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Adric, the general of the 13th Cavalry Corps of the Imperial Zhōngyāng, was transferred to the Imperial Ministry and appointed as Deputy Minister of Military Affairs to the Senate.

This move of Emperor Kantos immediately caused a stir in the circle of powerful people, and many sensitive people began to speculate about the intentions of this Supreme Majesty's action.

Although it was clearly stipulated in the legal code at the beginning of the empire that the appointment of the chief and deputy ministers of the first department of the empire by His Majesty the Emperor must be deliberated by the Senate, and only after the proposal is passed can it be reported to the head of the department appointed by the institute for signature.

And such a process has existed in name only a long time ago. The process of the decline of the Senate has gone through hundreds of years from the beginning to the middle of the empire, during which countless leaders and dignitaries of the Senate who have the idea of restricting imperial power have had many fierce struggles with the imperial family, but because of this system of "mínzhǔ restricting imperial power", there are irreparable congenital defects in the earliest place where it was established. The Senate itself did not hold any real power, which made it a mere rhetorical ornament once the imperial power was concentrated.

Suffice it to say that at the beginning of the earliest empire, this idea of the Senate was good, but the flaws in the system made it a kind of deformed so-called mínzhǔ.

And once the emperor has the military and political power in his hands, it is enough to meet a weak master, and the senate occasionally has the opportunity to make a noise. But once you meet an emperor who is strong and powerful, then the Senate may even really become a place of empty talk.

So, about 200 years ago, one of the emperors of the empire did it more thoroughly: the emperor at that time directly forced an imperial decree, and the emperor had the power to issue special appointments, and this appointment, as long as it was approved by the noble council, could directly replace the process of the senate and be transferred to the appointed department head for signature and effect.

And the so-called aristocratic council, in fact, is some of the imperial aristocratic groups tightly around the royal family - the royal family is the largest nobleman in the empire, and all the other nobles, whether from the class itself or the common interests of the general direction, think of advancing and retreating together with the royal family, and even in the end, the so-called aristocratic council, most of the members are members of the royal family or royal in-laws and nobles, so that at least at the level of personnel appointments in the empire, there is almost no restraint on the imperial power!

And this time, to the surprise of the different elite circles of Dìdū, this spear emperor didn't know which string in his head was wrong, and actually transferred a personnel appointment letter to the Senate?!

Senate?!!

Everyone knows that in the past 200 years, this kind of personnel appointment and discussion system in the Senate has long been abolished, and after more than 200 years, let alone appointing a dignified military minister, even if it is the appointment of a minor official in a certain deserted department, it will not be the turn of the Senate to interject a word.

Emperor, what did he really want to do? Could it be that Emperor Kantos was drunk before signing this letter of appointment?

Or is this spear emperor confused, what does he want to do with the Senate?

That's all there is to it.

The one who can't cry and laugh the most is the Senate itself.

It is said that when the envoy of the court sent an official document signed by His Majesty to the Senate, the man who guarded the door of the Senate suddenly saw the palace envoy in a brocade robe, and did not recognize the other person's attire—the Senate had not received a court envoy for many years.

When the envoys from the palace arrived, the senate, which was unattended by no one in Pingrì, was in a hurry, and several of the permanent senators who were in the palace at that time hurriedly rummaged through the boxes and cabinets to find bright clothes, and then quarreled for more than half an hour over the etiquette steps for welcoming the palace envoys into the senate -- this was the first time in more than 200 years! Finally, they temporarily rummaged through the cabinets and found a few cases from the literature that were hundreds of years old.

Really waited for a few elders to walk out of the courtyard gate to greet them, the palace envoy was already standing in the sun with an anxious face full of impatience, and several elders were still standing at the door with a shelf, neither saluting nor showing goodwill, holding their heads high and blocking the door, looking at his appearance, I was afraid that even if I hit him headlong, the other party did not give way in the slightest.

What does this mean?

The palace envoy was a little unhappy and coughed: "I bring the appointment issued by His Majesty and ask the Senate to discuss it." ”

"Hmm. The first patriarch standing in the middle suddenly raised his voice and roared, the voice almost frightened the palace envoy, "Your Majesty, you know that civil rights come from the people's livelihood!!"

The muscles on the envoy's face trembled, and he suddenly remembered that His Majesty the Emperor's strict instructions seemed to have mentioned the scene in front of him, so he could only shrink his head and bow his head and say, "Your Majesty knows." ”

"Good. The first patriarch nodded in satisfaction, and with a reserved smile on his face, he stepped aside.

The second patriarch was still standing there, and suddenly shouted in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, do you know that the monarch's power is taken from the people!!"

The envoy gritted his teeth and endured his ears that were a little tingled by the shock: "Your Majesty knows." ”

"Not bad!" the second patriarch stepped out of the way.

