As the saying goes, 'On the second day of February, the dragon raises its head', and it is said that the dragon that has been hibernating will wake up to the rumbling spring thunder on this day. Therefore, this day is also known as the Spring Dragon Festival, also known as the Dragon Head Festival or the Green Dragon Festival. Whatever it is called, the festival of this day is associated with dragons.

In previous years, this was actually ordinary, the rich and noble families were stepping into the spring to welcome the rich, and ordinary farmers were just picking vegetables and farming, and the customs were customs, and this good spring could not be wasted.

But for the people of the capital, this February 2 of the first year of Zhengde is very special, not so much the dragon raising its head, but the dragon turning back. It happened to be this day, and the emperor, who left Beijing in the first month and went out to inspect the border passes, returned to the capital.

Therefore, on this day, no one went to scatter ashes to attract dragons, no one smoked insects and avoided scorpions, and no one burned perfume to worship the dragon god.

As a result, it is rare that Xicheng, which has always been relatively deserted, is lively, and the crowds outside Guangning Gate are surging, and it is very lively. It just so happened that this day was a sunny day, and the spring was melting, shining on people, warm, and making people feel the atmosphere of the festival.

Although there were many people, no one dared to make noise at will, because it was not only the people who came out, but also the adults in the court waiting here.

Of course, the hundred officials dare not slack off, everyone is full of sage books, what a big deal to welcome the holy car, how can you ignore it? Although when the emperor left Beijing, he left in a hurry, and everyone couldn't see each other, but that was because everyone didn't know, even if they had to keep the ceremony, today the holy car returned to Beijing, and he had to go out to welcome him ceremoniously, otherwise the etiquette would not be able to explain it.

At this time, all the officials were crowned with robes and belts, and they were ranked above the official road according to their grades, and the official road had already been sprinkled and swept, but it was not afraid that the sand and soil would stain the robes of the adults.

The people are separated by the Imperial Forest Army, and they can only look at each other from afar, this is the capital, the rules are very big, and the people of Xuanfu have zero contact with Zhengde, which cannot be compared.

"There won't be any accidents today, will it?" Of the three ministers, the cabinet scholar has the highest status, and of course he is also the first among the hundred officials. One of them looked anxiously to the west from time to time.

"Ziqiao, Shao'an is not impatient, all the officials are here, and I must be self-respecting as an example for the hundred officials." Liu Jian said in a low voice. He can also understand Xie Qian's psychology, this time the emperor secretly ran away, which hurt the prestige of the three cabinet ministers a lot, especially Xie Qian.

Originally, after his many persuasions, Zhengde was quite restrained for a period of time, and the government and the opposition were all praised, saying that the court was clear and clear, and there were all those who were in the court; said that Xie University is highly respected and educated, in short, Xie Qian's limelight even overshadowed Liu Jian, the first assistant.

Who knows, everything is an illusion, and at a ceremony like the sacrifice to the sky, Zhengde suddenly disappeared. This matter was like a heavy slap in the face, hitting the ministers and courtiers in the face, holding it high and falling hard, Xie Qian also tasted this taste this time, and the gaffe when he first heard the news, for a while, Xie Daxue was almost cited as a joke in Shilin.

It's easy to wait until Zhengde returns to Beijing, Xie Qian is naturally eager to see through, no matter what the process is, but as long as the emperor returns to the capital, the prestige of Xie Daxue, or the ministers, will slowly recover, so as to get rid of the previous passive situation, after all, the prestige of the ministers can only be shown through the emperor.

"Zhang Xiu, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and Wang Yue, the celebrant of the ceremonial guard, have already greeted them with a guard of honor, Ziqiao can only rest assured that yesterday's report from Juyongguan has been sent to the east, and there will be no misery." Li Dongyang's attention was not on the west, but his eyebrows were tightly locked, and he looked at the queue of hundreds of officials behind him from time to time.

"Binzhi, why are you also uncertain?" Unlike Li Dongyang, who frequently reviewed, and Xie Qiandu, who was looking forward to it, Liu Jian was very calm, and he could even notice Li Dongyang's abnormality.

"Brother Xixian, it seems that the Metropolitan Procuratorate has decided to impeach a group of close ministers around His Majesty today, don't you know?"

"So that's the case," Liu Jian said with a smile: "This is the duty of the imperial history, and it's a good thing, so why should you worry?" ”

"Brother Xixian, Zhang Fuhua is sincere in his meritorious service, so he acted rashly regardless of the consequences, why are you doing the same?" Feeling Liu Jian's disapproval, Li Dongyang was also in a hurry, "It is the duty of the imperial history to persuade the Son of Heaven, and most of the close ministers of the Son of Heaven are villains, but you can wait until the future to slowly plan it, why rush to say it now?" ”

"Zhang Butang is jealous and hateful, and he can't rub sand in his eyes, besides, the old man heard that the Metropolitan Procuratorate has a perfect plan, and you don't need to worry about it."

"Alas, Brother Xixian, as the saying goes: It's better to be blocked than to be sparse, Your Majesty is still young now, and our auxiliary ministers should focus on guidance and persuasion, if on such an occasion, rash persuasion may have the opposite effect."

"Brother Bin, you and I were ordered by the emperor, and we should have assisted Jinshang wholeheartedly, but there were too many concerns before and the requirements were not strict enough, so there was an omission, and it should have been more severe in the future. Now that the Metropolitan Procuratorate is willing to come forward, let them do it, so why should we stop it. ”

Xie Qian and Liu Jian did not agree with Li Dongyang's statement, as the saying goes: A strict father produces a filial son, although the words are plain, the meaning is good. Why is the emperor so stubborn today? It's not because Emperor Xiaozong is too spoiled.

