Chapter 90: Morning Court Officials (2)

As the bell rang, all the officials in the Taihe Palace Square ran towards Taihe Gate. It was Li Wei's first time attending the morning court, but he didn't know the order and etiquette that should be there. Where should his seat be?

He quickly walked to the Meridian Gate. When he was registering just now, someone specifically told him to come here to wait when he rings the first bell. When he was more than ten steps away from the Meridian Gate, an official from the Ministry of Rites ran up and asked, "Are you Li Weizheng?"

“That’s right!”

"You follow me."

Officials from the Ministry of Rites led Li Wei to the corridor in front of Taihe Gate. There were already hundreds of officials standing here, with whispers. On the edge of the corridor were placed with copper mountain objects, about one foot high and neatly arranged. This is called a grade mountain. Each bronze ware is engraved with grades. From first to ninth rank, officials stand next to the corresponding grade mountains. Generally speaking, military officers under the fifth rank are not qualified to attend court, and there is no special situation, and military officers do not need to attend court. Only leisure officials with high titles, such as Lan Yu, will appear in the morning court. Because Li Wei was specially summoned, even though he was a sixth rank, he could stand in the court class.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites led him to the sixth rank road, with the rank horizontally and the department vertically. Except for the north and south qualifying envoys and commanders, the rest of the Jinyiwei did not attend the court meeting. The sixth qualifying lane was full of people, and there was no place for the Jinyiwei. Moreover, several sixth rank officials saw that the Jinyiwei came over, so they quietly expanded their respective territory, for fear that he would insert it.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites had no choice but to say to Li Wei: "Or you should stand at the seventh rank road first, and the Jinyiwei is fourth from the right. You can follow the palace after entering the palace later!"

Li Wei was at ease with the situation. He nodded and saw an open space beside the Qipin Road, so he stood over. The officials of the Ministry of Rites arranged him and told him a few things to pay attention to when attending court. Then he left. Li Wei was very tall and stood particularly prominent in the civil service team. Next to him was the position of the Supervisory Office. There was a thin young man who seemed to be about the same age as himself. He had a pair of wind-catching ears and small eyes, but his smile was very friendly and friendly.

"You are Li Weizheng! I have heard of you." The young official laughed in a low voice and added: "My young sister admires you especially."

In order to create the prestige of the King of Yan in the army and the people, Zhu Yuanzhang specially ordered the people to widely publicize the Battle of the Northern Yuan five days ago. The officials below fully understood the emperor's good intentions and wrote the battle very much, almost exceeding the Battle of Fishing. At the same time, in order to conceal the King of Yan's sacrifice to the people to lure the enemy into the deep, he even described the highlight, Longmensou's resistance war was passionate, and the resistance time and fierce battle were exaggerated. In this way, Li Wei became a household name invisibly.

When Li Wei heard that his sister admired him, he was a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and said, "Brother, I have been awarded a prize. May I ask you, where is the office to work in?"

"The following is the Censor of the Supervisor, whose surname is Jie and whose courtesy name is Dashen."

'Xie Jin!' Li Wei couldn't help but feel respect. This is a historical celebrity! The first chief minister of the Ming Dynasty, he quickly bowed and smiled: "Brother Xie is an extraordinary person and will be valued by the emperor in the future. My name is Shoulian, and Brother Xie can call me directly."

This was the first time he used his own words to call him brothers in front of a learned person, and occasionally satisfied his little vanity, but Li Weizheng didn't know that Xie Jin died in the end at the hands of the Jinyiwei.

At this time, the sky had turned white, and the last few officials who arrived also joined the team. The stolen sounds in the team of hundreds of officials gradually disappeared, and the atmosphere began to become solemn. Suddenly, music came from the distance. This was Zhonghe Shao music, which means that Zhu Yuanzhang, wearing a dragon robe, had set off from Zhonghe Hall and came to Taihe Hall.

The wide square, the glorious Hall of Supreme Harmony, the curling cigarettes rising from the base, colorful ceremonies, civil and military officials in court robbed slowly in the music to welcome His Majesty the Emperor to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Li Weizheng also bowed and received special training yesterday afternoon.

At this time, a Jinyiwei 'Han General' shouted loudly: "Your Majesty has taken his seat, and all officials will meet you!"

