It was February 9, AD 22 of the Tang Dynasty.
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year in the Tang Dynasty, and it is also the first great court meeting in the new year of the Tang Dynasty. But this year is different from the past. This year's great court meeting is not only a banquet for the ministers, but also an unprecedented scale.
Because the National Central Confidential Conference formulated by Changsun Wuji will be officially held after Yuan Zheng.
Top local officials from each state must return to Beijing to report on their work and hold these meetings, which are held every two years. This year is the first time.
The main discussion is to make new changes and deletions to the laws of the Tang Dynasty and vote on them.
Therefore, this year is the year when the number of officials in the Tang Dynasty is the most complete, so the number of officials at Li Shimin's banquet will naturally increase.
Taiji Hall has undergone relevant renovations. The area of Taiji Hall is actually very large. In addition to the main hall for daily government affairs, if the side halls on both sides are renovated, they can be enough to seat thousands of people.
This year, Datang will no longer implement the meal-sharing system. The main reason is that the meal-sharing system takes up too much space. It will implement a group dining system of ten people at a single table, similar to that of later generations.
In this way, more officials can be gathered at that time. Counting the officials returning to Beijing, the total number of officials in the two side halls is close to 800.
I'm afraid Li Shimin has never seen such a large number of officials before. This is also because some local deputies must not have come.
There are too many officials from aristocratic families represented at this meeting. Based on their sensitivity, it is estimated that the clothes worn by Changle and others will definitely attract their attention.
This year's court meeting must have the largest number of officials, about 200 people. Governors from various places, etc., all have the right to go to court, but because they are in other places, they will naturally have to go to court after returning to Beijing.
After greeting the officials, Li Shimin sat down at his seat. To be honest, looking at the officials below, Li Shimin was a little emotional. In the past, he had never thought of holding a court meeting with so many officials at the same time.
"Although today is a grand meeting, the main purpose is to meet and chat with you. We will not discuss any unnecessary work. We will leave the discussion until the National Central Conference is held."
"As for some local memorials, after Yuan Zheng, all dear ministers will submit their own memorials. The time for the central meeting to be held is tentatively scheduled for three days. After three days, you can stay in Chang'an for fifteen days."
"These fifteen days are for all the Aiqings to communicate with various departments of the Shangshu Province. The Tang Dynasty Hall is undergoing restructuring, and the local governments must also undergo restructuring. Due to timeliness issues, this kind of restructuring must be based on policies, etc. If there is a misunderstanding, if you don’t understand, take this opportunity to ask quickly.”
Li Shimin sat in his seat and began to speak. Today's meeting was originally held late, it was only held at eight o'clock in the morning. At this moment, Li Shimin's words made everyone a little stunned.
Isn't this too brief? Is this still the same Majesty as before? Shouldn't the previous His Majesty have been diligent in listening to the reports of the officials below when he had such an opportunity? What they didn't expect was that something even more outrageous would follow.
"Okay, now you can go to the banquet halls on both sides of Tai Chi Hall to sit, drink tea and chat. At noon, everyone will have a dinner together. Here, I also wish everyone a happy new year." Li Shimin smiled. He stood up and bowed his hands to everyone.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone stood up and saluted Li Shimin with confused expressions.
Is this the end?
"Li Ke, why don't you say a few words?" Li Shimin looked at Li Ke below and asked.
Li Ke: "..."
Li Ke also looked at Li Shimin in disbelief. Damn it, his father also learned such a lazy way.
And...Dad, what do you think I should say in this situation? I have nothing to say.
"Father, I don't have it." Li Ke said helplessly.
"Okay, that's it, let's all disperse. The banquet will officially start at 11 noon, and I will go back to the back to get ready." Li Shimin stood up and said.
Seeing Li Shimin leave, everyone looked at each other in shock. This was... a bit strange, but His Majesty also made it clear that although they had prepared some memorials, they were not really urgent matters.
After all, unless there is a special emergency on the first day of the new year, no one will do anything that affects people's mood. These memorials are more focused on reporting.
But now that Li Shimin has left, everyone in the hall is speechless. Are you... leaving?
"Okay, everyone, let's go. Today's meeting is over." Finally, Li Ke spoke helplessly.
I have to say something here, Li Chengqian is no longer here. He went to Youzhou when he said he was going to Youzhou. He left probably more than a month ago and took a boat down.
So now among these princes, Li Ke was the oldest. Naturally, he spoke directly. After speaking, Li Ke took the lead and walked out.
Li Ke said so, and everyone naturally followed Li Ke and walked out to the entrance of Taiji Hall. After leaving the door, they found that there were some young eunuchs standing here outside.
"My dear sirs, you can go to the side hall to have tea." These young eunuchs all said one after another.
Among these ministers, Fang Xuanling naturally walked at the front and entered the side hall. Round tables and chairs had been placed here, and there were already young eunuchs and maids waiting around.
There was no one else besides him. After Li Ke found a table and sat down, the nearby maid silently came over with a teapot and gave Li Ke a cup of tea.
Fang Xuanling and the others deliberately did not gather together, but each found a table. They all knew that today's move was simply to give everyone a time to communicate.
If these people sit together, who among the ordinary officials will come over?
After Feng An entered the side hall, he looked around and saw His Highness King Qin sitting alone at a table. He thought for a moment and simply walked over.
Feng Ang's behavior seemed to activate these officials, and everyone moved towards their own goals.
"Your Highness." When he came to Li Ke's side, Feng An raised his hand to Li Ke.
"Gong Guogong, sit down." Li Ke pointed to the chair next to him with a smile, "My father has already said that you can chat freely, you're welcome."
"Yes." Feng An also smiled and simply sat down on the seat. The maid next to him immediately came over to add tea.
"The changes in Chang'an are really great. When I came here last time, I could still see some ruins among the prosperity, but now... the whole of Chang'an is prosperous, and the changes in the entire city of Chang'an make me feel... It's a refreshing feeling." Feng Ang said with emotion.
"Normally, not only Chang'an, but also other parts of the Tang Dynasty will change faster and faster. If nothing else, the same will happen to your Gaozhou, Duke Geng. Don't tell me otherwise." Li Ke said with a smile.
"Indeed." Feng Ang thought for a while, and he couldn't understand the changes in Gaozhou.
