At four o'clock in the morning, Wang Cheng woke up, and everyone else woke up in unison.

Although Chunming did not say the purpose of letting them participate in the court meeting, anyone can guess that it must have something to do with their reward, otherwise how could they let all of them participate in the court meeting.

The group of eight people washed and dressed carefully, and then set off for the palace.

On the way, they met other officials, but they didn't know any of them, so they didn't say hello.

The group came to the noon gate, and many clan ministers had gathered at the gate.

The noon gate is usually open at midday, so those ministers who are far away can only get up early.

Wang Cheng and the others lived in Wangcheng, which was the latest wave, and when they arrived, the ministers of civil and military affairs and the princes of the sect had already lined up in two columns.

The civil and military officials are close to the east gate, and the prince of the clan is close to the west gate, because after the door is opened, they will go up from these two side gates.

The eunuch Chunming had already told him about this last night, so he consciously stood in the ranks of the civil and military officials.

Wang Cheng and the others were in line with the principle of keeping a low profile and not wanting to attract attention, so they quietly stood at the back.

But the more this is the case, the easier it is to attract people's attention, because Wang Cheng's fourth-grade military robe is very conspicuous, how dare those fifth-grade and sixth-grade officials let him stand behind them.

"Is the general in the wrong place? Hurry on! ”

"You must not stand here, if you stand here, we must not bear the charge of "disrespecting the official". ”

"General, hurry up!"

Several military attachés standing in front of him surrounded him, as if they were about to make a move if they didn't step forward again.

The movement immediately attracted the attention of the others, and almost everyone's eyes were attracted.

"General Wang!"

At this moment, a voice sounded in Wang Cheng's ears, somewhat familiar.

I saw a man in his fifties walking over.

He wore a red official robe that only officials of the third rank and above could wear, his appearance was very ordinary, he was not tall, his body was not strong, and his face was not white.

"General Zhenxi!"

Wang Cheng just wanted to speak, but when the words came to his mouth, he immediately changed his words and called "General Song".

After Song Huchen, the general of Zhenxi, was transferred back to Beijing, he did not return to the west, and the new assassins of Huangzhou, Bao Zheng and Wang Cheng, made great contributions in the west, and collected two counties in a row, so the Son of Heaven simply left him in Kyoto and served as the general of the left guard, in charge of the imperial forest army and the palace guard.

When Song Huchen saw Wang Cheng, he was full of smiles and said, "Good job!" ”

"It was not Wang Cheng's strength alone, but the general and all the brothers of the Western Army who fought bravely to kill the enemy to establish this great achievement." Wang Cheng said solemnly.

"Meritorious but not arrogant, brave but not reckless, you are better than I imagined!"

Song Huchen's face was gratified, there was nothing more joyful and proud than seeing his brothers under him establish immortal feats.

Of course, he had regrets, because he was not the commander of that battle.

Even so, he received a lot of favors.

Originally, he returned to Beijing to report on his work, and did not have much hope of being promoted, although Ji County was recovered when he was in charge of the Western Army, but Nanli County was also broken when he was in charge of the Western Army, and a Zhonglang general died, and the merits were basically offset.

So he lived in the capital for a month or two, and the Son of Heaven summoned him, and occasionally participated in the court meeting, but he did not agree on his merits, which was tantamount to treating him as an idle person.

Until the news of Wang Cheng's recovery of the two counties reached the capital in one day, he was quickly promoted to the general of the left guard.

Because Wang Cheng was his brother, it was his order that Wang Cheng would take over the Nanli people on behalf of Zhonglang, and then he recommended Wang Cheng to the Son of Heaven to take charge of the military affairs in the southwest, and even assured the Son of Heaven that Wang Cheng would not disappoint their expectations.

Therefore, he has a share of the series of credits made by Wang Cheng later, because if it were not for his good knowledge, none of this would be true.

"Let's go! I'll take you to meet General Cheng! ”

Song Huchen took Wang Cheng's hand and pulled him towards the noon gate.

Wang Cheng turned around and secretly transmitted a message to Liu Qingsheng and a few people, asking them to stay there and not move around at will.

Soon, he saw Cheng Zhijin, who was standing at the front of the civil and military officials.

For this person's name, he is like thunder.

This man went through the three dynasties of King Jian, King Ling and Zhou Zhaowu, and he enlisted in the army at the age of fourteen, at that time it was the twilight of King Jian, the world was in turmoil, and many men under the age of eighteen were drafted into the army.

Within a few years, King Jian died, King Ling ascended the throne, and the world was still in turmoil.

Fifteen years ago, the Five Kingdoms attacked Zhou, and Kyoto was in a bloody turmoil, and it was he who led nearly a million soldiers and civilians in Kyoto to resist desperately, and finally blocked hundreds of thousands of troops from Kyoto.