The Zhonghe Shao music stopped, but another kind of music was played. This was the Danbi music, which was the ritual music that Zhu Yuanzhang officially accepted the court congratulations. All officials walked up to the jade steps in front of the Taihe Hall, and entered the hall with the shouts of "Long live, long live, long live!" by the great generals of the Jinyiwei Guard.

The Taihe Hall is wide and majestic, with a wide view. The more you go in, the dimmer the light becomes. Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the high dragon throne and looked down at the ministers and officials at his feet. He could clearly see every movement of the officials, but the officials could not see his expression clearly, which invisibly added the emperor's majesty and mystery.

There were six officials entering the hall, including the Temple Department, the Zongren Mansion, the Supervision Office, etc., and nearly a thousand officials. In the music of Danbi, the Xuanbiao official began to read the congratulatory statement, mostly praising the emperor, "The sun and the moon are bright, and the world is peaceful." The sounds and the rhythm of the music are very nice.

At this time, the 'Han General' shouted again: "All officials kneel down and bow!"

All the officials who entered the palace knelt down together, performed the ceremony of three kneeling and nine kowtows, and said in unison: "I wish you long live the Emperor, long live, long live, long live!"

The music stopped, and the hall was silent. Zhu Yuanzhang's serious gaze slowly swept over the ministers and said slowly: "Dear all my dear friends and you are calm."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The ministers stood up and lined up on both sides of the hall, and the court meeting officially began.

After entering the hall, Li Wei was finding Jiang Yun, the commander of the Jinyiwei, and Wang Han, the commander of the Nangong Punishment, and followed them quietly. Jiang Yun smiled gently at him and pointed to the sixth-rank Taoist on the ground, meaning that he would stand in the Taoist.

"For more than 20 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the remnants of the Northern Yuan have always been the first threat to the Ming Dynasty. In order to quell the northern border troubles, I have repeatedly used troops to the Northern Yuan Dynasty, with dozens of battles. At the beginning of the year, I ordered Yan Wangdi as the chief general and led 100,000 Ming soldiers to go north to conquer the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. The King of Yan lived up to my expectations and won many battles. He wiped out more than 40,000 elite troops under the Prime Minister, and made great contributions to the country..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's low and slightly Fengyang accent echoed in the hall, and the hall was silent. Although his voice was not loud, everyone could hear it clearly. It was indeed the same as most people thought. This court meeting was a commendation of the King of Yan, so it was so grand.

Perhaps because of his old age, Zhu Yuanzhang's voice gradually became weaker, and many officials who stood a little far away were a little lost. Li Wei's ears were straightened. He was very concerned about Zhu Yuanzhang's reward to King Yan Zhu Di. If the reward was kind, it proved that his decision was right when Zhu Yuanzhang visited in a private visit. When Zhu Yuanzhang replaced Lan Yu with King Yan, he would never allow anyone to destroy his plan.

In fact, he also discovered that it seemed that everyone would no longer talk about the letter, including going to Changfu two days ago, and Chang Sheng avoided talking about this matter. It seemed that this matter had become a taboo. Perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed this matter and did not allow anyone to cause trouble again, at least outsiders were not allowed to talk about it.

Thinking of this, Li Weizheng couldn't help but look quietly at the first row on the left. Yesterday, he heard from the officials of the Ministry of Rites that His Highness the Crown Prince should be the first to the left, but Li Weizheng seemed not to see Prince Zhu Biao. On his seat was a man of the same age as the Crown. Judging from his clothes, he should be a prince. Li Weizheng was a little stunned. Why didn't the prince come today? Who is this person?

Could it be the King of Qin? He had this idea in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was. If the prince was not there, the first person would be the eldest prince. This was the first time he saw King Zhu Teng of Qin. Although he was far away and could not see his face clearly, his arrogant attitude was deeply imprinted in Li Weizheng's mind.

At this moment, the King of Yan Zhu Di, King of Jin Zhu Gang and Duke Ying Fu Youde, who were standing in the team, were out of the list. The three of them were the main generals. Zhu Yuanzhang was rewarded for his merits. Lan Yu, the Duke of Liang of the All Officials, silently watched the three of them walk by with a majestic spirit. He gradually understood Zhu Yuanzhang's profound meaning. With the King of Yan, from then on, Lan Yu had no chance to lead his troops north.

