It was late at night when the grain team arrived in Chang'an. Twenty miles away from the west city gate, they met officials from the Ministry of Rites waiting with lanterns. When they saw it, a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites hurriedly came forward and knelt down to pay homage, and then conveyed the message to the emperor.
Orally, the others and the captured grain team will enter the city through Mingde Gate at midnight tomorrow.
After receiving the order from the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Liu Tianlin and others immediately left and headed into the city together with the officials of the Ministry of Rites.
Looking at Liu Tianlin and the officials from the Ministry of Rites leaving, Datou said, "Your Majesty, looking at this posture, the Emperor wants to go out of the city to pick you up in person."
Seeing no answer, Yu nodded and said, "Mingde Gate is the gate of the country. The emperor asked the prince to go through the gate of the country, so naturally he had to go out to welcome him in person."
"He has some conscience," Datou said casually. "Not to mention far away, the prince has made several great achievements in recent times. He wiped out all the Japanese pirates in Gupo Mountain. Not only did he recapture Qingyang, but he also surrendered five people.
Thousands of rebels. In addition, we got this life-saving food back from the Western Regions. Each of these is huge..."
Before Da Tou could finish speaking, he waved his hand and interrupted him, "Stop talking, give the order to go down and rest on the spot."
After saying that, everyone on our side immediately went about their business. The bulk went to deliver the order to set up camp. Shi Xuanming and Yang Kai worked together to support the tent, while Yu Yi used the Right Eyes method to rush back to the palace to pick up the official uniforms of everyone on his side. Tomorrow's scene will definitely be very grand.
Everyone on our side should wear official uniforms.
Because it was too late, I didn’t have much conversation with Datou and others after they settled down. The next morning, everyone got up early to dress, and took the opportunity to whisper, “When you see the emperor this time, you must be polite and thorough, and you must not complain or show dissatisfaction.”
.”
After everyone nodded in agreement, he said again, "Also, no matter what the emperor asks you to do, you must do it immediately. Don't look at me."
"What do you mean? What does he want us to do?" Datou was confused.
Shi Xuanming glanced at him and said, "You are usually very smart, but why are you so careless at critical times? Your Majesty means that you must not let the Emperor feel that we only listen to your Majesty and not to him."
"Oh, oh, I understand, I understand." Big Tou nodded repeatedly.
After being properly dressed, everyone led the food team and rushed to the south gate. The boss drove Miss Bai to fly slowly into the air and followed the team forward.
When they were close to the south gate, Da Tou instructed Miss Bai to fold her wings and fly low, "Your Majesty, what's going on?"
That’s not right.”
"What's wrong?" he asked casually.
"Why are there people kneeling outside the south gate?" Datou said.
"Is it an official or a common person?" he asked.
"No, they are prisoners. There are about twenty of them." Datou said.
Hearing Datou's words, everyone on our side looked at each other with great confusion. Everyone on our side returned home in triumph. What did the imperial court do?
Datou continued to look far away, "They are all tied up, with death row signs stuck on their backs. Are they going to kill people in front of us and give us a show of strength?"
Hearing this, he did not answer immediately. After a brief pause, he asked, "What color are the prison uniforms they are wearing?"
"White." Da Tou replied.
"Is it dirty?" he asked again.
"It's not dirty, it's all quite new." Datou said.
Hearing Datou's answer, he knew what he was saying, "If I guess correctly, these prisoners to be executed are all civil servants and officials who have said bad things about us."
Without waiting for Datou and others to answer, he said again, "You guys in Khotan sarcastically complained about me to Fan Jingming, Liu Tianlin and others that day. It is impossible for them not to tell the emperor what you said. The emperor knows that we already know someone.
He said bad things about us behind our backs, so he took this action to give us an explanation."
After saying this, everyone suddenly realized that as mentioned, when Fan Jingming, Liu Tianlin and others rushed to the Western Regions that day, everyone on our side had already learned from Ni Zhuo that while they were not in Chang'an, the officials and officials in the court were slandering and slandering everyone behind their backs.
, I was angry in my heart, and when I saw Fan Jingming, Liu Tianlin and others, I couldn't help but taunt them with guns and sticks. After all the Yulin generals returned to the court, they would definitely inform the emperor about this. In order to appease and comfort everyone on his side, the emperor could only
Arrest and punish officials and officials who have spoken ill of others.
After a short silence, Yang Kai spoke first, "We did this a little hastily. Civil servants slandered us all behind our backs. We shouldn't have gotten the news. After this incident
, the emperor will probably suspect that we have placed spies around him."
"There is no evidence, he is just suspicious," Datou curled his lips and said, "Besides, he is already suspicious and doesn't trust anyone."
