The silk turmoil in Suzhou was only an insignificant wave, which did not cause any shock to the southeast, and it was silent to the entire Ming Dynasty, and the epicenter of the Ming Dynasty seemed to have always been in the imperial capital.

In the early morning, the capital is shrouded in a thick fog, making this ancient city feel like a fairyland.

Those rows of houses gradually woke up from their sleep, and there were constantly sedan chair teams coming out of the house, looking majestic to the yamen on the side of Dongjiang Rice Lane.

A sedan chair of no lower level came out of Lingshi Hutong and merged into a street with the Five Cities Terracotta Division and Shuntian Hunting to maintain law and order, and soon came to the front of the Zuo Shilang Office of the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

"Uncle Nineteen, it's here!"

Lin Fu asked the sedan chair driver to slowly drop the sedan chair on the blue brick ground, and then stepped forward to pull open the colorful curtain, and reminded the sedan chair respectfully.

Lin Haoran was wearing a crimson three-grade official uniform, his skin looked fair, and his beard was still sparse, but he had grown a lot, especially with a little more official authority, which made the whole person look more mature and stable.

After half a year of serving as the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, he has become familiar with the current rhythm of life and work, and slowly walked out of the sedan chair. First, he glanced up at the familiar waiter plaque, and walked into the office as usual.

Entering the door is the lobby of the left waiter, flanked by the office duty rooms of the officials, and the scribes are also arriving one after another. The scribe had an exclusive residence in the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, so he also arrived here early.

"I've seen Lord Budo!"

The scribe secretly admired Lin Haoran's insistence on coming early every day, so he saluted this diligent and capable Shangguan with respect from the bottom of his heart.

Lin Haoran bowed his head gently, bypassed the main hall, and went to the backyard, directly to his exclusive signing room, and immediately began to deal with affairs. Since this year is the year of Dabi, there are many affairs of the Instrument Division.

Lin Fu followed the usual and brought ginseng tea to Lin Haoran, and then stood outside to be in charge of guarding.

The fog around Beijing slowly dissipated, the heavens and the earth became brighter, and a ray of golden light pierced the sky in the east, kicking off the prelude to the rising sun.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Yamen came one after another, but many of them did not come to their duty rooms, especially those who came later, and they seemed to have come to the second hall of the Ministry of Rites in a hurry.

Absenteeism may be a trivial matter of deducting some money in later generations, but in this era of attaching importance to "cleanliness, prudence, and diligence", this is the "lazy" behavior of officials. Not only will it affect the evaluation of the official, but there have been punishments in all dynasties, and the punishment measures are also varied.

During the Tang Dynasty, the focus was on fines, such as the time of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, civil and military officials went to the court, and those who did not show up for no reason were given a quarter of Lu, and the Tang Dynasty law stipulated: absenteeism for 35 days was sentenced to 1 year in prison.

In this dynasty, the imperial court paid attention to corporal punishment, and was punished with 20 small boards for 1 day of absence, plus one class for every 3 days, and 100 large boards for 20 days.

It is precisely because of this that the officials of this dynasty attach great importance to attendance, and there is even a tragic incident where an official slipped into the river and drowned in order to hurry because his family lived far away.

As the hour approached, these two halls were full of officials.

The officials of the four divisions are all there, and there are also some officials of the Huitongguan, the Casting and Printing Bureau, and the Teaching Workshop Division, and then there are the scribes and the officials who are in the compilation, and the number has reached more than 100 people.

"Xiaguan meets Lin Butang!"

With the appearance of Lin Haoran, all the officials knelt down and bowed.

Lin Haoran did not take a seat in the hall, but stood in the hall and raised his hand with a smile and said: "The main hall is on duty in the West Garden, and today's matters will be handled by the main hall, everyone get up!" ”

If you talk about the degree of hardship, it should be the court members of this dynasty.

Not only his boss Li Chunfang, but also Yan Ne, the secretary of the household department, Wu Shan, the secretary of the ministry, and Zuo Shilang of the ministry in addition to handling the affairs of the yamen, were to take turns in Xiyuan.

It is precisely like this, although the four of them have not yet entered the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister, but in the eyes of many officials, Li Chunfang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Yan Ne, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Wu Shan, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials are already "quasi-cabinet elders".

Since Li Chunfang was on duty in Xiyuan last night, he was destined to be unable to return to the Ministry of Rites on time this morning, so Lin Haoran, the left waiter, was to replace Li Chunfang to preside over the matters of the Ministry of Rites.

It is also for this reason that Lin Haoran, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, often replaces Li Chunfang to preside over the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, coupled with Lin Haoran's excellent work ability, which has virtually elevated his status and influence in the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

"Thank you, Lord Ministry!"

All the officials saluted respectfully, and they rose from the ground.

Lin Fu brought a chair and placed it on the left side of the hall, Lin Haoran sat down on the chair, and said lightly to the official holding the roster: "Name it!" ”

Officials and businessmen in this era were very particular about their personal reputation, and there was rarely fraud in naming names. The roll call officials began to proofread one by one according to the roster, so as to confirm who was not present today.

"Lin Butang, the lower officials have completed the verification, and the priest and priest Li Xi are absent today!" The named officer presented the roster and reported respectfully.

Lin Haoran raised his hand and didn't take the roster, but asked with a gloomy face: "If the main department is not mistaken, Li Xian was absent a total of 28 times last year, and he has been absent 10 times so far this year!" ”

"Not bad!" The roll call officer checked the records and nodded immediately.

Lin Haoran's brows furrowed slightly, and he turned his head to look at Tu Yiying, the priest of the ancestral hall standing in the front row, and asked, "Tu Langzhong, Li Shi is not here because of official business?" ”

All the officials couldn't help but look at Tu Yiying, everyone in the yamen knew that Li Shi was a cronie of Qin Minglei, the right attendant, and Tu Yiying's ancestral priest was in charge of Qin Minglei, so Tu Yiying actually covered for Li Shi.

Tu Yiying met Lin Haoran's gaze, but he arched his hand in a ghostly manner: "Back to the Lin Ministry, the lower officials have not arranged official business for Li Shi, and I don't know why he is absent from work today." ”

Hey?

When the officials heard this unexpected answer, they knew that Li Shi's board could not escape.

Unlike the extremely tolerant Lord of the Main Hall, this Lin Butang is iron-faced and selfless. Not to mention the absence of ordinary scribes, even the absence of Longchi, who had the best relationship with him, was also severely punished.

It is said that the reason why Long Chizhong was absent that day was because he was drunk at Lin Butang's sister's birthday banquet the night before, so he got up late the next day, but he was still heavily punished by Lin Butang.

Now Li Xi is just a small priest in the history of the ancestral priesthood, and he is still a "habitual offender", so naturally he can't escape this board.

"I can't have such a loose warden! Tu Langzhong, you will recommend a candidate to succeed Li Shi today, and I will discuss it with the main hall when I turn around. However, if you are still such a casual person, you will not escape the blame! Lin Haoran's face was slightly straight, and he immediately made a decision.

This......

When the officials heard that Lin Haoran was not going to beat Li Shi's board, but to directly dismiss Li Shi's position, they couldn't help but widen their eyes. While being shocked, he couldn't help but feel a little more in awe of Lin Haoran.

Although in the eyes of a big man like Lin Haoran, Li Xian is just an insignificant scribe, in the eyes of their scribes, the warden is already their greatest pursuit in life.

But a character like Li Xian, and he also climbed the towering tree of thunder, but this Lin Butang said that he would be exempted, and there seemed to be no room for tolerance.