"Son Master Zhu Di, please see your father!"

"Son Master Zhu Gang meets the father!"

"My minister Fu Youde meets with His Majesty the Emperor!"

The three of them knelt down in front of the jade stairs. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at them and smiled slightly. He took out an imperial edict and handed it to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch held it in a golden plate and ran to the other end of the jade stairs and handed it to the Xuanbiao official.

The Xuanbiao official took the imperial edict and read out loudly, "In accordance with the heavens, the emperor's edict said: As the chief general of the Northern Expedition, Yan Wang Di, annihilated the main force of the Northern Emperor, had a great contribution. He specially awarded the Left Pillar Kingdom, the Grand Marshal of the Northern Emperor, and rewarded ten thousand taels of silver and five thousand pieces of silk. Fu Youde, Duke of Ying, assisted the King of Yan in the battle, and tried his best to kill the Grand Marshal of the Northern Emperor, and was the second most important. He specially awarded the Right Pillar Kingdom, the Deputy Marshal of the Northern Emperor, and rewarded five thousand taels of silver and two thousand pieces of silk..."

After reading this, the officials of the imperial edict began to feel a little restless among the officials. No one expected that the second place was not King Jin, but Duke Ying Fu Youde. This was beyond everyone's expectations. King Jin lowered his head and had no expression on his face. But he knew in his heart that this was the real punishment for his father to his son. Planting rice was just a lesson from his father.

Standing behind Li Weizheng not only thought that this was Zhu Yuanzhang's punishment for King Jin to participate in the credit-winning of the letter, but he saw a deeper level, that was Zhu Yuanzhang's severe warning to Lan Yu. King Yan Zhu Di was the prince and was not comparable to Lan Yu, but Fu Youde was different. Promoting Fu Youde was equivalent to stabbing Lan Yu in the back. He sent a clear signal to the ministers that from then on, there would be no Lan Yu again.

Li Weizheng couldn't help but look at Lan Yu quietly, and saw him standing there as if he was ashamed. Li Weizheng couldn't help but sneer secretly. Lan Yu may be an expert in war, but in politics, he was still too young. A person who didn't know how to restrain himself in front of the emperor would not live long. He was too slow and too arrogant. The deaths of Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong did not wake him up, and he dared to occupy land in Dingyuan County. It seems that Zhu Yuanzhang later fabricated the Lan Yu case, not the Fu Youde case, or the Feng Sheng case, for some reason.

"The King of Jin fought thousands of miles and understood the enemy's situation. He made great contributions to the Prime Minister of Beiyuan in Yidu. He specially granted the title of the Pillar Kingdom and rewarded three thousand taels of silver and thousands of pieces of silk..."

King Zhu Gang of Jin kowtowed heavily, "My son thanked his father for his reward."

The first person standing on the left was King Zhu Chuang of Qin. Zhu Biao was said to have fallen ill when he came back from the rice planting yesterday and could not come to attend today's court meeting. In this way, King Zhu Chuang of Qin became the leader of all officials. This was the first time he had been standing in this position. This was his dream of a long time and could not get a seat. Below one person, above ten thousand people, standing in this position means that after the father above left, he will sit on the supreme throne. The Ming Dynasty will be owned by him, and the 70 million people in the world are his people. He is the emperor and the emperor with supreme power...

Zhu Ren held his head high with a lot of thoughts. He was a little intoxicated and did not notice the subtlety of the King of Jin's award. Zhu Yuanzhang on the dragon throne glanced at him slightly, sneered in his heart, and took out his second decree today.

"The significance of the Battle of the North is to wipe out the elite elites of the Beiyuan in Yidu. The gains and losses of the Longmen Institute, the decisive battle, are related to the situation of the entire battle. The battle to defend the Longmen Institute is a life-and-death battle. Li Wei, a hundred households of the Jinyiwei, were standing up and leading 500 soldiers to fight against the elite elites of the 30,000 Yuan Yuan in one day and one night, making the Longmen Institute stand tall in the north of Yanshan..."

