Winter is going to spring, and the new year is coming.

This year's winter has been cold, as it has been for more than a decade. The snow was long, several days at a time, and then it continued to rain after a day or two, and the cycle was repeated, and the cold was unbearable.

There was also heavy snow the day before yesterday, because today the roofs of the city are covered with thick white quilts, and only the ridged beasts on the ridges of the roof are pierced out, and their bodies are also covered with snow. Ice crystals hung upside down on the eaves, most of the lanterns in front of the doors had been extinguished, and some of the doorways of the houses had slipped to the ground, frozen into brittle flakes, and the back was still hard as a stone's yellowish paste. This paste is usually made of flour and alum, which is very sticky, and if it is not for this extremely cold weather, it will not freeze and fall off.

The snow on the streets had been removed two days ago and was piled up on the side of the road. However, after one night, another layer of ice formed on the road. At this moment, there were no pedestrians on the streets, and there were heavy horses blocking horses at important intersections, and officers and soldiers were waiting next to them. There were hundreds of guards on patrol, and most of them were curled up under the eaves of the alleys and roof after a long night, and most of them were now curled up under the eaves of the alleys.

The Ming court has always had strict laws, especially in Shenjing at the feet of the Son of Heaven, and many systems must be implemented according to the law, regardless of whether they are really reasonable or not. This is the rule set by the two ancestors, every day in Beijing after the twilight bell rings at three o'clock, you are not allowed to go out, violators are called offenses, according to the law will be punished with fifty lashes. It was not until the morning bell rang at five or three o'clock that the night ban was lifted, and the refusal of horses and iron fences at all intersections would be removed together.

Generally speaking, except for those who have urgent official duties, or who are sick, give birth, or die or mourn, the rest of the people are not exempt. As for the officials...... After reaching a certain level, of course, you can always "have urgent official duties", that is another matter.

As soon as the night curfew passed, the city began to be lively, and many more people came. Most of these people wore black gauze hats, regimental collar shirts, and belts, and were obviously officials.

Ordinary people usually stayed closed at this time, in order to avoid running into these officials who rushed to the court.

The robes of these officials did not specify the color of the clothes, but only the tubular style and embroidery, so the distinction between civil and military officials and grades was only based on the patch on the chest. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Gao Pragmatic, who wears special super clothes, most of them are "big red silk".

Today is the regular dynasty, which is the rule, but if the monthly New Year's Celebration is changed, and the officials need to wear official clothes to participate in the court, it is another distinction.

Officials of the same rank can go with each other, and if they encounter an official who is one rank or higher than themselves, they will have to avoid horses. If you are higher than the third rank or above, no matter what important thing you are in charge of at that time, unless it is a post horse that is 600 miles in an emergency, you must dismount and kneel.

This is the court etiquette, the so-called ancestral rules are also.

Among these officials who rushed to the early dynasty, it was impossible to see the patterns of cranes, golden pheasants, and peacocks on the complements, because these people at this time were all civil officials of the third rank and above.

According to the regulations of this dynasty, these officials can go to court in a sedan chair, and the rest can only ride horses. Now that the weather is freezing, most of these officials are huddled in their sedan chairs, and they naturally can't see it outside.

Zhu Yijun, the son of Wanli, is not slacking off on government now, on the contrary, he is also very diligent, and he is bent on doing a great cause beyond his ancestors, so every time he goes to the court, the ministers dare not slack off, and they are always ready before dawn, and they set off as soon as the night ban is lifted. It's just that no matter how early you set off, you are in a hurry along the way, and only before the noon gate can you really let go of the hanging heart.

Before arriving at the noon gate, you must first pass through the Daming Gate. Daming Gate is the south gate of the Forbidden City, outside the door is Qipan Street, it is still early at this time, and there are no merchants to open the door.

There is a huge stone tablet erected in front of the Daming Gate, commonly known as the dismount tablet, because it is engraved with the eight big characters of "officials wait to get off the horse here", and there are officials and soldiers guarding next to it. Regardless of the rank of the officials participating in the DPRK, whether they ride a horse or a sedan chair, they can only get here, and the next road is only on foot.

The Daming Gate is built of bricks and stones, and the roof is in the style of a single-eaves mountain. The two sides of the door are engraved with couplets: "The sun and the moon are bright and the heavens are deserved, and the mountains and rivers are strong and the emperor is dwelling", which comes from the hand of the first assistant of the cabinet when Chengzu was experiencing.

Since ancient times, the Son of Heaven sits in the north and faces south, so the status of the south gate is particularly unique, and the Daming Gate also enjoys the treatment of the country. If it is not a special day, it is all closed, and the officials go to court from the left and right Chang'an Gate at the northeast and northwest corners of the Daming Gate.

