Chapter 234 Morning Meeting

Imperial City, at the beginning of Mao, Junhou Street.

The wide street is already full of cars and horses, and the lanterns illuminate the road, stretching forward until reaching the red wall at the end.

Today's court meeting, all officials who are qualified to attend the court meeting need to arrive at the Wanmin Palace at the right time. Unless there are special circumstances, the star officials on duty will question those who have not arrived or are late according to the roster, and at least they will be reprimanded. Some salaries are withheld, and the most serious ones are dismissed from office.

So even though it was only at the beginning of Mao, Junhou Street was already full of officials from the upper court.

The gate of the palace only opened at the beginning of the morning, half an hour earlier than the meeting of the Great Court, and those who came early could only wait outside the gate of the palace. The weather is pretty good now, and the feeling of waiting outside at this hour in the twelfth lunar month is unbearable for most people. So being an official is not always comfortable.

There are also those that don't need to wait in line for the door. Third-rank officials can enter through the small door in advance, and the body search is not too much, and then they can sit softly and go to the tea room of Wanmin Palace to wait. The comfort level is much better than other officials.

The officials waiting outside the door could only gather together in twos and threes, chatting and waiting for the door to open.

"Master Zhao, it's very early today."

"Hehe, Mr. Zhang is also early. Is there a happy event with a red face today?"

"There's no such thing as a happy event, it's just that my grandson called him grandpa after learning how to speak yesterday, it's just a big comfort to me, hahaha"

"Hey, this is a great joy. Mr. Zhang's family is lucky, and there will be someone to follow up in the future!"

After chatting for a few words, the two of them came together again, both of them had some acquaintances, and their titles were similar, neither of them was the official in charge, and most of them only had their ears but no mouth during the court meeting, so it was easy to chat with each other.

These people stood close to each other, and whenever a senior official entered the side door, they would turn sideways and bow slightly in greeting.

"I'm afraid something is going to happen today." One person watched the black robe enter the side door of the palace gate, and sighed thoughtfully.

"how you said that?"

"Lord Zhao, don't tell me you don't know about the big commotion in Jingxi, how many people in the court meeting are trying to break up with Pang."

"The one with the surname Pang? Tsk tsk, does Mr. Wang dislike Mr. Pang? The title is a bit inappropriate."

"Slip of the tongue, ahaha."

"But having said that, I'm afraid it's really going to be windy today. Didn't you notice that those adults came much earlier than usual?"

The "adult" in these words is not a title between them, but refers to those senior officials who can enter the palace through the side door without waiting for the palace gate to open. In the past, these high officials would not have come so early. They could sit in sedan chairs after entering, and the search was also quick when entering, so there was no need to come so early.

"That's right, quite a few people went in just now. It seems that this is to be prepared in advance?"

"Okay, these are not things we can talk about, is there anything that has something to do with us?"

"Yes, yes, what Master Zhao said is absolutely true"

Generally speaking, the third rank is another hurdle in the official career. After the third rank, there is a chance to "participate in the government". "Off-duty inquiry". So these people will laugh at themselves and say that it has nothing to do with them.

But does it really matter?

Observing carefully, the faces of the people chatting in twos and threes outside the palace gate had a dignified expression that was never there before. It's just that everyone just tacitly didn't say anything.

At the beginning of the morning, the gate of the palace opened, and the officials who had been waiting outside for a long time began to enter for inspection.

Mainly to see if there are any magic weapons or items that can pose a threat, and to check the identity.

In fact, it was very fast. There are five checkpoints behind the door, and each person will not take more than ten breaths. There is definitely enough time for people to pass through in an orderly manner and arrive at the Wanmin Palace on time.

After entering the palace gate, a straight road passes through the huge Yongsheng Square, and then you can see two towers. A grand hall rises from the middle, which is the largest palace in the Jingjiu Dynasty palace - Wanmin Palace.

The origin of the name of Wanmin Palace is said to be that the money and grain of the national treasury come from the people, and so does every brick and tile. Therefore, it is named after Wanmin, so that the emperor and officials who entered it will not forget their roots.

Generally, the court meeting is not in the Wanmin Palace, but in the Chengde Hall on the left side of the Wanmin Palace. Only the Great Court Meeting or important celebrations will be chosen here.

There are two steps in front of the Wanmin Palace, with embossed clouds in the middle, civil and military are divided into left and right, waiting in front of the hall according to their ranks. There is a star official on the top of the steps holding a whip, and only when the whip is sounded can one enter.

Civil officials are on the left and military officials are on the right. In Jingjiu Dynasty, the left was the most respected, and the civil servants with the same rank are now in the same position as the left and right of this station, slightly higher.

The first civil servant was Ye Lansheng, the left prime minister standing at the front of the line, a civil servant with a perfect state of concentration.

The first person in the military rank is Yang Yansi, the general of the Zhu Kingdom, standing side by side with Ye Lansheng.

Civil and military court clothes are also different. The civil servants wear dark green court clothes with slightly different embroidery according to their titles. The martial arts are based on bright red, and also have different embroidery decorations.

Everyone stands green on the left and red on the right under the Wanmin Palace, which is very interesting from a distance.

However, the dark chromatic aberration on the right is also very eye-catching.

Pang Ban belongs to the military class, and the position of the third-rank rank is still relatively forward. He is holding a fluorene board and lowering his eyebrows, which seems inconspicuous, but he deliberately keeps a distance from him.

Chen is on time.

"Crack! Go up."

"Crack! Go up."

Standing on the top of the steps, the star officer on duty slammed the long whip in his hand, the whip exploded in the air, and then shouted loudly.

Entering the gate of the palace, the smell of sandalwood inside made people feel relaxed, and each of them quickly found their place and stood up, not daring to make noise.

The entire hall is not resplendent. The overall tone is cold, and there are not even many decorations. Except for a few huge stone pillars carved with beasts in the temple, the most direct sense is the emptiness here.

There is a three-story high platform directly in front, nine feet above the ground, and the only chair in the hall is placed on the top.

All civil and military officials stood still, and there was no sound. The whole hall was filled with a serious atmosphere. When the star official on duty sang "Your Majesty is here!", the atmosphere climbed to the apex, and then it was vented from all the officials shouting in unison.

"See Your Majesty!"

Civil officials bowed deeply, and military officials knelt on one knee.

The emperor was dressed in a bright yellow brocade robe and a heavenly crown on his head. With his hands behind his back, he quickly walked up to the high platform and sat down. He waved his hands and said softly, "Excuse me. I haven't seen you for a long time. Do you have anything to do?"

The emperor was smiling, and looked in good spirits, but the white hair on the sideburns and wrinkles around the eyes made the veterans clearly feel that the emperor was getting old. Only the knife-like eyes remain the same, making people dare not look at them.