The busiest yamen in Ezhou is the Ministry of Rites. From Deng Su, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, the Department of Rites, the Department of Ancestral Halls, the Department of Host and Guest, and the Department of Catering are all busy day and night for the second great ceremony meeting. According to the officials of the Ministry of Rites, there was a threat of the Liao army going south outside the last Great Rites Meeting, and there was a dispute between prime ministers inside, and there were inevitably some sloppiness in the Rites Discussion. This time, the internal and external situation is very good, and the great ceremony discussion has to reflect the heavenly magnanimity of the Huanghuang Great Song Dynasty. From the scrutiny of various ritual procedures, the position of the central officials and the state Xuezheng, the re-renovation of the Daqing Hall and other palaces, the accommodation arrangements of the Xuezheng and his entourage, and the pacification of the scholars of the various states, the Ministry of Rites must all do their best.

In the past few months, although the whole department of ceremonies has eaten and dressed, most of them have not complained too much. Since "respecting the Son of Heaven does not obey chaotic orders", and then the schools in various states and counties elected magistrates, the Imperial Court Rite Department has gradually become the real head of the six departments from a Qingshui Yamen. Whether it is the Great Rites Discussion, or the promotion of the Prime Minister, Xuezheng, Zhizhou, or the Qing Dynasty and customs, the weight of etiquette and law in the Song Kingdom has never been so important. And everything related to the etiquette, the Ministry of Rites has the right to speak. The Ministry of Rites is responsible for the proposition of the imperial examination, marking the papers, and the inspection of various schools, enjoying the clear stream and the admiration of the scholars. The higher the status, the greater the responsibility, is almost self-evident to every official of the Ministry of Rites.

At the same time as the status of the Ministry of Rites was raised, the two successive Scholars of the Ministry of Rites were not ordinary figures.

Wu Zilong is famous for his honesty and integrity, and his disciples are all over the prefectures and counties, and his prestige is faint in the clear stream and the prime minister Chen Dongke is in court. During his presiding over the Ministry of Rites, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were like walking on thin ice as if they were on the edge of the abyss, and did not dare to have the slightest malpractice, which also made the court and the Qing Dynasty recognize the status of the Ministry of Rites in the court. Heaven rewards hard work, Deng Su and the subordinates of the Ministry of Rites have experienced many crises together, such as the Great Rites Discussion, the Jingdong Road Incident, and the Rebellion of the Emperor, and his personality is like the warm sun in winter, and he has gradually won the recognition of most officials in the Ministry of Rites. For those henchmen of Wu Zilong who remained in the Ministry of Rites, Deng Su also used them according to his ability, and did not discriminate and purge. After all, everyone is from a clear background, and his bearing is really heartbreaking.

After Deng Su took over the Ministry of Rites, although he did not act as harsh as Wu Zilong, he was more of a master and had the "golden mean".

He was the first Qingliu minister to betray the Emperor of the Northern Hunt, and was once regarded as a "villain", and now he is also an embarrassing identity of a close minister of the Son of Heaven. In Ezhou, Chen Dong did not trust him at first, and the ministers of Qingliu were hostile and isolated to him. But Deng Su didn't care, with his extraordinary ability, he slowly won the forgiveness of these old colleagues, and now whether it is Chen Dong or other ministers of the DPRK and China, they no longer regard Deng Su as an outlier, compared with him, Wu Zilong, who has repeatedly instigated Lisheng to make trouble, and Zhao Xingde, who fired at Lisheng, are more like two outliers. The Ministry of Rites is now the deepest and most urgent whirlpool in the politics of the Great Song Dynasty, Deng Su is in the whirlpool but is at ease, and the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Rites, thanks to the respectful and fearful eyes of their colleagues and the people, are more and more obedient to this Deng Shangshu.

Early every morning, all the scribes and scribes who had something to report gathered in Deng Shangshu's signing room, and Lord Shangshu ordered various arrangements. In the evening, a stack of files compiled by Deng Su would be sent to the prime minister to report to him on the progress of the preparations for the Great Gift Conference. Not only that, because of the lessons learned from the chaos last time, as far as the various news in Ezhou City, and as far as the wind blowing in the schools in various states and counties, Deng Su attached it in detail. As for the movement of Qingliu, the Ministry of Rites has a much more practical grasp than the Ministry of War, and Chen Dong is much relieved when he sees this file every day. However, for these three months, Deng Su was either the last high-ranking official to leave the Ministry of Rites every day, or spent the night in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites. Although the officials worked hard, when it came to Deng Shangshu's diligence, no one was convinced.

"There are ten days left, and Mr. Chuzhou Fuxiu is about to arrive." Deng Su picked up a newspaper and said to the scribe with a smile, "Mr. Fuxiu is the leader of a clear stream, and the building must be arranged the best. He paused for a moment, and then confirmed, "During the Great Gift Discussion, Mr. Fuxiu's position is still in front, right?" ”

"Yes, sir." Zhou Tinglun said respectfully. He was originally promoted by Wu Zilong when he was Shangshu, but he also admired Deng Su in his heart, and said secretly: "Mr. Fuxiu made a big fuss last time, Deng Shangshu didn't think it was wrong, but took extra care of him, if Lu Fuxiu knew about it, I'm afraid he would be ashamed." His heart moved, and he asked: "What about Hangzhou Xuezheng Shi Tingjian?" ”

Deng Su shook his head and said with a smile: "Shi Tingjian's juniors, just do what you want." ”

Zhou Tinglun bowed and said, "Xiaguan understands. His face lit up, and in any case, the Great Rites Discussion was an exhilarating thing.

