Purple River

Chapter 55

Section VII Elders Meeting

The history of the meeting of elders is as follows: Zichuan Yun, a generation of heros who lived half his life as an iron-blooded soldier, established the foundation of the Zichuan clan.In his later years, his mental and physical strength gradually weakened, and it was gradually difficult to bear the burden of the head of the family.

However, he is too obsessed with rights and insists on refusing to abdicate. He is obviously not very clear-headed, and he likes to do everything by himself, dictating and commanding chaos all day long, and he is moody. He yells: "Kill him Kill him! Drag him out and chop him up!" Hundreds of close servants died under this order, and sometimes even civil and military officials of the family were harmed.

The outstanding military general Ming Lan had just returned victorious the day before, and because his shoes had soiled the beautiful carpet of the President’s Mansion during the meeting, Zi Chuanyun immediately cried and yelled like a child whose toys have been broken, yelling repeatedly: " Kill him! Kill him!" As a result, the famous general Ming Lan was executed inexplicably, and the last words left to his son were: "Be sure to wipe your shoes clean!"

What was even more wronged was: upon waking up the next day, Zi Chuanyun asked the left and right: "Why hasn't Minglan come to see me? I've been waiting for him for a long time!" The guards looked at each other: He didn't remember yesterday's order at all!

As time passed, Zichuanyun's amnesia became more and more serious.What the heroes and nobles are most afraid of is receiving a message from Zi Chuanyun: "Old friend, I haven't seen you for a long time, come in and chat with me!"--If he obeys his orders and goes in, if he has forgotten his order, he will be shocked. Shouting: "Assassin! You entered without telling me, are you trying to assassinate me!" If he didn't go in, if he hadn't forgotten his order, he would be very angry: "You ignored my will, Treat me so contemptuously! I wish you could kill yourself!"

Under his prestige, no one dared to resist. No matter the officials or the nobles, all members of the family were trembling, living like years, with an unspoken wish in their hearts: Zi Chuanyun would die sooner!Unfortunately, Zi Chuanyun's health was very poor in his later years - he would catch a cold in summer and suffer from heat stroke in winter - but he did not die, and lived to the age of 98!Many people who were looking forward to his death couldn't wait any longer, so they had to die first.

As a result, when the old king died and the new king took over, the nobles jointly launched a coup, saying: "Power cannot be concentrated on your surname Zichuan! Otherwise, our lives, status and property will not be guaranteed!"

The matter was about to turn into a bloody civil war. Fortunately, the new king, Zichuan Xingming, knew that if a civil war broke out at this time, the Zichuan family, which had not been established for a long time, would be destroyed.What's more, the demands of the nobles are not too much. If the power is too concentrated on one person and cannot be restrained, it will lead to corruption and arbitrariness, which is not conducive to the future development of the Zichuan family.

He discussed with the nobles in a reasonable manner and agreed to change the family political system and establish the Council of Elders.The Council of Elders is composed of representatives of public opinion from each province (most of them are great nobles and landlords).It is agreed that the council of elders has the right to supervise the administrative operation of the family, and can modify the order of the chief if it feels inappropriate, and can even impeach or replace the chief if necessary.

In order to ensure the inheritance of the family's bloodline, Zichuanxing added: "No matter how impeached or replaced, the person who takes the position of chief must have the blood of the Zichuan family!" The nobles also agreed.

Most historians of later generations believe that the meeting of the elders is like a sharp magic sword hanging over the heads of those in power (general leaders, presidents), so that they can understand that there is a higher authority on their heads, and they are always vigilant in self-examination. Too much mischief.It has played an important role in checking and balancing the power of the chief executive, preventing corruption in the bureaucratic system, presiding over the positive flow, responding to the aspirations of the people, improving the degree of democratization, and maintaining family rule.For example, after Zichuan Yuanxing died in battle, the elder meeting broke the stereotypes of inheritance from father to son, and established Zichuan Shenxing, Zichuan Yuanxing's younger brother, as the chief executive, and Zichuan Ning as the first heir.

