Winter is passing and spring is coming, and another new year is coming.
Like the previous ten years or so, this winter has been very cold. It snows heavily for several days at a time, and then it snows again after a day or two of clearing up. The cycle goes on and on, and it is extremely cold.
There was heavy snow the day before yesterday, so today all the roofs in the city were covered with thick white quilts, except for the spines on the roof ridges, which were also covered with snow. Ice crystals hung upside down on the eaves, and most of the lanterns in front of the doors had been extinguished. Some door couplets fell to the ground, and were frozen into crispy flakes, with a yellowish paste as hard as stone on the back. This kind of paste is usually made with flour and alum. It is extremely sticky and would not freeze and fall off if it were not for the extremely cold weather.
The snow on the streets had been plowed away two days ago and was piled beside the road. However, overnight, another layer of ice formed on the road. There were not many pedestrians on the street at this moment. There were heavy horses lined up at important intersections, and there were officers and soldiers waiting beside them. There were hundreds of watchmen on patrol. They were exhausted from the whole night. Most of them were huddled under the eaves in the corner of the alley and taking a nap.
The Ming Dynasty has always had strict laws, especially in Shenjing, which is at the foot of the emperor. Many systems must be implemented according to the law regardless of whether they are really reasonable or not. This is a rule set by the second ancestors. No one is allowed to go out after the dusk bell rings at three o'clock every day in the capital. Anyone who violates it is called a night offender and will be whipped fifty times according to the law. The night ban is not lifted until the morning bell rings at three o'clock in the morning, and horses, iron bars and other objects at various intersections will be removed together.
Generally speaking, except for those who have urgent official duties, or are sick, giving birth, or dying, there are no exceptions for others. As for officials... after reaching a certain level, of course they can always "have urgent official duties", but that is another matter.
As soon as the night ban was over, the city began to become lively, and many people came out for no reason. Most of these people wore black gauze hats, regimental collar shirts and belts. They were obviously officials.
Ordinary people usually stay behind closed doors at this time, in order to avoid bumping into the officials who are rushing to attend the morning meeting.
The robes worn by these officials did not specify the color of the uniforms, but only the tube style and embroidery. Therefore, the only way to distinguish between civil and military officials and their grades was by looking at the patches on the chest. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, people like Gao Jingjing who wear specially-given high-quality clothing are mostly "red silk".
Today is the regular dynasty, so that's the rule. However, if the new moon is changed and officials need to wear official uniforms to attend the dynasty, it will be another distinction.
Officials of the same rank can ride together on horses. If they meet an official who is one rank higher than themselves, they should avoid their horses. If it is higher than the third rank and above, no matter what important thing you are rushing for at the time, unless it is a six hundred mile postage, you must dismount and kneel down.
This is the court etiquette, the so-called ancestral rules.
Among these officials rushing to the morning court, there are no cranes, golden pheasants, or peacocks on the embroidery, because these people at this time are all civil servants with grades of third grade and above.
According to the regulations of this dynasty, these officials can go to court in sedan chairs, while the rest can only ride horses. It's freezing cold today, and most of these officials are huddled in their sedans, so they can't be seen outside.
Zhu Yijun, the Emperor of Wanli, is not neglecting his duties now. On the contrary, he is very diligent in his work. He wants to do a great cause that surpasses his ancestors. Therefore, whenever he goes to court, the ministers do not dare to neglect their duties. They are always ready before dawn and at night. Set off as soon as the ban is lifted. It’s just that no matter how early we set out, we have to rush slowly along the way. Only when we arrive in front of the Meridian Gate can we really let go of our hanging heart.
Before arriving at the Meridian Gate, you must first pass through the Daming Gate. Daming Gate is the south gate of the Forbidden City, and outside the gate is Qipan Street. It was still early in the morning, and not many businesses were open yet.
There is a huge stone tablet erected in front of the Daming Gate, commonly known as the Dismounting Tablet, because it is engraved with the eight characters "Officials will wait until here to dismount", and there are official and military guards beside it. Officials attending the court, regardless of their rank, riding horses or sedans, could only get here, and the rest of the way was on foot.
Daming Gate is built of bricks and stones, and the roof is in the style of a single eaves resting on a mountain. There are couplets engraved on both sides of the door: "The sun and moon light the sky, the mountains and rivers make the emperor's home", which was written by Xie Jin, the chief minister of the cabinet during the reign of Emperor Chengzu.
Since ancient times, the emperor has sat north and faced south, so the south gate has a particularly unique status, and Daming Gate also enjoys the status of a national gate. Unless it is a special day, it is closed and officials go to court through the left and right Chang'an Gates at the northeast and northwest corners of the Daming Gate.
