Jia Yujing of Red Mansion

Chapter 155

Early the next morning, just after the fourth watch, Jia Qiong got up. Although his movements were very gentle, he still woke up Wang Yuyan.

Wang Yuyan knew that he was going to the morning court, so she endured the sleepiness.

Jia Qiong said: "Yu Yan, just go back to sleep. There's no need to get up."

Wang Yuyan yawned and said, "How about that? Today is your first time going to court."

Wang Yuyan and Jia Qiong had breakfast together at three o'clock in the morning, put him into the sixth-grade official uniform for the first time, watched him go out, and then went back to his room to catch up on his sleep.

Why doesn't Jia Qiong wear a bullfighting uniform today? It's mainly to keep a low profile.

Otherwise, a red-robed county magistrate standing among a group of green-robed magistrates would be too eye-catching and would easily make people dislike him.

Da Chu's morning court time changes with the seasons, and it will be held at dawn, so the ministers must rush to the palace in the dark.

The other three seasons are fine. If you get up so early in the winter and run outside to freeze, you know how sour it would feel.

Therefore, in order to stimulate the enthusiasm of courtiers to attend the morning court, the court established a strict attendance system. Being late or absent without asking for leave would be punished.

At first, he would be fined one month's salary each time, and after the number of punishments reached ten times, he would be punished with a cane.

If you have accumulated 35 iron fists, congratulations, you will be given a single room in the Ministry of Punishment Prison, including food and accommodation, for life.

Therefore, an official has up to 34 opportunities to skip work and attend morning court in his lifetime.

Jia Qiong also complained about this very inhumane early morning time.

Fortunately, there are more noon dynasties in Dachu now. They only go to the monastery in the morning on Mondays and Fridays, and at other times they have noon dynasties.

Jia Qiong arrived earlier. After receiving the examination at Zhengyang Gate, he strolled slowly to Chengtian Gate.

Except for some veterans and meritorious ministers who have the emperor's permission, no one else is allowed to ride horses or sedans in the palace, so Jia Qiong can only walk.

Outside Chengtian Gate, some officials had gathered at this time, most of them were relatively low-ranking officials.

Jia Qiong consciously walked to the back row of the left side of the line where the civil servants were. This was the territory of the thirteen censors and the six subjects.

Yu Jie, Yuan Qing, and Chen Guofeng were talking quietly together.

The three of them all came from Wansong Academy, and they are now Jia Qiong's firm support in the court.

Yu Jie and Chen Guofeng are all familiar with Jia Qiong, but Yuan Qing and Jia Qiong are the only ones who don't know them yet.

Seeing Jia Qiong coming over, Yu Jie asked in surprise: "Yu Jing, why are you here?"

Jia Qiong cupped her fists and said, "Brother Yu, Brother Chen. Your Majesty ordered me to come to the morning court today to report the case."

Chen Guofeng asked: "But because of the incident where you sent troops to Da'anfang yesterday?"

"Exactly."

Yu Jie nodded, then pointed to Yuan Qing next to him and introduced: "Yu Jing, this is senior brother Yuan Qing, you probably haven't seen him before.

He was a Jinshi in the 13th year of Longqing's reign. He also studied at Wansong Academy and is currently the censor of Sichuan Taoism. "

Jia Qiong cupped his hands and said, "Oh, it turns out to be Senior Brother Yuan, whose name I have admired for a long time."

Yuan Qing cupped his hands and said with a smile: "I don't have any famous name, but Junior Brother Jia's name is really astonishing."

Chen Guofeng asked curiously: "What happened yesterday? I heard that even the Jinyi Guards were dispatched. The battle was quite big."

"That's right, a few days ago, I accidentally discovered a woman who was abducting and trafficking women..."

As Jia Qiong was talking, he suddenly heard someone behind him asking: "Yu Jing, why are you here?"

He turned around, but it was Wang Yu who had just come to court.

He hurriedly cupped his hands and replied: "Second uncle, the emperor has ordered me to go to court today to report something."

Yu Jie and the other two people also hurriedly bowed to the ceremony. Wang Yu nodded and said, "This is your first time going to court. Please be careful during the prelude and don't lose etiquette."

"Yes."

Wang Yu only gave one instruction without saying anything else, and passed them to the front row.

Jia Qiong turned around and continued to explain the case to the three of them. Unexpectedly, after just a few sentences, another voice came from behind: "Yu Jing, why are you here?"

This time it was Yang Sicheng, a scholar of Wuyingdian Palace. Jia Qiong quickly greeted him and repeated what he had just said to Wang Yu.

Yang Sicheng nodded, encouraged him a few words, and strolled forward.

When it came time to start the court, Jia Qiong didn't finish talking to Yu Jie and others because people kept coming over and asking him: Yu Jing, why are you here?

When the sky was dim, with a melodious bell, Chengtian Gate was slowly pushed open, and civil and military officials lined up and entered one after another.

Jia Qiong followed the team and walked slowly for about four or five minutes before finally entering the Fengtian Hall.

At this time, Emperor Longqing had not come yet. After all, there was no reason for the emperor to wait for his ministers.

