Chapter 273 Reward!
Daming, on the natal plateau.
It was still snowing heavily, and the entire plateau was covered in silver. In the distant wilderness, the gloomy clouds were very low at this moment, making the plateau seem even more boundless.
For the officials of the Ming Dynasty, the heavy snow was not a spoiler. Instead, they considered it a good omen.
"Swish!" At this moment, a huge golden light curtain suddenly fell from the sky, and several figures walked out of it.
The first group of people to appear were naturally Yan Song, Yan Shifan and Yan Shaoting, a family of three.
Over the years, the entire Yan family has grown a lot, and even Yan Shaoting now has a grandson. However, the status of being a member of the Plateau Council is special.
Only three people from the family can participate in the appointment of high-ranking officials such as the Cabinet, Six Ministries, Inspectorate, Hanlin Academy, and Five Military Commanders.
In addition, there are provincial governors, provincial governors, and governors-general. Only these high-ranking officials can go to the plateau to discuss politics.
The rest of the people are not qualified to enter the plateau at all.
Some low-ranking officials don’t even have the qualifications to hand over their natal charters to the natal plateau.
After all, all the officials of the Ming Dynasty knew that with their own qualifications, if they followed the normal cultivation speed, let alone becoming immortals, even reaching the level of a great master would be impossible.
Therefore, after the existence of the Benming Plateau became no longer a secret, every official dreamed of handing over his Benming Plateau.
Once you hand over your destiny to the Destiny Plateau, it means that you have been appreciated by the emperor. When you practice in the future, the emperor will directly reward you with your achievements based on your political merits.
It is equivalent to practicing while lying down! Who can remain indifferent to such a way of practicing?
Naturally, the qualifications for entering the natal plateau will continue to rise invisibly.
"Swish!" After Yan Song and his two grandchildren arrived at the Mingming Plateau, another golden curtain fell not far away, and Hu Zongxian and his son Hu Guiqi appeared.
As for his grandson, Hu Zongxian did not bring him with him.
The reason for this was naturally that the eldest grandson was not very outstanding. Of course, he had other grandsons, but they were not qualified in terms of status, so Hu Zongxian simply took care of one son.
Hu Guiqi is very similar to Hu Zongxian in appearance and temperament.
His cultivation is also good, having reached the seventh level of Qi training.
Of course, the main reason is that he started practicing relatively late, and his destiny is relatively average. However, with the current power of the Hu family, there is no need to worry.
As long as the natal object is there, the endless supply of cultivation resources will pay off sooner or later.
"Mr. Prime Minister." Seeing Yan Song, Hu Zongxian immediately came forward with his son Hu Guiqi to greet him.
"Ruzhen." Yan Song nodded with a smile, and then cast an approving look at Hu Zongxian's son Hu Guiqi, saying: "Looking at Guiqi's cultivation, I'm afraid he is not far from building a foundation."
"Thank you for your praise, Lord." Hu Zongxian smiled modestly. As for Hu Guiqi, he bowed slightly and stood beside him without saying a word.
He knew that the reason why Lord Yan praised him was just to give face to his father. In fact, with his own level of cultivation, he was not even worthy of Lord Yan's attention.
Seeing this, Yan Shifan, who was standing by, was naturally happy to give Hu Zongxian's son a good face. Over the years, he also understood that Hu Zongxian could be trusted and was a grateful person.
Thousands of years later, if the Yan family fades out of the court and no longer has the power they have today, the court will also need some network of relationships.
That’s right, the direction of the Yan family has actually been determined.
The upper echelons worked hard on their cultivation to ensure that the Yan family had enough powerful ancestors to protect them, while the lower families focused on development and took deep roots in the Ming Dynasty, which was enough to protect themselves even without the power in the court.
Officials should think about danger, retreat and change. He has come to understand these principles more and more over the years.
What's more, times have changed now, and we should not only think about ourselves, but also the entire family!
"Shhhhh!"
At this moment, as noon approached, golden curtains continued to fall on the plateau, and then transformed into figures in scarlet official robes who walked out.
After these officials walked out, they began to look for people they knew, then stepped forward to greet each other and started talking.
