Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1173 Fengtian Palace

When the royal army's artillery fire echoed in Edo Bay, everything in Yingtian City was normal. Just like countless years in the past, the Imperial Army, the Northern Army, the Southern Army, the various border troops, and the navy kept the war far beyond the border. If you were a civilian household instead of a military household, you might not see the shadow of war for several lifetimes.

"Well, everyone." Wen Zhong sat on the rostrum between the east and west wings in the Fengtian Hall:

"Today is the last standing court meeting before the winter solstice. I would like to tell the officials who have just entered this year that the court will work according to the fiscal year, which is the winter solstice. Therefore, the court will enter its busiest period around the winter solstice. Not only will it be busy with annual accounting, but also with the sacrifices around the winter solstice. Because there won't be enough people, the Fengtian Hall will not hold standing meetings on specific matters until next New Year's Day, and will only hold ceremonial court meetings. You may all know that the emperor has gone hunting in the north during this period."

Before he finished speaking, he heard some murmurs and rustling whispers below.

"Ahem, let me repeat it again. This is literally the Northern Hunting. The emperor went hunting somewhere in the north. Some of you new here may think that the emperor is lazy about government affairs, but I think most people know that the emperor never rests. So for this short-term special situation, I urge everyone to be considerate of the emperor. He has no rest all year round, and even on New Year's Eve he has to stand at the Temple of Heaven for half a day. So, although you can submit memorials to express your opinions, I suggest that the censors do not say anything - of course." He added:
"It's your power. From the emperor to the ninth-rank warehouse manager, you can impeach anyone you want. But from my point of view, I advise you to use the memorials in your hands with caution. Don't think of shocking others, and don't deliberately provoke the emperor to cheat the imperial caning." He emphasized, "I'm glad that no one did this this year, and I hope it will be the same next year. I tell you frankly, what I hate most is cheating the imperial caning. Because even if you are sure that the emperor will not talk back, it is even more impossible for him to really be caned."

After saying this, he looked at everyone, and they all nodded in approval.

Among all the cabinet ministers, Wen Zhong was the one who presided over the most court meetings alone. He could be said to be a full-time official in this area. The other cabinet ministers, including the chief minister, would only attend the meeting when the topic concerned themselves. And every morning, without fail, it was Wen Zhong who sat here to preside over the meeting.

His words were important because the court was where decisions were made and the core of the imperial examination system. But they were also not very important because Wen Zhong himself could not actually express his opinion on any controversial issues. Because he had to speak last on everything, the overall situation had already been decided by the time it was his turn to speak.

However, indirectly, he can influence certain decisions by arranging the order of the agenda, but that is a story for later.

Here, Wen Zhong’s most important task is to arrive earlier than everyone else and leave later than everyone else.

Although he had not actually influenced any decision this year, his prestige was enough to make all those who had just entered the room afraid to respond - after all, he was actually the one who attended court on behalf of Zhu Xianxun. When Zhu Xianxun was not attending court, Wen Zhong was the one who attended court here.

The people who met here were not senators or consuls in the Roman sense, but councilors.

The Yilang were Langguan, the successful candidates of the imperial examinations over the years - or more specifically, they were Hanlin. As Hanlin, they were actually the youngest group of people in the entire court, but they actually held the huge power of drafting imperial edicts. Hanlin also had its own promotion system, with a total of 10 levels, starting from Daxueshi and Bachelor, to Daizhi and Yingfeng as the backbone, and Shujishi as the last.

The top three candidates in the imperial examinations over the years would start from the fourth level of [Editors], and most of the others would start from the lowest level of [Shujishi]. The Hanlin Academy would have regular re-elections every once in a while. Those who passed the examinations could continue to stay in the cardinals of the Fengtian Hall, and those who failed the examinations would be transferred to the six ministries, nine ministers, or prefectures and counties. Everyone here is full of energy, and even all of them are in the state of taking exams, or even in the state of sprinting before the exam. This is basically the peak period of intelligence in a person's life, and as long as you can keep it up, you can keep sitting in this position. Because the imperial edicts need the most efficient and active people to formulate.

Although the direction of national policy is ultimately formulated by the cabinet elders and the six ministries and nine government offices, the specifics of how it should be done are completely determined by the Hanlin Academy. Some people in the Hanlin Academy will be trained as "Six Departments of the Imperial Censorate" and receive special seats in the Fengtian Hall - they can directly refute the memorials that have been drafted by the court and exercise the right of veto. The Six Departments of the Imperial Censorate monitor the six ministries of rituals, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments, and labor respectively, and those in charge of the criminal department are also in charge of the Jinyiwei's power to arrest and interrogate.

This can be said to be the most tense place in the entire court. The more tense people are, the more likely they are to have problems.

So Wen Zhong specifically reminded: "Do you all understand what I just said?"

"We will follow your instructions." Everyone stood up and bowed to Wen Zhong to show their understanding. Wen Zhong was the principal to many of them, but when they were working, they would only call him "Gentleman".

Wen Zhong also stood up to return the greeting. After everyone sat down, Wen Zhong picked up the microphone again:

"Then, let's gradually start today's schedule. The first thing, I know you may have already known. Maybe some people don't know, so I'll tell you here: the royal division has already been dispatched."

There was a lot of discussion in Fengtian Hall. This news exploded like a frying pan, because this was almost the first time in their lives that the king's division directly skipped the Ministry of War to mobilize troops.

Of course it is possible. After all, the whole world belongs to the emperor, and the emperor can mobilize troops as he wants. However, if the reason is not even told to the people in Fengtian Hall, it is obviously unreasonable. However, the discussion of the people is mainly focused on the matter, not on "power struggle".

After all, the Hanlin Academy was not a single entity, and the turnover of personnel was very high. No one would think that "the power of the Hanlin Academy had been divided, and they wanted to get their place back." They only knew that there would be big troubles in the future.

The question of "whether it is in accordance with the rules to transfer troops by skipping the Hanlin Academy" was never considered by the Hanlin Academy, but by Wen Zhong. Wen Zhong was the one who spoke on behalf of the Hanlin Academy as a whole. What is important now is that this matter has already happened, so what should they do next to end it? This is the most important thing.

(End of this chapter)