The third patriarch seemed to be so old that even his teeth had fallen out, and although the silk robe looked bright, if you looked closely, there were already a lot of cavities on it, and there was a faint smell of mold, and I don't know if it was temporarily turned out of the bottom of the pressure box just now. The old man seemed to be unable to even stand still, and he could barely breathe, and the palace envoys were a little worried, but they were afraid that this old man would not be able to lift it in one breath, and he would be summoned by the Lord's grace at any time...... "Your Majesty...... Can...... Know...... People...... Come...... People...... ...... count"

The shriveled and leaky mouth barely trembled and spit out these words, but it made people hear it vaguely, as if there was nothing, the messenger was helpless in his heart, this old fellow, he was afraid that the soil would be buried in the heavenly spirit cover, what else did he run out of? But he didn't care what the other party was talking about, His Majesty had explained before he came, this entrance ceremony was an ancient ceremony, and he didn't care about that much, if there was a problem, just say "Your Majesty knows".

At that moment, he opened his voice and shouted, and the old man nodded, and he also wanted to reply: "Not bad." But the messenger was already agitated, and he got through the cracks in the people before he could.

After entering, he directly handed over the documents he brought to the first patriarch, and then he breathed a sigh of relief: "The official document written by His Majesty has been handed over, if you need to make a decision, please decide as soon as possible." I'm going to go back and do my job. ”

After speaking, seeing that the three elders were standing in a row, as if they were going to perform some ancient rituals, the envoy was a little impatient in his heart, and hurriedly withdrew and left.

The three patriarchs were also relieved to see the envoy leaving, the oldest one was immediately unable to stand, and two entourages hurriedly came up next to him to support him, and one of the patriarchs unfolded the document and glanced at it: "General Adric, inauguration, emperor, empire, emperor ** deputy minister?!"

The other two were also stunned for a moment, and even the old man who was so old and unbearable seemed to suddenly lose his breath and bend over, staring at the two colleagues in surprise.

After a long time, the three of them suddenly showed ecstasy: "Great victory! Great victory! Quick! Quickly issue a summoning order! Gather all the members of the Senate Council, and it must be sent to everyone today! Great victory! The emperor handed over such an important appointment to the Senate for deliberation, and it was a great victory for the people's power over the imperial power!!

The three of them were all obsessed, and after laughing wildly for a while, the one standing in the middle sighed thoughtfully: "Alas...... With such a foundation, next month's funds should be issued earlier. Well, these rìzi have been gnawing cabbage every day recently, and they are really a little tired. Now, you can have meat to eat, right?"

When the other two patriarchs heard this, their faces suddenly showed empathetic expressions, and for a while, they were elated, and even the oldest one was dancing, and they heard an elder chanting: "Meat, eat meat......

The three respected patriarchs looked like this, and the few young servants on the side couldn't help but be at a loss. These young servants didn't have any books, any mínzhǔ civil rights and the like, so naturally they didn't know anything, but they looked at the appearance of the three masters.

Belch...... Is this mínzhǔ just eating meat?

After the convening order of the day was issued, the original Senate was registered, and the current members with the right to make decisions had a total of 163 members, but after such a convening, it was discovered that the number of people was very wrong.

It turned out that since the Senate had declined, Pingrìli was just maintaining more than 30 permanent members to carry out regular work -- the so-called work, that is, some celebrities in the Senate regularly gathered in this Senate to carry out some invalidation of the current political and national policies under the pretext of "restricting the implementation of imperial power" If I am the first official of the empire, how can I cheer up the discipline......"

Among them, it is not said that there are few people who have the ability, and there are many fools who are full of prison but pretentious. The so-called people go to the high, and the water flows to the low. This Senate has been in decline for so many years, with no power or power, where can it retain real talents?

However, there is always a benefit to the regular gatherings of these people, and there are many celebrities who like to be vassals and elegant, and who pretend to care about the affairs of the country and the people's livelihood - they are just second- and third-rate figures, and the real first-class core level is impossible to enter. I can only make an empty sound here, sighing that I don't meet my own arms. It's just that there are generally such people, although they are only second- and third-rate classes, but there are always some people who are quite wealthy, and even some people have a small aristocratic title on their heads.

These people would gather from time to time, and each time they would make a fundraiser, and the funds raised would be used to maintain the normal operation of the Senate.

In addition, in order to show its own "mínzhǔ civil rights", the Senate also sent the membership with the right of resolution to the people, leading figures from all walks of life, profound scholars and celebrities, and so on...... Naturally, this scene was only seen more than 200 years ago, and now it is gone.

Today's Senate has long since become a cold court, and even the resolution memberships of those Senates can't even be sent out sometimes!

Why?

In this huge senate, where is there any bullshit that can be decided? But this resolution membership has to pay a membership fee every year, which one is willing to do it?

So, in the end, the membership status dropped again and again, and it fell to the point where there was no more reduction, but it was still a mixed bag -- and if it really went down, it was difficult to rise again.

Therefore, when the convening order came down, there was a sensation that day, but in the evening, when it was dark, the more than 100 members of the resolution on the roster were not counted, and the servants in the Senate hurried back anxiously to return:

Member XX passed away many years ago.

A certain member has already moved his family.

A certain member had already converted to the church, and served the gods for the rest of his life, regardless of worldly matters.

In the end, it is necessary to leave out those who have been born, old, sick and died, floating without a trace, or jumping out of the world...... In the end, the statistics were still in the dìdū, and there were only eighty-eight members of the group of resolution members who were alive and panting and could move with their brains!

