The Power of Thunder

  The first memorial that Long Yitian picked up, he read from start to finish with patience, except for the flowery and empty words of praise, he was actually bewildered and couldn't understand what this memorial was trying to say, how could this not make him furious?

  Long Yitian always liked to be simple, clear and efficient when handling matters. It didn't matter if he wrote some poems or songs in his free time, but this memorial was written in such a way that it was unbearable for him to say anything.

  He casually tossed the memorial on the table, and Long Yitian directly made a decisive decree: "Gao Wuyong, pass down my oral edict: all memorials submitted by the six ministries must be returned and rewritten. The rewritten memorials must be presented early tomorrow morning. Anyone who again submits memorials with flowery language, empty words, or fails to address real issues will be severely punished without leniency."

  "Hmph." Gao Wu Yong didn't know what kind of madness the Emperor was suffering from this time, but since the imperial decree was there, he could only transmit the message as a servant.

  Due to the death of Empress Xiaoxian, the government affairs of various departments had already accumulated a lot, and even the memorials left in the Grand Council had several boxes. However, Longyin Tian only needed a short edict to turn all the officials in the capital into chaos, leaving them overwhelmed and complaining incessantly.

  Each of them stayed up all night, burning the midnight oil and frantically rewriting their memorials, fearing that if they failed to submit them early the next morning, they would incur the wrath of the emperor. The normally quiet Six Ministries were unusually bustling with activity.

  Long Hanyan would not know the accumulation of government affairs in recent days, even if he didn't know, he could guess it. He chose to issue an edict at this time, obviously intentionally taking the opportunity to knock on those big and small officials.

  This is exactly as Dragon Hidden Heaven's temper: "If I don't live well, then no one else should think of living well!"

  This night, Long Hui Tian actually had a good sleep. Because his soul and this body merged together for not too long, still in the running-in period, so he would also feel more tired than before. You know, when he was still the Dragon Country's King, he once didn't sleep for ten whole days because of war, but still looked radiant and spirited, without a hint of fatigue.

  The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Long Yitian changed his clothes under the service of his servants. Due to the death of the Empress Dowager, he had to follow the mourning ritual discussed by the Prime Minister and other officials, suspending court for nine days, still following the rule of changing mourning attire every ten days, wearing hemp clothing for twenty-seven days.

  Although he himself dislikes white very much, unfortunately the current situation is special, so he can only tolerate it for a few more days.

  Arriving at the imperial study, Long Yitian immediately saw a neat stack of memorials on the desk, which, according to Gao Wuyong's report, had all been presented early that morning.

  He nodded slightly and sat down at the desk, starting to flip through the memorials one by one. Although the content of these memorials was still far from what he had imagined, compared to yesterday's, it was much better. At least those empty and impractical things were reduced by half, and just a rough glance could make people understand what this memorial was reporting about.

  Long Yitian was not in a hurry, after all, meals should be eaten one mouthful at a time, roads should be walked one step at a time, and changes should also be made gradually.

  He glanced at the memorial and picked up his brush, writing a vermilion endorsement of varying lengths at the end of each fold. As for those congratulatory memorials that had no practical significance, he simply set them aside.

  After reading them all, he ordered Gao Wuyong to return those meaningless memorials to the various departments and severely warned them that if they presented this kind of meaningless memorial again, they would be forced to copy it one million times.

  However, he casually picked out a few well-written memorials and not only sent them to the emperor but also heavily rewarded those officials.

  Long Hanyan's move caused a stir in the court, and everyone was puzzled. How did the emperor suddenly change his ways without any warning signs? It is known that Qianlong used to love this kind of praise and flattery, and officials at all levels would do so to please the emperor.

  However, Long Yitian's move has gained the support of a large number of officials. After all, every time they write a memorial, they can avoid writing many useless things, which saves time and effort while improving the efficiency of various departments. Only a fool would oppose such a good thing.

  It was precisely because of this that the censors in the Ducha Yuan did not submit a memorial to the emperor for the first time, opposing his actions.

  During these few days of suspension from court, General Long Yitian has basically dealt with all the memorials presented by the Ministry of War, and has also gained a deeper understanding of the entire Qing Empire. Many hidden dangers that Qianlong had not noticed before were also seen by him, among which the most serious ones are the corruption and deception of officials.

  Corruption has been around since the time of Emperor Kangxi, especially in the late years of his reign, when the national treasury's financial deficit was quite substantial.

  Later, the Yongzheng Emperor who succeeded to the throne worked hard for half his life, thoroughly cleaning up a shaky imperial court, so that among the people there was the saying "Yongzheng's reign, no official is not clean", and also eliminated the situation of continuous deficits, making the national treasury full, leaving Qianlong a very good country.

  Alas, this Qianlong was not a good emperor who could guard the industry. In just a few decades, he had squandered more than half of the national treasury, and the corruption of officials became increasingly severe.