Tang Hui wrote: "If this is not the case, but if Zi Chuanning, who is young and incomprehensible, succeeds by sticking to the rules, he will definitely be killed by the ruthless Yang Minghua within two years after taking office. Zichuan Sanxing, the successor of the chief executive, is not only perseverant and deep, but also comparable to Yang Minghua in terms of ruthlessness. It’s been incredible in this process.”

Although later generations gave such a high evaluation to the Council of Elders, none of the people at that time was grateful to the Council of Elders. Their general evaluation of the Council of Elders was: "This is a group of flies that hinder us from doing things—green big-headed flies .” Even the famous general Sterling had the feeling of “holding the elders’ meeting at this time will really destroy my Zichuan family” when he heard that the elders’ meeting had been held.

The convening of the Council of Elders was a national sensation.In order to prevent the elders' meeting from being manipulated by ambitious elements, the wise Zichuan star posed a threat to the rule of future generations.He thought hard: "How can the council of elders not only exert restrictions and supervision on rights, but also prevent the chief executive from becoming a second center of power?"

A sentence from the staff reminded him: "My lord, since ancient times, the efficiency of a meeting has been inversely proportional to the number of people participating in the meeting. If you want to make an efficient decision on any matter, the number of people participating in the decision-making must not exceed 50 people."

Zi Chuanxing suddenly realized, and he immediately decided: "The number of elders in each community is 5000 people. Each meeting must be attended by four-fifths of all elders. The resolution of each meeting must be approved by more than half of the participants. Passed. If the impeachment of the chief minister is proposed, it must be approved by three-fifths of the people attending the meeting." Such a loose and slow decision-making power organization will no longer be able to threaten the centralized and quick decision-making power system of the chief minister, but prudent Zi Chuanxing still decided to add another one: the chief himself is also a member of the elders, and he alone has ten votes.

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At the beginning of December in the year 779 of the Imperial Calendar, the No. 70 Eighth Elder Review Meeting of the Zichuan Family was held ahead of schedule.

The meeting was supposed to be held in August next year. According to Chairman Xiao Ping of the Council of Elders, "Because so many things happened this year, such as Yang Minghua's rebellion and the Far East Incident, at this critical moment of changing circumstances and turning points in history, representatives How can the Elders' Council, which benefits the general public of the Zichuan family and is placed with high hopes by the general public, and the elders sit idly by?!"

All the veterans who participated in the meeting said: "Yes, we said, it is like this!"——[-] people each expressed their opinion and said a word, and the meeting time of the first and second days passed like this.

And what Di Lin said was: "Fuck! They're just too busy and bored to stay at home!"--He, who has always been bold, only dared to tell Copra secretly this time.

Not only him, but even the domineering Yang Minghua did not dare to offend and violate the Council of Elders in the heyday when he was in the limelight, because the Council of Elders is not only the highest institution of the family in terms of system, but also has the highest decision-making power. The meeting also brought together powerful representatives of nobles and wealthy families from 79 provinces of the family. They all have strong political and economic strengths, enough to control the lifeline of the family.Even the current chief, Zichuan Canxing, came to power with the strong support of the elders, and he had to be respectful to them.

On the third day of the conference, we can finally get down to business.The elder from Rockingham Province made a speech and raised a question that everyone was concerned about: the family's expenditure this year has seriously exceeded the budget!Although it is said that there is a rebellion in the Far East, it is not so exaggerated, the overspending has more than doubled!A few years ago, in the battle with the Liufeng family, more troops were mobilized than this time, but you haven't seen such a big overrun?Is there something tricky here?Will some people in the command office take the opportunity to enrich their own pockets at certain times and in certain links, and make a fortune for the country?

The elders all agree: there must be something tricky in it!Some people suggested: "Thoroughly check the expenditure accounts of the big spenders such as the Military Affairs Office and the Logistics Department this year, and get to the bottom of it!" After two consecutive days of votes by show of hands, this resolution was passed.

Speaker Xiao announced: "From now on, all materials and money in the Logistics Department and the Military Affairs Department will be seized and frozen, waiting for the elders to send people to inspect!" Establish a "Inspection of Military Affairs Department, Logistics Department Property Committee", appoint ten veterans as members, responsible for This matter. The two departments cannot resume operations until the inspection is completed!"

