In the afternoon of the next day, Cheng Mingzhen packed up his court clothes early and came to the palace gate to meet him. The military attache on duty had seen him at the imperial banquet a few days ago, and he had a good impression in his heart. Therefore, he did not deliberately make things difficult, routinely checked the waist card, said "wait here", and then went to the entrance report.

After a while, a person who looked like a lieutenant came out, looked at Cheng Mingzhen, and said in a low voice: "Is it Dongping Gong?" Please come with us. Your Majesty is discussing with several adults, and has ordered you to wait in the West Flower Hall. ”

Cheng Mingzhen agreed and quickly followed. After turning around in a long circle in the vermilion palace wall, my head began to dizzy, and finally I arrived at a house facing the lake. The lieutenant who ordered the order ordered someone to bring the freshly brewed fragrant tea, pointed to the snacks on the table, and said very politely: "Dongping Gong will sit here for a while." The dim sum is specially prepared by His Majesty for the courtiers who enter the palace to discuss matters, and you can use it as you like. If you have any other needs, just tell the little guy at the door, they are all apprentices of our family, and they are all quite eye-catching! ”

"Don't dare, don't dare. There is Lao Gonggong! Dare to ask your father-in-law's surname! Listening to this tone, Cheng Mingzhen understood that the other party was a close eunuch beside Li Yuan, so he quickly made a gesture and thanked him with a smile.

"Don't be expensive, surnamed Zheng! If there is nothing else to do for the time being, our family will go to serve the emperor first. Seeing that Cheng Mingzhen's respect for himself was not pretended, the lieutenant who gave the order smiled and turned to leave.

"Gonggong Zheng go slowly!" Cheng Mingzhen quickly caught up a few steps, and while there was no one nearby, he stuffed a small gold ingot prepared in advance into the sleeve of the lieutenant official.

"Dongping Gong, please stay, our family doesn't dare to send you off!" The lieutenant surnamed Zheng paused for a moment, turned around with a smile, took out the gold ingot, checked it in his hand, and stuffed it back to Cheng Mingzhen with a smile, "It stands to reason that Dongping has a gift, and our family should take it." But His Majesty's rules are strict, and if you accept more than five hangings, you will be killed with a cane, and our family will not dare to take the lead in offending! (Note 1) "This ......." Cheng Mingzhen blushed, took the returned gift, and explained curtly, "The last general is a foreigner, and he doesn't know the rules of the palace very well." I'm causing trouble for my father-in-law! ”

"It's not too much trouble." The lieutenant surnamed Zheng shook his head with a smile, "People who meet His Majesty for the first time will inevitably make some jokes. You don't have to be too nervous, Your Majesty has always been very generous to his courtiers. Except for some who are too uncompetitive, our family has never seen him criticize anyone! ”

"Thank you father-in-law for your advice!" Cheng Mingzhen blushed and sincerely bowed to the other party to show his gratitude.

"You don't have to thank me. If you really have the heart, when you answer His Majesty's questions later, try to be as concise as possible. Your Majesty, I haven't had a good night's sleep for days! Gonggong Zheng took half a step to the side and returned the courtesy of the subordinates. Then he lowered his voice and reminded Cheng Mingzhen.

After a few more words of caution in front of the emperor, he smiled and turned to deal with other chores. Cheng Mingzhen watched his back go far away in the shade of the trees, and through the sparse branches, he saw a figure flickering in a small palace in the distance, one of whom was very familiar, it was the left servant who had carried him many times.

"Could it be that His Majesty is there too?" Cheng Ming shook his heart and instinctively guessed. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him, he quickly peeked a few more times, and now several other people in it were not familiar with him, but inferred from the color of the clothes, the level was above the second grade. And the one who sat and talked to Pei Lone, wearing a bright yellow, was obviously Li Yuan, the son of the Tang Dynasty.

Although he was born in a reckless background, after being an official for so many years, Cheng Mingzhen can probably memorize the uniform level of Datang. Before the Tang Dynasty, the emperors all used black. But Li Yuan thought that Tang was a virtue, so he stipulated that the Son of Heaven wore bright yellow, and the prince wore light yellow. In addition, others wearing yellow are overstepping. At this moment, one person in the palace opposite was wearing bright yellow, and the other three were either dressed in purple or wearing danzhu, presumably His Majesty the Emperor was discussing confidential matters with several ministers of the humerus.

This kind of rare scene, it is inconvenient for him to see more. So after a few hurried glances, he quietly retreated into the room where he was. When he was bored, Cheng Mingzhen looked around, and now this place for the courtiers to rest temporarily and wait for the summons is very simple. The walls are painted with white lacquer, the floor is paved with blue bricks, and a few unknown ink paintings are hung on the four walls. In the center of the room, near the window, there is a large table for the families of the people in Taiyuan and Shangdang, on which are placed a few plates of snacks. Four or five embroidery piers were gathered around the table, and they had been used for a long time, and there were already signs of wear and tear on them.

