The Imperial Palace of the capital, in the imperial study.

Emperor Jingfeng was concentrating on reviewing the folds, Cheng Yan lowered his eyebrows, and quietly served ink on the side.

Criticizing and criticizing, Emperor Jingfeng raised his head, pointed to the fold in his hand and smiled at Cheng Yan: "Not long after the beginning of summer, the political envoy of Sichuan Province cried to me, saying that there was a great drought in Shuzhong, and grain production was reduced, and the imperial court wanted to reduce grain taxes. ”

"But there are still two months before the summer tax is collected, and this letter can be handed to me now, even if it is fast, at least it was written half a month ago. He Pu Tingnan actually has such a great ability, more than two months in advance, he can predict that the drought in Shuzhong will be serious to the point of a major reduction in grain production? ”

Listening to Emperor Jingfeng's slightly sarcastic tone, Cheng Yan smiled gently, did not make any comments, and continued to lower his head and study the ink.

Emperor Jingfeng glanced at him twice and said, "I heard that it hasn't rained in Shuzhong for a long time, but I just don't know what the drought situation is, do you know what the situation in Shuzhong is now?" ”

Cheng Yan shook his head, and his voice was quiet: "Weichen doesn't know." Weichen has been staying in the capital, and occasionally His Majesty appreciates the pen and ink with him, which has increased his knowledge a little. As for the drought outside the capital, especially in Shuzhong, which is thousands of miles away, Weichen and Hanlin officials will not know more than the rest of the courtiers. ”

Emperor Jingfeng smiled meaninglessly, stared at his lowered eyes, and suddenly said, "I remember...... Gu Yunji is the general judge in Xuzhou Mansion, right? The two of you have a good relationship, and he hasn't written to you to mention the drought in Shuzhong? ”

Thinking of the artichoke, drought and other things that Gu Yunji said in the letter, Cheng Yanyanmo's movements were imperceptible, and his face did not change: "The minister has not passed a letter with Lord Gu for a long time, maybe he is busy with official business and can't spare time." ”

is busy with official business, but he doesn't say what kind of official business he is busy with, he may be busy with drought or something else.

Cheng Yan said that there was room for advance and retreat, and Emperor Jingfeng couldn't ask anything, so he had to retract his gaze and refocus on the fold in front of him: "Some time ago, I heard the governor of Sichuan say that although it hasn't rained in Shuzhong for a long time, there are many rivers, and there is still no shortage of water for irrigation, and the drought is not as serious as Pu Tingnan said." ”

"But for the sake of insurance, in two days, I still have to find someone to go to Shuzhong to see how the drought situation is, and I can decide whether to reduce the grain tax or not, and reduce the grain tax by a few percent."

The governor is an official sent by the central government to the local government, in charge of the administrative, judicial, supervision and other powers of a province, the original purpose is to contain the political envoys, the inspection envoys and other local officials, and strengthen the control of the imperial court over the locality, and later gradually like the governor, become the de facto supreme governor of the locality.

Governors and governors are divided into two types: long-term residence and temporary dispatch, if they stay for a long time, the power is above the political envoy and other officials, and the power of a province is overpowered; If it is temporarily dispatched, it is equivalent to the "incarnation" of the emperor, with weaker governance attributes and stronger supervisory attributes - just like the current governor of Sichuan.

Emperor Jingfeng obviously had a report from the governor of Sichuan on the drought, but he still had to ask Cheng Yan, it may not be necessarily a temptation, it was really just a casual question, but if Cheng Yan answered badly, then this unintentional question would quickly rise to suspicion, and then to defense and fear.

However, Cheng Yan has been a banquet speaker in the past few years, and he has been able to touch Emperor Jingfeng's temperament, and in the eyes of others, Emperor Jingfeng is an unpredictable and elusive emperor. But in Cheng Yan's eyes, Emperor Jingfeng is, to put it bluntly, strong, suspicious, and stubborn, as long as he understands this, he will become comfortable accompanying the king.

Sure enough, after the episode, Emperor Jingfeng didn't take it to heart, and soon put his mind into the review and compromise.

"Knock" - "Knock" - "Knock" -

The Western clock in the corner shook the pendulum and told the time.

Emperor Jingfeng laughed when he heard this: "The strange skills of Westerners are sometimes not useless, for example, this Western clock, the time is much more accurate than our sundial and hourglass, and lo and behold, it can also be reminded when it is punctual." ”

As he spoke, he beckoned and summoned Ning Fuhai: "Bring me the pill, it's time to take the pill." ”

Ning Fuhai hesitated, but he didn't dare to disobey his order, so he answered, turned around and went to get the pill.

Soon, the pill came, a small brocade box the size of a palm, and the lid was opened, revealing a small pill with a bright red color and a big finger inside.

Seeing this, Cheng Yan's eyes froze, and his expression stopped talking.

Emperor Jingfeng noticed his movements and explained with a smile: "This is an elixir refined by a warlock named Lan Wenyong, he has just returned to Beijing from a four-way travel, and his Taoism is very high. So he left him in the palace and made alchemy for me every day. ”

Cheng Yan's eyes were complicated, and after a battle between heaven and man in his heart, he couldn't help but say after all: "Your Majesty is in the prime of life, and the fortunes of the Great Xia country are prosperous, and it is the right time to make great achievements in governing the country. The so-called immortality is a nihilistic statement after all, and counting the many monarchs in history who pursued immortality, it is still ...... in the end"

"Cheng Qing doesn't have to worry, I understand the truth." Emperor Jingfeng didn't care, and interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "People eat grains and grains, and it is inevitable that they will get sick, how can they live forever?" ”

"I'm not an ancestral dragon, I put the good rivers and mountains, I don't care about the government affairs, I tried my best to find some immortality, but I died at the age of fifty, and I finally made a wedding dress for the Surabaya Pavilion Chief, who was four years younger than him."

It can be seen that immortality is vain after all, it is better to live a long life to be realistic, I do not seek longevity, only longevity. Therefore, the elixir that Lan Warlock gave me to refine is not an elixir, but a medicine for longevity and longevity to strengthen the body, I have eaten it for a few days, and my spirit is much better than before, and it is not a problem to batch six or seven hours a day! ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Jingfeng was in a happy mood and smiled heartily: "I am not greedy, not to mention a long life, as long as I can live to the age of sixty or seventy without illness or disaster, I will be satisfied!" ”

There have been many emperors in history because of the pursuit of immortality and neglect of government affairs, which led to turmoil in the court and the separation of monarchs and ministers, and now it seems that although Emperor Jingfeng did not mean this, but now that he has opened this head, it is difficult to guarantee that similar thoughts will not occur in the future.

What's more, Cheng Yan has read poetry and books and read Chinese history books all over the world, and he hasn't seen anyone who has taken pills to get better and better, but there are many cases of premature aging and short life, which shows that this is not a good thing.

However, Emperor Jingfeng's attitude was like this, and Cheng Yan couldn't say anything more, so he closed his mouth knowingly.

Ning Fuhai didn't know what the difference between the Immortal Pill and the Yishou Pill was, but he had seen Lan Wenyong's alchemy pill, what kind of dansha, mercury, sulfur, lime, etc., any thing could not be eaten alone, let alone put together.

He was a minion, and he didn't dare to point fingers at his master's affairs, so he had to look at Cheng Yan with a blank eye, expecting that this Hanlin official, who had been quite favored recently, would say a few more words and persuade Emperor Jingfeng to give up serving Dan.

But Cheng Yan didn't persuade again, and Ning Fuhai had to retract his gaze in disappointment.