There are people who manage the gate registration at the gates of both Chang'an Gates. The so-called door book is a book containing the names of officials who participated in the early dynasty. When officials report their identity here, the record of their arrival in court today will be recorded on the family register. A small word "sick" will be written under the name of the sick official, so this is also called the registration of the family. Such records are also to facilitate monthly inspections, so that absent officials can be identified in a timely manner and dealt with accordingly in accordance with the law.
After the family registration is recorded, you will receive a plaque. According to regulations, this plaque must be tied around your waist. This is the so-called Beijing official waist badge. After passing the Chang'an Gate on the left and right, there are Chengtian Gate and Duanmen, followed by the Meridian Gate. These two gates are also guarded by officers and soldiers. If there is no belt tag hanging on it, you will not be allowed to enter.
When they arrived outside the Meridian Gate, everyone found colleagues they were familiar with and gathered together in twos and threes to talk. When the drum sounds, you have to stand in order.
At this time, the censor will come out to correct the etiquette. Any minister who sees spitting, making noise, improper dress, etc. will come forward to question and write down the name for impeachment.
Those whose names are recorded will inevitably be fined according to the law, and in serious cases they may even be dismissed from their posts. Of course, for these officials, being punished is a small matter, but being reprimanded in public and losing their dignity as civil servants is a huge scandal.
The order of the civil officer class stands in front of the Zuoye Gate, and the order of the military attache class stands in front of the Youye Gate. When the bell on the Meridian Gate tower rang, they entered in order from the door in front of them, crossed the Jinshui Bridge, and stopped at Danqi in front of the Huangji Gate. They stood facing each other from east to west, waiting for the emperor to sit down, and then bellowed. The whip was saluted, and then the morning pilgrimage began.
The emperor's throne was set up in the middle of the Huangji Gate, facing south, and surrounded by yellow curtains to separate the cabinet ministers, royal guards and ceremonial supervisors standing next to the throne. All the officials stood with their hands hanging, waiting for the emperor's arrival. However, after waiting for nearly half an hour, the throne was still empty. Neither the emperor appeared nor the servant came to deliver the order.
After another half an hour, there was still no news. The officials standing far away from the throne finally couldn't help but started whispering.
The cabinet ministers all stood to the east of the throne. At this moment, the civil and military officials all looked here in unison. Everyone was waiting for the chief minister Shen Shixing to speak.
Gao Pangshi was not far away from where he was standing, and at this time he also cast his eyes towards Shen Shixing.
The officials around Gao Jingshi were a little panicked with the cold at this moment. Although everyone was of high rank, the general censors would not "find trouble" with the officials of the six departments, but the important ministers of the imperial court naturally had the dignity of the important ministers of the imperial court. These ministers and ministers Instead, he stood very honestly, rarely even stamping his feet secretly to activate his blood. Therefore, although he stood in a sheltered position, his hands and feet were now cold and trembling slightly.
It's good that Gao Pragmatic is the best. Firstly, he is the youngest among these officials. Secondly, he is known to the world for not being afraid of showing off his wealth. In addition to the python robe outside, he is also wearing a special fox crop coat inside. Don't feel cold.
Crop, commonly known as "chicken crop" or "duck crop", refers to the fur on the fox's chin, under the neck, and part of the front abdomen, as well as the precious fur clothing made by splicing the fur from these parts. The fur of this part of the fox has thick and dense velvet and good warmth retention. Compared with fur processed and spliced with fur from other parts of the fox's body, such as fox legs, armpits, and fox crotch products, it has better warmth retention, but of course is more expensive.
Apart from people like Hai Rui, there are not many senior officials in the Sixth Department who can afford to wear fox pants, but there are not many who dare to be as upright as Gao Jingshi. This is the typical style of saving face over dignity, and may also be one of the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty.
When Gao Pragmatic looked at Shen Shixing, Shen Shixing was also in a dilemma.
It is not that Shen Shixing has encountered this situation before, but it was during the Longqing Dynasty, and this is the first time that this situation has occurred in the Wanli Dynasty.
During the Longqing Dynasty, there was a situation where the emperor was notified to excuse himself from the court at short notice before the start of the regular court. Shen Shixing encountered this twice in total. The reason was that the emperor found himself dizzy when he woke up in the morning and could not insist on going to court. dong dong
Everyone knew that Mu Zong was not in good health, so when this happened, the courtiers were generally calm and did not have any special reactions. After the Superintendent of Ceremonies made the announcement, everyone dispersed according to the rules. toward.
But the Wanli Dynasty was different. Zhu Yijun's body seemed to everyone to be in good health, and he was also very young. Logically speaking, Mu Zong's situation should not have happened. But now, how should we explain and deal with this temporary coming?
Xu Guosheng, the second assistant, spoke first: "Yuanfu, the emperor is still here. It's okay that the imperial court can't go on. The civil and military officials are still blowing the wind. In case a few are injured by the cold, the emperor may say something The 'bad dragon body' problem has been solved, but our cabinet is afraid..."
