PS: The low-grade fever has not gone away, struggling to code out a chapter, friends, please forgive me. ）

Compared with the New Year's Day ceremony, the Lantern Festival is relatively much simpler - but all kinds of etiquette are still cumbersome enough to scare people to death, flags, 纷, 旌, flags, knives, guns, canes and halberds and other ritual instruments from Tiananmen Square have been inserted to the place of the court meeting Taihe Diandan His Majesty, in addition to these, there are other Wang chariots and trained elephants on display outside the noon gate, and there are eight pieces of gold such as gold bottles, gold boxes, gold bowls and gold pots outside the Taihe Palace, as well as the Luan Yiwei Bucha outside the Taihe Gate, Zhonghe Shao music in front of the Taihe Palace, chimes, braids, qin, se, flute, sheng, flute, drums and dozens of other musical instruments, the scene is magnificent. But behind the brilliance, the officials of the Ministry of Rites have not slept for several days, busy in the dark, covered in stinky sweat, so that the big thing has not been delayed.

However, compared with the officials and workers of the Ministry of Rites who were only busy behind the scenes, the civil and military officials who participated in the Great Dynasty were another kind of hard work. As early as one o'clock in the morning equivalent to the 21st century, you have to crawl out of the warm quilt to freshen up, dress up, wear different dresses according to the size of your official position, and wear yellow coats and flower feathers for special purposes, and rush to the noon gate to wait for the evening in the cold wind and snowflakes. When officials who live far away from the Forbidden City meet, they want to sleep the night before, and wait all night outside the Forbidden City for the eight and a half pounds on their heads. There is even more hard - that is, officials with bad breath, in order to prevent the emperor's little master from being smoked, these officials have to eat some light food mixed with clove leaves in advance, and they can't eat too much to avoid internal urgency, all kinds of troubles and troubles can not be described one by one.

Maybe it is the beauty of the heavens, with the intention of bless the Kangxi Emperor who was called the holy ancestor Lafayette by the Qing history, and the heavy snow for several days in a row was contained in the afternoon of the first day of the Lantern Festival, and when it was almost the early morning of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the strong wind that blew all night suddenly became much smaller, and the civil and military officials who were energetic and shivering in the cold wind in front of the noon gate were all as good as being amnesty, and they rushed to praise the Hongfu Qitian of the little Buddha of Kangxi, thinking that the cold wind that pierced the skin and bones was blessed by the blessing of the little Buddha of Kangxi.

"Alas, the wind has finally stopped, and if it blows any longer, I'm afraid that my old life will have to be confessed here." Xiong Ci, a scholar of the Yingwu Palace, stomped his feet, rubbing his hands that were numb and red from the cold, and said happily. Suo Etu, the bachelor who was tied to him, was also bent his neck and rubbed his hands and stomped his feet, Suo Etu stole a glance at Ao Bai and Ji Bilong, who were standing at the forefront of the hundred officials, and echoed in his voice: "Yes, I didn't expect this to be spring, the sky in this Beijing city is still so cold, it is even colder than our full Shengjing hometown." ”

"Then you can go back to Shengjing!" Xiong Cilu muttered in his heart, looked left and right, and asked Suo Etu in a low voice: "Lord Suo, the envoys of the Manchu Dynasty and the foreign vassals have all arrived, but why hasn't Wu Yingxiong, the son of Wu Sangui, come yet?" Last night, I saw a fire burning in Shihu Hutong, could it be that something happened to Wu Yingxiong? ”

Xiong Cilu is a member of Kangxi's family, and Suo Etu has nothing to hide from him, so he whispered in his ear: "It was the Lord who sent Hu Gongshan to Wu Yingxiong's house to get Wu Sangui's secret letter, which was originally to use Wu Sangui's tribute to transfer the tiger away from the mountain. As a result, Hu Gongshan was ambushed and never came back, so angry that the lord and the empress dowager didn't sleep all night last night, and the lord shed tears. ”

"Hu Gong Mountain was ambushed?" Xiong Cilu was taken aback, and said in a low voice: "It's too bad now, Hu Gongshan is not only the number one martial arts master under the Empress Dowager, but also in charge of the errands of the Thirteen Yamen, and his death to the Lord is equivalent to missing a pair of eyes." ”

