The Xiayi army is still stationed in Xiayi, nominally still under the command of Helan Jinming, the envoy of Henan Jiedu. But in fact, the Xiayi army became an independent army, with Xu Yuan, who succeeded Kong Sheng, in charge of the military power, and Nangong Wangfu assisted.

Su Wan and Su Lu brothers and sisters led the Xi people to temporarily camp in Xiayi, waiting for the imperial court's order. As for whether he will lead Xi soldiers to return to his hometown in Hedong in the future, or continue to follow the official army to participate in the counterinsurgency, it has not yet been determined.

Considering the good relationship between Xu Yuan and Kong Sheng, as well as the fact that all the generals in the Xiayi army came from Kong Sheng's subordinates, the Xiayi army was actually a military force under Kong Sheng's control.

Kong Sheng pondered for a long time, and then decided to send Mu Changfeng to Xiayi with the emperor's secret decree, and when necessary, transfer the Xiayi army that had been called to the west again to Beijing.

That night, Kong Sheng received a message from Zhongshu Province, and he entered the palace tomorrow to participate in the court meeting and meet the saint.

The great dynasty of the Tang Dynasty was the first day of the month, and it was two days, that is, once on the first and fifteenth days of the new year, and there were more officials who participated. The Chang Dynasty is an official who has more than five grades to go to the court every day, which is also called the cabinet. The first day of the year is the first day of the first month and the winter solstice, the scale of this dynasty is larger, and all the officials above the nine grades participate, because this is the beginning of a spring and the beginning of winter in a year, and there must be a new atmosphere and new style.

"At dusk, the drums beat eight hundred times and the door was closed; Five more two o'clock, the drum from the inside, the street drum Cheng Zhen, the square market door is opened, the drum is three thousand, and the color is stopped. ”

The so-called "official street drum" started at "five watches and two o'clock" in the morning, which is equivalent to about five o'clock in the morning in modern society. "The five drums are rising, and the fire is full of doors, and they will want to converge. Xuan Gai is like a city. ”

From midnight on October 15. Kong Sheng set off from the post house. The crown and belt are neat, this is the first time in his life that he has participated in the court meeting, and he can't ignore it, at least he can't be late and fall into the handle.

In the hazy dawn, there are few pedestrians on Suzaku Street, and there is no bustle of daylight, which is extremely quiet. When the people of Chang'an were still asleep, the civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty court left for the palace to participate in the court meeting. From this point of view, the sense of diligence of officials in ancient times is actually better than that of modern society.

In the official office of Chang'an, there are more than 2,600 internal officials, divided into permanent and non-permanent staff. A permanent counselor is a minister who must meet the emperor every day. Generally, only those who are qualified are around the fifth grade, and the number of people is about nearly 1,000. These officials usually hold their morning pilgrimage between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m., after which they go to their respective posts to finish their official duties, and leave work at 3 p.m., working almost eight hours a day.

All the way into the palace unimpeded. After entering the Daming Palace, there were subordinates of the Yellow Gate Squire who led Kong Sheng to the outside of the Xuanzheng Palace. Wait for the pilgrimage. Because Kong Sheng was a foreign official and did not hold a post in Beijing, he had to wait until the civil and military officials entered the palace in accordance with a certain order and order and returned to their positions, and then followed the deacon eunuch to quietly enter through the side door, and knelt down in the position of the foreign officials waiting to be called to the right of the two columns of Beijing officials.

The Xuanzheng Hall is very splendid, carved beams and painted columns, and the momentum is magnificent. But even such a large hall, after accommodating hundreds or thousands of officials, has become a little crowded.

Kong Sheng sat quietly in this corner on one side, where no one was paying attention, looking at Emperor Li Heng, who was sitting on the imperial platform with a neat and majestic crown, and shook his head secretly. Gathering so many officials to go to court is actually a huge waste of resources and useless.

Officials of high rank were just that, they were in front of each other, and they could discuss with each other and communicate with the emperor. But the low-ranking officials, lined up behind, looked ahead from afar, not to mention the voice, even the emperor's face could not be seen clearly, kneeling in the hall was nothing more than a foil.