In the offensive field, he may not be a very good general, but in terms of defending the city, he is the first person in the world, and he is recognized as the first person!

He wasn't called Cheng Zhijin before, Zhijin was the name he changed to himself, just to remind himself at all times, to know "attack"!

Cheng Zhijin has white hair and hair, and he is already in his nineties, but he is burly, full of energy, with a pair of bright eyes, and he is a tiger alive.

Wang Cheng is also a soldier, and what he admires most is this kind of veteran, so he stepped forward quickly and saluted first: "The last general, Wang Cheng, meet the old lady!" ”

"Old lady?"

Cheng Zhijin suddenly tied his face, and said angrily: "Taiwei is Taiwei, and the old Taiwei, are you thinking I'm old?" Why don't we roll up our sleeves and fight? ”

When Wang Cheng heard this, he suddenly felt extremely embarrassed, and his hand subconsciously touched the back of his head.

Seeing this, Cheng Zhijin pointed at Wang Cheng and said with a smile: "Your kid is really the same as Huchen said, it's a little cute, the old man is joking with you, joking!" ”

Wang Cheng put his hand down, but his face was still red and hot.

Cheng Zhijin patted Wang Cheng on the shoulder and said appreciatively: "You kid did a good job!" In the past month or so, the old man's ears are about to come out of the cocoon, but the old man just wants to listen! ”

At this point, his voice suddenly raised: "Counting up for more than two hundred years, my Great Zhou has lost the land one after another, except for Ninghou to recover the two counties, only you kid has made this great achievement!" ”

"Your Excellency praises it! Wang Cheng's achievements were all piled up by the soldiers with their lives, not Wang Cheng's strength alone. Wang Cheng said.

"If only you remembered that!"

Cheng Zhijin nodded, his eyes suddenly became deep, and said: "When others see that we have infinite scenery, they are envious, jealous, and even jealous, but they have ever thought about how many bones of soldiers are lying on those merit books?" ”

He glanced in several directions, and his tone was raised again: "The merits of war are made, and they are the flesh and blood of countless soldiers. If anyone is dissatisfied with these exploits, it is against the dead soldiers! Enemies of their heroic spirits! Enemies of all the soldiers of the Great Zhou! ”

The voice was high-pitched, like the yellow bell Dalu, resounding throughout Suzaku Street.

Civil and military officials, princes of the clan, the reactions are different.

There are military generals who can't help but applaud, there are civil officials who are there to contemplate and ponder, and there are people who bow their heads and are silent.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

……

At this moment, the drums sounded in the noon gate tower, and the city gate was opened.

All the civil and military officials and princes of the clan were all lined up, and then began to walk through the entrance hole one by one.

It's not the first time I've participated in a court meeting, and I've long been clear about what to bring and what not to bring.

The Imperial Forest Army in charge of the palace gate did not search his body carefully, but immediately let him go after a few glances.

When it was Wang Cheng's turn, he didn't go to search his body, after all, he had come once before, and the Imperial Forest Army also only looked at him a few times before letting him in.

After entering, he did not directly enter the Wude Hall of the Imperial Court, but entered the side hall of the Wude Hall to wait.

The reason why he was in the side hall first was to rest for the ministers of the previous dynasty for a while, after all, some ministers had a long way to go, and they waited for a long time in front of the noon gate, so some tea and snacks were prepared in the side hall.

The second is to give the minister some time to discuss government affairs so that he can concentrate on the problem. Otherwise, when you come to the court meeting, you talk about it, I talk about it, and I will take it out and say everything, not to mention one morning, I am afraid that I will not be able to finish it in ten mornings.

The side hall was large enough and was divided into several large rooms, large enough to accommodate several hundred people.

So after the civil and military officials and the princes of the clan entered the palace, they were divided into several circles, and each circle had a leader.

For example, Cheng Zhijin, the right prime minister, gathered a lot of generals around him, and the new left guard general Song Huchen was the core member of it.

Wang Cheng was only familiar with Song Huchen among these officials, so he naturally joined Cheng Zhijin's circle, and at the same time brought Liu Qingsheng and others in.

Cheng Zhijin first introduced Wang Cheng, but in fact, he didn't introduce him much, because everyone knew him.

Then, he introduced Wang Cheng to the other people gathered together.

There are a number of important military officials such as General Hu Ben Zhonglang, General Yulin Zhonglang, and Xiao Cavalry Captain, and of course, some of them have integrated into other circles.

After getting acquainted with everyone, an official from the Ministry of Rites approached.

"Wang boy, the court has the rules of the court, although we are all big and coarse, we also have to abide by the rules."

