Daming Palace, Zichen Hall.
Emperor Xianlong looked at the fireworks in the night sky, feeling quite heavy.
Everyone was looking forward to the arrival of the New Year, but Emperor Xianlong was not happy at all.
The reason is simple, he is one year older.
For a king who has been in power for nearly thirty years and is approaching his sixtieth year, getting older is by no means something worth celebrating.
He is the supreme being in the world, there is no doubt about it.
Whether it was the Southern Liang, Bashu, or the Southern Barbarians, they were all conquered by the iron hoof of the Zhou Dynasty. Only the Northern Barbarians and East Vietnam were still lingering, but Emperor Xianlong knew that it was only a matter of time before the Zhou Dynasty conquered them.
Nowadays, the Great Zhou Empire is the most powerful existence in the world. As the master of this empire, Emperor Xianlong is undoubtedly the supreme being and the saint in the world.
But what is the greatest fear in the world?
Of course it is time.
No one can defeat him, not even the king.
Where are those great emperors in history now? Aren’t they all turned into white bones and sleeping underground?
Emperor Xianlong did not want to be like them, so he hoped to find a way to live forever.
The simplest way is to make elixirs, but Emperor Xianlong did not intend to do that.
Because many emperors died after taking elixirs.
Facts have proved that elixirs are not very reliable. If you are not careful, you may die.
Emperor Xianlong didn't want to die without seeking immortality.
Emperor Xianlong wanted to live forever through magic.
It is recorded in ancient books that there is a fairy mountain on the sea named Penglai.
There are immortals on the Penglai Fairy Mountain. The immortals lived for more than 8,000 years and witnessed the rise and fall of more than 20 dynasties, large and small.
Emperor Xianlong believed that as long as he found Penglai Fairy Mountain and found the immortal, he would be able to learn the method of immortality from the immortal's mouth.
This was not an easy task, but Emperor Xianlong never gave up.
He sent a large number of naval ships out to sea to search for fairy mountains, of course in the name of sea trade.
In this way, the Manchu officials would not say much, otherwise the mere words of advice would make Emperor Xianlong's ears tingle.
Now the prince and several other feudal princes have grown up and have their own little thoughts.
Emperor Long clearly knew this.
This is okay, as long as there is no one family that dominates, the more fiercely his sons fight, the more secure Emperor Xianlong's throne will be.
As long as his sons did not cross the line, Emperor Xianlong would not even intervene.
However, a piece of news from Jiangnan Road made Emperor Xianlong worried.
According to the memorial, a monster appeared along the coast of Jiangnan Province. This monster lived in the sea on weekdays, and would swim ashore from the sea at night to catch people and eat them.
Thousands of fishermen have died along the coast, and people were panicked for a while.
Unlike the previous dynasties, the Great Zhou Dynasty did not implement sea bans, so many people along the coast made a living by fishing.
If fishermen are afraid of going to sea because of this monster, it will be a real headache.
And this may not only be an issue for fishermen, but also involves maritime trade.
Maritime trade was an important source of tax revenue for the Zhou court, and part of Emperor Xianlong's inner treasury was drawn from the national treasury.
It was about Emperor Xianlong's pocket, so he couldn't help but care about it.
It's just that the local government was helpless about this matter and relied entirely on the imperial court. Emperor Xianlong was also very cautious, fearing that a single wrong decision would damage the imperial court's reputation.
Since it is a monster, ordinary troops will definitely not be able to help.
Therefore, Emperor Xianlong had to send practitioners to Jiangnan Road.
But this candidate is actually difficult to choose.
If the practitioner's level is too high, it means overkill and overkill.
If the practitioner's level is too low, he or she may not be able to do anything to the monster.
After comprehensive consideration, Emperor Xianlong had to repeatedly select candidates to ensure that there would be no mistakes.
So who should I use?
The inner guard in the palace?
There are many masters in the palace, but Emperor Xianlong felt that letting them come forward was not the best choice.
First of all, these people shouldered the important task of protecting Emperor Xianlong and the royal family.
Although there are restrictions in the Daming Palace, ordinary assassins cannot approach it.
But be careful when sailing the ten-thousand-year ship. Emperor Xianlong did not intend to take risks with his own life.
So this plan can be abandoned.
As for other candidates…
There are no practitioners in the Jinwu Guards, Shenwu Army, and Shence Army. The only practitioners in Chang'an City are bad people.
Speaking of bad people, what Emperor Xianlong thought of now was not the bad handsome man Feng Hao, but Zhao Xun.
From the beginning, this son was disgusted by Emperor Xianlong and turned into a popular figure today.
Emperor Xianlong even found himself somewhat inseparable from Zhao Xun.
Zhao Xun solved several cases in a row and became famous.
As his reputation grew, Emperor Xianlong noticed that his reputation among scholars also began to change.
From a playboy with no skills in fighting cocks and lackeys, he became a famous and promising man.
It seems that sending Zhao Xun to Jiangnan Road is a good choice.
"Daban, what do you think about this matter? Should I send Zhao Xun to Jiangnan Road?"
Emperor Xianlong put his hands behind his back and asked in a deep voice.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I think Zhao Xun is in the spotlight now, so it would be a good idea to sharpen his spirit."
Zheng Jie answered very cautiously, but Emperor Xianlong undoubtedly heard the implication.
"You mean Zhao Xun is not capable of handling this matter?"
"Monsters cannot be subdued by ordinary people. Although Zhao Xun has been promoted to the seventh level, he is still unable to compete with monsters. So this time he will be frustrated when he goes to Jiangnan Road."
Zheng Jie said calmly: "Monsters have at least fifth-level strength. It's good for a seventh-level practitioner to be able to protect himself. How can he kill people at a higher level?"
"But in this case, what's the point of sending him there, just to suppress his energy?"
"Your Majesty can secretly send some more troops to clean up the mess and reap the benefits."
Zheng Jie suggested.
"Um."
Emperor Xianlong nodded.
"Who are you sending to plot this secretly?"
"Housekeeper."
Zheng Jie said word by word.
…
…
The first month is fleeting.
Although Zhao Xun was very reluctant, he still had to go to the bad guys' Yamen to work.
On the first day of Dian Mao, Zhao Xun saw that everyone looked tired.
Haha, it seems that post-holiday syndrome also existed in the ancients.
"Brother Jia, Wangcai, you guys are having a great year this year."
"Haha, Mingyun, the Chinese New Year is naturally comfortable. How about you, are you happy and at ease?"
Jia Xingwen has now learned to joke and is no longer as serious as before.
Wangcai said anxiously: "By the way, Brother Mingyun, you haven't run out of manuscripts during the Chinese New Year, right? Now we are about to run out of food. If you don't write new manuscripts, there won't be any bookstores to print them."
On the first day of work, he was urged to write a manuscript, which really made Zhao Xun very nervous.
"Haha, if you give me a few more days of grace, I will definitely hand in the manuscript."
…
…
This chapter has been completed!