The Senate danced for joy.It's not that they have any deep hatred for the Military Affairs Department and the Logistics Department.It's just because the elders' meeting is only held once every three years, and no one usually pays attention to them. Now finally "Once the power is in power, the order will be carried out!", I want to find a chance to test whether the power in my hand is good or not—— It's like a child who has a pair of beautiful new rain boots and looks forward to the rain every day so that he can wear them out. If it really doesn't rain, he will wear them on sunny days. ——The elders can't wait to know the result of their first exercise of power.

The result disappointed them: the next day, the veterans who went to seize the seal came back with a bruised nose and a swollen face, and told their colleagues about the misfortune they had encountered as the distinguished ambassadors of the elders: they had not had time to finish their words when they came to the logistics department , a cold-looking woman looked them up and down (like looking at them on the road for venereal disease specialist advertisements), and then pushed her chin, and a few guards with broad arms came over and carried them His feet—like carrying chickens bought from a vegetable market—"invited" them out (throwing them like throwing a garbage bag, and closing the door with a "bang".)
The elders are seething with anger!Someone dared to openly challenge the dignity and authority of the Council of Elders!You know, even the chief Zichuan Sanxing has to be respectful to them!This behavior is more hateful than beheading 100,000 people in half, more hateful than Liu Fengshuang, Yang Minghua and all the Far East rebels combined!After a quick investigation, it was finally confirmed that the heinous female devil was called Geshan, who was currently the chief of the administrative department and also in charge of the logistics department during the war.

The elders began to vote immediately and passed an interim resolution: remove Goshen from all positions and fire her!The action was very fast, and a decision was made in less than eight hours! ——At the same time, the "Committee for Investigating Goshen's Crimes" and "Committee for Punishing Goshen's Crimes" were also established—and ordered President Luo Minghai to go to the Council of Elders immediately for interrogation and give an explanation: "How did you discipline your subordinates?" of! "If the explanation is not satisfactory, they will withdraw even Luo Minghai!
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Luo Minghai came quickly, but he knew that this group of uncles could not afford to offend.

Luo Minghai sincerely agrees that the Elders will remove Goshen from his position (what does that matter, he can restore her to her post as soon as the meeting is over) and expresses his heartbroken: I have never discovered that Goshen is a deeply hidden person. The beautiful snake, let her lie beside him for so many years.Fortunately, the elders of the elders have lightning-fast eyesight, and they saw through her disguise at a glance, and purified the family's civil servants.On behalf of the commanding office, he thanked everyone! !

There was thunderous applause, and the elders praised: "President Luo Minghai is very knowledgeable!"

"However," Luo Minghai changed his tone: "It is true that Geshan's crime is unforgivable, but there is an even greater villain behind her! This person is cruel, murders innocents, is ambitious, and has blood on his hands—— Forget all these, we don’t have to worry about it! The most unbearable thing is that he often fabricates facts, maliciously slanders, slanders and slanders our most sacred elders! It is tolerable, which is unbearable!——For sure , Goshen's actions were instigated by him behind the scenes!!——I, Luo Minghai, who is the head of the family, heard such horrific words from a madman, so angry that I couldn't sleep at night, but because of this person's influence, Covering the sky with one hand, I have a low official position, and I am unable to punish him, I am very guilty!"

In the meeting hall of the elders, [-] voices roared like thunder: "Who is he?! Tell him, and he will be shredded into pieces!!!"

Luo Minghai was very embarrassed: "Isn't this bad? After all, he is also my colleague. Outsiders don't know the truth, and he still thinks that I like to speak ill of others behind their backs..."

"Say it! Say it!! You are not allowed to cover him!!!"

Luo Minghai was cornered: "Since you insist on doing this, then I have no choice but to..."

The madman's name was Di Lin.

