Daily life of slaying demons in the government

Chapter 489 The Happy Couple
Late at night, most places in the imperial city had fallen into darkness. Even the brothels had quieted down and the candles in many of the stained glass windows had gone out, but the noise continued in another way.

In the palace just north of the imperial city, there were still some brightly lit areas. Eunuchs stood guard around with their mouths shut, in high spirits, or went in and out quietly, carrying piles of documents.

This is the Beiyuan Study, with green mountains behind it and a stream of spring water on the side. It is close to the Taichang Hall of the Li Dynasty and is Zhou Tai’s favorite office location.

Unless there is something special, Zhou Tai will choose to work here.

It was a little chilly tonight, so most of the study's windows were closed, leaving only two in the corners for ventilation.

The personal eunuch knelt on the ground and took out documents and files from various places from the big box and handed them to Zhou Tai.

In front of Zhou Tai was a eunuch who was in charge of writing and recording, writing furiously on a small table.

"Jizhou Prefecture's pension money and grain have all arrived. They have recovered in the past two years. From next month, only tax reductions will be retained, and the rest of the pension policy can be stopped. Make a note of this matter and have the relevant government offices and departments follow up as soon as possible."

"The Donglin Prefecture's military expansion plan has been approved. Let the Ministry of War begin the process. The expansion of the Five Guards must be completed before the end of this year. Yoshimori is now in turmoil and in constant strife. Collapse is imminent. It is time for our army to march eastward!
All food and supplies should be brought along with the expansion of the army, more rather than less! Give the Ministry of War a kill order, allowing them to arrest anyone found to have embezzled at any level, and those with irrefutable evidence can be executed at any time."

"Floods in Central and South China. Hmm. Temporarily transfer the stored grain from the three surrounding prefectures for relief. The refugees will also be received by the three prefectures. Don't complain to me. No matter how hard it is in the face of natural disasters, you have to hold on. Whoever dares to be perfunctory will lose his head."

Zhou Tai handled the documents one by one in an orderly manner. These were all important matters, otherwise they would not have been reported to him.

But the Hongwu Dynasty was too large, and there were always major events in various local affairs. Even if the various departments of the imperial court performed their duties, they could not handle all of them. Many things would still be submitted to Emperor Zhou Tai for decision.

The things reported by a department or a yamen may not be many, but there are so many departments and yamen!

Moreover, the emperor would have to spend most of the day just attending to state affairs, and the rest of the time he would have to listen to some temporary matters and discuss them. Finally, when it came time to deal with the documents submitted, he would be busy until late at night.

Fortunately, Zhou Tai knew some martial arts skills and could be considered a competent martial artist, so his physique was still okay. Otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago if he had endured this.

However, in recent years, Zhou Tai has increasingly felt that his energy is not as good as before.

"Your Majesty, are you resting?"

The personal eunuch plucked up the courage to wait until Zhou Tai finished dealing with a case file and then took the time to remind him in a low voice.

Zhou Tai was always busy, and it was the duty of the eunuch to remind the emperor to rest, even though this sometimes angered the diligent emperor.

Zhou Tai frowned slightly, glanced at Shi Xiang beside him, then glanced at the remaining half box of documents, and sighed. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by the sound of calling the names.

"Report! Shuangqing Mansion's deputy attendant Hu An has an urgent report!"

Zhou Tai's thoughts were interrupted, his expression froze, and then he called the guards outside in.

"Your Majesty, there is an urgent message from Juan's talisman!"

Zhou Tai said nothing. After letting the eunuch take the token, he waved his hand, signaling the guards to go down. He then checked whether the seal on the token was intact, and then carefully opened the token.

After a moment, Zhou Tai's face first showed disbelief, then ecstasy, and finally he suddenly jumped up from his chair. "Hahaha good! Good! Good!"

Zhou Tai laughed wildly and cheered loudly, looking ecstatic. This made the eunuchs worried that the emperor might get sick due to his excitement.

After a while, the emperor finally stopped laughing. The empress, who was worried that the emperor was still busy with his official duties, came over with a bowl of medicinal tea, and when she heard the emperor's laughter, she hurried in.

"Hahaha, the Queen has arrived at the right time! Great joy! Great joy for the country!" Zhou Tai was just about to share his happy events with others at this moment, and when he saw the Queen come in, he could not hold it back any longer, so he grabbed her and started to talk.

But the queen was not as ecstatic as Zhou Tai. She first stopped the emperor from speaking, and then waved her hand to send all the people in the study away.

The queen knew that something big must have happened, otherwise the emperor would not be so happy. The emperor had never lost his composure like this when she married him.

The queen's calmness also made Zhou Tai react. He waved his hand and dismissed him and his personal eunuch.

Soon, the emperor and his wife were the only ones left in the study.

"Queen, look at this token!" The emperor, with a smile on his face, handed over the token that Juan had just reported.

The queen took a look at the badge and saw the logo of the Imperial City Guard before she raised her hand to take it. The Imperial City Guard was the royal family's personal soldiers, and as the queen, she was also a member of the royal family, so she would not have any political gossip when she saw this kind of badge.

After the queen finished reading the contents on the talisman, her reaction was the same as Zhou Tai's just now. First she was in disbelief, then she was ecstatic. She grabbed Zhou Tai's arm tightly, opened her mouth and stared with her eyes, but she couldn't say a word for a while.

"Haha, Queen, don't get excited. This matter is serious, but it is absolutely true. Hu An has been in Shuangqing Prefecture for so long, he will definitely not be confused about such a matter. Moreover, there is an express report, and there must be more detailed reports to be sent later!

I never thought that the aspirations of so many ancestors of the Hongwu Dynasty would see real hope in the hands of me, Zhou Tai!"

Seeing his wife was so shocked that she couldn't speak, Zhou Tai was able to control his emotions. He smiled and hugged her in his arms, then sat back on the chair. He had never felt so comfortable in the past few years, and felt his whole body was warm. His original fatigue was swept away by this sudden excitement.

"Hoohoo. Your Majesty, if this is true, then you will surely become the Hongwu Sage Emperor who is on par with the founding ancestor!"

The Queen was not complimenting him. According to the contents of the plaque, the acting lord of Shuangqing Prefecture, the newly promoted first-class viscount Yang Qian, completely controlled Shuangqing Prefecture. He not only cleared out the evil spirits and bandits in Shuangqing Prefecture, but also uprooted the two powerful forces hidden in the Wanli Bamboo Sea.

Such a level of cultivation is no worse than the top combat power in ordinary immortal sects.

As for how strong it is, the queen couldn't figure it out.

But she could understand the words mentioned by Juan: "From now on, Shuangqing Prefecture is in the hands of the national dynasty."

This not only means that the Hongwu Dynasty has finally gained actual control over Shuangqing Prefecture, a special prefecture, but also means that the Hongwu Dynasty finally has a place where it can safely cultivate monks.

Moreover, Yang Qian also set up a "Zhenshan Camp" and gave the position of deputy commander directly to Juan, the imperial guard and deputy attendant.

What does this mean? This means that Yang Qian is willing to give part of the power of "Zhenshanying" to the Hongwu Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)