"Although this place is prosperous and bright, it also hides many dirty places in secret." Xi Heng reminded: "As a holy envoy in charge of Tianzhao's justice, you must not be blinded by its appearance."
"I see."
"But today, it's okay for you and I to relax for a while." The white-haired girl casually took the hands of the two people on her side and pointed them forward.
The target is not far away. Passing through the lights in the streets, one can see the red and yellow lanterns arranged neatly and glowing brightly, as well as the Huaman Building in the back which is more magnificent than the surrounding pavilions.
Two young girls walked out from the open space in front of the pavilion and looked over here. They were Yan Hongji and Chun Xian.
"hello."
Xi Heng then let go of the two people beside him and waved to them.
The other party didn't react for a moment, and like Xi Heng, he raised his hand, but didn't know what to say when he opened his mouth.
Finally, he just whispered: "Long live His Majesty?"
The white-haired girl in front of him smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Just call her the same as you did before. Besides... when Chu Xiao was on the throne, I never saw you call her Your Majesty."
"That was what we agreed upon at the beginning." Yan Hongji coughed lightly, then bowed to Chu Xiao, and looked at the blonde girl on the side: "Who is this prince?"
"The Holy Maiden of the Dark Sky Cult, Chen Fenghuo." Xi Heng introduced.
"Now it's the Xuantian Sect, Your Majesty." After Chen Fenghuo finished speaking, he turned around, crossed his fingers with his hands in front of his chest, and performed a salute to Hongji.
Yan Hongji responded naturally and introduced herself very fluently.
But during this period, he narrowed his eyes when he saw Chen Fenghuo subconsciously leaning towards Xi Heng.
"We have been busy all day and only have some free time at night. We come here to have a meal and rest. Can we go in now?" Xi Heng said.
"As long as you come, anytime is fine." Yan Hongji's voice sounded a little softer.
After that, she respectfully led the three people into the pavilion, walked across the small pond and stone bridge, walked around a mahogany staircase and the corridor, walked past the screen, and entered the spacious wing on the top floor.
Several dancers and musicians were called onto the stage to perform gentle dances. Xi Heng was not used to it, so he just ordered a plate of osmanthus cakes to enjoy slowly with tea.
Soon after they sat down, many maids came from the building and served various delicacies.
During the period, there was singing and dancing on the stage, and the three of them relaxed and got some rest.
During the chat, Xi Heng wrote a song to celebrate the Lantern Festival tomorrow, which made Zhao Chuxiao look at her a few more times with a special expression.
Hongji stayed by her side, pouring cherry wine for her from time to time.
Time passed slowly, and the delicious food and wine fell into my lips.
Tonight, Xi Heng did not use the power of transformation to stabilize his body and mind, but after drinking three or four cups, he became a little drunk.
In the dim light, his sight fell on Hongji's exquisite face.
The other person also looked at them, and all their thoughts flowed into each other's eyes. The two of them exchanged glances and smiled at each other.
The next moment, the junior sister came close and whispered softly, telling him about the invitation tonight.
Surrounded by intoxication, the mind is relaxed.
Everything around was harmonious and bustling, which was a rare sight for Xi Heng.
The last time I was in a similar situation was when I lived with Senior Sister Hong Miao in the Jiangning City Courtyard.
It was vague, not just because of the drunkenness and aphasia, but also because of other reasons.
The girl opened her mouth slightly and whispered, "It would be great if Senior Sister was here too..."
……
Chapter 130: Investigating Things to Gain Knowledge
After ascending the throne, Xi Heng did not immediately promote various advanced measures to tidy up the new world, but first stabilized it and paid attention to people's livelihood issues.
Since the former emperor Chu Xiao ascended the throne, the court has been working hard to ease the crisis in people's livelihood.
However, because Great Zhao was surrounded by foreign enemies, the country was in turmoil, and there were treacherous factions fighting and chaos within the country, a large amount of time, energy, manpower and financial resources were spent on internal conflicts.
Those treacherous officials and villains may be more hateful than foreign enemies - even if the country is on the verge of destruction, they will deliberately suppress and exclude people of the same dynasty.
Amid internal and external troubles, the crisis in people's livelihood has not only not eased, but has tended to intensify.
Zhao Chuxiao tried his best but was only able to ease the momentum a little bit, but failed to solve the actual problem.
