A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks of the Imperial Examination

Chapter 87: Early Morning

This is a unique spectacle in Chang’an every morning.

If you are not well-dressed, you will be invited to participate. If you are standing in the team and whispering with your colleagues, you will be invited. If you are late… As a Beijing official who is fortunate to be able to meet the holy face, how many beautiful things have been sent to the court, and you are actually late?

The violent censor will be able to scold those who are late at the Jinluan Hall on the same day, in front of civil and military officials and the emperor’s prime minister.

It’s okay, if you live in the south of the city, it will be a bit of a toss.

Xiao Jingduo has been an official for four years. Today is the first time to participate in the morning court. He wears a black lining inside, a dark green official uniform with wide sleeves, a silver belt around his waist, and a black robe at the end. After being neatly dressed, the whole person is full of heroism and arrogance.

Qiu Ju stared at her servants to serve Xiao Jingduo in court clothes, and seeing that it was almost time, she signaled the maids to set meals outside. Early morning in the big winter is not an easy task. At this time, it is still dark. Xiao Jingduo has no appetite to eat.

Xiao Jingduo was tidy up here, and the servant quickly lit the lantern and sent Xiao Jingduo out. Xiao Jingduo walked to the gate of Hou’s mansion. The servants had already led the horse and waited by the side. Seeing Xiao Jingduo’s figure, he rushed over to say hello: “Hello, Dalang-Jun, the horse is ready.”

The officials of the Xuan Dynasty have no martial arts, they are all riding to court, riding in carriages and sedan chairs without even thinking about it. Xiao Jingduo took the reins and smoothed the mane of his beloved horse. He was about to instruct the servants of Qingzeyuan when he saw a group of people lighting lanterns and escorting another person across the corner towards the door. come.

Xiao Jingduo held the reins and stood quietly on the spot. When the visitor walked in front of him, he gave a junior salute with no expression on his face.

Xiao Ying’s groom was already waiting. Seeing this scene, he didn’t dare to say more, and quickly handed over the reins. Xiao Ying jumped on his horse with the stirrups, and his heroic force was the same as that of the past, and then he pumped his horse hard and quickly disappeared into the winter fog.

The servants who witnessed this scene were embarrassed. Many people knew that Da Langjun and Hou Ye had just quarreled a few days ago, but they did not expect that several days had passed, and the two have not yet reconciled. Now there are only two people in Xiao’s house who are qualified to go to court. The father and son are officials in the same court, and they should work together. However, the father and son in Xiao’s house are so deadlocked that they are not as good as strangers.

He just led the horse out.

He turned to his horse neatly, and then the steed roared and quickly disappeared into the night. Seeing that Dalang-Jun had run away, the entourage quickly followed.

Xiao Jingduo started to slow down when he saw Chengtianmen from a distance. When he got close, he got off his horse and entrusted his horse to his followers. He adjusted his clothes and walked towards Chengtianmen quickly but steadily. .

Many officials have been guarded under Chengtianmen, and the cold wind is howling, but no one in the crowd speaks. The east gradually lit up, and the early morning looked at the shadow of the sun. At this time, a father-in-law came to Chengtianmen. He first gave a salute to all the ministers, and then said in a long voice: “Go to the court.”

Drums suddenly sounded at Chengtianmen, and the six prime ministers were listed in the front. Seeing this, they took the lead and walked towards Taiji Hall with the members behind them. Chaoyang leaped over the horizon accompanied by the sound of the drums. In the magnificent Taiji Palace, two teams of court officials lined up in neat rows were walking slowly towards the highest hall in the world.

After standing in the order of Wendong and Wuxi, Xiao Jingduo calmed down and waited for the appearance of the emperor Rong Lang and the regent princess Rong Ke.

At this moment, although the hall is full of officials, the ranks are strictly arranged according to the official rank. The first column is naturally the six prime ministers, the military attache is the third rank general, and then arranged layer by layer, the color of the official uniform has also faded from crimson. It is light green and then fades to light blue. The grades are strict and insurmountable.

Xiao Jingduo’s official worship of the sixth rank is quite good for his age, not to mention that he is serving in the Ministry of War, which is an important place in the country, and his position is even better. Xiao Jingduo stood among the crowd of officials. Looking forward, he could only see heavy black robes. Looking back, there were many people standing respectfully behind him.

Of course, Xiao Jingduo will not look back and look around. His cheeks didn’t move, his eyes rolled with no expression, and he had a panoramic view of the surrounding scene.

Xiao Jingduo entered office as a jinshi, and now standing in the ranks of civil servants, on the west side of the hall, Xiao Ying is standing in the ranks of military attaches with his head upright. Obviously, the most important thing is that Xiao Ying is far ahead of Xiao Jingduo.

