The sky was dark, and the morning light had not yet risen among the clouds, only outlining the blue sky in the east of the city.
Along the street of officials' residences, carriage shafts stretched out in a long line. With the driver's shout of "Gee!" and the crack of whips, carriages left the houses and galloped through the long street of low-roofed blue bricks.
Fifth watch.
Under the imperial city, many civil and military officials who were attending court today gathered. When they saw the carriages coming later and the court officials coming down one after another, they smiled and bowed to greet them. The Sui Dynasty was founded not long ago, and there were many remaining ministers from the previous dynasty, as well as new nobles who followed the emperor. For now, they can still be considered to be getting along harmoniously.
"Hey, here comes Minister Gao!"
"The man with a heroic look over there, I'm afraid he is General Shi who just fought a great battle with the Turks?"
"It was him. It's a pity that Master Yuwen didn't return... so we didn't get to meet."
"However, I heard that the Grand Master has a master, and His Majesty thinks highly of him. Even the Duke of Yue... Yeah, the Duke of Yue is here."
In his early years, Duke Yang Su of Yue followed Yang Jian in attacking Qi, and later helped him ascend the throne. He went south to destroy Chen. In terms of prestige and seniority, he is the most prestigious person in the court except Your Majesty, and there is no suspicion that he is more powerful than your master.
A carriage with two lanterns hanging on it stopped, pulled by a soldier. Yang Su, dressed in court robes, which was completely different from his usual Taoist attire, refused the help of his attendants, got off the carriage, and swept his majestic eyes over the welcoming court officials.
"Today, everyone should say what they need to say. Afterwards, His Majesty will announce something. Everyone should keep it in mind and don't irritate His Majesty."
"Yes, Duke Yue, don't worry." "We will follow Duke Yue's lead."
"Well, okay." The old man straightened his court robes and strode through the court officials. He also greeted many famous meritorious officials and generals, such as Gao Ying, He Ruobi, Wang Shao, Han Qinhu, Qiu Rui, Yu Juluo, Wu Jianzhang, Ding Yanping, Su Wei, Cui Zhongfang, etc.
"Duke Yue, it seems that you have learned something from His Majesty that we don't know."
"No, no, I am close to His Majesty, so I know more. If King Kaoshan is in the court, I guess he knows more than me."
"Then I wonder what His Majesty will announce at the morning court today?"
"Haha... He is the canonized national teacher."
…
Some civil and military officials standing nearby were watching the important ministers and generals in the court speaking, and after hearing a few words, they began to whisper to each other.
Soon, the Jianfu Gate was opened, and the eunuch who was announcing the decree came to the outside of the palace and shouted in a hoarse voice: "It is the fifth watch, all civil and military officials must come to the court—"
Min Changwen stood in the crowd, heard some of the words, and was a little stunned. Imperial Master? Could it be Liangsheng
Until Gao Ying, the Minister of the Left, came over and reminded him, "Minister Min has entered the court."
The latter came to his senses, bowed to the other party, said thank you, adjusted his court robes, and followed his colleagues into the palace, walked through the long and quiet red-walled palace road, passed two inspections, and entered the main hall of Hanyuan one by one.
After a final body search by the eunuchs, Yang Jian entered the hall and stood still to begin the morning court session. Soon, Yang Jian came in from the side hall with two eunuchs accompanying him, walking with the gait of a dragon and a tiger. The pearl curtain under the emperor's crown tassels swayed slightly, and he sat down on the Dragon Throne in a heroic manner, waving his robe sleeves.
The eunuch on the imperial steps stepped forward and sang loudly: "Civil and military officials, present your reports!"
Curls of sandalwood smoke rose from the four corners of the hall. The usual government affairs were submitted, processed, and reviewed. An hour later, outside the hall, the sky in the east showed a pale sky.
“… Although Shaboluo has been escorted to the court, we must not let down our guard regarding the Turkic issue!”
On the Dragon Court, after the emperor finished speaking, he did not announce the end of the court as he had done before. Instead, he waved to the eunuchs on the side, and a guard came over with the imperial tray in both hands.
Here we come!
The civil and military officials below seemed quieter than usual, staring intently at the imperial edict quietly placed on the imperial plate.
"You may already know what I am going to do, but some of you may not know..." Yang Jian stood up from the dragon table and walked heavily towards the imperial steps. As the pearl curtain swayed lightly, he stroked the dragon pillars in the courtyard with his big hand and swept his eyes over the hundreds of eyes that were looking at him.
He shook his gray beard and laughed, "Don't be so serious. I am just announcing something, but I still want to listen to the opinions of the ministers present. After all, you are all the backbone of my Great Sui Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, just make the decision." Someone was quick to see the opportunity, and someone else echoed: "Your Majesty is a saintly monarch of the time. The mess left by the previous dynasty was cleaned up by Your Majesty in an orderly manner. I think Your Majesty has already considered everything in detail before making a fuss."
hehe.
On the imperial steps, Yang Jian chuckled twice and waved his hand, "Whether I am a wise ruler or not, I know it in my heart. You don't need to imitate Minister Min's rhetoric. Okay, I won't beat around the bush."
