Today is the last day of Mr. Meng, the right servant of the Ministry of Officials, in the Ministry of Criminal Justice in Nanjing. He will leave for Beijing early tomorrow morning to serve as the left servant of the Ministry of Officials in the capital. Zuo Shilang from the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Nanjing, several doctors, Yuanwailang, and the Master Shangshu who was convalescing at home all rushed over to prepare for a farewell party for Master Meng.
Officials from various yamen and Meng Shilang who have a good relationship with Meng Shilang will also come to attend his farewell dinner tonight, which will be held in the Chongyi Building. However, Rui Chuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, Zhang Ziyuan, Minister of Dali Temple, Pei Tianci, Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Yin Xiao Shiqi of Yingtianfu unexpectedly came in advance, and came to his signing room together.
"Guys, it seems that your yamen is very leisurely. Hehe, the farewell banquet will be held at night, and you will open it now. Are you hungry for my Laomeng's wine? Okay, let's chat first, and we will meet later when we meet." It's not that easy anymore, let's go to the Chongyi Building together later."
Meng Shilang was very happy to see some old friends, he hurriedly invited them to sit down, and said with a smile. Rui Chuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, leaned back on his chair and said weakly, "Old Meng, you will be promoted to the capital soon. Before you leave, please do me a favor and put away that mallet."
Meng Shilang was stunned for a while, and said strangely: "Lord Rui, where did you start talking about it, what kind of stick?"
Rui Chuan rubbed his forehead with his hands, and said helplessly: "It's that Ye Xiaotian you sent to my place, it really kills me, such an ignorant idiot, you sent him to my place, the old man must be killed by him Can't be mad."
Rui Chuan told Meng Shilang about Ye Xiaotian's heroic deeds, and Meng Shilang couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Hahaha, it's really interesting. I've heard that Guizhou is closed, and some officials promoted on the spot are very vulgar and ignorant." , but I didn’t expect it to be true, haha…”
Rui Chuan rolled his eyes, and said resentfully: "Are you still laughing? I don't care. As for the person, I have already sent it back to you, and I am just waiting outside. I absolutely cannot use this person, and I dare not use him." , you should find another job for him."
Meng Shilang held back a smile and looked at Zhang Ziyuan and the others, bluffing Zhang Ziyuan, Pei Tianci and the others into panic and waved his hands: "No! I don't want it! Lao Meng, you must be kind, you will be promoted to the capital soon, you can't bully your old friends like this ah."
Seeing this, Meng Shilang frowned, and said in embarrassment: "It's just a low-ranking miscellaneous official, why can't I arrange it?"
Pei Tianci, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, coughed and said, "Actually, Ye Xiaotian's jokes like this may not be due to ignorance. Rui Shangshu, you are from the Ministry of Punishment, I am from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Mr. Zhang , you are from Dali Temple. Our three law divisions are different from other yamen. Many scholars who have memorized the Four Books and Five Classics back and forth, come to our judicial yamen. Don’t they have to learn everything from scratch? There were also people who didn’t know the rules and made a lot of jokes .”
Zhang Ziyuan said calmly: "There are people who make jokes, but I have never seen anyone make such a bad joke."
Rui Chuan said with piercing eyes: "Why, Pei Yushi is planning to get him to your Yushitai? Then my old Rui Ke will thank you first."
"Hey! I'm joking, I'm joking!" Pei Tianci hurriedly waved his hands and said, "The official censor must be a Jinshi or a student supervisor, so Ye Xiaotian is only from a family background, so what can he do if he is asked to go to my censor platform? Cough! That's it, I think there is a place that is very suitable for him to go, Meng Shilang might as well do some good deeds before he leaves, he has calmed down, and we are safe."
Meng Shilang asked curiously: "Oh? But I don't know what Yamen Pei Zongxian is talking about?"
Pei Tianci smiled slightly and said, "Ministry of Rites!"
Hearing what he said, the other adults couldn't help but look at each other, Meng Shilang said: "Pei Zongxian, you are joking, the Ministry of Rites is the most well-behaved department among the six departments, this person does not abide by the rules in our Ministry of Officials, Ministry of Punishment, If you don't know the rules, what's the point of going to the Ministry of Rites?"
Pei Tianci smiled and said: "Master Meng, I haven't finished yet. The Ministry of Rites does have the most rules and the biggest rules, but there is a place in the Ministry of Rites, but it is extremely free. Arranging him there will save us all from worrying." .”
Meng Shilang wondered: "There is such a place? What is Zongxian Pei referring to?"
Pei Tianci said word by word: "We will be in the same hall!"
All the senior officials looked at each other again, and after a long silence, Zhang Ziyuan, the Minister of Dali Temple, slapped his hands suddenly, and praised: "Wonderful! Huitong Hall is indeed an excellent place to go. Our Daming Huitong Hall has one in the northern and southern capitals. However, the Huitong Hall in Nanjing is almost useless, and it has not received a foreign envoy for many years, so it is very leisurely."
Xiao Shiqi, the Yin of Yingtianfu, said with a smile on his beard: "Not only are foreign envoys, but even barbarian officials who come to pay tribute never stay in Nanjing, but go straight to Beijing. It is just considering that the Nanyang countries may send envoys here, and they will stay here for a while. I am a dignified country, and I will not abolish the relevant institutions just to save some money in such a small place, so I have kept it. However, since Emperor Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, the Nanjing Huitong Hall has been used only a handful of times. If I remember correctly, there have been no foreign envoys to stay in it for nearly 60 years."
