The long and short-wave signals began to spread outward through the instruments in front of him with the beating of the shopkeeper, and along the way, they passed through the transit of many [Xinxiang Hometown Chicken] stores all over the empire, and in one night, they had been transmitted from Jiangcheng, thousands of kilometers away, to Xinxiang, the heart of the empire.

Xinxiang, this place known as the heart of the empire. Hundreds of years ago, the first emperor made his home here.

Once upon a time, it was just a remote place, a small town with a population of less than 10,000 people, and even the tax collectors did not like to come here. Because it is so poor here, so poor that even the food for entertaining the tax collector is roasted cassava.

But look at the present! The whole Xinxiang takes the imperial palace as the central axis, and the city is arranged in an orderly pattern in a tic-tac-toe shape. Piles of houses are planned horizontally and vertically, and each square is almost equally spaced in size. If you look at the entire imperial capital of Xinxiang from a high place, then the city is arranged in a rectangle one after another, and the left and right are symmetrical.

The Emperor of the Empire, who designed this imperial capital in the first place, was definitely a very terrible obsessive-compulsive patient. Because even the trees planted in the imperial city are symmetrical.

The current Fifth Emperor of the Empire pushed open the door of his dormitory and could chant in a low voice: "There are two trees in front of my house, one is a date tree, and the other is also a date tree. One left and one right, standing symmetrically, as if the scene is opposite. ”

That's right, the imperial city of the empire was named Daming Palace by the first emperor, which means righteous and bright.

Daming Palace set up four gates in the southeast, northwest and northwest, which were named as Qinglong Gate, Danfeng Gate, Xuanwu Gate and White Tiger Gate. The walls of Daming Palace are about 300 meters high and more than 50 meters wide. It is the highest and thickest city wall in the world, even higher and thicker than the main city wall on the periphery of the imperial capital Xinxiang.

Because this palace is the last line of defense in the heart of the empire. Why did the walls of the palace have to be built so thick and so high?

Because Xinxiang is actually an empire that wants to rush the defense line.

Since the first emperor Li Zihang pacified the Twelve Warring States and established the empire, the empire has no rivals in the inland areas. The greatest enemy is the wolf clan of the north.

Considering the need to fight against the northern wolf clan, Li Zihang set up the capital of the empire in Xinxiang, the land of Shenglong, where he raised his army. It was only 500 kilometers from the nearest point of the northern frontier of the Empire. It just so happens to be a rear base for the frontier.

However, the wolf clan is not an easy opponent to deal with, the war has lasted for hundreds of years, and the empire has not really pacified the wolf clan.

It has been 630 years since the founding of the Empire. And this year is also the 67th day of the 5th Emperor Li Deming of the Empire.

Daming Palace has three major halls. The south gate Danfeng Gate is the main gate, enter the Danfeng Gate and walk across the overpass is the Yulong Grand Square and the Taiji Palace.

The Taiji Hall is only used by civil and military officials in the court, simply put, it is used to hold a conference, and this conference is also called the Great Dynasty Meeting. It is held three times a month, and all officials above the fifth grade in Beijing need to participate.

Of course, although the Taiji Hall is large, with an internal area of thousands of square meters, it is still difficult to meet the needs of the Great Dynasty. Therefore, those who can enter the Taiji Hall and sit at the desk in the Taiji Hall for meetings are only the chief officials and assistant officials of each department. Other first-class officials could only stand in the main hall.

And those who can stand in the main hall are already good, at least they are already third-rank or fourth-rank (upper) officials. And the officials of the fourth rank (below) and the lower levels could only stand in the Jade Dragon Square in front of the Taiji Palace.

If the weather is good, if it is windy, rainy, snowy, and hail, it will be bitter.

Fortunately, there are three court meetings in a month, so it is not too difficult.

After the Taiji Hall is a relatively small hall Qilin Palace, which is the place where His Majesty the Emperor holds a small court.

Because it is impossible to hold the pilgrimage meeting every day, it will affect the work efficiency of the officials too much. The empire established the position of left and right prime ministers, with the left prime minister being respected and the right prime minister secondary. Officials at all levels in the three provinces and six ministries are in charge.

At the same time, the empire set up a Minister of Military Aircraft. The Minister of War has no real power, and is more like a think tank between His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister. But because he is a close minister of the Son of Heaven, he has the right to make suggestions. Therefore, although the Minister of Military Aircraft is only the grade of the third grade, he is already a very human minister in the empire, and he is on an equal footing with the chief officials of the three provinces and six departments.

The small court meeting in the Qilin Hall is an almost daily ventilation meeting between the emperor and the prime minister and the minister of military aircraft.

Behind the Qilin Hall is a smaller palace called the Longyuan Palace, which is the residence of His Majesty the Emperor. In the case of not staying in the harem, the emperor is generally here. And this is also the center of the central axis of the entire imperial capital Xinxiang.