Xiao Jingduo glanced at the military attache, then withdrew his gaze and focused on the blue brick under his feet. After a while, the eunuch’s high-pitched and long voice came from the hall: “The saint, the princess is here.”

The sound of clothes rubbing was heard at the top, and after a while, the **** shouted again: “No ceremony.”

“Thank you Lord Long.”

Xiao Jingduo stood up straight with his colleagues and superiors, he took the opportunity to get up and glanced up, and saw the little emperor sitting upright on the high platform symbolizing kingship, with a vertical bead curtain on the west side , through the slightly swaying glass beads, you can vaguely see a black figure sitting behind.

The Xuan Dynasty followed the Qin ceremony, and respected black. Although Xiao Jingduo couldn’t see Rong Ke’s face clearly, but thinking about it, the grand and solemn black public uniform looked good on her.

When everyone is here, we can discuss. On such occasions, those who dare to speak are big people, and newcomers like Xiao Jingduo who have just returned to Beijing cannot interrupt.

Even Rong Ke had no room to speak.

The prime ministers discussed disaster relief: “…Last winter, there was heavy snowfall, and many places were affected, especially Shuozhou. Seeing that the spring planting is just a few days ago, disaster relief should not be delayed. Hurry up and take out the charter.”

Yuan Xiang asked, “Who does Duke Duan think is competent for disaster relief?”

“Yuan Gong is the official minister of the Ministry of Personnel, I don’t dare to be arbitrary.” Duan Xiang still smiled kindly, and pushed the matter out without expression.

“Duan Gong is good at conspiracy, this is really self-effacing.” Yuan Xiang laughed a few times and said, “I don’t know what everyone thinks, how is Cui Yuan and Cui Langzhong?”

The last name is Cui.

Xiao Jingduo quietly raised his head and glanced at it, sure enough, Rong Ke behind the bead curtain also straightened up and spoke: “The reconstruction after the snow should be the work of the Ministry of Works, Cui Yuan has just been promoted to the Ministry of Personnel, Yuan Why did you think of him?”

The Minister of Industry Zhang Xiang saw that he was involved, and quickly rejected: “The old minister is old and frail, and he can’t take care of the disaster relief. The disaster relief candidates are all based on the Holy Master’s instructions.”

This is a confused account. The Ministry of Industry is the lower part of the six departments, and it is the least valued. Involved in the court strife, he quickly pushed the matter away, covered his ears and pretended to be confused.

After the death of the first emperor, it was said that he was located in Rong Lang, the prince, and Princess Ganning was named the regent princess, and the queen Xia Shigui was the mother of Emperor Rong Lang and the regent princess Rong Ke. Enjoy the happiness. It would be fine if there was only one empress dowager of the Xia family in the harem, but unfortunately, the emperor of the Rong family kept having accidents, while the female relatives in the harem lived a long life.

The Xuan Dynasty seized the Chen family and made him emperor. The original Xuan Guogong was the founding emperor, and Taizu was posthumous. After that, King Qin launched a coup, killed his elder brother, and forced his father to abdicate. This is really outrageous. It is not a good thing in any dynasty or generation, but who made most of the kingdoms fall to the emperor of Qin who later succeeded to the throne. They are also direct descendants of King Qin, so no one dared to say anything, but because of King Qin’s unique military exploits, he was given the posthumous title of Emperor Gaozu. In all dynasties, only the founding emperor can be posthumous. King Qin, as the second-generation monarch, can still be enshrined as a great ancestor, which shows that his merits are profound, and he can even overcome the crime of murdering his brother.

Gaozu passed away prematurely due to years of war injuries. Prince Rong Mingzhe succeeded to the throne. Gaozu’s mother, Wu, and his successor, Cui, were promoted to Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager. However, the day did not fulfill people’s wishes, and Rong Mingzhe also passed away early due to illness. Rong Lang, who was only eight years old, ascended the throne, and the female family members of the harem had to be promoted again. Up to now, the harem has three empress dowagers: Wu, Cui, and Xia. . The harem has always been a place of right and wrong, not to mention that there are now three more queen mothers all of a sudden, you can imagine how the harem is in a dark and dark situation.

The Wu family is the mother of Gaozu and Prince Min. She has the highest status and the most respected. She raised a pair of children of Prince Min. Once Emperor Wenzong Rong Mingzhe was in power, she did not dare to hope, but Rong Mingzhe passed away. The person sitting on the throne is actually an eight-year-old child, how can this make the Queen Mother Wu reconciled. Empress Dowager Cui is the step-wife of Gaozu’s continued marriage. She was born in the Cui family of Qinghe. In her early years, she gave birth to the fifth prince, Rong Mingzhi. After Rong Mingzhe succeeded to the throne, he was named the king of Zheng. , If she really wants to plan something for her emperor, Rong Ke and his brother are really hard to fight.