On the contrary, it was the Xuantian Sect that occupied large areas in the southeast and south that made the greatest contribution to the people's livelihood of the Zhao people.
Under the governance of Xuantian Sect, although there are still officials who continue to make money like rats stealing oil, at least they no longer dare to be as blatant as before.
As a result, the people's tax burden was reduced to half of the previous amount.
It's still heavier, but much better.
Before, working so hard could only result in death or survival. Now, although the hardship has only been reduced a little, it is mostly enough to support a family.
Moreover, in the areas governed by Xuantian Sect, whenever the sect members have free time, they will send people to check on the remaining officials and local clans in various places, and inquire whether the people under them are facing strong oppression. If so, they will impose punishment.
Almost all the believers had been oppressed and bullied by the government. Now that the sect was just formed, everyone had not lost their loyalty to the people. As the first group of believers, they naturally and subconsciously stood on the same front with the common people to resist the oppression of officials.
Therefore, before Xi Hengdu actually took action, people's livelihood in several southern states had already stabilized.
All she needs to do now is to spread the governance experience of the Southern Xuantian Sect throughout Tianzhao.
Originally, the governments of various states and counties in Da Zhao were responsible for both administrative and judicial powers.
After the Xuantian Sect arrives, they will forcibly seize the judicial power from the state and county governments and integrate it into their own.
Afterwards, the members of the Xuantian Sect acted as judges to try crimes committed by officials and the public.
This requires a gradual expansion, starting from the vicinity of several provincial capitals dominated by the Xuantian Sect, and then slowly radiating to all parts of the country.
Organize your experience along the way to help with future work.
In case of a serious case or a death penalty case, the local Xuantian Sect branch will hand over the case to the main temple in the capital for review.
The main temple in the capital also set up the "Tianjiao Inspectorate" as the highest judicial organ in the country.
In the early days of the founding of the country, the biggest task of Xuantian Sect was to investigate and eliminate the many corrupt officials and treacherous ministers left behind by the previous country, Da Zhao.
Among them, the holy envoy holds the imperial sword bestowed by the emperor. If he encounters a traitor or rebel, the emperor will allow him to execute him first and report to the emperor later.
For a time, the names of Xuantian Sect and Tianjiao Inspector became a concern for government officials across Tianzhao, like a sword hanging over their heads.
During the short six months of the Great Purge, nearly ten thousand corrupt officials were affected. Some were demoted and exiled, while others had their crimes read out to the Xuantian sect members and were executed in the marketplace.
Such a fierce attack naturally met with strong resistance. The officials of the local big families mobilized their connections and ordered the court officials to submit many memorials and make suggestions. Even the local county officials summoned archers to fight with the Xuantian sect members, resulting in many casualties.
However, Xi Heng's attitude was naturally to let Xuantian Sect do what it wanted.
The Xuantian Sect was not like the prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice sent to various places by the previous dynasty, who had no actual power. Instead, it was the biggest rebel before the founding of the country. It had actual control over many states in the south, and even had a religious army that could compete with the Central Plains military of the Great Zhao in terms of numbers.
The civil servants and powerful families might be able to defeat the eunuchs and the Ministry of Justice through relationship-building and factional struggles, but they were simply powerless in the face of such a huge religion.
As for the large number of missing officials, it doesn’t matter.
There was very little left of the Great Zhao Kingdom, except for the idle officials and scattered positions in the capital, where many scholars who had passed the imperial examinations were waiting to be dispatched.
So, although there were resistance and bloody conflicts, everything developed relatively smoothly.
While cleaning up the domestic parasites, Xi Heng also accompanied his imperial sister to prepare for the future governance of the country and the people.
For example, Tianzhao State established "provinces", changing the original administrative units of central government - roads - prefectures, states, military supervision - counties to central government - provinces - prefectures - states and counties.
Each province has three departments in charge, which are divided into administration, military and justice. In case of major events, the three departments will consult together.
This will make local administration more detailed and vertical. From now on, the court will only be in charge of the provinces, with centralization as the main approach and local decentralization as a supplement.
In addition, the official system was streamlined, with dispatches being the basis, and both official positions were honorary titles.
Salaries will be paid mainly based on the highest grades of official position, post and dispatch. One official will no longer receive multiple salaries, which will reduce salary expenses and merge and reduce some subsidies accordingly.
