Liu Dahai smiled and arched his hand and said, "Then borrow my father-in-law's auspicious words!" ”

The eunuch pinched the orchid finger and said, "Our family is just telling the truth, but it's nothing!" However, today's teaching of etiquette to Lord Liu can't be said to be a little offended! After all, this involves the face of the heavenly family, and it should not be ignored! ”

Liu Dahai immediately said with a smile: "The two fathers-in-law don't have to worry, they must study hard and live up to the hard work of the two fathers-in-law!" ”

The other eunuch nodded and said, "Okay, since that's the case, let's get started." Let's talk about you first, our family name is Zhang, and his surname is Li. ”

Liu Dahai stretched out his hand to make a gesture of invitation, and said, "Father-in-law Zhang, Father-in-law Li, please inside!" ”

After Liu Dahai invited the two of them into the room, Gonggong Zhang first took a tooth card to eliminate evil and said, "Lord Liu has put it away, this is the tooth card to enter the noon gate!" You can't enter the noon gate without a brand, and maybe you will be taken down by the Han general! When you get out of the noon gate, someone will take it back. ”

The officials of the Ming Dynasty were called "court officials" and "Beijing officials", and they all wore tooth plates to enter and leave the court. In order to facilitate the court, most of them chose houses to live in the south of the city, "such as the east and west Chang'an Streets, the court officials live the most".

Liu Dahai asked about the usage of the tooth card and carefully put it away. Subsequently, the two eunuchs explained to Liu Dahai in detail the relevant knowledge and etiquette of the court meeting, and repeatedly rehearsed. Liu Dahai knew that this matter was not a trivial matter, so he naturally studied hard. So I quickly mastered the relevant etiquette.

At noon, after the two eunuchs took Liu Dahai to rehearse several times, and after making sure that he had learned, Eunuch Zhang smiled and said, "Lord Liu is really a genius of Tianzhong!" It's a ritual that you learn much faster than anyone else! ”

Liu Dahai said with a smile: "This is naturally taught by the two fathers-in-law!" It's still early now, so why don't you invite the two of you to a public banquet? ”

The two eunuchs showed a look of pity on their faces, and Eunuch Li said, "Our family thanks Lord Liu for his kindness!" It's just that our family needs to go back to recover their lives, I'm afraid we won't be able to stay for a long time! ”

Liu Dahai nodded and said, "Since this is the case, the lower officials will not keep the two fathers-in-law!" The lower official gave the two fathers-in-law a little tea money, and the two fathers-in-law also treated themselves when they were free. ”

After speaking, he gave two eunuchs a big ingot, each with a big ingot. Eunuchs like them don't have much time to collect foreign money on weekdays. In addition, they are physically disabled, and some are not recognized by the people, and there are no people who even support the elderly. In order to be able to spend their old age in peace, they are generally interested in money! When it's okay, you have to find a way to get some silver, and now someone is giving money generously, so the two of them are very happy.

Eunuch Zhang said: "Lord Liu is really bold! In that case, our family

It won't hurt Lord Liu. When I go to court tomorrow, Lao Liu is on duty, and our family will say hello to him and ask him to travel conveniently with adults. ”

Liu Dahai was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly stuffed three more ingots of silver into them, and said, "This official has a thank you gift here, so please ask the two fathers-in-law to hand it over on their behalf." ”

When the two eunuchs saw Liu Dahai stuffing three ingots, they also knew what he meant. and a bar was withheld by them. So at the moment, I thanked Liu Dahai for my gratitude and turned back.

It sounds like the name of the early dynasty is very atmospheric, but in fact, the early dynasty is very unscientific. Because since it is called the early dynasty, it can be set very early. Before the morning court, the minister must get up at midnight and prepare to stop before heading to the noon gate. At about three o'clock in the morning, the ministers arrived outside the noon gate to wait.

The noon gate is the main gate of the Forbidden City, the middle is the imperial road, which is usually not opened, and the left and right sides are for the general on duty and the guards to carry the staff and flag school and other people to enter and exit. And open a door on the left and right sides, called the left and right doors, this is the door for hundreds of officials to enter the court. The name of the upper floor of the noon gate is "five phoenixes", and there is a bell and a drum set up, which is controlled by the eunuch of the bell and drum division.

In the early morning of the next day, Liu Dahai got up to clean up and prepare to attend the court meeting. By the time Liu Dahai arrived outside the noon gate, it was already a cloud of cars and horses. Many people know that there is a very large envoy from the Ryukyus. At the same time, many people also took the pretext of getting acquainted with overseas envoys and learning about overseas customs to go to Liu Dahai to eat and drink. So Liu Dahai's popularity is good.

