The most interesting part of the Halloween Festival is not the banquet and singing and dancing performances in the evening, but the part where the ministers come to offer birthday gifts!

Although this part is time-consuming and even a little boring, it is the most important for the civil and military officials of the court!

Because this is a time to show your face and loyalty in front of the emperor!

In addition to the officials in Beijing, there are also governors, governors, and generals of various provinces outside the country, as well as vassal kings and nobles from all over the country, who have to present birthday gifts to the emperor!

There are all kinds of birthday gifts, there are everything, and some emperors can't see it at all, and they don't even know that someone has given it to him!

Wang Zhen!

The governors and princes of other provinces cannot return to Beijing lightly unless they are called, so if they want to be seen by the emperor, they must give Wang Zhen a gift!

If you don't give him a gift, even if your birthday gift arrives, you won't be able to get to the palace, it is said that there is no gold hundred taels, and you don't want the emperor to see the gift list!

Wang Zhen's domineering, civil and military officials naturally dare to be angry but dare not speak.

Taking advantage of the emperor's longevity festival to collect money, Wang Zhen is not the first time, he is bigger and bigger every time, and he is unscrupulous!

The procedure for offering birthday gifts is that the kings of the clan are in the first place, followed by the nobles and princes from all over the country, and then it is the turn of the officials in the court, according to the order of rank, to offer the birthday gift!

Under normal circumstances, that is, the cabinet ministers who hold real power, monks, and squires are eligible to pay a birthday gift alone, and the following officials can attach a gift list!

However, if the birthday gift of some officials is very special, they will also be offered separately, which of course must be announced in advance and go through a procedure!

Basically the emperor is clear.

Wenchen's birthday gift. Most of them are related to calligraphy and painting, and if they come up with any priceless treasures, they will be suspected of corruption!

So if it weren't for the calligraphy and painting of the ancients, then it would be the Shoulian written by yourself.

There are also people who send the four treasures of the study, of course, they are not ordinary goods, they are all difficult things.

There are also people who send fabrics, and there must be an official from the Ministry of Industry who sent a piece of Shu brocade woven by his wife himself!

Suzhou Weaving Bureau presented the top Jiangnan silk ......

The purple pearls of the South China Sea, the three-foot-high red coral, the clean and immaculate crystal ball of the East China Sea, and the gold embroidered ......

Jiangning Shipyard also sent a 1:10,000 model of the treasure ship.

All kinds of precious treasures. That's too many to count. The dazzling array is dazzling and dizzying!

In addition, there are birthday gifts from each vassal country. Goryeo, Annam, Ryukyu, Luzon, Japan, and Warat also sent envoys.

"Good. Good. I am very happy today, and all of you have hearts, for my birthday. I have carefully prepared these gifts, and I like them very much, so I have decided to give a banquet in the Qianqing Palace tonight, and we will have fun together, how about it? Zhu Qizhen was very happy, and receiving these rare treasures was one of them.

What's more important is a kind of satisfaction in the personal heart, the gift is only one aspect, and what he enjoys more is the pleasure of dominating the world and commanding the universe!

The kind of supreme power that gives an order, the ministers bow down, and all the nations come to court, this kind of pleasure is irreplaceable by how many rare treasures there are.

"Holy Lord, there is still one person who has not been offered a birthday gift!" Wang Zhen, who was standing under Zhu Qizhen's dragon chair, suddenly said in a dark voice.

"Oh, who is it?" Zhu Qizhen smiled slightly, in fact, he missed one or two people who did not enter the birthday gift, it was nothing, but Wang Zhen brought it up, if he ignored it, hundreds of pairs of eyes below would look at it.

"Jinyi Guard's acting commander Lord Guo!"

"Oh, Guo Aiqing, Mr. said that you didn't give me a birthday gift, but is it true?" Zhu Qizhen was stunned, Wang Zhen actually targeted Guo Nu.

"What the prince said is right, Weichen has indeed not entered the birthday gift yet!" Guo Nu smiled slightly.

"Lord Guo is in charge of the brocade guard, and he is busy clearing out dissidents, I'm afraid that I will even forget about my birthday!" Wang Zhen sneered.

"Weichen was ordered by the emperor to eliminate the black sheep in the Jinyi Guard, how did he become a dissident, Wang Gonggong, if it weren't for the birthday of the saint today, this official would definitely talk to you!" Guo Nu's face turned cold, and he replied without weakness!

"Really?"

"Guo Aiqing, what about the birthday gift you gave me?" Zhu Qizhen was in an unhappy mood, today was his birthday, the two of them pinched in front of him, and couldn't help but show a hint of displeasure at Wang Zhen.

The matter was provoked by Wang Zhen, of course, Guo Nu was also at fault, he didn't come into the birthday gift, and Wang Zhen also stood up for him.

"Shengshang, it's not that Weichen didn't prepare a birthday ceremony, but when the birthday ceremony arrived outside the palace gate, he was stopped by someone, saying that if he wants to enter the palace, he must pay money, Weichen has no money, so he can only come in first, and the birthday gift is outside!" Guo Nu said.

"There is such a thing!" Zhu Qizhen was furious.

Wang Zhen couldn't help but panic, Guo Nu actually poked this matter out in front of the emperor and the minister of civil and military affairs.

"Qiqi Sheng, it should be that Lord Guo didn't explain what the item was, so the guards didn't dare to put it in, right?" Wang Zhen explained.

"Wechen has explained it clearly, it's a birthday gift for the saint!"

"Lord Guo didn't make it clear what the birthday gift was, did he?" Cao Jixiang stood up and asked.

"This one really doesn't!"