He paused, and his tall body stood like a mountain in the Dragon Court, looking at the sky outside the palace which was gradually brightening.
"I have drafted an edict to announce that Lu Liangsheng, a tribute scholar from the Southern Dynasty, will be appointed as the Imperial Preceptor. You may have heard of this name before. Um... he is the scholar who smashed Chen Shubao's throne room in the strange stories..."
Most of the rumors were not very detailed, and most of them were strange stories about ghosts, goblins and foxes. Not many people knew about Lu Liangsheng, a tribute scholar from the Southern Chen Dynasty. When the news came from the north, the matter of the fish monster was mostly regarded as a political "manifestation of god" in the already complicated imperial court.
After so many years, I still believed that the gods and immortals in the strange stories written by folk storytellers, including the one who was given the title of "**妖显圣真人", were all fabricated, and I just listened to them as stories.
After hearing what the current emperor said, the civil and military officials, who were unaware of the inside story, were stunned for a long time and stared at the burly figure of Long Ting in amazement.
Gao Ying, the Minister of the Left, was somewhat puzzled: "Your Majesty, are you a cultivator?"
When Yang Jian nodded, Han Qinhu, the Grand Secretary of the State, also stepped out from the other side of the military officials and said, "Old Gao, don't disbelieve me. I met that real person when I accompanied the King of Jin. He set up a magic circle that even the Duke of Yue couldn't break. There was also a little kid with a fox lying next to him. It was quite intimidating. The Duke of Yue backed down at that time."
There was an uproar in the hall. Yang Su, who was standing at the head of the civil officials, hung his head and the corners of his mouth twitched twice. He turned his head slightly and glared at the old general with gray hair.
"You just agree with yours, why do you mention me?!"
"Hahaha-"
Yang Jian stroked the dragon head of the fence and laughed, then waved his hand. The two groups of people fell silent and said:
"Lu Liangsheng is a real person. I did not make up such a person randomly. Back then, it was the Duke of Yue who introduced him to me. After a while at the Ten-Li Pavilion in Yongzhou, I decided to create a prosperous era for the people. Speaking of a prosperous era, everyone here is a meritorious official and a good general with remarkable abilities, but human power will eventually reach its limit."
In the hall, a voice suddenly rose, deafening, and the emperor walked down the steps step by step.
"The nine provinces of the world are so vast, yet they harbor evil and are full of demons and monsters, devouring the people of the Great Sui Dynasty, destroying the mountains and rivers that you and I have worked so hard to build, and causing the common people to suffer! This is a tragedy that I do not want to see!!"
The dragon flicked his sleeves, and the high-pitched voice softened a little.
"I have heard from the Duke of Yue that when the Chen Dynasty was still in existence, there was a drought in Liangzhou for a hundred days. Not a drop of water fell, and the people had to eat their own children. The land was barren for thousands of miles. The court did nothing, and there were evil spirits running rampant, abducting women and children for human sacrifice. However, these evil spirits have great magical powers, and our flesh and blood bodies cannot compete with them. We can only hope that chivalrous men with righteousness will come to punish the evildoers. But now that the world has been settled, I don't want to pin my hopes on their pity. The ruler of the country should be judged by the people!"
"Today, there are those who are willing to serve the people and protect the country from the evil spirits—"
Yang Jian walked to the front of the ministers and stood still. When the sunlight shone through the palace door, he waved his arm and said, "You are not my subject, but I will grant you a high seat in the palace. You must obey my orders, care about the people, slay the demons and monsters in the world, and write a chapter of prosperity for the country!"
The light from the sky shone into the hall, fell on the emperor's face, and the decisive words followed.
"According to the etiquette of the state, I worship him as my teacher and announce the decree!"
On the side of the Dragon Court behind him, the eunuch took the imperial edict in both hands and unfolded it.
"Presenting the Mandate of Heaven: I ascended the throne, thinking deeply about the sufferings of the people in the previous dynasty, and I am also worried about the evil spirits in the world. Heaven is not benevolent. I want to pray for peace and prosperity for the Sui Dynasty. There must be a great sage to help, to relieve the sufferings of the people, to communicate the will of heaven to the heavens and to the underworld on my behalf..."
The sound of the loud reading spread out from the hall, and the skylight extended beyond the imperial city. Houses were lined up one after another, and the noisy streets were bustling with the clamor of people.
The man pushing the wheelbarrow unloaded the goods, wiped the sweat from his forehead, took the copper coins handed over by the merchant with both hands, hesitantly looked at the stalls on the street where the fragrance wafted from, opened the steamer, the vendor fanned the steam, took the white flour pancake with his hands, and handed it to a fat boy. The naughty boy thanked him with a smile and ran back home with the pancake in his pocket.
The woman in the attic pushed open the window frame and hung up the bedding to dry in the morning sun. The man took the cakes bought by the child, waved goodbye, and walked out into the bustling street.
On the second floor, above the busy streets, with blue flags fluttering, Lu Liangsheng got up, opened the window, and looked at the lively street scene below.
The rising morning sun shone on his face and he stretched comfortably.