"However, Hu Gongshan did not die in vain, according to the eyeliner report in the ambush of Wu Yingxiong's house, all the tributes paid by Wu Sangui to the lord have been burned by Hu Gongshan." Suo Etu said with a smile: "Poor protection of tribute is a capital crime of great disrespect, and when you get to the court, Lord Xiong, you just wait to see a good show." ”

"Failure to protect tribute is indeed a capital offense of great disrespect. But the problem is that the Lord does not dare to cure Wu Yingxiong's sin at all. Xiong Cixu was not as optimistic as Suo Etu, and said in a deep voice: "According to the old man, the lord also reprimanded Wu Yingxiong for the matter of tribute, so that Wu Yingxiong was short of breath when he opened his mouth to ask for military salaries. ”

"It's late, it's late, I'm sorry." Xiong Cixu and Suo Etu were talking in a low voice, and the object of their conversation, Wu Yingxiong, was wearing a dazzling official hat and a nine-python five-clawed official robe with a crane patch, and he was sweating profusely and ran to the ranks of hundreds of officials, looking around to find his position. Wu Yuanming, who couldn't run up, wiped his sweat and asked Suo Etu: "Master Suo, I'm late, according to the rules, should I stand there?" ”

"Shizi, you are a first-class minister, and you are a person from the Eight Banners of the Han Army, you should stand behind the university scholar Xiong Cixu." Suo Etu pointed behind Xiong Cixu, and smiled at Wu Yuanming with a slight mockery: "Shizi, are you going to meet Jun in such a disheveled manner?" Let's tidy up your clothes. Wu Yuanming smiled embarrassedly, hurriedly straightened his official hat, and tidied up the messy official robe. Ao Bai in front of him turned around and asked Wu Yuanming, "Virtuous nephew, I heard that there were assassins in your house last night and burned down King Pingxi's tribute convoy?" I don't know what about the loss? Have you ever been injured? When he said this, Aobai's wrinkled old face smiled into a chrysanthemum, which showed the pride in his heart.

"Uncle Domon is concerned, the assassin did not hurt the little nephew." Wu Yuanming smiled on his face, but he couldn't wait to kick on the old face of Aobai, these days Wu Yuanming has been standing on the front line and fighting openly and secretly with the people of Kangxi's lineage, but Aobai, a good uncle, has been hiding behind to watch the excitement, letting Wu Yuanming and Kangxi fight in the dark, and in the end it is the old man who worships the fish. Wu Yuanming has already made up his mind, as soon as the matter of military salary is over, he has to try to ease the relationship with Kangxi, and he can no longer be a gunman for Aobai.

"Shizi, what about the tribute of the king of Pingxi? King Pingxi paid tribute to the emperor, so there can't be a problem. Bambulshan and Wu Yuanming are now half allies, and they also poked their heads out of the ranks of the full officials and asked worriedly. Wu Yuanming shrugged his shoulders and smiled, spread his hands and said, "It's burned out, except for the most precious tribute, all the others are burned out." Wu Yuanming didn't lie when he said this, in order to lure Hu Gongshan to the bait last night, Wu Yuanming deliberately let Li Yuliang set fire to the tribute convoy - anyway, the valuable things have basically been sold by Wu Yuanming, and there is no surplus of those worthless dry goods such as Pu'er tea, black kohlrabi, white medicine, dried mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, gastrodia and eucommia.

"All burned out? Only one tribute left? Then how do you see the emperor? "Bambulshan was anxious when he heard it, since ancient times, the foreign feudal lords entered the palace to see him, this tribute to the emperor is an indispensable gift for his subordinates, Wu Yuanming only has one tribute left, how can he get it? How do you talk at the court? Without waiting for Wu Yuanming to answer, the drums sounded twice in the noon gate, and it was already time to order, and Bamburshan had no choice but to stand back in his original position and wait for the point.

