At the end of the palace banquet, with a loud shout, the two red-lacquered and copper-nailed doors were opened, and all the laymen, dozens of officials, and the ministers were surrounded by stars and moons, and they went out with noisy voices.
The officials were noisy, but the guards were all motionless and silent, looking solemn.
Cui Zhaoquan, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, was sensitive to this. At a glance, he knew that there were more guards and many warriors could be seen patrolling along the way, full of killing.
The entire palace seemed to be suddenly isolated from the New Year celebrations, causing the few officials outside to frown secretly.
"There is friction at the border again. Although the world is now at peace, it is still worrying."
"Yes, the emperor is still in his prime, so he can just wipe it out, but now there are... some hidden dangers."
"One word: calm it down."
Calm it down? Of course they understand this truth, and even know what this person did not say: Although the current Long Live Lord is old and does not like conquests, as long as the new emperor succeeds to the throne, the injustice will naturally be smoothed out, and there is no need to worry too much. Affordable.
I hope so.
Southern Xinjiang
In a mountain on the border of Dazheng, although the mountain is not covered with heavy snow in winter, it is still very depressed. At a glance, there is almost no life. The leaves are withered and yellow, and the wind blows and scatters them.
Near the outer mountain, at the end of a path trampled by hunters going up the mountain, the branches swayed slightly, and men came out one after another. In the cold wind, their faces were red from the cold, and their thin faces looked haggard, but when their eyes fell into the distance, they were already faint. When they could see the city, a green light like a will-o'-the-wisp appeared in their eyes.
"leader!"
"Your Majesty!"
"This is Wei'an City!"
Different names refer to the same person. The crowd is divided, and a tall man about forty years old comes out.
This man looked fierce, and the weight loss caused by hunger not only did not make him less ferocious, but made him more ferocious and unique to the King of Hungry Wolfs.
He stared at the city ahead and said to his men: "The weather is getting colder now, even colder than in previous years. There is another disaster and there is no food. If we let it go, our women and children will be frozen." Die, starve to death! Outsiders occupy granaries and women, do you think this is fair?"
"We originally wanted the Dazheng Court to make the decision and give me some food, but the Dazheng Court not only refused to give me any food, but also took my daughter away. In order to survive, we have no choice but to rob!"
"Ahead is Wei'an City, the border town of Dazheng. Warriors, for women and children, no matter what, we will win this battle. Victory belongs to us!"
"We can survive by seizing the city and the goods and food."
Following the leader's words, the already desperate tribesmen were aroused.
They looked at the city in the distance and knew that as long as they could rush in, they could get enough food to keep the women and children who were about to freeze to death and starve alive!
"Victory belongs to us!"
"We must win! We must win!"
Beijing·Early Morning
Soldiers stood at important street intersections. Every house had not yet turned on its lights, and thousands of people were rushing towards the imperial city.
After a quiet night, the imperial city welcomed officials who came to work. Since it was not a day for a court meeting, the only people who came to the imperial city were those who worked in the outer palace yamen.
When Zheng Taizu established his capital here, he promulgated a decree that the inner palace was where the emperor's female family members and maids and eunuchs lived, while the outer palace was where hundreds of officials went to court and where the central government office worked.
The boundaries between each other are clear, and no one is allowed to cross the boundaries easily unless ordered by the emperor.
Although now, some ministers are stationed at the core yamen in the outer palace, which is more of a symbolic meaning. The offices extending outside the palace have become the main office points, with the exception of the cabinet.
The cabinet is located in the outer palace of the imperial city. After passing through Donghua Gate and crossing a river, you can see a row of buildings with red walls and green tiles. There is also a short tree planted in front of the door. It is still evergreen in winter and is very elegant. , the last room in the building is the cabinet.
The first, second, and third grade officials who can enter the cabinet have access to the entire high-level government affairs of Dazheng. Others are all small officials who work for these senior officials. Even so, they have to squeeze through to get in. .
And because what these cabinet elders have to do is related to major events in the world, in order not to leak the news in advance, to keep it confidential, and to communicate with the emperor in a timely manner, other yamen can move out, but only the cabinet cannot. .
At this time, the palace door was wide open, and the snow was exuding coldness in the cold morning wind. The morning light was not enough to melt the snow. One by one, the adults who got off the oxcart in the imperial city had to put their hands on each other and walk quickly inside. Go.
After crossing the rather majestic and exquisite stone bridge on the river, we arrived at an open area with roads nearby, extending in all directions. Some of the palace maids and eunuchs who were allowed to work in front had already started their day's work, like busy bees, coming in a hurry , go in a hurry.
Because they could see officials coming in and out every day, these palace maids and eunuchs had long been used to it, but today seemed different from the past.
"Who is that?" A palace maid who happened to be in front carrying something happened to be stunned when she saw a young man in a national uniform walking past from a distance.
"Shh! That's Duke Dai." The female officer who took her away saw her lost her mind after just one glance. She immediately shook her head and reminded: "Don't look, don't forget who we are."
Who wouldn't say that Duke Dai is so handsome and looks like a celestial being? But even if a woman is required to match such an outstanding person, it will never be the turn of a court lady like them. With such a background and grace, the noble ladies in the capital will go crazy. They will waste their luck just by looking at him.
As Su Ziji walked towards the cabinet, he could feel that many people were peeking at him along the way. However, he had long been accustomed to being in the spotlight and continued to move forward as if these people did not exist.
After passing another corner, he suddenly saw a person walking in front of him, and his figure looked familiar to Su Ziji.
The man probably saw that the few eunuchs in front couldn't help but look behind him, so he stopped and looked behind him, and saw Su Ziji.
"Your Majesty Cui Zhaoquan, I have met Duke Dai." This official was quite old, but he waited for Su Ziji to walk over and bowed deeply to Su Ziji.
It was none other than Cui Zhaoquan, who had gone to the southwest to have a grudge against Su Ziji.
In the past, Cui Zhaoquan wanted to send Su Ziji to die in order to solve a serious problem in the southwest. Fortunately, he was stopped by Eunuch Zhao who knew Su Ziji's identity. Later, he found that Su Ziji was more talented than he thought. Although Cui Zhaoquan wanted to repair the relationship between the two , but they only maintained a nodding acquaintance with Su Ziji. Until not long ago, Su Ziji was re-naturalized and restored his status as the son of the prince. He once had various problems with Eunuch Zhao because he was too protective of Su Ziji. Cui Zhaoquan, who was guessing, finally understood the reason.
At this moment, the gift he made to Su Ziji was genuine and had some apologetic nature.
