Ling Yun, who was in the capital, didn't know what happened to the Ling family. However, since he won the first prize, he also sent a letter to his family. However, due to the long distance, it would take some time for the letter to be sent home.
It's hard to say whether he would regret building a primary school in the village if he knew what those children in Guangping Village were doing.
It is said that since Emperor Qianxi gave him a gold-rimmed writing brush that day, Ling Yun kept it in a box. I don't know how his cheap master knew about it. Before he could use it, he was snatched away by Li Chengyou.
Originally Ling Yun was unwilling to give it, saying that it was a reward given by Emperor Qianxi and could not be taken away.
Unexpectedly, Li Chengyou lingered in his room and was reluctant to leave. Especially when he saw two brushes in the box, he shouted that if he was not given the gold-rimmed brush, he would take the other one in the box.
All in all, Li Chengyou wanted one of the two brushes no matter what. Moreover, seeing his fiery eyes fixed on the gold-rimmed brush, Ling Yun knew what he was thinking.
His eyes glanced at the two pens in the box. One was a reward from Emperor Qianxi, which was a kind of honorary reward, and the other was a gift from Miss Zixuan. Which of the two was more important? The person with an open heart suddenly thought. Just think and you will know.
As a last resort, Ling Yun gave him the gold-edged brush.
Li Chengyou was shocked when he found out that he had given up the gold-rimmed brush given by Emperor Qianxi for another pen. He thought, could this be a token of love given to him by the girl?
Otherwise, why did Ling Yun regard an ordinary writing brush as more valuable than the gold coin writing brush given by Emperor Qianxi? There must be some unknown secret in this.
Thinking of this, Li Chengyou was overjoyed. This was an unexpected surprise, because he found another excuse to coerce Ling Yun.
Ling Yun never expected that his cheap master would not only pay attention to Phnom Penh, but also think of excuses to trick him. It was really disrespectful for him.
Perhaps because he performed particularly well as a living official during this period, Emperor Qianxi actually asked him to record the early court discussions. In other words, Ling Yun inexplicably had the privilege of attending the early court.
Although he cannot speak and can only stand in an inconspicuous corner and record documents, it is undoubtedly a privilege to appear in the morning court because he can take this opportunity to learn how ministers go to court, which is very important to him. No benefit at all.
When Ling Yun told Li Chengyou about this incident, he thought he would be praised, but he never expected that he would be disliked.
When he went to court, Li Chengyou not only didn't take him with him, but also asked him to stay away to prevent others from gossiping.
Ling Yun is so angry in his heart!
I thought that he was so good, but what he got in exchange was Li Chengyou's disdain. You can imagine the depression in my heart!
Ling Yun could not enter the court directly with the ministers. Instead, as usual, he went to the palace under the leadership of the young eunuch to report. When the eunuch in charge of the palace confirmed his presence, he was asked to wait in the room.
Outside the Meridian Gate, the ministers had been waiting for a long time, and they only needed an order from the eunuch before they could step into the palace gate.
In the Daqian Dynasty, only Beijing officials of fifth rank and above could participate in the morning dynasty.
Of course, Emperor Qianxi also gave special permission for officials with grades below the fifth rank to participate in court meetings, but this presence was minimal and could be ignored.
Moreover, even if an official below the fifth rank can obtain Emperor Qianxi's permission, he may not have a place in the Jinluan Palace.
After all, the Jinluan Palace is such a big place, and there are a lot of officials in the capital. The officials who can stand in the Jinluan Palace to participate in court meetings are all high-ranking ministers. You, a person below the fifth rank, can only stand behind you.
Therefore, although Ling Yun was considered an official in the capital, he had no chance of participating in the imperial meeting due to his insufficient rank. This time, he was only able to enter it as a living official of Emperor Qianxi.
The final official outside the Meridian Gate waited for the little eunuch to open his mouth. Everyone filed in. It seemed that they were rushing into the Jinluan Palace. In fact, they were led by those in high positions. The two prime ministers walking in front were the two prime ministers of the current dynasty. The rest follow behind.
After everyone entered the palace and stood up, about a quarter of an hour later, the eunuch standing at a small door in front of the Jinluan Palace estimated the time and raised his sharp voice and loudly announced, "The Emperor has arrived!"
When Emperor Qianxi slowly walked out of the small door, the officials in the Jinluan Palace knelt down and shouted in unison, "Long live my emperor, long live my emperor."
Ling Yun was carefully following Emperor Qianxi. When he entered the small door, the young eunuch came and gently pulled his sleeve, pointed to the corner next to him, and motioned for him to stand there.
Ling Yun nodded in understanding, and with this gesture, he stood in an inconspicuous corner and stared at the court.
Emperor Qianxi walked up to the imperial chair, flicked his yellow robe, and sat down on the imperial chair. He put his hands on the arms of the imperial chair and looked from top to bottom, from the Jinluan Palace to the square outside the Jinluan Palace. Then he said calmly, " Everyone loves you.”
"Thank you, my emperor!"
Everyone got up from the ground after receiving Emperor Qianxi's permission.
The scene in the court hall was mostly similar to the costume dramas performed on television in later generations. The difference was that there were actually two people with seats and the rest were standing.
This treatment shocked Ling Yun.
Sure enough, when he returned to Li's house, after questioning Li Chengyou, he learned that the two people with seats were both inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people. They were the left and right prime ministers of the Daqian Dynasty.
When the ministers stood up, Xiao Lizi opened his voice and said the line that has never changed for thousands of years, "If there is something to do, go to court, if there is nothing to do, leave the court."
