On the fifth day of February in the thirteenth year of Ming orthodoxy, it is advisable to take care of and pray for blessings; Do not open the market and bathe.

Today is the day of the Great Pilgrimage, and officials from Beijing and China will gather in the Forbidden City to participate in this grand gathering. So it's still dark, and the main streets of the capital are lit up with lights, reflecting the stars in the sky. It was the light that the lower-ranking officials who were far away from the palace rode in chariots and horses, and the light was brought to illuminate them.

After almost an hour's trek, these officials finally arrived at the majestic Forbidden City. And when these officials of five or six grades, or even below, come here, they will see that many high-ranking officials of the court and the central government have been waiting in front of the noon gate one step earlier, and their eyes will also show a little envy, looking forward to the day when they can also be among them, and become courtiers who can really participate in the court meeting, instead of only staying outside the palace gate as a foil like today.

As the sky gradually brightens, the officials of Beijing and the central government have also arrived one after another, and soon, the bells and drums in the palace will be ringing, and then the palace gate will be opened, and the procession will enter the palace. But at this moment, there was a burst of light sighs in the originally solemn team, and many people's eyes were on the long street behind them.

Because at this moment, a burst of uniform, majestic footsteps were rushing towards them. Then, through the dim light, they saw a long line of troops in bright armor and armed with swords and guns slowly approaching.

Although this army did not speed up the charge, let alone shout and shout, the oppressive force it showed still made the hearts of many officials tighten. Similarly, in front of them, guarding the palace gate, and the forbidden troops on the palace wall did not notice a change in their complexion, and subconsciously clenched the weapons in their hands.

Fortunately, everyone reacted quickly, knowing that the army that suddenly appeared in front of the palace was the border army that had come to offer victory. But even so, the pressure they brought to the officials was still not small, making their already solemn looks even more solemn.

A moment later, the drums sounded and the palace doors opened silently. Only then did the officials turn their attention away from the soldiers, and walked silently towards the interior of the palace with their heads held high and without squinting. Because they know that there are many eyes around them, and if there is any mistake at the court meeting, tomorrow's impeachment of their misconduct will appear on the desk of the General Administration, and then the already not very high money will have to be deducted from it.

Soon after, the sound of the whip and the sound of the horn also sounded one after another, so that it was a prosperous style.

As a great court meeting that is only three times a month, its battle is naturally quite large. Not only were there thousands of officials involved, but that whole set of etiquette also made the onlookers amazed for a while. And the soldiers of the border army who saw this scene today were completely stunned by this big scene, and they couldn't recover from the shock for a long time.

Lu Zhen is the most indifferent one among them. Because he used to be a Beijing official, he has experienced such a scene several times, and he has long been accustomed to it. Looking at the majestic court meeting scene, his mind unconsciously fell to a year later, but I don't know at that time, can the Ming Dynasty still have such confidence?

Speaking of which, apart from the solemn appearance, this kind of big pilgrimage meeting is actually nothing special, and its content is no different from the daily small pilgrimage meeting. Even in terms of importance, it is not comparable to the court discussions, which can only be participated in by important ministers of the court. This is because as long as the proposed guidelines were put forward at the court meeting, they had already been agreed upon long ago, and now they are just putting on a show.

But even so, the process of the court meeting is still not too fast. Because there are all kinds of big and small matters that they need to mention and agree on one by one. So more than an hour passed in a blink of an eye, and no one came to inform Lu Zhen that they could enter the palace to offer their victory.

And as the waiting time outside the palace gate continued to lengthen, the pressure on the hearts of these border soldiers who did not have much knowledge increased, and many people's faces became a little pale. This was a reaction that none of them had in the face of the Mongol army rushing towards them.

Although Lu Jin, who found this, had the heart to cheer everyone up, he was outside the palace gate, and there were many officials in front of him, so it was naturally difficult to speak presumptuously, so in the end he could only communicate with Wang Bing beside him with his eyes and comfort him.

