In the early morning of January 1, 1852, Li Yunzhong played with Su Sanniang, Hong Xuanjiao, and Xu Yuexiang for a long time before falling asleep.

"Husband, husband, wake up, ......" Hong Xuanjiao leaned down and whispered in Li Yunzhong's ear.

Li Yunzhong opened his eyes in a daze, and saw that the three ladies were all dressed neatly, all dressed like flowers, and said in surprise: "Isn't it the Spring Festival today!" It's not dawn yet, ...... are you? ”

Seeing her husband's ignorant appearance, all the girls pursed their lips and smiled, Su Sanniang explained: "Doesn't the husband know the way? Today, the Minister of Chinese and Wu will come to you early in the morning to greet the New Year! ”

Li Yunzhong patted his head with his hand, speechless!

"They don't enjoy family fun at home, and they deliberately went to the palace early in the morning to greet me! Whose idea was this? ”

This still makes people not live, last night was overworked, and after sleeping for less than two hours, he had to get up to deal with the minister, isn't this formalism?

Hong Xuanjiao's eyes widened and said innocently: "This is a rule handed down from the Tang Dynasty!" If the husband lies in bed and sleeps a lot, he will be afraid of being laughed at! ”

Come on, let's get up! Li Yunzhong didn't want to be laughed at and generous for a lazy sleep!

In the side hall of the Han Palace, ministers wore brand-new official uniforms and greeted each other with a smile.

The official uniform of the Han Dynasty is the style of the anti-Ming Dynasty, with a first-class scarlet robe of civil officials and embroidered cranes; second-grade scarlet robe, embroidered brocade chicken; three-grade scarlet robe, embroidered peacock; four-grade scarlet robes, embroidered cloud geese; Five-grade green robe, embroidered white flycatcher; Six-grade green robe, embroidered heron; Seven-grade green robe, embroidered stream; Eight green robes, embroidered yellow orioles; Nine-grade green robe, embroidered quail. The military generals wore first-grade and second-grade scarlet robes, painted lions; three-grade scarlet robes, painted tigers; four-grade scarlet robes, painted leopards; Five-grade green robe, painted bear; Sixth-grade and seventh-grade green robes, painted biao; Eight-grade green robe, painted rhinoceros, nine-grade green robe, painted seahorse.

"It turned out to be Hu Dudu! The lower official is here to give you New Year's greetings! Zhao Laoqi's eyes were sharp, he looked at Hu Yihuang, who had just come in, and immediately stepped forward to greet him.

Hu Yihuang hesitated: "Are you ...... Zhao Laoqi! …… I saw it once in Swan Town! After thinking for a while, he remembered the other party's name, and seeing Zhao Laoqi wearing a three-grade official uniform, Hu Yihuang was surprised: "I didn't expect you to be a military commander?" What credit have you made? ”

Zhao Laoqi saw that the other party despised him, so he didn't dare to get angry, but flattered: "Xia Guan just did a few things that made King Han happy!" No credit for it! "This Hu Yihuang is the most trusted by the King of Han, and I can't offend him.

How many things did you do to make King Han happy? Hu Yihuang frowned, thinking that he was just relying on sycophants to get to the top, and walked past with a little disdain to catch up with Ling Shiba, who had just come in.

"Three! I heard you're hurt? ”

Ling Shibai subconsciously touched a certain part of his waist, and said with a forced smile: "It's just a small injury, which makes the second brother worried, but it's a pity that he can't go to the battlefield anymore, and he is stuffy in the yamen all day long!" ”

Hu Yihuang patted Ling Shiba's shoulder and comforted: "Third brother don't worry, you can't do anything for Your Highness anywhere!" Besides, with your reckless nature, if there is a good guy on the battlefield, won't it make a few of our brothers regret it for life! ”

In the corner, Wang Qinglu was introducing the officials to Li Shiqi.

"You see that the one who is a little fat and wears a second-grade official uniform is Shang Shuling 18 of the Criminal Department."

Li Shiqi laughed in a low voice: "This looks like a reckless man, how can he manage the Criminal Department well?" ”

Seeing Li Shiqi's contemptuous look, Wang Qinglu reprimanded: "Be careful that trouble comes out of his mouth, he is one of the six brothers before His Royal Highness the King of Han started the incident!" ”

Li Shiqi covered his mouth and said happily: "Fortunately, no one heard!" After speaking, he put down his hands and said stupidly: "He relied on nepotism to get this high position, just because he can afford the heavy responsibility of the Criminal Department?" King Han is too hasty! The voice became smaller and quieter, and the last sentence was almost inaudible.

Wang Qinglu explained: "You underestimate Your Highness too much, the waiter of the Criminal Department is Zhao Liewen, and the King of Han already values him, and his name is Shilang, but he is actually a scholar!" ”

Li Shiqi was originally very glad that he had the foresight to take refuge in the King of Han, and in less than a year, he became an official to the fifth rank and served as the prefect of Wuxi! Now I see that Zhao Liewen is the same year as himself, but because he is the top eye, he is in the third grade, which is the same as the second grade! …… The more I thought about it, the more dissatisfied I became.

