Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 123

Chapter 123 The First Court Meeting in Early July
On the first day of the seventh month, he was at the age of A. Suitable, earth-moving, bed-setting; Ji, long journey.

The fourth watch had just passed, and it was dark. There was already a carriage waiting outside the courtyard. Lu Zhen also got out of bed under the wake-up call of the servant and changed into a solemn royal uniform before walking out the door.

Today was the day of the Great Dynasty Gathering that only took place a few times in January. Officials of all sizes in Beijing City would rush to the Imperial Palace. Only people of the sixth rank and above could enter the palace to participate in this grand gathering. The other officials could only wait outside the palace.

It was unknown from which dynasty the rules appeared. The early dynasty had already become an indispensable large-scale gathering in the Central Plains Dynasty. Whether the monarchs and officials were willing or not, their day’s work would begin with this.

In the eyes of many later generations, the early dynasty was the most formal occasion for monarchs and officials to deal with national affairs, and it seemed that many major events were decided at this time. Whether an emperor was diligent or not could also be seen from this. That was why the Emperor of Great Ming had been scolded for hundreds of years, because emperors like Zhengde, Jiajing, and Wanli often didn’t come to court meetings for years, or even decades.

Historical records always criticized them, saying that they were lazy in politics and that they had no monarch. But was this really the case? Of course not. Regardless of the system of the previous dynasty, in the current Great Ming court, the early dynasty was more of a ceremony than an obligation to decide on the important matters of the court.

Actually, the various decisions that had been put forward earlier were all made after discussion by the officials. A few days ago, the six ministries or the Cabinet and other relevant officials had already formulated all kinds of policies. It was just a formality to say that they were going up early. To put it bluntly, the early dynasty was just a ceremony, a ceremony to let all the people of the world know that the monarchs and subjects were ruling together and that the world was peaceful.

Of course, sometimes the early dynasties would also have some unexpected effects. For example, when someone wanted to launch a surprise attack and launch a general offensive against a certain faction, it would be much more useful and effective to meet them in front of the Monarchs and officials of the Manchu Dynasty. Especially at a Grand Meeting like today, as long as something bad happened, it would spread throughout the world in a short period of time!

Obviously, this was what Wang Zhen had in mind today. He wanted to catch the officials of the Manchu Dynasty off guard and completely settle the matter of using troops on the grasslands. And Lu Zhen was the key chess piece he used to launch the general attack.

The officials lived a long distance away from the palace. Although the court meeting only started after the morrow, they still left the palace early and headed towards the palace. All of a sudden, the originally quiet streets were filled with sparkling lights. Horse carriages, sedans, and officials on horseback and on foot gathered together and gathered towards the lofty palace city like flowing water.

Sitting in the car, Lu Zhen slightly lifted a curtain and opened it. He also sighed in his heart. This capital official was indeed not good. Not mentioning the complicated interpersonal relationships here, just the daily morning court meeting was enough to cause trouble for people. The only attractive thing was that there were more opportunities here, but how many of the tens of thousands of officials in the capital were so lucky?

Because officials were different in status, there would always be road wars on the road. Those with lower official positions could only avoid them, and if they moved, they would cause a certain blockage on the road. Thus, even though they had left early, Lu Zhen still walked straight for almost an hour before finally arriving in front of the Forbidden City.

At this moment, the sky had already brightened slightly. From afar, he could see a large group of people gathered in front of the palace gate. When he got off the car and looked carefully, he could see that these people had formed several circles and were whispering and talking about something. Of course, most of the officials who lowered their heads and didn’t participate in any discussions weren’t pretending to be arrogant, but because these people were of low status and couldn’t fit into those small circles at all.

If Lu Zhen was given enough time to tell him the titles and names of these officials, he should be able to see through the important parties in the dynasty. However, this was impossible right now. Not long after he stood still, a little eunuch in grey robes came over and carefully handed over a token. It was a certificate that he needed to wear to enter the palace.

Although the Grand Council said that all the officials in the capital had to participate, there were still a few people who could truly enter the palace, so they needed to use this token to distinguish between them. As for how many officials, they would not be able to obtain this token that symbolized that they could enter the decision-making level of the Imperial Court. Lu Zhen had only obtained this token for the first time at the Imperial Court Gathering. I wonder how they would feel if they received this news.

“County Magistrate Lu.” After he took the token, one of the attendants who accompanied him warned him, “You only need to do as they do. When you arrive at the court meeting, someone will pave the way for you. Don’t disappoint Eunuch Wang.” As he spoke, a strange light flashed in his eyes as he stared at him.

