Chapter 4 Goodbye Gua Xiang
It can be seen that the girl in front of me is a little nervous, and her jade hands holding the purple clay teapot are clenched tightly.

The child walked with a trembling gait, which made Zhou Haochen worried. At such a young age, could he see his toes when walking?
A faint tea fragrance drifts in, refreshing the heart. The tender green leaves float up and down in the tea.

"Your Highness, please have some tea!"

Zhou Haochen took a sip and said calmly, "Not bad."

"As long as you like it, Your Highness!"

Ji Kongzhao was smiling and had quite a bit of experience in dealing with the princes and the children of nobles.

Putting down the teacup, Zhou Haochen paused and asked.

"I came to the Ministry of Works to observe government affairs to help my father relieve his worries. I wonder what the Ministry of Works is doing recently?"

There was a hint of surprise and even shock in Ji Kongzhao's eyes.

The look seemed to say.

Your Highness Thirteen, are you serious?
In the past, there were many princes, royal family members, and children of nobles who came to the Ministry of Works to observe government affairs.

But basically it's just for show and they rarely get involved in the manual work.

It is rare to see someone like Zhou Haochen who is so eager to observe politics.

The Thirteenth Prince has had eye problems since childhood, has no hope of becoming the emperor, and does not seem to want to seize the throne.

Is it really out of filial piety that he wants to share His Majesty's worries?
Ji Kongzhao had some doubts in his mind, but it was completely invisible on his face.

"Your Highness, the annual Earth Mother Festival will be held in ten days. The Ministry of Works is currently preparing offerings for the festival." Ji Kongzhao said the words he had prepared long ago.

The Ministry of Works has a lot of complicated affairs, and preparing offerings for the Earth Mother Festival is considered the simplest task.

Even if something goes wrong, it's easy to make up for it.

Zhou Haochen listened carefully and nodded slightly from time to time.

The Earth Mother Festival is a major sacrificial activity of the Dayu Dynasty and an annual event.

Earth Mother is the folk name for Hou Tu Niangniang. Every October 18th is Hou Tu Niangniang's birthday, and the Dayu Dynasty would prepare sacrifices.

If it is just a simple sacrifice, it cannot be considered a grand event.

On the day of the sacrifice, a secret realm - the Earth Mother Tree Realm - will be opened. The younger generation of the royal family, clan members, and noble relatives will be able to enter the Earth Mother Tree Realm for baptism, and those with good luck will be able to get extraordinary opportunities.

"How is the preparation of the offerings for the Earth Mother Festival going?" Zhou Haochen asked.

"We are still short of 100,000 jin of Earthly Stones that have not been put into storage. The Ministry of Industry is going to send someone to the mine to reconcile the accounts today."

"I will go with you. Lord Ji will not think I am a hindrance, right?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me for making a fool of myself."

"Your Highness, on your first day in office, you went down to the mine to check the accounts. This is truly a commendable act of filial piety."

Zhou Haochen was so eager and proactive today, it's really not that he is filial.

Today is the first day of observing government affairs, and I have to do something, otherwise it will be difficult to explain to Emperor Qianyuan.

"The terrain in the mine is complicated. Yuan Ye, you must take good care of His Highness."

Ji Kongzhao gave instructions to the childlike girl, and the girl nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

I wonder if this old fellow Ji Kongzhao is really going to use the beauty trap?

Zhou Haochen began to murmur in his heart.

An hour later, Zhou Haochen and a group of officials from the Ministry of Works arrived at the Diyuan Mine, less than 30 miles outside Yujing City.

There are three entrances to the Diyuan Mine.

The mine is dark and deep, with no apparent bottom. The interior is complex and it is very easy to get lost without a familiar guide.

"I heard that after the old man Taizu conquered Yujing City and destroyed the previous dynasty, the general of the previous dynasty refused to surrender and led his troops to retreat into the Diyuan Mine Cave, where he fought with our army and caused quite a bit of trouble?"

Zhou Haochen looked at the Diyuan Mine and recalled a rumor.

"That's true!" Ji Kongzhao nodded, revealing a trace of nostalgia, "The last great general of the previous dynasty was also a genius in military strategy, but unfortunately he met the Emperor Taizu, who was like a god descended from heaven, and was defeated in nine battles."

