Thunder Skill?
It is also taught in the Thunder Jade Scripture.
As for the heir's identity.
I possess the inheritance of their leader's leader.
But if I give it up, after all, it's the Golden Talent.
As for the Sleight of Hand, although it describes very high-level thieving skills, it is still just an Orange Talent.
Chen Mo's goal, after all, is ten Golden Talents in ten days.
To prevent the possibility of not acquiring Golden Talent later, Chen Mo first locked down the inheritance of the Nine-Heaven Duke of Thunder General.
After a ten-minute cooldown, he continued to simulate again.
...
Taihe Palace.
In the early morning, the rain had stopped. Emperor Zhao Ji sat on the Dragon Bed wearing the Dragon Robe. Although he had fainted from a fit of anger, he had just woken up not long ago, yet his face showed no signs of weariness.
Looking at the courtiers kneeling below, Zhao Ji, suppressing his anger, said:
"Since the first year of Xuanhe, disasters across various regions have been incessant. Just yesterday, urgent news arrived from Nanyang stating that half of Nanyang county is suffering from severe drought, lacking water and food. Moreover, Li Taishi from the Astronomical Observatory has also informed me that the dimming of Ziwei is a great ominous sign.
You all say, is it not that Heaven is punishing me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the courtiers below shuddered. This topic was unbearably difficult to answer. A single mistake could be insubordination of the highest order, and for a moment, no one dared to respond.
Seemingly anticipating this, Zhao Ji's face was clouded and sunny. He was about to explode with anger when Prime Minister Cai Si stepped forward and respectfully said:
"Your Majesty's words are mistaken. Natural disasters are natural phenomena. Since ancient times, they have always occurred in all dynasties and generations, particularly in the previous dynasty where there were as many as seven occurrences in a year.
In my humble opinion, Heaven is not punishing Your Majesty. Your Majesty is overthinking."
As Cai Si spoke, Zhao Ji's favorite courtier, Grand Commandant of the Imperial Guard Gao Qiu also stepped forward, agreeing with the Prime Minister and saying Your Majesty is overthinking.
The officials behind him immediately echoed in agreement.
Saying that natural disasters are unrelated to Your Majesty.
Seeing that the courtiers all said so, the doubt on Zhao Ji's face disappeared, and he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, thinking, My reforms are all for the well-being of the citizens, instituting civil examinations, repairing canals, reducing taxes, how could Heaven punish me...
Seeing the emperor's facial expression relaxing, Cai Si, who had long learned to read expressions, immediately proposed a solution.
"Your Majesty, now that Nanyang is experiencing a severe drought, in my opinion, we can have nearby counties with surplus grain open their granaries for relief. Secondly, distribute disaster relief patterned silver, reduce corvée and taxes, and provide additional relief as needed."
"Additionally, we can also relocate the people to areas where there is food."
After listening to Cai Si, Zhao Ji clapped his hands and was about to agree.
When the Minister of Revenue stood up and said: "Your Majesty, a while ago, some silver was transferred from Anyue, and now the National Treasury is empty, there is no money left to send patterned silver to Nanyang for relief."
Zhao Ji frowned: "Didn't you just tell me yesterday there was still some silver in the National Treasury?"
"General Huangfu said there was a rebellion in the Southwest and needed to dispatch troops for suppression, so this batch of silver is intended to be allocated to General Huangfu." said the Minister of Revenue.
"Why is everything clashing at once..." Zhao Ji's head spun with confusion, then looked at Gao Qiu and said: "Aren't the Imperial Guard's salaries unpaid? Temporarily hold off, and use the silver to distribute to Nanyang first."
"Your Majesty, no, absolutely not. The Imperial Guard is the foundation of the nation, this silver cannot be touched!" Seeing Zhao Ji contemplating intercepting the Imperial Guard's salaries first, Gao Qiu immediately stood up to stop him.
He continued: "I also heard about the rebellion in the Southwest, it's not severe, leave it to the local garrison, divert this batch of silver to Nanyang."
"Your Majesty, it is absolutely inadvisable." Standing on the side, a middle-aged man in armor stepped forward saying: "The rebellion in the Southwest is imminent, the local troops are already unable to suppress it, if we do not dispatch troops for suppression, not only will the rebellion escalate, but other countries might also take advantage of the chaos, and that would be disastrous."
"In my opinion, isn't the five million taels transferred to Anyue still unused? How about Your Majesty..."
"Enough." Zhao Ji suddenly interrupted.
Cai Si rubbed his forehead, sympathizing slightly with Huangfu Hao, meddling with Anyue's silver, isn't this inciting Your Majesty's anger.
Zhao Ji said: "This matter, do as the Grand Commandant said, the issue in the Southwest, delay it for now."
"Yes." Gao Qiu quickly replied, as long as the Imperial Guard's silver is not touched, it's fine.
"Your Majesty, it must not be!" Huangfu Hao was anxious.
But Zhao Ji ignored him, instead looking down at an elderly man among the kneeling courtiers, who was the only one sitting. Zhao Ji said: "Li Taishi, I'm preparing to quickly offer sacrifices to Heaven to pray for rain for Nanyang, coordinate with various departments, and prepare quickly."
"Yes." The elder who was the Chief Historian bowed and saluted.
"Your Majesty, it must not be, Your Majesty..." Huangfu Hao still wanted to speak, but Zhao Ji directly waved his hand and said: "Guards, take him out."
After he finished speaking, two soldiers came in from outside, one on each side, and escorted Huangfu Hao out.
"The Empress is here."
At this moment, Chief Eunuch Wei shouted from outside.
Hearing the voice, Huangfu Hao seemed to have found a savior.
The Huangfu Family is also one of the seven great noble families, and they have an alliance through marriage with the Xiao Family.
The two families are considered relatives.
Upon seeing Xiao Yunxi walking in, Huangfu Hao shook off the soldiers holding him and ran to Xiao Yunxi, knelt down with a thud, and explained everything.
After listening to what Huangfu Hao said, Xiao Yunxi also felt the matter should not be handled this way, immediately helping Huangfu Hao up, saying: "General Huangfu, this matter has come to my attention, please return, I will persuade His Majesty appropriately."
Upon hearing this, Huangfu Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief, bowed once more: "The fate of the Southwest lies in Your Majesty's hands."
In an instant, Xiao Yunxi's joyful mood due to His Majesty waking, turned heavy, knowing this matter concerns the nation's safety, she nodded again.
With that, Huangfu Hao finally left.
Xiao Yunxi walked into Taihe Palace, and the officials hurriedly paid their respects, respectfully greeting the Empress, knowing it's not appropriate to discuss further, they tacitly withdrew one after another.
Soon, only the Emperor, Empress, and a group of eunuchs remained in Taihe Palace.
"Empress, you're here." Seeing Xiao Yunxi, Zhao Ji smiled slightly, raised his hand, and the palace maid and eunuchs also left the hall.
With the doors closed, Zhao Ji got up from the bed, smiled, and said: "I've heard about Empress praying tirelessly for me at Shenxiao Temple, it was hard on you..."
He walked towards Xiao Yunxi, ready to hold her hand and speak intimately by the bed.
But Xiao Yunxi's next words immediately poured cold water over Zhao Ji.
"I saw General Huangfu outside the hall." Xiao Yunxi bit her lip red, but still said it out loud.
The smile on Zhao Ji's face disappeared instantly, gone was the warmth from a moment ago, turning his back and saying, "He asked you to persuade me?"