He didn't answer the big question, but asked, "What's the scene like outside the south gate?"
Datou replied, "It may not be the hour yet. The emperor and all the civil and military officials have not come. Apart from the death row prisoners, there are only large groups of Yulin troops outside the door. The common people who want to enter the city are blocked outside."
After nodding, he didn't ask any more questions, shook the reins, urged the horse, and continued to move forward.
Datou had a far-sighted vision and could see clearly. When the hour was approaching, the band of the Ministry of Rites came out of the city first, followed by the civil and military officials, and finally the emperor's dragon chariot. Mingde Gate was the national gate, with a total of five door openings. The emperor walked in the middle, and the civil and military officials walked to the left and right.
The band of the Ministry of Etiquette walked to the left and then to the right.
Knowing that the emperor had arrived, everyone on our side sped up and rushed to the south gate after half a stick of incense. A hundred feet away from the dragon chariot, everyone got off their horses and their heads floated to the ground. They followed Yang Kai and others to the station.
The emperor outside Mingde Gate.
When the people dismounted, the ceremonial music immediately started playing, and the music played was a triumphal music, with gongs and drums sounding in unison, majestic and festive, sonorous and powerful, and upright and powerful.
As he walked quickly towards the emperor, he took the opportunity to look at the death row prisoners kneeling on the west side of the city gate from the corner of his eye. His previous guess was correct. These people were indeed civil servants and officials, and many of them were senior officials of fourth rank or above. .??.
The others walked quickly to the north. The emperor walked slowly to the south with a smile on his face, followed closely by the imperial guards such as Liu Tianlin and Fan Jingming.
When they were still ten steps away from the emperor, the others stopped and saluted, "The humble minister Li Jian saw the emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live."
They bowed deeply and bowed their hands. Datou and Yang Kai, who were on the left and right, knelt down and bowed. Shi Xuanming and Yu, who were on the left and right, performed the Namaste salute.
"My beloved, please bow down without any courtesy," the emperor quickly stepped forward, held his arms and gazed, "I have been looking forward to you day and night, and finally I have looked forward to having you back."
"Your Majesty is the True Dragon Emperor, the most respected one in the world," Zhengse said. "This time I condescend to welcome you in person, and I am extremely frightened."
"My beloved is a brave and loyal minister, with huge arms holding up the sky," Your Majesty
He said loudly, "Loyal to the emperor and the country, he sacrificed his life and sacrificed his life, and spared no effort to protect the emperor. I should personally welcome the triumphant master outside the city."
After the emperor finished speaking, he waved to Datou and the others, "These generals fought bravely and bloody battles. They are indeed role models for the armed forces and role models for generals."
After hearing this, Datou and others hurriedly bowed and saluted, expressing their gratitude and humility.
The emperor then took his hand and walked slowly northward, asking questions earnestly and showing great concern as he walked.
Naturally, he could distinguish between true and false. At this moment, he could truly feel that everything the Emperor said and did was sincere, without any pretense.
When walking, you should always be half a step behind the emperor and not shoulder to shoulder with the emperor. As a minister, you must not ignore etiquette just because the emperor values and favors you. There is a difference between the emperor and his ministers. No matter how weak the emperor is, he is still a king, and no matter how strong the minister is, he is still a minister.
The emperor came here in a dragon chariot. When he arrived at the city, he asked the emperor to sit with him. Naturally, he would not be rude and overstepped. He then ordered the boss to fetch Young Master Hei, get on his horse, and accompany him on the right side of the dragon chariot.
It wasn't until the dragon chariot drove up and entered the city tower that he looked back at the civil servants kneeling outside the city. There were two reasons why he had been reluctant to speak before. One was to make sure whether the emperor really wanted to
To kill these civil servants, the second reason is that he hates these civil servants very much. Even if he doesn't kill them, he still has to scare them half to death.
At this time, he had gotten the answer he wanted. The emperor really wanted to kill these civil servants who were instigating the relationship between the emperor and his ministers, and it was not just a show.
After confirming the emperor's attitude, he could only take the initiative to speak. He first asked everyone why they were convicted, knowingly, and then generously excused everyone. He only said that there must be a misunderstanding, and he would wait until the truth was found out before making further arguments.
If he had to choose between the two, the emperor would sacrifice these civil servants without hesitation. Seeing that they were sincerely begging for mercy, the emperor issued an order to suspend the execution and put them in prison.
Those convicted civil servants who thought they were certain to die, but now escaped death, felt very complicated. However, they were deeply prejudiced, and even if they interceded on their behalf, they would not appreciate it.
He was really disgusted with these ignorant and self-righteous civil servants, but he could not kill them all. Military generals were not enough to govern the country...