Among the Empress Dowagers in Sangong, besides Wu and Cui, there is another empress dowager, Xia. The Xia family is the biological mother of Rong Lang and Rong Ke. Before his death, Rong Mingzhe handed over the auxiliary power to his daughter, instead of giving it to the Xia family as usual, which showed that he did not trust the Queen Mother Xia and the Xia family behind her. Because of this, the Empress Dowager Xia was the weakest in the harem. Although the emperor and the princess regent were both her own blood, neither Rong Ke nor Rong Lang had any say, let alone a weak empress dowager.

The harem and the former dynasty were intertwined, and the battle in the harem slowly spread to the former dynasty. Mrs. Wu is of high rank, and she fully supports Rong Mingtai, the blood of Prince Min, who is now King Jiang An. Empress Dowager Cui also has her own careful thinking. The Cui family kept making small moves in the previous dynasty, and they focused on expanding the power of the Cui family. As for Rong Lang, although he is a legitimate emperor, he is a generation lower than King Zheng and King Jiang An. He needs to call these two uncles in order. He can only rely on his sister, the regent princess Rong. ke.

For example, a small disaster relief this time, you can see the clues of the battle of the Empress Dowager Sangong. Yuan Xiang respects ancient rituals, and has close contacts with the Cui family. In his heart, he prefers to see a prince with the blood of an aristocratic family ascend to the throne, so he helps the Cui family very much on weekdays. Disaster relief also pushed Cui Yuan out. Rong Ke was not stupid, how could the Cui family be allowed to be powerful in the previous dynasty, and Duan Gong and Zhang Xiang, although they were on an equal footing with Yuan Tongchao as officials, they did not want to be involved in the internal battles of the royal family.

These things are obvious to many. Yuan Xiang pushed people from the Cui Department to help the disaster relief, but Rong Ke refused to allow him. The other prime ministers wore their beards and did not speak, and the other courtiers also stood unrelated to their own affairs.

Only the voices of Yuan Xiang and Rong Ke echoed in the hall: “…Your Highness is still young, I am afraid that he has not even been out of Chang’an, how can you know the suffering of the people outside Guan? If an experienced old minister goes, this gentleman sees Cui Yuan as very suitable.”

“It is clearly remembered in the archives over the years, why did the snow disaster cost so much money? Yuan Jingjian really did it for the people of Shuozhou?”

Yuan Xiang smiled: “His Royal Highness, it is not that the minister is disrespectful, but that the granddaughter of the minister is older than you, and the minister naturally knows better than you.”

Rong Ke clenched her hands tightly in her sleeves, and Rong Lang looked in this direction worriedly. But Rong Lang still remembered Taifu’s rules, for fear of being impeached by the censor again, he didn’t even dare to turn his head to make a big move, and only dared to look at his sister cautiously.

Perceiving Rong Lang’s gaze, Rong Ke paused for a moment, then slowly loosened her fingers, and finally said calmly, “Then do as Yuan Xiang said.”

Hearing this, Yuan Xiang nodded and smiled. Not only Yuan Xiang, but also the other courtiers looked as expected, just a little girl, what can I understand.

In their opinion, the so-called regent princess is just a decoration, put it on the court to fill the facade, after all, it is the will of Wenzong, they can’t openly ban it, but they really let Gan Ning lead the ministers , that is to not even think about it.

Xiao Jingduo felt the contempt of the people around him, and he was worried and anxious. Rong Ke has been self-willed since he was a child, and he never cares what others say. Xu is because of her intelligence, her grandfather and father both hold her, so she has developed a proud temperament. Facts have also proved that Rong Ke is self-willed and self-willed. She is foolish, but she has never had a major incident in these years. No matter what emergencies are encountered, she has the ability to resolve them peacefully. This is her willful capital. But now, Rong Ke was sitting in the courtroom, but no one took her words seriously. When Emperor Wenzong Rong Mingzhe was in power, Rong Ke might have been annoyed on the spot, but now, in just a moment, Rong Ke calmly endured this sigh.

When did she swallow her voice like this? Xiao Jingduo’s heart was extremely complicated. He raised his head and glanced behind the bead curtain, but he couldn’t see anything except the colliding bead curtain.

The early morning dissipated soon, and Asahi still served meals, but the place to eat was moved to the palace, which was proudly called the meal under the corridor by countless officials. There are so many rules for eating in their dining halls on weekdays, but now the civil and military officials are sitting together to eat, and the rules are even stricter.