At the gates of both Chang'an gates, there are people who manage the family registration. The so-called family register is a booklet written about the officials who participated in the early dynasty. When the official comes here to report his identity, there will be a record of today's arrival in the court, and a small "sick" word will be noted under the name of the sick official, so this is also called the note of the door. Such records are also intended to facilitate monthly check-ins, so that absent officials can be identified in a timely manner and dealt with accordingly in accordance with the law.

After the door registration is recorded, you will receive a brand, according to the regulations this brand must be tied around the waist, this so-called Beijing official waist card is also. After the left and right Chang'an Gate, as well as the Chengtian Gate, the End Gate, and then the Noon Gate, these two gates are also guarded by officials and soldiers, if there is no waist card hanging, it is categorically not allowed to enter.

When we arrived outside the noon gate, everyone was looking for their familiar colleagues and gathered in twos and threes to talk. When the drums are beating, you have to take your position in order.

At this time, the imperial history will come out to correct the ceremony, and if he sees a minister who has misbehaved in a manner such as spitting, making noise, and dressing out of order, the imperial history will come forward to correct and write down the name for impeachment.

If the name is recorded, it is inevitable that he will be punished according to the law, and in serious cases, he may even lose his official position. Of course, for these officials, it is a big scandal to be punished, to be reprimanded in public for losing their manners, and to lose the dignity of civil servants.

The civil officer squad stands in front of the left-hand gate, and the military attaché squad stands in front of the right-hand gate. Wait until the bell rings on the upper floor of the noon gate, they enter from the door in front of them in order, cross the Jinshui Bridge, and come to the Danqi in front of the Huangji Gate to stop, stand facing each other in the east and west, just wait for the emperor to sit, and then sound the whip and salute, and then start the morning court.

The emperor's throne was set up in the middle of the imperial gate, facing south, and was surrounded by yellow curtains to separate the ministers, brocade guards, and celebrants standing next to the throne. All the officials stood with their hands down, waiting for the arrival of the emperor, but after waiting for nearly half an hour, the throne was still empty. There was no emperor to appear, and there was no chamberlain to deliver the decree.

After another half an hour, there was still no news, and the officials, who were standing far away from the throne, finally couldn't help but start whispering.

The ministers were all standing on the east side of the throne, and at this moment, the eyes of the military officials were all looking at this place, and everyone was waiting for the first assistant to speak.

Gao Shixing's position was not far away, and he also cast his eyes on Shen Shixing's side at this time.

The officials around Gao Pragmatic are a little panicked at the moment, although everyone is of high grade, and the general imperial history will not "find fault" with the officials of the six departments, but the important ministers of the court naturally have the body of the important ministers of the court, and these scholars and servants are standing extremely honestly, and they rarely even secretly stomp their feet to move their qi and blood, so although they are standing in a sheltered position, now their hands and feet are cold, and they are trembling slightly.

Gao is pragmatic and lucky, firstly, he is the youngest among these officials, and secondly, he is not afraid of revealing his wealth is known to the world, at this time, in addition to the python robe outside, he is also wearing a special fox coat, and he doesn't feel cold at all.

It is commonly known as "chicken" and "duck" parts, which refers to the fur of the fox's chin, under the neck, and part of the anterior abdomen, as well as the precious fur clothes made of the fur spliced with these parts. Compared with the fur processed and spliced with the fur of other parts of the fox's body, such as fox legs, fox armpits, and fox gizzards, the warmth is better, and of course the price is more expensive.

In addition to people like Hai Rui, there are not a few officials in the six departments who can afford to dress like foxes, but there are not many who dare to be as upright as Gao Pragmatic. This is the typical style of wanting to save face and not to be inside, and it may also be one of the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty.

When Gao pragmatic eyes looked at Shen Shixing, Shen Shixing was also in a dilemma.

Today's situation, Shen Shixing has not encountered it, but it was still the time of the Longqing Dynasty, and the Wanli Dynasty has this situation, and today is the first time.

During the Longqing Dynasty, there was a situation where the emperor was temporarily notified to exempt from the dynasty before the start of the Chang Dynasty, and Shen Shixing met him twice, both because the emperor woke up in the morning and found himself dizzy and unable to stick to the court. Knock knock

Mu Zong's health is not good, everyone knows this, so when this happens, the courtiers are generally calm, and there is no very special reaction, after the celebrant announces, everyone disperses according to the rules.

But the Wanli Dynasty is different, Zhu Yijun's body is still very good in everyone's opinion, and he is very young, it stands to reason that there should not be the situation of Mu Zong. But at present, how to explain and deal with this permanent dynasty?

