365 Solar Eclipse

Over the years, He Ping had also heard that in recent years, apart from the morning court, the Emperor You had rarely shown himself.

At times, his health was poor enough that even court assemblies would be suspended. Fortunately, Great You's cabinet assistant ministers were fairly capable, and their ability to handle affairs was enough to maintain the situation at court.

However, the cabinet's authority extended only to draft recommendations. That was to say, after cabinet ministers reviewed memorials, they wrote their suggestions on a sheet of paper and attached it to the memorial; this was called "drafting a recommendation." The emperor's annotations in red ink were known as "red rescripts."

Meanwhile, the current Emperor You could also use the Directorate of Ceremonial to keep the cabinet in check. Thus, even if the emperor remained deep within the inner palace, refrained from personally handling state affairs, and declined to meet ministers, he could still keep a firm grip on the government.

Still, Great You's situation had been somewhat unfavorable in recent years. Apart from frequent natural disasters, with floods and droughts spreading through every prefecture and county, there were heretical sects like the Mud Sect causing calamity, as well as popular uprisings such as the Gutless Army and Chuangta Tian. The court had no choice but to dispatch great armies to suppress rebels across the land.

The unceasing succession of natural and man-made disasters had also drained the national treasury and left the nation's fortunes looking wan and exhausted. It was precisely because of this that forces on all sides had begun to stir restlessly.

Yet everyone could see that even though Great You's national strength had declined, its foundations had not been shaken in the slightest. Moreover, to this day, no one knew what formidable trump cards Great You