At this time, all eyes swept towards the Jinyiwei team, which had only six people standing, and stayed at the end of the team. Li Weizheng was so excited at this moment. He was extremely excited, but also deeply regretful. He thought of Han Danding and wiped him completely from Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial edict, as if he was a person who never existed. He knew that this was actually the King of Yan who concealed Han Danding. His identity was too special, and his exposure would trigger many secrets that could not be seen.

"Li Wei, the hundred households of the Jinyiwei, came forward to listen to the seal!" Xuan Biaoguan interrupted Li Weizheng's thoughts with a loud shout. The moment he had been waiting for for a long time finally came. He took a deep breath and quickly walked out of the queue. With a pair of surprised, disdain, sneered or admired eyes, he knelt on the ground, and said aloud: "Li Weizheng, the hundred households of the Jinyiwei, met His Majesty, I wish His Majesty, Long Live, Long Live, Long Live!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him softly. This young man was still a minor official in the county at the beginning of the year, but now he is a sixth-rank Jinyiwei. This privilege that only royal relatives can enjoy actually appeared on him. He has no qualifications from his father, no noble bloodline, and no literary talent. He relies on repeated battles between life and death, and the great achievements he established for the Ming Dynasty. He deserves it.

More importantly, he passed his own personal interview. Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly and said slowly: "Li Weizheng, do you know why I personally summoned you to reward you, rather than being rewarded by the Ministry of War like other meritorious generals?"

"I don't know!"

"You are very honest, I like this very much." Zhu Yuanzhang smiled.

The hall was extremely quiet, with hundreds of civil and military officials looking at their conversation in surprise, as if two people were chatting in the room. The emperor seemed to have completely ignored that this was the dynasty of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This has not happened in several years. Some people still remember that only when Xie Jin, Jie Lun and their brother-in-law passed the Jinshi exam at the same time two years ago, the emperor chatted with them in the hall as if they were talking about family matters.

The hall shot at Li Weizheng with jealous eyes, including King Qin Zhu Chuang. He stared at Li Weizheng with fierce eyes. He wanted to cut him with one knife.

The King of Yan also stood not far away and looked at him. He was observing every small expression of his father's expression towards Li Weizheng. He felt more and more strongly that his father really didn't want to give this young man to his elder brother. There were only two possibilities, either that the father did not want this strategy person to appear beside the prince. Perhaps in his opinion, talents like Fang Xiaoru were more suitable for the prince; the other possibility was that the father also like Li Weizheng.

The conversation continued, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled like an elder. He taught Li Weizheng: "Because you are too young and have no qualifications, you have been promoted from a white dick to a sixth-rank 100 household. In my Ming Dynasty, only the descendants of the heroes or you inherit your father's position. Unfortunately, you have no conditions. If the Ministry of War rewards you again, it will break my rules and make people dissatisfied. So I summoned you to tell everyone that you are the one who made an exception and was an exception."

Speaking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes turned to his ministers again, and he raised his voice and said, "Li Weizheng is now a hundred households of the Jinyiwei, with the sixth rank. Judging from the ordinary military merits he made, he can be honored, but the Longmen Institute's battle was extraordinary. It shattered the Mongols' ambition to re-occupy Peking. Li Weizheng led 500 heroes and the people of Longmen Institute to resist the attack of nearly 30,000 elite Northern Yuan. This is the blood of our Han people. Therefore, I want special commendation. Li Weizheng was specially appointed as the Jinyiwei Qianhu, and was awarded General Wude, the cavalry lieutenant, and was given a flying fish suit, and a thousand taels of silver. I admire this!"

"My dear Li Wei thanked the emperor for his kindness!"

Li Weizheng seemed to be in a dream. Although the Jinyiwei Qianjia was only one level higher than the hundred households, it was a world of difference. There were only five thousand households in the entire Jinyiwei, which was directly under the commander. They were all old soldiers who were alone in the army and were extremely powerful. Three months ago, Qianjia Feitian retired in old age. His son Feitingan was promoted from 100 households to deputy 100 households, and the position of Qianjia was empty. Everyone thought that Zhao Yue, who had served as deputy 100 households for eight years, should take over, but unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang gave him this thousand households that everyone dreamed of.
Chapter completed!