All the ministers stood quietly holding the wat tablets and waiting, no one whispered to each other.The black gauze hats worn by officials all have two long ears, which will be obvious if they make any small movements.

When going to court, behind the official queue stood Honglu Temple officials who were responsible for observing discipline.

If you are found to be undisciplined at this time, the correction officer will come out on the spot to teach you how to behave.

After waiting for about two or three minutes, Emperor Longqing arrived. Dai Quan shouted: "The Emperor has arrived."

All civil and military officials bowed and saluted at the same time.

"The ministers are waiting to see the emperor."

"All the gentlemen are flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Da Chu was a Han dynasty, and etiquette continued from the Song Dynasty. Under normal circumstances, ministers did not need to kneel to the emperor.

It is only necessary to kowtow under special circumstances such as receiving orders, asking for forgiveness, expressing gratitude, etc. This is also one of the benefits of being an official.

The same is true when going to court. Only in some ceremonial court gatherings, such as the first day of the lunar calendar, the winter solstice, the emperor's birthday and other major court gatherings, can there be scenes of kneeling and worshiping the mountain and shouting "Long Live the Mountain".

After Emperor Longqing sat down, he asked: "Do you have anything to report to your family?"

Luo Jin, the scholar of Wenhua Palace, was the first to go out and said: "To inform the emperor, the cabinet received a report from Shi Nai, governor of Shandong, yesterday.

There was a severe drought in the Central Plains last year, and this year there is still insufficient rain. A large increase in the number of locusts has been found in many places in Shandong.

If there is still not enough rain in the near future, a large-scale locust plague may break out in the north after summer. Please prepare early. "

Emperor Longqing frowned when he heard this and said, "Does the cabinet have any countermeasures?"

Luo Jin returned: "Back to the emperor, I think we should send an order to the northern provinces to strengthen prevention and teach the people in advance how to prevent and control locusts."

Emperor Longqing said: “If a locust plague occurs, how effective can prevention be?

The Ministry of Household Affairs also needs to be prepared for disaster relief. In the event of a large-scale locust plague, money and food must be quickly allocated for disaster relief. "

Luo Jin said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, there have been severe disasters in recent years. Hubu Yin has been struggling to make ends meet.

The floods in the south of the Yangtze River greatly reduced taxes the year before last, and last year there was a severe drought in the Central Plains. The imperial court exempted the four northern provinces from land taxes for three years. Now the state treasury really can't come up with the money! "

Emperor Longqing said with a straight face: "Disaster relief is urgent. If you have any difficulties, just find a solution for me. Otherwise, what do you do as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?"

The internal treasury can provide 50 taels of silver to purchase grain first, and within a month, the Ministry of Household Affairs must raise another 100 million taels. "

When Emperor Longqing mentioned this, Luo Jin had no choice but to accept the order and returned to court with a sad face.

Ji Hongzhang then went out to report.

"Your Majesty, news has come back from Qianhu Station in Ningxia Town.

In late April, the leader of Sivara, Choros Mahamu, led [-] cavalry to raid the royal court of Yinshan.

The Tatar King Chahan was defeated and led his remaining troops to flee northwest without trace.

Now the Oara army has basically occupied the Hetao Plain. "

Emperor Longqing frowned and said, "Don't the Tatars still have [-] to [-] cavalry? How can they be so vulnerable?"

Ji Hongzhang replied: "For your information, Your Majesty, after Cha Khan succeeded to the throne, he first invaded our dynasty and was defeated and returned.

Later, the plan to attack the Western Regions was frustrated again, and his prestige was seriously lacking. Many Tatar leaders were dissatisfied.

This time Mahamu attacked the Yinshan Royal Court. Many leaders had secretly surrendered to the enemy and defected before the battle, which was why Chahan was defeated so quickly. "

Emperor Longqing nodded and said: "The Tatars have left, and Oara has come again. What do you think of this matter?"

Yang Sicheng, a scholar of Wuyingdian Palace, came out and said: "Your Majesty, it's no big deal that the Tatars are lost dogs, but the Oara people are a pack of hungry wolves.

After the Oara people occupy Hetao, they can attack our country simultaneously from three directions: Shaanxi, Shanxi and Jizhou.

Once the situation in the Hetao stabilizes, there is no guarantee that Wala will not attack the border. The situation is not optimistic.

The minister thought that the order should be sent to all the tribes in the border towns immediately, to pay close attention to the movements of the Oara tribes, and to actively prepare for war in case of any eventuality. "

Li Shirui then went out and said: "Your Majesty, the situation on the border has been stable in recent years, with few wars. I am afraid that the border army generals have become slack.

The minister thought that he could appoint important ministers from the DPRK to inspect the nine borders to boost the morale of the army. "

Emperor Longqing pondered for a moment and said: "The cabinet, together with the Fifth Army Commander's Office and the Ministry of War, will first draft a charter."

"promise."

Wang Shuirong of Beijing then left the mission and said: "Your Majesty, Admiral Wu Wei of the Guangzhou Navy reported that a red-haired fleet was intercepted in the South China Sea recently..."

(End of this chapter)