Cheng Zhijin pointed to the official of the Ministry of Rites who walked up to him, and said, "This is Lord Lang Zhuang of the Ministry of Rites, he will teach you some etiquette in the court." ”

Wang Cheng nodded, exchanged a salute with Zhuang Shilang, and then called Liu Qingsheng and a few people to follow each other into another side hall.

Zhuang Shilang first told Wang Cheng some etiquette knowledge, such as the etiquette of entering and retreating from the dynasty - tendency, how to stand, Wenchen standing on the left, military generals standing on the right, and so on.

This naturally talks about the ritual of kneeling, and there is no need to bow down for normal recitals and deliberations, but when it comes to rewarding, punishing, or even giving death, you need to use the ritual of kneeling.

Yes, the minister was given death not only to bow down, but even to thank the lord for his grace.

Although the "death grant" appears to be a death notice to a person, it has the characteristics of a courtesy minister. It is in fact a special system of execution, which takes into account the decency of ministers to a large extent.

In addition, the minister who was given death could also get some benefits from it, reducing the pain of death.

Wang Cheng only realized the "broad and profound" of these etiquettes after listening, if he didn't know these, such as spitting in the palace everywhere, he would be recorded in a small book by the imperial history, and he would be included in a book when he went to court in the future.

He remembered it very quickly, but Yin Bo had a big head, and it was already difficult to memorize these words, and his brain was almost unable to move when he combined them into certain actions.

Zhuang Shilang said at this time: "These etiquette Wang General must master today, as for you, you only need to remember the ceremony of entering and retreating from the dynasty and the ceremony of kneeling and thanking. ”

When Yin Bo heard this, he was immediately overjoyed, but when he saw that Liu Qingsheng and the others were all expressionless, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you?" Isn't it good that there aren't that many courtesies? ”

Good thing about!

Liu Qingsheng and the others all turned their heads and pretended not to know him.

Does he really not know, or does he not know?

There are not so many courtesies, which means that they are just going through the motions, and it won't be too big if they have a reward.

"General Wang, the time difference is good, we should go. A few others will stay in the side hall and wait, and there will be an internal official to inform you when to enter the hall. Zhuang Shilang said.

Wang Cheng nodded, and asked Liu Qingsheng and the others to calm down, and he and Zhuang Shilang came to the side hall next door.

Not long after, a eunuch came to give the order.

So the civil and military officials and the princes of the clan all entered the Wude Palace, and then listed them according to their ranks.

Soon, Zhou Zhaowu, who was wearing a crown robe, walked into the hall from one side, he did not go to the dragon chair and sat down, but walked to the center of the civil and military officials, looked at everyone and said: "Before the ministers argued endlessly about the matter of breaking the general's merits, today, in front of everyone, the widow also clearly told the world: Whoever makes meritorious service, the widow will definitely be rewarded, and whoever recovers the land and is ashamed of the country, the widow will definitely be rewarded, and it is not a problem to have a thousand households and ten thousand households!" ”

He suddenly raised his voice: "Anyone who forms a party for personal gain, uses power for personal gain, and makes a fortune in the country, no matter what identity you have, and no matter how much credit your ancestors have, they will all be punished." At the least, he will be cut down, and at worst, he will be wiped out. What punishment is not a doctor, today the widow clearly tells you that the prince is guilty of the same crime as the common people! ”

As soon as these words came out, the court suddenly boiled, but it quickly calmed down, and everyone looked at this son of heaven quietly.

After so many years of steady development, is this son of heaven who has been killed on the battlefield finally going to change?

Zhou Zhaowu's face was expressionless, and he said, "Chunming, announce the edict!" ”

Chunming held the ununfolded edict with both hands and shouted: "Breaking the general Wang Cheng takes the order!" ”

When Wang Cheng heard this, he immediately walked out of the ranks, knelt on one knee, and said, "The last general has a command!" ”

Only then did Chunming spread out the edict and began to read:

"The edict said: The king rules the world with benevolence and virtue, and seals the princes with meritorious deeds. Breaking the capture of the general Wang Cheng, wise and loyal, brave and good at fighting, beheading the enemy generals, and collecting the two counties, it is a great achievement that has not been made since the new establishment of our dynasty, and the snow washes away the shame of our dynasty for a hundred years.

In order to show the outstanding merits of the general, Wang Cheng was promoted to the general of the left, and all military affairs on the left road were supervised, and the marquis of Wu'an, 3,000 households were eaten, 3,000 taels of gold, 300 horses of silk, a general's mansion, and 100 maids were used for his purposes.

It is hoped that the general will uphold the heart of loyalty, fulfill his duties, protect his family and defend the country, and make new contributions.

Chin this. ”