Perhaps it was because there was no one below to say anything, Emperor Qianxi leaned back on the imperial chair, yawned slightly, and said lazily, "Dear ladies, do you have a notebook for me?"
The ministers lowered their heads slightly, looked at each other in pairs, and seemed to communicate with their eyes.
After a while, one of them nodded slightly and stood up from the team.
Ling Yun noticed that this person was wearing official uniform and his rank was not very high. Maybe he was a candidate recommended by the big guys to perform.
"Your Majesty, I have written a memorial."
"Um!"
Emperor Qianxi frowned slightly and responded casually.
"Your Majesty, the envoy from Damang Dynasty arrived in the capital two days ago, but has not been able to meet him. Therefore, the envoy from Damang Dynasty asked Your Majesty when the annual tribute issue will be discussed."
Hearing that it was Da Mang's matter, Emperor Qianxi glanced at the man displeased and said angrily, "Huh! Sui Gong, didn't I leave this matter to the Ministry of Husbandry with full authority? If you have anything to do, don't go to the Ministry of Husbandry. Why did you bring this up in court?"
This man's name is Yang Tinghe, and he was the person in charge appointed by Emperor Qianxi three years ago to receive the Da Mang envoy. Due to various reasons, he came forward.
Hearing that Emperor Qianxi threw this mess to Hu Bu, Yang Tinghe instantly turned bitter and sad. He hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty, Hu Bu... did not give any reply to Wei Chen. Furthermore, Da The Mang envoy clamored for an additional ten thousand taels of gold and fifty thousand taels of cloth on the basis of last year's annual tribute."
As soon as these words came out, Emperor Qianxi slammed the table hard, stood up from the imperial chair, stared at Yang Tinghe, stood stunned for a while and said angrily, "What did you say?"
When everyone in the Jinluan Palace saw Emperor Qianxi getting angry, they immediately fell to their knees and said in unison, "I am scared, I hope Your Majesty will calm down!"
Emperor Qianxi glanced at everyone coldly, and wherever he looked, there was a chill in his eyes.
He chuckled dissatisfied and asked, "Ha! Calm down your anger? You teach me how to calm down your anger? Are you all deaf? Didn't you hear what Yang Tinghe said?"
Everyone kept saying that they hoped Emperor Qianxi would calm down. Even though Emperor Qianxi was unhappy, he could only sit back angrily. It wasn't until he said something to calm down that the people below got up.
Emperor Qianxi sat back and pondered for a long time, then looked at Dongfang He, the Minister of Household Affairs, and then looked at the people in the audience, and said solemnly, "Tell me, these ten thousand taels of gold and fifty thousand What should I do with two pieces of cloth? Should I give it or not?"
As soon as Emperor Qianxi finished speaking, someone stood up and said righteously, "Your Majesty, I think this money should be given. After all, spending 10,000 taels of gold and 50,000 taels of cloth can exchange for the stability of the northern towns for one year. At the same time, it can save the people in our frontier areas from being devastated. No matter how the account is calculated, it is our country that will make the profit."
The man who spoke was named Hu Hanbang, and his official position was not low, because he was wearing a fourth-grade official uniform, and judging from his clothes, he was a civil servant.
As soon as Hu Hanbang finished speaking, people in the team stood up one after another and agreed, "I second my opinion."
Emperor Qianxi did not speak, and glanced at the kneeling person below him without salt, and then looked at Dongfang He, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, the meaning of which is self-evident!
Speaking of what Hu Hanbang said just now, Dongfanghe was secretly anxious and sighed in his heart: These people know how to ask for money every day, but they don't even think about it. The salary has been delayed for two months, and the national treasury has not paid it back. Can you afford it?
Ever since Yang Tinghe said the words about increasing the annual tribute, Emperor Qianxi would glance at him from time to time. As an old minister, Dongfang He, of course, what did Emperor Qianxi mean?
It's just that he knew that the treasury was empty and didn't dare to say anything, because at this time there was no money to draw from the treasury.
Emperor Qianxi made several gestures with his eyes, but after waiting for a while, Dongfanghe still couldn't wait for Dongfanghe to take the initiative to speak, so he could only name him and said, "Shang Shu, please tell me whether this money should be paid out."
Emperor Qianxi's words had two meanings. One was the literal meaning, asking him if this business was a good deal; the other meaning was asking him in disguise whether the state treasury could still afford the money.
Dongfang He had mixed feelings in his heart at this time, his eyes were filled with resentment, and he thought that others didn't know if there was money in the treasury. As an emperor, wouldn't you know?
On the surface, Emperor Qianxi was asking questions knowingly, but in fact he was not. Emperor Qianxi just wanted him to stand up and solve this problem.
Dongfang He thought for a moment and said with a stern expression, "Your Majesty, the late emperor signed a year-end tribute agreement with Da Mang when he was still alive. The terms in it have never been changed. However, starting from three years ago, The envoy of Da Mang took matters into his own hands and shamelessly demanded an increase in annual tribute. Such an act of betrayal and betrayal is truly shameless."
"They arbitrarily violated the treaty and demanded that our government increase the annual tribute year by year. Such ambitions are really despicable and shameless. If we meet their demands today, what will happen next year? Do they have to increase it again?"
"Assuming that in the long run, Da Mang's appetite will become bigger and bigger, and the annual tribute demanded will be more and more, then our dynasty will surely fall into a place of no return."
"In this case, in my humble opinion, I should verbally refuse the request of the Mang envoy. I sincerely ask your Majesty to think twice before acting."