The elders immediately established 21 committees, including the "Investigative Committee of the Bloody Night in the Imperial Capital", the "Investigative Committee of the Far East Massacre", the "Investigative Committee of Dilin's Corruption and Bribery", and the "Investigative Committee of Dilin's Lawless Crimes". 400 veterans happily served as committee members: "Finally, there is something to do!"

The elders issued a letter of questioning, asking Di Lin to come to the elders' meeting immediately for a hearing.

※※※

Di Lin attended the hearing on time.He was not the kind of savage and vulgar maniac as he had imagined. Di Lin's clothes were simple and neat, and his manners were skillful. Shy, even blushing and bowing his head when talking to people face to face—is this person who is more girly than a girl really the bloody thug that Luo Minghai said?"

Di Lin's words are also very convincing. He said sincerely: "It's really none of my business. Think about it, Goshan is an official of the command office, and I am the head of the supervisory office. The command office has always been in harmony with the supervisory office. How could it be that I ordered Goshen to commit such a heinous crime?"

It seems to make sense, but: "Why did the president lead Luo Minghai to testify that you did it?

Di Lin's face, which was smoother than a girl's, was stained with a touch of blush: "This... can everyone stop asking? This matter is related to Luo Minghai and my privacy!"

The curiosity of the elders was aroused: "No, no, you have to say it!"

Di Lin hesitated, hesitated, opened his mouth a few times, and finally said: "I'm afraid... Luo Minghai will kill me if I say it."

The elders pledged together: "All our elders will make decisions for you!"

After persuading for a long time, Di Lin finally hesitantly reminded the elders: Have you noticed Luo Minghai's eyes?Did you see something very... very that in there?Did you notice that when Luo Minghai mentioned my name, his entire expression, demeanor, and tone of voice changed?

After he said this, the veterans recalled: "Yes, Luo Minghai, who is usually deep and calm, changed when he mentioned Di Lin's name, as if a bull saw a piece of red cloth. Yes, the eyes are about to breathe fire, could it be that..."

Di Lin nodded solemnly: "You guessed right! That's right!"

"Is that really the case?"

"That's right!! Luo Minghai is a perverted masochist! He's gay!" Di Lin said resolutely:
"He had a very abnormal feeling for me and sexually harassed me many times! He even made all kinds of shameless demands on me and threatened me that if he didn't agree, he would retaliate against me and make me look good !"

The elders opened their mouths wide: "The so-called 'shameless request' is..."

Di Lin summoned up his courage and blushed and said, "He wants me to ride a wooden horse with him!"

"Oh!"

"And dripping candles!!"

"oh oh!!"

"Even tied him up and whipped him, knelt down and begged me to say 'Your Highness, punish me'! He also said to play a game of drinking urine!"

"Oh, oh, oh!!!" The elders were fascinated by hearing it, and each of them showed a look of leisurely fascination and envy.

Di Lin's tone changed: "Of course! I, Di Lin, is a good man and has a virtuous wife at home. Of course, it is impossible for me to agree to such shameless and obscene activities! Since then, he has held a grudge against me and looked for opportunities to attack me everywhere. Revenge on me! Even sent my subordinate Goshan to insult the elders, but framed it as my instigation!"

The veterans suddenly realized: "That's right! Geshan is obviously Luo Minghai's subordinate! Why didn't we think of it just now?"

Looking at Di Lin's "beautiful face" again, he was already so angry and sad that his "beautiful face paled"...

They believed it on the spot!

Everyone yelled, "Luo Minghai is a well-dressed beast!" (The veteran who shook hands with Luo Minghai the day before hurried to wash his hands with disinfectant, for fear that he would be infected with the incurable disease that begins with "A" and ends with "S".) Although his tone was angry, his mood was very excited: the president of the dignified family turned out to be a perverted homosexual! ?Now that I'm back in my hometown, I have big news to tell Zuo Neighbors and You Club! ! !
Everyone encouraged Di Lin: "Don't be afraid, speak out! The elders will make decisions for you! Luo Minghai dares to touch a hair on you, we will castrate him!"