In a short time, the point was completed, and all the hundred officials except for two who were sick arrived, and the civil and military officials were divided into two teams to enter the Forbidden City from the east and west gates of the noon gate, and stood at His Majesty Taihe Diandan according to their identity, rank and yamen. After another moment, the forbidden whip sounded three times, and the music outside the Taihe Hall played the "Flying Dragon Song", in the magnificent music, Kangxi wore a Ming Huang dragon robe and boarded the dragon chair located in the middle of the Taihe Palace, and the civil and military officials immediately knelt down in a piece, knelt three times and knocked nine times, and shouted in unison, "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

Before the change, after kneeling three times and bowing nine times, Kangxi should say "all the lovers are flat" and let everyone stand up and finish the job, but today is different, among the ministers who bowed their heads in the hall, there was actually one person standing tall among the officials who bowed down in the hall, looking so outstanding. Kangxi looked at the man carefully under curiosity, and suddenly the pockmarks on his face were so angry that he was squeezed into a ball, and Kangxi shouted: "Wu Yingxiong, why don't you bow down to me?" ”

"Back to the emperor, Wechen encountered an assassin last night, causing Wechen to be injured in the leg and unable to kneel." Wu Yuanming snorted and said: "Ouch, long live the emperor, Wechen knows that you are sympathetic to your subordinates, and you will not force your subordinates to make things difficult, and you will give Weichen a seat." But Weichen still has to kowtow to you and kowtow to the emperor! Humming in his mouth, Wu Yuanming seemed to be trying very hard to bend down and kneel, but every time his waist was bent halfway, his face straightened up with pain, and so on.

"Okay, if you can't kneel, you won't kneel." Kangxi didn't know that Wu Yingxiong was unwilling to kneel down to him to find an excuse, but before he brought down Aobai, no matter how big the grievance Kangxi was, he could only knock out his teeth and swallow blood. Kangxi waved his hand and said: "Everyone Aiqing is flat, and give the wisdom of the monks Ao Taishi, Curbing Taishi, Wu Yingxiong, and Geng Jimei a seat." ”

"Wow!" The inner supervisors brought five chairs and put them in the hall, Wu Yuanming's legs and feet were also extremely flexible at this time, and he sat on the chair with a thank you, and his arrogant and domineering appearance really confirmed the old saying that the villain is ambitious. At this time, Zhang Wanqiang, the eunuch beside Kangxi, sang: "The three feudal lords!" Geng Jimei, who was sitting at the head of Wu Yuanming, hurriedly took out a thick list of tributes from his sleeves, handed his hands to the little eunuchs in the hall, and they handed them over to Kangxi, but Wu Yuanming did not move.

"Shizi, the list of tributes paid by the king of Pingxi, the list of gifts." The little eunuch standing opposite Wu Yuanming reminded in a low voice. Wu Yuanming woke up from a dream and hugged his fist to Kangxi and said: "Your Majesty, the guilty minister deserves to die, the carriage of the guilty minister's father carrying the tribute was accidentally set on fire by the thieves who entered the palace last night, and most of the tribute that my father presented to the emperor was also burned by the fire, so I didn't make a list." ”

"Wu Yingxiong, why do you keep encountering assassins?" Kangxi sneered: "I have so many princes in the Great Qing Kingdom, I'm afraid that the assassins they encounter will not be as many as yours, right?" ”

"Because Weichen's father and son have been loyal for generations, Li Chuang's Yu Rebellion, the Yu Dang of the former Ming Tang Dynasty and King Gui, the Yu Dang of the Mu family in Yunnan, and the Zheng family in Taiwan, they all regard our father and son as a thorn in the eye, a thorn in the flesh, and they always think about framing and assassinating Weichen's father and son." Speaking of this, Wu Yuanming wiped away a handful of tears and choked up: "Sometimes, Weichen asks himself at the bottom, asking himself why can't he be like other princes Baylor, you are less loyal to the emperor, and you are a little less loyal to the emperor, and you are a little less dedicated to the emperor?" Then there is no need to offend so many enemies and attract so many assassins. But Weichen can't do it, because Weichen's loyalty to the Lord can be expressed in the world, the sun and the moon can be seen, it is easy to get Weichen's head on the head, and it is impossible to change the loyalty of Weichen's father and son to the emperor! ”

"Hehe, Wu Qing said that I am well aware of the loyalty of your father and son and the other princes and Belle to me." Although Kangxi already hated Wu Yuanming to the core, he was still quite comfortable after hearing Wu Yuanming's words - after all, Wu Sangui's family loved the Xinjue Luo family for them, but they offended the Han people all over the world. Having said that, Kangxi didn't want to continue to ask Wu Yuanming on the issue of tribute, so he just turned his gaze to the face of Shang Shuzhu of the Criminal Department. Mingzhu understood, and immediately stood up and said: "Qiqi Sheng, Wu Shizi said that he is loyal to the emperor, and Chen Mingzhu really doesn't dare to agree. ”

