I want to ruin the country

Hongxiu put a piece of chestnut cake into Yining's mouth, and Yining closed his eyes and chewed it.

“Delicious, soft, sweet, and melts in your mouth. Very good!”

Hongxiu said sweetly,

"Then give me another piece!"

As she was about to feed him the second piece of chestnut cake, Yining unexpectedly hugged her in his arms.

"Let me feed you!"

As they were talking, the two of them were already mouth to mouth!

Hongxiu's feet immediately straightened up and her toes stood on tiptoe.

Just when they were feeling sweet, Xiao Feng rushed in, shouting,

"Sister Hongxiu, I want to eat chestnut cake!"

Xiaoling was following closely behind him, and Yifang was rubbing his hands anxiously.

"Little aunt, come back soon!"

Several eunuchs outside covered their mouths and laughed. This palace was becoming less and less like a palace.

The girls are laughing, the children are making noise, the emperor is crazy, and the eunuchs are irritated, but it seems not bad!

The next day, Yining held the first court meeting since traveling across time.

Because this was a regular meeting and there was no particularly urgent government affairs, he specifically notified everyone to start work at 8 o'clock.

Before eight o'clock, except for those who took sick leave, the military ministers and officials of the fourth rank and above in Beijing were waiting outside the Qianqing Gate early.

It was still chilly in the early mornings of February, but the ministers were very satisfied because the emperor had changed the time of the morning court.

In the past, court meetings would begin at around five in the morning. Regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, some ministers would have to ride in sedan chairs to the palace at two or three o'clock.

It’s different now. If I get up early, I won’t be delayed.

A new face joined today is Du Shoutian’s son Du Han.

Several people who had good relations with him congratulated Du Shoutian.

"Congratulations to Master Du on his promotion to Minister of Works. Master Du and his son served in the same court and both joined the Grand Council. This is truly a remarkable story!"

Du Shoutian clasped his hands together, his face full of joy.

"Why should I be happy? I am old and am preparing to resign from the Emperor!"

Qiying said sarcastically,

"Master Du is the Imperial Tutor and is deeply favored by the Emperor. Master Du is extremely talented and both are pillars of the country. The father and son are just the right people to work hard together. Why are you resigning?"

This clearly meant that Du Han had no real talent or knowledge, and that he was able to become the Minister of Works entirely because of Du Shoutian. Everyone understood what he meant and looked at Du Shoutian.

Du Shoutian said calmly,

"My son has been selecting talents for the country in Hubei for several years and has done his best.

In the last imperial examination, the number of candidates from Hubei who passed was far higher than those from other places, and the emperor was very pleased!

The Emperor transferred him back to the capital this time out of consideration for my advanced age, but I am determined to leave and make way for the younger generation, lest people accuse me of occupying the toilet without doing anything!

After hearing this, Qiying's face turned red and then white, and he had nothing to say!

Du Shoutian's words were neither soft nor hard. First, he said that Du Han had made achievements in his position as the education commissioner of Hubei Province, and he did not rely solely on himself.

He also repeatedly emphasized that he was old and wanted to retire, and that he would not let his father and son control the government and make others wary.

Then there's the issue of occupying the toilet without doing anything, which makes Qiying very uncomfortable, because they are the same age, both sixty-four. I'm old and will retire, what about you?

Qi Yingke was reluctant to retreat, he felt he was still young!

As they were talking, it was eight o'clock and Yining arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace on time.

You read that right, it’s in the gateway of the Qianqing Palace!

The emperor actually held court not in the Qianqing Palace, Baohe Hall, or Taihe Hall, but in the doorway.

He sat on the Sumeru throne in the middle. The seat with a coiled dragon pattern was wide and high, so three people could sit on it without feeling crowded.

It was covered with a bright yellow soft cloth that was soft, smooth and cool. When I sat in the middle, I couldn't even reach the sandalwood armrests on both sides.

When I saw the emperor sitting here in movies and TV dramas before, I only felt that he was noble and solemn. Now I understand why the emperor has to be called "I". It turns out that it means that no one can rely on him!

Everyone knelt down, shouted "Long live the emperor", and kowtowed in greeting.

To be honest, Yining doesn't care about these red tapes at all.

As a time traveler, he was extremely unfamiliar with these etiquettes and did not think they were necessary.

Another thing is that the language expressions of today's officials are somewhat different from the vernacular of later generations.

To put it nicely, it is classical Chinese; to put it bluntly, it is nitpicking.

There are a lot of empty words and filler adjectives such as zhi, hu, zhe, and ye!

No one required them to say this. Yining felt that these people just wanted to show off their knowledge!

He was determined to change all these things.

The whip cracked three times, and everyone knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times and nine times. After all the formalities were over, Yi Guofang, who was standing beside the emperor, held the whisk in his arms and said loudly:

"The Emperor has issued an order: if you have something to report, please report it early; if you don't, please leave the court!"

The Qing dynasty stipulated that court sessions should be held every ten days, but during the Kangxi and Yongzheng reigns, when officials were more diligent, they were held almost every two days. The court officials had a very hard time.

Today is the first morning court session since the new emperor ascended the throne, and everyone is very excited.

Because everyone wants to find opportunities from the new emperor.

Ministers also had their own rules for presenting memorials in the court. They were generally ranked according to rank, starting with the highest and then the lower.

But there are exceptions. If there is something urgent, people will rush to speak without thinking.

If you follow the rules, you may not even get a turn to speak when the court is over.

Today's court meeting was strange. Several ministers kept silent and no one knew what they meant.

After a moment of silence, someone at the back couldn't help it anymore.

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to report!"

"Send it up!"

Yining felt a headache when he saw this guy. His name was Wen Bizheng, and he was a fifth-rank censor.

He and Weng Tonghe were together, and they had the same smell, like stones in a pit, smelly and hard.

He was among those who knelt down to make a petition to the Emperor a few days ago. I don't know why he didn't persist to the end.

Such people are generally honest and upright, with no major flaws, but they are old-fashioned and unreasonable. The common people call them "stubborn grandsons!"

If they think they have found the truth, you will be in trouble. They will have to argue with you about right and wrong and will not stop until you beg for mercy.

The key is that you can't do anything to them because they haven't committed any crime, or they haven't even made any mistakes.

The establishment of censors allowed them to report on matters they heard, so that they could supervise officials of all ranks, including the emperor.

What does it mean to report something based on hearsay? It means that if they hear someone on the street say that a certain official has done something wrong or has embezzled a certain amount of money, they can submit a report without having to find any evidence.

It was the Emperor's job to verify and find evidence, so they just had to speak out.

If the facts are verified, they have made contributions; if the facts are not verified, they have not made any mistakes, and you cannot hold a grudge against them. This is the duty given to them by the emperor and the law.

They even confronted the emperor without giving him any respect.