If you look closely, you will find that every official has an irrepressible smile on his face.
After all, those who can come to this plateau to discuss politics have the lowest official rank, which is the prefectural level. Moreover, they are all officials with great potential who have achieved the first-class political performance rating over the years and enjoy immortal salaries.
Even many people's destiny has been planted in the destiny fields on this destiny plateau.
Some officials who have not yet handed in their identities but have already obtained the qualifications to participate in the plateau's political affairs are also full of expectations at this moment.
I hope that I can give my life to the plateau council this time.
As for that person and other real powerful people including the commanders-in-chief of the six ministries and five armies, their expectations at this moment are no less than anyone else's.
Even from a certain perspective, their expectations were far higher than everyone else's. After all, the cultivation of people like the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, and the Five Military Commanders had now reached the middle and late stages of foundation building.
This time, if the thirty years' year-end bonus were paid out, they would most likely be able to break through to the Golden Core Stage in one fell swoop.
If they succeed in this breakthrough, the lifespan of all of them will be extended to 600 years.
Six hundred years, a dynasty only lasts for about three hundred years, right? Six hundred years, how long is that?
After all, for these officials, the purpose of their cultivation is to prolong their lifespan. Otherwise, how painful it would be if their tremendous power disappeared due to lifespan limitations.
"My Lord, this campaign to purge the surrounding countries is happening at a speed that is unexpectedly fast." Hu Zongxian and Yan Shifan followed Yan Song, while Yan Shaoting and Hu Guiqi followed behind them.
"Yes," Yan Song hunched his back, stretched out his hand to take a goose-feather-like snowflake, and said with a smile: "The book says that you can conquer the enemy without fighting, but have you ever seen a country conquered without fighting?"
"Who could have imagined that in a war to annihilate a nation, a single official document could make all the nations in the four directions hand over their national seals."
Hu Zongxian and others also nodded with emotion.
Although they were all small countries in the surrounding areas and it would only take the Ming Dynasty a short time to destroy them, sending troops to attack was far less shocking than making all the countries surrender with just a piece of official document!
"Now, our Great Ming has no rivals in this world. Even if it is the overseas countries, if our Great Ming is willing, it can be resolved with just a piece of official document."
After hearing what Yan Song said, Hu Zongxian did not rush to respond, because he knew that Lord Yan had something else to say.
Sure enough, Yan Song continued to speak.
"But for our Ming Dynasty, the real enemy is outside the domain, in that endless sea of stars," Yan Song said in a low voice, "in that vast and magnificent world of immortal cultivation!"
"Today, the Ming Dynasty has not yet left this planet. Everything is a long and arduous journey..."
Thinking of the vast and magnificent world of cultivating immortals, Hu Zongxian also felt a wave of pressure in his heart.
If the Ming Dynasty wants to fight against the world of immortal cultivation, then its strength must reach the point where it can dominate the universe.
Because the powerful academies in the world of immortal cultivation, as well as the super sects with a history of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, their territories are no longer limited to the starry world.
As for the Ming Dynasty, it is only now that it has the qualifications to step out of its own star world. It is still too early to reach the point of crossing countless stars, let alone invading the world of immortal cultivation.
In fact, if the Ming Dynasty alone wants to catch up with the world of immortal cultivation and surpass the latecomers, it will need countless years of accumulation.
To be honest, Yan Song and others have no idea about this goal. They don't know if they can see the day come. Unless they can become immortals, or become the legendary scattered immortals!
Only then will they have endless lifespan and see that day.
The world of cultivating immortals is so vast and huge!
To be frank, they can't even see the gap between them and the Ming Dynasty. Because the enemy of the Ming Dynasty is destined to be the entire world of immortal cultivation. If a war breaks out, what can the Ming Dynasty, with only a few decades of foundation, do to compete with the world of immortal cultivation?
"...Boom." At this moment, as noon approached, more and more people arrived, and tree chairs rose from the ground on the plateau and came behind everyone.
Of course, this also interrupted the thoughts of Yan Song and the other two.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. I'm sure the emperor has already made arrangements." Yan Song said as he slowly sat down on the tree chair.
