Winter goes to spring, everything recovers, and Luoyang City, which is covered by ice and snow, finally has a trace of spring warmth.

Today is the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and it is also the day when the imperial court government ends its vacation and officially opens.

Before the arrival of the day, many officials from the upper court had already arrived at Tianjin Qiaotou one after another.

They were dressed in purple, red, or green, horses, chariots, or on foot, and gathered together in front of the gate of the end gate, waiting for the gate to be opened.

Today is the first day of the year, and according to the usual practice, it is a great pilgrimage meeting.

In addition to the permanent staff officers, officials of the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and seven grades or above, and officials in Beijing from other states and counties above the fifth rank all need to attend the court meeting.

Therefore, in terms of numbers, there are hundreds of people in today's Great Dynasty Meeting.

When the time came, the morning drum on the tower of Duanmen City rang out, just like the earth-shattering thunder that woke up Luoyang, which was still sleeping.

After the morning drum, the doors of all the Li Fang will be opened at the same time, and the North Market, South City, and West City, which are the commercial and trade centers of Luoyang City, will also be opened at the same time, and the daily life of the people of Luoyang will also officially begin at this moment.

The drums fell, and hundreds of ministers had entered the imperial city under the leadership of the inner servants, and after passing through Yingtian and Qianyuan Gate, the towering Qianyang Hall of the main hall of the imperial palace had entered everyone's sight.

The sound of buzzing bells resounded in the palace square, and when I looked up, the feather forest guards in golden armor held spears on both sides of the dragon's head road, motionless and as powerful as a heavenly soldier, only the crackling sound of the long wind passing over the banner was non-stop.

Stepping on the beat of the bell, the ministers strode up to Longshou Road and crossed the square, climbed the forty-five steps into the Qianyang Palace, and stood in two teams with the left Wenchen and the right military attaché.

The first row of the civil official sequence is Shangshu Ling Wang Anshi, Zhongshu Ling Sima Guang, and his subordinate servant Cai Daogui.

The front row of military attachés were the privy envoy Yang Wenguang, the privy deputy envoy Xie Junhao, and the king of Qi Chen Xuan, who was also the minister of Luoyang and was different from the status of ordinary ministers.

At two o'clock, a long announcement sounded outside the palace gate: "The official family has arrived, and the officials have greeted him." ”

At the end of the words, Chen Hong, who was wearing a yellow round-necked robe and black head, had already appeared at the entrance of the hall.

He strode in with his jade belt in his hand, his soothing steps on the white jade floor tiles that were recognizable, and the sound was dull, and it seemed that he had climbed the three-foot platform due north in a few steps, and sat on the dragon bed.

Among the ministers, Chen Xuan and Xie Junhao quietly looked at each other, and the corners of their mouths were sneering.

Under the guidance of the inner servants, the ministers bowed deeply to the high platform due north, stood up and shouted: "The ministers have seen the official family, long live my emperor, long live, long live." ”

"Excuse me." Chen Hong gently patted the armrest of the dragon bed with his palm, and his tone was as calm as ever.

After the monarch and the ministers saw the ceremony, according to the practice of the New Year's Dynasty, Wang Anshi was ordered to recite the New Year's hymn by the Chinese book.

Sima Guang's literary brilliance is flying, it is everyone in the world, and the original long and boring New Year's hymn has been written by him, which makes people a little interested in listening, and it took more than half an hour to recite before it was finished.

Later, Wang Anshi was ordered by Shangshu to recite the New Year's greetings sent by various prefectures and counties, compared with Sima Guang's literary talent, the local hymns seemed much more boring and boring, and many ministers were not interested in listening, all of them looked at the nose and nose and the heart, and made a state of expression.

After the necessary etiquette is completed, the morning deliberations begin.

Usually on the first day of the new year, the court will not discuss any major matters, and it is usually the ministers who pat themselves on the back, and then the officials make words to encourage the ministers.

However, there is a new return to Beijing to meet today, so at the beginning of the early dynasty, there was a palace imperial historian on duty who came out and said: "Qiqi official, today the pacification envoy Cui Wenqing and the pacification deputy envoy Su Shi of the four northern states were ordered to enter Beijing and are waiting outside the palace. ”

"Oh? Xiao Cui Aiqing and Xiao Su Aiqing are back? Chen Hong's eyes lit up, and he raised his hand and smiled and said, "Hurry and be affectionate." ”

The official family made a will, and the old servant who was standing beside Chen Hong raised the dust, and shouted in a voice like a duck: "The official family has a will, and the four states of Xuanbei Prefecture will appease Cui Wenqing and appease the deputy envoy Su Shi. ”

The sound waves were shouted by the inner servants layer by layer, and reached His Royal Highness the Qianyang Palace, and within a moment, Cui Wenqing and Su Shi walked side by side and entered the main hall.

The ministers looked up, and it could be seen that these two people were in their twenties, both were born heroic, and both were dressed in six-poinsettias.

The two walked to the bottom of the steps, bowed deeply to Chen Hong, who was sitting on the dragon bed, and said in unison: "Minister Cui Wenqing (Su Shi), I have seen the official family, and the official family has no borders!" ”

"Haha, the two Aiqing quickly get even." Chen Hong stood up from the dragon bed and helped him with his hands, and this scene was enough to make all the ministers stunned.

Ordinary ministers return to Beijing, even if they are high-powered ministers, the official family often sits still and helps each other with empty hands, but I didn't expect that today for Cui Wenqing and Su Shi, the two late-born juniors, the official family actually stood up in person.

Although this move is very simple for the official family, the implication contained in it is very profound, at least the official family wants to use this move to express the importance of Cui Su and the two to the ministers.

It seems that this Cui Wenqing, who is a disciple of Wang Anshi's closed door, a junior disciple of the official family, and the governor of the Zhenwu Army, is currently a saint!

Cui Wenqing thanked him and briefly told Chen Hong about the trip to the four states in the north.

In the end, he said again: "The official family, at present, the traitors and the rebellious party are easy to leave the left, and they have been escorted outside the palace gate to listen to the disposal, and the court will be sent down after listening. ”

After listening to the announcement, Chen Hong was greatly pleased, and said with a smile: "Cui Qing and Su Qing have made outstanding achievements in this trip, and they have worked hard, not only successfully quelled the chaos in the four states of the Northland, but also saw through the enemy's conspiracy, captured Zhe Weiben and Yi Zuo, I am very relieved, and I must reward you two well." After that, he said to Sima Guang: "The proposed purpose of Zhongshu Province: Jia Cui Wenqing is the sixth rank of the Emperor Lang. Jia Su Shi accepted Lang's honor from the six grades as a reward. ”

Sima Guang immediately bowed his hand and said, "The old minister obeys the order." ”

Cui Wenqing and Su Shi also thanked them at the same time: "Thank you for the gift of the official family." ”

Today, Chen Hong's reward for the honor of the court's chamber and the promise of the chamber is not a real official, but a kind of lord, which is similar to the cloud cavalry lieutenant that Cui Wenqing received in the past, and it is only an extra salary.

But for Cui Wenqing, this trip to the four states of the Northland made him directly change from a student to a member of the Liupin Gold Department, which can be described as a qualitative leap, and it also means that he does not need to go to the single-plank bridge of the imperial examination to be an official, so all in all, Chen Hong's reward is still very rich.