When the morning court session arrived, these officials would park their carriages and stride confidently and arrogantly into the court.
After standing still, he would greet people by saying:
"So, did you learn it? I rode my bike here today, and wow, it's actually pretty easy."
Or just say:
"You still haven't learned it? It's so simple, how come you can't learn it?"
Or, in a roundabout way of showing off:
"It's not that difficult. Who said riding a bicycle is like taming a wild horse? If this bicycle were a horse, it would be a docile one..."
…………
In short, the officials of these societies were incredibly arrogant and smug.
They practically want to wear the words "can ride a bicycle" on their foreheads, while those who can't or haven't learned yet are like wilted eggplants, listless and dejected.
When they see someone who can ride, they quickly avoid them, not wanting to face the fact that the other person has already learned, but also afraid that others will know that the other person hasn't learned yet.
In this way, riding a bicycle actually became a way for officials in the Ming Dynasty to compete with each other.
The resulting competitive spirit grew increasingly serious, and Zhu Yuanzhang happened to be the one leading the way.
The most ridiculous thing is that the person who started this trend of comparing and competing in cycling hasn't even learned how to ride a bicycle himself.
When Zhu Yunwen arrived at the imperial court, he had a smile on his face and asked the officials if they had anything to report.
However, General Lan Yu stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
Zhu Yuanzhang: "Lan Yu, what do you want? Speak."
Lan Yu smiled and said:
"Your Majesty, I have learned to ride a bicycle."
These words were spoken loudly, resounding throughout the court and reaching the ears of all the officials.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. He never expected that Lan Yu would be so arrogant. He had learned to ride a bicycle and now he wanted to talk about it so seriously in the court.
What annoyed Zhu Yuanzhang even more was that Lan Yu had learned it. He hadn't.
You know, he practiced for several days longer than these officials.
What angered Zhu Yuanzhang even more was that after Lan Yu finished speaking, many officials stood up and said they had learned it.
Among them, an old minister stepped forward, trembling slightly:
"Your Majesty, this old minister has also learned how to ride, but I dare not ride too fast. But to be honest, it's really exciting."
Zhu Yuanzhang was struck dumb. This official, who was over seventy years old, had already learned it, but he himself hadn't.
This is infuriating! It's worse than killing him!
So he took a deep breath and said to the old minister:
“You’re so old, why are you messing around like this? What’s the point of learning that thing? Isn’t it better to ride a tricycle steadily? If you accidentally fall off this bicycle, you could lose your life.”
However, the old minister said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, we are riding very steadily and have not fallen yet, so there will be no problem."
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his forehead in exasperation; this was simply impossible to talk to.
In just two days, many people in the imperial court have already learned to ride bicycles, including many civil and military officials.
This greatly affected Zhu Yuanzhang, and he lost all interest in attending the morning court session.
After finally calming down his resentment, he then said:
"This morning at court, let's not talk about bicycles, let's talk about serious business."
So, a cabinet official stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, let's get down to business. Yesterday, I learned that another city in the northwest region has experienced a minor drought."
At that time, he immediately rode his bicycle to find a few other senior members of the cabinet to discuss the matter together. After the discussion, they came up with a decision.
Chen rode his bicycle home, but even after arriving, he was still incredibly worried about the matter. He couldn't sleep, so he got up and rode his bicycle around twice more.
Hey, guess what? While I was riding my bicycle, I suddenly thought of a brilliant way to provide disaster relief.
So, this morning I rode my bicycle like crazy all the way to the morning court, eager to report this matter to His Majesty as soon as possible.
Zhu Yuanzhang: "?????????"
Why is it that all I can hear in my ears is the bicycle... I can't seem to grasp anything else?
Then Zhu Yuanzhang coughed and said:
"So, what exactly is your proposed solution? Why don't you tell us?"
Before the cabinet official could speak, another official said:
"Your Majesty, let me report to you. This matter was discussed by Grand Secretary Li and me. I had actually thought of the plan he proposed, and we even discussed it this morning..."
Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, this official interrupted Grand Secretary Li and stopped talking about bicycles...
He then asked, "And then? What happened during the discussion? And what was the result?"
That official belonged to:
"Of course, we discussed it while riding bicycles. We rode towards the palace and even took the time to talk."
Hey, you know what, learning to ride a bicycle is really convenient! You can ride it leisurely and even have business to discuss on the road.
Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and said:
"Don't bring us bicycles! Tell me, what's the plan...?"
The official was taken aback for a moment, then coughed and said:
"Then let Grand Secretary Li report to you. I only know a little bit."
Zhu Yuanzhang retorted angrily, "Then why were you so agitated just now?"
Then Zhu Yuanzhang set some rules:
"When discussing important matters during the morning court session, we should focus on the important matters and not include the word 'bicycle' in the discussion."
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