that the emperor will not agree.
"I don't know." However, Yan Song replied with three calm words, "Where's Shao Ting? Isn't he coming back for the New Year this year?"
Hearing that at this critical moment, his father was still concerned about whether his grandson would come home for the New Year, Yan Shifan was immediately helpless, but still said:
"I've asked him. He is now the prefect of Huai'an Prefecture. In addition, he has been affected by the huge grain crisis, so he has no time to go home."
"But, can't we still see them on the plateau tomorrow..." Before Yan Shifan finished speaking, he heard Yan Song hum, "If I don't go home for the New Year, what's the point of meeting on the plateau?"
"Write him a letter and tell him to come back before New Year's Eve." Seeing his father being so tough, Yan Shifan had no choice but to say, "Yes, if this kid doesn't come back, I will kidnap him myself!"
Hearing this, Yan Song turned his head slightly, looked up at Yan Shifan, and suddenly let out a snort of laughter. Seeing this, Yan Shifan also laughed.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