With everyone's encouragement and support, Di Lin, who was often harassed and oppressed by Luo Minghai for a long time, boldly told the elders who presided over justice:

Luo Minghai is not only morally corrupt and his private life is corrupt - he often finds some underage girls to play the "Emperor" game together; at night, he also likes to wear sailor skirts, put on rouge and lipstick, and wander around the park asking people: "Friend, are you lonely?" ?”—and he is extremely incompetent in official duties!In the early days of the Far East rebellion, he rejected Di Lin's reasonable proposals for measures, and deliberately sat on the sidelines and watched the rebellion grow stronger, in order to achieve his ulterior and evil goals!

"Think about it, everyone, what is Luo Minghai's purpose?" Di Lin said meaningfully, enlightening the elders with his intimidating eyes.

"Yeah, what exactly is it?" The elders talked a lot, and after five hours of discussion, they finally came to a conclusion: "Obviously, Luo Minghai is the remnant of the great traitor Yang Minghua! He inherited Yang Minghua's evil ambitions." , colluded with the rebels in the Far East, and took advantage of the rebellion to mobilize the main force of the family to the Far East, severely weakening the strength of the family. When the time came, he would openly raise the flag of rebellion against the family like Lei Hong! At the same time, he Taking advantage of the status of the president, recruiting party members, wantonly embezzling the funds of the corrupt family, and preparing for future rebellion! This Goshen incident is a signal!"

Di Lin couldn't believe it: "I believe everything you say about Luo Minghai's corruption, taking bribes, molesting girls, playing SM games, peeping in the women's dressing room, etc., but you say he wants to rebel... I don't think he's that bad, is he? "

The veterans were very angry: "Di Lin, in the final analysis, you are too easy to trust others! There is such an ambitious wolf lurking in the command office. As the head of the Supervision Office, you are not aware of it at all! Negligence of duty!!! "

Facing the earnest criticism from the elders, Di Lin lowered his head in shame, and said, "I can't help it. I'm just too kind. I think others are as good as myself, so I'm often deceived. The elders are very discerning, and you can see that Luo Minghai The essence of treachery and evil came to expose such an ambitious wolf. It is a blessing for the country!!!”

The meeting lasted until the evening, and the elders quickly passed resolutions to establish the "Luo Minghai Sexual Harassment Investigation Committee", "Luo Minghai Rebellion and Treason Investigation Committee", "Luo Minghai Corruption Investigation Committee", "Luo Minghai Moral Corruption Investigation Committee" "Committee"... until the "Investigation Committee of Luo Minghai Spitting Incident" and "Investigation Committee of Luo Minghai Don't Wipe His Butt After Pooping", 61 committees, more than 300 veterans were elected members.

The elders who lost the election were a little downcast, but Chairman Xiao Ping comforted everyone: "Everyone, don't worry, take your time! There will be bread, there will be butter, and there will be new committees!"

※※※

By the time Di Lin walked out of the meeting hall of the Council of Elders exhaustedly, it was already dark.Gopra, who was waiting outside the door, stepped forward to greet him, his eyes dodging and he did not dare to meet Di Lin's gaze.

"What are you doing with that look?" Di Lin noticed immediately.

"It's nothing, my lord. But what you said just now, Luo Minghai wants to ride a wooden horse with you and drip candles with you... Is it true?"

Di Lin punched him and flew him to the opposite side of the street, grabbed his collar and said sharply, "Next time you dare to mention this matter again, I will kill you!!" His beautiful face was full of murderous intent .

Copra didn't dare to take a breath, nodded, and swallowed two teeth with blood.

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Seeing that the two top officials of the family, the President and the Inspector General, were entangled in the Senate and fought a big lawsuit.The officials below also followed suit, and went to the elders' meeting one after another to sue their enemies.Every day, there was an endless stream of people who came to the Elders’ Meeting to sue. The elders were so busy that they set up too many committees. Soon, the number of elders was not enough, so some elders had to work hard, and one person served as a member of several committees.

For a time, lawsuits became common in the imperial capital.Acquaintances meet and greet each other: "Did you sue today?"