Kong Sheng sat here, and looked at it, it was about thirty meters away from the emperor's position, and there were many curtains, beams and pillars, eunuchs and guards on duty in the middle, even if he lay down here and slept on his own, the emperor could not see him.

Kong Sheng looked sideways and faintly saw the figures of Li Li and Li Ji. In fact, among the powerful people in Beijing, the people he knows are the two princes Li Li and Li Ji, and he has not even met the long-famous Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi.

All kinds of reports, all kinds of court rituals, all kinds of sparseness, all kinds of comments, more than an hour has passed, and the emperor has not yet summoned himself to see him, Kong Sheng waited drowsy. And at this moment, an incomparably sharp and slightly hoarse baritone suddenly rose up and echoed in the hall for a long time: "Your Majesty has a decree to summon the protégé of the Son of Heaven and the Taishou of Songzhou, Henan Province to meet in front of the palace!" ”

Kong Sheng was suddenly startled, and heard that it was Li Fuguo's summons.

He immediately got up, straightened the scarlet official robe on his body, straightened the crown, and supported the gold belt around his waist, and then walked out slowly. He walked slowly from east to west along the central axis of the horizontal imperial platform and the courtiers' standing area, his expression calm and composed.

A young official with a graceful figure, a handsome face, a noble bearing, and a well-behaved demeanor appeared in the field of vision of the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs. Countless pairs of eyes stared at Kong Sheng's figure, and all kinds of eyes focused on staring, which is difficult to describe in words.

In the originally silent hall, there was a faint sound of discussion one after another-

"This is the Jiangnan genius Kong Sheng?"

"It's not as young as a weak crown, so young?!"

"The literary quality is polite, and the weak can't help the wind, how dare you call it the enemy of ten thousand people? Sure enough, it is a rumor that misleads the country and exaggerates! ”

Kong Sheng walked all the way, and his steps were extremely rhythmic and regular. With a clear face, a steady demeanor, and a clear gaze looking straight ahead, he can still maintain such composure under the gaze of so many people, which makes many treacherous and cunning ministers of civil and military affairs secretly surprised.

Li Jiao looked coldly at Kong Sheng who was coming, his eyes were gloomy and solemn. He originally wanted to use the excuse to completely suppress Kong Sheng - since Kong Sheng can't be used for his own purposes, he can't let it grow into the help of his opponent. Li Li's logic is simple and crude. But what Li Li didn't expect was that the emperor suddenly came forward and let Kong Sheng get out safely.

But Li Li still has no fear. In his eyes, Kong Sheng is just a young man who is not enough to worry about, and even if he has some merits, he can't jump anywhere from a foreign official of the fourth grade. At today's court meeting, if someone asks for credit for Kong Sheng, he will come forward to suppress it again. As soon as he appears, at least half of the senior officials will echo him, there is no doubt about it.

Li Ji stood behind Li Li and cast a glance of approval and sincerity at Kong Sheng. Kong Sheng's demeanor of not being afraid of danger, not being surprised by changes, not being humble or arrogant, is what makes the Li family feel the most admired, according to common sense, a young official who has never been to the court and participated in major government activities, in such a magnificent and serious scene, at least a little nervous and flustered, but Kong Sheng did not, it seemed calm and light.

Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi behind Li Jiao stood side by side, and the two of them cast surprised glances at Kong Sheng. Kong Sheng was recommended by Guo Ziyi at the request of Sima Chengzhen, but Guo Ziyi had heard of Kong Sheng's name for a long time, and it was the first time he saw Kong Sheng, Kong Sheng was younger and more elegant than he imagined.

As for Li Guangbi, the shock in his heart was even more incomparable. What caught his attention was not Kong Sheng's famous poetry, but Kong Sheng's reputation for being brave and invincible in the battle array with Fang Tian's painting halberd, but at this moment, Kong Sheng in his field of vision was such a weak scholar, which made Li Guangbi suddenly feel that the rumors were exaggerated and not to be believed.

In fact, there are many people who share the same skeptical mentality as Lee Kwang-pil. After all, Kong Sheng's appearance is too deceptive. (To be continued.) )