Liu and Xie have always regarded themselves as ministers who care for their lives, and they faintly treat Zhengde as if they were sons and nephews, and they have experienced these twists and turns, although they can't say it, but they have decided in their hearts that they should be a strict father in the future, so that they can teach a saint tomorrow, although what Li Dongyang said is not unreasonable, but as a cabinet minister, teaching the emperor should be more strict.

Xie Qian had some other thoughts in his heart, what the Metropolitan Procuratorate wanted to do, just let him do it, it was done, and he also had the credit of the ministers, if it didn't work, then it would not be too late for him to take action. To deal with Zhengde, Xie Qian thinks that he still has some methods and experiences, so he is also happy to see the actions of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and of course he will not object.

This topic has not been said once or twice, Li Dongyang saw that the two colleagues were still the same, and he couldn't, he just shook his head and sighed, hoping that there would be no accidents today.

At this moment, there was a sudden chaos in the crowd, and there was a faint shout with the word "holy drive", the three ministers all followed the sound, and there was a crown flag looming in the distance, if the holy car arrived, the emperor finally returned!

…… Looking at the crowd of people in the distance, Xie Hong also smacked his tongue, although Yanjing City at this time was not as good as the later generations, it was also at the foot of the Son of Heaven, and the prosperity far exceeded that of Xuanfu. According to Xie Hong's estimates, there were no less than 100,000 people who went out of the city to greet him, which was the most people he saw when he came to this era.

The official road under your feet is also wider and smoother, so it should be regarded as a highway in this era, right? At this time, people had already seen the honor guard of the Son of Heaven clearly, and began to cheer, Xie Hong raised his eyes and looked around, and sighed in his heart: It is indeed a grand welcome ceremony, if you pull up a banner and write: Yanjing welcomes you, it will be more flavorful.

Xie Hong's cranky thinking was also to relieve the pressure, and after arriving at Juyong Pass, he received a letter from Zeng Jian again, and now it is certain that the biggest trouble will come from the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Although he is a novice in history, Xie Hong still knows the official position of the imperial history, which is equivalent to the media that will not be controlled in later generations, plus the procuratorate, it is very powerful, and the biggest function is to scold whoever you want, of course, Xie Hong's understanding is inevitably not accurate enough, in fact, this is called 'wind and news'.

Turning his head to look at Zhengde with a sad face on the courtesy, Xie Hong was still a little worried, I heard that the imperial history was very deterrent, and I didn't know if this unreliable second brother could stand it.

The unknown is always scary. He had never dealt with the Supreme Procuratorate in his previous life, but he had seen controlled paparazzi, and now he has to face unregulated, which is really impossible to face.

Xie Hong had tried his best to cheer up Zhengde before, but this effect, even Xie Hong himself didn't dare to guarantee it, even if he changed into a dragon robe and played the honor guard of the Son of Heaven, he had to persuade him for a long time, such an emperor really couldn't make people have high hopes.

Out of Juyong Pass, Zhang Xiu, Wang Yue and others came up, the Son of Heaven's car and honor guard naturally also brought, the matter of Xuanfu City had already spread to the capital, and it was not only the Metropolitan Procuratorate who was angry, but even Wang Yue, the eunuch, was indignant. That's the etiquette of heaven! How can it be messed with?

Xie Hong is not stupid, of course he knows that he can't mess around, but who made it too hasty at that time, he doesn't know what style the dragon robe is, as for the strange Yellow Dragon Flag, it was made by Zhengde himself, he only knew it when he saw it, let alone stop it.

In fact, there is nothing to stop, Zhu Houzhao, a poor child, is difficult to go out of Beijing to play once, Xie Hong thought about letting him have a good time, anyway, everyone didn't understand, so he wanted to have a good time.

However, Xie Hong can also distinguish the importance of the matter, it is different when he arrives in the capital, and the trouble is not small, if Zhengde is allowed to wear that clothes and fly such a banner, he may be stopped by the courtiers and not allowed to enter the city.

When the two talked about the university scholar and the imperial history, Zhu Houzhao was not so angry, his eyes were very erratic, Xie Hong could see that Zhengde himself was quite weak-minded. Therefore, Xie Hong really persuaded and coaxed and frightened, which made Zhengde give up his original plan.

However, despite obeying the arrangement, Zhengde still did not fully comply with the etiquette, and he insisted that Xie Hong must accompany Liyu, otherwise he would not get into the car. Xie Hong is at most a brocade guard, and of course it is not etiquette to accompany him.

The old eunuch Wang Yue also refused. Besides, the closer to the Holy Driver, the greater the grace, the original Eight Tigers have already given the old eunuch a headache, and now there is another Xie Hong, isn't that even worse. But Zhengde's stubbornness came up, and Wang Yue had no choice, so in the end, he had to let Xie Hong walk next to the car, and then he went on the road smoothly.

"The ministers will participate in Your Majesty's welcome to the Holy Driver's return to Beijing......"

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

It's a good thing to be trusted, but walking next to the holy car, Xie Hong didn't think it was a good errand, as soon as he approached Guangning Gate, he was startled, and more than 100,000 people shouted long live, which was indeed strange and scary. After everyone calmed down, when all kinds of eyes looked at him together, the pressure on him was even greater.

The gazes cast by the crowd in the distance were mostly curious, but it was nothing. But on the officials' side, the eyes were either cold or hot, all with resentment and murderous intent, like sharp arrows, murderous.

Does the welcome ceremony in Yanjing City start with onlookers? Xie Hong sighed in his heart, cheered up, and prepared to face the next challenge.

(To be continued)