The food I ate this meal did not taste good. After eating, Xiao Jingduo followed the team out. After walking out of the Tai Chi gate, the Censor Desk and the prime ministers were no longer in sight, so Bai Guan became a little more relaxed, and they were able to talk and laugh with each other.

“Brother Xiao, stay.”

“Naturally.” Xiao Jingduo smiled in return, “Sun the same year.”

Sun Jinshi and Xiao Jingduo are both on the same list.

Sun Jinshi and Xiao Jingduo greeted each other and said with emotion, “After so many years of separation, we are in such a scene when we meet again.”

Xiao Jingduo laughed: “It is a pleasure to meet after the dynasty is over, so why did Sun say this in the same year?”

Sun Jinshi also smiled: “What Xiao said in the same year is that we can meet again at the feet of the emperor, it should be a pleasure in the world! We talk as we walk.”

Xiao Jingduo and Sun Jinshi went out together, Sun Jinshi said: “I saw you earlier, but the rules were strict and it was not easy to greet you. I didn’t find a chance to talk to you when I was eating in the corridor. , it has been delayed until the Sanchao to meet you.”

“No problem, this is the duty of a minister.”

“I heard that you came back from out of state, but I have been troubled by trivial matters and have not been able to get together with you. But in a few days, brothers Bai Jiayi and Bai will be coming back. Clean the dust for the two of you.”

Xiao Jingduo paused: “Bai Jiayi, was also recalled?”

Sun Jinshi didn’t notice Xiao Jingduo’s strange words, for example, how did he know that Bai Jiayi was recalled? This word cannot be used indiscriminately. Sun Jinshi was still saying unconsciously, “Isn’t that true? After four years of expatriation, you can be considered to be back! It’s also a great coincidence. You returned to Beijing on the front foot, and Bai Jiayi came back on the back foot, just in time to get together…”

How? Xiao Jingduo smiled very lightly and did not answer.

“But this man is real, it’s a good thing for him to return to Beijing, and it’s too much to not return a letter! If it wasn’t for the fact that I met the old lady of the Bai family a few days ago, I wouldn’t know about it!”

Xiao Jingduo lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking. Sun Jinshi found that Xiao Jingduo’s demeanor was not right, but he thought it was because Xiao Jingduo was too happy, so he didn’t think about it, but continued to say with high eyebrows: “Among our batch of Jinshi, you are the fastest to be promoted, and we will be awarded together. Now I’m only 8th rank, but you have arrived at Cong 6th rank, and you are still serving in the Ministry of War. Yuanwailang is an important post. If you are a clerk for a few years, and then go to another state to be a prefect for a few years, maybe you can hit the 5th rank when you return to Beijing. It’s gone!”

Sun Jinshi’s tone was full of envy. He was still on the same line four years ago. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Jingduo was promoted to a sixth-rank member and a foreigner. I don’t know how much taller he is. He used to think that he stayed in the capital to study, which was an extremely noble position, and Xiao Jingduo was sent to the remote Zhongxian county, and in a few years, the gap between them would only get bigger and bigger. But Sun Jinshi didn’t expect that the person who finally surpassed was actually Xiao Jingduo, not to mention Sun Jinshi himself, just looking at other Jinshi in the same period, no one was promoted faster than Xiao Jingduo.

Xiao Jingduo is modest: “Thanks to the promotion of the Holy One.”

“Your Highness…” Sun Jinshi’s tone was elongated, obviously a little unhappy. In the end, Sun Jinshi shook his head and said, “It’s also our unlucky thing to encounter a woman in power. In this situation, who knows what will happen in the future? Let’s mix it up for now.”

This time Xiao Jingduo did not speak up. The anger that was suppressed by him came out again. Everyone despised her like this, and the ministers would not say anything. Even an ordinary civil servant and small official dared to sigh freely that women were in power and Wenzhi was not there.

Sun Jinshi found that Xiao Jingduo had cooled down, and he almost didn’t answer his words. Until he parted ways with Xiao Jingduo, Sun Jinshi didn’t think of a reason.

Without a few years, how did Xiao Jingduo’s temper become more difficult to figure out?

After separating from Sun Jinshi, Xiao Jingduo rode a horse and walked alone to the wide Chang’an Avenue.

Unconsciously, he walked to the gate of Princess Qianning’s mansion.

He restrained the horse and looked at the plaque on the Zhumen for a long time.

Ganning.

I heard that these two words were written by Wenzong himself and given to his favorite eldest daughter. But in just a few years, things have changed.

What’s more, Xiao Jingduo knew that Rong Ke had this ability.

The author has something to say:

Today, our company has received several letters of accusation. A certain employee surnamed Xiao lived passively, and the Censor Office reasonably suspected that he had another purpose in going to court.

I hereby solemnly refute the rumor, there is no such thing! He is a serious man, and he won’t think blindly!