"Another old rival of our Wu family is here." Wu Yuanming muttered in his heart and glanced at the big red pearl in Kangxi's family, and saw that he was born with beautiful eyebrows and a face like a crown of jade, quite a bit of a handsome son. Wu Yuanming knew that this pearl was not easy to deal with, so he hurriedly asked: "Lord Ming, is Wu Yingxiong not loyal enough to the emperor in any way?" I also hope that Lord Ming will advise. ”

"Shizi, according to Mingzhu's inadvertent knowledge, the team sent by the King of Pingxi to Beijing to pay tribute this time brought more than 100 carts of tribute." Mingzhu clasped his hands into fists, stared at Wu Yuanming without humility or arrogance, and said: "But the prince was escorted into the mansion last night to prepare for the tribute to the saint, and there were less than twenty of them, how can this be explained?" What about the other tributes? Where are you again? ”

"I sold or gave it away." Wu Yuanming replied casually. As soon as Wu Yuanming's voice fell, the Manchu Dynasty was in an uproar, Kangxi didn't expect Wu Yuanming to answer so happily, and after a long time, he slapped the dragon case and shouted angrily: "Wu Yingxiong, you are so bold, you dare to steal and sell tribute?" Are you guilty? ”

"Your Majesty, what is the crime of Weichen?" Wu Yuanming spread out his hand and said with an innocent face: "My father sent someone to send Yungui specialties to Beijing, one is to present the emperor, the other is to give them to our Wu family's relatives and friends in Beijing, and the third is that Weichen should also leave some money to make up for the family." As for how much the tribute to the emperor is, my father didn't say it, and the emperor didn't say how much you wanted, so the local products sent by my father are not tributes. Weichen disposed of it in private, it shouldn't be considered a theft of tribute, right? ”

"It's ......." Kangxi knew that Wu Yuanming's mouth was powerful, and he didn't dare to interface with Wu Yuanming again, and threw a look at Mingzhu again. Mingzhu immediately stood up again and said: "Shizi, even if you have some truth, but the prince of heaven and earth, the prince is the minister, and the tribute sent by the king of Pingxi, why do you choose those most worthless medicinal materials and native products to pay tribute?" Why did you sell all the most precious tributes to enrich your own pockets? Also, all the tributes that your father paid to the emperor were burned by the assassins, and you are also guilty of disrespect for not protecting the tribute well! ”

"Who said I sold all the most precious tribute? Who said that all the tributes that my father paid to the emperor were burned? Wu Yuanming asked aggressively. That arrogant and domineering appearance made Kangxi unhappy for a while, and he shouted again: "Wu Yingxiong, this is the Taihe Hall of Hundred Officials, Hugh is rude." ”

"Yes, Wechen obeys." Wu Yuanming also found that his attitude was a little too much, so he hurriedly changed his tone. Mingzhu over there also asked: "Listening to the tone of the prince, could it be that the most precious tribute paid by King Pingxi to the emperor is still there?" The prince was not sold? And it was not burned either? ”

"Of course." Wu Yuanming looked around at the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and said with a wicked smile: "Wu Yingxiong has indeed only brought one tribute to the current emperor Long Live the Emperor this time, but the preciousness of this tribute is far higher than the sum of other tributes. Not to mention the tributes that my father has paid to the emperor over the years, even the tributes that all the princes and ministers of our Qing Dynasty have paid to the emperor combined, and they are not as good as the one I offer today. ”

"Shizi, you're talking too much, aren't you? Not afraid of being blown by the wind? Mingzhu sneered, and said in his heart that the total value of the rare antiques, jewelry, jade, etc., which have been paid tribute to Kangxi from all over the country over the years, has exceeded 30 million taels of silver, and Wu Sangui is in charge of the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, which have little food and few people, even if he scrapes the ground, he will never be able to get such a precious treasure.

"Hearing is false, seeing is clear." Wu Yuanming said with a smile: "After a while, the tribute paid by the micro-ministers to the emperor was brought up, and in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, as long as there was an adult who said that the tribute below was not precious enough, then Wu Yingxiong was willing to lead the crime of the king's words." ”