Mei Li finally fell silent.
No matter what, as a newly promoted official who had only seen Emperor Zhao briefly in the palace examination, although he had heard many stories about his own emperor, he would always use reason to remind himself that those stories were exaggerated to a certain extent. At this time, facing an important official of the level of Minister Lin, who was also an important official with such a close relationship with his family, and who personally told such a level of royal secrets, he had to face an incredible reality, that is, this official was indeed an official who dared to speak and do without scruples - it was too rude to throw his brother's congratulatory letter directly in front of him.
And this time when he came to the capital, he would most likely stay there to work, and in all likelihood he would be a servant, and then face this unsophisticated official.
Even more directly, why did he come to see his uncle today? Wasn't it because he was hoping that he could give him some advice as a former confidant of the government and an important official of the court today, and teach him how to face the current emperor?
In fact, Minister Lin was indeed teaching.
"My dear nephew." Seeing this, Lin Jingmo continued to speak seriously. "Do you know where the court wants to use you when you come to Beijing this time?"
"It should be trade, right?" Mei Li came back to his senses and quickly replied. "Since the imperial court has opened the two major cities of Lanzhou and Hetao, it is natural that they want to control the central Ministry of Revenue and connect the Western Regions, the grasslands, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Goryeo... With China in the middle, they can take advantage of it, take advantage of it and control its behavior, and then encircle the Jurchen bandits. My nephew thinks..."
"That's right, and well said." Lin Jingmo nodded slightly. "But there's no need to elaborate here. I'm the Minister of Revenue, and sooner or later these words of yours will be turned into official documents and sent to my desk in the Ministry of Revenue... You can save them for when you meet the emperor... Remember, say what you have to say, say what you know, don't bend over backwards, and don't flatter. Although the emperor may get carried away sometimes, he is basically smart and powerful, and knows everything."
Upon hearing this, Mei Tiju's heart moved, and he instinctively stood up immediately and bowed in the hall.
At the same time, seeing this, Minister Lin just picked up the already cold milk tea, took a sip, and suddenly waved his sleeves: "Our two families are old friends, and your uncle and my elder brother are close friends and relatives. But I am now the Minister of Revenue, and you are a newcomer who has returned to Beijing for an official appointment. Before you are appointed, it is not appropriate to keep you at home to arouse suspicion. You wait in the front hall until your brother comes back, get a portion of sweet and sour fish, and then go back to the official post early to wait for orders."
Mei Li was caught off guard when he heard this and was even a little flustered... After all, although there were some obvious points in this exchange, the most crucial issue was the three major cases in the capital right now. The other party only mentioned one thing vaguely, and his uncle did not say anything about the other two major events involving the generals of the imperial camp.
If this were to be brought up when I meet the emperor, how would I respond?
Just telling the truth?
However, Mei Li was confused but did not dare to say much, especially since the other party did have some suggestions. He had to suppress his uneasiness and said goodbye respectfully. Then, he waited for a takeaway of sweet and sour fish from the concierge and took it back.
The next day, the snow stopped for a whole day, but started again the day after, causing the dampness and cold to continue to cause trouble. The day after another, which was the last day of October, Mei Tiju suddenly received a summons, saying that the government was finally going to summon him.
Mei Li did not dare to neglect it. Although he knew that he might be disliked, he could not help but trimmed his eyebrows according to his habit. Then he went to Donghua Gate to convey the order of the capital province... At this time, Mei Tiju realized that the emperor was too busy and summoned five people at the same time, including Zhao Boyao, the top scholar in the same exam, Chao Gongwu, the first in the second class of the same exam, in addition, there was also Cui Tongling, the commander of the Imperial Navy who was restless, and Huang Tongpan, a border county magistrate who came from northern Shaanxi.
It is obvious that the five people are here to report for their positions, and their future will be decided during the audience with the emperor, which is already very tense.
In fact, the last two of the five had already been restless, probably because of their backgrounds and the fact that it was their first time meeting the emperor, but the top three Jinshi in the first class were also obviously uneasy... because they had keenly realized that when they got together, they would probably have to face some complex and sensitive issues directly.
The five people were worried. After having their working lunch... which was still sweet and sour fish... they set off for the famous place in the harem in the afternoon. The sky gradually darkened, and intermittent snowflakes began to fall again.
It is estimated that the Hanfangyuan Cuju competition will be delayed again.
"Zhengzhou Tongpan Zhao Boyao, Mizhou Signing Judge Chao Gongwu, Liangzhe Jinglüe Si Director Wenzhou Maritime Customs Mei Li, Imperial Navy Commander Cui Bangbi, Qingzhou Tongpan Huang Sheng..."
The summoning ceremony was extremely simple. Hanlin scholar Fan Zongyin went forward to check the list with the officials of the provincial government who were seeing him off, and then led the five people to the stone pavilion. Then Lan Gui, the chief escort of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, came forward and called out the names on the list one by one. After receiving a response, he immediately turned around to report. "Your Majesty, the five people have arrived today!"
"It's snowing, come into the pavilion and sit down!"
When everyone heard this, they knew it was the official's words, so they hurried to thank him, then nervously entered the pavilion and carefully sat down opposite Official Zhao under the watchful eyes of many servants, scholars, attendants, soldiers, and officers. There was no cushion on the stone bench here, but it was warm. It was not because someone had warmed it up, but because there was obviously underground heating under the stone pavilion and the surrounding areas.
Although all five people came here for the first time, they all knew about this matter because it was reported in the court gazette around the beginning of winter. Some people had opposed it... not against installing some heating facilities in this famous stone pavilion, but against using ground heating, because ground heating was obviously learned from heating the kang, which was brought by the Jurchens.
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