Lu Zhen looked at the other party without the slightest avoidance and smiled, “I’m very introspective about this. Don’t worry, I have memorized that item in my heart these past few days. It will definitely not go wrong.”

“That would be great. The little one will be waiting here for your triumphant return.” The man slightly bowed as he spoke, and like the other coachmen, he pulled the carriage back.

Lu Zhen smiled as he stared at Lin Lie’s departure. A moment later, his eyes flashed and the smile on his face disappeared. “I just hope that Lin Lie doesn’t disappoint me. His place is the key.”

@ @ @ @

When the red sun rose slightly from the eastern horizon, The bells and drums in the originally silent palace suddenly rang in unison. Then, the officials gathered outside quickly found their seats like students who heard the bell ringing in class. They lined up in two neat lines. The lively scene just now instantly calmed down.

Lu Zhen was stunned for a moment, then he hurried two steps and stood at the back of the civil service team with a group of similarly trembling officials.

After everyone stood still, the palace door that had been shut for a night was slowly opened. When he saw the rather tall and thick palace door open, he could hardly hear a single sound. Clearly, the two palace doors were always maintained and lubricated, so that the axle could rotate so smoothly.

Just as Lu Zhen was thinking about this, the team finally moved. Hundreds of officials raised their chests and walked in all directions, slowly and dignified. With so many people walking forward, they could hardly hear anything other than the sound of footsteps, not even the sound of coughing.

Lu Zhen had no choice but to admire the self-control of these officials. However, as long as he looked at the green-robed officials who were following them like fighting cocks, he would be relieved.

These people were the Feng Ji Yan officials who hated ghosts and hated ghosts in the Great Ming Dynasty’s hall. They had only one goal here, that was to find out the people who were not in keeping with the rules of etiquette among the officials participating in the court meeting, and then impeach them tomorrow, so as to complete their own achievements.

Great Ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed the emperor who liked to find the officials uncomfortable. Not only did he set the salary of the officials at a very low level, but he also didn’t give them enough holidays. Furthermore, he had specially created such a bunch of officials who specialized in finding fault with people. Although Yan Guan was not created by him, he had given the Yan Guans an exam to make them impeach many people every month. This was Old Zhu, who was called the Son of Heaven, and was originally created by a small farmer.

In order to accomplish their goals, these officials were like red-eyed rabbits, catching and biting whoever they wanted, causing the officials to feel extremely miserable. This was especially true for a court meeting like this. Anyone who did anything out of line with the rules would be recorded on their records, and then they would wait until tomorrow to eat and hang up.

Once impeachment is true, officials will be punished. It was possible to reprimand, to punish, to dismiss an official. Originally, the life of the capital official had been bitter. If he were to be fined a few months’ salary for this, the family would not be able to live.

Therefore, the only thing he could do was to try his best not to make any mistakes.

Silently following the group forward, they passed through the long corridor and finally arrived at the wide plaza. Then, everyone stood still according to their positions.

Unlike the early dynasties shown in the movies and TV dramas of later generations, which were held in the so-called Golden Royal Palace, the Great Ming Dynasty was held in the square in front of the Taihe Palace or Taihe Gate. For a Grand Meeting like today, because the number of people was simply too large, the Taihe Palace could not accommodate them at all, so they chose to stay in front of the Taihe Gate.

When the whip cracked, the eunuch in the palace prolonged his voice and shouted, “Your Majesty is coming!” After that, the officials knelt down in unison.

Actually, Daming did not have too much etiquette between the monarchs and officials like the braided dynasty. Generally speaking, officials who often saw the emperor drive in the palace could only kneel a little before getting up. However, the court meeting was different. The ritual feeling here could be considered the heaviest place in the world. Therefore, when the Son of Heaven drove, everyone had to kneel and greet him. However, there wasn’t that ear-piercing shout of Long Live.

A moment later, a calm voice slowly came from the front, “Everyone, level up.”

Only after the officials followed his orders did a eunuch take a step forward and say, “What do you have to say? Quickly come.” This meant that the morning court had officially begun.

Standing at the back of the line, Lu Zhen was still quite excited. Although he had read relevant books before, it was a different feeling for him to participate in the court meeting of Great Ming personally. The only flaw was that he was too far away from Zhu Qi Town in Emperor. Apart from the figure of a man sitting upright in a chair, he could hardly see his face clearly.

At this time, an official had already walked out of the class and respectfully began to speak …