"Holy Lord, Lord Guo didn't explain it clearly, how dare the guards let him go, in case ......," Wang Zhen knelt down and explained.

"Forget it, it's not your fault." Zhu Qizhen thought about it, Wang Zhen did this with some reason, "Guo Aiqing, why don't you make it clear to the palace guards?" ”

"Qiqi Shengshang, because Weichen doesn't know how to explain it, this thing Weichen is also the first time I've seen it, even if I say it, the guards probably don't know, so there is no explanation!" Guo angrily bowed and explained.

"Oh, tell me about it?"

"This thing is called the music box, it is made by a subordinate of Weichen, Weichen thinks this is a strange thing, so he plans to sacrifice it to the saint as a birthday gift!" Guo said angrily.

"Music box, does this have anything to do with melody?" Zhu Qizhen's eyes lit up, and he was interested, as an emperor, he had never seen any rare treasures. Something he had never seen before suddenly appeared, how could it not arouse his intense interest!

Not to mention him, even the princes and civil and military officials in Beijing were also attracted to him.

"Yes, please allow Wei Chen to bring this thing in!" Guo said angrily.

"Accurate!"

"Thank you!"

Guo Nu strode away, and after about a cup of tea, Guo Nu took four people and carried the music box into the hall!

The four people are Du Chong, Fu Xiaochen, Niu Dali and Meng Yan!

Guo Nu also wanted to take this opportunity to bring Meng Yan into the court, so that he would be familiar in front of the emperor now!

Du Chong and Fu Xiaochen are known to many people, but Niu Dali and Meng Yan. There aren't many people I know.

Niu Dali and Meng Yan both lowered their heads. On this occasion, it would be better for them to receive less attention.

Niu Dali was a little nervous, this was the first time in his life on this occasion, and Meng Yan was much more relaxed!

The emperor counts as a ball. It's not also a shoulder to resist a head. What's the big deal. Just follow the rules, no need to be so afraid!

"Guo Aiqing, this is the music box you are talking about?" Zhu Qizhen pointed with a curious hand.

"Enlighten the Holy One. Precisely! ”

Guo Nu stepped forward and lifted the red cloth covering the music box, revealing a square golden silk nanmu box that looked like a large box.

"Haha......"

There was a burst of laughter all around.

Isn't this just a wooden box, what kind of treasure is it, isn't this Guo Laohu's head in water?

"Lord Guo, it's just such a wooden box, at best, it's a more expensive material, and it's not a treasure!" Wang Zhen also laughed!

Those ministers who were attached to Wang Zhen on weekdays pointed out and laughed one by one!

Even the foreign envoys expressed their doubts one by one, how could there be such a stupid person in the Celestial Empire, and actually make such a joke?

"His Majesty the Great Emperor, this is our Annam Golden Silk Nanmu, we can give His Majesty the Great Emperor such a thick, such a long golden silk Nanmu a hundred roots......" The envoy of the Annan Kingdom couldn't wait to jump out, pointed to the wooden box, and gestured with both hands.

Zhu Qizhen's face suddenly darkened, the dignified Ming Dynasty, the treasure of the world, actually made a little Annan envoy laugh!

I'm about to get angry!

"Holy Lord, this thing is not as ordinary as it looks, please allow Weichen to demonstrate it for you!" Guo Nu didn't panic at all, these people are all rat-eyed, the more they are like this, the worse the next slap in the face will be!

He has seen the magic of the "Music Box" with his own eyes, if it weren't for the emperor, he would have wanted to get such a one and put it in the study, when he was fine, he could listen to it, and he could also soothe his feelings.

"Accurate!" Zhu Qizhen thought for a while and nodded.

Guo Nu walked over, propped up the top of the box, opened the small door in front of him, slowly put the clockwork on his feet, and then pressed the button of track one.

Ding-ding-dong......

When the crisp and mellow music sounded, the expressions of everyone in the hall were petrified, even the emperor Zhu Qizhen, who was sitting on the dragon chair!

"Good-sounding, good-sounding, crisp, mellow, not just what kind of instrument to play, like chime, but not like ......" Music is one of the six arts of a gentleman, and among the civil officials present, many of them are proficient in music.

So, they were quickly attracted by the wonderful sound of music made by this strange music box, and wanted to discover its secrets.

"Guo Aiqing, this, what's going on, how can it ......" Zhu Qizhen's face flushed with excitement, and he didn't know how to describe it in words!

"The principle of this thing is not very clear to Wei Chen, but Wei Chen brought the person who made him and asked him to explain it to you!" Guo said angrily.

"What about people?"

"Meng Yan, don't come forward to see the driver yet!" Guo Nu snorted lightly.

Meng Yan hurriedly took three steps forward and knelt on the ground: "Meng Yan, the treasurer of the Hundred Households of the Minister, Jinyi Weinanya, knocked on the saint and blessed the saint with a long life, long live, long live, long live!" ”

Meng Yan!

Suddenly hearing this name, many people were shocked and their eyes were full of brilliance, and Wang Zhen and Cao Jixiang's hearts shrank even more!

"Meng Yan, I remembered, you are the Meng Yan who treated Yang Ge Lao?" Zhu Qizhen was surprised.

"Weichen doesn't dare, it's the Ge Laoji people who have a heavenly appearance, so they can turn the crisis into safety!" Meng Yan said busily.

"Good, good, not arrogant, rare!" Zhu Qizhen was very happy to see a person of his age in the court, and it was so suitable for his spleen and stomach.

The gray beard of this Manchu dynasty, even if there are young officials, they all stand far away, and it is basically rare to have a chance to speak. (To be continued......)