Deng Su nodded, smiled and asked, "Have the dresses needed for various ceremonies been shipped?" ”

Li Shufa, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward and replied: "Seven hundred sets of various ceremonial dresses of all kinds required by Your Majesty and the officials and scholars of the court, totaling 3,500 pieces, have been transported into the warehouse of the Ministry of Rites yesterday, and in addition, 46,000 pieces of ceremonial dresses worn by slaves and officers and soldiers have been distributed. "In the last great ceremony, His Majesty, court officials, and scholars all wore ordinary court clothes. And this time, in order to highlight the grandeur of the ceremony, the Ministry of Rites made five kinds of dresses for five different occasions. Because it involves the face and etiquette of the imperial court, the weaving of court uniforms must be exquisite, which is countless times more complicated than the military department providing winter and summer military robes for a garrison army. The Ministry of Rites ordered the best fabrics from the silk and satin village in Jiangning Mansion, and then specially sent them to the best 30 or so cloak shops to sew them.

"Not bad." Deng Su nodded and said in a deep voice, "Bring all the styles here, and the official will look at them again." ”

"Yes." Li Shufa replied without surprise. Do it yourself, this is Deng Su's style. Not only the ceremonial costumes, but also the arrangements for the conduct of more than 200 scholars and politicians, and the on-site arrangements of various places for the Great Rites Conference, from lampposts to teacups to decorations to carpets, there is nothing he doesn't ask. Deng Su even touched the armrests of the chair himself to ensure that the inside was free of dust, bumps and wooden thorns. It is precisely because of his attitude of not caring for every detail that the Ministry of Rites and even all the officials related to the Great Rites Discussion are full of spirits, because any defect may not escape the discernment of the Ministry of Rites.

In the evening, the five kinds of court clothes of the prime minister of the Great Rites were sent to the prime minister's mansion after being reviewed and inspected by the Ministry of Rites, and there was also a thick painted silk atlas, which drew dozens of kinds of dresses from His Majesty to the servants and soldiers. The dresses will be distributed the day before the feast. Just like the political behavior of various schools, the situation of schools in various states and counties, and the layout of the big ceremony venue, Deng Su has read it in advance, and it is almost a synonym without omission. Therefore, Chen Dong simply flipped through the album and waved his hand for the scribe to take it down. The prime minister has a lot of opportunities, and he has many more important things.

"The commanders of all places, the military headquarters and the southeast camp, there is no movement now, right?"

Chen Dong bent two fingers, unconsciously knocked on the desk, the desktop made a soft "tuk" sound, he asked the Ministry of War staff Shi Lang Zhonglin Zhenggan, but what he thought in his mind was that the days of the South China Sea sailors staying in the flow were not short, although the big food pirates have not looted recently, but when Zhao Xingde will go south, do you want to go to a letter to ask, but how to grasp this proportion and tone? Xia Guo shouldn't have any ideas, right?

"There's no movement." Lin Zhengan said in a low voice.

"Okay." Chen Dong nodded slightly and didn't say anything more. Lin Zhen did things but was not ambiguous. Although the Ministry of War and the Jinguan Mansion were unable to monitor the Qingliu scholars, they were able to get their hands on the eyeliner in the army. Moreover, this was originally the practice of the imperial court, and even if the commanders of the garrisoned armies in various places noticed it, they did not have any reason to oppose it, and the opposition was weak-hearted. The only problem is that the South China Sea sailors, the sea ships are adrift all the year round, and even if there is eyeliner inside, it is difficult to send them out across the vast sea. Fortunately, the South China Sea Sailor is thousands of miles away, even if it is a little troublesome, it will not become between elbows and armpits.

Chen Dong frowned slightly, and asked again: "What about the head of the Eighth Army and the Ezhou City Guard?" ”

"The eight generals follow the rules, and they usually train either in the mansion or in the barracks, and there is no change." Lin Zhengan replied while thinking. There were hundreds of spies monitoring the head of the Eighth Army and the city guards alone, and the news sent to him every day was various, but the report from him to Chen Dong could only be one sentence. For example, Cao Gu drank flower wine in Jianglou, Liu Guangguo received a new beautiful maid, and Yue Yun invited two literati to a banquet, each giving fifty taels of silver and other sesame trivial things, before Lin Zhengan judged it to be a "change", there was no need to be verbose in front of Chen Dong. There are so many things to pay attention to.

"Good." Chen Dong said lightly, "You must continue to pay attention and not take it lightly." ”

At the time of the disturbance, there were successive situations in the southeast battalion in which Wang Gui did not obey orders and young officers refused to enter the city to quell the chaos. Although Zhao Xingde was ordered to stabilize the chaos in danger, the ministers of the Prime Minister's Office were all afraid afterwards. After that, Wang Gui was directly transferred to the military department Langzhong, and from then on he was only responsible for training recruits. According to Deng Su's suggestion, in order to support the troops of the general of the Beijing Defense Division, the southeast battalion was dismantled into eight battalions, each with 5,000 people. The military department selected young generals from the towns of the outer domains, such as Liu Yanqing's eldest son Liu Guangguo, Cao Di's son Cao Gu, and Yue Fei's son Yue Yun. Unless the imperial court decrees, these eight battalions of forbidden troops are not allowed to carry weapons into Ezhou City.

The resident in the city is called the Ezhou City Guard. The city guards were divided into 20 battalions and stationed in various key places. The soldiers were 10,000 elite soldiers selected from the southeast battalion, and all of them broke up the original formation. The officers above the capital head are all familiar with the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period, some of them are officers of the military department who are sent to the battalion, and some are officers trained by Zhao Xingde when he was stationed in Ezhou. There was no subordinate relationship between the battalions of the city guard, and they usually obeyed the orders of the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council, and the Military Department. But at a critical time, the edict of the Prime Minister's Office could pass through the two back yamen and directly dispatch the battalions. In this way, the military power inside and outside Ezhou City can be completely controlled.