Finally, after finishing some big and small court affairs, Kuang Yu, the secretary of the military department, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, today there are Datong defenders who have been ordered to enter Beijing to offer victory, and they are now waiting outside the palace. Please also ask Your Majesty to allow him to see him as a palace! ”

"Oh? Have they come from Datong? When the Son of Heaven heard this, he immediately became overjoyed, and immediately said: "Yes, let them enter the palace to offer the spoils captured by this great victory!" ”

With the order of the Son of Heaven, there were eunuchs who immediately shouted: "Your Majesty has a decree, declare that the border army of Datong will enter the palace to offer victory!" ”

Then these words spread from the people outside one by one, and after passing through the gates of the palace, they finally reached Lu Jin, who had been waiting for a long time: "Xuan Datong's border army entered the palace to offer victory!" ”

When he heard this, Wang Bing's body couldn't help but tremble suddenly. Although Lu Jin had tried his best to appease him just now, when the matter really came to an end, he was still inevitably nervous and excited, and after a while, he agreed with Lu Jin in a dry voice: "The minister's decree!" ”

As a small president of the border pass, he can actually represent the border army to come to the capital and offer victory to the Son of Heaven, which is indeed a great glory for Wang Bing. The other soldiers froze there one by one, and only after a while did they all agree, and then walked towards the palace gate with some heavy steps.

The petty officials around them looked at them with countless envy in their eyes at the moment. Thinking that he has been an official in Beijing for many years, plus how many years of hard study in the cold window, he has not been able to see today, and these rude and unliterate Qiu Batou soldiers can actually enter the palace, and I feel that this world is really unfair.

Of course, they will not think about how much risk these border soldiers have taken for this glory, almost in exchange for their own lives.

With slow steps, more than 1,000 people finally entered the high palace gate. Soon, however, most of them were forced to stop. Although the imperial court allowed them to enter Beijing to offer their victory, the Son of Heaven was not something that everyone could see casually, so except for Wang Bing and a few other generals, others could only wait outside to see the meaning of the Son of Heaven before they could enter.

As for the prisoner carts and carts they brought, they were left outside the palace gate. It's better not to enter the Forbidden City for such a ferocious thing.

Lu Zhen led Wang Bing to the square outside the Taihe Palace. Although the eyes of many civil and military officials around him fell on them at this time, Lu Jin's expression did not change much, and his heart was very steady, he just strolled forward, and stopped when he was still a long distance away from the Son of Heaven.

Because of the experience of a few years ago, the current Lu Zhen no longer needs to be reminded by anyone, so he immediately took off his robe and knelt on the ground, bowed to the Son of Heaven who was sitting high on the throne, and shouted loudly: "Lu Jin, the governor of Ulzhou, knocks to see His Majesty the Emperor." Long live our emperor, long live! ”

Wang Bing and the others behind him were obviously stunned for a moment, and then they also knelt down in the same way, and after calling out their official names, they bowed to the high Son of Heaven.

This movement made many officials frown, and some officials who had seen Lu Zhen a few years ago even had a sense of déjà vu. Unexpectedly, a few years later, this Lord Lu's tricks of shooting horses are still exactly the same.

The Son of Heaven was also slightly surprised, and then said: "Flat." After Lu Zhen and the others got up one after another, his eyes fell on the young official in front of him, and he said in a somewhat surprised voice: "Lu Jin, if I remember well, you also had a conversation with me at the court meeting a few years ago, right?" There is also ......" The words that you beat the drum at the end were swallowed back by the Son of Heaven, which is not a good thing worth advocating after all.

After hearing the emperor's words, many officials showed surprise and jealousy. I didn't expect such a small Liupin Zhizhou to be able to enter the heart of the Son of Heaven, and he would still remember him after a few years. You must know that even though these officials come and go in the palace every day, only a few of them can be called by the Son of Heaven.

Of course, there is a reason for all this. After all, Lu Jin's performance at the court meeting last time was very eye-catching, and he was the only official who dared to beat the drums for so many years, so it was reasonable to leave a deep impression on the emperor.

And after hearing this, Lu Zhen didn't have much joy, but honestly agreed: "What Your Majesty said was exactly what the minister did when he was young and impulsive. ”

"Hehe, I didn't expect you to make a contribution to me again, what a surprise to me." The Son of Heaven said with interest again, and then looked at Kuang Yu on the side: "Kuang Qing, the matter of this dedication is handled by the military department, is everything going well?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, it's all going well. These 1,000 troops all made meritorious contributions in this confrontation with the Mongols. In addition, the gains mentioned in the previous good news have also been sent to Beijing. If His Majesty doesn't believe it, he can let them send those heads into the palace to have a look. ”

"That's not necessary." The Emperor waved his hand, he didn't want to see the terrible scene: "I can trust you. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Kwong Yu hurriedly saluted.

In everyone's opinion, today's dedication is almost here. After all, this dynasty has always been like this, and it is all about taking out the things that have already been decided and acting out, so as to make the world clear. Now that everything has been tested and there is no problem, the next step is to reward meritorious deeds.

But at this moment, a change suddenly came......