As soon as Liu Dahai got off the carriage, many officials came over to greet him. Congratulations to Liu Dahai for doing a beautiful errand. It can be seen that at this time, the court of the Ming Dynasty is not much stronger than a sieve. Moreover, many officials hinted that Liu Dahai had made a lot of efforts in the canonization of the matter. Liu Dahai could only answer them one by one with a smile, and then dealt with them.

As soon as the crowd dispersed, a eunuch approached. When he saw Liu Dahai, he said with a smile: "Our family has seen Lord Liu!" Our family's surname is Liu. Lao Zhang and the two of them have already brought a message to our family, asking our family to take care of the adults. Lord Liu rest assured, follow our family for a while, there will be no mistakes! ”

Liu Dahai immediately understood that this was the old Liu that the two eunuchs said yesterday. Today is the messenger on duty in front of the temple. So Liu Dahai immediately arched his hand and said, "There is Father-in-law Lao." ”

Father-in-law Liu waved the dust in his hand and said, "Lord Liu, you are polite to our family!" Our family and you may still be the same clan 500 years ago, and we must take care of it! Lord Liu, please come with us. ”

After Liu Gonggong finished speaking, he led the way in front, and Liu Dahai followed behind. Soon they came to a small courtroom. There was a table and a few chairs inside. There were also snacks on the table.

The so-called court house is an ordinary small house. In order to make it easier for officials to wait for the court

"To be leaked", the imperial court built a number of court houses in the imperial city, and the officials sat here according to their grades, waiting for the palace door to open.

As a preferential treatment for the close ministers, there is a special straight room in the end door, the south of the right gate is the straight room of the Jinyi guard, the next three rooms are the Hanlin straight room, when waiting for the dynasty, the university scholar lives in the north wing, the bachelors are in the wing, and the rest is in the south wing. In addition, there are five straight rooms on the left side of the end gate, which are also called "board houses", which are the places of the James's Mansion, the left and right Chunfang and the officials of the Department of Economic Affairs and the Hou Dynasty.

Gonggong Liu said with a smile: "Lord Liu, because this court room is too small, few people come. Later, it was changed to a resting place for the palace watchmen. So no one is going to come here. At this moment, it is still early before the time of the last dynasty, and Lord Liu can take a rest. Don't worry about missing the morning court, we'll call you later. ”

Liu Dahai arched his hand and said: "Let my father-in-law bother!" ”

Gonggong Liu waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay." No one used this room anyway. If you are hungry, eat some snacks. It's just that this tea should be drunk a little less, so as not to be sad during the meeting. There are still things outside our house, so I won't accompany Lord Liu. ”

Liu Dahai said: "Thank you father-in-law for your advice." ”

Then the two exchanged a few words, and Gonggong Liu went out. Liu Dahai walked around the room a few times and rested on a chair. As for sleeping, I dare not sleep. If something goes wrong, it's not good if something goes bad. But it's still necessary to sit in a chair and take a break.

So Liu Dahai closed his eyes and took a nap on the chair. After a while, Liu Dahai heard footsteps approaching outside the door. Liu Dahai hurriedly stood up and sorted out his clothes. As soon as the door curtain was lifted, Father-in-law Liu walked in and said, "Lord Liu, come with us." It's time to line up, and we'll take you to your standings. ”

In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu (1391), because the civil and military officials entered the court before, they often rushed to be the first and were extremely chaotic, so it was stipulated that "the general entered first, the second close service official, the second prince and the marquis, the second five prefectures and six departments, and the second should be the heavenly government and miscellaneous officials in Beijing".

In the first year of Tianshun (1457), because the guards and court officials were often crowded, it was stipulated separately that when the third drum sounded, the two doors were opened first, and the official military flag school was placed first, and the hundred officials lined up in order in front of the door, and then opened the door after the bell rang.

So, usually around five o'clock in the morning, the officials began to enter the palace. Civil officials enter through the left gate, and military attaches enter through the right gate, and they are first arranged in the south of the Jinshui Bridge according to their ranks.

Liu Dahai was led by Gonggong Liu to the front of the left door. Gonggong Liu pointed to a team of officials and said to Liu Dahai: "Lord Liu, you are standing here. When the left-hand door opens, you just follow the team inside. It's just that it's not under our family's control, and Lord Liu is careful of losing his manners. ”