Although it sounds like a large salary cut, the salaries of officials in Da Zhao are already quite high and should have been reduced long ago.
After Xi Heng came to power, he first caused a lot of trouble for local powerful families and local governments. Then he issued orders to reduce taxes and levies to give the people time to recuperate in an attempt to restore the economy as soon as possible.
Next, they gradually promoted some more advanced industrial and agricultural production tools, collected and spread high-yield crops, and sent hundreds of thousands of cattle and horses from Yan Meng to the south to assist farming, commerce and travel.
She planned to wait until agriculture was almost reorganized before developing transportation networks, encouraging commercial exchanges, promoting literacy and innovative technologies, etc.
However, these are things that require a long period of time to develop gradually.
……
It was late summer, half a year after Xi Heng ascended the throne.
At dawn, a few birds chirped outside the window.
The sun was rising in the east, and white light filtered through the painted window paper, casting some vague patterns on the carpeted wooden floor in the room.
The darkness in the room was pushed aside, illuminating the attic room hung with red gauze, creating an atmosphere like a newlyweds' bridal chamber.
Red gauze is either hung or placed on the walls and the surfaces of many furniture.
The most popular area among them is naturally the area around the big bed, which is emitting a mellow and sweet fragrance.
The agarwood that was lit yesterday was still on the bedside table, with a few wisps of white smoke floating down.
And it's not just this agarwood that exudes fragrance.
The two girls hugging each other next to them may also be the source of the fragrance.
The gentle breathing sounds accompanied each other, falling on each other's cheeks, but they could not blow away the few strands of hair that were completely stuck to their faces.
As they slept together, their long black and white hair entangled with each other, and their breath and temperature were also transmitted to each other.
The white-haired girl leaning against the bed heard the kingfisher singing outside. Her originally steady breathing changed slightly and her light grey eyelashes trembled slightly.
After a few seconds, consciousness returned to reality from sleep.
He opened his eyes slightly, and as always, the first thing he saw was Yan Hongji's sleeping face.
"I had another strange dream..." Xi Heng thought as his consciousness gradually became clearer.
"Perhaps every time I finish playing, I close my eyes and fall asleep subconsciously, and my mind wanders, and I will have the dreams I want."
This time it seemed like a continuation of a dream from long ago, with Hong Ji and I holding hands among the modern skyscrapers, chatting and laughing with the crowds... We were very happy.
But after waking up from the dream, the emotions at that time gradually dissipated.
She exhaled lightly and brought her mind back to the present.
"Are you still sleeping?" He opened his mouth and spoke in a voice that even he himself felt was too small.
Hongji didn't respond, but his breathing remained even.
She was so exhausted last night that she didn't fall asleep until two in the morning.
It has only been three or four hours since the dawn.
It doesn’t matter to Xi Heng how long he sleeps. Even if he feels a little sleepy, he can just meditate for a while during his free time at noon.
But Hongji has only put in enough energy after all, and his physique is not much different from that of an ordinary healthy person, so he naturally needs to rest more.
"I'm not having enough fun talking about this. When will Senior Sister come to see me?"
"No, what am I thinking about..."
Xi Heng held his forehead with his hand, reminding himself in his heart that he should not indulge in such things.
Otherwise, it might come to the point where 'the king will no longer hold court early in the morning'.
"Come to think of it, the morning court is about to begin." She slowly withdrew her right hand from Hongji's waist.
When I stood up, I felt my hair being pulled again. In order not to disturb the other person's sleep, I had to untie it slowly.
The bare toes tapped lightly on the wooden board, making a slight sound.
Xi Heng returned to the room, hooked a clean white dress from the clothes hanger, tied the belt around his waist, then took out a red robe embroidered with a phoenix pattern and put it on his shoulders, and put on brocade shoes.
After everything was ready, he went to the balcony of the pavilion, lifted himself up, stepped on the railing, and leaned forward naturally.
When he reached a certain angle, he used his soft power to perform light exercises and headed for the imperial city.
Over the past six months, she has become familiar with this road.
Not long after, he returned to his residence in Fuqing Palace before attending court.
She called the master of ceremonies in the hall to help her put on the imperial robe and various decorations, then prepared a vehicle and went to Taixiao Hall to handle court affairs.