The three elders glanced at each other, all looking helpless.

That...... Forget it! Eighty-eight is eighty-eight! Something is better than nothing.

Then he sent someone to send an invitation signed by the three members of the Senate, and sent someone to the residence of General Adric in Dìdū, and arranged a meeting for the next day.

※※※ The next morning, the three patriarchs were already excited and couldn't sleep all night, and they called themselves to encounter a grand event that they had not encountered for more than 200 years.

And I thought that I was the patriarch of the Senate, but I had experienced something that had not been done in two hundred years, and I should have my own stroke in the history books in the future!

But the excitement was excited, and the three elders waited for the members who had come to participate in the meeting in accordance with the convening order...... The three guys were stunned at the same time!!

This...... This...... This is the fucking member of the sacred Senate that advocates for civil rights, and has the power of divine popular decision-making?!!

Standing on the steps of the Senate, the three senators were dumbfounded at the same time:

At the gate of the Senate, an ox cart blocked the steps of the main entrance, and the bones of the ox cart were deeply sunk in a dirt pit on the road, and the coachman on it had been sitting on it with his legs crooked, but at this moment he had jumped down, pulling the bull's head to exert his strength, and the ox turned into a "moo" call.

At the same time, some people gathered at the door, and as soon as the Senate opened, these people immediately swarmed around: "Open the door, open the door!

"Wait! Wait!! The younger one of the three patriarchs was startled, and hurriedly called to the servants: "Block the door, block it! The people outside will report their names and occupations one by one!"

There was a young lady wearing a small cloth jacket with a bulging breasts holding a child: "My man is a blacksmith, and my man has work to do today, so he asked me to come...... Uh, I don't have a name. ”

There was a man with a bloody body, a greasy face and a meaty face, and a boning knife stuck in his waist: "Lao Tzu is a pig killer!"

There was a middle-aged man with rolled sleeves and dirty hands: "I'm a gardener who grows flowers. ”

A thin and short young man glared: "My father is dead, and I came on his behalf." ”

.................. Finally...... There is a young man with a little green in the paleness, even in the sun, with a bit of yīn soft ghostly look: "I...... I am, I am...... I'm ......."

At this moment, the hearts of the three patriarchs were already cold, and listening to the last person in the family, one of the patriarchs couldn't help frowning impatiently and shouted, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm ......" The pale man suddenly twisted: "I...... I'm the ...... in the hall."

Before the three patriarchs could understand, the butcher who had killed the pig suddenly smiled and pointed at the man: "Ah, it turned out to be a rabbit." ”

...... The three patriarchs, I'm afraid that they even have the heart to die at this moment!!

The dignified Senate, the symbol of civil rights established at the beginning of the empire, has actually fallen into such a situation?!

What kind of mortal father's pawn, that's it! Actually, actually...... Even the rabbit in the fucking hall became a member of the Senate resolution?!!

The three patriarchs looked at each other, and finally, the patriarch in the middle coughed, frowned, and said, "Don't quarrel! This is too unusual! Where do you all get your memberships from! According to the regulations of the Senate, anyone who can obtain membership must have a certain level of culture and education, you, look at your ......."

The patriarch stomped his feet heavily and snorted: "Don't make any noise! Listen to me! If any of you is literate, can read and write, and can read and write, come up first!"

But after asking this sentence three times, I saw everyone below looking at each other, you look at me, I look at him, but no one really moved to come up.

The patriarch was sad and indignant in his heart, and was about to sigh a few times, but suddenly the blue-faced man stretched out his hand timidly: "That...... I ......"

The patriarch was overjoyed: Sure enough, there are still people who can read and write! No matter what, something is better than nothing!

It's just that when this yīn soft man continued, the words were:

"I ...... I can't read, but I can count! from one to a hundred. ”

Counting from one ...... One...... Count to a hundred??

If this patriarch hadn't been a little strong-minded, he was afraid that he would really die on that step on the spot!

In this Senate, there were historians, researchers, inventors, politicians, military strategists, and many artists of continental civilization...... And now, a guy who can only "count from one to a hundred" has actually become the one with the highest degree of Chinese among the members of the resolution?! If the predecessors of the past knew about it, I was afraid that they would jump out of the grave one by one!

Thinking of this, I can't help but feel sad in my heart, the original excitement and expectation have already been swept away!

The patriarch's face was full of anger: "Count from one to a hundred?! Hmph, you can still count to a hundred!!"

He was talking the opposite, but he didn't expect this blue-faced man to be unresponsive: "Ah, yes! I can usually do four businesses a day, and at the end of the day, I can have an income of 100 copper plates." ”

The patriarch smiled coldly: "Oh, so to speak, every time you ...... Business...... Twenty-five copper plates?"

The green-faced young man was suddenly full of surprise: "Yi, this old gentleman, how do you know ?!!?" Don't...... Have you been to me too...... Well, it's just that I don't have any impression of you......"

“...... Poof!" A streak of blood.

"Ah, the Patriarch, the Patriarch...... Oh yes, come on, Patriarch!!"