Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 42: Punch in the morning, just listen and don’t speak [Please read]

Halfway through the unitary hour.

Liu Kuan resigned from his job at the Science and Technology Department and returned to his mansion, where the kitchen quickly prepared dinner.

After dinner, Liu Kuan subconsciously took out his mobile phone, wanting to watch some short videos or the live broadcast of his favorite game up-master.

When he touched the cold body of the machine, he realized that there was no network here and he couldn't access the Internet at all.

"I'm still not really used to it."

Smiling, Liu Kuan said to Xia He, "Go and ask Chunlan and Qiuyue to come to my study and continue copying the information on the computer tonight."

"Yes." Xia He agreed first, but then reminded: "Young Master will attend the morning court tomorrow, so don't sleep too late today."

"If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten." Liu Kuan suddenly realized that he had to get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to get up by then, so he said, "Then forget it tonight - go get someone to prepare some hot water. I'll take a bath, read a book, and then go to bed."

"Yes."

Xia He agreed and left...
In a blink of an eye, it was the next day, the tenth day of August.

early morning.

Liu Kuan was sleeping soundly when he heard a young girl calling him softly beside the bed.

"Young Master? Young Master? Hurry up and get up. It's already past 3 p.m."

Mid-afternoon?

It's 4 am?

In a daze, Liu Kuan suddenly woke up when he remembered that he had to attend the morning court today.

He turned over and sat up, saying to Xia He, "Go and prepare your official uniform, shoes and hat. I'll go wash up."

Xia He said, "It was prepared last night, so go wash up quickly."

"it is good."

Liu Kuan used the speed of getting up early and late in college to rush to the first class, wash up, put on official uniform and shoes and socks, and eat breakfast.

After eating, he wiped his mouth with the hot towel handed to him by Chunlan, took the official hat handed to him by Xiahe, put it on, and strode out.

Outside the mansion gate, the groom Li Xiaoer was leading Wuyun walking on the snow, and Wang Guangyue, with the soldiers of the Yiluansi, had been waiting there for a long time - they had gotten up earlier than Liu Kuan.

Riding on the dark cloud and stepping on the snow, Liu Kuan walked south along Taiping Street. He found that the doors of the mansions along the street were all open. The owners of the mansions were all officials who needed to attend court. They had high official titles and most of them wore scarlet robes.

Most of these officials rode horses, and few rode in sedan chairs - this was probably a scene that only appeared in the early Ming Dynasty.

As Liu Kuan walked along, he attracted the attention of many officials.

Because he has too many followers.

At this time, it was the 14th year of Hongwu, and Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet stipulated the number of slaves and servants that nobles and officials could own (such regulations were not made until the 24th year of Hongwu), but officials would not bring too many people with them when they went to court.

Especially for military generals and nobles, their entourage was mainly personal soldiers, and it was even more impossible to take them outside the Forbidden City.

Most of them were accompanied by one or two grooms and five or six servants.

But after Liu Kuan and his party had walked for a while, they heard the sound of horse hooves approaching at an accelerated speed, almost running.

This is Taiping Street next to the Forbidden City. Who dares to race horses in the street?

Liu Kuan turned around in surprise and saw a young general wearing a scarlet robe, a tiger patch on his chest and a short beard approaching him.

The person who came was Lan Yu!

He grinned at Liu Kuan through the officers of the Yiluansi, revealing his large white teeth, and asked, "Master Liu, have you been adjusting to life in the Ming Dynasty these past few days?"

Although Liu Kuan had only met Lan Yu twice, including this time, he fully felt that this guy was a fool and a very tactless one.

Then he said calmly, "Thank you, Marquis Yongchang, for your concern. I am adapting very well."

"Really?" Lan Yu steered the horse with one hand, casually riding alongside Liu Kuan. "I heard that Old Hu's mansion was quite sinister. I didn't expect Young Master Liu to be able to live there. He truly is... a remarkable man."

Lao Hu’s mansion?
Evil spirit?

Liu Kuan was stunned after hearing Lan Yu's words, and then an idea suddenly popped into his mind.

"Could it be that I'm living in the former residence of Hu Weiyong?!"

Liu Kuan was shocked for a moment.

"Hahaha..." Lan Yu seemed very happy to see Liu Kuan's surprised expression. He laughed and sped away on his horse.

Lan Yu was not riding his horse at full speed, but was just trotting. Even so, he was an anomaly among the officials rushing to court on Taiping Street.

Liu Kuan didn't pay attention to these.

He was wondering what Zhu Yuanzhang's intention was in letting him live in Hu Weiyong's mansion?
Or is it simply because this mansion is vacant, which is better?
Although he was a person from later generations and didn't care much about these things, he still felt a little uneasy when he thought about Hu Weiyong's end.

"Why don't we find a chance to ask Old Zhu to change the mansion?" "This Lan Yu is really wicked. He actually told me that it was Hu Weiyong's mansion - isn't he afraid of Old Zhu's blame?"

As he was daydreaming, Liu Kuan and his entourage unknowingly followed the group of officials to the front of the Meridian Gate.

Although Liu Kuan lived quite close to the Forbidden City, he was a relatively late arrival among the officials.