Except that those paintings may be from famous artists, which may be more valuable. The furnishings here are not even as luxurious as the rooms of the Tateto Prefecture Order. It can't be compared with Zhang Jin's private house in Julu Ze back then. It is no wonder that Li Yuan's father and son were able to take the world so quickly after raising troops. You must know that this current emperor is three generations later, he can be said to be born with a golden spoon, what luxury has he never seen? If you want to be broad, I'm afraid that just tossing two things is enough for ordinary people to marvel for a lifetime.

Thinking of this, Li Yuan's image in Cheng Mingzhen's heart was much taller than before. In the past, Cheng Mingzhen saw a lot of corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and he was very contemptuous of the so-called family. Basically, I think they are just like what Ruan Ji's "Biography of the Big Man" describes, just a bunch of lice in the crotch of his pants. Nothing but bloodsucking. Once they suck the country dry, they themselves will be finished. A few lucky ones jumped on the others and started a new round of blood-sucking reproduction. No one cares how long they can suck, and they don't care whether the owner lives or dies. And in the past few years, through continuous contact with different people, he has also slowly changed his views. The people in the big family are not all scum moths. Like Yu Wenshi and this, it can be described as both wise and brave. It's just that someone needs to remind him to put the country before his family when he thinks about things. And Li Yuan, the son of the Tang Dynasty, is undoubtedly the leader among the children of the wealthy family, whether it is from the time when he resolutely raised troops against the Sui, or after getting half of the country, all of them reveal the wise side of this person.

can be rich but not arrogant, can be exported to become a constitution but a virtuous corporal, such a candidate, in what era can be called a hero. Just as he was thinking wildly, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a civilian official in a second-grade uniform strode in. grabbed the snacks on the table, killed the small half of the plate in two bites, and then poured himself a cup of tea without the eunuch who came to follow, and poured it into his stomach.

This appearance is really in contrast to the official robe on his body. Cheng Mingzhen was dumbfounded, not knowing whether he should come forward to say hello. This person's figure shook in front of Li Yuan just now, as if the weight of his words was quite heavy. But he behaved like a rich man, and he couldn't see the slightest humerus demeanor of the court.

"Have you been waiting for a long time? Would you like to have a little more? After drinking the tea, the high-ranking official also appeared Cheng Mingzhen, who was wearing a royal brocade robe, picked up the dim sum plate in front of him, and pushed it with a smile.

"No, before the last general entered the palace, he had already eaten it, please use it slowly!" Cheng Mingzhen waved his hand and responded with a smile.

The visitor nodded, and continued to work on the snacks on the table. It wasn't until the whole plate was completely exhausted that he took a breath, picked up the tea, and asked while drinking, "What do you call it, you?" Is it General Xiao Cheng? ”

"The last general, Cheng Mingzhen, has seen an adult!" Cheng Mingzhen stepped forward and made a gesture and introduced himself as a subordinate gift.

"I think it's you, too? Your Majesty just mentioned you! "The person who came put down the teacup, got up and gave it back." I'm a samurai, and I'm half of your elder! Don't be polite, sit down and talk! ”

Cheng Mingzhen raised his head in astonishment, looked at the favored minister in front of Li Yuan in disbelief, and then carefully found an embroidered pier to sit upright. This person is the uncle of Wang Ermao's wife, who broke his family to fund Li Yuan's army! Now the official residence and the Ministry of Industry are still in the book, and the lord is the prince of the country, and he actually looks like a vulgar martial artist!

"I didn't expect that!" As if guessing that Cheng Mingzhen would have such an expression, the warrior was triumphant, "Wu Mou also rolled on the head of the knife back then, so he naturally didn't like Wen Xuan's speech." You're here today, so you'll probably have to wait a while. Your Majesty is worried about the affairs in the north of the Song Kingdom, and I can't spare time to see you for a while. ”

"Juniors are not in a hurry, you can wait slowly!" Since the other party is the uncle of Wang Ermao's wife, Cheng Mingzhen must not speak with the tone of a junior.

"When I'm bored, I close my eyes and squint for a while. No one will be troubled for that ** you. The samurai smiled and explained in a low voice. This time, His Majesty came to you, probably mainly to ask about how to appease the counties of Hebei. You don't have to be too careful, just tell the truth. As for the final decision, naturally a few adults will make it! ”

"Well, thank you seniors for the reminder!" Cheng Mingzhen arched his hand and responded very politely. If what he expected was correct, the words that Wang Ermao reminded yesterday were also explained by this martial master. I was taken care of by others, and I should be polite to others.

As he spoke, the samurai had already drunk a whole pot of tea. Clapped his hands and stood up, "I followed the urine and escaped to let the wind out, so I don't have time to tell you more." From being hungry at noon to now, Song Guogong and them are all civil officials, and they can stand it, but my martial arts belly can't stand it. I'll have to go back quickly when I'm done eating, lest His Majesty notice me in a moment!" ”

With that, he pushed open the door and rushed towards the small palace of the council again.

Note 1: Not only the Ming Dynasty, but also the beginning of the founding of the country, all dynasties and generations dealt with corruption very strictly. It is probably because the new emperor has witnessed the disaster of the previous dynasty, so he is heavy-handed. But in the middle and late stages of a dynasty, the lessons of the previous dynasty are usually forgotten.