  Although "the sheep is lost, and the fence is not yet late", Long Yitian does not plan to use Emperor Yongzheng's method. In his opinion, that approach is too slow, he doesn't have such patience, and a thunderous momentum is his usual way of doing things.

  At this point, Long Yitian felt that it was time to put the Blood Drop and Sticky Club left by Emperor Yongzheng into use. After all, these special agencies were still very useful at times, the key was how the emperor used them.

  The first morning court after the funeral of Empress Xiaoxian, Longyan Tian issued a decree that had been prepared in advance without saying anything. The main idea is that from today on, the daily morning court will be changed to one small court every two days and one large court every three days. The rest of the time will be exempt from the morning court, and the time of the morning court will also be changed from Mao Shi to Chen Shi.

  The so-called "small court" refers to the officials of the first rank (including zheng and cong) in the capital, as well as imperial relatives who come to pay respects to the emperor. The "large court", on the other hand, is the same as the daily morning court, where all officials come to pay homage and discuss government affairs.

  Long Hiding Heaven is a diligent and people-loving emperor who is good at governing the country, but at the same time, he is also an emperor who knows how to enjoy life and has a lot of means. If not, he would have been exhausted by the complicated government affairs of Qinglong Country long ago.

  As soon as this decree was issued, it immediately attracted the opposition of many officials, among whom the imperial censors of the Ducha Yamen and some old men in the imperial clan were the most vehement. They talked a lot about ancestral laws and rituals, but ultimately they just hoped that Longyan Tian could withdraw his order.

  Long Yintian was unusually patient and would listen to whatever anyone had to say, his expression remaining unchanged as always.

  He didn't actually listen to what those old guys were saying, but instead observed the civil and military officials standing below during this first morning court session, using Qianlong's memory as a reference.

  Moreover, he also found that the decree he issued was actually supported by many people and opposed by few. However, those who were in favor of it all had some concerns, so they didn't dare to stand out and express their attitude.

  However, those old stubborn men were really able to talk, and they had been talking for a whole hour. They were still chattering away, and even Long Hanyan, who was known for his patience, felt a surge of anger in his heart at this moment.

  He immediately stood up, raised his hand and ordered the imperial guards to gag these stubborn guys and throw them out of the door, making the vast hall suddenly clear.

  Although the court was silent as a crow, even a falling needle could be heard, but the atmosphere was inexplicably eerie.

  The civil and military officials below were all in a state of panic, not even daring to breathe loudly, fearing that the thunderous anger would descend upon their own heads. Those who still had matters to report also unanimously shut their mouths tight, although state affairs were urgent, but their own lives were even more urgent.

  Even He Ping, who was always smiling and had no regular habits, changed his usual demeanor, lowering his head to observe with his nose, trying to minimize his presence, and acting as a perfect background.

  Actually, Hongdawn's heart was also constantly drumming, doubts were one after another. After all, his imperial brother had just messed up all the officials in the capital a few days ago, and now he was making another move on the court today.

  To be honest, he really didn't see what this emperor brother wanted to do. Probably the only explanation that makes sense is that this emperor brother has gone crazy again, and this time it's in a good direction.

  Moreover, Hong Yu discovered that the emperor's methods this time were very similar to those of Emperor Kangxi, decisive and ruthless, with a strong grip on power. At present, whoever dares to oppose the emperor will simply have to wait for death, after all, not everyone can withstand the might of thunder.

  "Is there anything else to report, everyone?" Long Yitian stood with his hands behind his back, expressionless as he scanned the crowd. Although it was impossible to read his emotions from his face, in reality, he was secretly delighted, especially when he saw the officials below him looking like they had been struck dumb by a cold cicada, which only added to his satisfaction.

  Long Hanyi had always believed that as a monarch, he should have unshakeable dignity. No matter what was right or wrong, once an imperial edict was issued, everyone must execute it unconditionally. Otherwise, he would not hesitate to use bloody means to make these people see clearly who the emperor was.

  Stillness, apart from quiet is still quiet.

  These ministers are not foolish either. Seeing that the emperor doesn't even care about those imperial relatives, if they still dare to be the first to speak out, they will surely die. Even if there is something true to report, it's better to wait and submit a memorial instead. Inside and outside, it's just half a day's time, which won't delay important matters.

  Those older officials were startled by Long Yitian's gaze, and their hearts skipped a beat. They almost got heart disease from the scare. The little men in their hearts couldn't help but cry: 'Your Majesty, please don't scare me again, I'm afraid my body can't withstand your dragon might...'

  After a while, Long Yitian saw that no one came forward to respond, so he casually waved his hand and said: "Since there's nothing else, let's adjourn the court."

  Having finished speaking, he didn't wait for the eunuch to shout out and directly turned around and walked towards the rear palace.

  Gao Wu Yong saw that the Emperor was about to leave and hastily shouted in a shrill voice: "Retire from court!"

  Then, he hastily followed Long Yitian's footsteps and left the main hall of the Qianqing Palace. In his heart, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The majesty of the Son of Heaven was indeed intimidating enough to shorten the lives of those poor officials by several years.

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