"However, His Majesty Taizu still admires this great general very much and wants to recruit him."

"It's a pity... this person is ignorant of the current situation and would rather be buried with the previous dynasty than accept the olive branch from His Majesty Taizu."

"This man is a loyal minister!" Zhou Haochen said.

"What a pity, I followed the wrong master!" Ji Kongzhao shook his head with emotion.

Then, Ji Kongzhao changed the subject. "Your Highness, there are three entrances to the Diyuan Mine, and they are not connected. According to the rules, every time the Diyuan stones are counted, at least three officials must be present at the same time, one main and two deputy, to check and balance each other. Ten other minor officials will be sent to carry the ore."

Ji Kongzhao introduced the inventory process and Zhou Haochen nodded slightly.

From an institutional perspective, it is quite complete.

Can effectively avoid corruption.

As for the actual situation...

"Your Highness, which hole do you plan to choose?"

At this moment, a dazzling golden light burst out from the Bagua diagram in the sea of ​​consciousness. One hexagram after another rose into the sky, combining in pairs to form new hexagrams.

[Tian Ze: Middle-upper hexagram, choose the east cave entrance, complete the inventory of the earth element stone, encounter disaster, escape danger, get a seventh-grade opportunity, slightly auspicious.]

[Earth Mountain: Middle hexagram, choose the southern cave entrance, complete the inventory of the Earthly Stone, nothing gained, nothing lost, flat.]

[Fire and Wind: Middle and lower hexagram, choose the west cave entrance. In the process of counting the earth stones, you will get a third-grade opportunity, which will attract attention from all parties. You will be deeply trapped in the vortex of succession, and your life and death are unpredictable. It is a minor disaster.]

[Tianshan: The worst hexagram, choose the southern cave entrance, complete the inventory of the earth elemental stones, and explore the mines. This will cause the underground evil demons to awaken, and there will be no chance of survival. Very bad.]

Three holes, four hexagrams!
After Zhou Haochen finished reading the hexagram, his eyes fixed.

The content of the hexagram is very rich.

Among the three mines, both the east mine and the west mine have opportunities.

Although the opportunity in the eastern mine is of the seventh grade, it has the advantage of being risk-free and is a medium-to-upper grade.

Although the opportunity in the western mine is of the third grade, which is higher in quality, but a big tree attracts the wind and will attract attention, which will involve him in the fight for the throne, which is not what Zhou Haochen wants.

It can also be seen from the images of the middle and lower hexagrams that the opportunity in the western mine will lead to endless troubles and the cost will outweigh the gain.

As for the mine in the south, it is actually a sinkhole.

If you count the earth stones honestly, it will be a wasted trip.

If you jump too much and explore too deeply, you will offend the evil spirits and be wiped out instantly.

"Lord Ji, I choose the mine in the east!" Zhou Haochen made his choice without thinking too much.

"good!"

Officials from the Ministry of Works divided into three groups, entered the mine and counted the local stones.

As the team leader and the highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Works, Ji Kongzhao naturally entered the eastern mine with Zhou Haochen.

"The terrain inside the mine is complicated, Your Highness, please be careful." Mu Yuanye's soft and innocent voice sounded in his ears.

A pair of petite, soft hands with delicate skin nervously pulled Zhou Haochen's arm.

Once he entered the mine, he looked nervous and focused the whole time, as if he was afraid that something might happen to the "blind man" Zhou Haochen.

The group went deep into the mine, which was deep and dark, and was only illuminated by oil lamps.

The candle flame flickered, emitting a faint light and dispelling the darkness.

The mine is winding and there are several secret rooms along the way.

"Your Highness, these secret rooms were dug by the last great general of the previous dynasty to hide soldiers. They caused a lot of trouble to our army back then."

"And this place is the main transportation route of the mine. Our army fought with the enemy more than ten times before we took it down..."

Along the way, Ji Kongzhao introduced the great battle of that year, speaking fluently and incessantly.

A quarter of an hour later.

Start taking inventory.

The officials of the Ministry of Works were very familiar with the inventory process and it was extremely fast.

It took about half an hour to complete the inventory.

"According to the hexagram, the opportunity will appear after the inventory is completed."

"So, what about chance..."

Zhou Haochen was pondering the hexagram in his mind.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

The entire mine was shaking as if a landslide had occurred.

(End of this chapter)