"This surnamed Zhao's luck is too good! By the way, Zichuan, what kind of official position does King Han want to give you, why hasn't there been any movement until now? ”

Wang Qinglu smiled and said, "Don't say it!" Maybe you'll know the Tao today. ”

"Zichuan, look at this person who just came in, he is only in his twenties! Why is he wearing a second-grade official uniform? Could it be that he is a relative of the King of Han? Li Shiqi rubbed his eyes and confirmed once again that he was not mistaken, this handsome young man was wearing a second-grade official uniform.

Wang Qinglu looked up at the comer, and immediately couldn't cry or laugh, a little hated that iron could not become steel: "As the prefect of Wuxi, you don't even know what your own superiors do!" He is Li Xiucheng, who was originally the commander of the First Army, and was promoted to the governor of Jiangsu by the King of Han not long ago! ”

Li Shiqi has heard of the name Li Xiucheng, and knows that he has made many military exploits under the command of King Han! From Guangxi to Nanjing! So I let go of the little jealousy in my heart. Looking at so many young high-ranking officials, Li Shiqi was still a little disappointed.

Wang Qinglu patted Li Shiqi lightly to show comfort, and continued: "This has just come in with three people, on the left is Lin Daji, the secretary of the Ministry of War, on the right is Zhang Weikun, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and in the middle is the Shangshu of the Ministry of Households!" ”

Li Shiqi retracted his gaze, "What is the origin of these three people, looking at the way they talk, it seems that they are very familiar with Hu Dudu and Ling Shangshu?" ”

"All five of them are the sworn brothers of the King of Han, plus the chief of staff Zhang Suimou and the King of Han, who are coming in, exactly seven! Zhang Suimou is also a second-class high-ranking official, and his power in the army is no less than that of the military department. Wang Qinglu pointed to Zhang Suimou, who had just entered, and said to Li Shiqi.

"I know this Yang Jinlong! Suzhou prefect, ranked fourth, who are these children? How is it also a four-product? Or a military attaché? Li Shiqi's gaze turned from Yang Jinlong to Chen Yucheng and the others.

It turned out to be several captains of the foreign guns! Wang Qinglu secretly complained that Li Shiqi was making a fuss, "These are the captains of the foreign gun team, they are very trusted by the King of Han, from left to right, Chen Yucheng, Tan Shaoguang, Bai Yinwu, Huang Jinwen, huh?" Who is the last person in this case? Maybe a recent promotion! ”

Li Shiqi was surprised: "I heard that there is a foreign gun team under the command of King Han, which is invincible and invincible, it turns out to be a group of children!" ”

"Not young, they're both fifteen years old, huh? What are these foreigners doing to join in the fun? Wang Qinglu watched Jack lead two companions to follow behind Chen Yucheng and the others, with a look of concealment.

Li Shiqi didn't think it was a big deal, "Zichuan, don't you know that there are many such foreign devils in Wuxi, and they do business like businessmen, and they often clash with people!" I also made friends with an Englishman named Paul and learned a few words from him, "Harrow is hello, Mao you are good morning!" Ha Lu Ha ...... What a strange language this foreigner has! ”

Speaking of foreigners, seeing Wang Qinglu unhappy, Li Shiqi gushed endlessly, feeling a little face in front of his friends.

Yang Jinlong looked at Wang Qinglu and Li Shiqi pointing in the corner, and had the intention to make friends with the two, and stepped forward and said, "Brother Wang, Brother Li!" Since the last goodbye, I miss it very much, and I want to congratulate Brother Wang on taking charge of the Imperial Court! ”

Li Shiqi was surprised: "Metropolitan Procuratorate? You said that Zichuan was in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate? ”

Li Shiqi's heart feels like smashing the five-flavor bottle at the moment, there are all kinds of sweet and sour! The weight of the power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is unimaginable, and Li Shiqi still clearly remembers that he read a sentence describing the Metropolitan Procuratorate in "History of the Ming Dynasty and Career Officials II":

In the two capitals to brush the scroll, inspect the Beijing camp, the prison of the township, the examination and the martial arts, inspect the Guanglu, inspect the warehouse, inspect the inner library, the imperial city, the five cities, and take turns to climb the drum. Patrol the soldiers and horses outside, admiral schools, tea horses, patrols, customs, transport, India and horses, and Tuntian. Divisions supervise military discipline and merit, and each supervises its own affairs. The patrol press patrolled on behalf of the Son of Heaven, and the ministers of the vassal service and the officials of the prefecture and county inspected them, and the impeachment was particularly specialized, and the major matters were judged and the small matters were decided. According to the arrival, the prisoner must first be interrogated, the case file must be swiped, and those who enter and leave for reasons must be justified.

Wang Qinglu said humbly: "Thanks to the love of the King of Han, I was awarded the post of deputy imperial historian in the lower left capital!" ”