"Yes!" Hu Zongxian nodded and sat down.
Then, an extremely shocking scene appeared on the entire plateau. Countless tree chairs rose into the air, carrying Ming Dynasty officials towards the designated locations.
At the highest point of the open space, there is a huge stone table. And around the stone table are circles of tree chairs.
Before long, all the officials of the Ming Dynasty who were qualified to participate in the plateau political affairs arrived.
"Buzz!" At this time, Jiajing, dressed in a light blue Taoist robe, appeared accompanied by Lu Fang, Qingfeng and Chanshuang.
"Your Highness (father, grandfather), I pay my respects to you, Your Majesty. May your Majesty be well!"
All of a sudden, all the ministers, princes, and grandchildren stood up and knelt down towards Jiajing.
After taking a quick glance and seeing everyone's cultivation, Jiajing nodded with satisfaction, and then waved his hand, "I am fine, everyone stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After everyone stood up, Jiajing looked at Lu Fang, who understood and stood up and said:
"Everyone, the old rules apply! First, we will rate and reward the performance of all officials below the fourth rank in the past thirty years since the last highland political discussion. Then we will rate and reward those above the fourth rank!" Lu Fang smiled slightly, looked at Yan Song, and said:
"Does the cabinet have any different opinions?"
Seeing Lu Fang asking him if he had any other opinions, Yan Song ignored the look from his son Yan Shifan beside him, shook his head and said, "Not yet, we can start now."
Hearing the word "temporarily" from Yan Song, Lu Fang smiled and nodded without further investigation.
He naturally knew that Yan Song always acted cautiously and would not act without a purpose. Since he said "temporarily", it meant that he had something else to do, and this matter was related to the development of the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, Yan Song was an experienced man who was very good at observing people's words and expressions. He naturally knew that everyone was looking forward to the year-end bonus of thirty years at this time. If he suddenly stood up and interrupted, wouldn't he be deliberately causing trouble for others?
After all, not everyone is like Xu Fan, who doesn't need to care about worldly matters and just talks about his own business.
Jiajing naturally saw this scene, cast a look at Yan Song, and then continued to smile at the people at the table.
Finally, it fell on Hai Rui again.
He naturally saw that at this plateau political meeting, many people were looking forward to the payment of their thirty-year year-end bonuses, and at the same time, to a breakthrough in their cultivation, to get one step closer to the path of immortality.
However, for some truly capable and competent officials, everything that has happened in the past thirty years must be reported!
For example, Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Xu Jie and others, and of course, the old fox Yan Song.
Jiajing was very satisfied with everyone.
At least it proves that his cabinet is full of tigers and wolves who not only know how to eat meat, but are also capable of getting things done!
"Buzz!" The imperial seal created ripples, and then the political achievements of all officials in the prefectures, states, districts, and counties under the various provincial governments in the Ming Dynasty were summoned to the plateau at this moment.
In a short while, the huge table was filled with reports of political achievements.
"The performance reports at the prefecture and state levels will be reviewed and rated by the cabinet and the six ministries, while those at the district and county levels will be rated by other people present." With a wave of his hand, Lu Fang classified all the reports, and soon there were fewer reports on the desk.
At the same time, a desk appeared in front of each of the officials, including the governor, who were sitting on tree chairs around.
On the desk are varying numbers of reports of political achievements.
The memorials from each official were so thick that they were beyond words to describe. Even one stack was not enough and they had to be divided into several stacks!
No one dared to delay and began to look through the memorials that recorded the political achievements of each official.
Even Yan Song and others who possessed divine awareness did not dare to treat it carelessly at this moment, but checked and examined it carefully.
For a moment, apart from the rustling sound of heavy snow falling from the sky, there was also the sound of every official surpassing his political achievements.
In the blink of an eye, the sky gradually darkened, the sun rose and the moon set, the sky became bright and then dark, and then dark and then bright.
During this period, many officials with low cultivation began to leave the plateau to rest, and then returned to the plateau a few hours later to continue reviewing and auditing their political achievements.
