Shennong Dao Master-Chapter 579 - 75: Conflict Resurfaces, One Year Later, A Way to Escape (16000 Da Zhang)_3
Chapter 579: Chapter 75: Conflict Resurfaces, One Year Later, A Way to Escape (16000 Da Zhang)_3
"There are also extreme cases where the Qi fortune within the territory will be permanently lost."
"That is when the Qi fortune is inherently thin, and if injured and losing rank, the recovery needed is even greater."
"What about those with inherently good Qi fortune?"
"The same."
"The way of heaven and earth is too unfair," Che Shihai lamented.
"The Qi fortune of heaven and earth evolves from order to disorder," Zhao Xing said, "unless..."
"Unless what?" Han Bing asked.
"Never mind, it’s nothing." Zhao Xing thought for a moment but ultimately stopped discussing the topic, knowing that too much information was not beneficial to the two of them.
Han Bing did not press further and switched the topic following Zhao Xing’s lead, "This time, the court will lose a significant amount of Qi fortune."
"With such a major celestial disaster, who knows how many people will be punished."
Han Bing still did not know about the Xuantian Sect demon incident and thought it was the Ten Suns celestial disaster.
But even so, officials still needed to take the blame to quell the anger of the noble families and dignitaries.
...
On August 27, official documents were released.
They mentioned both the celestial disaster and human calamities.
The punishments were extremely severe.
The previous night, Zhao Xing had already heard the news when Liu Tianning mentioned it during his visit to the Ten Thousand Skill Palace.
"Lingde King will be stripped of his position, demoted from standard Third Rank to standard Fourth Rank, have five ranks deducted from his meritorious title, and his title downgraded to Marquis."
"King Heavenly Destiny will resign from his position as Great Military Inspector, no longer overseeing battlefield inspections. His Second Rank Official position will be revoked, retaining only his post as Fengtian Historian. Forty-nine other fate officers will be demoted and sent back to their hometowns to retire."
"Luo Hou King will have his rank reduced by two levels and be fined one hundred thousand shields."
Zhao Xing was stunned, "Why is Lingde King’s punishment so harsh?"
Liu Tianning explained, "In the tenth year of the Jingxin Calendar, Lingde King was granted the title of Ten Suns Military Inspector by His Majesty, also acting as the Lord of Ten Suns Cave Heaven."
Worried Zhao Xing might not understand, Liu Tianning added, "This means that, nominally, the person in charge of Ten Suns Cave Heaven is Lingde King. Among the three kings, he is the chief official, while Luo Hou King and King Heavenly Destiny are merely assigned to assist him in managing the Ten Suns Cave Heaven."
Zhao Xing was speechless, feeling that Emperor Jing’s arrangement seemed to use Lingde King as a scapegoat.
Upon closer thought, it indeed seemed that way.
Emperor Jing’s dispatching of the three kings to oversee must have offended many people, whether during the Southern Barbarians’ war when noble families tried to insert their people, or during this time when many sought to gain slots in the Cave World’s Spiritual Beauty outbreak.
The three kings bore immense pressure.
Luo Hou King and King Heavenly Destiny had genuine skills, and Emperor Jing needed them for real tasks.
If something went wrong, naturally, a weaker king like Lingde King was best suited to take the blame.
Zhao Xing inquired about Lingde King’s career, finding that this old fellow wasn’t scapegoated for the first time.
During the Dingxin Calendar period, Lingde King had served as the Lord of Jiutian Yingyuan Mansion, Datong Prefecture, Dayuan Prefecture, and Anping Prefecture.
For two hundred years during the Dingxin Calendar, battles with the Southern Barbarians were frequent, and small Southern Barbarian forces occasionally crossed the river to create chaos.
Lingde King took the brunt of it, with responsibility often shifted onto him.
Amazingly, throughout two hundred years, he was demoted and promoted four times. Interestingly, despite never participating in proper warfare, he was still conferred the title of Commandery Prince.
"No wonder he’s titled Lingde, such self-sacrificing scapegoating spirit indeed embodies great virtue."
This time, counting the current event, Lingde King had been stripped of his official positions five times.
Lingde King was barely a Third-rank official, now directly demoted to standard Fourth-rank. freewёbnoνel.com
This time, Emperor Jing seemed serious, as Lingde King’s title was also stripped, unlike before. Whether he could ever be reinstated was uncertain.
As for King Heavenly Destiny, though the punishment was severe, it didn’t cut to his core.
Luo Hou King was merely fined monetarily.
The Xuantian Sect’s arrangement in Ten Suns Cave Heaven and the celestial disaster prediction were matters for fate officers and the Minister of Agriculture Supervision. Luo Hou King’s actual responsibility was to supervise military misconduct.
Therefore, even if there was human error in this celestial disaster, it couldn’t be blamed on Luo Hou King. In the Creation Plate simulation, Luo Hou King still had merits!
However, with such widespread resentment, Emperor Jing naturally couldn’t credit Luo Hou King at this time. Even if credit were due, it would be considered only after a year or two under a different pretext.
With the three kings punished, many others also faced repercussions. The entire Yang City Minister of Agriculture Supervision’s Office was replaced!
Fan Zhaoli, the Geography Institute justice director, and Mei Zhiru of the Heavenly Time Institute had their positions suspended and would likely be transferred out of the Grotto Heaven.
They might not be demoted in rank, but a fourth-rank position within the Grotto Heaven and outside of it are entirely different. Even a lateral transfer was equivalent to a demotion.
While many were punished, a small number were explicitly deemed meritorious and rewarded accordingly.
Liu Tianning said, "By next summer, the Ten Suns Cave Heaven is expected to be fully restored. I should be promoted to a standard Fourth-rank position then, though the specific post is yet to be determined."
Along with Liu Tianning, others rewarded included the owner of Wanxing Palace, Gong Tiansi, Secondary Fourth-rank General Huang Yi, and Secondary Fourth-rank officials Zhang Song and Li Yuanzhen.
These individuals were those who had rescued people during the disaster.
Of course, no one rescued more than Liu Tianning!
Additionally, Liu Tianning had merits for his early warnings. This substantial promotion and merit reward, along with the gratitude from many noble families and dignitaries, made Liu Tianning undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary.
Returning to the Eighteen locust and willow courtyard, Zhao Xing closed his eyes and slept.
"Liu Tianning gained the most, with his power growing, and as part of his faction’s second tier, I also benefited. This venture wasn’t in vain, not wasted in fear and anxiety for those days."
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