Everyone is a plaintiff and everyone is a defendant.Take President Luo Minghai as an example. He has to serve as the plaintiff in 71 committees to appear in court, and at the same time he has to be tried as a defendant in 83 committees. He has to receive a thick stack of subpoenas every day, with various contents-he is dissatisfied Shouting: "Why are the "Committee for the Protection of Underage Girls' Physical and Mental Health" and the "Committee for Vigorously Advocating Breastfeeding" both calling me as a defendant?!"—I was exhausted between such committees all day long Running around, there is no spare energy to deal with the affairs of the command office.

The only thing that can comfort him is: Dilin is worse than him, and there are as many as 150 committees suing him!Di Lin was so busy that he didn't even have time to go to the toilet!

Under such circumstances, family officials, big and small, are busy with court appearances, hearings, debates, and complaints all day long. No one can concentrate on official duties, and the operations of various departments are paralyzed.The only one that can barely continue to operate is the logistics department led by Geshan. She knows that her department's work is related to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in front of them.Although she has been dismissed, but with the support of her subordinates and Luo Minghai's cover of turning a blind eye, she still tried her best to support the overall situation.In the end, the elders found out: "Geshan, a dead woman, is still hanging there and refuses to leave!" After a paper was passed, she was thrown into the detention center of Mr. Zhibu, "Let's see what tricks she can do! "

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Two weeks later, the lawsuit reached its peak.Even Sterling, the commander of the Central Army who has always had a good reputation among the people, was also sued. The plaintiff was a group of elder representatives from the Far East, a group of orcs, snakes, dwarves, elves and other races. They were crying told the Council of Elders:

"We are the most loyal subjects to our family! Although some unpleasant things happened with the royal army of the family, it was a complete misunderstanding!——It was an unfortunate misunderstanding! We only targeted the local nobles, But to our President Benevolent, we love him wholeheartedly!—Oh, I forgot to say just now: Our great President Benevolent shines all over the earth and warms our bodies and minds! The sun will lose it one day Guanghui, but all races in the Far East will never forget His Highness Renjun's kindness! I wish the most respected and beloved Chief Chief Your Highness eternal life!

What did I say just now?Wait a minute, let me read the manuscript, oh, it's like this: There were some small misunderstandings between us and the family Wang Jun, we have already realized our mistakes, and repented, don't believe me, look at our tears of repentance! (The representatives held back their tears with all their might, holding back and holding back, holding back their noses and a very loud fart) In short, people are not saints, so who can do nothing wrong?We have repeatedly pointed out that everyone should stop worrying about the little grievances in the past, and forget about reconciliation. We just went astray for a while, and we are clearly repenting sincerely—please look at my sincere tears again—but Well, there is a certain Sterling, who is relentless, chasing and beating, who follows behind his ass all day long, shove, shove, shove, savage, he kills us until we bleed, we clearly Already said: "I'm not coming! I don't want to fight anymore!"—Don't get me wrong, we Far Easterners are the bravest, not because we are afraid of that Sterling, it's because we respect the President and don't fight with him. He cares - but for meritorious service, he still pursues and stalks him! !
In short, it's all about Sterling's fault. If he doesn't resist—oh, no, I mean if he doesn't provoke deliberately—nothing will happen, and the world will be peaceful immediately!We really can't stand it anymore, please noble elders and lords make decisions for us, loyal subjects of our fawning family!Punish that Sterling severely, and then everyone will reconcile and work together to turn the Far East into a beautiful paradise! "

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The rebels in the Far East want peace talks!The veterans who were struggling with the high military expenditure were overjoyed.After a day and night of peace talks, the Council of Elders and representatives of the rebels reached a temporary truce agreement.

The Council of Elders issued a military order to the Far East: All the troops of the royal family in the Far East must maintain their original front lines and not move; they must not take the initiative to attack the rebels; all are waiting for further instructions after the meeting between the Council of Elders and representatives of the rebels!
At the same time, the Council of Elders also recalled Sterling, the head of the Central Army in the Far East, and asked him to return to the imperial capital to be questioned: Why is he so cruel to the people in the Far East, and is he deliberately provoking provocations for the sake of meritorious service?

(End of this chapter)