Although Yan Song and others broke through the foundation and possessed spiritual awareness quickly, they were not idle, but helped to share the burden.
In this way, four full days passed, and the outside world had already reached the 100th year of Jiajing, the third day of the first lunar month, and it ended.
After all officials at all levels have rated their performance over the past 30 years, the imperial seal will conduct a unified re-screening. Although some water may exist, it is almost negligible.
In the performance evaluation over the past thirty years, the average performance of officials at the prefecture, state, district and county levels reached the third rank.
This rating was so good that even Jiajing couldn't help but smile. At the same time, he felt emotional in his heart. No wonder he was able to successfully break through the Nascent Soul stage. These were all evidence!
"Reward!" Jiajing waved his hand, and the imperial seal seemed to have its own consciousness at this moment. It suddenly burst out with brilliant light, and then a layer of ripples appeared on the surface of the stone table.
Then the surface of the stone table turned transparent and transformed into a beautiful picture of the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty.
Soon, this map of mountains and rivers appeared according to the geographical divisions of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and then golden rays of light entered.
At the same time, except for the governor, all officials of the prefectures, states, districts, and counties received a storage bag!
That’s right, a storage bag!
And in the storage bag, there is also a 30-year year-end bonus. The exact amount does not need to be specified, because the resources in the storage bag this time are enough for everyone to accumulate resources to the foundation-building stage.
Some officials who were rated as first-rank received even more, including a set of skills that would be enough to make some independent cultivators jealous, or even small and medium-sized sects jealous!
For a moment, all the officials in their respective halls, with their wives, children and the elderly, knelt on the ground to kowtow to the emperor's grace!
"Next, it's your turn," Lu Fang glanced at the people in the room who were looking at him eagerly, smiled slightly, then turned to look at Jiajing and said, "Please reward me, Your Majesty."
The imperial seal originally belonged to Jiajing, and this is his natal seal. The achievements of the cabinet, six ministries, the Five Military Commissions, the Inspectorate, the Hanlin Academy, and the provincial governors are naturally clear at a glance.
"I am already aware of your achievements. The average performance of officials below the fourth rank can be rated as the third rank. This is enough to show that you, the cabinet, the six ministries and other officials, have not disappointed me."
Of course Jiajing knew it and was satisfied!
Because the better the Daming is, the better the natal Daming will be after the feedback. One's own cultivation speed and realm breakthrough will be blessed. Strictly speaking, it will take more than 20 years to break through the Nascent Soul.
With such a speed of cultivation, how can you not be satisfied?
Since these officials were willing to work so hard for the Ming Dynasty, he, as the emperor who was in charge, naturally could not disappoint his subjects.
"I declare that this time, all the cultivation in my natal field will be cleared out at once by you according to your merits and rewards!"
"Wow!" Upon hearing this, the ministers' breathing paused.
They naturally knew that the natal field belonged to the emperor, which meant that the emperor could also absorb the cultivation that they fed back to the natal field.
Before, there was no reward for their five years of cultivation. Although they guessed that it was taken away by the emperor, they were willing to accept it.
This time, they thought that even if the emperor wanted to reward them, he would not give it all to them. After all, that was the result of thirty years of cultivation. Swallowing it would also help the emperor improve his cultivation!
But I didn't expect the emperor to be so magnanimous that he would directly reward them all. Although it originally belonged to them, they should not forget that everything in this world belongs to the emperor.
The emperor directly rewarded them with cultivation, allowing them to break through without having to practice. This was already a great blessing from heaven. What more could they ask for?
Naturally, the emperor's move was a great favor to them!
With the continuous development of the Ming Dynasty, officials have been replaced one after another. Now, those who can sit on the plateau are all shrewd people, old foxes, and people with clear minds!
They understand that without the emperor, they would not have their own truth. Therefore, they always have a grateful heart in their hearts!
"We, your Majesty, thank you. May your Majesty live forever..." The ministers were filled with gratitude and knelt down to express their gratitude.
"Lü Fang!" Jiajing didn't waste any words. He waved his hand and began to call out names to be rewarded. The first one was Lü Fang!
"..."
(End of this chapter)