The fifth emperor Li Deming succeeded to the throne for sixty-seven years and ascended the throne at the age of thirty, and now Li Deming is ninety-seven years old. For mortals, at this age, they are already dizzy and overwhelmed.

But as one of the only ten heaven-level masters in this world, Li Deming still has a black beard, only faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes on his face, and his sturdy figure looks like he is no more than thirty years old. Especially Li Deming's pair of sword eyebrows are impressive, and under the sword eyebrows are a pair of eyes as sharp as the edge of a sword, so sharp that people dare not look directly.

In the Longyuan Palace, Li Deming sat cross-legged in a Taoist uniform for practice, his eyes were slightly open, and he held the sword trick in both hands and placed it on his legs. The breath is long and long, and there seems to be a faint thunder sound between the breaths.

The low sound of thunder covered the whole of Xinxiang, and the six million residents of Xinxiang fell asleep every night listening to the sound of a hidden dragon sleeping. Listening to such a voice makes people feel reassured, because the people of Xinxiang know that the sky above them is still there, and the sky of the empire is still there.

Standing beside Li Deming to protect the Dharma is his most confidant eunuch Ye Qianqiu.

Suddenly, the sound of thunder dissipated. Ye Qianqiu immediately bowed his body, and sure enough, His Majesty the Emperor opened his eyes and asked in a low voice: "Is there a result ahead?"

Ye Qianqiu knew what His Majesty the Emperor was asking in front of, and the front was the Qilin Hall in front of the Longyuan Palace. Now, dozens of people in the Qilin Hall were arguing in purple official uniforms that represented high-ranking officials of the empire.

The budget approved last year was 2.3 billion gold yuan, and according to the Ministry of Industry's forecast at the beginning of the year, it was 2.27 billion gold yuan. But why did the reported figures come from at 2.5 billion gold dollars? Where did the 230 million gold dollars from the overrun?

A middle-aged man with a beautiful beard in the Qilin Hall asked loudly. On the middle-aged man's side stood a dozen of his colleagues. Opposite him stood more than a dozen chief officials and assistant officials of the six departments of the three provinces.

And outside of the two opposing factions, the left and right sat in front of the stove on the right side of the Qilin Hall. Twelve ministers of military aircraft stood behind the two prime ministers.

And in the middle of the main hall is a dragon chair, which is where the emperor sits. It's just that the emperor is not there now, but there are two eunuchs standing on the left and right next to the dragon chair.

Today, so many people gathered in the Qilin Palace, and the important ministers of the empire gathered together for nothing else. It was for this annual Imperial Fiscal Settlement.

This kind of military affairs needs to be discussed by the two prime ministers at the small court meeting and the officials of the six ministries of the three provinces, greet His Majesty the emperor, and finally discuss it at the big court meeting.

And today's discussion in the Qilin Hall is destined not to end in a harmonious manner.

The right prime minister, Lin Changxin, looked at the left prime minister Yang Demao, who looked old and dizzy beside him.

Lin Changxin took a sip of tea, and behind him, a minister of military aircraft stepped forward and whispered to him: "Xiangye, I'm afraid today's settlement will be bad." ”

Lin Changxin said lightly: "That's nature. You listen. ”

"Listen?"

"Don't you think there's something missing?"

The Minister of Military Aircraft behind him listened carefully: "Your Majesty's thunder has stopped. ”

"Get ready. Lin Changxin put down the teacup and tidied up his clothes, and the Minister of Military Aircraft behind him had not yet reacted to what Lin Changxin was preparing to prepare.

Over there, His Majesty the Emperor's henchman and great eunuch Ye Qianqiu had already entered through the side door of the Qilin Palace: "Your Majesty's dictation, today's small dynasty will meet the empire's financial settlement, and a result must be discussed today." ”

All the officials present were originally noisy, but now they are all singing. Zuo Xiang Yang Demao only stood up groggily at this time and sang slowly.

Ye Qianqiu's face was not obvious, but he was dissatisfied in his heart.

"Everybody, go on, our family is here to listen at the behest of His Majesty. Ye Qianqiu sat on the chair brought by the little eunuch next to him.

From this, you can see Ye Qianqiu's status.

Because in the entire Qilin Palace, there are only three who are qualified to sit. The left and right prime ministers and he Ye Qianqiu.

Ye Qianqiu waved at Lin Changxin, the right prime minister not far away: "What kind of morality can the right minister teach me if you are here to listen for one night?"

Lin Changxin pointed to his brain: "It's noisy, it's buzzing, I don't know what to do, I just know if the money is worth it." ”

Ye Qianqiu smiled on his face: "How many are not right?"

"One billion and sixty million gold dollars cannot be reconciled. Lin Changxin said lightly.

Suddenly, a thunderclap sounded in the sky, and everyone in the oppressive hall was silent for a while.

I don't know if it was the talkative guy who whispered: "The pen is angry." ”

Then the officials in the hall all bowed and pleaded: "Your Majesty is angry!"