The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

There was a morning court session on the twelfth day of the first lunar month. Min Xi did not attend the court session because he had not yet reported to the Censorate. Yun Ji had no reason not to attend the court session because he had been working at the Ministry of Revenue.

When Yun Ji got up and dressed, even though his movements were very gentle, he still woke Min Xi up. Min Xi opened his eyes a little, looked at the dim light in the room, and quickly closed them again, muttering, "You're up? I won't go today."

Yun Ji raised his hand and touched his head: "Don't go, go to sleep."

Min Xi hummed and soon fell asleep again.

Afterwards, he regretted not attending the morning court this time. Although he had nothing to do, this was Zhang Juzheng's last morning court. He submitted his resignation at the court and requested to retire and return home. The emperor also approved his resignation. In other words, this was the only chance to attend the morning court with Zhang Juzheng, but he missed it because he was lazy and didn't want to get up early.

Min Xi held his head in regret, "Ahhh! I shouldn't have been lazy! I should have gotten up and gone to court, but I never expected that he would retire so soon. Didn't he say that he would discuss with us how to deal with the Nanyang Continent? Why did he resign now?"

Yun Ji said: "He should have already made arrangements for this."

"Who is the new cabinet elder?" Min Xi asked.

"It has not been announced yet. I heard it will be the Minister of Rites, Mr. Pan."

Pan Sheng was recommended by Zhang Juzheng, but he never succeeded in taking office in history, so I don’t know if he will succeed this time. Now that Zhang Juzheng has officially left office, his political enemies should start to move.

Min Xi said, "No, I have to report to the Censorate tomorrow. I can't wait until after the Lantern Festival."

"Why?"

"Lord Zhang has retreated to the second line. His political enemies who were suppressed by him now have their chance. They will definitely report him to the police. I have to go and help him." Min Xi said.

Yun Ji sighed upon hearing this: "Just do your best."

"I know."

The Censorate was a censorate, and most of the memorials impeaching Zhang Juzheng were first sent from here. Although Min Xi was only a seventh-rank censor now, and his words did not carry much weight, the emperor and Zhang Juzheng must have had their own intentions in making him the censor. At least he had to stand up for Zhang Juzheng when everyone turned against him, and most importantly, he had to persuade Wanli when he met the emperor in private.

The next day, Min Xi took the transfer order and reported to the Censorate.

Colleagues in the Censorate were a little surprised at his arrival. Under normal circumstances, they would wait until after the Lantern Festival to report, and this was only two days away.

Min Xi visited several superiors one by one - the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief, the Left and Right Deputy Censors-in-Chief, the Left and Right Assistant Censors-in-Chief. These censors had all seen Min Xi in the court and knew his resume. They were very satisfied with him being a censor.

The job of Censor is an offensive one, as he not only has to restrain officials but also supervise the emperor. Impeaching an official is not a big deal, as at most he would make a political enemy. But if he gave advice to the emperor and made him unhappy, he would be fined at the least and lose his head at the worst.

Now that Min Xi has arrived, and he is the Censor-in-Chief of the capital, and is especially favored by the emperor, these superiors have begun to have their own plans. In the future, if there are any advice that may offend the emperor, they will let him take the lead.

Xie Mengqian, the Left Censor-in-Chief, was a big bearded man who spoke in a Shaanxi accent: "The day after tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. Lord Min, why don't you wait until after the festival before coming to the yamen?"

Min Xi said: "Thanks to your majesty's appreciation, I will do my best to serve the court, so I will come to the yamen early. I am new here and don't know much about the yamen. I hope you can give me more guidance."

Meng Qian smiled cheerfully: "Okay, okay, Lord Min, come with me, I will teach you what to do."

Meng Qian is Min Xi's direct superior. Although there is a sixth-rank official above Min Xi, the official is in charge of document and archive management. They have no control over the impeachment of officials, and naturally have no control over Min Xi either.

On the first day of his appointment, Min Xi officially began to work as a censor. His job was to examine and impeach officials, which was a lot of power. The first thing he had to do was to understand which officials were under his jurisdiction, and then understand their style and character, and then impeach them based on the evidence he collected.

On Min Xi's first day at the yamen, he listened to gossip from his superiors and colleagues. The position of censor was special, and all officials in the capital were under their supervision, so they knew the details of the officials in the capital clearly.

Min Xi heard his colleagues talk about the gossip about officials. He knew how many wives, concubines, and children each family had, which official was henpecked, and who had a mistress outside. He even knew how much pocket money each official had every month. Nothing could be hidden from him.

As Min Xi listened, he suddenly realized that his colleagues must have known all about him and Yun Ji, and he didn't know what they were talking about them. He suddenly felt that he might be a monkey in the eyes of his colleagues, being watched by everyone.

Thinking of this, Min Xi felt as if a thorn in his back was attached, and a layer of sweat broke out on his back at that moment, but he quickly adjusted his mentality. After a few days, he would know the details of his colleagues clearly. Everyone has some family shame that cannot be made public.

Besides, what happened between him and Yun Ji wasn't really a family scandal; it was just a personal choice, and could even be considered a romantic affair.

Min Xi listened to everyone gossiping for most of the day in the government office, and read a lot of official files, and returned home with a belly full of gossip. Today was his first day at work in the new government office, and his colleagues did not invite him to dinner, so he did not take the initiative to invite everyone to dinner, and planned to wait a few days before asking.

When I got home, I was even later than Yunji.

Seeing him coming back, Yun Ji poured the hot water from the kettle into the basin and added cold water: "Come and wash your hands and have dinner. How do you feel about this new government office today?"

Min Xi washed his hands and sat at the table: "Don't mention it! I felt like I was stripped naked in front of my colleagues."

"Why do you say that?" Yun Ji asked with a smile.

"This Censorate is a large gossip collection place. Almost all the privacy of officials in the capital is exposed here. When I listen to their gossip, I always feel that my colleagues are also thinking about our gossip. Oh, don't mention it! I feel uncomfortable." Min Xi couldn't help waving his hands.

Yun Ji laughed: "What does it matter? There is nothing shameful about our relationship. We didn't hurt anyone anyway. At most, our relationship is just a romantic anecdote for people to talk about after dinner. Isn't it much more upright than those things that are against the will of heaven?"

Min Xi thought about the gossip he heard in the government office today. Their situation was indeed quite trivial.

"That's true, so I got used to it quickly. Anyway, I'll know all their gossip and privacy in a few days. Let's just hurt each other!"