Xu Guo, as the second assistant, spoke first: "Yuanfu, the emperor has been delayed, and it is okay if this Chang Dynasty cannot be carried out, and the civil and military officials are still blowing the wind." In case a few freeze bad, the emperor may say 'the dragon is not in good health', but our cabinet is only afraid of ......"

Shen Shixing exhaled a breath of turbidity, nodded, and beckoned to the attendant beside him, telling him to invite the emperor - in fact, it was to urge.

The chamberlain came back not long after, and Shen Shixing asked, "How?" Did the emperor say when he would arrive? ”

The chamberlain said embarrassedly: "If you go back to Yuanfu, the palace is in chaos, and the little one doesn't see the emperor." ”

"Messed up?" Shen Shixing's heart tightened, and his brows furrowed: "Why is this?" ”

"This ...... The small ones are not clear either. ”

Shen Shixing was annoyed in his heart, you are also the person who is the celebrant and the celebrant, 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 it, and beckoned to Gao Shishi, who was not far away. Gao pragmatic gestured to Liang Menglong slightly, and then walked towards the location of several pavilion elders.

Shen Shixing saw that Gao Shixing was called over by Zhang Xueyan, and his mood was even more unhappy, but the last thing he lacked was the city government, although he was in a bad mood, he squeezed out a smile on his face: "Truth-seeking, what's the matter?" ”

Of course, he knew why Gao Pragmatic 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, and Gao Pragmatic had to intervene in this trivial matter.

However, Zhang Xueyan didn't care about this, he was not only old, but also old, and he always estimated that he would be able to do the last few years, so he was not afraid of Shen Shixing's dissatisfaction with him.

Zhang Xueyan said directly: "Truth-seeking, the emperor has been delayed for a long time, and it is not reasonable for all civil and military officials to drink wind in this icy and snowy place, you have been studying in the palace for ten years, and you know all the people who are the celebrants, or you should find someone to see what happened in the palace!" ”

Gao Pragmatic did not agree immediately, but turned his head to Shen Shixing and arched his hand: "Yuanfu? ”

Shen Shixing glanced at the officials who were shivering from the cold outside, and sighed lightly: "Go ahead." ”

Gao Pragmatic still didn't say much, let alone show any triumphant appearance, but nodded slightly and turned around to find someone.

He just randomly picked a chamberlain sent by the celebrant and ordered: "You go in and find Huang Gong or Chen Gong first, and say that I asked: What happened in the palace?" ”

The chamberlain hurriedly responded, and was about to leave, but Gao pragmatic added: "Also, even if the emperor is really delayed by something, you have to ask the emperor for an edict in person, even if it is to let the hundred officials disperse first, otherwise a few will really freeze to death, and the face of the court will also have a great impact, do you understand?" ”

The chamberlain was Chen Ju's person, so he naturally didn't dare to take it big in front of Gao Pragmatic, so he hurriedly responded and hurried away.

Gao Pragmatic went back to Shen Shixing and Zhang Xueyan to return to him, Shen Shixing pinched his posture and refused to ask first, Zhang Xueyan didn't have this thought, nodded, and said directly: "You saw the emperor a few days ago, does the emperor have a dragon body that is not safe?" ”

Gao pragmatic shook his head slightly: "The emperor just has some foot diseases, and there is nothing wrong with the rest." ”

Wu Dui and Gao Shishi had the closest relationship, and they didn't hide anything when they spoke, frowning and saying: "Truth-seeking, I remember that you don't know medical science, don't you haven't found out?" ”

Gao pragmatic thought about it, but still shook his head: "Although I don't know medical science, but the emperor was in good spirits at that time, and this will not be distracted." ”

Wu Dui wanted to say something, but Shen Shixing waved his hand and said, "Since we have sent someone to invite again, we can wait for a while with peace of mind." Monarchs and ministers, how can there be courtiers who repeatedly discuss the king's truth because they are impatient to wait. ”

He is the first assistant, since he said so, others don't have much to say, and Gao Pragmatic doesn't want to be too public, so he plans to go back.

But Zhang Xueyan stopped him again and said, "The celebrant was ordered by you to go, and you still wait here, lest he come back and look for you again." ”

Shen Shixing's face was even more gloomy, but he didn't say anything. Gao pragmatic glanced at him, and then looked at Zhang Xueyan, but saw Zhang Xueyan nodding slightly.

He could roughly guess what Zhang Xueyan meant, and it was not easy to refuse, so he had to stand behind a few elders.

This scene was seen by the civil and military officials, and the discussion seemed to be louder for a while.

After a while, the chamberlain hurriedly came over, and Lao Yuan saluted Gao Wu, and said: "Gao Gongbao, the matter is clear, the eldest son of the emperor is suddenly sick, and the queen mother of the two palaces, the emperor and the queen have all gone to Zhongcui Palace!" ”

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