Shen Shixing exhaled a breath of turbidity, nodded, waved to the attendant at the Li Jian beside him, and told him to invite the emperor - in fact, it was a reminder.
The chamberlain came back not long after he went down. Shen Shixing asked from afar: "How is it? Did the emperor say when he can arrive?"
The chamberlain said awkwardly: "When I returned to Yuan Fu, the palace was in chaos, and I didn't see the emperor."
"A mess?" Shen Shixing's heart tightened and he frowned: "Why is this?"
"This... I don't even know about this."
Shen Shixing was annoyed, you are also the Supervisor of Ceremonies after all, why don't you have this ability?
Xu Guo glanced at Shen Shixing, who was holding back his anger, and continued to look at his nose and heart.
Zhang Xueyan couldn't help but waved to Gao Pragmatic, who was not far away. Gao pragmatic bowed slightly to Liang Menglong and walked towards the location of several pavilion elders.
Shen Shixing felt even more unhappy when he saw Gao Pragmatic being called over by Zhang Xueyan, but what he lacked most was the city government. Although he was in a bad mood, a smile appeared on his face: "Qiuzhen, what's the matter?"
Of course he knew why Gao Jingshi came, and he also knew that Zhang Xueyan asked him to come, but he couldn't take the initiative to admit that he couldn't ask about the emperor's situation, yet Gao Jingshi had to intervene in such a trivial matter.
However, Zhang Xueyan didn't care about this. Not only was he older, he also had seniority. He had always estimated that he would only be able to work for the last few years, so he was not afraid that Shen Shixing would be dissatisfied with him.
Zhang Xueyan said directly: "To be honest, the emperor is still here. It is unreasonable for all the civil and military officials to drink in the ice and snow. You have been studying in the palace for ten years. You know all the people in charge of the ceremony, or you?" Find someone to find out what happened in the palace!"
Gao pragmatic did not agree immediately, but turned to Shen Shixing and cupped his hands: "Yuan Fu?"
Shen Shixing glanced at the officials shivering in the cold outside and sighed softly: "Go."
Gao Pragmatic still didn't say much, nor did he show any triumphant look. Instead, he nodded slightly and turned to look for someone.
He just randomly selected a chamberlain sent by the Supervisor of Ceremonies and ordered: "Go in and find Mr. Huang or Mr. Chen first, and say that it was me who asked: What happened in the palace?"
The chamberlain responded quickly and was about to leave when Gao Pragmatic added: "Also, even if the Emperor is really delayed by something, you must go to the Emperor in person to ask for an order, even if it means asking all the officials to leave first. Okay, otherwise a few of them will freeze to death, which will also have a great impact on the court’s reputation, do you understand?”
The chamberlain was from Chen Ju, so naturally he didn't dare to show off in front of Gao Pingshi, so he quickly agreed and left in a hurry.
Gao pragmatic went back to report to Shen Shixing and Zhang Xueyan. Shen Shixing held his posture and refused to ask first. Zhang Xueyan had no intention of doing so. He nodded and said directly: "You met the emperor a few days ago. Is the emperor in trouble? What’s the appearance?”
Gao Jingshi shook his head slightly: "The emperor just has some foot problems, and there is nothing wrong with the rest."
Wu Dui had the closest relationship with Gao Pragmatic, and he didn't hide anything in his words. He frowned and said, "Qiu Zhen, I remember that you don't understand medical science. Didn't you realize that?"
Gao pragmatic thought for a while, then shook his head: "Although I don't understand medical science, the emperor was in good spirits at the time, so this is not a mistake."
Wu Dui wanted to say something else, but Shen Shixing waved his hand and said: "Since we have sent people to invite you again, we can just wait for a while with peace of mind. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, how can any minister talk about Your Majesty again and again because he is impatient to wait? principle."
He is the chief assistant. Now that he has said so, it is hard for others to say anything. Gao Pragmatic does not want to be too public in public, so he plans to retreat.
But Zhang Xueyan stopped him again and said, "You ordered the ceremonial supervisor to go. You should wait here, lest he come back later and look for you again."
Shen Shixing's face became gloomier, but he didn't say anything. Gao pragmatic glanced at him, then looked at Zhang Xueyan, only to see Zhang Xueyan nodded slightly.
He could roughly guess what Zhang Xueyan meant, and he couldn't refuse, so he had to stand behind several pavilion elders.
This scene was seen by all the civil and military officials, and the discussion seemed to get louder for a while.
Not long after, the chamberlain came over in a hurry. From afar, he bowed to Gao Wu and said, "Gao Gongbao, the matter is clear. The emperor's eldest son suddenly fell ill. The empress dowagers of the two palaces, the emperor and the empress have all gone." Zhongcui Palace!”
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