Meng Shilang smiled and said: "Pei Zongxian, you just woke up the dreamer! If it's done, then send him to the same hall of the Ministry of Rites, hey! It's really not worrying, let's end his matter , Meng Mou is in Jinling, it can be regarded as a good beginning and a good end!"
※※※
"Hahahaha... Master Ye, it's only been two days, and you've become Ambassador Ye again, hahaha, I'm dying of laughter..."
Zhan Ning'er laughed so hard, Younger Sister Sun kept her face sullen and didn't smile, for fear of offending Ye Xiaotian, but after holding back for a long time, she finally couldn't help but burst out laughing, she sneaked a look at Ye Xiaotian, and quickly held back He stopped, but the curvature of the corners of his lips turned upwards.
Tang Xianzu grimaced and said: "Ministry of Officials, you only worked for one day, Ministry of Punishments, you worked for two days, and in a blink of an eye, you were sent to the Ministry of Rites again, dear brother, my Ming Dynasty has been established for more than two hundred years. Change the masters of the two yamen, and you are the only one."
Ye Xiaotian rolled his eyes and said to himself: "I just want to go back to Huxian County, and Meng Shilang is also stubborn, why does he have to keep me in Jinling? I heard that the Tongguan is a very leisurely yamen, and now the establishment is not complete. There are only three or two kittens left to barely survive, and they are dispensable yamen in the Ministry of Rites. I go there, I’m afraid I really can’t afford to make troubles, what should I do?”
Seeing that Zhan Ning'er was still laughing, Tang Xianzu said: "Miss Zhan, don't laugh, brother Xiaotian must also feel very uncomfortable. This department of etiquette is not comparable to other yamen, and it is especially particular about rules and etiquette. Brother knows a thing or two about this, why don't you let Brother Wei give you some pointers, lest you go to the Ministry of Rites and stay in the Ministry of Rites for less than three days, and change the yamen again."
Ye Xiaotian hastily declined: "Uh... let's forget about this, Brother Tang, I don't care too much about it, I..."
Tang Xianzu said seriously: "How is this possible? It is not easy for you to become an official of the court as a human being. How can you not cherish it? Come, come, let me tell you some basic official etiquette. You are in the yamen. If you When you meet an official of the same level, you have to salute or salute twice; if you meet your superior, you have to move one step to the right, stand still, and salute twice... "
Ye Xiaotian said: "Brother Tang..."
Tang Xianzu said: "Listen carefully. If your subordinate salutes you, you only need to nod in return. If it's just a handyman, you don't need to salute..."
Ye Xiaotian leaned on the chair helplessly.
Tang Xianzu said: "When you see the emperor, you usually bow three or four times. On important occasions where the emperor attends, you have to bow five times and kowtow three times. Of course, you are unlikely to see the emperor. What about this etiquette? It’s useless at all, it’s good to know…”
Ye Xiaotian was drowsy after hearing this, and couldn't help yawning. Zhan Ning'er yawned almost at the same time as him. The two couldn't help but looked at each other and smiled when they saw each other's movements. Suddenly, Ning'er felt something inexplicable. Nuan Yi: This guy is obviously very lazy, why do I like to watch him so much
On the side, Sister Sun stared wide-eyed and listened carefully to Tang Xianzu's explanation. By Ye Xiaotian's side, she felt that she couldn't help at all, except making soup. And when it comes to beauty and family background, Miss Yingying and Miss Ning'er are better than her. She is just a little girl in the mountain village. It is rare to have such an opportunity now. Since Brother Xiaotian is unwilling to remember, then she will help her. Brother Tian, please remember...
※※※
In the early morning of the next day, Tang Xianzu was worried that Ye Xiaotian would go to the Ministry of Rites today, so he also got up early, rushed over to give thousands of instructions, but Ye Xiaotian was absent-minded. It was hard to tell Tang Xianzu clearly about the decision, so he had to muddle along.
Tang Xianzu saw that he was not enthusiastic about it, but he was very anxious for him. In desperation, he suddenly found that Sister Sun had kept all the words he had told him firmly in his heart. He was overjoyed and suggested that Sister Sun should change into men's clothes and go out with Ye Xiaotian .
Zhan Ning'er didn't know that the reason why Ye Xiaotian was like this was because he deliberately messed around, the purpose was to return to Huxian County, but with her background, Ye Xiaotian, an official as big as a sesame mung bean, she really didn't know if she would do it or not. I don't care, so I don't care about it.
But now that Younger Sister Sun is going to accompany Ye Xiaotian to the Ministry of Rites, she has a keen sense of crisis. If Yingying leaves and a Doni is added, wouldn't it be a tragedy for her? So Zhan Ning'er immediately asked to change into men's clothes, and accompanied Ye Xiaotian to the ceremony department.
As a result, Ye Xiaotian's entourage changed from two to four. Hua Yunfei took out two sets of his clothes for Zhan Ning'er and Sister Sun to change into. Tight, but barely manageable, Ye Xiaotian led the four of them to the Ministry of Rites, hugging each other.
The five of them arrived at the location of the Six Departments, and suddenly there were four riders approaching in parallel. Ye Xiaotian took a closer look: it was Li Xuancheng, the uncle of the country, Xu Qiyun, the young father-in-law, and Guan Xiaokun, the son of Rui Chuan, the Minister of Punishment, and Guan Haishan, the son of the Minister of Rites.