There were many high-ranking officials in crimson robes in the court rooms on both sides of the Meridian Gate, and even outside, there were many officials in blue and green robes.

Liu Kuan learned the morning court procedures and etiquette from Zhao Cheng for a few days, and knew that officials did not just wait outside the Meridian Gate, but had to "punch in and sign in."

After all, there were so many officials attending the court, and it was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to use his eyes to see who was there and who was not, and it was not his place to pay attention to such matters.

So there was a “punch in and sign in” session.

There is no such thing as "being late" for the morning court, because one cannot enter the Meridian Gate if he is late, so there is only the term "missing the court".

Those who missed the court session would be impeached by the Censor of the Ministry of Rites, who was in charge of supervising the matter. In the mildest case, they would be criticized and fined by Zhu Yuanzhang, and in the worst case, they would be dismissed from their posts.

Liu Kuan went to the outside of the Meridian Gate to get the gate registration from the official who was in charge of the "sign-in and clock-in". After filling in his name and signing in, he returned to the square.

It is already autumn now, and although there is no frost or dew yet, the temperature is quite low.

Although Liu Kuan had a special status, he considered that he was only a Yuanwailang and was a young man, so he did not go to the court room to stay with those officials in red robes.

However, in the square outside the Meridian Gate, other officials were gathered in groups of three or four to talk, but he was alone, with dozens of Yiluansi soldiers following him, which made him look very different.

Just when Liu Kuan felt a little uncomfortable, Su Quan came over.

The boss, still wearing a warm smile, asked, "Vice-Law Liu, this is your first morning court today. How do you feel?"

"It's too early and I'm tired." Liu Kuan answered truthfully.

"Haha." Su Quan laughed twice and did not comment.

The two then talked about the Science and Technology Department.

"Yesterday, when I was handling the paperwork for those five Imperial College students, I checked their files and have a good understanding of their background."

Liu Kuan showed curiosity and said, "I'd like to hear more about it."

Su Quan said, "I won't say much about Shen Lin. As Liu Song said, he is an outstanding student at Ruxing Hall, a leader among all the students."

"Among the remaining four, Ma Mengyang and Xu Zhen are students of Chengxin Hall. However, Ma Mengyang has only been there for half a year, while Xu Zhen has been there for a year and a half."

"From this, it can be seen that Xu Zhen was probably a poor student, which is why he was unable to enter the Ruxing Hall."

"Also, Ma Mengyang's teachers commented that he enjoyed a wide range of miscellaneous books and was fond of unusual and ingenious things. Perhaps this wasn't the reason he neglected his studies, and he might be an outstanding student like Shen Lin."

"As for Li Ke and Wang Jing, they are both students at Guangye Hall and have been enrolled for three years. According to the evaluation of the teachers at the Imperial College, they are both mediocre."

After listening to Su Quan's explanation of the situation of the five students of the Imperial Academy, Liu Kuan was not too surprised.

In the situation yesterday, there were a few people who wanted to work as clerks in the Science and Technology Department, and there must have been some opportunists.

After all, it is not easy, or even quite difficult, to graduate from the Imperial College and be recommended to become an official.

Being a clerk in the Department of Science and Technology does not sound good, but considering that the Department of Science and Technology is newly established and obviously valued by the emperor, the chance of being promoted from a clerk to an official is actually quite high.

It's just that it will be difficult to be promoted to a higher position in the future if you are promoted from a clerk to an official.

But if there is little hope of even becoming an official, becoming an official would be a good choice.

It can also be seen from here that the defects of the recommendation system are indeed much greater than those of the examination system - the students recommended by the local government to the Imperial College are not necessarily all outstanding talents.

Among the five people, it is a pleasant surprise that Shen Lin and Ma Mengyang, two promising talents, appear.

Time seemed to pass faster as Liu Kuan and Su Quan were chatting. After a while, ceremonial music sounded, and special officials notified all civil and military officials to line up according to their ranks and titles to pass through the Meridian Gate and enter the Forbidden City to attend court.

Although it was just a regular court session, hundreds of civil and military officials participated.

Fortunately, everyone had received special training and there were officials to maintain order, so they all entered the Forbidden City in an orderly manner and arrived outside the Wuying Hall.

That’s right, Zhu Yuanzhang’s regular court session was neither in Fengtian Hall nor in Fengxian Hall, but in Wuying Hall.

The Fengtian Hall is used for grand court meetings. It is difficult to repair and maintain, so it is usually closed.

Fengxian Hall was Zhu Yuanzhang's office and was not the place where he would hold court regularly. Later, Chongzhen often summoned ministers to discuss matters in Wuying Hall, which was also a way to commemorate Taizu.

There were hundreds of officials, but not all of them could enter the palace to hear and report matters. However, Liu Kuan, as a fifth-rank official, was qualified.

Although he was quite curious about Zhu Yuanzhang's morning court, Liu Kuan remembered the etiquette taught by Zhao Cheng, followed Su Quan into the Wuying Hall, and stood behind him, watching his nose with his eyes and his mouth with his nose.

He made up his mind to just listen and not speak at the court this morning.

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(End of this chapter)