The emperor’s sedan chair was carried directly in.

Chu Zhongtian looked at the cannon sticking out from the parapet, adjusted his crown and belt, and then ordered his servants to bring the tablet.

The officials filed across the Jinshui Bridge.

At the front were the cabinet ministers in white, followed by the six ministries and nine officials in red official robes, and behind them were the lower-ranking officials in green and blue robes.

They walked straight into the Golden Palace without looking around.

At this time, the emperor had arrived.

Surprisingly, the Seventh Prince was also there, standing at the position of the head of the civil officials on the right.

The officials looked at each other.

Chu Zhongtian shook his head imperceptibly, signaling his colleagues not to rush and to return to their respective positions.

According to etiquette, the eunuch standing guard in front of the emperor will come out and shout: “The emperor will ascend the throne, and all officials will welcome him!”

Then, all officials knelt down and bowed.

But today the rules are obviously different.

The emperor raised his hand.

“Give me a seat.”

Two young eunuchs immediately came out from behind the screen behind the dragon throne, carrying a chair to the left and right behind the Seventh Prince and placing it neatly.

“Gu…”

The Seventh Prince swallowed his saliva and slowly sat down.

Although I dared to sit only half of my buttocks, I was exempted from kneeling before the emperor and was given a seat on the Dragon Throne. This was already a great honor.

The emperor nodded.

“Okay, let’s start the meeting.”

All the officials immediately knelt down and bowed.

“Long live Long live Long live!”

The emperor smacked his lips in satisfaction, then nodded to the eunuch beside him.

The latter understood and said in a high voice, “Officials, please stand up.”

Then he paused.

“Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Punishment, and Ministry of Personnel, the three ministers, please come forward and listen to my order.”

The three officials were stunned for a moment before they realized what was going on. They came out and knelt before the emperor.

“The minister is waiting to accept the order.”

“The Imperial Edict has been issued. It has been found that the prefect of Bozhou, Jian Zengren, has abused the people and enriched himself, endangering the stability of the state. The criminal has been handed over to the three departments for interrogation. The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel are to supervise. I decree this!”

Jian Zengren…

Isn’t he already dead?!

All officials were in an uproar.

The emperor leaned back on the dragon throne with his eyes closed, completely ignoring their comments.

As a result, the Golden Throne Hall gradually tends to develop into a vegetable market.

They quarreled for quite a while.

“quiet!”

The emperor slammed the dragon throne.

“Want to be kicked out?”

All the officials shut up.

The emperor snorted coldly.

“What? Wasn’t that an imperial decree?”

The three ministers did not expect the emperor to take them by surprise.

Do not speak martial ethics,

Come and cheat!

Make a sneak attack!

It took them a long time to react. They winked at the officials from the Censorate and the Dali Temple, and then gritted their teeth and accepted the order together.

The emperor looked at the eunuch again.

“continue.”

The eunuch continued, “The imperial edict has been passed on. It has been found that the admiral of the Bozhou Navy, Yue Tun, has been in charge of the camp for seven years. He has not been strict with his subordinates, military discipline has been lax, and he has violated the rules and regulations. This is a serious matter. He is now dismissed from his post as admiral and is to report to the capital.”

This decree is still in the cabinet and has not been issued.

Therefore, although the important officials of the court knew about it, other officials were confused.

Isn’t it a credit for suppressing bandits?

The second time, there was a quarrel in the court.

The emperor was too lazy to care and asked the eunuch to read the imperial edict.

The eunuch continued, “The emperor has issued an edict that the Seventh Prince will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold, five hu of pearls, and a night-shining pearl for his meritorious service in destroying the Gushe smuggling group.”

The Seventh Prince shook his robe and was about to kneel down.

The emperor said: “No need to kneel.”

The Seventh Prince bowed.

“My son, I thank my father for your kindness.”

“…”

“…”

There was an eerie silence.

A gleam of light flashed in the emperor’s eyes.

According to the plan, the Seventh Prince should have taken the initiative to plead guilty for misusing military power, and then refused the gift.

The emperor showed magnanimity and insisted on rewarding him.

After the two sides had a tug of war, the emperor would pretend to be polite and say, “My son was just deceived by the traitor.”

What happened next became a natural thing.

The emperor’s mouth curled up.

He knew everything clearly on the day Li Qingcha returned to Beijing, but he chose that time to issue the imperial decree…

It’s obvious who you want to kill.

This is the alienation of imperial power to people. In order to avoid all uncertainties, the emperor would nip any unfavorable sprouts in the bud.

Plus, he hated Li Qingcha.

There is never any psychological pressure in killing someone you hate.

His right index finger was twitching unconsciously with excitement, but he was unaware of it. He just leaned forward, waiting for the Seventh Prince to say something to shirk the reward.

But something unexpected happened.

“Father, I brought a lot of new things with me when I returned to the capital this time.”

The Seventh Prince lowered his head.

No one could see the expression on his face.

Chapter 270 Offensive and defensive changes

“…”

“…”

“…”

There was dead silence above the Golden Palace.

Only the most sensitive ministers could sense that the wind direction seemed to have subtly changed.

Chu Zhongtian raised his head and found that the emperor’s face looked a little ugly.

tsk…

He was shocked and lowered his head again.

Things are starting to get more interesting…

The emperor’s right eyelid twitched.

He stared at the Seventh Prince, hesitating.

The seventh son of my family can always be said to be the stupid son of a landlord. Just now, the two of them talked so much on the sedan chair. Could it be that he didn’t understand the implication of my words?

If that were the case, it would be a huge mistake.

The emperor wanted to give the seventh prince some advice, but he just kept his head down.

If there is no communication, what’s the point of giving any advice?

The emperor had no choice but to continue the previous topic: “What new things did the emperor bring? Let me see it.”

The Seventh Prince smiled foolishly.

“I will have someone carry it up right away.”

“Need not.”

The emperor nodded to the eunuch beside him.

The eunuch listened to the order and immediately went around to the right side of the hall to whisper a few words to a guard.

The guards left the Golden Palace.

Not long after, Ao Jingshan and his men came in carrying three large boxes and put them down heavily in the center of the hall.

The eyes of everyone in the hall were drawn to it.

Discussions began.

The emperor was puzzled and asked, “What are these?”

The Seventh Prince walked to the first box and slowly opened it.

There was black powder all over the place.

The emperor was stunned.

“gunpowder?”

The Seventh Prince nodded.

“It is gunpowder.”

As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand, gently picked up a little with his index finger and thumb, and rubbed it as if playing with it.

“Father, everyone knows that this item is essential for cannons and short guns. Without it, the weapons of our Shenji Battalion are nothing but a pile of scrap metal, and will only be a burden on the battlefield.”

“Where did this gunpowder come from?”

“I found it from the ammunition of the Gushe smuggling group.”

“…”

The emperor was silent for a moment.

Then, he turned to the Minister of Industry and said, “Xu Qing, go and check the quality of this batch of gunpowder.”

Minister Xu is not very old, but he has a cross-eye.